Continued from Part I...
Part II...
We continued to celebrate spontaneous sleeping in a variety of locations.
While in Greer, I received word from our townhouse tenants that they were moving in less than 30 days. This set of a flood of concerns and interesting experiences. These folks were very private and so limited in their communications, that we began to prepare for the worst - they had a dog, but were not willing to admit they had a dog, which set up the grounds for distrust. They wouldn't return my calls, and would respond via email but not answering our questions. We made our best guess and posted the rental on multiple website - receiving an overwhelming response. We had never tried renting out a house in August - right before college starts. Meanwhile, our tenants sent another email requesting that they extend their lease for an undefined period of time. After several unanswered calls and emails, I studied up on landlord tenant law, and resorted to posting an envelope on their door, as well as email and certified letter, knowing that if they did not in fact vacate the premises, I would have to start the eviction process. We just had to wait and see what they would do.
Meanwhile, I had to leave for Sedona for a conference. Anne Marie and Tyrien came with me. They got to play at the pool while I was stuck inside windowless, overairconditioned ballrooms all day. But we did get a little bit of time together to explore.
My favorite part of this trip was when we drove to Flagstaff to see Emery, Noah and Wesley. Too bad I forgot to take any pictures!
When we got back, it was time for Tyler's and my staycation to close out the summer before the start of school. The "Five Days of Tyler" were a blast! In a perfect world, we would spend every day, all day, at the pool. But in Tucson, for some reason, the pools don't open until 1pm, of course, in July in Tucson, there are thunderstorms most afternoons. Alas, the pool experience is an unreliable one. So we had to get creative.
The first day, we went to Golf-n-Stuff.
Tyler enjoyed putt-putt. He LOVED bumper boats. When the rain started, we headed for the indoor activities. For some reason, laser tag "freaked him out." We were the only two people in there, and I could not get far enough away from him to surprise him. Reminded me of his young octopus days, where he would suction cup to me in the swimming pool or ocean, and I couldn't get him to detach! Of course, he loved Star Wars Battle Pod.
The second day, we went to the trampoline park. No pictures in there, but we had a blast on the trampolines, in the foam pit, and especially, playing "Duck Hunter." Finally, a game I'm good at! So much jumping burns off a lot of energy...
Tyler lost more teeth, leading to this beautiful smile.
The third day, we traveled to Mount Lemmon for fishing. Tyson was hilariously outraged about this, "You don't know anything about fishing!" Much to our surprise, as soon as we walked down to Rose Canyon Lake, two boys ran up to us to say hello - Logan and Zane from Catalina!
Before Tyrien was born, I used to sit with their dad and let Tyler play with these guys before heading home each day. Tyler was always fascinated with Zane's bald head. How fun to have a reunion! And their dad immediately set up Tyler's fishing line and introduced us to artificial worms.
After about 20 minutes, of course, it started raining, triggering a mass exodus. Tyler and I stayed behind to enjoy having the lake to ourselves!
The fourth day was roller skating. Tyler looked like Bambi learning to stand for the first time. Or like the main character from King's Quest when he's drowning.
He wanted so much to use a cheater's rack, and I wouldn't let him. I usually snap a photo to send to Tyson mid-date. When Tyson saw this, he immediately texted back that he himself was unable to ever learn to skate - he just couldn't find his balance. So I lowered my expectations, but still wouldn't let him use the rack. Tyler ran into his rival from Little Dragons, and saw him progress from cheater's rack to independent skating. That, along with some pizza, motivated Tyler to figure it out.
By the end of the session, we were able to skate around the rink a couple of times, with Tyler clinging to my hand and occasionally taking me out. But we were finally having fun!
The fifth day, I asked Tyler to select an activity. He opted to return to Golf-n-Stuff! I regretted not having bought an entertainment book. Note to self - buy an entertainment book. It has coupons for ALL of these activities, it would have cut the price of this week in half!
Meanwhile, the townhouse...everything was fine with the tenants' move out. It turned out, they were relocating to another country for her work! And were excited about it, and jumped the gun, not realizing how long it would take to get a visa. They were actually quite understanding about my inability to extend their lease. They just never got around to telling me!
Another note to self - tenants do NOT remember the terms of their lease. Schedule 90 day reminder to check in with them about renewing! I really appreciated working with Tyson on this, given his experience with "customers" - being firm, but realistic. Together, we'd decided not to penalize them for improper notice, but rather, cut our losses and just help them move out. We decided not to try to penalize them for hiding a dog, again, let's just help them move out. Then when asked to let them stay longer, making that difficult decision to proceed with their original move out notice, based on the difficulties communicating with them. We recognized that since they wouldn't be up front about their dog, it would be impossible to show the home while they were still in it, and it would be too hard to find new tenants when we had no clear move out date from the current ones. Listing the apartment so far in advance before being able to show it probably didn't pay off, we probably didn't need to list it as early as we did. We received an onslought of calls, and I had difficulty returning them all. I kept notes on each call, and kept a good schedule for showings. I learned that people don't always show up to scheduled showings, so started booking them 20 minutes apart and making reminder calls, and even then, not everyone showed, and some people showed early, others showed late, so often I had multiple people looking at the house at the same time. I liked that, I felt safer having more people around, and it created competition and a sense of urgency amongst prospective tenants. As always, I learned alot about the different kinds of people there are in the world, and that they didn't understand that I wasn't automatically obliged to rent to them. I was still shocked by the entitlement of some, such as the young college student who became angry and refused to remove her shoes to walk on the freshly cleaned, still damp carpet, clueless that her attitude could and would disqualify her from becoming my tenant. Noticing that everyone else readily took off their shoes and expressed appreciation that I had just had the carpet cleaned. There was the kind basketball player who was about to graduate, and who already knew who he would be subletting to, not realizing that I had the right to refuse subletting. The young couple who thought it would be fun to be playfully mysterious with me, not realizing that failure to give straight answers to direct questions meant I wouldn't be able to screen them, let alone establish a sense of trust. The gentleman who pressured me to change my eligibilility criteria, quoting laws from a different state, and Tyson's advice on how to handle this ("Do NOT meet him in person. Call him and cancel that showing. Get out of it. Now.") The pleasant teenage couple with a service dog and another large dog, who I was excited to rent to, but when their credit screening indicated they needed a co-signer, the young man, so proud and excited of his new career, took offense and refused, despite their complaints that other places were refusing to accept their second dog based on its size and breed. The woman whose husband had a stroke, derailing her search for a home. The sweet woman whose boyfriend's violent criminal history, plus her lack of income, hindered her ability to find a home. The woman who on the phone had a boyfriend and one child, but suddenly had three children when she filled out the application, who said they'd be back in 30 minutes with their application fee, and instead, emailed that they'd changed their minds because townhouse was too small for 5 people, not thinking about the fact that I wouldn't be checking emails in a vacant house, and that I'd be sitting waiting for them in said vacant house with a tired, hungry toddler . The devoted mother who wanted to rent the home sight unseen for her two boys, and following Tyson's recommendation to require that she wait until it could be seen, rather than risk her locking into a lease that she might be unhappy with. Meeting so many people, and learning so much along the way.
Tyler for the most part was miserable when it was his turn to show the town house with me. But on the night we met our new tenants, he immediately took to them, taking the lead on the tour, effectively showcasing the highlights of the property. He worked hard, and wore himself out. You think your kids aren't listening, and then suddenly you hear them quoting you...
All those trips to the townhouse tended to happen at either sunrise or sunset. Despite the hassles, I was reminded how much I love this property on a daily basis. I still can't believe I was able to buy this at the age of 25, back when my salary was only $25k a year! Grateful to my family for teaching me how to stretch the value of the dollar and how to save!
Tyler and Eileen had been asking for a sleepover. I decided instead to offer them a "lock-in". The night of the Perseid meteor shower, we traveled to the vacant townhouse for our lock in. We planned to swim, but when we got out to the pool, there was a beautiful dry electrical storm, so we couldn't risk it. We ate pizza, played games, and watched movies. The kids were asleep before 10. I set my alarm for 12:30am, planning to drive them to Gate's Pass to watch for meteors. When my alarm went off, it was pouring rain, with lots of lightning. So much for meteor showers!
We woke up to this sight - fog in the valley!!! But in a couple of hours, the sun came out, the fog cleared up, perfect swimming weather. We had the pool to ourselves, and had a blast.
Tyler opted to wear his school shirt to his first day of school. He claims he hates school, yet when asked where he goes, he proudly recites the formal name.
We celebrated Tyson's birthday with our annual tradition of ice cream cake. So grateful that Grandma A came to celebrate with us!
Evidence that riding a bike as an adult is still a work in progress...grateful to our camp nurse for showing me the best way to wrap my hand!
Words can't describe how I felt when Tyler wore this shirt for the first time. I fell in love with the Gourmet Pizza Deli/Lost Dog Cafe in high school, the one on Washington Boulevard, near Lebanese Taverna, my other favorite Arlington restaurant. My sister's sister in law bought Tyler this shirt when he was four years old - so excited that he can finally wear it!
Tyson had bought me a gift certificate to Miraval Spa for Christmas. I had a hard time scheduling it. My admin helped me book the reservation and select activities. I was completely out of my comfort zone, spending a day in solitude amongst people who go to spas. Although I would prefer to go with a friend, spending a day there was an amazing experience!
I would definitely like to go back some day. I'd skip the personal development stuff though - I'd get a massage and some new physical activity, spend a little time on personal reflection, but also spend time with a friend.
Celebrating the development of the boys' relationship...Tyrien used Tyler as a substitute for Vader - sitting on him and petting him. Sometimes Tyler put up with it.
Still getting good use out of Vader's bed.
In October, we threw my mom a surprise birthday party. I picked her up from the airport, and then when she came into our house, my sister, mother-in-law, and our friends jumped out and threw confetti at her.
My sister had arrived one day earlier, and took Tyrien to the Desert Museum while the rest of us were at work or in school. I was so glad that Tyrien had the opportunity to spend time with his Aunt Jonell!
The second day of Grandma G's visit, her cousins Gary and Beth came down for a visit. The next day, Jonell's flight was delayed, so we spent time at the Botanical Gardens. What a great way to spend a flight delay! Grandma G then went on an adventure with her friend, Toshiko. Together, they rode the bus down to 4th Ave, ate lunch, took the trolley back, and then took the bus back.
The next day, we rented a van and drove to Albuquerque for the Hot Air Balloon Fiesta.
We attended the sunrise balloon session, the morning session, and the evening session.
Full disclosure - this trip included two six-hour drives, a 4am wakeup call, a 4:30am traffic jam, and then, everyone is required to leave the park between the morning and evening sessions. We tried napping at the hotel, but the kids' schedule was too messed up. There were meltdowns. Tyrien finally fell asleep right about when we were planning to leave, so then when we finally did leave, we were stuck in evening rush hour, and there was a detour forcing us off the freeway, but with no explanation as to how to get back to our destination, leading to an even worse traffic jam. But then when we finally got into the park, it looked like this:
Tyler and Tyrien requested light sabers. Usually at an event like this, we stay focused on the experience, and don't give in to requests to buy material things. We made an exception this time, and it turned out to be awesome.
The boys loved both the lightsabers and the balloons, and spontaneously held hands for much of the night. We learned Tyrien is not yet ready to love fireworks!
Celebrated more spontaneous sleeping.
Also celebrated moments of spontaneous horizontal orientation, amidst statements along the lines of, "No, I'm not tired!"
Part of my preparation for my Krav Maga test:
A little healthy competition helped get my head in the game.
After the test! As usual, Elizabeth looks calm, cool, and collected, while I look like a mess!
My partner for the test - I learned after that the purpose of the bandanna was to wipe off sweat. Note to self - the braid was a good idea, but bring a hairbrush for after the test.
Words can't express my joy that Gigima and Auntie Em joined us for Tyrien's family birthday this year. Family birthday dinners were a big deal during my childhood - how I loved that my siblings and their spouses would come home and spend the evening with us! I miss my family so much, especially on occasions such as these, so am always grateful that Grandma A joins us. This was the first time in a while that Gigima and Auntie Em came too - this is the kind of family celebration I love!
