Well, we're back online at home now. It's amazing how lacking internet in one's home can cause one to feel totally disconnected from the world in this age. We can't tell you the number of times we quarreled over facts and then felt totally lost because we couldn't go look it up and resolve our argument. Also, for a family that gets all world news online (and then through the grapevine), we felt totally cut off from the occurrences of life on earth and little able to verify the validity of information we received.
Anyhow, now that we have the ability to communicate regularly (even though we're not at home as we type this), we figured we'd update everyone with how and where we are.
We returned to North Carolina as we had mentioned and took care of our business. After that, we came back to San Antonio and stayed with Andrea's mom for a bit. We decided that we will stay in San Antonio for now, at least until our eldest turns 18 this year, he has no desire to relocate outside of the central Texas area and we don't plan to up an leave when he's not old enough to fend for himself. As a family (other than the one), we have a strong desire to relocate and/or travel. Plans have mostly settled around either buying an RV and travelling the country or relocating to New Hampshire near our family there and then taking frequent trips. Neither will happen until 2010, though.
For now, we found a house in Converse, which is pretty much to say in San Antonio. Aurora and Caed have decided to attend public school and Aurora is attending Andrea's alma mater, Judson High School. We have a four bedroom, 2 bath house, so the boys each got their own room and the girls are sharing a rather large bedroom. One of the things that makes this house unique is that a previous tenant repainted all of the rooms (except the bathrooms) and each in a different and vivid color.
The master bedroom is plain white, the only room in the house that could be considered bland. The living room is a burgundy type color, the kitchen/dining room is olive green (which actually works there), Shane's room is lavender, Caed's room is ocean blue, and the girls' room is hot pink. The boys intend to leave their paint alone (Shane's girlfriend's favorite color is purple) and the girls intend to paint a skull/crossbone pattern all over their walls. We picked out a new color for the living room, a light blue. We'll be priming the room soon and then painting soon after.
Well, that's about all that's terribly new or interesting. Karma and Andrea both got haircuts (from each other) and Karma's hair is really cute. When we get home, we'll have to get a picture up here for you to see.
Oh yeah, we also got Vonage and will have a phone number after we get home and get it set up. If you know us well enough to ask for it, e-mail or leave a comment and we'll get it to you.
Showing posts with label house. Show all posts
Showing posts with label house. Show all posts
Wednesday, December 31, 2008
Friday, August 22, 2008
Birthday Fun
We made a commitment at the end of last year to be less materialistic when it came to gift giving within our household. Christmas worked out well, we got five gifts from Santa and then some cash to use as we each saw fit.
For birthdays this year, we had a commitment not to spend more than $50 for each person on gifts. We have been quite successful on this, with both boys having had their birthdays recently and loving their gifts so much that they didn't notice we had spent considerably less than the previous year. Aurora had a specific item in mind that was outside of our dollar limit, however she offered to give up having a party and eating out for her birthday in exchange for the extra amount spent. This worked for us, so we went ahead and bought her the item she requested.
For Caed's birthday, he received Marvel Ultimate Alliance for the Wii (that grandma bought us for all of our birthdays this year) and then we gave him some cash since he didn't have anything else he wanted that would allow us to come in under $50. We also went to Austin's Park and Pizza for his party, which included his two closest friends. We avoided the media room, as usual, and sat in a quieter room so we could have conversation and enjoy one another's company. Surprisingly, we only stayed for 3 hours as Caed became anxious to come home and put together the Lego toy he received from one of his friends.
With the cash he got from us and the Toys R Us giftcard he received from his mother, Caed bought himself a Tomb Raider game for the Wii. He's been spending a lot of time on the Wii lately, but this doesn't bother us as he was spending just as much time reading various books this time last year. He tends to become quite absorbed in whatever interests him, so we know that once his interest changes, so will his activities.
Andrea's birthday was great for her as well. She woke up early for no reason she could tell and promptly showered, gathered a daughter, and went bargain hunting at the Blue Hangar Goodwill (super discounted Goodwill). She found many prizes, including an Unabridged Dictionary published in 1979 (coincidence?), a nice pair of leather sandals (not real leather), and a Holistic Healing Guide. There was much more found and for all she only paid $16.
After Goodwill, she picked up the rest of the family and we went to see a house for lease in the area. It has 6bedrooms and 3bathrooms. It's a lot of space, we fear perhaps too much, but we love the fact that everyone can have their own room during these teenage years and there are many shelves and storage places everywhere. We've been trying to minimize the things we have, but we would still like space to place what we have. The house is available now and we're not sure they'll hold it for us until we return from vacation, but there's only one way to find out, which is to ask.
So, that's been our week. Sam and Andrea start a new workshop tomorrow, which we will be attending from 10am until 10pm. On Sunday, we're planning a birthday party for Andrea, something we haven't done in a long time, so it should be fun!
For birthdays this year, we had a commitment not to spend more than $50 for each person on gifts. We have been quite successful on this, with both boys having had their birthdays recently and loving their gifts so much that they didn't notice we had spent considerably less than the previous year. Aurora had a specific item in mind that was outside of our dollar limit, however she offered to give up having a party and eating out for her birthday in exchange for the extra amount spent. This worked for us, so we went ahead and bought her the item she requested.
For Caed's birthday, he received Marvel Ultimate Alliance for the Wii (that grandma bought us for all of our birthdays this year) and then we gave him some cash since he didn't have anything else he wanted that would allow us to come in under $50. We also went to Austin's Park and Pizza for his party, which included his two closest friends. We avoided the media room, as usual, and sat in a quieter room so we could have conversation and enjoy one another's company. Surprisingly, we only stayed for 3 hours as Caed became anxious to come home and put together the Lego toy he received from one of his friends.
With the cash he got from us and the Toys R Us giftcard he received from his mother, Caed bought himself a Tomb Raider game for the Wii. He's been spending a lot of time on the Wii lately, but this doesn't bother us as he was spending just as much time reading various books this time last year. He tends to become quite absorbed in whatever interests him, so we know that once his interest changes, so will his activities.
Andrea's birthday was great for her as well. She woke up early for no reason she could tell and promptly showered, gathered a daughter, and went bargain hunting at the Blue Hangar Goodwill (super discounted Goodwill). She found many prizes, including an Unabridged Dictionary published in 1979 (coincidence?), a nice pair of leather sandals (not real leather), and a Holistic Healing Guide. There was much more found and for all she only paid $16.
After Goodwill, she picked up the rest of the family and we went to see a house for lease in the area. It has 6bedrooms and 3bathrooms. It's a lot of space, we fear perhaps too much, but we love the fact that everyone can have their own room during these teenage years and there are many shelves and storage places everywhere. We've been trying to minimize the things we have, but we would still like space to place what we have. The house is available now and we're not sure they'll hold it for us until we return from vacation, but there's only one way to find out, which is to ask.
So, that's been our week. Sam and Andrea start a new workshop tomorrow, which we will be attending from 10am until 10pm. On Sunday, we're planning a birthday party for Andrea, something we haven't done in a long time, so it should be fun!
Sunday, October 28, 2007
Wow, where have we been?
Geeze, another month has passed and you haven't heard hide nor hair from us.
Well, Andrea has been working (as previously mentioned) and since she does most of the typing in the house, that makes for fewer posts. :)
We've done a few things in the last month. Andrea's best friend, Stephanie did indeed move out into her own, spacious 1 bedroom apartment. Her puppy, Koopa now gleefully runs throughout all the space that is hers. Our house seems a little empty with Steph gone, but we're dealing. We plan to put to use the bedroom that she vacated, that'll happen...sometime.
Andrea has been hating her job for the most part, though it got a little better last week when she talked to one of the higher-ups and found out that they hate the place as much as she does and are working to make it better. The only question that remains is, "Can they make it better before it sinks?"
The other thing about the job, even if it becomes the best place to work ever, Andrea will still be away from everyone else for 45 or more hours per week. That part sucks. Is there enough money to ever really make that worth it?
Everyone else is pretty much same, same. It's an adjustment for everyone to have Andrea gone so many hours and everyone's been dealing with that in their own way. Mostly, they've been spending a lot of time together, which is good.
Karma has a "boyfriend" now. I say "boyfriend" because she's 13 and he's 15, not a whole lot of "boyfriendly" stuff going on there. One really good thing about that though is that our family gets along really well with his family. We spent his birthday hanging out together, where he mostly talked to Sam and tried to not ignore Karma. He didn't do so well on the trying part. But that's okay, that's why he's her "boyfriend."
Let's see, over the past month, we've been to a Social Club dance, been to Alex's (Karma's boyfriend) birthday party, been to a tour of the Austin Museum of Art, and been to the first ever Austin Green City Festival. At the latter was where we spent the day with Alex's family.
Caedmon is starting structured homeschooling again. We're not sure he'll ever be able to really unschool. We're going to try to leave him with the ability to explore and find knowledge on his own, but because of his past, he may never be able to "break free of the system."
Aurora has asked for more structure in her unschooling. She's always kind of liked some structure but we also think this is because of what she's been through. Being jerked back and forth in custody is a little unstable and makes it difficult to be a structured person. We have confidence though, that she'll eventually be able to structure herself.
Karma is just as unstructured as ever, but that works for Karma. That is her structure. She actively seeks knowledge wherever she can find it and she's better for it. We're contemplating giving her some structure in some specific areas, or at least giving her some tools to accomplish certain kinds of learning, in Grammar, for example. :)
Sam and Karma have acquired Guild Wars Nightfall which Sam plays constantly (or pretty constantly) because that's what Sam does. On the bright side, Karma's Alex also has the game, so they stay up late online together some nights, playing in game with Sam.
Ah yes, Karma's birthday is coming up. We're working on sorting out what to do for her birthday. Mom has some ideas, but Karma is reading the screen, so we won't post them here. :)
All the kitties are mostly the same. One very positive thing to note is that Axl has started gaining weight and getting bigger, ever since we had him dewormed for tapeworms specifically. When he was treated before, he was too little for tapeworm dewormer, so it was never done. Also, on positive notes, Cyrano seems to be getting sick less. He still really needs to see the vet, but it's kinda like the car, we know the estimate for repair is going to be high, so we hesitate taking him/it in for a check-up.
That's about it for now.
To close, we'd like to give a shout-out to our BareNaked friends, who will be coming home to Austin next week. Hi guys! We miss you lots and are sorry we haven't taken the time to respond on MySpace. We can't wait to see you and think it would be great if we could throw you a coming home party...
Lots of love,
The Dharma Family6
Well, Andrea has been working (as previously mentioned) and since she does most of the typing in the house, that makes for fewer posts. :)
We've done a few things in the last month. Andrea's best friend, Stephanie did indeed move out into her own, spacious 1 bedroom apartment. Her puppy, Koopa now gleefully runs throughout all the space that is hers. Our house seems a little empty with Steph gone, but we're dealing. We plan to put to use the bedroom that she vacated, that'll happen...sometime.
Andrea has been hating her job for the most part, though it got a little better last week when she talked to one of the higher-ups and found out that they hate the place as much as she does and are working to make it better. The only question that remains is, "Can they make it better before it sinks?"
The other thing about the job, even if it becomes the best place to work ever, Andrea will still be away from everyone else for 45 or more hours per week. That part sucks. Is there enough money to ever really make that worth it?
Everyone else is pretty much same, same. It's an adjustment for everyone to have Andrea gone so many hours and everyone's been dealing with that in their own way. Mostly, they've been spending a lot of time together, which is good.
Karma has a "boyfriend" now. I say "boyfriend" because she's 13 and he's 15, not a whole lot of "boyfriendly" stuff going on there. One really good thing about that though is that our family gets along really well with his family. We spent his birthday hanging out together, where he mostly talked to Sam and tried to not ignore Karma. He didn't do so well on the trying part. But that's okay, that's why he's her "boyfriend."
Let's see, over the past month, we've been to a Social Club dance, been to Alex's (Karma's boyfriend) birthday party, been to a tour of the Austin Museum of Art, and been to the first ever Austin Green City Festival. At the latter was where we spent the day with Alex's family.
Caedmon is starting structured homeschooling again. We're not sure he'll ever be able to really unschool. We're going to try to leave him with the ability to explore and find knowledge on his own, but because of his past, he may never be able to "break free of the system."
Aurora has asked for more structure in her unschooling. She's always kind of liked some structure but we also think this is because of what she's been through. Being jerked back and forth in custody is a little unstable and makes it difficult to be a structured person. We have confidence though, that she'll eventually be able to structure herself.
Karma is just as unstructured as ever, but that works for Karma. That is her structure. She actively seeks knowledge wherever she can find it and she's better for it. We're contemplating giving her some structure in some specific areas, or at least giving her some tools to accomplish certain kinds of learning, in Grammar, for example. :)
Sam and Karma have acquired Guild Wars Nightfall which Sam plays constantly (or pretty constantly) because that's what Sam does. On the bright side, Karma's Alex also has the game, so they stay up late online together some nights, playing in game with Sam.
Ah yes, Karma's birthday is coming up. We're working on sorting out what to do for her birthday. Mom has some ideas, but Karma is reading the screen, so we won't post them here. :)
All the kitties are mostly the same. One very positive thing to note is that Axl has started gaining weight and getting bigger, ever since we had him dewormed for tapeworms specifically. When he was treated before, he was too little for tapeworm dewormer, so it was never done. Also, on positive notes, Cyrano seems to be getting sick less. He still really needs to see the vet, but it's kinda like the car, we know the estimate for repair is going to be high, so we hesitate taking him/it in for a check-up.
That's about it for now.
To close, we'd like to give a shout-out to our BareNaked friends, who will be coming home to Austin next week. Hi guys! We miss you lots and are sorry we haven't taken the time to respond on MySpace. We can't wait to see you and think it would be great if we could throw you a coming home party...
Lots of love,
The Dharma Family6
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