We're Here!

We made it! All moved in and barely unpacked, but we do have a new place to call home. I'll probably get around to a really lengthy post at some point but a few highlights include a Mike Lang sighting, a visit from the Jehovah's Witnesses, internet that won't work (thankfully we have a neighbor that didn't secure their wireless internet...), and a vehicle that won't start.


Yesterday evening we were outside exploring our yard and got a chance to meet some of our neighbors. Things have been stressful and the place is in complete chaos, but as I was sitting there on my porch with my fabulous husband, giggly kids, and cuddly pooch I thought, "I love this house."

Going Rogue

This will probably be the last blog entry I write before I have to go rogue. Communication will be going dark in a few days and I will see you on the other side, after the move. So much to say, so little time. So here it is short and sweet, which is likely not short and sweet at all since I tend to be wordy and not all that sugarcoated:

1. Thank you Cara for explaining the fantastic thing called coffee. Sure, I have drank it before but I really don't like all that much. I totally forgot though that it isn't always about the thing. Sometimes it is about the thing that that thing does. Not all that appealing going down, but when the caffeine kicks in, BAM! Life is good.

2. Packing is progressing. People keep asking for updates but I don't really know how to update them. I feel like we have been almost done for over a week now, but then I turn around and realize something else that needs dealt with. I was planning on doing the kitchen today while the kids slept. Didn't even get started. I have a bunch of meals frozen. We are planning on eating those starting today so cooking is done with for over a week. Therefore, time to pack the kitchen up and eat off of paper plates for a few days. I should probably be working on that instead of blogging. Blogging is just higher priority.

3. Just in case there are any questions, I just want to get it out in the open that I am cool personified. On the flip side, I am also complete dork personified. I am happy to report, this morning I finished watching every single episode from all 10 seasons of Beverly Hills, 90210 from start to finish. That's right, I have seen everything from Brandon and Brenda's first day of school at West Beverly High to the sacred and eternal unity of Donna and David. It has taken me over a year. I don't know the exact date of starting it but I am thinking it was around June of 2007 when I watched season 1, episode 1. I watched the show for the first few seasons when it first aired. At the time it came on, I was in middle school but somewhere around season 5 or 6, I was in high school and was way cooler than the 90210 gang. The first season of the show was pretty bad, but very entertaining with their big hair, spandex shorts, and general bad prime time television writing. Seasons 2-6 were actually very entertaining for the most part. Then things went downhill the last four seasons and the writers were really grasping at straws for story ideas. By the end, a lot of the original cast was gone which was just not right either. For the most part, I downloaded just about every episode from somewhere on the internet. (Ask me where if you want to try out this fine viewing task and be as cool as me!) I had also saved lots of episodes on our DVR which made Greg a little grumpy since there were so many episodes saved on their at one point that we didn't have much room for anything else on there. I had to take several breaks from watching multiple episodes a day, sometimes lasting a couple a months at a time, just because I couldn't locate whatever episode came next. I refused to watch out of order or skip episodes so that is just how it was. I know, you are all so jealous that you didn't take on this task yourself. Now I am trying to figure out what to do with all my free time...

4. Since Marcus was born with man hair (as opposed to no hair or that baby fine stuff), I have been trying for 2 years now to figure out what to do with his mop. I've been letting it grow out a bit on the top. Last night I thought it was a good idea to give him pigtails. He thought it was hilarious but for some reason would not cooperate so I could get a good picture of him. I think he knew the pictures would later be used for blackmailing purposes... not that I would EVER do that... probably.



5. We had a play date with Lola this morning. Friends of theirs were visiting from Guatemala. I had met the woman, Dianna, before. She was our tour guide when we went to Antigua while on our pickup trip for Will. It was great to see her again and to meet her husband Hugo. Hopefully I will get to spend more time with them this weekend. Dianna commented that Marcus is very big for his age. I found this kinda funny since several of my friends' kids that are younger than Marcus are as big as him. So maybe he is big for a Guatemalan boy, but still on the small side by US standards. Seeing Dianna and Hugo made me miss Guatemala and all the wonderful people there. I can't wait for our kids to get a little bigger so we can take them back to Guatemala and they might actually have a chance of remembering some of their home country.

Choo Choo Frenzy

Marcus is choo choo obsessed. There is just no way around it. I am not sure exactly when it started but his obsession has just escalated. Perhaps my earliest hint of this all was when we were on vacation in early August. He came running out of the room he was sleeping in yelling in hysterical excitement about a choo choo. I had no idea what he was talking about. Then I went in there. He had lined all the shoes up into a nice neat line and decided they were a choo choo.

It wasn't until a few weeks ago that we started watching Thomas the Train. He had been showing much interest in trains and we had even bought him that little wooden train set so what the heck, we put it on. Normally Marcus is one of those kids that just bounces off the walls. He is a great listener and a fabulous rule follower, but he also just behaves as if he just drank a pot of coffee. He is loud and very very active. Today Greg was at the dentist and I was trying to cook dinner with two kids running around so I put "choo choo" (a.k.a Thomas the Train) on TV. I turned it on at 4:30. This was Marcus at 4:31.


This was Marcus at 4:38:


This was Marcus at 4:45:


At about 4:51 Will joined him to see what was so captivating. At first I think the only thing Will found captivating was what was in his nose:


And the show was finally coming to an end around 4:55:


Now, allow me to take you on a little tour of Marcus's choo choo obsession. It is not merely limited to watching choo choos, or even choo choos themselves. Marcus has opened my eyes to a world where anything can be a choo choo. The following is a short sampling collected over the past four days of many (but not even close to all!) of the things that Marcus has designated as choo choos.

Picture taken four days ago, a Matchbox Car/Train/Roller choo choo:


Picture taken three days ago, a snack time choo choo:


Picture taken two days ago, a choo choo/car/truck choo choo:


Picture also taken two days ago, a block choo choo with a previously built hodgepodge of vehicles choo choo in the background:


Picture taken yesterday, I decided to be completely insane and attempt to take two kids out to eat at a restaurant by myself. All went well. I was eating a salad. I don't like raw tomatoes and don't eat those. I was quite confused when Marcus started pointing at my salad and yelling out in a crazy frenzy, "Choo choo!!" I looked down and saw this:


Picture taken yesterday, a frech fry choo choo:


Picture taken yesterday after bath, a soap choo choo:


Picture taken today at a restaurant, although he was fixing it at the time, a napkin choo choo:


And it doesn't end there. We have a book in our house for the kids that has lots of random pages in it with themes for each group. There is one page layout that is all transportation objects. Yesterday Marcus opened the book to that page and made me sit there and hold it open for about 30 minutes straight, checking back periodically to make sure that the page with the choo choo was still showing. He got really mad if I put the book down or switched pages. Another book we have is about all kinds of things that go. There is one page spread that is nothing but trains. Thankfully I wasn't forced to hold that page open today. Marcus found a better solution. Anytime Will would go within 3 feet of the choo choo page on display, he turned into some sort of wild beast protecting its young.



I have to get off this couch and do some packing. Although I do have one question first. I am totally at a loss as to what theme I should use for Marcus's room at our new house. Any suggestions? :)

Our New House

I don't think I have really posted anything about our new house. Sure, it won't really be our house for another week and a half, but I'm excited (and terrified and overwhelmed) about it so, why not blog about it. Besides, my kids are all into playing with each other these days and that leaves me bored and with time to blog.



It is similar to our current house - three bedroom, two bath, ranch style, square footage about the same - but we feel it will be a better fit for our family. First of all, check out that porch! I don't even know what to do with that porch! There is also a deck off the back of it. The floor plan is much more open. At our current house we pretty much confine ourselves to the family room and kitchen all day. The dining room and living room here are separated from the other rooms and I don't like the idea of the kids being that far out of view. In the new house the kitchen, family room, dining room, and living room are pretty much all one space. The basement is currently in the process of being finished but still is a long way from being done. That is one of the things on our long long list of things to do to the house.

The yard is amazing. The house sits on 4.9 acres. Much of the lot is wooded. The house comes with a swingset as well as this super cool playhouse that is accessed by going across a little swinging bridge.



We have lots of privacy as it sits back behind and below some other houses. However, the driveway is connected to a big housing plan giving us access to lots of potential playmates and a big future of sending the kids out in the neighborhood to play.

Not too much longer until I'll have pictures of the inside filled up with boxes of our stuff that is going to need unpacking.

I sent out a mass email with our new address but if I know you and you didn't get it, comment with your email address and I'll hook you up.

My Scattered Brain

Here are some of the random things going on inside my head that I would be more likely to write about in detail if I had the time:

- Moving company is booked to move our furniture. U-Haul is booked so we can move everything else.

- Packing is going pretty well. I think we are mostly to the point where the only things that are left to pack are things that I know we are going to need for the next week and a half... like my entire kitchen.

- Starting to get all emotional about moving. Went to the grocery store today. It might be my last trip to this grocery store. Now, I HATE grocery shopping. It took me so many bad grocery shopping experiences to locate this grocery store. (I'm just not a fan of rude checkout people and massive amounts of rude people.) I saw Bob the bagger. I mentioned him quite awhile back on my blog. He has a grandson who was adopted from Guatemala. He said he was sad that he wouldn't get a chance to see my boys grow up. Also chatted with a checkout lady that I see frequently. Will had a runny nose at the register and she even pulled out a tissue before I could locate one in my purse and wiped Will's nose for him! I just hope I enjoy the grocery store close to my new house as much as I enjoy this one. I won't really have too many options for grocery shopping in our new town.

- Will is finally making a turn for the better away from the whiny toddler stage. Either that or I am just getting better at ignoring the whiny toddler stage. He has a lot to say and is getting much more creative in his use of words. He loves people and is always making friends when we are out and about. His current favorite activities include riding his big wheel and playing with his big brother. He tries to repeat words that we say. Mostly he repeats words that Marcus says. Since Marcus is still working on his pronunciation, Will's attempt at Marcus's words is pretty unrecognizable.

- A couple weeks ago Marcus suddenly decided to start displaying typical terrible two behavior. He has been grumpy and moody and somewhat defiant. It coincided with potty training so I think that push towards doing something very big kid like that disrupted his distemper. Today was a really good day. He never stops talking now, stringing more and more words together. He talks in sentences, minus little words (the, a, is) and tells you all about his observations of the world around him. He is getting great at communicating his desires which certainly has its ups and downs. (The other day when Greg and I went out he told me in a very matter a fact voice, "Marcus go too.") He ends almost every sentence with the word "too", particularly if his thought is just one word. If he starts whining when he talks I tell him to tell me without whining. He stops, takes a deep breath, smiles and asks for what he wants in a nice calm tone. Marcus still has a few potty accidents, usually when he is really involved with playing. He's still been wearing pull-ups to bed but it is really just for my security. He wakes up even at night to tell us if he has to go.

- Today is Independence Day in Guatemala. Apart from eating Guatemalan food and talking about Guatemala every once in awhile, we really don't do anything particular to celebrate Guatemala around here. I was hoping that we could have a Guatemalan celebratory cookout around September 15th each year, just to celebrate Guatemala. With everything else going around here, that just didn't happen. Just gives me longer to plan for next year's big bash.

Musical Interlude c/o RCPM

Greg and I took the night off last night from all things moving related to attend possibly the best concert of the year. Grandma came in to do some babysitting and Greg and I headed down to Altar in the The Strip to watch/listen to Roger Clyne & the Peacemakers (RCPM) do what they do best. We were planning on meeting up with a friend of mine and her boyfriend but they decided to be lazy and stay home. Mostly I was shocked and befuddled as to why my concertBFF had chosen to be completely lame and not even desire to attend the concert with yours truly. It was nice to get to do something with just Greg so all was well.

Greg and I got to the venue about an hour early. Oops. The man at the door said we would have to come back so we went for a walk to find some place to hang out. We located a sports bar and sat down to talk. Hmm... Just me and Greg... alone. What in the world do we talk about? As we were pondering a subject for discussion, in walked Steve Larson, the lead guitarist for RCPM. He sat at the bar and ate a sandwich while reading a magazine, you know, like he was a normal person. That is probably because he really is a normal person. Greg ordered us up a couple of drinks to pass the time.

Annie sent the following txt msg sent to concertBFF at 8:33 pm – Doors open at 9. You coming?

After we finished our beverages, it was back to Altar. Being veterans of RCPM shows, we have come to recognize a few faces in the crowd. Allow me to introduce you to the cast. First we eyed up Old Couple. Last RCPM show we attended at Altar we ended up standing next to them and chatting with them quite a bit. We like Old Couple. They are probably about 15-20 years older than us. We spent the evening hanging out by them again, chatting a bit. We were looking for Amazon Woman and Hola Lola but didn’t locate them until later in the night. Twice at RCPM concerts in Cleveland Amazon Woman and her boyfriend decided it was necessary to try to push their way in front of us and then make out during the concert. Thankfully they kept mostly to the themselves over on the side of the stage. They were hanging out with the bathroom attendant lady who kept feeling up the bass players legs during the concert. (Every part of that last sentence is just weird.) You can check out the full story on Hola Lola by clicking here. Last time I found Hola Lola merely insanely irritating. Greg kept commenting previously about how ugly she was. Last night the only thing I found irritating about her was how ugly she was. Greg said, “Looking at her is like a punch to the face – and not in a good way.”

ConcertBFF sent the following txt msg to Annie at 9:43 pm – nah seeing how its 943. enjoying ohio state getting whipped on too much. go trojans!

Annie sent the following txt msg sent to concertBFF at 9:44 pm – The game is on here & opener just started. You have time!

The opener, Cowboy Mouth, came on around 10:00. I had heard the name of the band before but knew nothing about them. Wow were they fun! The lead singer was also the drummer. He didn’t look like he was part of a band. He was wearing a generic sports jersey and short running shorts. He was a rather portly man. Only about a minute into the set and the singer/drummer abandoned his drums and grabbed his cordless mic. He was out in the audience telling everyone to get closer to the stage, rounding up the crowd and demanding they have a good time. Old Couple, Greg, and I got shoed away from the bar by the singer/drummer and found ourselves forced to participate. And participate we all did! Once the singer/drummer got back to his drums, he told us all when to yell, when to cheer, when to shout so loud that we scared the people who worked there. And he was funny too!

ConcertBFF sent the following txt msg to Annie at 10:09 pm – you going to come get me?

Annie sent the following txt msg sent to concertBFF at 10:10 pm – Hell no. I can’t believe you aren’t here. Opener is incredible. I’m not missing it.

Everyone in that entire place was into the show. When the singer/drummer told us to scream, every person in there screamed. At one point he told us to get down on the ground. Every single person in that place was crouched down to the floor. When they started playing one song, several people in the crowd pulled out red plastic spoons and were dancing while holding them up in the air. One lady had a whole handful of spoons and was eagerly passing them out to people. I was confused. I tried listening to the lyrics and heard something about a red house and something else that was red. Then at one point in the song I finally heard the words “red spoon”. As soon as it was said, everyone in the audience threw their red spoons at the drummer.

Cowboy Mouth was absolutely entertaining. They were loud. They were funny. Half of the Old Couple commented that she thought the drummer was irritating. Most of all they were energetic. On a scale of 1 to 10, I would have to say their energy level was a 65. Maybe even 66.

Annie sent the following txt msg sent to concertBFF at 10:49 pm – Title revoked for not being here. Holy [beep] [beep] awesome night. Probably email you when I get home’

ConcertBFF sent the following txt msg to Annie at 11:01 pm - i thought we established i was amanda and therefore a hater of fun. why are you surprised?

Shortly after 11, RCPM took the stage. Steve, the guitarist, had changed out of his reading magazines and eating a sandwich clothes and was in his ready to rock it out clothes. They kicked it off with Contraband and went right into Maybe We Should Fall in Love. When Greg and I go to concerts, we play this game and pick the one song that we really want to hear. Greg decided to ditch his normal pick for RCPM shows since it hasn’t been on the setlist for years. Instead he picked Maybe We Should Fall in Love. I had the hardest time picking one song. So I didn’t I picked two. They didn’t play Love, Come Lighten my Load which was depressing but they did play Mañana which was my other pick. I posted a totally out of order setlist below for myself just in case anyone cares.

Annie sent the following picture via txt msg sent to concertBFF at 12:01 am –


ConcertBFF sent the following txt msg to Annie at 12:03 am – so you were far away, then? ps going to bed now.

After playing lots of songs on their setlist, Roger called out for requests. Not really sure it was an actual request, but they started playing Tell Your Momma. Total awesomeness. They started it off a capella in four-part harmony. Sweet. The song ended the same way. Then they played Noisy Head and Captain Suburbia, and I am really not sure who would like either of those songs enough to request them when they have so many more songs that are far more entertaining. Not that I shouted out any requests so it wasn’t like I put any effort into choosing something better.

There was a setlist taped to a speaker right in front of me. Usually I try to grab them at the end of the show. Mostly this show I was interested in grabbing one of Roger’s guitar picks. He had four of them tucked in the pick guard of his electric guitar and I was so waiting for him to drop one. The picks had the little RCPM swirly logo on it. He never dropped one.

The band took the shortest encore break in the history of music. When they came back on the stage, the owner of the venue called Roger over and said something to him. Roger got on the mic and announced that the owner – who was apparently having as good of a time last night as the rest of us – was buying everyone in the place a drink! Neither Greg nor I capitalized on it but lots of other people were off to the bar.

Last show we went to, I was wondering out loud just how many shots of tequila Roger drinks during a show. People are always buying him shots and handing them to him on stage. He drinks some and gives some away. I had a feeling it was rather deceiving how much he actually drinks. Turns out, he does way more talking and singing about drinking tequila than he does actual drinking it. He only drank 2 ½ shots the whole show (he shared one shot with someone in the audience, thus, only drinking half). At one point he had five shots in his hand and passed out every single one of them to people in the audience. At the end of the show there was one shot of tequila left on the stage. Roger picked it up and handed it to me between shaking hands. I didn’t get a handshake. I didn’t get the setlist. I didn’t get a guitar pick that I wanted oh so badly. So, I accepted the tequila.

Totally awesome show. Totally awesome night. Totally awesome audience since not a single person annoyed me. Band probably could have picked a better last song (they played Nada) but the rest of the setlist was pretty solid so I can’t even really complain about that. I really wish I would be able to make it to their show in Cleveland next week but even wish more that I was able to make it for their show down in Mexico in October. Some day Greg and I will make the pilgrimage to Mexico. The only downer I can really think of about the whole night is that all of you missed it!

SUBJECT: cough cough LOSER cough cough
FROM: Annie
TO: concertBFF
After the final song of the night my good buddy Roger had a shot of tequila left on the stage and handed it to me. So... well, HAD to drink it. Really, would have been a crime and a disgrace to music if I hadn't. Therefore, short email here.

You are totally Amanda now - a hater of fun and coolness. And to think that today I happened to stumble upon an email where for some reason you were claiming that I hated puppies. And rainbows. And lollipops.

The only disappointment of the entire night was that I was really eying up one of Roger's guitar picks. The dude had four of them tucked in the pick guard of his guitar yet didn't drop a single one. Jerk. Therefore, didn't get am official RCPM guitar pick. I got a shot of tequila though. I much would have preferred the pick. Someone also beat me to the setlist but I have snagged setlists from the past two RCPM concerts I have been to so no big deal there.

Anyway, I'll try to tell you later in more detail how incredibly lame you are for not being there. Off to bed.


Setlist in random order:
Contraband
Maybe We Should Fall in Love
State of the Art
Lemons
Mañana
Noisy Head
Wanted
I Know
Tell Your Momma
Leaky Little Boat
Americano
Banditos
Mekong
Green and Dumb
Captain Suburbia
Counterclockwise
I Speak Your Language
Mexico
World Ain't Gone Crazy
Your Name on a Grain of Rice
Nada

Boxes and Chaos

I spent most of the weekend rounding up a plethora of boxes. Saturday it was a trip to a friend's house who moved a good while ago but still had a stack of moving boxes hanging out in her basement. My Jeep was filled to the brim and now the boxes are hanging out in my garage. Then in the afternoon it was off to meet another girl I kinda sorta know who has a small business to get more boxes from her. Sunday, after the Steelers game, it was off to meet with one of our real estate agents and a stop at my parents' house, where my mom had a big stack of boxes that she had gotten from a friend of mine in that direction.



During all this, we kept wondering if we were really going to be moving or not. The home inspection was done on our house last week and we were waiting for the response from our buyers. We finally got that at some point this weekend. There were only five little things that weren't a big deal at all. However, there was a sixth request that we weren't comfortable with. Besides, we had addressed the issue in our disclosure for our house and didn't feel it was something that we should be responsible for. So, we were left waiting to see what the buyers were going to do and if they would be okay with us not addressing that issue. Finally heard back from them late on Monday evening. They were okay with everything, sale is moving forward, and our purchase of the new house can finally move forward too. Up until that point, we really couldn't make any plans for the move and neither could the people who are moving out of the house we are buying.



Once we knew all was moving forward, it was time to move forward ourselves. Greg went into work yesterday and started making phone calls. I ran out to the grocery store super early yesterday in the rain with both kids. (The carts were all wet and all the double kid toting carts were outside in the parking lot, in the rain. I was brave and let Marcus walk through the store. He did great! Helped me put stuff in the cart and didn't once start to randomly take things off the shelves. Plus, since there wasn't really any people in the store that early in the morning, I wasn't concerned about him getting run over or just getting in the way of other customers.) Not long after I got back from the store, people started showing up. First it was a moving company to give us an estimate. While he was here, the radon guy showed up to service our radon system. A few minutes after both of them left, two electricians showed up. At that point, I was wondering if I should call a handyman in to install a revolving door on our house.

Today it was back to more of the same. A man came from another moving company to give us an estimate and as he was leaving, the appraiser showed up. Tomorrow will be a slow day since all we have going on is one moving company estimate.



The chaos and disorganization is really getting to me. In one sense, my house is probably more organized right now than ever, with things packed nicely in labeled boxes instead of cluttered all over the place. But these boxes! They are driving me crazy. They are just stacked all over the place and I have no sense of peace and tranquility around here. Then again, I have two toddlers. There is never a sense of peace and tranquility around here.

And speaking of the toddlers, they are doing well. They are playing with each other more and more everyday. It is fun to watch but can also get VERY loud when they start having too much fun. I keep telling them how we are packing up things to take to our new house. Not really sure there is any other way to prepare them for the move. I don't really expect them to be traumatized. Things will probably be a little rough for them the two days we are doing the majority of the moving and the night or two when we have to crash somewhere other than the new or old house.

The Things in my House

The packing has just begun but here are a few of the gems I have uncovered that I had either forgotten about or not realized I had:

- A lifetime supply of Irish Spring soap
- An entire three ring binder overflowing with wedding planning ideas and information
- 32 size 18 month onesies
- Two leadership folders and drill charts from high school band camp

Better Supervision

Just had this conversation with Marcus:

Marcus: Marcus clothes.
Me: Yep, Marcus wears clothes.
Marcus: Will clothes.
Me: Yep, Will wears clothes.
Marcus: Mommy clothes.
Me: Yep, Mommy wears clothes.
Marcus: Dada clothes.
Me: Yep, Dada wears clothes. What about the pooch? Does she wear clothes?
Marcus: Noooooo! ...Lola?
Me: Does Lola wear clothes?
Marcus: Nooooo!
Me: What? Lola doesn't wear clothes! I think Lola wears clothes.
Marcus: No! Lola NO clothes!

Obviously I need to start supervising these coed play dates a little better.

Dropping off the Face of the Earth

Good news around here. I guess we will find out soon for sure. I think we sold our house! Someone who was here at some point looking at it last week liked it enough to come back again on Saturday to check it out some more. They stayed for almost 2 hours and about an hour after they left they called to see if they could come back again. They were here again, left again, and later that night we got an offer. We played that little number game for awhile and by Sunday evening our names were signed to the offer. We still have to wait for the home inspection (which will certainly be quite favorable but really there is no way of knowing for sure) before I will be able to breathe easy that this deal is going to work out for us.

Here comes the part where I drop off the face of the earth. The closing date is supposed to be on September 26, a whopping 24 days from today. That gives me 24 days to figure out how to pack up the contents of this entire lot and get it out of here. Not only that, we don't have a clue yet as to when we can move the contents of this entire lot onto the lot that we have an offer on. Still waiting for the home inspection here to take place before we set all that in stone. If you happen to see me driving a big moving truck in circles around your neighborhood at the end of the month, that would be because we are temporarily homeless.

I didn't really sleep all weekend. My mind was too busy packing. It is just unfortunate that my mind isn't more powerful or else all the packing would be done at this point. I've moved before. Lots of times actually. Eight to be exact. Five of those moves were in the course of 2.5 years. All that practice hasn't prepared me for this. I really didn't have much stuff back then. More importantly, I was just moving me and my dog. Now it is the whole family, furniture, appliances, and a piano. A moving company is definitely in our future but we still have to pack the boxes for the moving company to take.

You know how when people get all stressed out or are faced with hardship, you always hear, "Let me know if there is anything I can do." Please say that to me!! In my experience, most of the time people aren't taken up on their offer. I promise I will take you up on yours! I'll even give you a head start. Here are a few specific things you can do to help:

- Help me pack!
- Come play with my kids and keep them occupied while I pack.
- Bring me boxes so I can put stuff in them.
- Don't get too upset when I realize I have absolutely no time to spare to post on my blog. I'll miss you too, but it is only temporary.

I guess that is it now. Already behind. I was hoping to get some packing done during nap time today but ended up spending most of the nap time on the phone ironing out things with our real estate company. Don't they know I have other things to do and don't have time to chat?? The one really great thing about this is that I don't have to try to keep the place spotless anymore!