I'm baaaack.

I can't tell you how many times I've wanted to blog about something over the last couple of weeks. We are now in our apartment in South Carolina and just got our Internet hooked up today. So here I am sitting on the edge of a baby gate for a chair (we have no furniture yet) blissfully uploading my pictures. I'm officially home. (Apparently, home is where you set up your computer. And yes I realize how sad that sounds.)

It's nice to not be traveling anymore. We've had some adventures along the way, but other than getting rear-ended on the highway in NC, I can't really think of them right now. The highway patrolman was decidedly unpleasant with me as he informed me he didn't have to write me a police report if the damage to my car was under $1000. Let's just say southern hospitality doesn't necessarily extend to misplaced Yankees. (If you aren't sure if you're a Yankee than that probably means you are).

So I'll stick with pictures for now.

Here are Skylar and Granbabe playing "taco" in the new dog bed (before it was used by a dog):

Sweet kisses:)

The horses are always a big attraction, but it was SO COLD that we didn't get to spend too much time outside or in the barn.

Here's Skylar picking up the "Osage oranges" and I have absolutely no idea what that means. I just know they fall from the trees and Skylar enjoyed harvesting them.

She takes her job as a farm girl very seriously.

Her Great Aunt Karen came over for dinner bearing gifts. Skylar loved all of the thoughtful things Karen brought her, but especially these puzzles!

Meanwhile, Bill was hard at work making all sort of yummy things for us. I really need his recipe for turkey curry sliders.....so good!
I found this on my camera, probably taken by Gayle, of Skylar showing off her penguins. She loves her penguin and monkey jammies the best!

I also got to spend a great afternoon with Marie and her girls, but of course I was so busy talking that I didn't snap one picture! I realized it later and was so mad at myself!

We ended up leaving Leavenworth a little sooner than expected because we were trying to beat a snowstorm and see Dave Zupancic before he deployed. Amy Armstrong graciously let us stay with her on short notice and we had the best time!

Dave and Micah the evening before he deployed:

Amy made us some muffins from Barb (her sour dough starter, yes she named it) and they were AMAZING and picture perfect to boot:

Amy having a morning beverage and being fabulous.

It was so good to spend time hanging out and catching up (and the Nut and Berry Martinis weren't bad either!).

Skylar was being a bit uncooperative in this picture. We think she's getting ready to turn 2 or something.

All in all, we spent 6 days driving and Skylar was great in the car. We rolled into Spartanburg, South Carolina around lunch time and went to Bojangles (Micah got to pick) for our inaugural meal. While we were there (none of us ate fried chicken, so I'm not sure why we went) one of the other customers saw Skylar and said in her southern drawl "Who baby that is? She be so cuuuuute". Micah giggled with glee and said "We are officially in the South".

And boy am I going to have fun blogging about it..........

A few pictures.

First I want to ask for prayer for my friend Mary-Anne and her family. She has already been through so much with the death of her first husband Charlie, and then two days ago her brother Andy was killed in a tragic accident at the age of 27. Even sadder, he left behind his bride of less than a year. I still can't quite wrap my head around it but I know they would appreciate your prayers. The funeral is this Thursday at noon.

My tech-savvy mother-in-law had a cord that works for my camera, so here are a few pictures from Thanksgiving.

Skylar had Christmas a little early this year. She got some new bows that my friend Amy made for her and a package from my mom all in one day.
Ice cream, a tutu and Aunt Nicole....it just doesn't get any better.

Here's hoping it all makes it to the other end.

Improvised eating arrangements.

Entertaining herself by emptying Kristy and Andy's pantry and dumping it all on Granbabe.

Andy trying to get a kiss out of the little stinker.

Kristy was the Hostess with the Mostest, setting her fabulous Thanksgiving table.

Meanwhile.........

And the thing we were all so very thankful for......Bill's crowning jewel......the grilled and smoked turkey!

Hotel after-party when we finally finished cleaning the house!!

Hanging out with Granbabe at work in the technology lab, doing techy things:)

We made it across Kansas.

I am really sad that the cord to download pictures from my camera got packed. I feel like there's no point in even blogging without pictures......

It also stresses me out a little (because I'm a huge dork) to know that I will have weeks worth of pictures on my camera by the time I get to South Carolina and will be so far behind in posting them that I will never be able to catch up. Because I know you all want to see pictures of each and every trivial thing we do during the day.

Oh well.

By the time we handed over the keys to our house last monday we were so tired of the moving out process that we weren't even sad, just relieved to be done. It was really sad saying good-bye to Nickerdoodle and then we spent one more night in Castle Rock with Krandy before heading off for good.

We now have 1/3 of our trip behind us. We got into Leavenworth, Kansas last night and are currently staying at the Rue Homestead for just under a week. It was slooooow going pulling a U-haul, especially on I-70 where the wind blows you sideways and you get 8 miles to the gallon, so we broke it up into 2 days for Skylar's sake. Micah persevered with the U-haul and 2 dogs in his car while I wrangled a toddler in the other car and resisted the urge to pass Micah and leave him in the dust so we could just. get. there. already. I'm such a loyal wife.

My days across Kansas were momentous. On day one I ate an entire bag of guacamole rice cakes out of boredom while listening to The Silly Song Countdown on repeat. I almost have The Dance of the Cucumber (veggies tales in case you don't know, and you should) completely memorized in Spanish, and definitely will by the time we get to South Carolina. I already find myself singing "Miran el pepino..." throughout the day and it's awkward every time.

That first night was spent in Hays, Kansas in a very scary Marriott that looked deceptively safe and cheery from the outside. It had happy little wreaths, a Christmas tree, and a plate of warm cookies in the lobby. But once we booked a room and entered the inner sanctuary it was like the twilight zone. Decrepit 80's decor, pealing walls, moldy tiles, rusty everything. Our room smelled like an armpit, the sink didn't drain and I was afraid to step on the carpet for fear of contracting an STD. It was a little like spending the night in a dirty 7-11 bathroom.

On day two the scenery had not improved much so I started in on a bag of gingerbread cookies while listening to Baby Neptune on repeat, until we mercifully arrived in the Flint Hills. At that point I was able to stay awake enough to switch over to gum and save my hips from myself.

Micah complained about the dog breath and dog gas in his car, but that was nothing compared to Skylar's tricks. She filled her pants 10 minutes after we left a rest stop and I had to smell it for the next 40 minutes until we stopped again. Fresh poo + heat = nausea. On another occasion her diaper overflowed into her car seat and when I pulled her out I had a lovely mess waiting for me. I guess she drinks when she's bored.

And that about sums it up. We are looking forward to doing laundry and wearing clean clothes, eating Bill's grilled delicacies and watching the horses giddy-up in the pasture. Good times.

Yeah right.

I retract my previous, more optimistic post. Moving IS stressful and it completely stinks. The cleaning team wasn't much help, and my arms still ache from painting and scrubbing. Oh, and it turns out I don't really like cleaning carpets that much after all.

In fact, making sure we meet all of the move-out requirements for the rental company ranks right up there with going to the dentist and having lots of cavities filled. Hmmmm....whine much?

We now know how good we had it when we moved out of military housing and it was a piece of cake.

On the bright side, we had yummy grilled and smoked turkey and lots of family fun and help with Skylar to ease the stress of the past few days.

Speaking of Skylar, she is enjoying some of the perks of being homeless and having distracted parents. Like today when she ate almost an entire bag of white Cheddar popcorn for lunch and washed it down with my diet coke when I wasn't looking.

She is also enjoying having her very own queen sized hotel bed with no less than five pillows.

Toddlers have all the fun.

Moving on out.

So it's moving week around here. Last week was full of good-byes and last lunches, dinners and play dates. This week is all about work, work, work. Skylar and I are currently lounging at the Fairfield Inn while Micah is back at the house with Dino, Joe, Rob and the other guy--those would be our packers and movers. They are putting in two very long days to get us out of here.

Poor Skylar doesn't know what's happened to her little life. I never realized how important routine was to her until we took it all away. First her dogs disappeared (doggy daycare is a lifesaver!) then her toys and books got packed away and before she knew it she was sleeping in a room full of boxes last night. She was trying to say goodnight to the flower mobile that hangs above her bed--as is her toddler custom--except it wasn't there. She was so upset it was gone that we couldn't even get through our prayers, and praying is her favorite. Talk about traumatic. How can life go on without the flower mobile??? I'm here to tell you it can't.

This afternoon after much weeping and wailing I finally got her down for a nap in our hotel room. So here we lie in our matching queen beds enjoying the peace and quiet.....and sheets and pillows and TV and Internet. (We've been without it for a whole 32 hours, which is pretty much forever). This move has been relatively stress-free thanks to all the babysitting help from Nicole (and some from Natasha too!!) and the fact that I hired a cleaning team to come and do all the dirty work for me. It is SO WORTH the mucho dinero not to have to worry about it.

I am however, cleaning the carpets myself and kind of looking forward to it. Few things give me as much satisfaction.

Tomorrow is painting day and then in the evening we head up to Castle Rock for Thanksgiving festivities with the Rue/Lathrop clan and Nicole. Hope you all have a great Thanksgiving!

Sad but true.

Don't you hate when you can't find your car in a parking lot?

I intentionally make a mental note of where I park before I get out of the car because it's happened to me enough times that I now take preventative measures. So today at the commissary (where all bad things happen) I checked and saw that I was in Row I.

"I" as in "igloo". Got it. I went in the store, did my shopping and came back out.

And this is where it gets ugly.

I walk straight down Row I and get to the end without seeing my car. That's weird, I know I parked closer to the front. So I turn around and end up back at the front of the row and still don't see it. Hmmmm. Maybe it wasn't Row I maybe it was Row H, except I could have sworn my key word was "igloo" not "higloo". But I head over to Row H just in case. Unfortunately 1 in 5 cars is small and silver and I can't seem to locate the one I need.

I am so glad Skylar is at home with Micah and not squawking in the cart making this situation more stressful. I am especially glad that I bought less than 20 items so a poor bagger isn't following me around the parking lot. I hate when that happens. Not that it's ever happened of course.

I switch to my next tactic: hitting the car alarm. We all know they aren't there to protect your car, they are to help you find it. So I hit the little red button and nothing happens. I must be too far away, so I go back to Row I. I start hitting it over and over again and nothing is happening. It worked the other day, so why isn't it working now? Keep walking. Pretend like you know exactly where you're going.

At this point it briefly occurs to me that I have become that person. You know, the one wandering around the parking lot pushing a cart in circles trying to act cool like they may have just taken a wrong turn instead of having completely lost their mind....and their car.

Then it occurs to me that I have never seen anyone doing this but myself. Maybe I am the only person. Maybe the people inside the store see me coming every week and run to the windows when I leave to watch me get lost and wander around the parking lot. Maybe it's their inside joke.

As these thoughts go through my head I'm still walking around, going on lap 5 now, inwardly panicking and outwardly waving hello to the man in the red truck as he nods hi for the 5th time. Is he snickering at me??? He totally is. The worst part about getting lost in a parking lot is that there is always somebody hanging out in their car waiting and watching the whole thing go down.

And then I realize the obvious. Somebody stole the car. Crap!! Now I have to call Micah and tell him to come and get me and then I need to call the MP's. This is going to be so inconvenient right before we move. Who would want our car?????

Oh but wait.......

I didn't drive the Passat today, I drove the X-terra. No wonder the alarm wouldn't work, it was the wrong key! I should just go ahead and enroll myself in the special olympics right now. I've been looking for the wrong car for 10 minutes and there it is right in front of me. I just walked past it 6 times. And oh look, the red truck is parked right next to it. Don't make eye contact.

Just another day at the Trauma-sary.

Broccoli to die for.

Okay, so that title is a bit dramatic. BUT if you like broccoli and are tired of the same old steamed stuff, then you will love this recipe.

But first, I have to share a cooking disaster from the weekend (just in case you thought we lived in a bubble of culinary bliss). Nicole and I decided to cook some dinner on saturday night.

Me: I have ground turkey in the freezer to use.

Nicole: Let's make Swedish Meatballs! (Nicole does not believe in making the same thing twice and likes to find new recipes).

Me: Uh, sure....I've never made that before.

Nicole: I'll look it up online!

She found a recipe that sounded good. Then we realized there were 3 sauce options to choose from according to Joan on the website (presumably Joan is the friendly Swede who shared this recipe....because Joan is a very Swedish name....that should have been a red light.)

We decided on the red wine sauce because we had all the ingredients.

So red wine sauce it was. Except that it wasn't. It was like creamy lavender buttery floury yuckiness. Nicole got concerned and told me I should try it. I was too scared, so she tried it and said it tasted like butter. She added more wine bringing it to a lovely shade of purple. Still tasted like butter. And the thought of pouring purple butter on meatballs was not our idea of a good time.

Here's a close up for you, just in case you weren't sure how unappetizing it was:

Thanks for nothing Joan the Swede.

So now we just have meatballs. I stopped stocking up on groceries in anticipation of moving, so there is no tomato sauce in the house. We decided to make meatball subs out of them and I run to the grocery store and grab provolone, a loaf of bakery bread, and some sauce. I slice the bread in half and stick it under the broiler to toast.......and then I get busy peeling a tangerine that Skylar won't eat because she only eats Clemtines and I thought the tangerine was a clementine. So then I peel a clemtine and by the time I was done I remembered and screamed "The bread!"

But it was too late.......
Ever the optimist, Nicole said it could be salvaged. By the time we cut all the burnt parts off, it was mangled and pitiful but at least it wasn't purple. So we threw those meatballs on there, added some tomato sauce, and then we all pretended it was AMAZING.
In the end, the only amazing part was that dinner finally made it to the table.....pathetic though it was.
Okay, now for the best broccoli you have ever tasted. I love roasted vegetables and never thought of roasting brocolli until I saw Barefoot Contessa do it on her show last year. (Did you know Ina and I are BFF's? Yeah, she doesn't know either.) It has since become one of my favorite side dishes.

Ingredients:

4 to 5 pounds broccoli
4 garlic cloves, peeled and thinly sliced
Good olive oil
1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
2 teaspoons grated lemon zest
2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
3 tablespoons pine nuts, toasted
1/3 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
2 tablespoons julienned fresh basil leaves (about 12 leaves)

(Let me just say that I frequently leave out the pine nuts or basil....but the lemon, parmesan and garlic are what makes the recipe and I wouldn't omit those!)

Directions

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F.
Cut the broccoli florets from the thick stalks, leaving an inch or two of stalk attached to the florets, discarding the rest of the stalks. Cut the larger pieces through the base of the head with a small knife, pulling the florets apart. You should have about 8 cups of florets. Place the broccoli florets on a sheet pan large enough to hold them in a single layer. Toss the garlic on the broccoli and drizzle with 5 tablespoons olive oil. Sprinkle with the salt and pepper. Roast for 20 to 25 minutes, until crisp-tender and the tips of some of the florets are browned.
Remove the broccoli from the oven and immediately toss with 1 1/2 tablespoons olive oil, the lemon zest, lemon juice, pine nuts, Parmesan, and basil. Serve hot.