South America BOUND

Its that time of year again!  July, Ecuador, Medical trip......it seemed we had a lot of time before our trip this year, then before you know it, it was time to leave.  I had been so busy with the house, jobs, etc. that this trip came up way too fast.  I ended up packing at 2100 last night.  Needless to say, getting to bed before midnight and waking up at 0300, was going to make for an interesting day.  We got to RDU around 0400 and despite us thinking that our seats were spread all over the plane, we ended up together. THAT started our day off GREAT, despite no sleep.  Checked in, 5 bags checked, and each of us had our backpacks with all appropriate electronic devices and chargers.  :)

After waiting on the rest of our group to check in, the girls had to get Starbucks!!!! Then I think their giddiness came from no sleep, not that they were actually getting along!  Made it through Security, body scans, taking off shoes and all the other interesting attire restrictions, we were able to get to our gate and then shortly after were able to board.  We have been all over the place, however, Lauren has never been on a plane.  She was fine, until we started moving and then, for some reason, she was almost hyperventilating.

I look over as Lauren is tearing up, and Allison has her hand and is trying to reassure her.  Lauren couldn't tell me what she was worried about, maybe the Asiana plane crash that has been all over the news all week, I don't know.  But seeing your child cry and be scared, isn't a good feeling, however, me seeing Allison being the 'big' sister and looking out for her, made me smile.

 

Needless to say, we made it up in the air, through the clouds and the rest of the 2 hour flight was uneventful until the landing, then Lauren was laughing and crying ALL at the same time.  Im not sure if she thought she was scared, really was scared, or was just sleep deprived! :)

It has rained so much the last two weeks in Raleigh, being able to look out and see the sun shining and the blue sky, was some relief.  It was beautiful!

Got off at D11 and had to get to the complete opposite end of the terminal---D48 here we come!  Next stop....TRAM ride.....

After a quick pizza stop (yes, its 0900) for the girls, they unloaded at our gate and Lauren was O U T.  Dwayne and I went and had breakfast and caught up since our last trip in 2012.

All in all, I feel like its going to be a great week.  Both my girls with me, Lauren experiencing this for the first time and Allison practically running our team.  Missing some friends that are usually here, but we have Bob........

 

Never enough time

Today is Tuesday, and we have sooo much to do.  I am busy with a full patient schedule this week.  I have yet to pick up suitcases from the storage building, too much to still unpack, not to mention finalizing cruise plans, etc.  That 3 weeks I lost in the changing of closing date for the house, is taking its toll on me! 

S/P July 4th....

Got up early, had lots to do!  Allison requested cinnamon toast for breakfast, so fixed a ton and the girls garbled them down.  Headed over to the old house to pull the huge hosta and other plants that I wanted to keep.  It seemed to heat up early, so we had to get them pulled and moved and replanted before it got too hot.  Not that we were slow, but boy were they HEAVY.  We brought 3 daylily plants over and 2 huge hosta.  We pulled 3 hosta but couldn't fit it in the car with everything else, so we have to go back and get that one.  We did manage to get everything in the ground, I just hope they make the transition well.  I got the hosta from Jim's in Charleston, probably 7 years ago and they have been great, year after year.  I haven't pulled anything from the front yard at the old house yet, but need to.  Trying to juggle a new house, unpacking, our South America trip coming next Saturday, I can't seem to find enough hours in the day to get it all done.  I am very thankful that the girls have helped tremendously.  It amazes me every day how well we are all getting along and this house actually feels like a home. 
     I managed to get another coat of paint in two more walls in my closet so that only leaves one wall, but I have ran out of paint, so that last wall will not be done until after our trip.  However, because I finished the other ones, I was able to empty about 9 boxes of clothes.  I look in that closet and think, 'now I have room for someone else's clothes'.  ha ha.  Isn't that silly?  But the old closet was overflowing with my clothes, not to mention me having two dressers filled.  So, I kind of laugh every time I walk in the closet.
     I also found a stand up freezer for the garage that a friend on FB has posted, so that's perfect.  The old one I had, I left at the old house, however, we use a lot of freezer space, and the new fridge won't be here until next month, so this will be perfect.  Lost track of time, so hopefully picking that up tomorrow.  
     The girls got more stuff unpacked, and we ended up breaking down more boxes.  I tried to get more boxes more organized in the garage.  Would like to have enough organization to get the Audi in the garage when we are gone for 9 days.  Oh, and we got the tv up on the wall in the living room.  We did it all by ourselves.  It was way higher than at the old house, so it was, I'm sure, entertaining for anyone that happened to be watching from outside.  BUT, its up, its secure and it works!  Not too bad for 3 girls, huh?
     Allison seems to have found a liking for Sloppy Joes, so that's what we stopped and made for lunch.  Again, I'll go back and say how nice it is with all of us in the house and it so much feels like a family.  I took this weekend off, because I knew that we needed to unpack and with the trip next weekend, I had too much to do.  But it is nice to be here and the feeling in this house, is nice.
     Lauren has built a Fort today out of blankets and boxes in the bonus room, Allison has her Xbox hooked up to her tv in her room and I sit here and look around and still have so much to do, but also know it would be nice to just put my feet up and relax....... I just may do that, after I finish a few more things! :)

2013----WOW, what a year!

Hello out there!  Its been awhile....I seemed to have left out 2012 all together, but wow, what a year 2013 is turning out to be!