Good Day Today

I held my first crop in the new house last night and it was a nice, relaxing crop. There were three ladies that came - two new folks - and they all seemed to enjoy the scrapping time. It's been tough getting a foothold on business here in VA, but that's because I'm still not plugged into the right circles. I'm getting closer though - taking steps to build a solid business. So, this first crop at the new place was free (had to change the date because of the move so I thought I'd make it a free one) but in the future I'll charge. Anyway, it was a good time and I actually semi-completed four pages. I say semi because I only had a few things out of boxes. The rest will be completed when my supplies escape those boxes.

The big news of the day is that I bought PAINT for my office. Yeah, it's a rental but Tom really liked the idea of painting my office - mostly because it's little stuff like this that makes me happy. He's such a good guy (not saying that to be mean honey) - he's always looking out for that which makes me happy. Anyway, brought home some paint chips and I was heading towards my standard blues palate and mentioned the purple. He offered his opinion and I ran with an actual purple! It is called Palace Purple and the number is 630D-6 in case you're near the paint section in a Home Depot soon. So, tomorrow I paint! I'll get some before and after pics so you can get a feel of the room. Right now it's just a bunch of boxes and some assorted stuff that has escaped and not much else. The room feels like it's packed to the gills (and it's 13x15 or so, so that's a real task!) but in reality everything will have a nice neat home to fit into. I have a cabinet for paper arriving on the 10th or so, but in the meanwhile I can get the rest of the stuff up before then. Paper is so difficult to put on a shelf as it needs to be on a shelf deeper than most bookcases. But, we found a good solution at IKEA. Originally I was going to get these Expedit shelves, but they are only 13" on the inside and that's just not big enough to hold my paper holders. So, we roamed around and found these things:













They are stackable up to four high, so I got four of them. The best part is that they are very deep. They are 17" deep, so nothing will hang off the front, and nothing will slip so far back that I can't see it. They are about 16" tall and 33.5" wide, so they four of them stacked up will make a nice bookshelf for all my paper. Also, Tom saw these wheels and in his phase of "everything is better on wheels," we got the base that has big casters on it. Still honestly not sure why he wants to wheel around this big heavy bookshelf of paper, but he insists it's so I can change my mind and he can move it more easily. Think we've done this before in my office? No, not me...

Anyway, I'll get the room painted, get the shelves in and put together and then I'll get the "after" picture. Give me a few weeks to get settled in there. I simply must make use of those wheels on the cabinet after it's completely loaded down with paper to watch Tom squirm...

Whew!

O.K. In a nutshell, here's what's happened over the past few weeks (and after reading this you'll understand completely why I've been MIA...):

We pack a bajillion boxes (really almost 200)
Tom and I take the boys to see the Monster Jam in DC
Patti and Henry come to help us move
Max plays several indoor soccer games ona team that has some female ringers (they win their games by a huge margin)
The old cranky diabetic cat runs out the door the night before the move and is not immediately found
Winter finally comes to VA, the day of our move
The movers load us into our new house
We start the tedious process of unpacking
We hit IKEA several times for that sort of nice but not expensive furniture
The cat is found under the neighbors' deck five days after escaping with an attitude adjustment
It snows on the way back from IKEA and as we're picking up the escapee cat it takes us almost an hour and a half to drive four miles
I was a vendor at a Crop for a Cure Event, which raises about $2700 (I sold about $500 worth of products)
Sam decides he wants to pee and poop in the potty for real - still working on this one
Tom gets a PS3
Max attends a birthday party (and discovers that they have Chuck E Cheese in VA too...sigh...)
I narrowly avoids going insane. Oh wait - that's still under discussion. There's no place for me to run and hide here yet. My office is still in boxes and we have no TV's on the first floor. That needs to be remedied quickly...

Anyway, we're in the new place, done with the old place, and are looking forward to the fight with the old landlord about the deposit. There's just something about a good legal battle that gets one's blood pumping. Fortunately for us the new landlord has a clue as to how to be a landlord. He even called to check in after a week or so and has been very responsive to us thus far. What a difference a clue can make...

So, I'll have lots of pics here in a few more days, I promise. Here's one from the old house right before we moved. A picture really is worth a thousand words, especially with these three. I need to get through a crop here at the house tomorrow night (yeah, poor planning on my part) then dig out my office a bit. Hopefully I can get a bit more settled before I need my scrapping stuff (in about two weeks) so I don't go tearing open random boxes and creating an even bigger mess.

Coming Down to the Wire

So the boxes are starting to fill up the open spaces in the old house as I start to fill up the boxes. The cabinets and closets are slowly starting to be free of stuff, as are the drawers and hampers (yes, I'm finally catching up on some laundry that I've been putting off...) . It is a quick move, but the stuff int he boxes will be inaccessible for a week or so, so every box begs the question -What can I put in here that I won't need for the next two weeks or so? Fortunately we have lots of stuff that falls into that category (which them begs the questions of whether we need it at all, but that's Tom's questions and that's why I pack while he's at work!). So, the boxes are slowly filling up the empty spaces and things are progressing.

Found out something exciting today. Well, exciting for me isn't like I won the lottery or found a long lost friend or anything. We have trash pick up at the new place TWO times per week! At both of our houses in Texas and our current house we have one day a week trash pick up. Growing up we had two day a week, so I assumed that was the norm, but guess not. I signed up for a company that does two day a week, plus recycling on a third day (and in the Spring and Summer yard waste on yet another day). So, basically any day of the week you can drive by our house and see trash out front. Hmmm...that doesn't sound so appealing now. Anyway, imagine a family of five plus two cats trying to fit into one of those big garbage cans each week. Tom is a creative packer, but we grew out of the single can years ago and have adopted a second can. Where we are now that's fine, irritating that trash has to sit for a whole week, but we have dealt with it. Now, we get TWO days, and so we'll be able to get rid of all of our trash each week! Very exciting for me!

Also, I found out yesterday that Max's bus to his current school won't take an hour to get there. Max is in a very cool school - he's in a Spanish partial immersion program and loves it. We are moving outside the boundaries of the school but because he's in this special magnet program he can stay at the school as long as he's in the county. Don't know if you realize this, but Fairfax County is huge. It encompasses 395 square miles, which is about 253,000 acres of land. We are at the far eastern side of this, so getting across the county takes a long, long time. So, while it's not tough tot stay within the boundaries of the county to keep Max at the school, we were worried that the bus would take forever to get to the school. Yes, they bus the magnet kids to school as well as the neighborhood kids. They bus them from Vienna, McLean, and Fairfax. They come from 10, 15, 20 miles away (around here it takes a long time to get anywhere, so it's more like driving in Houston's rush hour for most of the day!). Tom and I assumed that the bus would either run out there in the morning, and Max would have to get on at like 7am, or that it would go out in the afternoon, and he'd get home after 4:30 or so. Well, the new bus picks him up at the local elementary five minutes after the bus picks him up now. In the afternoon, the bus will drop him off at 3:45, which is well after the bus should arrive, but for some reason never does (His current bus gets him home - generally late - between 3:45 and 4 almost every day). So, we were thrilled to hear this. He can ride the bus to and from school and not spend hours on it, and we don't need to drive him all the way in to school either! Another good piece of news about the new place.

So, the time ticks away and there are still boxes to pack. We have movers coming on Wednesday to move all the boxes and furniture, so I need to continue on my quest to find things to put into boxes. The kitchen, the boys rooms, my clothes and assorted stuff, and the media room are mostly packed. After today's rounds of laundry I'll get the kids clothes all packed up as well as Tom's clothes. Then, my office is about half done, so that needs to be finished up as well. On Tuesday we hope to disassemble furniture so that the movers don't have to do it on Wednesday. We are right on schedule to do this, and so we are in great shape.

Newspaper Delivery

Yes, I ask my little man go out in his daddy's slippers to get the morning paper...thanks Max...

Isn't He Cute?

Isn't it sweet that Tom curls up and falls asleep with his Acoustics book? Say it with me - Awwwwwwww....

Boxes

And so it begins. We are planning on moving in the next two weeks or so (weather permitting) and the boxes are slowly taking over the house. It's a very different thing to prepare for a move a few miles away than across the country - it is a whole lot easier. The packing and unpacking is going quickly and we will end up with a bunch of boxes that are the same size and shape that all stack neatly on top of each other. We are already piling these boxes up in corners, against the railing, and in the garage. We are going to hire folks to load and unload boxes as well as move the big pieces of furniture. Hopefully we can be moved over in a day. For now we just have packing on the list.

There's some sort of emotional high for me when I pop open that nice new box and fill it with my stuff. It that first time I use a box, the first time I write on it that for some unknown reason makes me smile. Who knows why...I dig these new boxes.

We're calling movers tomorrow to arrange the rest of the move as well as getting all of our utilities set up. Shouldn't be too hard, but it's amazing how many of these utilities don't have online connections and disconnections available. That would make life so much easier. Anyway, we're slowly but surely making progress. It's a low stress move for us thus far and we want it to stay that way. I'll keep you posted on how it goes, but we are in great shape - about 1/2 packed up so far and are making rapid progress!

Balance

Balance. That is what 2007 is all about for me. Balance in life, in play, in work, in everything. Ali Edwards (a scrapbooking inspiration for me - if you aren't familiar wither her work you should really check it out here) wrote on her blog that we need to choose a word that represents what we want for ourselves in 2007. So, I chose balance. 2006 was such a wacky year from start to finish, and in all aspects of my life. It seemed at points as if it was all or nothing, extreme highs and lows. I am choosing to create more balance in my life in 2007 in any are that I can affect directly.

I will play more
I will go out on more dates with my hubby
I will watch less TV
I will scrapbook at least a bit every day
I will play more board games with the kids
I will take better care of my aging body
I will spend more afternoons and weekends outside
I will watch my business take off
I will not let the laundry get the best of me
I will skateboard often
I will continue to exercise three times a week
I will see more current movies in the theater
I will enjoy my family

My balance will come naturally and without and stress or fussing. My balance will be evident throughout my life. You will see me smiling more, more comfortable in my own body, and more relaxed. 2007 will be a banner year for me.

Happy New Year!

So after ending 2006 with a bang (great Xmas visit from Baba, great New Year's visit from Dr. Auntie Ray, FSU AND UT winning their bowl games) it is time for the year in review. This 2006 year really took our family for a spin. We had some high highs and some very low lows. We laughed, we cried, but we always kept our heads high and looked toward the future. The kids grew some, Tom and I grew some (yeah, we need to fix that part...), the kids learned bunches, my brain leaked out of my head (you hang around with three little guys all day and see how much of your mental capacity you retain!), and I started blogging. So, it's only natural at this point that I take a look back at 2006. It is definitely a year that we won't forget.

January
Got my cool new glasses
Ian and Sam were evaluated for a speech delay
I take Ian, Sam, and Baba to see the Monster Jam in San Antonio (Max was sick so Tom stayed home)
We began preparing to move to VA
I got to go to the SPA!

February
Tom and I took the boys to see Elmo perform
Ian starts school for his speech delay - at Mason Elementary (Rode the bus and everything)
Grandma Sybil passes away
A week later Grandpa Kermit passes away (He commented to me at her funeral that he was just waiting for her to go first so he didn't leave her here alone - he died a few days later)
My first trip to NY for a funeral
Ian and Sam had a great Birthday Party at the Little Gym

March
My second trip to NY for a funeral
Continue getting the house ready to sell
We get packed up and MOVE to VA over Spring Break
We live in a hotel through the end of the month
Find a house and sign a lease and all the things that accompany that
Max starts at a new school


April
Our cats finally arrive in DC
I discover the local MOMS Club and the National Zoo
Max starts U-6 Arlington soccer
Ian and Sam start Smart Start soccer
I find a new gym
Head back to NY one more time to help Dad and Aunt Gail clear out the Grandparent's house
We unpack boxes, and more boxes, and then a few more boxes
(pretty slow month here...)

May
Ian starts speech with Shannon
Matt B.'s Car arrives as does Matt B. (old college friend)
I hit the gym hard and fast (actually quite slowly - it's been a while since I've worked out with a personal trainer and he pulled out all the stops in causing me great muscle pain)
Again, nothing much this month - oh, we keep finding more boxes


June
Mom was diagnosed with an aggressive brain tumor June 2 - we find out while out on a date - something we rarely do
I headed to SA immediately
The little boys see their first movie in a theater - CARS!
I work at a scrapbook convention here in Chantilly, VA
Tom heads to IL for his grandma's memorial service


July






We take the boys to SA for a last visit with Mimi - it was s wonderful time for everyone

We get to ride on Tom's boss's boat - the boys love it
Sam is evaluated for a speech delay
Both vans break down within a week of each other and cost us an arm and a leg
Another trip for me to see Mom
Mom passes away July 26
I head back to SA to be with Dad

August

Dad comes to VA to visit join us at Max's birthday party

Max has a cool 6th birthday with family and friends (Yes, we gave the three year olds golf clubs...HEY - it was putt-putt!)
I take the boys to Totally Trucks in Reston (all the big work trucks were there!)
Peapod starts bringing us food!!! (they deliver groceries)
Tom heads to Univ. of Washington for several days
Max gets stung by his first hornet and we all learn what a Giant European Hornet is (and see their very cool hives look like)

We all head to San Francisco for Moms' Memorial Luncheon
Beth and Sami arrive in DC (Matt's wife and daughter) - we hang out a bunch with them while they are here



September
I do my first demo at a scrapbook store
We all head to San Antonio for Mom's memorial luncheon
Max starts First Grade
Ian potty trains himself (with a little help from mom and dad)
Max starts Arlington U-6 soccer again
Ian and Sam start Smart Start Soccer again
Our landlord threatens to evict us (long & quite funny story will come very soon)

October
Dr. Auntie Ray comes to visit
Max cuts his head open by bouncing on the bed - gets staples
Sam starts speech with Shannon
Ian and Sam go to the dentist for the first time
Kate come to visit (Tom's friend from HS)
Ian and Sam start Turbo Tumbling at the gym
I hold my first local crop
Baba comes to DC for Halloween - dresses up with the kids
Tom, the boys and I hit the Boo at the Zoo - VERY COOL!

November
Tom goes to Providence for the day
Aunt Sue comes to visit
I take the little boys to see Banjo Man in DC (they have more fun on the Metro and don't care about the show at all!)
I do my first Scrapbook Demo at a major craft store
Have Thanksgiving Dinner here with the Matt, Beth, and Sami
Took Max to the Dr. for a smashed hand (he caught his hand in the van door on the way to the Reston holiday Parade) - X-rays show that it is fine - squished, but fine
Go to a Tiny Tots Concert at a local HS with Beth and Sami - kids and the moms love it

December
We sneak off to Disney World on a whim (found $54 one way tickets from here to there - couldn't pass it up)
Ian gets sick at Disney
The rest of us catch it when we get home
We start looking for a new place to live and find it - signing the lease towards the end of the month
Tom, Ian, Sam and I attend Matt's graduation from the Dept of State Diplomatic Security Training - he heads off with Beth and Sami to New Jersey (working in NY)
Dad comes to visit
Dr. Auntie Ray comes to visit
Max starts U-6 Indoor Soccer (talk about a fun thing to watch!)






And here we are! So, I sit here at 12:30 am on the end of the first day of 2007 wondering what it has in store for us. (Actually I'm watching a GREAT football game - Boise State and OK - just went into overtime or I'd be in bed already!) We are ready and looking forward to the new year.

Here's what I know will happen next year:
We'll move into a new house.
Max will go from First Grade to Second Grade.
Ian and Sam will start Preschool.
Tom's commute will go from 12 minutes to about 25 minutes (yeah, not so fun).
We'll head to California to visit and celebrate.
We'll hit Disney World again (go Southwest!).
We'll enjoy watching the kids grow and learn.
I will continue blogging and sharing our adventures.
Welcome 2007!

P.S. - I finally got all the pics loaded up, so here it is for real! Enjoy 2007! -Suzie

What a GAME!

If you read my last blog entry, you know that I was up late last night. What you might not know is that I am a HUGE football fan (I'm sure you've seen the FSU/UT posts here and there) and that I was watching football with Tom. We are in the middle of bowl season with a new game every day, sometimes two or three...four...five. I digress. Last night Tom and I watched a fantastic game that kept us up late. In the end, David slew Goliath, as he always seems to do in those stories. Growing up in Texas I was bred to hate Oklahoma (although that's a strong word - I consider it more of a strong dislike) - not the state, not the people, but the school there - OU. So it's only natural to root for whomever they are playing (same thing for the Florida schools when FSU has a bad year - we're rooting for all KINDS of Florida schools this year.

So last night OU was playing in a bowl game against what everyone is calling the Cinderella team Boise State. Who knew that there was even a football player int he state, let alone a bunch that could put together a winning program, a winning season, and a winning game against the #7 team in the country. Did I mention that Boise State was ranked #9? Well, they play in the WAC conference, so one would assume that this team, after playing all those middle school girls teams out there in the west would have a good record. What you don't know (because no one thought much of them at any point along the way this year) is that they are good. Not just win the WAC and have a perfect record good, but beat OU good. They put together a solid game, stopped OU at every turn, and even pulled a trick play at the end of the first overtime to beat the Sooners. They chose to take the risk and win the game rather than force a second overtime.

Tom said with 1:42 left in the game "Oh, this is the game." He was wrong - OU scored and Boise marched right back down the field and scored as well. Then he was in knots. FSU does this to you on their so-so years - you know the feeling. It starts with a pit in your stomach then rolls into a tight ball, followed by a huge knot. The relief only comes after the loss. But last night there was no loss - a trick play and some solid football work from a bunch of guys whom no one else wants won the Fiesta Bowl for the Broncos. As it is reported, the two teams combined for 22 points in the final 86 seconds. Talk about knots in your stomach for everyone. Led by a quarterback who went to therapy to boost his confidence (and speaks about it openly), and supported by a team without an automatic bid for a BCS game, the Broncos made a statement last night. Unfortunately this is the first time they have yelled loudly and while they believe they deserve a shot at the National Championship after going 13-0 this season and then beating a team that was a strong favorite (from a "strong" conference), not sure who will hear them yell. They are no Ohio State, Florida, or even Michigan or USC, but they certainly have brought themselves into the mix. Next season folks will wonder what Boise State is up to. They will watch the games and pick their players for their Fantasy Football teams. The kids on the team have the right attitude as well - all they are saying is that they deserve a look, a chance for the National Title. They most likely won't the title itself, but they will have folks talking, and that's all they are asking for. What a game...

Noles Strike Again!

	vs
FSU 44, UCLA 27 December 27th, 5pm pst. ESPN

CAN YOU BELIEVE IT????!!! The Noles finally showed up for a game this season (unfortunately it's the last one)! GO NOLES!!!

What a GREAT holiday!

O.K. This really rambles, but it truly represents the laid back kind of holiday we had here. What a cool holiday we had. Dad was in town and we had a blast. One day we hopped on the metro and headed over to see the National Christmas Tree right in front of the White House. It was tall, very tall, but it wasn't too crowded there so we got to get up close. There was no one on the Metro and not very many people downtown. There were also little trains running all around the tree, and there were trees from each state decorated by folks in that state. We hung out there on Christmas Eve Day, which was a good decision as it rained on Christmas Day all day.

We had decorated our tree at home with a garland of scrapbook paper that the boys (and our good friend Sami) helped me loop around and make. I wasn't quite into the whole holiday thing when we put up the tree initially, but I had to decorate the tree somehow nand this is what I settled on. The tree already has lights, but I wasn't excited about having to drag out all of the decorations only to pack them up a few days later. I'm all about having the Christmas tree up in February, but we're moving in January, so that was out of the question. But, as it grew closer and I started wrapping presents, I definitely got into the spirit of Christmas. We had a nice relaxing Xmas and it will definitely rank up there on the good holiday scale.

We opened stockings on Christmas Eve as we always do, then Dad let us sleep in on Christmas morning (gotta love Baba for that!!!). The boys were very patient - cranked up, but patient. We finally dragged out of bed and headed upstairs and started opening presents. We all wear Christmas Hats and the kids hand out presents (now that they can all almost read the names!). The boys had a great time, as did Baba, Tom, and I.

Here are some assorted pics of the day. Hope your was as good as ours!

Tom attempting to tear into a gift

Each of the boys picked out a game for Daddy.


My new SKATEBOARD! Tom got me one that I had to put together so I could learn a bit more about it! Watch out - here' I come (all decked out in wrist, elbow, and knee guards of course...and some bruises and scrapes, or which I am already the proud owner!)


The Callanens gave us this COOL game - Hullabaloo (from the Cranium folks). The boys LOVED it, and everyone was playing.

Ian playing Santa


Sam was so careful at first opening gifts. That was until he realized that everyone else was done
and he was only half way through!


Sam and Ian studying their new Dora Game Boy game.


Phipps men never do read the instructions...unless they can't get their Transformer to transform.


Trash Man Max


Ahhh...Game Boys...


Baba enjoying his new toy


And last but certainly not least - my new slippers! These are sooooo cool. They are comfy and stuffed full, and warm. You can get them at www.buyhappyfeet.com I think I'll get a few more pairs...Happy Holidays!

Africam

I found the coolest thing ever... One of the IRW Instructors posted a link on our message board to a web cam in Africa. It is just about the coolest thing ever. I'm not behind the times - I've seen many many live web cams. But I've never seen a live animal web cam where you weren't guaranteed any action (it's not like htose at teh zoo where they are pointed right at the animals in their cage - you have to "catch" them on the screen). This one has cool sounds and centers around a watering hole in Africa. As I type this it is pitch black and nothing is on the screen (aside from the pond itself and the stuff around it which you can see in night mode), but you catch it at the right time and there are all kinds of animals. I've heard, but not seen, all kinds of birds and bugs. There are zebras, wildebeests, some kind of antelope type things, baboons, and these cool stork type birds (who knows - maybe an Ibis?). There's someone operating a remote because periodically it zooms in on some unaware animal or group of animals. Anyway, go check it out - it is fun to see and the kids like looking at the animals too (although of all the folks in the house I think it's the coolest!).

www.africam.com

Smiles

First off, I'm messing with my template, so this puppy will look a little different as I figure this whole blog template thing out. I really wish I had the Matrix trick where I could download the knowledge right into my brain and I'd know it. But since I don't, I get stuck with these not so cool blog templates on my way to the ULTIMATE template. Enough geeking out for now - blog might be different or I might just leave it back at that first pink blog if I get mad at it.

So, the second day of house hunting was much shorter. I went with Jennifer (our realtor) and the three boys on Friday after school to the first of three houses and knew right away that it would definitely work for us. It's a beautiful house nestled in a nice area amongst **cough, cough, sputter sputter** a few million dollar homes and right across the street from a TWO million dollar home. As Tom pointed out last night - "Yeah, uh, can I borrow some sugar? " He he he...anyway. There are some more reasonably priced homes (well, if you think that $500,000 to $900,000 is reasonable) nearby as well, and ours falls into that category - asking price was $800,000. We're renting of course, so it is MUCH less than that - WHEW! The house itself is a nice big house that has three levels - two stories and a basement that is fully finished for about 3/4 of the footprint of the house Rest of it is the laundry area and storage place). It has 4 bedrooms and 3 baths, plus this big basement space, this monster deck - and one of the coolest parts - a MUDROOM. Who knew that a girl born and raised in Texas would get so excited over a mudroom? Well, it's happened - I am certainly excited. It also has a two car garage plus a bunch of extra space for your stuff. We are definitely folks with stuff, so that's a super double bonus for us. The house sits on almost an acre, so we have a great big old back yard. Unfortunately it is right on a busy street. But, while we were inside we didn't hear any road noise. Also, since the property is so big you can play out back and there's no concern about the ball rolling into the street. Well, there is a basketball hoop out front, but not sure how you can play out there unless you are a big kid or a grown up. The driveway is set up such that you don't have to back out onto said busy street, and there's also room for four or more cars plus the two in the garage, so people can park there easily when they come visit.

Max can stay in the same school that he's in because he's in a magnet program, but he'll either have to hitch a ride with Dad on his way to work or catch the bus to school from the local elementary. Not sure how long that ride is, but we'll get that all figured out in due time. For now I'm just so excited to be getting out from under this landlord who doesn't have a clue. We'll sign the lease in the next day or two and then hopefully get the keys and such on Jan. 15.

The best part of all this is that Tom, in his infinite nerdiness, has decided that it would be "cool" if he rented the place sight unseen, How's that for pressure? No, really, no pressure - I'm just so excited about it and he hasn't even seen the place! Anyway, he'll see it before we move in, but he's being a dork and doesn't want to see it before he signs the lease. Doesn't even want to drive by it. What a goofball.

Oh. Maybe that isn't the best part. According to Tom, the address is the best part of this house (remember that he hasn't seen it yet, so it's not like he's swinging for the outfield with this one) is the name of the street. Initially I had seen this house but had ruled it out because of the name (well, that and the distance but come to find out it isn't really that far). I told Tom that we'd never live on a street with this name, but once again I find myself in that position of being utterly and completely wrong. We are moving onto...don't laugh too hard..Hummer Rd. Yes, Hummer Rd. ...sigh... That's enough house stuff. I'll get some better pics up as soon as I get then scanned in or as soon as I take a few myself.

So Sam decided that he'd wear underwear over the weekend. Daddy apparently has that effect on the kiddos. He (Sam, not Tom) was wearing the underwear just fine and has had a few accidents, but is starting to pee in the potty - and we count that as a BIG score. We were out for about three hours today, and aside from hitting the head three times in Target, he did a pretty good job. Baby steps I keep telling myself, and Tom keeps reminding me. One day all the boys in this house will wear underwear. Can't imagine, but I went out WITHOUT a diaper bag today. How bold of me to do this when we are not quite out of diapers. I did take a spare pair of underwear and shorts (yes, it was 70 degrees here today), and yes, we did need them in the end (after Target of course), but no, it wasn't a disaster without the bag. It's been six years with a diaper bag (current bag only about two years, but who's counting just how many bags I've gone through???!!!). What an odd concept.

That's all for now. We had a good day, which was a nice thing. Good days are coming more and more often lately. Seems like the turmoil of the summer has settled and things are slowly getting back to normal, whatever that might be in our new adventure we call living in Virginia. The boys are causing all kinds of trouble, the grass is growing, and the sun is shining. Perfect day if you ask me.

House Hunting Day 1

Saw four (actually five) places today. Four were on the list and the fifth we saw a sign and ducked in.

Place #1 - a beautiful townhome. Four bedrooms, modern, raised ceiling, two car garage and plenty of space (bigger than our house in Texas!) but no lawn or place for the kiddos to play. It was also FOUR STORIES. At least two and possibly three flights of stairs up to the bedroom - just hope that you don't break a leg while living there. In general very nice - still under consideration.

Place #2 - T/H right near place #1. Big problem - backs up to a fire station - you can see the trucks pulling out from the back windows. VERY LOUD sirens, and nice, but not quite what we want.


Place #3 - a house that sits on some land. Very nice farmhouse style. First on my list, but a bit more than what we are willing to pay. Turns out that the owner is a realtor who owns a bunch of rentals (like 500 or something crazy like that) and won't budge on the price. Plus, he charges more for cats. No go on this one.

Place #4 - another house that was kind of weird. House itself is beautiful but the layout is strange. Three BR right next to each other and a HUGE basement with another BR type space. Lots of room, right near a school, and great lawn for kiddos to play in. On a semi cul-de-sac, so not a lot of traffic. Weird things were that there was a pedestal sink in one of the bedrooms (not the master), and that the island in the kitchen was crooked and partially blocked the egress from the kitchen. Odd. Landlord won't budge on the price as it was just listed and the folks before were paying more than what it is currently listed for, and it's more than we want to pay.

Place #5 - a house around the corner from #4 that is for sale. BEAUTIFUL house. Owners inherited it from deceased parent. Big open picture windows up front and beautiful wood floors. The basement is the same size as the house, and the house is a good size. Basement fully carpeted and finished - very nice. Not sure if Tom would go for the big open windows, but it is open to what would be a formal living room and the kids play space, which gets cleaned up each night. So, very lovely house. Owners might have a contract on it, but if not they want least want to wait until the spring to rent it as things pick up around here in the spring. Bummer. Very nice house.

So, we're off today to look at #6-8. He he he...one is on Hummer Rd., and Tom voted for that one sight unseen. One has ugly blue shutters and the third is on a weird plot of land who knows where. Hopefully one of these will work out. If not, then we might just hit up the first townhouse and park it there. Like I said, it's a very nice house, and I'd be all over it if there was a yard or a place to play and ride bikes, or if it didn't have FOUR stories. Maybe we'll end up there and I'll have the most beautiful legs on the planet...I'll keep you posted.

They dug through my undies AGAIN...

Who knows what the TSA is seeing in my luggage when they scan it, but for the SECOND time in the past four months they opened it up and searched it. Problem is, they searched the luggage full of DIRTY CLOTHES that we wore for four days at Disney. We were ripe after a day at the park, as were our clothes, so I can only imagine their faces when they opened up our luggage. Then again it can't be the worst they've seen...

Very Random Thoughts

Today was one of those hang around the house in your PJ's kind of days. I love those days when you drag out of bed and never quite get going. It's wasn't for a lack of energy or a lack of ambition, we just had nothing pressing today, and our wonderful children (called this today because of how they behaved...) let us sleep in. We all just hung out and did basically nothing today.

Well, I guess one thing I did do was call a realtor. I met her when I visited the open house of a property that I refer to as "The House I Lust After." They have been trying to sell this place (around the corner from here but in Lake Barcroft - so they have lake access) since last March. She took over the sales contract in September and dropped the price down and had an open house. Me being the nosy neighbor stopped in. It was a beautiful house. I cam home and told Tom that he shouldn't let me go to things like this as it only causes trouble. Anyway, we weren't looking at buying and they weren't renting. Then, a month or so ago, to my amazement and complete glee, they put it up for rent. The House I Lust After was available - out of our range - but all things are negotiable in this market. Now all we needed to do was to get our landlord to figure out if he was going to make the repairs (long story that will come later) or let us out of our lease. So, he agreed to release us from our lease. When we got back into town last week I immediately checked on The House and it was under contract. I am crushed, but I'll get over it. It was a beautiful house though.

Anyway, called the realtor after hunting up some places around here that I'd like to see. Hopefully she will find some others and we will start our hunt. We need to move quickly as we need to be out of here by Jan 31., but we have time to look and be picky. As one friend said, "It's where you live and eat and sleep - of course you need to be picky." Hopefully won't be too tough in this market.

So I'm not in the Christmas spirit this year yet. Weird as I usually have all of my decorations up before this time. Matter of fact I'm usually driving Tom nuts about the decorations by this time. I'm sure he doesn't mind, but I'm just not quite in the spirit yet. Hopefully something will snap and I'll get those Thanksgiving clings and door decorations down and get that tree and all the rest of the Xmas and Hanukkah stuff up. I at least need to get the tree up. That would be so uncool to NOT have a Christmas Tree this year. Maybe I'll get the tree up and then get the boys to make stuff and we'll decorate it that way. For some reason getting the tree up seems like a daunting task. Not sure why. I'll keep you posted on what happens.

I wish everyone who has a blog would update it regularly. Not daily necessarily, but on a regular basis. I have one friend who has pics from Halloween sitting on the last post that she wrote. I'd LOVE to hear more about her exploits and that of the newest addition to the family, but man, nothing. Also, there are some bloggers who I have come to really enjoy reading - mostly because of their wit and obvious enjoyment of writing. Occasionally they take a lot of time between posts and it's almost like an addiction. I feel a longing when they don't post and want them to hurry up and write something more. I wonder if you can get addicted to reading blogs. I guess it isn't all that bad since I don't get to read as many books as I used to. It's not as stimulating intellectually, but it's reading. Aside from the newspaper and it's daily delivery I rarely read anything above a First Grade level. Blogs are escapist for me. So please, if you do have your own blog, keep up with it. I can't wait to read the next installment.

On this topic, I love seeing pictures with blogs, so I'll toss a few this way. I have lots more Disney pics, but here are a few that I'll share now. The important piece of info that you need to know is that my kids LOVE the Power Rangers. They dressed up as Rangers for Halloween, and watch an episode almost every day. They are not picky about their Power Rangers - they love them all (did you know there were like 13 different incarnations of Power Rangers? We are currently on the Mystic Force set!) Anyway, we were at breakfast at MGM and saw that the Rangers along with the Cars characters were going to be out there just as we were finishing up breakfast. So, we headed out to the back of the park and hit pay dirt (or so I thoughts). Max was stoked - ran right up and started posing for pics. Ian on the other hand was mortified and wouldn't leave Grammy's arms. He kept asking to go home. Poor guy was surrounded by Rangers wanting to play and he wanted to run and hide! Sam, on the other hand, found his hood and did try to hide. The Pink Ranger managed to coax a small grin out of him, but he too wanted nothing to do with them. Guess seeing them in real life is waaaaay different than watching them on TV. Gotta keep that in mind for the next time. Hopefully they will be as excited as Max was! (And too bad I didn't get a pic of the back end of the Red Ranger. He had some very nice assets if you catch my drift.) Enjoy!

Max's Power Pose

Sam's Hiding Spot

Ian and his three Power Rangers

Mom...

It's been almost five months now since my mom passed away and I have yet to share her obituary here. Not quite sure why the oversight, probably nothing special, but I thought I'd share it now. While it's tough to really sum up someone's life I think this does a pretty decent job of conveying the person that mom was. She was a strong woman who excelled at surviving, and it was something from way out in left field that got her in the end. Glioblastoma. What an odd smallish sounding word for this killer tumor. A brain tumor. Who knew that something so far off from all that she had wrong with her would end her life. She was a fantastic person and I'm crushed that I didn't have more time with her nor do my DH or the kids, but there's also a peace that I feel in her death. I guess it's those years of "training" that she has given me in dealing with death and dying, in realizing that life not only has a beginning but an end, and that we do not get to choose when that end comes about. It's also that understanding that life is not about what we are missing out on, but who we are and what we choose to make of the life we have.

So, here's the obituary to read. Enjoy the fact that you knew her if you did, but don't mourn her loss, for she is dancing wherever she is now.

Joan A. Meltz Born in Newark, New Jersey on Sep. 21, 1946 Died Jul. 26, 2006 and resided in San Antonio, TX.

Joan DeVaney Meltz, a 35-year resident of San Antonio, died peacefully in her home on July 26, 2006. She was 59 years old. Joan was a wonderful wife, mother, grandmother, sister, and friend. Joan was born in Newark, New Jersey on September 21, 1946. She married Martin L. Meltz in Golden Gate Park, San Francisco, on August 7, 1970. She earned a B.A. degree from Our Lady of the Lake University in Speech and Hearing Disorders in May, 1974, and earned a M.A. degree in Counseling Psychology from Trinity University in December, 1978. She worked as a psychotherapist and counselor, both part-time at the Ecumenical Center for Religion and Health, and in private practice. She was preceded in death by her parents, John DeVaney and Grace McLaughlin DeVaney. Joan is survived by her husband of thirty-five years, Marty; daughter, Suzie and her husband Tom, precious grandsons Max, Ian and Sam; sister and brother-in-law, Ann DeVaney and David Sonneborn; niece, Kristin Becker and her husband, Michael Henninger and their child Oscar Beckinger; nephew, Erik Becker and his wife, Michelle Nord; sister, Suzanne DeVaney; brother and sister-in-law, Hugh and wife, Norma Solena DeVaney and their children, Melissa DeVaney, Ana Sofia DeVaney and Alan DeVaney; sister-in-law and brother-in-law, Gail Rubman, Lewis Rubman and their son, Aaron Rubman. To know Joan was to know a caring, loving, and accepting woman. Everyone who met her genuinely adored her. Joan was a strong woman who demonstrated her strength through her struggle with her chronic illness, always managing to remain upbeat and joyful while showing a true zest for life. Joan was rarely without opinion on political issues, and actively supported causes related to women’s issues, separation of church and state, and quality education. She was a staunch supporter of peace, and was intolerant of violence. Her beautiful soul will live on forever in everyone who knew her. Joan’s ashes will be distributed in the Pacific Ocean near the Golden Gate Bridge. A celebration of her life will be held for family and close friends in Sausalito, California, and another in San Antonio in September for her many friends and family here.

You can see it here and leave a note if you like: Mom's Obituary

cold children and an odd request...

As I was tucking in the kids tonight I realized that their little fingers were freezing cold and that their rooms were a bit colder than the rest of the house. The temp is set to 72 degrees, but our downstairs master rarely gets above 65 unless we have the space heater on. I can't imagine what their rooms are - quite chilly. Anyway, I started piling blankets on them and was wondering if this is the right solution. For years I never quite understood the function of the comforter. I always thought it was nice cover for the bed once it was made. Guess it really does serve a purpose after all - it keeps one's toes from freezing over night. Maybe I need to dig out those comforters for the two little guys so they can un-bury themselves from those 8 or so blankets that they do have (from their family though - I tell them the blankets are giving them Grammy hugs, Mimi hugs, Cousin Kris hugs, etc.). Need to study more about this - still haven't mastered the cold weather gear - and it's about 22 degrees outside right now.

O.K. cold children covered, I received an odd request, sort of. The newspaper guy stuck an envelope in our paper a day or two ago, with an envelope with his return address on it and a Happy Holidays card in there. All printed out on labels, nothing handwritten, and I have no idea who this person is. I've never had any interaction with my newspaper delivery person other than getting my paper every day, and I'm not honestly sure if I should be offended about getting this in the paper. I think that it is odd for a service person to ask for a holiday gift directly. I have no business relationship with him, I tend not to tip folks extra for the holidays, and I have never made cookies for the mail carrier or the newspaper delivery person. Does this mean that if I don't give him a tip that my newspaper will end up on the roof, in the middle of the street, or on top of the car? Does he expect a tip for good service? I'm already paying for delivery of the paper, and generally you tip for service above and beyond. It's like rewarding your kids for behaving at the store - we don't because we expect it of them. No clue what the local etiquette is here though. That might be the kicker. If folks around here tip all their service providers, then this might be par for the course. I just think it's a bit odd to be so forward as to ask for a holiday gift from a customer.