Life of Val

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…