More Than a Few Inches of Snow

Another item checked off my "Living in the snow bucket list".

My first foot or more of snow in one night.

This morning we woke up to this.

Guess I'm not taking the dogs out for a walk that way.  Maybe out the garage?

Or maybe not.  That snow is taller than my dogs.

My upstairs window had accumulated a little snow too.

Somewhere under there is our front steps and walkway.

After we dug out the driveway, this is the pile we had.

And there's our front porch again.

View from the porch after we unburied it.

Winter Wonderland

This week, one of Mama Kat's writing prompts was a photo journal entry
about what winter looks like in my town.

This is my first REAL winter.  The first one where I've experienced cold
and the first where I've experienced snow.

Winter in Southern California is palm trees and rain.
Maybe some ice on your windshield here and there.
If you want to take the kids sledding, you load them up in the car
and drive at least an hour to the nearest ski resort.

Winter in Arizona is like summer in Arizona, except not 120 degrees.
It's sunshine and flip flops.  It's 80 degree days.
If you want to take the kids sledding, you load them up in the car
and drive three hours to the nearest place with enough elevation to get snow.

To say that winter in Michigan is different is like saying that
Jerry Falwell and Boy George are different.

It's a WHOLE new world over here.

It's icicles.

It's "Hey, that's the one bush that's still green, buried under a foot of snow."

Because seriously, all the other bushes look like this.

I know this isn't exactly what winter looks like in my TOWN,
but I'm still awed by the simple things right in front of me.

And since I'm terrified of driving in the snow, I haven't been getting out a whole lot.

My First Snow

We finally got snow here a few days ago.
I was too busy selling out for fornicating bunny mugs posting giveaways to blog about it.

My first snow was beautiful.

At first.

Then I had to drive in it.

Tiffany had a violin lesson.  A lesson that normally is about 30 min from the house.  Hubby warned me to leave early, give myself plenty of time, leave plenty of room between me and the car in front of me, and not to wait until the last minute to brake.

I left to take her a full hour before we needed to be there.  The roads had been plowed or salted or something because the roads were just wet.  The drive was not as treacherous as the hubby had made it out to be. It took 45 minutes.  I drove slow.  I left room.  I braked slowly and carefully.  We got there in one piece, with 15 minutes to spare.

Forty five minutes later when we left it was a WHOLE different story.  All those roads that had been merely wet had turned to ice, and apparently everyone is leaving work (near violin lessons) and heading home (to my neighborhood) around 5 pm.  Go figure.

The TWO hour drive home was the scariest two hours I have ever spent in my whole life.
It was two hours spent clutching my steering wheel, pointing my car in the general direction I wanted to go, and praying.

There was sliding.
There was not going anywhere even though the gas pedal was being pushed.
There was an annoying pulsation that is the traction control.
It didn't seem to help much other than to remind me that
MY TIRES WERE NOT IN CONTACT WITH THE ROAD,
causing me to panic even more.

I really wished I had painted "I'm new here and have never driven in the snow before" on the back window of my car.  People were entirely too close to me for their own good.

When I finally made it home, I told my husband that for the rest of the winter I'm only going out right after the roads have been cleared, quickly running my errands, and then I'm coming straight home.  If I can't get it done in a 2 hour window, it's not getting done until spring.

My Singing Dryer

When we moved to Michigan we brought all of our appliances.  Our side by side fridge that's been with us for 7 years and 3 states and has only needed to be fixed once, then our freezer that we bought about 4 years ago in Arizona which of course decided to stop working when we got here, and our washer and electric dryer.  Of course the new house has a gas hook up for the dryer.  Don't get me wrong.  I'm really happy that it has a gas hook up.  I much prefer a gas dryer to an electric one.  (I prefer gas stoves too, but couldn't get that lucky apparently.)  So of course I had to go out and buy a new one, and when I got to the store I kept being drawn to this one.

It was on sale even.  $669 the plain old style one was like $500.  I wanted it.  So I took this picture, sent it to the hubby and said "Can I?  Please????".  While I waited for his response, I tracked down a sales person and pumped her for information.  I need the stats.  Tell me why, other than the fact that it's all new fangled looking, I should get this one over the old school one.  Please tell me how to convince my husband that we need to have THIS one and not any other one.  Well for starters she told me, it's even cheaper than $669.  She pulls out her calculator and after making some calculations tells me that it will in fact be only $600 at the register.  Well, that's awesome, what else.  So she goes on to tell me that it is more energy efficient, and that it's smart, like it will stop when it senses the clothes are dry, or will keep going even when the time has run out if the clothes are still wet.  And, if you don't come unload it right away, it will intermittently tumble the clothes to keep them from getting all wrinkly. Now I REALLY REALLY want it, and am prepared to beg, when the hubby texts back and says "If that's the one you want.".  Well that was easy.

A few days later it was delivered, and a few days after that the hubby finally got it hooked up.  By then there was a mountain of laundry that needed to be done.  When we dried our first load in it we discovered it sings!. It wasn't cool enough with it's energy efficiency and what not, they had to make it even cooler, every little thing that it does is accompanied by a charming little tune.  Turn it on, you get a tune.  Select a cycle, you get a tune.  When it's done, no annoying buzzer here, you get a jaunty tune.  If you don't come unload it right away, not only is it intermittently tumbling the clothes to keep them from getting wrinkly, but it reminds you that it is still not unloaded with a little tune.  Of course I love it.

Except for today when I discovered that the sensor thingie doesn't work too well when there is just one comforter in there.  It keeps playing it's little tune and each time I go to unload it, the comforter is NOT DRY.  I wouldn't call it wet, but it's damp for sure.  I'm sure there is probably some fix for this, some kind of just one comforter setting on the thing.  It's so smart otherwise, I can't imagine it being dumb about drying comforters. It's probably operator error.  I should probably read the manual.  Except I don't know where it is.

Someday I'll get my freezer fixed too, but it's been on hold since I blew my extra money on the singing dryer.

This is so cool

Some of you may have witnessed this phenomenon before,

but this is my first time.

  

 I'm awestruck by the variety of colors.  

I expected the yellows and oranges, but was taken completely by surprise

by the fiery reds, the pinks, and even purples.

Just beautiful

Fall

The kids started school a month ago. New schools in a new town. Great schools. Schools that my kids love. This was one of my biggest fears. We'd move all this way and the kids would hate it. But they don't. They like it here, they really do. Not that they don't miss their friends in Arizona, but they aren't miserable every day, pining over what was left behind. Instead they are tackling each day with a smile on their face, looking forward to all the new and different things they can do here.

Aimee joined the swim team and started the year with a bunch of new friends. Kimberly is going to a real middle school, with lockers, changing classes, electives, and even having to dress for PE. Most of the kids Tiffany already knew from the neighborhood are in her class, plus she met some new ones.

Fall in Michigan has brought trees changing colors, and leaves to rake.

Surprisingly Kimberly LOVES yard work.

Give the kid a rake and she's in seventh heaven.

I hope the novelty doesn't wear off.

This is only the first tree to change.

The kids made scarecrows at our town's Harvest Festival

and decorated our yard with them.

A few nights ago, we got BOO'd.

The doorbell rang, and when we answered the door,

we found this adorable little guy attached to a bag of candy.

The instructions say:

1. Eat the CANDY!!!!

2. Make a copy of this picture to boo another neighbor

3. Leave a bag of candy and the copied piece of paper at their doorstep.

Remember to be sneaky.

4. Put the picture of the ghost in your window so everyone can see.

The kids thought this was the coolest thing ever.

I just hope that everyone enjoys winter just as much.

Summertime and Slimy Things

When we first arrived in Michigan this past June,

we stayed with our friend Alex.

Alex has fourteen acres of property.

And one pond.

In that pond were many different forms of life.

Algae, fish, leaches (eww),

and these...

That's a tadpole.

In a jar.

And here he is, swimming up to say hi.

We didn't let the kids keep the tadpoles in jars for very long.

They could look at them for an hour or so

and then had to return them to the pond.

Before long,

they weren't bringing tadpoles up to the house in jars any more.

They were bringing FROGS.

Big frogs.

No jars.

These were returned to the pond much more promptly.

Road Trip Part 2

Yesterday's pictures were the ones I had taken of our road trip to Michigan. There is another side to the story though. We also gave a camera to the kids to document the trip. Here are some of the highlights according to them.

We stopped at Mc Donald's every morning.

See.

Because we had to have these.

Well Jay didn't, because he doesn't like coffee, he had a stash of Red Bull in the cooler in the back of the Suburban, but the rest of us wanted our caffeine in an ice blended caramel and whip cream topped form.

The dogs spent each day laying on the seat in between Kimberly and Tiffany. They falsely believed that the girls' Snuggies were for them and there were quite a few child vs. dog fights while they tried to work this out.

I don't remember seeing this, but the kids found a tire graveyard somewhere along the way.

Midway through Day 2, the Snuggie became a makeshift wall. Kimberly was fed up with being stuck in a car all day with everyone.

Aimee passed the time waving at all the big rig drivers we passed and seeing if they would wave back. There are quite a few pictures like this one of one of the other kids trying to document this process. What we ended up with was a lot of pictures of tractors where you can't make out the driver, let alone if he's waving or not.

No road trip would be complete without a truck with an eagle/flag mural on it's back windows.

And finally, Welcome to PURE Michigan, not just Michigan, but PURE Michigan.

Notice in the lower right hand corner.

That's me, rubbing my temples.

Road Trips and New Places

It seems like just yesterday we were preparing to move to Michigan and had the whole summer ahead of us. Now I find that it's suddenly fall and I haven't blogged in months. Of course we've been busy living life during that time, but I felt I should at least give you the highlights in pictures.

We drove across country from Arizona to Michigan at the beginning of June. We being me, my husband, our three daughters, three dogs, and two cats. Originally we planned to make the trip in four days. Driving with that many beings in a vehicle was so much fun (insert sarcasm here), that we decided to drive a little longer (like 6 hours a day) after the first day, so that we could get to Michigan in only three days. Here are some pictures from our trip.

Have you ever heard that things are bigger in Texas? Well if this cow (bull?) is any indication, that might be true. He was however a little camera shy and started walking the other way when I tried to get his picture.

Sticking with the big in Texas theme, this cross was huge.

Then of course there are your oddities on the road. I think this guy needs a few more bumper stickers. What do you think? He's got a little patch of window there on the right he still may be able to see out of.

Texas doesn't have a monopoly on big things though. The world's largest rocking chair is in Missouri.

Nice custom tail lights.

St Louis Arch. We didn't stop.

By the time we got to Illinois and came across another giant cross, I was beginning to think that Texas didn't have a lock on all things large.

And Finally, we made it to Michigan.

Let's Be Friends

Nine year olds are mean. This is not something I just realized, but something that I am reminded of again now that we finally moved into our own house in Michigan.

We got here about two months ago and for the first month were staying at our business partner's house. He had 14 acres of property so there weren't exactly kids right next door to play with. The kids amused themselves catching frogs in the pond and things were peaceful. With the kids anyway. My husband and our business partner bickered like a married couple. They are good friends, but being that close was straining the friendship. It didn't help that our business partner had a new girlfriend that was moving in around the same time and felt like we were infringing on her turf. We had to find our own place and get out. We'd been looking and looking at houses and a lot of what we looked at was smaller than we were used to. In Arizona nothing is older than 10 years. In Michigan there are 200 year old houses everywhere. I love old houses and the charm and character they possess, but 200 years ago people didn't have ginormous sectional couches or mansion sized California King bedroom sets. Apparently they didn't have enough clothes to warrant a closet in every bedroom either. If you can call an 8x8 space a bedroom. Most of what we looked at would require us to buy all new furniture. So when we found a place to rent that was newer construction, enough square feet for us, and in a neighborhood with excellent schools, we jumped on it. Even though the previous tenants had changed the locks so the property manager couldn't let us in to see the inside. Yup, that's right, we signed a one year lease on a house we hadn't even seen the inside of. Crazy, I know, but desperate times call for desperate measures. The gamble paid off though, because the house is really nice. All our furniture fits. There are a few quirky things I don't like, but they are minor, I can live with them. The timing was perfect. The day we signed our lease was the last day of AYSO soccer sign ups for the area. We were able to get Tiffany signed up for soccer, which made her very happy. Even though the registration deadline had passed for summer school, since it hadn't started yet, and they still had space in the class, I was able to get Aimee signed up to take the first half of the World History class they take here in 9th grade, but Arizona doesn't take until 10th. So she will only have to use one of her electives to make up the other half this year.

Once we started moving in we learned that there were a ton of kids in the neighborhood our kids ages. On one side of us, a girl Aimee's age with a couple of younger brothers Kimberly and Tiff's ages. On the other side, they have a boy Aimee's age, and a girl Tiffany's age. The next house down from them another girl Aimee's age, one a year older than Kimberly, and a boy or two around Tiff's age. There are a ton more, but I'm not sure exactly where they originate in the neighborhood.

The thing is, the nine year old next door, and her other friends from the neighborhood have all been friends since infancy. They've lived in this neighborhood their entire lives and their moms were all pregnant at the same time. That would be a hard group to break into at any age, but there's something about 9 year olds. They aren't "little" kids any more. This year in 4th grade, school will get harder for them as their teachers try to prepare them for middle school. This is the age that cliques start to form and you aren't automatically friends just because you are the same age. Nine year olds are starting to develop a sense of themselves as individuals, and their self esteem is largely based on how much "cooler" they think they are than their peers. They aren't afraid to cut down their friends to make themselves feel superior.

It breaks my heart when Tiff comes home crying because they were mean to her. They let her play and then they ditch her. Or she asks if she can join and they refuse her. I can't go complain to the other parents, because Tiff isn't going to gain any respect with these kids by having a mom that tattles on them. All I can do is try to teach Tiffany that she doesn't have to put up with their BS. She doesn't have to play with them, just because they live in the neighborhood. Two nights ago she came in crying. The kids had ditched her and she was heartbroken. My husband came unglued and told her she couldn't play with them any more. Yesterday, the whole incident and her father's edict were forgotten, and she wanted to go play with them again.

I need a minion

I've always made lists. It's a coping mechanism I taught myself at an early age to deal with my ADD. Even though I didn't know that I had ADD until a few years ago, I knew I suffered from CRS (can't remember shit), so I made lists. Then in 2001 I was in a car accident that scrambled my brain a little and wiped out my short term memory, and I really needed my lists. Before the days of Blackberrys I had a day planner. I'd write down all my appointments and refer to it daily. It had a leather cover and I lovingly called it my Bible. If it were not for that day planner, I probably wouldn't have made it through college. Whenever I had something particularly important to remember, I would enlist the help of friends to give me a call to remind me to look at my day planner. Now I set my Blackberry to remind me. If I lost my phone I would be so dead.

We move in 32 days. I have so much to do, I have multiple lists. I made a big calendar of the six weeks leading up to the move on a poster board. I needed to be able to visually see where the openings were in my schedule with one look. There is a lot going on in the remaining 4 weeks. Forgetting the move for a moment, there is the stuff of normal life that usually keeps my days quite full. There are dentist appointments, doctor appointments, therapist appointments, orthodontist appointments. There is endless laundry to do and weeds that seem to grow back as soon as I pull them up. Then there are the things I have committed to doing such as the American Cancer Society Relay For Life, the school PTA carnival, and chaperoning my 3rd grader's school field trip. Once you add in the move, there is the trip to Disneyland with our cousins from California we are making because we don't know when we will be anywhere near California again, a going away party, and garage sales that need done. The car needs new tires, an oil change, and hopefully a DVD player installed. Have you noticed that I haven't even mentioned packing yet? Somehow I have to fit that in between all that other stuff. And I do mean "I", as in there is only one open weekend left on my big calendar and the hubby might show up at home a week before the move and the kids are in school all day every other day. Oh, and just for the record, we still haven't found a house in Michigan.

So I have lists.

A list of things we need to get/take to the Relay For Life

A list of things that need done to the car to make it roadworthy

A list of things we need to pack for Disneyland

A list of things I need to make sure don't get packed and go with me on the road trip to Michigan

A list of things I need to fix so I get my deposit back

A list of things we may need before we have a new home and therefore need to be on the ass end of the moving truck in case we need to access them while it's in storage

A list of what is not getting moved and getting sold in a garage sale

A list of the hotels we are staying on our road trip along with the touristy stops we are making along the way

Each day I make a to do list for that day. Each day I feel that things get added to my list faster than I can check them off. I need a minion to help me get this all done.

Faith Part 2

Once again I find myself needing to let go of worry and have faith that everything will work out in it's own time. I've been very stressed lately. The much anticipated move to Michigan is rapidly approaching. The moving truck comes in 42 days. In 43 days I set out on a cross country adventure with three kids as well as dogs and cats in tow. The insanity that is trying to drive small humans and pets cross country is going to be lessened by the fact that we are taking a little longer route so we can visit friends all across the country along the way.

Little by little things are coming together. I've got movers booked. I've got friends that volunteered to help. I've planned the road trip and know everywhere we are going to stay along the way. I'm making appointments to get new tires on the car and a DVD player installed for the trip. The last remaining detail is where the movers will be delivering our belongings and where exactly the endpoint of our cross country journey will be. The huge boulder in this path is that we are looking for a house to rent in a small town where there are precious few rentals.

So here is the part where I need to have faith. I went out there in March and the hubby and I looked at a lot of houses in a lot of towns much like the town we live in now, a suburb with mostly tract homes. What we decided is what we really wanted was a house like the one where we were staying. A house on a large lot (13 acres) in a small town. We want to give our kids room to roam and the ability to have things they've never had, like the ability to have big dogs and Kimberly wants to raise chickens. We can't do that in a tract home in the suburbs. We want our kids to have the experience of living out in the country in a small town with small schools where the teachers have the opportunity to build a relationship with each student. We decided which small town had all the things we wanted.

For the last month we have looked and looked in this town for a house for us. So far it isn't there. I'm getting worried. I'm losing sleep. So now it's time to let go and let the solution work itself out. Our perfect house is there somewhere. The one with the porch I can put a rocking chair on and the pond that the hubby can stock with fish. The one where Kimberly can have her chickens and I can plant a garden. It will have a big laundry room where I can sort and fold all the clothes without bumping into things. It will have all the room we need for our family and our enormous home office. It will have room for the piano the kids want me to get so they can take lessons. I know it is there and I just have to have faith that it will find us.