I go in tomorrow for my first teacher work day at St. Paul’s Episcopal Preschool. I will be co-teaching the toddler class from 9-12, Monday through Friday. I cannot wait to get my hands on that die-cut machine. I’m pretty sure my favorite part of working in an elementary school (aside from Lauren Cleary – and the kids, of course), was the seasonal bulletin board. Lets just say I’m a sucker for crafts and holidays.

I’m pretty sure I’m also going to be working 2 evenings a week in the child care center at our YMCA (read: free membership). Ethan, get ready for frozen pizza. The rest of you, please pray for this transition in the lifeofval. Woohoo! Here we go!!

This Melissa & Doug gem was at Stein Mart:

And then I found THIS beauty at one of those stationary stores that sells ceramic platters with words like “family” and “celebrate”  painted on them.

Isn’t it cute? I especially love my birthday month, which I always look for in a calendar. If I didn’t already have a super stylish planner for this school year (couldn’t find a pic), I would have been tempted to browse the ones on paper-source.

Carver going pee and poop on the potty! Nothing monumental, we’re just getting him used to it, but its still a start!

Homemade bread and green minestrone…mmmm

My brilliant, successful husband kicking exam-week booty. Even better: break-week and our staycation. A few items on the agenda for next week: Ikea, backyard chickens, fishing and maybe some mountains.

What doesn’t make me so happy? Parent/child swim lessons at the Y make me feel like I need to buy a grown-up mom bathing suit. I am not ready for this.

Not that I ever drive far from home. Pretty much anywhere I go: grocery, YMCA, playground is within 2 miles. I think I may have mentioned that before. I think I also may have mentioned that I’m reading A Walk in the Woods by Bill Bryson (I’m a slow reader, ok?). He recounts his story of hiking the Appalachian Trail with humor and lots of interesting information about the trail, nature and America in general. He points out how silly it is that we all drive everywhere. He knows one woman who drives less than a mile to her gym only to walk on the treadmill and then complain about how hard it was to find a parking spot.

I was walking Carver the 15 minute stroll to preschool when he was going for summer program. Unfortunately the preschool I’m working at in the fall isn’t as close and is realistically, un-walkable for us. We do walk to the mail desk at the hospital for all our postal needs and I guess I could walk to the grocery store, but would have to disaparate my groceries. There is both a gentleman’s club and a laundromat within walking distance, but we all know I have no need for either of those. Next on my list is to find a credit union or bank, proximity being my #1 criteria. Wow, I can’t believe you are still reading my ramblings about pedestrian life when I should be telling you about Carver chasing birds at the beach.

He did. And it was really cute. We visited my family in Tampa/St.Pete for a week and it was wonderful. Despite a mystery rash that appeared the day after we got there and disappeared 3 days later, C had lots of fun. He got to see lots of people (and a dog) that he loves and couldn’t get enough of the sand and water. Grandma Portia bought him adorable sunglasses that -surprisingly- he wore most of the weekend. He also loved laying on the raft, riding the waves. I can just imagine the feeling he had as he went to bed those nights, falling asleep pleasantly exhausted, still sensing the sway of the ocean. Vacation at the beach is like none other. There’s something so nice about just taking a nap in the hot sun and not feeling like you should be doing dishes or planning dinner. And it was priceless to be with my family for so long. One of my favorite memories is looking out on the balcony to see my dad and Carver sharing a popsicle. Another favorite was right when we got off the plane and Carver saw my mom (Noanie), reached right for her and wouldn’t come back to me.

I heard it got up to 101 in Winston while I was gone. Anyway, there’s no trace of that left- the past 2 days have been extremely pleasant with cool breezes and dare I say a slight chill in the air. Carver and I were eating peaches on the porch after he woke up from his nap today, watching the rain and I was both chilly and so glad to be back in NC. Its also good to be back in routine, and most of all, with my brilliant, good-looking husband. I love that a good bit apart makes us so thankful for each other. It makes me laugh even harder at his jokes and spoon even longer at night. Like I said, back in business.

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.

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.

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

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.

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…

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…