housewarming/housedrenching

Well, one move, one delayed closing, and one hurricane later, we are here, safe and sound, if a bit wet.  We left Nashville for our new home near Mobile, AL on the 18th, expecting to close the following day.  Alas, it would be several nights in a hotel before our home was completed and ready for closing – but it finally was, and we finally closed, and we moved in . . . and then Isaac came to visit.  Luckily, we made it in the home before the storm arrived, but just barely.  Big props to my mama for shifting more than her fair share of boxes and my dad for hanging blinds and pictures – we couldn’t have done it without them!

We have no  home internet.  We are in an established neighborhood with fiber optic cable laid and run to the houses and rooms, and yet . . . no internet provider serves our street.  We can’t even get DSL – the best we can hope for right now is dial up.  We will try to figure out the hotspot technology, where you use your iPhone data plan, but that’s not a long-term solution.  And if I’m going to do this working and mothering thing, I definitely need internet at home.  We’re trying to fuss and holler – maybe we’ll get AT&T to serve the area sooner rather than later, but cross your fingers.  Meanwhile, it’s not the easiest thing to move into a new house and have no internet.  I need to get garbage service – who do I call? What’s the number of the boys’ daycare again?  Where is the Lowe’s so we can buy blinds? These and more were the problems I encountered and had to somehow solve without internet or even a yellow pages.  Internet has made me lazy, I guess, but I’m so used to google being the answer to all of my questions!

The hurricane only delivered us a glancing blow – heavy rain, a little wind.  We had no damage.  It did, however, cancel the boys’ school all week, so they don’t get to start daycare ahead of my work start date.  We’ll all jump into our new routines together, which I guess we’ll survive.  The hurricane also closed everything, so we couldn’t run to the library or Starbucks to serve our internetting needs.  It cancelled the Professor’s work, as well, so at least we all got to stay shut-ins in our new house together.  We also played host to some New Orleans friends who evacuated with their 3 week old baby girl.  Their house (our old house – they are our former landlords/upstairs neighbors) is fine, but without power, and that ain’t ideal when you have a 1 year old and a newborn on your hands.  It was nice to have them, and the boys enjoyed playing with their old friend, but I felt bad that they had to leave home when the baby was so small.

We are at the library now.  The boys are playing in the children’s section, making friends, while the Professor and I take turns checking emails and doing work things.  While I was out, I’m happy to say that a dear “virtual” friend, a mother of three fabulously sunny sons whose adventures I love to read about, announced my latest endeavor to her readership.*  I feel that I should perhaps also announce it to mine!

I’ve made mention of this before, but never officially announced it – I’m running a marathon in November, my first.  I’ve run halfs before, but never a full.  Why, you ask, would I do such a thing during a time of transition?  Well, I would answer, because if I don’t have something like a marathon hanging over my head, then I won’t exercise at all because I’ll be too busy, and then I could potentially add even MORE weight to my already overweight frame.  And since I was planning a marathon anyhow, I thought I’d combine it with some fundraising on behalf of some pretty special friends of mine, whose daughter is ill with a rare and debilitating disease called cystinosis.

You can read more at my causes page, and I do wish you’d consider clicking on it and giving even a few bucks.  So far I’ve had a number of small donations, and they’ve all added up to over $500 for the Cystinosis Research Network.  That’s not an insignificant amount, but I feel like we can do even better.  I’ll post more about this in the months ahead, as I continue training and preparing for my run.  But I’d like to open my page up to you folks, and see if you’d consider donating even a fiver to the cause.

The boys are getting restless, so I have to close this somewhat distracted and hastily written post.  Though I’ve been enjoying my disconnected time with my boys, I do miss my online world.  I hope we’ll be back online soon!

*Seriously, you should check out pistols on a regular basis.  She’s my kind of mama – engaged with her kids, in love with her kids, and making the most of their boyhoods.  Their adventures in NYC are always fun to read, and her positive outlook on life makes her a perennial favorite in my google reader.