The corner of Rebecca and Mink Streets...The tree in the foreground is in our front yard.

The view from my front office window looking right up Rebecca street...

Looking left....

And the Evening and the Morning were the First Day....

Fear not, a wild man has not been let loose upon the world. Oh, wait... yes he has! Hubband's first day of school was today. In honor of his mother's time-honored tradition of photo's on the first day of school, I MEANT to take a picture of him setting out this morning with his backpack. MEANT to, but forgot entirely until he was at his evening class. So, here he is, home from classes, changed into his "play gear" and not allowing me any closer to him without leaving bite marks behind. The Hubband in his school daze. :-)

Ta Da!!

Well, the windows saga continued its unexpected journey on Sunday. We had been told they would be here "Sunday afternoon" IF the Friday job was completed in a timely fashion. At 7:30 am (does that sound like afternoon to you? Anyone? Hmmm. Didn't think so) DING goes the doorbell and BAM! the guys are working! Hubband and I, not anticipating such an early morning, had not gone to bed at what one might call an appropriate hour (well, for getting up at 7 anyway...), we'd crashed down at around 3 am and both had had trouble sleeping for one reason or another. The guys, who usually install around 17 windows a day, only were able to get 6 of ours done because of the weirdness of them. They basically had to tear out the window, the framing, the molding, EVERYTHING and then rebuild it all. They are returning today to put in the last 2 windows and the molding/edging on the exterior of the house. WE LOVE OUR WINDOWS! But, ohhhh, were we ever sleepy yesterday!

Photos follow in their own posts. Blogger wasn't letting me attach them to this one for some reason...

Another view of the hole... Each of the windows looked like this when they were torn out, so I only pestered the guys to take pictures of one. hehe.

The hole in my office. You can see where they had to tear EVERYTHING out and the gap that was later filled with new framing materials so the new windows would sit flush

Our octagonal window... we're going to maybe ask someone (Auntie Anne? Bruce?) to do a stained glass insert for us for that one...

The living room windows as the trim was going on...

The finished product....the trim needs to be painted, as it is only primed/sanded right now.

Waiting for the comment storm on this one...

I want a baby. In fact, both my husband and I are emotionally at the stage where we really want to get pregnant. For me, in the last few years I have looked at my friends and sisters' children and thought "someday", but the last few months I have looked and craved. HOWEVER, the timing is not good at all for us. There are so many unknowns still ahead for us here in Memphis, financially and otherwise. We know that it isn't smart to do an indefinite push off, because if you wait for perfection it will never arrive... so we have decided to wait just a few more months to start trying. I know in my head that that is the smart and responsible thing to do... but I so want a baby.

I think maybe the whole desire has been heightened in me since the finding of the lump in my breast back in April. The doctors first thought it wasn't really anything serious and would fade with my cycle. When that didn't happen, they decided it must be a plugged milk duct and would still subside over time. It has been 4 months now and it has not subsided. In fact, it has gotten bigger. I have an appointment on Monday with my new doctor, and she is going to suggest a course of diagnostics and perhaps even biopsies and who knows, it may still end up being something totally benign. But I can't help but harbor a fear that it isn't. That it is something fairly serious and that I may end up never able to breastfeed, or depending on the therapy required, ever have a biological child.

I know in my head that this is WAY paranoid of me, but at the same time I can't seem to push the concerns aside. I read every day in the course of my job about the horrors of cancer and other diseases, see the statistics on breast health issues, and even the dry presentation of mortality stats. My job also tells me that we caught this early, and if it IS something serious, the adverse events and/or mortality issues really won't apply to me. Yet still I find myself with this little voice in the back of my head muttering away about all that I have to lose...both in things I've yet to experience, and in those that I've always held dear.

I dont believe in dwelling on fears or desires when one can do nothing, so I will go quietly to my appointment next week, tamp down the increasing tick of my biological clock, and continue to hush that little nagging voice. But I will also ask for the prayers of all of you that I will return to this subject one day soon and be able to laugh off the fears this episode has caused ...and then give you all the best news in the world.

So much for that....

Well, we DID NOT get our windows yesterday as planned, in fact, we wont be getting them now until Sunday afternoon/Monday. I know its not much longer to wait, but I was all set to enjoy actually having windows I could SEE out of. No more cracks, or weird built-up condensation, etc. Alas, it was not to be. Apparently we have "very strange windows" and "very bad windows" and "I dont think I can rip this out on my own" windows. The installer was here for all of 10 minutes yesterday morning and said "In 6 years I have never seen windows like these here and I dont think I can prise them out of there on my own." then he left.

In other news.... Hubband has his books! He's registered and starts classes on Monday! HE GOT INSTATE RESIDENCY! WAhooooo! For those of you who dont know the importance of instate residency... its a difference of >$5000.00 per semester in our out of pocket costs! Not only that, but he had thought he may have to take 75% time for school and work full time to get the residency, but they granted it to him straight up...without any conditions. :-) We also went to the bursars office yesterday and verified that they had put in the deferrment on payment for Hubband so that we can wait until we receive our first GI Bill payment to pay on tuition. So, even with the window debacle/disappointment it was a good day.

Today I hope to get my office cleaned up and put away. I had been putting it off for several reasons, mostly because I thought the windows were going to be making a mess in there this week. Now that I have a reprieve before the weekend Im going to try and get it all sorted out and cared for today. I have been working either in the middle of a disaster, or on the living room couch... neither of which is good for the concentration. I discovered yesterday that I need to get out of the house at least once every 2 days. It had been 3 since I had done more than get the mail and I was listless, munching on everything in sight, wandering around not wanting to do anything, and with a headache on top of it all. Within 10 minutes of being "out and about" all the symptoms disappeared (can we say depression anyone? cabin fever?). Im planning to check out the town library tomorrow... once the office is done and such. :-)

From back in the day....

I used to be Christi Plantier... and I used to go to school at Shenandoah Valley Academy. Both of those things seemed to be far in my past until this weekend, when I ran into a friend from high school at church. I hadn't seen her in probably 11 years, but we had a lot of fun catching up. I came home from church with a desire to "reminisce" and went through both my yearbooks and all the SVA alumni on Myspace. I am now back in touch with not just KH at the church, but with an additional 5 people from SVA who I had completely lost touch with.

There is something to be said for finding old friends in a new place, when that place is still feeling just a bit foreign, large, and even a little unfriendly. Now, you might say "How can you find the SOUTH unfriendly, when you ADORE NYC?" Its not the PEOPLE who are unfriendly, it is the lack of actual friends that makes the area seem so bleak. Only... its not now. They may not become our close friends, we may not ever do more than the occasional get-together for a string of "do-you-remembers", but I KNOW 3 people in this town now. Three people who aren't my insurance agent, realtor, or window replacement installation man. They are 3 wonderful people from "back in the day"...and that's so comforting.

Windows are the Eyes into the Soul... or something like that

I think I told this old blog here that we've bought new windows for our house. We found out Friday morning that they will be installed on Wednesday! WEDNESDAY! Hurrah! Photos of the carnage and aftermath will be duly posted.

Toothy Grins Galore!

Hubband has had the chipped tooth repaired! Looks just like new, or old... however you want to put it. :-)





Oh, and dont you like his mutton chops? >sigh< I actually caught him pulling on them to "make them grow faster" yesterday. Viva la mutton chops... or something. hehe.

Techno Geek

I love new technology. Not only do I have a rockingly cool Razr phone with my upgraded Verizon account (Hubband now has a cell phone! I have a phone that works!), they actually transferred all my addresses/phone numbers from the OLD phone to the NEW phone in like... 2 minutes. Im so enamoured of my new phone, actually, that I carry it around with me everywhere and look at it once or twice ever hour, just to see if there's something new about it that I can play with. Its a great procrastination tool, especially since it has a camera in it. hehe. I dont know anyone in town with the exception of Hubband who would actually call me on it, perhaps some of my friends/family from far away will eventually need to reach us away from home, but in the meantime, Im just enjoying looking at it, poking random buttons on it, and experimenting with ring tones to the chagrin of the cats.

I think that officially makes me a techno geek...right?

Stuffed in Like a Sausage in its Casing

Well, we can now say that with the exception of some toys and 2 toddler rocking chairs we have all of our belongings under one roof... and let me tell you, that roof is about to explode! I didn't realize how much furniture we actually had until the final shipment from NY arrived. We unloaded it all into the house on Monday and until we put an 8 piece dining set, rocking horse, 4 huge bins of maternity (for the future) and baby clothes, 1 huge bin of my childhood memorabilia (dolls, coin collection, mama's clothes, etc) into the attic we couldn't even walk through the house without doing an imitation of a rat in a maze. We'd sniff out the teeny tiny pathway like there was cheese at the end of it instead of just a single room with space to turn around. We have now put all of the above items, plus a trunk, umpteen boxes (broken down for the next move), all the christmas decorations, biking and hiking gear, camping gear, all our sports equipment, picnic baskets, etc. into the attic. Poor little attic is bursting at the seams, but so is the house! hehe. Until the kitchen is remodeled we're not opening any of the boxes of kitchen items. I pulled out a few items from about 4 different boxes, consolidated those into 3 boxes and along with our 3 dishpacks and about 10 assorted boxes of china, teasets, etc. they are stacked behind the couch in the foyer.

With all the unpacking, sorting, repacking, and schlepping of things to the attic we haven't kept up so well with the news. Seems that C-mom is buying a home in Oak Harbor! She found a nice manufactured home in a quiet community that is close to her gym, the school, her fav OH grocery store, and only about 5 blocks from Queenie's place so she can pop in every once in a while and snoodle at Anni. hehe. Ashley and her husband have begun the process of buying a new home, and are officially out of the Westport house, Nic and her husband are getting all the house projects finished and putting it on the market soon, Caryn and HER husband are settling into life with her working from home, Becca is pregnant, Queenie is finally getting some sleep with little Anni (who is up to over 9 lbs! WOW!). I also just heard that my Grandmother is ill again, which will further delay her knee surgery...please keep her in your prayers!

So, to recap my long winded post... we're busy, we're stuffed into our house like sausages in their casings, and along with our beloved friends and family are so busy we can hardly see straight... On a quick side note, we did take time to go to a nice restaurant last night for dinner. The Grove, here in Memphis. I had what I think may be the best salad of my entire life to date: baby spinach and arugula with toasted macadamia nuts, goat cheese, and a grilled peach, with a dressing that tasted like a red wine reduction and balsamic vinegar. SO GOOD!

Ok. Really. Im going now. I swear....

All revved up and then ... putt, putt, putt

Woke up this morning full of energy and verve. Went straight to work in the kitchen, aiming to finish the whole sorting and repacking/unpacking THING that I'll have to do there to tide us over until we get our renovation done. I slowed down only to eat breakfast and then we hustled out the door to get the few little things we needed to finish our day. By the time we got back, I ached everywhere, felt feverish, and had lost all that get up and go...>sigh< so instead of a HUGELY productive day, I had a relatively UNPRODUCTIVE day. Here is a list of my accomplishments:
1) Did a strainer full of dishes, cooked breakfast, ate, and gathered garbage
2) Went to WalMart and Home Depot to get the bookcase shelf holders, etc. that we needed. Ended up wandering around HD looking at everything else. hehe.
3) Came home, felt horrible.
4) Called Q to wish her Happy Bday and have a good chat (HAPPY BDAY Q!!!). We talked for an hour and I unpacked about 1 box of books as we conversed.
5) Wandered around the house like a little wraith picking things up and putting them down again when they looked entirely too heavy and large a job to deal with (This included reading the newspaper. I picked up 2x and put it down again as too strenuous an activity)
6) Crashed out for 2 hours on the couch in a puddle of ALMOST whimpering owieness
7) Woke up thinking "Hey! I feel better!" which lasted just long enough to cook dinner, but not long enough to eat it while still feeling alive.
8) Posted this ridiculously long post about nothing, and am currently debating whether to take a bath or a shower before I go to bed. >sigh< What do you think?

Update news briefs

Wow. I have had so many posts I wanted to write and just haven't had the time...here's a quick update of the news:

Tennesseeans We are officially Tennesseeans. After 4 hours at the DMV, with their computers going down and them deciding that although my military id is valid for any navy base in the country, and for the federal government, it is NOT valid for the state of TN (I had to go back home and get my passport!), it was a not fun afternoon. BUT! We prevailed and have our licenses. Still have to go to yet another office to get our tags changed. Ugh.

Windows! We bought new windows for the house this week. We hadn't planned on the purchase, as we figured the total would be somewhere around the national debt of a small country, but we ended up getting a GREAT offer from Sears (ended up at about 2000 off the total once we got all our discounts added in!) so we ended up signing on to replace all the windows that won't be somehow changed or removed during the remodel. The guy is coming to measure them today.

Piano! The piano is IN THE BUILDING people! Hubband screwed a few 2x4s into the kitchen floor opposite the door, built a ramp for the stairs, and then hooked up a variety of chains and a come-along winch to both the kitchen 2x4s and the piano itself. He then guided it up the ramp while I cranked the winch. Woot!

Kate! Our friend Kate had a layover here in Memphis on her way to a teacher's convention and we were able to have breakfast at the airport with her. Very fun! Congrats on the new job, Kate! And to your mama for the same!

Internet and TV but still no phone Although our phone was supposed to be connected yesterday we still do not have any dial tone. Im not sure if that is because of the line being shorted out somewhere in the house or if the service wasn't actually connected yet.... Have to wait until Hubband wakes up and can take a look for me. :-)

Other news isn't so interesting... stuff like, finding a market for our normal groceries, a dental appt being made for Hubbands tooth to be fixed, etc. But at least I gave you the big news! Right?! Right?!

Found them! The birthday girl... she turned THREE on the 28th.

Coming down a slide with Dad at Makudos (sp?), Its a big activity arcade for young kids, with slides and caves and climbing places, etc. Also a regular arcade with old style games.

Playing at the arcade. She beat Aunt Chrissy at air hockey! 7 to 6. It was a close one.... >wink<

Throwing the ball...

Here she is with her mama at her bday dinner. We ate at Macayos... she LOVES ethnic foods, her favs are Indian and Mexican. Sure works for the rest of us, too!

Photos...

Here are some of the promised pics. They are in reverse order, and I couldn't find the GREAT ones of G's bday that I had wanted to post. They might still be on the photo card.... anyway, here are some of the wedding and the trip through the mountains into Albuquerque. More to follow, and LOTS more on Flickr once I get the time to upload them all...

Also, I have a tone of pics of the house on our photo card, just have to find the card reader so I can get them to the computer and I'll post em. I know you all are chomping at the bit to see the place! :-)

With Dad in Albuquerque. We were able to spend a couple of hours with him and Lori... chatting and eating. :-) Wish we could have stayed longer!

Entering New Mexico

Dave and Belinda cutting the cake

Me and Grace

After the dancing began... Ash with Grace

Sleepy Gracie girl waiting for the dancing to begin. Once it did, she perked up fast!

The wedding party

Steven and "Little" Ashley

The kids of the wedding, Gracie is the girl on the far left, the two little ones are Belinda's nieces Orion and Bella and Aislyn is in the back (David's grand niece). The boys are Belinda's sons and Bella and Orion's brother...

Danger Elf, Jaime and me, and our friend Cindy

Me and my nephew, Jamie, waiting for Davie's wedding to start....

Memphis, Tennessee

We're here. Exhausted, but here. Gar. Where to start? Will try to compose some semblance of an actual post shortly.... and will post those promised pics of G's bday, D's wedding, etc. I PROMISE! I just got internet today after being without for a week so not only am I working, and unpacking, and remodeling, Im also catching up on a weeks worth of blogs, emails, news, etc.

TTYL