Well, the cable guy here in our new town has done his best to spit-shine the reputation of cable-guys the world over. S'posed to be here Friday. Nope. S'posed to be here first thing this morning. Nope. Finally showed at 4 PM. Sheesh. So, sorry I've been out of touch, but I'll be back soon, hopefully with "in progress" photos ('cuz the "afters" seem like they'll never be possible) and lots of stories to tell.


Here are some highlights of our lives since the last episode aired.


Nutty Doves--So, if you buy a combo pack of Dove chocolates, you get Milk, Dark, Caramel, and Nutty Doves (they call them Almond or something, but I like my name better). Can you tell which are my new faves? In case you can't, it's the one A's considering for my new nickname.


Painting--All three bedrooms and both bathrooms that we're currently using (if you recall there are an additional bed and bath upstairs that will need a more serious overhaul before we use them) are fully painted and I love every one! I still need to get to the baseboards and other trim someday, but you hardly notice that in the prideful glow of my eyes when they see the beauty I have created with five full days of everything paint-related.


Budget--So, yeah. The time budget and the money budget are seriously out of control (actually, I'm not sure about the money budget, but it sure feels like we're spending a ton--I'm kinda afraid to enter all the receipts into Quicken...). I guess we didn't realize how bad things were, or how many things were bad. It feels like we're having to replace a whole heck of a lot of things. Ceiling fans. Switchplates. Baseboards. Medicine cabinets (oh yeah--those aren't being replaced, just placed. Who builds a house without medicine cabinets?!). Floors. Walls. Ya know. Just the cosmetic stuff.


Wall/window removal--We hired someone to remove 3 feet of that obnoxious wall and the wall between the kitchen "windows." He had it done before we got here a week ago to finish the painting and get some flooring in before the movers showed up. Oh, yeah, so I wound up actually driving down with A because it seemed that two would be better than one. So, we packed Thursday, drove to my folks' Friday after the moving van got loaded up. Rested Saturday, partied Sunday. A and I drove the entire way here on Monday; I finished the painting on Tuesday and Wednesday while he worked on the flooring (including the trip to Raliegh to pick it up) and some other stuff I'm too tired at this minute to recall. I flew back to Chicago at 5:40 AM (which would be 4:40 Chicago/Wisconsin time, sarcastic "yeah") to get the kids. We ran errands that day (whilst A was flooring) and went to the zoo Friday (whilst A was awash in a sea of deciding which cardboard cube should go into which empty room), from whence my sissy spirited me away to the "Naked Lady Spa" (I'll explain another time, maybe). And, Saturday after lunch, we headed to the airport and finally arrived in our new city as one whole family around midnight between Saturday and Sunday. Hoorah. Anyhow, so the handyman had finished the wall and window removal by the time A and I showed up late last Monday night. He dropped by Tuesday morning to go over it with us (and get paid!) and he commented that it made a much more dramatic difference than he'd thought and A agreed. Well, duh! Why'dya think I goaded you into spending $2K of our savings/adoption fund to have it done! Anyway, you'll see when I get the pictures taken and up (which could be another few weeks at this rate).

Cracker Barrel--not all it's cracked up to be. Unless you really enjoy the flavor of oil. Need I say more?

Pedaling--Punk has now learned to pedal his trike! Way to go big four year old boy! I guess our concrete driveway is a little easier for your Big-Wheels-styled trikerifica than the old farm gravel, eh?

Beach--"When are we going to the beach, Mom?" "Where's the beach that s'posed to be here, huh?" "Where's our beach, Mom?" "Can we go to the beach, pleeeeeeeease?" So, we finally, after being here 2 work-filled days, popped over to the beach for a picnic dinner and wave-hopping extravaganza. It was fabulous. All the way home, Punk kept telling us how much he loved it. :) And, now, we, like proper coast-dwellers, have sand in our sheets. Mmm. The new "home."

And, on that happy note, I'm taking my cardboard-weary head to bed. More as soon as I can manage it (There are only 77 emails in my inbox, my "work" inbox, as of this evening. Thanks a lot Cable Guy!).

PS--Please pray for a church for us. I'm a little overwhelmed and extremely longing.