Pest control

The pest control guy came today. He sprayed inside and out.

I never really thought much about getting pest control services, especially on a preventative basis. I don't like the idea of chemicals inside or outside of my house. I don't like getting my lawn treated for weeds for the same reason (hence all the weeds instead of grass...) I want to let the kids play without worrying about it, and I don't want it being brought inside on shoes.

But... I also don't like bugs, spiders, mice, etc. Especially venomous ones. Especially inside my house.

So I called pest control and signed up for every-other-month service. They assured me (repeatedly, and without me asking) that the pesticides they use are perfectly safe for people and pets and will only hurt things with 6 or 8 legs. (They use sticky traps for mice, and promise to come collect any stuck critters immediately.)

After the guy sprayed along the baseboards inside, he ventured outside to see what awaited. The verdict was: several fire ant mounds, and a big, meaty black widow spider. He found it on a window and brought it to the door for me to see. It was bigger and fatter than I expected. After he showed me, he threw it on the ground (it was on a long-handled brush) and stepped on it.

I don't think I'll ever have sympathy for spiders again!

Y'all come see us real soon!

After I wrote my post last night, it occurred to me that if anyone was thinking of ever coming to see us, they might be a bit turned off.

So I just want to assure everyone that our house is totally safe - we won't let anything get you.

I vacuumed up the little male black widow, reducing the breeding population by one. Nothing to worry about now!

We have lovely guest accommodations and would love to have visitors. All are welcome. We are busy checking out local restaurants so we can take you to the best places. Soon we will start learning to cook local specialties (like tacos.)

So come on down to Texas - it's great!

House rule #1: two legs, and two legs only, please

One of my biggest concerns about moving to Texas was the wide variety of exotic critters that call this part of the world home.

I've certainly seen my share of bugs and insects everywhere else I've lived, and I know there are snakes up north, but when I picture Texas, I see scary things.

Upon accessing the homeowners' association message board, I learned that snakes have been seen in the neighborhood. One guy claims to have seen a water moccasin near the creek that runs through the neighborhood. Guess we better stick to the path.

This morning we had a guy come out to set up the new TV. He inquired as to whether we had pest control services, and I asked him what he saw to make him ask that. He pointed to a teeny tiny spider in a web in a corner and identified it as a "baby male black widow". I was on the phone with a pest control service almost immediately! I haven't gone after the baby spider yet, but I can help but wonder where his mamma (and sisters) might be hanging out...

Chambersburg

Here are some photos from our short stay with my parents in Chambersburg.

Ben actually made some hoops!

Fishing in the creek.
The kids love driving this. (I keep my feelings about that to myself.)
Under the bridge.
Catch of the day!

Finally landed

Last night we arrived back in Texas, this time for good. Our three-week transition is finally coming to an end, and soon we will be back to living in one place. I think we are all very much looking forward to it.

Its been a busy month. Some highlights:

• Both kids are signed up for school. Susanna got the last place in 1st grade at her school. We met the teacher and saw the classroom. Susanna's school starts bright and early Monday morning. Ben's school starts the following Monday.

• Susanna is signed up to play soccer. Her team is called Pinkalicious, which she thinks is great. Ben is all ready to play a sport, but we're still working on that... We were a little late to the game and soccer and football are full for his age.

• We got another shipment today - our things (including my car) from Pennsylvania. I really wish I could just throw it all in the basement, but I don't have one. Now we are just waiting for our sea shipment, which I believe is going through Customs in Houston at the moment.

• We had a good week in PA and had a great time seeing so many friends and relatives. The kids had no trouble running off with their old friends. And I even got a little astronomy lesson and saw Jupiter and its 4 moons through a telescope.

I'm looking forward to getting all settled in and then checking out some Texas tourist attractions. There is plenty to see between Dallas and Fort Worth, and its almost time for the Texas State Fair. Yeehaw!

Playing house

We've been homeowners (again) for a week now. Things are starting to come together for us...

The past two days have felt like a parade - so many people in and out bringing things and getting other things set up. We got our first shipment - the air shipment from England. It was mostly clothes and linens, and some dishes and odds and ends. It was the smallest (by far) of our three shipments, but already it feels like so much stuff in the house. Shelves are starting to fill up and don't even look in my closet. The next shipment (from PA) will have our washer and dryer, and then I can start getting things under control. Really.

We had to buy a refrigerator and a big TV for the media room - they were of equal priority (or so I was told) so we bought both and they have arrived. We got our TV, internet and phone set-up (love not waiting 3 weeks for internet!) and the alarm system is turned on. We also had an electrician (who is also a salesman) out to do one small job and then identify several other things that we could/should have done. Owning a house is certainly expensive!

All I really need now is a chair to sit on, and I'll be all set.

So this is Texas...

We have made it to Texas! It wasn't looking too promising at the airport on Sunday, but they ended up letting us on the plane and the plane was only delayed about two hours because of the thunderstorms in Philly. We even got all of our bags (only 5 of the 10 we brought from London, plus a box of carseats - we'll go back for the rest next week.) The three-hour flight seemed short.

Since arriving in the Lone Star State we've been busy. We signed Ben up for preschool, signed Susanna up for softball, and bought a house. I got to see the house the day before we bought it. Its nice. Its a good size house, but no basement (standard in TX), so it will fill up quickly. The neighborhood seems nice and the pool inviting. I'm sure we'll be happy there.

I'm looking forward to having all my things together in one place again. Right now we have some things on a boat in the Atlantic, some things sitting at DFW awaiting customs clearance, and other things in a warehouse in PA waiting for a ride to Texas. Our minivan will be shipped from PA to TX (which they say will take 2 weeks at least) and some of our bags are in PA until we go back for them. So, apart from my children, I feel like I don't know where anything is!

The area we've landed in seems great. We're about 20-25 miles north of Dallas and its just very suburban. Everywhere we look we see giant neighborhoods and giant shopping centers. Stores big and small and every chain restaurant you've ever heard of, plus lots of Tex Mex places. Most of the roads through the area are 6 lanes, but with GPS its quite easy to get around. However, so much is new that sometimes my TomTom tells me the road I'm looking for is "unpaved".

Brad is settling into work here and is enjoying being back in the U.S. firm. Because we have only one car (rental gas-guzzling Explorer), the kids and I drop him at the light rail station. I don't think public transport is quite as popular here as it is in some big cities, but its seems convenient enough for getting him to his office downtown.

Its still hard to believe that this is "home" now... though I'm sure it will soon enough...