A Big Arrival

I am just about three posts behind, but I wanted to do this one first this morning. Pace's fear from "Shark Week" soon turned to sadness about Locks (Our dog, that we left in Dothan with Moogie since we weren't sure how a cross-country road trip would go with the little guy. His full name is Sherlock, but you may find him referred to as Locks--usually and La-La--occasionally.) We have all been missing our fifth family member. Talking about how each dog we bump into resembled him in some way, and throwing unleashed affection on any dog who would allow it. However, Pace was waking up in the night and crying about La-La and talking my ear off throughout the day about how badly she missed her friends--and most of all La-La.

While I cannot fly Natalie and Noah out here to live with us, I could fly Locks. So, on Friday afternoon, after MUCH behind-the-scenes work from Moogie and Sashey (Jeremiah's Mom and sister, who I am not sure I could possibly thank enough) and some paperwork/shots from my good 'ol veterinarian Dad, we received a very special delivery:

Locks was not his normal joyous self. I felt like he was looking at me saying, "You have NO IDEA what I have been through to get here. And where exactly is here anyway?"

But we understood. It just felt so good to see a familiar face from home and have our family whole again, that all the dog rules have been cast aside. Liiiiike, riding on the car seat:

Sleeping in the bed:

(This was the first night Pace slept through the night since we've been here. Locks!)

And watching Saturday morning cartoons on the couch--with Pace's blankey :)

Don't think the little girls were the only ones who were over-joyed...Here's a little preview pic from the rest of the weekend :)

Catch Up

In order to prevent killing each other in this teeny condo, the girls and I have been trying to knock out all that Seattle has to offer. The first Thursday of every month, Seattle offers free entrance to a lot of their museums. Since last Thursday was the big day, the girls and I went to MOHAI (Museum of History and Industry). There, they learned all about catching and canning salmon:

We saw the "glue pot" that is believed to have started the fire that burned nearly all of Seattle to the ground in 1889.

And Mr. Ibsen gave me a great idea of what I can do with all the girls' old Keds:

While the museum was interesting, if you are planning a trip to Seattle, I don't think I would put MOHAI at the TOP of your list for sites to see. What I would highly recommend, however, is a picnic at the Washington Arboretum, just outside of MOHAI.

While we ate, we were visited by some feathered friends.

And then we did the half mile (or so) walk through the water that is part of the Arboretum. Trees bowed to make an arched path,

And sites different from ones we are used to, delighted us all.




We saw why the Seahawks think they have a leg up on our tailgating. I still think half the fun is walking from one one tailgate to the another and sampling everybody's food. That would be hard to do by boat.

At the other end of the Arboretum, the girls took a lot of joy from feeding the ducks their left-over grapes. We did bite them in half...and I wasn't sure if grapes were really safe for ducks...but we didn't see any signs of choking.


On Friday, we met some blog friends at the zoo! Where I managed to find a new giraffe friend to replace my baby in Birmingham:


And some people friends! This is Andrea and Madeline:

Andrea is from Trussville, AL (just outside of Birmingham), went to Auburn, has been living in Denver for the past several years and just happened to be in Seattle this summer because of her husband's job. When she saw we were moving here, she kindly offered to be a little Southern comfort to us, and we were all very thankful.

It was probably the coldest and wettest day we had had in Seattle so far. So we didn't see a whole lot of animals, but we did have a lot of fun at the indoor play area. Mary Aplin and Madeline got to run off some energy:

And can you tell how much fun Pace had learning about the animals from this young zoo worker?

Pace planted herself in that seat and didn't get up for about 45 minutes, just soaked it all up! Mary Aplin stopped by to see what all the fuss was about...

...but quickly got distracted by the elephant behind her :) A little more along the lines of her idea of fun.

I think that Madeline was trying to figure out what kind of species we all were.

Thanks Andrea and Madeline! We had a lot of fun with y'all!

I didn't have my camera with me for the weekend, but we took the girls for a hike on Big Tree Loop at Tiger Mountain Saturday afternoon and then that night...JEREMIAH AND I WENT ON A DATE!! I have managed to make a Seattle friend (who I want to tell you more about later) and she offered a babysitter name so that Boots' dad didn't have to do it :) Thank you all for the kind babysitter suggestions from the last post. The one we used this weekend is about to get married, so I will definitely be taking you up on your ideas!

I wish so badly I hadn't forgotten my camera on date night. Jeremiah looked really handsome in a coat his Mom gave him for graduation. We went to Palace Kitchen, and if you come for a visit you must go, and if the blackberry cobbler and coconut cream pie are on the menu YOU NEED BOTH!

On Sunday, we went for a run at Greenlake, bought fresh produce/had lunch with our new friends at the Capitol Hill Farmer's Market, and then found our church home on Sunday. I really think we found it...more later! Hard to know how our Sunday night was so bad after such an awesome weekend...huh? I thought so.

You Know You Need a Babysitter When:

[I wrote a post earlier this morning, in response to yesteday's comments. It's below this one, just in case you might not notice.]

Last week, as our family was crowded in the hallway of our apartment building, waiting for Jeremiah to figure out which of our new 100 keys actually unlocked our door, I noticed a sign posted for a lost cat. Now, we have lost a dog or two (or three...) over here in the Maddox family. Each loss has been followed by a frantic sign campaign and search effort (one of those may or may not have involved a private investigator...another story for another time :)), so these types of signs always tug especially hard on our heart-strings. We know the hopelessness (insert hysteria) those poor owners are feeling, and we all took time to commit "Boots" and his cute little self to memory...just in case.

Later that night, as I lay dead asleep in bed, I was awakened by the unmistakable clatter of vinyl mini-blinds, followed by the throwing open of a window. "Jeremiah!" I hissed. "What in the world are you doing?!"

"Did you not hear that noise?" he asked.

"What noise? I was asleep!"

"I heard a cat make this horrible noise, like it's head was being ripped off. I was trying to see it. I think it might be Boots."

"You have GOT to be kidding me! Go back to sleep, that wasn't Boots! You're talking crazy..." I say, as Jeremiah begins stepping into his pants and feeling around on the floor for his shirt.

"You are not really about to go outside this apartment in the middle of the night, are you? You could be shot out there! I'm serious!" I cried, half laughing, as he ignored me and went out the door.

I dozed back off--thinking that those micro-chip devices that they insert into your pet in case they are lost, would be worth whatever they cost if it would prevent my husband from going insane over lost pets. This time, I'm awakened by the overhead light in our room being flipped to the "on" position. I squinch my eyes in the glare and look around...

There is Jeremiah, standing over me with a grin like the Cheshire Cat, holding...Boots. Hysterical laughter.

"I stand corrected!" I choked out between laughing tears. "I cannot believe you found Boots, but what are we going to do with him now? It's two in the morning!"

"I've already called the owners. They were really excited and are on their way over right now."

"Seriously?"

"Seriously."

So, Jeremiah got Boots back to his very excited parents. They turned out to be a young couple and the girl lived in our building (but was currently staying at the boyfriend's place a few blocks away). I didn't meet them myself, but Jeremiah said they were very nice people.

The next day we were all riding in the car when Jeremiah got a phone call from Boots' Dad. The phone was on speaker, and I heard him telling Jeremiah that they had offered a "Reward" for finding Boots, and he had forgotten to mention that in the middle-of-the-night confusion. Jeremiah explained how we were just so happy to have helped and, of course, didn't want any money. The guy kept on and was insistent that, if we didn't want money, there must be something they could do to thank us. That is when I heard my husband say this:

"Well...would you mind babysitting our kids sometime? I mean just for an hour or two so that my wife and I could grab dinner together?"

My mouth dropped open so far that my jaw popped. I looked at Jeremiah in silent, but utter disbelief. Had he really just asked a TOTAL STRANGER to babysit our kids? Boots' dad was almost as speechless as me. He stuttered some reply like, "I mean, sure. I guess I could babysit kids, why not?"

Jeremiah hung up, looked over at me, and smiled. "Did you really just do that? Really?!" I asked. Not mad, just nearly as flabbergasted as I'd been to see Boots in the flesh, in my bedroom. I guessed this was why God made women mothers and not men.

"Baby, he was insistent, and we do need a babysitter more than anything else..."

"I'll find us a sitter," I said as I grabbed his hand. "Please don't ask any more random strangers."

And God's People Say...!

Wow. Wow. I cannot even begin to express how grateful I am for all of you. It's hard to say you feel abandoned by God, when you re-wake up (sometimes I might sneak back in bed after I write these :)) to ten missed calls and a whole load of encouraging comments and emails! I hardly got anything done yesterday for reading over your Scripture references and sending everything along to Jeremiah's phone. To show love and true, heart-felt concern for (in a lot of cases) a total stranger, says a lot about all of you. We felt showered by blessings and prayers and were reminded (how many times does He have to show us?) that He is always near. Thank you.

Let me also clarify that we suffered no bodily harm in the night. I think that lack of sleep and stress really brings out the flair for the dramatic in my writing. Sorry about that. I got a lot of calls wondering if the authorities had been alerted--surely we'd been robbed at gun-point. No, it was just an all-night onslaught on our hearts and minds....And I think I'm being truthful when I say, I would have preferred a man who wanted to steal our worldly possessions. Besides this computer, he would have been pretty sadly disappointed anyway :)

You'll have to forgive me for not going into more detail on the blog. If you could drop in for a cup of coffee, I'd love to hash through our current heart hurts with you. However, it's hard to know who all sees this little blog, and I just can't be more explicit than I already have been. That's annoying as heck, isn't it. Sorry.

Now, I'm going to write one of those happy blogs, because guess what--I AM happy this morning!

I love y'all. I mean that.

A Downer after the Smiles

I have two different posts that I'd like to write this morning but can't write either one. They are happy, and we are not. We as in, Jeremiah, Pace and me. Fortunately, Dapples is still looking at us like we're all crazy--she's still happy. We had a great weekend, a truly great one. However, the enemy hit hard in the night, and this morning we're left feeling the effects.

Have you ever felt abandoned by God?

We are claiming what we know to be the truth...that He will never leave us or forsake us. Sometimes though, in the midst of trouble, He can seem elusive. Maddeningly intangible.

What do you do? No really, I am asking. We look back at all the ways He's been faithful in the past. Other times we've felt alone or scared or overwhelmed, and the ways He delivered us each time. We acknowledge the godly counsel of dear friends. Oh the well-spring of life encouragement from a fellow believer can be! But still, even that sometimes cannot tilt our heads up enough to breathe in the full breath of God we crave.

What do you do?

A Few Smiles

Apparently, I was not the first to run into this little problem...
(Sent to me yesterday by Caroline and Kendall, thanks sisters! Now if you could just find it for me in T-shirt form so that I can wear it next time I go to the grocery store.)

Desperate times...

(Rigged by Jeremiah when he walked into the non-air-conditioned house where I'd been cooking for the last hour.)

And....Pace's face when I asked her if she thought there were sharks in the water behind her.

My mother could never resist torturing us either ;) And don't worry, I did reassure her that there weren't any.

Not a Whole Lot to Say

I don't have a whole lot to say this morning, but I realized that I hadn't posted any pictures of our little one bedroom apartment.

From the outside.

The couch/futon where the girls sleep. Notice the fans? We don't have air conditioning, so I begin each day with throwing every window open and end each day closing them (stifling us) and locking them tight (but keeping us safe).

The study/dining room.

The kitchen, where only two of the oven eyes work, and I've had to use some major creativity to cook our meals with the appliances/utensils I have.

I didn't take a picture of the bedroom or bathroom, but I will say that this is the first time since college that I've been able to vacuum my entire living space without having to replug the vacuum once. Whole house in one fell swoop.

I am really liking Seattle. I like the weather (It hasn't rained once, and I've decided the grey mornings are much too English for me not to like them :)). I like the endless possibilities of restaurants and museums and parks just waiting for discovery. I love the water and the mountains. I love that there are endless hiking trails just outside the city...now if I could just figure out how we're supposed to hike them with Pace and Mary Aplin? :)

I don't like the "big city" feeling. Meaning, I don't ever feel like I move or think fast enough for the people bustling around me. I don't like that I have only seen Jeremiah (awake) for about an hour and a half since he started work on Monday. After all that together time, the separation has been especially hard.

I don't like that Pace saw a clip from Shark Week (on the Discovery Channel), and it has pushed her over the "I'm having a hard time dealing with all these adjustments" edge. She was being brought to tears over little things before the Shark Week experience, but now the tears have become meltdowns and her fear of being left alone (especially at night when we are all trying to sleep) has become--manic. Last night, I found myself losing patience (not for the first time), when it hit me that it wasn't really the sharks at all. They are just a good excuse. She's acting precisely as I did for the three months BEFORE we left Birmingham...Do y'all remember me crying over the baby giraffes at the zoo and saying goodbye to my OBGYN's nurse?! Pace is not the only one losing it over the little things :), she's just come around to the mourning a little later than her mother. Yesterday, when I was chiding her over the "stomach ache" she urgently developed when I tried to put her down for a nap, she stated, through choked tears, "I'm just having some hard times right now, Ok?!" Where do you think she heard that?...probably shouldn't have laughed at her drama.

As far as sticking out like a sore thumb goes...we still are. Thanks for all the sweet encouragement from the "Sundress" post! I think I've pin-pointed the insecurity, and it's helped me to cope. I asked myself, "Why does it bother you so much for people to know you are Southern? Why would you stop trying to say "y'all" and try so hard to blend in? You are proud to be from the South...right?"

What I found was this: I am proud to be from the South. However, I feel like there's a stereotype that comes with a Southern accent. A stereotype that was only heightened by my sundresses. I was worried they thought I was stupid--ditsy. Floating around in my little sundress confused about the world at large, how it worked, and probably just dumb in general. That was the insecurity with the random people at the grocery store and other chance encounters. On a deeper level, what I've found as I've tried to make a real friend or two, is not so much that they think I'm dumb, but...uncultured. At least that's my unjustified fear. I assume people think that, since I'm from the South (or maybe a small-town in general) that I don't know anything about art or music...or have good taste on the whole.

Recognizing the source of my discomfort, has diminished it greatly. If they do think I'm stupid because I talk slow and squinch my words together, it's them who's wrong. Who cares? If they think I'm ditsy because I wear sundresses, so what?! If they think I'm uncultured and have bad taste...they may be exactly right! That's part of why I'm here, right? To expand my horizons. Experience something new! Remain me, while being open to growth, change. I know my Dad's scared right now ;) Don't worry, I promise to continue bathing regularly and remain un-tattooed and un-pierced. Off to start the day and say y'all with reckless abandon!