Hello From Texas

So, we've been in our new home for a little over a week.  We're all pretty exhausted from the stress and work of the first part of the move.  Now for the hard and fun part: unpacking!  I must admit, it's been a lot of fun unpacking into a kitchen with endless cabinet, pantry and drawer space.  This weekend, we're committed to the girl's rooms (yay, they have their own).  We will be very busy over this next month with settling in and getting used to our new space and hood.

Grace started school last Monday.  Things are very, very different here at the new school than her school in Newton.  First, she doesn't really have homework; the extent of last week was one math worksheet and writing five spelling words in a paragraph.  Huh?  Second, her school is very BIG and she's gotten lost a few times.  There are 862 students at her new school, compared to her last school of 260.  It's a big difference.  Third, she changes classes for all of her subjects, just like we did in high school.  She doesn't have her homeroom teacher for anything, well, except homeroom.  And last, she rides the bus!  Apparently this is a great thing; she's super excited about it.  Very unlike my drive down the highway twice a day in Newton; I'm liking this new arrangement too!

The school is not the only notable difference that we're finding.  Our YMCA is incredible at half the price, longer hours, more child watch time and an entire water park!  Our weather has been beautiful!  The girls have started a new sunblock regimen each morning that they are NOT thrilled about.  Our grocery bill is laughably small; I don't understand how things could be so much less expensive here.  Our neighborhood is full of kids (a ton of girls their ages) and friendly adults.  YES, each one of our neighbors  has come over, introduced themselves, offered to help us out and one even invited us out for lunch!  Through 2-different moves in Newton, not one person knocked on my door.  I'm just saying...  It's noticeable how un-miserable everyone is around here.  AND the best of all... There is FREE PARKING everywhere!  I haven't seen a meter in a whole week!

The ONE thing I can honestly complain about: people around here do NOT know how to drive.  Period.  Boston drivers, you rock!

Also, we're enjoying being back with The Family!  It's been 9-years since Brett and I have lived near any relatives and NEVER have with our kids.  We were lucky enough to be here when our niece Olivia Kay joined The Family on Easter Sunday.  Congratulations Dane and Itzy!  It really is nice to be back!

Ava gives Austin a thumbs up.  She's been outside non-stop since we arrived.  We live on a cul-de-sac, so she has free roam of the circle with her bike and her riding car.  She has played with a dozen little girls, non of which she ever seems to know their names :).  I think it's such a funny thing that when I ask Ava "what was her name", she replies "I don't know, I didn't ask her".  I guess it's not on the top of the list of things to know about someone when you're 5.  When she's not playing outside, she is busy helping me each day.  It must be fun since she does not seem to miss the TV.  We decided our days of paying astronomical bills are OVER and we did not install cable or satellite.  So far, so good!  I certainly have not missed the bill.  I will admit that I am wishing I could watch the Celtics.

I really do love Boston and always will, but WOW, I do not miss my quality of life there.  The things I will miss about it, I can gain from a visit every now and then (mostly, my friends).

So, we are settling in.  We are all so grateful to be here and be so fortunate to live in a house we all love, be near family again and know our way around too!  Bonus!

Hasta la vista...

On the MOVE again...

As you may have heard, the Eatons are on the MOVE again! This time, for the LAST time.

To what do we owe our latest move?

Mr. Eaton found a wonderfully inspiring new job in our old stomping grounds AUSTIN, TEXAS. His 9-year career with Mullen Advertising came to an end in mid February; it was certainly bittersweet! I know he will miss the day to day contact with a lot of people he's worked with over the last 2-years in the Boston office and of course, the Winston-Salem crew! Funny how we are coming full circle. Brett left Austin for his career with Mullen in 2003. Proves you just NEVER know what the future holds.

Grace and Ava have gone through the typical process that starts with shock and grief and are now in the stage of excitement and anticipation. I originally planned to stay in Boston through the end of the school year, but Grace decided it would be better to move now and be with her Dad and try to meet some new friends before the summer started. I am so proud of her brave self!

For me, I am relieved. I would much rather move now than stay here solo for another few months. I will, however, miss a few great friends that I have come to depend on and am saddened to leave. This seems to be a trend with me. I remember my total sadness in leaving my North Carolina friends too. Ironically, as much as I disliked Boston, I loved it too. I grew to love a lot more than I ever would have guessed.

Once we knew we were moving sooner rather than later, Brett and I made a weekend trip to Austin to house hunt! After a lot of research and of course, our memories of the area, we picked two cities, just north, to focus on. Our realtor was a trooper and showed us 30-houses in 3-days. We found one we both LOVED (literally, only one) and made an offer on it. The house was big enough, the layout worked perfectly with our needs, it was located in the ideal neighborhood on a cul-de-sac, with top rated schools and was extremely well maintained and CLEAN! We were smitten. I knew I wanted to live there, the moment I walked in. After several days of nail biting, we were the lucky couple who won a bidding war! YES! So, if all goes well, we are set to move at the end of the month to reunite with Brett!

Want a sneak peak at our new home?

It's a beautiful one story in a very small neighborhood in Cedar Park, Texas.

We have plenty of room for visitors, so pack your bags!

AND I'm dead serious!

Am I the Only One EXHAUSTED by my FOOD?

So, for many years, I've read about, researched, tried and trued many ways of making my family more healthy Eatons (no pun intended:). It's been a very slow process and hasn't always been appreciated and certainly not embraced by the majority vote of the Eaton household.

I do consider myself pretty savvy when it comes to nutritional information. I do, say, know they exist and what are considered the "super foods", I am well aware of the "dirty dozen"; the difference between whole wheat flour and whole grain wheat flour. I even know that heating olive oil completely changes it's cells at the molecular level and that it goes rancid rather quickly and can actually be toxic. I know about wheat grass and flax seed. I know a perfect amount of nuts in your diet is healthy, but too many is adverse (isn't that true for so many things?). I know the recommended amounts of vitamins and minerals and particularly protein in the USDA food pyramid is out of date and desperately needs fixing. I even know the difference between omega 3 fatty acids and omega 6 fatty acids (we need to eat more 3). I know that 8 in 10 people over the age of 25 are overweight and a rather scary percentage are morbidly so! I also know lots of other tidbits and facts that influence the way I feed (and not feed) my family on a daily basis. I also get quite confused sometimes and try not to jump on the nutritional trends. I NEVER believe in omitting whole groups, like carbs, from any diet. No offense, but who really thinks a diet without fruits and veggies is healthy??

I can also say, for sure, that I drive the baby Eatons nutty with talk about the nutritional values of foods and making good choices. I actually hate it when someone mentions the word calorie. I think Americans are obsessed with this word! I don't want my kids hung up on that word; it's almost considered a curse word in my house. I try every day (and sometimes fail miserably when I sit across from them chowing on a cheeseburger at the local dive) to make good choices that I can feel good about for their little bodies, but it is all consuming sometimes and painfully uphillish.

I have no idea how much of my energy is wasted, bathed in guilt for : breaking down out of convenience and making a bad choice, not shopping 100% organic, not shopping 100% natural, buying products with either preservatives, too much sugar or too much fat. The guilt really sets in when I allow myself to shop the middle of the super market. Sometimes I feel like a processed food addict. Like what it must feel like when the alcoholic visits the wine aisle. I was, after all, a child of the 70's and I do like an Oreo Cookie!

I also experience high guilt when I take them out to eat and allow them to order mac and cheese or chicken nuggets or the absolute worst thing ever: a soda... Every Mom in this country must know this feeling. I do it most, out of fear that if I with-hold it, it will become the forbidden fruit, the holy grail and consume their thoughts.

The truth is, these kinds of food and drinks are killing us, but we're almost powerless as mothers to stop the fast moving train. I, for instance, am certainly going to be criticised by someone for worrying too much and not allowing my kids to be kids. BUT since when did kids need chicken nuggets? And the real question is, why do I succumb to the peer pressure and kid pressure and feed my kids (and me too) absolutely toxic food! YES, toxic. That's what it is. Let's revisit the above noted statistic that 8 in 10 middle aged people are overweight. How do you think we got here? Or why almost 9% of our population (yes, total population, a whopping 25.8 million children and adults) have diabetes? Or, the scariest by far, our children will be the FIRST generation ever to have less life expectancy than their parents!

Alarmed?

I feel like I fight a daily battle against my arch enemies with names like: high fructose corn syrup, calcium sulfate (google this common bread ingredient), enriched flour, aspartame, partially hydrogenated vegetable oil, sodium nitrate, I could so go on and on and on...

What is sacred anymore? We can't even feel safe buying raw fresh foods (foods our farmers have grown from the earth) from the produce section without the organic stamp. Farmers are feeding our plants with chemicals, spraying them with harmful pesticides and genetically altering them! Meat is an entirely different ballgame altogether when you have to wonder if it's been treated cruelly, fed grain instead of grass, pumped with steroids and antibiotics or altered some other molecular way. Even fish could be raised on a fish farm and even fed GRAIN TOO!

American food is the most dishonest product I've ever tried to consume!

And do we even need meat at all? I've read reports that our food pyramid has way overestimated our daily protein needs. AND we've totally overlooked as a nation the fact that you CAN get protein in other places. Like greens, for instance!

So, my question is this:

Should my food exhaust me?

As a Mother, I'm exhausted. Is anyone else?

And if so, why aren't we doing something about it?

Back in the Bean

Some people spend summers abroad, some spend them in New England (imagine that!). The girl's and I do it 100% backwards and we summer...in the SOUTH! The Virginia heat mild to medium this year; not too hot, nor too humid. But there was one Southern girl that was actually praying for the sizzle. In the dead of a Boston Winter, I daydream about the enveloping warmth that you feel on a hot summer's day in central Virginia. I'm true in my heart, through and through, a southern girl. That will NEVA change.

We started the summer with a drive in the good ole Toyota through the states that separate me from my home: Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, barely New York, New Jersey, Delaware, Baltimore, drum roll please, Virginia! The thermometer ever so slowly, creeping upward (YAY).

We spent the 4th of July with the Best Family in the World; celebrating Grace's 8th Birthday! Oh dear, that's another blog post!

Then Brett and I took off for Mexico, solo on the 6th. Yes, solo. For 7 glorious days and nights in Playa Mujeres. We haven't had a vacation like that since our honeymoon in 2000; great food, great atmosphere and great accommodations. AND don't forget: kidless!

It was well received and appreciated! Thanks again to the generosity of: My Mom, Danny, Teresa and Daryl! The kids had mucho fun staying with you guys and we were sufficiently relaxed, knowing they were in good hands! Money can't buy that peace of mind!

As always, Brett had to return to work and Boston :( Vacation buzz kill.

The girl's and I spent the remainder of July sunning it up at Eileen's Pool, conquering roller coasters and water slides at King's Dominion, playing in the sand on Virginia Beach and just plain being lazy and hanging out at Sweet Frog's frozen yogurt on Cary Street (dear GOD, it is insanely good and allows your creative side to shine with endless toppings)!
I welcomed turning 35 this summer with open arms. Bring it on. At 35 I feel better than ever, am healthier than ever and am slowly reclaiming the ME that was lost in my journey as a wife and mother. I embrace my age and I don't have any plans to lie about it... yet.
When asked "what was your very favoritest part of this summer":

Grace: Spending time with family. The heat: we were able to swim because it was so hot!

Ava: Spending time with everybody. Swimming in Eileen's pool.

Tasha: Seeing and visiting everyone without feeling rushed, the enveloping heat, seeing best friends and drinking sweet tea!

So, that pretty much sums it up! The summer was a hot success. Thanks again to Sheila for letting us crash her house for 6-weeks! The return to Boston was bittersweet, as always; those who know me best, know I'll spend the next several weeks in a homesickened funk :(
I can daydream about living close again, but until then...

Back to daily life in Beantown (I still don't know why we call it Beantown).

Home again Home again... we face the task of UNPACKING our new home and settling in. Grace starts 3rd grade after labor day and Ava starts her new pre-school the following week. This Mom is looking forward to some much needed alone time! 9-whole hours per week! I might die!

PS Virginia is for BREAKFAST!

Carpe Diem!

As you may have noticed, I've taken pause with my blog. Sometimes we just need some time to iron out the details in life and that takes all the energy. It was that kind of pause. So, here we are, almost one year later; life rolls on in the Eaton house. We have made the bold and drastic decision to "downsize" in the traditional meaning of the word. We will either a. sell b. give to a charitable agency or c. trash half of our belongings over the next 2-months in order to accomplish said downsize (moving 2500 square foot of stuff into a 1300 square foot of stuff space). I, for one, am extremely optimistic and hopeful about the process. Maybe it will remove the excess weight from our girths. We have been found guilty of true Americanism in this house: excess, excess, excess. Sickening. So, I am extremely excited for the big "purge" and hoping I will feel lighter, more free, less tethered and generally better, once it's over. Am I the only one that gets tired of cleaning it all, moving it all, organizing it all, dealing with it all? STUFF is entirely over-rated. The downsize will hopefully stuff our wallets a little more too. We're making an economical move and I feel good about that! Why such a huge sacrifice, you might ask? I'm a lucky girl. Everyone in my family is willing to deal with tighter quarters and budgets in order for me to return to school without piling on the debt. I'm starting out slow; one or two classes this fall, get my feet wet. Then on to full time student in the fall of 2012. Ava will trot off to Kindy and I'll trot off to college. Full circle feels really good. I hope to earn a psychology degree in less than 4-years and then... I have some well thought out plans and aspirations, but we'll start here with the first step and maybe my dreams will come to fruition. I've been waiting quite some time for "my turn". So excited it's finally here and that I'm able to embrace it with those I love in full support! Thank you fellow Eatons!

Summer, Summer, Summertime

Well, we are finally into summer in New England! So far, so good. It's not the scorching heat that I'm accustomed, so that's a nice change. But, not for long, since we are headed south very soon! The four of us will drive to VA over the 1st day of July (sh don't tell the girls it's 11 hours in the car) and then board a plane bound for Dominican Republic on the 4th (thanks Mom and Danny). What a great way to spend Grace's birthday! We'll be sure to celebrate once we arrive. Although, it might be a little weird to be out of the country for the 4th, I'm sure it's a sacrifice that we can live with - all inclusive style!

We all come home on the 11th of July, bummer. Brett heads back up to Boston and back to work, bummer number 2. But, the girl's and I will stay in VA for the month of July and catch up on some much needed friend and family time. I've missed the barbecue and the sweet tea, too! I cannot wait!

In the meantime,

Grace geared up for the summer by completing another round of swim lessons. She did really, really well and now I'm even more comfortable with her "swimming" instead of drowning. It gives me some relief, as the mom and all... She's lost a tooth, finally, jeez it was killing her to be the only kid in class,teeth intact. Her report Card was superb, as always. She's smart as ever. All she wants to do is read... We could think of far worse things for her to want to do! And last but not least, she has a surprise for the Richmond crew - wait till you see her!!

Ava just finished a class that allowed her to try all sports, literally, any you could think of. She LOVED it. She was the only girl, but she jumped right in there and payed better attention AND had better balance. I was proud to watch her! Ava spends most of her free time feeding chipmunks and turkeys. She's named them and everything! Ava and I started our preschool-at-home lessons too. Hopefully next year at this time, she'll know how to read! Watch out!

Brett and I are plugging away, trying to keep everything peaceful, prosperous and clean! The last seems to be the hardest. He's still working his tail off and is somewhat relieved that we stay in VA for a month so he can stay late at work and get more done. Blah.

I've picked up the guitar and am trying to learn it. After more than a month, my fingers still do not have the illusive callouses. I hope I'm not still waiting the next time I blog... Now, I'm off to pack the house into 4 suitcases!


Yesterday we spent the day on the beach, New England style, which translates into:
a. we (the kids) didn't go into the water beyond our waist because it's frigid
b. I kept my dress on the whole time because I was chilly on the 23rd of June
c. spraying bug spray every 15 seconds because of the things we call "no-see-ums" were absolutely nerve wrackingly annoying, to put it mildly

The North Shore: Wingaersheek Beach

Ava getting warmed in the tidal pool.

I would have shown a picture of Grace, but didn't want to ruin her surprise for the Richmond peeps!

So, summer's here! In spite of all the sibling-rivalry-bicker each day, all day, I love summer vacation! Two whole months without having to pack a lunch or come up with whatever goes into that packed lunch. No rushing here and there because all activities seize, unless you sign up for "summer" ones. YAY for me being smart enough to skip that step! And, this year, summers even more sweet because we are the proud owners of a Cuisinart ice cream / frozen yogurt maker (thanks Courtney for cleaning house and selling it to me).

So, dog days of summer, c'mon! AND, please let me be smart enough to savor it since Boston winter is just around the ... bean.

The Thirties

33.
I've spent my lifetime being "young". Then all of a sudden, you aren't any longer. Yet, you're not old. Where is the fine line that projects you into the "other" category? We aren't middle age. We aren't young ins anymore. What is 33?

I feel like I have a bucket of lessons to pull from, yet I don't know everything like my 20 something self did. I know that the forces of nature (God, Higher Purpose, whatever you believe) do this on purpose. A 23 year old body with a 33 year old brain would be quite dangerous!

The things you learn over a decade, I've decided, are definitely worth the journey!

And for just a day, could I have my old body back? You know, the one I thought was "fat"? I remember sucking in my stomach on my wedding day in a dress that was a size 2. Sickening. I try to remember now that in 10 more years, I'll wish I looked like this.

Contrary to most, it's a pleasure for me to turn 34 in July. No one knows how much time we have left, but what we do know, is what we've learned thus far. My lessons get more rich and fulfilling each day. My kids are teaching me more about myself than even my wise Grandparents could.

Why is it that you cannot sit a 20 year old down and convey the things that are so wise and would eliminate a lot of angst? I guess it takes the journey to give you ears? Here are a few things I would tell my girls if they could hear me:

Sometimes, I'm not right and it's o.k., people don't love me any less.

Cherish and hold on to your best friends - the time when you really need them probably hasn't happened yet.

Don't pass judgement, it's karma's best and most powerful Ali.

The drama is your reaction. Just stop reacting. It will go away.

Contrary to what you've been taught, thinking is not the way.

Just erase the word NEVER from your dictionary.

Take extra good care of your teeth today, you'll thank yourself later.

Every now and then, pick up the book "The Power of Now" and if you understand what you read, finish it.

Just Don't Do It. Saying no is the most powerful word in the dictionary!

So, today I'll go forth on my journey with my 33 year old wisdom and look forward to the load that I'll pile on before 43. I'll try to remember to cherish the moments. I'll also try to remember that saving my children from the moments robs them of the journey!

Oh, and one more thing, next time a 43 year old tries to tell me something, I'll try to remember to listen.

live, laugh, love, TODAY.