Thursday, November 20, 2008

Going offline

Today is my last day with the computer up and running. The movers packed most everything yesterday and loaded half of the stuff and house into the first container. They will return tomorrow for the other half. That means tonight I take the computer apart. Oh the joys.

Several things got packed that I didn't mean to. Oh well. It is hard to think about everything you need when the small kids underfoot keep distracting you. Thankfully, the movers left the TV and VCR alone. Kids can watch movies while I work on cleaning and organizing the stuff today.

Peanut loves the stairs and she can climb them like a pro. The problem is, I don't want her to climb them. Should she fall, it's a long way down to a concrete floor at the bottom. I spend a lot of time keeping an eye on her. Last night, she got hold of my cell phone, put it up to the side of her face and started "talking". Her favorite sounds right now is the hard "g" sound, so we hear ga, goo, and aga a lot. She is too funny with the phone. She got a hold of the phone again later and just tried to eat it, like normal.

Well, I've got too much to do to hang out any longer. I don't want to do anything, but we leave tomorrow and the old To Do list is long.

Later all, when I get back on, I'll be in New Mexico! Happy Thanksgiving!

Monday, November 17, 2008

Panic

Well, I'm in something of a panic. The movers come tomorrow. Am I ready? NO
Suitcases need to be packed, pillows need to be collected, extra formula needs to be stashed, I need to calm down. I'm not sure what entirely I'm panicking over. We will all be in our new home in New Mexico by December 1. Our stuff arrives on the 5th. So, us and everything will all be together again in a few weeks and really, anything I forget to pack can be bought along the way if it is truly essential. No worries, right?

So, today I've been packing and working on projects. At one I get a call asking if someone can come over between two and three to see the house (it's up for sale again). I said yes and started cleaning my laundry, toys, and beds. The 3 year old had some chips today and dumped a good deal of them into the living room floor. The baby was asleep. I waited as long as I could. By 1:45 I vacuumed and didn't care if it woke up the baby or not. I didn't pay attention to the time after that and just as I was ready to take the vacuum up the stairs, a knock came at the door, it was the people there to see the house. I ushered the kids out and just as I was ready to get myself into the car, the realtor and her person left. A very short tour. I hope that's not bad, but I'm guessing if you only spend two minutes in the house, you probably weren't impressed. I don't know. I took the time to run errands.

Tomorrow will be crazy. I'll be glad when this week is over - very glad.

Saturday, November 15, 2008

Funny kids

Today is my Princess's 5th birthday and let me tell you, it has been quite the day!

She has been talking about her birthday constantly for a week. When she woke up, she got to open 2 presents. One of them was a Gabriella dress (from HSM) that I got on Halloween clearance. She loved it. Of course, she wore it for the party. Well, part of the party. During the party, she went up to her room and changed into another dress. Later she opened presents and received a Hannah Montana dress (another Halloween clearance item). She ran up and changed. Later, they decided to go outside to jump on the trampoline. It has been raining for 3 days plus all morning. It was wet. She didn't want her new dress wet, so she changed again into some sweat pants and a t-shirt. Before the party was over, she changed back again into the Hannah Montana outfit. I haven't been up to her room yet, but I'm guessing it is a big clothes mess. The really funny thing is she doesn't know who Hannah Montana is. We don't have TV, so she has never seen the show, but have you ever walked through Wal-Mart with a 4 year old who points out Hannah M every time she sees it? You will find, Hannah M is on EVERY single aisle! I'm serious. All my daughter knows is Hannah is everywhere, she is blond (like my daughter) wears a lot of pink or is on a lot of pink items, and she usually is holding a microphone. My daughter is smart enough to know that means she is a singer. That's all it takes, blond, pink, microphone - daughter loves her!

So, this evening at dinner, the newly 5 year old girl announces to me, "I know what malady means." Really? "It means they belong together." OK. Confused? So am I.

She also got a Barbie today that didn't have a name or anything. My daughter decided to name her Jackal. Can we call her Jackie for short? She decided later she would re-name her and she is now Jeannie. Much better.

Did I mention the Hannah Montana pinata we did today? After we got it opened and the little kids collected their candy, my 10 year old went to town with the bat and the Hannah M pinata. You can be sure, there wasn't much left after he was done. Let me say, Happy Birthday to you, my daughter, but I'm glad it is over!

Thursday, November 13, 2008

continuing to stay busy

My days are slipping past me fast. I don't know where the time is going. My to do list is a mile long and each day I think of more things that need to be done before I leave. The movers arrive on Tuesday. They will work Tuesday and Thursday. This week has also had a lot of social activities that I've had to attend, which takes away from my work time, but it has been nice to spend time with people I love before leaving.

Saturday is my daughter's birthday. She will be five. She is so interesting to look at. I look at her and realize she is tall, and has the face of a child, not the face of a toddler. She loves to talk! She loves to sing and perform, and while she loves to be the center of attention, she doesn't demand it. She loves High School Musical, princesses, writing letters, keeping Peanut entertained, and talking. She can be bossy, sassy, and unhelpful. She has the potential to do anything she wants in life. I worry constantly about her and at the same time, I have no worries about her, if that makes any sense.

Well, the to do list is long and it's not about to get any shorter with me sitting here. Yesterday I painted the hallway. It had a horrid, faded wallpaper. I hate wallpaper! This house was covered in it, and it has all be the original wallpaper to this house, 30 years old! I hope Peanut cooperates today.

Monday, November 10, 2008

Birthday time!

Today is my youngest son's birthday. He is three. It's been a tough three years with him. He hasn't been happy to be a part of this world. Still, he has some wonderful qualities. He has the sweetest laugh and it is still so genuine. He only laughs when something is really funny. He loves to work in his "workbook". Years ago, when my oldest was three, I got a Kindergarten homeschool workbook. Each kid has colored in it over the years. Now my youngest son has it and it is HIS. Don't mess with it. He loves to work in it and he is working very hard at his coloring.

He told me yesterday he was 14. Fourteen is his new favorite number. If you ask him how many toys he is holding or how many chicken nuggets is on his plate, he will tell you fourteen.

I've been calling this boy Toddler in blog land, but he needs a new name. He isn't a toddler any more. Still, I'm having a hard time coming up with a good name for him. I'll keep working on that.

So, today, he opened a few presents in the morning and the rest this afternoon after his brothers got home from school. Some friends came over and we had cake and ice cream. Our friends gave him a bag of chips. He loves chips. It was a perfect present for him. They also gave him a transformer car and with no planning, I got him two more of the same kind of car. Amazingly, we got all different ones and now he is having a great time crashing his transformers. That's what you're suppose to do with them. Who ever created those knew what 3 year olds loved. It is perfect.

Well, tonight for dinner is chicken nuggets, currently his favorite food. They smell like they are done and I had better get those out of the oven.

Saturday, November 08, 2008

productive chaos

As we prepare to move two weeks from yesterday, I have been keeping quite busy.

First, I must say congratulations to my sister, who had her third baby on October 29. It is a beautiful little girl, from the pictures I've seen and I can't wait to meet her.

My Mom, an amazing woman, came to visit this last week. We had an extremely busy week and quite a few laughs too. We were going to do a lot of yard work, but the weather didn't permit that, so we stayed indoors. We did some major projects like, painting the computer room, spray painting all the ceilings downstairs, and tiling the kitchen and dining room floor. We did countless of smaller projects like repairing toilet paper rolls that had broken, replacing toilet seats, putting up new shower curtains, and lots of deep cleaning that needed done. A million loads of laundry were done, at least 10 trips to Lowes were made, several Wal-Mart trips and a visit to my son's school where he received student of the month. We stayed up until 10:30 most nights working on stuff for a few hours after the kids went to bed. It was lots of fun and lots of work. I learned how to do a few things and I learned how NOT to do many more things. The step ladder became my best friend and I carried it all over the house, all of the time. We used at least 5 cans of white paint, 3 paint rollers, 20 plastic sheets to cover things while we painted, and we each wore out a very tacky work outfit. Mom got a pair of pink nurses pants and a purple t-shirt. I wore my pink Winnie The Pooh PJ top and blue pants. More people saw me in my PJ's this week than I care to admit to.

We learned that two sleep deprived women high on the fumes from Goo Gone are clever enough and capable enough for anything. We had some very creative moments. Overall, the week was extremely productive. Unfortunately, I still have a great deal to do. The kitchen floor tile isn't quite done, but it will be by the end of today. The outside still needs a good deal of work, but we are waiting for better weather next week. The inside of the house is pretty messy with all the stuff from our projects and all the things that are out of place while we've worked. I need to get over to the storage room, empty it and bring everything back to the house.

I still don't know what to do about selling or renting the house, but time is short. I leave my home two weeks from yesterday. Whatever happens will happen. As my favorite actress, Doris Day, would sing: "Que sera, sera. What will be, will be."