It's coming together

So even the best laid plans get off track and I find this very frustrating. It's not something I'm immediately okay with. Like I need a minute.



















Off track this week: 

• The electricians, initially scheduled for Thursday, rescheduled for next week Wednesday. Grrr, but okay. I guess many of their staff were out sick so they were reshuffling appointments.

• The table and chairs due to be delivered on Thursday had to be cancelled all together. Apparently, the table was so badly damaged going from the warehouse to the truck that it became undeliverable. Um, WTF, mate? Did y'all drop it from the loading dock of a four story building? This set back peeved me out because the table is no longer in stock and we're looking at early to mid-January now. This one took me longer to work through and calm down about, but whatever. I'M BREEZY.

Other than that, things are crack a lackin'. 

The painters? Are amazing. Picture the squirreliest contractor you have ever dealt with. These painters are the exact OPPOSITE of this. I am at the house puttering around the during the day and so we chat. They are nice. And funny. One of them swept the garage. They're cool with taking their shoes off because of muddy yard and driveway. And their painting skills are no joke. I bought them lunch on Friday and it wasn't weird. 

The IKEA delivery/assembly people were kinda weird, however, but they hauled so much ass putting together a king bed, two nightstands, a day bed with three drawers, a desk, a hutch and an office chair together (IN THREE HOURS!) that I didn't even care. Be zany. Just put together my cheap Swedish goods, ya nut jobs.

Other than that, I have been using my new Shark steam mop and puttering about cleaning things and putting things away. It is heaven.

For cookie cutters.

Pantry of gloriousness.
Remember my old pantry that
looked murder-y? This is an
upgrade.

Lovely, if slightly off-kilter rug.
Just like its owner.

For cocktails on the go. Soon.

Ugly builder faucet: OUT.
New kitchen faucet: IN.

Coming up this week we have me attempting to scrub and clean the basement stairs. I had the basement floor cleaned and sealed (it's cement), but the stairs are still a dirty mess and tracking that onto either the clean main floor or the new basement floor won't do.

Also, the electrician(s) are coming. Mr. Handyman is coming to put our bed and nightstands together. The painters are making their way to the second floor for painting. T is going to replace four bathroom faucets tomorrow while the kids and I are at church. I shall pray for him. The closet people are coming out on Friday to do our closet and Iris' closet--I'm kinda jazzed about that. I hope to move our clothes on Saturday and Sunday. It feels like an easy thing to move and organize in advance rather than have them boxed up and then me spending time unboxing them. 

I am enjoying taking our time through all of this for lots of reasons. One: it's letting me enjoy and troubleshoot things without feeling like our living arrangements have been upended. I don't like that. It's also allowing me to settle in and move and unpack things without the kids in tow as they're still in school for another week before Christmas vacation. And I like that our storage items are coming one day allowing me to do some unpacking before another load of items from the apartment come and compound it all making all seem like a bit of a circus.

Also, for me, the most ridiculous parts of moving are: a) having no food in the house and b) no sheets on the bed because, hey!, your bed just arrived. But this time I can grocery shop in advance! There will be food! And because our bed and Iris' bed are new, I can have them made up before we sleep there. I can be dead tired after our moving day and then just crawl into sheets without feeling like crying because dealing with a fitted sheet at 10:00pm after moving all day is enough to make a gal snap.

I am trying to my hardest to also preserve the Christmas-y goodness of this great month. I adore Christmas. And while I feel slightly preoccupied, we've been listening to Christmas music since about early November (that's Iris' fault) and decorated our apartment and have two separate countdowns to Christmas.

If I let myself, though, I feel really, really sad about the traditions were just starting to build in Old Town. Traditions like going to the botanical gardens to see trees from around the world, driving to the ballpark where you could slow-drive through it and look at the lights and I always made us popcorn to eat in the car. Or making our tenement gingerbread houses. I don't know. Leaving those things behind and having to start from scratch here bums me out a lot. 

I think we will still make our super hoopty gingerbread houses and try to visit Santa at the mall. And while the kids don't seem to notice one way or the other and that makes me feel a bit better, I notice. And I miss those things. Hopefully a year from now and we'll feel a bit more settled and celebratory.

Homeowners once again!

Well, it was a good run being mortgage-free but The Man owns us once again. Yesterday we closed on our new house and that means we officially own it and no contractors or tradespeople will be walking through it. It means I wired an obscene amount of money to the title company last week and hoped it didn't get lost in the ether. It also means that I went horizontal on our new carpet yesterday afternoon and the kids went ape upstairs and it felt good because they weren't within arms reach of me.

The apartment has been cozy, but with the advent of winter and closed windows and less time outside--it's been feeling even cozier.

COZIER, I TELL YOU.




At any rate, with us officially owning the home--the rubber meets the road in terms of me getting things done before we sleepover.

Today: 

I met the painters at the house after taking the kids to school. This painting company is one I found on Yelp and after reading that they were meticulous and supa tidy--I knew I'd found my guy. I mean, my middle name is practically Tidy.

And! He was quick and responsive with his quote and emails. And! Grammar and punctuation were utilized. It's like finding a unicorn.

So a team of four will be painting pretty much damn near every surface in the house between now and next week Friday.

Today I also hired a mirror company to remove the boring bathroom mirrors.

Also, I hired a local moving company to bring their van over to the apartment and load up everything for the new house that is crowding us in and making T need a paper bag to breathe into.



(Never Google "hoarder's home" as you will never be able to unsee the Image search results. Horror show.)

I initially was going to make multiple trips in my VW, but, uh, some things are too big. See: the bed Target delivered early and still gets me het up when I think about it, and the two 9x12 rugs. Oh, and the bar cart. My Golf is miraculous nine times out of ten, but even it has limits. 

Then I thought, "Hey! I'll just rent maybe a Uhaul kidnap van or maybe a Tahoe for the day and make one mega trip and be done with it!" But figuring out the timing and logistics with the kids school times and car seats and making sure I could get it done in one day made it all feel too ridiculous.

Then T said, "Um, hire someone?" OKAY. Again Yelp turned up this local company and they were more than willing to do it and charge me about the same price as Enterprise would charge me for an SUV and within two hours my apartment will be empty of new stuff and the new stuff will be at the house where I can put it away.

Stuff is happening and it feels good.

Unfortunately, I'm also dealing with some sort of low level cold action for over a week now. Intermittant runny nose. Intermittant sore throat. Lost my voice, but it came back along with Chills! Aches! Hurty ears! Not bad enough to put a fork in it and want to go to bed, but not minimal enough for me to just shake it off. 


             I'm not entirely sure what's happening here.

Maybe let's not end on that weird horse head. Here are some small fries instead:

Random useless tidbits

Iris has her cardiologist appointment tomorrow. It's been two years since the last one and I hope we can go to every five years. My favorite of the pediatric cardiologists has since retired so we're seeing someone else. I remember him from the NICU. Favorite Cardiologist will be hard to top. He was just nurturing and kind and doted on Iris and one time I saw him at the car dealership with his adult daughter and he introduced us by name and, well, that's kind of miraculous.

****

The kids have been counting down to Christmas since day 39 and the other night after I tucked her in, Iris said, "Merry Christmas, Mama!" They are jazzed.

****

Aaaaaand now it's Sunday night but I started this post last Tuesday. 

Updates: Iris doesn't have to go back to the cardiologist for five years which is basically fantastic. They did an EKG but skipped an echocardiogram and we were no kidding in and out in 30 minutes.

M'kay.

See you sonsofbiscuits in when SHE'S TEN.

****

Thanksgiving was lovely. We went to Ohio to see my dad's side of the family and it was only 45 minutes away from New Town instead of three hours and a helacious hotel stay. Hotels with kids just blow, man.

Anyway, the weather was super dicey Thursday night when we were driving back home--sheets of ice and white-out snowing in one stretch--and I basically turned shrill to T while he drove ("WHY ARE YOU DRIVING SO FAST?!") and the kids slept in the back. I'm sure that was fun for him.

In other Thanksgiving news, this was the first Thanksgiving in six years (ahem) that was relaxing and enjoyable. We didn't have to worry about fitting in someone's nap. We didn't have to think about a new walker and stairs and antiques being snagglepussed. We didn't have to worry about someone's super special eating needs. No diapers. No toddlers with little self-preservation or impulse control. 

Instead we sat. We actually ate two meals; with seconds! We chatted. T watched football. It was the bessssssst. Hands down.

****

Tomorrow is our final walk through at the new house and this week I have to wire a mega crapton of money to the title company and I officially changed our address with the Postal Service and it appears it's all coming together.

****

My Housewives of Beverly Hills have started up again and while they are collecting on my DVR, I'm thinking I'll meet up with them one day this week.

Brandi, I feel you, girl.

****

Elphabet the Elf is showing up tonight. AKA: being dug out from behind my closet from where I stuffed him last week after Amazon delivered him.

See, this is Stunt Double Elphabet as the Original Elphabet is in storage in a pallet 30 minutes away.

At dinner Ezra kept saying, "I can't wait to see our elf tomorrow. Man, it's going to be a great day."

****

In a rather awesome turn of events, T and I are going to Mexico the first week in February for a long weekend. We'll be gone Wednesday through Sunday and to say that I can't wait would really kind of be downplaying it.

One of T's closest friends recently got married in a civil ceremony, but now he and his wife are having a reception of sorts in Mexico. Ari was the best man in our wedding and perhaps one of the nicest men around. He sent the kids birthday cards when he was a bachelor!, for pete's sake.

Anyway, it was a bit chicken or egg in deciding to go: should we commit to the trip even though, um, we're just buying a house? But that is neither here nor there if my parents aren't even available?

My parents said, "GO!" Our bank account said, "I won't judge you." The travel agent said, "Here are direct flights!" So away we go!

I keep thinking we were just there, but yeah that was almost two years ago. I really can't wait and T has the crazy eyes so it'll be good for us both.

****

One month from today we will officially be out of our apartment. This is insanepants for me to think about because I honestly feel as if I just unpacked and it was the kids and I hanging out this summer. But here it is almost December 1 and holy crap on a cracker those six months went fast.

****

I turn 39 at the end of this week and that is also insane to think about. I have a mortgage and life insurance and small people to raise and college savings for them and get manicures and gray hair and all of that feels awfully, awfully adult.

In my head, though, I feel a bit younger. Smarter than I used to be which is win-win. I mean, sometimes I get caught up in a mental film loop highlighting My Life's Worst Choices and that highlight reel is a long one and I end up cringing and forcing it to stop. So...smarter! Phew.

But also a bit fatter. But happier! With me, with life, with T, with things.

Adulthood is kind of weird. You get to eat donettes whenever you want with zero hassle, but Verizon will hunt your ass down if you don't pay them. Ezra pays nothing. But he also gets none donettes. 

****

I am having a greasy day which I think is due to: a) hormones and b) it was 61 degrees here today. 

Good heavens.

Admittance to loony bin in January

Last week I had the walk through with the builder's home warranty company to make a punch list of things I (we) want remedied before the final walk through and before we close. I went over the walls and edges with a fine tooth comb. We're paying this much for a house, nonsense better be perfect--no dings, no scratches, nada. Turns out we're also missing our shutters and some pieces of wood trim at the exterior peaks of the house. But other than those few things, the interior of the house looked pretty good. Exterior stuff is going to be kind of a hot mess until spring. Falling temps mean that materials--paint for our pillars, poured driveway, stone on our porch, grading the lot--just won't work and we'll have to wait until at least May. 

So we close Monday, December 8 and before our things are delivered from storage on the 22nd, I have a laundry list of things that need to be coordinated and completed. My paper calendar is full-up with notes (as God intended). 

• The painting will start on Tuesday the 9th and be completed the following week on the 19th.
• I am having a mirror company come out and remove the mirrors in the three bathrooms so that the painter can repair the wall, if needed, before the new mirrors are hung. Apparently, the mirrors are both screwed into the wall and glued. The hell.
• A company is coming out to clean and seal the basement floor (versus leaving it as untreated concrete).
• I am having an electrician come out and hang as many lights (there are eighteen total) as possible before my eyes bug out at the cost and ask T to handle the rest. 
• The large pieces of furniture I ordered--the kitchen table and chairs, the couch, the leather chair--are being delivered.
• I am having Mr. Handyman come out to hang the three new bathroom mirrors, assemble Iris' bookshelf, Ezra's bookshelf and Ezra's desk.
• The IKEA furniture I ordered (Iris' day bed, my desk and hutch, guest room bed, two mattresses) for delivery and assembly will arrive on Friday the 12th. 
• We're having the closets installed in Iris' room and our room on Friday the 19th.

The items above are falling into one of two camps. Camp One: I am not a professional, and a professional will simply do it better and with less cussing (see: painting, closets, furniture assembly). Camp Two: I have no idea how to do that and T is gone so I'm throwing money at the task (see: basement, mirrors, lights, furniture assembly again).

In the meantime, I've purchased enough things for the new house that our apartment is looking turrible. 

No, really. I posted a picture on Instagram earlier last week and then shit got real and now our bedroom is packed. The apartment eating area is holding seven different curtain rods and curtains and our new bar cart. We had to scoot up our couch because--and I for real want to type the next run-on sentence in all caps--Target dot com is the largest circus on the face of the earth and run by rat weasels and they delivered our bed early and to the wrong address and emails from them held completely inaccurate information and now our heavy as HAYL king sized bed that we have no room to store in our apartment is sitting behind our couch and it's ridiculous.

 

Target dot come can eat my pants. And lord help me if they try to deliver a second bed on the actual time frame and at the actual address communicated to them earlier. 

So yeah. Today I managed to get all of our Christmas shopping done and wrapped--minus the kids' teachers and the two school secretaries. I was going to have it all ordered and wrapped by Amazon and then shipped to my parent's house, but then some things were going to be fulfilled by a third party seller and gift wrap wasn't an option. And then I realized that the kids stocking stuffers would be in the same blue Amazon wrap and my house of Santa lies would come crashing down around me. Mentally, it became too much to keep track of so instead of grocery shopping for the week, today I went to Target and three other stores and knocked that biznass out. Bam. Done. I told no one to enter the bedroom and wrapped everything in a few hours. I have loaded it all into my car trunk and will dump it in my parent's trunk when we see them for Thanksgiving. 

And as I start to think beyond Christmas, I'm not entirely sure when I will pack up our apartment things. I hope to sell some things on on CL beforehand, move whatever I can fit in my car to the house after we close, and leave everything else for the movers. I guess? Yeah. Or throw it all in Hefty bags like in college when I moved between dorms. 

Some pictures:

Ezra in his room

Iris in her room

Master bedroom

 

And then she turned five

"Hope" is the thing with feathers—
That perches in the soul—
And sings the tune without the words—
And never stops—at all—

And sweetest—in the Gale—is heard—
And sore must be the storm—
That could abash the little Bird
That kept so many warm—

I've heard it in the chillest land—
And on the strangest Sea—
Yet, never, in Extremity,
It asked a crumb—of Me

--Emily Dickinson

Birth



Age One






Age Two





Age Three






Age Four






Age Five

His precious heart

This morning I received a call from the social worker at Ezra's school. 

Gut drop #1: school number appearing on my phone. 

Gut drop #2: the school social worker introducing himself to you.

But, as it turns out, the social worker wants to "train" Ezra to work with a classmate whom Ezra has shown some interest in befriending and helping. The classmate has a number of physical and learning impairments, but--according to the social worker--Ezra goes out of his way to help him in the lunch room, give him high-fives, say "hello," and asks to be his reading buddy.

So Mr. Andrew is going to coach Ezra on other ways to help this classmate, both socially and academically, that are appropriate for age six.

Kindness is so important to me and though I feel like I do so many things wrong in parenting Ezra, I feel as if imparting the lesson of kindness to others might be something that is going okay.

Fall adventures: pumpkin patching, fall zoo trip, and stir-fry