Not Me Monday- Moving

I am NOT still sick. I did NOT, however, take some serious drugs this weekend to get back to my normal amazingly awesome self.

Life is NOT starting to feel back to normal again. I do NOT need a buttload smidgen of routine in order for me to NOT function, and now that the wedding is NOT over and I am NOT settling in to this small-town life, I can NOT finally get it together.

This week, my kids do NOT have 2 days off! I know, school only started 2 weeks ago, and already they have TWO days off... I do NOT remember when I went to school, and did walk up hill both ways, carrying my shoes in my hands with plastic bags on my feet, in the snow, for 50 miles. And, NO, I did NOT have days off every two weeks.

We did NOT have last-minute dinner guests yesterday, and NOPE, I did NOT feed them whilst sitting on rubbermaid buckets around the table. Both of our children did NOT eat in the living room, on the (blue carpeted) floor. That would be just rude, and I would NEVER do that to dinner guests. This was NOT bad enough, but to top it off, I did NOT inwardly freak out, considering it was Will's Ex's extended family, and I did NOT worry about making a good impression. I am NOT pleased to say that they were very nice and friendly, in spite of my dirty house. And, in case you're wondering, I did NOT overcook the asparagus to a nasty utterly delicious green goop. I do NOT hate the craptastic flat-top stove and oven here at the house, and my prissy city-girl inner cook does NOT miss her gas stove from the Calgary house.

I am NOT thankful that my parents brought the kitchen chairs from that house later last night- too late for the dinner guests, but great just the same. I am NOT also excited about bringing ALL of my stuff later this week. I am NOT demanding hosting a cleaning party at my house, for those interested! :) BYOC, BYOTC, BYOLW. -- bring your own chairs. And toilet cleaner. And lysol wipes.

I did NOT buy Hallowe'en candy already. Nope, NOT ME! I do NOT have a weakness for the peanut-butter ones. It is NOT Chocolate Wednesday, and I am so NOT cheating! I have also NOT eaten the box all. by. myself.

This does NOT remind me that X-Weighted is starting up that "where are they now" website. It is NOT a bad idea for me to be eating all that chocolate just before they launch. And, apparently, my episode is NOT airing all week, too.

BUT, on the other side of the fat scale, I did NOT wear "the skirt" to church yesterday. This skirt is one that my mother did NOT wear when she was young-- (bought in 1975), and it is NOT the skinniest article of clothing I have. I did NOT wear it when I was a teen, and it was NOT my goal skirt to fit into when the TV show ended. I did NOT force my fat thighs into that skirt yesterday. I did NOT do a little dance of joy that I got the zipper up. And then, when the day was over, I did NOT do ANOTHER (completely ridiculous) dance to try to get it off. NOPE, NOT ME. I would NEVER nearly pull off my left buttcheek in order to get the thing off! I am NOT >this< close to marathon training again going for a few runs with Will to get back into shape.

Not Me Monday- Married Mayhem

So, I sent Will to work this morning. It was NOT super cute when, after he made the bed, he whined in a little-boy voice about how he'd NOT like to just stay in bed with me all day. I do NOT agree. This honeymoon may look over, but we're definitely not admitting that to ourselves yet!

But, although having him home with me last week was NOT fantastic, I did NOT get WAYYYYYY behind in my housework! Not like I was distracted or anything! ;) I seriously do NOT have a ROOM FULL of laundry to fold today as EVERYTHING in my house was washed last week, twice. I do NOT have a bunch of stuff to put away, and I do NOT have a million thank-yous I want to get written!

I also have NOT failed to mention, in the course of a NOT busy week last week, that my house in Calgary is NOT finally sold as of Tuesday last! DONE! I can not tell you how happy I am NOT! It is NOT a great thing to know that I can finally move my furniture into this house, and NOT make it finally feel like a home. Will and I had NOT wanted to get some renovations done first, but timing is just not there, and being married is busy! ;) VL
The new family does NOT take possession on the first of October, so really, this month is going to be just as busy as last month! Will does NOT have to finish that hotel we worked on together, and a bunch of other smaller jobs, I do NOT have to go back to Calgary to get my van once it's finished, and I do NOT have to start working to make a few ends meet too. I will NOT likely start working for my mother-in-law, which is NOT a nice idea, seeing as how Mimi can NOT come to work with me.

Chris got a job, he told me last night. BUT, it's a job that's not stable for hours or scheduling, so I may have the kids a lot more. On top of that, he may NOT be moving another hour and a half away in the OPPOSITE direction of Calgary because of this, so his weekends will NOT entail a lot of driving. Alas, life goes on, and Chris, Will and I will figure it all out.

If you are NOT sick of wedding pictures, too bad! I do NOT plan on reliving the best day of my life over and over again on this blog! ;)

It's a Good few weeks!

The beginning of September is already shaping up to be AWESOME!!

Along with the BEST part-- marrying Will,

my TWO kids (LL and Bear) started school all day (yay),

I get to see ALL my siblings,

(Kiki's wedding this past weekend)

my van will be fixed from our little Bambi-hitting incident,

LL and her cousin got baptized (okay, it was technically August, but whatever)

I 'inherited' a new daughter full-time, and...

as of tonight....

I conditionally sold my house!
YAY.
*now you see why I haven't been blogging much! :(

Six Word Saturday- Last One?

It's Six Word Saturday, where you describe your week in 6 words. It's really fun to play- so visit www.showmyface.com if you wanna join in. Cate started it. Blame her. :)

My six for the week?

It totally sucks that summer's over!


This is my last 'free' weekend of the summer. Next weekend will be lots of fun, with the first wedding in my family, but it's not a 'free' weekend. I have weddings to attend and family to play with! That's work! ;) And the weekend after that? Wedding number 2! So, really, my Saturdays are gone for a while. Then, the Saturday after that? Will and I will be on a honeymoon! ;P Even if our honeymoon is ALONE IN THE 'NEW HOUSE' because I STILL haven't sold the old one.

And, bugger all, another neighbour listed their home for sale. MUCH cheaper than mine. crappy. So not amused.

It's Small-Town Living at it's best and 6/52 (a bit late)

I missed last week's Find Mom Friday-- but you all know my excuses. So, here's a buttload of pictures to satiate at least a FEW weeks' worth of Mom-photos! :) Although, I'll play fair and only count these as last week's entry.

Will is having a fun time taking me to all the 'hot spots' around our little podunk town. Although I may grumble about some of the aspects of living in a Southern Alberta, LDS-centred, what-the-freak-are-all-these-minivans-doing-here town, there are some DEFINITE sweet selling points to my new hometown, too.

At the start of the 'tour', Will has taken us to the parades and celebrations. Everyone's there. Everyone's PART of the parade. Candy is thrown by the truckloads!

(Mimi and Bear, filling his pant pockets with as much candy as he can gather)

Children nearly get run-over by mini-motorized cars, and everyone laughs at her cuteness and thinks it's normal. ( If you can't tell in this picture, yes, Mimi nearly DIED, but you know, she's a girl after my own heart-- there was some GOOD CANDY on that there road!!)

And, although my heart may TOTALLY jump out of my throat when I see THIS, (this HUGE truck is barreling down the parade route, with kids TOTALLY hanging out the side-- they could fall to their DEATH, but no one seems worried!) it's a town where I can accidentally leave my daughter's hat on the bench we're sitting at, and come back hours later after a thousand people have walked past to find it sitting nicely on the back of the bench, waiting for it's rightful owner to reclaim it. TRUE STORY.

Will has taken us to the creek. Where it's perfectly normal for everyone to strip down to their skivvies and swim. MY KIDS LOVED IT!!

Will has taught Mimi how to swim. Well. Kinda.

Will has taught Bear how to "run like a man" through the safe, SUPER wide streets.

Will has shown me how fun it can be to catch snakes in the bush and freak the heck out of the kids! LOLWill and I have enjoyed ripboarding down the paths.
But mostly, Will has introduced me to many great people. People who befriend me at church, who sit beside me, who introduce me to other great people, and who seem genuinely interested in making us feel welcomed.

All in all, my new hometown is bound to bring lots of great experiences. That's the best part about country, small-town living. Everyone knows everyone, everyone helps everyone, and the best of dirt and mud and memory-making moments reside there.

Directions to my new house

I am learning a lot about the new place I live. Southern Alberta is quite a Mormon area. And it's pretty much guaranteed that there will be a daily conversation on lineage. (who are you related to? Where are you from? What's your maiden name? Do you know Joe?) Southern Albertans don't realize how odd it is to label people in such a way, and, to someone like me, (an outsider coming IN), it's intimidating and scary and strange. Really, WHO CARES what my Gramma's first brother's cousin's step-mother's name is?! And no, I'm not related to the same John Smith family as the ones who live on the corner in the blue house.

Sadder yet? I went to church in our new ward again this Sunday.
Introduced myself as Debbi "McSpanky", because I knew that introducing myself as Debbi Barber would prove useless as I'll be changing that last name in a few weeks. The next question, "what's your maiden name"...
And then later- "Who are you related to? Are you from Southern Alberta?"
And then, the inevitable, "Whose house did you move into?"


Where's the sad part, you ask? Well, I answered all of those questions (for the bagillionth time) as a Southern Albertan. Yes. I fell into the trap. ...I moved into "Jack Dawson's old home". The yellow one on the corner with the playground in the back.

Yes.

I gave that answer.

And everyone knew what house I was talking about.

If you're not from around Southern Alberta, and you wanna come visit me and Will, we'd love visitors. You may sleep on a foamie in the basement until the old house sells and we bring out beds over, but we'd still love to see ya. I may even bake cookies. Just don't ask me which house number it is. I couldn't tell ya. But we live right beside Norma Jean and right behind Gertrude and Thomas. You'll find us. Ask at the post office. They'll likely give you our mail to take to us too. But don't ask about Mrs. Johnson's health, or you'll hear all about her latest boil issue.

True story.

Time for Some Confusion

While I wait for some unhallowed hour to come when my three monkeys will walk through the door, or more likely, be carried I have a moment or twelve to blog. FINALLY. Chris decided at the last minute to bring them home from BC a day early - leaving me scrambling to return the 2 hours back to Calgary in order to be here when they arrive. And, might I mention, he left at about 9 pm. And it's over 6 hours of driving. So, I may be up for a while yet.

I can't REALLY complain, though. I mean, Chris took the kids for the ENTIRE past week, so I could get the "old house" moved into the "new house". Don't let those confuse you-- it may be "NOT ME MONDAY", but when I say "old house", I mean the one I am moving out of-- NOT the "new house" I'm moving into. In reality, the "old house" is much newer than the "new house", seeing as "new house" was built about 30 years BEFORE "old house" was. Confused yet? :)

I have about one vanload left of "stuff" in this 'old house' to bring back to the new house. And then, old house is just a decorated shell. As I said before, I have one house that LOOKS functional... but ISN'T, and one house that DOESN'T look functional, but IS. Old house is just for show now. And hopefully, that show gets it a sale, too! Because I'd really like NOT to have two mortgages.

OOOOh...a few 'before' shots of our new house. For your laughing viewing pleasure. And yes-- we're FULLY aware that the kitchen is carpeted, the carpets in the house are wool and blue, OR shag, and yes, the curtains are to die for (or because of!). But in a few days, it'll be home sweet home. It's got GREAT square footage, and HUGE yard, and will fit our family. And I'm marrying a handy, clever, hard-working dude, so just you wait for the after pictures. Besides, it's not the furniture or the carpets that make a house a home...

Wedding plans are going great. I'm super super lucky to have some GREAT friends with amazing talents, and they're all CONVENIENTLY joining forces into one company. If you wanna see some of their work, check out their individual blogs or sites, (Vanessa= photography, Carla=catering, Keshia=graphic design, and Bree=Event planner) or, best yet, check out the company's blog, Mod Squad.

I'm also thrilled that so many others are helping-- sewing/altering dresses, decorations, music, cakes. Everything is coming together nicely, and we don't have much else to get ready. I can't wait to post pics for you guys.

And Will and I? buying a home and changing jobs and joining two families and renovations and merging bank accounts--- BIG changes. There's bound to be some speed bumps along the way of our first year of marriage. Lucky for us, being married before kinda helps us go into a new marriage with the understanding that those things lie before us. Unlike the first, VERY naive times we got married. This time, there's just a little less wool over our eyes. (let's not make another reference to the blue carpets already! ;) )

Six Word Saturday- Time

One of These Days I'll Blog!!



I totally miss blogging, actually. I miss reading everyone else's blogs too. This week, though, it's just not possible...

I got most stuff moved to the new house this week while Chris has the kids. It's very uncomforting to have half of my stuff in one place, and another half 2 hours away and I kinda feel like a nomad... I don't know where home is right now. Alas, many people have taken time to help me get it done while I'm childless, so I appreciate that. ALMOST ready to make my new home my permanent home. Even though it's intimidating to me: I don't do well with change.

Wedding is coming up soon. September 11th better be a sunny day! :) But thankfully most stuff is done, or getting close, because school starts soon and I have enough other things to do. When I'm set up (or back at my own computer) I'll post our before pictures of the house. Get ready for it! LOL (those who've seen it understand why, but the rest of you-- it was a house built in the 70s... and it STILL looks like it: carpetted kitchen and everything!!! )

Did I mention that I'm totally in love?
Yah, just checking.

I wanted to leave on a good note. :)



(if you wanna play Six Word Saturday, visit Cate at http://www.showmyface.com/ and play along, kay?!)

Six Word Saturday- Moving

Stressfull situations make for big growth.


Yep. That's my week. It's probably the theme for a few Six Word Saturdays to come. But if you'd like to play along, visit Cate at Show My Face dot com.

For the next two weeks, I'm back and forth between three cities, planning the wedding and moving HALF of my stuff. If this house would just sell already.

The best advice I got this week?
Instead of thinking about how busy and crazy and hectic and scary these million changes are in my life, remember how lucky I am to have a nearly FRESH start! A new ward, a new home, a new city, a new job (?) and a new family with my new husband...
All I need is a new wardrobe. :)

(okay, so I may have added that last part in)

(ooh, speaking of wardrobe, I picked up the dress yesterday. FUN. Will was there, and the lady brought it out to me and totally ditzed out until the other employee told her to take it to the back with this sense of urgency. No matter. It looks WAY hotter on! lol)

Tuesday Tidbits

A post of tidbits. Not Timbits... although... I had some of those with the dayhome kids yesterday, and forgot how gross they are. I mean, I love donuts as much as the next person, but timbits are so much drier. Although, the handy bite-size makes me feel less guilty when I eat 20 of them. Those powder-covered ones are my fave!!

Last night, I donned my VERY FUN wedding shoes, and went with my lovely friend, Becka, dress shopping again at a friend's bridal store. Funny enough, the dresses we narrowed it down to are TOTALLY different than the dress from the other fitting with Sin and Babbling Brook. hmmmmm. Now what do I do? If Will didn't read the blog, I'd ask all of you your opinions. Alas, no pre-wedding shots here. But I'll help ya out-- just imagine: white or off-white dress. To the floor, or slightly above the knee. fitted on the waist or empire waistband. Low cut or not. Sleeveless or strappy or full-arms... :)

Invitations are out. That feels good.

And today's the last day I have with my longest-standing dayhome child! :( I've had Andrew for over 2.5 years now. It's sad that today's my last day with him. Moving on to bigger and better things.

House NEEDS TO SELL!!!!!!

yah. That's it for today. Pretty lame post- busy dong laundry and cleaning and getting ready for the long weekend coming up.

And check out this blog: www.cutelikemegiveaways.blogspot.com They always do fun give-a-ways. Not to mention, Hailey's awesome herself. After all, only the awesomest of people have a birthday on a holiday.

Not Me Monday- Camping

I am NOT back.
I did NOT have the BEST time!
I do NOT think Will's family is crazier than I knew they were.
And that does NOT make me happier, knowing he still has yet to meet most of MY family! muahaha. And, heck, we already know he can handle crazy.

I am NOT tanned after spending the entire week at the foot of the beach.
I am NOT bruised all over my hips from sleeping on the tent floor.
I did NOT miss my bed!

I did NOT love swimming.
I did NOT love learning to ride the new ripsticks Will and I have.
I did NOT enjoy kayaking around the lake to see the turtles and fish in the SUPER CRYSTAL CLEAR water, and I did NOT laugh my butt off when Em tipped the kayak while she and I were in it!
By the way, the water was NOT cold and refreshing.
I did NOT love that my kids got a heck of a lot more water confidence after this week, even though there were a few moments that I had to 'save' Mimi.
I did NOT love being goofy with the kids.

I did NOT give my kids to Chris for the week, while they camp with him and my ex-in-laws.
I am NOT happy to have a week to myself (minus dayhome kids during the day) to get some wedding planning done.

I am NOT excited that Will and I have a house to move into.
I am NOT happy to live closer to my family.
I am NOT moving in a few weeks, even if this place doesn't sell by then. Which means, I will NOT be living out of suitcases for a while.

I am NOT so in love!
Oh, did I mention, I do NOT think Will is DANNNNNG hot?! ;) And he's NOT all mine. :D
I do NOT think my little Willy rocks. (haha, that sentence is NOT funny!)

I am NOT upset that the house across the street has a conditional sale sign.
I am NOT hoping I'm next.

When Ya Gotta Go...

So, the showing yesterday....

For ya'll who aren't from Calgary, it's been rainy and thundery and lighteny lately 'round these parts. (and, apparently, that kind of weather brings out my inner Honkey tonk-- sheesh, ONE day at the Stampede and my cool quotient is GONE!)

So, yesterday, when the showing happened, I had the dayhome kids with me. We couldn't walk to the park, as it was not only rainy but COLD outside. And so I packed them into the van, and we drove down the street to watch a movie on the DVD player, and wait the hour.

An hour in a parked car with 7 kids is ANNOYING!!!!! At about 10 minutes to the end of the hour, the two three-year olds tell me that they both have to potty. And by 'have to', they mean NOW. In fact, Mimi even suggested that she peed on the grass. Which, not that it mattered to her, was someone's front lawn.

SO I drove home. Usually, the showing only takes 10 minutes tops. So arriving back at the house 10 minutes early isn't usually a big deal. But when I got in the house, there was no indication (business card, lights off) that anyone had arrived.

So I called my realtor, wondering if this was a cancelled showing again. It wasn't, so we were both confused.

All the kids went out to play.
And then all the kids came inside screaming, "They're HERE! The people who want to see the house are heeeeeere!!"

Great. Two minutes of the hour left.

I shove all the kids back out to the van, shoeless or not. Appologizing to the realtor for being in the house, she and her clients watch me pack the van profusely full of children.

I get in the van.
"Everyone in?"

"No. Andrew isn't!"

oh crap.
So I run into the garage door to find Andrew. He's still in the bathroom. (one of the three year-olds who needed to potty) Luckily, he didn't lock the door, so I go in to rush him out.

OH CRAP.

LITERALLY.

He has poohed his pants, smeared it all over the toilet seat, down on the floor, IN BETWEEN HIS TOES, and all over himself. And, the realtor and the clients are already IN the house!!!!

I grabbed a towel, wrapped him in it, wiped the toilet with wet toilet paper just to make it LOOK clean (ew. SOOO sanitizing that when the showing is over!) and clean the floor. turn on the fan because MAN IT STINKS IN HERE, and pick up poop-boy and get into the van.

Then I drive down the street, and spend 20 minutes cleaning poop off a child with wet wipes that I keep in the car for emergencies.



I'm sure THIS will be the couple that buys the house, right? ;)

Like a Chicken With It's Head Cut Off

Gasp- two posts in one day?

Yah.
Remember the list I had to do today?!!! (see post below)

Remember the part: Call the realtor? Yah, he called me. We lowered the price on the house, and he called all the realtors who had people who had come to see it to let them know.

Ten minutes later, a second showing.

*YIKES*
Like I had nothing else to do today other than clean a house!!!!! AHHHHH. Sell, sell, sell!!!

Checking in, checking out.

So, today is gonna be one of those OHMYGOSHWHEREDIDTHEDAYGO type of days! I'm taking off with ***my future husband** (squeal of joy) and the in-laws camping tomorrow, but I have a MILLION things to do today to get ready: laundry, packing, cooking, cleaning the house so it can get sold while I'm gone, calling the realtor, calling a few friends, hopefully celebrating the purchase of a new home Will bought, making wedding plans, watching kids, getting passport photos done for the kids.. all this withOUT my ring (which Will took back to get sized, and possibly exchanged for Palladium, as I'm allergic to gold)! :(

Last night Will and I took my kids to Costco to buy food for the week. For ALL 9 of us. And let me tell you, it was hilarious. We bought 9 loafs of bread!!! Bought 2 jugs of milk, spent 20 bucks on BREAKFAST cereal!! Spent a fair amount of cash, and we're ONLY camping until Sunday! It was a lesson on reality; that once we're married, we'll be doing this on a regular basis. yikes. lol

I'll be out with everyone until Sunday, after which, Chris will meet us half-way and take my kids and the van camping with his family for the week. I still have to work, so I'll be back Monday.

Until then, friends, I'll miss reading all about your lives, but I'll catch up with ya next week!!!
Just pray that the thunder and lightening storms ease up this week-- I'd LIKE to play outside instead of all of us crammed into my borrowed sister's trailer or my tent for 5 days! yuck. (and by borrowed sister's trailer.. I mean I borrowed the trailer, not the sister! )

I Need A Nap

I am exhausted.

I'm tired from cleaning. Tired from having my sleep schedule off-kilter. Tired of no routine-- I thrive best on stability and routine and consistency. I'm tired of hoping for a showing to produce something good. Tired of reminding myself not to hope. Tired of having that last 10-minute freak-out of trying to clean while the kids are making an equal amount of work in another area of the house. Tired of being STUCK at home because of car seats.

I'm tired of weeds in the garden. (okay, not really a valid complaint, but while I'm on a roll)

I'm tired of answering the same question with more questions-- "where are you moving to"? I don't know. "When?" I don't know. "Do you have a house already?" I don't know.. (okay, NO, not really, but kinda sorta..hard to explain) "What are you going to do when you move for work, another dayhome?" I don't know.

Tired of Exes. Tired of shaking my head at exes who read the blog EVERY DAY. Tired of money-talks with Chris. Tired from our mediation this morning where I just want to spout obscenities at him and become one of those types of exes, but instead I wear myself out just biting my tongue. Tired of feeling like I have to fix every problem that HE inflicts on my life. Tired of being told that things aren't fair. Tired of not knowing what the next months and years hold in regards to Chris. Tired of hearing about him going back to school. About his lack of employment. About his stress levels....
join the club, bucko.

I'm tired of kids. Some kids are here for almost 12 hours. Some are a LOT of work. Most are good, but the dynamics of 11 kids is tiring. I'm tired of my OWN kids. I am ready for a weekend off (after two weekends WITH the kids to even out the month later). I'm tired of stopping arguments and listening to whining. I'm tired of their disrespect and back-talking recently. I'm tired of being 100% solely responsible for their spirituality. It's exhausting, albeit awesome, to think about activities and scripture stories and such EACH WEEK for FHE and each NIGHT, even when Sin and her family help. In truth, I'm tired of not seeing my friends much lately, either.

I'm tired of the emotional roller coaster on dating after divorce. The fears. The insecurities. The excitement. I'm tired of a long-distance relationship with Will. I'm tired of being without him.

I'm ready for a nap. I can't wait for things, which seem all up in the air right now, to finally come together in the next little while.

And, there's a LOT of good things in my life right now. LOTS. So, this is just a post to say...
I'm tired.

Catch Up From The Weekend

I'm sad that my blogging is 'failing'. My pre-post option isn't functioning properly on blogger, and I had posts pre-written and scheduled that never showed up while I was away from the computer. (So, No, Cate, it wasn't your google reader). What makes me most sad is that I have ten kids a day here at the dayhome for the next 2 weeks, and finding a few minutes to blog is tough. So preposting may sound like a great idea, but the posts aren't posting anyways. Expect sporadic, semi-discombobulated posts like this one!

Yesterday, I had ten kids. And two showings! We spent the first one at the playground. The second one was during dinner hour, so thankfully Sin and her family invited us to eat and have Family Home Evening with them.

BY THE WAY, 10 kids eat over a loaf and a half of bread for lunch sandwiches! It was a lot of bread!

THANKFULLY, I had Will helping me. And Uncle Kannie. AND Auntie Kennie (Uncle Kannie's ex girlfriend came over to see the kids, too). Will stained my deck, which looks AMAZINGLY better. He fixed the broken screen on a window, and put the basement back together from the leak.

I would take a picture, but my camera battery died this weekend in the middle of when I went to Waterton with my kids to play with Will. So, no such hot pictures!

Friday night, I picked up Uncle JJ from the airport, and we drove (quite late at night) to my parents' home. Slept there, and enjoyed a lazy morning before I packed the munchins up for Waterton. Once checking in with my painting Will, I took them to the classic touristy spots, since they'd never been.

We had lunch, got ice cream, and lucky for us, there was a play in the park put on by the "rangers", so we enjoyed some free entertainment too. And then the camera died. :(

Once we picked up Will and his son B-Ray (whom, from hereafter is referred to as "Bigguy" because that's what Mimi calls him) and the other painter, we drove to Cameron Lake and went on a bit of a hike through the trails before the boys jumped into the glacial water!!!

Saturday night, Gramma D watched my kids so Will and I could go on a date. Which, really, consists of visiting friends and looking at houses to buy. We may (or may not have) gotten MORE ice cream, and then we drove out into the outskirts of town, passing eagles and bucks and mosquitoes galore!

Then, we watched the AWESOME night sky. Overlooking the city and the temple, the stars that night were absolutely breathtaking. We saw about 7 shooting stars! A few satellites and a huge crick in the neck later, we left. It was very sweet and romantic.

Sunday: church. Dinner. Naps. Walks.... and then a drive home.

All in all, a nice, easy weekend. Just my favourite kind!
And now I'm off to get ready for ANOTHER showing in a few hours and to go charge my camera batteries!

Six Word Saturday- Open House

Another Saturday, another chance to join Cate's Six Word Saturday funnage by clicking on the button!

Open House: You Should Live Here!

FIFTY-TWO "FIND MOM" FRIDAYS!!

Last night we went to the Block Party for the soccer camp that the Baptist church puts on every year. I've put my kids in it for 3 years, and it's a SUPER program! They just rock. I'm so annoyed, however, as this year they're only doing it for the little kids, and the program they're running for the bigger kids is during a week I'm out with Sin and Will's family, camping.

But, that soccer camp is where I met EF years ago. And I'm always afraid of running into her again at these block parties and such. Is it kind of wrong for me to be relieved that she's likely seen the FOR SALE sign on my lawn and now she knows I'm going to be gone?! Half of me expects her to phone me to ask where I'm moving to or something once she sees the SOLD sign. I find that lately I am much more paranoid about running into her unexpectedly. Or, worse, that she calls me or something with the excuse that she has money she wants to get to me (which, yes, she DOES owe me money, but I'm SOOOO letting it go- not worth the phone call.)

There's certain times I find myself more prone to thinking about her- and the soccer camp is one of them. And although I didn't put my kids into the community soccer this year, her daughter and LL were on the same team one year, so when I drive past the teams playing, I can't help but wonder if they're there.

Are her and Steve still together? Last I knew, he was living in the basement. Was that her car? Does her daughter still get on the bus at the end of my street? Do they still live in the house I designed? Is she still using that horrible, semi-abusive dayhome? Is she sleeping with THAT dayhome-mom's husband?! (oops, was that my outside voice?!)

It's an obsession at times. An annoying obsession I'd like to be DONE with. It's not all the time, either, and it goes away. But right now, I find it creeping back in. And I don't like her in my thoughts, as I don't find it productive in any way. I'd like to say it doesn't happen, but I think it'll be many years before time passes and I'll realize I didn't think about her even ONCE. This, in my opinion, is expected and normal. And it's rarer and rarer lately. Which just reaffirms: It will be nice to move away.

On other notes:

I'm joining a year long challenge, created by Carin at Forever In Blue Jeans. The goal is to be in one picture a week, for 52 weeks. Since us moms are always behind the camera, this gives us a chance to get out in front and be in the pictures with our family. So, click on the button if you want to join in on the fun!

So, here's Week One of 52, me and Mimi and Bear at the soccer camp/block party last night. I think it was a bit sunny! ;)

The End and The Beginning

SCHOOL'S OUT. FOR. SUMMER!

Remember this?: (first day of school this year)

Now we have this:
Think they're a bit excited about summer vacation!? This may be the last day they get to wear these uniforms, though, assuming we move before school starts next year. :(

And so now my blogging may decrease even more. I'm hoping to find some time to blog, as the house is filled with dayhome school-aged kids who entertain the regular little ones. And we will be outside, avoiding further damage to the house I am trying to sell. We had *two* showings yesterday, so at least people are coming in! PRAY HARDER, PEOPLE-- I need out of this place.

People keep telling me it took 50 or 100 showings before they sold their homes. Or how they lost money. Or how it was 6 months before they got an offer! BUT, the good thing is that my realtor talked with one of the realtors who brought someone through yesterday, and the feedback was really positive in regards to price and how the house shows. So, I was happy to hear that. I realize we're only on the first week of being listed, but holy moly, I'm soooo done with selling.

I feel totally in limbo until this place is sold. It's hard to feel like I can't plan school, or housing, or vacations or work or whatever-- I don't know where I'll be when. Standing still in a horrible dormant feeling is driving me to bite nails and break out. I just want routine. Stability. And direction. It's how I work best-- it's when I feel in control of my life.

So, let's hurry and get a move on (literally) so I can Make The Changes I need to make.