Dizzy

I have been all over the place, both literally and figuratively.  My summer has been one journey after another and I can’t even remember when the last full week was that I wasn’t going to be gone for at least a portion of it.  Not a week has gone by without there being a pile of “packing” that I am strategically working on for the up coming jaunt and not a week has gone by when I haven’t been doing the laundry, the mountains and mountains of laundry, that seem to come with being on a trip.  I haven’t gone grocery shopping for more than just the necessities since probably May and I think I have completely forgotten how.  And with this blog, it feels like I am playing catch-up from forever ago!  Part of me would like to just say, forget it, let’s just to right this very moment – not necessarily forget about the last few weeks, but maybe just relive it through the pictures I now have saved on my computer.  Besides, there is so much awesome stuff going on in my little world just now!

Our family, Chris and Shannie have relocated.  I refuse to say that they have moved because that would imply that I have accepted their decision to leave this little town of ours and take a job elsewhere.  I am currently in the stage of denial and I plan to stay here for quite some time.  I texted Shannon just Sunday and asked her if she would like to join me in doing a little browsing at one of our favorite stores, (let me just remind you that I am not going crazy, I am completely aware that she can no longer join me for such spur of the moment events as this, but sometimes the reality is too much to take all at once and you just need to ease into a little bit at a time.) I knew she wouldn’t be free – and that she was 3 hours away, so I gave her an out letting her know that I completely understood if she was preoccupied with getting her new classroom ready for school. She played along.  The charade of denial only works if everyone around you plays along.

So far, so good.

It’s going to be a little complicated when on the first day of school I take the camera out and ask the kids to go stand by Uncle Chris for a photo and “Uncle Chris” is now a woman named Mrs. Fry.

Anyway, all of this to say that when Uncle Chris and Aunt Shannie “relocated”, we accumulated several new things – one being most of their perishable groceries.  And their candy stash.  We have stashed most of that away with our own collection of goodies that we just can’t let go of but absolutely DO NOT want to eat.  I say most because there is one little can of almond roca that has somehow stayed out and friends it is incredible!  For just one tiny minute, it makes me want to recommend that you too find a friend with excellent taste is candy and suggest that they move away, leaving you with all their perishables.

Something else crazy exciting is that Brandon received a random little letter in the mail from a swanky dining establishment down the road praising him for his leadership in the community.  Now, don’t get me wrong, I am very proud of my husband and super thankful that he has a job and does it well – but I’m not really sure about this community leadership business.  I mean, we pay our taxes, keep our yard mowed and vote, but other than that…….Whatever, they also included a $100 “Citizenship Award” to be redeemed by in their restaurant by August 1.  I am typically on the vegetarian side and only when I am very stressed and anxious will you see me go for the beef – by I am highly considering going with some lobster…..just because.

Some other late breaking news, the kids are wearing the same size uniform shirt this year.  I haven’t broken the news to either one of them because I know it is going to be devastating to the older one and the younger one will not be able to keep from gloating.  When I do laundry, I will just have to make sure that I divide the shirts evenly and hope they don’t ever notice.  Mattie’s foot is still half a size bigger but I figure after Reese eats another good, solid meal – that difference ought to be evened out, too.

I was going through all the uniforms that have been put into the “Great Uniform Buy Back and Sale” pile and at the bottom of a box I found a huge baggie full of “Box Tops”.  I don’t know if you readers are all familiar with Box Tops, but they are worth ten cents each when turned in by a school and at our school, the classrooms all compete to see how can turn in the most each month.  There was a good 30 of them and by kids went absolutely crazy when they saw them.  For a minute, Mattie was actually shaking a little.  It was very reminiscent of when we showered Reese with money this summer for his birthday – more on that another time.

We are also getting the oil changed in the car today and Mattie had a doctor’s appointment this morning concerning a weird thing on her toe.  Now you are pretty much all caught up on what’s going on in the present and we can take a few more postings to visit what all you have missed.

The Ocean Is Calling

If I could just write these posts telepathically, this would be so much easier!  I wouldn’t get so behind and I wouldn’t forget anything because I could just store it away as soon as it happened.  But until that day comes, I am having to rely on my own memory and the little photo story I have stored away on my phone.  We headed out on a Monday for our week at the beach.  I felt like my previous trip to California had taught me a thing or two about packing (finally) and this time I only packed the kids bathing suits and a few changes of clothes.  By a few I really mean only about 3, I could have probably been a little more generous with the underwear, but we survived.  Living on the edge is good for you every now and then.

Mumsey and Poppy rented a minivan again and this one had a tv and dvd player in it.  It also had XM radio which meant we had the pleasure of either listening to whatever the kids were watching or Willie’s Roadhouse ALL THE WAY TO FLORIDA!  We truly are the luckiest people.  Once again, Brandon would be staying back at home to man the fort and save the world one brain at a time, and this meant I would be texting him every few hours to let him know what his family was up to.  On that first day, I mainly sent him pictures of our bathroom stops:

When the opportunity comes to take a potty break at Talladega, we take it

And look at that, Atlanta has a track, too!

They also have a gift shop should you ever just be passing by.

When you are vacationing near Daytona and planning many of your trip’s activities around a certain racing event, it only seems right to stop at all the Speedways along the way. Surprisingly, we made it to our resort in pretty decent time and crazy enough, we had the exact same unit as the year before.  And crazier still, everything looked exactly as we had left it.  Usually when you visit somewhere after some time has passed, you can pick out things that are different, even if it’s just the landscaping, but not at the Legacy Vacation Club. We arrived in the night just as we had 365 days ago and once again, here we were with not a pine needle out-of-place.

My parents gave my children and I the master suite and it felt weird.  My parents have always had the master suite……because they are the parents.  I felt wrong taking it, guilty maybe, perhaps a little dirty?  I don’t know, but it wasn’t until mom came in to sleep with Mattie and I and Reese moved in with Poppy did I start to feel a little bit better.  I do not really like this whole growing up thing and I can tell you right now I am not comfortable for a minute with the whole role reversal thing that comes with time and age and parents and children.  I should probably be taking on more responsibility, being a grown up now and the one with all the children.  But when we vacation with my parents, I still feel like they are the ones in charge and I like it that way.

The first day of our little trip, the kids immediately wanted to go to the pool.  Again, nothing had changed there either, except that the boy I brought with me was a little swimmin’ fool this year instead of the scaredy cat that wore his floaties and clung to the edge.  No offense to floatie wearers or those who like to stick to the wall, but it was a bit of a nuisance last year with Reese because technically he could swim.  After just the right amount of time for me to burn the front half of my body, we decided it was time to head to the beach.

The ocean was calling and we are a people who must answer.

We also had Reese’s class pets, Herman and Barcelona, and per the request of his teacher we were going to release them back into the wild. * They had traveled with us in a Glad, plastic leftover container, being carefully tended to by Mattie.  She had faithfully wet their sponge at every rest stop and was now beginning to have a mild anxiety attack because we didn’t have any food for them and they were probably on the verge of starvation.  It was a beautiful, late afternoon setting.  We held them in their box one last little time, said a little prayer that their Creator would provide for them and keep them safe and thanking Him and them for their ministry in the kindergarten classroom.  And then we wished them well and sent them off.

Probably not the best traveling conditions, but they didn’t complain

Herman and Barcelona – after their long journey in a Glad Wear container

After prayer and thanking them for their service, they were free

Would you believe I choked up a little?

Good-bye friends, Memphis will miss you!

Nudging his friend to go ahead and move along

Watching one of the crabs makes his way along the rocks

You should, because that is a very Kaylee thing for me to have done.  It was a little disturbing and also funny that no matter how many times I tried to put them back together, those two little hermit crabs were bound and determined to go their own ways.  They obviously weren’t as fond of one another as we may have thought all this time and it appeared that they would rather die then stay together one second longer.  I purposefully tried to get the kids to go off and somewhere else after we set the crabs free because I really had no idea where they would go or what was going to happen.  Though it seemed a harmless enough task, releasing the hermit crabs, with our luck I could easily see something horrific happening.

Instead, Reese went “Shelling” with Poppy and Mumsey, Lila played in the sand –  making cupcakes and doing hand stands while I taught Mattie how to boogie board.

“Making Hand Stands”

Posing at the beach. Yes, my girls wear bows to the beach….why wouldn’t they?

Though she is ten, and right at the cusp of letting little girl fantasies go and falling headfirst into preteen life, for this moment she still openly wishes she was a mermaid.

Same suit, same girl, same beach as almost an exact year ago

My girlie

Then Mumsey and Reese brought back this little treasure:

This little fella didn’t help in my efforts to get Reese to actually get in the water

All interest in crabs was completely out the window as we now had evidence that Jaws was lurking nearby…..or at least his mother.  I’m not going to lie, while this little guy was absolutely fascinating….he also terrified me.  At this point, there had been about 8 shark attacks reported off the coast of North and South Carolina this summer and finding the off spring, though he was dead, of such an animal just seemed to be a bad omen.  Or at least a warning sign.  Where there are baby sharks, there are mama sharks and where there are mama sharks, there are probably daddy sharks, as well.

When given the opportunity to check out a shark’s teeth, he definitely took it

The one sister who actually pays attention and somewhat respects him….somewhat

It now seemed like a good time to pack up our things and head back. A pretty gold star day for our first 24 hours in Florida.  I think I can definitely list as one of my skills, Beach Lady.  I learned my skills from my mama and I think I am doing a pretty bang up job passing them on to my own kids.

Hey, Mama tried.

*I realize there PETA might not agree with the releasing of hermit crabs at just any old beachy environment.  Fact is, there is probably a community of people who are not only against hermit crabs as pets in general, but especially with just setting them free without knowing which exact species of crab they are, what crab illnesses they may have been exposed to, and if there is an ample supply of possible shell homes and colony mates to make life more pleasant.  We did not research these details.  But before I get any hate mail, I would like to just say that we were trying to do the most good.  These little creatures had been lovely little pets to a group of 11 kindergarteners and seemed to have enjoyed their life.  But the kids were moving to First Grade and the teacher to Nashville, so it was either the beaches of Palm Coast or a backyard in Midtown Memphis.  The beach seemed like the best option.  They were loved and then they were prayed over and we fully believe that if God provides shelter for the birds each night, He would keep His eye out for those two little crabs.

Coming and Going and Going Again

For a bit there I was doing so well!  For a bit there, I was on vacation again.  Yes, during the summer months we like to take our happiness and merriment to as many places, people, coasts as possible.  That is me being a bit sarcastic.  Actually, in the summer months when we all 3 of my children are at home, there is often a lot of arguing and yelling.  Even when they are happy with one another, they are very loud.  I find it best to not stay in one place for too long because those around me might start complaining.  So the kids and I like to take on a nomadic-type lifestyle from mid May until early August.  While I was filling y’all  in on our fun in California, we were actually enjoying the delights of the Sunshine State with Mumsey and Poppy.

And then we came home.

There was laundry….so, so much laundry and the ironing I haven’t even touched yet.  That’s not true, I got out the ironing board and even picked up 10 items from the stack and laid them out on the couch….as though I was preparing to iron.  But then two days went by and nothing had happened so Brandon put the ironing board back and I figured the iron may as well get put away too.

The middle child turned 7….that will have to be a whole other post.

And we are in the middle of a bit of a renovation here in our home.  When we were shopping for a new house, I was not sold on the one I am currently living in…..and paying for.  This house has many fine qualities, features that I am proud of and it definitely is nothing to be ashamed of.  But it had some very serious red flags to me.  The most crimson of the all being the upstairs “kids” bathroom.  I have no photos to show you of this room because I hate everything about it.  This house is not new, many things have been redone and touched up over its lifetime, but somehow that bathroom had been ignored for the last forever.  Well, that’s not true.  Somewhere along the line someone had felt that it needed a little something and had painted over the wall paper so that now there were these weird seems in an otherwise flat wall.  The tiling in the shower had also been painted over and now it had become a game for my kids to peel the walls while they bathed.  The toilet dripped this bloody rust and the tile, well the tile just needed to go and looked worse and worse every time I looked at it.  There is really no need for photos because I have painted something so graphic and horrible in your brain that a real image might just put you over the edge.

This renovation on our house began the Monday morning that the kids and I left town.  It was not to be just a little “Let’s replace the counter tops and maybe paint the walls” kind of renovation.  It was a bring on the power tools that you probably need a permit for and take it down to the studs” kind of renovation.  The kind that creates heaps like this outside and makes wives cringe just a little when they get the texts:

Everything seemed to be going great with the little bathroom project, no real hiccups, no big glitches where they have to call us up and tell us that something else needs replaced and it’s going to cost $1,000.

But then I got home.

Suddenly this cool and easy renovation, something that was almost boring because it was going so perfectly turned into a flaming red pit of disaster.  That might be a little extreme and I might be speaking a bit dramatically, but around Wednesday last week I thought I was going to pull my hair out.  We don’t need to go into details, who needs details, but there may have been an issue with the sealant used to adhere the new counter top to the wall and this issue may have involved the sealant coming out all over the walls and the countertops and me taking it upon myself to peel off the sealant thus removing about an inch of paint and portions of drywall.  In my defense, if I could do it in a matter of 10 minutes, my children would have done it in 5 and the whole wall would have come down.  Honestly, I shouldn’t have even been allowed in that bathroom until it was completely finished anyway.  I’m blaming Brandon for letting me see it prematurely.  He should know better by now, no matter how much I beg, no matter how I say that it’s no big deal if it still looks a little rough and there are kinks to be worked out – it’s cool, it’s never cool.  Our painter has been back about 3 times since I think he thought he was done.

I still hate that bathroom, but now for different reasons and I feel like it’s mocking me.

So I have been busy.  Life and laundry and the realization that no paint job is ever perfect and the dust from sanding down cabinets and walls will never, ever leave your house has kept me away from my computer.

And now we are getting ready to leave again.  We had a birthday party with a bounce house this past weekend  – which means there was a ridiculous amount of noise and so it’s definitely time to get out of Dodge again.  Also, for like the 3rd time in a month, the power went out all over the neighborhood except for our house and our neighbors right beside us.  This makes me nervous when we are some of the only ones with power, like the other neighbors will get upset and attack.  Honestly, I don’t really fear any of my fellow neighbors and haven’t heard of any sort of uprisings happening here in the past, but it gets awfully hot here and hours without air conditioning can drive a person to do crazy things.  They don’t realize that my house could run for years on the energy emitting from my children, even in their sleep.

We will be heading off to camp meeting, which if you are curious as to what all that means, now is a great time to go back into the past and read up on our adventures last year in July.  We are hoping to not repeat ANY of them.  We are also hoping to be old pros this time and not repeat some of our rookie mistakes.  Somehow, I think that it is inevitable that we will make just as many mistakes and there will be a whole slew of misadventures to share.  But for now, I am going to stay positive…..and possibly in denial.

Fancy Feeling and the Sea

Those blackout shades are really remarkable! When Brandon pulled them back Friday morning, Ang and I felt like vampires – our retinas melting from the morning sun. Our goal was to get out of the hotel by 11:00, A) Because we wanted to get an earlier start to our day and be productive and 2) Because the parking garage would be on lock-down at 11 when Mr. President arrived. I did mention that the president would be spending the day at our hotel, right? I keep thinking that I did, but it’s possible that not all my thoughts actually make it to this blog…..thank goodness! We left our room a little after 10, stood in line for coffee with two mayors from Georgia and New Jersey, then skipped out of the garage amongst a flurry of police, metal barriers, and a sprinkling of protestors…….we felt very fancy driving to our day in Napa.

No kiddos, fixed hair, lunch plans and police standing guard as you exit the building……how can you not feel just a little bit special with a set up like that?

We visited the construction site of Ang’s new house, dodging nails and power tools in our little sandals. Ate lunch at Giugni’s where I picked up some Giugni Juice for my husband. When we were roommates in college, Ang used to always have a bottle of Giugni Juice in the fridge and if you were really lucky, she just might share a little. We strolled down the streets of St. Helena and then headed out to a little pocket of outlets to do some shopping.

Giugni Juice!!!!

I think the only store we actually purchased anything from though was the Marshall’s across the street.

Our level of fancy probably dropped a few points there.

Oh wait, we did find a few things at a little children’s store. Kind of a out of place experience, our sales guy had tattoo sleeves and a really large nose ring. I am not knocking ink or piercings at all, but those mixed with the fact that the guy working there seemd about our age and just not the personality you would find making a career at Hartstrings Children’s Store. And then when Ang asked how much a pair of unmarked jammies were and he offered to make her a deal….we had to suppress our giggles a bit.

We had a yummy little dinner and then headed back to the city where we were greeted at a crosswalk by a man with horns….actual ram horns attached to his skull.

The perfect end to our fancy day.

Ang was sweet enough to spend another night with us and then let us catch a ride with her on her way back to Pasadena. She dropped us off at a little gas station in the middle of nowhere with a pretend Old West Town adjacent to it. We said our good-byes and promised to see each other again sooner than later then Brandon and I settled in for the last leg of our journey, this time with Grandad as our driver.

The rest of our stay in California was spent with Nana and Grandad doing all those special things that can only be done on the Central Coast with Nana and Grandad. My children only wore real clothes for bed, the rest of the time was spent in their swim suits. We took some family pictures, spent a beach day with the cousins and of course, went for our annual visit to the Shell Shop.

The boy

Sand castles in hoodies

Nana and her big brother Uncle Jake

Besties

She should have been born with a mermaid tail!

Fun games my husband likes to play, “Hey Mattie, I’ll give you $5 if you go out in the ocean for a full 30 seconds, up to your waist.” Keep in mind this is the pacific ocean and its about 45 degrees…..and for $5, she did.

Mattie getting a high-5 after her brave sea cicle.

This child cannot be bought and did not enter the ocean

The Grandad and the sea…..notice I didn’t say The Old Man and the Sea? I could have, but I didn’t. wink wink

This picture means so much to me, even in his motherland, on his own turf, he still wears our team. Go Grizz!

This boy, I look forward to my annual dose of Conversations with Cole and Reese every summer…and Lila is smitten with him, too

California Cousins, minus two special little people.

Comparing the shell value

“I want this one!” She said about even single shell

Strolling

This boy took forever, but it was a math lesson and I think he was very satisfied with how far he stretched his $5…down to the last cent…..this is the child I hope takes me in when I am elderly.

As always, our trip was over far before we were ready for it to be and as always, the flight home never goes as smoothly as the journey out there. We missed Nana and Grandad before we were even gone. My heart felt about 100lbs heavier as we had just finished saying our good-byes, turned to go up the escalator and Mattie had to run back for one last kiss from Nana.

See you soon Nana!

This is how we do airports, dress hiked up, head phones on and Strawberry Shortcake cranked up high

One of these days we are just going to have to kidnap them and bring them home with us.  Next time……

Alone and Some Wax Time

My first day alone in months, years really. I started if off by sleeping most of the morning away. I have no idea when Brandon left for his first meetings and thanks to the blackout curtains, I had no concept of time. I woke up thinking maybe I had been captured…..but because I was well rested, I was okay with that. I took my time moseying around and decided that my plan for the day would be doing a little shopping. I had seen a darling California pillow in a little boutique the day before on our way out of Ghirardelli Square and had decided that it had to come home with us. We live in the heart of the Delta, the song of the south and I love it. The south is home to me and I love that my children have little drawls and think that tea is supposed to be sweet – but I also love a man and his family that hail from the left side of the United States, so I have tried to take the opportunity to snatch up any little relics I find that might remind him of home. And that pillow definitely fit my criteria.

I greeted the Secret Service that were now outnumbering us regular guests in the hotel lobby and set out for Fisherman’s Wharf…..on foot. I realize that there are buses, trolleys, taxis and even Uber that would have taken me far more quickly to my destination. But because I have no skills in public transportation and am incredibly intimidated by trying to learn any, I decided that foot would be the ideal method of travel. Three miles is no big deal at all – plus maybe this would help me to limit my shopping, I could only buy what I could carry. I laced up my running shoes, shoved my little purse up under my jacket so the rest of the city would think I was just out for a little exercise and made a mental note to not call my mother and tell her what I was doing until after I had arrived at the square.

To end your suspense, I made it safely and relatively easily to the wharf, but friends, those famous “hills” in San Fransisco are no joke. Technically, my running app said 3 miles, but I’m pretty sure that even the little voice that speaks to me and keeps track of where we are going was worn out after we got there.

I bought my pillow and then considered taking a little nap right there in the middle of Ghirardelli Square.

My new pillow looks darling on this wooden, public bench

So my feet and I took a little rest

I hoofed it back to our hotel, but not without documenting some of my hill friends so that my husband could thoroughly appreciate the journey I had made that day.

Going up

These people are waved to me as I was trekking up the street….so I took their picture and sang in my head, “Rice a Roni, the San Francisco Treat!”

Going down

Brandon suggested that maybe I treat myself to a little spa day, get a massage…..not thank you husband.

I refuled with a brownie and a cherry Coke, because that’s what all top athletes eat and then headed back out for some more shopping.

When in San Francisco, it is only right that one visit the Gap

Some of my little souvenirs, super cute retro postcards….look for these in my bathroom soon.

Once the Hubby was done with his meetings for the day, we went out for a lovely meal of Chinese food (we took a taxi there because Brandon didn’t feel like running and I had finally showered for the day) and then my he treated me to a little treat that has been on my bucket list for quite some time. We were coming up on our 13^th anniversary and nothing says I love you quite like Madam Tussaud’s Wax Museum. I know, I know, your jealous aren’t you. Husbands all over America are hanging their heads in shame because they didn’t think of it first.

I have always had a thing for Morgan Freeman and have kinda wished he could be part of my family somehow.

Sweet, Brandon and Betty

This is now the wallpaper for my phone, you should make it yours too.

A lifetime dream come true

Mattie is a huge Gabby Douglas fan, so I tickled her fake toes for my girl

See everyone, we told you the president was coming to our hotel with all the mayors!

I am not proud of my crime, but it is the truth…..the sign behind me showing that I am about 5’7 is not the truth

This creeped me out…..alot.

But we had the best time. Well, until Steve Jobs scared the jeebies out of me. Brandon had to use the rest room and I had situated myself in the room to wait for him. I took count of who all was in there with me, Abraham Lincoln, George Washington and Rosa Parks was smiling gently right next to me. I realize that these figures are not real, but they look extremely life-like and you kind of need to prepare yourself when standing next to them. Sometimes, talking to them and reminding them that you know they are fake helps to ease the tension….or anxiety. But then I felt it, eyes seering into the back of my head. I was not alone.

I turned around expecting to see some other museum goers, but instead there was this:

Scary, Scary Steve!

I screamed.

And my husband did not come rushing out of the restroom to save me.

Our evening ended with a very quiet cab ride home in which I entertained myself with trying to figure the meter out. The fare wouldn’t move for blocks and then all of a sudden it would skip up almost a dollar. It was very random but again, as I explained earlier, I am not an expert on other forms of transportation other than my family vehicle and my own two feet. When we finally arrived at our hotel, $10.57 cents later, I was thrilled to find my dear Angela waiting for us.

We sat up chatting, in the dark, on our little love seat with a 43^rd floor view of the city streaming out in front of us.   It was lovely and a perfect end to a fun day.

P.S. – I think my kids had a blast at Nana and Grandad’s, too. Way more fun then they would have had scouting out and about for 11 miles with their mother. I don’t have many details but I know their day involved eating pizza while lounging in a boat floating in the pool. I could be wrong, but I don’t think life gets much better than that when you are 10 and 6 and 3.