Wednesday, March 25, 2009

Music expresses that which cannot be said and on which it is impossible to be silent. --Victor Hugo

I rarely watch American Idol. Usually the auditions are enough for me and I already know who is going to be in the top 3. But I happened to catch it tonight and I'm glad I did because they were covering Motown hits. And it got me in the mood for some oldies. Also, Smokey Robinson was on there too. I love that man.

Those who know me well, know that I can sing old country and old R&B songs like nobody's business. The reason? As a kid, we took a lot of road trips and before the wonder of individual CD players, and waaaaay before mp3 players, we had to listen to the tape (yes, I said tape) player. And who was in control of those dials? You guessed it, Mom and Dad. And what did they like? Country and oldies. And they had tapes like "Greatest Hits of..." and "Best Country Hits". So, after 4 hours minimum of these tapes, I had a strong grasp of every word of every song. And I loved them...but I don't know if I ever really admitted that to them.

Saturday, March 21, 2009

“Like all great travellers, I have seen more than I remember, and remember more than I have seen.”--Benjamin Disraeli

I have not liked moving since I was 15. I have moved about 15 times in my life. Sometimes to new towns, sometimes to new houses, and sometimes back to previous ones. I was born in Alamogordo, NM. We moved to Spain when I was almost 2, then TX less than a year later, then to Clovis, NM when I was 4. We stayed in Clovis for 10 years and then moved back to my mom's hometown in NM when I was 15. I hated it. I had planned to graduate with all the people I had started kindergarten with, but didn't.

At 16, I moved to TX to live with my sister and moved back to NM less than a year later. After marrying H, we lived in one house for 2 years and then another for 2 more. At 23, H and I, with the kids, moved to UT and have been here for 5 1/2 years. Within that time, we have lived in 3 different places. And now, we are moving again. We've been in this house for 3 years, the longest we've lived in one house since we married ten years ago. The kids have been in their school for 4 years, the longest they've been in the same school.

So, to say that leaving will be hard is an understatement. But I am looking toward our trip as a great adventure. A sojourn that few people with three kids get to take. A flight of fancy, if you will. Ok, that may be taking it a bit far. But it will definitely be an adventure in that it will be something very different and far away from all we know.

I am tackling the packing with a renewed vigor and am making some headway. I am getting tired, but at least the sealed boxes are multiplying and the stuff in each room is diminishing. We will visit some family in Idaho for the first few days of April and then we will set out on our trip to NC. We are giving ourselves a full week to get there and we will have a long weekend to settle in before H has to start work and the kids start school.

The trip will be from UT to Cheyenne, WY. Cheyenne to Lincoln, NE where we will stay with some cousins. Lincoln to St. Louis where we hope to sight-see a bit. St. Louis to Louisville where we will stay with some friends. Louisville to Charlotte. And then Charlotte to Raleigh. It will be a long trip and I have no delusions that it will be easy. One trailer, two cars, three kids, a dog and over 2,000 miles. Not the easiest of equations.

In the meantime, I must finish packing this week. I also have a baby shower to help with, a potluck, a bbq and many goodbyes. It's going to be a busy week. I will try to post again, but if I don't, you know why.

Sunday, March 15, 2009

Life's a garden. Dig it!

Corny, but "Joe Dirt" is funny. I bought it for H a couple of weeks ago because we've seen it so many times and I figured we should have it. Another movie I like is "Sahara". Not because it's a great movie, or even because Matthew McC could melt the buttons on the remote. No, I love the soundtrack. Songs like "We're an American Band" and "Sweet Home Alabama" make me wanna rock out.

Moving on...I had a pretty successful yard sale yesterday. We still have some extra stuff to get rid of, but definitely less than before. Having a yard sale isn't as fun as it was before. It's hard to keep an eye out for yard-salers when I'm trying to play with, feed, and put Little Man to sleep. The kids helped a lot though.

So, we're about T-minus 3 weeks from heading to North Carolina. We finally got to look up what apartments we'll be staying in and they are really nice and brand-spanking new. We'll be getting a 3 bed, 2 bath and it also has washer/dryer hookups. Anyone that has had to haul laundry for 5 people back and forth to a laundry room knows how much it sucks and how great it is to have the hookups. The complex also has a theater room, a volleyball court, a workout room, and a dog park. I'm looking forward to seeing it. I'm really glad that we'll be able to take the dog. I can't imagine how lonely it would be without her.

Today was a nice slow Sunday. After church, the kids and I hung out while H was at work. Later, we headed to the park and fed the ducks and geese. Tiny had brought her basketball and, of course, managed to bounce it in the lake. Thankfully, the lake is mostly drained right now, but it still landed in a good-sized amount of water. Mister and I were trying to figure out how to get it out and noticed that it was not stuck and was floating. So, he and I started throwing large rocks behind it and created enough ripples to move it where we wanted it to go. It took a while and I still had to step one foot in the water before the ball floated into a drain, but we saved it. The things we do for our kiddos. It was fun though, trying to figure something out and working with Mister to get it. I've got some smart kids. And finally, that elementary science came in handy. Now, if only the math was useful...joking.



sahara

Thursday, March 05, 2009

Green, the color of hunger.

Nothing new to convey. Just living day to day. Sorry, didn't mean to rhyme. Little Man is closer to crawling. He's doing a kind of crawl scoot. He also said his first deliberate word. We were in bed the other morning and he looked at H and said, "Dada, dada." He is also saying "nananana". I think he is saying "nononono" because I have been saying that to him lately when he is getting into something he shouldn't.

Speaking of that, I was holding him in the kitchen a couple of days ago and while I was washing a bowl, he got his little hands on a glass full of water. It fell to the floor and shattered. We've all been on a roll lately with breaking plates, bowls, and cups. So, I decided that with little hands on the loose, we would need more durable dishes. So, I am chucking all of our plates, bowls and cups and I bought new ones from Target. They are all plastic (melamine, polypropylene, whatever). They are also a great green color. The plates look a lot like this pic and the cups are these same ones, only the ones I bought are green, not brown. The bowls are also the same green. I also only bought five of each thing. That way, it will be easier to keep up with the dishes and everyone can be responsible for washing and taking care of one each. It will also make for lighter packing when we head to NC.












The packing is going very slow. I am only packing a little at a time. I am hoping that it will all add up to enough when the time to leave closes in. But, that is all I can do somedays while having to watch Little Man. I am also weeding out stuff we don't need and selling it online. I sold two lamps and a coffeepot today, my pool cue last week, and the kids' dirt bike. A few things gone, a million more to go.

Us LonDolls are planning a baby shower for Liz. I'm really looking forward to it. I hope she gets everything she needs. I hate that I won't be here for her when she has her baby, but you can bet that kids is going to be seriously spoiled when I get back.

Well, if you don't hear from me for a while...look for me under a pile of boxes and masking tape. But don't wake me. I'm tired.