A Camping We Will Go--Maybe

We have had our RV for a week now and we couldn't wait to take it out. The past week hasn't been the best--our plumbing backed-up and flooded the laundry room of our basement (again), our bathtub fawcet blew off and had to be replaced, Matt had a busy/stressful week at work and his laptop screen went out only to be fixed but broken further by the I*M tech, I had numerous doctor's appointments in preparation for my upcoming surgery, work began to replace our boiler and then, I thought Lizzie had run away or had been stolen.

Yes, the workmen who removed the asbestos locked our dog in with the boiler and when I couldn't find her I went into super, freak-out mode searching for our dog in our house and in our neighborhood. I searched every nook and cranny of our house and yard searching for the dog. I walked our neighborhoood, questioned neighbors who were outside and the construction workers building a home a few doors down. In a fit of hysteria, I called Matt who immediately took a car home from the city. During my frantic search, I became convinced that the workmen stole her (it actually happened to me as a child when a city workman stole our Labrador Retreiver). Lizzie never leaves our yard and I had just seen her minutes before the work men left. I convinced myself they took her so I ended my search through our neighborhood to come home and call the company. I went into the basement office to find the company's phone number and I heard the jingle jangle of Lizzie's dog tags. I ran to the boiler room and there she was cowered in the corner. The workers had shut her in. I had found her, but Matt had left work early and was nearly home by the time I found her. So, we decided to go camping--we thought.

We packed our bags and headed out the door to go camping. A couple of weeks ago we made weekend reservations at a RV resort in Lake George, NY. We were eager to try out our RV but when we arrived at the RV we discovered that the jack was broken and we couldn't hook up the RV to our car. So back to the house we went.

Saturday Matt got up early to go the RV dealer where we bought our RV for help. After discovering that they were unwilling and useless he came up with his own solution and was able to hook up the RV. We were finally on our way.

Just after arriving at the RV resort, the sky opened up and it began to pour and hail. I was beginning to think that we were getting a message that RVing wasn't for us. Luckily, it all ceased and we were able to set up camp (quite easily I might add) and settle in. We didn't get to see much of the sites as we spent the majority of our time checking out the RV. In the morning we took a walk around the site and then headed home.

In the end, we used our 1st experience in the RV as a "getting to know the RV" session. We got to learn and experience all the bells and whistles and we are better equipped for a longer excursion.

1st RV trip slideshow

Welcome to Our Playroom

Welcome to Our Playroom, originally uploaded by pookie2shoes.

This is just too funny (and it shows my weird sense of humor). Work started today to replace our 80+ year old boiler in our basement, which is our media and play rooms.

The first phase of the removal was getting the asbestos out of the boiler. The men came around 8 a.m. and spent 2 hours barricading off the area around the boiler by putting thick, plastic barriers throughout along with these signs. When I rounded the corner to see what the heck they were stapling in all the walls, I saw this. I couldn't stop laughing. I HAD to photograph it.

I sent it to Matt and he thought it was a classic too.

Random Razorbacks

A randomly bizarre and completely coincidental happening occurred today that I had to share. I got a message on my answering machine from an old friend and colleague that I taught with back in Texas. Her daughter is entering the U of A as a freshman and wants to go through sorority rush. She wants me to write a letter of recommendation for her daughter to my sorority (of which I was President & Rush Chair so she's a shoo-in (ha!ha!)). Anyway, the message had me thinking about Rush, etc. and recalling my cheesy Rush photos I had professionally taken wearing my Razorback earrings and buttons (yes, a bit dorky, I admit). After my blast from the past, I go to the mailbox and find a letter to Chloe from my pal and sorority sister, Christi. I open the letter to find this inside:

Christi sent them as a gift to Chloe for not sending stickers for the pesky little sticker club letters I got suckered into sending out a few weeks ago. And, yes, they are way cuter than stickers and will look oh so adorable in Chloe's red crocs. And, more bizarre they are dead ringers for my Razorback earrings I wore in my Rush photo! I'm thinking maybe I will save these for Chloe's Rush photo in 15 years. I can see her now, in 15 year old Crocs, wearing 15 year old Razorback Jibbitzs! A sure-fire way to get her cut!

I just found it humorous that on one day in a place you rarely see anything Razorback related that these two random events came minutes apart. GO HOGS!

Getting Schooled

We got a nice taste of what is to come this past week thanks to our 6 and 8 year old nieces. It has been over 2 years since I was in a classroom and out of the loop of what is "in" with the pre-teen/teen crowd. Thanks to Gemma & Bryn, I am now back in the "know".

The saying is true, you don't know what you are missing (and frankly, I didn't miss it). I had heard of this and that, but didn't know it was the end all be all of tween cool. I had never heard of them but only just discovered that they live in a neighboring town. It wouldn't have meant anything had I not been schooled by my nieces.

I guess I have to start paying a little more attention as Chloe is getting older and taking more notice of things like that. She informed us this morning that Diego was her favorite person (fabulous to know we rank somewhere below a cartoon character in her world). And, yesterday while shopping Chloe broke into a dance while singing the chorus of "Breaking Free" from HSM2. Oy!

Next thing I know, she'll be requesting Radio Disney and these (no way).

Cousins

This past week Ashley, Bryn & Gemma came to visit. They are our former neighbors and more importantly, family. Ashley is married to Rob, Matt's brother, and Bryn and Gemma are our nieces (Chloe's cousins).

The three girls enjoyed playing together and jumping on the trampoline. Bryn, the oldest, would devise the games and Gemma and Chloe would happily play along. Chloe also enjoyed imitating her older cousins and learning new games and lingo from them.

Of course, we had to hit the NYC highlights for children. Our first trip was to the Bronx Zoo where the girls went on a camel ride, rode the monorail, the skyfari and visited the Children's Zoo. We made the complete rounds with a few exceptions but the kids were worn out from all the walking and I don't think they will complain that they missed out on anything.

We also made it to the American Museum Natural History and thanks to a certain movie now on DVD, we were able to take in all the important sites and landmarks from the film. We were the only ones doing the "Ni&ht at the M*se&m" tour as we kept running into the same people over and over again at the "sites". As a treat, we bought the girls the DVD and they watched it on the drive back from the city. I had never seen the movie so I had to watch it later that night to see what the fuss was all about.

The big event of the week was our visit to the Americ*n Gi&l store on Friday. I had made lunch reservations for us all and we did a little shoppy afterwards. Bryn and Gemma were armed with their lists in hand. Chloe got a baby doll which she named Kylie. Of course, I quickly learned that it wasn't at all about the baby doll to Chloe but the accessories. As soon as I removed Kylie from her box, Chloe put her down and informed me that the doll was asleep and to bring on the diaper changing kit and backpack carrier because she wanted to play with those things not the doll. I did learn though that a Chinese-American doll, Ivy Ling, is coming out this November--just in time for Christmas and Nana has already said she would jump on the chance to get it for Chloe (thanks Nana!).

NYC may have the Statue of Liberty, ferry boats, subways, shopping, etc. but none of NYC's landmark sights could compare with the premiere of Hi&h Sch%%l Musi*al 2 on Friday. I learned a great deal more than I ever wanted to about it from my nieces who were glued to the tv on Friday in anticipation. I made an unfortunate decision in an effort to be a cool aunt and recorded the show on the DV-R. BIG MISTAKE! I believe the show was played and replayed no less than 10 times over the weekend. As someone who had never seen 1 (and didn't really want to) and didn't get what all the fuss was about over #2, I know I could sing every song in the movie now as they are still running through my head---thanks Gemma.

Now that all the fun and excitement is over, Chloe is completely worn out. She loved having her big girl cousins come to visit and has been talking incessantly about it since they left.

Conspicious Consumption

This past week we have been compelled to part with large sums of money as we have made some large purchases. And I'm not kidding either.

Only one purchase is a necessity, and even that could be argued since our old one technically still works. Today I signed the contracts to get our boiler replaced before the cold weather strikes. Our current boiler is original to our house. That makes it 85 years old. It's been cranking out heat for all those years but just at an efficiency level that is utterly pathetic and that makes it a relic of days gone by (also it has asbestos inside). So it's being replaced by a new unit that will cut our heating bills anywhere from 30-50%.

The other two purchases were completely non-essential. The first was this--

And, we purchased that to haul this--

Yes, we have completely lost our minds. The Lincoln replaces my old car and the trailer is something Matt wanted to get for a while to take on weekend vacations in the region and to his autocross events.

Camping anyone?

Hot Weather

It's been hot, hot, hot here, so to cool off Chloe and I have been enjoying our community pool. I thought I would share some photos.