JERSEY UPDATE 2

We have been in New Jersey for almost a month and are beginning to settle in. By that, I mean the boxes are almost unpacked (mainly craft stuff and garage stuff left), I’ve made several successful trips to the grocery store, Target, and the gym where Chloe is training without getting lost, and the kids & I are starting to establish a routine. So, that is all good. We leave Sunday for the Cayman Islands and will be gone a whole week. I can’t wait to be in the sun again – this has been our nicest week here, and it rained 2 out of 6 days!

Anyway, for this little update, I have a couple Quirky Things from up here to tell you about, and then a list of things I miss about TEXAS!!! So, here goes:

QUIRKY THING 1: We have air conditioning in our house, which I am thankful for because the humidity is NEVER below about 80%. For the last 3 weeks, when the ac kicked on at night (the only time it runs, thanks to the mild temps and all the shade!), it didn’t seem to be cooling the house at all. I was ready to go buy oscillating fans for all the bedrooms, when Joe decided to go check the breaker box. For some reason, any time the ac kicks on, it trips the breaker. So, the good news is it was an easy fix. The bad news is, the fan blew continuously for about 10 hours without cooling the house, so the electric bill is going to be interesting. Plus, we need to call an electrician because obviously there is too much load on that breaker.

QUIRKY THING 2: Everyone up here calls me “Mrs. Widner.” No kidding. Moms at the gym, people at church, kids… EVERYONE. And, they all expect to be called “Mrs. Whatever.” But, they do NOT like that my children say “yes sir” and “yes ma’am,” and in fact try to get them to stop by saying, “I’m not a ma’am – that’s my mother!!” Funny… Mrs. Widner is my mother-in-law!!! J

QUIRKY THING 3: Bergen County closes everything on Sunday, and I mean EVERYTHING. Stores, restaurants, malls, Home Depot, IKEA… EVERYTHING. I know this because we saved a bunch of errands for a Sunday not too long ago and were totally surprised (and a little ticked off) that we could accomplish nothing.

QUIRKY THING 4: Sonics are ALWAYS packed. We’ve been twice now ( I know, pitiful, right?) and both times the parking lots were full. And, there are police officers directing traffic at the entrances. They have signs that say “LOT FULL” that they post when you can’t get in. And that means you keep on driving, which we’ve had to do. I’m thinking supply doesn’t meet the demand. Maybe I need to open one!

THINGS I MISS:

1. Having no plan for the day until Melanie calls and says, “I have an idea!!!” She is definitely the “Lucy” to my “Ethel”!!! Now, I just have no plan!!

2. WFAA Channel 8 and the whole news team, Gloria Campos, John McKay, Dale & Pete… those guys are awesome, and they don’t have weird accents! Well, except for Gloria, when she’s reporting on a Latino.

3. Mark Davis on WBAP. I love it when he sits in for Rush; in fact, it’s the only time I listen to Rush!

4. Acute Kids and 24 hour pharmacies. This needs absolutely no further explanation.

5. Driving by LCA and seeing all kinds of kiddos at summer camps, practices, lessons… even in the middle of summer!

6. Texas sunsets.

7. Eagle Gymnastics and all the fabulous people from there. The gym here is really good, but nothing will be better than Eagle. Chloe said so. And so do I.

8. MAMBO TAXIS.

9. Babysitters that my kids love and I trust!!! We’ve had quite a bit of together time lately! In fact, as I was giving the kids their marching orders a week ago, Emmy walked up to me, gave me a big hug, and said, “I love you, Mommy. Now, shut up.” Gotta love that kid and her honesty!!

I do plan on posting these to my blog. One of our computers has crashed and I can’t access any pictures, and I don’t like to post without them! More after we get back. You know there will be a few stories after the Widner Vacation of 2009!!!