The Bright Side

Apparently the title company our seller's realtor chose doesn't find it necessary to actually complete a home closing on the day that the signing begins ... so we wait. Our realtor was livid after the meeting. Yesterday was supposed to be the very latest that we got into the house. He as well as another realtor in his office and our mortgage loan officer are going to do everything in their power today to get some keys in our hands. In the meantime, the kids and I are hanging at the hotel, and Ryan decided to go to work. But ...

1. At least it's not basic training!!!
2. We can enjoy cable TV for a few more days
3. Being on base is convenient when we have only one car
4. Stephen loves sleeping on the pull-out bed
5. If we move on Saturday we can do it in the morning, making the heat more tolerable
6. A few more days of someone else making our bed and giving us clean towels
7. We still live near dozens of airplanes and busses
8. Abby wouldn't care if we lived in a tent or a castle ... "mama mama" is all she needs ...
9. Donuts for breakfast since we've eaten all the breakfast food we have in the last couple of days
10. At least nothing fell through, like the loan or the roof on the house :)

Amusing Ourselves

What do you do with time in a new city before you've met many people? Well, you could go sit on an elephant.

Or you could sit on a couch and make funny faces.

Or you could sit on your parents' bed and play with crayons.

10 Glimpses Into Our Lives

Our suite here at Temporary Lodging. The bed is Stephen's hide-a-bed which was out for his afternoon rest time. You can see Abby's bed in the corner behind the chairs. The bathroom and bedroom are to the right off the kitchen.

1. Leaving to run an errand at 4:58 p.m. while living on base proves to be a bad idea. All traffic comes to a halt while Revelry and The Star-Spangled Banner play over the loudspeaker at 5. On a positive note, Stephen loves hearing it and we have been going out on the balcony every day as soon as he hears it!
2. When I work out, it's called "exercise." When Ryan does, it's called "PT." There are several fitness facilities on base. On Saturday morning, I went to one while Ryan stayed at our room with the kids. What a shock it was to walk out of the weight room and see the gym lined with M-16s! There were about 50 Marines in there doing some sort of group activity.
3. When we first got here, everything seemed so BROWN. But I think I've gotten used to it. The grass ... the buildings ... even the couch and bedspread are brown ... the brightest colors are the beautiful peppers! There's a water restriction in San Antonio and I found out yesterday that we get to water our lawn in our new house on Wednesdays.
4. Thank goodness for a DVD player. Stephen watches Sound of Music almost every day, and knows some of the lines and songs by heart. Never mind that he thinks the captain sings "Eggo Bite." At least it amuses him.
5. On Saturday, both kids took late naps, so we knew bedtime wouldn't be at 8 like normal. I surfed the local online calendars, and we found a free movie in a park near downtown. It was fun to go there, lay a blanket on the lawn, an watch the first half hour of Night at the Museum with the kids. There was also popcorn and a "mist tent" that the kids LOVED.
6. Stephen tells me everyday, "Abby likes trucks. And I like cars. And buses. And little buses. Especially that bus ..." (pointing to the blood donor bus across the street from our room) At the blood donor building, there are signs outside for donors to line up according to blood type. I love it ... some things are really efficient around here. Other things, not so much.
7. I'm slowing learning Spanish. Last night while looking through Sunday's coupons, I learned that it's good to Ahorre when buying groceries!
8. You'd think it would be easy to find some of the grocery options that I had in little Urbana, IL. But it's not. I have been searching aisles for a bulk spice display like they have at the coop and at Strawberry Fields (both within walking distance from our house in Urbana). Finally, I found Sun Harvest today, but it's at least 20 minutes driving from our house. It'll be a special occasion store, I suppose.
9. This is a once-in-a-lifetime chance to live near so many airplanes. Every time we drive by the graduation grounds (across the street from our living quarters), Stephen shouts out "look at that airplane" for each one we pass. And I know he's looking at each one of them because sometimes it varies: "ooh, look at that little airplane!"
10. Abby has become quite a helper around the house. Her new favorite thing to do is to throw things in the garbage. Diapers (no way we're doing cloth right now!), wrappers ... anything I ask her to take there ... she'll march right over, open the can, put her loot in there, close it, then walk back across the room grinning from ear to ear and clapping to congratulate herself. Right now I'm going to march both of my little helpers down the balcony to the laundry room to put clothes in the dryer ...
    

The Wisdom of a Three-Year-Old

Stephen has been making some rather mature-sounding comments recently. I don't think it reflects his actual maturity; I think he is simply imitating us.

Before we left Urbana, we had some friends over to say goodbye. The house got rather loud and busy at one point, and Susan (my mother-in-law) was going upstairs to wash some windows for us. Stephen said he wanted to go with her, and he even wanted a rag so that HE could help with the cleaning. When they got up there, he said to her, "it sure is noisy down there." As if he doesn't ever run around screeching himself ...

Then today we were coming back to our suite at the Temporary Lodging here at Lackland. I have been keeping it pretty well picked up out of necessity (gotta wash your plates when you only have 4 and the toys need to be put away every night so the hide-a-bed can be set up in the living room), but there is some clutter because we have nowhere else to put everything! Just before getting to our room, he noticed that the cleaning lady was fixing up the vacated room next door. So he invited himself in and told her, "It's clean in here. I want to stay here." And he plopped down on a chair and sipped from his ubiquitous blue cup.

Last night, he got upset with me when I gave Ryan a hug. He's always been somewhat possessive of me (Stephen, that is), but I think with the transitions and the busy summer his attachment has increased. So we tried to explain to him that it was good for mommy and daddy to hug. He still didn't want me to, though. I said, "Can I hug Abby?" "No," was his reply. "Can I hug you?" Still, "no."

"Then who can mommy hug?" I said.

"The wall," said Stephen. "Mommy hug the wall." Where does he get this stuff?

Texas, Here We Are

Much to share since I last posted ...

First and foremost, we now live in Texas!

Ryan finished Air Force Basic Military Training on July 24. We put an offer on a house on July 27, then flew back to Illinois to pack up our house for the big move. We packed the moving truck on the 30th (Ryan's 29th birthday) and then drove. Ryan and my dad in the Penske. My mom and I were in the minivan with the kids. We filled 2 storage units (1 regular and 1 climate-controlled for instruments) and are now living in temporary housing at Lackland Air Force Base. It's not anything to get too excited about, but we do have an equipped kitchen, DVD players, maid service, and FREE laundry. The offer on our house was accepted and assuming the inspection doesn't bring up major problems, we'll close by August 26 and be in before September.

We didn't stop in the same places during the drive so this photo is just of me and the kids. At this particular stop, Stephen found some sprinklers to run in. And rather than get upset with him for having a great time doing so, I just let him and then changed his clothes -- put him right back in his dirty but DRY clothes from the day before.

Ryan has some things to do this morning and has the car, so the kids and I were on our own. We went out in the morning, but it's already 84 and sunny. My intention was for Stephen to walk and Abby to be in the stroller. But Stephen got tired. Good thing I had the baby carrier, too. So Abby went on my back and Stephen went in the stroller. We got to the convenience store, but NOTHING on my list was there. I should have put wine, beer, and liquor on my list. There was plenty of that. But no bread, tortilla shells, grape juice, or a carrot peeler. So we walked back, and before we got to our housing, a car stopped and asked if they could give us a ride. I didn't think I looked that exhausted, but apparently I did ... or maybe folks driving through think that only trainees should have large packs on their backs. We were fine, but I might go to the storage unit and swap the single stroller for the double. It's bulkier, but I don't think Stephen's going to be making it on very long walks in this heat. Even with bigger blue drink :).