A Moment to Breathe

Life is slowing down a little bit.  For a couple of days.  We are all unpacked.  Every box.  Every pile.  There is nothing that does not have a home.  Well...except for one teeny tiny little end table.  THAT does not have a home.  Exactly.  It has a couple of possibilities.  It could go live in Ben's room.  It could live in the office.  Or it could go live at Goodwill as a precursor to going to live with someone else.  But THAT little table is our only wildcard item.  We've settled into a routine.  Which basically consists of NO routine.  Other than the fact that I try to stop in at the gym somewhere in the neighborhood of 9:30 each morning for a class of some sort.  It works most days.  Except for when it doesn't.  Like when an anticipated 30 minute orthodontist appointment ends up taking an hour and 10 minutes.  All bets are off then.  Because THEN one has missed her 9:30 step class and is forced to look to LATER classes.  Like...let's say noon.  And because I am determined and often times flexible...I embrace things like NOON.  I happened to notice on my gym schedule that at noon, there is a Zumba class.  I like Zumba.  I had never done a class....save for my Zumba video workout that I ordered and do all by myself.  At home.  I like it.  Mr. Beto is there.  Shimmying there with no shirt.  Making me think I have some secret Latin American groovy roots noone bothered to tell me about.  If you are sitting there thinking that YOU never had a doubt about my possible latin american roots, you can just keep that to yourself.  I'm well aware that SMITH is hardly a Latin American kind of last name.  Nor is Jones...which is my mother's maiden name.  Still...a girl can fantasize, right?  Whatever it takes to get the sweat on and DONE!  Anyway...looking at the calendar, I decided to seize the Zumba opportunity.  My neighbor in Texas LOVES Zumba and has tried for three years to get me to go to class with her.  I said "no thank you" every time.  It wasn't a time slot that really worked for me, you see.  I'm much more of a morning workout girl.  Anyway...morning was not an option and the timing DID work for me...so off I went.  I barely made the class, having to walk in JUST as it was starting.  Had I been more on time and had a chance to scope it out...I MIGHT have figured it out.  But I was pushing it to the wire, walking in seconds before class started.  The first thing I noticed...noone under 75 years old.  I DID at that point double check that the class WAS indeed Zumba.  And the instructor tells me "Yes...Zumba!".  And so...I was set.  I thought. We "danced" through several songs.  Though were was a decidedly conservative approach to them all.  Much more so than i would have expected.   And VERY different from my Zumba Dance Party home videos.  But I hung in there.  I've been doing classes long enough to know how to modify exercises to make them be more or less of what is right for me.  I was burning the calories, slowly, but surely.  Towards the end of class...the instructor starts playing Kenny Rogers' The Gambler.  And I think to myself..."THIS is not exactly what I would ever have considered Zumba music".  There was all manner of weird squats and even weirder hand motions to the song.  I was fairly certain at this point that Zumba was no longer actually IN the house.  We practiced standing on one foot and waving our arms around.  Then Elvis's "I Can't Help FAlling in Love With You" came on.  Yet another NON Zumba red flag. As if I didn't have enough red flags at this point, one of the older ladies (heck, who are we fooling?  They were ALL old ladies) came up to me and laughed and said that they never have anyone MY age there in class.  Hmmm.  Somehow, I am NOT surprised!!!  Anyway...after I very gently worked out (sort of) and balanced and practiced stretching my muscles, I was done with the "class" and had to go upstairs and hit the stairmaster to actually burn some calories.  In the end...it was a productive, albeit very LONG, workout!  And I learned an important lesson.  No Zumba for Tonya on Mondays.  Not for another 30 years or so at least!  

We head out for vacation on Saturday.  I have NOT started packing yet.  Mostly because packing is generally not a huge deal.  The trailer is fully stocked...so it's just clothes and food and a few extra things that have to be loaded.  I'll get it all done.  I still have three days before we pull out.  I am looking forward to the beach and seeing everyone.  But at the same time...I hate to leave Tucson!  I feel like I JUST got here!  And I KNOW it will still be here when I get back.  But still...part of me feels like it is ALREADY in Paradise.  I LOVE seeing the mountains each morning.  And I hate the idea of missing monsoon season.  I DO get the treat of seeing BOTH of my sisters AND my sweet littlest nephews...which is awesome.  And the rational part of me KNOWS that the desert and my mountains will still be here when I get back.  It's just harder to go than I thought that it would be.

Our time at the beach will NOT go to waste, however.  I always seem to think that that time away, while we are living in SUCH close quarters, is a great time to focus on the raising of little people.  I'm reading a GREAT book right now about the "entitlement syndrome" of today's children.  It talks about how we do SO much as parents FOR our children to make sure that they succeed, that we rarely let them fall.  As a result, they don't.  Until they aren't at home under our roofs anymore.  And then they dont understand why the world no longer revolves around them.  It is down to earth and chocked full of real life experiences and  helpful advice to help us better parent children so that they can be independent and HAPPY, high functioning adults.  There are several tips in the book that will be coming into play for the Roberts children.  Starting first thing tomorrow morning.  The book breaks down the challenges into months.  EAch month tackles some new area of responsibility.  Month one will be neatly made beds and clutter free and clean bedrooms and bathrooms.  There are rewards for success...reprimands for anything less.  And the beach is a GREAT practice field for this.  Hopefully it will work well so that by the time we get back home, the kids will have that mastered and be ready (and willing) to launch into phase two...which includes each of them cooking and cleaning up dinner one night a week....effectively taking my own dinner duties from 7 nights a week to 4 nights!  Yes!  Let's train up a child already!  I DO love me a kid project!!!

I think that's about all that's happening around here.  Life is quiet for these few days right before we leave.  It's quiet.  And lovely.  And downright wonderful.  I cannot thank God enough that we landed back here in the land that we love.  The blessings are too beautiful to describe.  I'm  grateful beyond words.  And so....on that note...I will turn in for the night.  Good night folks!  Dream sweet!

SUCCESS!!!

We came into this weekend with a goal.  I was thinking it was rather ambitious.  And not entirely realistic.  Chris was determined that by the end of this weekend we were going to get not one, not two...but ALL THREE vehicles into our garage.  There were a LOT of obstacles in our way.  A towering topple of boxes and junk.  All the things that had no place or weren't to be dealt with right then...were THERE.  Just waiting.  And obstructing.  And so...after a good night's sleep, we headed out into the heat of the garage and dug our way into the job.  And to my surprise, as a result of our hard work and sweat (Chris's more than mine...but definitely mine too!) we were able to stand back shortly after lunchtime today and behold THIS wonderful vision...

Yes!  All three vehicles tucked into a nice neat, CLEAN garage!!!  I'm SOOO totally proud of us!  And we still have one whole day of the weekend with which to RELAX and just CHILL!   We even had this evening to relax a little bit and take in the scenery.  You know...like this...

Monsoon season is just getting started.  There are starting to be a few fluffy little clouds about.  I LOVE that this was taken while standing in my back yard.  I love that it's what I see around me everywhere I look.  And I LOVE that we have a second chance at living here in the desert again.  I am ridiculously content and happy tonight.  My life is good.  No.  It's downright amazing!  The Roberts family is blessed, blessed, blessed!  And I am loving every minute of it!  Signed...Deliriously Happy here in the Desert!

As The Dust Settles

Seventeen days ago I moved into my new house.  My new house HERE in the desert.  My house that is NOT in Texas.  My smaller, more compact, less pretentious and perfectly practical house right here in AZ.  I'm deliriously happy.  I STILL feel like someone should pinch me to convince me that I am not dreaming.  Because honestly, every single time I walk by a window and catch a glimpse of the view outside, or get in the car to go anywhere I really feel like I'm dreaming and I do NOT want to wake up. I can't tell you how many times I've sent up prayers of heartfelt thanksgiving in the past 20 days.  Prayers of thankfulness, gratefulness, praise and total appreciation to God who worked it so that we could have another chance to live life here with our kids amidst the desert beauty.  It's a wonder I am able to concentrate enough to DRIVE anywhere as I am SO distracted by the awesome scenery everywhere around me.  It's all such a treat for my eyes.  I am so, so, so happy and content just to be back here.

And so...despite being TERRIBLY distracted by the beautiful desert landscape, settling in is coming along nicely!  All of the boxes, as of tonight, are officially unpacked!  We bought a big piece of furniture for our office and with it's arrival this evening, the last few boxes that were in the dining room could finally be unpacked.  The last big hurdle will be the garage and Chris is determined that by the end of the weekend, all three vehicles will be IN the garage and that area too, will be all neat and organized.  It's starting to feel like HOME!!!  There are still a couple of things to deal with.  We are having some rooms painted, for one.  The office is way too dark.  The wine colored walls really mess with my eyes in the late afternoon sun.  Clara's bathroom is entirely too orange, and by that I mean ORANGE orange.  And my laundry room is very plain...and so I am adding some color...as it's a room that I spend an unfortunately large amount of time in.  Once the painting is done and the pictures are hung in those final three rooms, I do believe it will be total home sweet home.  I'm loving the house.  Loving the space.  Loving the convenient location.  Again...pinch me already!  This MUST be a dream!  I'm delighted though as the dust settles to still find myself each day really and truly here in the desert.

The kids are all settling in nicely.  Clara attended a fantastic art camp this week and her pieces are just AMAZING!!!  She made a huge pot of flowers this time, along with a casting of her two hands on piano keys.  VERY awesome.  Our girl is very artistic and I love this latest set of projects she's brought home to us.  I will photograph and post pictures soon.

I guess that's about it.  We are all here, mostly settled, and all very happy here in the desert lands.  We are heading to the beach soon.  I almost hate to leave, since I feel like I just got here.  But the beach is so wonderful that I know I will be bubbling with excitement to get to experience all of that too!  

And so....as the dust settles, we are here...living, loving, and feeling abundantly blessed in our new life here in awesome Arizona.  God is SO good!!!!!!

Boxes of Blessings...it's TOO MUCH!!!

Well...we moved into the new house on Monday morning.  Everything went off without a hitch!  The movers spent the day bringing in box after box after box and oodles of furniture and my sister and I spent the next two days digging out of it all at warp speed.  And I will say this...It's an interesting process to unpack all of your worldly belongings.  It was interesting to pack them too...but your perception of those same things you love and adore as you pack them seems to change a bit as you unpack them.  I had a little over three weeks to pack up the house.  Packing is also different in the respect that you don't have to figure out where to put any of your things...just wrap them in paper and place them in boxes.  But unpacking brings a whole new thought process to the arena.  Yikes.  My brain was so tired at the end of the day on the first three days of unpacking.  SO tired of thinking about the placememt of each and every item.  Enter in the perception change.  Having to assign a place to all of these things has really made me look at these things differently.  I'm really questioning what things I actually NEED here.  Or even want!  I have lost a total of ten closets in this house.  Ten closets that I no longer have...that used to hold SO many of my precious goodies.  And I look at that wonder what in the heck I had in all those closets.  Well...I KNOW what I had in all those closets...I'm looking at it all around me and trying to assign a place for it.  But what I don't know is WHY I had all of those things in my closets!  And I realize that we have been SOOOOOOOO blessed in this life.  Goodness, have we ever been blessed!  And I realize it is simply too much.  We have SO much more than we need.  We have so much stuff that we don't even know what we have.  (Though, believe me...I am definitely exploring all of that right now and becoming more aware of it by the minute!)  We have so much that I don't think we are even able to really enjoy our blessings.  And at the end of the day, my blessings are feeling like burdens.  And I am intent on lightening the load.  I was delighted to find the Goodwill donation center that opened since we left.  Delighted to be able to drop off my first STUFFED car load.  And I DO mean STUFFED.  I am working on the next load right now!  But enough of my reflections on too much stuff!  How's the unpacking coming you'd want to know???

The unpacking is coming along nicely.  Every single box has been opened.  And with the exception of a very few small things...it's been put away.  It's not exactly feeling all neat and tidy, like home.  The study needs to be repainted.  And I have several pieces of extra furniture that need to be sold and a piece or two that need to be purchased.  I have no dining room furniture at this time.  Not a problem...since my dining room is currently full of leather sectional sofa that needs a new home.  It's also full of all the pictures waiting to be hung and full of boxes of books from the study in our old house.  That study had one full wall full of shelves and cabinets.  None of which I have in this house,  which is making for some interesting unpacking!  I expect to have the bulk of the problems solved this weekend.

And now...I'm going to hop off of here, finish my coffee while taking in the AWESOME view of my gorgeous mountains...and then I am going to unpack some more.  I am also going to the gym this morning.  Beach time is coming around here soon and I need to tweak some things!  Not that I haven't gotten PLENTY of work out these past few days.  Goodness KNOWS I have!  But I need to flex my muscles now to the beat of some good music and in an environment of NO BOXES!!!!  Until we meet again!  Yours truly....Overly Blessed in the Desert!

We're Baaack!!!!!

The Roberts family is officially back in the desert.  We arrived on Friday.  To stay!  We don't have to leave in one day.  Or two days.  Or even a week.  We have been blessed enough to be able to MOVE back here.  And LIVE.  Forever and always.  And I CANNOT wipe the smile off of my face!!!!  I feel like I need to be pinched.  Multiple times a day to be sure that I am not dreaming.  I am currently sitting out on the balcony of the golf villas where we have rented a little condo for these three days before our furniture arrives and I can scarcely take in the amazing view before me.  I feel like I need to keep looking at it and making sure it's still there.  Lest it disappear!!!  I LOVE the scenery here.  I love the nice cool mornings and the sounds of quail calling to each other in the air.  I love how vividly blue the sky is, and how brilliant the sun shines here (hot and all!).  I love the way the green of the trees is so bright against the backdrop of the mountains.  And I love that I can see the stars at night again.  After our time in Texas, this blessing is especially sweet!!!

So...where are we in this whole process?  Well...the house in Texas is closed.  I imagine the new owners are moving in and unpacking their boxes as I type this.  Happy for them!  I hope they love and enjoy the house and the neighbors and all that Texas has to offer.  We have closed on the house here and we have our keys.  Our moving truck arrives at 8 a.m.  tomorrow morning and then I will be knee deep in my own boxes!  Chris has had to go to a conference out of town.  So I will be handling the move tomorrow all by myself!  So my sweet sister is driving down from Scottsdale to help me out and get us set up.  I am grateful for the extra hand.  Juggling a moving truck, three kids and two dogs by myself has the potential to get a bit hairy!  An extra set of eyes and hands is MUCH appreciated!!!  The kids are all very excited.  They love the new house and are anxious to get in and stay there.  I love it too!!!  Mostly, I love that it is SO much smaller than our Texas house.  Never again will I ever live in 5000 sf of house.  Actually...I just wouldn't wish it on anyone!  Such a chore.  A total beast of a house.  SOOOO grateful for the smaller, more compact version of a home we are picking up here!

I joined the gym.  Took in my first class yesterday.  I'm so sore I can hardly move this morning.  Which just makes me smile!!!  So, of course...I'm heading back in there this morning for another round!  I have MISSED those classes SOOOO much!  I had forgotten how fun they were and I was sorry to see the class end when it did.  Though...judging from the soreness...it's probably a good thing that it did end when it did!

Today's To DO List includes working out, then grabbing a quick shower so I can grocery shop and stock the new house with food so we have what we need while we are settling in.  I want to get the bulk of our things out of the apartment here and into the new house so that we don't have too much to juggle in the morning as we are getting out of here early.  Then Donna is coming down to hang out and spend the night with us!  The kids are really looking forward to her arrival!  I imagine it's going to be a long day for them until she gets here!

And so...there you have it!  That's what's happening in our new life here in the desert!  Stay tuned.  I am certain that there are many MANY adventures to come!