Life down here on earth

Gentlemen. It's been a privilege flying with you.

Expect entry interface in 45 seconds. And on my mark your velocity will be 35'245 feet per second. Mark. 35 seconds to entry interface.

The computer's going down soon so it looks like you'll have to wait for all the Disneyland, soccer and birthday updates until we are further east. The movers will be here at 7:00 a.m. tomorrow to start packing. I'll be up all night packing the things we need to keep with us.

Looks like we'll be in the new house next Tuesday, but I didn't set up the cable internet installation until Friday! gah! I'll be calling them in the morning and seeing if I can move it up.

When the Apollo 13 command module was re-entering the atmosphere they didn't know if their heat shield would hold up or if they would burn up on re-entry. There's a 3 minute blackout of radio contact upon re-entering the Earth's atmosphere. So for three minutes everyone was holding their breath waiting to hear the voices of the astronauts and hoping that they survived. My situation right now is exactly like that. Okay, it's not. But, still. I hate being without my computer.

Y'all take care and I'll see you on the other side.

Nevah!

When you are not a morning person, it is difficult to deal with a child who is a morning person in the morning before you have had caffeine.

Jack, this morning, was wielding his sword and protesting his morning tasks, swish swish "Nevah! I shall nevah eat my oatmeal!" swish swish "I shall nevah brush my teeth! Nevah!"

Other gems from this week include:

"Sam, come here and take this cold medicine."

"NO! I want hot medicine!"

And also:

"The people who are moving into this house have three kids."

"Can we have another kid?"

Greg did the walkthrough on the Nashville house yesterday. Today he is on an airplane home, but he sent me a few pictures of the very-nearly-complete house, which you can find in the new house photo album.

Naturally, I've been overtaken by events and am behind here. I'm going to try to catch y'all up on some stuff before we pack up the computer. Tune in next time for: Soccer season! And Birthday parties! And Disneyland!

Moving Chronicles #2

I don't want to bore y'all completely with all the gory move details, so let's just keep it brief, shall we?

We close on our house in Tennessee (man, that's a lot of E's) on the 22nd. That's a week earlier than the builder had originally requested and two weeks earlier than what we originally thought it was. (oops.)

Due to the scheduling snafu, Greg will be doing the closing alone without me. I have to sign my good name and my first born child over to him to do so. Good thing I trust him. And also that my first born is a lot of trouble.

Neither Greg nor I has seen the house in the last month. They could be painting it fuchsia for all we know. I promise to post pictures if they do.

We sold our house in California. (Yay! In only 2 weeks! Keeping a house spotless for showings at a moment's notice is NOT FUN.)

The movers come on September 29. eep.

I feel like stalling the movers and staying another week or two, but I can't come up with any good reasons.

I have one of those I've-been-stressed-and-let-myself-get-run-down colds.

So. It looks like I've just gotta bite the bullet and get this thing over with. If all goes well, we'll be in our new house no later than October 8. We'll keep you posted.

Nazgul

Does anyone else think that a Ringwraith costume in child's size 4-6 is just wrong?

Although it would be great fun to put Sam in it, let him ring the doorbell and have him whisper "Shiiiirrre? Bagginsss?" when folks came to the door. heh.

Last one down

I am nearly ecstatic. I want to shout, "Free at last!" What a wonderful life this is. I used to think there was nothing like a drooly baby smile. Nothing like seeing your child take his first steps. When the first words came they were music to my ears. I smiled when he sang his ABCs. Was thrilled when he counted to ten.

But now I know the true joy of parenting because I have heard the most beautiful words in the English language:

"Mommy, I need to poop in the potty."

Musical Torture

Jessie is a friend,
Yeah I know he's been a good friend of mine
But lately something's changed
It ain't hard to define
Jessie's got himself a girl
And I want to make her mine

Way back when I was 14, being a schoolgirl, I had a schoolgirl crush on Rick Springfield. This is not anything special because in 1982, every 14-year-old girl in America (and some older ones, no doubt) had a crush on Rick Springfield. He was Dr. Noah Drake. A Working Class Dog. He was absolutely adorable and I loved him so much I thought I would die. I loved him with the single minded obsessiveness that only a 14-year-old freshman sighing over a 33-year-old celebrity could have. An obsessiveness that involved t-shirts and posters and records and lots of Teen Beat magazines.