Sandcastles

Wow! I've been really busy and haven't had time to do much updating at all. I really want to do a full post soon, but for now, here are some photos from the Sandcastle competition we went to this weekend. I've posted some more on Facebook, but these are some of my favorites. We all had a great time!!!

This title goes with the guys below...they were my favorite! Although it was kind of hard to explain to the kids why the title was so funny!!!

Also, I met this guy and got a signed copy of his book. He was very cool, and said I was brave to do what I'm doing. I got to polish my schmoozing skills.

Time Flies

Trite, but true. The kids started school on Tuesday, and I've been pretty consumed with their school stuff on top of my school stuff. Not a lot of homework yet, but lots of forms to fill out. So far, the review are mixed. They all seem to like their teachers, and the lunches seem pretty popular. None of them seem to have latched on to a best friend, or even to know the other kid's names...but that will come. None of them like PE very much, which meets everyday, and apparently has a lot of yelling involved. At them, not by them. It's been too wet for outdoor recess, and the bus driver yells a lot too. There's some yelling, it seems. Scooby came home pretty quiet the first day, and found himself in tears pretty easily over other things. Cinderella went to the nurse on Friday with a stomachache. The nurse talked to her and decided it was probably new kid nervousness, and by the end of the day she was fine. Tarzan, so far, seems fine. It must be SO hard for them, and so scary. But they're hanging in there.
And so am I. Classes are going well...I'm really liking Movement Class and Meisner (Acting technique). Stage Combat is tough, but I'm doing all right for an old lady. Time is ticking right along, though. Auditions for Spring term are in a couple of weeks! I'm starting to get to know the others in my group, although I am a little on the outside, due to having a family and living a little farther away. Don's still looking for where he fits in with all this, and we're still looking for a home church.
It was really awesome having Lisa and Mom and Dad come visit...it's fun to show off the house, even if it isn't really ours. We went to Ft. Monroe in Norfolk and visited the place where my great-great-great-(is there one more great?) grandfather served for awhile in the Civil War. Turns out Edgar Allen Poe was stationed there for awhile too!
I've started trying to run a little bit again. There are lots of nice options of where to go, and the weather has cooled off enough that it's not total torture. Before I know it, we'll be making Thanksgiving and Christmas plans!

First Week

I have completed my first week of Grad School. Overall, a great success, I think. The only disappointment I've had has been the casting for the fall season. I was called back for a fairly big part in Dancing at Lughnasa, but ended up being cast in a small ensemble part (Le Beau) in As You Like It. I'm a little disappointed in the casting, but the good thing is, I can complete one of my required Crew Practicums in the same show that I'm in since my part is so small. This means less time spent in rehearsal during the evenings. The good things about the week are: I am excited about my classes. I'll be learning things that I don't already know and am excited to learn about. I'll be stretched mentally, physically and emotionally, and will have lots of new tools in the creative toolbox. My professors seem knowledgeable, empathetic, and enthusiastic about teaching, and my fellow "cohort" members all seem like nice people. There is one guy older than me, one about my age, and the rest are all younger. There are 5 girls and 5 guys altogether (including me.) Four of the 5 guys are married, and two have kids. I'm the only married girl. (Woman.) I took my required Entrance Exam. I needed a 70 or better to pass, and I got a 90. Yay me! I also completed my stupid required Library/Research online course tonight, so that's out of the way. We also found a sitter to watch the kids on Monday and Wednesday afternoons, when I won't be getting home until 5:30. She's a Divinity student from Regent, who has worked in Youth Ministry for several years. Now we just need to find Don a job so we can pay her! Looking forward to Cinderella's birthday - we're having a family party this weekend, and we'll have a friend party later, after school starts, when she's met some friends! I can't believe my baby is almost 6!!!

Quote for the Day

Be patient towards all that is unsolved

in your heart.

Try to love the questions themselves.

Do not now seek the answers

which cannot be given

because you would not be able

to live them.

And the point is,

to live everything.

Live the questions now.

Perhaps you will then

gradually,

without noticing it,

live along some distant day

into the answers.

- Ranier Maria Rilke

Day Two

Okay, I'm already kind of getting my butt kicked by school. It's awesome, though!
We had General Auditions for the fall season last night (yes, first day...not intimidating at all, right?) and I got a callback for Dancing at Lughnasa (apparently there's a film...with Meryl Streep. Huh) but not for As You Like It. Callbacks were tonight, and I think I did okay with my Irish accent, but didn't get asked to read much. If I don't get cast in anything, it's okay, as I think the classes are going to keep me very busy. Plus, I have to do four "Practicums" (serve on a running crew) during my three years here, so I'll get one of those scheduled and out of the way.
So far, classes have been mostly going through syllabi and expectations, etc. Lots of sitting around. And lots of meetings. And emails. And stuff. But honestly, I'm really jazzed for these classes to truly begin. I finally get to really dig into all this acting stuff and not just feel like I'm being served an appetizer and then told, "Sorry, that's all a director really needs to know."
I have homework to do now!

First Day of School

I'm off to class!
Actually, I'm off to orientation, chapel, meet and greet lunch, more orientation, part of one class, and then general auditions.
Saturday's potluck went okay. It was inside due to the torrential rains. There were lots of kids there, which was good, but between the acoustics of being inside a very large room and lots of kids bouncing around, I missed about half of the introductions. Everyone will have to get to know each other again today. There are many married students in the graduate dept., and several of them have kids. There are at least three other students older than I am....one of them is a grandmother just starting the undergrad program!
Ciao!

Progress Report

We're getting down to the end of the boxes...I hung up some pictures today (using as many existing nail holes as possible) and that cleared out a few more. I've been able to get rid of all the empty ones by posting them for free on Craigslist - apparently lots of people move around here! We got a BIG job done on Tuesday when we moved everything back out of the garage, pushed the stuff the owners left behind to the back of the attic, (more like a teeny weeny loft space over the garage - unfinished and VERY HOT) moved a bunch of stuff up into the attic, set up shelves in the garage and reloaded everything back into the garage more neatly. And it all fits now! There are still about six boxes of Don's clothes he needs to sort through and store (mostly winter stuff) and several boxes of misc. stuff that needs to find a home, but we're really making progress. We went to the beach yesterday and it was HOT even right by the water. I spent more time IN the ocean than I ever did in Maine! We also saw two jellyfish, which kind of creeped us out, but we kept going back for more wave diving anyway. I bought a glass, hexagonal patio table with wind-up umbrella from Craigslist for $30 - now keeping my eyes open for chairs to go with it. The welcome to new students picnic is on Saturday (at Regent) and I start classes on Monday. I've read three and a half of my books already, and am really enjoying them. I'm really looking forward to starting classes!!!
Don sent in several job applications today, and has a interview lined up next Wed. for a job he doesn't think he wants, but it's a start. Of course, I'm in class, so our first sitter-dilemma is approaching quickly. I'm off to read for awhile...

One week later

We're still here!
Things are strange and much is new and will take getting used to.
I have 5,000 other things I should be doing right now, so excuse the "list" form of this entry, please.
Things that cost less here than Pittsburgh:
- Groceries
- Gas
- Getting to the beach

Things that cost more here than Pittsburgh:
Everything else

Things we've accomplished this week:
Unpacked many boxes
Connected phone, internet and TV (although we're still experimenting with options and they may not be permanently connected.)
Registered cars
Inspected cars
Got new license plates
Applied for VA driver's licenses
Applied for new health insurance for Don and myself
Applied for new health insurance for the kids
Applied for new auto insurance
Cancelled our old auto/homeowner's/flood insurance
Applied for renter's insurance
Filled out a "damage" report of everything wrong with the house so we won't get blamed when we move out
Discovered about a dozen things we forgot to put on the list
Went to the beach 2x
Went to Walmart 3x
Went to Home Depot 2x
Went to Bruster's 1x
Registered the kids for school
Got my Student ID card
Returned Scooby's violin to store in Mass. to exchange for a larger size
Went back to school shopping on tax-free weekend, but they were sold out of almost everything
Lost the cat
Put up "Lost Cat" signs in neighborhood
Didn't tell the kids for two days
Found the cat
Got rid of empty boxes by advertising free boxes on Craigslist
Experienced 100 degree weather
Fixed the broken ladder rung going up to the playset
Stepped on and broke the newly repaired ladder rung, consequently hitting myself in the head with the pair of pruning shears I'd been taking up the to top to trim the tree branches with
Started reading Harry Potter to the kids
Saw the season finale of So You Think You Can Dance
Opened a bank account
Treated Cinderella for pinkeye
Bought mosquito repellent
Argued with Scooby about how often he should be allowed to apply mosquito repellent
Bought Afterbite
Scratched mosquito bites
Tried out a church that meets in the Middle School right down the street
Wrote a three act "murder mystery" play for church in Pittsburgh (previous commitment that I just got to) It stars Charlie's Angels, Starsky and Hutch, and Columbo.

Things I still have to do:
Forget it. There's too much. It's depressing to think about. I'll just look back over that long list of things that I did accomplish...Ah, that's better.

We are here, we are here, we are HERE!

Everyone survived the trip, even the cat, although he really wasn't happy riding in a car with no AC. Of course, neither was Don, so they complained to each other all the way down about what jerks the rest of us are.
But we are here, and the AC is working in the house now, so yay! We're unpacking, rearranging, trying to figure out where to put everything, copying keys, buying groceries, and tonight, for a couple of hours, we went to the beach. The kids LOVED it - rolling in the sand and the surf and coming home (home! it took 20 minutes to get back!) with shorts full of sand and ground-up shells. We had dinner (mac-n-cheese and peanut butter toast) together at 9:30pm, and now I'm sitting down with my brand new internet connection. Hooray!
I am freaking tired.

Checking in from PA

We're back in PA for a couple of days staying at Granny's house. Still don't know when we'll have our own internet, but Subway has free wireless, so we've been lurking around their parking lot. The move was stressful, but everything is there except us, the cars, the kids and the cat. We're all heading out for good on Sunday morning. Two friends from church came down with us and helped us with the move. The four of us moved everything in except the piano, for which we enlisted the help of a guy down the street who made the mistake of standing on his front stoop. While the garage is piled pretty high with boxes, everything is physically on the property, so now we just have to figure out how to arrange it. As a welcoming gift, the AC wasn't working in the house, so it was a pretty steamy move in. They SHOULD have it fixed by the time we return. Overall, things went remarkably well. We met up with the realtor today and received our check from the closing, so that end is tied up as well. Chugging right along! Still left to do, besides all the unpacking, is find new health insurance, car insurance, renter's insurance, driver's liscenses, car registrations, enroll the kids in school, find new doctors, dentist, eye doctor, and figure out how to get a good deal on phone/internet/TV. Don's being a little obsessive about that last one. Oh yeah, and he needs to find a job. Really fast. So, other than that, things are going great! I'm so grateful to Butch and Evy for coming with us, and to all the other folks who helped out on the Pittsburgh end. Moving bites.

Check - next item...

The cat has been successfully rabified. We shut him downstairs for the morning, then boxed him up for the trip. He was surprisingly quiescent and hardly put up a fuss at all. He was pretty freaked, and hid his head as much as possible, but didn't try to run away. The attic is almost emptied. I think I made about 50 round trips from the third floor to the first. I'm starting to hurt. We ate chicken nuggets, fish and meatballs for dinner. With a side of raisins. Scooby got to hang out with his friend Kaylyn today for awhile. He had fun, but came home sad. I bought my first textbook online yesterday. Most of them I think I'll get from Amazon, but they didn't have this one. I have auditions the first day and a test the first week. Need to start getting my head into school/work gear. Soon. A couple more days, I hope. Don is downstairs packing. Finally! They gave him a little going away party at work yesterday, with a cake. That was nice, and more than he expected.
Computers will be disconnected tonight, but I should have my laptop and be able to post from that when I can.

Tick Tock

Tick tock. Tick tock. Tick tock...

Three days and counting. The sandbox is cleaned out and ready to go. The attic is all boxed and swept out, except for that one corner of Don's stuff. The wardrobe in the bedroom is empty. The kids rooms are cleaned out down to bare furniture and the only toys out are Legos, Lincoln Logs, blocks and Barbies. The living room is packed, except for the computer. The kitchen is half packed. Utilities have been notified at both locations. Tomorrow I transfer prescriptions and pick up kid's medical records. Cat is scheduled for booster shots this afternoon. Post office has been notified. Magazine subscriptions have been notified. Late thank you notes with new address included have been mailed. All nails and hangers have been removed from walls. To do this weekend: Confirm rental truck. Finish packing kitchen. Pack suitcases for kids to have at Granny's. Pack computers and desk area. Pack bathroom stuff. Return library books and redeem "book bucks" rewards at library. Break down swingset and put out for trash. Cut grass and trim hedges. Pack all of Don's stuff - bedroom, that corner in the attic, and pretty much the entire basement. Clean clean clean. The other 9.000 things I'm forgetting.
Tomorrow is Don's last day of work.
Tick tock. Tick tock.

Today

Going over to Joe and Barb's for a goodbye picnic. Reality starting to set in! Any ideas on how to best transport the cat?
We gave up on the idea of trying to be back by 11:00am for the closing on Thursday (Really? They couldn't move it later in the day? REALLY???) so we're signing papers ahead of time. Therefore, there's no real reason we both have to come back when we take the truck down. Maybe one of us will stay down there with the cat, and the other will bring the kids. Otherwise, the cat will have to live at Granny's for a couple of days. That should be interesting...

Friday night

We took the boys to a Pirate game last night as a late b-day present for Tarzan. We got poured on while standing in line, but almost as soon as we sat down we were presented with this:

Scooby wished for a long game with extra innings...and he got what he asked for. 14 innings later, the Pirates won 2-1 with a homer hit into the river. Quite a spectacular ending to an otherwise pretty boring game. Good fun was had by all.

House ps:

It no longer has a hot tub.

The house

Although we haven't signed the lease yet, our application was approved, so I'm going with the assumption that we have an address to go to at last!

Here are a couple more pictures:

It has a garage, it has a fireplace, it comes with a wooden playset, and, although we probably won't use it much, it comes with an outdoor hot-tub!

Right now, our tentative plan is to pack up the moving truck on the 27th, drive it and one of our vehicles down there, unpack, drive back here for the closing on the 30th, then drive down with the kids and the cat. All that could change, of course, except for the fact that we have to be out of here by the 30th.

One more bite of the elephant eaten...

Maybe?

It's entirely possible that we may have a new address soon.

I overnight mailed the rental application today - and we should find out the results before too long, Monday at the latest. I hope. It was a tough decision, but in a good way this time, with three viable possibilites to choose from. I'll post more details when we find out if our application is accepted. But this might, maybe, possibly be our next home...

House hunting

Note to self: Next time, before driving for 8 hours, have a better idea what square footage means and how small 1,200 sq ft. really is. Houses in our price range are tiny. At least in the good schools. So, we have a possibility for one, but it's pretty ratty and the school is only okay. I think I may have to go down again next week, and keep looking. Not that there's that much more to look at, but something new may pop up. I found a nice looking possibility on Craigslist yesterday, but when I talked to the woman she was kind of a b*&*ch, and I have a feeling it's not going to come through. Discouraging! Wish we were in Norwood this weekend...

Quick Update

I tried to post a nice long update last night, with pictures detailing what we've been up to, but the computer crapped out. So that will have to wait! Today is Scooby's birthday party, and the weather is GORGEOUS!!! (Sorry, all you folks who are slowing growing mildew in crevices you never knew you had)
Tonight we're heading south on the great rental-house hunting adventure. Hopefully, if all goes well, we may have an address by the end of the week.
I'll try posting pictures again when we get back.

Well, it's a good thing the inspector came yesterday!

Wild weather tonight!!! There was actually a tornado warning in Sewickley, right along Rt. 65. Craziness. One minute we're out on the back porch watching the thunderstorm, then Tarzan and Cinderella are running around the backyard playing, then half an hour later it literally looks like barrels full of rain are being thrown against the windows. Hail, thunder...and our back yard turned into a pond due to the storm drain being unable to keep up with the volume of water. Water was pouring over the gutters in sheets - not because they were backed up, no, because we'd gotten most of the foliage out of them - just because of the force of the rain. And Scooby is on an overnight camp-out with the church in a state park. They should have some interesting stories to tell. If you'll recall, last year when he went to week-long sleepaway camp, they also had tornado watches in effect. Awesome. Welcome to Pittsburgh, Mom and Dad!

In BETTER news, we got the results from the home inspection today, and there are only a few very minor things to be done. Totally manageable. And the roof is fine!!! So it looks as though the July 30th closing day will hold and this sale may very well go through! Yippee!