Getting a Move ON

After roughly 2 1/2 years of sitting on the market, our house will be officially sold as of Friday, March 23. That's THIS Friday and I kinda sorta began packing yesterday...just my winter clothes, but at least it's a start. I have really been dragging my feet about packing, and I still don't know, really, where to begin, but I'm about to run out of time!

House/Life Update

Our house has been for sale (with a short break off the market over Christmas 2010/New Year 2011) since fall 2009. We've changed realtors twice and lowered the price significantly since our home was placed on the market. We are fortunate in this day and age as we are not being forced out of our home; however, Greg and I have had a dream of building our "perfect for us" home "some day". Some day may soon be here as an offer has been made on our current residence.
Let me be clear-whomever buys 7845 Stonehill Drive is a lucky bugger. Located in the Forest Hills School District-rated "Excellent with Distinction" three years running-our home is on a cul-de-sac with a wooded, "park-like" backyard. Even better are our neighbors. Although we're not all of the same generation, that does not stop us from meeting in the cul-de-sac and hanging out in each other's driveways. No matter the season, at the barest hint of nice weather, someone is always outside ready to enjoy the sun (and an adult beverage) with you. Our neighbors/friends watch out for the kids and houses on this end of the street and help out whenever/wherever necessary.
In addition to our wonderful neighbors and excellent school district, any potential owners of this house will benefit from its proximity to, well, almost everywhere. Within walking distance of the post office, a park, an elementary school, a middle school, the library, the hospital, the YMCA, a fitness center and a few restaurants, we are also only a short drive from more restaurants, downtown, Kroger, Clermont County, Indiana and northern Kentucky. Greg said he will miss the nearness of Home Depot and Lowe's too.
7845 Stonehill Drive and Anderson Township have been our home since 1997. It's the only home Joey has ever known and the place Sammy, the best dog EVER, lived. So far, Joey has enjoyed the boyhood his father knew, living in a neighborhood with sidewalks and friends next door. Hopefully our inspections passes muster so Joey can experience childhood the way I did too (only without the tobacco hoeing part). We should know soon.
I'll get back to you on that:-)

House for Sale

Our house is for sale...again?...still?
We took our house off the market over the 2010 Christmas holidays and put it back on in April 2011. Frustrated is a mild term to explain our feelings with the lack of activity between April and July. We (Greg) decided to change realtors/agencies just to feel like we were actively doing "something" to sell our house and because we didn't feel a real commitment from our realtor at the time. Anyway, last night we had our first showing since changing agencies-amazing to us because the photos aren't even up on the MLS listing yet! Too bad I was out with friends when I got the message about the showing and only had a little over an hour until the showing!!! I couldn't pass up the chance to show our house so I raced home to clean up the mess. Luckily, Joey was very helpful, calm too. He repeatedly reminded me, "Mom, you don't have to rush." Yes, yes I did, until I fell down the steps-ouch! As I rush-limped around the house picking up and depositing under the bed or in the back of the car whatever was out of place and vacuuming, I heard, "That's what happens when you rush." Smart aleck!
We left the show-worthy house 20 minutes before the prospective buyers were expected. When we returned home an hour and a half later (2 new pairs of shoes for me, 2 for Joey), we searched the newly cleaned house for signs of visitors: footprints on the vacuum-tracked carpet, butt prints on the smoothed out couch cushions, etc. Here's hoping the house hunters came, saw and loved!

We're in Training

With Greg in Memphis to train for his new flying gig, Joey and I are having to relearn this 24/7 thing, especially with all of the snow days we've had. Since Christmas, we've only gone to school 2 or 3 days a week! The first day of homework after Greg left almost drove me to drink. "I can't" and "this is too hard" beat into my brain until I really wanted to puncture my eardrums or shake the baby. I refrained from both and used all the patience I could summon to repeat, "Yes, you can" and "no, it's not". I may have added, "Stop complaining" and "quit whining," once or eighteen thousand times, but who's counting? After posting my dilemma on Facebook, my FB friends gave me lots of good advice, the most commonly given 1. use a timer and 2. talk to his teacher (Does that count if it actually came from his teacher?). I did both and added my own twist-bribery. Hey, don't point fingers-if it works, it works. Two days later, the nine-year old in my charge explained to me that whining doesn't help him get his work done and that it actually takes a lot less time to complete the homework if there is no whining (from either of us!) He woke up yesterday-a snow day-and wanted to start his next project. Dee, I really hope you're going to do the weathering and erosion poster!!!

Wow, it's been awhile!

Yikes, I can't believe that it's been almost a year since I posted last. A lot has happened in 2010, a lot that I haven't shared. Must be that Facebook habit I haven't managed to kick. :-)
According to my last post, Brian and Katie had begun dating. They are now engaged and will be married in May 2011.
Joey auditioned for and got the role of Gus in Disney's Cinderella. He did a great job and loved it. Just this week he asked if he could try out for a movie role !@# The next time Cincinnati has a movie filmed locally, I guess we'll be auditioning! Joey continues to take piano and is having a successful fourth grade year.

Christmas Chaos

I love Christmas and everything about it-the shopping, the wrapping, the decorating, the hanging with family. Everything but one...when it's over. It seems as if the much anticipated holiday dawdles on its way here and then rushes through in a flash. I'm looking around my living room at the towers of boxes and piles of paper wondering where the time went.
Pete came early to see Joey's holiday program so our Christmases actually began early in December. Christmas Eve is always spent in Dayton with the Rachford side of the family. On Christmas morning, we open the presents that Santa left at our house, then have lunch with my dad's side of the family and dinner/appetizer with my parents and siblings. Lately, our tradition has included spending the night at my sister's house.
This year we added some new family members-Matt married Justine, Brian is dating Katie and Scott married Danielle. We missed Michelle and Quentin, although I'm sure they had a great time together in Colorado Springs.
I can't wait until next Christmas!!!

Getting Our Tree

Yesterday was our annual go to the Christmas tree farm and get a tree day. This is simpler than it sounds in that we (Greg, Cindy, Jimmy and I) are the only paid volunteers at Aunt Christina's Christmas tree farm. (Bottom of Backbone Hill, Rt. 50) Joey was not into the whole walking into the field and cutting down a tree thing, so being the good parents that we are, we forced him to do it with a little bribery, I mean motivation. You know, the whole Santa and the elves are watching speech. It didn't take long to find a tree, cut it down and drag it to the car. The best part, for me anyway, was arriving home after a long day at the tree farm and seeing the Christmas tree all lit up in our living room. Joey and I will hang ornaments on it as soon as I find them-they're in storage, of course!

Elves Day Tradition

Did you know that Santa's elves do a little snooping for Santa before Christmas? My dad must have made a special deal with either the elves or Santa, because those little buggers would always sneak into our house and fill our stockings with little treats before Christmas came each year. As I was growing up, the elves also visited our friends the Sandfosses, but for some reason never visited the Ottaways. Hmmm...
Joey has been anxiously awaiting the arrival of the elves this year. Every morning in December, the first thing he has done is sneak downstairs to check the condition of the stocking hung by the fireplace. Unfortunately, there was only one stocking, Joey's, because the others are in storage. Last night, Joey wanted us to put out some socks just in case the elves were refusing to visit our stockingless house. I found some very stretchy, comfy socks for him to place on the hearth.
This morning Joey couldn't wait to tell us that he spotted two of Santa's little helpers in his doorway when he awoke around 1 o'clock this morning. One of them wore a red Santa hat, the other a green one. He even heard them whispering! Further evidence that the elves had visited lay in our full stockings.

Changes

Greg and I have probably been talking about building our dream house out on the family farm since before we were married (13+ years). Our friends patiently listened to us voice our dreams and would occasionally ask about our progress knowing there had been none. Two (or was it three) years ago, we actually started doing real things to make it happen: the land was surveyed, Greg met with the excavator, Ed designed the house and prepared the blueprints, Pete ordered the windows. Well friends, our house is now up for sale. We love our house (Greg plans to continue making improvements until it sells) and our neighbors, but Sammy's passing has made the move even more appealing.
Check out the link below:
7845 Stonehill Drive
You can also view the video tour:
Video Tour

Sad Goodbyes

My family has been sadly sharing our memories of Sammy, the best dog ever. Many lessons have been learned from his passing, but the most obvious is one that is only learned the hard way: appreciate what you have while you have it. Greg, Joey and I are realizing what an important member of our family Sam was. In December of 1997, Greg and I drove to a farm in Kentucky to "look" at some puppies that my aunt Christine told us were being given away. The beautiful mommy golden let us look at her puppies while yellow cat Jingle looked down on us from the hay bales. A little gold fuzz-ball was too scared to hide from us, but his sweet personality grabbed our hearts from that moment. We got lost on our way home from the KY farm, but snuggling in my arms was a barely six week old golden/lab mix. Our pictures from that day are in storage, but the emotions that we felt that day are fresh. I miss my sweet Sammy. So do Greg and Joey.

Lemonade for Sale

Yesterday Joey and Cassidy set up a mobile lemonade stand and sold their product door-to-door. The division of labor was easily decided-Cassidy was in charge of product and Joey did the actual selling. They were so cute and determined to do well. I am proud of their initiative.

Hopefully I'll get to enjoy some down time over the next few weeks. This summer is speeding by, only four more weeks until school begins! I finished my second class on Friday {two weeks driving to Oxford every day} and don't have another until August, so some playtime is definitely in order. I would like to see the newest Harry Potter movie, take Joey to Kings Island and the Beach, sleep in a bit, and swim at the pool.

Good Golly

I haven't written much here...too much going on, I guess. Time to catch up!
This week I began my own writer's notebook hoping to have something to show my students this fall. Usually I put all of my thoughts here, so it's a bit different actually writing something on paper. I type much faster than I write, but maybe I'll catch the things that need to be revised by doing it the old-fashioned way. I was inspired by a book I found on Amazon-The Daily Five. Hopefully my language arts class will have a new and improved focus next school year!
Father's Day was spent my family's favorite way-poolside. Lots of sun and fun for us. Even the dads enjoyed themselves.
Baseball season should have ended by now, but due to the many rained out games, Joey will be making a game up tomorrow night. I'm not sure how rested he'll be since he is spending tonight with his cousins at his grandparents' house but I do know that my parents will be resting the following night!
I finished my last SOSI course during the first week of summer. I've really enjoyed my time facilitating the science classes for teachers, but unfortunately the funding has come to an end. All's well that ends well...maybe next summer will be one in which I participate in NO professional development! Hmmmmmm...
I am looking forward to spending more time at the pool this summer and relaxing. I think I'll go try some relaxing right now...

Woohoo!

We did it! Interims are printed, the school newspaper delivered, grades submitted and first communion made! We are now back into our regular groove of soccer, baseball and tumbling accompanied by laundry, bills and yard work. In case you were wondering, I did manage to fit in a mani/pedi:-) Well worth it!
Happy Mother's Day all!

Sun Devils

In the midst of the first communion preparations, Joey had a baseball game yesterday-the Sun Devils vs. the Storm. It turned out to be a "storm"y kind of day even though the Sun was shining and I got burned. Joey was happy to get two hits since I have "motivated" him by promising Pokemon cards for each hit. Hey, nothing's too good for my boy!

What it's really all about...

Overwhelmed, that's how I feel right now. Joey will make his first communion this weekend which is a joyous thing, but the preparations for that accompanied by our daily chores have me feeling like I'm running a marathon-but without the health benefits! Of course sitting at the computer blogging will help me get a lot accomplished:-) Oh well, maybe I'll be motivated once I list my chores here.
Regular weekend chores for me: do laundry, pay bills/balance checkbook, cut grass/do yardwork, grade papers
Regular weekend activities for Joey (that require a chauffeur-me): baseball practice, soccer practice, baseball game, soccer game, tumbling
This week's extra chores: clean bathrooms for guests (Greg cleaned the rest of the house when he was home-what a guy!), grocery shopping for Joey's reception, fixing food for Joey's reception
This week's extra activities for Joey (again with the chauffeuring): first communion rehearsal, first communion, first communion reception
Oh yeah, in addition to all of the above, it's also deadline time at work. Sometime this weekend, I need to write lesson plans for next week, complete interims for my students, put together the school newspaper (as in write and edit it), finish my online course and submit the final grades for the online course to Miami. Great timing, huh?
Wish me luck! You think I could fit in a haircut, pedicure or massage?
In the end though, it's really all about Joey, his growing faith and spending time with our family. On further thought, I don't need any extra luck. I already have all I need:-)

Making a list, checking it twice...

Easter has come and gone, spring break is here to stay. Another chore is off the list, so now we get to play.
Greg has been painting the house, mostly because it needs it, but also because we do plan to sell it at some point. Say goodbye to the golden yellow and hello to almond, okay beige/taupe/off white. Whatever you call it, it is definitely neutral. So much for my blues and yellows-all gone.
Since spring break is here, we are making an effort to do some fun things for Joey's sake. Easter Sunday found us traipsing around southwestern Ohio as we did the 8:00 a.m. mass at St. Philomena followed by breakfast with my parents, grandma, Cindy, Jimmy and Jay. We then traveled to Dayton for lunch with the Rachford Clan. Poor Joey, nobody to play with...Off then, to Gram's house for the Easter dinner and lots of cousins. Playtime at last.
Monday meant fun with Cassidy...I hear the doorbell, Cass is here now!
More later!

The Big Easy was easy

This may sound shocking coming from me, but I might actually repeat this experience. Dee and I flew to New Orleans last week to present at the National Science Teachers' Association national conference. Yep, it sounds like a big deal 'cuz it IS a big deal, especially for those presenters who would rather chew off their own leg than speak to a bunch of adults and pretend to be an expert. Since chewing off my own leg was not an option, and I really did want to see New Orleans, I put on my big girl panties (as my dear friend is wont to say), xeroxed my handouts, kissed my family goodbye and was off to N'Awlins.
Result? I survived and pulled my own considerable weight. According to an audience member, I even spoke for 15 minutes straight. That might not seem unusual given normal circumstances, might even seem low at that, but these were not normal circumstances. The audience was 100 members strong-a full house, not an empty seat to be found (okay, one or two maybe). I am proud of our presentation and might even consider doing this again.

On the other hand, we saw lots of New Orleans (French Quarter, River Walk, Garden District, Warehouse District, French Market) and I continued to collect people. Some collect salt shakers, Meri collects shot glasses...Me? I collect people. On this trip, I caught a techie, a young mother and her even younger child (hello, migraine), a Boys' Town drunk, two Mad Hatters, and I almost reeled in a distinguished pilot-trust me, there are not as many of those as one might think. My husband is clearly the exception to that rule. Dee told me to quit making eye contact, but that is soooo hard...

List Work

Several months ago, Joey and I made a list of things we wanted to do. We are working on the list-both adding to it and enjoying ourselves. On Friday, we got to check off our first activity. We took Greg with us and went to Rookwood and the Cincinnati Art Museum in Mt. Adams. Rookwood recently reopened under new management, and while the freshly hand-cut fries were yummy, the sandwiches were a little greasy and not quite what we were hoping. Our expectations were fully met at the museum however. From the entrance to the stairways and balconies, much of the Cincinnati Art Museum reminded us of Night at the Museum. Joey especially enjoyed the mummies and the American artwork, but was a little freaked out by the tomb effigies.
Cincinnati Art Museum-check
Yesterday Greg's sister was in town from Vegas where she now lives and works, so Joey and I headed to Dayton for a visit. I am adding Visit Vegas to the List.
On our way home we stopped at IKEA. That place is crazy. I did not find what I wanted, but saw plenty of everything else. If I return, it will be without my child. Did I mention that place is crazy?
Today we went ice skating with Cassidy and the Wiethes. Or should I say ice-bucketing? Joey thought ice skating was fun, but he was so frightened of falling that he frogkicked his way around the rink using the bucket for support. I took my own spill and crawled to the edge of the ice to get up. I'm quite certain that my body will NOT thank me for adding this activity to our Must Do list, but we had a great time doing something new!
Adding to list: Indianapolis Children's Museum
Next up: The new dinosaur exhibit at Cincinnati Museum Center.

Lots and lots of snow

Obviously, we have had a lot of snow lately. Luckily we have a small, but perfect for us, hill next door in our neighbor's yard. Unfortunately, we trudged throughout our neighborhood with the snow and bitter cold in our faces before we found this perfect spot. As you can see, in my attempt to avoid the big tree in the middle of the run, I hit the bushes instead. Joey managed to pick himself right up, but I couldn't stand for laughing.

Happy Anniversary, Mom and Dad!

I am very fortunate to have such great parents, just a great family really, but we were especially lucky to be able to celebrate their 40th wedding anniversary with our family and friends. My sibs and I pulled together a surprise party after hemming and hawing over what we should do to celebrate. Well, it worked and they were surprised! Not when they walked in the door of course, but Mom and Dad were definitely surprised when Brian pulled into Cindy's driveway and there were lots more cars than usual. A good time was had by all!