Back in Canada!

Well, what a trip! We had an absolute blast in Texas. I would have to guess that we ate Mexican food at least 12 out of the 14 days we were there. Of course, not a single Mexican meal compared to the fabulous Christmas dinner put together by my mom and sister. It's not that I didn't want to help with Christmas dinner, it's just that when my sister is involved in a project, it's best to just step away. My help would greatly hinder her ability to bitch about me not helping later.

Christmas was just fabulous. Gluttonous to the max, as always, but simply wonderful. Santa brought Ryleigh a 3 foot Barbie dollhouse that is in transit between West Texas and Newfoundland. She also got a Barbie convertible and approximately 438 different Barbies. She loves them all. My dad gave Jeramy a football signed by the 1998 Denver Bronco team, yes, the team that won two Super Bowls, yes, that included John Elway. Angels sang as he opened the package. I got a fantastic new coat and Stephen Colbert's book, which I stupidly left at mom's house. Avery got some clothes and some toys, but was mostly happy with the paper on the floor.

It was great to see all the grandparents. I went to work out with my PaPa twice. So awesome to have to struggle to keep up with a 72 year old. He and my Nana took Ryleigh to my cousin's basketball game in Odessa which she completely loved. The day before we left Ryleigh and I went out to the pasture to check the cows with PaPa. I got to teach her about barbed wire and cattle guards. She learned about not stepping in poop and why those thingies are hanging on the cow's ears. Sometimes I stop and think about how incredibly different my kids' raising is from mine. They won't ever have 30 rabbits in their back yard, they will likely never shovel poop out of a steer pen or go hunting for rattle snakes. I guess we could make a big life change at some point and move out west, but it's not likely. When I go home I usually have moments where I think that would be a good idea, so I could be closer to my family and my kids could be raised more like I was. But then I get to about day 10 of being around my family and I start to feel the same way I did when I left for college. Then when we get to the airport to head home and I see the monitors with all the flight destinations for the day I get the urge to not only fly back home, but to keep on flying on to more new places and see more new things with the kids in tow. My kids will have a different raising than I did, but that doesn't mean that it will be lacking in any way. In some opinions, it will actually be for the better.

We also got to see lots of old friends. I've already talked about the good time we had in Houston. In Monahans we got to hang out with Dr. Morgan and family (hehehehe, Jason is a doctor) and with Cari Cutbirth Martinez and her sister-in-law Keri Almanza Cutbirth and Rudy, John, Selena, Renee (funny to stand there and think about that time in high school that she tried to kick my ass, not that she failed as much as I ran away), and a few other folks that we hadn't seen in ages all standing around the barrel of fire out in the desert. That night ended with fried burritos from the gas station...ahhh, West Texas living.

We had a nice Christmas over at my Grandma (Robinson) Friend's house. I love her so dearly and it was so nice to spend an evening with her. John and the boys were also there. He's really doing such a fine job raising that brood. They all three seem to be quite bright, hard working and very well mannered.

On the 28th we drove to Arlington where we hit our favorite Bar-B-Que joint and had dinner with my dear friend Davi. She has an awesome beau these days and looked just radiant...it's quite obvious that life is good for her right now. The second night in Arlington we dined with our old college friend Cory and his GF. We reminisced for two hours about our glory days in college. Always nice to do. Then we headed over to my brother's apartment to hang out. I've never really hung out with my brother since we've both become adults (I know that's a stretch to be calling him that right now, but he's working on it). It was a very nice visit with some great conversation and a visit by a very strange neighbor. I love that kid and God bless him, his creative mind will do some great things in this world.

Our plane landed in St. John's at 4am this morning. By the time we laid down in bed it was closer to 5:30am. We slept in until 1:30pm.

It's about 3 minutes until the New Year here in Newfoundland. Wow, what a ride this year has been. Who knows what 2009 will bring other than a great new president and Kindergarten for Ryleigh. Who knows where we will be this time next year, here, Texas or somewhere new. Who really cares, we love our life and our kids and most important, each other. It just keeps getting better every step of the way. Time to count down...

So Far Away from Home

Last Tuesday we climbed into a taxi in front of our house at 6:30am and headed to the airport. After a full day of traveling we pulled into Sugar Land just in time for dinner at 6:30pm, Texas time. We stayed with some friends in Sugar Land. Their four year old boy was one of Ryleigh's best friends when we lived there and it was so great to see them able to run around and play together again. Thank you guys for letting us crash at your pad!

On Wednesday Ryleigh had her eye appointment, which went really well. We're still patching and wearing the glasses, but all in all the doctor said that her eyes are doing well. She even said that Ryleigh may come to a point where she doesn't need her glasses any more. Only time will tell!

While in Houston we also got to visit Jeramy's grandparents, father and sister. All in all a great visit...then came the trip to Midland...

The flight was supposed to leave at 6:30pm on Thursday. At first the flight was delayed to 8:30pm, then to 10:30pm, then we jumped on a 9:15pm flight, then that flight got delayed to 10:35pm. Then the pilot for that flight couldn't fly because he logged too many hours that day. Then we got back on the original flight and at 11pm, we got into the air. That's a whole lotta time in the airport with two wee ones. At 2:30am we finally got to crawl into bed at my parent's house.

It's been a great trip home. I have eaten everything in sight. We've already had Mexican food several times...oh wonderful, glorious Mexican food. Everywhere I turn there are all sorts of treats and I just haven't been able to say no. This morning I finally made it to the gym for the first time in 9 days. I haven't gone 4 days without working out since September 1st and I was really happy to get my blood pumping again.

So, everyone is here. Ryleigh is getting lots of time with her Uncle Blake, but sadly he has to leave on Wednesday morning for the rig. Uncle Curtis showed up tonight. We do feel so very far away from home, it's kind of strange. However, my neighbor emailed me and said that they've had so much snow this week that she can't get out of the driveway. Oh boy, can't wait to get back!

No, I Haven't Started Packing Yet

About five minutes ago I folded my first shirt that needs to be packed. That was exhausting, time to goof around the internet.

Our agenda is something like this:

16th: Flight leaves at 8:30am in St. John's, layover in Newark and arrive in Houston at 4:30pm. Dinner at Live Oak Grille on Dairy Ashford in Sugar Land at about 6:30pm...feel free to come see us!

17th: Breakfast and coffee at KB's house, Ryleigh's eye appt. is at 2:30pm after which we will be driving to Conroe to see Jeramy's dad, Jeramy will stay in Conroe for the night, the girls and I will head back down to Sugar Land to stay with friends

18th: Avery has her check-up at 9am, then it's off to meet Jeramy in the Woodlands for some Lupe Tortilla before catching our flight out at 4:30pm, Midland bound

28th: Drive from Monahans to Arlington to stay with my sister for a few days and see friends in the area

30th: fly out of DFW at 6:30pm

31st: After a Toronoto layover we land in St. John's at 3:30am

I'm knee deep in laundry, but we're taking a break at 2 to head over to some friends' house to watch football and enjoy some genuine Louisiana gumbo.

O Cactus Tree, O Cactus Tree, How Lovely Are Your Branches

Mama, I'm comin' home for Christmas!

We had decided a few months ago that we would not be going home for Christmas due to the fact that we could buy a car for what it would cost to fly us all back. Last week my parents' travel agent came across a wicked good deal on some flights home for Christmas and we just couldn't pass it up. So, home we go on December 16th. We're going to be spending a few days in Houston on our way through so the girls can get some check-ups with their doctors taken care of. On December 18th we'll fly to Midland and sometime after Christmas we'll drive back to Arlington with my sister where we will catch our flight home.

We're working on a schedule for while we're in Houston, which I will post in a few days. Our goal is to visit as many people as possible while we're home.

There is so much to do to get ready for the trip. Lists need to be made and planning needs to be done! Here we go again!

Thanksgiving passed for us with very little comotion. Jeramy had to work all day, Ryleigh went to school and I made spaghetti that night. (Canadian Thanksgiving was on October 13th)

The biggest priority for us here lately has been preparing for winter. The girls both have their complete snow suites and boots. I bought my boots on Friday and yesterday we had my Land Rover outfitted with studded snow tires. There is a bag of salt in our garage along with two snow shovels. Bring on the snow! Jeramy is still greatly lacking in snow gear, but we'll get to it.

This morning we set out for downtown to go watch the annual Christmas parade. We met some friends at the Fairmont for brunch first then set out in the about 35 degree weather to watch the parade. Despite the cold, it was a nice and clear day. Last night was raining so bad that the street next to our house flooded, so we felt pretty lucky that things had cleared up. The parade was about an hour and a half long, making it the longest parade I have ever sat through. The girls did very well, but after about an hour Ryleigh starting complaining about the cold. But once Santa started heading our way, the cold was the last thing from her mind. All in all, it was a good time. Both of the girls crashed in the car on the way home and were still exhausted tonight when it was time to go to bed.

Of course, I forgot the camera this morning, I was more concerned with warm clothes. We'll go see Santa soon and I'll make sure and get some new shots of the girls then.

Showing Some Love For My Little Bro

For those who live in the Metroplex area: If you are looking for something to do that will lift your spirits and make you want to go home and scrapbook, consider attending the battle of the bands that Curtis' band, Arabyss, will be playing in on Nov. 30th. It's sure to be a swell time.

That's Curtis, second from the left! To think, I used to show him how to wipe his ass and cut up his steak into little edible pieces!

To Know Jeramy is to Love Him

Last weekend we had a family over for some afternoon football watching and chili eating. I met the wife through a mutual friend and was excited to learn that they too were from Texas. I asked Jeramy if he minded me having over my new found friend and family to watch football and he reluctantly said yes. He was not really in the social kind of mood, but whatever makes me happy! (He clearly wanted some canoodling later on) Once Jeramy was finished getting dressed for the ocasion, he placed atop his head his new, free, beer hat...the beer hat that had come free in his recently purchased box of beer. Dude, it's like a happy meal, you can get a different toy, er, I mean hat, with every box! So, okay, whatever.

When the family arrived I introduced everybody to everybody and Jeramy quickly took note of the husband's t-shirt which stated "Brewed in Newfoundland". He asked the husband where he got such a cool shirt to which the husband replied something like "Dude, it came in a box of beer"!

Me thinks to me self, well good, they'll have some common ground to get them started.

Milestone

Other than mastering the latest dance moves, here is what the girls are up to:

Ryleigh. Oh where to begin. Well, she loves her school. She has several little friends in school that she sees outside school as well. She has been learning new things like crazy. The amount of things that she brings home every day is just amazing. I don't know how they have time to do all the things that they do. This last week she learned how to write her entire name. Go Girl! She is starting to memorize her "little" words and she can sound out a few things. But forget all that, it palls in comparison to this....she will now wipe her own ass. We have achieved complete potty training!! Congrats to my very big girl!! We make a weekly trip to the library, which she just loves. She still will not go to sleep at night without reading her two books, which I will gladly do until she won't let me anymore. She seems to have gone through a growth spurt here lately because overnight all of her jeans and dresses got too short. She has become quite focused here lately on her hair. It must be fixed like a princess every day, her words, not mine. She has also noticed that her hair is not as long as the other girls' hair in her class. This has begun to concern her. So, two days ago she was talking about how when she's older her hair will be longer, right mom? I said yes, it will be long when she's big. Then she proceeded to let me know that she saw something on TV that you can put in your hair that will make it grow longer. And, everytime she has seen that Pantene commercial since then, she comes running through the house to let me know. Bless her little heart. It's just a piece of the goodness and genuineness that is, Ryleigh.

Avery. Hmmm, how to start describing the most adorable, loveable, mild mannered, loving, happy, baby in the world. She really is amzaing. She is, of course, walking, no running,...no dancing! everywhere. Her jibber jabber is starting to organize itself into meaning. She can say (or something like say) thank you, uh-oh, Ryleigh, Mommy, Daddy and Duck. Why duck? Why not duck I suppose. She tries to do EVERYTHING that her big sister does. Something that has not gone unnoticed by Ryleigh who is starting to learn how to get Avery to follow her around. It's so wonderful to watch them play together! Avery is still not sleeping real well at night, but it doesn't really bother me. We are still nursing and will until she is ready to give it up. That being said, I don't offer it to her and when it's time for mama to be gone for a day or two, I think that she will be just fine. She eats just about anything that I put in front of her. Her favorite foods are strawberries and spaghetti. She is drinking whole milk and is really good at feeding herself. She is the light of my world and caring for her is my honor and privledge every day.

Both of my girls are my inspiration and my happiness. Ryleigh has become so independent and her ability to understand the world around her causes me to get caught off guard when she dares act like a four year old. Avery is totally happy all the time and teaches me to just enjoy life and take it as it comes. Which is what I'm doing as much as possible, with my partner by my side, every day.

You've just got to see this

Rocking Out

Gotta teach them young how great Tom Petty is:



This was after baths last night. It is also the essence of my life right now. I live to watch them loving life.

A Nice Visit

My parents came to visit last week. Their plane landed around midnight on a Wednesday and by 1am I had them at the house. There is only one flight into St. John's from the US every day and it is scheduled to be here at 10:30pm, but it is almost always very late due to heavy traffic in Newark. Blah.

The next morning we all got dressed and we went to do a little exploring. We went down to Middle Cove beach and drove through Torbay before having lunch at Jungle Jim's, Ryleigh's most favorite place in the whole wide world! After lunch we took a drive through down town St. John's and up to Cabot Tower on Signal Hill. My dad wrote his and my mom's name in the sign-in book at Cabot Tower and took great pride in declaring that they had to be the only names in there from Monahans, Texas. Cabot Tower is about as far away from Monahans as you could possibly get and still be on the same continent.

On Friday we took them to By Da Beach, our favorite little fish 'n chips dive which just happens to overlook Conception Bay. Friday night we got the sitter to come over (o praise our most excellent sitter) and we all went downtown for dinner and drinks. Dinner was at The Cellar and drinks were on George Street. We had a fantastic time and I think that my parents were pleasantly surprised that the end of the earth does have night life.

Saturday was Avery's First birthday party. I made "The Elmo Cake", the same cake that I made for Ryleigh's first birthday. We had a few friends over and it was a lot of fun. Kids everywhere!

Sunday was a bit of a rest day, though mom and I did manage to sneak off to the mall for a bit. Monday was lunch at Casbah followed by a trip out to Cape Spear.

Tuesday was a bit of a dreary day weather wise, but it was Rememberence Day which is sort of like Verterns Day in the States, so we went hiking up Signal Hill! Signal Hill is where Cabot Tower is located. Cabot Tower being the small castle like structure that was built in 1897 to commemorate the 400th anniversary of the discovery of Newfoundland. Signal Hill is at the mouth of St. John's harbor so when you're on top of the hill on a clear day, you can see out across the Atlantic Ocean for miles.

We parked at the bottom of the hill around 11am. It was me, Jeramy and my dad and there were a few little rain drops coming down on this not so warm day. After a little debating as to whether we really wanted to attempt this, we headed up. Where we started you could look out over the harbor and see the ships coming in. On Rememberence Day you can also see the firing of the canons. I just hope someone expalined to the cargo ship entering the harbor what that was all about. As we climbed Signal Hill we came around the ocean side and the higher we got, the better the view. It was a pretty easy hike, though the last stretch is a bunch of steps that go pretty much straight up. Ouch on the thighs! An hour later we were at the top and then the rain came. The cold, cold rain. We had agreeed to take the scenic way down so that Jeramy and my dad could look at 201,356 different old cannons and read all the historical stuff where things were learned such as a man named Henry Shrapnel invented the "shrapnal" spreading explosive. My quest for knowledge was just not as strong as my quest for dry pants so we did make it down fairly quickly and headed home. It was a lot of fun hiking with my dad and my husband. It was nice to be in decent enough shape to be able to make the hike.

All in all, it was the most excellent visit I've ever had with my parents. It was such a stress-free week and I couldn't help be be reminded over and over how lucky I am to have such a wonderful and loving family around me. It's been a long journey for my parents and I and I'm very pleased that we've arrived at this very happy place.

Mom and Dad, thanks for coming, you are welcome back any time! But next time, you will be kissing the cod!

Massage Time

After Ryleigh's bath tonight I commenced to perform the nightly ritual of slathering her with lotion. After I was done covering her, she offered to give me a back massage. I gave her the lotion and gladly accepted her offer of a free back massage, who wouldn't? Even from a four year old. She put some lotion on my back and started rubbing it in when all of a sudden, something didn't feel quite right. I turned my head and craned my neck only to see my 4 yaer old daughter sitting on my back with her bare ass, giving me a butt massage I suppose. She started laughing and my mom, who was sitting across the room, and I started laughing like crazy. Just one of the many, many crazy things that goofy chick has done. And she shall be called, She Who Massages With Her Ass.

Mom and I got to get away today and do a little shopping at the wonderful St. John's Avalon Mall. After spending more time in Sears than I've spent in Sears during the last 10 years combined we ventured into the the rest of the mall. My mission was to get a new pair of jeans. I found the most wonderful pair of jeans at the Gap...size 8. Oh happy, happy day...a size 8! I've been working out now for about 10 weeks and I've lost 2 dress sizes and boy do my biceps look cool! I'm so proud of my self and of my husband who has also lost inches and pounds over the past few months. We're doing more than work out, we've committed to changing how we eat and how we live. We've got two adorable girls to be here and present for!

Time for some sleep. Mom and I are going to head downtown tomorrow and attempt to find some black boots. It is our mission and we shall not fail.

Mom, It's Prounounced New-Fun-Laaannnd

My parents have been here since late Wednesday night for a week-long visit. It's been a great visit and a busy one so far. Thursday we took a tour of the area which included a trip to the beach and sight-seeing on top of Signal Hill. On Friday we did some hanging out around the house and then headed out for a grown-up dinner (Ryleigh's favorite babysitter ever came over to watch the girls) in downtown St. John's. After dinner we went for a stroll down historic George Street and stopped for a few drinks and some live music entertainment. The parentals seemed to have a great time and it was a much needed break from the kiddos. Today we had Avery's first birthday party here at the house. A few of my new mommy friends came over with their kiddos and we had a great time. I made the same Elmo cake that I made for Ryleigh's first birthday party but managed to get it right on the first try this time! We got Avery the new Elmo Live which is a totally awesome toy! Ryleigh, Avery and I sat on the floor and watched him all evening. I highly recommend!

Right now we're watching some football and just hanging out on the couch. The girls are sleeping away which is amazing considering the amount of sugar they put into their bodies today. Tomorrow is supposed to be more rain, but mom and I are hoping to sneak away at some point for a little shopping.

Website Fave!

Another cool website to add to your favorites!

http://www.supercook.com/

Enjoy!

Remember When

Remember when cartoons only came on Saturday mornings and you couldn't just sleep the morning away and expect to catch them because by 10am the grown up shows were back on? You couldn't just stay in bed and tell yourself that cartoons will be on when you decide to roll out because there is that 24 hour cartoon channel where the cartoons are always on. Actually there are 4 channels that broadcast cartoons 24 hours a day. And you couldn't say to yourself on Friday night, "Self, my favorite show is on at 9am tomorrow, but since I don't want to get up until noon, I'll just set the DVR so that I can watch my favorite cartoon at my total leisure". Well, you could set the VCR to record your favorite show, but I never knew anyone who knew how to set the VCR to record in advance even though it was rumored that it could indeed record in such a way. But you couldn't whine to your mom that you wanted to watch cartoons at any moment of the entire day because she would have just said, silly child, cartoons aren't on right now, and she wouldn't have been totally telling the truth.

Happy Halloween from The Girls

Mommy has a Little Lamb!

Happy Halloween!

Stop the Whining!!!!

I'm trying to keep myself busy so that I can be awake when Jeramy comes home tonight from his week-long trip to Texas. I'm trying to be a good wife, but he better have eaten because he's not messing up my clean kitchen!

Thought I would share this beauty of a video. The whining with Ryleigh has gotten way crazy here lately. I really don't know what to do about it, but when she's really bad, I just put her in her room and let her sort through it all. Sometimes she just seriously gets herself worked up over the smallest thing. Drama Queen to the max!
And by the way, her shoes were in her closet!

Already?!

Is it...noooo, *gasp*, it is!



It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas...except it's not even Halloween!

Busy Day

Today was a rough day for me. Any day that I have make-up on before 8am is destined to be icky. I got Ryleigh to school this morning a little early so I could have my car into the dealership by 9am. The front headlamp washer was broken and I'll be damn if I'm driving my car like that. Actually, it was like that when we picked it up and I don't want to be charged for it at the end of my lease. So, now my headlamp can be properly washed when needed...isn't that special.

After that wondrous adventure, I came home and met the furniture adjuster so that all my broken furniture could be examined. As expected, she feels that it can all be fixed and doesn't need to be replaced. We'll see about that, I'm pretty sure that I have some fight left in me yet. The thing that really ticks me off is that everything that is broken is just because of stupid carelessness.

Lesson learned: When having a bunch of chumps over to pack your stuff, watch very closely. Offer advice on how to turn a screwdriver when it is deemed as necessary. Resist the urge to offer tea and cookies thinking it will put them in a friendly packing mood and encourage compassion for your brand new, hard-earned furniture.

My goal was to make it to yoga by 11, but the adjuster didn't leave until 10 minutes until, so instead Avery and I curled up for our first nursing session of the day while I watched my recorded Desperate Housewives. After picking up Ryleigh and having some lunch we headed to the doctor so that I could get a new thyroid meds prescription. I also found out how to apply for free health care coverage and it's so totally awesomely simple. Getting right on that one.

Tonight Ryleigh was particularly whiny and grumpy, a trend here lately it seems. The whining just drives me batty, but I'm striving for patience. The girls were both in bed by 8, so that has left me lots of time to fool around on the web and post a few things that will make my mom's family pray extra hard for me tonight. It's okay, God loves democrats too.

Warning: The Following is Political in Nature

If you didn't see this on MTP, you really should watch it. 'Nuff said.



Here is the picture that he speaks of:

Our Home: The Backyard

I let the girls play around outside today and thought I would get some video of them and our beautiful backyard. Even when we can't go outside, it's so nice to kick back in side and just look outside at nature everywhere!

Getting Caught Up

This morning I've been uploading massive amounts of pictures onto the website. I can't believe how far behind I've gotten. It's as if I've had something taking up my time since May of this year. Anywho, if you scroll down and look to the right, you will see the links for pictures.

Jeramy left today for 5 days in Texas. He's flying into Houston and then riding to San Antonio tomorrow with a friend from work for a 5 day meeting. Poor him, there, on the Riverwalk, all alone, without his children and his wife. All those great restaurants and watering holes and nice weather. Poor him my ass.

It's getting colder here every day. It was 4 C this morning as I drove Jeramy to the airport. That's about 38 F. We are staying inside getting the house tidied up.

Here are a few of my favorite pictures that I posted today:

Greatest Halloween Pajamas Ever



Ryleigh's First Day of School

One Year Ago Today

Dear Avery,

Happy Birthday little girl! Every parent says this and it's such a cliche, but amazing, absolutely amazing that you are already a year old. Seriously, someone slap me already.

I remember the day that the stick turned blue, but let me back up a bit. In December 2006 your father was still rotating off-shore when we made the decision to go for number two. According to my calculations, he would not be home for one of my fertile days until March. Perfect, thinks I, I can quit taking the pill now and then we will start trying in March. When your father came home early from a hitch in January that plan went straight out the window. The stick turned blue on February 7, 2007. I remember that day because we had a charity event to go to and I wanted to know if I would be able to throw back some vino. Thank you for saving me from one more needless hangover. It was a strange night, we should have been enjoying the lights, the music and the food, but all we could think about was WHAT HAVE WE DONE!! Another baby, that's 21 months of bodily commitment; 9 months of pregnancy and 12 months of breastfeeding. I just can't believe that 21 months has come to an end.

Not the breastfeeding though, you are still going very strong. I've tried to tell you no, but when you look at me with those "Puss in Boots" type eyes my heart just melts and I might as well whip it out because I'm going to be having a let down anyways. Not to mention that fact that you only have two teeth that are barely starting to break through, so your food choices are still sort of limited.

I remember this day last year. It started out with us going in to be induced and getting parked in triage for the morning. When we moved into a room at noon I was dialted to a 5 so the doctor went ahead and broke my water. I had one crazy contraction right after that, then they backed off and slowly started building back up. Three hours later things weren't moving so fast so I got the epidural and they started pusing pitocin. At 5:29 you were here, all half blue and with the cord around your neck. I remember you coming out and I remember reaching out and taking the cord off your neck before the doctor could. They cleaned you up and gave you to me and before I could even let anyone else hold you, you wanted to nurse and nurse you did.

This morning I made a birthday breakfast and we all sang Happy Birthday to you. Your big party isn't for a couple more weeks when Grandma Terri and Papa Steve get here. After breakfast we went to an open play day at the local university and you got to walk and crawl all over the place. Now, you are napping away.



You are without a doubt the most pleasant child in the world. You rarely cry, you are always smiling, always happy, you have never showed any seperation anxiety and you love anyone that wants to hold you. I can count the number of nights I have struggled to get you to sleep on one hand. If you don't want to sleep at 8, we just sit up and play until you do. It's all good.

Thank you for coming into our lives and filling it with so much joy. Having you around makes your big sister so proud. She shows you off to everyone that will pay her any attention. After getting you to sleep last night I just held you so tight and had a good cry. I can't believe you are so big, I can't believe that you continue to grow so much bigger and I can't believe that you and I will ever be anything but the closest of pals and the best of friends. You are my little angel and I look forward to the many more years to come.

Love, Mama

Tragedy

Many of you know who Adam is, Ryleigh little best bud from Sugar Mill Montessori. She and Adam started school the same week when they were both just 20 months old. They were so inseparable that they were moved to the transition class together and then the primary class. They always had very much of a love/hate relationship which the school Director kindly called competitive. If one of them learned something, the other could not stand to be outdone and so they had to learn that thing and then a step more. The last year we were in Sugar Land Adam was not who Ryleigh seemed to play with the most either inside or outside of school, but she is who she always referred to as her best friend and it is Adam whom she mentions most often since being in Canada. Three days ago Adam's dad, Dave, was killed in a tragic helicopter accident.

I remember seeing Adam's dad bringing him to school when we all first started at SMMS. He was always in raggy shorts and a t-shirt. I always wondered who this dufuss was that dropped his kid off and then obviously went back home and sat around and played video games all day. It was a few weeks later that I learned that he was the helicopter camera man for a local television station; his attire now made sense. We met Adam and his parents at the park a few times and when Adam's parents split up, we would see Dave at our church where he told us he was seeking support on how to be the best dad and ex-husband he could be. The last time we saw Dave was the day of Ryleigh's 4th birthday party at the Museum of Natural Science. Dave showed up two hours late, just as the party was ending. He had called and RSVP'd to me and only heard the 2 part of the noon-2 time I told him. It was unfortunate that Adam missed the party, but he and Ryleigh got to spend about 30 minutes just the two of them, hand in hand, looking at the dinosaurs and chatting about fossils. Dave called a few weeks later to see if we could make it to Adam's birthday, but we were already out of town and on our way to Canada.

Dave was a good guy and good dad and the world needs more like him, not one less. My heart is aching for Adam. I hope that somehow, someday he knows just how much his dad loved him and wanted the best for him. I've been trying for the past two days to wrap my mind around this tragedy and there just isn't a way to make sense of it. All we can do is hold her kids a little tighter and show our spouses a little more kindness because we don't know the hour or the day, but we do know that time is fleeting and that today is what matters the very most.

American Mom vs. Socialized Healthcare

Our first brush with socialized medicine came after just being for a few weeks. I wrote in a previous post about a beautiful day at the beach gone awry by Ryleigh shoving rice sized pebbles down her ear canal. That sent us to the emergency room where we had to sit and wait for four hours before we could see a doctor that spent about 10 minutes fishing pebbles out of her ear. I've had some lengthy waits in emergency rooms in the states with a dislocated shoulder, a UTI and a throwing up infant, but seriously, never four hours. Once we were in a room I found it to appear dirtier and not as well stocked as you would typically find in an American emergency room/doctor's office. However, the doctors were nice and got the job done. We walked out without any hassle about payment, but since we do not have our medical cards yet, we knew a bill would be coming. And it did....$185 for the hospital...$38 for the doctor. What??? Seriously?? I would submit that to my insurance, but they would probably charge me more for the paperwork.

Last week I began to search for a pediatrician and a pediatric opthamologist for Ryleigh. Here is what I learned. Here, children do not go to a pediatrician for routine check-ups and common illnesses, they go to the family doctor. Women do not go to OB/GYNs for yearly check-ups and common issues, they go to the family doctor. And, if your family doctor delivers babies, then you still would not go to an OB/GYN. If you don't like that, too bad, because specialists (pediatricians and OB/GYN) do not take you without a written referral from your family doctor. Neither do pediatric opthamologists, so in order to get Ryleigh in for an eye check-up, I had to find us a family doctor.

I called about 10 different clinics last week, none of them were taking new patients. None in Torbay, none in St. John's, but I did finally find one in Mt. Pearl, about a 30 min. drive away. This is not Houston, if you are driving for 30 minutes, you are really making some ground. For those in West Texas, it would be the equivalent of not being able to find a family doctor in Monahans and being forced to drive to Odessa for all your family check-ups and illnesses. So, today we set out to see our new doctor. Our appointment time was 2:45 and we were seen pretty much on time. The doctor did not have a problem writing a referral for Ryleigh, however I didn't get a little slip of paper with a referral note. Instead, she sends a note to the specialist who in turn will contact me VIA MAIL to set up an appointment. I have heard that many specialists here are not taking new patients and those that are have very lengthy waits for an appointment. Pick me! Pick me! Please, pick me!! Cost of the visit today: $40.

There is a huge scandal going on right now in the province concerning cancer tests for women. Several years ago a whole batch of tests were incorrectly diagnosed. Many of the women from that batch have died or are still living with a cancer that should have been cured with treatment. The only two gynecological oncologists on the island (who are not taking new patients) claim that they have not been given the proper equipment and supplies to perform adequately. When the scandal broke, they both tried to quit, but the government begged them to stay.

I'm not taking sides, yet. I like to think that there is some solution to the health care crisis in the states. No child should have to go without the exact same health care that my husband's wonderful insurance provides for our children. I feel very passionately about that. That being said, if you want insurance in America, it's not that hard to get. You may not be able to drive that nicer car in order to afford it, but it is possible to put it into your budget at most any income level. I do like the family doctor that we found here, so that's a plus, but she is very young. After she saw Ryleigh, she went into a room where what appeared to be a 70 year old man waiting to be seen. It just doesn't set real well with me that the doctor that has been out of med school no more than 5 years is supposed to diagnose a problem in my 4 year old child and then turn around and diagnose an issue in a 70 year old man.

Stay tuned as the saga continues....

A Special Night

Last night Ryleigh and I went to a local theater for a production of Cinderella. I have been wanting to take her to a play for some time now. I was about her age when my Grandma Friend (Robinson) took me to my first play and forever changed my life. There is a small theater in Odessa called the Permian Playhouse. Every year they put on four children's plays and I went to every single one of them from when I was four until I was in about Junior High. At that time I switched to more adult productions and my Grandma and I continued to attend productions at both the Permian Playhouse and the Globe Theater also in Odessa. I still love a good stage show, though I don't get to attend near as often as I would like. I have always wanted to pass along this love of the theater to my children so last night was perhaps even more of a treat for myself than it was for Ryleigh.

One might wonder how well a four year old could hold their attention in an over two hour production, but Ryleigh hardly blinked an eyelash. Her eyes remained glued to the stage and she only spoke to ask a few questions about what was going on. During intermission we went down to the orchestra pit and I explained to her exactly how that worked. After the show we got to meet the cast down by the stage. She covered her mouth with her hands as she met the king and smiled from ear to ear as the prince took her hand and Cinderalla gave her a hug. Truly a magical night for both of us.

This is where we're going tomorrow

http://www.fluvarium.ca/duckrace.php

I can't believe how excited I am to go watch rubber ducks float down a river!

We went for a long drive today in search of a moose, but alas, we did not see one. We plan on setting out again in the morning. We did see a really cool "watch for moose" sign which was a lot like the "watch for deer" signs in Texas. Many years and drinks ago that sign would so totally be haning in our living room. Right next to the flag that had Jim Morrison on it.

Milestones

Two major events this week:

First, Ryleigh started her new preschool this week. Yes, I have pictures from the first day and as soon as I find the cord that allows me to download them to my computer, I will post them for all to see. She has been so excited about starting her new school and has just dove right in. The school is on the second floor of a small office building and the first day she didn't want me to walk her up the stairs. Because, mom is like, so like, totally embarrassing around her peeps. Preschool and daycare in general is very rare here. Mostly kids stay with family members after their moms go back to work after their year-long maternity leave. So, you can imagine all this kids going to school for the first time, crying for their mommies, and there is Ryleigh. Wondering what the hell is wrong with all these crying babies....school totally kicks ass.

Second, Avery got her first tooth. Yes, our 11 month and 5 day old, walking like nobody's business, eating all sorts of solid food baby/toddler finally got her first tooth. I have to admit, I'm going to miss that big gummy smile of hers. It melts my heart every single time. But, in a way, I'm thankful that I was allowed to have it for long. It kind of made me feel like my baby was able to be for a little bit longer, my baby.

Arrrrggghhhhhh!

HAPPY TALK LIKE A PIRATE DAY!!

Time to go get ready for my hot date! It's also my birthday and we're going out for a night on the town. Haven't done that in quite some time now!!

Celsius for Dummies

25 C = Shorts

20 C = Jeans

15 C = Jacket

10 C = Coat and Gloves

5 C = See you next June

Letter

Dear Hurricane Ike,

Welcome to our homeland! So sorry that we can't be there to greet you, to serve up some coffee and cake, but we've been relocated. Please, enjoy your stay, make yourself comfortable around our home. I'm sure that you will find it full of trees to blow over and for your pleasure, we have left some furniture in the backyard for you to toss about. Since we haven't been there in about a month, we would like to thank you in advance for watering our yard.

Really, thank you so much for planning a visit because....we needed another reason for our house not to get sold this month.

Sincerely, the montys

Oui, more rain

I've had a lot of people ask me about the use of French here. We are not in a French speaking province, that would be Quebec. I have yet to meet anyone here that speaks French as a first language. And, while a few people have told me that they went through years of French in school, they do not speak it hardly at all. There are a few French television stations, but no more than the Spanish stations in Houston. However, everything at the grocery store and the majority of public signs must be in both English and French. Which brings me to my point....


There is a much larger population of Spanish speaking folks and primary language Spanish speaking folks in Texas, yet the language is hardy accomodated for. And where it is accomodated for, it is typically protested. I acknowledge that the French speakers here, wherever they might be, are most likely here legally while many Spanish speakers,particularly those that speak Spanish as a primary language, are in Texas illegally. Yet, think of what our children have to gain if we were to embrace the Spanish language and allow it to infiltrate our children's lives. They might, *gasp*, grow up bilingual! Which, would mean more job opportunities for them and a greater understanding of the world around them. I love that Ryleigh already knows some Spanish and I love that she is going to start to learn French while she is here. My desire is that both of my children know several languages by the time they reach adulthood. So, there is method to our madness in moving abroad.

Aside from my soapbox, there has been more rain. Last weekend we got Ryleigh a new umbrella and on Sunday she and Jeramy decided to try it out with a walk around the neighborhood.

I know, I know, I know what you are thinking...Damn, that's a mighty fine garbage box we've got there. Thanks, yeah, we know. Thank you.

This Is How We Roll

I wanted to post a few pics from our whole new world. First off, my new ride. She's not quite as big as the Tahoe, but she is nice and smooth.
Next up is Jeramy's new ride. After having to drive the Jetta for the last 10 months, its a fair upgrade.












Next is my lovely clothes line which I can not seem to figure out how to use. The weather is here is so fickle. It can be so beautiful with the sun shining one minute and then all of a sudden, the rain comes. And it's cold. And the clothes are wetter than they were when I put them out. Ridiculous.










The final picture appears to be just an ordinary wooden box. Nothing fancy. However, this has been my life's pursuit since we got here. Trash pick-up here is a lot like Sugar Land. A big truck comes and picks up whatever you have out on the curb. The problem is that if you put your trash in an upright Rubbermaid trash can, it will inevitably get blown over and you will be picking up trash out of the ditch (just ask Jeramy, he knows). If you just sit your trash out in plastic bags, the stupid ass birds will peck their way through and make a huge mess of your driveway which you have to go pick up (just ask me, I know). It's also worse here than it would be back home because we don't have a garbage disposal in the kitchen. That is an idea that hasn't really caught on here.

What stupid ass birds? These stupid ass birds:

That's not our house, but I got a kick out of this one. I just want to know what the neighbours (Canadian sp) did to piss them off. (Yes, that's birdie poo.) Hehehe.


Anyways, we were told that you could get a garbage box at the local Home Depot type store, but they've been out for two weeks. Most everyone here has a garbage box, so it was just crazy how we couldn't find one. We drove all over this town and finally found a guy at a lumber store that offered to draw us a map on a scrap piece of cardboard to a house down by the cove where he had seen boxes outside for sale. So, score for us!


I'll post more pics in the next few days of the inside of our house. It's just so messy right now (shut up Rebekah). We're still unpacking, but we're close to being done. We ordered Ryleigh a new matress today and I have her room painted and just about ready to go. Once I get her settled, I can focus on Avery's room. Plus we have to get Avery a new bed since hers got broken in the move. She's been toughing it out in the pack and play since we got here. That and in our bed.

Sea Stars and Groceries

Today was the hottest day since we've been here...a whopping 81 degrees. Not too bad, but WE HAVE NO AIR CONDITIONING!! So rather than sweating it out in the house, the girls and I headed down to the beach for our afternoon snack. Ryleigh spent some time chasing the surf, then inspecting a sea star and finally sat down for her snack. Avery tried to eat rocks. What is it with my kids feeling the need to stick rocks into their orifices?

This morning my neighbor came over for some coffee and a chat. She's a very nice person and practices law when she's not on her year long maternity leave. It seems that stay at home moms around here are pretty rare. In Canada, when you have a baby, you get one year off for maternity leave during which the government pays you unemployment. Some companies also supplement your unemployment to bring you up to your full wage for a period of time. My neighbor gets supplemented for 6 months. Awwweeeessssssooooommmmeeee.

After our time at the beach we made our daily run to the grocery store. I attempted to locate poplano peppers and adobo peppers to no avail. I settled on jalapenos, which I paid $2.50 for four of, and a red bell. The Canadians, not so big into Mexican food. By the way, milk here is $3.77 for a HALF gallon (well, actually 2 liters, but close enough). Most all the food is more expensive and while most of the time I can find the same stuff, it doesn't always have the same name. For instance, half and half is called mixed cream. That one took me a while to figure out. And then there is something called coffee cream, which is a milk product, but I think has more fat in it. Low fat items don't seem to be as big here. The yogurt is better, even the Activia seems creamier. High-fructose corn syrup is banned in this country, so no worries in that direction, which totally rocks. Even Coca Cola has no HFCS. Score one for Canada!

Another thing that Candadians are into...their coffee and donuts. The most common and popular chain style place here is called Tim Hortons. They are everywhere...kind of like our Starbucks. Only they're more like a Shipleys...with waaaayyyy better donuts and they also serve sandwhich stuff.

All in all, things are going well. I'm soooo ready for Ryleigh to start school, but that doesn't begin for a few more weeks. She is literally driving me crazy. We are going through a very head-strong time right now. She asks a question, I say no, she asks again, I say no, she asks again, I still say no, but louder...she asks again and then it's on like donkey kong. She goes to time out and when the four minutes are up, she lets me know that she now wants to be in time out and will be staying there until she's ready to get up. Seriously?? So that's how it's going to be??? Then you don't get bubbles in your bath tonight....what?, you don't want bubbles...well, then guess what....there is not Santa Clause and I killed the tooth fairy...there, are you happy???

Then I go stare into these big blue eyes...these eyes will never turn on me...they will love me forever...or at least until the milk runs dry.

Getting into the Groove

We have been in our new home in St. John's for a little over a week. There is still much to be done, but we have definitely made great progress in getting settled in to our new home. There have been a few adjustments already, for example, the metric system and our house does not have air conditioning. Granted, it's much cooler here than Houston, but this is the hottest week of the year so yeah, at the moment an air conditioner would be nice.

The girls are doing very well. Ryleigh has already met a few girls at the park and Avery is as happy as ever (aside from the whole teething thing). Two days ago Avery took her first two unassisted steps. She can point to her nose on demand and loves to snatch any phone within her reach, hold it up to her ear and say "hello". When I say "yaaaayyyy" she claps her hands...she really is just more and more amazing every day. Ryleigh has entered a stage I refer to as "complete make-believe". She is in a constant state of make-believe and always has some elaborate story going on with her dolls and figurines. She seems to always have "a plan" and wants to make friends with every kid she sees walking down the street.

Jeramy is doing well. His job is keeping him very busy and his work continues to be challenging, but I know that he loves it. We went to the beach last weekend and I had to restrain myself from throwing his blackberry into the Atlantic, but I know that he's doing his best to strike a balance. The greatest moment of my day is when he walks through the door and I get to see not only the girls' faces light up, but his as well. We always have dinner together and he always reads to the girls before they go to sleep.

And me, well I'm doing just fine. I've settled into a routine and have gotten to know my new kitchen and my new house enough to feel comfortable. The air is so clean here and the scenery is just beautiful. When I look at the view out of my kitchen window I just can't believe it. The pine trees are so beautiful. Last weekend we went down to the beach and did some wading. That was short-lived because there were jellyfish hanging out just a few feet away. Ryleigh didn't want anything to do with being even within 10 feet of the water after we pointed out the jellyfish, but I couldn't quit looking at them, they were just so beautiful. Then Ryleigh decided to put pebbles in her ear so we had to jet off to the emergency room where we enjoyed sitting in the socialized healthcare's waiting room for four hours to have 4 rice sized pebbles washed out of her ear. Yeah, the perfect Sunday afternoon...:)

Jeramy will be in Houston for a week in November for training, then we will all be back in Texas for Christmas.

All our love and best wishes to everyone back home and elsewhere.

The First Week

I don't have a whole lot to say about our first week except which box is the tequila in??

Our things arrived on Tuesday and since then things have just been a blur of opening boxes and trying to find my way around town. I'm making good headway on both fronts. The house is slowly but surely coming together. Having Jeramy home this weekend has really helped. We don't have cable, internet or phone yet. We're up at Jeramy's office today so I can check my email and do a little blogging. I did get my new ride and she is soooo sweet.

The kids are doing fine. Avery is actively teething and attempting to walk every waking moment of the day. And there are plenty of waking moments since the teething keeps her pretty much miserable most of time right now. The movers broke her baby bed, so we've been attempting to keep her sleeping in the pack and play, something she is becoming more irritated with each day.

Last night we went over to a couple's house, the husband Jeramy met at work. They have a little girl that is Ryleigh's age and they played all night. When we first arrived I told the couple that Ryleigh is bossy and to feel free to keep her in check to which they told me that their daughter is bossy too so not to worry. By the end of the night they had a whole new definition of bossy child. Ryleigh made sure the whole evening went exactly according to her plan.

As soon as we get internet I plan to resume regular posting complete with pictures. I would like to say that we miss everyone, but I honestly haven't slowed down enough to begin to miss folks back home. That's probably not a bad thing.

Some Ups...Some Downs

Our travel day went really well. There were no major incidents and I think that if anyone was acting anxious to not be on a plane anymore at the end of the day, it was me. I really have the most fabulous children ever. They were so well behaved every step of the way. Thank god for portable dvd players!

Yesterday we hit the ground running and immediately slammed our faces into a brick wall. After sleeping in a bit and grabbing an early lunch Jeramy took the girls and I over to our house while he ran to work to grab a conference call. Shortly after being dropped off my realtor called and informed me that we lost the sale on our home. We've had some difficulty getting all our paperwork in. It's kind of hard to get Jeramy and I both to sign documents with him in Canada and me in West Texas. Not to mention the fact that our "relocation expert" is a total idiot. We've learned a huge lesson that I am happy to pass along to anyone considering becoming an expat: don't buy an old house. Since our house is older, it has many things about it that are out of current code. The relocation company is making us fix most of them in order to sell our house because...well....to explain it shortly....they buy from us and the buyer buys from them which is supposed to save us some money. However, it's a whole lot of work and money to get the house to their standards and neither of us have been convinced that it's been worth it. Maybe when we actually sell the house we'll feel differently, but right now, it just all sucks. There, I feel better.

After that wonderful conversation with our realtor the girls and I walked over to the park across from our house. There were a couple of other girls there that looked Ryleigh's age and if you know Ryleigh, you know where this going...she now has two new friends. Little R lives across the street from us and Ryleigh has been begging me to invite her over since we left the park. Even as we were both walking back to our respective homes the girls were yelling back and forth at each other about getting together later. So far, no mommies though. Both of the girls at the park were being kept by older family members....so no friends for me..:( There are bound to be some stay at home moms in my neighborhood and I will find them!

After we left the house we attempted to get insurance for my car that I haven't gotten yet. Apparently we needed to have gotten our complete driving record from the TX DMV before we left so now that's ordered and should be here, oh, hell, who knows. The dealership did loan me a car for the night, which was nice of them, and we've got the name of an agent that might be able to help us out until the records come in, so maybe I can get my vehicle today. There's another expat tip for you. Take driving records with you.

So, what did we learn yesterday....don't buy an old house, take driving records with you, when you order tea in Canada it will come in a tea kettle and no matter how bad your day is, hot chicken wings and ribs make everything better whether you're in Texas or in Canada. Cheers!

Preparing for Departure

Our bags are packed and the girls are in bed getting some good sleep before our big day tomorrow. So much is running through my mind. Things like, will the children behave on the plane tomorrow, did I pack enough diapers for the trip, will we have time to have breakfast in Houston before our next flight and what the hell have decided to do. Oh god, what have we done! I think what is most disturbing is that I'm leaving Texas. I will no longer live in Texas. So much of who I am has to do with living in this state. My wonderful friend Kathleen got me a charm of Texas with a heart cut out in the middle. I've been wearing it around my neck and it will serve as a reminder that no matter where my things are, my heart is always here.

Speaking of our things, they are currently somewhere between here and there. The truck might make it to St. John's this week but I think whether it makes it or not, I will be staying in the house instead of a hotel. I don't care if I have to get us all blow-up matresses, I want to be home. I want our family to be together in a home with a fridge and a stove.

So, off we go tomorrow and there have been tears shed all the way around. I have really enjoyed this time I've had in Monahans. I think that being in between homes has allowed me to make this truly my temporary place to live. I have felt so Present since I've been here which has helped me to just Be in my parent's house. (how am I doing Michelle?)

Think of us tomorrow as I attempt to make three flights and two layover with this adorable face:

God Bless This Town

Today I went and checked out one of the latest attempts made by this town to join the 21st century...their very own Asian Nail Salon. Yes folks, even in Monahans you can "pick ya culla" and get your feet scrubbed and painted for the bargain price of $20. It's about freakin' time. I would rank the place pretty average, and I know my Asian nail salons. The place was clean, despite the fact that the same building has been used as a Churches Chicken, a Subway and a coffee shop in years past.

I also mailed a contract in to our relocation company which allows them to accept an offer on our house. Yes, we have an offer!! We've dropped the price quite a bit since we first put in on the market. Not exactly how we wanted it to play out, but the feedback that we were getting pretty much told us that it was too expensive and if we wanted to sell it fast, that's just what had to be done. We've got a bit more to do paperwork wise, but I really hope that we can be completely out from under the house in the next few weeks. Woo-Hoo!!!!!

Ryleigh hung around the house all day and tonight she skipped her bath and just took off last night's pajamas to put on tonight's. I'm a good mom. I think that we all just needed a day to recover from yesterday's day in the sun.

I'm sitting here trying to break up the fog taking over my brain that is the Olympics. Michael Phelps is totally infringing on my ability to get some good sleep. What do you you have to be so good??? It's just not human. It's nearing 11 and the swimming is over and I can go on living without seeing the gymnasitcs, so off to bed I go.

A Day in the Sun

Balmorrhea totally rocked. We didn't get there until a little after noon, but that just meant that we optimized our chances for skin cancer. (there was sun block all the way around, especially for the children) We strapped Ryleigh's floaties on and off she went and jumped right into the 20 ft. deep end of the pool. Mom, PaPa and I swam around with her while Nana watched Avery.

Oh, what a horrible, dreadful job for her...she was just eating that child up. While we were swimming my phone rang twice and my Nana told me that both times Avery heard the ring, put her hand over her ear and said some variance of "hello"! Oh, and I wish that everyone could have heard that child talking to her Daddy this morning...I really think that she brightened his day with her jibber jabber.

The little fishes nipped at Ryleigh's feet and made her giggle, but she loved it. We played like we were sharks and tipped over Grandma. We tried out a diving mask and used Papa's swim noodle as a water launcher.

For lunch we had a feast of sandwiches, chips and homemade brown sugar cookies...mmmmmmmm, mmmmmmm. After a little more water play, we headed home for the evening. All in all, it was a fantastic chance to spend some quality time with Ryleigh and my grandparents and my mom.

Carlsbad Caverns and Scorpion #4

Scorpion #4 decided to go walking across the living room floor on Sunday while the girls and I were watching television. I'm very seiously done with seeing scorpions! This one was sick like the others, but still, not exactly what I want to see where my kids play. Come to think of it, those not from around here probably think I'm crazy to let my kids play and sleep in a house where scorpions tend to rear their ugly tails. Out here though, it's just something you get used to. At least at this house we don't regularly run into rattlesnakes like at our old house across town. I can remember about five or so snakes that came up in our backyard when I was growing up.


Sunday afternoon we headed up to White's City (http://www.whitescity.com/) to stay for the night. We planned on seeing the bats fly out of the cave at sunset, but first we let Ryleigh play at the waterpark by the hotel. You can see the pictures of the waterpark on their website. After a while I talked Ryleigh into riding down the big blue slide on my lap. She really loved it and went down in my lap several times, then PaPa Steve's lap a few times, then finally she went down by herself. I walked up to the top and my parents stood at the bottom to make sure she was okay. She came down alllll smiles! Then, she headed right back up. PaPa Steve finally talked her into going do the black tube (enclosed) slide with him. But we were totally shocked when she went back up to the top and came down the black slide all by herself! After getting our kicks in the water, we got dressed, had some dinner and headed to-the-bat-cave. My parents grew up in West Texas and raised all their kids in West Texas, but none of us had seen the bat flight. It was so totally cool. You can find several videos on youtube.com, but you're not really supposed to film the flight. I highly recommend if you are ever in the area.

Today we just hung out around town. Tomorrow it's off to Balmorea to go swimming.

http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/spdest/findadest/parks/balmorhea/

And you people thought I grew up in a barren wasteland where the only thing to do was drink and go parking.

Yeah, so did I.

Scorpion #3

The third scorpion showed up yesterday. We think that he crawled in under the front door and commenced dying in the entryway. My dad bombed the house a few days before we got here, so any creature that we've found is either dead or dying. This scorpion I found when I slid my shoes off and almost placed my foot upon his body and up-turned stinger.


I've been stung twice before. Once I had one crawl into bed with me and sting me on the finger. The second time one crawled into my jeans and stung my knee - six times - after I got my pants, socks and shoes on and then knelt in front of a mirror. I wouldn't decribe either event as pleasant. I hate the little bastards and the fact that I'm still here after finding three of them is sort of amazing.


On Thursday night we went over to the Pyote pool for a friend's birthday party. I hadn't been to that pool since I was probably in elementary school. It looked pretty much the way that I remembered it. Ryleigh had a blast, especially since the shallow end was only 3 feet deep, shallow enough for her to stand up in.

On Friday the girls and I went over to Odessa to visit my grandmother and aunt. I think it is of the up most importance that my children seize every opportunity they get to know each of their grandparents and great-grandparents. I was blessed to know 6 of my great-grandparents with the last one passing just last year.

It was a great visit. Ryleigh and grandma played store and Ryleigh served us all tea and cake with the tea set that was at the house.

When we got back home I made some Chinese food and we watched the opening ceremony for the Olympics. I think that watching the games unfold in Beijing is totally awesome. I feel so proud for Chinese and thouroughly enjoyed their opening ceremony. If you didn't get to see the lighting of the flame, I highly recommend hunting it down on youtube or some other means.

My parents are out tonight and I'm sitting up in this big creepy house all by myself. What I would have done 12 years ago with an opportunity like this!

Livin' it up Country Style

We've been at my parents' house since Sunday night and so far it's really been a blast. We've spent a lot of time with my grandparents and my parents. Last night we all headed out to the Monahans Sandhills (http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/spdest/findadest/parks/monahans_sandhills/). On Sunday we plan on going to the Carlsbad Caverns (http://www.nps.gov/cave/) to watch the bats that night and then walk the caves on Monday. We're also hoping to make a trip to Ft. Davis before we have to fly out on the 17th.

We had such an excellent time at the sandhills last night. It's so strange to watch your little four year old daughter out on the dunes doing what you did with the sand just a few years back..okay, maybe something like 20 years back. My Papa was out there with us and showed us all up by walking out over the dunes the farthest. Then we all had some homemade ice cream!

So, we've only seen two scorpions in the house and one snake (not confirmed as a rattlesnake) going across the road. Ahhhh, gotta love the land of creatures. And, Ryeigh got her first ant bite. She still freaks out when she sees a fly, but I think that might change before we leave here. Buggies! just totally freak her out.

I'm going to make a strong attempt to go work out with my Papa in the morning. That means that I need to get to sleep very soon. 8am comes early for me these days!

Keep Jeramy in your thoughts. He's living all alone up in St. John's and having to spend his nights in a hotel room. I think that we're all ready to get set up in our new house, though I absolutely dread all the unloading that will commence once our stuff arrives. But hell, what else does a housewife living in the great northeast have to do with her days!

Taking it All Apart

I haven't posted in a few weeks not because I haven't really wanted to, but because I have been so incredibly busy making this move happen. It really has been just too crazy for words, but here's a little breakdown. We got the house on market a few weeks ago.

Here it is: http://search.har.com/engine/dispSearch.cfm?mlnum=2828174&backButton=Y

We've had a handfull of showings but no offers yet. We're definitely realizing it's not the best time to be selling a house, but it's just the way it goes.

One week ago today the movers showed up and packed our entire house into 125 boxes, excluding the larger pieces that didn't fit into boxes. Last Friday a second crew showed up and loaded all our stuff onto an 18-wheeler and away it all went! The main guy that loaded the truck will actually be taking it all the way to Newfoundland. So, it's not going by sea, but that's awesome because that means that our stuff will be there much sooner than we originally thought.

After our whole life was sent away on an 18-wheeler, we moved into a quaint little hotel called the Sugar Land Marriott at Town Square (roll fancy rich-folk type music) which was a lot of fun to stay at for a week. The room was super small for a family of four that was carrying enough clothes, toys, food and such to get them through 4 weeks of homelessness. But, getting to watch Town Square hopping 24 hours a day was kind of cool. From the meditation group that is there in the wee hours of the morning to the teenagers and drunk middle-agers hanging around the fountain at midnight, it was a very eye opening experience for me, me who used to watch Town Square from 8-5, M-F. Ryleigh's favorite thing about staying at the hotel was the morning trip to Starbucks for her donut and chocolate milk just about every day. My favorite thing was not having to get up and try to get a house ready in the midst of two children, just in case a potential buyer wanted to swing by.

Yesterday morning we all got up and got packed. Jeramy headed to the airport and the girls and I headed north to Arlington for a few days with my sister. Tomorrow we'll be heading to Granbury to see the girls' great grandparents (Pam's parents) and then on to Austin to see my dear, pregnant friend Karen and her husband and good friend Jeremy. After that, it's on to West Texas for a few weeks before jumping an airplane to O Canada!

I know that once I'm in Canada and getting settled into our new home, I'll have lots of time to reflect on this experience and maybe I'll draw some wonderful, insightful conclusions about moving abroad. Right now though, in this moment as I sit here on my sister's couch with my former Rocky dog leaning on me, I - am - tired. This has been a very insane experience. I can not believe how physically draining and emotionally trying it has been. It all sounded so fine in the beginning and I don't regret that we're doing this but at the same time, wow. We spent so many years building up so much...two vehicles, a home, a job, a life, some dogs, some kids...all adding up to be called our nest. Over the past few months I feel like we've just been tearing it all down. Selling off the house and vechicles, losing a dog and giving away the other. Even our washer and dryer that we were so proud to finance in our first duplex is now gone with the house...the refrigerator that we bought the day we moved into the Bryan house when we discovered one didn't come with the house is gone. It's just so weird to watch so many things that mean/meant so much to you go away to the highest bidder. At the same time, it sort of cleanses your soul and reminds you that things are things and that things don't make your life whole, your family does.

At the core of all this craziness has been Jeramy, me, Ryleigh and Avery, hanging on for dear life. Last weekend we spent Saturday as a family. We had lunch at our favorite Greek food place in Houston and then spent a couple of hours at the Children's Museum. Jeramy took Avery to the baby area and I took Ryleigh to the big kid area. It was the first time that I felt like Ryleigh was able to understand so many of the exhibits and Jeramy said he could have scored 20 dates with all the attention Avery was drawing. That evening, we had dinner at some friends' house. All in all it was a perfect last Saturday in a place we've called home for over two years.

We'll miss so much about Sugar Land and Houston, but there's comfort in knowing that we will return. It's our home and it's our base. And while I won't miss the humidity, I will miss the life and friends that we built while we were there.

Peace out Houston....see you on the other side.

Princess Pictures

From the Chick-Fil-A Princess Party

Ryleigh: Scientist/Entrepreneur

This morning I had to drive about 5 minutes away to Home Depot to get a copy of my house key made for the lockbox on our door. During the drive back, Ryleigh hatched this master plan. She explained it to me like this:

"Hey mom. When we go back to the beach by our new house in Canada, I'm going to take my bucket with me and pick up a lot of rocks. Then, we can put the rocks in our house and make a museum out of our house. The rocks can go on the couch and people can come and see them. They can pay us ten dollars to come in and see our rock museum. But, not when daddy is on the rig. When daddy is on the rig, we will have to make a sign to put on the door that will say that the museum is closed because daddy is on the rig. Then, when daddy gets off the rig, we will make a sign that says that the museum is open because daddy is not on the rig anymore! We will charge them ten dollars...or they can just give us whatever money they have. Isn't that a great idea??"

Yes, we are so proud. Of all the things that we have dreamed our children would be, topping the list is "must love rocks". We're so proud!

Not Slowing Down Now

Soooo much has been going on this past week. First off, the girls:

Ryleigh had her 4th birthday party last weekend and it was awesome! We had it at the Houston Museum of Natural Science and I think the kids had a blast. It got a little hairy when we took them through the butterfly atrium, but all the parents really helped out and got the kids through without too much of an issue. The cutest part?..the bees. The kids all really loved the bees and Ryleigh made sure to let everyone know which one was the queen. (The bee hive is in an enclosed plexi glass hive with a clear tube leading to the world so the bees can go collect nectar) Ryleigh really seemed to enjoy "her day" and it was so wonderful that she got to see some her school friends before the big move.

Avery is growing like crazy! She is very mobile and can crawl like a pro. She's also pulling up to anything she can reach and yesterday she started clapping. She can also say and wave bye and when the house inspector came by yesterday, she actually started waving and saying bye when he left and I said bye. She had her first hair cut last week and goes in for her 9 month check up on Friday. 9 months!!!! Already!!!!

Jeramy and I are struggling to keep our sanity during this move. Our realtor put the sign in front of our house last night. The house should be up on MLS today and we're hoping for some showings this weekend. Keeping house has never been my forte, so please pray that the cleaning fairies watch over me and keep me on task. I had to force myself to do the dishes this morning after breakfast rather than go roll around in the floor with the kids or go for a walk, which is my normal thing. Who knows, maybe I'll come out of this a better person, or at least a better housekeeper. Yeah, who am I kidding, my first order of business when I get to Canada is to find a maid service!

So, everything is moving along nicely. Our official move date is the 24th and 25th of July. On July 27th I will start to head west and Jeramy will fly to Canada. Right now I'm thinking that we will fly to St. John's on August 21st.

So, our next big hurdle is to sell the house. We are really hoping that it goes quickly. And then there is the mountain of paperwork that I need to get to for the realtor and the relocation company. Blah.

And then there is the insurance for the Skidoo. I got an email from an insurance person in St. John's and this was included: "Other than liability coverage you will often see a person purchase fire and theft coverage and sometimes full comprehensive which covers fire, theft and vandalism. This would also cover you if your skidoo was to go through ice while crossing a pond."

For the record, Jack, there will no crossing of frozen bodies of water in a Skidoo or via any other mode of transporation including my feet. Don't believe I will be needing that coverage, thank you very much...but what if I hit a moose?

A Very Good Day

This morning started off with a phone call at about 7:50am from Canada. On the other line, one of two preschools that I left a message with yesterday while trying desperately to find a preschool for Ryleigh. In Newfoundland, preschools are not at easily found as they are here. Daycares are relatively easy to come across, but a decent quality preschool, a little more tricky. The woman calling from Early Achievers (www.earlyachievers.com) informed me that they had one spot left for the fall. I'll take it!!! That's one issue solved.

In chatting with the director of the school I mentioned that we were still looking for a house to rent. She told me that her husband's secretary was moving abroad due to her husband's job and that they had been trying to sell their house, but might be open to renting at this point. I took the woman's info and immediately made the phone call. She was a lovely woman and after a quick conversation she asked if she could call me back after speaking with her husband. 10 minutes later she called me back and voila, we have a house!

And to all those people that told me not to stress out about the first house we lost yes, good for you, congratulations, you appear to be right, this house may actually be better than the first. It's slightly bigger (which may totally justify a housekeeper) and it's very close to the first house. It's on a large lot with a great back deck, and, well, it's just about perfect. Jeramy recalls driving by this house and seeing the for sale sign and said that it's in a great neighborhood. I've just been walking around with a jump and a skip in my walk and with a huge grin on my face all day. Once again, we have a house, we are not homeless. I'll feel better when we are signing a lease, but for now, it's all good in the hood...the Canadian hood...yo.

Other than finding a home for my family today we had a full day of activities. Ryleigh had tap/ballet at 11, both of the girls got a haircut at 12:30, then we grabbed a bite to eat and came home for some "quiet time". Yeah right when Grandma Terri is here. Then, this evening, Ryleigh got all dressed up and we headed to Chick-Fil-A for the Princess Party. I have been looking forward to this party all week long. Not only did Ryleigh get to dress up as a princess, not only did she get to meet the REAL Cinderalla and the REAL Sleeping Beauty, not only did she get to have her picture taken by Christine Meeker for FREE (same overpriced photographer that did the family pics in our house), not only did she get to have glitter make-up put on her face and glitter sprayed in her hair, she also got to ride in a HOT PINK LIMO that said GIRLS ONLY on the side. Holy Shit, what a day!

Neither of the girls put up much of a fight when we got home as far as going to bed went. Ahhh, sweet, sweet sleep. Mama needs some wine, there's reason to celebrate!

Coping with Addiction

Part of our efforts to ready our house for sale has been power washing every concrete surface around our house. Power washing kicks so much ass. If you have never power washed, you will be amazed at what it can do for your house. Especially here in good ol' humid Houston, where your home grows greenery like an oversize Chia pet. I actually don't advise that you do any power washing in West Texas; I would hate to be responsible for you tipping your trailer house over. (Disclaimer: Trailer livin' jokes may only be made by those that live and/or have lived in a trailer, perferably single wide.)

Jeramy spent 5 hours on Saturday power washing the front driveway, walkway and sidewalk. I kept checking on him to see how he was doing and to provide him with moral support, but I was really just dying to take that power washer and do it myself. Imagine my delight when he came down with a tummy bug on Sunday and I got to power wash the back porch all by myself. It took me two days since I could only power wash when Avery was sleeping, but it was a whole lotta fun, I tell you what. I got my back porch squeeky clean and then moved on to the brick behind the bushes and ended with the little plastic toddler slide that we've had at our last three homes. I even tackled the fence a bit, but wasn't sure I was making it any better. Before I began powering the bark off the oak tree, Avery woke up. It's probably just as well though, I've heard that trees need their bark.

So, if you have the time, come check out our nice, clean driveway. Never mind the thick, black sludge at the end of the driveway. We're one good rain from that not being an issue.

A Minor Setback

We landed in Houston at about 4:15 yesterday afternoon after a very long and very grueling day of travel. Ryleigh just refused to nap on the plane and refused to eat just about anything we asked her to all day long. The girl was really craving a peanut butter and jelly sandwich.

When we landed in Houston and started making our way toward the luggage area, Jeramy turned on his blackberry to see just how many emails he missed in flight. One of the first emails that Jeramy read was sent from the Canadian office to let us know that the owners of the house that we had hoped to move into were moving back to Canada and no longer wanted to lease the house. Damn. Seriously?? Damn. And there we were, standing in the luggage claim area, with one hungry and sleepy 3 year old, one smiling and obliviously happy 8 month old, being quite hungry and sleepy ourselves, and realizing that we had just spent a week in St. John's and were back at square one with the housing issue. Damn.

The realtor that the company uses has already emailed us some other options. We know that there just won't be another option for us as perfect as the one that just slipped away. It was just so totally perfect. But, we at least now know where we do and don't want to be. If we have to move up there and live in a hotel for a little while before the perfect place comes up, then we will. No biggie.

So, it's good to be home. Avery was up at 5:30 this morning and Ryleigh was up at 6:30. That's 8 and 9 St. John's time, so I'm sure they think they're doing well. Right now Ryleigh is catching up on cartoons and Avery is standing up to the couch trying to reach the remote that is just out of her reach. Her ability to pull up to things is just ridiculous, expecially considering her size. She's just so little!!

Time to get to some chores, some errands and lots of unpacking. My Nana and Papa are coming for a visit on Monday next week and I'm sooo excited. We also hope to have the relocation company come and appraise the house next week. So, there is still so much to be done to get us up to Canada.

Up for Sale:
One 8 ft. Christmas tree, 7 years old. In great shape and very beautiful. $40
One Christmas wreath complete with plastic storage box and door hanger: $20
One blow up kayak, lots of fun on the Guadalupe, complete with paddle: $20
Dining room table and chairs, oak colored, 10 years old: $25
Computer desk, black tubing and faux food: $20
Coffee table, side table combo, wrought iron bottom, glass tops, 10 years old: $100
'06 Jetta, 28K miles, leatherette, Bose sound, white with black interior, 5 cylinder, $14,800

And more to come....jenn