Shocking!!

I have a blog!!  Who knew?!

I promise I think about updating almost every day.... but then I don't.  I *could* use the "life is busy" excuse, but who am I kidding?  I make time to play a few rounds of Bejeweled every day, and update my Facebook status... yet I don't stop over here to write a few words about my day.  Or my week.  Or apparently even my month.  I just haven't been able to commit the energy to put my thoughts into so many words, I guess.

Anyway.  I obviously don't have quite enough free time to sit down and really blog about my last month or two or three.  Even though I want to.  I want to share all the pictures and videos from Jacob's birthday two whole months ago.  All the fun photos from the last-minute summertime things we did before Melinda started school.  All the details about how very much Melinda's enjoying Kindergarten.  All the leaps and bounds Alex is making into toddlerhood.  But those will all have to wait.

For now, I'll fill you in on the life-changing details that you may not be aware of if you don't keep up with me otherwise.  Since Jesse lost his job last month, and our apartment lease ends on October 31st, we need a place to live.  We still have our condo back in Louisville, Colorado, and our renters' lease was up on October 1st.  Since Jesse wants to work in Colorado ideally, and we'd honestly both love to settle there with our family, it makes sense to go ahead and go back.  So that's what we're doing.

On October 27th, just over a week from today, we'll be getting a moving truck through ABF, and packing it up.  We've been slowly packing our things in boxes over the last month (and boxes + kids make the best entertainment ever!!), but we'll really crack down hard for the rest of the week, beginning the fun of living out of suitcases while we pack away everything we don't absolutely need.  Our goal is to be on the road by the 28th, maybe the 29th, depending on how long it takes to clean up after ourselves.  ABF drives the moving truck for us... we just have to get ourselves there.  It's a 26 hour drive, if you ask Google Maps (by way of I-70), and we're thinking of trying to make it in two days.  The longest road trip we've taken with the kids was about 9 hours, and they did great for that... but who knows how they'll tolerate a 14+ hour drive.  We'd love to get at least as far as St. Louis, Missouri on the first day, but really, our plan is to go as far as we can, till we can't stand it anymore.  We just want to get the drive over with, save a few bucks on less hotel nights, etc.  And, if we have a reeeeeally long first day, if we need to take 2 more days, at least they will both feel nice and short by comparison.

I've been trying to get rid of a lot of things in preparation for our move, but apparently nobody wants my stuff.  ;)  I took all the baby clothes out of the closet, sorted them, washed them, and took them to a consignment store across the street.  They only took about 1/3 of those clothes, because they have ridiculously high standards.  I tried listing a bunch of stuff on Craigslist, too, but only got one bite.  Thankfully, that was on my biggest bunch of clothes, and I got myself $40 out of it, but I really wanted to get rid of it all.  And I will, one way or another.  If nobody wants to buy them, they're going to be given away for free.  I'm not hauling them halfway across the country to store in a condo almost half the size of where we currently live.  I'm keeping the boys 2T clothes for Alex to grow into, but everything else is going.  And someday, when we have another child, I'll have tons of fun getting new clothes!  Hopefully it will be a bunch of baby girl clothes, because seriously -- getting rid of the baby girl clothes is breaking my heart in strange, nonsensical, unreasonable ways.  I'm not a girly girl, I didn't dress Melinda like a girly girl, but oh, I love those adorable little outfits.

I've also been trying to get rid of a few toys and pieces of furniture with varying success.  Since we won't have a playroom, the toys will belong in the kid's bedroom.  Maybe a few of them will be allowed in our living room, but I've rather grown to like having the toys stored out of my living space at the end of the day.  And I won't be taking my desk with me.  It's too big and bulky, and starting to look really shoddy anyway.  All that lovely top-quality veneer has been peeling off.  So we'll take Jesse's desk, which will disassemble nicely for moving, and we'll come up with some creative way to have both of our computers in the living room, somehow. 

We also just passed on Alex's high chair.  He's apparently such a big boy these days that he's been in love with sitting on a grown-up chair.  Well, standing more than sitting.  The first time I let him sit at the table at an adult chair, I gave him a shoebox to sit on.  He LOVED it.  Every time he went to the table after that, for the next week at least, if the box wasn't sitting there waiting for him, he looked around for it expectantly with an audible harrumph.  Because he is so entitled to sitting like a big boy at the table!  At least, he thinks he is.  ;)

Anyway, bottom line is that we're getting ready to go.  We've been saying our goodbyes, prepping ourselves emotionally as well as physically, and we've got all of one weekend left in Maryland.  It will be incredibly sad to leave the good friends we've made here.  It will be hard to say goodbye to the place I gave birth to all three of my children.  But... we've missed Colorado so much.  We've been aching to go back.  Now we're actually going!  It would be lovely if it were on a more positive note, but we're confident that the employment piece of the puzzle will work itself out with time.  I know we're following the path the Lord wants us to take.  And while we wait to figure out the how and why of it all, we'll very much enjoy living close to relatives - Grandma and Grandpa Newson, Aunt Rachel, Uncle Ben and Aunt Brea - and being in our old stomping grounds.  Plus, the weather these days is practically chasing me away from Maryland.  It's been rainy, gray, and cold for almost 4 straight days.  And here I thought I got away from Seattle years ago!!   Granted, the autumn colors are just starting to show all their glory... but I need the sun.  NEED IT!  Doesn't matter if it's cold or hot, just give me anything but gray.  All gray does is make sad things even sadder.  And saying goodbye to your home and friends from the last six years is sad enough.

In the meantime, please do keep us in your prayers.  I'm sure it won't be a perfectly smooth transition (Melinda's already completely up in arms about having to switch to half-day Kindergarten once we get to Colorado), and we're very concerned about the van's ability to make the trip.  It's been giving us so much trouble the last several months.  Jesse keeps saying we may need angels to carry it... or that we'll get all the way to his parent's house (where we'll be staying until our things arrive with the ABF truck), and the van will just heave and fall to pieces as soon as we're in their driveway.  The good news is that we'll be able to walk pretty much anywhere we need to go, from our condo.  But, please keep our safety and sanity in your prayers- we'd appreciate it so much.  Being stranded in the middle of Kansas because of car troubles, with 3 kids in tow, in late October, is not a trial I would like to experience. 

I probably won't make any other updates until after we're in Colorado, and probably not until after we're at least mostly settled.   Adventure awaits us!  May we greet it with happy hearts.

Midnight Mouse Massacre

A few weeks ago, after noticing some mouse droppings in the kitchen, we bought some mouse traps.  (Side note:  I'm really beginning to wonder, at this point, if mouse-free apartment living is even possible.)  The first night we set them out, one trap caught a mouse. 

Then a few weeks passed, and nothing was getting caught.  I took a closer look at the traps, and wouldn't you know it - all the bait had been cleanly removed, but none of the traps had triggered.  So we rebaited them.  Put them in all the spots I know those mice are going.  BUT, it was the same story the next day.  Every single trap was clean, not a single mouse caught.  Now I was starting to get a bit furious!!  How dare those mice outsmart the traps!!!  I don't want to feed them free handouts, I want to catch them and get them out of my home!!!

Now, I just have to say, for the record, that I am not a huge fan of live traps.  I don't want to have to drive these house-invading mice and drop them off in a field somewhere.  I just want them gone.  It does make me a bit sad that I'm killing them when they get caught in my traps, and it makes me feel a bit guilty when I see them dead, (because they *do* look so cute and innocent...when they're not actively streaking across my house) but overall, I'm okay with the traps that kill mice. 

We bought a different style of trap, since the others obviously weren't cutting it, put bait on the indicated spot, set them up exactly as instructed.  Next day, licked clean again. 
GRRRRrrrrrrRRRRRRRRRRR!!! 

So Jesse tried something else - he put the bait waaaay back in the trap, so they wouldn't be able to reach it from the sides or anything.  And then he pushed the trigger plate about halfway down - just before it reached the trigger point.  Because, you know, mice are small and lightweight.  We had to put more pressure on them ourselves to get them to set off than we thought a mouse would put on it with its entire body. 

After they were set and put in place, we went to bed.  Not 10 minutes later, we heard a bit of a clatter.  We ran off to the kitchen, and there was a dead mouse, caught in the trap.  Hooray!!!  Success!!  We re-set it and went back to bed.  A bit later, another clatter.  Another dead mouse!

And you know, we caught four mice in the same trap, in the same spot in our kitchen, within 1.5 hours.  No more in the morning, though.  Maybe that was all of them?  Those four plus the one from a few weeks earlier?  I'm not holding my breath, though.  I know enough about mice reproduction that I don't doubt the possibility of a lot more.  Especially with the cold weather outside.  And the neighbors upstairs who leave piles of trash out on their porch for weeks at a time.  But it's nice to finally see some good results with our traps. 

And speaking of cold weather - we got a big snowstorm last night!  And actually, it's still snowing right now.  Why do we always seem to get the really good storms right before spring starts?  When I'm so tired of cold weather and so anxious for spring, and not really feeling up to the idea of venturing outdoors to really enjoy it?  But March has definitely come in like a lion.  I'm anxioulsy looking forward to seeing it go out like a lamb.  We've had a few days recently with mild temperatures and a nice mild, perhaps even warm breeze, and it just feels heavenly.  I want more of that!  And the blossoming trees, the green grass, the budding flowers!  Oh, I can't wait for spring.  Going outside without spending half an hour bundling up three kids.  Basking in sunshine.  Even if I have to wait a few weeks, I was reminded of some fantastic news this week - Daylight Saving Time begins on March 8th!!  I can't wait for the lighter evenings, starting just next weekend!!

Reality Check

(Has it really been almost a week since I last posted? What's up with that?)

Can I just say....

You know you're the world's worst housekeeper when your 3-year-old refuses to pee on a toilet because it's "too dirty". And when you try to convince him that it's okay- it won't hurt him- he whimpers and cries and insists on using the other toilet.

That same child can make me go between proud as a mother hen to horrified as all get-out in 2 seconds flat: While grocery shopping in a busy store, he simply switches from singing "The First Noel" beautifully and angelically, to yelling "NIPPLES, NIPPLES, NIPPLES!!" with a mischievous giggle and smirk.

***

Jesse always says that car problems always come in threes. 1) Van's windshield wipers going berserk, check. 2) Nissan's CV joints about to break any minute, check (Jesse's got the new parts now, just has to find time and good weather to change them). Hmmm... #3.....

I had forgotten Jesse's car rule. Didn't ever cross my mind to expect another thing going wrong. But it crossed Jesse's mind. He wondered to himself Monday morning, "I wonder what's going to go wrong next??" Well, when I drove the van that same day, I saw the answer. Our windshield is broken. Well, not broken. But majorly cracked. And it sure wasn't cracked or even dinged on Sunday. It's cracked on the inside, too, not the outside. Jesse the engineer says that it's from being hit on the outside, something to do with tension of concave vs. convex surfaces. His guess is someone hit it with a football. We didn't notice anyone playing around on Sunday, but the weather was definitely nice enough, and we've seen people playing with footballs in the parking areas before. The nice people in us want to believe that whoever did it didn't even realize it. The cynics in us are grumpy that someone ruined our windshield and maybe just ran away knowing they'd never be caught. And now we have to replace it out of our own pocket, because we sure don't carry insurance to cover this kind of thing, with cars that are so old.

The good news is that we'll be able to afford it, and truth be told, that windshield was pretty crappy anyway. It had grooves in the shape of the windshield wiping pattern, and driving at night made annoying streaks of light on the passenger side, from headlights especially.

We can afford it because of taxes. Why do car problems always happen around tax time, and not summertime, Jesse and I wonder? Probably because winter is hard on cars, we guess, but it's still odd. Almost every time our cars start breaking, it's in the middle of winter. Late December or January. Truly odd.

But anyway, Taxes!!! I had wanted to get our taxes filed this past Saturday, but I was still waiting on the form from our bank. I finally got it on Monday, and well, I decided to try and do it myself, since I had time, instead of waiting for Jesse. We use the TurboTax program, which I really like. They pull most of our information straight from the previous year's forms, so I don't have to fill out much anything new. It's not a cheap program, but since we have a rental property back in Colorado (the money sink that it often is), we really need the extra help. Otherwise, I'd probably just file with a free method online. Anyway, so I went and input everything into TurboTax in less than an hour, and I felt like I did everything right (especially since I always participate in the taxes with Jesse, I'm familiar with the process by now). I was amazed by the amount it was saying we'd get back, though! Over $5,000 for federal, and over $1,000 for state. WOW! $6k tax refund? THANK YOU!! I suppose that it's mostly because of adding a third child to our tax returns, and I don't think Jesse ever changed his W-4 at work, either, to adjust for the addition to our family.

So, good news is that we have plenty of money to cover the random car things going crazy. And enough to make a nice little extra cushion in savings. Maybe eventually we'll even be able to use that savings for a down payment on a house, or something. Hopefully we won't ever have to use it as an actual cushion because of lack of employment or anything.

***

Alex can be so much fun these days. He loves clapping anytime he hears anyone else clap (TV included). He loves pat-a-cake and often "says" it to himself. He's learning the song "Popcorn Popping" from Primary, which is just so cute. He's pointing at things like a madman, which I find just incredibly adorable, the way his whole body gets into it. And the way he babbles nonsense at 50mph while he's pointing to various things. I just wish I knew what sort of things he was talking about... I'm sure it's fascinating!! He's mimicking sounds a lot lately, too (ahhh... especially some of the goofier sounds found on Webkinz games). And my new favorite: Honking noses. We poke his nose gently and say "honk honk!". Then he pokes our nose and goes "hah hah!" It's all so much fun.

But teething is not fun. Still. Ever. He's got his 7th tooth (3rd on the bottom), and is now working on his 8th, also on the bottom. It's loads of fun. Or not.

***

We joined a little preschool co-op with some ladies in our ward. It's once a week, basically for Melinda only (though if I want to hang out and try and let Jacob participate, too, it's okay). Aside from Melinda, it's also all boys. But she's enjoying herself so far! We've done two weeks, and this week it will be our turn to host. We work on a letter from the alphabet, do a little reading, some basic math skills, and otherwise just have some free play time, snacks, that sort of thing. It's pretty casual. But it's nice to have something organized to do. I'm excited for my turn with teaching, too, though I hope it won't take me long to get a feel for a decent schedule!

While Melinda's at "preschool", Jacob and Alex and I have been enjoying some time to ourselves. The first week, that included shopping at Trader Joe's and then coming home to eat and check on the status of the installation of the new dishwasher (which has been SO NICE!!). Last week, we hung out at the playplace at the mall, did some mall browsing, and then went to Trader Joe's again. I was honestly quite surprised at how easily Jacob took to this Melinda-free time during the day, and how much better he behaved without her around. Maybe surprised doesn't cover it.... I was shocked, I guess. I always assumed that the minute Melinda wasn't around to offer a constant playmate, Jacob would be off-the-wall crazy. I was so wrong, and it's a happy thing.

***

I was quizzing the kids on their favorite things last night to keep them occupied while we waited for food to be ready. When I asked Jacob who his best friend is, he said, "Alex!!!" Aww, how cute. :)

***

I don't know why I didn't start reading chapter books to the kids earlier in their lives. It takes a little extra time on my part, but ohmygoodness, they've been going to sleep so much better! Almost every single night I never hear another peep from them. Big difference from the typical past routine of them bouncing off the walls for an hour or two, with mommy and daddy constantly going back to tell them to stay in bed, before finally falling asleep. This way is so much nicer, and I'm enjoying the reading, myself! (Reminder: My sidebar has a widget from Goodreads with my currently-reading books as well as my recently read books, if you're interested in following along.) And you know, they even stay pretty quiet while I read, too? I didn't expect that when I started it. And the other big bonus is that Melinda is always so full of questions after I'm finished reading, ranging from concepts from the story, to vocabulary, to rather deep spiritual questions that had nothing to do with the story, but must have crossed her mind somehow during some part of the day. It's been nice to have little discussions with her during a time of day when she's so willing to be quiet and really listen to the answer, and respond back with her own thoughts.

Waiting Game

The good news:
They're ordering me a new dishwasher. Even after all their inspecting and fiddling, it still wasn't spinning water inside, and the controls were still all finicky.

The bad news:
No dishwasher until sometime next week. And with Monday being MLK Jr. Day .... heck, I'll be surprised if it gets installed before Friday.
Which means I'll have been washing dishes by hand for two weeks.

On a positive note, the dishes are getting done sooner, which is keeping the kitchen cleaner longer... but then again, me and my slightly dishydrotic eczema-prone fingers aren't too happy. Water aggravates the problem when I have blisters or skin healing from blisters. And I have issues with gloves. Well, and as long as I'm being honest, I also have issues with washing dishes by hand, period. ;)

But... here's to next week and a new, functioning dishwasher!!

image via www.nataliedee.com

Home Again

Ugh.  I had just about finished typing a post about getting home from Washington, when the electricity flickered for some unexplained reason (it's only foggy outside??), and my computer rebooted.  I thought that Blogger would automatically save my post and it would still be at least mostly here when I got back, but it wasn't.  I don't have time to re-type it now.  I'll get around to it later.  When I'm not annoyed at having to repeat myself.  When I do, I'll edit this post instead of posting a new one. 

For now, I'll just say what I opened with before.  While sitting on the airplane yesterday on the way home, I realized that I honestly didn't care where my home is.  Not as long as Jesse is there when I get to it.  That moment was the first time in my life I've actually felt the truth in the phrase, "Home is where the heart is".  Previously, I've associated home with location, and returning to the location of my home is what felt like a homecoming.  But yesterday, after being away from my family for 5 days, I was eager (desperate?) to be with them again.  And so, as I talked softly into Alex's ear, trying to keep him entertained and happy the whole trip home, and I said, "In just a few minutes, we'll be home, and we'll get to see Melinda and Jacob and Daddy again!  Aren't you so glad to go home?"  And it just hit me.  That's what home is.  The place you want to be at the end of the day, with people you love and share your life with.

See?  Wasn't "vacation" good for me?  I needed a break, and I got.  Now, back to life, and feeling grateful for it, struggles and all. 

Randomness

I've been slacking on the blogging lately. So sorry! By the time I get to sit down long enough to think about things like that, I'm just too tired. But, we're almost completely settled in, here, and so I think I can manage to say at least a few things!

Randomness #1: I know a few of you are wondering what our new place looks like. I was going to hold off on that until everything looked GREAT, maybe even PERFECT, but hey, let's face reality: This is me here. It probably won't be perfect, ever, and if it is, it won't be for many many months. I can't keep you all waiting that long!! So, un-perfect as it is, here's the new place. Please note that it was very nearly spotless before playgroup at our house this morning (at least, everywhere except for my bedroom and the master bathroom), but I didn't have time to make a video then. So this is it in it's partial playgroup aftermath. And, uh, yeah. Still no curtains for the sliding door. I keep thinking I'll just make them (especially because then I could make nifty matching pillows on the couch!!), but it's a traverse rod, and I have absolutely no experience with how they work, and not much time to really sit down and figure it out with online tutorials. I think we'll be doing some shopping tomorrow, and either buy something pre-made, or at least give myself a physical reference point to look at. Anyway, here's the new place.


Randomness #2: Tropical Storm Hanna is coming tomorrow! We're not worried at all. It'll just be some rain and wind, I'm sure - an extended strong storm, and we love those in this family! When we first moved to Maryland, we had an apartment that was ground level - half sunk into the ground. The A/C unit was at ground level. When there was a hurricane (thought it was a tropical storm by that point)- during our first month there, mind you - it dropped a lot of rain and flooded the well beneath the A/C, and the water came in and flooded our master bedroom's closet. Not fun. But we're on a 2nd floor, now, so no worries. I suppose there's the possibility of losing power for a while, but hey - good thing I have a lot of books in "queue" to read, huh? :)

Randomness #3: Things you learn at a ward party:

1. If you stick a big sister with a balloon in front of an eager 5-month old baby, said baby will do everything within his power to lick the balloon to death.
2. If a grabby baby is anywhere near a paper plate and plastic fork, he will reach it. And you will not be fast enough to catch what falls. Take precautions.
   
3. Balloons that float to the top of the church's gymnasium will often catch on the corner of a lighting fixture and pop dramatically.
   
4. Said balloon-popping will easily cause all three of your children to jump and turn stiffly towards the sound at the exact same moment.
   
5. When doing a ward talent show, interviewing participants beforehand in a video format, with the pretense of being stuffy famous people, is a fantastic recipe for good laughs.
   
6. Loose tablecloths, plates full of sloppy joes and other food, and 5 grabby kids at one table is a disaster waiting to happen. Find reusable adhesive tablecloths, and put stock in them.
   
7. If you make a bet at how many balloons will be at the top of the ceiling at the end of the evening, guess on the very high side, or you'll be dead wrong.
   
8. You can never have too much dessert at a potluck. Seriously.
   
9. 6:30pm dinner time, + normal bedtime of 7:30pm, + 3 tired, hungry kids =/= happy ending (that's does not equal, for those of you not in the mathematical know-how, or who are otherwise confused by my makeshift text symbol).

Randomness #4: A couple Alex videos. 'Cause, you know, he's growing so darn fast, there's always something interesting to see!!

First video- Melinda being her normal, crazy self, taking it upon herself to entertain Alex while I made dinner. She is so over-the-top, but so far, both younger brothers just love that about her. Most of the time. ;)


Second video- Alex crawling. He pretty much crawls full-time, now, and he's not slow about it, either. He can crawl over low obstacles (like your legs), and up small steps (like into the kitchen and bathrooms), and he pulls up to his knees on furniture and toys and anything else he can steady himself on. I have to be on constant choking-hazard watch, these days. Jacob made me a bit lazy - he was never one to really stick a lot of things in his mouth, and now I've had a couple years to forget what it's like to be around a little baby. It's almost like I'm doing it for the first time. Plus, now I have a lot of older kid toys to be worried about.




Randomness #5: I almost forgot! We finally got a WiiFit. Yay! We were at a church playgroup when Serena called up a store (Shhhh, don't tell!... I think she's been stalking them!!!) and found out they finally had some in stock. I told her how eager we were to get one, too, and that we couldn't find any, and she offered to get one for us. When I got back in touch with her later in the day, she had to tell me that they wouldn't let her buy more than one. Which, I guess, I should have anticipated, with how hard they are to come by. BUT, as soon as Jesse walked in the door, he called up and found out there were still some in stock, and ran back out to get one. So, we have yet another new toy to play with. I've tried a few of the little activities, and the balance games are interesting, and the yoga poses - holyohmygoodness, even the basic positions are painful. There's a jogging game, too, but I find it rather awkward to run in place. I think I'd be better off with jumping jacks or something that's meant to be done in place. Maybe something like that might be one of the unlockable games. And yes, I know this game alone won't get me in shape. Don't worry, I'm not expecting it. Still, it's fun to have a game that might actually be good for your body, huh? And it can track my progress for me, too. Which will either be fun to watch, or at least a very good kick-in-the-pants for how much more serious I need to get.

Sounds of Summer

One thing I complained heavily about Maryland for the first few years we lived here was the summer weather. Oh, how I hated it! Too hot, way too humid, and the nights never cooled off enough to make opening the windows at night actually refreshing. But you know... the longer we stay here, the more I find things I like.

For instance, the sounds we hear during the summer time. I wanted to share them, so I took two videos. The visual isn't the draw, here, so feel free to close your eyes and just listen. Turn up your speakers if you need to.

First: Nighttime crickets and frogs. A true symphony. In Colorado, you'll often have crickets, but they never seem to blend together this well, and just become one of those annoying noises, not unlike the persistent dripping of a faucet. But the crickets (and frogs) here in Maryland just become the most beautiful white noise.



Second: Daytime cicadas (sick-AY-duh). I had never even heard of these before moving to the east. And soon after we moved here, we discovered we were just in time for one of the rare "13 year" breeds, coinciding with the arrival of the "7 year" breeds, and it was truly an infestation. It was absolutely deafening in some places, and every tree was covered in the little beetles. In normal summers, though, while the cicadas are loud, they aren't overwhelming. Their high-pitched drone fades in and out, and it actually feels fairly relaxing to listen to them. Kind of like the crickets, in their own way.



I just really find myself appreciating the two different symphonies that nature provides - one for the day, one for the night. I think I'll really miss it, someday.

Sweet Rewards

Holy exhaustion, Batman!! I am T-I-R-E-D!!

Today we ran out of the new apartment as fast as we could and got to the old one at 8:30am. To put it bluntly, we started cleaning our brains out.

You would not believe the damage two kids, a few crayons, and an odd rhythm stick or two can do to the walls of a 2 bedroom apartment. Especially an apartment with cheap, flat, evil paint. Deep-cleaning the kitchen and bathrooms took about as long as expected, and could definitely not be considered in any way, shape, or form to be even reminiscent of fun (although, honestly, I'm glad I gave the kitchen to Jesse, because it took him longer to finish that one room than it took me to finish 2 bathrooms and get started on the other rooms, while taking a nursing break in between...). But oh, the walls. The walls!!!! If I were a cursing woman, you would have heard it all today, as I scrubbed and scrubbed and scrubbed those walls. You remember the walls. Actually, now I can't remember if I've ever shown them to you before. Well, this is ONE wall. Granted, it's the worst of the bunch, but you get the idea. The kids had colored all four walls of their bedroom like this one. And a few other random spots throughout the house. I had tried just about everything to get it off, but was alarmed by the amount of elbow grease each method required. In the end, I just left it, throwing up my hands in true quitter fashion. But moving out sort of required us to revisit the issue.

We ended up taking Scotch Brite pads (the green kind) and Lysol (ugh, I'm still coughing) and essentially wet-sanding the top layer of paint off, and with it, the crayon. It was by far the easiest of the methods, but my arms and shoulder muscles are already aching, despite that. I'm afraid of what they'll feel like tomorrow. Again, I would be spouting a constant stream of profanities at that paint if I were anyone else. The semi-gloss covered doors were a breeze to wipe down. Not so with the ... (pausing to find the will to type a family-friendly word) evil ... flat-painted walls.

While I was scrubbing, Jacob made me laugh: "Grandma told me not to color on dee walls. Yah. Onwee on paper." I was working on cleaning the one wall that Jacob colored on just a day or so after Grandma had cleaned it. She had visited for Alex's birth, so that was almost 5 months ago. I was impressed he remembered that Grandma had cleaned it, that he had colored on it again, and that Grandma told him not to color on the walls. Now, I just wish he would remember before he colors on the walls. I am desperately hoping they don't color the walls again in the new place. We're seriously thinking of going crayon-free over here, but that would almost be heartbreaking. :(

Anyway. We cleaned our brains out, like I said. And got the place completely, 100% empty. All the while, we were putting off lunch. I would have happily ordered a pizza, but one (pretty big) problem: Pizza places apparently don't accept personal checks these days. At least none I called. And I couldn't use a credit card, because - guess what? - they got cancelled. On Friday night, of all the "perfect" timing. Because of a widespread hacker potentially gaining access to our information, thus compromising the security of our credit card. We no longer have a back-up credit card, we got rid of it. And over the weekend, we used up all the cash we had so luckily earned from Craigslist sells from decluttering our possessions. We couldn't run and get cash from an ATM, either, because our credit card acts as a debit card, so we both stopped carrying the debit cards with us. And yeah... they're currently buried in some random, unknown box. I have no will to try and track them down. We'll be getting our new credit cards in about a week (though I'm guessing less, based on our credit union's track record with mail). In the meantime, we were out of cash and didn't know what to do for lunch. So we kept putting it off.

FINALLY, at 2pm, we got our move-out inspection. The FANTASTIC news is that they won't be charging us for anything. We did a great job on the walls (and we can feel it, ugh!!), and despite the millions of stains on the carpet. It's over 4 years old, after all, and they expect to replace it after 5 years. And, when we pulled up our tall bookcase, we found mold on the carpet underneath it. Undoubtedly, it was from a plumbing problem with the laundry room we had experienced a couple years earlier. We had to throw out the bookcase, too, because the mold was all the way into the wood. Just one more piece of furniture to plan on replacing, I guess. They aren't even going to charge us for the broken blinds (which would be on all but one window). So we are expecting to get our entire security deposit back!! Both of us said to each other that we would be perfectly happy to just not have to pay anything extra. So yeah... that hard work? It all paid off. Who wants to join me for a happy dance????

So, tired and exhausted, and all the last of our possessions crammed into the van, we took off to the grocery store, where I know they accept checks. We could have just grabbed some lunch food, but no. We went to the home of the Colossal donuts. And ya know? We got some. We deserved a treat, after all. And after getting home and cramming some lunch into my rumbling stomach, I didn't even hesitate to snatch my chocolate donut.

And let me tell you, it was heaven. And that, my friends, is a sweet reward. A full security deposit returned, and a delicious donut to enjoy for all your hard work.

Momentary Repose

Thank heaven that our move is spanning over a Sunday, and that our beliefs cause us to take a day of rest. Because heaven knows that we certainly needed a whole day to rest after the last couple we've had, and before we get right back into the thick of things.

Jacob's birthday went just fine - and I'll definitely be making a post (when I have time) dedicated to sharing how we celebrated - but the days after that was when things really got crazy around here.

We picked up the keys to the new apartment during Jesse's lunch break, and brought over our TV and computer to be ready for the cable transfer which was to occur between the hours of 4 and 7pm. We took a quick look-through of the apartment, and were fairly pleased with it. Downsides: The layout is reversed from what we saw at the demo apartment, and thus it feels almost exactly like our first apartment. But that's a minor downside, since it's much bigger than our first place. It also has very thin padding under the carpet, and it's already caused Alex a few upsets after he's lost balance... and my feet and tushie don't much like the hardness, either. Jesse really hates that he can feel a lot of uneveness to the concrete, too. But again, that's something we'll adjust to. And the common hallway absolutely reeks. Like a mix between a (clean) portable toilet, and somebody over-using deoderizing spray. Or perfume? I'm so very very glad that the front door has a fantastic seal, because we don't smell it at all while we're in the apartment. But the hallway is definitely not a nice place to be, and it's unfortunate that we have to use it to get outside. We'll be writing a letter about our disappointement with that issue. And the sliding door doesn't have any blinds, and we were under the impression that all the windows would have blinds. Instead, it's set up to use pleated curtains (with hooks). It won't be a big deal to get some, but if I had realized that ahead of time, I might have considered sewing some. As it is right now, I'm more concerned about getting something to cover the door ASAP so our front room isn't open to the world.

Okay, now the positives: The kitchen!! Weeeeee! We can fit our whole family in it! In fact, we started staying here as of Saturday night, and we've eaten several meals cross-legged on the kitchen floor- all five of us!!- to avoid spills on the nice new carpet. The stove and dishwasher are pretty old, but functional. I'm a little worried about the oven - I made some cookies today and needed to set the stove at about 275 to get a temp of 325. I'll have to experiment with that more. An obvious positive is the den, which will be a dedicated playroom. Hooray for not having our living space overlowing with toy storage anymore! And of course, no pest infestations, as far as well can tell. Ahh, relief. There are more windows - one in each of the bedrooms, each larger than our previous windows, the sliding door, and smaller windows in the kitchen and bathrooms. It's nice having more natural light! Unfortunately we don't get any direct sun until afternoon/evening, and then only in the kid's bedroom. And then there's just the niceties of having a clean slate: walls without crayon markings, carpets that are new or at least very, very clean, depending on the room, things like that.

Anyway... I did mean for this to be a short post, but it's not going to be. So, moving on: After we dropped off our TV and computer at Jesse's lunch break, the kids and I went back home and packed more boxes. Jesse got off early and came home just a couple hours later, and I came back to the new apartment with the kids to wait for the cable guy. Turns out, if you sign up for someone to come between 4 and 7pm, it really means they won't be here until 7:03pm, when you're just calling Comcast to start ranting about being kept waiting. Nothing like getting the knock on the door just as you're getting through to a representative. Anyway, we got the cable set up, and while I sat here with the kids with very little to do, Jesse was busy bringing in some very very heavy boxes from the other apartment all by his lonesome self. And actually, that turned out to be the theme of our early weekend: He did all the muscle work, I did all the herding of the kids and sorting/packing/unpacking. I can't say which was the more exhausting side of the coin. Jesse was obviously working hard, sweating like crazy, red-faced, earned sore muscles, the whole bit. On the other hand, I felt very, very ready to murder some kids by the end of Saturday. No, obviously, not really, but I don't know if there's ever been another point in time where I was so absolutely, completely, overwhelmingly frustrated with them. It's like someone turned on the switch to "Let's make mommy go crazy while she's too busy and has no way to do anything about it!" Seriously. Like, during the first 2 hours we were in the new, fairly empty apartment, do you want to take a guess at how many different times urine was deposited on the nice clean floors? By two potty-trained children? Do you?? I'd rather not think about it, myself. It was a bit too much of a nightmare. And then add the screaming and yelling (all in good fun, supposedly) in a very echo-prone apartment. And the 3 (count 'em, THREE) goose-eggs on various children's heads (Melinda picked up Alex without asking permission and dropped him on the previously-mentioned hard carpeted floor, and that made Mommy OH so very angry). Thankfully, things calmed down a bit once we were out of the new place and back in the old, I managed to keep a hold of reality enough to make it through the rest of the evening, and Saturday went much better. Still, I had a very very hard time, upset with myself for how much I let the kids get to me, feeling guilty about how it was one giant downward spiral into me yelling and feeling like I was completely losing it. I ended up not getting to sleep until at least 2am on Friday night... after some cathartic cleaning while everyone else was asleep. And maybe just a little bit of dancing (and probably not very attractive dancing, at that) to Coldplay's Strawberry Swing. ;) Because there's just something about the beat that screamed "DANCE TO ME!!".

A funny side note about Friday night, while I was sleepless... Alex woke up before I had fallen asleep, crying. Jesse was asleep, and suddenly, he was rolling over in bed, rubbing circles soothingly over my back, and "shhh-shing" me. As soon as I realized he was doing this in his sleep, I made a face and not-so-tactfully shoved him off of me, so I take care of Alex. I was right, of course, he was doing it in his sleep, so no hurt feelings. About an hour later (yup, I still wasn't asleep), Jesse was suddenly giggling in his sleep. The kind of giggle that babies often make in their sleep, the kind that make you go "Awww", and wonder what they're dreaming about. I was absolutely mystified. Jesse sometimes has dreams he realizes are dreams but can't wake himself up from them, and will make somewhat terrifying noises in those cases, but I've never had him do anything like either one of these things in his sleep before, in the 8 years we've been married. And he did them both in the same night. And had no memory of them in the morning at all. It was very strange.

Saturday, we woke up and got right to work. We started in the kids' room, completely emptied it, then moved to our room, emptied it as much as possible, and then grabbed what we could of the kitchen before we headed to the new place. Jesse made something like 5 or 6 trips in our van (with all of the seats pulled out), stuffed full of boxes, and did all the lifting by himself. I just hung out filling boxes as fast as I could, between taking care of Alex and trying to redirect Melinda and Jacob into activities that wouldn't drive us crazy (which is hard when, you know, all the toys and games and electronics are in a different house, and they're too young to help pack without significantly slowing the operation). We managed to do it all fairly well, and were able to get enough things set up that we could spend the night at the new place. Kids' bed set up, mattresses on the floor in our room, clothes and towels pulled out for the next day, things like that. Enough food in the fridge to eat for Sunday. We didn't bring anything but a couple small lamps with us, so it's a good thing we were tired enough to go to sleep soon after dark!

So yeah.... I'm glad we can rest today. Jesse's body seriously needed it (his wrist was starting to go, from all the lifting), and my mental wellness also needed the break. Melinda and Jacob have been happy to run around the apartment today, familiarizing themselves with the layout, playing with their toys, and mostly staying out of trouble. And what would a blog post about a move be, without pictures to go with it??

One wall of the master bedroom, where there is a generous pile of clean laundry, and suitcases filled with yet more laundry, while we wait for the transportation of our dresser:


The kids' bedroom. It's bigger, it has less stuff in it, and still, this is probably the cleanest you'll ever see it! (Notice I even managed to capture Jacob taking a nap, how's that for cool??)
Our current seating situation, which will likely stay fairly close to this until we have found ourselves a new couch (or two? or couch and chairs? Still not sure).
This is our fun little computer corner for right now. LOL. I'm so glad Jesse decided to take the time to put the working computer on the desk for me this afternoon. Otherwise I certainly wouldn't be blogging. I tried to read my emails (*30* after being offline for just a day and a half?!?!) down on the floor, and my body definitely didn't like that arrangement. And just because you can never get tired of baby pictures.... here's Alex in the new place, showing off his new favorite position. A mix between all fours and semi-sitting. Jesse calls it the "Grecian Lounge".

Tomorrow (Monday), it's back to work. We'll be cleaning out the rest of the house, moving everything but cleaning supplies over to the new place. Our friend Russ is so kindly stopping by after work to help Jesse muscle some of the heavier of our possesions that he can't do by himself, despite this friend having a fairly new baby at home, and a long commute. We didn't ask, but he offered as soon as he learned we were moving. Hopefully at the end of Monday, we'll have everything transferred, and maybe even have a good bit of move-out cleaning done. It would be so nice to be completely finished on Tuesday instead of Wednesday, after all... and then tackle the unpacking and organizing over at the new place!

Inquiring mind

Last year, when we purchased a membership to the Science Center, we received a 1-year subscription to Popular Science magazine. I never did much more than flip through it casually. Honestly, it seemed pretty full of a bunch of far-fetched ideas, to me. But we got our very last issue yesterday, and Jacob was just mesmerized by the front cover.
He easily spent about 10 minutes just quietly studying the picture. I finally asked what he was looking at, and then the questions started pouring out.
"Wook, mom. What's this?" as he pointed to the yellow vehicle. "That's kind of like a car."
Then pointing to the track attached to the yellow car, "What's this, mommy mom?" "Well, Jacob, that's kind of like a train track for the car. See? The car rides on it."
"What's this one here?", pointing to the white vehicle closest to the corner of the photo. "That's another car."
"What's this?", pointing to the headlight on the yellow car. "That's the car's light, Jacob."

Back to quietly contemplating. And then Melinda chimed in, and I had to try and explain how they were pretend and something that someone wanted to invent in the future. Ugh, future - not really something my 4-year-old daughter gets, yet.

But I was really struck by how quiet and thoughtful Jacob was about this picture. Trying to fit it in with his understanding of reality. My understanding is that at this age, he doesn't have the ability to differentiate between reality and imaginary. So I would guess that seeing a fantastical picture like this one would really stop and make him think. No wonder he had so many questions, and was trying to figure out how it all worked.

And you know, I can really see him growing up to be like Jesse. He always seems to want things to be exactly right, and to understand how they work.

*****
On a completely different note, we have decided to move to a new apartment in a different (but nearby) complex, on a 6-month lease. We're very tired of our current apartment (we've been here since before Melinda was 1 year old), and we're starting to feel pretty cramped. Moving will do several things: Give us more square footage (we're going to a 2 bedroom + den), allow us to de-clutter our possessions all at once, give us a fresh clean apartment to enjoy (instead of the infestations we've dealt with on and off since living here, and the really gross carpet), and most importantly, light a fire under Jesse to really start that job hunting he's been meaning to get around to. We picked up an application for the apartment today, and will be turning it in on Monday. Time to start gathering moving boxes!