New Orleans

Where to start? We've been in New Orleans for 2 weeks now.
We left Southgate on June 29th and picked my sister Marie up from the airport (from Anchorage) and headed to Frankenmuth, MI to meet up with my sister Shelly's family for a late celebration for Grant's 6th birthday at the waterpark. It was a great time. From there we all headed to Ohio and spent time with my parents. Including a trip to Put In Bay. July 4th we spent at our traditional family reunion. On the 5th the kids and I left with Marie and drove her to West Virginia where we had lunch with my brother Stanley and Marie continued with him to Virginia Beach.
The boys and I got to New Orleans about lunch-time on July 6th. We had already been told our moving van would arrive the next day, but we got used to our new place. We've gone from living in a house with a basement and a garage to the top floor of a duplex - 3 bedrooms, two bathrooms and a small laundry area on the first floor. Pretty much no storage space except for the single closets in each bedroom. And it costs more than we previously paid for our mortgage AND Alex's apartment together.
The movers did arrive on Saturday and we started to turn our place into home.
By Monday afternoon I was ready to go crazy...and then I found a life-line. The library summer reading program was on Tuesday. We showed up early and all got library cards. The program was from the zoo on wetlands, with lots of live animals!

We've settled into a weekday routine for now, the kids are supposed to: have breakfast, clean up, get dressed, make beds, do a chore and a worksheet and then they may watch a tv show, they play a little and then it's time for lunch followed by piano lessons, quiet reading time, another tv show, play time and then dinner. Not to say that there isn't a lot of whining and fighting going on in between! Tuesdays are library time and we usually go back on Thursdays for new books. And Wednesday we go to lunch with Alex.
We signed the kids up for school. The public schools here are notoriously bad and most of the charter schools have lotteries in the spring, so we got into a "front-line" school which is one step up from a public school, but are hoping for a charter school closer to home although that may have to happen next year. But school starts August 6th and I don't think I've ever been happier to see the start of school!

Sold

Okay, so this story really should go in May, but I've just had time to catch up...

The day drove into the driveway and the "SOLD" sign was up Grant burst into tears saying, "I don't want to move to New Orleans - they have black widow spider there!"
I knew this wasn't the full story, so I probed him over dinner, "Why don't you want to move to New Orleans?"
"Number 1," what 5 year old has a list of reasons??? "They have black widow spider."
"Those spiders don't come into houses," I lied.
"Number 2," sniff, sniff, sniff, "I don't want to leave my friends." Okay, I'll give him that one.
"Number 3...wait mom, do they have Chuck E Cheese there?"
"Yes, we've even been to Chuck E Cheese in New Orleans."
"But do they have Stevie B's?"
"Well, you may be out of luck on that one."

True Story of the Lost Wallet

Okay, so it's been a month since we've been back from Spring Break, but I just now have time to recount the story of the lost wallet.
If you follow me on Facebook, you know that half-way on our drive to New Orleans I discovered I had lost my wallet. We stopped for lunch at Subway at a gas station and when I went to pay - oh, no! - I had no wallet in my purse! When I thought back, I realized at the last gas station (2 hours and one state ago) I had put my wallet in my pocket. I did have a checkbook, so I was able to pay for our Subway and then I turned back around to go back to the last gas station and see if I could find my wallet. In the meantime, Alex called the gas station and they said no one had turned it in, but I had to see for myself. I remember being in the women's room when the boys started screaming in the men's room (the acoustics in bathrooms is apparently great for listening to screams!) so I hurried myself out of there. And I'm sure that is when my wallet fell out of the shallow pockets of my hoodie.
After making the 2 hour drive back to the first gas station, they had not found my wallet and I couldn't even go through the garbage because it had already been taken out. I'm pretty sure that whoever found the black leather Kate Spade wallet in the women's room kept it for the wallet itself...and the $50 inside. Luckily that was all the cash I had inside and when I started calling to cancel the credit cards, more than 3 hours after I lost them, no purchases had been attempted.
We turned back around and started driving to New Orleans again, and when I had about 90 miles of gas left the kiddies had to go to the bathroom, so we stopped at a gas station and I asked, "Do you take checks for gas?" Yes. "Without an ID?" No. I sent the kids into the bathroom and when I came out the attendant asked me, "Are those your babies?" "Yes" "I couldn't live with myself if I didn't take your check." Oh, the kindness of strangers! I'm sure everyone says they have have money in their account to back up their check, but I really did and am thankful for that attendant who took a chance on me! The next two stops I was not so lucky, both places would not take a check without ID. The kiddies had $3 that they brought so I used that and slowed my speed for maximum MPG. I arrived in New Orleans with 20 miles left on my gas tank.
While losing my wallet was annoying, and I had a few tense moments wondering how far we'd make it, I knew that we would make it to NOLA, even if Alex had to meet us for a fill-up. This was actually a good way to start off vacation, because it put everything in perspective. A lost wallet is no comparison to an accident or breakdown - and the vacation was all uphill from there! I am also very appreciative of the kindness of strangers. Greyson was extremely upset at first - but again there were good lessons to be learned. We were going to make it to New Orleans, just later than we had originally thought. And this is why there is no such thing as "finders - keepers," it really hurts when someone is not honest enough to return your belongings.
I hope when you read this, you can pass on kindness to strangers and help restore the lost, because sometimes it's the little things to us that sometimes mean big things to others.

Ps, I also forgot to say thank you to everyone who offered their support on Facebook and sent me texts! I had friends offer to get me money and after the fact found out others were trying to figure out how to do that too!

Enjoy every sandwich

Apparently I get philosophical on Fridays!

When I turned on the radio this morning Werewolves of London was on. That song always reminds me of an interview between David Letterman and Warren Zevon. Letterman asked Zevon what he understood now, being diagnosed with terminal lung cancer, and Zevon answered, "Just how much you are supposed to enjoy every sandwich."
If those aren't words of wisdom, I don't know what is. So today, I plan to enjoy every sandwich. And beyond that, every interaction I have with a living person.
Happy Friday!

Some funnies from my Facebook status

1/29/12 "If we had another kid in our family and it was a boy - we'd call him Awesome." Grant

1/29/12
Overheard between an 8 year old and 9 year old.
"Do you want a Mustang GT when you grow up?"
"No"
"Why not? They're epic!"

1/24/12
Last night when I was helping Greyson study for spelling he said, "You're just like the mom in the movie Penelope and you never think I'm good enough how I am. " I said, "Nope, I'm like Bill Cosby when Theo says he is doing his best in school, 'why can't you love me like I am' and his dad says 'That's a bunch of baloney!'"

1/24/12
And the drama at my house continues:
"Grant! Why did you bite your brother!"
"I didn't bite him!"
"Then why are there bite marks on his arm?"
"I was *trying* to drink his blood."

1/22/12
Greyson: A motorcycle and a car are a lot different - like Chanakuh and Christmas.

1/12/12
"People have been saying all day that I look hot. Well that's because I *am* hot." Grant age 5 on wearing sweat pants and sweat shirt to school.

Thankful for my fridge

I have decided that every time I think I have nothing to be thankful for, I will be thankful for my refrigerator. No lie, my fridge is the symbol of all that is good in my life. There is always food in it. My kids, and I, have never known true hunger. We've never gone more than a few hours in our lives without food. Because it's "on," I've paid my bills. Even though my husband and I have been unexpectedly unemployed, I've never had a late bill. I have a place to put my fridge. My house is more than adequate for the needs of my family. I have a calendar on my fridge where I mark down things I'm looking forward too. My kids artwork and school assigments hang on my fridge, reminding me that they are happy, healthy, smart and safe. I have photos of many of you & your kids on my fridge, letting me know there are people that I truly care about and that care about me. Thank you God for my refrigerator.

It's Not Fair!

For everyone who got the condensed version of events on FaceBook, here is the whole story of last night....

So at shower/bedtime my kids decided to make a deal with each other. Greyson (age 8) will get in the shower while Grant (age 5) watches tv, and then they will switch.
All was going according to plan until a naked Grant runs out of the bathroom "I can't get in the shower there is something in there!" Turns out is was wet paper starting to disintegrate, which I clean out and tell him to get his naked butt off my furniture and get himself into the shower. Nothing. I end up repeating myself two more times and then tell Greyson the tv has to go off since Grant can't concentrate on getting in the shower. "Grant, you're a f---ing idiot." O-kay.
"Greyson, you are now in trouble for not only not turning off the tv, but using words that aren't very nice."
"I'm leaving, I can't live here any more with a brother that makes life harder for me."
"You might want to put on your shoes, because it's kinda cold out there."
Shoes go on. "Now I'm leaving this place."
"You might also want to wear your coat, it is cold out."
"No, I'm just leaving."
Exactly 2 minutes later he is back inside. Ranting again, "My life is hard enough without my brother messing things up for me. I've had a hard day. And Dad doesn't live with us!" Really, pulling the dad card after 2 1/2 years?
Then he decides he starving and he is going to finish his rice from dinner so he can have dessert. He tells me he is finished and is ready for a cookie.
"Really Greyson? I'm not going to find your rice in the garbage?"
"No, I ate it." But it is in the garbage.
"This is not fair! I am starving and I didn't like the rice and now you're not letting me eat anything else! It's not fair!"
He continues on the same vein until finally I get fed up as he is still ranting while trying to brush his teeth.
"That's right, life is NOT fair OR equal. You know what? It's not fair that you are going to sleep in a warm bed tonight. There are people who are sleeping outside tonight. You saw them on the sidewalk in Chicago in their sleeping bags."
At this point my 5 year old starts to laugh because it is funny to 5 year olds that there are people sleeping on sidewalks.
Greyson says,"It's not funny Grant, imagine sleeping outside - it's really cold out there!" And yes you know from your 2 minutes of running away tonight with no coat on!
But, I can't leave it at that, "And it's not fair that you are starving after eating 3 meals today and KNOWING that you are getting 3 meals tomorrow when there are people out there that don't know when they will eat next. And it's not fair that you are wearing your clean pajamas that your MOM washed for you. And it's not fair that you are brushing your teeth because you know you get to go to the dentist to take care of your teeth so they don't hurt because your MOM goes to work to have dental insurance." At this point I stop because I'm pretty sure I've taken it too far - but it WORKED not another "unfair" complaint last night!