"Austin, we have landed"

Does life's roller coaster ever slow down, even for a brief rest? I thought I would have been used to this by now. This was our 8th move since we've been married. Too bad we're not getting frequent mover miles we can cash in! It seems to get harder each time though, I think mostly because of the kids. It's not even getting them readjusted that's the worst- it's hauling all their CRAP! Where did we get all this stuff, seriously? With each child I've birthed, our household load has doubled. I am not sure how that works. You should have seen us traveling to Austin, each of us in a car (Ben in the company car with the cat and me in the mom-mobile with the kids and the dog.) Yes, a mini van can be a low-rider! No sooner had we started out when Tierney decided to start screaming. Loudly. So I am leaned back in my seat trying to pat her leg to get her to slow down and I was hyper-extending myself. Which caused me to push down harder with my right foot on the gas pedal. Which caused me to get my FIRST speeding ticket!! (And Ben was behind me, and did he pull over with me? Nooooo, the nitwit KEPT GOING! Yes, that's right, he left me on the side of the highway with the loaded down minivan (including the opened bottle of half drunk Kahlua - we didn't want to throw that away!) The officer comes over, I tell him my story, as the dog is barking her head off and Tierney is sucking in vast amount of air trying to stop crying. He tells me that from now on, I need to pull over to calm my kids down and not do it while I was driving. Are you kidding me?? He must not have kids. By the way, I was only going 77 mph. (And no, he never saw my Kahlua.)
We arrived Monday night and dealt with the typical things, things in the apartment that needed to get done (that should have been fixed before we ever checked in), dealing with all the incompetent people at AT&T because they couldn't get us a dial tone on our phone, the mounds of boxes and packing paper all over the apartment, trying to find a grocery store so I could get some milk for the kids, the crying and temper tantrums from a 3 year old, the whining and complaining of a 7 year old, the clingyness of a 1 year old who has no idea where she is, and the needing a glass (or 5) of wine by a 32 year old. Some lines we've heard over the past days: *Mommy, I want to go home - Brannon
*Mom, I want to go home- Wesley
*MOMMYYYYY, MOMMYYYYY, AHHHHH- Tierney
*Mommy- dis partment not our house- Brannon
*Mommy, I can't sleep in dis room puz it's a dragon factry- Brannon
*Kara, can you find me the finger nail clippers- Ben
*Mom, I think there at least a million trees on all these hills- Wes
*I gotta get my bb gun to shoot the deer- Wes (When he saw dear tracks on our property)
*Kara, did you find those finger nail clippers yet- Ben (yes, that's exactly what I am trying to find in the 20+ boxes stacked up all over this apartment!!!)
*Mommy, can I kick Tierney- Brannon.
*No, Brannon, you may not kick your sister!!!- Me
*Why not mom, I want to- Brannon
*Because that would hurt Tierney and it's not nice to kick people.- Me
*Awwwwwwwww.... dat stinks- Brannon


Everyone has asked about our house. They are starting the actual building process in about 8-10 days. During the last 3 months they have been getting all the permitting, digging up the many many cedar trees on our lot (they left the oaks) and finalizing all our design stuff. We are still on track, if the weather doesn't do anything too strange to have a completed house and be out of this apartment in August! The apartment is on the opposite side of the golf course than our neighborhood so it's very very close. In fact, Ben took the kids and dog to the park in our neighborhood today while I unpacked boxes. Hopefully if we do this enough we will start to meet some people before we move in.
In closing, Happy Birthday to our friends Mary Alice Kaspar, Amy Taylor and Michael Yeargan (forgive me if I forgot anyone else!) Oddly enough, you are all here! Hopefully we will see you soon!
Also, season 2 of The Tudors is on tomorrow night (Sunday) and I am so stoked I can hardly stand it. I love love love this show so look for my commentary because I have to talk about each episode after I watch it.