Tuesday, July 22, 2008
It’s that time of year again. The time of year when we look around us and say, “Hey, I think we’ve lived here long enough. Let’s put all our stuff into boxes and move it to a new dwelling.” I suppose I should just be thankful we’re not living in yurts and drinking fermented goat milk (and people say my east Asian studies degree is useless!). But seriously, this will be our seventh {seventh!} move in six years of marriage. I am bone weary of doing the whole moving thing.
This time we’re moving to the town where our church and B’s office are. I’m glad we’re moving there because it will simplify life for us in so many ways. Our new place is about 3.5 miles from B’s office, and only a little farther from our church, which is going to save us a ton on gas. We were driving a half hour to and from church and/or B’s work. And now we’ll be closer to most of our church friends, and hopefully will be able to be more social.
The downside, however, may be the place we’re moving into. It’s a town home, which means a yard for Mia to play in, and it’s a really good size--both pluses. But we spent the weekend cleaning the place and moving some things over, and we discovered a handful of little (well, and one not-so-little) things that really make me question what kind of guy our land lord is. I’m still a little gun shy of private land lords vs. corporate ones (i.e. apartment complexes) after a really bad experience in Panama City, and this isn’t making me feel any better. First of all, I remember feeling a little leery when the guy showed us the place. He talked a lot and he spoke really fast. And sweated a lot. Granted, he’s on the hefty side, which could explain the sweat, but if my vast spy knowledge (gleaned from Alias, 24 and most recently, Get Smart) serves me correctly, all those things together = someone who has something to hide.
While showing us the very musty-smelling basement, which at that point in time had carpet pulled away from a wall that was being repainted, he assured us that the basement had no more moisture than a normal basement, and it only evidenced itself in the musty smell. A dehumidifier would do the trick, he said. Well, this weekend when we showed up to start moving in, the carpet had water-stains against the newly-painted wall and it was wet to the touch. Brilliant.
That was the not-so-little thing. The little things were a non-working shower head, the general dirtiness of the place (emphasized by toilets that were both mildewed and stained with human waste), and spiders EVERYWHERE. The place hasn’t been occupied in a couple years, we learned from an inside source (who was actually reluctant to tell us anything because s/he doesn’t get along with our land lord--wonderful news). And as I was scrubbing everything that could be scrubbed with copious amounts of bleach products, I wondered why a land lord would let a place that they were actively trying to sell and/or rent go so long with out having it cleaned? I mean, how hard is it to hire a maid service every couple months? Not hard! That is a giant pet peeve of mine: people who do not take care of their property and/or responsibilities. If our land lord is that kind of person, B better be the one doing the maintenance calls because I’m not very good at being diplomatic (ironic, considering I once had aspirations of working in an embassy—God sure knew what He was doing when He put the kabash on that one).
Hopefully, once the basement issue is taken care of, and the shower is fixed, the place will perk up just by virtue of being lived in once again. And hopefully the spiders will all find homes other than the room my sister will be living in (sorry, Moo--your room is one big spider-riddled cobweb right now, but I’m working on it! No quarter will be given to any eight-legged beast in there, I promise you). And hopefully the skunk living next to our garage will move on. Yes. Hopefully.
Wednesday, May 14, 2008
Last Friday before our weekend trip to Chattanooga, we got Mia’s hair cut for the first time. It seemed like a shame to do it; she was born with a full head of hair as a baby, and didn’t lose any of it like most babies do, so it was unusually long for a little girl her age--nearly to the middle of her back. But the tangles were becoming unmanageable, especially because her hair was constantly getting in her food, and on top of that, she never wanted to sit still long enough for me to comb her hair out and put it in pigtails (even though she looks SO stinkin’ cute with pigtails). The next concern in cutting her hair was, as I just mentioned, would she even sit still and not fidget long enough for the stylist to cut it? But Friday we’d had enough with the tangles, and the general unruliness of her hair. We bit the bullet and took her for her very first haircut.
As the stylist sprayed down her hair, displaying its full length, I felt a pang of uncertainty, but Bobby was there to instruct the stylist with confidence: “Take about five inches off. We want it to be about shoulder-length.” Mia did remarkably well. Bobby helped direct Mia to look down, or straight ahead as the stylist needed, while I snapped photos in the background (I’m sure the hairdresser was thinking that I was one of those moms, but I didn’t care). Mia fussed a little when it was time to blow-dry her hair; she still can’t stand loud motor sounds (vacuums, lawn mowers, blow driers, etc.). But once her hair was dry, no regrets remained. She is possibly the cutest little girl to ever wear a shoulder-length bob (besides me; I was adorable with a bob when I was little).
So here’s my layout of Mia’s first haircut:
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And here’s another one I did today of Mia and her friend Ashley chasing butterflies in the butterfly aviary at the Tennessee Aquarium:
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Tuesday, May 13, 2008
We went to Chattanooga this weekend with some friends from church (Joe and Faith) who have a daughter who is Mia’s age (Ashley). We thought it’d be fun to take the girls to the Tennessee Aquarium, and also planned to catch the Creative Discovery Museum, and we had an absolute blast. Not only were the aquarium and the discovery museum amazing, but we just really enjoyed the company of our new friends, and watching Ashley and Mia play together is always fun.
The aquarium was pretty phenomenal. I’ve always been fascinated with the ocean and all the unusual lifeforms that live there. The mysteries the oceans still hold, the creatures that live in its depths that we can only guess at, it all makes my imagination run wild. When I was a little girl, I used to dream of what it would be like to be a mermaid, to be able to breathe under water and swim deeper than people can go without technological aid. What would I see? What would I know that we land-dwellers would never believe? Standing in front of the glass walls of the enormous, multiple-story-high tanks teaming with tropical fish and sharks and other creatures of the deep, all that wondering came flooding back.
The girls really seemed to enjoy it, too, although it’s interesting what two-year-olds seem fascinated by. The sharks Mia was very unimpressed by, but when we came across a small tank of bluegills, Mia danced around in front of it, pointing and giggling at the small fish swimming lazily among the seaweed. There was also a butterfly aviary, and that was probably Mia’s favorite thing. Other little kids in the aviary would squeal and draw back when a butterfly fluttered close to them, but Mia chased them with great delight, even trying to capture them (and would have succeeded once or twice if I hadn’t intervened). She really has no fear (except of vacuums).
In closing, it was a jam-packed, fun-filled weekend. It was just really good to get away as a family, experience something special together, and have time to really enjoy each other. And it was nice to hang out with friends again. It seems like it’s been a long time since we’ve had people to just hang out with and joke around with, and it’s even better that our daughters seem to enjoy each other.
I will leave you with a photo of my favorite creature from the aquarium. Can you guess what it is? It’s a.........................sea turtle! C’mon, are you really surprised?
Wednesday, April 30, 2008
Last week was my first clue.
It was a little before 3 in the afternoon--last Thursday, I think--when Mia came running into the office to jabber something at me. I looked at the clock and told her, “Mia, it’s nap time. Go and get your blanky and your babies and put them in your bed.” She ran out of the room (presumably to get her blanky and babies), and I went back to finishing up what I was working on, which took me about ten minutes. When I got up to put Mia in bed, it was really quiet and I thought maybe she’d fallen asleep on the living room floor; she’s been doing that a lot lately. But I couldn’t find her in any of her usual hiding places out in the living room. So, I went into her room, and there she was, asleep in her crib! I couldn’t believe it--that she had put herself to bed, or that she had somehow managed to get into her crib without my help. Brief concern flashed through my head at that point, but I managed to tell myself that even if she could somehow get into her crib (probably by standing on her little scooter car), certainly she could not get out. Wrong.
Last night, we put Mia to bed, and ten minutes later, she was knocking on her bedroom door from the inside going, “Daddy! Daddy!” in her sing-song, come-play-with-me voice. Incredulous, we opened the door to find her, indeed, out of her crib. We told her to get back into her crib and stood there and watched--with our mouths hanging open--as she climbed up the stroller we had folded and propped up against the wall to one side of her crib. It was something akin to watching tight-rope walkers or trapeze artists at the circus. I removed the stroller (aka: escape accomplice) and put it in the closet, once again satisfied that surely now there was no way she could get out.
But this morning clinched it for me. After my morning devotions, I padded out to the office to check my email, tip-toeing past Mia’s room so she wouldn’t hear that I was awake just yet (because then she starts demanding, “Mommy! Get up! Get up!"--meaning that she wants to get up). I heard the usual morning sounds coming from her room: Mia chattering away to her babies, toys being tossed about (she pulls toys into bed with her from her toybox), and then all of a sudden I heard the thunk of her scooter car banging against the inside of her bedroom door. I ran to her door and opened it, and immediately she rushes past my legs, pushing her scooter car in front of her, without so much as a “Hi, Mommy!” Toys littered the floor of her bedroom as if she’d been up for quite some time playing. I admitted defeat.
It would appear that the end of the crib days is in sight. I suppose there’s not much to do now, except to get the toddler bed rails out of storage and convert her crib. *sigh* Crib days went by far too quickly.
Here’s a layout I did last night of my beautiful girl in a dress her Lolly gave her. Lolly apparently has impeccable taste in Mia clothes.
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Wednesday, April 23, 2008
Certain recent health revelations have led us to examine our eating habits, which, I am embarrassed but not surprised to say, are not good. We eat fast food waaaaaaaay too much, and any of you who have seen Super Size Me know that eating a lot of fast food can do really bad things to you (not to mention the toll it takes on your wallet). So, we have decided to try a two-week moratorium on fast food, just to see if we can do it. We don’t promise to never eat fast food again--that’s just unrealistic--but we are going to cut way back.
I’m also making an effort to start cooking healthier meals. Stop laughing. Yes, I hate cooking and, yes, I’m pretty bad at it, but we have to eat something. So my sister-in-law showed me this pretty great resource from (of all places) Meijer: they have a “healthy living advisor” who does a weekly menu, complete with recipes AND a shopping list, of fast and healthy meals! Perfect! Fast--so I don’t have to waste any more time than necessary in the kitchen, and usually fast also means pretty easy, and let’s face it: I need all the help I can get when it comes to cooking. Healthy--because I don’t think I would be able to come up with healthy stuff on my own, unless M&Ms and chocolate chips could be considered healthy (hey--chocolate chips have flour AND eggs in them!)! And it saves me from having to agonize over “what are we going to eat.” Coming up with menus is probably my least favorite thing about cooking. Anyways, this is my second week taking advantage of this, and I’m pretty pleased. I don’t follow the menu to a T--there are somethings that I just refuse to eat, I don’t care how healthy they are (like eggplant--right, Mom?). But it is certainly a huge step up from the way we’ve been doing dinner. And if you’re lucky enough to have Meijers near-by (we’re not), they put the items on each week’s shopping list on sale! Pretty sweet idea, Meijer. Good job!
