Outerbanks - OBX

I love the Outerbanks. A few years ago, my side of the family rented a really large house for a week in Corolla. It's pronounced "CAR-ra-LA". I know this now that I'm a North Carolinian. Before I called it Corolla as in the Toyota Corolla.

I love the beach! I just do! I love being near the ocean and watching the waves. There is something so soothing about this process. Maybe it's the predictability. Tide coming in and out each day around the same time. The sound of the water hitting the sand. Boy, I need to get back there!

We were looking at lots of places in the northeast but decided on the OBX because you can almost guarantee to have great weather. Further north, you can't guarantee that. You could have a "fall day" in the middle of the summer. It could be cloudy all week. You just don't know.

We did go during hurricane season which freaked me out but thankfully it was not an issue. From watching the hurricane process this week with Earl, I'm impressed with our Governor and the people. They handled it so well and the tourists should be able to return in no time.

There are lots of houses on the OBX that are large enough to host your entire extended family. We rented a 7 bedroom house which had three levels. I highly recommend this if you can swing it. When living with your family for a full week, for the first time since you were young, you need lots of space. It was great to have plenty of room to spread out and be doing different things.

With a larger house, you get more amenities. Our house had a large in ground pool, hot tub, view of the ocean, three deck levels, outdoor shower, bikes, and lots of other things. There are typically community pools and fitness centers in case you don't have your own pool.

The boys played Kan Jam every morning on the beach (redneck version of Frisbee golf) and the girls sat in the sun reading a book while the kids played in the sand. It was very relaxing! Every afternoon we headed back to the house and spent time in the pool. Some people napped, read books, went for bike rides, or went out exploring.

The houses are expensive to rent but if you can get a lot of people, it's much cheaper. It can be cheaper than a hotel for a week and you have your own space with the ability to cook full meals.

Of course we had a lot of family dynamics but since it was three years ago, I don't remember a whole lot of the bad, just the good. I had not "lived" with all of my siblings and parents since I was 19 years old. Even then, it was only for one the summer, since I was in college. My sister Elaine was 15, Frushie was 11 and George was 7. That was a long time ago and we have all changed a lot since then not to mention the addition of spouses. Boy if I had been blogging then, I'd have a lot of stories for you!

Update

I apologize for not keeping people up to date with our changes. If you haven't heard, we moved to North Carolina which we have been trying to do for over a year. It all came together really fast. BC heard from the copier giant that he was approved to work remotely. Three days later we were scheduling a visit down here, getting the mortgage approval together, and farming out the kids. This makes it sound so easy yet it was craziness for those three days. We travelled down Memorial Day weekend to NC, found a house and made an offer. When we returned, it was done. Just like that, we were moving!

We waited until the underwriters were all set, BC met with his manager again, and other safeguards before announcing it to our friends. Within three weeks, we were down here again, doing a final walk through on the house and then closing. It was surreal. When you wait for over a year for your plans to come together, and they finally do, it doesn't seem real at all. We were blessed beyond what we could have imagined. BC and I had made a list, along with the kids, of the things we "must have in the house" and things that would be amazing. All of the things on both lists were in this house. We are blessed!

We've had a ton of company including a 2 week visit from June and Ward, which is a blog post unto itself. We had one set of company leave and the next arrive hours later. It was a bit crazy but I am sure it made it much easier to transition when having familiar faces around. This included some of my favorites like my aunt and my "leftover friends". Lots of laughs, Long Island ice teas, and (hopefully) great food.

Resolutions

I never make resolutions at New Years because that would be expected. I don't like to conform. Instead I find myself making resolutions while I am on vacation. You know, "I'll eat better when I get home, I'll exercise more, I'll clean my house more." This past trip to NY, I resolved to blog. It was probably the nagging of several people whom I saw in person that prompted this resolution. So here I am, blogging. It's day one. That's the day people have the most enthusiasm for the resolution. I'm so enthusiastic, I want to blog again. Twice in one day. But that would be ridiculous!

Bring your child to work day

BC did not get cut from his job at the copier giant. I apologize for not writing it sooner. We were terribly disappointed but I am sure it is for the best and when we received his paycheck this week, we were reminded of this blessing.

The kids went to work with BC last week. Bring your child to work day originally started as bring your daughter to work day. It was to encourage young women to work. The founders of this idea would be mortified to hear about my children's day.

Here is what my children learned about the copier giant that day:

Engineering and sales: The girls did a great job of using their sales skills to convince their dad to buy them ice cream at 10 am. Bubs was particularly interested in the "vacuum sucking machine" and the engineering behind it.

Measurements and freight scales: Every other week BC and some coworkers weigh themselves as part of a weight loss program they created. I think between the 5 of them, they are up 3lbs. They use the freight scale in the shipping area to weigh themselves. Since this was their weigh in day, the kids got to go with them. The 5 fathers weighed more than the 11 kids.

Stress relief: Sometimes the workplace can get too stressful. You know, the weighing in, vending machine trips and occasional meetings. BC and his buddy Alfred showed the kids how they play Kan Jam in the hallway by setting up two garbage cans and getting out the frisbee. And we wonder why the company isn't doing well.

Meetings: The kids did attend one meeting where they doodled on the white board. Who doesn't doodle during a boring project planning meeting.

Even if this day did not encourage my girl's to be engineers, it was a great day of bonding with dad!

Today's the Day

We think today is the day BC's company is going to swing the ax to several hundred people in R-town. We're not 100% sure. This is something we have been anticipating for several months. We've known it was coming but wasn't sure when. Rumors have been flying! The latest rumor is that it will be today.

If BC is laid off, he will start looking for a contract position in NC. Right now he has only been looking for a permanent job since he is currently employed full time.

In honor of the lay off, I told him to dress in his company garb. You know, the shirt, lanyard, etc. Show your loyalty and make it harder for the person laying you off.

By the way, we watched the movie "Up in the Air" last night. How appropriate! The movie is about a man (George Clooney) who lays people off for a living. It was a good movie as long as you don't get offended by the occasional F word from the people being fired and brief nudity.

Celebrity Julia

My brother George met his girlfriend at college. It's where all of us siblings have met our spouses except for Frushie. She met her husband in 10th grade.

George introduced us to Julia at Frushie's baby shower. I thought this was a bold move on his part. If I had three sisters who essentially mother me, I would think I would introduce her to them one by one. It might be overwhelming, right? Well George didn't think of that. BC says it was the right move. He said, "it's like ripping off a band-aid." No one wants to do it but it must be done so get it over with. Nice!

Yesterday I asked Celebrity Julia what it was like for her to meet all of us at once. It kind of came up because we were talking about my mom's Swedish drunk friend Margaret. I started to laugh because I was remembering Julia meeting all of us, at a major event, and meeting drunk Margaret too. I am sure she thought we were crazy. Julia said it was completely overwhelming for her. In my book, she passed the test that day.

Celebrity Julia loves my kids and they LOVE her. This is how she got her name. She has celebrity status in our house. My girls would talk about her but when they saw her, they became speechless. They would stare, smile and blush. They have gotten over being starstruck but she still is a celebrity! They fight over who sits next to her, run to her the minute she walks in the door, etc. Julia is a teacher who wears very hip outfits and awesome jewelry.

My uncle always refused to get attached to my cousins boyfriends until he knew it was a done deal (they got married). He said it was too dangerous because when they broke up, he was heartbroken. Too late for us, we have fallen in love with Celebrity Julia too!

Wake up

I like to sleep! If I could marry sleep, I would! Last night I made an agreement with my kids. They would not wake me up in the morning before 9 am, just this one day. There goes my Mother of the Year award. My kids agreed they could play the Wii downstairs and be quiet to not wake us up. Unfortunately my mother in law wasn't here to hear the agreement. June called us at 8 am this morning. We didn't answer. So she called back. So much for sleeping in.