No Time Like the Present

I sit down for my early morning read/pray/write. The dog immediately wants out. Then the coffee needs turning down. Then I see the power cord the kids left out and have to put it away. The cat jumps up in my lap, bringing with her a pair of kneading paws and the strong smell of cat gas. Thankfully, the stench is short lived. I remember five things I should've finished yesterday instead of what I actually did: going to bed at 8pm. I can't find it in myself to feel guilty about any of them. I get up to refill my coffee cup. Another cat comes to join me. There's a brief moment when I wait to see if WW3 will break out between the two felines. I remember something else that needs doing, just a quick something, so I think I'll knock it off my list before I get back to work. Turns out that it's not a quick something. The dog wants back in. I hear the kids stirring upstairs, the creak of the floorboards giving me fair warning that time is running out.

My word for last year was "present" but still I struggle with actually being where I'm supposed to be, shepherding my time well. I'm on and off my phone and computer all day, reading a novel while I cook, juggling conversations and laundry and school books, going from one thing to the next and back again in the blink of an eye.

Some of this is the inevitable consequence of having five kids at home with me. Some of it is a choice to not prioritize well. Some of it is knowing that the time is short and every second must be used. And it's easy for me to allow in guilt over what did or did not get done, but just as easy for me to choose instead to say thank you.

To say thank you for the insane cats and the demanding dog and the sunlight seeping in over the frost and through my window. To say thank you for the cup of coffee and the husband who left me a note and a fully charged computer. To say thank you for still glowing embers in the fireplace and the ferocious sounds of a herd of children waking up and the time, however scattered, to read truth and pray encouragement and write a few words that might be what someone else needs to hear (or just that I need to hear).

And I find that, in the thanksgiving, I am present in a new way. Not in a single-minded zen state of calm, but in a way that stabilizes and softens and slows. And often, too, one that welcomes in laughter before the kids tumble down the stairs and into morning hugs.

Catching Up (Ish)

This morning, as I was stuck in bumper to bumper traffic waiting to get around a rainy day wreck and running progressively later and later for the class I was about to teach, I noticed that my sister had posted a new blog. Since I wasn't going anywhere, I decided to read while I waited. That was totally safe. 95 was a parking lot. Also, it was a great blog, and if you haven't read it, you should just go read hers and not worry about mine.

It was Character Dress Up Day today for our co-op.
I was Sleepy. Literally as well.

At any rate, reading her blog made me realize that November was upon us, and (behold!) there had been no blog this month. And then, when the traffic finally cleared out and we made it to the house where I was supposed to teach, I put the car in park and Bruiser decided it was a good time to blow some chunks. So, needless to say, we turned around and came home, and I found myself with a little bit of free time on my hands simply because I didn't teach today. Other than my own kids. Who still had to suffer through a shortened and probably not as fun version as what they would've gotten if we'd made it to co-op. Even Bruiser, who has been totally fine since managing to rearrange all of our plans and spent the afternoon outside happily playing football in the mud with his brothers.

The Man lugging our pumpkin.

The kids checking out some pigs at the farm we went to
with awesome friends.

The reason it is the last week of October and I am just now trying to hammer out a blog is simply because I am lazy. And also because we moved here less than four months ago, and we have already managed to do four out of town trips (three of them out of state) as well as joining a church, jumping into a co-op, meeting our neighbors, trying to do cool sight seeing homeschool mom field trippy things, and generally running a family. But mostly because I am lazy. And have been using my writing time for other things. But it could also be the lazy thing.

We got the kids over to the Marine Corps Museum
for some history!

Autumn happy.

Speaking of Marines, the Man brought me home this coffee.
I drank it and yelled, "Come on, you sons of Frizzells,
do you want to live forever?"
Then made the kids do PE with me.

Now, however, I find myself with too much stuff to jam into one blog. Do I tell you about shark teeth fossil hunting on the Maryland side of the Potomac? Or tracking down Indonesian food in downtown Philadelphia after standing in line for an hour and a half to see the Liberty Bell? Or the gorgeous fall leaves outside my bay window and the fires that have been cheering up our fireplace as the weather has gotten colder? Or how surreal it was to actually get to go in a library (by appointment, with masks on, after our temperature had been taken and we had been warned not to touch anything EVER unless it was coming home with us)?

Introducing the kids to Indonesian food.
It was a total win.
Tiny's yard long mie ayam noodle was his favorite.

That bowl was licked clean before she was done.
Metaphorically. She wasn't raised in a trailer park.

I was in my happy place. And so was the Man.

Or maybe I won't tell you about any of those things as the couch cushion covers (say that five times fast) just finished in the dryer and I have to figure out if I shrunk them too badly to put them back on?

This is us at Independence Hall.
We opted not to wait half a life time in a socially distanced queue
in order to go in.

We did wait forever to see the Liberty Bell though.
Kids said it was worth it.
Evidently they are highly motivated by history.
I'm highly motivated by coffee. And books.

Proof Twinkle and I were there.
Her permanent attachment to me was due to
a security guard who made the critical mistake of trying
to befriend her. Never make that mistake.
She is cute but terrifying. And also easily terrified.

Now that all the couch cushions have been put back on, I will answer the burning question you all had: no, I did not wash them due to barf. They started to inextricably smell like urine, which could be because we've had those couches for nine years and they sat in storage for a year and a half after a hurricane. Or it could be the five kids and three pets. Who knows! Such excitement in our home!

Incidentally, we didn't take the kids to a racist pub.
They were at Snow White Bar-B-Que.
Promise.

Getting to see my mother-in-law
is always a win in my book.
And worth every hour of driving,
even the one stuck behind a tractor going 3 mph.
Luckily, I had a book on me.

Also, getting to see my brother-in-law same same.

And my sister-in-law. 
Said bro-in-law got way better pictures that day,
but now I can't find them.

Here's my oldest sister
preparing for her future as an instagram influencer.
#cutiewithacremepuff

And Twinkle... because autumn...and boots.

And now I have just fifteen minutes left before I have to start churning out tacos for my horde (this blog was written in shifts, which makes it really confusing to read), so I think I'm going to slap some pictures in this blog so you can see what we've been up to...and call it a day. Blog check mark for the win. MOVING ON. Well, after I give you three more pictures. 

Shark tooth fossils.
They are small but mighty.

Best company for shark tooth hunting.

Intrepid paleontologists.
Also, proof this totally happened.
Who knew the Potomac River had shark teeth?

Are you not entertained?! Or merely overwhelmed by all the pictures... 

And now, since the kids have inhaled all the tacos (3 lbs of beef, 4 dozen taco shells/tortillas, and 2 cans of refried beans plus all the toppings--I kid you not), I think I'm going to go chuck their adorable selves in bed...and pray that our food budget can hold out for another few years. Here goes nothing!

Never mind, the Man chucked the kids in bed. So I'm now going to sit on my clean couch cushion covers (eat that alliteration) and revel in the quiet.

Kicking Off the School Year

Ah, August, that wonderful time of year when we force ourselves to stop being lazy bums and instead embrace, once again, the idea that our brains can actually function. In other words, the kids and I have started school. Technically, we started two weeks ago, but this is somehow our first full week. Full disclosure, I never plan a full week for our first week back, mostly out of a sense of self preservation. We start on a Wednesday, and by Friday, I'm convinced we're never going to make it through a full week alive. Kidding. Mostly. But it does seem to help if we start a little slower and focus on just getting our feet wet and having fun. 

Littles' First Day

Tiny's First Day

Bee's First Day

Bruiser's First Day
This is his self-portrait.
It looks just like him.

Then I happily allowed our second week of school to get hijacked by taking a fun trip out of state to see friends. The kids got to learn geography by driving through Virginia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, and Ohio. And then back again. We made note of the Allegheny Mountains as we drove through them (one kid cheerfully barfing as we went around the many curves in the road, and then another kid sympathy barfing because that's what siblings are for). We took swim lessons in a friend's pool. And we even really pulled out the educational stops by taking them on a nature walk and then letting them wander around the National Museum of the Air Force for several hours. Because we'd been so diligent in pursuing their education (fine: because the friends we were with are beyond awesome), we decided to stay an extra day in Ohio and only do school that Friday once we got home.

I briefly considered taking this home with me.
I can get behind this kind of propaganda.

The family with the Memphis Belle.
Masks were taken off before we took the picture.
Bruiser was much happier than this picture shows.

So now we find ourselves neck deep in our first full week of school. And of course it's also the first week our homeschool community meets. So really, all my attempts to ease us into the school year gradually, were a total waste. Now we go big or go home. Also, now I self medicate with chocolate covered espresso beans.

This is what planning looks like.
Blythe tries hard to get in the way.

It's a miracle anything get done.

Naturally, this school year is different, much like every school year is. The twins are doing more but still requiring a lot of hands on help. Twinkle cut out her nap completely months ago, so she's with us for pretty much everything (unless the Man succeeds in luring her out of the sitting room where we've been doing school). Littles and Tiny continue to be paragons of scholarly virtue, which helps me maintain my sanity. And I continue to center most of our school work around me reading out loud because that's what makes me happy and no one can tell me what to do.

I promise she's not choking the cat.

Books are read, walks are taken, attitudes are dealt with, piano lessons are given, and before I know it, May will be here and I'll be looking back, wondering where the time has gone. Hopefully, the kids will learn what they need to during that time. Hopefully, I will grow as a teacher and a parent and a human being too. And hopefully, by the end of it, we will still want to keep doing life together and not have driven ourselves crazy.

This pretty much defines our family.

Happy First Day of School, wherever you are.

Many of you are just getting started. Some of you beat me to the punch because you never really stopped to take a break. And some are still hanging on to the last dog days of summer. Wherever you are in the process, and whether you're homeschooling or not (though it seems like more of us are than ever this year), my prayer for all of us is that this school year could help us see truth more clearly, love others more deeply, and every now and then, just enjoy a good book that lets us see how good God is and how full of joy life can be even when things are hard. Maybe I'll have to come back with a book post to help us out on that last one. And since there are rumors that our library here is doing curb side pick up, I'm hoping that will be sooner rather than later.

In the meantime, happy schooling!

Timeline

Every time we move, there are new ropes to learn, but it's almost always the same timeline (at least for me). I find that in general, for about two weeks prior to the move and then two weeks following the move, I'm possessed with an almost manic energy. Sleep is hard to come by because my mind won't turn off; food is optional; coffee is sometimes even forgotten as I plow through my To Do list (and sometimes try to take on everyone else's) like a juggernaut. The Man and the children have gotten to the point where they mostly just get out of my way, although the Man does occasionally put his foot down and make me quit to do fun things or just go to bed. During this time, I also try to implement my new cleaning, writing, and exercise schedules because this makes total logical sense to someone who is borderline insane with sleep deprivation.

After the two week post move mark though, I crash. Hard. There are naps. There are long hours sitting in the recliner re-reading comfort books. There are early bed times and over slept alarms. There is utilizing persistently meowing cats to get myself out of bed in the morning (and once they've been fed, there's no going back upstairs to get back in bed so I might as well curl up in the recliner and stare off into space while pretending to write). There is no energy to go run, so I take the dog for a walk, and since he thinks he's still a puppy, he might drag me behind him for a mile or so while I ask plaintively every few steps, "Are we done yet? Can we go home now? Is it time to stop?"

I'm seeing empty spaces on the boys' bookshelf,
which means it's time to find a used bookstore.

Meanwhile the actual settling in continues. The girls' bed doesn't arrive, and I find myself glued to the window watching the UPS guy like a hawk. I put in groceries at the nearest grocery store and instead of giving me four bananas (which I thought I ordered), they give me four bunches of bananas. I make banana bread and take it to a meeting I have for our homeschool co-op, building relationships over shared facepalms. I find a chunk of dried rice on the base of our farmhouse table that has been sitting there since before the hurricane (I think I've pin-pointed it to the cilantro lime rice we ate before we evacuated). I find a piece of elbow pasta sitting in the middle of our kitchen counter after nearly three weeks in the house during which time I have not once cooked elbow pasta. I manage to get bleach spots on the knee of my one pair of nice pants while doing an emergency clean of the refrigerator because we'd run out of ziplock bags and the meat I'd wrapped in saran wrap had leaked everywhere.

So many bananas...

We learn to navigate our new neighborhood, which in these times means spending a lot of time rubbing antibacterial hand sanitizer into hands that are covered with tiny cuts from moving boxes and setting up furniture. The stinging sensation helps keep me awake on days I don't get naps. I also spend a lot of time wondering if masks are going to be the death of the spoken word as I pick up pizza and talk to hardware guys and ask questions in the plant section and repeat myself often.

Comfort books for all.

This tired phase where I sit in the car in the driveway because I don't have the energy to walk into the house will last until the six week mark, and then there will be a return to some semblance of normalcy. I will be normal adult tired instead of moving adult tired. New relationships will have been kicked off, and there will be the now familiar sensation of having settled in somewhat. It helps to have done this before so that there's less freaking out that I'm going to feel like this forever. It also helps to know that this is normal. Other military wives tell me that they have the six week to two months timeline too.

Blythe is my recliner nap buddy.

And then it passes. And we'll be doing school and meeting new friends for playdates and putting in what has become a regular grocery order and feeling the comforting structure of routine settling around us...while waiting on news for our next move. Because this is how the world turns. And honestly, in a world where you can go from one place to the next and meet interesting people and try new things and move furniture around to make a snug home and learn and grow and stretch (and sometimes take naps)...even with masks and missing bunk beds and mystery pasta...it's a pretty great life.

Togetherness

Some of you may be wondering how our transition into a house from the RV might be going. We've been asked few times if we're losing each other now that we're not stacked like sardines into a 35 foot trailer or if we're so used to all that togetherness that we're following each other from room to room as we go throughout the day. The answer is: yes.

This cat loves the togetherness,
but also hid in the garage for two nights
and scared the mess out of us.

It is wonderful to be able to get up in the morning and come downstairs and sit in a chair in an empty room and have a quiet time without worrying that the sounds of my coffee being made are going to wake up the whole family. But it was also wonderful last night curled up on the couch with Twinkle while the twins stretched out on the floor in front of me playing some joint twin version of solitaire (they call it "solitary") and the Man and the Bigs played rummy and UNO at the other end of the couch. I like the togetherness because I like them. With that said, I didn't love when the kids turned the house into a giant nerf war zone as it was just as loud as when they would do it in the RV, and I kept waiting for someone to come falling through the ceiling. Although I will say, I get caught in the cross fire way less now that we're in a house. Still, there's a front yard--and a back one!--and they aren't small. Take your warlike ways to the great outdoors.

I did think that the noise level would decrease upon being in a house. I was wrong. I was on a phone call with a friend the other day, and she commented on how quiet it was (you know, as opposed to the normal background chatter of "Mom! I need a snack!", "Mom! I stubbed my toe and my foot now needs to be amputated!", "Mom! So-and-so keeps putting the body bind curse on me!", "Mom! The twins are trying to sell me to gypsies again!"). I informed her it was quiet because I was hiding in a closet. Please note that I now have a closet large enough for me to sit in. When I got off the phone, though, I realized it wasn't just the closet buffering the noise: the Man had let the kids watch a movie. Screen time: the only way you can lull your children into silence until all five of them are capable of reading to themselves. That and sleep.

All that space: still sitting together on the window seat.

There are things that we are loving about being in a house, and things that we are missing about the RV. I miss the water view, but we have a hillside of beautiful trees right out our window. I miss how quickly I could be done with vacuuming, but this just means the kids are being put to good use for manual labor more often. I miss knowing our neighbors, but hopefully we will get to know these too (though COVID makes that a bit more challenging). I miss my little pallet garden, but we have house plants now. I miss all our Florida friends, of course, but there is texting and FaceTime and zoom calls and hopefully one day a guest room that's actually got furniture (instead of just boxes of books and empty mattresses) where they can stay when they come see us.

Happiness is green glasses,
napkin rings, and a real table.

I'm loving having everything in one place although I keep not finding things that I thought had made it through the move/hurricane (waffle iron, waffle iron, where did you go?). I'm loving having bookshelves again, even though it makes me want to buy more books, especially since the libraries here aren't open yet. I am loving (more than I can say) having a washer/dryer in the house so that I can do as much laundry as I want whenever I want--and not have to pay for anything other than the water bill. I am loving having a piano again--and it even got tuned yesterday!--and a place to play my flute without feeling like all of Fam Camp might be listening in. I am loving being able to put an entire meal's worth of food in the oven at one time (see last post about the pizza). I'm loving (for real) not having the cat litter underneath my daughter's bed (even if technically my daughter doesn't have a bed yet since it's taking five years to get here). I am loving having dinner at a table where we can look at each other (and not straight at a TV), where all the food fits on the table, where the water glasses don't spill if you accidentally bump the table by crossing your legs. I am loving that half of my kids can sleep in if they want to because the other half come downstairs to harass me into making breakfast instead of causing a racket pretty much on top of the sleeping children.

And speaking of, said children are now downstairs harassing me into making breakfast. So on that note: happy Wednesday!

Moving Blurbs

It was our last official day in the RV when I started this blog post (so if you were waiting until the last moment to buy this thing, you're now going to have to purchase from a different state), and I was sitting with a cat in my lap watching the dawn light stretch the tree shadows long and slim while using my cell phone hotspot to access blogger because our internet decided our last week in the RV was the most appropriate time to crap out on us. Really, it wasn't wrong. 

Change of Command: ignore the kids' faces

 

Had to take the dog for one last morning walk on the shore

 

Now, however, I'm sitting in our very comfortable, very well used recliner that has been rescued from the storage unit in which it has been languishing for almost two years, and I'm watching the sunlight creep up the hill covered in tall unbroken trees that I can see out of the huge bay window in our sitting room in the new house. That's right: there's a sitting room and a living room because we're fancy now. Also, we've officially moved.

Road trip buddy

  

It's been several weeks since I wrote last and a lot of big stuff has been happening in the world. Those two things are related. So, yes, while part of the reason I haven't written this month is just that it's been incredibly busy and I have been incredibly tired, the other reason is that I prefer to process slowly and quietly in my own head and not feel like I have to comment in public on something I'm still thinking about in private. With that said, this blog is not going to be about big things, but just about little things. But if you'd like to talk to me about big things, you missed my window while I was on the road driving. Kidding: you can still call and I will take a much needed break from putting together new furniture--and I will love getting to hear a familiar voice on the phone.

So much space!

 

With that said, some blurbs for the move:

• This has been an interesting move as it's happened in shifts, so when I got asked how the move prep going, I told them that it was going something like this: workworkwork...wait... wait... wait... workworkwork.... wait... wait... wait... workworkwork. But in between there's a lot of SOCIALIZE!!! and then a few rounds of recovery.
• Speaking of, self isolating did not prepare me for these last few weeks of intense pre-move socialization. My badly exercised peopling muscle got a real workout those last few days in Florida.

      My fellow introvert enjoying his quiet.
He asked me to schedule in down time those last couple weeks...
                           and it was much needed.                                       

• The last week before the move, the Man took a trailer up to the new house with mattresses in it and a few boxes of things I no longer needed in the RV. I packed nonessentials like extra clothes (don't need all those sweaters right now in FL) and lamps and school books. Guess what was left on my nightstand: a stack of around a dozen books. I know what I cannot do without. The coffee pot was also still in residence and doing double time.
• It was the curse of the last week in the RV: three wet beds (all different children--moving is stressful) and a cat barf in the middle of our bed. Every time I hoped that it would be the last time dragging our laundry to the lodge, behold, there was more laundry. What I am really enjoying in the new house: yes! the washer and dryer!

Reunited with my ginormous wok!

• I put three pizzas in the oven at the same time Friday night. I was drunk with power.
• When you can't get a massive dresser up the twisty stairs, you turn it into a hutch for the kitchen...which really needed more cabinet space anyway. But then you laugh about how you needed more cabinet space when you've spent the last year and a half in an RV.

I have since fixed that drawer...

• Unpacking a storage unit that you didn't really pack leads to lots of excitement and surprises. There were things that I had totally forgotten about, and then things missing the I expected to see (vacuum cleaner and waffle iron, I'm looking at you...except not).
• It's the little joys: like finding out that the bunk beds you ordered for the boys come with the drawers already assembled, so you don't have to do that part, and having kids who don't mind helping you screw in hidden cams, and taking the kids for a short walk in the woods without having to leave the neighborhood, and Littles and Tiny agreeing to skip the majority of the Frodo/Sam parts when rewatching Return of the King late at night in bed with popcorn.

We emerged with only one tick,
so we'll take that as a win.

• The best thing about this move has been moving with a couple of our favorite families and moving to one of our all-time favorites (even if they're leaving us at the end of the month). It's made it so much less emotionally draining, knowing that I didn't leave behind our entire support system like we normally do. When I say that's the best thing, I mean that it's even better than moving into a house from the RV, and so that tells you something.
• Some things are worth time and effort. It's good to figure out what those things are on the front end.

Hanging all those pictures in a grid pattern is somehow worth it.

• Sometimes Amazon sends you the wrong item and you unpack 80% of the box before you realize that it's definitely a twin and trundle and not a twin over twin bunk bed. This can ruin your day, or you can take a deep breath, resist the urge to slam your head against the wall repeatedly, and do your best to Tetris the pieces back in the box so it can be returned. You will then spend the rest of the next 48 hours trying to explain to the three year old why her bed isn't set up yet. Dark chocolate will help. And this is still only a blip in the radar.
• Setting up a house with the guy you've been married to for a dozen years is way easier than setting up a house with the guy you've been married to for only a handful of months. Even if said guy has to do a quick run up to Boston the week you move in. This is just a fact. However, he still doesn't appreciate when I offer to race him to see who can get a nightstand put together first.
• Want to be a real adult: go buy blinds. I have now reached new levels.

Behold our fancy sitting room.
Also, behold those blinds I bought. 
If you can see them because I pull them up the second
I get out of bed.

• Real excitement means a water leak through the ceiling your first night in a new house. 
• When you've lost both wheels on the front of your piano, you can prop it on your husband's International Law book and your Norton's Short Fiction.
• This is not move related but Rosie told me the other day that when she turns into a baby, she will not like bananas. Just thought you should know.

Pets make moving better.

• There is something really satisfying about drinking a cold glass bottled coke out of a wine glass after a hard day of work. There is something less satisfying about lying in bed with your eyes glued open because you can't sleep from the caffeine because YOU ARE OLD.
• Necessity is the mother of invention. I learn this every move. Also, just because you assure your husband that there is a printer in the storage unit (and you are right) doesn't mean that the printer actually still works (so in the long term, he is also right). Not sure how those two things are related.

It's amazing: I can walk around this bed without stubbing my toes!

And now, having gotten myself back on the blogging bandwagon, I'm going to throw some pictures in this thing, and be done. The kids are up and needing breakfast, and today is Sunday, my last day to secure house plants while the Man is still out of town and can't stop me, and also a day to rest and say thank you and not put together any furniture or unpack any boxes or clean away any dust or cobwebs. Also, I realize that this post is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to our move and the last two months, but this is about all the emotional energy I have left to write so...for now, it is enough.

We are happy to be home.