Criminy Pete, Woman, Where've You Been?

"So, besides the photo of a fire and an announcement about your weather station being back, you've been pretty incognito!"

Yeah, I suppose I have.

"Are you okay?"

Yes, I'm finally coming down from the incredible stress of this move. The car accident on August 2nd didn't help, either. One might argue that one contributed to the other, but I won't lay blame one way or the other. I'm very glad that the woman I hit was okay, and I'm pretty well recovered, too. I'm still a little sore in the shoulder if I try to scratch my back with my left hand, that's all.

Dave and I have been crazily unpacking at a feverish pace. If we don't put in the effort now, we tend to slowball things and we end up like in North Carolina: presenting our packers in July 2008 with boxes that weren't even opened from when they were delivered to NC in August 2005!

Very little TV, very little Internet, very little interaction outside of the house. I'm catching the Olympics when I can (how about that Men's Swimming Freestyle Relay Sunday night????)

I'm pleased to say that we've unpacked all but about 5 boxes...we have most of the rooms well-organized, and it's mainly books and wall hangings that are still pending. We have bookcases scattered throughout the house, and I'm still deciding on which bookcases will hold which books.

Having a basement is quite wonderful, Jake's layout and many of the boys' toys are fitting in the basement very nicely. We also have ample storage for our camping gear, my craft supplies, and winter stuff.

We can finally free up our garage for its intended use: storing our vehicles!

Dave started at his new job on July 31st and is really enjoying things so far. The programs he got to work with for his PhD are relevant in this job and he likes getting to translate the research work to the warfighters.

This past Saturday, on Dave's birthday, we had our first real day out, enjoying some of Nebraska/Iowa's offerings. The IMAX theater at the Omaha Zoo was showing the film Fighter Pilot free for military families and it was very good. Timmy only got a little worked up at the very end at some air-to-ground training explosions.

Then we went to Quaker Steak and Lube in Council Bluffs, IA for dinner -- where I experienced some of the best wings I've had in YEARS, followed by a trip to the Bass Pro Shops Outdoor World next door. Outdoor World was incredible, with a shooting arcade on the 2nd floor! While I'm not condoning 5-year-olds wielding rifles, I have to admit Jake had a really good time attempting this. It has a really nice camping section, and I can see the family doing a LOT of camping while we're here.

From 2008 08 09 Ou...

The boys are definitely emotional about what they've left behind in N.C. Timmy still asks for his friends Daniel and Johnny, and Jacob has complained a lot about there not being much to do in Nebraska. It's just that we've been so busy unpacking, we haven't been out much except to go shopping for furniture, home improvement stuff and school clothes.

Which brings me to my next point: my baby (Jacob, my oldest) starts KINDERGARTEN tomorrow! This afternoon we attended a "Meet the Teacher" event and Jake teacher, Ms. Brockhaus, seems very nice and down-to-earth. Jake was told he could explore the classroom (it's enormous, compared to his Penguin classroom at Resurrection Preschool) and we went on a scavenger hunt for his name. Items throughout the classroom were already labeled. Here's Jake at his table:

From 2008 08 11 Ba...

His name was already marked for his art cubby, his coat hook, his "circle time" spot, and his lunch marker, where he'll put his name magnet on a poster depending on whether he's buying lunch or bringing lunch.



I was sent home with a stack of forms to fill out (homework for Mom?), including PTA registration, publicity consent forms and Room Mom/party helper solicitations. Since I'm taking a trip to the Middle East in early 2009 (oops, I guess I haven't blogged about that news, huh?), I'll have to shy away from being a Room Mom, but I will volunteer to help with the Halloween events and Field Day at the end of the school year.

"Thanks for the update, Patricia...I'm glad things are looking up for you guys."

If you've noticed, I'm not jumping up and down celebrating Nebraska. It's a nice state, I'm always game for a new place, new adventure, a new part of our great country to experience. But celebrating Nebaska...not quite yet.

For those who aren't familiar with my passion for all things Penn State, my senior year at Penn State was that of the 1994 NCAA Football National Championship that should have been Penn State's, and not Nebraska's. And we're in serious Cornhusker country here!

But I'll give them credit, Nebraskans are the friendliest people! We've been presented with babysitting offers, plates of cookies and several "If there's anything you need...." offers from our neighbors. Most of our neighbors are military, and there are a billion kids on our street. There's a new family right behind us, and the Mom there is a piano teacher -- whoo hoo! I was planning to start Jake on piano lessons around his 6th birthday. He can just hop our fence...

So with this extremely long post, I'll close here. Stay tuned for photos of Jake's first day of school. I hope I don't cry.

"You'd better give the skinny on the Middle East, woman!"

Okay, okay...soon!