The Massachusetts-Texas Express

We have arrived at last in Texas. Is this the place? Is this the promised land? I guess time will tell. Right now, it's a little bit lonely.

Here is a rundown of the latest transition in the life of our family:

• Last night in Massachusetts with our dear friends. We romped on the beach, rode the carousel, and pretended that nothing at all was about to change.

Ava giggled herself silly with her best friends in the whole world, Abizella and SuperKid.

And then we hit the road.

• Good drive from Boston to Arkansas. PJ slept ALL the time in the car, waking up to eat every 3-4 hours before returning to her blissful slumber. Ava read lots of books, did a little bit of whining, requested hundreds of songs from the front seat duo, and watched HOURS of Mary Poppins on our new portable DVD player (Who knew you could buy another parent for $69.99!). We loved seeing some family along the way (uncles and aunts and cousins..) and wish we'd had time to stop to see more. Ava met up with her identical cousin in Tennessee. Quick! Who's who?
  

• Finally saw Graceland. Derek's hounded me about it for years (we have been to Memphis numerous times), and though I've always wanted to go, I could never justify the price of tickets. We forked over our grocery budget, though, and decided it was definitely worth going hungry for a week. Really really tacky, but then, it's Elvis... I will suggest to Derek that he devote a post some time to Graceland.

• One week in Arkansas with Mom and Dad. Lots of fun with the grandparents: trips to a redneck pumpkin patch, the zoo (riding with Grandma after her knee surgery on the motorized vehicle!) Stoby's for breakfast, Toad Suck park, trick-or-treating. The good times never stopped! Granddad was characteristically indulgent, as Ava quickly learned. Each time she had a choice of "staying home with Granddad" (read: watch Mary Poppins?) OR going somewhere with her mom, she chose Granddad every time. And PJ learned how good it feels to be held all the time. Uh-oh.

Our nocturnal animals--PJ, the bat, and AK in the half of her costume she agreed to wear, as a panther/dog/cat/bat, depending on the moment you asked her.

• Derek left Arkansas after a few days to get to Austin, meet the moving van, and begin work. All of that went well. By the time I arrived with the parents, Derek had done a ton of work unpacking, though the place was still a mess of boxes and piles of stuff. The best thing he did was set up Ava's room, with most of her toys and books unpacked and her bed made. When she entered her room for the first time, she was ecstatic. Beside herself with excitement, she pointed out every item for me: "My dog! My bed! My dog book! My train! My kitchen! My chair! My sheep!" and so on.

• The apartment. We love our new place. It will take some getting used to a few modern luxuries, but we now have (for the FIRST time in our 9 married years--not counting when we were house-sitters) the following: walk-in closets, central A/C, and best of all, a DISHWASHER! Hallelujah. And this weekend, when it's 85 degrees, we plan to try out the pool.

We still have a lot of exploring to do. We have driven around downtown and I can't wait to get a closer look at it, as well as all over the Austin area. Right now, I'm trying to get the apartment organized, get used to the idea of our new home so far from the home we're used to, and still be a good mom. I'm not sure which of those tasks is the hardest... Up until my parents left a couple of days ago, I could *almost* pretend that this was all a long, elaborate vacation. But reality hit after they left. This is our new home. I know we're going to like it here, but it is hard to be in a new place after leaving a place that you really loved.