Settling In

The first week in the new place I spent unpacking and hanging out with the kids. Savannah was only going to be here for one week before she returned to New Orleans and that was weighing heavily on my heart and mind. I got the kids room set up first so that they had a sense of order and familiarity. I worked on the kitchen, living room and my bedroom and bathroom as the boxes came.
In an attempt to make memories and spend some time with my daughter I "made" her play Scrabble with Kevin and I! I loved every minute of it but she thought it was boring and when her dad called to talk to her she complained heartily about it, but always with a smile. She knew she was doing it for me and maybe when she looks back she will remember my effort and not how bored she felt.
Exactly one week after we unlocked the front door for the first time, I packed Savannah into the Explorer and headed to the Fort Lauderdale International Airport. I enjoy the last hour or so with her when we drive to the airport, check in bags, crawl through security and wait for the flight. It's private time amidst a jumble of strangers. Somehow I feel closer to her but it's always with a mixture of heart ache and fierce pride that I see her go. I have always loved her with all my heart, and been proud of her as a mother is of a daughter, but since the day she started flying on a plane by herself I have been a little bit awed by her strength and courage. It is with these intense feelings that I watch her walk down the jetway and board the plane. She always looks back and waves and I love that. I wonder how her travel experiences as a child will shape who she is as an adult. I know it will make the world a little smaller and more easily accessible for her, and if she finds the world easy to navigate, what amazing places and opportunities will she find? I anxiously await the future.

Fearless
Courageous
Smart
Confident
Worldly
Proactive
Fierce
Protective
Vibrant

SAVANNAH

Unpacking The Truck

The morning of the move Kevin buckled the boys in the moving truck and we headed south, down I-95, towards our new home in Sunrise. I was driving the Explorer, Savannah by my side, fuzzy ferrets at my elbow and Aunt JoAnn's beautiful, heirloom oriental furniture loaded in back.
It was a beautiful, sunny day and I had to call my dad to tell him about my new journey in life. Well, he was underwhelmed to say the least. I feel like I'm living my life and he's missing out on it. What bothers me the most is that I feel more pain in the fact than he does. (At least to my knowledge.) What I learn from him nowadays is how not to act, when sadly, I used to aspire to be like him. I steeled myself after the phone call and looked ahead to the living love I had right beside me and in the 27' moving truck in front of me.
We pulled into our circle drive and hour and twenty minutes later. We all piled out of the vehicles and took in our new surroundings. Austin and Casey were running around the driveway and front porch while Savannah and I waited to get inside and check out the house. We had not seen the house for about a month. It was to be cleaned and all the previous tennant's paraphenalia removed so we could feather our nest. All seemed to be on the up and up as we looked around. I fell in love with the view from my bedroom sliders all over again. I was lucky to have such a pretty back yard.
First "things" to be unpacked were the ferrets and ferrets supplies! We put the fuzzies in the Florida room and began the arduous process of
unloading the truck by ourselves this time. Just Kevin and I, and the kids. How was this going to turn out?! LOL! Where there's a will there's a way! We started unpacking the moving truck and the Explorer and things were running very smoothly. Everyone was pitching in and not too much complaining besides. Finally the charming little yellow kitchen was so full of boxes that Savannah had the idea that she would unpack the boxes and start organizing the cabinets. Great! I love that she is almost a fully functioning chica! Bonus! So she started arranging the dishes and containers, medicines and spices and finally the cleaning products when I hear,"Mom, where do you want the chemicals?"
"Under the kitchen sink," I reply.
"Ummmmm, Mom! Come here and look at this."
"What?"
"I think it's a dead rat!"
"What!?!" Savannah opens the cabinet for me to see and sure enough there is a huge, dead, stinking rat under the kitchen sink. If that wasn't enough, the rat's body was so infested with maggots that the body was still moving. "Ughhhhhh! Keeeeeevvviinnnnnn! Get in here! Now!"
If there is one thing I am inherently incapable of dealing with, it's maggots. I feel sick to my stomach just sitting here writing about it. Kevin, however, has pictures of the mess on his phone to this very day! (Puke!) Why? I'll never know. Kevin came in and confirmed that yes we had a dead ratand texted pictures to the landlord and our real estate agent. They were both hugely apologetic and the landlord had pest control out the very next day. Unfortunately for Kevin, the mess had to be cleaned immediately and he was the man for the job. (Sorry, dude.)
The presence of the rat made me wonder about wether or not the house had really been cleaned after all. So I started checking and, sure enough, the house was only surface cleaned. Having cleaned professionally for almost five years I was really looking forward to moving into a house that I didn't have to pre-clean. Sigh. Dream on, lady. Now my work is doubled. I have to unload the truck, clean the house, then unpack the boxes, then organize everything. And when you move from house to house not everything you had from the old house is right and useful for the new house so inevitably you have to plan a garage sale, which involves storing all the items until you do so.
Well, it is what it is so onward. When we first looked at the house we met the neighbors, Pam and Nelson. When we moved in the same neighbors were outside and they smiled and waved and made us feel very welcome. Shortly another couple came over and introduced themselves. They were Paul and Dolores. Next we had Sophie from the other side and finally Ron came and introduced himself. I have lived in Florida for four-and-a-half years and never once has any neighbor, anywhere, come and introduced themselves. Kevin and I are very friendly, sociable people so I got the feeling we had chosen the right block for our family. As a matter of fact, before we were finished unloading the truck, Paul came over and offered to lend a hand. Can you believe that?! A perfect stranger?! Offering to help unload the truck?! Maybe what we have here is the perfect neighbor! We declined the help because, miraculously, we were almost finished. We finished the trucks, got beds set up and crashed!
Home sweet home.

Moving Day

We finally got all the details worked out and the money in the landlord's hand. We ordered a 27' moving truck, called our friends and set the date for Saturday July 31, 2010. We were to take possession of our new house on August 1, 2010. So excited!
My friend, Sasha, showed up, on Saturday, with her three kids and ex-husband, "D", in tow. Now that's dedication! Gotta love that girl. Muah! Ashlie, our roomie, called her friend, Mike, then locked up the dog. Now the sweating, lifting, grunting and commotion began. Sasha started in the attic (God love her!). She brought down about a half-ton of holiday decorations and memorabilia for future scrapbooks. Next, Ashlie went into the attic and the two of them continued that way until the entire attic was emptied. Including all of Karl's stuff! (Geeez!) Kevin, D, and Mike carried all the heavy items and took on the arduous task of putting everything in the moving van safely. Thank God for them!
In the meantime I had to go in the house and break down the bedrooms. All the everyday items had to be packed still and the "movers" had to know which items were to go and which were to stay. I got most of that sorted out. Our closets were mostly packed so just had to be unloaded.
At this point I started loading up our personal truck. Savannah was to ride with me and together we were to transport the ferrets safely to the new house. Plus, we wanted the computers and printers in the truck for safety reasons as well. I got most of the truck loaded up and was ready to tuck smaller items in and around the larger ones when it hit me. I didn't make room for the ferrets! Now, amidst all the other work, I had to unload the truck and start all over! Ugh! Only me, right? Well, it ended up working out for the best, not only because the ferrets actually made it in the move but I fit much more than I did the first time.
Thankfully D ordered some pizzas for lunch. We each took small breaks and then, whether we had everything or not, the truck was full. Every one of us lost seventeen pounds of water weight that day. It is hot in South Florida and we were only going deeper! Our wonderful friends took that opportunity to go home for some S&R. (Shower and relaxation!) We were all exhausted and, just like a mom, I was the last to quit working and shower. We watched a little television and finally passed out cold.
The next eh-hem, morning, and by morning I mean elevenish, we got dressed, ate some bagels, and packed up the fridge. We made some room in the back of the truck for our patio set and I kept shoving more and more things in both trucks. Eventuall we could fit no more and had to start the engines and hit the road.
The last picture I took was of Ashlie leaning against the garage with a sad, forlorn look on her face. It tugged at my heart to say good-bye but move ahead we must.
Buh-bye Port St. Lucie. New adventures await.

Cleaning and Packing

So it's the week before the move. This is the second farthest move we have ever made. The farthest being our move from St. Louis, MO. to Port St. Lucie, Fl. Although we aren't driving for extended hours across multiple state borders we still have to pack a moving van and drive an hour and a half south. We have to get a moving van for Saturday, fill it up and drive it to Sunrise Sunday morning to unload it. In the meantime I have to pack all the boxes, get rid of junk, set up utilities at the new house, put in a change of address for everyone (thankfully I can do that online these days!), clean and deodorize the space we are in, clean and deodorize the new place, all while maintaing the present domicile. Let's not forget I have to prepare dinner for five to six people every night too! It's going to be a busy week. I bought a four pack of sugar-free RedBull to keep me motivated. Wish me luck!

The Waiting Game

This morning I had to initial some changes in our contract to lease the house. We were able to negotiate a lower rent (Yay us!) and we needed to have the house cleaned, a sink in the master bathroom repaired and the debris from the previous tenants removed. My real estate agent emailed the contract and I had to print it, initial the changes, scan and email it back to her. What sounds like a simple task took me forever! Our printer/fax machine hasn't been networking with our computers correctly so I had to wing it with programs that were new to me. Finally she received the email and has forwarded it on to the other agent. Now I have to wait for my husband to gather the funds and put a deposit in escrow. It is my hope that we get everything together early and get access to the house a week or two earlier than August 1st. Hours of driving, coupled with long work days are taking a toll on my husband. Plus, my daughter is spending the summer with me and I would really like for her to get a feel for the place before she goes back home to Louisiana. I've done my part and now I play the waiting game while my husband and our agent do their parts. Sunrise, Florida, here we come!

Neighbors of the past

We got the house! Now for our next trick we will attempt to pull the $4,350.00, that we need to move in, out of our ass! LOL! Just kidding! We got it under control. I am nervous though. Every time we move I get nervous. I hope that my family will like the place, have enough room and be happy. I pray that my kids will meet good friends to play with and I get along with the neighbors. I hope to find like-mided people so I feel like I fit in. Plus, I am always looking for new friends. Kindred spirits who love kids, gardening and scrapbooking. My ideal neighborhood has homes with tons of kids, happy kid-loving wives/mothers who let the kids run from house-to-house day-in and day-out.
I have lived in so many different places and I remember friends and neighbors from twenty years back. Some I'll never forget, like Donny Paulson. He was such a sweet, fun-loving soul. The poor guy broke his back in a car accident but still dressed up as Tinkerbell for my Halloween party. He died way before his time and is missed, and remembered, by many.
Then there is this girl who lived across the street from me in Ferguson. Amy McFadden. She was such a cute, skinny little thing. She ended up having a baby with another boy from the neighborhodd, Scotty (one of my little brother's friends). They were such a sweet, loving little gangster couple. I think of them and their baby often and hope they are doing well. Amy had a little brother, Jeremy. The last time I saw Jeremy he was wearing a blue bandana, a plaid tee shirt, and some saggy jeans. I hope he knows better these days.
One of the best friends I've ever had in this world came from that neighborhood. Brenda. She lived right across the street from me with her husband, Bud, and two kids, Nicole and Mitchell. We are all long since gone but I still keep in touch with the whole family. Nicole and Mitchell have kids of their own now. Brenda and Bud are divorced but I love them all with the intensity that good times, hard life, and laughter provide. I would do anything for these people.
I've lived in an apartment where I never knew anyone and a neighborhood where I never made a friend. When I met my husband we moved into a house that changed the course of history for everyone in our lives. We moved into 185 S. St. Jacques St. We got married while living in that house. We brought two children into this world while living in that house. We had seven Christmas', seven halloweens, seven Easters, and most of us celebrated seven birthdays in that house! That's about thirty-nine birthday celebrations in one house alone! We raised ducks, dogs and kids, had guinea pigs, hamsters, fish and a bird. We had life and survived a few deaths. We LIVED in that house. Even now there is a part of every one of us that is attached to that house. My husband met one of his best friends while living there. Mark Kolbe moved back into his childhood home, with his wife and daughter, right next door to us. Mark and Kevin were two of a kind and remain close friends even four years after we moved over a thousand miles away.
These days we live in Florida. It's been a huge adventure! We lived in a seasonal rental on Hutchinson Island for a couple of months then moved into the biggest, nicest house we have ever lived in, in Stuart, Florida. We made a few fair-weather friends in that neighborhood and moved on to Port St. Lucie. Possibly the most diverse neighborhood around! We had Marie and Gabe next door who are Bahamian, Marylin and Rich, who are from Haiti, Lissi, who is Puerto Rican, Jussimara, who is from Brazil and Rene and Felo who are Italian and Puerto Rican. I got fresh coffee, right off the plane, straight from a Haitian farm! Puerto Rican style coffee, and brazillian cooking, and a little lesson in Spanish. My son made some of the best friends a kid could make and I loved that neighborhood! The different accents, experiences and food! Man, what a trip! I sure won't be losing those phone numbers. From Port St. Lucie, you know the rest. Our next adventures lie to the south.

Looking, Looking, Looking

I spent all weekend looking at houses again. We saw a couple of townhomes/villas and several single family homes. Some were in good neighborhoods and some were definitely not! The problem I am running into, over and over, is that the house is either too small and updated, big enough and falling apart, updated with no backyard, good backyard not enough bedrooms... I wish I could put pieces together of different ones to make the perfect home. Townhouses and villas have no yards what-so-ever. They have little pieces of concrete screened in off the back of the house. They call this a patio. I call it pitiful. Anyway, we found a house we like. The back yard is small but is enclosed by a privacy fence and has two seperate patios, plus a Florida room. I will have a little room to garden and will have plenty of patio space to become an adept container gardener! The downfall of this place is that the boys will have to continue to share a room. That is really the only complaint I have about it. So we put in our application and they have until the 7th of July to eithe accept or reject our offer.
Here is the link if anyone is interested in checking it out. Copy and paste into your address bar.
http://sef.mlxchange.com/Pub/EmailView.asp?r=263481258&s=SEF&t=SEF