In the park

We had to take a family photo a couple of weeks ago for an RUF letter and this is one we didn't use.  I mostly just like Bug and Elliot's expressions in this photo.  They both look a little lost.

Buggie is definitely feeling better.  She's been much more herself today, flirting with us, laughing, creeping around the house.  Elliot has somehow slipped a bit back into whiny mode, but we're putting him through detox here.  

I think it was only 80 here today.  I got a tour of the big old house across the street that a student's father bought and is paying to have rehabbed.  It has 9 bedrooms and two kitchens.  Well, 2 1/2.  I lost count of the bathrooms and closets.  Unbelievable.  Built in the late 1800's, it has a porch that wraps around the entire front and part of the sides of the house.  We sort of live next to a dorm.  Half the dorm is coming over for dinner Wednesday.  A puppy, which Elliot I think has claimed as his own, also lives there.

Tomorrow is our first play group with some moms from the church here.  It's a bit different from the Grace and Peace nursery - we're going to a mall play place and having lunch in the food court.  I'm thankful for the invitation and looking forward to getting to know some women better.  

On another note, the presidential poll is over and I have to say - I'm shocked!  I had no idea my readership was so red.  Thanks for voting, everyone!  More polls to come.  

Buggie

Just as an update, she's a bit better after her first two doses of drugs.  She smiled and laughed and even danced this evening.  Much more like the normal Bug.  In other news, Michael tried to ride his scooter in the rainstorm this evening and returned in 5 minutes when even the cars were pulling over and he got hit with a piece of HAIL.  Cute, but not always practical.  That's my Michael.

Just this morning

So it's been a long three days.  Elsie's been crying pretty much anytime I'm not holding her and has had a fever the last two days, getting higher.  She finally made it to the doctor at 11:30 this morning where our new, slightly strange but seemingly nice doctor looked in her right ear and said, "Wow.  That looks horrible!"  This explains the last three days.  Poor Bug.  In the meantime, this morning we went to the Waffle House for breakfast.  I only remember going to the Waffle House in Georgia on the way to Florida beaches when I was little.  I loved the grits, the buttery eggs, and the very sweet syrup.  It was like ethnic food for the Illinois girl.  All the way there Elliot said, 'I eat egg, bacon, waffle.'  And then all the way back, 'I eat egg, bacon, waffle, choc milk. ' It was a good morning for Elliot.  Buggie held her own with 1/2 a waffle, some bacon, and some grits.

But then after a very much too short nap, we got in the car to walk along the river before our doc appointment.  Buggie screamed a lot, but she would have done that at home, too.  Elliot loved the big boats, the trolley tourist trams, and the 'big bumpy train tracks' all along the river road. Here are a couple of boats we saw there.  

And yes, here is my own private Speed Racer.  I'm very proud.  Isn't he cute?  A friend let him borrow a scooter since we have just the van right now.  Elliot was very impressed.  He wears a helmet and the thing doesn't go over 40, so maybe he'll live.  

That's the report from Savannah.  

Perks

So, there are perks to being an RUF Campus Minister's wife.  Part of Michael's job is visiting churches in the area that support RUF.  What that meant yesterday was going to one new church in the morning, and another in the evening.   This also meant two new nurseries for Elliot to be left in while screaming.  Poor kid.  

But the evening service where Michael preached was at a church that actually had a huge rose garden on the grounds.  And when dinner was over, one man handed me this bouquet and told me to take it home.  That's a perk I can handle.  They also sent us home with a big pan of lasagna.  Nice.  

Let's spice it up

So as you may have seen, the shoulders had it in the sunburn poll.  Now that I know it's anonymous, let's have some more fun with the questions.  Let's get a read on the slant of the Lincoln Street readers...

Notice the poll

I found a polling feature on the Blogger page.  Thought it'd be fun.  Cast your votes.  The poll will change regularly.  

The Roundhouse Museum

So Friday morning I decided to venture out.  There are lots of things to see in Savannah, so I've read.  And our first stop was the Roundhouse Museum downtown.  There are lots of big trains like the one you see here, a smoke stack, a caboose you can climb around in complete with Thomas books inside, train videos, and, the finale, an entire Thomas the train table with roads and tracks inside the gift shop.  We spent a WHILE there both before the actual museum and after.  

Here you see Elliot in front of what I think was his favorite train.  He kept coming back to it.  The kid slid, while screaming, three times OUT of the stroller when I told him we had to leave.  The guy in the gift shop just stood there, kind of stunned, I think.  Obviously not a father.  

The most amazing thing about this picture is that I actually took it on my PHONE and then FIGURED OUT how to send it to my own email.  This took awhile but I did NOT ask Michael for help.  It's the small things you have to appreciate...

Delay

So, for various reasons, we are without a camera again.  It may be a bit before it's replaced.  So for now, here's what's happening.  Today was Elliot and Elsie's first day with their new babysitter and my new favorite person ever born, Beth Nichols.  Beth lives about 2 1/2 blocks from our apartment and will be watching Elsie and Elliot while I work on Monday and Thursday mornings.  THIS is a good thing.  This buys sanity for me, at least a couple of days a week, and guarantees that the children will probably be alive on Tuesdays and Fridays.  Elliot did not want to leave when I came to pick them up, which is a good sign.  Beth has a daughter, Zoe, who is 3 1/2 whom Elliot seems to adore.  And he seems to get along with Beth's 21 month old, Max.  

I found a job as a transcriptionist for a very interesting company.  They do transcription for mostly PhDs all over the world.  Right now I'm working on one that is mostly focusing on root cause analysis (RCA) in nuclear power plants.  Yeah.  It's like listening to NPR, and then typing it.

We're slowly making friends, getting to know the basics about people.  Michael has a couple of college friends here whom we have hooked up with.   We have both been noticing how much smaller of a town Savannah is than St. Louis.  People wave at you on the street.  People strike up conversations in stores and on playgrounds, almost every time.  It's nice, and strange at the same time.  I've been in St. Louis for a long time, and lived in neighborhoods where people didn't talk to me, much.  So, that's interesting.   

Just so you know, as I'm typing, a train is going by and it's shaking the house.  Elliot and I run out onto the sidewalk and down three houses at least once per day to watch a train go by.  I seriously think that's just God being nice to Elliot.

So there are good and bad things here.  Moving is hard.  Elliot asks every once in awhile for his "old house".  And he still hates church.  I'm hoping he makes some friends in his class soon.  

I think that's it for now.  The train's gone.  Have a good night.

Where we live

So I thought maybe I'd give you a house tour.  We're starting with Elliot's room.  It's about twice the size of his old room and therefore ALL of his toys are in it.  We much prefer this to the toys being spread about the house as they used to be.  Some of them make it into other rooms.  Elsie loves to sneak around and touch Elliot's toys which infuriates the kid.  I keep telling him that he WILL learn to share, eventually.  

Here's Elsie after a rice feast; this is one of her favorites.  That's why she looks so happy.  She's not in such a happy phase, unfortunately.  We're not sure what's happening, except that maybe she's teething still?  She has two front teeth now, so surely more are on their way.  

The lady at the YMCA tried to kill me this morning

I may need to stay in bed tomorrow.   Why?  Well,  Michael ran into an old college friend yesterday who invited us to dinner.  Turns out, he and his family live about 6 blocks from us - great family.  Elliot loved their kids and their toys.  Lindsay, the mama, and I, started talking about different exercise that we enjoy and I agreed to go with her to the Y this morning for the "Boot Camp" class at 8am.  Now I had heard of these classes before and was always intrigued by them.  In St. Louis when I worked at the Y, they were usually taught by ex-military men at 6am.  When we arrived I saw that the teacher was in her 50's and there were a couple of women older than her.  Ok, I thought.  I can do this.  Surely I can.

Well, let's just start with the fact that it was outside.  It's 90 degrees here at 8am.  Secondly, we did things like bear crawls all the way across the soccer field, followed by 20 pushups, followed by mountain climbers, then a jog around the field.   We used torture devices like bands for armwork and after an HOUR of this, we did dips on the bleachers.  All in all, it was a GREAT class.  The teacher asked how I liked it and if I'd be coming back.  Now, you must know that the class is FREE as well as the babysitting during the class.  I told her I'd let her know when I tried to get out of bed tomorrow morning.  

And the woman who took me?  A MACHINE.  She never slowed down.  She actually could TALK while she did this stuff.  I loved her.  The teacher told me to drink lots of water today and take some Ibuprofen.  So the next class is a week from today.  Maybe I'll be ready by then...

Priorities

So we're back in Savannah.  Hey, everybody.  After a great wedding in Columbia, SC, some training in Atlanta, and a quick pick up for Elliot in Griffin, we returned to the postcard city.  That's what I think I'll call it.  I mean, there are palm trees here and each block has at least one house that just came out of "This Old House".  You should come visit us.  

Anyway, here you see Elsie visiting with the white dog while we were in Griffin.  She LOVES this dog, and I think most other creatures.  You can tell she's about to pounce.  

So this morning we thought we should start with the first things - cupcakes.  After finding a fabulous thrift store about 3 blocks from our house, we headed over to Back in the Day Bakery where Elliot consumed, in under 10 minutes, the full 5 tablespoons of frosting in his "beeg" cupcake because he could not possibly just have a small cupcake.  These are pretty great cupcakes.  Note:  if you come, I will buy you one.  Elsie is looking a little drugged here; she didn't take a morning nap.  She had a little bit of frosting, though, which made her legs kick with happiness.  Here's a great picture of Michael, as a bonus.  

Joint custody

So I have always had control of the blog. It was the one thing I figured out completely by myself, without ever having to say, "Michael, can you figure out how to..." However, as you can see, Michael, my new co-administrator, has gotten off to a good foot in this location. And so I guess you'll be hearing from both of us!

Chris Rocks