Life is a Bit Different in Arizona

The first day I arrived in Arizona, I went to bed when Jack did.  Or close to.  I'm not totally sure of the time frame there because my mind was more than slightly hazy.  One might toss and turn in a new bed, in a new house, in unfamiliar surroundings...but I did not.  I closed my eyes and was dead to the world.

This morning I awoke to many coffee choices and when Becca ran the boys to school, I sat at the pool drinking coffee and being ever so thankful for it while I called my boys.

S2 - "Hey, Mama, did you bring our fish to Arizona with you?"

Me - "Nope.  Daddy said he would take care of them."

S2 - "Did you remind him?"

Me - "Mmmhmm, and I'll remind him later this week."

S2 - "Did you remind him to feed the bunnies too?'

Me - "Yup, your bunnies are fine too."

Very little chatting and the phone was handed to S3.

S3 - "Hi, Mama, did you pack our fish with you?"

Me - "No, Daddy is feeding them though.  He already said he did."

S3 - "Will he remember to feed them again?"

Me - "Oma will let you call him and remind Daddy."

S3 - "Oh."  He sounds unsure. Then, "Did you see a cactus yet? Don't forget a picture of a cactus!"

Then S4 got on the phone.

S4 - "Hi, Mama! Did you bring Josie with you?"

Me - "No, Josie (the dog) is home with Daddy."

S4 - "I bet she isn't happy. (Josie loves me. Jake? notsomuch.) "Did you bring the fish with you?"

Me - "No, and I already talked with Daddy and he fed them."

S4 - "Did he feed the bunnies too?"

I am glad to know that my boys who I have to remind to do chores do in fact remember their chores when they are gone being spoiled at Oma and Papa's.

And I am not so worried about them missing me now.

After my conversation with my boys about their pets (S1 was already out putting up deer stands in trees), Becca and I went for a walk.

I am thankful she is patient and kind because I took a zillion photos.

But when it looks like this, how can you not?

We tried to get photos of lizards.  Like, tried and tried.  I took video of us finding a lizard...almost.  As in, it was there, we just couldn't see it.

This was the best photo I got.  I was super impressed with this, because those lizards can move FAST.

And I was really thankful not to see a snake.

Tonight for dinner Becca and her super kind husband spoiled me yet again with Chinese food.  I am now the biggest fan of Sesame Chicken and Fried Rice. To which Jake said, "You know, they have Chinese food at home.  I could take you someplace for Chinese."

I think he misses me.  A lot.

But, does Michigan have THIS??????

I think not.

In fact, I know not.

Becca tells me that if the cactus (and she has another name for it too) has one arm it is 75 years old.  So this one is REALLY old.  

And really cool.

And I need to find new words other than "and" and "cool".

But one thing that was not cool is this....

While enjoying a leisurely morning (after our adventurous three mile walk), we sat at the pool and chit chatted the morning away.  We were back in the house before eleven.  I figured morning sun, no worries....

I think you can tell that I should have worried.

And yes, the sunburn is a little sore.

And yes, Becca's husband laughed at us.  But he should have.  I look ridiculous.

But it was fun all the same. 

Tomorrow I explore more cactus. Or is it cacti? Or something like that.  

And there may be rumors of pedicures.  

Oh yah, Arizona and I are getting along just fine.

I'm in Arizona!!!

Well, I did it.

I packed as little as I could and boarded a plane.

I sat on said plane for an hour and a half while they tried to fix it.  They then decided it could not be fixed and sent us to a new plane.

We literally walked off one plane and onto the other plane.  

This one worked.

We flew to Chicago where I found my next connecting flight with no problems at all and sat in a middle seat between two business men and flew to Arizona.

I was pretty much bouncing in my seat with excitement the closer we got.  This is when the man next to the window decided he may need to talk to me (bless him for not thinking I am crazy...but, then again, he might of thought I was crazy) and then he pronounced me a saint (so he couldn't have thought I am crazy) for having four boys. 

When I got off the plane in Phoenix, I walked down a short way and THERE WAS BECCA!!!!

And I didn't get a picture.

She promptly took me to get lunch at In-N-Out. 

Y U M M Y !!!!

THEN I remembered to get a photo of Becca and I.

We then drove like two hours in which I could have possibly taken a zillion photos because everything is lovely to me.

And when we arrived at her home, I finally sat at her pool.

The pool she has sent photos to me of for so long.

I was there.

I am here NOW.

Pinch me, it doesn't seem real!

Then Chelsea and kids came to visit and have dinner with us.

And we took photos even though I was nearly dead tired at this point.

And in this moment, smiling for photos, I still could not believe I was actually here...this is actually happening.

During dinner, a monsoon hit.

And when it cleared out I took about ten photos that look like this....

Beautiful is an understatement for Arizona.

Spoiled is an understatement of how great Becca and family are to me.

Are you following Becca's blog yet?

You better be! She has more there....

Our Crazy Boys

I'll have more adventure's up soon...don't worry.

Dirty Dishes

I have dirty dishes in my sink as I write this.

Today is a rain day here at home.  It's a cool 60 degrees and the mix of cool temps and rain seems like a gift delivered to our doorsteps.

But inside or home it hasn't felt cozy and nice.

We just received AMAZING hand me down clothes.  I mean, a-maz-ing.  Boxes and boxes of them.  Last night I held up each item and one of the four boys said yay or nay to it.  Then I told them to make sure they had them taken care of.

And they trotted upstairs like angels and did.

At least, I thought they did.

This morning I told the boys that since it's so rainy and cool, how about they get their room totally clean so we are all set for when we all get home after being gone a week to face the football and school schedule's we'll be facing.

Granted, the boys don't like to hear about school.  I don't like to hear about school.

I could hear them fighting and whining and screaming at each other.

Because I was still in my pj's and barefoot, I easily snuck up the stairs to see their rooms...trashed.

Messier than they were before, if that's possible.  PILES of all the clothes I have worked so hard to wash, dry and fold literally strewn from one end of the room to the other.

S4 wanted to tattle on S3.  S3 was clinging to S4 begging him not to.  S2 was playing.  S1 was laying on his bed.

I snapped.  I did.  I told them I did not appreciate spending HOURS of my day every day washing, drying and folding their clothes for them to do this.

S2 piped up that he had taken care of all his clothes and had a whole dresser drawer with nothing in it.

I found out later that was because he had taken armloads of clothes and dropped them off on S3 and S4's bed as in "Here are new clothes for you!".

I stormed out of their room, sat down in a chair and cried.

I did.

Then I bucked up, stormed up those steps and we had a major overhaul of their rooms.  We sorted every item of clothing.  We made beds.  We left not a thing on the floor but the clothes for us to give to another family with three boys.

While they were finishing up, I made one of their favorite lunches, tuna noodle. I had told them they couldn't eat until the room was vacuum clean.  They thought they might die of starvation.  Instead of lunch at noon we had lunch closer to two.  I may have snickered a little at their "dire" predicament.

Today was the day I have been looking forward to all week.  A day to bake and clean and call me crazy, but I was looking forward to it all.  I can't wait to leave for Arizona knowing my house is clean.  I mean, what if something happens to me and people come to my house only to realize that I had to put mouse poison in one of my kitchen drawers and I have cobwebs all over my walls?  I mean, I just can't have that!

But that's my life.

Today my husband is gone for his second overnight this week.  Very unusual, he hardly ever has an overnight and so to have two in one week is...unusual and never happened.  Yesterday I had a GREAT day.  The boys had a fun day.  And today I just look around our messy home and listen to my fighting boys and just want to hide in the laundry room (the one room no one knows exists except me) and cry.

And it would help if my fairy godmother would show up right about then and turn everything sparking clean and make the awful mice hiding in my house like the cute little Gus and his friends from Cinderella. 

This may have been my FAVORITE movie growing up! 

But that didn't happen.

Instead, I just kept on keeping on. Take a deep breath in and out.  My Prince Charming sent me a text to tell me he had emailed me a song that he just heard that he swears I could have written.

And this is what he sent me.



That man, I love him so...as in my husband.  Not the teenage boy Scotty.

I needed this EXACT song today.  I had never heard it before.  It is bound to become one of those songs you sing for the rest of your life.

THIS is what I usually am like.  I need to relax and forget the cobwebs and while the boys need to clean their rooms, heck, I have SO VERY MUCH to be thankful for.  So much.

Right down to the man who is gonna come stumbling in this door exhausted.

As I was writing this, he called me to tell me he is headed home early.  Will be home in about an hour.   The boys have gone upstairs and the chandelier is literally swaying with them running and playing and not fighting.  And while the house is a mess and there are dirty dishes in my sink, I am looking forward to forgetting all that and curling up in his arms with our boys all around and watching some tv tonight, just relaxing and being us.

But if a fairy godmother and magical mice show up and clean my house, I won't send them away.  Heck, I may cry just for the joy of seeing them and having a clean house!

Just thought I'd be depressingly honest with you all today.

Today is My Birthday!

Disclaimer: Writing this before my birthday

Today is my BIRTHDAY!!!!

I am thrilled because I am all about birthday week.

Hopefully, we can do a beach day today.  That is my ideal way to celebrate my birthday, so thankful I was born in August so I get beach days on my birthday.

This year, however, I don't get a birthday week.

I get birthday WEEKS.

Seriously.

Exactly seven days from today, I am hopping on a plane and headed out to meet this family.

Becca.

Michael, Becca, Steve and Jack.

I just broke into a HUGE grin writing that.

Also, I have goosebumps.  I am all cold and jittery and hot and sure my neck is blotchy red because I am THAT excited.

In my senior year in high school, I hopped on a plane with my parents and brother and we flew to Hawaii.  Yes, Hawaii.  My uncle was stationed there so we spent some time with my aunt and family.  It is one of my happiest family memories.

I have never gotten on an airplane again.

So, for my birthday this year, I have told my husband not to get me a single thing.  Because he told me to go to Arizona.  Told me to go! Because he loves me so!

Whenever I go away on any sort of vacation or day trip, I always keep it as mum as I can.  I wait until I get home and say, "Surprise! I went away! Here are the highlights!"

Not this time.

This time I am going to share as much as I want in the moments I experience it.

I think Becca will too.

So you better be following her blog.

Seven days.

In seven days I am going to get on a plane.

Scares me to death.

Baby steps, baby steps...

And then I get to spend FIVE days with Becca.

There are NO words to how excited I am.  How thrilled I am.  How annoying I have been squealing around my house and to anyone who will listen to me.

Can. Not. Wait.