Are we there yet?!

I have 15 minutes of internet time left on my card. It stinks to have to pay for it! I'm out of time to write my family letter/journal this week, so that will have to wait. I am really excited though. We may have found our house. We definately found our location. It is right next to a big park with a running and biking trail, and it is by the river (not as close, but nice!). The neighborhood is fantastic and friendly and out of the city craziness. I want to live there. The house is an odd floor plan and the kitchen is tiny. But it is big and it actually has a yard and a garage.

We looked at 3 other places, and I was not happoy about any of them. One was really nice, but not a great area. None of them were in a great area- I do not want to be a sardine! And I don't want a townhouse with 3 floors of steep stairs and no yard. I can live with a tiny kitchen to have a great place for the kids. And its a little over half a mile to the bike trail. Oh, and we could walk to church.

So that's what we did the last few days. The kids have been very good about everything. And tomorrow we head off to Arkansas. Wish me luck! 2 days of driving with all the kids..... not my first pick for fun!!

Ft Belvoir

We got checked out of the house yesterday, turned in the keys and hit the road shortly after 9am. We pulled into Ft Belvoir billetting at 4pm. I survived and only thought I might fall asleep the last hour. I so do not do long distance driving very well! It is kind of exciting and really overwhelming to think we'll be living around here. We're suppose to go look at houses this weekend, but I think Dan only has one appointment- and there are 6 houses he wants to see. It should be interesting.

The kids are doing as well as can be expected. Let me just say how glad I am that I kept the Wednesday appointment with the therapist. Hotel life is going better due to that visit! Everyone is tired and cranky and the children are bouncing off the walls- which is really not good when we have to do things with other people around. I still have to go to the housing office and put us on the list, and I'm not looking forward to that! Dan is off checking into his new job and he won't be back till this evening. Wheee for me!

Here we are, yesterday morning in our empty house, waiting for the check out. They were late. The kids thought it was great fun to race around the house, messing up my perfect vaccuum marks on the carpet.

Here we are, passing Dan. He said I was suppose to be the lead car, but then he kept passing me. I think he just had his cruise control set too high, so we leapfrogged all the way here.



This was the Delaney face I got to see. Dan had Joshua in his car and I had all 3 girls. I know Dan got the better end of the deal!! Delaney did not enjoy the trip. The other girls both got to open fun presents (notebooks they delightedly called "journals!" and Marian got a stamp set, while Callie got a very fun crayon) and they were content and happy for the trip. Yay!

As for the hotel standard.... Cherry Point has nicer rooms for half the cost. Our current room has broken AC, the type of toilet with no seat (which sucks when that's what Delaney makes a beeline for, and the bathroom seperates the 2 rooms), and a lot less room. On the plus side, they have a continental breakfast that is pretty decent, and you can check out movies. I have to go call the housing office now, and chase some children back into our rooms!

The Adventure Begins!

The move went well. The packers came yesterday and were gone by 3:30. They were great and did a good job. The girls went to preschool, and Debbie took them home with her. I picked them up at 5 and they had a good time. Today they went to preschool, and Debbie took them to Kelli's house, where they stayed till 3. After they got home, the movers were still loading the truck. But our friend Jessica, and her daughter Carol were at the park and they took all 3 girls to their house till we were done, about 5:15.

We did not check out at 4 like Dan really wanted. The movers weren't quite done, and neither was I! I had more vaccumming and stuff to do. I hate all the little things you have to figure out what to do with. Do I keep the little toy or toss it? Do I need the 3 lonely socks or not? Do I knock on the neighbor's door and ask if they want 3/4 jar of homemade strawberry jam, or do I just throw it away? So many decisions!

The house is clean and empty and ready for our 8am check out. The kids are cranky and bouncing off the walls. I am exhausted. I am really glad this part is over. I am so blessed with so many great friends. Thank you to all my friends who are so wonderful- to those who helped, to those who offered to help, to those who were willing to help, and those who would have if they could! I am going to miss you guys so much. I am glad I got to know you and glad you were my friends. Thank you for your help and support.

Moving stinks

The movers come tomorrow! I hate this part. there is so much that needs to be done, but has to wait till the last minute. Ug. I was motivated and got almost everything done today: pictures down, wall spackled, suitcases packed, car half loaded, carpets vaccuumed and spot cleaned, cleaned out the fridge, cleaned the oven (okay, only as much as possible without actually having oven cleaner!), did 50 loads of laundry so that everything can be clean before it is packed and thrown into storage for 2 months... so many stupid little things. And I hate having to remember all the little details- I can't forget Callie's stuffed Cassie, or Joshua's green blanket, or Delaney's sippy cup, and a water bottle would be nice for me....

On the plus side, after tomorrow, most of this won't matter. We're moving, no matter how much I forget. And if I forget to pack something, I bet I can get it at Walmart!

So, they pack tomorrow and load the truck on Wednesday, and we drive to DC on Thursday. That's the schedule. We'll be in DC till Monday, then we head out to AR. I don't know how often I'll get to a computer, but I'll try to update when possible here. I am really going to miss my friends in NC. So many people have offered help and asked what they can do for me. I feel so blessed to have so many great friends. 2 of them brought us donuts tonight. I felt so loved, and I feel horrible about having to leave. This part stinks. I know I'll make new friends, but it really stinks to leave behind the friends I have now.

And on that cheery note, I have to go shred some documents that I forgot about!

Triathlon!

Yep, today was the big day. I ran out of training motivation about 2 weeks ago. That's when Dan kicked up his training and started doing some pretty intense workouts. I looked for every possible excuse to stay in the house and not ride the bike or swim. It was rough. Today still arrived and we both participated in the New Bern YMCA's first ever triathlon.

And now..... the very detailed sequence of events....!

We left the house at 7am and got to the YMCA with plenty of time. We set up our bikes, got our timing chips, got a big black number written on both arms and both legs. To make it more fun, they also wrote your AGE on the back of your right calf. For some reason, they bump your age up depending on your birthday. So my leg (still!) got a 34 on it, although my birthday isn't for another month. Vanity, thy name be Rebecca!

They started the swim at 8am and sent swimmers off at 15 second intervals. I didn't register early enough to get plced by our swim time. that sucked. We were 120 and 121 and by the time Dan and I got to swim (at 8:33:45 and 8:34:00) , there were plenty of sucky swimmers in the water clogging up the works. I think I passed 5 people, and that wasn't easy- it was a 25 meter pool with regular lane lines and not much room to pass. It wasn't a great swim for me. The 8 laps vs 4 messed me up too. Even thought the pool was half the size, having to swim more laps threw me off.

I got out of the pool behind a large slow man who walked half the last lap in the POOL, and passed him on the sprint out to the bike. Dan was ahead of me, but I passed him in the transition- he thinks he has to be all dry before he gets on the bike. hee hee hee. It took him 2 miles to bike past me. I passed 3 people- which is huge for me! I never pass anyone on the bike! I felt all slow on my big ole mountain bike with its giant tires. But I kept going and it was okay that the super fast people with their racing bikes and aerodynamic (and silly looking) helmets zoomed by. It was fun though. Nice scenery, except for when we were on main roads. I didn't like being that close to traffic, but they did a great job with traffic control and police at every major intersection. So I felt pretty good about it.

Then the run. I know it takes at least 1/2 a mile before my calves quit cramping. Mentally it was hard because I didn't know how far I'd come and how much further there was to go. I thought I was so hot- I passed a slow lady and a walking man. Whoo-hoo! I never pass anyone on the run, usually. So I felt great! And reeeeaaly tired. My goal was to finish and to never walk. I just ran slow! And in the last half mile, there were 3 people in front of me. I like to sprint the end. That's my thing. So I stepped it up and the 3 in front of me didn't. I actually passed all 3 people at the end! Whoo0-hoo for me! I sprinted in and it was further than I thought- they had 2 big tents and I thought the first one was the end, but it wasn't. I had another 20 yards. Oops. So I had to sprint some more and it nearly killed me.

The coolest thing is that Dan and I both finished 20 minutes fastr than last year. Granted, it is a different course, and the distances may be a lot more different than they'll admit, but it sure makes us feel good! So, here are pictures from our glorious day!

Here is my shirt. I think our printer doesn't do good iron ons. I was afraid to wash it before wearing it, because that fades the pictures a little, and I had trouble getting good pictures. So the pictures bled from all my sweat! Lovely!

Here we are, all excited before the race. Dan was # 120, and I was #121. That was the order we registered in, not how fast we were. My Dan is pretty fast, I'll have you know!

Here is my glorious sprint for the end, and you can see me kicking butt on these slow-pokes. ha ha ha...

Here I am, after the race, flexing my number for the camera. I am triumphant; I am finished; I am happy!