Twilight

It doesn't get dark in the States. That's one of the first adjustments we had to make over the past week. Not just light but actual sun still shining at 8 p.m.? Weird.

The days are long, and they definitely feel that way. The kids are finally sleeping or laying in bed past 6 a.m. but bedtimes are closer to 9p.m. with the daylight savings and with evening swim practice for Rebecca that runs from 6-8 p.m. She can't eat dinner beforehand unless she eats about 4:30-5 (and then would want to eat afterwards again anyway) so we have a drive-through dinner at 8:30 p.m. That's been all sorts of weird too. I think from here on out we're packing picnics.

So, sleeping, swimming, what else? Shopping and settling.

In one week we've been to IKEA, KMart,Target, BJs, Safeway, Hallmark, Petsmart (3x), Haverty's (2x) and a farmer's market.
For malls we've visited Tysons and Potomac Mills, and Katherine went to Fair Oaks with my mom last Saturday.
We've eaten Taco Bell, Wendy's, Burger King, KFC, Fuddruckers, Milwaukee Custard and Baskin Robbins.
The boys got haircuts. We've gone bowling and been to the library. Trekked a bit through the nearby Wakefield park forest, and played frisbee. Gone to 4 evening swim practices and an all Saturday morning swim meet.
And settled on the house.
Today's plan: grocery shopping (since we're eating my mom out of house and home), another walk-through the house at 3, maybe a trip to Home Depot for primer and paint and all the things that go with covering yucky mustard yellow and baby pink wall colors, measuring a room for bunkbeds, arranging for delivery of storage items.... blah blah blah. I should arrange carpet cleaning too. Or maybe I'll just take today off and face all that nonsense tomorrow. Yeah, that sounds more like me.
I have to say that none of this is nearly as much fun without Ian as I have no one to grumble to when making decisions, and I hate making decisions or when something doesn't go according to plan. Like, say, doing the "final" walk-through yesterday before settlement only to pull up to the house and find the family still there, all sorts of stuff still in the living room and basement, and no power in the house an hour before settlement and getting the keys. Can't do a walk-through if you can't turn a light on or check if the fridge still works. Or see the floor. Actually, it was probably better Ian wasn't there. While I'm usually the hot-headed one I'm also avidly non-confrontational.
So we go back today. I did sign all the papers, the house is "ours" though now there's all the other things to do, like get a new driver's license, register the kids for school...more blah blah blah. Since it's just me though all the kids get dragged around for it all too. My mom came yesterday which was wonderful. They didn't have to sit in the waiting room while I signed my and Ian's life away and she got to watch Rebecca swim.
I'm getting a good amount of reading done during swim practice. I'd brought Obama's _Audacity of Hope_, started it and enjoyed it, but during the few days of getting over jetlag I was sucked back into _Twilight_. Surprisingly I'm enjoying it as mindlessly as the first time. Even better though, Rebecca is reading the series. Don't jump on me that I have an 11 year old reading _Twilight_. She's reading, she wants to read, and she's reading fast. Those make up for the content, IMO, because it's teen fluff romance which is neither here nor there when you have someone who last summer took more than 3 months to read _Because of Winn Dixie_ and would find anything else to do when a book was suggested. Now it's been 2+ weeks since she started the first book, and she's 1/3 through _Eclipse_. I got her the Cullen crest keychain in celebration. Now to look for Alice's choker necklace for when she'd finished all four.
That's about it from here. Looking forward to getting items crossed off my ever growing checklist while still keeping the kids happy.