Move the Third

I thought I was pretty indoctrinated into the 'country' lifestyle.  I mean, check out the street we live on.

 

Dirt road?  Check.  Animals?  Mmm hmmm.   (Did they live?  Nope.  RIP ducks.)  Nice neighbors?  Yeah.  Roosters waking me up in the morning and donkeys braying in the distance and horses in the next yard?  You got it, partner.

I have loved living in the 'country'.  Who wants to worry about neighbors nagging them if their dogs get out, maybe kill someone's favorite cat, yadda yadda yadda?  I don't want to be judged if I leave the Christmas lights on my back porch year round, do you?  Who wants to live in a world where a man isn't allowed to stand in his front yard with his jeans and suspenders on, and nothing else?  I sure don't. Despite my newly-acquired bumpkin nature, my husband has assured me that I am still 'city', whatever that means. 

And also, whatever. 

I totally disagreed on this point until yesterday as I was scoping out the house we'll be moving into at the end of this month.

Yesterday we were all walking the property, kicking the tires, and Knox was pretty overstimulated with all the free space in the house and the insane echo his voice made when he screamed his very loudest in the empty bedrooms while we discussed money-this and money-that with our new landlords.  I decided to punt him out the back door take him for a walk in the yard and together we investigated the well in the backyard.

Well water was one of the 'selling points' of us deciding to move at all.  We LOVE the house we live in now, including the absolute remote location and our laissez-faire-until-we-need-them-landlords BUT having a well means saving on the green stuff, and big time if you live in our county.  Living in town means less commute IF we're both working in Jacksboro.  (I've got an interview Thursday, say a prayer.)  And living in Jacksboro means we're THAT much closer to the hospital network with which we're now affiliated because of Hayes' condition.  And while the house is 'in' town, it's still on a dirt road and, as a special bonus, it's even MORE private than our house now without being fifteen minutes away from work.  Goodbye curtains, hello lovely, leafy privacy.

But anyway, the well.  We were looking at it.  The well is in a little shed and I decided to have a peep.

I dunno if you've ever seen a 'well' that services residential needs.  But I know I was expecting to see this inside the little white shed I was so avidly investigating.

Plus or minus one dead girl crawling out of the top.  I admit, I was really curious as to how we were going to get the water without using a rope and bucket, but I allowed technological advances to cover that tricky spot.  I'm only sad I'll have nowhere to throw pennies when feeling particularly wishful.

If you still don't know why this is funny, I won't spoil the surprise.  Come to my new house and I'll show you my water well.  But in any case, I remain a City Slicker.  Sorry, y'all.

In other news, HAYES IS SCHEDULED FOR SURGERY! Or he will be really soon (pending date checking and availability, but we're looking at July 10 or 17th).

We visited our ophthalmologist for a check up today, and because Hayes' strabismus (eye-crossing) is stable, he can have the surgery to correct it!  This is AWESOME and urgent for more than cosmetic reasons alone.  Hayes' brain is still adapting to the vision that he has because of his optic nerve hypoplasia, and in cases where strabismus is involved, the brain can actually train itself to turn off the signals it receives from one eye to counteract the double vision effect.  So plainly speaking, the earlier he has this corrective surgery, the better it is for his brain and his vision.  Our vision therapist attended the appointment with us and was so excited to see Hayes watching objects and holding his head upright.  She was also really encouraged by the doctor's opinions about Hayes' eyesight.  Add that to a SPECTACULAR physical therapy session today, during which I got to tell our OT that Hayes can now roll over and prop himself up on his arms while on his tummy, and you've got a pretty amazing day in my world.  Thank you, Jesus.  (I may be a little bit excited.)

Please, look at my awesome kids.