Greetings from Virginia, Y'all!

Okay, we did it. Somehow, miraculously, with the help of some of the greatest friends in the universe and thanks to Peter's anal planning of how to efficiently pack the truck, we fit our HUGE amount of stuff into the moving van. I don't think even a toothbrush would've fit by the time it was all done. With the assistance and company of my dad and Brian and Victoria, we caravanned across TN and up through Virginia. We have arrived. We have unloaded. We have unpacked. We have already taken advantage of the community pools. We even took a weekend trip to Hershey Park (compensation for the fact that our Disney trip had to be postponed due to the timing of this move). We are officially residents of Ashburn, Virginia.

The only major casualty of the move is that my beloved camera is gone. We had a party with lots of friends at our house the weekend before we left; that was the last sighting of the camera. Was hoping it had been packed last-minute in a box. But alas, it is not here anywhere. All the August pics are courtesy of my dad or my iPhone.

A Memphian's Lament

A series of events and divine signs have led us here. Peter's employer wanted him on-site in the DC area more. We wanted him to travel less. My job situation had become tenuous, and the commute was not healthy for our family. We prayed a lot. We researched a lot. Peter told the company he'd move to the DC 'burbs. Suddenly, I had a job, too. A great job in suburban DC. A whirlwind from "let's start thinking about this" to "I guess we're doing this." So many aspects of this transition fell into place, so I know it's right. We have a townhouse to rent there, which we rented sight-unseen (scary and VERY uncharacteristic of me), that we then saw on a pre-move visit and turns out, is perfect. Mine is kind of my dream job in many ways. The changes with Peter's position will be almost certainly positive. We're moving in two weeks to northern Virginia, and it will be great!

So why, why, why, does this hurt so much? When I moved away for college, I always said I'd never move back to Memphis, and then, 13 years later, I rolled back into town. I complain regularly about Memphis and all its problems--the culture of racism, the mostly bad schools, the apathetic majority, the hot summers. But there are SO many things I love about Memphis. And I kind of don't wanna leave. There's BBQ and the Tigers and the Redbirds and the Levitt Shell. Downtown and Main Street and midtown and Lakeland and Shelby Farms. The museums, the ease of travel, the zoo, the local music scene. Our church, our neighborhood, our school, our friends. People who are making a difference and who care about changing the things that suck into the things we can be proud of. Can't change the hot summers, but we sure can suffer through them together, cooling off in pools and sprinklers, drinking cold beers together while we grill out, finding respite in the air conditioning of each other's homes.

Every other move for our family has felt right--right time to move on, ready for a change. With this one, though the pieces are falling beautifully into place, I feel so sad. I have a great extended family and so many of them are right here. I love that my kids see my parents so often, that Dad can call and ask if maybe he can just whisk 'em away to the zoo for the afternoon, that my mom can roll cookie dough with them for the holidays, that there are cousins two blocks away. Our neighborhood is fun and festive and full of kids. The children adore their school, and we're confident they're learning a lot there. We have friends--individual friends and couple friends and family friends, from church and school (old and new) and sports and the neighborhood and childhood and work. I know we'll keep in touch with our Memphis friends, but it won't be the same. We'll have Facebook and email and the phone and visits back "home" but it won't be the same. And that will be sad.

The closer we get to August 25, the more I cry--and not just because I hate to pack. Though I know a great adventure awaits, and that God has a plan for our family, I still mourn the loss of what we have in Memphis. It won't be the same; it will be different. But maybe, just maybe, it will be different in some really good ways. And we'll always have the memories of good times in The Bluff City with some of the best people in the whole world.

Staycation: Walking in Memphis

Peter left for Guatemala on a Mission Trip with our church, and I had the week off to be with the kidlets. I debated what to do with them, where to go, maybe a couple of day trips. But ultimately, I decided to explore our fair city with them. Things would be less crowded on weekdays, and I'd let them make the itinerary. This idea became even more brilliant when we learned we'd be moving away from Memphis at the end of August. All the more reason to take in the sights before we left. The Newtons met us on a couple of the days, which was fantastic. The girls got to hang out with Sage, I got to hang out with Jen and baby Hazel.

The girls really wanted to go roller skating, which wasn't a Memphis-specific event, but something they wanted to do. It had been a good 20 or more years since I was on roller skates, but I rocked the rink after a few wobbly turns around the place. The girls all eased into it, too, and did quite well. I feel really old even thinking this, but goodness, the music the kids listen to these days is just nauseating. Either sugary-sweet or crazy-skanky, but all repetitious and processed and, ugh. I longed for the "Oh Mickey" days of old. Would a little "When Doves Cry" have killed 'em? Jeez. In any case, we had a blast.





Mud Island was great--insanely hot. Jen sent me a text later that night saying the heat index had been around 112. We're such good moms for getting our kids out in that weather! In our defense, they were wading/swimming in the water and fountains the whole time. We took 'em all to Beale Street, to A Schwabs and to the Hard Rock Cafe for lunch. My kids' disturbing affinity for the Justin Bieber song at the roller skating rink was redeemed a little by their excitement at seeing the U2/Bono memorabilia at the Hard Rock.












One morning, we went to the Dixon Art Gallery. The kids went on an art scavenger hunt, provided by the nice docent at the front desk, and sketched their own drawings inspired by some of the gallery's collection. We met the Newtons afterwards at the Botanic Gardens for lunch at the cafe (seriously yum) and some big-time play-time at My Big Backyard. The Farmer's Market there is top-notch as well, and we were introduced to the best Italian ice ever, as well as natural honey sticks we couldn't get enough of. Saw the sign about wine-and-tapas night, a few quick calls later and Jen secured a babysitter for all the kids so we could return later that night for grown-ups-night-out. Fantastic!






Other requests from Molly & Rebecca were the Fire Museum & The Civil Rights Museum. Another great day downtown. We rode the Main Street Trolley from one to the other.






Spent one morning at Sun Studios, learning more about the Elvis legacy in our city, listening to some great old grainy tracks, and posing with the microphone both Elvis and Bono used when recording there. We had lunch in a train car at the Spaghetti Warehouse. That night, took all three kids to see Mary Poppins on the big screen at the Orpheum. Despite multiple trips out for the bathroom, we made it through the movie.




We headed down to Autozone Park for the Memphis Redbirds game. Our kids were the stars of the show--Molly got to deliver the game balls to the home plate umpire at the beginning of the game, and Rebecca participated in a promotion for a dental insurance company by dressing up as the tooth fairy, who uses a giant toothbrush to "clean" the bases between innings. They "called" the game from the Fantasy Radio booth with Papa. To top it off, Redbirds won with a walk-off homerun!







We were all wiped out after our Staycation, maybe even more than after a vacation, but my appreciation for what Memphis has to offer is multiplied, and we have lots of memories and pictures to treasure as we leave the city for new adventures!

The Boat & The Jedi: A Weekend in 'Bama

We are rednecks and we are nerds. Why not combine the two? Where should we go for a weekend getaway? How 'bout...Alabama!? Why, of course.

The brainstorming began when we had some friends over for a grill-out dinner. The guys were talking about boats. Guys in the South like to talk about boats--either the one they have or the one they want. It's pretty normal down here. This love of boats (and I don't mean sailboats or yachts or even cruise boats, though we'd all like those, too) might earn us the label "redneck" in other regions. Bring it on. We like boats. And beer. So they guys were talking about boats and, before I knew it, they were talking about dates to reserve a boat at Pickwick Lake. We'd bring coolers of, well, beer, and I guess some non-alcoholic bevs for the kiddos, and we'd just Be on a boat all day. Our buddy Steve actually bought a boat recently (garnering the supreme jealousy of the other guys), so he and his family would meet us down there. Four families. A lake. And beer.

The nerd part of our family comes out in the next segment of this weekend adventure plan. As an elementary school kid, I wanted to be an astronaut. Frankly, who didn't? They had the Young Astronauts Club at school and, most important, there was the classic movie Space Camp. Watched it over and over again. I recently introduced it to my kids on Family Movie Night--they were also smitten. For fun, I googled Space Camp to see how much it would cost to ship my kids there next summer. In the process, I found the Website for the Huntsville (AL) Space and Rocket Center, where I'd been as a child. And their upcoming exhibit was..get ready...Star Wars! Aw, yeah. We were 100% there. Our little Alabama weekend would be perfect. Boating on Saturday, Jedis on Sunday.

We rented a 12-man pontoon boat and a tube. Since most of our cargo would be under the age of 10, we figured we could squeeze a few extra bodies on. Initially, we had three families (6 adults and 8 kids). Coolers with the requisite beer and juice boxes and water. Sunscreen. Cameras. Stylish wide-brimmed hats. As we tried to meet up with Steve and family, we found only certain locations in the middle of the lake with cell phone reception. Finally, we reached them. Their boat had experienced technical difficulties. What's four more, huh? Awesome! So we picked up them up at another dock, two more adults and two more kids. That's 8 adults and 10 kids total. It was remarkably perfect. We'd anchor the boat and let everyone swim in the lake. We docked on the shore for a picnic lunch and more swimming. The kids took turns being pulled behind the boat in the tube. Fantastic day with fantastic friends!












We drove on to Huntsville that night and enjoyed the Space and Rocket Center, gettin' our nerd on, so to speak, on Sunday. Pictures with storm troopers, building our own droids a la RD2, a C3P0 movie, a defying-gravity ride, rockets and shuttles up close. Loved it, loved it, loved it.