New Sneakers

NO not shoes :o) even though sneakers for my feet are an obsession for me... got new sneakers for my car and an oil change.... $400+ later I must say it rides pretty nice.

Of course you can never seem to get out of there without them saying your car needs..... (fill in the dots) - and of course this trip was no different... imagine my shock when they told me that my car will be needing some front rotors soon...

SIGH....

Its always something right, but I guess I can look at it as I am contributing to the local economy right??? That's my story and I"m sticking to it, least for now...

Last night we went and saw Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs totally cute movie... not an over the top, I'd buy the video or pay to go see it again movie but it was cute.  Drove me crazy thru the entire movie trying to figure out the voice of the father in the movie... I had to sit thru the credits at the end - turns out the voice, which I knew I had heard but could not place, was James Caan... not who I was thinking. 

I really want to see Toy Story in 3D but I think this is the last weekend for it :o(

Are there just things you hate spending money on?

For me one thing that comes to mind is car repair stuff.  I realize you have to do maintenance to a vehicle if you plan to keep it and right now I REALLY do not want a car payment.  I've been lucky that I've not had a car payment in a few years and I must say its been nice... but I am never ever prepared when I have to actually spend money on my car.

I'm ok with things like oil changes and such and get my oil changed regularly.  I could do it myself but by the time you buy the stuff and then take YOUR time to do it...mmm yeah I'd rather spend $19.99 and let someone else do it.

My car needs tires.  Before I left IL I had to spend money on my car I was not prepared to spend for rear brakes and rotors... to the tune of $300+, not good timing when my move south was about 2 wks off... but the guy at the repair shop said... "miss you really need new tires, I'd not even attempt to drive to Florida on those tires" and of course wouldn't ya know it... my car has low profile expensive tires and apparently an odd size... 195/55/16 - I kept getting quotes of $450 and higher for 4 flipping tires..

Well I drove not only to Florida but within 48 hrs of arriving in Florida, to our ultimate destination of Summerville SC... yes over 1600 miles from Friday to Sunday, damn that is like the distance California isn't it???  Praying to the Lord the entire way "Lord please let me arrive safely, let me have no car issues on the way"

Thankfully He heard and answered my prayers because I've gotten here safely, but now the time has come, and mostly at Matt's urging, to go get estimates for tires and get them replaced, THIS WEEKEND!  UGH I just really REALLY hate spending that kind of money... even if its NOT my money I"m spending... but off I go to get estimates because if he comes home today and I've not taken care of this he might just have a word or two for me, followed by "baby I love you and just want you to be safe" :o)

and we can list feminine products right up there with things that cost way to much for what you get from them.. I mean really???  If it wasn't for the fact I want to have a baby I'd say bring on menopause... and prior to meeting this most wonderful man and soul mate I did say exactly that! 

God sure does work in mysterious ways... now if He could do something about over priced products....

Friday Fill Ins

With the move and getting settled in... I have been behind on this fun little puzzle...

And...here we go!

1. Sweet dreams are made of this who am I to disagree. (sorry for some reason I always think of the Annie Lenox)

2. That's not true, especially for me.

3. Silliness can bring lightness to a heavy situation.

4. Not looking forward to this Halloween. (its not what I consider a holiday to really look forward to) (I mean really didn't it start out as a pagan celebration)

5. Outstanding or not you are still human and put your pants on like the rest of us, one leg at a time.

6. My neck to feel better is what I want right now!

7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to it just being Friday, tomorrow my plans include some more house hunting and Sunday, I want to go to church and maybe see Toy Story in 3D!

And the list keeps growing

each day I look at my list of blogs I follow and of course I go to that blog and read that days post and inevitably that blog leads me to another awesome blog that I begin to follow... sigh :o)

go to view my complete profile and you can see a list of blogs I follow, there really are some excellent ladies and gentlemans blogs that I follow and you know.. you just never know what word of wisdom someone else might say that day that helps you along your journey!

With just a slight turn of the head...

don't ask me what I did or how but this morning I just turned my head and heard this 'pop' in my neck and sadly it was NOT a good pop.....it hurts like heck right now and has gotten worse as the morning has gone on...

I put some biofreeze on it and took a couple of tylenol but it is not helping at all.  I got in the shower and just let the hot water run on that area and it seemed to loosen it up some but no sooner did I get out and dry off that it stiffened up again.

I can turn it to the left without problem but when I get it about half way to the right its painful and to try and look down....forget it...that is like drop to my knees painful.  I think I am in need of going to the pharmacy and getting one of those heat patches or a heating pad - this is so not good timing right now....

Awesome book

The other day when Trevor had a 1/2 day of school... we decided to go have lunch with Matt and then do some exploring in that area of North Charleston.  Our goal was to find the Sam's club but of course being the directionally challenged soul I am we missed our exit and got turned around...

However all was not lost because we found the Tanger Outlets.  We decided to spend a few bumming around the outlets to see what was there.  We found a shoe outlet and both Trevor and I got new sneakers.  Yes I know I have TONS of sneakers, mostly running shoes, but they are all in storage and I needed a new pair of walking around sneakers the soles literally have come off my others.

We continued to walk around and I found a cool bookstore, Christian bookstore at that, and even better or a definite bonus... almost everything was $5!  Yes $5!  Ok I have a hard time passing up a good book, let alone a book for $5.  Of course the downside was I realized just how much mark up there is on books... a book I recently bought at Family Christian books for $19.95 was in this bookstore for...yes $5!  UGH!!!! and it was a brand new, hard cover book just like the one I purchased for $15 less...

Anyhow... I found a really great book in this store called... Couples Who Pray its written by SQuire Rushnell and his wife Louise DuArt.  Its a really easy read and I finished it in a few days... there are a lot of highlight stories of couples, famous and not famous, that have always prayed together or took up the 40 day pray challenge in the book and how its really transformed their relationships.  Its not just about praying as in "now I lay me down to sleep" kind of prayers, but basically about praying with your significant other as you would pray to God on your own.  Its not about taking lots of time out of your day, but to commit to taking at least 5 minutes a day to pray together as a couple.

Matt hasn't read the book yet, but said he would when I finished... but last night he read to me from Genesis (like son like father ;o) but before that he said prayers with me... it really was awesome and heartfelt and dare I say.... romantic?  I just never would have thought so but it was... I mean we say grace before meals and we have discussions about God all the time, heck we sat here Tuesday night for over 2 hrs having a discussion on the subject of the rapture and last Sunday's sermon from church, but this.... this act was so different and SO WONDERFUL!

Out of the mouths of babes

maybe its just me? who knows... I admit not having had (yet) any children of my own, I am at a loss when it comes to knowing what a 7 yr old should know... things like math concepts, spelling, reading, etc... Its not as if I peruse books that say at 7 your child should be reading X and doing math concepts Y....

Now when I become pregnant (if that is God's will) then yes I will be one of those mom's that gets the book that shows how big my baby is at this that and the other week... I just know I will...

But I was in total shock last night as Matt and I sat here on the couch just chatting and Trevor started to read to us. Now he has read to us at dinner from his book he got at the book fair Phineas and Ferb and I must say I was quite impressed with his reading skills. There were a few words he got stuck on but he tries to sound them out and sometimes he just has to ask..

However last night he picks up a copy of an ESV Bible and begins reading in Genesis and reads from chapter 1 to chapter 2 verse 14... I was over the top amazed, not only that he was doing this but that he was doing it so well. Now granted his sentence flow isn't up to par yet, but I was in awe of how well he did reading this and getting some of the more complicated words on his own.

I may not be his mom but I can tell you as he read more and more I could feel the tears of pride welling up in my eyes... and then as he got to God's creations on days 5 and 6.. I thought James Earl Jones embodied him, his tone and voice took on a new dimension as he got more excited about what he was reading...

I have to say it was BY FAR the coolest thing that happened in my day yesterday!

In need of a new attitude...

Ok now its gotta rain everywhere at times.. but darn if these rainy all day events don't just make me drag... woke up last night to the sound of the rain, had hoped that like other days its rained here it would clear up by early morning... mmmm not today and boy has my attitude been just as poor as the weather today.

maybe its cause one of the houses we looked at this weekend and REALLY liked, we found is not available now... been working with a really nice realtor, Franki Hunter, and this particular listing was not under the guise of her agency.. was listed with another realtor... so we looked at it Saturday and we all liked it, Trevor included...

So today I emailed her that we'd like to get the ball rolling on this and she gets back to me saying it was rented Friday??? WHAT we just looked at it Saturday... she said she knew and was VERY upset with the listing agency as they could have given her a courtesy call since they knew she was taking peeps there (us) on Saturday to look at it... oh well its not her fault... that other agent should have done a proper courtesy of calling her but... I am trying to hold to Matt's words when I told him and he heard my disappointment... that this is God's plan and He has something else in mind for us right now... maybe something even better then that one we looked at and liked will come our way..

still, I'm bummed this was so perfect.. OMG the master bedroom and bath.. exactly like what I would have if I built a home.. close to school, closer to Matt's work... sigh....

somehow if she had told me this and it was a bright sunny day... I don't think it would be hitting me the same way... I do believe I am effected drastically by gloomy days and I know when winter hits in the midwest... I will be damn glad I am in the south!

A sort of update...

Well lots of changes so might as well start at the beginning… of course you know how I jump from thought to thought so hang on and follow along….

So Thursday, Sept 17^th started off my day with my last personal training session with Kurt James at Xsport Fitness in Elmhurst IL…. I knew about 10 minutes into the workout I was gonna be one sore cookie in a day or two… it’s like he had this evil plan to really make it tough.

Truth is the day really started with me thanking God for finally making this day a reality… from the moment I made the decision to move, on Dec 30, 2008, it’s seemed like forever in coming. 

Now for a gal that drove close to 1700 miles in a weekend and didn’t get lost…. I, mmm…. Got all turned around leaving O’Hare after picking up my cousin.  But finally we get back to Elmhurst and now it’s just waiting for the ABF guy to come with my relocate cubes. 

Of course my helpers are there before the darn cubes… sigh…. So we started to stage the stuff downstairs in the parking lot so that when the cubes got there the process would go that much quicker.  Finally about 1:30 (mind you my drop off window was 12-2 so imagine my shock and amazement when they showed up near the end of the time window… NOT).

I’d like to make a HUGE HUGE HUGE shout out to my friends Kevin Aldrich, David Russo and Robin Bergstrom for ALL of their help with this move… as well, my cousin Karl Salmon who flew from Florida to Illinois to help me load up and drive down south!  I tell you without their help this move would have still happened, but nowhere near as smoothly as it did.

Finally the cubes arrive and the guys just took over loading that first cube with the precision of a surgeon.  I think I MIGHT need a crowbar to get that first piece out… but it’s a good thing because hopefully it means nothing will have gotten tossed around too much…and well, if anything is broken it’s not like it’s not replaceable. 

We had both cubes loaded within the allotted 2 hrs time frame, I paid my first installment, signed my copy and the drivers copy of the bills of lading and away he went to store my stuff in the Illinois facility until we find permanent housing in South Carolina…

Sadly my buddy David had to leave and pick up his daughter so he was unable to join us for a bite to eat.  Another off tangent OCD moment for me… I really have not known David that long but I have to say he is a wonderful person… heart and soul!  I’ve enjoyed the time we’ve had together and he and his family are the type of peeps you don’t say good bye to… only “See you later or See you soon” I am always amazed how people you ‘meet’ on the internet turn out to be some of the greatest and most wonderful human beings… I think I have met greater people and made close friends with relations that started out on the internet.

Ok back to the story….

Kevin, Robin, Karl, and I headed to Fuego Loco for a bite to eat… always good food there and reasonable in price.  Then, well, it was ‘that’ time….time to say good-bye….or, well, see ya later….

It was harder than I thought it would be.  The worst was saying good-bye to my family though…. After we ate Karl and I headed to my brothers in Indiana to stay the night….I was fine Thursday night…

Jayce covered up my grays (gosh who the hell will do that for me now, guess I’m gonna have to teach Matt or Trevor…. Mmm maybe not)… chatted with her and her friend Kay, who is a great kid… I’ve officially dubbed her my adopted niece….anyhow I was fine, just fine on Thursday… finally got to sleep around midnight… only to wake about 3:50 am just before my brother’s alarm went off for him to get up for work…

Saying good-bye to him broke me…. It really struck me that no longer would he be about a 90 minute drive away.  I mean it’s not like I DIDN’T know this when I made the decision to move back in December but I guess the reality of it was coming full circle now… we hugged tight and neither wanted to let the other go but I think he was crying and wanted to get out the door so I wouldn’t see and I didn’t want him to see me crying…. After he left I got in the shower and just stood there, sobbing uncontrollably, it was real now… as much as I am and was looking forward to my new life with Matt and Trevor, the reality of leaving my brother was now very real…

I finally gathered my emotions and got out of the shower and dressed, then my sister in law called me in the room and well the tears started again…. Then it was time to wake up my niece and Kaye and say good-bye… Seriously I am over the top happy about being here with Matt and Trevor but I am seriously just as sad that it is no longer a reality that I can just hop in my car and drive to see my brother, Teri, Jayce and Gavin anymore…

Eventually the cousin and I got on the road… at 7am Central time or 8 am Eastern time.  Honestly and thankfully the trip was relatively uneventful…. We switched drivers at every quarter of a tank of gas… we’d stop, fill up, stretch, potty break and get back on the road… never really ran into any traffic, even round Atlanta… the traffic we did hit there was more because of an accident that was blocking two lanes then it was rush hour traffic. 

Now I have to say as hard as you try and sleep in the car… it ain’t easy… first I was excited just to be finally at this point of the move… second.. It’s not comfortable at all… but I drifted in and out when I was the passenger, snoozing for 15 minutes here, 20 minutes there but never really hitting a sound sleep…

The original plan was Matt was getting back from SC late Friday night… was going to meet him in Eustis and then he was going to drive with me to get cousin back to New Port Richey… ahhhh best laid plans… Matt was late getting back from SC into Orlando AND his cell phone was dead… so Karl and I are at the fork in the road so to speak of either we go to Eustis and get Matt or we drive ahead to NPR… not knowing what was going on with Matt I said just head toward New Port Richey (NPR).. well wouldn’t ya know… about 30 minutes after we made that decision Matt calls… at this point I was tired and irritated, not at Matt but I am sure that is how it came out…

I knew, as did everyone else, that by the time I got Karl to NPR it would be 1-1:30 am… and if I didn’t stay at his place it would mean another 2ish hours back east to get to my brothers… side note of my brother Noel was being a real ass and by this point I had decided heck with this I am just going to stay anywhere but his place.. at that moment side of the road would have been better… but MY reality is I needed and wanted to see Matt… I had waited 6 flipping weeks.. 6 weeks of crappy cell phone reception, 6 weeks of waiting, 6 weeks of lots of changes… I wanted and NEEDED to see my baby… and I was running on adrenaline at this point… I truly was not tired and knew if I tried to sleep it would be a waste of time… so even though I think my cousin was pissed at me.. I said I am dropping you off, hitting the potty and getting back on the road…and that is exactly what I did…

By this point Matt and I discussed just coming to his sister Mel’s… so I plugged that addy into my GPS and was looking at another 2 hrs from NPR to Eustis… I didn’t care I was WIDE awake… so at 3:30ish am I am rolling up Mel and Karl’s long drive and Matt is outside to greet me… I was definitely the hug that I needed because after that I could feel my body growing tired.  Matt had a bed all set up for me in the TV room and I was laying down by 3:50 am… 24 hrs after I had woke up Friday… I think I was asleep before my head hit the pillow… SO you think I’d sleep in till like noon right??? WRONG!... true to form for my body I was up at 7am.

I will say Saturday was a completely lazy day… bout the only thing I did do was go over to my brothers to gather the things I’d left there on my August trip… see when I was there in early August the plan was 6 wks from then I’d be a roommate to my brother and Brad for a bit..but life has a way of making changes on a dime or well really at God’s hand.  So other than that it was hanging with Mel and Karl, getting to know Trevor and anticipating Sunday.

Sunday, Sept 20^th, we got up, went to church, got to see Mason, Amber and Caleb again, then it was off to South Carolina after church…yes imagine another 6 hours in the car… woo hoo!  The first half of the trip Trevor rode with Matt in his car… but after a ½ way gas and food stop, Trevor rode with me the rest of the way… I was nervous to say the least… I mean ok what am I, a 44 yr old never been a mom person, going to chat with a 7 yr old about for like, mmm, 3 hours?  Well, EVERYTHING!

I must say at a few points this kid had me laughing hard, out loud… we were guessing each others favorite things from TV shows to cartoons, to favorite fast foods to ice cream… we were naming the future family pets and deciding what they’d be, we talked about school, sports… really bout a lot of things… at one point trying to name cartoon characters Trevor looked at me and said “Kim you just have to think like a 7 yr old” OMG I thought I’d pee my pants laughing…. I guess not really having been a mom and not having been around to many 7 yr olds… I am not in tune with the latest characters and such… I mean I’m stuck in the Flintstones and Jetson’s era… after I stopping laughing and crying cause I was laughing so hard… I told Trevor it would be part of his job to school  me on how to think like a 7 yr old!

Well needless to say it’s now almost 7 pm… we’ve been in the car almost 6 hrs now… and of course as any 7 yr old would be… he is getting restless and watching the time on the arrival time on the GPS and not happy when a minute gets added to it because traffic has slowed… and me.. well I am SO sick of being in the car at this point it’s not even funny… so now both Trevor and I are getting excited as we get closer… we start doing the happy dance in our seats…

THEN……….. FINALLY….. the corporate housing apartment complex comes into view… OMG Trevor we are here!  I don’t think you could have gotten us out of the car any faster… Trevor and I BOTH did a happy dance in the parking lot… I am sure anyone watching thought was the hell is their problem…

So before we start to unload the car Matt brings us up to our new temp place of living…and what a sweetheart he is… as we walk in he left notes for us before he left on Friday… one note to both Trevor and I right as we walk in (which sadly he had to point out cause both Trevor and I missed it)

Welcome home, make yourself comfortable!! I love you both!

Was the note we were greeted with… then in Trevor’s room Matt had left a note for Trevor and in our room he left a note for me, posted to the mirror…it was very sweet… I’ve saved the notes..

Then came the unpacking my car and Matt’s… Trevor helped with some stuff but mainly he was excited to have his own room and was quickly unpacking his suitcase and putting his things away… putting his stuffed animals on his bed and making it his own place… then finally about 10pm Matt and I had everything out of the cars… then it was time for some sleep…

The next day found us taking Trevor to the school to finish enrollment… but we had decided we’d just start him on Tuesday we were all tired… so Matt went off to work and Trevor and I did some exploring of our area… hit the super Wal-Mart for some groceries and then just driving up and down roads around us to see what was where near us..

Tuesday, Sept 22^nd Matt and I both took Trevor to school…. OMG I thought I’d cry when we left him at the classroom… it’s never easy being the new kid and the look on his face said it all… and immediately it took me back to all those feelings I had growing up of changing schools and being the new kid…. I mean it seriously was like an out of body moment as all those fears and feelings came rushing back to me…then Matt went off to work and I off to figure out what SAHM do… I finished unpacking stuff, did some laundry and by the time I knew it, it was time to pick up Trevor…

Well it’s this process to pick up your kids… you get this number on a placard that also has their grade on it… and your kid has the same number on their back pack.. you pull into this long line of cars of parents picking up their kids as you enter the school’s circular drive there is a staff member there with a walkie talkie who radios in your number and kids grade… at this point the kids are in the cafeteria area but when you get to that first staff member they shuttle your kid outside under the awning… then as you get up to the front of the school your kid is outside, they call out their number as you approach the pickup point and put your kid in the car…. But let me just say… the entire time that first day the scene from Mr. Mom with Michael Keaton kept playing in my head

“north to drop off, south to pick up, you’re doing it wrong you moron….. ”

Well I must have done it right  cause no one called me a moron.. least not to my face…. And Trevor got in the car and at least had a smile on his face so that was a good sign… and Matt… oh my sweet Matt… guess he is not used to having someone to lean on.. he called me at like 1:30 to remind me to pick up Trevor at 2:10… then no sooner was Trevor IN the car… my phone is ringing and its Matt wondering if I remembered to pick up Trevor…. I just had to laugh because I know I would have done the exact same thing…

Pretty much the rest of the first week was uneventful… now getting these two out of bed in the mornings is a challenge to say the least… given the chance they’d both sleep till noon if you let them… me I’m or I have become a morning gal… Then Sunday night of that first week… Trevor started feeling bad and feeling warm… kept him home Monday… since both Matt and I are here sans thermometer I went to the store and got one… indeed he was running a temp 101.4… he stayed home again on Tuesday…. By Tuesday night he was bouncing around… sent him to school which was a ½ day anyhow on Wednesday… and by Thursday night when I picked him up from school… he was feeling bad again… running a temp again and crying if you touched his ear… I’ve had ear issues as a kid.. I know that pain and when it hurts to touch it… well try just try to be new in town and get a flipping DR appt… either none available or sorry we are not taking new patients… so I went to CVS thinking hey they have minute clinics at CVS in Illinois…. Mmm not so here in South Carolina… but the nice ladies at the local CVS directed me to the Med Center where they take walk ins… I knew he really wasn’t feeling well when he climbed in my lap and wanted to be held… yes that is something a kid will do with their own parent but I am not Trevor’s parent so when he climbed in my lap at the med center and just wanted to be held I knew he wasn’t feeling well… and trust me while I don’t want him to be sick in any way shape or form… I thought it was a very sweet gesture of trust on his part and I was very touched that he trusted me in this way.

Turns out he had a middle and outer ear infection… so we got antibiotic drops and an oral antibiotic and by this past weekend he was much better and wondering why he still had to take the meds…

And while I realize Trevor is getting used to me by his action at the DR office.. I also know he is getting used to me because he is no longer on best behavior… I’m still deciding if that is a good or bad thing…LOL!   I just try and be aware of the fact these are a lot of changes for a 7 yr old to grasp all at once… new town, new school, a person in dad’s life…

So there is an update for y’all… just learning about each other, learning how to function as a unit of three… searching for a permanent place to call home… there have been changes for all of us, but I think we will all get it figured out along the way.. not like we have to have it down to a groove from day one…

I just pray that God gives me some guidance in how to do this right…. The resolve to give up some of my independence, the forethought to think before I speak sometimes and the knowledge of how to make this work for the long term… I’ve always expected things to be perfect, it’s that perfectionist child in me and when they are not perfect I get frustrated and want to throw in the towel… and sadly I think I’ve tossed some great ‘towels’ out of my life because EYE was the problem..my inpatients, my stubbornness, my in ability to let others do things for me… but God has lead me here… I know He will give me the tools I need to work on my areas that need improvement…