Catching up

Too bad I'm not as good as hubby at this (as far as frequency, or humor for that matter), but never doubt that life keeps on truckin' here, and there are ALWAYS lots of laughs!

So here's the catch-up for now:

1. We got a new septic tank on Golden Ave. (11 days late)
2. We found mold at Golden Ave., in large quantities (not good)
3. Trish finds out she's allergic to mold and also that she now has asthma (really not good)
4. The Phillips play legal roullette and "get out of" the 2-year lease (still no response from Golden Ave. landlord)
5. The Phillips, in looking at the local available rentals, find the first house they wanted is back on the market for rental (coincidence or divine intervention?)
6. The Phillips move to the new house (Bearslide Hollow) in time to "do Christmas" in the new house - how sweet it is!

We really love the new house - tons of space and storage (oversized double garage and a full basement), plus, we are back in a neighborhood, with neighbors and kids and the whole shibang.
And, there's no mold, and I am already feeling a lot better (except when I go back to the old house to pack up more stuff and clean some more).
I have to mention how wonderful my sis-in-law, Beth, and my in-laws, Sally and Jody are for taking the kids for a week so that we could move more efficiently. The kids had a blast, and by all reports were well-behaved. I know it will be a surprise for all to know that Fletcher came back to us with a new ER visit under her belt, stitches in her head, and completely unaffected by the whole experience. The kids were so excited about their new house and their rooms, which made all the work before they got here totally worth it. Fletcher properly and immediately initiated her room by doing a full-speed and unguarded face-plant in her excitement. By that evening she had come up with at least 3 non-conventional ways to go up AND down the stairs, and had managed to knock a tooth loose (again), completely unrelated to the stairs or the face-plant. The child keeps us laughing, but it is sometimes painful just to watch her "be".

Funny SJ story: We're walking to the car to meet the rest of the family after the Christmas Eve service at church and she asks "Does everyone have 'anne sisters'?"
me: What?
SJ: Does everyone have 'and sisters'?
me: I'm sorry baby, I can't understand what you're asking, anne what?
SJ: "ANN-SESTERS!!!!!"
me: OHHHH! Yeah, we all have ancestors.
SJ: What about 'ann-brothers'?
me: hysterical, incapacitating laughter that has me doubled over in the middle of the church parking lot
SJ: ooooooh kaaaaay? (read a sassy tone that indicates she thinks her mother is a lunatic) I guess they WERE all just girls.

It was nearly impossible to make it the rest of the way back to the car.

Christmas was nearly perfect, minus the dog who is leaking brown water out of her butt around the clock. I figure if we just feed her some of those colored foil wrappers from the Christmas candy, we could just chalk up all the "accidents" as decorations, and call it good.

Good times, good times...

Oh yeah! Melson is on his 3rd night without passy - we're over the hump, and one more milestone to whisk him away from his place in my arms as "the baby". Yes, I cried the first night much more than he did. I'm a wimp like that, but I'm getting used to it now. Thought these kinds of things would make the ol' uterus twinge with thoughts of "maybe just one more", but no such twinges happening in THIS reproductive system!

Thankful

Guess what I get to be thankful for this year? Monday we get a new septic tank! What else am I thankful for? The way I found out that we even HAD a septic problem is that while doing laundry yesterday, the bathroom adjacent to the washroom had a tub and toilet full of April Fresh Downy rinse water! Anyone can imagine how much worse that could have gone, smellwise. The thankful train keeps on rollin', in that I don't have to pay for the new septic tank (we rent this house), and when the problem began, I was all caught up on all my cleaning and laundry.
Funny, last week, Melson handed his grandmother, Oui (as in "yes you can have it, yes you can do it"...) his watering can, and said "it needs water in it, so I can pee the flowers". Little did we know, our kid has "ESPN", as his Daddy calls it - since now we are LITERALLY peeing the flowers. The plumber disconnected the house from the septic tank, so all water, from all sources in the house, now empties into our backyard, at least until tomorrow!

As a side note: this unique and beautiful house we are blessed to live in has presented so many quirks - this time, it is the location of the septic tank. It is under our back deck, which is weird enough, and makes it difficult and costly to access in order to do maintenance, but the support posts for the deck were built literally on top of the lid to the tank. This is why we are getting a whole new septic tank.

>Sigh<

We went home to Opelika this past weekend, and got in some fishing with the kids. It was a perfect day, as far as fun and weather. It was their first time fishing, and they were all REALLY into it. But they did make Daddy do all the things requiring touching the fish. SJ is so cute now missing all those teeth in the front - I love it!

Something else I love - the van we just bought - now all the kids can ride without touching - major bonus! And with the center aisle all the way to the back from our seats in the front, I can make it from my seat to the back (where the girls sit) to issue out any necessary beatings that are in order - before you can get to the 99th bottle of beer on the wall! We actually timed and tested this during the test drive!:)

Another thing I love? I just booked my tickets to go back to Cali to visit Christie in January! This time I'll get to meet her new baby boy, too. I can't wait!

The Fall is gorgeous here, and we are all being swept away by the lovely leaves and beautiful sunrises - it's like the mountains are on fire. These leaves are outside my bedroom window. >sigh<

Star Wars in bed - is the tooth fairy coming?

Setting: In the car, on the way home from school. I am singing along to a "mixed tape", which is at a very low volume.

F: Mommy I can hear you singing, by yourself.

Me: Do you know what it's called when you are the only one singing? A solo.

F: OH!

Me: And if someone is singing, and there is no music playing, just them singing is all you hear, it's called acapella

F: I sing on-the-pillow all the time, and hans-solo.



By the way, just in case anyone doubted it, J.M. does grill the best steak on the planet. I know this, because 7-year-old SJ freaked out Sunday night because her third loose tooth was so loose, it almost fell out. She wasn't freaking because she feared pain, blood, or a funky-looking smile - it somehow occurred to her just as she was about to pull it out that she might not be able to eat "daddy steak" without that particular tooth! We reminded her of the tooth fairy's generosity, and how she totally seemed to be a master tooth-puller the first two times. She would not be convinced. Then on Monday, we were all "ooooo - now it can fall out at school, and you can get the cool tooth necklace". Nope, it's now Thursday, and that jacked-up tooth is still hanging on by a thread.

Poor Papa

My dad just left after visiting for a couple of days. Poor Papa took a beating while he was here! We had been sitting down in the swing by the river in the few minutes after he had arrived. The entire time, F was literally pinging, off the swing, run around, scream really loudly just as she bounced into Papa's lap, then roll off onto the seat beside him...repeat. I'm sure it was a bit much to come from a quiet 8 hour car ride to a house full of just-got-home-from-school kids in the afternoon crunch time. Anyway, I didn't feel like cooking, so it was time to go in so we could ready ourselves for taking the darlings out into public for dinner. So as we're getting up to walk back to the house:

Me: Goodness, ya'll have got to take it easy on Papa - he's gonna be worn out before he even gets in the house!

F: YEAH, he's REALLY old!!!!! (then, during a full body contraction, a high-pitched squeal that called dogs into the yard from miles around, and full-speed run to the house)

Thank goodness he thinks this is funny.

My dad really enjoys these kids, and seems to get a really big kick out of everything "funny" that they do. From Mel walking the cat (firmly by the tail), to SJ's adult attitude (and questions like "why do you live alone?" and "why did you and Nana break up?"), to F's Fness - you know what I mean. He is so involved with them while he's here - he got Mel to eat at Steak n' Shake by telling him it was all monkey food. Of course, he shows up with, literally, a shopping bag full of mini candy bars and cookies, I guess to fuel the madness that entertains him.

It's always fun when he's here, because I can enjoy my life and its insane funniness through another's eyes.

Girl, no you di'int

Christie is the PERFECT Marine Corps wife. While borrowing her car while in CA, I discovered what every military wife's ashtray should have - an emergency string of pearls! Oh, and don't forget the nifty "oh, you need a fork, a hiking stick, and some dental hygiene equipment? NO PROBLEM" knife. That girl, I swear. Here I was thinking what a great friendship we had going with her not making her bed and all, and she had to go and do this...

Skydiving and a dead guy

In blogger land, what is it that you do when you've been a crappy blogger, and you want to write something - it's been too long for a true catch-up. I think I'll just start with right now.

My hubby and I just got back from our anniversary trip to San Clemente, CA. It was, in a word, perfect. Great friends, great weather, great time! JM and I never thought we would be caught saying "I miss California already - I'm ready to go back"! Being around Christie again was as fun as I thought it would be, and it was truly enjoyable to see her as a pregnant lady. She even neglected making her bed, just so we could still be friends - what a gal! Plus, I feel WAY better about the way I become a space cadet while pregnant, because for a girl who's always got it all together, she was dingin' out the whole time we were there.

OK, so I have to brag on me a little. We went skydiving at Lake Elsinore, and I REALLY DID IT!!!!! It was such an undescribable experience - I wish I could explain it, but I can't. I jumped out of a perfectly good airplane at 12,500 ft, and freefell for almost a minute. My mind keeps flashing back to "that" moment, on my knee in the open door of the plane, then just jumping out, and flying. It was so unreal that I sorta can't believe I did it. Thank goodness I have pictures.

And then there's that uncanny ability Christie has in drawing dead people out to plant themselves right across the street from wherever we are - it's almost scary to be friends with that chick! Seriously, we had been in our hotel room a grand total of 45 minutes, door to the balcony wide open, enjoying the ocean breeze. We were dozing in and out of nap mode, when JM hears some "radio traffic" down below. We look out to see a guy sprawled out on the lawn across the street, with a lifeguard doing CPR on him. I'll hand it to the paramedics, they handled themselves very well, no rush, no panic, just another day doing a crappy job in the most beautiful setting. In true California fashion, "dudes" were just strolling by with their surfboards, riding their bikes, walking their dogs - nobody seemed miffed. Gross and weird that my first pics in Cali were of the dead guy across the street.

Anyway, the trip was such a nice break from reality, and it's been tough to get back in the swing of things. My hubby was so funny, and all of us laughed so hard. Now, see why I have abs of steel (tee hee)! It was like the trip was full of catch phrases, like we were in our own little movie. Who will ever forget "Ola Beaches!!!!" as we entered the nice Mexican restaurant Christie had been wanting to try out. And the tune "lalalalalalalalala" (you had to be there). And this late October's festivities will be much more enjoyable now with "Howmaweem", "full mooms", and such. GAH!!! we miss Christie and Brian so much....

Her hands

I woke this morning thinking of my grandmother, of her hands, of my first memories of her - some of my first memories at all. I have no bad memories of her, only ones of her hands, with their sweet loving touch, always ready to rub my back, or do the dishes, whatever the moment called for. F has her sweet smile, with it's two versions: one like Mona Lisa, secretive, playful, the other a full-on, square, happy thing. Grandma never withheld her love from me and always made me feel like her "favorite". What a special gift, to make another feel like the center of the universe. I hope I can get there before she's gone...

Lost

What a small town. The lady who cut my hair today - turns out she is going to be F's teacher in Pre-K next month. Cute girl. F will like her.
I went for the cut and "brighten up" because I needed a serious lift. We've been here 4 1/2 weeks now, and I am in a total funk. I didn't know you could hit your mid-life crisis at 33. I hear the words I say to the only other adult here that I get to talk to (lucky J.M.), and I realize that I have turned into that person I never could tolerate before. You know, the one who wonders "who am I, really?" and "what do I like - what is my purpose". Wah. It's embarrassing to even admit it, that those thoughts and words creep through me. But I do feel like I have lost myself somewhere along the way. I have no interests - there is nothing that makes me interesting. I have no identity, no individuality - I am only someone else's something. Sometimes I feel like such an imposter, like I am only a mirror of who I am around. Why do I have to flow like water, moving around the firmly grounded things in front of me? Why can't I see only black and white. It's always, "yeah, I see your point, that's true". Where are the big kahunas I used to posess, that gave me such a strong will and conviction - such a survivor's determination? And then there's the guilt from feeling these things when I have so much to be thankful for. How could I ask for more? How could I ask for this ambiguous, vague "more"ness, and not even know what it is I want? There is so much I don't know. Doesn't God want me to do great things for Him, in His name? Didn't I used to think that I was destined for that?
Where's that girl? Where'd she go? And are all the things she attracted into this life that is now - are they going to go away too, in search for her, and leave me here all alone with myself, whoever that is...

Cowboys

In the car today-

SJ: If they're called COWboys, why do they ride HORSES?

JM: Because their job is to herd cows.

SJ: Why do they have to HURT the cows, Daddy!!!!!!?


(Mean ol' cowboys, teehee)

She's out to rid the world of all injustice to all things living!

Funky Dinnertable

Tonight at the table over spaghetti, F starts a perfect rendition:

F: "We want the funk, gotta have that funk, OW, we need the funk, gotta have that funk, OW"

M: "FUNK!!!"

...and the noodles are flying.

Blizzards and woodchips

We found that F's 2nd day of camp was quite an adventure, as she was "initiated" by the other kids, and gladly, passed the test. Too bad the test involved pulling down one's panties on the playground and letting the other 4 year old campers put wood chips in your behiney crack. The original trick (it started a few weeks ago, before F entered the picture) was running up behind your friend, pulling their pants and undies away from their body, and throwing a handful of woodchips in there. Miss Tammy, the teacher, thought she had them all broken of it, but no, F's arrival proved to conjure up old fond memories of fun times past in the seasoned campers' minds, and F was more than willing to help them out, being the kindhearted giver that she is...
So of course, what better topic for dinner conversation this evening, right? Daddy was trying to make sure F understood that's not something we do and why, but that it was somewhat normal as we fought a similar battle with SJ showing her panties at school at this age, at which time SJ chimes in with her most mature manner stating, "oh, it happened every day"! Like she had been just as frustrated with the situation she was in way-back-when as we were. It was hard to hold it together at this point for me, so F found an opportunity to change the subject - she moved on to the "blizzard" she got on her foot from her shoes rubbing the wrong way, and promptly flopped her gray-brown bottomed foot up onto the table to show us. I guess "How to be a Lady 101" was an utter failure for today, but I have the feeling there will plenty more occassion for that lesson to be revisited.

So Dahlonega is not so bad...some of it. We have not only entered the "civilian world" but have had to adapt to its pace - on a small-town mountain people scale. This is not a typical military town - with Camp Merrill home to only a little over 200 soldiers. But I have heard from many that the pace will be just as slow for J.M.'s work. He said today that Monday will be a normal duty day (done around lunchtime). So now we've gone from not seeing each other at all, and barely emailing to "don't you need to go to work or something?" Thank goodness the new house has enough yard to keep all of us busy.
What a beautiful river - perfectly clear and shallow over the round, smooth rocks on the sides, with a fast, deeper center. All the rocks and small rapids make it a loud river, too - I love that. I put my feet in it for the first time this evening, walking far enough toward the center to see a clearer view up-and down-river than what I can get from our higher bank - I swear with the sun setting and the trees and foothills, it looked very unreal. The water wasn't even cold! The temps here have been surprising to me - not into the eighties till after lunch, cool in the shade, nice breeze. I don't know if it took us two whole afternoons to put the kids' swing together because of the difficulty of the work, or the enjoyment of the backyard while doing it!
The girls have had to really embrace the whole "built in best friend" thing since getting here, as there are no kids living nearby to play with (not something they're used to), and are doing the typical sister love/hate thing, but it was so peaceful to watch them play together tonight on the balance beams that are now my flower bed borders, making up adventures, and chasing the millions of fireflies all over the backyard.
SJ is so big and responsible, still concerned for the "little ones" being able to play in a backyard that ends in a river, helping M to slide by himself tonight, and cheering him on. She lectured F last night about how we should all be thankful for what we have..."some kids don't have a Mommy and Daddy, or a house, or food to eat, and they have to eat out of the trash, F! You're all about a trampoline, when Mommy and Daddy have just spent two hundred and fifty hundred dollars on our swing - be thankful."
F says thanks for the swing... lately she is fixated on dying (not wanting to, that is). I think it's because SJ approached me a couple weeks back, concerned, saying she didn't want me to die. I told SJ I wasn't going to die for a very long time yet, and she said "but Mom, you're already in your THIRTIES!!!!" F even cries when she thinks about it. Also, she cries when she thinks about how it will hurt when she has a baby one day. And she cries at 4 in the afternoon everyday, no matter what, just so we know what time it is. And she cries when the wind doesn't blow just right, if you ask J.M. I told him tonight we need to just accept that she is emotional, and not try to make her feel bad for being who she is (what a Mom thing to say) because he keeps saying "we've just got to stop that".
M still likes his sleep. He has his first black eye due to the steps in the house. He tried to break bad on me tonight during the decomposing that is called "time for bed". He stuck his pudgy 2-year-old finger with its black dirt under the fingernail out at me, the tears streaking the film of dust on his face and screamed "no no!!!!" I have no idea what he was telling me no for, I had just walked up, but he meant it! That proceeded on to a "running in place" fit. Probably shouldn't have laughed, but I did.
The swing me and Christie (neighbor-turned-dear-friend-against-my-will at Fort Benning) used to swing on daily, drinking wine and speaking our own language, is now down by the river, visited at least once daily, but with a twinge of sadness for missing her. It probably won't enjoy hearing the same "juice" in these next two years as it did in the past 6 months! But maybe the absence of conversation mixed with the constant small-rapids river noise has its own story to share...

ok, so this is it - the first entry - would love it to be something earth-shattering, but if i waited for that, the ball would never start rolling. we're waiting on the packers to get back here today - it's 1226, still a no-show. 3/4 of our stuff is boxed. this is fun. see ya fort benning!