Why a herd of turtles?

Back when I was a little girl, my grandfather used the phrase "Off like a herd of turtles" any time we (the family - cousins, aunts, parents and all) were about to take a trip. I never understood this expression until I had my own kids. You can't just get up and leave if you have to go somewhere. There is a list of things that must be accomplished before just walking out the daggum door. Not to mention getting assembled in the car and such. Pick out clean outfits for each man, woman and child. Wash hands and faces of kids (and sometimes man and woman). Make sure each man woman and child has been to the bathroom BEFORE you begin to dress - trust me on this one. Finally, dress the family. This does not include getting together matching socks. For some reason, the picking out of outfits never seems to logically follow picking out matching socks. It should - and yet it doesn't. Whatever. Locate all the pairs of appropriate shoes. Now, let me take a moment to establish the fact that adding a pre-teen or teeange female to this picture only complicates the chaos by a factor of 10. Prepare for at least a daily fight about the choice of outfit and/or shoes. Next we go to the least favorite task of getting ready... Brushing hair. GOOD GRIEF. I suggest keep the children's hair short unless you enjoy spending 15 minutes a day making your children beg for mercy. If you are getting ready in the winter months - just allot a certain amount of time for finding the appropriate outerwear. Oh and good grief... if you have tiny ones - do not forget to stock the diaper bag with plenty of hygeine products as well as snacks or travel entertainment. And then if you are like me, you need to make a trip around the house turning off lights, unplugging curling irons, closing the clothers dryer door to keep cats from making nests inside.... Ok... so you get the picture. Then you get in the car and fight with seatbelts, fight with children who are fighting with seatbelts, fight with children who are fighting with each other over the front seat or something stupid like seatbelts. Remembering you didn't lock the door, running back inside and realizing you forgot your purse and keys on the kitchen counter so you are saying a prayer of thanksgiving that you didn't just lock yourself and the entire family outside in the cold.... All these things just to get in the car and return your movie before you get charged another night's rental fee. So, you see... you never can just get up and go. It's like watching a herd of turtles race toward the finish line. Slow and painful. The intensity of the internal panic on the faces of the turtles is probably equivalent to the intensity I feel just trying to get out the daggum door.


And my blog just could not have been better named. Apparently, the Blackburns do not do things in much of a hurry. I mean, come on. I am finally getting my college degree after starting it 15 years ago. Billy is joining the Army in his late 30's. I tell my kids to pick up their dirty clothes off the floor and they tell me "in a minute." See? No hurry. 

So, relax and enjoy this blog. Come along with us as we take this leap of faith into a whole new world of military life. It's sure to be a blast!