Bucket List

It has been quite a week.
After feeling like I was coming down with a little cold yesterday, I got mowed down by a head cold today.
Mowed down as in I didn't even get out of bed until 3pm.
Hopefully I can get this joint picked up when Jim and the Urchins are off at a Halloween party because it is, shall we say...cluttered.     
I just need to load up the groceries for pickup tomorrow at Wal-Mart (yes, I just wrote that out loud - grocery pick up at Wal-Mart has changed my life) and we'll be all set for next week.  

So.
After lamenting the past couple months that I'm going to be a 40 -year-old-homeshooling-mother-of-4-living-in-Oklahoma, I think I'm finally coming to terms with it.
We are here for a reason.
We came here for a job that Jim will love and a lower cost of living.
Looks like we're going to be get the job and the lower COL along with a better education for the kids, the ability to pay down our debt  AND the opportunity to go on Adventures we would have never been able to imagine before. 
Yes.  I miss my friends dearly.  Maryland and Worcester were very special places in that we have friends that have become family.  To the point where our church bulletin was looking for parishioners to submit pictures of their family members that are active service / military veterans for prayers during the month of November.  I came up with no less than four people I was going to submit - only to realize we weren't related by blood.
I'm submitting them anyway.
 
The two older kids have completed their home-school placement testing and did much better than I was expecting. Especially Sam - who just seems to "speak math".  I was watching him out of the corner of my eye doing his placement test.  I assumed he was wandering off into Sam-Land.  When I looked at his paper, all the calculations were done.  In.  His.  Head.
He showed me.
We've decided to use Singapore Math and the Calvert Curriculum this year.   It IS pricier than I had hoped - but for now, what we need is the equivalent to "Homeschooling for StupidHeads" to at least get us through the first year and into a good routine.
We will see how things need to be tweaked from there.
We're still aiming for the Thanksgiving time-frame to get the home school initiated.  It was on the schedule to get the dining room painted last week, but it didn't happen.


You see, Pops, Jim and I got to go to the World Series in Houston.
Matt called last Sunday to give us his tickets.  It is an amazing gesture.  I cried.
Going to the World Series is something I have dreamed of since I was a little girl, hiding under my sheets in Middleville, listening to the Mets broadcasts on WFAN on a  hand-held radio.

It was a dream I had, but never bothered to say out loud - since I knew that ticket costs were out of reach and, especially at this point in life, we have so many better uses for the money.
In an attempt to say Thank You in ways I best know how...Benjamin and I spent the week busily baking.  12 dozen chocolate cookies.  50 waffles to freeze. 50 tortillas to be made into chips.  Pasta.  Anything else we could come up with to bring down with us.
It's all insufficient - how do you say "Thank you" for the fulfillment of a childhood dream?
By enjoying the crap out of the game?
I did just that.
Just looked around and took it all in.
I cried like a little girl entering the ballpark and at multiple other times during the game.
I'm pretty sure Pops got teary, too.  

Pops and me in our Graceland. 

In front of Pops Standing Room area.  We tried to come down and switch out with him every couple of innings - but he didn't want to move because he had a good vantage point for pictures.  

 See?
He done good with the pics. 

Courtesy of Pops

I think that Turner has his own ecosystem contained in that beard of his

.  Courtesy of Pops. 

Courtesy of Pops

Courtesy of Pops

These were the view from our seats.  Pretty freaking incredible, huh?

The vibe of the game was amazing.    
So very different than at Fenway or Yankee Stadium.
-At Fenway, the park is so small that you feel you're in a pinball machine. The dude in the next seat over is so close he is practically sitting on your lap.  The hotdogs are pulled out of a solution resembling swamp water.  Vendors are boorish.  Fans are crude, though adorably so.  The game is watched and enjoyed, and, as is in places with tangible history, legacies sneak in -and-  no matter what the standings say - the ever-present worry about the Yankees.
-At Old Yankee Stadium, it was the same feel - only different.  Walking in and seeing the huge white facade and Monument Park,  eerily resembling a graveyard, gave me the feeling I was a spectator at a gladiator match in the Roman Coliseum. 
-I don't know if it was because it was the World Series or because of everything the city of Houston has been though - but everyone that was there seemed to be simply enjoying the moment.  The cheers were just as loud when the Astros were winning as when they were losing.  There was a pleasant sense of tunnel vision.  Of contentment and pride and resolve.
There were grown men sitting behind us that were life-long Texans.  Rough around the edges but chivalrous to a fault.  Giving us a play-by-play commentary could only be described as John Wayne meets Statler & Waldorf.  These guys were crying genuine tears when the Astros took the field.  So was I .  I looked back and commented that I was glad I wasn't the only one with leaky eyeballs and he replied, "I'm just so glad and proud to be right here, right now.  I'm so thankful."
It was that kind of a night.

Then we get pics of this from Michele and Matt and we know everything is okay on the home-front.

I did a double take.  

I'm hoping this one is root beer, too.  He wanted the coozy to keep his hands warm. 

I have no idea what they're doing.  I"m learning not to ask questions I don't really want to know the answer to. 

The kids hung out in the neighbor's garage watching the game on the big screen.  It was 50 degrees.  Downright arctic by Texas standards.  Rookie resorted to snuggling with Sam to maintain his body temperature. 

This was after the sugar high wore off.  Matt said it was somewhere around the 4th inning.  Frankly, I think the kids let them off too easy by passing out so soon. 

And...not to be outdone...we got this picture from Patrick asking if he should go to the ER or wait. Punk was putting make-up on and practicing for Halloween.  . 

It was the best possible kind of weekend.
Amen.  

Initiation.

Well.
Remember how we were going to get the garage and the storm shelter cleaned out yesterday because we had some weather coming in?
Good news!
The garage looks awesome and we can park the van in it now!
Not so good news...
We never got to do the storm shelter yesterday.  We figured that since it was October and the tornadic threat level was listed as "marginal" - we were all set.
Right?
Suuuuuuure....

Benjamin and I were at a birthday party when the Tornado Watch Alert came out on everyone's phone.  It was us and one other family that were newbies in Oklahoma that *might* have peed our pants just a little when the weather notification showed up.  The rest of the parents there  noticed and were nice enough to give us the run-down of what to expect.
-They pointed out that since there was cloud cover, the tornado sirens were not tested that morning.  I hadn't even noticed.
-We were told what apps to put on our phones,  what television channels to watch (weather is the reason there is such good free tv reception here), to look out for green sky, what to have in our TO-GO bags and to do exactly what the weather people said.
-Most of all, they were nice enough to tell us not to panic...but after all that...it was kind of hard not to.
We pulled up our big kid pants did our regular Saturday routine and went to Mass.
When we got out of church, we noticed the air was heavy and the wind had switched direction.
We were joking we would just watch the weather and listen to the baseball game as we had our smoothie and popcorn dinner.
Then this came up on the phone:

 See Edmond there?
Sh*t just got real.
Into planning mode we went.
Being the newbies we are, we probably went a bit overboard - but looking back - I'm glad we did it.  We got snacks, a change of clothes for everyone, flashlights, a radio, our important documents and the cats in the carriers.
Everything got set next to the door that leads out to the porch and the shelter.
Then we sat and watched.
Fine.
I drank, too.  Fireball seemed appropriate.

We watched the television.
One of the things that we were told was "When the television stations stop playing programming and every station has the weather, that's when you need to worry."
Okay.
We switched back and forth from the weather to "Wonder Woman".  It was cool.  We were calm.
And then all the channels were playing weather.
Crap.
Back in Watching and Waiting Mode.
We were continually amazed by the specificity of the forecasting.  The meteorologists were giving block-by-block warnings.  Things like, "If you're in the McDonalds in Chickasha - you need to take cover now.  If you are in the south part of OU campus- you have 3 minutes, if you are within 3 blocks of Wilson Elementary - you have 5 minutes..."
Remarkable, really.
We were able to calm the kids down by reminding them that the National Weather Service is right down the street in Norman and the forecasters there are the best in the world.
So - while we were nervous, we were prepared and felt rather safe.
Weird, huh?
I still feel like living in Oklahoma is my penance for being a Snotty Yankee and scared of tornadoes.
But I"m coming to terms with that.

Things calmed down about 10pm and we were all able to get to bed.
Everyone woke up about 9.  I think all the excitement wore us out.

We cleaned the shelter today.  I have to get some varmit proof rubbermaid containers to do some food/blanket/radio/flashlight storage.
I"m pretty sure I"m stashing a pair of ruby slippers down there, too.
Then we're good.
I think.

People back East keep asking us what our shelter looks like.
It's 8'x4'x4' and there is a bulkhead leading down to it just off our back porch.

Nothing grand.  It's about the size of the back of a minivan.
No room for anything but 6 people, 3 cats and a tote of essentials.
There is a fine line between "ordeal" and "adventure".
We were able to keep it on the "adventure" side last night. 

Turner Falls

It's 8:30 on a Saturday morning.
I"ve got my walking in and laundry started.  I conned talked Jim into taking the youngest two boys into work with him to deliver some goodies.  The older two are still sleeping.
The house is a disaster, laundry is piled high and we've got to get the garage and storm shelters hoed out today because there will be some severe weather coming through tonight with the risk of tornadoes.
Yup - we're the noobs in Tornado Alley, but if it gets our butts in gear and helps us get at least one car in the garage - I'll go with it.

The kids are on Fall Break.  The weather has been gorgeous and it has been good to have a couple days just to be.
We ran around on Thursday doing errands and then had some neighborhood kids over in the afternoon.  It made my heart happy to have extra urchins around.

The kids have been struggling with the concept of "home" recently.  When they're sad and missing things, we've been hearing "I want to go home" a lot.
I get that.  I really do - I miss my friends keenly.
We really want the kids to start to understand the concept that home is where we are now AND where the people we love are.  They are blessed to have more than one home.
So we printed out maps of the places we have lived, marked up the maps and hung them in our entryway.  We have maps of NY, VA and NH to get frames for.
I realize that the current layout looks like a big smiley face and will fix that - but it's a good start.
 I really love it.    

Yesterday we ventured down into the heart of Chickasaw Nation to see what we could see.
We drove about 75 miles south of Oklahoma City into a landscape consisting of less prairie and more rolling hills.  We saw what we think was a buffalo wallow and a herd of Mustangs.  The soil was decidedly red and then almost instantly, about 70 miles into the dive, the ground became a grey color, trees were abundant and we saw  mountains!
Okay - they would be hills in most other places - but in Oklahoma they are mountains!
Who knew?
It's already considered "winter" here by the locals - at least enough to change the admission price for entrance into parks - but it was 80 degrees and we needed to get out of the car to get some wiggles out.
Look what we found.
Turner Falls.
Never in my life have I seen water like this.  Crystal clear - like the Caribbean.
It was amazing.
The facilities are poorly kept, but the scenery made up for that.
Thank goodness we brought our standard Adventure Kit -  life jackets, water shoes, lunch and an extra set of clothes for everyone.

See the sign that says "Do Not go beyond this point"?  Nate had to get as close to that sign as humanly possible without going past it. 

The proprietary fees to use this picture would be way less for Christmas cards, as Pops pointed out.  But since the cards are already printed...I just have to stick with the plan. 

I totally needed a beer when we got home. 

"Mama!  Take a picture of silly me!"   See Nate trying to sneak up to go past the sign when he thought I wasn't looking?

Glad I brought the life vests.  The water was very shallow in some places but then would 5 feet deep with the next step.  The water was so clear that it was easy to see where the drop offs were, but with so many kids it was impossible for me to be within arm's reach of everyone at the same time.  Life vests will be standard adventure fare in the car from now on. 

Nate would go up to the top of a part of the stream, lie on his back and float down as far as he could.  He would then get up, walk to the top and do it again.  Didn't matter that the water was 50 degrees.  He did say, "My penis is so cold it has icicles on it," once - then he sat in a shallow, warmer pool for 5 minutes, announced he was sufficiently defrosted and resumed his previous pattern of floating. 

See how different the landscape is?  The soil isn't clay and the rocks are granite.  We spotted a couple fossils embedded in the stones.  I foresee some geology lessons and field trips in our future.   

Bathing suits?  Who needs those?

Sam got in the water!  He stumbled once he was in and got wet up to his neck.  After that there was no getting him out. 

There were 6-8" long fish in the stream.  They didn't swim away from the kids.  Sam was in awe. 

In the process of developing icicles in regions unspeakable. 

The kids were jumping off the ledges and into the water. 

It was a great day.
Everyone is a bit hung-over from it this morning.
Many people I've spoken to that have lived here their whole lives haven't seen or done what we did today.
There are advantages to being a tourist where you live. 

Fall Break

Happy Fall Break!
I guess it's an Oklahoma thing - but getting a 3 day break in the middle of Autumn is nothing I'm going to complain about. 
Caroline has finished her testing to be submitted for the placement for homeschooling.  Sam is in the throes of it.  I have to catch him when he is in the exact right frame of mind or else getting anything done is rather torturous. 

The glass of wine is key to this picture.  Especially since it's only 4:45.  I rationalized it by knowing that it's 6:45 on Prince Edward Island.  I'm also comforting myself with the fact that it's 52 degrees in Charlottetown and a balmy 81 here.  There are some advantages - and 80 degree weather in October is one of them - even if it is in Oklahoma.  

We're almost done unpacking the stuff we haven't shoved into the garage because we're sick of looking at it.    I hope to start painting the dining room next week to start the transition of it into our School Room.  We still haven't decided what the exact plan or the exact time frame will be - but we're taking steps daily to get us there. 
Getting the garage organized will be a different animal all together since we're down about 500 square feet, but it will get done.  We need to be able to get the cars in there once the weather changes.  And I'm totally pulling the girly-girl card with cleaning out the storm shelter.  That *has* to be done and stocked before spring.  
As far as the schooling, though - I hope to have the curriculum folks for a sit-down next week to ascertain where everyone will be and then once things are set up - it's on like Donkey Kong. 
Getting used to the difference in learning styles between the kids I think will be a challenge.  Sam needs no distractions and a regular routine.  Caroline is much more of a free spirit.  Nate needs very specific signals as to when it IS and IS NOT school time.  I'm trying to figure out how to do all of this - I know it will be a lot of trial and error. 

Adventuring and Getting Some Stuff Done.

Moving here has been a process. 
We still have about 10 or so boxes to unpack and put away, but we have made some progress. 
When Pops was here this week, we were able to get our hands on a ladder and get into the attic. 
The previous owners of our house were nice enough to leave lots and lots of stuff garbage sh*t trash up there for us to deal with - including 2 beds, a computer, wooden models, a nasty composite desk, a falling apart cabinet, a volleyball net, crutches, lots of various pieces of scrap wood and over 20 old gallons of paint.  You know, all the stuff that requires special arrangements to throw away because it's not allowed to be disposed of in the regular trash?
Awww...such a nice welcoming present. 
After many calls, we were able to arrange pickup for much of it with the city for a reasonable price. 
Then we took pictures of all the trash we hauled and called our realtor who graciously volunteered to reimburse us for our trouble. 
Lessons learned. 
We were also able to dig out all the woody Knock-Out Roses, trim overgrown trees and excavate the rampant vines, flocks and day lilies impeding the front walkway.  I"ve also started researching the best plants to put in there so we can have indigenous, continuous blooms.  
It feels good to actually get some things accomplished and see improvement. 
Of course, there will be many more trips to the Donation Center because we still just have too much stuff.  The house is smaller and we now need a school room while down a blue room, shed, work room, basement and storage room - so space is at a premium. 
The good news is that we're starting to have a vision about what we want things to look like. 
The bad news is that it's going to take a while to get there. 
And...according to our track record...as soon as we get someplace near to what we want, it will be time to move again. 
But at least we know what we're dealing with. 

Speaking of knowing what you're dealing with...
don't leave your cell phone unattended around Nate. 

We drove 7.5 hours down to San Antonio last weekend to adventure with some dear friends. 
The kids got to live out their history dreams at the Alamo and Jim and I got some quality friend time in, which was much appreciated. 

While the adults were listening intently to a lecture, the boys took it upon themselves to build their own Alamo. 

Ben and Tommy exploring.

The 6 Amigos

Living out his History Dream

Adventuring Friends.

Steak

It's 7:30, the sun has just come up. 
Workout done, coffee in hand, dryer going, Nate coloring at the kitchen table. 
Sigh. 
Quiet is wonderful. 

Yesterday we decided to embrace Oklahoma and get something here that we couldn't get other places. 
That's right. 
Steak. 

I like meat.  Steak is a nice treat, but I don't love it. 
Until now. 
I didn't know that meat could melt in my mouth. 
I made Jim promise NOT to tell me how much it cost.