it's the little things...

We remain in the tentatively exciting stage. How long can one remain there before that tentative excitement wears off? We'll see... We're in the apartment now. I hadn't lived in one in YEARS. It's really not bad. Definitely more space than the hotel and it feels more "ours" than the grandparents'. It really is a beautiful property--so wooded and quiet. Overall, everyone has settled in. I've tried to make it feel like home with some decorations, art, photos, etc. But still, it's much more brown than I normally go for. The only thing I don't like is how tiny the 1-car garage is. I mean, yes, we have a garage. But we have to park in it because we only get one other space. We'll see, though. As time goes by we may need to store some things in it. Still haven't gotten our clothes back but that should change tomorrow. There was an issue with a check from the insurance company not making it to us so we had to wait to get t...

Again, I've been meaning to write something. But, again, I've been hoping to have more exciting news. I guess we're kinda at the tentatively exciting stage. Maybe. That sounds convincing, right? We're still at the in-laws'. We were supposed to have moved into the apartment today but that got pushed back to Friday. That means we'll be here to welcome the in-laws back from vacation. And hang with them a few days. So the apartment was all kinds of fun. Everything went swimmingly the last day I posted. Then the next day we were told we couldn't move in there at all due to a new company policy not allowing leases shorter than 12 months. I called them and was on the verge of tears, threw the kitchen sink at them, they called corporate and had a "change of heart." Then last week they had a wrong date for move-in. Whatever. I'm rolling with it but not counting on moving in until I'm actually in. And then it will be harder for the...

It's my birthday, and I gloriously took the day off. It's been awhile since an update but I guess that's because there hasn't been much to say. Annoyingly. We moved out of the hotel at the end of last month. I weaned myself from the family that week. Hubby came over first to take care of the dogs and for me to let him have a tiny break. Then I sent Buns over because he had to go to daycare the next day while I took Chicken to her 4-year pedi visit. And then I had a night to myself. I was hoping it would be glorious but there ended up being work crises. At least I could handle them without the help of my tiny co-workers. Being here is great for the kids, I think. They're so familiar with the place and have their own rooms (that they feel really belong to them). And it's super near daycare. Obviously it's bigger than the hotel, and Maggie gets some outside time more easily. It's still just not our own place. But we're happy to have it...

Child, I'm ridiculously behind on about all things these days. But you're 4!  When we planned your brother's birthday party, you told me that you want a princess party yourself. It wasn't surprising then and you stuck with it for 6 months. We narrowed it down to a Frozen theme, however. I had all sorts of fun ideas and even looked into getting snow but then all hat fell to the wayside when our house caught on fire. The opposite of a Frozen party...  But we took advantage of the birthday package at the gym you and your brother attend and it worked out great. I feel like I phoned it in but y'all had a good time and Mommy didn't go insane so win-win. You are still so smart and chatty. You ask TONS of questions. Sometimes when I say something you will repeat it under your breath, like you're processing it and committing it to memory. You do have a fantastic memory. You still have a lot of empathy and love babies. You're very resilient, as evidenced by this...

I can finally breathe at work for a bit. And by "a bit" I probably should mean about 5 minutes. But I'll spend a few more here. I wish I had the day off and could just do whatever outside. It's so beautiful. I would die up north. A week and a half of dreary days in the 40s leaves me just this side of Seasonal Affective Disorder. Obviously the weather makes me distracted and rambly. Back to business. If you've been playing along on FB you saw that I got a new car. It's a 2015 Highlander. I love it. It's a greenish grey color that doesn't show up well in photos, and it's way fancier than I am. I think we got a good deal but even better than that, we got something big crossed off the list. I had one glorious solo ride in it. Without carseats even. But then back to reality...which, of course, I wouldn't trade for anything. We're still at the hotel, and things are still going well. Our transition to the grandparents' house starts next we...

I remain exhausted but still wanted to let y'all know how things are going. It feels like there has been a lot of progress in the last week. My car was removed from the "garage" yesterday. Yea! Hopefully I'll have a check for that by next week. We've done a bit more research and more test driving and I think we are narrowed down to two. Let me tell you, you haven't lived until you've car shopped with toddlers/preschoolers. Oh, did I mention that I had about 6 payments left on my old car? Isn't that the way it always goes? I love our hotel. People are so nice and it doesn't feel weird staying here. Maybe it's because I've stayed in so many hotels over the last several years for work. It's really quiet, and I'm able to work fairly well here. It's obviously much smaller but that hasn't been a problem yet. And I have to say that I do enjoy that someone else cleans and cooks (at least several meals). Someone who isn't me....

Super light reading year. I don't know what I did with my time... 1. Fiesta: The Sun Also Rises 2. The Secrets of Happy Families 3. The Fault in Our Stars 4. Heartbroke Bay One was Hemingway at least. And I'm retiring the following as I think they're all in storage post-fire: 1. And Baby Makes Three 2. The Happiest Toddler on the Block 3. Daring Greatly Maybe 2015 will be more exciting. I do miss curling up with a good book.