Aming Tahanan’s blog

Excerpts from conversations with T.

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"Daddy said he was going to pick my ears as a form of torturement."

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T: (To dad who was sitting in front of the desktop computer) Daddy, since you are not really using the computer, can we switch?
Dad:  (Trying to be a smartass) T, since you're not really using your brain, can we switch?
T:  Let me see you get yours out first.

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Dad:  (Seeing T's bottom front tooth really loose) Son, it's time to yank that out.
T:  How about tomorrow?  And if I say no then just say, "Don't you want to get money from the tooth fairy?"

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...diesel???  I thought I was having an olfactory bad dream.  It would have been better if I was.

T has been going to summer school/camp since the first week of June and next week is the last.  My Pinay friend also has a daughter enrolled there and we are now trying to figure out what we're going to do with the kids once camp is over.  We both work full-time and so do our hubbies.

Anyways, summer camp's theme is about jobs and tools of the trade.  Yesterday, T brought back homework where he had to write down, "Mom/Dad is a _____." and draw what we use at work.  While he was working on it tonight he started chatting about the other kids' parents.

T:  Someone's dad in my class is a tattooer.
Mom:  He does tattoos?
T:  Yes.  And someone's mom is a boner.
Mom:  Huh?
T:  She hunts for bones.
Mom:  Oh, you mean an archeologist.
 

By golly!  We were determined not to be housebound and we weren't. 

Despite the threat of crowds due to the influx of tourists for the Essence Music Festival, we drove around town and ended up at the French Quarter.  We headed to Johnny's Po-Boys for a late lunch and who do we see as soon as we step in?  Our (we may be MI residents but we are paying NO city tax now) controversial Mayor who has been in hot water recently (along with other LA government officials).

Anyhoo, MH had the day's special that included a fried catfish po-boy and a bowl of gumbo and I ordered a roast beef po-boy which was huge!  T, surprisingly, loved the catfish.  Come to think of it, he does seem to take a liking to fish: tilapia, salmon, tuna (sandwich) and catfish.  Mental note: buy fish next time I go grocery shopping.  I had him taste crawfish and shrimp before but he never asked for seconds which meant that he didn't care for them.

After lunch we walked to a shop we had gone to before that was MH's idea of a shopping mecca.  It was full of different "stuff" including Mardi Gras costumes and masks, military surplus items, reproduction items used in films, a mannequin's head that is trapped in a drain (T's favorite thing to look at), old books, some furniture and odds and ends.  I patiently waited outside the shop while MH had his fill.  Then we strolled along the boardwalk where people were starting to gather for the dueling barges fireworks display.  The Natchez was docked awaiting passengers for the holiday cruise.  By the time we left, crowds were coming into the area for the festivities.  I think this is one of the few places were people can walk around and drink beer openly.  A few doors down from the shop we went to I saw a young man smoking something other than a cigarette.  Out in the open.  This in a place where there is a cop car in almost every block.  Go figure!

All in all it was a good day...now I'm off to bed.

After months of it being loose, T finally lost one of his upper front teeth.  He decided he was ready so with a little help from daddy, the tooth was finally yanked out.

Mom:  So, how much do you think the tooth fairy will give you for that?
T:  I don't know.  I got a dollar for my bottom tooth so I should get more for this.

:D

The last few days before we left MI were hectic.  I sold most of our stuff.  Luckily, the gals at work bought most of the bigger pieces of furniture.  I sent out boxes of clothing and personal items through Fedex which was the cheaper and more convenient option.  There was no way I could have brought them with me unless I got a U-Haul.

Monday morning I was still running errands.  Had a farewell lunch at the library and aside from my co-workers, my mah jongg ladies showed up.  :)  Picked up T from school, it was his last day and his classmates all made him cards.  He said, "Mrs. O sent me to help out at the office.  When I came back to class they all had a surprise for me."  That really made him feel good.  After that was a goodbye dinner with MIL, DT and ED.  It was so hard saying goodbye to everyone esp MIL.  She and I have had our differences but overall I know she would do anything for me and vice versa.

I had planned on leaving very early (3-4am) in the morning last Tuesday but there were so many things left to do that we didn't hit the road until about 8:30am.  Hubby was already getting impatient with me on the phone because I wasn't driving yet when he called a few minutes before we left.  He kept telling me to just drop everything and that MIL would be more than happy to clear the rest of it.  Hah!  Easy for him to say being over a thousand miles away.  I know MIL would have helped but it's not my nature to have someone else clean up after me.

Anyway, we did manage to get everything done and started on our adventure.  I had the GPS telling me to go another route from where I had already started going.  Hubby says, "God woman!  You are so stubborn.  Just go where the GPS tells you to go!"

T and I made frequent stops spacing out the driving.  I was running on barely 3 hours of sleep so I thought I'd stop somewhere to rest.  T didn't have such problems; he slept most of the way.  Hubby called me frequently to see how we're doing.  We didn't really hit any major traffic snags except for a patch in Indiana and Nashville because of accidents.  Indiana seemed to take an awful long time to cross.  T was complaining about it because he wanted to get to Kentucky and it just wasn't happening fast enough for him.  His suggestion:  cut Indiana and give the other half to Kentucky.  LOL!

When we got to the Welcome Center in Alabama, I thought for sure I'd be able to sleep.  It was almost midnight and although I wasn't really sleepy I was getting tired.  I parked at the rest stop but couldn't settle in.  So off I went and nearing the border of AL and MS is when I finally stopped and rested for an hour.  That was all that I needed and we were on the road again. 

We reached our new home at 7am and was I ever so glad the drive was over.  My car held up great, no accidents, didn't get lost...Thank you, Lord!!!  I don't know where I got the energy because when we arrived I helped hubby unload, cooked breakfast, went grocery shopping, and had lunch.  While he was at work (he's temporary shift is 2-10pm so they won't disturb the office people with loud sounds) I cleaned parts of the house.  By 4pm T and I were in la-la-land.

Wednesday was pretty much the same.  We did go to two schools that I was hoping to get T into but their admissions were already closed.  Darn!  So now we're still school-shopping.

Thursday was my job interview at Tulane.  I was early because we didn't know how far we would have to park.  Parking anywhere in NOLA is a premium and even staff/faculty at Tulane have to pay for a spot inside campus.  Anyway, interview went very well...great, actually!  (grinning!)  Barring any major glitches, the job is mine.  There were 5 people in the panel and after the interview the Dean said the decision was unanimous.  They liked me...they really, really liked me.  :D

More to come...

Hubby's already been gone for almost 3 weeks :( but we're coping.  I've gotten rid of a lot of furniture mostly taken by the ladies I work with.  All that's really left are clothes which I guess I still have a lot of even though I have donated several garbage bags full of them.

We decided to rent out the house instead of selling it at this time.  We're still hoping to return someday to renovate the house.  Probably wishful thinking but it's our first house so there is a bit of sentimentality attached to it.  Anyway, we do have a renter waiting in the wings.  They're probably as anxious to move in as I am to move out.  I've talked T's teacher about pulling him out two weeks ahead of school closing and she said it was okay.  But with something else brewing, it might be sooner than that.

In any case, I better go back to the packing once again.  I have the whole week off so I better make the most of it.

I hope everyone had a great mommy's day yesterday!

I hate moving.  I get excited about the move but not the work that goes along with it.  Downsizing, boxing things up, making sure nothing important is left behind.

I should have paid more attention to the pattern.  Throughout the almost 8 years MH and I have been together, we never stayed in one place for more than 2 years.  Had I known it would hold true once again, we probably wouldn't have jumped at buying a house.  We are getting ready to move once again and this time it's out of state.  New Orleans, LA to be exact.  Why?  Economic reasons, primarily.  Michigan's economy has been in the doldrums for years and we have been feeling the pinch.  So end of last year hubby put in an application at Tulane University and after 4 months of waiting, he finally got hired.  That was the reason for the trip to Nawlins.

Hubby will be going ahead next week.  T and I are staying until school is finished which is around mid-June.  Hubby has been doing things around the house to get it cleaned, cleared and fixed up.  With the real estate condition the way it is right now, we've decided we're going to rent it out initially to help out with the mortgage.  After a year, we'll reconsider our options.

It hasn't hit me yet, the magnitude of our situation.  I can count on one hand the number of days hubby and I have been separated all these years.  It'll be strange, a bit scary, and lonely.  And it will be for him as well esp being away from our boy.  But these are difficult times and our options are rather limited.  Hopefully, the weeks will fly by and we'll all be together again on a new adventure.

I hate leaving familiar things behind...family...and friends.  The one bright spot in the horizon comes from Sperling's Best Places.  Snowfall:  37.3" vs. 0.  Woohoo!!!!  Kiss those winter apparel goodbye!  :D

Show us a transformation.

This is the craft/guest room before and after.