a welcome change of plans

Today, thanks to some friends calling, we decided to go swimming instead of running errands. The kids screamed so loud out of excitement my ears were buzzing. :)

AJ vs. Rootbeer

Tonight we were delivering a meal to a friend of ours who just became a new mom. Of course we're late in getting the meal to them, so as I'm gathering the food, I'm calling out to the kids to get in the car. AJ enters the garage and then Ethan. When I hear the door to the garage open I hear a spraying sound. For a moment I'm confused thinking AJ must be washing her hands in the bathroom. Then Ethan reenters the house calling for me and I can still hear this spraying sound. I call out to him, "Where's AJ?" He responds, "we need you, quick!" My hands are full of the food as I run to see what's happened. All I hear is AJ crying and a loud spraying noise. Has the water heater popped a leak?! That was the only 'liquid' sound I could imagine coming from the garage.
When I reach the door and fling it open AJ is dripping wet...soaked, really...with a busted can of hot rootbeer. So is the side of the van and the floor, but it looks like AJ got the brunt of the angry can. Was she trying to open it? Probably! She's crying about how scared she is as I lift her up into the van and fasten her in her seat. No time to change...! She cries round trip, "Mom! I'm scared of the drink! (sob sob) It was really funny, but she really was traumatized, so I couldn't laugh out loud until she had calmed down a bit. Annie Jane...you are always on the look out for adventure!

G.O.O.D.B.Y.E C.A.L.I.F.O.R.N.I.A.

So sad to leave you: my orange trees, my ocean breeze, Fallbrook friends and neighbors (WE LOVE LOVE LOVE FALLBROOK!), avocados lining the windy & hilly roads, DISNEYLAND! Happy memories from San Marcos too!

Good riddance to: wearing long pants all year round, doing my laundry in the garage, high car insurance, RENT!, eternal marine layers, and yes...fire season.

Next adventure: San Antonio, TX

HELLO TEXAS! OUR HOUSE! NEIGHBORHOOD KIDS! Cul-De-Sac! SIX FLAGS!This is gonna be fun! Hope to see 'Y'ALL' real soon!

...Yes, I know...and hello BIG bugs...

San Antonio, TX

Our life is about to change...BIG TIME. Brian has accepted a inner-company job offer in San Antonio, TX. Last week we went house-hunting while my dear sister and her husband came to our house to watch the kids...little mini-vacation for them! (They enjoyed the one week of hot weather we've had all year!)
I think we saw over 30 houses over a 3 day period of time. We were exhausted! But finally, on the last day of showings there were two homes that we liked a lot...which happened to have a very similar floor plan. (So many floor plans out there, I can't believe it!). It also has a big backyard, and is within walking distance to the community kiddie pool, park/playground, biking/jogging trail AND elementary school. It's in a 'double' cul-de-sac, so as the neighbors put it; "The kids rule the street." It has 4 bedrooms upstairs plus an open area for a 'game room'. Here are some pics of it.

I didn't take a pic from the front door,
but this is what the front room looks like from the kitchen table.

view of dining/family room from the back porch doors.

the beautiful kitchen (no tile counter tops!)

master bedroom

Bedroom #2 (soon to be Ethan's room)

Bedroom #3 (soon to be AJ's room)

Bedroom #4

game room, upstairs

view of the backyard from one corner. There's quite of bit of yard on either side of the house as well. (YES! the playscape stays too!)

driven C.R.A.Z.Y.

This morning AJ was into everything...and yes, it was on purpose. All of the no-no's were being rummaged through. My goodness! Can't we at least eat breakfast before this mischief starts?, I thought. But what came out of my mouth was, "AJ! You're driving me crazy!" To which Ethan replies, "Why is she driving you crazy, Mom?"
"She getting in my nightstand, she getting in my make-up drawer, and she's lifting the toilet seat. She knows these are no-no's, so it's driving me crazy that she's doing this!"
Pause.
"Mom? What drives you crazy about me?"
Pause. Think. Be careful. But truthful.
"Ethan, it drives me crazy when you start to cry and kick and scream because you want to sit on the very same toilet I just happen to be sitting on. It's silly for you to act like that. We have 2 toilets. You can use the other one. That's what drives me crazy."
"Oh."

That very scenario had just happened 30 minutes before.

End of conversation. (is he really just 3?)

5 days without my dishwasher

If I were to live without a dishwasher for the remainder of my days I would do the following:
1. Drink with a straw (eliminating the need to scrub around the rim)
2. Grill all of my food (no pots and pans to clean)
3. use plastic IKEA-ware for dinnerware (can't break in the sink)

and lastly...if it were possible...after doing a prescrub getting all the of 'food' off the dishes, I would soak my dishes in Clorox, rinse and dry.

Tomorrow my dishwasher will be re-installed. So lucky me doesn't have to 'adapt' to these changes. But it's nice to know that I've been thinking about it!

Come one....come all!

For three weeks Brian has been trying to get a hold of our landlady. I say Brian, because I wasn't as concerned as he was about the constant sound of water running through the pipes. But last Thursday he called and asked me to call the water company to see what they could do about it. Find the water meter and I could determine if there was a leak, and how bad the leak was. They tried and tried and tried to help me locate the water meter. I failed and failed and failed to find it. Trying not to sound like a broken record "it's not here!" (or stupid) I told them I'd call them on Friday if we still couldn't find it, and enlisted my neighbors' help. Still no luck.
Friday was busy...it was Father's Day weekend after all, and there was lots to do, none of which included looking for the water meter again. Although, I did drive by our landlady's house and knocked. No answer. Saturday and Sunday were filled with other things (such as celebrating our fabulous fathers!) Monday: We drove by landlady's house again, left another message after we saw her driving in her car and headed to Disneyland. (FUN!) Tuesday: I called our landlady again. My message said, "Betty, we really need to talk to you about this water leak! Please call us!" After my message I found standing water outside my kitchen window. It was so deep it was flooding my little patch of ground cover clover and killing it.
Finally, she called.
Long story short:
Betty came with an irrigation guy last night. (probably thought it had something to do with the sprinklers)
Brian touched the water: Hot (water heater is on the other side of the wall where the standing water is, but there's no sign on or around the w/h of a leak.
Wednesday morning (this morning):
8:00am Betty arrives
8:30 Joe Plumber and his assistant Carlos arrive
9:00 I call water company again...because the plumbers can't find the water meter either. (Suddenly I don't feel so stupid)
9:30 Water District Team #1 arrives with a shovel
10:00 Water District Team #2 arrives with some fancy yellow beeping sticks
10:30 Water District Team #3 arrives with a guy whose beard goes to his chest. Walks to where the other men are searching, takes 2 steps to the left and taps the lid with his pole. (He used to read the meter 'back in the day')
10:31 Water District Team #3 leaves.
10:32 Water District Team #2 tells me they'll have someone come out and chop a pathway from the road to the meter. Um...okay.

from left to right: Team #2, Team #2, Team #1, Team #3

12:45 Chopping team arrives and makes a lovely 'pathway' from the road to the meter.

Rosemary bush 'before' picture (taken in the spring)

Ethan is standing on that blasted water meter that evaded all of us but the bearded dude.

meanwhile: the plumbers locate the leak (in a slab that feeds the master bathroom hot water)...takes dishwasher out, cuts holes in the wall behind the dishwasher, cuts a hole under the sink in the 2nd bathroom, and another one under the sink in the master bathroom.
3:33 plumbers leave...back again tomorrow or Friday to patch the drywall.

It's been a busy day. And I'm glad we don't have to foot the bill.

Now what do we do with the rosemary bush?