More Moving Adventurous

I feel very loved lately. People keep calling to check up on me. You know, to see if I've gone crazy yet. It's very sweet. I've had SEVEN people offer to watch the girls when we move next week (which will be Friday, BTW. And I've taken 3 of them up on it. Volunteers will be doing shifts because I just can't bring myself to sic Gretchen onto any one family for a whole day...) So Friday we'll move into our new apartment home, and then Saturday we're loading up the Big Stott's stuff (we attempted to cut back on the chaos by doing it on different days).

This Is Me Looking On The Bright Side:
-I'll get to unpack our kitchen boxes after THREE YEARS of storage. I think I remember that we had lots of good stuff. I distinctly remember an awesome red Kitchenaide mixer.

-We don't have to worry about moving much heavy furniture because we don't have any couches! Booya!

-The new complex has a gym and FOUR POOLS. And anyone up for Tennis? (Too bad they don't have a badminton court. I'm a fierce Badminton Competitor.)

-It's only temporary, so if I decide I hate it, it'll be over soon. Say it with me now, "Colby graduates in two months. Colby graduates in two months. Colby graduates in two months." (Deep cleansing breath.) (Also, try to forget that we have no idea where we'll be going after graduation. Deeeeeeeeeeeeep cleansing breaths.)

-We'll get to think of fun new decorating ideas like this (because all our other decorations are staying in storage):


No news on the Great Missing Cat Debacle of 2010. I had a dream that Miss Jackson came home and I woke up with her curled around my feet. But that dream didn't come true. Sniff.

PATHETIC STORY OF THE WEEK: I wanted to make "Missing Cat" posters, but I couldn't find a picture of Miss Jackson on my computer. I know I have a lovely one in my photo album. I know exactly where the photo album is too. Packed up and under about 300 lbs of boxes. So instead of unpacking 1/2 my closet, I just stole one off the internet. This is not actually our cat:

But close enough. Posters have been distributed with a suitable stand-in.

Yesterday was Colby's birthday. We celebrated by going to see Sherlock Holmes at the $3 theater and then eating Persian food. Yum. We decided that when he gets a job, we're going to start having more fun. (Money can buy happiness, just FYI. At least some excellent dinner...)

Hope you have an excellent week! Wish us luck!

Sad Sacks

Hi! Remember how last time I posted things were all up in the air? Yeah. It just got a little more crazy.

-Colby's parents sold their house after only 2 weeks on the market. Hooray for them!

-Holy Hannah, we need to move in TWO WEEKS.

-We don't know where we're going to live yet.

-We've got an offer in on a condo, but haven't heard anything back. And even if we DO get it, no way it'll be ours by the time we need to be outta here.

-We found a few month-to-month apartments where we can go till we figure things out.

-Colby is graduating in May. And we don't know where we're going to live, or where he'll get a job.

-We could get this condo & then find out we're moving to Portland. Which would be fine, we would just rent it out, but still, BUMMER! Or we could be here for another four+ years (if Colby finds a job in town & starts his MBA.) But we could not. AHHHHH!

-I am a planner. I like to know what I'm doing, where I'm doing it, and how I'm going to get it done. I KNOW NOTHING. I am going crazy.

-While we were looking for an apartment yesterday, Gretchen threw up in the car. Twice.

-Our cat has run away from home. We checked one shelter today, but will have to wait till tomorrow to check the other one. WHERE IS SHE!?!? We are moving in two weeks? What if we don't find her? OMG! I'm FREAKING OUT!

Phew. I feel a little better.

Angela, or "Auntie Anal" (as Gretchen lovingly refers to her), came with her lovely family & helped with a bunch of Big Projects. Like emptying the food storage room out (remind me never to aquire a full years worth of food storage. If it comes down to living off of 30 year old pinto beans and "Sloppy Joe" mix with "Beef Substitute", I'm pretty much ok with just dying... And I think my children would agree with me.) Auntie Angel is pretty much amazing. So is Uncle Shea.

Gretchen's New Tricks:
Said to me this afternoon: Stop it Mom! Making me CRAZY!
Said to Auntie Krista, who was giggling at her fake-cry: STOP COPYING ME!
(Such a charmer, I know...) Also, she can almost skip, put on her own bandaids (she prefers "Barbie Bandaids" to all others), and get random strangers at the park to put her in swings and then push her. Much to her mom's embarrassment (we have a No-Swings-At-The-Park rule because it's too hard to keep an eye on both the girls when one of them is swinging. But Gretchen doesn't let her mom's rules stop her. This terrifies me on so many levels.)

Please, please, please let me have some answers by next week. At least a cat back. Thank you.

I Love Lutherans

BIG WEEK.

- Gretchen got her stitches out. Gretchen's hand shook a little bit while the stitches were removed, but she held very still. The cut is healing up nicely. Our pediatrician said the ER Practitioner did an excellent job, and even though she'll have a scar, it'll be a little skinny one. Not the gaping wound I was afraid it'd be. (DUDE, WE COULD SEE HER SKULL BONE!!! I AM STILL FREAKED OUT BY THIS!!!) She is so brave. And now she's rockin' the bandaids that we plaster daily across her little forehead.

- Gretchen spilled her crackers all over my lap & the pew at church today and said, "Oh great." My baby knows how to properly use sarcasm. I'm so proud.

- We put an offer in on a condo, but found out Friday that we didn't get it. LAME. But whatever, we will persevere. And one day we'll have our very own little ghetto condo to call home. Or not. Maybe we'll just have to find a rental. I'm sick of thinking about it. So I'm not going to any more. I'm taking the night off.

-Ella can sit down and READ. A ton. It's pretty amazing. I can't really take much credit for it either. She is brilliant. Now if I could only get her to make her bed...

-I went to a Retreat with my mom's group this weekend. It was FREE. And this is what I got to look at all weekend:


That is just a picture I stole off the internet. But the view from our bedroom was almost as amazing. We were literally 20 feet from the lake. My mom's group is hosted by a Lutheran church in town, and so all the ladies were from the congregation. I met some SUPER COOL people. One nice lady invited me to go out for a run with her. After warning her that I am sooooooooooo sloooooooooooooow, and that I wouldn't be offended if she left me in her dust, I agreed. (She told me, "Speed is an ability, but endurance is a gift." Isn't that a sweet way of saying it's ok that I suck at running? I know!) We ran in the sand on the beach. Well, we ran for a little bit. RUNNING ON SAND IS HARD. Then we walked. And then it started to snow. But I had my gloves on and my hat, and IT WAS SO PRETTY. After we caught our breath, we started talking. About babies and c-sections. And then she mentioned that she was in the Peace Corps with her husband right after they got married. That is pretty much the coolest thing ever, right? She said they DIDN'T HAVE C-SECTIONS where she was. Either the mom died or the baby died. Craziness. (SO THANKFUL FOR MODERN MEDICINE. Even though the c-section rate in our country is horrible, blah blah blah, etc. STILL GRATEFUL WE HAVE THEM. And grateful I only had one.) We were out for 1.5 hours, having so much fun & talking & enjoying the view. When I finally got back to my room with my Mom's Group Peeps, they were freaking out a little big because, "No one goes running in the snow for an hour & a half!!!" But you do with when it's that pretty! (It wasn't really THAT snowy, the view was still great. Just snowy enough to make us feel super tough and awesome.)

I loved having a church service with my non-church friends. I love that the girls were so happy to see me when I got home. I love that they were all ready for church and I didn't have to do anything for them. I love that Colby was nice enough to take on his children single-handedly for 48 hours so I could have a weekend away. I love that Ella still had all her long, long hair when I got home and that Colby didn't cut it off in a fit of frustration (shout out to Amber & Grandma for brushing it in my absence! Love you too!)

I am freakin' full of love.

I hope you all get a weekend away too.