It’s 4 a.m. I’m wide
awake and I’m tired. Not physically, or mentally, though I have every reason to
be. No, I’m tired of trying to fall
asleep, to no avail. I had an exhausting
day, at the tail end of which I took the girls to WalMart to get out of the
house. While there I decided to reward
myself for getting through the day. I
bought a chocolate bar. You know, the
healthy (is there such a thing?), all natural, organic dark chocolate kind. Everyone knows chocolate contains
caffeine, or something like it. Traces, you know. Not enough to have any effect. Or so I thought. Now, here I am at 4 a.m., thinking I’ll have
to buy another chocolate bar to get me through tomorrow when the consequences
of a sleepless night set in. Sigh. Well, as long as I’m up, I might as well make
the most of it.
It’s been about three weeks since we pushed off from the
nest that was our home in Utah and ventured out into the unknown, otherwise
known as Austin, Texas. When I refer to
our home in Utah, I should explain that it wasn’t really our home, though we did
spend just over a year there. It was, in
fact, the home of David’s parents. When
we found out in January of 2012 that we were expecting another child, we were
thrilled. After a brief moment of
celebration, we quickly realized the reality of our situation. As thrilled as we were to be having another
child (something we both wanted to begin with) our insurance made it such that
we would pay most of the costs. With
David in school, and me at home with our one-year-old Paisley, it was obvious
we would not have enough money to get by.
So, we decided to take David’s parents up on their long-standing and gracious offer to
live in their basement - temporarily. We
lived there for a month before leaving to Austin on an internship, and returned
there after the internship. One month
turned into a emester and a semester turned into a year. Afton Rose was born, David finished school,
took (and aced!) the CPA exams and here we are.
Austin wasn’t
completely unknown to us as we had been there for the summer of 2012. But the thought of being on our own again,
now as a family of 4, in a real apartment, with a real job and real bills to
pay, in a city far from family, friends and all familiarity - well, it seemed
like a whole new world. The night before
we would leave, we spent the night on the floor where our bed had been, in an
empty room. I was filled with excitement
and dreams for our future. I had long
been aching for change, adventure and independence. David was filled with nerves and
nostalgia. He is by far the more
sentimental of the two of us, and has a hard time with change in general. But in spite of our opposite feelings on the
matter, one thing was certain: in the morning we would leave, and a new chapter
in our lives would begin.
The morning of Thursday, August 30, 2012, we did just
that. We packed up the car, the girls,
and our Betta fish, Phineas, and departed for Austin. We spread the drive over three days, stopping
in Farmington, NM and then Lubbock, TX, with plans to arrive in Austin on
Saturday. As David insisted, he drove
the whole way, through the red rocks of southern Utah, the rocky wilderness of
New Mexico, and then the industrious farmlands of Texas. Our only stop of note was when we hit an
unexpected red light and Phineas, who had been sitting happily in his bowl at
my feet, rolled forward and spilled out onto the mat beneath. After a slight panic attack on my part, and a
quick stop to the side of the road, we were able to scoop up his slippery body
and drop him into a water bottle where he survived until we arrived at the
hotel.
On the last day of our drive we had a change of plans that
took us to Dallas, TX. We had arranged
everything for our arrival – the apartment, time of arrival, renter’s
insurance, etc. Everything, that is,
except utilities. Realizing that it being a holiday Monday, the electricity company wouldn't be able to come until Tuesday, we took
Becca Hay up on her offer to stay in ‘Hotel Becca’ in Dallas for a few days. Come to find out, the apartment complex does
provide electricity and water until we make other arrangements, but the truck
would not arrive with our bed until Tuesday at best, so we were glad to be put
up for the weekend. It was wonderful to
see Becca and her family. Her brother
Chris made us breakfast of sausage, pancakes and eggs, and smoked ribs out back
in the smoker for dinner. We did our
nails and watched movies, and enjoyed the warm atmosphere of the Hay home. Afton had a fever for the last 2 days we were
there, and Brother Hay helped give her a priesthood blessing. On Tuesday we left for Austin, to get our
first glimpse of what this chapter in our lives would hold.
We arrived at our new home around 2:00 p.m. It was about 100 degrees
outside and humid. We were given the
keys to our new home, and were anxious to finally see this place that we had
only imagined for several months before.
We turned the key and entered the cool apartment. White walls, beige floors, and the smell of
new paint welcomed us. The empty rooms
drew me in, my mind already conjuring up plans of room décor and small dinner
parties. Two large bathrooms, two
walk-in closets, lots of cupboard space, and a washer and dryer. It was
small. It was clean. It was everything
we needed. But most importantly, it was
ours.
We spent the next two nights without a bed, or anything else
for that matter. Afton slept in the Pack
‘n Play while Paisley slept on the floor between two blankets. David and I
shared one comforter between the two of us on the floor in our room. We were very glad when the truck finally
arrived on Thursday, even though it meant us having to unpack the thing all on
our own. We found out that unpacking a
truck in the Austin summer heat (with two children to look after) was not a two person job. By the end of the day, our muscles were sore
and our bodies exhausted. Sleeping in a
real bed had never felt so good.
We spent our first few days in Austin trying to get
settled. Find furniture, time out the
trip from our house to the office in rush hour traffic, and arrange for the
paying of our bills. On Saturday, I
dropped David off at the airport for his trip back to Utah for the football
game between BYU and University of Texas.
It was a game he had long awaited, and the plane ticket was a graduation
gift from his parents. While the girls
and I spent the day swimming and relaxing, David spent the day flying and
enduring what Utahans are now calling ‘Hurricane Utah’. A storm blew in and the skies unleashed on
Provo, Utah like never before. Roads turned to waterways and parking lots to
lakes. Water poured down the stairs
south of BYU campus where David and Emily walked to the game. People in the stadium packed into the
tunnels behind the stands like cattle, seeking shelter from rain and lightning. We were afraid the game that David had flown
in to see would be cancelled or postponed.
Two hours later, we were relieved when the storm lifted and the game
began. BYU destroyed UT in a well staged
offensive battle against a lacking UT defense. The quarterback was injured
along with another important player, and the following day the defensive coordinator
was let go. BYU certainly left their
mark.
I took the girls to church by myself the first Sunday in
Austin, a feat I wish to never attempt again.
They were all over the place, and I felt that all eyes were on the new
mom with two out-of-control babies. We
walked out half way through sacrament meeting and didn’t even try returning
until the closing hymn. The ward was warm and friendly though, and by the third hour, Afton had fallen fast asleep and I was
able to enjoy the much-needed peace felt in Relief Society.
David started work on Wednesday, and on Thursday he left for
Houston for training. Friday, the furniture company attempted to deliver some couches we had ordered, only to find out they would
not fit through our narrow entrance. We
sent them back and were back to square one.
As of yet, we still have no furniture but one high chair and a rocking
chair. A neighbor of ours came by to ask
for moving boxes, and gave us a small old television in exchange, so we do have
a small T.V. that turns on and off spontaneously. David came was back for the weekend, which
was spent trying to watch as much football as possible in between furniture
shopping.
David left Monday morning for more training in San Antonio,
and won’t return till Friday. For me and
the girls, Monday was a fun day. I was a
good mom. I was present with the girls,
playing with them and enjoying them. I
was patient, warm, and fun, and the girls – especially Paisley – responded with
affection and cooperation. Tuesday,
(today), did not go so smoothly. Both of
the girls have been coming down with coughs and runny noses, along with other
cold symptoms. Paisley was needier than
usual and complaining of a stomachache, but still cheery, while Afton was
fussier than ever, whining constantly and always needing to be held. I decided in the morning that it would be
good to get out of the house as a distraction.
Paisley had been asking to go to the park, so we did. Within 3 minutes of arriving, Paisley
announced that she needed to use the potty.
I quickly scooped her up, prepared to make a dash for the restrooms,
only to realize that she had already begun.
Upon removing her pants, I discovered the cause of her stomachache.
Diarrhea. It was down her leg and soaked
through her pants, and I was at a park, with two babies to take care of. I wiped Paisley up, threw a diaper on her,
and drove home.
In the evening, I dared again to venture out of the house,
this time with Paisley still in diapers.
We went to WalMart to buy some more medicine for our ever-fussy
Afton. Along with the aforementioned
dark chocolate, I also bought some Junior Mints, which Paisley promptly dug
into. While driving, I passed Junior Mints
back to Paisley. Unbeknownst to me, she
was kind enough o share with her sister, who has never eaten chocolate or any
other type of candy. At first she wasn’t
sure what to do with the soft, gooey little drop, and playing with it in her
hands must have been as appealing as anything.
Once it was all over her hands, however, the next logical step was to
try to lick it off, of course. And for
the remainder of the drive to Ikea, Afton gleefully attempted to suck the
chocolate from her hands, smearing it all over her face. And what she could not get off with her
mouth, she was happy to wipe on her pants and car seat straps. When we arrived and Ikea to find that I had
forgotten the wet wipes at home, I decided there was nothing to do but
laugh. At least she was happy, she
smelled nice, and best of all, it wasn’t diarrhea.
