Riley Graduates!

Today, Riley worked on his floats in full winter clothes--thermal shirt and heavy sweater, jeans, shoes, and socks. CRAZY! He did awesome. After tomorrow, he's finished for the season....and ready for summer! We'll either go back at the end of summer for a refresher or wait til next spring.

Have I mentioned how worth the money and time these lessons are? ISR is invaluable!

As promised, a video clip from Riley's ongoing Infant Swimming Resource lessons. This is about 2 minutes of his 10-minute lesson last week. It's horrible lighting. (I should have been on the other side.) It gives a better idea at least of how he's doing.

This clip is his instructor taking him through some different exercises of how he could fall in the water, different angles, etc. Marcy has been working on stopping him from kicking so much during his back floats as you'll see him do lots here.

If you watch through the end you can see her burping him a little and then he puts his hand on his hand and says "Daddy ate it." At least he keeps his sense of humor during his lessons. Such a silly one.

He's progressed a lot even from here. This week we've been practicing floats with him fully clothed. Today we did summer clothes and shoes and tomorrow we're doing full winter gear. Better videos to come!

Eye of the beholder

Word on our oh-so-exciting second showing? They're thinking about it. Gag. That's what my mom used to say before the answer inevitably was 'no.' Don't get my wrong, I continue my efforts at optimism, just not very successfully.

One of the most humorous things about this joy ride of home-selling is reading the realtors comments post-showing. Yes, we get to read feedback. And sometimes, I wish I hadn't heard a thing.

Curious about what could turn-off our potential buyers? I present,

Things people hate about our house:

1. LOCATION

This is probably the most often heard dislike and this one, I actually understand. We are out of Oklahoma County, though still technically in Edmond (and in Edmond schools), but some people can't deal with the distance. Our biggest obstacle. I have little doubt that this is what has kept our house on the market for 4 months.

2. A SUPER-LONG HALLWAY

Believe or not, this extremely, offensively long hallway is our second most-heard complaint about our house. Are people lazy? Do they appreciate more compact houses? Who can say...but this hallway is turning buyers off. Who knew.

3. TOO CLOSE OIL WELL

Okay, I also understand this one. Although I don't see it as a huge deal. We have an oil well across the street. It's very well-contained, but I guess considered an eye-sore. Fine. I don't even think about it, but I guess buyers are hyper-sensitive to it. I actually like it when it runs sometimes at night. Kind of soothing. But whatev. People dislike it. (Wonder how the peeps across the street feel with it in their backyard....good luck selling your house someday!)


Those are the biggest complaints we hear, but I had to throw in these too. A couple crack me up, alot.

HUGE BACKYARD: (One man's positive is another man's negative. A lazy man.)


TOO MANY KIDS PLAYING IN THE STREETS: (these aren't actual kids from my neighborhood, I have to say. And this one might be my favorite complaint. Perhaps, because I kind of agree. Even though it's hateful.)


DINING ROOM OFF OF ENTRY:


A TEENY-TINY MASTER CLOSET (please note my dripping sarcasm. This picture represents less than HALF of our apparently shoebox-size closet. Yep, tiny.)



All of this to say, these complaints--some valid to me, some trivial--prove one thing. We really are in a buyers' market and people have time and inventory to be picky. Our second showing peeps didn't like the big backyard and oil well. So, we just have to hope that everything else they did like overrule those things. And I didn't mention all the positive things we hear--and there are lots of those too.

Either way, someday soon, it will stick for someone. The odds tell us it's true! But in the meantime, it really is entertaining to hear the complaints.

Whew. Just when I thought I might actually be consistent with blogging, it's suddenly 16 days later! Where does the time go?

Actually, I can tell you. All it takes is a little idle time for things to really take off. I was working on a cool tourism project I got as a follow up to the Chick Trips itineraries that I wrote and edited for the department last fall. So, I'm on deadline for the first two trips in the new series when I got an unexpected offer for a very cool assignment with Oklahoma Today.

That deadline took me on a great overnight trip to Tulsa where Kevin and I pounded the pavement for a good 24+ hours and saw more than I thought was possible in such a short time. We were in-and-out of restaurants, shops, and attractions all day long until we basically could go no more. We saw places like this:

And here's a shot with an actual person! Kevin drinking a pint of Guiness at McNellie's (the original!)

All of that to say, all of last week, and most of this week was all-Tulsa for me. Researching, phone calls, writing. It was a much bigger project than I thought! I finally finished up yesterday. Wondering what you should see and do in Tulsa? Stay tuned for my article coming out in Oklahoma Today's awesome July/August issue. It will be great.

Throughout this crazy week we've had three showings. One a day on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday....hooray! And even better news? Got the info today that one of those showings will be making a repeat visit this Sunday. Our first repeat! YAY! This is great news and basically means this is our visit to blow. They already like the house. We just have to seal the deal. Please stick, please. stick.

We had a very simple and great Mother's Day on Sunday (which is when the pictures above were taken). Riley is awesome. I have lots to report on his swimming lessons....which are going, well, swimmingly! He's close to being able to save his own life. And my Mother's Day gift? Boot camp! Also more on that coming up. See, I really am planning on blogging more. Really am planning...

The eyes of a child.

Riley had a little self-portrait session the other night. He had a great time with the flash. I love the last one--crazy extreme eye close-up. Spooky. 

Water baby.

Wondering what's up with the precious little man who shares our house? 

This week Riley begins his second week of ISR lessons. This picture above is Riley and me on the first day of lessons last week--before he knew just what he was getting into! If you aren't familiar, ISR=Infant Swimming Resource. These are hard core swimming lessons designed to teach young babies and children how to save themselves--or rather, buy some time--in the event they fall into a pool or other body of water. 

It's pretty crazy, and really hard work for him. He goes 10 minutes a day, 5 days a week. Supposedly, this reinforces what they learn and helps them from fatiguing. Obviously, it's a technique you hope your baby never actually has to use, but we thought it was worth it for him to learn...just in case.

We've been wanting to enroll Riley for awhile now, but the nearest instructor was over 30 minutes away, and since we go 5 days a week, the distance was kind of a big deal. Now, we have a great instructor who teaches only 10 minutes away. Hooray! Honestly, he's not loving his time in the water. But he's happy before and after and still loves baths, so we're confident we aren't giving him some kind of crazy aversion to water. 

Here's a cool video of an infant who has learned the technique. Pretty powerful stuff! Want to learn more about ISR? Check out their website: www.infantswim.com

Okay, I officially suck at blogging. Dare I say life is getting in the way of my fun? The short update is that there is no update. The house is showing pretty well, but still nothing in the way of offers or solid leads. Boo. We are SO over house selling. So over it that we need a new word for 'over.' BUT, we are staying optimistic and keep telling each other that something has to happen soon. MUST. HAPPEN. SOON.

So, let's see. Other than our slow-selling abode... Kevin is actively working to get the lease in place for Taste, part deux. We have a very cool location picked out that should be about 8 billion times better than the previous. Once we get past the hump of construction and rebuilding clientele, this will be nothing but positive. Many updates to come as the actual construction starts to unfold, but as of now, more waiting. Does someone think we need to learn patience or what?!

The timing is great in one regard... Kevin being home has allowed me to take on a couple of writing projects. So, while Kevin has lots of down time, I have much to accomplish. Things are busy in my little freelance world. A well-timed occurrence to be sure! We are heading to Tulsa later this week for a quick overnight to do background research on a big writing assignment and I'm also doing an awesome project for the Department of Tourism. 

Things are cookin'! For the low-down on Ri-guy, check out the next post. He's learning to swim...or at least to float. 

Hurry up and wait.

So, house-selling for us goes a little something like this....

1. Get the call that a showing is scheduled. (or in the case of this week, three are scheduled)

2. Freak out and get happy.

3. Start scrubbing the house. I take this part very seriously. I have to feel like I've done everything in my power to sell our house so I clean. And clean. And clean.

4. Collapse into bed with aching back and mostly clean house.

5. Wake up and finish cleaning.

6. Kick Riley and Kevin out of the house so I can clean alone. 

7. Join aforementioned husband and child so we can go run errands, eat, or do whatever else sounds interesting for the half-hour or so we have to leave. 

8. Return to house and enjoy the pristine state for 30 seconds until Riley unleashes his 17-month-old energy on all he touches. 

9. Wait. 

We are in a state of 'wait.' It's this full-on freakout to try and impress the total strangers coming to visit and then... Will a second showing come? An offer? Nothing? Sometimes, the realtors will leave feedback and then you get to discover some insight that is encouraging, some that is discouraging, and some that is just plain stupid, like 'I loved everything about the house. It was perfect. Except. Well... we really hated the placement of your toilet paper holders.'

Okay, so no one has actually said that. But it's practically that ridiculous sometimes. 

Here's hoping that something magical happened for a buyer or two in the last day or so. But in the meantime, we wait. And we clean....just in case.

Sell me.

After tomorrow's two morning showings, we'll be at three showings for the week....after no showings for three weeks. Told you the tide was changing. 

Send offer vibes...  I will sell this house today!

A real update, coming soon. Promise. First, I have to clean. :-)

They are a-changin'

I'm officially declaring this our climb back up. The past 4 or 5 months have been hard, hard, hard. I keep trying to pinpoint where the decline began and I have to say it was probably somewhere around that ill-timed refrigerator replacement before Christmas. I can distinctly remember thinking that things were going pretty good before that and it seems like most of my posts were happier back then.

Since then, it has been one. thing. after. another. It is completely true when I say not one part of our life has been untouched. Family, friendship, business, home, disasters of the natural kind, disasters of the personal kind. It's all been affected. And it has all been hard to go through. But, we've survived and are still here.

So, why am I writing this? Because as of today, our business -- the one that we spent months of energy, sweat, and everything else you can imagine creating and trying to build -- is closed. Kevin spent the last three days loading up the contents and dragging them to storage. I spent today helping him pack up the office, load up the plants, sweep the floors, wipe down countertops and say goodbye. 

Now, before you feel sorry for us -- Don't. Please. We closed a chapter. And luckily for us, we get a take two. This week, we begin rebuilding the business in what we hope will be a much better and more successful place. Closer to home, better populated, and hopefully a better fit for us. I don't expect our climb back to be easy, but I do think it's beginning. I think one of the bravest things that my husband could do was to admit that we couldn't make that business work there. No matter how hard he tried, the elements did not add up. We had lines to the door, but only for an hour a day. Just not enough people--no matter how good the food. He calls the last however many months a failure. I call it a stepping stone.

Anyway, this week marks the end of the crap if it kills me. I think we've all basically been stressed 24-7. There's been a dark cloud over our lives and we've been letting it get to us--bad. We've both felt pressure to stay optimistic, which can really be enough to make you crazy. And then, you start to think. I mean really, all you have to do is survive this mess, right? And even if it sucked, we did survive.

Rather than make this blog all roses and butterflies, I decided to kind of use it as an outlet for what we've been experiencing--without lots of specific details because we've really been dealing with alot of really personal stuff. But, because of the over-share, we've really gotten a ton of support from friends and family, with comments, emails, and phone calls. I'm not sure that we would have made it through this crazy time without the encouragement that this too shall pass. I know everyone is sick of the sad show we're presenting (we are too), but you never made us feel like asses for offering up bad news time and time again. And you kept taking our phone calls, which is encouraging in itself.

So, yeah. I think it's passed--or passing. I'm very, very confident it has passed. There's just a different feeling in the air and I genuinely feel optimistic. Not forced optimism. Not that we don't still have challenges ahead, but that the worst is over. The comeback is just ahead. And I can't freaking wait. 

Here's to April and all that comes after. I can't wait to see what's waiting in Chapter Two.

Protected.

Remember about a month-and-a-half ago when I wrote THIS -- my second in a continuing series post on our run-ins with Mother Nature, aka the latest Edmond tornado? In said weather-themed post I made mention of my need for an anti-tornado shirt. Apparently the gods heard my cries! Okay, so the gods are disguised as my awesome east-coast sister-in-law Juli, if you must know. And THIS fantastic one-of-a-kind creation graced my mailbox today. 

Words cannot describe. I love its humor, its comfort, and --most of all-- its giver. I know it will give me strength through the coming spring months. I mean, really. "Seek Shelter Immediately" across my butt? It doesn't get better than this.  Thank you, Jules. I'll keep you advised. 

Dose of happy.

Taking a break from our continual gloom-and-doom to bring some pictures of our growing little boy. Oh, how thankful we are for his bright and happy personality. He is just the best! 

This is from earlier today. He looked so grown up in his overalls (sniff, sniff):

Real men take business calls in their PJs:

Frog towel, post-bath:

Took advantage of the cold day in March a couple of weeks back to get one last go at the sweater he never got to wear during the winter: 

Last but not least, Kevin went in to check on him in his crib tonight and discovered this. Apparently there was some kind of frog battle before bedtime and Riley obviously won. Then, he used them as pillows:

Let it show.

Nothing like a big huge hole in the wall to bring on the showings. I love the poetic timing of life. Since our charming water incident on Sunday afternoon/evening (which Kevin repaired like a champ, by the way), we've had two showings. One on Tuesday and one Thursday. We're thinking of lowering the price a tad to drum up some more action.

Also in the process of deciding on a roofer. I'm good with a few estimates and rolling with it. Kevin feels like we should talk to every roofer in a 50-mile radius. Slight exaggeration. Slight. We are picking soon. If not, I may take the insurance check out on a shopping spree. And it would be a good one, let me just say. 

So maybe two showings in a week is a good sign of things to come. Bring on the offers...or just one perfectly worded offer for full asking. I'm not greedy. I don't need two. 

Suck it, Murphy.

The well-known "everything-blows" law is distributing havoc in our direction, once again. Just when you think we've been through it all, we experience this:

Now, just so we're all on the same page here. What you are resting your sweet little eyes upon is none other than a big, fat hole --in our master bedroom wall. No lie. Oh yeah, and that bubbly, uneven look the paint has? That comes from water. W-A-T-E-R. 

Here's the gist: We were enjoying the gorgeous Sunday weather in the backyard, Kevin goes to freshen up the dogs' water and the hose will not work. Weird. We look for a kink...nothing. He reconnects it. Nothing. Riley is playing the water that does manage to come out at the faucet.It's on full-blast, you know. Whatever. 

Few minutes later, I decide to go grab some scissors to clip tags off of plants (random, I know, but a key decision as it turns out). I'm opening the back door to head out and I hear water. I think bathtub and that Riley managed to turn on the water without me knowing. Egads! 

I head to the noise, open our bedroom door and what do I see? Um, water, gushing out of the wall. Gushing like we installed a faucet right there next to my nightstand. After cleaning up the mess, Kevin cuts a square of the drywall around the gushing water hole and finds the copper pipe with a nice jagged gash in it. Yeah, because I mean, really. Why wouldn't it, right?

It has little to effect to say it but, SIGH. Make it stop, already! I hate to dwell on the negative by posting yet another "FML" post, but I'm afraid if I don't document this insanity I'll never believe any of it happened. Pretty sure when things take an upward turn, I'll be blocking all of this crazy nonsense out, permanently. 

If it's nothing more than pictures of Riley, so help me, there will be a happy post. And soon. Count on it. 

Sad.

Thanks to everyone who has e-mailed or commented with well-wishes and thoughts for our family. We love and appreciate you so much. It is with a heavy heart that I convey that Kevin and Juli's Granny and Jacque's mother passed away in the early hours of Thursday, March 5. She died the same manner she lived her life, with grace and dignity. And I don't mean that in any kind of generic way at all. She was lady. She had style, she had class, and she had qualities that most women today could only dream of. If you ever had the lucky chance to meet her, you know exactly what I'm talking about.

We will be headed to Houston for a memorial service this weekend before returning to Oklahoma City for her funeral next week. Please keep Granny's husband Lloyd, and the Millers in your thoughts and prayers as we journey through this together.

Our love to all.

Non Voyage

As many of you know, this weekend was to be the beginning of our much-anticipated vacation to Miami and the Bahamas with two of our favorite friends, Natasha & Keith. Unfortunately, that journey will be a road less-traveled by the Millers. More to the point, we've had to cancel. 

Instead, I'm sad to pass along that Kevin and Juli's amazing grandmother (Granny) is in the ICU in Houston and is facing some difficult health challenges right now. Kevin left today to join his mom who arrived in Texas earlier this week. Juli and her family flew in this afternoon. I'm still here with Riley while we recover from a very nasty week of being sick and then we'll decide what to do from there. We're not sure it would be a great idea to take Riley down to a hospital setting where he wouldn't be allowed to do much of anything. Hard on him, hard on us. However, I'm aching to be with Kevin. So, I may be flying down at some point soon, leaving Riley in capable hands. 

Kevin and Juli are so close to their Granny and she is one of the most caring, genuine, and sincere women I've ever met. A true lady in a world where there are few. For her to be sick and hurting is devastating.

Please send your prayers, good thoughts, and blessings to Granny (her name is Jo), the entire Miller family and to Granny's husband Lloyd while we journey together towards a rapid recovery.

Much love to all. 

Twisted.

The actual tornado that was way too close.

This shot is from I-35 and Waterloo looking back in our direction.

It was less than a year ago that I was telling the story of crawling into the under-the-stairs closet with Riley during a tornado warning and here I am telling the same story once again. 

We were expecting rain, but an F-3 tornado less than a mile from our house? Not so much. Riley and I had been in the backyard playing when I could tell the rain was coming. Thinking nothing of it, we headed inside, turned on some toons and were hanging out like any other day. I called Kevin and learned that there were some storms in the area so I switched over the TV. Um, yeah. Storms quickly became tornado, which quickly became headed straight for us. 

The always reliable satellite went kaput right about the time things started getting bad and the hail was flying. Kevin was trying to talk me through the radar reports as I am freaking out. He tells me it's a tornado warning and I should probably take cover. So, I grab Riley, head to the stupid closet, and within a couple of minutes, we lose power. Poor Riley didn't freak at all. In fact, he was freakishly silent during the whole ordeal of being in a pitch-black closet while his mother is losing her mind on the phone.

The short story is that it missed us--again. This time, however, it was even closer than our last close call. It was less than a mile. Less. than. a. mile. And for real. Kevin started racing home after the storm passed and it took him forever because so many roads were closed off. He actually had to show his ID with our address on it to make it past the last of the closures. Our electricity was off for about 6.5 hours so we finally headed out for food and light and saw some of the damage. It is NUTS how close this sucker was. I'm going to make myself a shirt that says says "I hate tornadoes."

We are the lucky ones and I'm thankful we are safe and sound. Seriously, lived in Oklahoma 30 years and have not had the tornado action I've had in this ONE house in the LAST YEAR. Get me out of here! 

The storm from I-35 & Waterloo. *Note the flying debris.

Here's some destruction, about a mile from our house:

One of our shots from down the street where an aluminum 

building made a nice dinner for Mr. Twister. 

(Hard to see via iPhone in the super dark. 

Lights are from a news crew van.)

The gas station down the street proved command central for the news crews. 

We pulled in for gas, but the pumps were off. Later learned that the tornado actually 

hit here and everyone got into the coolers for shelter. 

The cure for no power and surviving a tornado scare? Steak 'n' Shake. 

Not even exciting by comparison. Pics of a small pile of hail and our backyard swamp. 

This is what's called being lucky, which we are.