Settling In

We come to you from the land of the sun! We have been here a whole week and only one day has there been a cloud in the sky. The weather is great…mid 70s during the day and 40s at night. The air is minus what we learned in Texas was called “humidity.” The absence of that word has led to me going through Chapstick like it was Peanut Butter M&Ms (which if you know me is more frequent than even changing clothes...i.e. a lot). The surroundings remind us a lot of home…at least compared to Texas. I say all the time that this is just like home, but Idaho doesn’t have 70 degree weather in the winter, doesn’t have cactus everywhere, and doesn’t have dried up rivers everywhere. I think they sing “Bridge Over Troubled Sand” here because there is no water under their bridges. But, the mountains all around are what make it a lot like home. If you replaced cactus with sagebrush and palm trees with maple trees, I think it would be fairly close.

We have spent the last week giving our own economic stimulus package to the Tucson area. We didn’t take any food with us, but apparently we didn’t bring anything else. Some of the more happy purchases were some cat pillows, chicken wire, boards, etc. to make a mansion for Candi’s cats, so they could transition to outside cats. Outside is a broad term, since we made a cat door and created a cat palace in our garage, complete with heated blankets, night lights, and fountains. But, hey, if it keeps them out of my sight all day, I am not going to complain about how long it took me to build it or how many times I stuck my fingers on the chicken wire.

The rest of our time was spent getting our house ready to live in and ready for a baby to live in it. Ok, not the entire rest of the time, since Candi has been working and I have had enough time to squeeze in a round of golf, but a lot of our time has been spent in this area. We have put together all the items that we left in boxes for the move, such as the Pack and Play, stroller, swing, etc. Our dogs have really stepped up and helped with this effort. Apparently, they don’t want to leave our side for fear that we might up-root their home again or get the "cat" treatment.

JJ’s room is now complete and looks something like this:
Candi is doing well and continues to grow. She is having a hard time finding shirts that cover her entire belly. She has been wearing some of my shirts...so I think that means I need to hit the gym a bit harder.

She has her first doctor’s appointment tomorrow. If my busy schedule will allow, I will go with her. After the appointment, we will feel a little better about the whole thing. We still want to get a hospital tour in and see where we will need to go when JJ decides it is time to come out of hibernation. I have him scheduled to make the decision on Tuesday, so I will have the most time to be with him and Candi before I have to start class in two weeks…although I have to check in this week. If he doesn’t comply with my wishes to be “on time” then I know he is going to be a lot like his mother!