The Gazaleh Gazette

Unfortunately I wasn’t able to get home before the girls went to bed last night, but when I called to say goodnight to them, Katharine wanted to tell me a story. Here is how the conversation went.

Katharine: Hi daddy.

Daddy: Who’s this? (my standard response)

Katharine: It’s Katharine. (her standard response)

Daddy: Who? (my standard response)

Katharine: Katharine! (her standard response and always with annoyance)

Daddy: Oh, hi Katharine. (my standard response)

Katharine: Guess what?

Daddy: Thanksgiving is coming? (because I assume everything is a game)

Katharine: No.

Daddy: What? I give up.

Katharine: I had gym class today…

I pause because she claims that she doesn’t like gym and I am waiting for a complaint.

Katharine: …and we were playing with balls. I was doing really well.

Now a huge smile has taken over the already pretty large smile that always (well mostly) happens when I talk on the phone to the girls. Here I am, a fairly athletic man, the father of two beautiful girls who are great but have almost no interest in anything athletic. I am getting excited because she is expressing an interest in sports.

Daddy: Yeah. And. (the excitement filling my voice)

Katharine: And Mr. Mahon (her gym teacher) was playing music.

Daddy: Yeah. And. (the excitement building even more)

Katharine: ..and guess what music was playing?

Daddy: Ah. (pause) High School Musical? (thinking it was a good guess but deep down my spirits were deflating a little bit because I can’t figure out how this is going to end with a great story about her athletic prowess)

Katharine:. No. It was Bono. Mr. Mahon was playing U2 during gym class!

Daddy: Really?

That was not the big finish I was expecting but a big finish nonetheless.

Daddy: Did you recognize the songs?

Katharine: Yes.

Daddy: Did you sing along and brag to all your friends that you are the coolest girl in school because your dad Loooooves U2?

Katharine: No.

Daddy: Why not?

Katharine: I don’t know.

So there you have it. She may not have my passion for sports but she shares my ability to pick out a U2 song when it is on. I’ll take that.

Can you believe The Gazaleh Gazette is one year old today? When I look back at the last year and all of the hard hitting news coverage the Gazette has provided it seems like a lot longer than just one year.

I think my favorite post was Katharine learning to ride a bike. (November 11, 2006) I was really excited to have been able to post the video within minutes of it actually happening and share it with all of you.

Here are some other highlights:

‘Tis the season was another favorite. (December 6, 2006) Mary is hysterical in the video as she wants to watch what I am filming but gets so swept up in the song that she can’t help but sing.

Seeing Katharine and Mary dance with their Pop Pop at the wedding was quite a sight. (January 7, 2007) It is hard to believe that was a couple weeks removed from heart surgery.

I replay the posts on July 9, 2007 and August 20, 2007 in my head over and over. I have been known to embellish a bit but those posts were an exact account of what transpired and they still make me laugh.

Ah, who are we kidding. They are all highlights. I thought I would leave you with one more video to spring us into our sophomore year.

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For some reason, October flew by and Halloween went with it. I have also been in several stores which are completely decorated for Christmas. I guess November is just another month in the way of Christmas (sorry Susan, but the republic has spoken). Since it doesn’t seem to matter anymore, Sen. Richardson has included in his platform on his road to the White House that November should be eliminated and December should be 61 days. If he gets elected and the legislation passes, that means Susan will be forever 36 and in a few years we will all be saying, Thankswha? What is that. Katharine and Mary will have only celebrated a few Thanksgivings and the Lee Turkey farm will embark on a new ad campaign with Cows holding up signs to Et mowr Turke. That right there is one reason my candidate is Hilary Clinton. I don’t want that legislation to pass and that is coming from the man who rates turkey on the bottom of the list of things on a Thanksgiving table.

Hilary Clinton has been vocally opposed to the Onmibus Reconcilation Act to Rid the World of November 2008. The House narrowly passed the legislation and she is stalling the vote in the Senate until she is the President. Please support Hilary because a vote for Hilary is a vote for November.

If October flew by for you and Halloween went with it, then look at this picture and enjoy what October means to the girls.

There is one thing that puzzles me about the beach.  The sound of the waves crashing on the beach can be so soothing and relaxing yet they break with such force that you get tossed around with such violence.  All of us (except Mary) really enjoyed that waves this year.  We certainly respected their strength and power but also really enjoyed riding them in to shore.

Here is a great picture of Katharine in the water.  Isn’t she beautiful?

The vacation was a lot of fun, but with so many kids in the house it was hard to enforce all of our rules. Katharine and Mary were the first ones to bed every night. The next earliest bed time was around 10:30. That includes 2, 3, 6 and 7 year olds. I was astonished for two reasons. First, the kids were exhausted. Second, and more importantly, Amy and I can really relax after the girls are asleep. The other parents weren’t catching on. On Wednesday we went for a ride and found a small stand that offered hair braiding and tattoos. Mary wanted to be be like me so she decided on a tattoo. (and her hair wasn’t long enough for a braid). Katharine wanted some braids in her hair and I think she made the right choice. So now I have a mini Bo Derek and a Hells Angel for daughters.

On Tuesday, we decided to visit the Corolla Lighthouse. It was built in 1873 and Amy and I were excited to look at the view from the top. The girls were a little less excited. The half hour wait didn’t help. Matters only got worse when we told them they had to walk up. Katharine figured there was an elevator.

Let me see elevator! Survey Says. X.

Mary was counting on an escalator. Escalator! Survey Says. XX

The time spent in line was a bit long but there was some entertainment. A docent from the park service was offering interesting facts about the lighthouse through audience participation. The facts were so interesting in fact, that between Amy and I, neither one of us can remember even one tidbit.

We finally get to the front of the line and the kids are itching to walk in. Unfortunately the system is very structured and they only let in about 15 people in the lighthouse at a time. We finally get called and Katharine starts to climb. And climb. And climb. She didn’t stop until the top. Mary was quite a trooper too. She used those little legs and climbed up every one of the 217 steps with only a few short breaks.

The wind was blowing but the girls didn’t care. The view was nice despite it being overcast.

Well, we packed up the family truckster and headed out before 7. We didn’t get through the second light on Route 130 South before Mary yells, “I have to tinkle!” So we stop at the Dunkin Donuts and go in. I took the first round. Mary can be quite pleasant on the potty. She usually leans forward, tucks her elbows into her knees and comes up with some fodder for conversation. This was no different, except she didn’t really have to go.

I thought that would doom the trip, but the ride was not too bad. We did it in 8 hours and could have cut off a half hour easily except we had a few more false alarms with Mary and forced her to go a few more. Stubborn as stubborn can be, Mary, or Camel as she is now known, did not go the bathroom until we were five miles from the house and it was an emergency. We were sitting in some mild traffic and not even sure we could get in the house because it was before check in time.

By the time we found a bathroom, she had to tinkle and poop, and couldn’t walk. I carried her in and she sat down. Quite pleasant she was. The “ahhhhhhhh” she let out as the tinkles came out made me giggle but true to form, the poop was a false alarm. Crisis averted. Whew.

After chaos during the unpacking, we have settled in and are having a good time. The view is great. We saw dolphins riding the waves and pelicans catching dinner. Add these two and the view gets better.

It is no secret that Katharine and Mary love bubbles. Watching the fun they can have with a little soapy water and a stick really makes you wonder about all of the excess in our lives. It reminds me of when the girls were babies. We could buy them the most expensive (think any gift Michael bought them), most popular (think Tickle Me Elmo), loudest (think anything Aunt Betty bought them) or biggest (think Ricky’s gifts) and they would prefer the box that the toy came in to the toy itself.

When I look back over my 37 years and think of being carted around in the brown Monte Carlo with the tan vinyl top, no car seats to age 12, walking to school barefoot in the snow and uphill both ways, it reminds me of a simpler time. Ten channels on the television, twenty songs in my whole music library (all from the Beach Boys Endless Summer double album) and my sister was my best friend.

Susan and I would swing in the back yard singing “…We had joy, we had fun, we had seasons in the sun...,” and watch Sam run back and forth along the fence. Some of the lessons I learned then still affect my life. One that comes to mind is that people who talk to themselves are ugly (think Luke and Matt Zaleski). Thanks dad for that sound advice, I will carry it with me until the end of time. Good times. Good times. She has since replaced me with a list of best friends that would be the envy of every politician since John Quincy Adams (still her favorite president to this day). Some of our favorites in the list are Jen Doyle, Mary Beth (Elvis), Tammy and who could forget, bug eyes.

Sentimental journeys are fun but as Nacho Libre says “Do you remember that one time when everyone was shouting my name and I used my strength to rip my blouse?” No matter how hard you try, you just can’t stop progress. Well that is true for my Chanchos. They can take the simple act of blowing soapy water and make it better. Check it out.

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When you look at Katharine, you immediately think that her last name is appropriate. Those long legs resemble ones you would see on the Serengetti Plains in the African Savanna. Mary is quite different. She may not resemble one of the fastest and swiftest animals on the planet (yet!), but when she runs, she glides. Her arms pump and knees bend with such fluidity that I swear she could be FloJo’s twin sister.

The girls ran in their first race last night and made Amy and I so proud. Katharine stuck with her specialty, the 50 meter dash, and placed a fantastic 5th. Mary was a workhorse and ran the 25 meters, 50 meters and 100 meters. She wanted to run the half mile too, but as her coach I felt that we should wait for 2007 New Jersey Preschool State Championships in early September to showcase this new distance. Both girls will be training hard over the next three weeks to get ready for the states.

Here they are before the race:

He is a picture of Mary in action. She picked off the girl in the red and white and finished third overall. It was amazing to see her go.

photo courtesy of Katharine Gazaleh

Well they’re off. Mostly excitement filled the air as we drove to the airport for the girl’s first flight. I think the turning point came when they learned there would be a bathroom on the plane. That brought “really?” from Katharine and “Naaaahhhh” from Mary (with a tilt of the head). As soon as we convinced them that we were telling the truth, Mary broke into a song about an old lady who flushed her kids down the toilet and then flushed herself afterwards. At that moment, we knew Mary would be fine. Katharine was excited too and we were hopeful that it would continue.

Then it happened. (Keep in mind that I am viewing this from 20 feet away because of FAA regulations) While weaving through the maze to get through security, Mary “accidentally” tripped Katharine. I do think it was accidental but I am also putting quotes because with Mary, anything is possible. Katharine got up with an angry/sulk, as only she can do, and crossed her arms in frustration. I also figured the stomping that followed only meant bad news for Amy. Thank goodness for that crazy terrorist who tried to blow up a plane with a shoe bomb a few years ago. Having to take off her shoes and walk through a metal detector really seemed to unbunch her britches.

I will say that I saw the panic in Amy’s eyes once she realized she would have to get her shoes on, the girls shoes on, distribute the carry on bags, make sure she had the tickets and grab the hands of those two precious little girls all while looking at the long line of anxious and not very patient travellers behind her. Once that was resolved, I figured it would be smooth sailing.

And it was. Here is a picture of the girls right before they left.