My Fresh New Start

Hello All!

Here it is my first attempt at the whole “blog” thing….

I hope to update this weekly, although I am a few weeks behind; my “adventure” started on August 19th with my move to the lovely state of Delaware. This first post will be a little bit of a catch up (hopefully minus all the dull dry-details).

So let’s first get on the same page:
Location: 21 Reese Drive, Newark DE 19711 (although our address is Newark, it’s really in-between Newark and Wilmington in an area known as Hockessin). http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hockessin,_Delaware
The house is located in the Northwest part of Delaware, right on the Pennsylvania state line. I can actually walk through the back yard and enter Pennsylvania.

Nancy: The Mom; owns her own small business, Auburn Moon Agency, that she runs from the office located in the basement of the house. She has three full-time employees (although one works from his own home, and I haven’t met him yet) and one intern who is a college student at University of Delaware. While she works from home, the office is very much a professional space, and really isn’t a “kid-zone” at all. I really only see Nancy in the morning before she goes down to the office (around 8:00am), then again in the evening (6:30ish), and our paths will cross once in awhile when she comes up to the kitchen for lunch. Here is her agency’s website: http://www.auburnmoonagency.com/

Larry: The Dad; is the Controller at the Newark, DE Chrysler plant. Besides his “real job” he is a wonderful cook, and provides me (and the rest of the family) with tasty (and healthy) dinners.

Callie: The daughter; is six years old and is in the first grade. She is bright, and takes piano lessons, dance lessons, and gymnastics.

Carter: The son; is two years old and loves almost anything. He adores cars and horses, and his favorite stuffed-animal, monkey.

Nanny-fam: How I fondly refer to the above named family members!

Corey: Nancy’s employee, thirty-something who lives in Wilmington, DE and has been my tour guide (besides Nancy and Larry). He’s my first sort-of friend (hopefully you all already know my issue with the word “friend”, and I don’t use the label frequently, you have to earn it).

Now that we have the where and who figured out, here’s a little idea of the “what”…I arrived on a Tuesday late afternoon and jumped right into family life. The previous nanny (she was with the family for five years) left five weeks before my arrival so Nancy’s mom, Sue, was here from Kentucky to fill in with the childcare. Sue is GREAT; she was a superb guide and she is an even better grandmother. I am really glad that our paths crossed and we got to get to know each other that first week. I miss her, and can’t wait for her next visit. As for the job…….during the first few weeks, I slept a lot…I spent my day with the kids and then I pretty much went up to my room and fell asleep (getting ten hours of sleep was AMAZING). To be honest, I was pretty out-of-control this summer (I guess some of you already know that, ha!) and I was definitely in recovering mode. But since my mini rehab session every day has gotten better…I can drive from place to place without looking at map and/or writing out directions, I’ve read two books (starting on my third), I’ve gone to Philly (I love philadelphia) twice for two great concerts with Corey, I’ve gone to a small-town street festival in Pennsylvania, volunteered a couple times for Obama’s campaign, started working out again, spent the weekend with the nanny-fam in NYC (so great, fosheezy going back there, several times hopefully and def. around xmas to see all the decorations), went out for a night on the town in Wilmington, DE with this young band from Chicago that Auburn Moon represents, pretty much fell in love with the kids, falling in love with the small-little-baby state of Delaware….it’s really been great. My day starts around 7:30am and ends anywhere between 5:30 and 6:30pm (depending on if I eat dinner with the fam). It’s long but pretty stress free. The mornings are a little hectic because I have to finish getting Callie ready for school and on the bus (and she is very poky in the morning, sound like anyone you know); then she is in school all day, so it’s just me and Carter. And so far, it’s been pretty fun to hang with a two-year old The afternoon can be a little crazy sometimes too, depending on Callie’s schedule (piano or dance), if she has homework and what kind of mood the kids are in. But all in all the day is pretty great. It has taken awhile to fully adjust to my new-slower, very-free-social-calendar lifestyle, but now I honestly feel adjusted and for the most part I feel great. I “work” during the day but the whole idea of it being my “job” between 8am and 6pm is pretty inaccurate. Job, is really not the right word to describe it, let me know if you have a better idea of a word I should use instead. My "free" time is my own….it’s truly the right place for me to be right now and I’m really HAPPY here. I MISS YOU ALL GREATLY but I know that Christmas is just around the corner and Wisconsin will welcome me back with open arms.

I guess that’s the best I can do as a “catch-up”.

Sneak Preview to Upcoming Posts:
1. NYC TRIP
2. Day in the Life of Andrea the Nanny
3. Oktoberfest-yep, Larry, the kids and I are hitting up DE’s attempt to match La Crosse’s Oktoberfest this weekend (Sept. 20)

I MISS YOU ALL! I am very, very thankful for all the support; the emails, phone calls and cards were just what I needed. Not to sound too cheesy, but I know that a big part of why I am happy here is because I know that I am loved back home. THANK YOU!

*Start thinking about when you would like to come visit, I can’t wait to show you around the big (well, not-so-big)-bad state of Delaware. Larry and Nancy have expressed many times that they are more than welcome to put-up any guest I have….and trust me they are great hosts.