The Parkers

The best laid plans

Lee — Sun, 01 Jun 2008 17:15:23 +0000

Katie and I have been trying hard to make this move as easy on Norah as possible. We found a day school closer to our new apartment and my office. It was great. Norah started there about two months ago so she would have plenty of time to adjust to the new school before she had to adjust to a new apartment. It took her about two weeks to get used to the new school such that she stopped crying when we dropped her off. By now, she is back to the point where she practically shoves us out the door when we drop her off.

We are now a handful of days away from moving into our new place. The vast majority of our stuff is in boxes and the rest of it will be by Wednesday morning. Norah actually asks us everyday if we are “moving to ours new home tomorrow.” We are all very excited and ready to move.

However, just when you think everything is under control, life throws you a curve ball. We found out Friday that the Norah’s new school will be closing later this month. Now all our preparation to make this move easy on her seems fruitless. Norah is going to have to adjust to a new apartment and a new school all at the same time. I was under no impression that being a parent was going to be easy, but I had hoped that our well laid plans could spare our daughter the difficulties of adjusting to our semi-nomadic lifestyle.

Ask and Ye Shall Receive…

Katie — Mon, 05 May 2008 03:32:07 +0000

Thank you to everyone who asked for updated pictures (of Norah). There are 3 new Albums in the Gallery for you to see.

If you feel the need to pack a box, give us a call - we’d be happy to let you fulfill that need. Packing is going well, we’re almost through with the first bundle of small boxes. It’s truly amazing how many books we have, and this after numerous weed outs. More pictures will follow soon as Norah will be a Flower Girl in 2 weddings this month.

love to all
katie

Again with the Life of a Semi-Nomad

Katie — Fri, 25 Apr 2008 20:39:17 +0000

I hate moving.
But I love Austin, love my job, love our church and want to live closer to all these things. So Lee, Norah and I will be moving into the Arboretum area of Austin (Mo-Pac & Capital of TX Hwy) in June. We have begun selling our worldly possessions on Craig’s List and are slowly packing up. The goal is, of course, to cull out unnecessary items as we go. We have boxes of items that have moved with us since Centenary (Centenary College of Louisiana) and it’s time to say adios to the junk we don’t need. I am very much looking forward to a shorter commute everyday and actually living close enough to hang out with friends. I also look forward to kissing the Cedar Fever inducing forests behind, or at least not living directly beneath their branches anymore.

Cedar fever

Katie — Fri, 25 Apr 2008 20:38:50 +0000

Lee and I have learned the hard way the joy of living in the midst of groves of Cedar trees — Cedar fever. Apparently humans and Cedar trees do not live together harmoniously, in fact the Cedars seem to be avenging their fallen comrades (sacrificed on the alter of suburbia) by inflicting red, itchy, water eyes, runny noses and headaches on the rest of us.

Party Animal

Katie — Sun, 16 Dec 2007 03:35:27 +0000

Norah’s birthday party was quite a hit!! Her Momma FINALLY let her wear her Princess dress (the one her Nona made for her) and she helped Daddy make the icing for her birthday cake. Norah received a birthday haul worthy of royalty, from princess decorations for her room, to costumes, play food and books. A fun time was had by all — plus the apartment looks great (I think we should host more events — it forces us to clean house.)

I can’t believe Christmas festivities are a week away, I’ve been so focused on birthday that it just doesn’t seem real. Enjoy the new pictures! Love to all katie

Norah’s 3rd Birthday today (Katie & Lee’s 5th wedding anniversary Friday)

Katie — Thu, 13 Dec 2007 03:21:26 +0000

Today Norah turned 3 years old, as she frequently tells us “[she’s] getting so big Momma.” Despite all efforts to not overly genderize her, Norah requested a Pink Princess Party to celebrate her birthday. Her wish is Our command. Lee and I are in the process of converting her “ordinary” room into one fit for a Princess. For now she has a new Princess canopy, Princess bed linens & 2 dragons guarding her sleep. I’m doing my best to guide her to strong, independent, self reliant images of Princesses, all while trying not to go too overboard with the Girl Power propaganda.

It’s hard to believe it’s been 3 years already but even tougher to believe that Lee & I’ve been married 5 years (toughest of all to believe we’ve now been a couple for NINE, that’s right - 9, years). We’re going to go celebrate on Friday by having a Norah-free dinner prior to her big party on Saturday.

We’re loving Austin and can’t wait to live closer to town (and therefore work & friends) — ‘though the thought of packing up again makes me want to gag. Please come see us if you’re ever in Central Texas.

katie

Still In Boxes!

Lee — Fri, 06 Jul 2007 13:42:41 +0000

I am now finishing my second week of work. I really enjoy working for Small World Labs. My co-workers are a great bunch of people and the work itself is quite fun. Katie is still searching for a job, but we have found a place for Norah to be in preschool which she will be starting sometime in the next week or so.

One of our biggest frustrations is that we are still not unpacked. We had several plans for this past weekend. These plans were thwarted because I was running a high fever for most of the weekend. So, we are renewing those plans for tomorrow and Sunday. Next week we start hosting guests which is a nice way to encourage us to unpack.

We spent the 4th in Dallas with Katie’s family celebrating her sister’s birthday. It was a surreal experience driving home and realizing that it won’t be six months before we see them all again. I just kept thinking, “This is why we moved closer.” It was really fun and reinforced all of our joy in being here.

Settling in

Lee — Fri, 22 Jun 2007 13:09:53 +0000

So we arrived in Austin a little over a week ago. The apartment, which we signed a lease for sight-unseen, exceeded our expectations and would have been totally unaffordable in Denver. Our stuff arrived a few days after we did and we are now working to unpack and organize all of it. This is one of my least favorite parts of moving.

I will be starting my new job as a web software developer for Small World Labs this coming Monday. This an exciting new career path in IT for me and I can’t wait to start work. I am still planning to pursue ordination, but this will be an interesting career to pursue in parallel.

Katie has some interesting job prospects coming up. We are also still looking for a preschool/daycare facility for Norah. So, we are getting settled. This move has been quite the undertaking and I am not looking forward to doing it again any time soon.

If you want our new contact information, send us a note through the contact form on this site.

Moving on. . .

Lee — Sun, 10 Jun 2007 03:32:00 +0000

It is the beginning of the end. Yesterday was my last day to work at Iliff (Iliff School of Theology). I have certainly enjoyed my time there. I studied and worked in that community for the better part of six years. It is going to be more difficult to leave than I thought. There are many people there who have touched my life and taught me a lot both in the classroom and in the office. So, if any of you are reading this, thank you.

Another step in the moving process is that Norah is now in Houston staying with her Meemaw and Poppy. She and Meemaw will meet us in Austin on Friday. We already miss her, but it will be much easier to pack and do other moving preparations knowing that she is safe, cared for, and entertained.

I hope to have more news on the job front early next week. Until then….

Reloaction Catch-22

Lee — Fri, 18 May 2007 23:04:05 +0000

We are less than a month away from our moving date (June 13th). By this date next month we will have been in Austin for several days and our stuff should be arriving on the moving truck. I am excited, anxious, and scared all at the same time.

Katie and I are both furiously looking for jobs. I think we both harbored the rather naive idea that I would get a job much sooner than this. Of course, most business don’t hire several months in advance of their job openings. This is where the paradox comes in. We really need at least one of us to have a job start as soon as we get down there. In order to get a job, we need to be there to do interviews, second interviews, etc. So, we need the job to get there and we need to be there to get a job. My mind gets all twisted just thinking about it. I am hopeful something exciting will happen in the next few weeks.

This is amounting to a very stressful move. I’m sure that when my parents had to do this it was just as stressful, but they always made it seem so easy.