The Washingtonian

What an eventful week!  Snow and more snow and more snow and more snow. It is just crazy.  They never have this much snow.  Outside of a seafood restaurant they built a big snow lobster and spray painted it red.  It's just like building a sand castle...NOT! Wednesday the roads were really nasty.  We decided to stay at a friend's house in Somers after I picked the kids up from school.  We know them through Dave's job.  The wife so graciously took us in and fed us.  We are so blessed to have them.  I was scared to death to ride on these slushy, icy roads. Not to mention these hotel walls were getting to me, so I was happy to have a change of scenery. This is where we got our first lesson in snow shoveling.  I will post a picture of my car buried.  Luckily, the driveway was plowed for us. The snow is so thick, when Maggie walked in it yesterday she lost both of her shoes. They had a 2 hour delay at school that morning.  Maggie caught the bus with her children. The bus driver

I just brought the girls to school again.  Maggie is still very nervous, forcing her to get sick in my car this morning in car rider line right before the teacher opened the door.  She is not my nervous child.  She is the kid that is so laid back.  Nothing ruffles her feathers. I don't get it.  Believe me, she is entitled.  It's huge to be the new kid.  So we are taking it day by day.  Julia loves it and is not nervous a bit.  We were invited to a birthday party last night. Maggie was in school for one day and received the invite.  She was thrilled to be there. It was at an ice skating rink. The girls surprised me. The were just as good as the locals!  We will definitely go back.  They had so much fun.  I was able to meet the parents and children in her class.  Again, everyone is so nice. I am sorry to complain about the weather again, but this morning it was negative 5 degrees. When I said last week that the cold was the worse I've felt. I take that back. Today wins the

The low tomorrow is 2 degrees. The cold here is a bitter cold. It is like nothing I've ever experienced.   As long as the windchill is above 15, the children go out to recess at school.   When I grew up in St. Bernard, you could wear shorts most Christmases. So it is quite different. Even in Georgia, Maggie wore a bathing suit under her clothes year 'round. You never know! It is now the weekend. Dave had to be in Atlanta last week for work and has to be there this week coming for the movers so he just decided to stay.  The girls and I are in the hotel going a bit stir crazy.  Don't get me wrong, I have not made a bed or taken out the trash in 2 weeks. I could get used to that! Yesterday was ok (they had a snow day, AGAIN).  That makes 3 snow days in the last 2 weeks.  More than usual for this area. Even the locals have had enough of the snow. The kids played here and I watched tv all day. Partially because I was bored but partially because I needed a distraction from bein

We woke up this morning to the news of our new school being closed for a snow day. It was actually the ice on the roads that was so dangerous. My Cherokee County friends are familiar with that! I'm really nervous about driving up there. I definitely do not need ice in the mix. Julia was disappointed, needless to say. We will try again tomorrow! We walked to Target today.  We are beginning to have cabin fever!  There was freezing rain and we did not pack an umbrella.  One thing that I am not accustomed to is paying for parking. I disagree with it in certain places...a mall, target, a grocery store. I understand paying for parking at a special event, but everyday errands is a bit much.  I think it is downright crazy. Well, you know what is craziER...walking to Target in the icy rain without an umbrella!  I now know why people pay to park at Target! Lesson learned! Just fyi, we bought umbrellas for the walk back. Now we are ready!

We are at Dave’s office in Stamford, CT. Corporate world, at least for Dave’s company, is awesome. There are tv’s, couches, a kitchen and even a bar! I remember once when I was student teaching, my teacher friend had to eat her salad on a coffee filter because the teacher’s lounge had no plates! Funny how things are different in different fields! The girls think that this is the best!   It might have something to do with the unlimited snack supply! We will hang out here while he works. No one is here today because it is a holiday but he needed to get a few things done. There is a mall connected to the office building so I’ll take the kids for a walk and go to get Julia a few school supplies at a Target nearby. Yesterday we enjoyed the company of some friends. Dave’s co-worker had us over for dinner and to have the kids play.   They have 2 boys. They got along great. They had a blast in the snow. They built forts with tunnels and went sledding down a bunny slope!   Dinner was fabulous!

Today we went down to the city.  We walked from the hotel to the train station.  There started the observations/people watching.  We were sitting waiting for our train and a guy loudly tells the woman next to him "I'm waiting for my friend, he's coming from Grand Central...." and he goes on.  She ignores him and scoots over. He then makes eye contact with me and repeats himself. I am thinking to myself, do I look away now and take that womans lead, respond to him, what should I do? What do I know? I am not from here. So, like a true southerner I smiled and said "that's nice".  Then he got Dave's attention and he went on to tell us about his birthday and where he grew up.  He then gave us a map and told us that he did not have any snacks for the girls but he can show us on the map how to get to the American Girl store because he thinks they will like that.  He circled on the map where we should go. Interesting. Nice guy. We then got off the train at

Today we went up to tour Julia's school. We met with the principal and he showed us around. There are about 800 kids there for just 3rd, 4th and 5th grades. Julia is excited. She has the opportunity to play a string insturment this year. When we got home (or got to the hotel), my phone rang and it was Julia's teacher introducing himself.  He seems very nice.  She is excited to have a male teacher. She's never had one before (besides for specials).  I drove myself today, I made a few wrong turns, but the Garmin got us back on track.  Dave got back from Philly (I spelled it right this time) and we went to dinner at a hibachi restuarant around the corner. It was very good.  Maggie says at dinner "It's so amazing to see their talent" speaking of the hibachi cook as he builds his onion volcano. I hope she is always able to see the good in people.  I think that is a gift she has now as a child. I teared up a little at dinner. I just really miss my home and normalcy.

I did not blog yesterday because not much happened here.  Today marks the 27th day that they children have not been in school.  I have been doing some work with them here and there, but as Julia said last week "we need an education and fast". Today we went up complete the school registration. I am not sure what takes this process so long, but it does.  We have everything turned in and now we are waiting for a phone call from the school.  I drove myself and the girls to Somers, which btw is where they had 16 inches of snow on Tuesday night.  My first time driving here.  Had only 2 minor incidents, so that is good. You really need to be ready to pull off when the traffic light turns green.  You almost need to be moving already when the light turns green. Then I was yelled at by a pedestrian because I had pulled up to far and blocked the crosswalk.  Ooops!  I'll learn. I got a phone call from the car service that is supposed to transport my car up here.  Dave told me to as

This morning was brutal waking up at 7...but we got a lot done tody.  We went up to register the kids for school. We are still working on getting some paperwork to them.  This snow storm is really holding us up. I needed info from schools and dr's in Atlanta and everything is shut down there.  We will get the storm tomorrow.  Everyone at the school office was very nice and cooperative.  Maggie still wants me to homeschool but I'd rather not. I think she is just a little nervous...and for anyone that knows Maggie, that is not like her. She usually walks in a place like she owns it!  We came back to the room for a bit. Dave went into work and the girls and I decided to venture out again. We had passed a Walmart getting to the hotel several times, so I knew it was there but when we turned the corner.....there was a Barnes and Nobles and Target!!! A bright light shone on this building for me, I swear. The Target was underground, which was neat. Dave failed to mention that those 2 p

 Dave went in to work early. The girls and I slept in a little bit and almost missed breakfast!  Oh no! I called down and they said we could still go even though we were 30 minutes late. We needed to fuel up for our busy day.  We had breakfast and then the girls swiped 4 apples, 2 donuts and 2 yogurts for later. We got a map from the hotel and ventured out to find the mall.  We walked the city streets of White Plains. I'm sure not even comparable at all to the streets of NYC but way more urban than we are used to. We are still on a mission to replace some of Julia's clothes. We got some after season deals at Macy's.  We met Dave back at the room and then drove up to Somers to see the house! Wow, it is beautiful and I can't wait.  One thing I am looking forward to is a bath.  I LOVE baths...and being in a hotel, that is just not happening...eeww!  Her real estate agent/ son-in-law/ our new neighbor said that the owner (his mother-in-law)might move out a week early, which

"Today is the big day" Julia said as we woke up bright and early. She had a huge smile on her sleepy face. Maggie walks in with a smile and says "I've been praying". We asked her for what and she says "praying that we have a good day in New York".  Amazingly my children have maintained a positive attitude about this after all we have been through and after all of my anxiety and tears.  I am so thankful for them.  Early this afternoon we landed in White Plains, a small airport.  A car picked us up and the the driver was so nice and welcoming. He said he was so excited for us because he knows what this town has in store for us. That was comforting. He actually lives in the same little town that we will rent in.  Super nice, his wife owns a dance studio and he is a comedian (and driver)!  He dropped us off to Dave's car that was parked not far away from the airport. This is where we lost Julia's luggage, I think. Losing her luggage was not the hig