Home, finally!

We are finally home. We closed on the house Thursday at the lawyer’s office. It is always stressful knowing that you are signing away where much of your money is going for the foreseeable future, but comforting in knowing that you have signed away your money in a relatively safe investment. Well, that and you get to actually live there with your loved ones!

Early on Friday, KT and I headed to drop off Brewster at the groomer’s place so he could be out of the way, then to the nearest Dunkin’ Donuts to get coffee and donuts for the movers. The same crew arrived that packed and drove from Virginia, and the good news is that our items never even left the trailer, significantly reducing the breakage that we expected. Bob and gang were spectacular, considering we didn’t know where much of the stuff was headed. Our home in Richmond was very different from the Connecticut home, so we had tons more space, yet far less out of sight storage space.

We are still working on where to put everything, but have the basics down. We’ve cooked dinner almost every night, and I have slept in my own bed every night since Friday. After more than three months, I was finally able to get a good night’s sleep and my back didn’t hurt in the morning. The fact that my wife was next to me, and my kids were down the hall was just icing on the cake.

Saturday, in the park (on the pond)

On Saturday, Sue and I headed into South Windsor to take care of some errands. We are still living in the hotel, but only for this weekend and part of next week. Then, we will be actually living in South Windsor, CT. So, we headed to Evergreen Walk, the smaller but more enjoyable of the two malls in the area. It is an outdoor shopping mall, very similar to the Short Pump mall in the West End of Richmond. Mostly high end stores, but enough diversity to make walking around fun.

So, after the bank to get my signatures on new accounts, and the post office to pick up our forwarded mail, we headed to Evergreen Walk. Eventually, we made our way into the LL Bean store. Sue had been there with the kids, but I had never actually been at the mall. Outside of the store, they were having a good many activities to celebrate their one-year anniversary of being open in South Windsor. One of the things they were doing was giving shorter versions of their walk-on adventure classes for free. This included GPS Techno Treasure Hunt, flycasting, and kayaking. After talking with the kids, we signed up for the kayaking class. This was a somewhat shortened class, with about 50 minutes on the water after some basic instruction and transportation to the pond. They normally charge $15 per person for each of these adventures, a nominal fee for some good instruction, all equipment, etc.

The driver pulled up to drop off the previous class, then took the 14 of us to the pond. We were given safety instructions, PFDs, paddles, and sent off to our kayaks (instruction was good, stressing safety, how to paddle, and some warm up exercises). I was in a 14’ kayak, as was Jake. Sue and KT were in 12’ ones. We all had a great time paddling, getting to know how to turn, and trying to keep from running into each other much. Both Sue and I got some solo time with the kids to talk about the experience, if they would do it again, and if they would eventually kayak together. We have so much water around us, both flat and running, that we would be silly not to purchase two kayaks and start to explore the area.

I can’t say enough about the LL Bean crew. They ensured that we had a great time, and kept it very low key, the way kayaking is supposed to be.

http://www.llbean.com/outdoorsOnline/odp/walkon/odsSouthWindsor.html

A CD to remember

Over each of the past six or seven years, each momentous occasion has been celebrated with a carefully selected collection of music. Each CD is picked by the celebration crew (whomever that is at the time), and presented to some or all of the participants. There are only a few people that mix the music, and it is always difficult to find the right order to keep the mood right. The CDs are cherished by all recipients, memories of the event, person, place, or time in their lives. Oh yes... listened to over and over again.

The CD entitled “Tiara Tunes for Sue” was lovingly created by her friends, and presented on her way out the door of Virginia for our new life in Connecticut:

Say - John Mayer
Game of Love - Santana
Whenever I Call You "Friend" - Kenny Loggins
All the World - Point of Grace
Eagle When She Flies - Dolly Parton
Margaritaville - Jimmy Buffett
Goodbye - Night Ranger
I Hope You Dance - Lee Ann Womack
We Are Family - Sister Sledge
Little Wonders - Rob Thomas
You've Got a Friend - James Taylor
Stay Beautiful - The Last Goodnight
Circle - Edie Brickell
Friends - Jump5
My Wish - Rascal Flatts
Something's Broken - Tim McGraw
Stop! In The Name Of Love - The Supremes
Find Out Who Your Friends Are - Tracy Lawrence