What a sight

The kids and I were sitting here talking, doing our own thing when I looked out the window and squealed - there was a hot air balloon outside! Right outside. It was probably 150 yards away and the basket was the exact height of our balcony. It was close enough that we could hear them talking! It was incredible. Devan got a video camera for his birthday so he filmed it. I'll get him to download the video later tonight so I can post it for you tomorrow.

The results are in. I spoke too soon. Practice went much better for Jordan today, they were given more breaks and finished up practice inside the air conditioned weight room. As she was walking to the car, she had this perma-grin. She got in the car and said she made it. I gave her a quizzical look and asked made what? The team. She made the team. The coach told her today. By Thursday they will find out who's on varsity and who's on jv. The coach did tell Jordan that some people may continue to improve and some won't so the roster can be adjusted, it's not set in stone. She was very happy, sore, but happy. They have a scrimmage game next week. Exciting.

Jordan told me something interesting regarding her first day at practice. She said she experienced something new. She was standing a little bit away from the big group of girls who already knew each other when one of the girls walked over, invited her to the group, then they all started talking. Nothing weird like making her the center of attention or the talking coming to a complete halt. So far in her experiences, if she has been invited over to the group, all talking stops, but usually she's on her own. She said the girls are really nice and very friendly. Must be a southern thing... :)

Devan is feeling a little better, his school is near the skate park so he is already making plans to take his board to school and hang at the skate park for awhile after school. He made a couple friends at the skate park and I've been trying to wear him out at the pool.

Soccer

Soccer tryouts were awful. Jordan did really well for the first 2 and 1/2 hours then she started to suffer from heat exhaustion. It was up to 84 by the time I picked her up and she had been in the direct sun for 4 hours. We aren't used to this kind of heat and humidity so she had to sit for a few minutes to cool off then went half effort the rest of practice. I know that daily doubles usually have a 2 or 2.5 hour practice, then you have at least a one hour break, then you practice for another 2 or 2.5 hours. No, her coach had those girls out there for 4 hours straight with nothing more than a small handful of 3-5 minute breaks. The good thing is that Jordan wasn't the only one completely exhausted by the end, all the girls were. After the 4 hours of nearly constant running there was more walking than jogging for the two cool down laps at the end. I am sending a cool rag with her tomorrow to put on her neck during the short breaks. She did drink plenty of water, she always does, so that's good. We just need to be really careful and try to figure out ways for her to cool off quickly and easily until she adjusts to the heat.

She doesn't know what team she will be on, but she will be on a team, she didn't get cut or anything. The coach is very nice. Jordan explained about the heat to the assistant coach and she seemed very nice about it also.



After practice we met with the freshman counselor and got her enrolled. She is taking honors biology, english, and geometry. She chose to take French as her language. She is now a Centennial cougar.

I will register Devan after we get his physical. They have to have one before they can start school here. There is a Vanderbilt walk-in clinic near here that we will go to. Plus, they probably need a couple updates on their immunizations, every state has different requirements.

Oh, and the really fun part...school starts early here. Early as in early in the morning. Last year Jordan started school at 8:45 and Devan started at 9:15. They both start school at..wait for it..wait for it..7:30! They have to catch the bus around 7 am! They get done at 2:30 in the afternoon. I told them it works out great for now because they get home when it's still hot so they can come home, change their clothes and hit the pool before they start their homework. Doesn't seem so bad to me. I'll have to get them flashlights for winter time when they are standing in the dark waiting for the bus in the mornings. :) They don't like it one bit! Not only do they get a shorter summer than if we were in Oregon, they also start school at the crack of dawn. Revenge is sweet when it comes inadvertently!

Congratulations to my cousin Kevin and his wife Kim, they are now the proud parents of 12 year old Anthony!

Bring on the hair dye!

I'm now the parent of two TEENAGERS! Oh, just typing that made a new gray hair pop out... Devan is 13 today. We went to breakfast, got his one and only friend here in Tenn (my mom's cousins son Casey), swam for a couple hours, went bowling, then hit the arcade. Devan had a good birthday even if he wasn't around tons of friends and family.

It's very hard to make friends in a new time zone when everybody drives everywhere. I'm anxious for school to start so I can meet other parents. I've found a couple civic committees that look interesting so will join one. I've met a couple local people online but haven't connected face to face yet. I'm working on it though.

Jordan has soccer tryouts Monday morning from 8 am to noon. I think she's a little nervous. She knows three girls by name, the first one she met was Mary Lou. Talk about a southern name! We'll let you know how she does.

Enjoy the rest of your weekend.
-Kristi

Cool bugs

So besides fireflies and these ginormous june bugs and as we discovered the cat playing with something - Walking Sticks! The patio door was open so it must have come through there. It was cool looking but a little freaky also. Devan caught it in a jar and put it outside.

For part of Devan's birthday celebration we went to see The Simpsons Movie. It was pretty funny. There are some great political popshots in it. Tomorrow we are going bowling and if the thundershowers and electric storm hold off, we'll swim.

I made a huge mess of my house today trying to locate the box that has my important papers in it. I had a big pile that I hadn't filed in the filing cabinets yet and now can't locate that box. I need two items from that pile to be able to register the kids on Monday.

Gotta clean.
Kristi

A losing battle

Spent the whole of last night fighting insomnia. Finally started to fall asleep around 5:45 am (yeah, this morning), woke up at 7:15 cuz cats or something, not quite sure, then dozed until 8:45 when I heard Jordan's brute strength defeat the weak but many layers strong paint that holds her door shut nice and tight.

Did laundry and made a couple trips to the storage unit then went to my Great Aunt's house to do assembly work for her daughter. I got to attach gift cards to the cardboard display. Yippee! They did pay me for it AND the kids and I got dinner out of it, so not a completely wasted day.

Lack of sleep is finally starting to affect me so I'm going to go see if I can find Mr. Sandman (gotta kick his arse first, he totally stood me up last night!). ;)

Nite.
Kristi

The last photos of my journey. Mostly "WELCOME TO..." signs. Good thing you can read them! :)

Almost there...Welcome to Kentucky!!!! OOOOHHHHH, so exciting (yet so far away - the sign that is)

WELCOME TO TENNESSEE!!!!!!!

Welcome home.

Here's the view from our back patio/balcony. This is Franklin, TN.

Here's what Devan thinks of it here. :). Maybe he'll change his mind with time?

That's my photo journey. So far it's been a fun journey and I'm looking forward to seeing what happens next. Love you all.

Kristi

Missouri River (and guardrail)










Pretty Rainbow










Welcome to...somewhere! :)






We are having random thunder showers. They hit wherever and whenever, really hard for between 15 minutes and an hour, then it's done and the sun is out again and within an hour you wouldn't even know it had been raining.

Jordan said to tell you all "HI." She said it's boring and she can't wait until school starts. She went for a run this afternoon and is not sitting here, waiting (rather impatiently) for me to get off her computer so she is eating her McFlurry like a popsicle. Did I spell that right? Is it popcicle or popsicle? Hhmmm, will try spell check in a minute. (FYI - just spell checked it, it's popsicle.)

I've bored you enough, we are off to see John Travolta in drag, aka. Hairspray.

Oh, both Jordan and I finished Harry Potter, loved the book, hated the epilogue! Ugh, so disappointed in the last part, more like it was written for the audience rather than staying true to the storyline.

Welcome to Nebraska

Wyoming. Great view. Had to stop in Cheyenne and give props to deanna. Took the picture just off the I-80 freeway. For reference it was the next to last Cheyenne exit, across the street from a Burger King. I'm behind a gas station and some sort of drive through.

We spent the majority of the weekend reading. We did spend some quality time at the pool.

We are getting ready to head to the skate park. Have a great day.

-K

A few pics of my road trip

Only a few at a time to keep you coming back. :) I take great photos of myself. Ha!

Welcome to Idaho

I DA HO!

Twin Falls Canyon, UT

More tomorrow. Back to my reading. Happy Saturday.

-K

Leave us alone, we're reading

More than normal I mean.

Something other than Harry Potter you say...fine. When I sold my house I dug up my blueberry bushes and put them in pots. They aren't doing great, but they are doing fine. They sat outside on my mom's back patio for the winter and spring nearly neglected. Then I packed them up into a hot dark truck for a week and shipped them here. They now live on my balcony (patio) They are doing well, they get sunshine, I water them, they get company when we sit on the balcony to read. They are doing well being in pots and the move and all things considered. I even have berries! I went to check on the berries knowing a couple would be ripe. GONE!!! All of them, even the green ones, my blueberries were picked clean! Yeah, all those cute little birds that live around here - yeah, not so cute anymore! Guess I'll be picking up some cheesecloth today.

Hear that...that low, barely audible noise, it sounds almost like a chant? That the book calling to me, gotta go! ;)

-K

Getting Harry Potter!!!

It's fun, we stood in line to get our bracelet and had fun looking at all the people dressed up. We saw a Professor McConegall (picture), a Dumbledore, lots of kids dressed up in school attire with capes, and the best one was a Professor Trewlawney. For those who haven't read the books, she is this wild eyed teacher with somewhat crazy hair and stuff. This lady had a headband wrapped around her crazy hair and then these coke bottle glasses that made her eyes look big and huge almost like googly eyes. Didn't get a picture of her because we first saw her walking by, when I found her again, she had taken the glasses off. I had a pair of plastic black glasses like Harry Potter wears but lost them in the move. The kids are glad because they know I would have been wearing them tonight. I tell them I do what I can to embarrass them. :)
-K

tennessee is sooooooooooooooooooooooo boring!!! i told my mom i would update this so she would make me a pb and j so yeah. we went to stand in line for out harry potter stuff today and im very glad my mom lost her harry glasses. its been reaaly hot here lately so i have been swimming alot. i went to the local skatepark yesterday and it stunk. there was nothing to do there it was all stair sets and rails. there was this huge bowl though. it was a swimming pool well the shape of a pool but there has never been any water in it. its like 11 feet deep or something but yeah i tried so skate it but it didnt really work. dont worry i always wear my helmet - i sort of love that thing. my mom is being a dork and playing with my cat. well my sandwhich is ready buh bye.
-Devan

Good day for Devan

Yay for Aunt Keely! She saved the day and just made this town much more appealing to Devan. She found a skate park right here in Franklin! It's not great. It doesn't have a good flow to it but it is a skate park. Even the worst skate park is better than no skate park. I think it is across the street from the school he will be attending.

It is one year today that the kids lost their brother.

It was 95 degrees today. We spent a couple hours in the pool. It felt great.

Devan and I did explore Franklin a little more as we were trying to find the skate park. I basically know two roads here so I use those roads as my guideposts. So far, they are both major roads so they pretty much lead me to where I've wanted to go.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows comes out tomorrow. Jordan and I are excited. If the book had taken any longer to be released, we would not be interested. I think J.K. Rowling took slightly too long to release the series, she nearly lost a generation of readers. Jordan is almost too old to want to continue reading them. Luckily it's the last one so she does want to finish the series out.

I just read Mrs. Mike by Benedict and Nancy Freedman. It was an interesting story based on life in the Canadian wilderness. Kind of a love story, but not a sappy gooey love story, more like what kind of love grows by living in those conditions. The other book I read was Expecting Adam by Martha Beck. It is the story of a family coming to terms with the fact that they are going to have a baby with Downs Syndrome. Both very good books. Out of my usual fictional genre. Both wrought with emotion in different ways. I would highly recommend both. Reading Murder on the Orient Express now.

BTW (by they way) you can leave comments on these, there is a place to do that if you feel moved to do so. :)

-K

Feelin' Hot Hot Hot

It's hot and getting hotter. We basically did nothing today but hung out in the pool. Oh, I'm ssssoooooo glad we decided on an apartment complex with a pool!

Tomorrow we plan on, ready for this...hanging out at the pool.

That is my life of leisure right now. Lovin it!!!!!!

Have a great day, glad you Northwest tree huggin hippie types finally got a break in the weather. :)

Luv Kristi

On Back Order

So I finally decide on a really cool bookshelf at JCPenney. I had money on a JCP gift card left over from Christmas (thanks Dad and Elise). I debated on two different bookshelves but in the end decided on this one http://www4.jcpenney.com/jcp/ProductsHOM.aspx?DeptID=25438&CatID=21592&CatTyp=DEP&ItemTyp=G&GrpTyp=PRD&ItemID=129d1a6&ProdSeq=1&ProdCount=1&Dep=Home+Accents&RefPage=SearchDepartment&ShowMenu=T&ShopBy=0&SearchString=rex+bookshelf&S4DeptID=25438&CmCatId=SearchResultsSearchDepartment&Search1Prod=True
It accepted my payment then in the little status column it says it's on back order. Anticipated delivery date is 8/18!!!!!!! It took me three days to decide on this bookshelf and it's on back order?! Nice that they tell you, oh, I don't know, BEFORE you finalize your order!

We signed up to participate in the Harry Potter Midnight Madness book release party at Barnes and Noble. The 7th and final book is coming out Saturday so Friday at midnight they begin selling. It's very fun but mostly we are anxious to get the book right away. They do fun stuff at the party mostly crafts and stuff pertaining to the books, but the kids (meaning me) are getting a little old for that.

Things are going well. I'm working on the apartment, trying to find grocery stores that carry stuff we like. Wild Oats carries Tillamook cheese. :) They aren't very big on sourdough or nice thick buttermilk bread here so we're trying different brands. The section for "Wonder Bread" is huge! ick Also having a hard time finding Boysenberry jam or preserves. Lots of grape, some raspberry and very limited blackberry, but in three stores...no boysenberry.

The schools here require a lot of info: proof of residency, copies of socials, certified copies of birth certs, if divorced-proof of custody, etc. I am working on getting all that info together so I can get the kids registered. A couple things I need to get from the schools in Oregon but they close the office for the month of July so I have to wait. That will be the last of the info I need so I'll make them fax it to the schools here.

The cats are driving me insane. I haven't let them outside yet and they are so bored. Einstein kept me up most of the night last night just mewing and whatnot. Little booger, I think I'm going to let them out for a while tonight and see how it goes.

Well, since I don't have a bookshelf I'm going tomorrow to get a small storage unit to get some of this crap out of my living room. With all the stuff I got rid of, I really wish I had gotten rid of more. I have next to nothing when it comes to the big stuff but the little stuff and books, you know, stuff that would go on a bookshelf, I have boxes and boxes.

Love you all.
Kristi

Settling in

So we did some boring old chores and then hung at the pool for a couple hours late this afternoon.

Devan bought himself Guitar Hero II for his playstation. It's pretty fun, at least I hope it is, he's logging a lot of hours on it. Jordan is playing on it as well. It comes with this funky little plastic guitar with colored keys on the fret board. You choose a song then the colors come down this conveyor belt and when the colors reach a certain point, you have to play that color key.

I must say, it was nice not working, but it's getting a little boring now. I may not make it until the kids go back to school. Once I get everything settled, I may find something part time to tide me over. My kids are boring!!! :)

Okay, nothing exciting to report so I'll go now. I'll bore you again tomorrow. :)

Kristi

Brief update

Goodbye Weekend. Although each day is sort of a weekend for me since I'm not working. ;) I'm still trying to get the apartment in order. We need furniture to be able to put things away, but I don't want to bring more stuff into the house until we get more things put away but I can't put the stuff away without having more furniture...

We went to see a couple movies this weekend. Harry Potter of course and then we also saw Ratatouille. It's the little rat that is a chef. It was pretty cute. Some good laugh out loud funny parts. The idea that a rat is making your food is disturbing to say the least.

Devan is getting very bored not being able to find a good skate hangout. I think the kids are actually looking forward to starting school. (Sinister laugh like in old horror movies) Ha, Ha, Ha, it's all part of my master plan! I am glad we have the pool, Devan likes to swim so we go down often to swim. I of course work on my sundamage I mean my suntan. :)

Hope you all had a great weekend.
Kristi

Happy Friday the 13th

Today was opening day for Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. We had to keep tradition and see the HP movie on opening day. The movie was a typical HP movie but the last line was way too cheesey!

I've got a local myspace friend. Haven't met her yet, but we email every couple days. I sent out emails to a few other people but the only other response I got didn't seem very warm and friendly. I'll keep trying. It's hard to email someone just completely random but I'll think of something witty and fun to see if they respond back. Just not right now, can't think of anything creative, house is too messy. :)

I found a store that carries Tillamook brand cheese. Jordan is very happy with me. Now I've got to find a store that carries Snoqualmie Falls brand pancake mix and I will officially be "the best mom ever!"

Devan is still trying to find some other skater dudes in the 'hood. We haven't found the hangout yet. People here don't walk or ride their bikes much. Maybe it's just too hot? Because so many people drive, we haven't seen any kids on skateboards to possibly follow them to their skate spot. That would be a little stalker-ish anyway, but Dev is getting desperate for some skate dude interaction.

Hope the heat wave in Oregon lets up. Everywhere here has air conditioning so even though it is 90 degrees out we stay cool no matter where we go.

Take care. Talk to you later. Love to all.
Kristi

Okay, I'll squeeze in an update

Okay, Okay, I was scolded for not updating this for two days so here you go...

Our stuff arrived just fine. Nothing came tumbling down when we moved the temporary wall. (insert heavy sigh of relief) There are quite a few scratches on our chairs and our buffet, but for the most part everything seems to be fine. Still haven't heard any rattles or anything but we haven't opened all the boxes yet.

I did get sunburned unloading the u-haul. It was raining in the morning so we waited until it dried so we were tracking mud into the apartment. The sun decided to come out while we unloaded. The u-haul place is two blocks away so after unloading it, gassing it up again, and walking back up the super hill to our apartment, Devan was hot and wanted to swim. Needless to say, we drove down to the pool (there was no physical way I was going to make it up the hill again). Devan swam, I pretended to watch but basically fell asleep. I really didn't burn bad, just a bit pink, no pain and it's mostly gone today.

The cats are adjusting much better now that we have our stuff. They are more playful and have quit hiding behind the toilets. Einstein would hide under Jordan's covers, but Pika would take refuge behind the toilets. It didn't bother her if you had to go, she's stay right there, didn't mind the flushing either. It did bother Devan though, it was his bathroom where she would bunker down. I guess he doens't like an audience whether it be feline or female or both!

We had dinner with my mom's cousin Karen and her family tonight. It was nice to take a break from unpacking. I'm so bad at trying to figure out where everything should go. I like packing it up a whole lot better than unpacking.

Oh, I've seen lots of places hiring: Backyard Burger, Shoney's, Jack-in-the-Box, Wal-Mart, Target, Publix (grocery store). My prospects are limitless... :)

It's late and I'm tired and still have to clean up the kitchen. I have a cookbook that a container of frosting exploded all over. Wouldn't you know it, it's my favorite Christmas cookie recipe book!

Farewell for now.
Kristi

OUR STUFF IS HERE!!!! Yay! It's here a day early. Actually it was here yesterday but it was too late to try to make arrangements to get there to unload the trailer. We are excited to get a better variety of clothing as well as get our pots and pans. We have been microwaving or eating sandwiches and it's getting old. Jordan did attempt to make a pizza in the oven and that was fine and dandy until it came time to get it out of the oven...uh, now what? We don't have any pancake turners or anything to get it out of the oven. We improvised - I flattened the cardboard box it came in and slid it underneath the pizza. We don't have any knives or a pizza cutter so Jordan ate it like it was one big cookie. :)

Well, the temperature has cooled because it's RAINING! Of course, we have to unload our stuff today so why wouldn't it rain, I mean, we load the trailer in 90+ degree weather, why wouldn't we unload in the rain?!

I am a little afraid to move the temporary walls holding our stuff in. I think we'll have to move the doors and duck because even though I tied our stuff in...I'm still afraid. There were a few things that weren't completely secured by the twine.

The kids are getting a little sick of me. Jordan is anxious to start soccer practice so she can meet people. We had her sports physical done yesterday and we are waiting to find out time and place for conditioning practices. Devan is scoping out good places to skateboard and I am sending random emails to people on myspace.

Don't forget Harry Potter #5 opens Friday!

We have a chair! Jordan now has two bookshelves, a dresser, and a footstool for her room. Devan is furniture less. That boy has only a suitcase worth of stuff here, but his room is a disaster area already!

We have to get Jordan a physical today so she can start conditioning practices. She is so not looking forward to running let alone in this heat! She hasn't been running much and she knows conditioning is going to kick her butt!

I saw the little rabbit on the grounds again yesterday evening. There is an empty car lot across the street that Devan goes to skateboard. We can see it from our balcony, so I was looking over there at him and the movement caught my eye. There are plenty of cicadas and birds so it's totally noisy at night. We are close enough to the busy roads that when we open the door to the balcony, we hear the road noise as well. City/Country sounds all together. Oh, plus we have GIGANTIC bees living in the tree just outside our balcony. I swear they are the size of small birds!

Not sure of our address yet, I'll confirm this morning when I go to the apartment office. Have a great day.

Good Morning,

We spent the night on the floor of our apartment here in Franklin. It's got an amazing view! Yesterday was a race against time, but we seemed to get to all the places just barely in time. For example to get into town to get the apartment I had to be here by 5 and I ran into the office at 4:59! The office isn't open on the weekends so I would have been staying in the hotel for the weekend. After signing the papers, I raced over to the airport (in the middle of a huge downpour) to get the kids just as they landed. It rained basically the rest of the night which seemed to settle everything.

Our apartment sits up on a hill overlooking Franklin. We have French doors going onto our patio. We are on the second floor. I went out on the deck early this morning and saw some movement in the grass below, figuring it was just another bird, I let my gaze wander toward it and realized it was a little brown rabbit hopping across the lawn.

The kids had a good flight, they didn't like being "treated like a five year old" since they had to be escorted from gate to gate by a flight attendant. Neither of them got sick which they both attribute to the "yay, dramamine." They pretty much slept the whole time.

Well, we are off to Big Lots to buy lots! :) We need a few things before our stuff arrives next Wed. I'm still stoked that we got all our stuff in a 6'x9'x8' space!

Kristi

Hi Everyone!

I'm in Troy Illinois right now getting ready to bunk down for the night. I have another 300 miles to go tomorrow. I have to be at the airport by 5:45 pm to get the kids. Plenty of time...

The drive has been fine so far. The cats are doing fine. They have definitely lost weight so when I sedated them today, it knocked them out for nearly 10 hours. It's only supposed to last 6 to possibly 8 hours!

Cool things I've seen: a crane in flight (wow it's huge), a fox, lots of antelope, and a mountain goat on the side of the mountain. I also got to see the arch in St. Louis do to the crazy route mapquest is taking me. :)

Gotta get some rest so I can get into town before my kids tomorrow. Nite y'all. (just practicing)

-Kristi