the demo days

Today I handed our contractor a check, and we parted ways. I'm not gonna lie--it was kind of sad saying goodbye. It's such a strange relationship you have with your contractor. For two weeks (in our case) you're on the phone with this guy every day. He's asking you questions like what color grout you want for the tile; you're looking to him for advice; you're also cursing his name behind his back. It's a complicated relationship. His "guys" are in your house every day. They have a key and let themselves in...they know your children and laugh at your husband's elementary Spanish when he tries to crack jokes. And then...poof! It's over, and they've moved on to their next relationship.

I'm not suggesting that I'm pining for the days when there was a dumpster in driveway and ductwork littering our front yard, but I am suggesting that I might come up with a few more "projects" just to check in with my contractor every few months. I told you--it's complicated.

howdy neighbor!

This morning Alex and I took the kids by the new house, which officially belongs to us after funding went through at 4:26pm yesterday. There was one last snafu yesterday (because why wouldn't there be?) when the title company realized they had not included a paper that the seller needed to sign in his mobile notary pack. Lucky for us,  he was able to get himself to a Kinko's and have it signed and notarized by close-of-business. Finally we're homeowners, and this morning we went to check things out since we got cheated out of our final walk through due to Traingate.

But I suppose all the drama was worth it in the end because 1) We're homeowners again; and 2) one of our neighbors left a bottle of sparkling rose on the doorstep. It was quite a pleasant surprise at 8 o'clock this morning, and now Alex doesn't have to get me a Valentine's Day present.

bring your daughter to work day

So here's the thing: next week I'm starting a part time job teaching at a private, college prep school that's associated with a local tennis academy. It's somewhat confusing when I try explaining it to people. Here's what you need to know 1) I'm not teaching tennis 2) I am teaching English and US History and 3) this is not your normal "College Prep" academic environment. Both classes I'm teaching have the same ten students who range in age from 13-15 (or grades 8-10), so that means they were all born in the 21st century. These students are amazing athletes with phenomenal grit, determination and competitive spirits. And they also spend a lot of time with each other and know one another very well, so I'm the odd girl out.

Here's a great way to not impress your class during student orientation: bring along your three year-old daughter who clings to your legs and buries her head in your thighs screaming "No Mommy! No Mommy!" while you're trying to introduce yourself and get through the course syllabus. That happened. And because I'm teaching these--same ten--students two classes, I had the pleasure of presenting back-to-back orientations. I was definitely getting looks, and I'm sure the helicopter parents attached to these student-athletes heard all about it at dinner tonight. There will probably be a pinecone on my chair and a jar of spiders in my cubby when our first class meets next Wednesday.

bigger in texas

So this is how I happened to lose and entire day of my life...

It's a terribly long story that starts with the time our Ford Explorer died in front of the house less than two years ago and we were rushed to get a new car. You should know that Alex and I are not car people. I didn't drive for six years--other than on business trips in strange cities, ironically--when I lived in Manhattan. I don't know the difference between a Volkswagen and a Volvo. And despite the time I've spent at Autonation Chevrolet the past 15 months, I still couldn't tell you what a powertrain is. But back to the story...

When the Explorer's engine blew, we ended up purchasing the old mom Enclave. It turns out that our bad luck didn't stop when our family's only car, which had less than 100K miles on it at the time, decided to croak. Squeezing in a visit to Autonation on the one day Alex was home before a seventeen-day stint out of town (way back in October of 2013) turned into a spot of bad luck itself. It was there that we purchased the aforementioned Buick Enclave, which happened to be a lemon. The car was in and out of the service center every month for the past 15 months. Every time I heard a ding and saw the "Service Stabilitrak" (what the hell is that, anyway?) warning flash across my Driver's Information Center, or DIC--how long do you think it took me to figure out what the DIC was?--I would cringe. And then I would call our guy in the service center. And then he would call Alex back because he was scared of my wild womanly ways. And then the car would go in for service...and it would start all over again approximately 2-3 weeks later.

I know it's too late to make this long story short, but when I was faced with taking the car in again earlier this week, I decided perhaps our energy would be better spent trading in the lemon. Was it too much to ask that our only car be a working car? The decision to trade resulted in Alex and I losing our sanity and a day of our lives as we spent seven hours at the dealership yesterday. Our requests were simple--a functioning SUV with a third row. For some reason it took an entire day to seal the deal. We had our vehicle picked out at 11:00am (we got there at 9:30), and at 3:30pm we were finally ushered into the finance guy's office.

On an empty stomach and six cups of coffee, I signed on [too many to count] dotted lines and became the proud ex-owner of a 2010 Buick Enclave and tentative owner of a 2009 GMC Yukon. The girls wanted the Lamborghini stationed outside of the used car sales office with the hefty price tag of $179,000, but it didn't even have a second row. After nixing the race car we settled on the Yukon because it seemed like more of a family car. It's definitely a beast and not as smooth a ride as I was used to in my former "luxury vehicle," but I drove a Chevy Silverado for four weeks in December (as a loaner), and I think it got into my blood. Besides, we're in Texas--you gotta go big to keep up with these folks.

the party before the party

This time last week I was stiletto-heel deep in gravel after dubbing myself "official rehearsal dinner photographer" for Alex's sister and her husband-to-be. I love weddings in the spring time, and it was the perfect weekend to celebrate in Austin. Our two-day party (as I like to think of it) started Friday at the Hill's Cafe where Texans and Aussies came together under the setting sun for an unforgettable party before the party. If you're dying to see more, check it out here.

mom car

The suspense is over...I know it's been killing you. This is my new (used) mom car. It's a Buick. I always thought Buicks were kind of dorky, but my job is mom to three, so I guess that makes me kind of dorky anyway. In one review I read about the Enclave (that name sounds so classy, right?) it said this is a great car for the family "that needs the room but can't bear the thought of driving a minivan." Check.

Hopefully I won't be writing about the car again, however, because that would mean A) I've turned into a totally dorky mom who has nothing better to talk about other than her car or B) something has happened to the car.

waiting for the wheat car

This is not the new Wheat family car. This is the second loaner from the dealership because after five days with the first stinky loaner, I sent Alex up there to come back with our car...or else. I guess it was or else because he came back with this brand new Tahoe, which we do not own. So that's great--now I get to drive a loaner car that is nicer than the new car we just bought. A new [pre-owned] car, by the way, that neither one of us has ever driven. I know I'm giving you bits and pieces of the story, but I was waiting for our car to arrive before I got into the whole ordeal. It turns out that the ordeal keeps going. I guess it wouldn't be a story if everything went smoothly and we drove off of the lot with the car we had just purchased when we purchased it.

what were we thinking?

Shopping for a car with three children...what?!

get ready, set...

There are moments in a mother's life when you really feel like a mom. More so than after having given birth the first time--when you don't know what in the heck you've just gotten yourself into--it's things like planning your first playdate or shopping for school supplies. I found myself in the latter position this morning when I braved Target, school supply list in hand, with all the other moms. Kindergarten starts in three weeks. Although the kids have been in preschool the last two years, this is the real deal. "Your life is about to change," I told Catcher this afternoon. When I said it, I was also thinking of myself. I'm not the first, and certainly not the last, to think or say this--how is this guy five already?

here's looking at two

Two years ago today we arrived in Austin on a record-high afternoon where the temperature soared to 108. Today Austin almost matched that high, but fell a little short reaching only 106. Heat aside, things have changed for this family of five that arrived here a family of four.

P.S. I wanted a photo of the big three to commemorate this anniversary, but my tribe wasn't exactly cooperative today. I thought a picture taken tomorrow wouldn't hold the same authenticity, so that's what I got (above).

This is Catcher just a few days after we moved here...

and this was Catcher today. I'm glad to see he's sticking with the same hairstyle.

If you can believe it, this was Scout in August 2011. Today she wouldn't sit still for a picture, but that's no surprise. She's now the same age that Catcher was when we moved here.

Which brings us to this little one, who was approximately the size of a grape (or some other small fruit) two years ago. Glad you've joined the clan, Tillie.

Happy anniversary to us!

summer part one

I know summer isn't over. Returning to Austin today we were greeted with a 100-degree afternoon (who would expect anything less in late July?) but weather aside, leaving Milwaukee this morning felt like the chapter was closing on our "summer of fun," as I have affectionately referred to it over the past several weeks.

But I'm happy to be home. I'm happy that I left our house clean, and everything was in order when we walked through the front door. I laughed when Scout ran into her room and exclaimed, "I do share a room with Tillie!" Tillie, who really came into her own over the past five weeks, spent the afternoon stomping around the house with a bravado that wasn't there before. Everything was new to her, and she was ready to conquer it all. Catcher darted in and out of the rooms remembering things he thought he had forgotten, "Oh, yeah," he recalled, "I remember that these chairs were really soft." It's great to be home, and it's great that we were able to spend the first part of our summer away from the hot, hot, hot of Texas.

So now I'm gearing up for summer, part two, I suppose. Before we begin, here's a look back at summer, part one: