T minus 2 days

Well, we should be hitting the road about 36-38 hours from now.... Tomorrow is our final day of packing up the things we brought from the house to the apartment, and getting the apartment clean for future tenants. Brian managed to get a lot of stuff loaded into the UHaul today. Pretty much all we have left to pack and load are clothes, the computers, kids' books/toys, cleaning supplies... the stuff that took my crew of ladies around 3 hours to get packed and hauled over here and up the stairs 7 weeks ago. I hope we finish early tomorrow. I want lots of time to just hang out with friends tomorrow night.

Speaking of hanging out...we've gotten to do a lot of that lately. Guess I should back up to the weekend. Saturday afternoon was the wedding Halle and I were a part of. She did a great job as one of the flowergirls... I can't wait to get pictures of her and the bride! I had a great time as one of the singers; I was the alto in a quintet singing "Turn Around," and sang harmony to another friend's awesome soprano on "The Wedding Song." A couple of hours after the wedding reception, a group of us met at Cheeburger Cheeburger for dinner (21 of us altogether, 4 couples and 13 kids... including a pair of nearly year-old twins).

Then Sunday evening we got together with friends again (one couple was also part of the Cheeburger Cheeburger crowd) for fun and games. We had planned to do it at my best friend's home, but the mother of the bride suggested we move the party to the church and help get rid of some of the leftover food from the reception. Never one to turn down cake, we most happily obliged! We were there from 5:30 to 11:00... talking, laughing, singing, playing frisbee in the gym, playing Apples to Apples... while I snapped pictures of everyone to record the evening for posterity. I got the best picture of one of the guys with his head thrown back laughing; it was such a natural shot. I can't wait to get it printed and blown up.

Today we worked around here a bit (Brian did a lot more than me... I mostly did laundry and watched Shall We Dance while I folded it.). Then we went to a friend's house to vacuum out the van (and I washed a stained shirt of Halle's there.... I couldn't get it clean in the hard water here at the apartment). We left there to go meet the parents of the bride to give them the video my husband shot of the wedding.... they called us to tell us to meet them at the local hospital; one of the kids from our hamburger feast/game night had an accident on a motorbike and broke his arm. So we stopped in to see him in the ER before heading to dinner with them. Please say a prayer for Dillon; when I talked to his mom an hour or so ago, he had been throwing up .... he couldn't keep down his nausea medication or pain medication. They are supposed to set the arm tomorrow.

Hard to believe tomorrow night is our last night in Omaha. Can't think of many things I will miss about the place, but I sure will miss a lot of people.

Welcome to my world

What I've been up to since my last post:

1. Saturday night: Had dinner with 3 other couples at Kobe. I think I've decided 8 is the best number for a dinner party there. Conversation was much easier. Of course, the fact that we didn't have any children along for the ride could have had something to do with it as well! After dinner, we closed down the nearby Panera Bread... the women inside sipping coffee in a booth, the men outside chatting at a table. Sure wish we got to do things like that more often. It was kind of a last hurrah with these friends before we hit the road June 1st.

2. Sunday: Listened to a great lesson on passion for spirituality. Realized I am really going to miss hearing Jim each week; at least I'll have his blog, though. Sat through a discussion of plans for the youth group as it goes through transition (youth minister leaving in June). Made me realize all the questions I will need to ask when we start looking for a new church in CA. Had a yummy lunch at Nothing But Noodles with Jim and his family (I'd link to his son Nate's blog here, but Nate won't tell me the address....). Took Emily and her friend Ali to the mall and pretended we weren't together; we had 2-way radios to keep in touch. I was able to browse the mall a bit, visit with a friend who was at work there, and read a little of a book. Then I took the girls to the youth activity in the park, which lasted from 6-8:30.

3. Monday: Had lunch with several ladies from church (my usual birthday lunch gang). They treated me and presented me with an awesome 3-pc. set of Americana plates, shaped like stars. I wish I had a picture of them... Not going to happen now, but maybe once we are settled in CA I can get one up. That night I attended a salad supper for all the women of the church. Four of our high school/college girls sang for us and moved me to tears. They had to go and do some of my favorite songs (the 2 that got to me the most were The Greatest Commands and There's a Stirring). I'm going to miss these girls... they are very special to me.

4. Tuesday: Would you believe I actually got to stay home almost all day???? Finally made a run to Super Target for some groceries around 5 o'clock or so. We ate dinner, then went outside and played catch with the baseball, threw the frisbee around a bit, and played with the dog.

On the agenda for the rest of the week:

Wednesday: evening Bible study
Thursday: lunch at Panera with my small group ladies
Friday: wedding rehearsal ... Halle is a flower girl for Jim's daughter's wedding and I am helping back up the soloist.
Saturday: hair appointment for Halle at 10:00 a.m. We have to be at the church at 11:30 for pictures; ceremony starts at 2. It will be quite a long day!

Oy. We do stay busy, don't we?

Another movie review

We went to see Episode III this afternoon.... I could nitpick at things in it (namely some dialogue and acting), but the sum total is still a great film. It was good to finally see what was behind Anakin's transformation into Darth Vader. For me, it made it difficult, if not impossible, to hate Darth Vader completely. Watching Emperor Palpatine manipulate Anakin ... I was thinking in my head, "Ani, you are just too young and immature... you don't realize what is happening." I ached for Obi-Wan when he was faced with a job he did not want to do. Ewan McGregor's scene with Yoda, begging not to be given the job... and the scene in which he carries it out... both were some of the best moments. And of course, Yoda is awesome as always.

And yes, we did take the kids to see it. Visually, there wasn't much there they hadn't seen before. They did fine with it. As far as the rest of what some would worry about, it seemed to pretty much go over the younger ones' heads. They just enjoyed the light saber duels.

And even if you aren't into Star Wars, Ewan McGregor is well worth the price of admission.

My debit card

has been getting quite the workout lately. First on Saturday.... shopping at Kohl's with Emily. We bought 2 new knit camisoles to layer under some of her shirts and a new denim skirt. Only $37 that time. Then Monday we spent the afternoon at the mall. 2 more camisoles at Buckle, to the tune of $9 each. Also a gauzy prairie skirt (finally!! something past the knees!!) at Wet Seal; I spent $22.50 on it, while Emily used $10.50 of her own money on a top to go with it. (I have to say that both of those last 2 stores usually have very few items in them that meet my standards.... modest clothing is so hard to find these days!)

The biggest outlay was today, though.... and at Wal-Mart of all places. 3 pairs of jeans for Noah, 2 pair for Joel, 3 pairs of pants and 2 shirts for Halle, 2 pairs of pants for Emily, some Star Wars boxer briefs for Joel (yeah, those were a real necessity... NOT), and a shirt, skirt, and sunglasses for ME! Grand total.... $177 and some change. The outfit for me was the find of the day; I'd been looking for a couple of weeks for something I could wear to a wedding at the end of the month. Total cost of the 2 pieces: less than $24.

I hope my card can take a rest now. It deserves one.

Baby steps

I don't post much serious stuff on here; this has kind of been my "escape" from real life. But I've come to realize I don't need to escape as much as I need to just overhaul my entire way of thinking/doing/feeling. I'm dealing with a lot of issues right now (moving, parenting, weight, probably more that I can't even name). The biggest right now is my relationship (or lack thereof) with my 13-year-old daughter. We are at total odds with each other and every day is a struggle. I need to devote as much of my energy and time as I can to this relationship. That will necessitate some changes in my blog reading/posting. I'll check in as often as I can... I'd appreciate prayers and good thoughts.

3 weeks to go (but who's counting?)

Just 3 weeks from tomorrow and we will be hitting the long highway towards California. Almost doesn't seem real. Still working on getting the phone service and DSL internet set up. I hope this isn't any indication of the type of service we're going to have once we're there.

A friend pointed out that with the XM radio in the new van, I won't have the usual dead spots when we're out in the middle of nowhere. Gives new meaning to "she shall have music wherever she goes," doesn't it?

Movie reviews: We watched Spanglish Sunday night. Finally, an Adam Sandler film I liked! Maybe it was because he wasn't trying to be funny. Tea Leoni did a great job playing a character you loved to hate. But my favorite actor from the film was Sarah Steele, who played their daughter, Bernice. I think she did a fabulous job with her character. I can't wait to see what she does next.

We also watched Ocean's 11 and Ocean's 12. They're fun. Next to no violence. High-tech crime plot and subtle comedy. The cameos of other famous people were fun, as well. Loved the part in the second film where Julia Roberts' character pretends to be Julia Roberts... and bumps into Bruce Willis in a Rome hotel.

And now this!!!

This was my surprise today.... plus a card and a Beanie Baby from Noah. Emily chose to ignore today and cry "Foul!" that there wasn't a "Sibling's Day." Ah well... what goes around comes around, I say.

Watching movies here at home tonight...

Happy Mother's Day to me!!

Yeah, I know I said the Toyota Sienna was my dream van, but that was before I saw the Odyssey up close and personal. We pick this baby up tomorrow afternoon at the dealership. (Now how do I compete with this for Father's Day??)

Tomorrow evening is a ladies' night out for me. Some friends and I are "kidnapping" another friend for her 40th birthday and taking her to dinner at Kona Grill followed by a Nichole Nordeman concert.

I've got the drive to CA mapped out and hotel reservations made. We're going to do the drive in 3 days. Our dear friend Jim is going to drive one of the vehicles for us and we are flying him back here the day after we arrive (we get there on a Friday night; he has to be back Saturday so he can preach Sunday morning).

Still haven't gotten the phone and internet for CA set up. SBC's online ordering is messed up and we haven't gotten to talk to anyone who can help us with it. The website always has a missing page near the very end of the order submission... The main reason we are trying to do the online order is that they have special rates for online orders (free installation on phone, lower rates for DSL). Of course, if they can't get the website working....

No time to blog

So many things to do right now... dentist appointments for the kids, planning the drive from here to CA (deciding on where to stop each night, finding hotels that take pets and have rooms large enough for our family), getting ready for the ladies' class I am facilitating tonight, setting up phone and internet service for the new place...

I'll be back as soon as things calm down around here!