Lemony Webbles

OK...

curtains...but no hot water yet. The jacuzzi gleams ironically. Empty and dry. I've caught another cold and feel very sorry for myself. And poor Billy's sick now too. I have, however, taught my children to take bucket baths (with water heated on the stove, mind you...I'm not in the polar bear club). I learned about bucket baths in Guyana, where running water is an occasional affair. It really is a delightful thing to do. It's also delightful to have an excuse to tell the girls stories about roughing it (relatively) on another continent.

Camping with a computer is pretty cool too.

We have heat!

And that means we have stove! I made popcorn in the Grandpa Smith pan to celebrate. Tomorrow...hot water! And curtains!

Hello!

Here I am at our new house, typing on the computer for the first time in its new location. Nice blue wall in front of me. Nice sounds of plumbers working on fixing faulty gas lines beside me. We're in but we're still really just camping out here because we've had the gas shut off which menas no furnace, no hot water and no stove. This makes me a little cross-eyed with overwhelmedness but we're making due nicely with space heaters, a microwave, paper plates, and a crock pot. And kind friends and family that are holding us up with all their ongoing help and support. Teresa got really sick in the middle of all this moving, as did I. Mine was the 24-hour stomach bug that's been going around- awful and done quick, and Teresa had a significant worsening of her cold. She's been through a round of tests and examinations and she's being happily medicated for two ear infections and a very congested chest. It's all well that is hopefully ending. Nothing more can go wrong now. I really need us to be moving forward now and no more backwards.

Billy notes that with the computer's switch over today from old house to new there may be a few hours where this site is down, but then it will be right back up! Yeah!

moving day is upon us!

Contrary to a previous post, today is our closing day on the new house and we'll start moving in the evenings until it's done. So it's a gradual move, which I don't think I've ever done before. At best, it's a good distraction from the coldness of mid-winter and an absorbing activity while we get over the colds of mid-winter. (I know winter has just started but I also know that the days will be getting longer since the winter solstice is today, so that's what I'm counting. Happy winter solstice!) At worst, it's leaving my nest of security for an unknown house. Ok, sort of known, but never lived in by me! I think I will be ok all in all. But it's transition time, which makes me anxious and on edge. And then there's this business of needing a plumbing job done before we can move ourselves in even though all our stuff will be there. Weird. Irritating. And nobody's going to work around Christmas which is going to stretch it all out even more. Argh. But Billy has next week off so at least we'll all be together figuring out some combination of working on house stuff/overseeing plumbing work/taking care of little ones in odd places/sleeping on people's couches.

I'm pretty sure of one thing. I'd take some of our newly acquired wealth (from the sale of this house, about to be spent on a new house and its improvements!) off to Puerto Rico for an extended vacation if it wasn't going to rain all week there. And in Florida. And every other warm place I could get to quick and wander around the beach looking for seashells. So there may be no running away from the cold, but there are many good friends and family that will warm our transition for us. I do know that much.

Here's what we wish we were doing this week:

Billy took these pictures last summer with a disposable waterproof camera. It was a really fun experiment!

silliness either way

overheard: '12% of the American population thinks Joan of Arc was Noah's wife'

what I think really happened: 12% of the American population thought it would be really funny to choose 'C. Joan of Arc was Noah's wife' on some silly online survey

commentary on commentary

The previous post there seems to mirror my physical surroundings- everything a little disjointed, ideas/things thrown around, important events stated but not fully elaborated on/comprehended. I can't seem to make things flow/fit into boxes.

Ah, moving. Where all your stuff/ideas get shuffled like a deck of cards, silverware box next to extra blankets box under kid's papers to keep box. Sometimes it's more like 52 pick up. And how did we ever accumulate so much MISC. No more garage sales! I have actually rented a dumpster! to get rid of all the junk in the basement. An honest to gosh dumpster! You know, dumpster is a really weird word if you say it enough times.

a move is in my present

Heidi and David close on our old house on the December 15th. We close on our new house December 19th. Then all the moving happens. We've got one room to pack per day until we close. And in the middle of all this, I need a break really badly. Billy, God bless him, agrees to be here and take all the kids while I get my head together and relax, out to a movie. I saw the Narnia movie- it was pretty good- Aslan looked very real and Liam Neeson was an excellent choice for his voice and the White Witch was so icily amazing in these big felted dresses. I felt pretty guilty sitting there by myself in a show about family unity, but I still enjoyed it and it really helped me get some perspective to just get out of the house by myself. When my husband shows me how great he is, I tend to love him very very much. We're also having fun doing a project together (packing) as if child-raising wasn't enough.