life with kiddos Archives – Page 2 of 13

Misty Mountain

On February 24, 2023

DIARY

Friday morning, and for a late February day it’s already much warmer than it ought to be. Highs today and through the weekend will climb into the 70s. The roses are budding, the bulbs are pushing shoots out of the ground, and spring is threatening. It’s too early–we’re at least a couple of weeks ahead of schedule, if not more, and a cold snap could bring a lot of heartache. March snow is a real thing in North Carolina, even if we’re all but sunbathing ten days after Valentine’s.

Kelly is in Las Vegas for a meat-up, and yesterday and today I’ve woken up early to play varsity parent. There’s a lot to do on a regular school day: breakfasts, lunches, puppies, hair, packing, drop-off. The kids are very helpful. This morning I put in Annie’s earring after I accidentally tugged it out while brushing her hair. It occurred to me I’d never once poked an earring through her ear. She was a good sport about it.

Not only am I parenting solo, but Kel’s minivan went into the shop this week to get a nose job (read: new bumper to replace the one that got a hole in it when she got into a bump-up almost a year ago in Hickory). While the minivan was in Franklin for repairs, Kel was driving my car, and I’ve been driving Woodrow the Wagoneer.

A Change’ll Do You Good

By James D. Hogan

On December 31, 2022

In diary

On leaning into that whole “change is inevitable” bit…

Rarely have major life changes lined up so neatly with a calendar year. Not quite a year ago, I jumped in the car with a suitcase, kissed the kiddos and Kel goodbye (although they’d be coming behind me the next day), and drove up the mountain to Cullowhee. I checked into the Bird Alumni House, which became our home for the next three weeks, and reported to HFR for my first day of work at Western. Later that week, we enrolled the kiddos in their new school, and Kel officially began her full-time work for her own company.

By the time we closed on our house a few weeks later, it had already snowed–twice. And by the time our movers arrived with all our household possessions, it had threatened to snow a third time. (The closing was a round robin of delays, COVID, and weather; the first week in the house, the kids slept on air mattresses, and we ate off a card table.)

I traveled a fair amount this year–eight trips for work, several others for personal matters. In March, we lost our dear Aunt Jean, and the N.C. contingency of the Hogan family trekked through a winter storm to make the funeral. In April, I took Julia on her first “on a plane” trip to St. Petersburg for a weekend. We all made it to Cherry Grove for our family beach week in June, and this fall, I flew back up to NJ for a football weekend with family, including Jason and the Knights Brigade.

We made plenty of trips back to Statesville. So many I cannot count them all.

A Double Exposure

By James D. Hogan

On March 29, 2022

In writing

Sometimes I wonder if I am the anachronism.

This weekend brought a short and windy return of winter bluster, capping off what had been a nice stretch of seasonally warm weather and visions of spring. Friday evening it was moderately cold, but the blasts of wind roaring over the eastern ridge made even reasonable temps in the 40s feel bone-chillingly cold. Each night over the weekend, we covered up our new ferns with bedsheets, our front porch looking more suitable for Halloween than spring.

We’ve just capped off an entire week of houseguests. Kel’s parents stayed with us for several days to celebrate Annie and Julia’s birthdays, and then my Mom came up Friday and stayed the weekend. It was our first opportunity to deploy the little guest apartment in the detached garage, and everything seemed to work brilliantly.

Our house in Statesville closed a week ago, and Kelly and I can both feel the difference. Although mildly surreal to now be wholly detached from what we both considered our hometown, it’s still a relief to have the stress of selling a house behind us, to not worry about keeping up with two mortgages, and to cash that check. We’ve got a few projects in mind here in Sylva.

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