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And so, this summer Matt and I started talking about scaling back. Thought it might be worth a try to put our home on the market and downsize, stop trying to keep up with the Joneses. We know the market is not ideal, but the Tyler Durden quote from Fight Club has repeatedly come to mind as we’re repairing something else around the house, reorganizing another cabinet or painting another wall instead of enjoying people in our lives.
“The things you own end up owning you.”
We love our house, our pool, the yard and even the neighborhood, but the truth is these are things and while they might bring us pleasure, they also bring us grief. A mortgage that we’ll forever be “growing into,” a yard that needs edging and substantial treatment for weeds and 2800+ square feet under the roof to maintain. As our children get older, we are realizing that if we’re going to lead the active lifestyle we’d like with them, something is going to have to give. Laundry alone is a full time job and we both work more than full time.
Of course when we purchased the house I was working at Bolton and the drive was perfect. A quick 15 minutes up the road and I was there. There was an elementary school right in the next neighborhood over that was a feeder for my high school. Everything lined right up.
We added the pool and had the bonus room built after a couple of years, Evan was born a week or so after the pool was completed (April 2006) and a little over a month later I was making calls to transfer to another high school because of downsizing. I was fortunate to get a position at the new high school just a little further away and not the one that would have meant a 45 minute drive to and from on a good day. Besides, I was going to do something completely new and I could lay the foundation for a new program and end up spending more evenings with my boys since I wouldn’t be working a theatre director’s hours. There was a little mourning involved, sure. I had spent six years being groomed to step up when my mentor retired, but as with any change, it gave me a decision to make. I chose the positive. I love my new school, the students, my new colleagues and friends and am so grateful for the opportunity I was given. I know it was for the best and my time with Debbie was preparing me for this new experience.
We enrolled Lucas in sporting activities in the new community so his transition to the elementary school might be more seamless and now that he is in kindergarten, Matt drives 45 minutes out of his way every morning so Lucas can attend the elementary school that feeds to my high school. It’s important for us that the kids have that stability of being in the same schools, so we do it and we don’t complain. But we knew pretty quickly that it’s not going to work forever. Initially we thought we’d put in about 8 years of it and then we really thought about that. Why? So we can get our money’s worth out of the pool. Really?
What if we happened to find just the right buyer? Could happen. Knock on wood, we’ve been fortunate with selling houses in the past. Besides, if we don’t, we don’t have to give it away; we can stay here a bit longer. We keep returning to, “it’s worth a shot.” Matt called a couple realtors a month or so ago. Seems that homes with pools sell best starting in the Spring.
As if we didn’t have enough reasons (some of which I have failed to mention here), we were given another last week. Nothing like the fragility of life to give you a wake up call. Perhaps the seed of change was planted for a purpose. Sure makes it a little easier to uproot when you realize how quickly it could all vanish anyway.
This summer during one of our few lovely Ladies Only swims (Thursdays) my art teacher friends were talking to me about a new benefit of our insurance. It’s a place called Lifesigns and they do a comprehensive physical for the cost of a copayment. I mentioned it to Matt since we had both been looked at like we had two heads when we had asked our general practitioner about a physical a few years ago. He didn’t understand why we wanted one. We thought it would be a good idea since we probably haven’t had one since we were TWELVE. Matt asked me to make him an appointment. He just turned forty; perfect timing. I did and he went.
Matt is going to be fine, but we have just learned that he was born with a heart condition called a bicuspid aortic valve. He’ll need a heart valve replacement. With this condition, instead of having three leaflets to keep blood from flowing back into the heart, he just has two and there’s quite a bit of leaking. After the initial EKG (echocardiogram that’s like an ultrasound) the doctor performed a TEE (transesophageal echocardiogram where a tiny camera gets put in) today to explore the extent of the damage and confirm his initial prognosis. We don’t know when he’ll need surgery; right now we are just watching and waiting. We’ve heard between one and five years and also inside of ten years, but the truth is, we just don’t know.
How about that for preventative medicine?!
Anyone wanna buy a really great house?
The afternoon of our anniversary outing led us to a car show that was being held just a few miles from the house. We thought it was a British car show, but I keep asking Matt if it was European since I see several German models. I know absolutely nothing about cars and will not claim to for the purposes of this entry. I took some pictures of the ones I thought were the prettiest or the most interesting and here they are:
Lucas happened to notice that the engine and trunk are all mixed up on this one. 
Yes, that’s an appendage hanging out of that trunk. Gotta love a good sense of humor.
Matt happened to know the guy who won one of the awards for the show. It was funny because when we first got there, Matt and Lucas made a beeline for the restrooms and Evan and I started looking around. What ensued was a one sided dialogue that went something like this, “Don’t touch it.” “Evan, come here.” “Keep your hands to yourself.” A gentleman made a joke about this, got me laughing (that’s a huge feat in itself) and started talking with Evan and I. Turns out, this is the guy Matt told us had a car in the show. Here’s Woody with his award winning Sunbeam.
Sweet ride, eh?
We have a connection to this church since this is where Mama Jane attends and we always hit up their outdoor events in the fall. We got a little respite from the rain (though not enough to have the event at it’s regular location at their sports complex) so we went for it.
We bumped into The Young’s and hung out with them for most of the evening. Things have been busy for all of us (especially them) and they boys have really missed one another. Evan was off with Matt doing a moon bounce and Jake was waiting in line to climb a rock wall.
He must have stood there while waiting in line for a solid full minute with his hands like this. Too funny.
Evan’s first pony ride.
Lucas has been on ponies before, and even got to ride a horse, thanks to our dear friend, Leanne. He’s an old pro. 
Dinner time…winding down from all the excitement. LIstening to some Coffey Anderson and my former student, Robby.
Thank goodness, Mike spotted us. We were starting to worry we wouldn’t run into any Nason’s or Mama Jane! She snuck up behind Lucas and when he turned around to greet her he just couldn’t set his drink down fast enough to “hug her neck.”
In the event you haven’t heard of Coffey Anderson, here are a few links and videos to pique your interest: soul, pop, Christian…you name it. He’s having a good time and he’s talented for sure!
Mom , Dad and Grandma Sue came over for a Day Trip from Henderson Saturday afternoon. The weather was perfect and we were able to sit comfortably outside. San Diego weather, if you will.
At the start of the swim, Evan copied Lucas’s move of jumping off the deck into the pool backwards and failed to jump OUT. He caught his chin in exactly the correct position to prevent an ER visit., but it was a scary ten minutes that could have clouded the entire day even without an emergency hospital visit. Mom persuaded Dad to take a swim and the boys had a blast.
Grandma is doing well. Her eye surgery went well and she looks like herself again. She didn’t have a lot to talk about, but it’s been a rough couple of months. Her sister, GeorgiaAnne has late stage lung cancer, and Onnie is having huge problems.GeorgiaAnne’s husband has Alzheimer’s. Just overnight this all happened. They were fine and then poof.
We grabbed a pizza and got some disposable camera pictures developed. Yes, my Mom has a Canon Rebel and when Lucas was there for 5 days, she never could remember to bring it along. We got updates about Lucas through Razr camera emails. This camera had shot of him holding an alligator at the Alligator Park they visited together. Evan’s not quite ready so we’ve had to wait to go.
We learned just this weekend that Lucas shot a BB gun during that trip. Looks like he can keep a secret or something; this was mid-July. Good for him. My Dad is THE MAN. He’s always so slow and steady that I am put at ease that he’s covering all the details. I love that I don’t have an actual picture of this. Isn’t that funny? I can imagine what it must have been like. Maybe Lucas can just remember on his own instead of relying on a scrapbook.
I sure hope so, since I am not doing a very good job of keeping up these days. Just kidding. It will all work out as it’s meant to. I am quite enjoying the limited freedom I’ve had to settle back into spin class and enjoy riding my bike through the neighborhoods nearby.
Oh, almost forgot. Look what it appears that Lucas now has to go back there for:
Yes, to the left of my Dad’s left foot (on his new? favorite loveseat!) is the box for a Lego system that I have never before seen. Good thing we’ll be visiting over Labor Day weekend! Have to make up for missing July 4th this year. This will be a great time! Can’t wait.
about San Diego, if I may. The photos that I have here are of things that happened over the entire course of the trip but did not warrant their own post. If I didn’t have the sheer number of photos to deal with, followed by a family vacation, I might have handled them differently. But that’s not the case, so we’ll fill in the gaps.
Tin Fish was packed this particular day so we went to Kansas City Barbeque, made most famous by the Great Balls of Fire scene in Top Gun where the audience gets to know Goose and his wife (Anthony Edwards and Meg Ryan).
Friends Night with NEA at Petco Park. Padres v Dodgers. First game back for Manny Ramirez.
Clint and Dan, two of the four folks I hung out with a bit during the Assembly. Fun people!
Loved this during the seventh inning stretch! So funny that this guy’s just jammin’ out and his “peers” are working!
It was Friday so there were fireworks after the game. They were quite impressive…wonder if they amped them up just a bit due to the holiday weekend?
On Saturday we got to experience a special Independence Day program featuring our prestigious choir as well as a special video broadcast from our President. After having Arne Duncan talk with us on the first day, this was another great treat and instilled hope in us that perhaps, finally, in my own words, we will begin with the end in mind in this country. We cannot continue as a world leader without thinking about education first. Period.
Our TEA president, Earl Wyman, speaking to the Assembly in support of a controversial human rights issue that made me proud to live in Tennessee for just about the first time ever. There is hope. There is hope.
Dinner as a large group followed at Harbor House in Seaport Village. I snuck out to do my sunset picture-taking, but had a table side view in-between!
I will return to you, San Diego. Don’t worry. And I’ll bring my tripod and some better lenses.
Just as I did with my Zoo tour, I am going to take you along with me on my trolley tour of big spots to see in the beautiful city of San Diego. Because you were not able to be there with me, I will present what I saw in the order that I saw it so you can play along at home. I spent about six hours doing this tour, just as I spent at the Zoo. I came up with roughly 36 favorite photos of 189. Made me think of an idea: 6 hours/36 pictures, the coffee table book.
Coincidentally, the admission fee for the Zoo was $35 and the Trolley Tour was $32. Seeing any connections here? Have I ever mentioned that my favorite number is three and that I’m about to enter another great multiple of threes year?
I digress.
On Thursday we had to take care of some meeting and voting and then we had the afternoon to explore or attend workshops. Since it was my first year, I opted for exploring. I took the shuttle to the hotel, jumped on a trolley shuttle to Old Town and shortly therafter begun my whirlwind San Diego destination adventure. The concept is great! One can see everything from the trolley in about two and half hours or can get off and reboard in thirty minute increments any stop along the way until the last pick ups at each location which are from 5:15- 6, depending on the stop. Had I started first thing in the morning I could have stopped at every stop and had plenty of time. I did not. I started at 1 and so I had to make a plan. It mostly worked. I was happy for the free day. It was the only time I can ever remember that I have been almost completely alone in a large city EVER.
Here’s how I spent it:
Below you see an early jail followed by the first school in the county. Hmmm…not a tough choice. Perhaps we’ve made more improvements on our jailing than on our schools. I’d even wear the dunce cap.
Below you see four sculptures commissioned by the Port Authority to liven up the place. I don’t know how current they are, but someone thought to mention them.
My companion for a sit down lunch near San Diego Harbor. Couldn’t believe the best seats in the house weren’t taken. Neither could the lady I met there from Phoenix. She and her husband drove into town for a convention. For people who volunteer to help elderly with beginning stage dementia. Seriously. Her husband joined her after we all got settled in. They were chatty and he is a Razerbacks fan. Bumped into them again at the U.S.S. Maritime. We all thought to sneak up using the free Bay Access. We didn’t have the 2 and a half hours for the tour. And at $17 a ticket, you want to see the whole thing.
Saw them by the classic statue too. Fun, happy people. Hello you two! Hope your drive home was safe.
Stayed much longer than I thought in San Diego Harbor, but loved every second of it. The pedicabs are everywhere and almost annoying, but interesting all the same. Hang on tight if you choose one. They’re extremely dangerous, depending on your driver. I have a horror story. Finally got to Coronado Island. Last pick ups are fast approaching, though, quite frankly I hadn’t even considered until I felt it in the air. I lead this section with the house Matt and I are set to bid on next week. It’s just across from Orange Beach.
And since I needed validation that Elvis is everywhere. Here he is in front of a dinner. The souvenir I brought back for Lucas is a Day of the Dead Elvis that I found at Old Town Market on my way out of town. People could stop & start their tour from any location. This just happened to be mine.
The next four are from on the trolley. I simply ran out of time. I knew I could see GasLamp Quarter since it is across from the Convention Center and Sea Port Village because it’s just behind it, so the only place I didn’t get to explore was Balboa Park and I’d have wanted to visit every individual gallery so it’s just as well.
This is El Campo Santo Cemetary. I first heard of it here. And then saw it heading “home” from the trolley (there was an entire area on the other side of Old Town (and The Presido…) and I tracked it down. Sure couldn’t spot the GeoCache….In my defense, I stopped searching the cracks pretty quickly. That’s one of those times when you need a witness. I wrapped up my trip by the oldest Catholic Church in San Diego, which just happens to have a similar name to the one I was married in nearly eleven years ago.
As I mentioned in a Shoot. Post. Repeat Daily, blog entry, Lucas is a fan of The Exterminators and we recenty met them while in Louisiana visiting Granna and Grandpa (my parents). Lucas got a really cool medallion at the flea market and wowed me with his coolness when selecting the ying-yang symbol as his second bottlecap. It’s so cool watching them grow up into their own little people. Of course we stalked their building on the way back to my parent’s house and snapped a quick photo. That log cabin protected by gargoyles belongs to the Vex Con guys. My newly turned professionally employed brother was there for the weekend too and we had ourselves a pretty good time. Mom and Dad’s backyard was in full bloom and awaiting its photoshoot, of course. It’s nice to just throw everything into the car and bust out of town sometimes.
more about “Are you Ready for the Country?“, posted with vodpod
After Lucas’s soccer game this morning we headed over to Depot Square, the Historic District in Arlington. Some of our favorite things about that town are their festivals and community activities that all take place in and around the Depot. Someday I’ll head down there to take pictures just for the sake of taking pictures, but the shots of the building I got in haste will have to do for now.
You can see Evan’s apprehension here, but it didn’t take long for him to be having a great time on the train. For a quick minute before we left, Lucas asked me to take him over to the abandoned gin, where I stumbled upon what I thought to be contraband. I looked it up when I got home and it turns out they have somewhat recently began importing absinthe to The States. Who knew?
What a whirlwind!
For real…seeing this happen to Grandma Sue has entirely changed my relationship with bacteria.
Filed: “Things I Never Thought I’d Say.”
Lucas and I did this in between Evan’s playing in his poopy diaper and trashing his room. 
I was so proud that Lucas had the patience this year to stockpile the snowballs. We must’ve built them for an hour total! How cool our family snowball fights will become as both boys get older! This is the sight I saw the second nap interruption I got from Evan…It was pretty much spotless when I put him to bed at nap time. 
And, in the video box on the right you can watch his clean up efforts. He made pretty good time. I think it only took him about ten minutes to clean it up (with very specific step-by-step directions from Mommy) and he only resisted a little at first. He’ll work his way out of this phase and we’ll be all, “Remember when…?”
