If all you know is sunny and beautiful, sunny and beautiful, sunny and beautiful

The drought has been a big topic of conversation here in NC. But today we got rain. Lots of glorious rain. And thunder and lightning. As I type this I'm sitting on the back porch listening to the rain pour down through the trees in my yard. Now that may seem like a perfectly normal way to appreciate mother nature but some of the people here take their appreciation to a whole other level. I've been reading some conversations on a local board about the recent rains and I've included some of the best for your reading pleasure:

okay..if your car needs washing .. here's what you do.
put a hat on - big garbage bag over your clothes...empty bucket with rag and little soap...and wash your car!! I just did it and it was really fun . . . and I'll have a clean car..
how's that for water conservation??
oh, and try not to get electrocuted.....

Beautiful Rain!
My Rain Barrel Runneth Over!

I went and reseeded the yard during a break in the storm... I hope the off & on rain over the next few days will keep the birds away from the seed, & that it stays warm enough for it to germinate, so I will keep my fingers crossed.



Being from Vegas , this is the first really real rain I have seen in almost 7 years and it is wonderful..simply wonderful . I didn't wash the car but I did put out a few buckets and an old aluminum washtub to catch the water , so that I can use it to water a bush that I started from a limb( dont laugh ) and will be putting in the ground soon.
My hometown is Gene Kelly's hometown and we know his famous song." I'm singing in the rain"

This isn't the only drought related discussion going on on this board. But being from California what has really surprised me is that when water is scarce here in NC people actually stop watering their lawns! They conserve. They save their bath water to water their plants. They shower every other day. There would be an uprising in southern California if such suggestions were even hinted at.

And then, when the first good rain comes, these people don't just resume normal activity... they celebrate! We weren't the only ones outside on our street tonight marveling at the storm. It's lovely to be amongst people who take the time to notice and appreciate the weather.

Back porch living

I'm typing this while sitting on my screened in back porch, drinking a beer and listening to the cicadas and crickets in the trees. This morning on the porch we enjoyed coffee and breakfast (which was brought over by our new neighbor...seriously) and watched as a family of deer traipsed through our yard.

How awesome is that?

Home, sweet home

We're all moved in. Nothing is unpacked or put away but all 3 kids are freshly bathed and tucked into their beds asleep. David and I are on the couch enjoying the complete quiet and a couple of beers. It's really lovely here. I'll try to put up some photos soon.

And someday we'll be able to afford to furnish it

This is our new house. We just closed on it yesterday despite the fact that our home in California is still on the market. We're still not sure what kind of fuzzy math the mortgage company used to determine that we could actually afford this place. But it's pretty, isn't it? The lawn will be put in in a few weeks once the weather cools off more.

And it will provide milk and cheese for our family

"I know how to solve the poison ivy problem in our yard."

"Oh, yeah? How?"

"We'll get a goat."

"Well then how will we solve our goat problem?"

"Chupacabra!"

We must be doing something right

Today we received Jackson's first progress report from school. What I mean by that is that this is the first time he's received a report from a school that actually quantifies his progress in simple language. His old school would send home a report at the end of the year written in calligraphy on handmade hemp paper that smelled of patchouli and included such phrases as "Jackson has a rich interior life" and "he embraces the routines of the season."

His new school's report evaluated a child on a scale of 1-4 in 5 different areas: science, math, reading, writing and social studies. Our little academic scored 3s (meeting requirement) in 3 of the subjects and 4s (exceeding requirements) in reading and math. I haven't really seen any of the science or social studies work they've been doing since the bulk of the work is reading, writing and math. And Jackson's writing is pretty damn sloppy but I believe this to be not the result of an inadequacy in his writing abilities, but rather due to the fact that he's just plain lazy.

There was also a place for the teacher to check off problems the child is having that needed further attention and, possibly, required a conference. There was nothing checked for Jackson, not even that he has an intense obsession with Pokemon that borders on psychosis. Don't know how she missed that one.

The brother we never told you about

Last night after dinner we were sitting around the table and Clara was being extraordinarily cute.

"She is so dang cute. I'm so glad I had all cute kids."

"Yeah, they're pretty cute... well, except for that one ugly one we have..."

"Who? Which one of us is the ugly one? Is it Sam?"

"No, not Sam."

"Then is it Clara?"

"Nope. It's not Clara either."

"Oh, man..."

"Yep, it's Joe."

This is where all kidding ends and Jackson's face and tone of voice become solemn.

"Who's Joe?"

Southern pests

I've made mention here before of the hippie school that Jackson attended in Kindergarten and 1st grade. Well, thanks to the wonders of YouTube you can experience some of the magic yourself.

The difference between this school and a typical public school have been becoming very obvious to me as Jackson completes his second week at a public school. One of the main unfortunate differences is that Jackson has been coming home from school with chigger bites. That's CH-igger. But, yeah, we worried about that, too.

I'm kidding.

Diversion

David's away for the week. He had to go back to California for work, leaving me with 3 kids during this rocky start to our new life here in NC. All I can say is that it's been the best of times, it's been the worst of times. But more on that in another post. For now let me leave you with this photo I took downtown. You can probably read the large sign that says "Elsewhere". But look closely and you might see that other sign that reads "Closed". Such is life lately.

I'm surprised he didn't ask for us to remove his shackles

Sometimes Jackson gets sent to his room. Some days he gets sent to his room a lot. Like a few weeks ago when we were having a heat wave and couldn't go outside for more than 6 seconds (I timed it) before breaking out in a soul-drenching sweat. Being cooped up in an apartment for several days brings out the worst in everyone. And if you're wondering why we didn't go to the mall or a movie or something then let me remind you. So, anyway, Jackson spent quite a bit of time in his room before the school year started and, one day, I guess he'd had enough because he wrote this and slipped it out his door:

When I'm reminded of the sensitive man I married

David and I were discussing Sam's undesirable behaviors and how we're just not trained how to deal with them.

"We just need someone to come into our home and fix all his behavioral problems."

"We need Super Retard Nanny."

Listen and enjoy

Turn your sound up really loud and have a listen.



That is the sound of our sweet Sam yelling. Yelling is something he does a lot. Now some of the loveliness is lost in the recording but you can probably get the idea that this is not something you want to listen to everyday. But we, as his lucky family, do get to listen to this every damn day.

Here's what I want you to do. I want you to put this onto your iPod or other inferior portable MP3 player. Plug this into some portable speakers, put it on loop and turn it up loud. Now make a really important phone call.

Did you lock yourself in the bathroom so you could hear the other person on the phone? Fine, how about this: tenderly pick up the MP3 player and speakers. Is it bucking, kicking and scratching while yelling? No? Well, count yourself lucky. Now place it in a stroller or some other wheeled contraption and take it for a walk through a quiet neighborhood.

Still doing okay? Put it in the car and drive it to the nearest indoor shopping center. The echo is quite an enhancement and there are more people there to gape in horror.

Feeling a little hungry? Feeling a little brave? You go right ahead and take that thing into a restaurant.

Don't forget to keep it on at full volume for the car ride home. Are your ears bleeding yet?

Okay, last assignment: set it down in a room adjacent to two other rooms containing a man working from his home office in one and a teething and irritable toddler who just went down for a nap in the other.

How ya doing? Still sober?

Okay, then let's do this again tomorrow.

Bedtime brilliance

I had a brilliant thing to write about on my blog last night. I was in bed composing in my head a piece of writing that would have truly blown your mind (I can safely say this because, just wait, you'll see that you'll never actually get to read it). Immediately before I drift off to sleep is when I do my best writing. My mind seems to be a bit looser. I can usually have something laid out start to finish in my mind and all that is required is that I get out of bed and quickly jot it down before it slips away. But I was tired last night. I convinced myself that I would remember it in the morning. I didn't. Nothing. And I blame the children. They are the reason I am so tired at night. The fucking irony is the children are often the inspiration for my writing.

Saxapahaw-haw-haw!

This is one of the reasons we moved to NC. A laid back summer evening with a little something for everyone. Food, wine and music for the adults. And, as David put it, sanctioned chaos for the kiddos. No rules. No crowds. No cover charge.



Saxapahaw Summer Fun from Melinda Shelton and Vimeo.

Jackson started a blog

He wrote a kick-ass poem the other day and it's posted on his blog. You have to go check it out!

A Boy and his Blog

In case you were wondering how we've been doing

Felt like throwing in the towel today. The fantasy of walking away from it all was just sitting there occupying a space in my mind I feared going to. We're in a new town and have been stuck in an apartment with a very energetic 7 year old, a 4 year old who has a yell/growl/call of satan (seriously, I'm going to record it one of these days and loop it on my blog so people will truly understand what it feels like to want to bash your own head against the wall just to make the sound stop), a very sick 1 year old, and a husband who needs quiet because he's working from home. It's about 98 degrees outside with a butt load of humidity on top of that which makes for a real feel of 400 degrees so we can't even just step outside the door for a change of scenery. The doctor's office was our only respite; but even that was short lived as Clara had a knock down drag 'em out tantrum right there in the office because she's sick. Before the dr. helped me put together all the symptoms to come up with a viral infection I was seriously worried that Clara was undergoing some permanent personality change due to the stress of the move and because she missed home and hated NC so far. Or maybe I was just projecting. When we got home Clara was crashed out from the car ride and Sam was happily watching a video so I had some peace with only Elmo's squeeky voice singing in the background. I also had an escape to look forward to because last night as I was lying with a writhing, kicking, screaming toddler at bedtime I had the clarity of mind to realize that my problems didn't have to be solved by finding a new mommy for my children; maybe I could just try exercise instead. So I signed up with a gym and had my first little consult with them this afternoon. I didn't care that Clara would wake up screaming from her nap and David would be the one wondering why we didn't bring all our liquor along with us on the move.

So I got out... without children. And the sun shone and the birds sang. I met Sandy who lives near us and has a sister who lives in the neighborhood we're going to move to. She caught me up on some of the town happenings and filled me in on the (two) coffeehouses in Hillsborough (neither of which is a Starbucks, btw). Then I chatted with a young lad who has a lawn mowing business with his younger brother in our new neighborhood. I got his business card and then drove by our beautiful home under construction, which is surprisingly slated to be finished on time. I also picked up a six pack of some of our favorite beer and it was on sale!

Then I came home. Sam was yelling. And Clara had shut herself in our bedroom because she didn't want David to come near her. And David reminded me of the down side of our home being completed on time: we have no money for a down payment as our house in CA still has not sold.

Ah, but tomorrow is another day full of wonder and hell. Right?

Serving up some guilt and photos

We're in Knoxville, TN tonight and have a big day tomorrow but I wanted to post a few pics for those of you who may not have seen the kids in awhile (like my parents who decided that taking off for 4 months to Alaska, while both their children and all of their grandchildren moved either out of state or out of the country, was a good idea). Okay, dad's probably chuckling a bit after reading that and mom has just been hit with an incredible wave of mother guilt. And mother guilt just sucks so let me just clarify by saying that I harbor no bad feelings toward them about their ill-timed trip. I'm a big girl now and can handle things on my own... unlike when I was accepted into a high school honors program for a summer at UC Davis and had to drive myself to a new town while my parents were off on some vacation somewhere, and there was a family picnic held the first day for the students and their parents but I just stayed in my dorm room.... That's enough, right? Suffice it to say that I'm chock full of character.

Here are the pics to leave you with a smile, Mom.

This first pic requires some explanation: While in Memphis Clara insisted on holding Sam's hand and riding next to him. We weren't able to capture the true sweetness of the event on camera, though.

Remember: you are your child's first teacher

We arrived in Memphis, Tennessee today. And what an improvement over Little Rock, Arkansas. I'm certainly not an authority when it comes to comparing these two cities, but I can say that our 3.5 hours spent in Memphis has already totally outshined the 20 hours we spent in Little Rock. When we got to our hotel today Jackson noticed a bible sitting out on the bedside table. It wasn't hidden away in the drawer like at most hotels, just waiting to be discovered. It was just out there not even pretending that there might be hotel guests who may not be interested in taking comfort in its pages. As if.

"They have a bible here?"

"Yeah."

"Why?"

"They want you to read it."

"The whole thing? Why"

"So you'll be saved and go to Heaven."

"Saved from who?"

"Yourself."

Teachable moments. See how well I exploited that one? Now before you start sending me hate mail and damning me to Hell I should explain that it's been a long trip and I didn't have the energy to go into any further detail at that moment. And Jackson and I have been having some pretty meaningful talks on religion lately. That just wasn't one of them.

In Jackson's "What Your First Grader Should Know" they have several chapters on the major religions. And the reason we're reading this book is because the hippie school that we sent Jackson to for 2 years hasn't done much to prepare him for the harsh reality of public education. I bet your thinking this is a bad thing..... Anyway, we read about Christianity, Judaism, and Islam. Hinduism and Buddhism are discussed in the subsequent second grade book because those are for the more advanced reader. Crap. I didn't really mean that. But the Eastern religions are what all the cool kids are into these days. Anyway, after our reading we had a nice discussion about Jesus. Now I'm not a big subscriber to any one religion but I do take interest in Jesus as an historical figure. But that whole son of God, died for our sins stuff is where I draw the line. Seriously, why did people have to take a perfectly nice man with a pretty fucking profound message and make him such a point of contention? So I talked with Jackson about loving the sinner not the sin blah blah blah.... and a few days later we were making a list of friends he could invite to the waterpark in our old town as a sort of going away thing. He mentioned a couple of children who he has always complained about. One in particular was a bit of a bully so I told Jackson not to invite him because then it wouldn't be fun for anyone. Jackson came right back at me with Jesus' message of love for everyone. And that, my 5 loyal readers, is how I was put in my place by my 7 year old son. We ended up not inviting the bully and probably made Jesus cry.

Hangin' in the OKC

We arrived in Oklahoma City last night and spent the day seeing some sights, including the local WalMart. Not something I need to do again.

But we did go to a place called Myriad Gardens and Crystal Bridge. Photos below.


The theme was Hawaii


The elusive Jackson Monkey


Such beautiful smiles


Who knew such beauty existed in Oklahoma City


The gang

The Great Escape

We finished packing up the house on Saturday and hit the road late afternoon. We made it to Kingman, AZ the first night. Tonight we're in Albuquerque, NM. Tomorrow we hope to make it to Oklahoma City. After that we'll slow it down a bit and see some sights. It's been a speedy trip through the west since we've already seen so much out this way on past trips. Once we get a minute we'll try to take some photos and post.