Thanksgiving

We went back to Virginia for Thanksgiving. It was a really good trip seeing family and friends. In fact, it was such a good trip I found myself a little wistful that we'd left it all behind. It was sort of like that first Thanksgiving home after going off to college. Sure, I liked school a lot and sure I had new friends, but nothing quite compared yet to everything I had at home. Plus, it was so fun seeing everyone at home again when it was all a big party and lots of interesting stories to catch up on. I even went into the office one day and caught up with everyone there. Lots of good, exciting personal news happening in the office that I was happy to hear about, too.

All that said, I was happy to get home yesterday and sleep in my own bed knowing the kids would (more or less) sleep in their own beds. The kids shared a room at Margareta's, which worked fine until about day three or four when Meg realized 1) she could get out, 2) she could smack her brother around and 3) she could roam upstairs to where we were sleeping. The guest bed is plenty big and comfy for two, not so much for three, including one who sleeps perpendicular.

We are now actively making plans to host all of Bjorn's family here for Christmas 2011. Bjorn and I are thrilled at the thought of having everyone stay with us here. This gives us a year to stock up on furniture and air mattresses for the kids and think of things for everyone to do, besides the customary eating and drinking lots.

Here are the kids (and their ginormous Pillow Pets TM with Fafa at Dulles Airport.

Meg and Andy (he's the blur of stripes) using Jennifer as a horse. She was thrilled. Obviously.

Margareta and Willie -- family friends for more than 40 years. Isn't that cool?

The kids and Fafa working a puzzle.

Auntie Viv and Andy.

Andy and his BFF Liam (and our BFFs Jenny and Sean). It was so fun seeing them and drinking their fine wine and beer.

Some of the C-spot girls (women?) at a friend's birthday party. They are just awesome.



Potty training = epic fail

Meg had been doing so well on the potty training front. She was ready. Then she did it! My girl went from diapers to panties and didn't look back.

Except. Well, now she's totally looked back.

So during the week, she doesn't mostly well at school. But once she's home with me, no amount of prodding, bribing or "racing" to the toilet seem to make a difference. Andy has become a champ at fake-racing where he tries to motivate her to go by challenging her to a, "Who's first? I'm going to beat you!" race. But even that has lost it's appeal. As a result, she has ruined about a half dozen pairs of girls panties (actually, they may not have been ruined, but I was not in the mind to do the scrubbing necessary to save a $.50 pair of girl's underwear). It's gotten so bad I practically have her in diapers or a pull-up most of the time at home because I was tired of cleaning up the carpet from accidents. 

Any tips out there on battling potty training regression? I know she can do it, but she's still a two year old for another couple of months and I have (somewhat) learned it's not worth it to get into a battle of wills with a person that age. 

Football is king

No surprise, football is a big deal here in Texas. Such a big deal that the bi-district game between the Southlake Carroll Dragons and the Colleyville Panthers was held at the new Cowboys stadium (there were three other teams playing there today as well, making good use of the facility). I was interested in going to the game, but I was mostly interested in checking out the new stadium. And it was indeed awesome.

It helps with the fun that our team won. Plus Andy (and the rest of us got to wear green to support the home team.). We went with some neighbors so the kids had others to play with.

In fact, it was such a good time Meg fell asleep in the parking lot leaving the stadium in Arlington.

This wasn't from today, but our friends today had this on her phone and sent it to me of her daughter with my kids from when she'd watched them for us a couple of weeks ago. It's such a wonderful picture of Andy especially that I had to share it. That kid can be photogenic sometimes, can't he?

Rant du jour

I think I accidentally have a cause. When Andy started school and all the mounds of paperwork came home about the PTO etc., I filled something out to be on the Student Health Advisory Committee. I did have to explain what public health experience I have. Sure, I work for a medical trade association, in communications, but I'm hardly a nurse or anything. Despite that, I got on this committee. I presumed it was all about vaccinations and school lunches, that kind of stuff. I had no idea that what this really is is a front group to try to get sex education taught in Texas public schools, one school district at a time.

Fun facts that I've learned the last few weeks -- Texas leads the nation in abstinence only sexual education because the state mandates that only abstinence be taught at the local schools unless the individual district explicitly decides to do otherwise. In 2005, it also had the highest teen pregnancy rate (apparently Texas, New Mexico and Mississippi take turns with that honor).

Now believe me, I'm not all about seriously graphic sex education or anything, but I do believe that teaching kids the basics of developing bodies, pregnancy prevention and STD and HIV avoidance is one of the big things a school should do in addition to reading, writing and basic math/checkbook maintenance. I'm serious. World history is important, but it's hardly the life skill that say, not getting pregnant is. Sure, this is a touchy subject and sure, parents, should absolutely be the final teachers in this, but to let kids teach themselves through Gossip Girl and Facebook is really criminal. And this is avoiding the really controversial stuff (!) like teaching kids that homosexuality is okay or that abortion exists. My parents were pretty conservative when it came to a lot of things, but I'm really proud that they knew you have to teach kids these things. And I can say from experience that my mother's talks and books teaching us all about these things did not make me more apt to out and sleep around or do drugs.

There is a group here that is fascinating and doing some work that actually may inspire me to get more involved -- The Texas Freedom Network. Check it out.

Travel

So I was in San Diego for work last week. It's a good thing I didn't visit before we moved or I might have thought about relocating there instead. Dang, it's gorgeous, temperate and has an interesting landscape with both the ocean and the mountains. I am sure I wouldn't be able to afford anything nearly as nice anywhere nearly as cool as where I was staying, but it was a nice fantasy. Check out this view from the convention center? That's some mighty fine advertising, my friends.

More backlog

This is our master bathtub. Sure, I haven't actually taken a bath in it yet, but all the kids love it!

Doesn't this look like an album cover?

This is the kids with Miss Ayesha on Meg's last day with her. We were all in tears. She was a huge part of our lives and we miss her!

Flowers Bjorn sent me for my birthday, you know, in June. Note the "Happy Birthday Princess" balloon my equally sarcastic colleagues got me.

This is just a pretty picture from the top of the stairs looking at the entry. Looks like we have a grown up house now.

I know! How cute is she? I also love her pajama shirt "Dancing Makes Me Happy."

I miss this jokers a lot, too. These is a group of us getting some fine inexpensive beer after an indoor soccer game.

I miss these guys from outdoor soccer, too. What I don't miss? All that pesky running around outside without the promise of beer afterwards.

The guest room is finally furnished with a bed. When are you coming to visit?

See? An even better reason to come visit!

Backlog

For the first time since we moved in, oh, August, I hooked up my camera and downloaded all my pictures. As you can see, I've been a little behind. Here are a few. I'll be adding more as time and interest allows.

Here's Andy on his first day of school.

Megan and Andy at Balmorhea, the largest natural outdoor pool where all the water is a balmy 62 degrees all year round.

Elizabeth and I somewhat by accident climbed a mountain at Ft. Davis with this crew. Everyone did surprisingly well, including the grown ups.

All four Deans at Ft. Davis.

We drove to see the Marfa Lights. I am so glad to see it. It was interesting but sort of a waste of time. I was expecting something very different, like a star show. Instead it was twinkling lights in the distance.

Big Tex! I managed to get to the Texas State Fair for the first time in 20 years.

Rebecca is a champion at "flipping chicks" where you hit a mallet into a frying pan to win prizes at the Fair. Elizabeth and I were champions at watching and drinking beer.  

Andy has been taking swimming lessons at Emler since we arrived. I am impressed with the program and his progress. Here he shows off his ribbon for being able to jump, look and turn.

Andy here is Spiderman at his school's "Book Character Day" (nee Halloween). Lots of girls in his class were Fancy Nancy. It was too adorable.

Meg also had to be Spiderman. Note -- she was SpiderMAN. She refused to be Spidergirl or Spiderwoman. She sort of like Spider Meg, but in the end, Spiderman won.

Both of my Spidermen.

"Shisha" Jennifer came to visit!

The worst school photographs ever

The kids got the school pictures back. And they are both terrible. Poor Andy was in the throws of Fifth's Disease, also called Slapped Cheek Disease, so his cheeks look like he's got bad acne.

Meg's, well, wow those are just bad. Her hair looks greasy and messy (messier than usual even) and the black background doesn't do her any favors. It's too bad, too, since I purposely put her in a green dress thinking it could be Christmasey enough.

Sure, I went ahead and bought some. Even bad pictures are a chronicle of their youth that I want to preserve, possibly in the form of Christmas ornaments. I doubt either kid is going to thank me in 10 years for saving these though!

Praise thee oh heavenly television

It didn't happen overnight, but I am pleased to report that Meg finally likes to watch television. It's shocking to believe a child of mine didn't climb out of the nursery demanding her episode of Sister Wives, but it's true. Sure, there was a passing five minutes here or there, but never anything where I could let her watch Little Einsteins while I took a shower and know that she'd more or less be there when I was done in 10 minutes. Rather, before this she preferred to watch for five seconds and then follow me into the shower and stand outside and cry while I tried to shave my legs.

But now? Well, she's in love with Quincy and wants to be Annie. She will even tolerate an episode of Phineas and Ferb, much to Andy's delight. She seems to have skipped over the whole Jack's Big Music Show stage, which is a shame because I really liked that show. I find her tastes are in the Disney family at the moment -- Little Einsteins mostly, followed by Mickey Mouse Clubhouse with a little Phineas and Ferb mixed in. Sure, she'll tolerate a little DJ Lance Rock on Yo Gabba Gabba (a show that I find totally overrated by the way), but mostly it's her boy Quincy.

I do find that it makes life so much easier if I can find something safe that doesn't involve her pulling knives from the kitchen drawers or climbing out the window on to the roof just so I am able to get dinner started or shave my legs.

Playground

Our new backyard is sort of weird. Right now, all that's fenced is the pool. We have more land around it, but it's not fenced and is heavily wooded. We're been trying to think about what the best way would be to use it. Right now, we're thinking that someday when the coffers replenish, we'll fence the rest of the yard, create a gate out of the backdoor to fence off the pool from the kids and add some type of playground stuff. Since it's wooded, I was thinking some sort of tree house would be perfect.

Have any of you ever done something like this?

I don't think we want to make our own from scratch. I think it would be more complicated than we can realistically handle and I'm not sure I'd want the kids up in some structure that's not sound. I did some searching online and there's some way cool stuff out there. I certainly don't want to spend $3,000 on it so I'm noodling other things.

This would be pretty darn awesome though.

In other news, my high school reunion was this weekend. I need to finish processing the overload of names and faces (and snarky remarks) so expect a post on it someday.

Why I don't want to fly US Airways again, part two

Apparently I'm not one to learn from my previous mistakes. Remember when I said I would never fly US Airways again? Yeah, well, I did it again. And it sucked. Again.

I had to fly to Philadelphia for work this week. It's sort of weird being a remote employee and I'm definitely conscious of trying to not seem to expensive. So when I looked online at the flights, I could fly American to Philly, but return flights on American were twice as expensive as on US Airways. So I went with the cheaper option. I know, my mistake.

I showed up for my return flight well in advance to find out I had no seat assignment. I swear they must find the mean ladies to work the US Airways counters from rejects from the DMV. I have rarely had such continued bad customer service and this from a person who really seems to court it somehow. I nicely asked several people who kept saying I had to get to the gate to figure it out. So I arrived about 4:45 for my 6:10 flight. There were four gate agents there, but they continued to chat with themselves. When I asked a question about my seat assignment, they looked up and left the gate. Without saying anythign. I know, right? Who does that?

Eventually at 5:10, I was able to get someone to talk to me.

"We're in an oversold situation. You may not be able to leave until tomorrow."
"Really? I have a confirmation."
"Doesn't matter. We're oversold. We're going to ask for volunteers."
"Oh. Do you need my information?"
"No. We'll find you if we want to."

I hung around and about 5:20, they asked for volunteers. A $300 travel voucher and a hotel room. Two people walked up. Clearly there were a lot more "oversold" seats than that. (I love that it's "we're in an oversold situation" implying no fault as opposed to "We oversold the flight.")

Anyhoo. I came back about 5:30 and eavesdropped as the guy in front of me went through the same thing.

"But you don't have any other flights going to Dallas?"
"No."
"What about connecting through another city? I really have to get home tonight to see my son."
"Hang on. Wait, there's a flight going to DC and then going to Dallas. It leaves now. Do you want it? It arrives at 10:05 p.m."
"Am I going to get on this flight?"
"I don't know. I don't know how many seats we need. You have to decide NOW."
"Um, I guess I'll take it."

I asked if I could do the same thing. She seemed skeptical but eventually looked it up.

"Yeah. Run over there."

So I ran over there and then waited for two minutes in the line to board for Las Vegas. Fortunately, I figured it out in time to convince the gate agent to let me on the plane. Phew! I still didn't have a seat assignment for Dallas, but my thought was if I got stuck in DC, at least I'd get to see my friends.

I got to DC. All the monitors were saying the wrong thing so I finally had to stop someone in the hallway to ask where the flight to Dallas was. The boards said 26. It was 23? I explained finally I needed a seat assignment and was stunned to get one. Yay! I was going home!

The rest of the trip was uneventful. The seats were actually nicer than expected, but man, the service they provide is just so, so awful. I really do intend to fly on anything else if given the chance.

Customer service is hard. It really is. Dealing with people who are stressed and frustrated is also hard. But if you don't want to do the job, don't do the job. Likewise, I think US Airways needs to rethink its gate agent approach. They're the face of the company and they're giving it a black eye.

I heart television

So after I wrote this long post about TV shows I like, I realized, "Wow. I sure watch a lot of television." Later, I also realized, "Dang. Not only do I watch a lot of TV, but I left off a bunch of shows I watch." So, herewith to you my loyal fans, all both of you, I give you my real updated list.

Back in action that I love:
1) 30 Rock
2) Modern Family
3) How I Met Your Mother
4) CougarTown
5) The Office
6) Glee
7) 90210*
8) Parenthood
9) Saturday Night Live**
10) Parks and Recreation
11) Friday Night Lights
12) Mad Men

*This is a guilty pleasure that I watch about half of each week just to keep up with the girls in the office. They make me!
** I usually only watch the first couple of skits and Weekend Update.

Recorded but relegated to the B list (i.e. if I have time although if they go about three or four episodes without me touching it, I usually stop recording)
1) Desperate Housewives
2) Brothers and Sisters
3) Big Bang Theory
4) Pardon the Interruption

Here are some new shows I've recorded and am trying to get into, but haven't really decided on yet:
1) Lone Star (bummer, it's filmed here in Southlake and apparently just got cancelled).
2) Raising Hope
3) Running Wilde
4) Hawaii Five-O
5) Sister Wives.

Since I wrote this post last week, I've now realized that with my Tivo able to record two things at once, I have waaay more stuff than I can watch at the moment. So here are the shows that I'm now no longer watching unless desperate.

1) Lone Star (cancelled, that was easy)
2) Running Wilde (not funny, also easy)
3) Hawaii Five-O (recorded, never actually watched)
4) Brothers and Sisters (it's been boring for two years now)
5) Friday Night Lights (I was watching Season 1 on ABC Family, but now that I've seen it, I'm done. Course, when the final season starts again in 2011, I will so definitely watch it. I heart me some Tim Riggins and Tami Taylor.)
6) Big Bang Theory (I like it, a lot despite Leonard's hoodies, but inexplicably when I watch it, something bad seems to happen, like a kid starts throwing up so that makes it hard to watch and even harder to want to watch when everyone is healthy.

Things that make you go, "Hmmmm"

So Bjorn and I both applied to register to vote in Texas. And both of us had our applications returned for "insufficient information." Bjorn's was because they said his social security number wasn't valid, mine because it said I failed to complete the "citizenship question."

As you may have heard, the Texas governor's race between incumbent Rick Perry (R) and former Houston mayor Bill White (D) is getting a lot of attention these days. It wouldn't take much to figure out that Bjorn was active in the Barack Obama campaign in Virginia and would likely be voting for White as well. Do you think there's a conspiracy here? I mean, one incomplete voter registration form is one thing, but two? A solid 100 percent?

I must say I have voted in most elections (I won't say all, because come on, I was in college for a while) and I have never had a voter form rejected, whether it be for voting absentee or changing my location. Considering the White campaign is trying to tap into the Hispanics, many of whom are first time voters and might be dissuaded by an official letter like this, the whole thing smells a little fishy, that's all.

Fall TV preview

They're back! The TV shows, I mean. Thank heavens, too. I was really getting to the dregs of my Tivo what with my Real Housewives of New Jersey as the only thing that I could tolerate on there to watch. Hey, it's good. Stop that.

Ahem, so here's what's on my Tivo right now. (And I do say TivoTM there and not that crappy Verizon Fios DVR that makes my 1985 discman seem like an iPod.)

Back in action that I love:
1) 30 Rock
2) Modern Family
3) How I Met Your Mother
4) CougarTown
5) The Office
6) Glee
7) 90210*
8) Parenthood
9) Saturday Night Live**
10) Parks and Recreation
11) Friday Night Lights

*This is a guilty pleasure that I watch about half of each week just to keep up with the girls in the office. They make me!
** I usually only watch the first couple of skits and Weekend Update.

Recorded but relegated to the B list (i.e. if I have time although if they go about three or four episodes without me touching it, I usually stop recording)
1) Desperate Housewives
2) Brothers and Sisters
3) Big Bang Theory
4) Pardon the Interruption

Here are some new shows I've recorded and am trying to get into, but haven't really decided on yet:
1) Lone Star (bummer, it's filmed here in Southlake and apparently just got cancelled).
2) Raising Hope
3) Running Wilde
4) Hawaii Five-O

I haven't had a chance to really watch these yet so they're collecting dust at the moment. I will admit the premiere of Running Wilde left me sort of cold.

My other favorite these days is Season 1 of Friday Night Lights on ABC Family. I have watched the later seasons, but missed this first one. Damn, that's one good show, too. It makes me cry just about every time and makes me wish I was cool enough to be a television writer. Some of those folks put together some amazing stuff.

This picture has nothing to do with the earlier post. I just took it today and it makes me smile.

Cousins

One of the really great things about being back in Texas is being near my family. I have one of those awesome southern families where we have lots of cousins who aren't even actually related, but are those cool people you see every holiday so you never really realize until you're older that you had a first cousin who was once married to a guy who had an in-law who is your cousin. It's kind of awesome actually.

This weekend, we had family come up for the Texas State Fair. They came to our house Saturday night and then we met for lunch yesterday. The kids who are about a year apart respectively had a grand time. It was really cool. Andy has asked if George can come over for a sleepover tomorrow. Poor kid doesn't realize Austin is three hours away.

As for the fair, I went on Friday with my sister and another friend to experience all sorts of treats, like Texas Caviar (fried black eyed peas) and Chicken Fried Steak on a Stick. Both were good, but not fantastic. What was great though? Fried Chocolate. It was basically a chocolate donut with whipped cream and powered sugar that tasted kind of like a brownie. Good stuff.

Fifth's Disease

So Andy has Fifths Disease. It sounds a lot more awful than it is, it's basically just a viral infection that causes his cheeks to get all red with a little spread on his arms and legs. What is notable about it, it's also called "Slapped Cheek" disease. I find that somewhat hilarious as it apparently hearkens back to a time when people would slap the cheeks of five year olds. The other notable thing is that Fifths Disease is harmful to unborn babies, but only when it's contagious which was before he broke out. So all last week he was contagious, which makes me feel terrible since there are several pregnant teachers in the kindergarten wing. Hopefully they've had it before and have immunity (most likely as all these random illnesses are a work hazard, but still). There is no treatment for it, it doesn't hurt and it doesn't itch -- it's just red and icky. It gets better when cool (like in the pool) and worse when hot (like when he's running around outside). Bizarre.

Naturally, the peak of his face AIDS, as Mark would call it, happened yesterday which was picture day. He will be thrilled to see those popping up on Facebook the rest of his life wondering why he had bad acne at five.

Oh, and the other picture? Today is silly mismatched dress day so he's wearing a striped shirt, too small, plaid shorts and green socks. Adorable!

Potty training

Meg has been training herself to use the toilet. I love that I spent years trying to get Andy interested, forcing him into underpants (and forcing myself to clean up and/or throw away disgusting boys underwear) while Meg pretty much decided she was ready and went for it. It's not perfect and it's not done yet, but for the past two weeks, she's been going to school in big girl underwear. Last week, she even came home four days out of five wearing the same shorts/skirts I dropped her off wearing. So how do you like that?

Things are calming down into a workable rhythm. We have a schedule for drop offs and pick ups and the  kids have been settling into more regular sleep patterns. It's not perfect, but it sure beats the summer where I was ready to throw myself out of a window because it was so chaotic.

We're also settling into some nice rich guy problems, like how to make use of this enormous house? It's so much bigger than our old place that I'm struggling with the right way to arrange things. Like the kitchen. It's so big, I am not sure where to put everything so that I don't have take 30 steps just to make toast in the morning. We also have this pool to worry about. Bjorn and Mark have been good about learning how it works, how to keep it clean and the chemicals needed to maintain it. That said, fall is definitely coming and the amount of leaves that fall into the pool and need to get cleaned seems to double each day. I know, nice rich guy problems.

We've still got some decisions to make. The backyard is pretty much off limits to the kids by themselves due to the pool. That means I've got the kids practically under my feet while trying to make dinner. I need to think about some fencing strategy in the backyard or some better way to let them play in the garage unsupervised. I also managed to get rid of all my ride on and other outdoor toys so I need to be on the hunt for some cheap plastic objects, like scooters and/or a sand box. All good stuff for me to hunt for at the thrift store.

I am pleased how well we're getting there though. I still miss our friends and family back home, but it's wonderful getting to see my family (and extended) family more often as well as old friends while trying to mix in new friends. Like I said, boring rich girl problems!

Transitional kindergarten

So there's a big deal down in Texas about holding your kids back a year before starting them in school. There are a couple of reasons for it. Say the school cut-off is August 31 and your child is born August 20, you might decide to hold him back a year so that they're among the older kids and not the youngest. The reasons being that your kid is more mature and ready when they start kindergarten and therefore more ready to learn, be away from home, etc. That also means that they are a year older and possibly more advanced than those younger kids. This would give the kid a leg up when it comes to academics (i.e. more mature kids in theory are more likely to do better in school).

It also means, wait for it, that they are bigger physically. In a place like Texas where sports is perhaps a slightly bigger deal than elsewhere (let's be real, it is a big deal everywhere else, just perhaps a bigger deal here), your kid will get physically bigger sooner, simply because he's 13 and hitting puberty when his classmates who are 12 aren't there yet.

This leads to some other questions though. So if everyone does it, does the advantage go away? I get August birthdays, but what about April birthdays? Or even September birthdays? So now instead of starting kindergarten at 5, they would be starting at 7. Now that's an even weirder disparity of having kids in the same class that are almost two years apart. That doesn't seem right for either set of kids -- the older ones who want to date at age 15 when they're in eighth grade or the younger ones who at 13 in eighth grade, are still playing with their Lego's and video games.

Everyone wants the best of their kids, but it seems that if there is an age for when kids can enter kindergarten, there should also generally be a cut off, too, to prevent 9 year olds from being in the first grade. Of course, some kids genuinely struggle in school and may need an extra year of kindergarten to overcome dyslexia or an autism spectrum, but where do you draw the line?

Both my kids have January birthdays so I never really thought about having to make a choice. They would both be 5 2/3rds when they started kindergarten, hopefully making them neither the oldest or the youngest in the bunch. It will be interesting if I find out their really among the youngest. I don't think it will change my decision to put them in school at that age, but it would be good to know.

What happened to the good old days when folks were thrilled when their kids were old enough to go off to school?

Homework

Andy's been in school three weeks. So far, he's had one evening's worth of homework, bringing in a box of "All About Me" objects for a show and tell type thing. As for me, I've had homework for his class probably every other night. Most recently, I had to produce a collage of photographs to help him come up with ideas when they're writing. Naturally, I have very few printed pictures anymore. Rather, they are all digital (I keep meaning to get prints, but there are so, so many, I really need to spend the time to weed through them and I just haven't done it).

Like a good student, I went to Kodak Gallery on Tuesday and placed my order for two collages. Cost: $6. Two day shipping so I was sure it would arrive in time for school on Monday: $10.99. This morning, I realized the package never came. F*ck. So I contact Kodak, "There's no tracking information in your file. It must have been lost." Great. Can't be customer service like that.

Now, I can't be the parent of the kid not turning in homework! How would that look? So at noon, I frantically went to CVS and wasn't able to just have my Kodak Gallery prints sent there. Which left Costco. Fortunately I had a couple dozen photographs in my online account there so I could quickly order two collages and have them ready in two hours. Phew! I am able to turn in my homework on time.

Andy thinks the idea of homework sounds fun and he can't wait until he gets to have some real homework. Me, well, not to much.

Hurricane Hermine

So, um, it's been raining in Southlake the last 24 hours thanks to the remnants of Hurricane Hermine. The smaller bridge is the view from my driveway. Normally, it's a steep little hill walking down to the bridge that you can see is partially under water. This was after it stopped raining around 12:30 p.m. About an hour before, it was even higher. The other is a view of White's Chapel Bridge that I stole from the City of Southlake's Facebook page. I'd say it's closed for now.

I have been impressed with the emergency response though. They have sirens available that they used in some parts of the city. I even got an auto call from city warning me of street closures around the city. Well done, city of Southlake.

Neighbors are telling me that this is the highest they've ever seen it. I think they meant that as reassurance, but it did not make me feel confident that my pool wouldn't overflow and the creek wouldn't climb up the hills into my bedroom. I'm so glad we arrived in Texas for the hottest summer and rainiest fall after the snowiest winter in Washington. Yay me! (Sure, it's all about global warming, but it's hard not to take it personally).

Classic

Andy's feet have smelled awful lately, partly due to the fact that he left them in brief rainstorm last week and that he generally refuses to wear socks. Thus the combination of rain/mildew and sweat have been pretty ugly. Based on some kind feedback from friends on Facebook, I treated them with Febreeze and have been making an effort to leave them in the garage over night to air out. This leads us to today.

It's Thursday, everyone is cranky and we're pulling into the school at 7:54, just in time before the 7:55 bell rings when Andy announces, "Hey! I don't have any shoes on." D'oh!

My quick thinking made me decide to make him wear Meg's crocs (too small, but functional) into school so he wouldn't be late while I ran home to get him shoes, which I then had to leave for him in the office. I am sure this is the first of many times I will be returning to the office with something left at home -- homework, lunch.

Settling in

Well, after three weeks, I feel like we're finally settling in. Sure, the house is still a wreck in many ways and there is furniture in places that I'm not sure I like still. BUT we're getting closer. Mark and Bjorn put a bunch of boxes in the attic and now the garage is more or less thinned out with stuff that should actually be in the garage. I still have a lot to do, like taking a good look at the yard and doing some wedding and grooming, but every day we get a little more settled in and are understanding the quirks of the place. I'm happy with it. I am also loving being so near my family. We've seen my parents and/or sister and nieces in various combinations and it's so great just to be able to do that so easily. I know the kids love it, too, especially seeing Megan and Emma. It's pretty adorable.

Meg has also been sleeping a little better and generally this weekend was less clingy. Course, I thought that last night as I went to bed, marveling that she finally went to bed by herself without someone in there rubbing her back. Then she went and screwed it up by waking up at 3 a.m. and having a little party in bed until 5 a.m. Bjorn and I were not happy with that development.

Mark starts community college today and I must say I'm impressed with him for getting his stuff together to get himself registered and figuring out the money to pay for it. I think he's in a good place to do well this semester.

Some things we still have to figure out, like finding a pediatrician, but we're on our way.

Hugs not slugs

The first day of school was yesterday. I was definitely more nervous than Andy, I think. This marks the first time that he HAS to be at school by a certain time, not the laissez faire complicated math formula we've done it in the past which is the kids get dropped off relative to when we have to be at the office relative to when we woke up in correlation to how many times the kids woke up in the night inverse to when what time I went to bed. Plus, drop off is a solid 45 minutes to an hour earlier than we normally dropped off.

But we made it. I dropped him off and he was happy about it. No tears from either of us. I was nervous about looking the part. I did shower in the morning, but in between discussions of whether Andy had to wear socks and whether Meg really intended to stand outside my shower and cry the whole time I was in there (seriously), I ran out of time to put on makeup and blow dry my hair. I could just hear my mother in the back of my head saying something about not drying my hair. My answer was to put it up in a ponytail. It was fine.

Meanwhile, I shouldn't have even worried about it. I took this picture of Andy sitting at his table (his teacher is in the foreground). Check out the woman wearing a hat and a racer back sports bra. Seriously? Who wears that indoors? Of course, people who can rock the outfit wear it, but I didn't feel self conscious once I realized I was at least wearing a top. Overall, Andy did fine. It's hard to believe he's actually in school!

Meanwhile, speaking of tops, Meg is rocking a new look these days. This kid refuses to wear her clothes a lot of the time. We're having struggles where I turn around and she's removed her diaper and is wandering around al fresco. See the look she's rocking here? Crocs (thanks Frances!), a pajama shirt on her head, and Fancy Nancy underpants over her shorts. I really need to frame this one for later.

Hits a little too close to home

I suppose it's official

Andy got a letter today from his kindergarten teacher. I guess it's official, my boy is going to school next Monday.

Meanwhile, Andy and I got into a bit of an argument about whether he's going to first grade or kindergarten. Well, argument is too strong. He insists he's going to first grade, "First grade is kindergarten, Mommy." I insist he's wrong, but realize there is very little I can do to make him realize he's wrong so for perhaps the first time in my life, you know, ever, I'm holding my tongue.

The great sleep battle of 2010

Meg has turned from being my champion sleeper to being my champion refuse-to-sleeper. Seriously. It started in the spring. She was probably ready for a big girl bed, but she refused and wanted to sleep in her crib. So when we listed the house, the toddler bed went up into the attic. Naturally, with Bjorn out of the picture and me pressed to keep the house clean, she decided it was time to screw with me. She started throwing herself out of the bed and it was anything I could do to get her to sleep.

Then we went on vacation for two weeks and it just got more complicated. She and Andy would share twin beds next to each other and she did fine, assuming you could get her to go to sleep. It was often lots of bringing her back to her bed, practically begging/threatening/bribing to get her to finally knock off. After the trip, we were at my folks for a few weeks sharing a room with Andy. She was refusing to go to bed and instead would immediately pop out to find us. Even after she finally went to sleep, she'd occasionally wake up and trot through the Jack and Jill bathroom to get to us. Lack of sleep on my part combined with sheer frustration of the situation were making me seriously batty.

Now that we're in the new house, we got a baby gate to keep her in her room. Our bedroom is downstairs and her's is up so I worry about her roaming the halls at night and falling down the stairs. Plus, she really needs to get back to going to bed at a decent time/pace. After a little over a week in the new regimen, the results are mixed. She does eventually go to sleep in her own bed, sometimes with one of us rubbing her back, other times not. Bjorn's apoplectic about it (I'm only marginally less so) as she screams and cries so loud, she also made herself throw up, until she just wears herself down and finally nods off.

Even with that, she's crying out sometime in the early morning (say between 4 a.m. and 6 a.m.) and ending up in our bed. Thoughts on how to fix this, short of simply drinking more?

Kindergarten

Andy starts school next week. REAL school. I am psyched, and not just because I won't have to pay $200 a week in daycare. I am psyched for him to be going to a real school and starting to read and all the fun stuff that comes from elementary school. The whole thing seems a little surreal. I went by to register him and I swear it even smelled like an elementary school. Good thing I have good memories of elementary school. Middle school, well, not so much, but I really did love elementary school. When I wasn't crying and wailing about being forced to go, that is.

The downside of this will be now school is mandatory. Before, we could just blow off a week for vacation or skip a day because I was off and wanted to play. Now it will be harder, plus I'll need to set the example that school isn't optional, it's really important. It's also going to be different because unlike daycare where you can quit if you don't like it, public school isn't really like that. Plus, he'll have to be at school at an exact time every day. Punctuality isn't especially my strong suit.

Any tips on helping make the transition easier for all of us?

Settling in

Oomph. After the initial thrill and excitement of getting moved in, my interest in further unpacking and sorting is definitely on the wane. So much has been done and so much is still left to be done, like putting books away, sorting through linens and putting the kitchen stuff to use in a way that makes sense to our lifestyle. I was so used to where everything went in my old kitchen that's it's going to take some time to assess it and figure out what makes sense where.

A nice problem to have is that we have a three-car garage now. It's the natural entry point into the house from the garage into the laundry room that leads to the kitchen. Unfortunately, there are lots of empty boxes out there now so it's less useful than it could be. Plus, the movers somehow misplaced the screws to put Andy's bed back together. If you recall, he's got a cool loft bed from Ikea. I love it and, it would be perfect for his new room. Sadly the movers broke it into it's original parts and the bolts to put it back together are missing. I am holding out hope that they're somewhere in the mess in the garage and that once Mark breaks down the boxes, I'll find them. Otherwise, I'm going to have to see if  Ikea will see me 50 replacement pieces.

Both kids started a new daycare/preschool this week. Meg did great the first day, not so much the other two days, which makes me sad. Although Andy won't need aftercare (yet) due to my current work schedule, I wanted him to get familiar with it should he need to go on occasion. Also, I wanted him to meet a couple of kids that will be going to his elementary school. Getting back to some schedule is going to be a good thing. Meg especially is staying up too late (mostly because she won't go to bed). She transitioned out of her crib while we were on vacation so I got a baby gate to keep her in her room. I worried about locking her in, but her room is on the second floor and I fear her roaming around half awake looking for me. I did ask the doctor about it first who said it was fine. Of course, she now goes in her room and wails loudly about wanting to get out, but that'll settle down eventually, right? Right?

Andy starts kindergarten a week from Monday. Wow.

And we're moved in

The second set of move came on Thursday and took all our stuff from Public Storage to the new house. Naturally it was 103 that day so it was nice and roasty. The packers had stuff labeled but it was confusing what was "bedroom 1" and what was "bedroom 2." Was that counting from the top of the stairs at the old house or from the master down? As a result, stuff somewhat ended up all over. The trickiest was thinking about the old basement -- half that stuff went into the new office and the other half was toys, games and Wii  accessories that are going into the game room (or "Texas basement" as I heard someone call it."

Although it was still a wreck, we managed to unpack enough sheets and clothes to sleep here the first night. I had intended to go back to my folks' place, but once we were here, I didn't want to leave!


Mark and Jennifer arrived late last night from Virginia, Mark permanently and Jennifer just for a visit. They have been amazing to help entertain the kids and unpack. As a result, we're probably 75 percent done with the boxes. Stunning actually how far along we are. Verizon came today and we now have TV, phone and Internet. Without a radio, I was listening to the intercom radio on the top 40 (or top 12 station). As a result, I know the words to all the latest Lady Gaga, Eminem and Katy Perry songs.

I will post pictures, once I find my camera and the cords that attach them to the computer.

We did it!

After years of talking about it and months of planning, we are finally moving into our new house. I know, I can't really believe it either. We went over tonight to check it out (the previously owner technically had until 10 p.m. tonight, but Bjorn stopped by during the day to see that it was totally empty. Score!) Bjorn picked up dinner and we ate before taking a swim. Considering it was 104 today and it was our new house, it was pretty darn perfect. Sure, I'm terrified of the kids being near the pool without me and I'm plotting how I'm going to better secure it, but after years of schlepping to the pool with all our gear, it was so incredibly nice to just go in the back yard and go swimming.

Right now, the house doesn't seem like it's twice as big as our old house, but once the furniture comes tomorrow, I have a feeling we'll see how big it is. Yippee!

So who is coming to visit?


Commonwealth Swim Club, I won't miss schlepping our noodles over to you. You may have been across the street, but that can be a long way with two cranky kids.

One step closer

Big day today -- we close on the new house this afternoon. Granted, we can't move in until next Wednesday evening at the earliest, BUT we are (almost) one step closer. Bjorn called yesterday and got all our utilities set up and I have settled on a childcare center for the kids. I have them starting a week from Monday. Andy will only have two weeks at "camp" until school starts, but I want him to get a chance to meet a couple of kids who will go to his new school so at least he knows someone before he starts.

I kind of can't believe it!

On the go

Oh heavens. The last few weeks have been so crazy I'm not exactly sure where to start. So here are the highlights:
1) We spent two weeks in Hobart, Sydney and Melbourne, Australia.
2) We flew back to Dallas and put an offer on a house. Despite multiple offers, we got it!
3) I flew back to Washington to finish out a week of work and pack up the house.
4) The kids and Bjorn stayed in Dallas with my folks who have been amazing.
5) The kids started a new preschool/camp where my sister teaches and her kids go.
6) With the help of awesome friends and family (and paid professionals), I got the house packed and moved. 
7) Bjorn flew in and we drove my minivan with the two cats 1,300 miles to Dallas in two days with a stayover in the less than glamorous Dickson, Tennessee.
8) Our house back in Virginia closed.
9) I started working from home as a 25 hour a week part-time employee.

Yeah, I think that's the highlights. Pictures to come later. We also close on our new McMansion next Wednesday and move in the Wednesday after that. Yeah, it's been a busy summer.

House!

And we have a house! Check it out. I am not sure we can afford to air condition it, but we certainly have room for visitors. I hope you're planning your trip.

Tasmanian Devil

And we're back from the most amazing vacation ever -- two weeks in Australia visiting Sydney, Hobart, Port Arthur and Melbourne. What's most amazing is that we did it with two little kids. Andy for the most part was fine and seemed to really get a lot out of it, except when he was whining, insisting on watching more My Little Pony and refusing to eat anything. Meg was a different matter. She insisted I hold her most of the time and seemed only be consoled by me. Flattering, yes, but not so much at three in the morning.

The trip overall was amazing. Qantas Airlines is quite a step above the American airlines. Seriously. They are like the good American airliners from 10 years ago, they served meals on every flight, were clean and even offered special kids toys to keep them entertained. I was impressed.

We spent three days in Sydney at the beginning and got to see my uncle, nephew, and aunt who live in Turramurra. We stayed in a hotel near Hyde Park and was within walking distance to the Sydney Opera House and Sydney Harbor. It was cool. We took the ferry one day to Tarronga Zoo. The zoo itself was swarming with people, half under constructions plus the kids were still cranky from the travel, but the ferry ride on the harbor was amazing. I think I took a dozen photos. With the jet lag, we were waking up at 4 in the morning, which was handy with World Cup matches on at that early hour.

Afterward, we caught a flight to Hobart, Tasmania, where we met up with my parents, both my sisters (no nieces though) for the Egan Clan Rally. It was pretty awesome. We were staying in two bedroom flats so it was great fun to catch up with everyone at the bar or in another room. Bjorn and I bought some gin on our way into the country which served us well. After the first day of the rally where we toured the City Hall and Parliament House (Hobart is the state capital), we headed to Port Arthur, home of one of Australia's most famous prisons (and also site of a sad and deadly shooting a dozen years ago that is still painful for the area like Columbine). We got to ride another boat around Stewart's Bay. I've never seen such clear ocean water. We also saw seals (well, a seal)! Pretty awesome. Mom found us these amazing little cabins near Port Arthur where we went out one night for some great star gazing. Fortunately, Mary was there to help use her geoscience background to tell us about the southern hemisphere. I swear I've never seen such bright stars. It was like we were in a planetarium they were so close to touch.

Afterwards, we were back in Hobart for some lectures on genealogy and more festivities and the big banquet that included lots of photos from when Mom and Dad hosted the rally in Dallas in 2006. Before departing Hobart, we had dinner with our hosts at their home built turn of the century. It was pretty amazing to see a private residence, much less one that had so much history. Before leaving, Bjorn rented a car and we got to visit the Zoo Doo outside Richmond, Tasmania, where we got to feed and pet wallabies and kangaroos. I loved it. We also got to watch Tasmanian Devils at feeding. Ugly little creatures, they are.

We then headed to Melbourne for a few days before catching our flight back to the U.S. My uncle and nephew also came down from Sydney to see the rest of the family. We also went out to the home of another Egan rally member who lives outside of town. They have six grown kids, and three were at the house that night with their families. It was so warm and inviting. My kids also had playmates their own age for a night. They loved it. And we all loved getting to talk to their kids who are our age about what life is like with kids in Australia.

There were some funny things about the country.

* There are a remarkable lack of trash cans. A hotel room with two bedrooms and a kitchenette might have one tiny powder room sized trash can for the entire room.
* The country doesn't seem to believe in napkins. We would order dinner and they would bring like one cocktail napkin for the whole table. If you asked for more, you might get one more, maybe two.
*  The sizing on clothes was wacky. Granted, Bjorn is not petite, but the men's XXLs in Australia would fit me.
* Everything is abbreviated. Australia is Aussie, Tasmania is Tassie, football is footy. The best though? McDonald's is Mackers.
* The country is incredibly diverse. I would say half the people we saw in Melbourne and Sydney were of Asian or Middle Eastern descent.
* There was no Foster's beer served anywhere. When I asked someone about it, they laughed. Apparently it's a big joke that it's for export only and is pretty much considered crap beer locally.
* In Australia, apparently service in restaurants is optional. I know we're rude Americans, but we had two encounters where the wait staff thought we were "rude" for inquiring about our dinner. I thought it was sort of hilarious actually.
* Otherwise, the country was incredibly friendly. People would help strangers carry strollers up the subway steps and practically everyone we met was excited for us to be there and wanted to help however they could.

Traveling with family was in some ways a pain trying to coordinate the needs and wants of a group of eight, but in general, it was really awesome to do it all together.