One Month

Well, I just hit my one-month mark of living in Virginia. Life here is definitely different than it was in sunny AZ. Here are a few of the biggest differences:

1. I've had a hard time taking Jack for bike rides and walks, because we don't have sidewalks! You're either walking in someone's yard or you're on the road. It's a little tricky.
2. New store names: I get my groceries at Aldi and Bloom. I gas up at Wawa. (Thank heavens for Target, though!)
3. Milk costs about $4/gallon. A great sale price is right around $3.20.
4. Everybody places their trash bags out on the street and the garbage man hops out of the truck to pick them all up. No big black bin. No recycle, either.
5. The freeways are not at all like AZ freeways. The HOV lane is completely separated by concrete barriers with specific entry- and exit-points. The I-95 on-ramps are always on the right side of the road, regardless of whether you're going to head north or south. It's very confusing.

Some highlights from the last few weeks:

I took Jack to a Home Depot workshop for kids. They made these cute wooden planter boxes:

 I thought it would be fun if we actually put it to use, so we walked around the garden section and I let Jack pick out what we would plant. He chose an herb kit, so we went home and planted basil, oregano, and parsley seeds into these little pots. Even though it made a big mess, I let him pour the water, mix the soil, and press the seeds in place. I told him to set the the planter down by the window, but he just wouldn't leave it alone. I kept catching him sneaking it into different rooms and moving it around the house. Sure enough, only about 10 minutes after we finished planting the seeds, the planter got dropped upside-down on the carpet. Oops. We just shoveled the soil back into each of the pots and tried to distribute it evenly. So much for labeling each pot. We'll see if anything comes up!

You'll love this one too:

Here's Ty leaving for the Priesthood session of General Conference. He left his dress shoes in his dorm room, so he had to wear his hiking boots. We decided it was either that or my black high heels. Good choice, Ty.

And a "good morning" smile from bud.

Some of you have asked what I do all week. Good question! Sometimes I have the truck and sometimes I don't. We've been trying out letting Ty have it and that way, he can run home for a quick weeknight dinner and stay for a few hours after Jack is in bed before heading back to his dorm. So far, it's working out pretty nicely and we usually get one or two weeknights together. The days are a little long when we don't see Ty, but they're not too bad. We play at the park, walk to CVS to get the weekly specials, watch movies on the computer, exercise (I wish I had a video of Jack working out with me), and go to the library.

Jack has been really into Bob the Builder lately. He has decided that he is Lofty, I am Wendy, and Ty is Bob. He always addresses us by these names and never breaks character. A couple of nights ago, he woke me up around 2am saying "Wendy, I need to go to the bathroom!" On Monday mornings, Jack usually seems a little confused when he comes in my room and doesn't see Dad. One time he asked me, "Did Bob run away again?"