Life of Val

Howdy, neighbor

What, in life could be more valuable than great neighbors?  Having recently moved here, I am acutely aware of their impact on my daily life. After having our car worked on for the 3rd time in less than a month I was, lets just say, less than happy when it was STILL making that noise after I picked it up today. I pulled into our driveway in tears. As neighbor “M” (who had just given me a ride to the shop) consoled me, she pointed out that aside from death or divorce we have just faced all of life’s biggest stresses: new move, new jobs, financial adjustment, etc. This made me feel quite a bit better. Our other neighbor, we’ll call her “C” had offered to watch Carver while we drove to the shop, so we headed down there to pick him up.

To cheer me up, neighbor M invited us to the pool where they are members (think community pool from Sandlot). We sat in our bathing suits and ate pizza while Carver chewed on sand from the volleyball court. It was just what the doctor ordered. Mostly all of our friends on the street are the type of people that participate in a produce co-ops or CSAs. They share mulch, they go to the Y, they carpool, they have cookouts, they stand around and talk as their kids play. They give me lots of reasons to be happy here.

Found and Lost. Dang it!

One of the many things Ardmore (our neighborhood) does well is garage sales.  Last Saturday E spotted an old church pew sample that looked almost exactly like this:

We were trying to decide on an offer when garage sale lady told us she had just sold it for $15. Dang it!!!!!!!!!

It would have been so cute and quirky, recovered in fabric like this Amy Butler print:

PS- I know I just mentioned that I can’t post pictures. I meant I can’t upload my own. These are from google images. JTLYK.

Drowsy, but ambitious

I’m contemplating a move back to blogspot. I’m not sure about it yet and I want to be really sure because moving blogs 3 times would just be beyond annoying. Honestly, my biggest motivation to relocate in the first place to LOV was that I didn’t like my old name.  I’m sure I had other reasons too, like Erik setting up this awesome layout for me, but I can’t get pictures to work here. All that being said, I did post pictures on facebook. Check em out.

I think I might do a triathlon this September. I did a half marathon in February and thought it would be a fun goal to try and do a run every spring and a tri every fall. (And by fun, I mean a way to get back in shape before I fill my uterus with baby again.) I’m currently reading A Walk in the Woods, by Bill Bryson. He intros the book by sharing a mistake he made. He had the idea to walk the Appalachian Trail and decided to announce his idea to all his friends and family. This is why I say I might do a triathlon. I would only have 10 weeks to train and this is the schedule I want to follow (starting tomorrow!)

Did I mention I’m going to be a preschool teacher??? More details to come. I’m so so so excited.

Other quick updates:

We’re taking the car in tomorrow AGAIN. It started getting the hiccups on the way to church. I am seriously contemplating life without a car. Seriously.

The Stonerook 3 are sick. Boo. The virus hit in typical order: C,V, then E. Carver’s nose started running on Friday, last night I had the excessive drool/have to sleep at an extreme incline night and now Ethan is starting to get the itchy throat. If this post seems a little off its because I took Tylenol PM about 2 hours ago.

Ethan got a 100% on his first PA school test! Did I mention I have a brilliant husband?

If you’re reading this, I probably miss you!

xoxo, Val

Val and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day

**I need to preface this post by saying that despite all the bad, there was, in fact, a lot of good last week. I loved the time I got to spend with our friends and family. It just ended on a bad note.

The second time I cried last Wednesday was a heavy sob after I got off the phone with the rude pizza lady. The first was at McDonalds over a snack-sized McFlurry. Here’s why:

It all started with the normal scramble to clean the house, pack and get on the road. Ethan, Carver and I were about to embark on a trip back to Gainesville for a wedding. I did a pretty decent job of preparation. I finally decided on a dress to wear, set out a bunch of ant killer… you know, the usual. We picked Ethan up from class and were on the road by 5:00, Thursday night. Our time in the car was accompanied by an average amount of protest from Carver, some goofy delirium from the late night driver and then a few “hiccups” from the engine. Ethan called his dad, who said we might need to change the fuel filter and we kept on driving. We made it to Gainesville sleepy, but safe at about 3:00 AM.

However, around lunch time the next day Ethan tried to start our car with no success. We didn’t think it was that big of a deal. Ethan and Dan would change the fuel filter later. We all crammed in the Dourte’s car and headed to Moe’s. Dan said we could borrow their car for the rehearsal and they would work on the Blazer that afternoon. Manly men that they are, they changed the fuel filter, but the car still wouldn’t start. At that point I wasn’t too stressed out. “Everything’s going to work out,” I like to say. The only problem was, after I dropped E off at the rehearsal, I couldn’t start the Dourte’s car. Hint: don’t let me borrow your car. This actually turned out to be an easy fix and I made it back in time to change for the rehearsal dinner. After a glass of wine and hanging out with friends at dinner, I was feeling optimistic again. I mean, what else could happen?

Then, Saturday happened. I was out to breakfast with some girlfriends and I got a text from Ethan asking for the phone number to the urgent care center. Folks, this is never a good sign. Apparently, Carver was wheezing so bad Ethan didn’t know if he could breathe. By the mercy and grace of God, I had packed his inhaler. Its not like we knew he had asthma. Its not even that we have used that inhaler in the past several months. It is literally because while I was packing, the Holy Spirit was like, “Hey, Val, I think you should reach over there and throw Carver’s Albuterol in the bag.” The inhaler started working and we decided to have our friends look at C (I happened to be at breakfast with a pediatric nurse practitioner, a nurse and a doctor who were staying with another friend of ours who is a physician assistant). We brought Carver over to our friends’ house and PJ, the PA gave us a prescription of Singulair which has been helping a lot.

We couldn’t find a mechanic that was open, so Ethan booked a rental car and we decided that I would just stay in town until the car was fixed. As Natalie reminded me, that was the plan I was hoping for in the first place. Well, the staying in Gainesville part. Not so much the broken-down car part. So we forgot our troubles and danced the night away.

The next few days happened without too many hitches. Carver did manage to knock over and break not one, but two of my sister’s floor lamps. At least they matched? At least one of them still works? At least in the light of everything else that had happened this wasn’t too frustrating? Pick your favorite excuse and go with it. I did.

$832.15 later I got the car back. I decided to leave early Wednesday morning to head back. Carver did really well and things were going smoothly until I started to feel the car hiccup again. By this point, we were already in Georgia. Ethan’s dad recommended I try and keep the car running, even when we stopped for gas. So, I held my pee and kept Carver strapped in until neither of us could take it anymore. I was pretty nervous as I tried to start the car at that gas station in SC, but it worked! We were over half way there. Carver even took a nap. Then the heavy traffic in Charlotte rolled in like thunder before a lightning strike. And boom! The car completely stopped working. Completely. I managed to pull over onto the shoulder and shortly after a generous woman also pulled over to help. She gave us a ride to McDonalds where Ethan picked us up.

Now were back at our new home with a working car. The dealership we had it towed to made a few quick fixes and had it back to us within 24 hours. Needless to say, I will be looking for plane tickets next time.

Some not so bad, very wonderful parts of the weekend:

Getting to see my Gville friends.

Watching my husband on the dance floor.

Going to the pool with Tampa Grandpa and the kids.

Play group at Sun Country!

A wonderful Father’s Day breakfast.

Time with my sister.

Industrial Vacuums and (of course) The Move

Item #74 on my list of things not to take for granted the next time I’m familiar with the city I live in: knowing where I can vacuum my car. After pulling into a dozen different gas stations today, I was about to give up. But then, I spotted it, a glimmering beacon of hope, an Exxon with not just 1, but 2 vacuum stations. After the 11 hour trek from Gainesville to Winston-Salem, the floor to our Blazer had turned into somewhat of a crumb factory. Nevertheless, I eventually found the vacuum and put it to work. Front seats, check. Back seat, check. Pretzels, goldfish, cheerios on the backseat floor, check. Then I proceeded to vacuum my son.

Now this raises 2 questions. 1- what kind of traumatizing mother am I? The kid already had vacuum issues. 2- why do I continue to buy the lowfat oatmeal raisin granola bars? Seriously, in all my months of buying them I have never seen a bar stay in one piece. I know why I started buying them. Its because I wanted to avoid the chocolate mess. But at least chocolate sticks to the face and fingers. These oatmeal raisin kind crumble to pieces the instant Carver gets ahold of them. I don’t know if I’m willing to give up snacks in the car altogether. I have yet to find a good solution, but still have hope.

Aside from messiness, the move went very smoothly. Carver was outstanding. We didn’t get any complaints from the carseat region until 20 minutes before we pulled into our new driveway. What a trooper! We have pretty much settled in, house-wise. Let me tell you, natural lighting and modern neutral paint make a world of difference. We are definitely still finding our way around town, but we’ve got the essentials (playgrounds, grocery store, Moe’s) covered. Carver and I are making a slow attempt at getting to know the stay-at-home-mom and kid scene. And although Winston has got a lot to live up to (we did use to live within walking distance of a museum, several playgrounds, a lake and a pool), we’ve got a good head start with our street here. Our block reminds me of the 4th of July scene from The Sandlot. In fact, we had a neighborhood baseball game in our yard this afternoon. Thanks to the fireflies, hydrangeas, and general southern hospitality that lines our block, I’d say my favorite thing about W-S so far is our neighborhood.

Good news, folks. Ethan got a computer upon entry into his program. That means I’m writing to you from my very own computer! We had a little scare, but  now its fully equipped with a new AC adapter and ready for all the blogs I can manage. So as long as Carver keeps up his 2 hour naps he’s been taking, I hope to keep you a little more updated than I have over the past several months. Now, off to watch Lost…

Can’t I bring it all with us?

I know this place needs a makeover…I know I haven’t been here in a while…I know this won’t recap all I’ve skipped…

but give me a break! The computer has been kidnapped while Ethan has been in the final stages of finishing his thesis and I’m going to use that as my excuse. Don’t get too excited, this isn’t my final comeback, just a sneak preview. I basically decided my facebook status was getting ridiculously long and that I should post my favorite parts of today here instead:

Carver, Kennon and I running and spinning around the living room in pure joy (celebrating the fact that I had moved all the furniture out to vacuum, of course)

Going on a walk with a very relaxed husband of mine (AMEN!) and our sweet sweet son who gives us more hugs than we deserve

Hanging out with our friends after Moes. The Office wasn’t on so we just hung out instead. I LOVE our friends. Sigh…

Sista sista

(Deep breath) I think I would be fine with having all boys. This is saying a lot, because I have always had a passion for french-braiding. However, little 8lb. 6oz. Aubrey Michelle came into this world last night and practically overflowed the girly shaped hole in my heart that craves a daughter. I’m not saying I wouldn’t be delighted to have a girl of my own, just that I know my niece and I will have a special bond. I can’t wait to take her to gymnastics meets, buy her a jewelry box, paint with her or be there for her when she has boy issues she doesn’t want to talk to her mom about. No offense, Nat.

Girls are so thoughtful. 5 year old Elsie was hanging out the other day at play group and wanted to talk about nicknames. I told her nicknames can be based off of one’s characteristics or their real name. About an hour later she came up to me again and said she thought “Carvie” was a great nickname for Carver. What a sweetheart. Then somehow, it came about that we will all call Amanda “Ms. America.”

Pictures and more on Aubrey soon!

Babysitters are people too

One thing I love about Ethan is that he calls me pretty during some of my most flustered, frizzy-haired, strawberry-stains-on-my-shirt moments. Today when he got home from work (which is at lunch time these days) he said “Hi, cute lady.” I guess my look told him I didn’t feel too cute because he asked me if I was okay. “Yeah, I just want to feel like a person, not a babysitter,” I said. He responded, “Babysitters are people too.”

Despite a little fluster which happens everyday right before Carver and Kennon’s nap time, I have felt very much like a person lately:

A person who runs half marathons (1 2010 goal checked off!)

A person who gets pedicures with her little sister who could go into labor at any moment

A person with a 1 year old who can walk!

A person who gets butterflies when I think about moving in 3 months…

Its Friday and its good to be blogging. If I was going to catch you up, I would tell you about Ethan getting cut to half-time, God abundantly providing for us, Carver’s “cyclical vomiting” for the past 30 days and the calendar I’m making for him, but I won’t. I’m going to go play with my 2 favorite boys.

Have a wonderful weekend!

Dear Carver,

I can’t begin to tell you how my life has changed and how much joy you’ve brought me this year. It seems as though my day revolves around you now, and yet you’ve just fit right in to our lives like you belonged here all along. I never knew I could love someone like I love you. I delight in watching you grow and learn, and my heart aches to see you upset or pained. I am so curious about who you will become, but I do know God has big plans for you. Its hard for me to say goodbye to your firt year of life-the best year of mine. We have overcome struggles together and shared many laughs. I love you more than you will ever understand. Happy birthday little bug.

Questions for the ages

Why is running 4 miles behind 50 lbs of toddler easier than 4 miles on a treadmill?

How the how did the remote control battery end up in the recycling bin (which is in a child-proof latched cabinet)?