Homeless

The move is officially half way done, and now we will be homeless for the next two weeks. With no where to live and no desire to spend days on end in a hotel room, we headed to Texas for some family time. After cleaning so much my hands cracked, after packing suitcases that would hold anything that we might need in the next three weeks (and then some), and then a very long drive across the Southeast, East Texas never looked so good.

These four spent a whole lot of time in the swimming pool and eating popsicles.

How is that my ten year old is taller than my grandmother? 

Even with temps hovering around 100 degrees, the Toole cousins spent an afternoon playing Gun Wars and basketball.

Without a doubt, the biggest stressor thus far has been moving with the cat. The poor thing suffered fourteen hours in a car, we suffered through hours and hours of her non-stop crying, and then we had to fight off a late night coyote chase that the boys promise almost involved Maybelle as a late night snack. I said it once; I will say it again. Homesteading is looking better by the minute.

The Neighborhood Five

Never have five boys fought as much as these five. Never have five boys played together as well as these five. They have spent countless hours exploring the wood line, playing night tag, eating fresh baked cookies, and "debating" the value of various house hold appliances. We wrapped up our week of see-you-soons with a neighborhood basketball tournament. Our last full day in Georgia was perfect and filled with great friends, great fun, and great food. 

Packing...Again

Exactly three years ago today we were leaving Virginia and headed to our new home in Georgia. Today all of our things are again packed in boxes. This time they are headed for Tennessee. It's all a bit worrisome to put all of your life possessions in someone else's hands. Someone once told me that these military moves get easier with time. I firmly believe that someone was a liar. After sixteen years and eight moves, it hasn't gotten any easier for me.

Yesterday I had to deal with the Packing Nazi. He refused to pack light bulbs, batteries, candles, and liquids. The same rules we have always been told would be followed during a pack-out but rarely, if ever, have been actually adhered to. Yesterday's team of three, though, would not budge on this rule. I've entire cabinets of goods that I now must carry with me. However, it was the new rule of refusing to pack wire hangars that took the cake. The team leader told me that there was a risk the hangars might rust. I'm not sure how that can happen when you don't pack liquids. More importantly, how long does the moving company plan to keep my household goods? From my experience rusting is not an overnight experience.

And so now I have 253 wire hangars that I must throw into the back of my car and carry across the United States OR spend up every penny I had planned to spend on food for the next month on plastic hangars. Not to mention I must now carry my sack of decorative candles, a box of batteries, my plastic bottles of vegetable oil and olive oil, and countless other items that the packers refused to pack and I refuse to throw away.

It's official. I am homesteading in Tennessee. Certainly this was never my dream, but if it means one less encounter with the Packing Nazi, then so be it.

Farewell Friends

Back in June 2010, our two families arrived to our new duty station within days of one another. Three years later we are each preparing for our next duty station. 

The kids had one last play date.

The mamas had one last play date.

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Instead of goodbye, we have said the traditional "See You Again Real Soon!" May our Army paths cross again one day.

Buddies

When we lived in Virginia, Keagan and M were best friends. They attended the same preschool and played on the same soccer team. They spent many play dates together playing Star Wars and Super Hero Squad. We lived less than two miles from each other, but when it was time for kindergarten, our homes were zoned for two different elementary schools. It was a sad, sad day when the boys learned they would be separated.

Three years later they are together again.

Friday they spent the day in Savannah with M's family touring the city and eating at famous restaurants. Saturday they spent the day at the beach with our family digging in the sand and playing in the waves. We are thankful today for Facebook and the ability to stay in touch with friends that live several states away.

Science Class

Tropical Storm Andrea is headed towards us and has brought us already two days of rain. Our back yard is flooded; our cul-de-sac is a pond. We have been stuck inside, wishing we were some place else, or at the very least, doing something a little more productive than watching the rain fall. I remembered the science kits the boys received as Christmas gifts and suggested we curb our boredom with an experiment or two. So instead of watching the rain fall, Evan made goo.

He carefully mixed the water and goo powder. He shook it vigorously and complained that the directions needed to be more specific. I'm not sure how "shake vigorously for five minutes" needed more explanation.

After careful examination, it was time to watch the goo defy gravity and climb the test tube. I suppose we did something wrong at the shake vigorously step because we had nothing climb our test tube. There was some big disappointment and some broken goo dreams for this guy.

After his pathetic screams of "This is CRAP, Mom!" and his storming through the house mad as a hornet, I realized he had thrown the goo down the drain. This done when the very next line in the directions says, "When done playing with the goo, place excess in a trash can. Pouring goo down the drain can cause major plumbing problems."

Then it was my turn for pathetic screams and storming through the house.

I found my way to Keagan's room when I realized he had been a little too quiet for at least half an hour. I found him sitting in the middle of the carpet with his own science kit.  He had citric acid, corn starch, and water lined up in front of him. Packages ripped open. White powder all over his red shirt, which inevitably meant white powder was also all over the carpet. It was the horror of finding red cabbage powder poured all over the carpet with about two flakes having actually made it into a test tube, though, that sent me over the edge.

Science class has been canceled. The boys are now outside, playing basketball in the pond while the tropical storm barrels right over us.

Dream World

After spending an entire weekend house hunting, comparing bathroom sizes, looking at paint colors, and discussing kitchen designs, I found Keagan on the front porch of one of the houses playing a game on his Kindle. He had spent the first day fully excited about choosing the best house and rating each and every room, but by mid-day of day number two, he had checked out. At this point, he had decided any ole house would do.

A couple of hours later he was napping in the truck and talking in his sleep (something he does quite regularly). "Turn here at the H. Turn at the H." When he awoke a half hour later Evan asked him what he was dreaming about. He said, "It was a horrible dream! We were shopping at HH Gregg and looking at appliances."

Poor guy. He couldn't even escape reality in his dreams.

I'm afraid to tell him we are shopping for refrigerators tomorrow.

House Hunting

We just completed a full day of house hunting. My dream of collecting a house in every state of the union is one day closer to fruition. Bank of America is one day closer to owning me. To prepare for today's event I created a table and check list for the boys to use to rate each of the houses we toured.

The fact that I remembered a clipboard to carry around the score sheet is a sure sign that my OCD is out of control. It's even scarier to admit that both of the boys had more fun filling in the chart than I did creating it.

The good news is we found a house. The bad news is everyone else out house hunting today found the same house. I think we are about to find ourselves living that episode of House Hunters where the couple sits in the coffee shop, willing the phone to bring good news, all while declaring life will end if they don't get "THE" house. Yep, that's us except we are sitting in a hotel room, eating Dairy Queen blizzards, and watching basketball.

Tomorrow is day two of house hunting.