To say things have been crazy busy is an understatement. My poor little Graham's 11th birthday was April 19 and here it is July and we've yet to have his party. His birthday fell on Easter weekend and the school holidays so most of his mates were away. My sweet boy gave no groans about putting his birthday off a bit but then I was away for nearly a month and here it is, another school holiday! I promise, Graham, we will have a great birthday party, even if it is 6 months late. At least it may be warm and sunny!!!
My trip to the states was whirlwind, as it always is! I flew into LA, spent one night then hopped a plane to Orlando where Kaigan collected me. It was a sultry 98degrees which I absolutely LOVED coming from NZ winter, rain, wind, etc. Our NZ summers don't get very warm so I soaked up the heat. Kaigan was eager to get to the outlets with a parental wallet so the roughly 10lbs. of chocolate and gum I'd brought from NZ could not be left in the car and had to be carried in my backpack (on Kaigan's back since 5lbs of it was his gum!) as we shopped. He picked some clothes for his new job (more on job later…) and then we had a nice dinner at The Cheesecake Factory.
Next day we had a long, lovely lunch with Kaigan's campus job boss and his wife. It was so nice to meet such a nice couple who Kaigan thinks the world of and I gathered the feelings were mutual. We then collected a moving van and proceeded to load Kaigan's belongings from his 3rd floor apartment and CLEAN said apartment. Lesson #1: NEVER be the last roommate to move out of a shared apartment! There were food items in the fridge and pantry that were from the guy who moved out before Kaigan moved in! We grabbed a night's sleep then finished up the loading/cleaning before beginning the 9-ish hour drive to my Mom's house in Mississippi. But first we had to collect the car trailer to pull Kaigan's car. The first rental truck company failed to have the trailer Kaigan had reserved so we had to stop in St. Augustine to get one from another franchise. After we pulled into the parking lot, the owner asked, "What's that sound?". He snooped around under the hood and decided the truck was not safe or reliable to take us all the way to Dallas so, to make a long, looong story short, after about 3 1/2 hours (2 1/2 of which was after he was technically closed) he organized us in another truck to which Kaigan and I had to transfer all the contents, and sent us on our way. On the road now, 4 hours behind schedule, we head to Mom's. With about an hour to go jet lag and exhaustion set in with nausea and a desperation to sleep. We finally made it to Mom's (Kaigan insisted on driving the whole way!) and after a quick chat and hug, I fell into bed only to be awoken by Mom's dog barking incessantly outside the bedroom windows. I dosed off and on but eventually I was going mad and knocked on Mom's door. She opened her door at which point I dissolved into tears, rambling about her barking dog and apologizing for both waking her and crying. Naturally the dog wasn't barking at that particular moment so Mom asked if I heard the dog barking at that point. I stopped crying and cocked my head to the side to listen and responded, "No." She was relieved to know I was hallucinating! I resorted to putting my wax, swimming earplugs in my ears and finally got some much needed sleep! It's all rather funny after the fact but at the time, I was on the verge of a complete mental breakdown.
Kai and I had a relaxing day of rest and yummy southern seafood and then a day of visiting friends and family before heading out at 5am on Wednesday to drive to Dallas. Again he insisted on driving the whole way, though I have to say, I was quite happy not being in the driver's seat in Dallas! We arrived at the rental truck place at 4:30 to leave the trailer and Kaigan's car then headed to his new apartment to unload, again, 3rd floor! We managed, barely and with the help of a very kind neighbor, to get the truck unloaded and returned, get a few things unpacked, grab a yummy TexMex dinner in our state of grunge, purchase a shower curtain, shower, fall onto be for a quick sleep before catching a 6am taxi for our flight to Kentucky. Less than 14 hours in Dallas!
We had a lovely, though rushed, lunch with my bestie and her daughter before finally reuniting with my Mikayliebug. Graduation!!! Mom and even Grammy made it and my beautiful girl graduated high school! The only high school graduation I'll go to of my 6 children! Sounds like I have loser kids but in reality it's because Kaigan graduated 6 months early to move to NZ with us therefore not attending his graduation and the younger four will finish school in NZ where they don't have graduation ceremonies.
My nephew, Sam, also graduated that Saturday, 3 hours away in Shelbyville. Grammy made it to his too but not before taking a spill in her bathroom. She suffered in silence through Sam's graduation then went to the ER til 3am with lots of pain and high blood pressure. We later learned that despite a clean x-ray report in Kentucky, she had in fact broken her sternum!!! Grammy is such a trooper! Only four days later, she and Mom drove back to Mississippi where Gram now lives with Mom.
Kaigan flew back to Dallas on the Sunday to start his new job, an internship with American Airlines, on Monday morning. We are so very proud of Kaigan and his achievement! He loves his job and hopes to be invited back for another internship and perhaps even permanent employment when he graduates. He has 3 semesters left at Embry-Riddle before earning a degree in Aerospace Engineering. His job with AA grants him fantastic flight perks and as his parents, so do we!!! Finally that tuition is paying off! Kaigan had travelled on occasional 3-4 day weekends to Denver, Mississippi to see Mom and Grammy and most recently, Washington DC for 4th of July weekend. He also has plans to go to London on Labor Day weekend and has invited me to join him as I will be stateside then. Soooo excited to experience London for the first time with my boy!!!
Mikaylie and I spent the week visiting friends in Somerset before we headed to Dallas via Cabot where we spent a night with my dear friend Kelly and her family. In Dallas we hung out with Kaigan and cousins, did some (ok, lots) shopping and soaked up some sunshine at Kaigan's apartment pool. Then Mikaylie and I headed out, again staying with Kelly & co in Cabot, then on to Nashville for her orientation at Trevecca Nazarene University where she'll be attending school in the fall. We LOVED Trevecca! The small, christian school atmosphere felt like family and any reluctance I had about her college experience disappeared. I still hate being so far from my kids but of all the universities she could have chosen, this one gives me peace. She is so excited. She's met her roommate and suite mates and is eager to begin the next chapter in her life story. After the orientation activities we has some time to chill poolside, have a nice dinner and even catch a movie. The next day she brought me to the Nashville airport and after hugs and tears, I headed back to New Zealand where Billy had been single-parenting it for 3 1/2 weeks!
So back in New Zealand we've been busy with soccer (Brylie, Graham and Nani) and basketball (Will). Nani was asked to trial for a rep team and just learn that she's made it as a goal keeper!!! This will take us to game days in 4 cities across the North Island, one being here in New Plymouth, once a month, September through December.
Slowly but surely, Billy and I have been working on various projects around the farm as we continue to make our own. Billy has completed changing the wire fence around our yard to four-board. We've planted more plants and shrubs, built a huge rabbit hutch and organized having our driveway upgraded…FINALLY!!! The area just in front of the house and garage is prepped and ready for concrete to be poured. We've been waiting now for nearly 3 weeks for the weather to cooperate. The land around the drive is a mess from the excavating and the sand where the concrete will go is constantly being tracked into the house. It's an absolute pain in the butt but will be so worth it when its all done. I can't wait to start the landscaping when the workers are finished! They've made us a levee like mound with the excess dirt which we will plant and will hopefully help in some wind block. I have a design all ready to go and now just need the thumbs up to begin. Sooo eager for spring!
We've had two new additions in the form of kids goats that the kids and I are bottle-feeding. They are so cute! I've so missed my goat babies that we'd always had on our Kentucky farm.
Finally, the kids, now on school break, and I took a little hike down the beach to where a huge (20meter), dead blue whale washed ashore. A few friends had gone to see it and Nani was particularly keen so I figured how often do you have the chance to see a blue whale, albeit dead. So off we went. Heaps of people were out to see it and several warned us of the odor but we carried on. We rounded a bend in the beach and there it was! Smell and all! OH MY GOSH WHAT A SMELL!!!! Never in my life have I experienced such a horrific odor! And I am particularly olfactoraly sensitive. I gagged and dry wretched but, by golly, I got my photos! It WAS a sight to behold but the whole event reminded me of that SNL skit where the whole family smelled and tasted the sour milk one after another after being told it was sour!
So enjoy the pics!!! And hopefully my next post will include Graham's birthday party!
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