Random Stuff
1. It's weird having your husband work from home when you've been used to him being out of the house for the last 10 years. Every time he walks in the room and I'm watching tv or just getting around to my shower after lunch, I feel a little guilty. Finally I got the nerve to ask Michael (I needed to be okay with whatever answer I got) if it bothered him to see me not working the same hours he works. Or if it bothers him when I sleep past 9. Ahem. I fully intended to start counting the hours I worked (since they're all day, all night, and weekends) if he got ugly, but "love does not keep records." Okay, it says "love does not keep record of wrongs," but I have a feeling the point is the same. Of course, it's Michael. I don't know what I expected. He said, "of course not. I don't pay attention to what you two do down here." :-) Well, that's that.
2. Horse lessons today was FABULOUS. We are used to driving 30 minutes (but there's usually traffic so it takes longer) to a farm next to a high school. The farm is humble, yet functional and happy. Here, we drive 1/2 a mile from our new house to a beautiful equestrian center. Everything is so clean and big and beautiful and INDOOR. Awesome. And, instead of $35 for a 30 minute lesson, it costs $25 for an hour lesson. The couple that runs the place look super young, but they really know what they're talking about. The wife did the lesson with Kara and the husband kind of oversaw everything and answered my questions (and micromanaged his wife! ha!). The wife's name is Lisa and she is from Germany. (Both Michael's and my side have a lot of german in us, so I like german people.) :-) She was very kind to Kara and has a german accent, but is easy to understand. Kara rode a horse that is "gaited" so he was extremely smooth. Kara did the fastest trot of her life and totally enjoyed it because it was that smooth. She said it was really fun and she loved going fast. I mean. Wow. Trotting made her nervous and cry for YEARS. I told her she would ride the bumpy horses and the smooth ones while trotting and she was fine with it. Wow. Huge success.
3. Every time I turn around I feel more settled here in Alabama. I was in denial at first as a sort of protective mechanism and sort of an exercise I learned from therapy. It is biblical to not worry about tomorrow and trust God in everything. The way I learned how to do this was to just focus on where I am right now - whether that's where I am today, or where I am right this second, depending on how anxious I am. So, I've kept my head focused on right now for so long, I really have only let moving sink in in tiny bits. I'll be driving down the road and it'll hit me, "whoa. I'm not going home. This isn't vacation. I get to live here." I also get this feeling: "mine." Does that make sense? I feel a sort of ownership to my house, my land, my town, my state, the south. Is that weird?
4. Every single person here has a southern accent. It's not even like only some people do and some don't, like we are living closer to a city. Everyone has an accent. Everyone. I feel my strong "I"s slipping. While. Whiiiiile. They're getting longer, looser. It may not even sound like it, but I feel it. I used to say WHI-yull, now it's WHI-ll. I went from two syllables to one. This happened when we lived in England. The longer we lived there, the more our questions changed. Americans say "Are you cold?" Cold goes up in inflection. Brits go up in inflection, then back down, even if the word has only one syllable. Maybe I've over complicated it, but Kattrina, mom, and dad know what I mean. Anyway, I think I'll live here a while (whiiiiile) before I have a real accent, but I feel it slipping already.
5. I broke down and got a cable box for my bedroom. I was trying to save $17 a month by only having tv in the living room, but I couldn't do it. Not to mention our two story living room carries the sound of the tv to every bedroom. Late night football games were watched in my room on the computer with glitches and pauses and missed plays. Um, no thanks. ;-) Anyway, now our bill is up to where it was when we lived in Maryland, only we have more channels here. I asked Michael what he thought (after I got the box, ha!) and he said, "yeah, I don't care." He's a good man who just wants me to be happy. And wants me to make him steak.
6. It was cold enough for jeans today! I still didn't wear them though. Maybe tomorrow. It'll be 80 all next week. (People around here wear sweatshirts when it's 80, so I'm sure if I'm in jeans and flip flops tomorrow, they'll be in jackets and scarfs.)
7. My mom is coming soon. She's going to do like she did before - spend a few days here with me, then drive with me (and Kara) to her house. This time we're going to her Florida house, where we'll meet up with my dad. I can't wait to go to Florida - it's been a long time since I've visited. It will be so nice and relaxing to visit with just my parents too. I was split in 10 different directions in September. Also, I'm totally taking ownership of their guest house because I plan to be there the most often. I'm going to leave my own shampoo bottles and some clothes there so I have less to pack each time I visit. Which will be often. Except in the summer.
8. I lost about 6 pounds packing and moving (despite the unhealthy eating - so much fast food - gross), but I've already put 1.5 pounds back on (despite healthy eating from home). Blah. I don't stress over my weight like I did in my 20s, but I do have days when I'm so over my fat genes.
9. They are insulating at the big house and I am dying to peek, but I'm trying to wait so I'll be surprised. Going to the house twice a week means I see HUGE progress each time. Oh, and Bert and Chris said if I go inside while they're insulating, the spray insulation will stick to everything - from my sunglasses to my lungs. lol! I think I'll just wait until this weekend.....or maybe tomorrow.
10. Tomorrow is homeschool P.E. class. It's far away, but this is the subject we need the most help with. Kara said they were playing kickball at church the other night and she just sat and watched because she had no idea how to play. I said I'd teach her and she said, "yeah, I don't care." Hmmmm. Who does that sound like? :-D
2. Horse lessons today was FABULOUS. We are used to driving 30 minutes (but there's usually traffic so it takes longer) to a farm next to a high school. The farm is humble, yet functional and happy. Here, we drive 1/2 a mile from our new house to a beautiful equestrian center. Everything is so clean and big and beautiful and INDOOR. Awesome. And, instead of $35 for a 30 minute lesson, it costs $25 for an hour lesson. The couple that runs the place look super young, but they really know what they're talking about. The wife did the lesson with Kara and the husband kind of oversaw everything and answered my questions (and micromanaged his wife! ha!). The wife's name is Lisa and she is from Germany. (Both Michael's and my side have a lot of german in us, so I like german people.) :-) She was very kind to Kara and has a german accent, but is easy to understand. Kara rode a horse that is "gaited" so he was extremely smooth. Kara did the fastest trot of her life and totally enjoyed it because it was that smooth. She said it was really fun and she loved going fast. I mean. Wow. Trotting made her nervous and cry for YEARS. I told her she would ride the bumpy horses and the smooth ones while trotting and she was fine with it. Wow. Huge success.
3. Every time I turn around I feel more settled here in Alabama. I was in denial at first as a sort of protective mechanism and sort of an exercise I learned from therapy. It is biblical to not worry about tomorrow and trust God in everything. The way I learned how to do this was to just focus on where I am right now - whether that's where I am today, or where I am right this second, depending on how anxious I am. So, I've kept my head focused on right now for so long, I really have only let moving sink in in tiny bits. I'll be driving down the road and it'll hit me, "whoa. I'm not going home. This isn't vacation. I get to live here." I also get this feeling: "mine." Does that make sense? I feel a sort of ownership to my house, my land, my town, my state, the south. Is that weird?
4. Every single person here has a southern accent. It's not even like only some people do and some don't, like we are living closer to a city. Everyone has an accent. Everyone. I feel my strong "I"s slipping. While. Whiiiiile. They're getting longer, looser. It may not even sound like it, but I feel it. I used to say WHI-yull, now it's WHI-ll. I went from two syllables to one. This happened when we lived in England. The longer we lived there, the more our questions changed. Americans say "Are you cold?" Cold goes up in inflection. Brits go up in inflection, then back down, even if the word has only one syllable. Maybe I've over complicated it, but Kattrina, mom, and dad know what I mean. Anyway, I think I'll live here a while (whiiiiile) before I have a real accent, but I feel it slipping already.
5. I broke down and got a cable box for my bedroom. I was trying to save $17 a month by only having tv in the living room, but I couldn't do it. Not to mention our two story living room carries the sound of the tv to every bedroom. Late night football games were watched in my room on the computer with glitches and pauses and missed plays. Um, no thanks. ;-) Anyway, now our bill is up to where it was when we lived in Maryland, only we have more channels here. I asked Michael what he thought (after I got the box, ha!) and he said, "yeah, I don't care." He's a good man who just wants me to be happy. And wants me to make him steak.
6. It was cold enough for jeans today! I still didn't wear them though. Maybe tomorrow. It'll be 80 all next week. (People around here wear sweatshirts when it's 80, so I'm sure if I'm in jeans and flip flops tomorrow, they'll be in jackets and scarfs.)
7. My mom is coming soon. She's going to do like she did before - spend a few days here with me, then drive with me (and Kara) to her house. This time we're going to her Florida house, where we'll meet up with my dad. I can't wait to go to Florida - it's been a long time since I've visited. It will be so nice and relaxing to visit with just my parents too. I was split in 10 different directions in September. Also, I'm totally taking ownership of their guest house because I plan to be there the most often. I'm going to leave my own shampoo bottles and some clothes there so I have less to pack each time I visit. Which will be often. Except in the summer.
8. I lost about 6 pounds packing and moving (despite the unhealthy eating - so much fast food - gross), but I've already put 1.5 pounds back on (despite healthy eating from home). Blah. I don't stress over my weight like I did in my 20s, but I do have days when I'm so over my fat genes.
9. They are insulating at the big house and I am dying to peek, but I'm trying to wait so I'll be surprised. Going to the house twice a week means I see HUGE progress each time. Oh, and Bert and Chris said if I go inside while they're insulating, the spray insulation will stick to everything - from my sunglasses to my lungs. lol! I think I'll just wait until this weekend.....or maybe tomorrow.
10. Tomorrow is homeschool P.E. class. It's far away, but this is the subject we need the most help with. Kara said they were playing kickball at church the other night and she just sat and watched because she had no idea how to play. I said I'd teach her and she said, "yeah, I don't care." Hmmmm. Who does that sound like? :-D
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