Another List. I Heart Lists.

On the agenda for this weekend:

1. Figure out how to keep the sewing room cool without running the ceiling fan. Holding down flapping pattern pieces while remembering how to sew after a long hiatus makes for much grumpiness. Even Diet Coke doesn't help. But sweating while sewing doesn't seem like an option, either. So I need a solution, and fast. My girl doesn't have any clothes, except for the ones my mom sent today. Thanks, Grammy!

2. Figure out where the dead mouse is. I can smell it. But I'm too scared to check all the traps. The last one I checked--you know, the sticky kind--had a bunch of mouse fur on it, but no mouse. I told Chris if he sees a patchy mouse running around, to give him mercy and send him out to the pasture. Any mouse that escaped a sticky trap deserves a second chance. Outside.

3. Turn the compost pile. I found Shadow on top of it today, rooting around for eggshells and coffee grounds. If he keeps eating all my "green" material, it'll take 5 years for the leaves to turn into compost. On the other hand, as I was entering the compost gate, I saw a skunk exiting, by way of the back fence. What on earth have we gotten ourselves into? Skunks are not charming neighbors. (See post below.)

4. Figure out how I can give away half the boys' toys without them noticing. Putting two kids in one room has its limits, space-wise. One chest of drawers for two kids' clothing, and one closet for two kids' toys and bedroom decor? Not working. If I step on one more pirate figurine or Lego or Lincoln Log that's lost its way, I'm going to hurt somebody.

5. Buy more eggs. Paula Deen and I have an appointment for Sunday afternoon: bake as many of her fattening, happy recipes for goodies that I can. The snickerdoodles are gone. And so are yesterday's peanut butter bars. I told you I had a problem.

And that's it! Well, besides the regular--church, school (We have lessons on Sunday to make up for skipping Fridays), laundry, etc. It's nice not to have anything big or unusual on the list, except for dead mouse hunting. We're starting to feel like we actually live here for real, and I think my shoulders are coming out of my ears. It's a good thing.

I hope your weekend is happy and uneventful, too! (If you like uneventful, that is. If not, then happy Events to you!)

She Can Dish It Out

but she can take it, too. Don't even bother telling her how small she is. She won't believe you.

Charming Neighbors

One of a flock of mamas and their babies, carefully guarded by Olivia, the Great Pyrenees dog, who visits our side of their pasture every morning.

Real neighbors, who rode up yesterday to meet us. The man's daughter is in vet school, which seems entirely appropriate for the scene. I tried to take the picture on the sly. It's like I'm a crazy tourist, you know? You'd think I've never seen a horse before.

A nighthawk we found down in the pasture yesterday, with a broken wing. Chris took her (him?) to a shelter today, where they'll work on rehabilitating it. I felt a little like we were characters in a James Herriot story. All we needed was Moses the Kitten or that crazy cow who kept escaping into town. (If you don't know what I'm talking about, you need to read the James Herriot Treasury!)

So far there's nobody close enough to lend an egg or cup of sugar, but these guys sure are charming.

Snickerdoodle Dandy

I bought a new cookie jar today, and to my best guess it'll hold about 10 dozen cookies. And since I've never actually made 10 dozen cookies at once, that means it'll always look empty, which means nobody will really know how many they've eaten. (Substitute the word "Chris" for "nobody" and "I've" for "they've." I have a serious sweet tooth problem.)

Addie and I made 4 dozen snickerdoodles today, and they were dandy. Here's my recipe:

1 c. shortening (Yes, SHORTENING. There's no point in a healthy cookie.)
1 1/2 c. sugar
2 eggs
1/2 tsp. vanilla
2 3/4 c. sifted flour
2 tsp. cream of tartar
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
2 T. cinnamon
1/4 c. sugar

Cream shortening, sugar, and eggs. Stir in vanilla. In a separate bowl, combine sifted flour, cream of tartar, baking soda, and salt. Combine with egg mixture.

Chill dough for at least an hour in the fridge. Roll into small balls, about the diameter of a quarter. Roll each ball in a plate with the cinnamon and 1/4 c. sugar mixed together. Bake on ungreased cookie sheets in a preheated oven (350 degrees) for 8-10 minutes. Cool on sheet for 2 min, then on cooling racks for 10 min. before placing in stacks in cookie jar. Or eating.

And did you know? A piece of bread in the cookie jar will return partly-stale cookies to fresh condition! A very handy trick :)

Snapshot

No actual sewing has taken place in here, but I've already spent a couple hours in the chair having my quiet time, planning projects, and drinking lots of coffee in here. I love it. And now a sweet friend has a new baby, just hours old, and I feel a project or two coming on . . .

Funny House, Happy Room

We've bought a funny old house. It's an odd shape, with the ceiling reaching near 30 feet in one room (good thing I like the paint in there!), and there's a "sleeping loft" in the master bedroom. Thank goodness a recent owner added onto the room, or we'd be sleeping in a loft. It's a ranch-style house in the sense that it's ranch-y, not necessarily in the actual layout, but in the overall feel. (Nonetheless, I don't think I want to hoist my bed up into a loft, you know?) Local stone is used on the outside and on the fireplace, and it juts out in some places over a foot. The siding is vertical and wide, like a barn, and the overall charm is so strong that it already feels like home, quirks and all.

Other than the "sleeping loft" in the master, there's only one other room upstairs, another flight of stairs actually, and it was intended as a bedroom, except that it's open to the room below. It has a walk-in closet and full bathroom, and because we decided to room the boys together, it's become my happiest room: my sewing room. Today I finished painting it, after Caiden and I happily ripped off a horse-motif wallpaper border (very 1984), and while the kids played in the room below I unpacked all my sewing and knitting things and put everything away. It was a very happy way to spend the day. All I need is a sewing table, and I'm set!

I decorated it piece-meal: Grayson's old vintage black dresser and mirror, the bookcase Chris' uncle made in shop class a million years and 6 coats of paint ago, the slipcovered chair I used to nurse Addie in. The art on the barn-style wall was painted during our Easter services this year, and the print on the other wall was originally over our couch in our first house. My grandmother's sewing notions are in the drawers, and a small framed print of Chris fishing is on the top. The red painted printer's box is filled with my children's baby booties and other mementos, and I have the crochet hooks from my 7th grade home ec class, stuck in a Mason jar full of buttons. I even used the black table we had our old aquarium on, to house my sewing machines. I told Chris I stole everything we weren't going to use somewhere else in the house. Really, though, I can look at each piece of furniture and think of somebody I love.

There's an iron railing separating it from the room below (and death), so I can not only keep an eye on the kids, but also on the TV. During naptime someday soon, I plan to wile away the hours up there with a Diet Coke, a pack of Twizzlers and a movie on the TV below. I won't even need to sew to feel bliss. With the bathroom (albeit a 1970s harvest gold bathroom), there's a good possibility I could live there and never come down. Tonight I went up to turn off the lamp. Five minutes later Chris called up at me, wondering what I was doing. "I'm just sitting. And loving it." It was hard to get up out of the chair and come downstairs. I haven't had a room of my own since I was in college, and I remember missing that tiny space once I was a newlywed. Nobody warned me when I married that I'd miss having my own room, and I was surprised when I did. Now, 11 years later, I have one. And I think I like this one even better.

On the Agenda

On this weekend's list:

1. Deadhead rose bushes

2. Plant morning glories along barn fence line posts.

3. Till garden

4. A grill party with without friends tonight--they couldn't make it, so we had our own little party of 4. Addie was asleep. It involved Lowcountry Baked Beans, which makes it a party even if I were the only one there. More for me. Yum.

5. Finish painting sewing room

6. Church

7. Mulch perennial beds

8. Rest! (Good thing we have Monday as part of our weekend, or I'm afraid #8 wouldn't happen.)

In the off-moments of working, I'm reading Clay Clarkson's book, "Heartfelt Discipline"--wonderful!

Happy weekend, friends!

Wearing Them Out

A Regular Day:

Yes, I know she looks a mess. Just don't tell her. She thinks she looks awesome, and that the over-sized rubber boots complement her wild hair and sopping shirt. This is a fair picture of what 5 p.m. looks like around here. Minus the boots, I probably look about the same. Except that I generally wear pants, too.
And don't tell Grayson that camping doesn't count if it's on the back deck. Or if it lasts less than 5 minutes. It's the thought that counts.
Putting Caiden to work. If I tell him he's like Almanzo in "Farmer Boy," he's all over the job, no matter how dirty or mundane. So far it's even worked for weeding.
Even the dogs are worn out. They love it here. Scout spent a grand total of 6 hours yesterday treeing a squirrel. This morning I found him out early in the pasture, about 50 feet from the squirrel, who was standing on the ground nibbling a nut and eyeing him. They looked like cowboys having a showdown. I guess they landed at a truce, when Scout finally realized he'd met his match, and he crashed on the stairs with Shadow. Shadow, for the record, was already smart enough to realize he can't catch a squirrel, and never even tried.

Days go by fast here, with lots to do and lots to discover. My pedicure is shot, but we all fall asleep in about 0.5 seconds, which seems like a pretty good trade-off! Add that to the nicest neighbors in the land (I'll shoot a picture of them tomorrow, if I remember.), and we're happy to call this new place home.

Sliding Slowly

I'm having a hard time writing a coherent post because my brain is scattered in little pieces all over the house, mixed in with empty moving boxes, random wall art propped against walls, and Legos.  How is it that Legos can multiply in the blink of an eye?  One little box turns into 83,729 pieces, and the one that ends up on my bedroom floor also somehow ends up underneath my bare foot at 7 a.m.  But I digress.

If you could see my planning counter in my kitchen, you'd have a perfect image of what the inside of my thoughts look like.  I sit down to the computer to look up perennials, then remember to check out Roman shades for the bathroom, wander on over to read somebody's blog, realize I forgot to return a phone call, and end up unpacking a box or changing a diaper or removing plastic from the puppy's mouth without ever dialing the phone.  I'm going to start twitching soon if I don't get it together around here.

One room is entirely unpacked, decorated, and peaceful.  The rest are basically put away, with exceptions like the pantry and office files, which are sort of important and really should've been organized before I hung up the winter coats.  It was 98 degrees here today.  So tonight I determined to balance the checkbooks and enter old receipts and wade through the mess of finances that happens after three weeks of homelessness and closing on two houses.  I'm not at the goal yet of knowing where our money is or where it should be going, but at least the checkbooks both balanced.  That in itself is a miracle, and I had a little praise service right then and there.

Today Bridget and her two kids, and Brittani and her son came over.  Chris said, "Have a fun time!" as he left for work, and I shouted out at him that five kids 3 and under may or may not be fun.  It ended up being fun, although there was more disciplinary action under one roof than I've ever seen before.  I think five little people went down for naps really well today.  I sure needed one.  And a 6 year old has never seemed more like an adult.  Towering over the toddlers earns you some adult points, you know?  After everybody left I spent a couple hours at Barnes and Noble planning how to get my life together.  I didn't make much progress, but I did eat a jalapeno cheese pretzel, so I considered that pretty successful.  And I even drank coffee--I left it in the car while I grocery shopped, and an hour later it was still hot.  Texas is good like that.  My mom said it was 57 in Pennsylvania, which just seems criminal in May.  She thought so too.

See?  I started out writing about how I couldn't get a thought together, and I've ended up writing about the weather.  It's like I'm 90.  Actually, I kind of feel 90.  Now I understand why my mother, for about 30 years, said she was "terminally tired."  I get that now, and I don't like it one bit.  I always thought it was histrionics.  Now I see it was just part and parcel of being a mother.  Throw in a playdate with 6 kids, 100 degrees, grocery shopping, and checkbook balancing, and I'm ready for bed.

There.  Absolutely no point whatsoever.  This post accurately reflects my state of mind.  I think I'm going to wile away the last few minutes of the day reading in bed, or maybe just enjoying the sensation of being in my bed before I fall asleep, to wake up to another day.  Maybe tomorrow I'll tackle that pantry, and then one little piece of my brain will shift back into place, as we slowly slide back into routine, making this place home.

John Deere Tractor

Misty from Fellowship--we're interested in hearing more about the John Deere you're about to sell--can you email me at inthemidstofit(at)gmail(dot)com with more info?

Your comment said to email you, but I couldn't find your email address mentioned, so I figured a post would work :)

Thanks!

Perenniel Problems

Okay, green thumbs! I need some plant identification help here. Does anybody know what these are:

Here's a close-up: My mom thinks maybe they're Four O'Clocks, but the leaves don't look quite right to me. Are they? They're about 18 inches tall and grow in singular stalks. I'm certain they're perennials.
And what about these?  The front one is blooming, and the rest are a lot shorter and not quite ready to bloom yet.
And how about these?  There are two bushes, about 2 feet high or so.  Butterfly bushes?  I don't know!
If you can help out, let me know by picture number (#1-4), and thanks!

Sneak Peek

The view from my bedroom window. It's a happy one, isn't it?

One Day at a Time

I always do this. I get ready for a project, seriously underestimate the time it'll take, then feel overwhelmed halfway through. Somehow I forgot how much work it is to move in, and I underestimated how long it would take with three kids. If only I could not have to feed, bathe, and care for people, I could be all moved in by now! Of course I'd be lonely and sad to live here without them, but still. At least I'd be able to find my socks.

It's a disaster here. I found myself apologizing to the Orkin man this morning as he waded through boxes to spray the corners, and it occurred to me that it's a sad day when you have to apologize to the bug man. We have a huge great room immediately in front of the entry, and since we have no furniture for it, everything that doesn't have a home yet is there. We also have an extra dining room set, so it's there, too, along with about 200 boxes I haven't broken down yet. I'm going to have a breakdown, but the boxes aren't. I'm having a hard time getting excited about breaking down boxes, you know? And it's a little daunting to think that we'll start up school again next week, and the weeds are growing faster than my own kids are, all the while I'm stuck inside finding places for all the junk I forgot we had.

So I'm a little overwhelmed. I keep trying to remind myself to take it one room at a time, one day at a time. Does it really matter if the weeds are an inch taller? The family room is all done, minus the wall art, and that's where I sit when I feel swamped. The room looks out to the back pasture, and Caiden and I watched a woodpecker on one of our trees this afternoon. It's really beautiful today, and I woke up to the sounds of only the birds. No traffic, no neighbors, nothing. Just birds. It was fantastic.

Bunk beds are arriving today for the boys, who so far love sharing a room and seem to fall asleep much faster with each other in the same room. Chris is decorating their room, and I think they arrived on a fishing theme yesterday, so it's full steam ahead once the beds are here. Addie's room is all mine, and I already have plans. I can't buy her anything til she crawls out of her bed, though, since it seems ridiculous to buy her crib bedding when she's 2. Her walls are blue, and so is the carpet (How did I miss that fact?), and while the carpet needs to go, I think the walls will be beautiful with the cabbage roses collection from Pottery Barn. I love blue for a little girl's room.

So that's what's going on here. I have a horrendous cold and found out the hard way that I have a serious allergy to wasp stings (What is it with me and the oversensitive immune system lately?), but other than that all is well. We sit in the family room at night and applaud ourselves for sticking with this house when the going got tough, because we're already deeply in love with it, and we plan for the livestock we'll soon be buying to do some of the mowing for us. Sheep, goats, llamas, I'm not sure yet, but we're loving this new turn in the road. If only I could find my socks. One day at a time, I guess. One day at a time.

Back in the World

I feel reconnected to civilization now. The Internet is up, my phones work, and I even know my own phone number! It's like coming back to earth. The lady at AT&T welcomed me back from isolation as I hung up tonight, and I realized how much I rely on this laptop! I have a bunch of potential perennials/weeds I need to identify before I pull them out, and we need to do some tractor-hunting. Wow, has life changed!

I asked my mom tonight if I can officially say I live in the country (Target is about 10 minutes away, so I wasn't sure.), and right as she was answering, an enormous owl swooped down from our front pasture, across the road, and into the trees beyond. We stopped the car, got out, and stood in awe listening to it "yell" at us. Earlier today we discovered wild grapes and a berry patch behind the barn. So I guess I can say yes, I live in the country now. It makes my heart swell to find wild violets growing and watch the neighbor's flock of goats wandering by each morning. We've prayed for this for years, and it's a really satisfying feeling to finally be here. The boys have matching "muck out the barn boots" lined by the back door, and Caiden's are already dirty. All the real estate drama was definitely worth it. Once I get the camera back (How many times have I said that?), I'll have some fun pictures to post.

My mom goes home tomorrow, and then I'm on my own to finish wading through boxes and getting this place feeling like home. Thank you for all the sweet comments and well-wishing during our move. I hope to be back tomorrow with pictures!

Leslie

I love the song in "White Christmas" celebrating sisters. Leslie and I have sung that song to each other for years, and now that we're 1200 miles apart, we realize even more how special the sister bond is.

I need to think of a way to get her to move back to Texas . . .

Looks Like Trouble

He just looks like trouble, doesn't he?

We

closed! The house is ours, after a long run of trials and roadblocks, and we'll move in tomorrow morning.

For tonight, though, we're enjoying peace and good coffee at our church's marriage retreat. It has been a wonderful bit of respite in the midst of moving craziness. Tomorrow after we sign our marriage covenant, we'll roll up our sleeves and get to work, and after the weeks of drama we've gone through, it'll be that much sweeter when I put the key in the lock and open the front door!

See you on the other side!

At the Zoo

Birthday Girl

How is she already two?

Happy Birthday!

Not at the End

I read a quote the other day:

"It'll all turn out right in the end. If it hasn't turned out alright, then you're not at the end yet."

I don't have any idea who originally said it, or even if I paraphrased it very accurately, but I still love it.

Tonight, a mere day and a half before we're supposed to close on our house and hopefully end this bothersome homelessness and relying on friends, family and neighbors to store our pets/plants/patio furniture, I got a call that there's one final glitch in this process. Two, actually, but I'm only focusing on one of them right now because I'm already starting to get a little twitchy, and concentrating on two problems will make me cry. Right now I'd rather twitch than cry, because if I start crying, I won't stop. If the right answers don't happen tomorrow, we'll not only be back in Texas without a free place to stay after Friday, but my mother will also be with us, twiddling her thumbs instead of helping us move in. My Plan A was really great, and if we'd been able to follow it, I'd be writing this post from my new house. Plan B was a good runner-up, and I'm still desperately hoping it'll win, because Plan C stinks.

This has been a beating. My mother, who has moved cross country several times, swears this is the most complicated, problematic move she's ever heard of. I heartily agree. In light of the quote, though, I'm reminded that tonight is not the end. I'm hoping Friday is. So if I can hang on til then, maybe Saturday will usher in a new season of settling in and routine days. If not, then our end will come sometime next week, and by the end of May I should stop twitching.

You know, "the end" doesn't come for many of us for a long, long time. Poor health or bad marriages or weak finances or rebellious children or rotten jobs--they can drag on and on til we're discouraged and beaten down. They suck the life out of us, and just when we think we're at the end, there's a curveball thrown that takes our breath away and leaves us wondering if the end will ever come. Jesus says there's a real end, and that's what makes me wonder why so many people admit to wanting life on earth more than the bliss of heaven. To me heaven sounds like, well, heaven. I don't care about streets of gold so much as the reality of utter peace. Healed relationships. Healed bodies. Healed emotions. No worries. How can the best party on earth compare with that? It can't.

So while I'm waiting for this "end," I'll remember that the real "end" will far surpass having a place to call my own, and that as long as I'm here on the planet, there will always be a kink in my best-laid plans. Realizing that helps me take my eyes off my own plan(s) and put them on my Provider.

See, I'm already feeling a little less twitchy.

A Morning Routine

I am not in a set routine right now by any stretch of the imagination, which reminds me how important one is. If I want to reach 3 p.m. without being burned out, behind, and clueless as to what's for dinner, I look to my morning routine.

Generally:

I get up before the kids and have my quiet time--as quietly as possible, to stretch the morning hour without anybody awake and needy, and then I look over the day's list.

Immediately after breakfast we clean up, make beds, get dressed, and open the front storm door to let the sunshine in. An awake house helps me be more productive.

The next hour of the day I work hard to get any of the day's housework done, look over the plans for dinner, return phone calls, send emails, and check my bank accounts. The children generally play in the backyard or around the house.

Once the day's work is out of the way, we can concentrate on school or errands or whatever else needs to get done. By lunchtime we're finished with the "must do" list, and I'm free to relax during naptime, while Caiden relaxes in his room playing with things he doesn't want little hands to get into. Oftentimes he'll listen to audiobooks on my laptop while playing with Hammy the Hamster. This hour or two helps us all get ready for the rest of the day, and the awful 5 o'clock hour that'll soon be coming.

I've found that without a definitive plan for the morning, I find myself still in pajamas at lunch, wondering how the house got so messy, and the kids are aimless, grumpy, and haven't brushed their teeth. Five minutes before Chris comes home I remember that I forgot to make dinner, and the evening goes downhill fast.

That one simple hour after breakfast pulls us together, and the rest of the day goes much better. Now that we've spent the last 26 days not doing the morning routine, I'm reminded how much I need it.

Tidbits

Wow. I had no idea I wasn't the only one to get excited over composting! Thanks for making a girl feel normal.

Today is a sunny one in PA, which is welcome relief after an entire week of gray and rain, and I'm already feeling much more like myself. I'm not a fan of gray, day after day. My parents are back home, and although having the house to myself for a few days was nice, it's much nicer to have my mom here during the day. Especially since she just suggested we pile in the car and go to Sonic.

Speaking of Sonic, I believe we've finally found the cause of my constant lip-swelling: MSG. (I feel like maybe I already mentioned this here?). We've eaten fast food several days in a row, band every afternoon my lip takes off. Last night after eating Burger King I fixed dinner for everybody and used four cans of food that listed MSG on the label--within minutes my lip swelled in several different places, and I'm glad to finally have a definitive answer. Except that it's a sad one. So while we're at Sonic, I'll only be having a Diet Coke, and then a sandwich at home. Good thing Diet Coke and chocolate don't have MSG. A girl can only get so drastic, you know? Giving up fast food is just sad.

Today is a happy one in other ways, though--our new roof is going to be started, and it'll be finished by the time we close on Friday. We're excited to be getting a new roof with the house, especially since the house is 30 years old and was going to need a new roof soon. With the last hail storm, we sent out State Farm to check it out, and sure enough he called it totalled! I didn't love the color of the old shingles, so now we're also getting a new roof in a shade we like more. Finally some details are working out!

I'm just now starting to get excited about the house, and I've already checked out seed catalogues for future purchases. We'll have a few acres, and I've always wanted a garden, hence the compost post from earlier. Maybe if we grow our own veggies, my kids will actually eat them? Hmm.

I hope your Monday is a happy one, and that things are going smoothly in your neck of the woods. I whipped out some cute pants for Addie from my mom's stash this week, and my Frannie Baby is almost finished (That hem just about killed me!), so I'll post some pictures as soon as it is. And YAY! our camera is fixed and waiting on me in the mail, so I'll start posting pictures on a regular basis soon.

Happy Monday, friends!

A Com-Post

I don't know how to write this without sounding like a complete and total nerd, so I'm just diving in:

One of the things I'm most excited about having at our new house is a compost pile.

There. I said it. Compost excites me.

That said, and without any further ado, here's a good website all about compost. If you're interested in starting your own pile, which you can do even in a small yard by using a lidded container (hence, no smell or unsightly pile), you can read all about it. Evidently a successful compost pile actually involves a few rules. Who knew? This website has way more information than I ever wanted to know, but it does break down (no pun intended, I swear) what should and should not go in compost. For example: cat litter is a no-no; dryer lint is a yes. (Dryer lint? Who would've guessed!) I vividly remember seeing my grandmother crush eggshells to add to her gardens. I already throw coffee grinds onto the soil around my azaleas, so I guess I'm on my way to a bona fide compost pile of my very own.

If you're about to plunge into spring and summer gardening in your neck of the woods, and you'd like to inexpensively improve your soil as well as find a good place to get rid of those grass clippings and dead leaves (and dryer lint), come join me!

(And I still can't believe I'm actually writing a post about compost. Even I'm amazed. Clearly I'm running out of things to do.) If you are the proud owner of your own compost, I'm all ears. Leave me a comment and let me know I'm not the only one excited by this.

It's Hard

to stay frustrated when you look out the window and see beautiful flowering trees, bright green grass, and turkeys walking around the backyard. Two golden retrievers are wrestling in the bottom of the yard, and hostas are peeking up through the mulch.

And as of right now, all the major moving details are OVER! Shy of the final loan approval next week, everything was wrapped up today--closing time set, tickets figured out (YAY! for somebody who spoke clear English and could help me at Travelocity today!!), PODS rescheduled, shingle color picked for the new roofs. The final contract amendment is signed, and I'm feeling a lot calmer. Chris drove around the new neighborhood today, and our friends at church are taking good care of him--inviting him over for dinner, or to hang out, and making him muffins for breakfast (Thank you Bridget--you are the Hostess Supreme!). I got to watch a movie with Caiden this afternoon in my mom's sewing room while working on a super cute Frannie Baby outfit for Addison (Check out The Daily Thread website on my sidebar for some really cute ones of this design.), finally. It's a good day.

My entire plan for the evening is to figure out something for dinner, bathe the kids, send them to bed early, and sit on the couch knitting while watching all my parents' recorded TV shows. Then I'll take a bath, read a book, and go to bed. Now THAT sounds good! I'm excited just reading about it. Shoot, I might as well eat some ice cream, too.

It Just Keeps on Getting Better

Updated at 2:39 p.m.--I should've explained myself better about the bags. It's a new policy, coming into effect next Monday, that says one bag per person may be checked. One bag per person may be carried on. The problem is that each of us has a bag, and all three kids have a carseat, so while I can carry all three carseats to the gate and have them either dumped beneath the plane or let the kids sit in them (And only window seats are allowed to have carseats in them), I cannot physically carry all three carseats, push the double stroller, and lug my purse and diaper bag. Not to mention all of that has to go through security. If you want to check a carseat in addition to the one checked bag, you have to pay $25 each. I like the option of mailing stuff home, except that I don't have one. Maybe I can mail our clothes back to the church? But it takes four days to get there from here, and we only have four outfits each. Yikes.

And to top that, I spoke with US Air today, who told me that they cannot discuss paper tickets over the phone at all, and that I'll have to drive an hour to the airport to talk to the people at the ticket counter. Boo. If all my moving costs weren't getting so expensive, I'd just make all new reservations with e-tickets. It would be a lot easier.


It's almost midnight, and I'm getting a kink in my neck from being on hold with Travelocity for so long. The first time I called tonight, I got disconnected after waiting almost ten minutes. When I finally got to talk to a real live person, we both had to ask each other to repeat ourselves the entire conversation because we couldn't understand a thing the other one said. Now I've hung up, and I'm still not sure whether I was talking to a man or woman.

Here's the short version of a long story:

Our house appraised for slightly less than we'd offered to pay for it, putting a delay on our closing date. We were supposed to close tomorrow, and by the original plan we'd all be back in Texas, flying home this morning. Instead, we're closing next Friday, and I'm staying here in Pennsylvania to fly home next Thursday. Because I booked through Travelocity, I ended up with a return flight made on a different airline, so I had to pay $20 extra for paper tickets. (Who on earth requires paper tickets anymore??)

To change my reservation this morning was a circus show. I called Air Tran, the holder of my initial tickets. They said to call US Air, who then said to call Travelocity, who told me I had to show up at the ticket counter today to make the change in person, because of those stupid paper tickets. Fortunately I'd already planned on taking Chris to the airport, so he went in and changed my tickets to next week, paid the $300 fee (Travelocity charges $30 per ticket in addition to the airline's fee.), and brought me the validation papers.

So tonight, right as I'm heading to bed, I get an email that says my new paper tickets have been mailed to me. To my old address. In Texas. Which means that those stupid validation papers aren't good enough to get me on the flight, that I'll need tickets I can't get. If I could actually get them in Texas, I wouldn't need to fly to Texas. Sometimes I think a kindergartener would do a better job making up the rules.

And now, after more than 30 minutes on the phone, most of them on hold, I'm told that my previous paper tickets, for the flight that has already occurred, will be sufficient to get me on the plane next week. Ask me if I believe that.

Let me clarify this, in case it's not clear: I hate Travelocity. I hate any company that boasts convenience and price savings, only to slap you with $40 booking fees off the bat, requires paper tickets that cost $20, charges $30 to change each ticket, hangs up on me when I'm waiting on hold, and then doesn't even make sense with the final answer. The final tally is that because I went with the "value" option, I'm paying an additional $150 to book with them, and my tickets were not a dime cheaper than if I'd made them myself, separately.

In a word, I'm mad. And poor. And that's the last time I ever book a flight through Travelocity again.

So does anybody have any advice for how I find out if my ticket really will work, before I show up at the airport with my three kids, three suitcases, purse, diaper bag, double stroller, three carseats, and mother next week?

OH! And that was the last straw. While I was on hold I browsed airline webpages, to find a tiny little note that says US Air will no longer be allowing two checked bags as of May 5th. Refer to the paragraph above and you'll see that I now have too many bags, so I'll be paying a $25 fee for every one over the limit. Now I'm madder. And poorer.

Next time it might be cheaper to drive. Even at $3.65 a gallon.

Rant over.

Hey Look! This isn't about moving!

I planted an Austree last year, and if you're having a really slow day, you can read all about it here. We lived in a neighborhood where every house had the standard two small trees planted in the front yard, and nothing else. I'm a fan of trees, and after watching the infomercial on the "Rocky Mountain Austree," I actually bought some because it promised Amazing Growth! Low Maintenance! Inexpensive! I told Chris it didn't really matter if they panned out or not, since they were so cheap.

They arrived in the mail looking like this, for which I caught a lot of grief:

Yes, that bucket is holding THREE TREES. Notice that my half-dead plant next to it is larger. But I held onto hope.

I planted them May 5th, 2007, between two new oak trees, planted the same day. For the record, each oak trees' retail cost was exactly 10 times what each Austree cost. On that day, you can see why:

This is what one Austree looked like slightly less than one year later:
Now look at that crape myrtle to the right of the Austree and see it in the next picture.

This is what the oak tree looked like the same day:

> (Yes, it's the same picture--the tree has grown such a teeny, tiny amount that the same picture suffices for both years.)

I think I can safely say that not all infomercials are a rip-off.

:)