Moving On

I had this long, lovely post written about the sadness I feel about leaving our first home. It was chock full of memories, with eloquent nods to how we laughed, cried, partied, remodeled and generally grew up in that house. I just needed to put a few finishing touches on it in the morning. So I closed my computer yesterday and headed home. 

Once home and through the door, it took an embarrassingly long time to ascertain what had happened, why all our belongings were splayed across every surface, cabinets open and drawers askew.  

The house was broken into and we were robbed.

There wasn’t much that the burglar perceived as valuable, just some prescription pills and a laptop. The TVs were still intact, an indication according to the police it was one person. Sadly, the most expensive item stolen was our sense of security.

So yeah….

Today I was still thinking about posting my thoughts, just editing them to emphasize to the crummy I guess the universe is trying to tell me something-

MOVE ALREADY!

House Hunting

So we I knew we would need a new house once I got pregnant. I had the wisp of an idea that maybe we’d buy and sell before the baby came. Like all my ideas, I romanticized it. We’d bring the new baby home and rock her to sleep in our new beautifully decorated home. There would be multiple bathrooms so we could easily potty train Caroline and life would be better.  BWA HA HA HA….

Well that idea daydream evaporated as we focused on other things. Fast forward to this Spring and I’m ready to make it a reality. 

So here is The Plan. The Plan is smart and executable and will get us to where we want to be.

Details of The Plan. We will prepare and list our house for sale. We will price it higher than market value to give us some time to hunt for the next house.  If someone loves our house so much that they are willing to pay the higher price, that would be a pretty good situation. Realistically this higher price would allow us to take time to shop for our forever home. You know the one, lots of space, in the perfect neighborhood with good school districts and no updates needed. All within our price range…. Once we found the forever home, we’d lower the price on the current one to sell it.

Sounds good right?

Ok, I know you see the holes in The Plan. As I type up The Plan, I realize how idealistic it was. I mean, nowhere do I consider how I will clean the dog-and-cat-hair-littered, overflowing-sink, laundry-landmine-covered, toy-explosion house for showings.  

The showing of the house, which means getting everyone including the dog, out of the house AND making sure it is in pristine condition.  One day I came home from work to do a surface clean and collect the dog prior to a showing. I was on my way out the door grabbing the dogs leash only to find a fresh pile of dog poop in the basement.

Then there is searching for our forever home. Sounds like fun right? It was until I realized how aggressive I was going to have to be to fight off all these other people with the same idea.  WTF people, how am I going to decide if it is the right house for me if I can't even GET IN TO SEE IT. Three houses literally went into contract as we were touring them. Another 4-6 only made it to the list of ‘must see’ when they went into contract. The urgency of the market meant we were often piling into the car on a weeknight and rushing around town, handing nuggets to the backseat passengers, and keeping them up LATE.

One such crazy excursion was when both girls got pinkeye. Only one got in to see the pediatrician.  I was leaving the next morning on a business trip the antibiotics for the second had to be secured pronto. During that madness I admit that I hauled two goopy-eyed kids through three houses prior to several desperate attempts to secure eye drops at both the minute-clinic and urgent care.

So how did The Plan actually get executed? 

Sale of the current house – Fail Change in direction

Luckily for me and my cleaning schedule, we only had about 6 showings. Unluckily (is that a word?) for the sale of our house, we only had about 6 showings.  So we are going to keep the house and rent it. We’d probably fail an inspection anyways. The Updated Plan is to rent out the current house. The Updated Plan will prove to be more lucrative, renters paying us money every month, making me a real estate mogul. There are no holes in The Updated Plan AT ALL. 

Purchase of the next house – pending.   

That’s all I’m going to say about that right now. I’m waiting for the other shoe to drop. 

Please be kind to me for the next month….

Happy Fourth of July!

I just reread my last blog post and it was kinda a downer. I was just getting over being sick. Hey, we all have those days/weeks.

Time for some more positivity! Today (Wednesday) is my Friday! And it's a long, holiday weekend!!

We are hosting our 8th(?) annual Fourth of July party on Friday and It may be the last one at our current house. I'm not necessarily sad about that, more nostalgic. Believe me, I'm looking forward to hosting the party in a house where more than three people can stand in the kitchen and we have a place indoors to place all the food. I am unsure that the next house and future neighbors will be as accommodating to our HUGE and probably illegal fireworks display, home run derby competition, and general mayhem that the party stirs up.

In the sense of nostalgia, there are a couple of fourth of July events that make me smile when I think about them:

Friends of ours that met at our party, and are now getting married this year ON THE FOURTH.
There were a couple years that we had Uncle Jack and Cousin Brad DJ - It was awesome.
There was the giga-ball that didn't make it through the night....
Last year was the epic ping-pong battle IN THE RAIN. The boys brought the table outside into the driveway. The BAC (Big Ass Canopy) died trying to keep it dry. The boys blared the music from the dry sanctuary of the window and played until the sun came up - literally. You should have seen the look on Caroline's face when she woke up and saw some of the boys sleeping on the couch.
We had a neighbor very angry with us over the use of fireworks. Hubs made it better with a hug.
Then there was the year we had the Eisels, minus their eldest who was at camp, all spend the night. 
And we've had all kinds of weather- Dry and hot, hot and wet, intermittently storming and just overall downpours. This year might be the best year yet - dry and mild.

Here's to another Fourth of July celebration.

FYI - look how big the girls are getting!!

Summer - just out of reach

Summer – it’s here. Or at least it’s right outside my front door. It’s my favorite season, the heat, the pool, the long days and warm nights. So why do I feel like it is passing me by?

Because I have two young kids and the logistics of tending to them takes up the majority of my day.  Also, naps. One is either just waking up or just falling asleep all day long.  

You’d think with the longer days, there would be a chance to enjoy the weather during the weeknights, right? Not a chance. I have two very tightly packed hours in which I have to cook dinner, shove food in everyone’s face, clean up, and start bedtime routine. Just because the daylight lingers past 9:30pm doesn’t change the fact that bedtime for the baby is 7:30. 

There are those few and fleeting moments I relish, soaking in the warmth and freedom that summer allows: Taking the trash out to the street, barefoot; The extra 20 minutes I save each morning by not having to bundle each child and scrape snow/ice off the car; the long rays of sunshine that filter through the trees once everyone is in bed and I get a minute to sit down. 

This weekend I’m going to TRY and take the girls to the pool. Lathering sunscreen on two wiggly, excited, pasty-white girls, making sure you don’t miss a spot, might be more difficult than bundling them up in their snow gear.  By the time I have them sufficiently protected from all the UV rays, gathered the towels, snacks, back up diapers and toys, it inevitably starts raining. 

I know summer just started. I keep telling myself there will be time to enjoy it, but then I remember we are in the middle of selling our house and have a move in our near future….

Dear Maggie

You are growing too fast. How in the world are you seven months already? You are growing like a weed. At your 6 month appointment the pediatrician said you were in the 98^th percentile in height. What the what? We’ve started calling you Big Baby, affectionately of course. 

The other night you weren’t sleeping well (I didn’t know it then but you were developing a nasty case of pink eye). I pulled you from your crib to rock you back to sleep. I am always conflicted when I pull you out of your crib. I want you to develop good sleep habits, but selfishly I just want to rock you all night long. That night I did pull you out and settle into the worn rocking chair. It took a couple readjustments, but your head finally found comfort on my chest. Oh sweet girl, how I love those moments. 

As I rocked with you quietly in the dark, I was grateful for that chair. It has seen many long nights. It was your Aunt Jenna’s chair that she graciously handed down to me when Caroline was on her way. Your cousins helped soften that chair. So much so, we had to add another cushion to the seat. I rocked some more, reflecting on how lucky I am to be able to hold you close. 

You are such a good baby. Everyone always comments on your generous smiles. The best smiles are when your get so excited that your eyes almost disappear. You bring such joy that I can begrudgingly forgive you for not sleeping through the night. I’ll gladly sacrifice an hour of sleep for a midnight expression of joy. 

Caroline has taken to you in the most amusing way. One particular example was when you fell asleep in the car. I lugged the entire seat to our final destination so as not to wake you. I have no idea how long you were awake, but when your sister noticed, she announced it with FANFARE. 

“MAGGIE’S AWAKE” she exclaimed waving her hands in the direction of the car seat. She continued repeating it until every adult took notice.

I spend too much of my day worried that it is all happening too fast and it is too good to be true. Like your Bubby once said to me, promise me you’ll never grow up!

You can start sleeping for an 8-10 hour stretch though. I’d be ok with that…

Love, Your momma

Snarky Cards For Sale

If you are anything like me, there are some moments in life that they just don’t make greeting cards for. Well fret no more, Olive &Clyde to the rescue. These two awesome chicks took on the task of creating snarky greeting cards and I think they struck GOLD.

Did you read my last post? Well this card would have been have been just the thing I needed to cure my word vomit hangover. 

Luckily, I don’t have anyone to send this card to yet, but I’m ready.The inside reads, "sorry he turned out to be a dick".

With Father’s day right around the corner, you might want to order one for your dad. While you’re at it, stock up on all the cards that fill that supermarket greeting card void! You might have a friend like me who needs some love all wrapped up in a laugh and sealed with a stamp.

PS – totally excited for Mo and her new business. I'm not at all jealous. I mean come on, writing snarky, funny greeting cards, who would want to do that all day?

 

Word vomit

Do you ever have one of THOSE days? You know, the ones where you open your mouth and the crap that pours out is offensive/inappropriate/not-as-funny-as-you-think/going to get you fired?

Well, that was my WEEK. Where are my friends that will protect me from myself?  I need that person that will hear me spewing craziness to the most influential people, kindly put their hand over my mouth and guide me away from the conversation. I know I have those people in my life (MO), but they don’t work with me! Sometimes a girl just needs a little help.

I won’t get into the dirty details, but let me just tell you I was hopped up on cold medicine, caffeine and drinking a glass of wine that I may have come inches from spilling on an important CEO.

I know it’s bad when I call my sister to tell on myself and she practically pees her pants laughing at my recap of the absurdities that kept jumping off my tongue.

It is time to keep my head down and let my work speak for itself. My mouth seems hell bent on ruining my reputation.