Shade I Yours

Greetings, friends and family!

Not many exciting things have been going on around these parts, but that's a-okay with us.  After the whirlwind of the past few months (Flashback.... Brian's interview process, preparing our house to sell, Brian getting the job offer, us freaking out and realizing we needed to do a lot more to our house, selling the house, moving to a hotel in Texas, putting three offers on three different homes, and moving into an apartment.... all of what we did with a three-year-old and three dogs), it's been eerily strange/nice to have time on our hands. I mean, REALLY strange.

Sasquatch State: On Sunday, I finally decided I should probably figure out when my classes are starting and make sure they lined up with my anticipated degree.  I'm glad I did, as I had registered for one completely unnecessary class and one that I had already taken.  So happy that the Falls' website has notifications that remind students when they've made these types of errors... oh wait, it doesn't.

Classes start in 13 days on Monday, September 23.  I have eight classes left (a total of 29 credits) to complete before I get my degree.  I'm currently signed up for three (total of 15 credits) and am hoping the other five will be offered in the winter quarter so I can be done with this crap amazing learning experience.

The house:  Yay!  Finally, it appears that something is going on!

(this sign has been up for a while, but it just occurred to me today that I should take a picture of it)

In case it's not obvious (as my mom put it, "what they'd do?  Move some more dirt around?"), there are now boards up mapping out the lay of the foundation.  I believe the white plumbing tubes will go in this week, but I'm not sure.

Christmas:  Since I'm about to get really busy in two weeks, and we will be closing on the new house sometime in December (probably during finals!  yay!), I decided I will actually be smart about things this year and try and get my Christmas shopping done early.  I know, right?  Me... planning ahead.  Weird.

Nolan and I hit up the local Color Me Mine to get going on some gifts.  It seems like a huge risk to take somebody whose nickname is Tsunami to--essentially--a china shop.  We've done it before and today actually went better than previous times.  Nolan loves to paint and he does a good job of listening.  I've totally jinxed it for the future.

(not snot hanging from his nose... that's glaze.  Seriously, it is.  I wiped the snot off by this point.)

After our hard work was completed, we headed next door to Marble Slab Creamery to indulge in a treat.  We left as soon as Tsunami started flinging peanut butter and chocolate chip ice cream at me.  Thanks for sharing, Nolan!

Auf wiedersehen!

Carrollton 911!

Greetings, friends and family!  Here are some updates:

"Your dogs are righteous, man." I had my first Texas experience in reporting a suspicious person.  A drugged out woman knocked on my door, asked me to let her into the pool, I said no, she told me my dogs were righteous, I said okay, and she stumbled off.  She referred to me as "man" at least a half dozen times, could barely keep her head up, and when I asked her if she was okay, she said no but she would be if she could just dip her feet in the pool.  And then she was going to drive home.  Nice...

I called the apartment complex office (closed), the police department (closed), and finally resigned myself to calling 911, which I honestly do not like doing because it wasn't an emergency.  She was just on drugs and I didn't want her to drive.  Or kill herself in the pool.  Turns out, I was not the first person to report her.

After I hung up, I waited around for about 30 minutes to see if the woman would come back.  I really wanted to get a picture of her for the blog.  She DID come back but I decided it was more important to call 911 again (instead of snapping her photo), but before I could she knocked on my door and told me again that my dogs were righteous and awesome (because they chewed through my window blinds... creepy lady), and continued on her merry way.  I reported this all to the 911 operator, who told me police officers were on their way.  That was about 35 minutes ago and I've heard nothing.

I should have taken her picture.

December 17: The day in which are house is expected to be completed.  Major sad face.  I was hoping that we would be in by Thanksgiving, but no such luck.  Boo!

October 12:  Day of Half Marathon in The Colony, Texas.  All in preparation for Marathon on December 1.  Side note: In case you couldn't tell, I love turning regular ol' nouns into proper nouns.  "Look at Banner, Michael!"

Today's Jeopardy answer:  Long, black, and clogging the tub drain.

Today's Jeopardy question:  What color and style was the previous owner's hair, and where did you locate it?  (I guess that's technically two questions, but whatever.)

I definitely should have taken a picture of the mess I pulled out of our drain.  Instead, I will leave it to your imagination to think up an apartment's bathroom, a slow-draining tub, and a wire hanger full of gunk, hair, and chunks of God-knows-what.  Nah, you know what?  I'll just Google a picture and let you visualize something similar.  You're welcome.

Staycation: Texas Style

Greetings, friends and family!  We've had quite the busy weekend.

Friday:
Brian's cousin, Chris, and his wife, Dianna, came over with their two kids.  They were our first guests in our new apartment.  Huzzah!  We enjoyed dinner, and Tsunami enjoyed living up to his name.  Major shout-out to Chris, Dianna, Maddie, and Nate, for making our apartment feel more like a home.  It's nice having family in a new place.

Saturday:
After running/walking approximately seven miles (seven down, 19.2. to go!), Brian, Nolan, and I headed to the absolutely gorgeous Texas Rangers Stadium to watch the Twins battle it out with the hometown team.

And we got a great chuckle out of this sign:

Nolan Ryan's Beef was advertised literally everywhere.  EVERYWHERE.  Since Brian and I are incredibly immature and find humor in 6th grade humor, we giggled at the many references to Nolan Ryan's Beef.  Tee-hee!

Unfortunately, the Twins lost the game (boo!), but the three of us had a lot of fun.  We definitely plan on going back... just after we've saved up enough money (it was NOT a cheap event).

Sunday:

Nolan and I enjoyed a little bit of pool time, although he preferred dipping a cup into the water and tending to the potted plants.  

Brian had to go into work (double boo!), so Nolan and I decided to check out a local small-scale amusement park.

I bought $20 worth of tickets for Nolan and I.  Each ride cost about $2-3 (4-6 tickets), so I figured Nolan and I could go on a few rides and if he had fun, I could buy more.  I am so glad that I DIDN'T get more, because we didn't even use the tickets we had.  Nolan had no interest in going on any rides other than the train.

I take that back.  He did want to go on the bumper cars, but he was about 1/2" short and the attendant was firm that Nolan was too short, regardless of how much I pleaded with him that Nolan was slouching and he's actually nice and tall.  Triple boo!

We ended up going on the train twice, played mini golf and some arcade games, and enjoyed walking around the small park.

Monday (Labor Day):

After sleeping in until 10 a.m. (yay!), we hung around the apartment for a few hours and then decided to go bowling at the Main Event.  

They had arcade games, pool tables, laser tag, and a full restaurant.  It was pretty cool, but we spent most of our time bowling (with a few arcade games tossed in).

Nolan only bowled on somebody else's lane once and he got his ball stopped, before it reached the pins, only one time.  It was a success!

So now the long weekend comes to a close and we are going to settle down with some homemade chicken wild rice soup.  Until next time, friends!

"I'm teaching this girl and ... man, she just f***ing sucks."

Some people are born to instruct, others are not.  At the bottom of the "Others Are Not" barrel, underneath the layer of film, hidden behind a crusty band-aid lies an old acquaintance from Spokane named Collin.

Collin worked at Mount Spokane as a ski instructor.  He was a very friendly, young guy who at one point was roommates with our neighbor.  Collin was an amazing skier.  Collin was not an amazing instructor.  However, being an instructor granted you a free season pass.  For a twenty-something young man, this was worth the trouble of having to work a few hours every week teaching children and adults how to downhill ski.

Collin's Story

One Sunday afternoon, Brian and I bumped into him at the bottom of the bunny hill.  "Hey!" we called out.  "Hey!" he replied.

"What are you up to?" I asked, as I landed a double back flip.

"Nothing much," Collin sighed and looked over at a middle-school aged girl wobbling on skis, "just working on teaching this girl."

"How's it going?" Brian asked, as he caught his toe-edge and did a face plant.

"Oh, man," he groaned, "it's going horrible.  This girls sucks.  I mean, I'm teaching this girl and.... man, she just f***ing sucks.  She's terrible."

Brian and I looked over and the girl was five feet from Collin.  She was still wobbling on her skis and, without a doubt, she heard every word he said.

"Oh," I said, "Well, gotta go!"

--The end--

Clearly, Collin should never have been an instructor.  I mean, that's a no-brainer.  The reason I tell you all this is because last night Nolan started independent swimming lessons (meaning his first time without Mommy in the pool with him).  His instructor, M, was definitely from the same barrel as Collin; thankfully she was near the top.

There was really no key moment when I realized that Nolan's instructor wasn't very good.  It was a more a series of comments, actions, and remarks:

Upon us arriving five minutes early:

"Don't get in the pool," greeted Nameless Instructor Who Didn't Identify Herself As Nolan's Instructor, "Just wait over there until class begins.  We teach the kids to not get in the water until their class begins."

Upon the start of Nolan's class:

"The only other student is R," said Nameless Instructor Who Still Didn't Identify Herself As Nolan's Instructor, "She doesn't speak any English.  So I have that to work with."

Upon Nolan being timid getting into the water:

"NOLAN!" said Nameless Instructor Who I Assumed Was Nolan's Teacher And Not Just Some Random College Student, "SWIM TIME, DUDE!  LET'S GO!"  Nolan ran away from the pool and hid behind me.

Upon every time Nolan started to inch his way into the water:

"NOLAN!" cried M, who I finally asked what her name was and introduced her to my son, "COME OUT HERE AND SWIM WITH R!"  Nolan ran out of the pool and hid behind me.

Upon Nolan play-splashing M and her reprimanding him:

"Nolan, no splashing!" yelled M.  Nolan began to get out of the pool, so M began fervently splashing him as he came towards me.  Nolan started crying and ran towards me.  The aquatics director happened to be sitting a few feet away from me and HE yelled at M for splashing Nolan.  M apologized to Nolan.

Upon Nolan attempting to return to the pool after being splashed by the instructor:

"GOOD JOB, NOLAN!"  cried M, "COME OUT FARTHER!"  Nolan ran away from the pool and hid behind me.

At 6:15 p.m.:

"Oh, my God!" groaned M to me, "It's only been 15 minutes?  I thought we were almost done!  Ugh!"

At 6:25 p.m., during play time:

"Hi, Older Student In 6:30 p.m. Class!" greeted M, "We're having play time!  Fetch the diving ring!"  (So much for students not entering the pool until their class begins.)

At 6:26 p.m., during play time:

Older Student In 6:30 p.m. Class grabbed two diving rings, R grabbed one, and Nolan was left with none. The instructor repeated this "game" for the duration of the class.  Nolan never got another ring.  

At 6:30 p.m.:

"Class is done!" cried M, "Get out of the pool, Nolan!  Bye!"

At 6:31 p.m., while I was putting Nolan's t-shirt on him by the water:

"Class is done, Nolan!" cried M, "No more swimming!  See you next week!"

Honestly, I wasn't that bothered by most of the things.  It's clear that she's an impatient person and she shouldn't be an instructor.  The thing that bothered me the most (even more than splashing my kid, which only bothered me because she made Nolan cry) was Nolan not getting any of the rings.  He and R were having fun for the two minutes before the older student arrived.  Nolan was going farther out in the pool to hand the instructor the ring, and M seemed to be enjoying his improvement.  He was getting more comfortable.  As soon as Older Student arrived, M's focus was diverted and she no longer cared.  THAT sucked.  

On the plus side, Nolan had fun and he improved a lot.  Be grateful for the little things.

Plenty of Room for the Johnston Family of Five*

*By "plenty of room" I mean approximately 800 square feet.  Should be cozy!

So this is what we are living in, folks.

The main door, which we do not use because it doesn't open easily (perhaps because of the gigantic filing cabinet blocking it?)

Our living area.  Still trying to get organized.

The dining area.  You can tell our table is being used for its intended purpose.

Some bum left a bunch of micro-brew beer bottles in a bucket on our patio.  How rude!

Our patio.  Notice the barely-alive lavender plant on the edge.  Pretty sure the Texas heat is murdering it.

Master bedroom (I made the bed! Go me!)

Shower and toilet.  The shower head is maybe 4' off the bottom of the tub.

Bathroom vanity and sink (Another bum left a bunch of cosmetics and personal hygiene products behind.  She could have at least put them away)

Extra-wide hallway leading from master to the main living area.

Nolan's spacious bedroom (with his new big boy bed sort of set up)

Same messy bathroom.

Kitchen pantry/storage/laundry hookups

Our fireplace being used as Nolan's play workstation

As you can clearly see, our apartment is a disaster.  HOWEVER, we can now actually walk around in it (you should have seen it on Sunday) and sit on the sofa and watch TV.  Be grateful for the little things, right?

Hope everybody has a good weekend.

Temporary Digs

Greetings, faithful followers!  I apologize for the long delay in an update.  We have been busy, but more than anything, I suffer from anxiety issues which sometimes prevent me from being productive and/or social.  I had a relapse in symptoms this week.  Not fun, but I'm dealing.

As you can see, nothing much has changed on our house other than a very sexy plywood sign which features our house number.  Holler!

This is the entrance to our subdivision.  Take note of the extra-fancy "e" at the end of "Point." It really adds that something extra.  Literally.  It's an extra letter.

And here is Nolan cuddling with some puppies in our apartment.  While the apartment is a nice change from the hotel, it's still not the best living situation.  Nolan's bedroom is tiny, the shower stall was designed for midgets, and the counters were "updated" with this weird spray-on faux granite stuff.  Only three more months to go until we move into our new swanky house!  But who's counting, right?

Other than those things, there's not too much to report.  Nolan starts swimming lessons on Thursday, Brian is enjoying his work, and I am enjoying not being in school (for a couple more weeks).

Stand by for more updates.  Thanks for reading!