Lizard in the Living Room

My baby’s been a little sick lately, so I haven’t been getting much sleep. Then I started getting sick. Two nights this week I fell asleep before 8 p.m. So yesterday when the baby went down for a nap and didn’t scream when I set him down, I decided to rest on the couch.

My two-year-old was snuggled up against me and watching a show. Just as I was about to drift into sleep, she screamed and told me that there was a lizard on the wall.

 Lizards are common in Florida and it’s taken a while for my girls to get used to them. The two-year-old in particular still gets scared when she sees them on the sidewalk. And she really stresses out when they cling to the window screen outside. I was sure that she saw one on the window, but she knew better. “No, Mommy. It’s on the wall in the house!”

Sure enough, peeking from behind the curtain was a baby lizard. In my house. I’ve heard of this and dreaded it. I don’t care that they’re harmless or how many bugs they eat—I don’t want one in my house.

First I tried opening the door it was next in hope that it would choose the outdoors. The movement scared it into dashing behind our big foam-filled bag. I moved that and found it sitting in the corner. I tried to trap it with a Tupperware dropped over it, but those little buggers are fast and it ran behind the couch.

And then I couldn’t find it.

My daughter relaxed because “the stupid lizard” was gone. I freaked out because I had no idea where it was. I spent much of the rest of the afternoon searching for a tiny lizard and imagining all the places it could end up in the house and fearing finding it days or weeks later dead somewhere.

When my husband came home, he found it and with help from a friend who was over for dinner, eventually got it outside. But not before it lost its tail that wiggled around on the floor. I guess we’ve been initiated into being real Florida residents. But I did not handle it well and will likely freak out just as much next time.

The good news is we swept behind the couch.

A River Runs Through It

When we bought our house, we had no idea that we were purchasing river and lake front property.

I've lived in the desert where the thunder and lightning is spectacular. I've lived in the Pacific Northwest where it rains for days on end. But I've never seen anything like a Florida rain and thunderstorm. I took the video when it had slowed down a bit.

Not Noticing

Yesterday I walked across the grass to get the mail. And noticed that I don't notice the grass anymore.

Less than a year ago when we moved to Florida, everything was strange and unfamiliar, even the grass. The blades of grass are long and coarse (it's easy to keep it green in this climate--but it doesn't exactly invite you to take off your shoes and  walk through it).There are palm trees everywhere, there's a pond or lake on every corner, and the birds are large and weird.

Apparently we've adjusted more quickly than I realized, even though I still feel new here. My daughter rarely points out palm trees (she only points out the huge ones now; she used to exclaim over every one we saw). I don't notice the water everywhere, I don't cringe when I see the rough lawns, and I only notice the weird birds if they're crossing the street in front of me.

We've even acclimated to the humidity apparently. It's not nearly as oppressing during the winter and I don't even notice it right now. My husband said that people coming to train here from out of town complain about how humid it is. I thought that was weird until we went away for Christmas. When we came back, I felt the humidity again. But only for a few minutes.

Florida in December

At the risk of being hated by anyone living outside Florida, here's a screen shot of the temperatures throughout the country yesterday:

One of these states is not like the others. One of these states just doesn't belong.

While I'm certainly glad to not be experiencing subzero temperatures or facing ice and snow storms when I go outside, the weather feels off to me. I've always lived in the west and it's supposed to be cold and sometimes snowy in December. It doesn't feel much like Christmas when it's hot and sunny and we have to turn the AC on.

My observation of Floridians shows me they don't quite know what to do with hot weather in December either. When I go out shopping I will see two women together--one will be wearing jeans, a hoodie, and boots. The other wears a sundress and flipflops. Either seems to be acceptable on the same 85 degree day. I miss boots and jackets, but I just can't bring myself to wear them in this heat.

Even advertisers don't know what to make of it. Our Target ad shows winter boots and tank tops on the same page.

I've been stubbornly wearing jeans no matter how hot I am because I just don't want to have to shave more than once a week (for church) in December. If I lived anywhere else in the country, I wouldn't even be doing it that often. But...I have been more than happy to wear sandals every day.

Acclimating

When we first landed in Florida, everything looked strange. Trees, flowers, and even the grass looks different. The birds flying around us are birds I've only seen in the zoo or in pictures. The weather is different. Even the air feels different.

We've been here about six weeks, and already I don't stop and stare at all the strangeness around me.

Have you heard that it's hot in Florida? It's hot. It's hot and humid and muggy and stifling and the sweat starts trickling down your back before you get to the car. But as long as the sun isn't out to burn our eyes with its glare, my four year old and says, "It feels pretty good out here."

I hear that the winters are lovely.

Sand and Water

Child #1 could spend all day digging in the sand. Filling and dumping and refilling buckets. Making hills and mountains and castles of sand. But she doesn't care as much for the ocean. She got knocked over by a wave on our first visit, and I made her go back in for the second visit so she had some fun experience in the water and didn't think you could come to the ocean without at least dipping a toe in.

Child #2 loves the ocean. She would have run straight into it till she was carried away by a wave if we had let her. Born in water, she's been my water baby ever since. She was happiest waiting for the next wave to wash over her. She didn't like the sand much because she didn't want to get dirty. She kept trying to wipe off my toes buried in the sand. She eventually did dig in the sand. But before long she wanted to splash in the shallow waves of the ocean.

Our New Neighbors

These little guys scamper around our patio. I'm still getting used to them. They often startle me because something that size that moves that fast with a long tail makes me think it's a mouse. I've convinced my girls that the little lizards are cool and my toddler sticks her tongue in and out when she sees them. They're both scared if a sparrow lands in the path ten feet away, but they're fine with lizards. Go figure.

Where You're Planted

Image from here.

I know there are plenty of people who can beat our record, but in under 8 years of marriage my husband and I have lived in seven different places--and we're headed to our eighth at the end of the month. (I'm not going to count living in a hotel for a week or two while we look for home #8.) This has included living in four, going on five different states. My oldest daughter will have lived in four states before she turns four. My baby will have lived in three states before she's 18 months.

I haven't loved every place we've lived. Our last place was in the middle of nowhere and I really struggled living there. The above quote often haunted me--as I never felt like I bloomed there and worried that the problem was with me and not with the place. Well, both were partially true. But I disliked it there so much that anywhere else sounded good (and that may be the best thing I learned there--gratitude for everywhere else I will ever live)--even Idaho.

I grew up in Utah and many people, usually people who had moved to Utah from California and other places, made fun of Utah. So we Utahns made fun of Idahoans. Maybe if you grow up in Idaho you are glad you don't live in Montana, and if you live in Montana you're relieved to not live in the Dakotas. And if you live in the Dakotas...maybe you're just happy to not be in Canada? Anyway, I never thought I'd want to live in Idaho.

But as I face another move--our biggest yet--I know I'm going to miss Idaho with its friendly people, its wide open spaces, its lack of traffic, and its big blue sky. And I've worried about moving to Orlando, Florida--a place I've never been. I worry about Jurassic-sized bugs, alligators, heat and humidity, the lack of mountains. But mostly I worry about my children's safety and the kind of environment I will be raising them in.

I found comfort this week in a quote from my church's General Conference:

"How we raise our children is more important than where we raise our children." - Elder Stanley G. Ellis

So I'm taking a deep breath as we take this giant leap of faith into the unknown. I'll keep my children close, my prayers for them frequent. And keep my eyes open for new things to love. A year ago I never would have guessed that I would be so sad to move away from Idaho of all places. Let's see what Florida has to offer.

Article found here.

Preschool Idea: Places

This week my sister is visiting me with her three-year-old and one-year-old. So our house is full of chaos and fun with four kids cooped up inside most of the day. But my sister is awesome and had a great idea for an activity we could do to help fill the time. Each day we are learning about a different place and eating some food that represents that place.

Today we learned about Florida since my family will be moving there. I looked up some simple facts about the state and told the kids about it while showing them pictures. All I could find on Florida cuisine was all the tropical fruits, key lime pie (which I can't eat because of an egg allergy), and spiny lobster. So it might now have been authentic, but we ate delicious fresh fruit: mango, strawberry, kiwi, and bananas. Then we colored pictures of the state and the state bird and flower.

This week we will also learn about the Midwest and Minnesota (three cousins live there) and we will eat hot dogs (we didn't think the kids would go for brats) with pickles and cheese on the side. And then we will learn about Denmark because Daddy is going there next month. On that day we will eat aebleskivers (not an authentic recipe, but they will be made in an authentic pan) for breakfast and then have open faced sandwiches and chocolate milk for lunch. We'll probably also play with our Legos that day.

I love this premise and will probably repeat it with my daughter. We'll probably take time to learn something about all the states we have family in or have lived in ourselves.

Florida Facts

Nickname: The Sunshine State
Tree: Sabal Palm
Flower: Orange Blossom
Animal: Florida Panther
Marine Mammal: Manatee
Reptile: Alligator
Bird: Mockingbird
Beverage: Orange Juice

Highest Point: 365 Feet
166 Rivers
11,000 Miles of Rivers and Streams
663 Miles of Beaches
7,700 Lakes 10 Acres or Larger

Average Summer Temp: 82
Average Winter Temp: 68