Sorry, Sorry, Sorry!

So my apologies to everyone--we had no Internet at the new place until recently and I have been very very bad about updating. We are now back in cyberspace and I'm back to blogging!

The past few months have been busy--the house is sold and we are moved! We have a cute little townhouse that TL picked out and are snug and just about settled. I'm still surrounded by boxes but getting more and more of them unpacked. I may even be able to park in my garage by Christmas.... It has been a challenge downsizing from my big elephant but we're coming along. We have a guest bedroom anytime you want to come visit.

TL has been busy with school and we didn't end up going to The Melting Pot this grading period--but she is now concentrating and I'm sure we will go this time. She loves our new house and is close to several of her friends so she actually can walk to their houses. Now that we're settled we've started going out and doing again. We went to see New Moon on opening day ("it was so heart warming, so heart felt and so heart thumping" was her description). We also squeezed in a hockey game--I got great seats 7 rows up from the ice and there were several fights. I'm glad to have a child who enjoys hockey!! We also managed to hit the Hard Rock Cafe for lunch one Sunday afternoon and toured the Ford Theater. We are hoping to see a play there sometime this winter.

We spent Thanksgiving in Florida with my family and also spent some time with my SC friend's family (I have decided he is AM for future reference) as they in the same area as my cousin. The weather was warm and TL even went swimming. We went to Blue Spring State Park on Friday (no Black Friday sales for us) and were lucky enough to see some manatee as this is their winter home. We started out the day with a "oh mom" and ended up the trip with a "that was really cool" The picture I posted was her on the boardwalk--the tiara is all her!

So, that is us in a nutshell. The craziness of moving and settling and finding everything has kept us busy but we're finally back to having fun again.

Lastly, I had another 6 month check up and still no evidence of disease. We will be celebrating the weekend!

Hope all is well and I promise to get back on track. Love to all!

Birthday Parties, Endings and Sold Signs

Well, I thought last Friday would be a big day but when I woke up on Saturday I realized just how big!

Friday morning was quick, painless and final. I have switched back legally to my maiden name and am no longer a married woman. My mother and the Amazing E were by my side as they have been all along. I was smart, once I realized that there was no way Ted would change his mind about this to put myself in the driver’s seat and hire a good lawyer so the final stages were handled with dignity and absolutely no drama. Others involved in this whole debacle have not been as dignified, intelligent, expedient or drama free and as a result are still married nearly 2 years later.

TL’s birthday party was fun for all. One of her new friends is in a band and so after checking in to the hotel and getting settled (I got a suite so I had a separate room…) we went to watch them and had dinner at Pot Belly (yum). While we were sitting by the pool I got a call from my realtor and we finally got an offer on the house—there’s more to this story but that’s the next paragraph. The girls went to be early (by midnight!!!) and woke up to the cruel joke of an alarm clock that was never shut off by the previous occupant at 7:00. Since they all get up so early for school they were pretty much up soon after. Breakfast was an omelet/breakfast buffet and we ate hearty. The girls played hide n seek and ran around the lake. We packed up and were home by 10:30 to greet my parent’s movers.

Sold signs…so the offer Friday night was good enough to take although still not enough to cover all the costs so I will end up having to pay money to rid myself of this elephant. I end up with nothing from my marriage financially but…I also rid myself of bills, yard work and earned my freedom so it is worth it. The funny thing is that when it rains it pours, Sunday afternoon brought us another offer (cash this time) that although I will end up bringing more money to the table it is “as is” so I have no repair work, appraisals or loans to wait for and on Saturday I can begin to look for a place for us to rent. The closing is November 6th so I will be busy this month.

Our week ahead is bittersweet. My parents are moving back to AZ and although I dreaded their arrival into my home it has worked out much better than I ever expected and I will miss them. The movers started on Saturday and will load up the van today and head west tonight. My oldest nephew will fly into town on Wednesday evening and spend his fall break driving my father across country (they planned this in September so the sold sign just made the reason for leaving real). Don’t feel sorry for my nephew tho—he got a new iPhone out of the deal…. My mother will stay here for a month to help me with TL while I travel for work and now will also help me pack up my house. My friend from SC is driving up Thursday (the amazing man that he is, he will fly home from Des Moines Thursday morning and load up the car and head up here Thursday afternoon!). The original plan was that we were going to work on the house and I had a long list of “honey dos” for him—since the house is “as is” that’s out the window and we plan on playing! I’m having a Happy Hour for him Friday at the house and everyone is invited over to meet him and help us celebrate!

TL is plugging along with school but is also beginning to be challenged which I’m glad to see! Her grades have slipped a little due to homework issues and now I’m back to cracking the whip! The schools allow us to monitor their grades over the internet and she doesn’t get to play the “I don’t have any homework” game anymore. She goes to her father this weekend (she hasn’t been since August so I can’t boo hoo too much—but boo hoo, I always miss her) and they have planned a big celebration for her I’m sure. She is beginning to think this divorced thing isn’t so bad since she gets several birthday parties out of it…

Hope everyone’s week is good—I’m looking forward to some calm someday…

Updates

Well, obviously the fall rush has hit again and I’m back to being terrible about updating here. When I sat down to write this I can’t really put my finger on anything that’s kept us so busy that I can’t write but for some reason we just are.

So, a short recap of the past two weeks:

TL’s Back to School night was fun, enlightening and entertaining. I still think she has a great team of teachers and I think she will be challenged this year. Except for math (she is my daughter after all) she is in all gifted and talented classes (honors classes now) and is still getting all A’s. She loves middle school and the freedom it brings.

We had a great time at the lake celebrating all the birthdays. The weather was simply amazing and the girls had fun on the lake. TL woke me up Sunday morning with a text to let me know that there was a deer (with beady eyes) staring through the window of her tent. Of course only TL would think the large soulful eyes of a deer were beady (she says if you’re really close to them they’re beady!).

TL has started religious education classes with her father at the Catholic Church. She has approached it with her usual zeal and I’m glad he finally did this. She never took First Communion so she attends those classes one Monday night a month and CCD classes on Wednesday nights. She accidentally took Communion at CCD class last week and prayed at least 4 times to say she was sorry. That led to a long discussion about different perceptions of God and my beliefs that God is a forgiving and understanding being that doesn’t pass judgment or punish the sorry. Hopefully she’ll remember this week….

We spent the weekend staying at home for once. I had a PEO function at the house Saturday morning and spent Saturday evening celebrating The Amazing E’s birthday! Sunday was spent running errands, watching football and NASCAR and catching up on everything.

So far this week has been quiet. My new post doc started this week and I always enjoy the enthusiasm and new ideas they bring with them. She studies animal behavior and depression so we are hoping to develop several new models examining the interactions between pain and depression. Stay tuned—we keep growing. We are all abuzz today as The President will be honoring us with a visit. It is a shame that so many people with ugly thoughts live in this world and think it’s funny to post things like polls on Facebook encouraging his death (my soon to be ex-husband is part of that crowd). It makes his visits less joyous and more onerous as the stoic gentleman in suits now patrol our halls and keep us far away from him.

My week will end on a sad note as well as a happy one. On Friday I will spend about 10 minutes in court ending a 20 year chapter of my life. By his choice Ted will not be there which is a fitting end to this story. The day will end with a birthday party for TL which is the best way to end any day. We are staying at a hotel with several of her friends near a movie theater and her favorite restaurant (Pot Belly) so you can guess what we’ll be doing Friday night. It’s hard to believe she will be 11 in a few weeks.

So again, I’m sorry for the lack of attention to keeping everyone updated on our lives. I’ll let everyone know how the party goes. Have a great rest of the week.

Birthday Smiles

Last Sunday was my birthday! Woo Hoo, a whole 45! It was a great birthday and thank you to everyone for all the birthday wishes. It was actually a birthday weekend more than just one day.

Friday night was probably the only quiet moments we had all weekend--perfect snuggle time with TL of course. If you notice, I finally finished my chair--and it's sturdy enough to sit in!!! I just need to stain it and it'll take it's place on my deck outside my bedroom.

My birthday was as amazing as always, TL and a friend decorated the house so that when I woke up Sunday morning I would be surprised. She also threw me a party and so I had family and friends over for lunch. I am blessed to have so much in my life.

Our week is already almost half over, how did that happen??? Wednesday night is back to school night and TL is doing part of the evening announcements so she gets to come along. This weekend we're off to the lake to celebrate September birthdays (and 13th birthdays as well).

Hope everyone has a great rest of the week and I promise to post more next time.

What Was He Thinking?

I did not watch President Obama’s speech Wednesday night (I know, shame on me but I was busy wrestling a pop diva into and out of the shower while I tried to set up my father’s new laptop). So, I was shocked yesterday morning when the news began to trickle in about the behavior of a certain Representative from South Carolina (my friend thankfully did not vote for him). How can we expect our children to respect others when people who are elected to represent their citizens can not? There is no excuse for what he did, regardless of the heat of the moment or any other reason—in fact I would have respected his apology more if he had just said he was wrong and it was inexcusable. Even more interesting were his comments to reporters where he basically said, I was told to apologize so I did—one could think that perhaps he made the apology because his parents told him to and there was nothing sincere about it???? Perhaps if he expended as much energy trying to fix the problem rather than heckle the President of the United States maybe he’d get something done.

I have some pretty strong feelings about the health care bill but more importantly I have even stronger opinions about the behavior of people who are elected to represent the people of this country. Their job is to legislate, not whine, cry and throw up road blocks every time something doesn’t go their way. They are not elected to bad mouth their counterparts and walk away from the table just because it’s not what they would do. And finally, it is unconceivable that they would actually stoop to out and out lies in order to “scare” the American public into thinking that health care reform is a bad idea simply because it’s not what “they” want. I’m not pointing fingers at any particular party here either. If you want to see just how bad it is visit www.factcheck.org . We wonder why our economy is in shambles, our children are disrespectful and no one is ever willing to accept responsibility for their own actions? Just look at the people who “represent” us for the answer. Personally, I think they all need to grow up, get to work and fix this mess—if I acted like they do at my work I’d have been fired years ago.

So, what was he thinking? Who knows, but maybe a better title for this posting should be “Stop Whining and Get to WORK!!!”

End of Summer

Summer is officially over and the traffic in DC makes it pretty obvious!

We spent our last weekend of summer in SC (big surprise, I know). I found tickets to the Taylor Swift concert and took all three girls this time (yep, it’s official, I’m crazy to go to the same concert twice in one year). All the girls dressed up in cowboy boots and a sun dress which is the dress code for all Taylor Swift fans I think. TL loves her new cowboy boots and wore them most of the weekend. The rest of our weekend was spent staying busy. We took a short drive in the mountains and just enjoyed each other’s company. We took Babe this time and she and my friend’s dog (and his kids) all got along great. Although, she was roped into howling Saturday morning to wake up my friend’s oldest daughter… On the way home we stopped in Asheville to meet some family for lunch. Traffic wasn’t bad and we were home well before midnight.

We are settling in to our new routines and TL still loves school! She has a science test next week and has already started studying for it. I’m looking forward to another year full of good grades and lots of activities. Our evenings are just as busy as we have dinner plans tonight, tomorrow night and family in town this weekend. No rest for this household!

Hope everyone has a great week…

Another site to visit

If you routinely search the comments sections on my posts you notice a comment on the posting titled "Middle School Orientation". This is from someone who found the blog through the search function. He has a website directed to helping parents transition into middle school and make the entire experience more positive and enriching for everyone. I skimmed through it and got some good ideas so I figured I'd go ahead and draw everyone else's attention to it. I will include the usual legal disclaimer here (remember who I work for) that the opinions expressed on this website are not mine (I paraphrased a little) but I do like the idea of having some additional guidance for the next few years...

First Day of Middle School

TL started middle school today and the girl in the picture is much to grown up to be my little girl. Where does the time go???

She loves middle school, loves her teachers, loves the choices in the cafeteria and loves being back with all her friends. She came home and did her homework right away (not much) and is busy making covers for her notebooks and getting organized. Again, she isn't a little girl anymore.

Here's to a great school year with more "straight A's" celebrations!

Middle School Orientation

Today was TL’s first taste of Middle School! She woke up bright and early so she could straighten her hair (with a smile no less) and was eager to catch the bus…unfortunately, the bus broke down and she ended up having to have her grandmother drive her to school (I’m sure there’s an 80’s teenage angst movie with that exact scenario somewhere). But when she got home I got a very very very excited phone call. All of her teachers are amazing, she loves middle school, she had classes with friends (but not her BFF) and life is great. In the afternoon parents were invited to visit the school and I got the grand tour. She does have a great team of teachers and every last one of them noted that she was the only one asking questions during the introduction classes she had today. Did anyone doubt that???

I’m looking forward to another amazing school year but also am a little sad that she has started a new phase in her life—I’m not going to be cool much longer… Luckily, as she said, “you never were cool mom” so I guess I have nothing to lose and not much will change.

Endings

Yesterday I signed the papers to begin the final process of ending my marriage. I’ve written more than once over the past year about my growth and the gamut of emotions I experienced all the way from devastation, to shock and horror, to anger, to happiness to finally completeness. A year ago I would have never imagined that the emotion I would feel when I sent along those papers was relief. Ted has become nearly a stranger to me and there is no reason for me to even want to stay married to him now. Along my journey I was lucky to have my TL next to my side along with some great friends (most especially the amazing E who baby sat me many nights while I cried, raged and finally laughed) and I most recently added another person to this list that has brought even more joy and love into my life. I am blessed in many ways.

So sorry, this post isn’t about another great adventure but just another sign of what water, sunshine and love can accomplish. Since I started writing this my anger has faded away and I’ve started counting my blessings again—number 1 is TL who has her middle school orientation tomorrow! Stay tuned, I’m now the parent of a pre-teen!

Back From Bristol

We're home after another weekend of traveling!

We had a great time in Bristol starting off with a girls road trip down (the men road separately, one coming down early the other coming up on Saturday after an evening of planes, trains and automobiles). We met up with a friend who was staying at a campground, had dinner out and were lucky to stay the weekend with friends(but, due to my ever changing cell phone number we missed the chance to see another friend Friday afternoon).

Race day dawned with a thunderstorm (luckily, TL was so tired she slept through it) but cloudy skies led to sunshine and a good time was had by all. My SC friend rode his bike up for his first NASCAR race and was amazed at all the campers, people and tailgaters. We had some great seats, a good race and the three of us had fun. My driver did great (other people's didn't do so hot...) so I was very happy. Ted very kindly lent us the head sets so we were able to have in race commentary by TL for a majority of the race (they have a microphone so you can talk to each other during the race). I think in the end she could always get a job with PRN radio if she wanted.

We spent this morning seeing friends and holding babies followed by lunch in an old post office in Marion, Virginia with my SC friend's brother and sister in law (I'm starting to think I need a new name for my SC friend though--too much to type...). We're home now, unpacking all our stuff and getting ready for the week ahead.

TL has middle school orientation on Thursday so the week ahead will be focused on her (like it isn't all the time before now) and we will finish up all our shopping, planning and getting ready for waking up at 6:00. In between we have to finish unpacking from the weekend and catch up on all the stuff we haven't done for the past few weeks.

Have a great week!

New Blog to Follow

No, we’re not moving again so don’t go trying to find that favorites button… A friend of mine from grad school recently starting blogging and I enjoy following what she has to say. For her blogging is a way to discipline herself to get ready for that book she’s always wanted to write. Her posts are insightful discussions about current events and some are a little more politically motivated than what I post but… The joy in blogging is that you create stories, state opinions or make records of your life and the web allows you to share those with anyone who is interested. Some of you may not agree with her opinions (we all know my political leanings which is why I like her blog so much) but I firmly believe that open dialogues and hearing what both sides have to say never hurts anyone. And since I get to hear Fox News blaring from the basement every night (thanks Dad) her blog is welcome relief from their somewhat one sided opinions (oops sorry, news reporting).

If you’re interested: http://musthavemissedthepoint.blogspot.com

Of course, any other suggestions for blogs are always welcome!

Weekend Fun

So I started this post several times this weekend and never finished it... Either someone wanted the laptop, someone distracted me or finally, we needed to be somewhere. My apologies for posting this Monday night.

We had a very nice time in SC and all the kids had a good time (TL is very tired tonight but found some energy to clean out her closet so she can make room for new clothes). Our trip started out frazzled but ended up happy when we finally arrived and my friend met me at the door with a bottle of Killians (our beer of choice when we were at Stetson together). I interviewed someone for a position in my lab Friday morning and she arrived about 2 hours late (after changing the time in a late evening email the night before). Needless to say, she didn't earn any brownie points. Traffic was typical Friday afternoon traffic and when we got stuck in a huge back up in Charlotte I did just about start to cry. Luckily, I had TL with me who managed to cheer me up and keep me focused. She is the best travel companion out there by far!!! We spent the weekend watching softball and baseball games, shopping (just a little), hanging out and watching a Triple A ball game where my friend's daughter got to go out on the field with one of the players. The game was slow and we left during the 7th inning stretch (lucky choice, soon after the game was called due to rain). The picture I included in this post is my friend and I before we left for the game. A good time was had by all and we headed back early this morning so I could go into work this afternoon. I know, no rest for the wicked.

This week looks busy all ready. This coming weekend is our annual trip to Bristol for the NASCAR race!!!! Time to go racing again! It will be nice to see good friends and some good racing. Before then we TL is off to a friends house for a day at the pool, more back to school shopping and getting ready to go. I just need to catch up on all the stuff piled up on my desk (actually, it would be nice if I could find my desk...), tackle the thistles that have taken over my garden and clean up the basement from the slight flood my parents had to deal with over the weekend while I was off playing (ugh, I finally caved and called a plumber--the previous one didn't do a very good job and it'll be a huge job to fix all the pipes he patched together). But, I'm going racing this weekend!!!!

Have a great week...

Yippee She’s Finally Home

TL came home last night and we both admitted we were very happy she was home. She enjoyed her time in Iowa, enjoyed her time with family and enjoyed all the things she did but I guess it’s true that there’s no place like home. Unfortunately, I think she grew while she was gone…she looks so much more grown up!

We’ll post more from the road as the week progresses, just had to share the happy news!

It’s Monday Again

So, it’s Monday and tomorrow TL comes home!!!!!! I have really really really missed her and can hardly wait to see her again. She had a good weekend going to West Bend to see her great-grandma and Belmond for a bridal shower (combined with a trip to see where her dad grew up…). She is still a little homesick, but it’s usually right before bed which is our special mom-TL time. I’m happy she will be back (obviously) and we already have several things planned (all of them involve shopping of course….).

My weekend was busy even without TL around, sadly I had to get up at 3:30 in the morning Saturday to take my oldest nephew to the train station. I did learn one thing, getting out of the traffic circle in front of Union Station is challenging—after going around three times (can anyone say Family Vacation…?) I finally let a taxi pass me so I could follow him out. At 4:30 am I didn’t want to have to drive around in circles til more people showed up. I spent most of the afternoon working on my chair. I’m about done with the base and have made enough mistakes along the way that the first one will be ornamental or solely for small children to sit on! It’ll still look good on my deck. My friend from SC flew in Saturday night and we spent Sunday picking peaches, eating lunch and driving to Richmond where he is working this week (he was introduced to a real DC style traffic back up along the way). We met several friends for dinner and then I got up very very early this morning and drove back.

Our week ahead is already filling up with shopping, hair cut for me, a new cell phone for TL and a trip later this week to SC. I’m excited to be taking TL along with me (finally, she says) and my friend will also have his two younger children this weekend so it’ll be fun. I’m still not sure he is ready for the whirlwind that is TL but I guess he needs to know what he signed up for!

Have a great rest of the week.

Homesick

So, TL is in Iowa this week and has been away several times this summer. I've posted several times just how much I miss her and how empty my house seems when she's gone. I routinely get a "mom I miss you" call, especially at night which has always been our special time. Tonight I got the dreaded "mom, I want to come home" call. I don't think there is a parent out there that hasn't gotten one and there is a really helpless feeling that comes with that phone call. We want to immediately fix it by going and getting them but have to hold ourselves back which is never easy. Luckily, she is with someone who not only understands homesick kids, she's with someone that once TL realized that she wouldn't hurt grandma's feeling by saying she was homesick she got the best cure for homesickness there is--hugs. It also didn't hurt that her brother's father-in-law just happened to come over soon after with a whole bunch of clothes from her brother and sister-in-law. We all know that TL likes clothes! I just got off the phone with her and she is much better. She and grandma are working on a quilt (and from the hum of the sewing machine she's already way ahead of me and my sewing ability). She was back to her usual laughing self and having a great time with grandma (I wish I could be there to see it).

I think all of us hate it when our loved ones are away from us but as TL grows up I'll see less and less of her (not that I'm happy about that one bit!) and I'm glad to see that she is learning ways to handle and defeat being homesick! Of course, I'm counting the days til she gets home, she's already trying to figure out when she can go away again...I think she's cured.

Changes

Welcome to the new and improved blog. This will be a continuation of all our adventures along with maybe a few more opinions and thoughts along the way. The names will change slightly though and I am now just PT and my lovely daughter will now be TL--easier to type!

So, to continue in the same vein as the previous blog here's the usual recap of our past week.

TL spent last weekend with her father at the lake and had a good time--she came back tired on Monday morning. We started our back to school shopping that afternoon and luckily she has discovered Ross since she now is becoming a clothes fanatic. She recently had a drastic hair cut and I'll post a picture once I get a better one--the one I have she's crying in. She was home for one day and then I put her on a plane to Iowa to visit more family. It seems like I've barely even seen her this summer which just stinks! She is of course having a ball and enjoying being spoiled rotten by her grandmother...

I spent last weekend in SC with my friend. We spent Saturday morning on the softball field with his kids and the loaded up and rode the bike to NC for a late lunch. I'm starting to enjoy the bike but we are already starting to talk about buying either a bigger bike or a bigger seat! Our relationship is easy and we really enjoy each other's company. We are beginning the process of introducing our kids and doing things with all of us--although we also realize that neither one of us have a vehicle big enough for all 6 of us so we'll be doing alot of girl's car/boy's car for the foreseeable future.

My weekend ahead will be somewhat quiet. My summer students are finishing up this week which means I can focus on lab work again. My papers still aren't done but much closer to being there. My friend from SC is flying up on Saturday night since he will be working in Richmond for part of next week and it will be nice to see him again. TL is home on Tuesday (yippee)and has already mapped out the rest of the back to school shopping spree!

Hope everyone has a good rest of the week and welcome to our new page!