Ultranormal

Author: jclawver

  • The rental house

    So, I am totally obsessed with this rental house we’re in. Like, cataloging both its faults and its features. It’s for sale, (for more than I think it should be, but I don’t know anything about the Savannah market.) and it would be both cheaper and easier if we just bought this house instead of some other house in the same basic neighborhood. My list so far:\
    Good:\
    The sun doesn’t BEAM into the house through the windows, so we can actually have our blinds up all of the time. (We could never do this in Va, due to how the house was oriented. People thought I was a vampire, I am sure.)\
    The backyard is really shady and level.\
    Large family room.\
    Large bedrooms, including master big enough for K’s office.\
    Pantry (this somewhat makes up for the smallish kitchen).\
    Door to backyard from master. This is great when the kids get dirty, we just shuffle ten feet to my shower. (The door to the backyard from the mudroom didn’t turn out to be so useful- yet.)\
    Situated so that we don’t have to see our neighbors if we don’t want to.\
    Shed.\
    Attic.\
    Skylights in master bath and hall bath.\
    Bad:\
    Side of the house with the driveway is on a “busy” neighborhood street.\
    No sidewalks, but this might be true everywhere.\
    Kitchen is kind of small.\
    Wallpaper/painted walls not to my liking.\
    Peel and stick tile in 2 bathrooms and mudroom.\
    House trim needs to be repainted.\
    Sky-lights in the family room make it really hot and too-bright in certain spots.\
    Probably the biggest negative is that there isn’t any wow factor. For some reason, this just doesn’t feel like my house. I guess I should make the decision based on financial criteria rather than emotional, but I don’t think I can. I LOVED my house in Va within 3 seconds of opening the front door. I want that experience and passion again. On the other hand, being detached emotionally frees me up for other things- like cooking- instead of decorating, painting, etc!

  • Life in Ga

    Kevin is working way too much. He’s up everyday before the alarm and is even out of the house before I wake up.\
    I am not sure if it is because we are new here, because we are renting, or maybe just due to it being summer, but I feel like I am on vacation with no to do list. Wheeee. The boys and I just goof around all day until it’s time for me to make dinner. And I actually have been cooking, even breakfast! (The boys got used to having a hot breakfast after a week at Babb’s house and a week in a hotel. Boo. No more cold, continental ones for them. Ha.) Last night I made enchiladas and tortilla soup for the first time and they turned out fabulously!! Sadly, Kevin worked really late and missed the first presentation.\
    The house is nice, but the kitchen is a bit small. Everything is a mess, but a functioning one. I am not even bothering to unpack everything. There are still boxes everywhere and I don’t really plan to change that, since we don’t have any visitors coming soon :(. The boys are sharing a room, one room is a play room that no one uses- but it’s pretty, one room is full of food storage, and that leaves the master for us and K’s not-yet-set-up office.\
    The boys seem to be happy but miss Kevin. Max has been alternating between playing on the computer and reading Harry Potter. Brian flits from toy to toy. He likes to run and scoot around the circle of the house (living room to dining room to kitchen to family room to entry way to living room, etc). We also play in the sprinklers a lot and then he hops in the shower to get his feet clean. We don’t have tv yet, so in the wee morning when I am not ready to be awake and in the afternoon before Brian crashes for a nap, we watch the same 4 videos. The other day I splurged and bought Flushed Away, so make that 5 videos.\
    That’s pretty much our life so far!

  • Hey hey

    Good news! We might have a tenant for our Va townhouse. Woot. I got a message from the prop manager saying that she wanted to discuss an application. Keep your fingers crossed. Hopefully the application doesn’t involve 14 rottweillers, 3 smokers, and a rent of only half of our asking price, yes?\
    PS- Kev, I still can’t email out. IM is probably the best way for me to contact you. Nothing important is going on though, except me complaining about the kids. :* Tash is coming by in a bit too. Any message you want to pass on?

  • We have internet!

    Now I can occupy you with all of the trivial details of my life. Joy!! No tv yet, which I am mostly happy about. Why bother when everything worth watching, save football, is easily available elsewhere?\
    The house is still a mess of boxes, but I am dying for some company. And, we were planning a getting-to-know-the-neighbors/coworkers/fellow church goers party, but I don’t think I am up for the work of unboxing the house in a timely manner. Oh well.

  • Update: Ga is rainy

    We’re on our second hotel room, cuz the movers got lost. Or just skipped us. I don’t know where my meds are or where my personal toiletries are. Kevin’s deodorant was not made for me.\
    The first day we were here, we explored downtown Savannah, the shopping areas, the area around our house, and the beach! The journey from our house to the beach took 18 minutes! Wheeee. I can totally go everyday if I want!!!! Kevin posted a few pics from the beach. Click the “photos” link above.\
    The second day, we waited around a bunch, went shopping a little, checked out the local library, and sought refuge from the humidity in a movie theater. We tried to see Wall-E, but ended up at the wrong theater, so we saw Get Smart. Max’s grandpa had taken him to see it earlier in the week, but Max was up for it again. I was shocked to learn it’s a pg-13 movie. Oy! Not only did Max see it, but so did Brian. He alternated between, “I love this movie” and “I hate this movie!” I think the [SPOILER WARNING] naked butt at the end won him back over.\
    I’ve been blow drying my hair lately, which is a huge deal for me, but 20 minutes later, it’s wet again. I think I will go back to air-drying. Which could mean it’ll be wet until sometime in Nov. It’s rained every afternoon we’ve been here. Is this normal?\
    Kevin gets a huge A+ for the house. It is larger than our townhouse in Va, but feels smaller because everything is just a few steps away (plus, there is actually less living space, but the kids’ bigger rooms make up for that.) We not only have a garage, but also have an attic and a shed! We don’t have anything that could go in the shed, but I am thinking about buying some stuff just to put things in it! There is also a fire pit in the backyard that I fully intend to use, as soon as it stops raining every day.\
    Last night I had a dream in which I was dreaming, but knew it, about going to Babba’s house for dinner. I knew it was a dream since it now takes 10 hours instead of 10 minutes to get to her house, but no one believed that that they were in a dream. It was sad and I felt guilty for taking the kids away from Babba. Waaaaah.\
    That’s all from here. Wish the movers luck that they will get their act together soon!!

  • Keep on keepin on

    I’ve been packing and working and sorting and trashing like crazy this week! The movers come tomorrow, which means my work will be done, hallelujah! My C-section scar has been hurting, which is a definite sign I need to take it easy. After barely 2 hours of sleep last night, I woke up with killer ear and throat pain. Kevin thinks I have strep throat. Oh joy. But tomorrow, at least, I can just sit around lazily, on the one chair we aren’t moving to Georgia, and watch other people work. That is after I: have our mail forwarded; meet with the property manager; haul 5 bags of trash, carry the exercise bike up a flight of steps, drag two kiddie play frames, and a weed-covered section of outdoor carpet around the back of the house to the curb; sort through the paperwork junk pile; take down 14 vases from over the kitchen cabinets; empty the corner cabinet; dry out the paint cans; finish packing the last minute odds and ends; and go to the doctor. After that, then I can just sit around. YAY.

  • Panic time

    Less than three days until the movers show up and I am starting to panic.

  • Virginia is for Lawvers

    Kevin and I moved to Virginia almost 10 years ago, with the idea of staying for four years and then high-tailing it back to Az where we belonged. We had all of these plans to visit NY, Niagara Falls, see the changing leaves in NE, Boston, Philly, the beaches of the southeast, Disney World, see the fireworks in downtown DC. It was basically going to be an extended working vacation. But then we found out about Max (yay!) and my ability to actually do things was turned upside down. We also found that we LOVED it here and couldn’t stand the thought of going back to hot, brown, dirt-y Az permanently. Virginia has trees and green and water and grass and SNOW and flowers and Fall and summer and it was all so great. What’s not to love?\
    (Ha. The first week we were here, there were two stories about dead newborns found in dumpsters and the local NBC station broke into an episode of Friends for a breaking news report that the Redskins had acquired Brad Johnson. I turned to Kevin and asked, “What the hell kind of place did you move me to?”)\
    Here we are almost 10 years later, moving to Savannah, which has trees and green and water and flowers and summer and the BEACH. I am excited about the move. The kids will have a backyard to play in. Kevin will have a great, challenging job. I will be only 15 minutes from the beach. But I am sad to leave Virginia. No more Babba (Kevin’s mom) just down the street. No more snow to play in. No more Wegman’s. No more AOL school for Brian. No more 5 minute commute for Kevin. I won’t get to see and enjoy my wonderful house all fixed up.\
    Less than a week to go. I’m happy, sad, excited, nervous, stressed, and busy.

  • Max’s schoolwork

    I am cleaning out Max’s schoolwork basket from this year and found another gem I had to share. The assignment was to choose from that week’s focus words and create sentences. This is what he wrote. I am underlining the focus words.\
    1. A chick grows down on it’s skin.\
    2. Black is not a color.\
    3. I once fell out of bed.\
    4. My freedom is not going to be given away.\
    5. I’m going down a road to my choice, I fell of that road last week onto a black trampoline.\
    Another assignment was about perseverance. They had to write a goal and then four steps it would take to reach that goal. Max’s goal? “To get out of Daisy’s club and join the Mutu team.” HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA. His steps are equally hilarious, but that is for another day.

  • Moving update

    I am really busy! Will talk more later.\
    PS- Happy birthday, Dad. Love you!!