What a perfect two-day adventure that was! And really, who would have thought that horseback riding was more dangerous than whitewater rafting, but it turned out to be true in our case. We did a pretty awesome section of river, class II up through class V rapids, and we survived! And I'm still breathing! I had a couple of rough spells, but honestly they were going up and down hills/stairs before and after the river, not really on the river itself. Some of the most beautiful country I've had the great fortune to see! We swam under the bridge at New River Gorge in WV, absolutely stunning. I'd been there before, to the visitor's center at the top, but it is a completely different view from the bottom looking up! I can't even describe it with words, but it was beautiful and breathtaking (ha ha) and I'm really glad I got the chance to experience that. With my teenager, no less! Who was happy to be spending a few days with his mama!

Right now I'm trying to figure out how to upload the video to youtube, but I'm not having much luck. I should have just left it with teenager, I'm sure he'd have had it uploaded and sent to all his friends on myspace by now.

At any rate, last night we rested and this morning we got up and headed out for a nice, relaxing horsey ride around the mountain. Figured I could recover from yesterday's adventure and all that before we drove home, right? Oh that was a good one! Now I've been horseback riding plenty of times before. As a teenager I dated several guys who owned horses, and that was a "date" many, many evenings and Saturdays. And I've been several times through the years since adulthood, and had a few friends here and there that had horses. I've never owned one, but I'm comfortable enough on a horse. Teenager has been a handful of times, but usually on a trail ride at a commercial place which is usually pretty mild and doesn't normally require much from the rider.

Oh man oh man, what a ride we had today! We were a group of 8 - Me and teenager, a mom and dad and their four kids who were probably between 9 and 15. They were self-admitted "city folk" who had never been on horseback before. I was second in line behind one younger child, and teenager behind me and the rest of the other family behind him. Well, the horse in front of me decides to grab a snack in the form of a branch from a low hanging tree over the trail, which, as it turns out, held a beehive.



Her horse went NUTS (duh it's getting stung everywhere) which caused a chain reaction! My horse was up on his hind legs FREAKING OUT, teenager's horse was doing much of the same. Behind us we hear screaming, nothing but screaming! The guide jumps down and settles the horse in front of me and ties it to a tree, and by this time teenager and I kind of have our horses under control so he goes running down the trail behind us and WHOA here comes a horse with NO PERSON on it!

Meanwhile the youngest child of the other family comes around the curve and she is screaming, "MY MOOOOOOOM MY MOOOOOOOM!" which is freaking her horse out which is now getting close to teenager's horse again so we start talking to her to calm her down until the guide gets back. Her mom was okay, just cut up from being deposited in a briar patch!

Well, needless to say I've never had anything like that happen all the times I'd been horseback riding before! I thought it was going to be a nice, peaceful day, OH NO! The kids and their horses were spooked after that, and jumpy the rest of the day. The guide too, for that matter. I have to give credit to that guy though, he was joking and rambling along having a good ole time, and things started going really wrong in a big hurry. It could have ended very badly, and I'm glad he was on his toes and knew what to do. Guess that's why he has that job, eh?

Anyway, that was our adventure. Just long enough and I'm glad to be home. I am so sore and beat up, but I survived and I'm breathing pretty good for today. I'll take it!

The boys finally called from Greece, and although they were exhausted it sounded like they were having a great time with my ILs. Today I'm leaving for a two-day adventure with my teenager, I hope we survive! We're going white water rafting ( ) and horseback riding, and we're leaving in an hour or so. We have to do the mild section of river thanks to my breathing condtion, but I'm glad I'm able to go at all. It's something I've always wanted to do and really having been so sick lately I thought I would never be able to swing it. So, I'm thankful to be breathing well enough to feel up to a mild white water experience, even if I would have preferred the class IV rapids. I'll settle for class I and the experience. And it will be nice for teenager and I to have some time to ourselves.

Had lunch with my mom yesterday and kept pointing out my desire to focus on the positives. Almost got into it several times when she kept feeling the need to point out the negatives, but really I just got tired of the negativity and told her it wasn't open for discussion. She has said that my teenager would rather "turn himself in and go to juvey" than move to the new house, to which I had to reply "Let him then." I'm not going to not move because she doesn't like it, or he doesn't like it, it really is not their decision to make. She gets to decide where she lives, and I get to decide where I live (as it turns out). And if teenager decides he'd rather be in JAIL than our new home, well, that will have to be up to him. Jeesh, I just can't understand why people who supposedly LOVE me wouldn't want me to be healthy and happy. Is that so freaking hard?

At any rate, hopefully teenager and I will have a chance to talk during our trip and maybe work something out. He's only got another year + at home anyway, surely he can tough it out for that long. Maybe not, that does feel like forever in teenage time, but I think if we are both reasonable we can work something out.

Wish me luck on the river, and I'll see you all Friday-ish!

Hubby had predicted that they would arrive and call me from Greece at approximately 9:00 a.m. this morning. It's 10:30, and I'm driving myself nuts with worry because he hasn't called yet. Of course I know that the odds of him actually arriving right on time, getting his luggage, and getting to my IL's house are probably slim to none, but I'm anxious and awaiting that phone call all the same.

I'm supposed to go to lunch with my mom, but I'm not leaving the house until I hear from hubby and know everyone made it okay. This afternoon I'll start the intensive house work. I am getting rid of so much junk, and it feels so very freeing. My mom thinks I'm nuts, that the new house is too small and we're going to kill each other there for not having our own space to retreat to. I, however, am looking forward to less space to clean and less stairs to navigate. I don't think she realizes how physically taxing this house is on me in my current condition. Or perhaps she's just the type who has to point out the negatives in a situation. Not because she really wants me to be unhappy, but more because she wants me to see ALL the aspects of a situation and she thinks I tend to accentuate the positives.

It's true, I do. I know some people (mom) might not like a teeny tiny house, but we've lived in small apartments in Chicago and did just fine. I don't think I have her hang-ups on material stuff. She is raising my nephews and niece, and at Christmas, for example, you won't be able to walk through her house for all the toys and junk. She works solely so that she can buy "stuff" for the kids. I am really not so "stuff" focused, and neither are my kids. I really don't think they feel deprived for not having four different gaming systems, a pool table, foosball table, and two separate rooms just for their toys. They've never had that, and as such they really won't miss it! We have four bedrooms here, but not counting my teenager we only use two of them. Teenager will have the "basement" space in our new place, which leaves two bedrooms for the rest of us to use, which is much the same as we have here. We will probably have to rent a storage unit, as the extra bedroom here serves that purpose.

I guess this is mainly a vent for my mom who cannot see the positives sometimes and feels the need to point out the negatives in everything and drives me NUTS. And it's helpful for me to blow off steam and take my mind off the fact that my boys haven't called yet. That is what is really driving me crazy.

Hurry up boys!

I miss my little guys already! I hope the next few days get easier! And I hope they are enjoying thier vacation from me moreso than I am from them. I dropped them off at the airport a mere four hours ago, and it feels like weeks already. I am not a happy mama with no one to mother. Hubby called from Detroit, where they have their long layover, and said the boys both did great on the short flight there and they were having a blast in the airport. I was still driving him, having had a detour at the zoo and all, and almost crashed for not being able to see the road through the tears.

I had to leave the zoo for the tears as well, people were looking at me funny. Not that I blame them, a woman walking around alone and crying every time she sees a child (which at the zoo, incidentally, is like every 30 seconds).

So I made it home, and walked through the front door and lost it again because the baby's little pee rag is still here in the middle of the floor. and at the same time! See, the past three or four days, he's decided that he doesn't want to wear diapers anymore. Who am I to argue with that, right? So I've been having him pee on a folded up cloth diaper on the floor (because it keeps me from having to run up and down stairs every time he needs to pee) and that has worked really well! He hasn't peed in his diaper in like three days. Poops are another story, but we'll get there. Anyway, the trip is bad timing as far as the potty learning goes, but what can I do? I sent some "pee rags" to Greece with him, and hopefully my MIL will continue the tradition and not think I'm too weird for rag training my baby. Pampers give him horrible rashes, and cloth is sometimes a lot of work so I'd love to see him come home using the potty! Or a rag on the floor, whatever!

It looks like the move may be postponed a few weeks, and that is probably good news. The kitchen in the new place probably won't be ready by Sept. 1, so we're going to shoot for Oct. 1 instead. GIves us a little more relaxation and flexibility there, and no need for me to try to get everything done while the boys are away.

Well, I'll keep this short since I'll have more time for blogging the next few days. Don't want to bore everyone on day one! I think I'll go to bed early tonight, I have the whole bed to myself, and sleep in tomorrow! I'm trying desperately to focus on the positives here. IT is entirely too quiet.

So it's about time for the countdown to mommy time! It has really, REALLY been a rough few days here to say the least. We have approximately 5.5 weeks left until move time, and it is beginning to look like we're moving. Meaning, of course, that everything is everywhere and there are boxes upon boxes stacked in every room. Oh joy, right?

But, the big news of course is that my boys are leaving for Greece on Monday! The older three are with dad, and will be for most of the time hubby will be gone, so that leaves a mama all alone for about three weeks. I am really anxious, truthfully. I haven't been without my little guy ever, and I know I will miss him terribly. He is truly a mama's boy. And my 4yo is scared to go because he thinks he won't be able to speak Greek (because he's shy he says) but I know he will be fine once he's there a day or two. He understands perfectly (hubby only speaks Greek at home) but doesn't choose to speak Greek unless hubby makes him.

At any rate, I have a few plans. After I drop them off at the airport next week I think I'll take myself to the zoo, alone, and sit at the gorilla exhibit as long as I want to. No one hurrying me along. Then a few days of peaceful quiet and then teenager and I are going on an adventure. And on week two I'm heading to NY to see my friend, which I am very very excited about.

So, it's a little stressful here at the moment with all the moving stuff and getting ready to travel stuff and me wondering what I'm going to do with all this free time stuff, but mostly in a pretty good way.