The Big Move Across Country (TBMAC): The Load Up

Did you know I lived in a TOWN called California in Maryland?  Weird.  Well, now I live in the STATE of California. Navy life is awesome.

G & M enjoying the excitement.

Where do we begin?  Well, at the very beginning... it's a very good place to start. (Thank you, Maria from Sound of Music.)

Packers arrive on Wednesday. A guy and two ladies. Very nice, hardworking, and quiet.  All is well.  They work for about 5 hours and leave.  Day One - complete! Success.

Packers return on Thursday. Same guy and two ladies. They finish all the packing, but leave a whole bunch of stuff out... like rugs and pillows, etc. Day Two - 1/2 way completed. 1/2 way success.

M supervising the Move...
note: moving truck trying to back down our street.

Truck arrives on Friday. "How do I get my truck down your street?" -Uh, drive it????? Hmmm.... takes a few tries, but he manages to back it down the street to our house.  (In the driver's defense, our street is more of an alley than a street and people park their cars on the two streets that intersect with ours, so it was a bit of a tight fit.)
Loading begins. The workers work hard, but notice there are some miss-tagged boxes. [For any non-frequent movers out there, the packers packed up boxes and then stuck stickers with numbers on them.... then we get a form with corresponding numbers and they write what item/box/furniture goes with that number.  When we unload, we mark off each number when it is brought into our new house... essentially it is our inventory.]  So driver is tagging some stuff, and trying to organize the items already tagged by the packers.  I'm a little worried... I've never experienced confusion at this stage of the moving game before.  Sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach.

Loading continues.  The truck our driver brought was already 2/3 full of other people's stuff when he showed up at our house.  P and I both thought... wow, all of our stuff is going to fit in that little space?!  Hmmmm.  Well at least the truck will be ready to head out to CA right away.  Should have known better...
...around noon, the driver comes over to me, nonchalantly, and mentions "yeah... so... you know, there isn't enough room in this truck... so I'm going to call dispatch.... they'll send another truck." I think my eyes bugged out a little and my eyebrows raised - I'd like to think I raised one eyebrow in a very dramatic way, but I don't think I can even do that - so he quickly added, "I'll stay here the whole time and make sure they show up."  Hmmmmmm..... sinking feeling increasing depth.

 

Hallelujah - My mom shows up from the airport to help occupy the kids while all of their belongings disappear out of the house by a handful of strangers and go onto a big huge truck.

I run errands (returning cable boxes, etc.), come back, and the second truck has arrived... and a whole bunch of our furniture is sitting in our neighbor's driveway. I wonder how we are supposed to know which stuff/furniture/boxes is
on which truck.  Is there any way they are keeping track of this? Nope. Sinking feeling reaches even deeper depths.

Oh, and did I mention the second truck didn't happen to bring those big packing quilts that they wrap your furniture in to make sure it doesn't get dinged and banged up??? Nice. "Well, we don't have time to go get some," they told my husband, "but if you want we can come back on Monday to finish, [mind you it is Friday evening and our furniture is sitting outside at this moment] oh wait, Monday is a holiday... we could come back on Tuesday and finish." Yeah, that won't work.  P is leaving TOMORROW to drive our van across the country and I fly out with the kids on Tuesday.  Go ahead; pack up our stuff uncovered.  Feeling.... SUNK.


The driver of truck #1 assures us that he "thinks" he's heading straight out to California... he should be there in about a week.... but of course, remember, the contract with the Navy says they have until the 24th.  SURELY it won't take 17 days to get there, right? Riiiiiiight.

The driver of truck #2 assures us he will unload all of our stuff as soon as he gets to the wharehouse, cover all the furniture and re-pack it. Hmmmmm. Hope so.

And there goes most of our earthly possessions.... (today is October 19th and we haven't seen them since.)

Reunion-Farewell-ER-PICU-Houshunting-Baby Shower

It has been a loooo-oooong while since the last time I wrote.  There's a lot to catch you up on... so be prepared for a looooo-oooooong post...

Labor Day Weekend
* Went to the hubby's USNA Class Reunion.
* Had a great time visiting with friends I hadn't seen in a looooong time.
* Missed one particular friend IMMENSELY when I ran into her husband and not her. Too bad she was off traveling in Europe.
* Enjoyed a little alone time with the hubby.  So wonderful.

Weekend Trip to VA
* Sadly went down to Virginia to say "So long, Farewell, Alfeeterzane (phonetically spelled, of course), Good Bye" or in the language of the Navy "See you next time we're stationed together"  to many good good good good great friends.
* It was sad and difficult to say the least.
* The trip began a good three days of me spontaneously crying and begrudging the Navy.

Birthday Celebration for G
* Planned to take G and her good buddy (and buddy's mom, who is my good buddy) up to Annapolis to do a little pottery painting and lunching in honor of G's 5th birthday.
* Excited to do a little something special for her for her birthday AND a good way for her to make one last good memory with her buddy.

Birthday Celebration Cancelled for Trip to the ER which led to trip to PICU
* The evening before we were planning on the Big 5 Celebration, S got a runny nose and started to sound congested.  We've seen this before and it requires a trip to the ER.
* Hoped and hoped he wouldn't get worse through the night, but at 330am and 530am I had to give him a nebulizer treatment at home.
* At 7am, he was up again sounding much worse.
* My Buddy, who was planning on being with us that day, was kind and flexible and understanding and everything "friend" means, and came over to take G & M while I took S to the local ER.
* About two hours at the ER and we had S hooked up to an IV; he had received two intense breathing treatments and was not improving at a rate that pleased the local docs. The ER doc told me, "if he doesn't get better, we're going to have to transfer him to a hospital up in DC with a pediatric ICU."  My thoughts were "oh, yikes. okay. but surely he'll get better."
* Overheard Doc on the phone saying, "patient shows high pulse rate. patient's retracting with every breath... blah blah blah... yeah. we'll fly him up to you."
* Honestly thought, "'fly him up to you'? wow, i bet we're gonna get in an ambulance with the lights on an 'fly' up there."
* Doc came to our little ER room and said "did you hear?" "yeah" "so we're gonna fly him up to Georgetown University Hospital.  You can go in the helicopter too if you want." "whoah! you mean, fly-fly?!"
* Okay, so it was pretty serious.  I didn't realize how scared I was at the time until after things got better and then thought back to everything and realized how dream-like it all felt.  I got into a helicopter that they pointed me to (the view was pretty amazing... and the fact that I wasn't scared to death of flying shows that I was so scared about S, I couldn't muster up any more 'scared'), I heard what the docs were saying, but didn't comprehend much of it.  And the most obvious sign that I was kind of freaked out was that the Resident doc didn't recognize me the next morning... she re-introduced herself to me the next morning, then said "oh my. I didn't even recognize you! you were so worried yesterday."
* P was out on the boat doing some carrier qual flights with a squadron out of Norfolk at the time.  I was never able to get in touch with the duty officer at that squadron to get word to him that S and I were heading to DC.... but amazingly he got word on the ship and by the time I landed at Georgetown, he had already be scheduled on a flight off the ship for a few hours later.  I am soooo grateful to all the Navy folks who stepped up and got that done for me.
* P showed up at the hospital later that evening.  S was doing better, but still had a very fast heart rate and his breathing rate was concerning the Docs.  He was up to 150 breaths per minute.
* Stayed at a local Holiday Inn for the night so I could get some sleep (after not sleeping the night before) and take a shower and have a moment to wrap my head around everything.
* S had a slower recovery than we hoped and had to do a breathing treatment constantly for 24 hours.  By late Sunday night he was finally released from the PICU and admitted to general pediatrics.  He was released from the hospital 36 hours later for a grand total of 3 and a half days at Georgetown University Hospital.
* It has been decided that he has asthma that is triggered by congestion.  We are giving him daily allergy meds and a preventative nebulizer every day.  We also have some steroid nebulizer treatments to give him if the retraction starts again.
**** I KNOW there are many many many parents who deal with much much much worse conditions and sicknesses with their kids.  I do not, by any means, want to imply that this was the  "worst thing ever" because I know we are very very blessed. My heart goes out to all those parents who have to spend long stays in the PICU.****

And On To CA
* The day after S was released from the hospital, P and I were supposed to be heading to CA for a conference and househunting.
* Postponed the departure date (a few $$ later) and stayed home until our local pediatrician checked him out and said he was doing fine. This postponement also let us be at home for G's actual birthday, which was an extra special treat since I thought we were going to miss it and I was having immense Mommy-Guilt about that.
* Arrived in CA two days late, but were there in time for my aformentioned size 8 dress.  (Read back a post or two for more on that.)
* After the conference, we headed up to Ventura County to surprise some great friends at church who we hadn't seen for 4 years!
* Two days of house-hunting later, we signed a lease in a community we were really excited about living in.

Baby Shower in Chi-Town
* Two days after returning from CA, I headed back to the airport and flew to Chicago.
* Evening One in Chicago = worst nail salon experience ever (I'll write about that another day) and tapas dinner with Dad, my brother-in-law "R", and my most-fabulous sister "K"
* Morning One in Chicago = Hair Salon with K for a chic blow-out, Baby Shower at Tribute Restaurant (WON-DER-FUL) for my sister and my soon-to-be new niece "E" and getting to see lots of great people whom I haven't seen in quite a while.
* Afternoon One in Chicago = Drive up to my hometown to see my bestest high school friend "J" and her brand new baby girl!!! Precious, sweet, cute, loveable, snuggable, darling!!! (my friend's baby is all those things.... not my friend herself, that would be weird!)
* Evening Two in Chicago = Delicious Italian dinner with Mom and K, followed by a sleepover for the three of us at K's city apartment.  If only we had Anne of Green Gables and Anne of Avonlea to watch!
* Morning Two in Chicago = Photo shoot of my sister and her baby bump, head to O'Hare and fly back to Baltimore.

And that, my friends, is what I did from September 2-October 2.
Which leads us nicely to The Big Move Across Country.... TBMAC....

Since You've Been Gone...

.... or maybe "since I'VE been gone" but no matter.  I haven't written much. At all.

Week Four of the Weight Loss Journey:  Stagnant.  Stagnant like stinky gross pond water.  I must get re-focused and motivated.  My good buddy gave me a helping hand with that earlier last week.  She helped me see that nearly everyone else in the world who is in shape has made choices that led them to be in shape. I think this is how I started my weight loss journey four weeks ago - knowing that I would need to make the choices, have the self-discipline, etc. to reach my goals.  But I've already begun to be an expert in excuse-making in the last four weeks.  But instead of excuses for my behavior, they were excuses as to why other's could be fit and I couldn't:

* "Well, she has REALLY good genes.  Being thin is natural for her."
* "She actually LIKES to work out!" [gasp] (Wait a minute, I used to like to work out too! Hmmm.)
* "Her metabolism is just so high."
* "It's not my fault I need more sleep than so-and-so."

And on and on... it's not healthy. And, more importantly it's really not true.  No matter the genes, metabolism, sleep habits, if I'm not working out or eating right there's no where else for me to look.  And so, we are back on track.

Despite my lack of improvement on the scale, I did have a good and exciting moment this week:

On a whim, I popped into a dress store for a formal dress for a gala dinner that P and I will attend at the end of September.  I found one I liked and sent camera-phone pictures to my sister.  It was a size 12.  (There, I've said it, it's a size 12... I was going to make it all ambiguous like "the size I have been since post-partum #3", but I'm throwing it out there and stating my size.)  So, as I said, this is the size I've been in my post-partum days (after breast-feeding did it's work and all the initial weight dropped off).   ANYWAY.... I put the dress on hold until I can get another opinion. So, the next day, I take my good buddy shopping with me.  Thanks to the camera-phone pictures texted to my sister, she suggests I try a size 10. My sister is certain I'm wearing my clothes one size too big because I'm not used to "tight" clothes and I'm just being baggy. So, I look to grab a size 12 and 10... but lo and behold there is no size 10.  Only a size 8.  My good buddy encourages me just to grab it anyway and so I head into the dressing room with a comfy size 12 and a tiny size 8.  On goes the 12 and good buddy says "Oh yes. I DO like it!  Definitely worth the sales price for sure!"  Into the dressing room I go to change into normal baggy clothes.  The size 8 is eyeing me and daring me to squeeze into it.  And so I do... and up goes the zipper all the way to the top!!!!  Good buddy gives me a look that makes me wonder if she's about to say "Oh dear, good buddy"  as in "Oh dear, good buddy, don't wear that in public."  But instead it comes out as, "Oh dear, good buddy I didn't realize when you were wearing it but the size 12 is definitely too big.  This is the size you should get."  So... triumph of the month... I walked out of the store with a size 8!!!  And a size 8 that was 50% off, no less!

My next goal for exactly 21 days is to make my new size smaller-than-normal dress to fit just absolutely perfectly.... it's time to tighten up a bit here and there.  I have invested in some new tools.  Two DVD's are on their way to help me trim up.  I'm looking forward to giving you the "skinny" on them next week.

Week 2: Coughing-the New Ab Exercise

So early last week I started having a scratchy throat, which quickly progressed into a tight chesty cough, which transitioned into a hoarse voice, stuffy nose, and a cough that always included at least a dozen linked coughs.  You know the kind, you start to say something and then you have a little tickle, a little cough, bigger cough, cough, cough, cough, cough, cough, hack, hack, hack. Ugh.

My exercise included nothing more than coughing and walking around looking for where I last put the kleenex box.  My diet was minimal as everything tasted like nothing. I could not smell since my nose was completely stuffed.

The good news is... I'm down a pound.  Not as fantastic as last week, but I will take it!

My goals and motivation and everything will be the same as last week, but with minimal cardio since my lungs are still bronchitis-y. Taking deep breaths still puts me into a coughing tizzy.

I am hoping that this week I will find the energy and thoughts to post a blog every evening.  It was for your benefit that I took this week off as my topics would have included: "bronchitis - the good, the bad, and the ugly," "the inside of my lungs are itchy," "how many tissues does it take to get my nose empty," and "Nyquil delirium."  I'm sure there are more interesting things to read on the internet and so I spared you.  Hopefully this week will be filled with brilliance and wit. (maybe.)

Week 1: Weight Loss Journey

Well, ladies and gentlemen (if there are gentlemen reading this?), I had my first weigh-in this morning and the results are: lost 5.5!!!!  Wahoooo.  So, I'm definitely on track for losing the 10 lbs. by Halloween.  It feels good to be going in the right direction, but I'm still a little leary for the following reasons:

1. I've been trying to lose this weight for a year, and this is the first time I've had serious results.  Is it a fluke?
2. I haven't really done much different this week; I worked out 4 days and tried to push myself a little harder, I ate the same amount of food just tried to eat more filling foods (I feel like I ate my weight in egg whites, spinach, and chicken breasts!).
3. I'm heading into a "heavy" time for my body, so this weight loss could easily bounce back to a weight gain.

HOWEVER, I'm determined to have a more positive outlook on this journey than I had over the past year.  For all those times I said, "I'll probably never actually get down to my goal weight," or "There's no way I can stick to this long enough," or "My thighs can never be thin and lean,"  I'll now be saying "I will be at my goal weight on my birthday" [even writing that, I had some doubt creap up "really?! will I really get that low?"] and "I will stick this plan as long as it takes, but all I need to think about is sticking to it today" and "If I want thin, lean thighs, I best make friends with a treadmill, my pilates dvd, and squats!"

So, I'm thrilled with the results, but hesitant in a good way that will keep me from giving in to my cravings for chocolate.  I taught my Zumba class this morning and pushed myself pretty hard.  Tomorrow will be an earlier-than-normal gym day at 8am, Wednesday will be a light exercise day that will be done at home, Thursday will have to be hard gym day, and Friday night Zumba class.

New addition for this week
Daily Exercises when I wake up:
* 10 push-ups (real ones, not "girl" ones.... why are easy push-ups "girl" push-ups?!)
* pilates ab series, I can't remember the official name, but I'll know what to do.
* 50 squats
Daily Exercises during kids' nap time:
* 10 push-ups
* 50 squats

Goal for this week
* To not gain the weight I usually do during "this time of the month." (TMI, I know.)

Motivation for this week

This is a stock photo... obviously, since I have dark hair and Paul is blonde. However, the idea of a tropical location for our 10 year anniversary trip is definitely motivating.  Who wants to be sitting in that chair thinking "man, my thighs are squishy."

I've been hosed.... well, it's shocking, really.

I'm too tired tonight to write something interesting... here is a bit of an email I sent my husband who is out on an aircraft carrier this week. The week has been a busy one for me, so most of our emails have been short and sweet and not too in-depth.  I thought I would send him a more detailed update of some of our excitement:


On Tuesday night I had a conference call for The Crib at 7pm.  I had
strategically planned the day so the kids wouldn't nap (except Sam) so
they would be tired and quiet by 7pm.  Well, we were driving home from
the gym around 5:30pm and saw this lady setting up some of those
crawl-through tubes in the common area. I thought "now there's a
motivated mom!" We ate dinner and at 6pm we head up to bath... just
enough time to get everyone washed and squared away. Grace is standing
on the steps looking out the big window "MOM! Look what is happening
in our field?!" And guess what... it wasn't a motivated mom... it was
the Fire Dept. They had apparently sent emails out that I didn't get
about a Family Night Out. The fire truck was there SPRAYING WATER into
the field (like way up into the air so it wasn't crushing kids, of
course) and they had games and a water-table and face painting!  So I
stood there debating on what to do.. but how could I NOT let them go
out there and check it out?! I mean really, with Matthew's love of trucks...
and I've never seen a fire truck spraying its hose! So we ran and put their 
swimsuits and water socks on and went out for some fun.  They got a little 
timid in the water because there were some older kids running around but they had
fun with the other stuff (no face painting).  I figured if we could
get back in the house by 6:35pm I could skip bath, get them into
jammies, get Sam down, and the big kids into my bed for a movie.
Well, Sam decided he wanted to check out the water too and he loved
it. And he fell in the newly mowed field and was all wet and came out
looking like a scarecrow! So... into the bath they all went... grass
was everywhere in our bathroom.  Out of the bath they all hopped.
Grace hopped a little too much because she was so wound up from the
fire truck excitement, she fell into our shower stall and got a bloody
nose!!!!!!  It's now 6:50pm. Bah! Cleaned her up (it wasn't too too
bad) and got Sam into jammies and settled in to give him a bottle.
Then he drank a great big mouthful, got a cough and coughed it up on
me. Awesome. Anyway, after that I was able to get him down, got on the
call about 10 minutes late which was not really a big deal, and the
kids went to bed after that.  geesh.

Today I was cleaning up the kitchen and Matthew says "Mom, come look!"
so I follow him to the front room and see our tall lamp laying on the
floor!  "Sam pulled it down." First thought: Phew. No one was hurt.
Second thought: I bet the bulb shattered.  So the lamp is laying on
the ground with the bowl-shade-thing laying flat on the floor upside
down... like it had slipped off the pole and flipped 90 degrees.  So I
carefully pick it up and there are no shards of glass. Phew. Again.
but I can't get the shade back up because the bulb is cock-eyed
because the bulb holder (I'm sure that is the technical term) is also
cock-eyed and not through the hole in the shade.  So.. I glance down
one more time to make sure Sam isn't finding glass that I had missed,
grab the bottom of the bulb holder with my left hand and ZAP!!!!!!!
HOLY CRAP!!!!!  My index finger and thumb clench onto whatever that
thing is called, and I can feel electricity zap up through my elbow
and shoulder and I swear my heart skipped a beat or two!!!! HOLY CRAP. 
I involuntarily went "HUUUUUUUUUUH!" Dude. E.D.Electron is no joke.  My
hand was tingly for a good two hours, but I'm back to normal now. I
unplugged the light and give it the evil eye every time I walk by it
now.
*****************************************************************************
So that's what we've been up to.  Shockingly good times! 

                                                        The Lamp that Shocked Me Silly

Two-A-Days + Good Friends = Happy Mom

Whew. I remember at the end of summer in high school, the volleyball team would have a week or two of "two-a-days."  It wore me out. My entire body ached to the point that I had to sit down in the shower.  I was exhausted.  Well, today we pulled a "two-a-day" not for volleyball, but for play dates.  I'm almost as tired and sore as I was in 1996.

We had a great time playing at a friend's house late-morning through lunch. We came home and had "rest time" which is code for "kids slept while I worked on invitations to my sister's baby shower, cleaned out the ottoman where, unbeknownst to me, the kids had been storing all of the parts to all of their board games - including 4 Memory games, folded laundry that has been in the basket for... well, nevermind, and gagged over a bottle of milk that someone had hidden in one of my pots." When the unrestful rest time was over, we headed off to another friend's house for a delicious dinner and more play time.  The kids were in bed and asleep without complaints, trips to the bathroom, or requests for water.  Everyone is tuckered out.

I'm not complaining though. I'll take this exhaustion any day.  It sure beats the exhaustion that comes from a day of two pre-schoolers and a toddler whining and fighting and picking on each other because there's nothing else to do.  This is the happy fatigue that comes from a day well-spent and well-played.

And this leads me to my happy thought for the day: Good friends are truly priceless. Always. But good friends who can be open and honest with you, who don't worry about how clean their house is because they've seen your house at its worst too, who let you clean their dishes as a 'thank you' for a yummy dinner, who don't think you're crazy when your kid walks around with tomato sauce behind his ears and in his hair.... now those friends... Those friends are the saving grace for this happy and exhausted mom.

And, Good Night!

(This photo is obviously not from today since Grace is now almost 5 years old, BUT it pretty well captures how I feel right now.)