Less Stress

I realize that I haven't really blogged anything "worthwhile" in a long time... just "here's what's happening in life" kind of stuff...

hmm.

I guess there's a reason for that. haha!

I suppose one thing is that I've stopped biting my nails...which to me might indicate that I don't feel stressed anymore...or at least not as much...

so there's your deep stuff...

Our search for a church got off to a poo start. That's right. a poo start. We'll try again next week...surely there is one for us in this area that we won't have to drive a long way for...

I got to see my maid of honor this weekend - it's been like 3 years - and it was so wonderful to see her. *sniff*

my beloved sweet flower is really putting me through the ringer - she can be so sensitive and sweet...and then like 2 seconds later we're asking "where's the pea soup?" (of course a reference to the exorcist)...(and no, i don't actually think my child is demon possessed...but boy can she scream)

the other little blessing is doing well...but is really learning the maneuvers of being passive aggressive. hooray! i called my mom to vent about our violin practice time...and my mom's response (again) was..."well, she can't be as bad as you were"...to which i said "mom, she is. i may have thrown my violin across the room, but she purposefully "dropped" hers thus popping out the bridge"...it's that same underlying attitude, she just expresses it differently.

i think my next culinary quest might be to make tamales...but they're involved...so for the skidmore family dinner, i plan on just buying them.... but i really want to try my hand at them. doesn't look hard, just time consuming.

my last thought... i was getting very frustrated that target and walmart did not seem to have any non-blonde barbies... (hello...other hair colors? other ethnicities? anyone?)... but apparently toys r us is the place to go for that... they're not quite as cheap, but at least they carry them. i'll spare you the full force of my rant on multi-cultural toys today...

Pictures

The first Christmas concert of the season...

posing at Granny's house...

Settled and Cooking

* roasted my first turkey today - turned out delicious... nice to try it without the stress of a "holiday" meal... stuffed it w/ onions and garlic...rubbed the outside w/ olive oil, lawry's seasoned salt, and poultry seasoning

* house is officially done... will take pictures soon. hooray!!!

*steve's job situation: he's got a long-term sub position thru the end of the semester (possibly longer)

* rose is talking so much - but is so frustrated when she's not understood - must remember "this too shall pass"...hopefully...

* christmas countdown starts tomorrow...our daily activities will include: reading from the bible and talking about the nativity set... looking for the christmas elves who hid during the night...checking the advent calendar (it's the kind w/ doors) for treats from the christmas elves...willow is excited...VERY excited... but rose probably has no idea :)

* next on my plate... how to use kale, green onion, lots of turkey..not necessarily all at the same time... we'll see what i come up with.

This and That

* the apartment is finally unpacked (though not fully organized)... woohoo!

* the Christmas decorations are up. and so far into day one, have not been torn down by child or cat

* thanksgiving was great with good friends and 30 of my family... hahaha...seriously...

* thought i'd have to wait till tomorrow to get the washer looked at (having some issues, but that's what a warranty is for), but they called and are coming today. woot!

* enjoying my new kitchen...i may be in an apartment now, but it's an upgrade in the kitchen for me... just wish i had a closet pantry...oh well...i'll take counter space and a dishwasher over that any day

* wish i could've taken advantage of sales today for some of the things for the house, but it's going to be wednesday before the settlement check clears...which is an entire week after it was deposited...i'm having issues w/ our bank (this being one of them)... but am feeling too lazy to switch...may just complain instead.

* tonight is chicken pot pie - haven't made that in awhile b/c i couldn't find the pie crusts like aldi had... but finally they were available before thanksgiving, so i stocked up. next step...learn how to make my own pie crusts.

* apparently, even if you have two separate nativities for the girls to play with, they will still fight over it. ARGH.

WOOHOO!!!!!!

At last, we are in our own apartment. Woot!

It's a 2 bedroom/2 bath with washer and dryer inside (thanks Dad and Illeen!).

The square footage is not that much smaller than our house was...except no basement...

We were hoping to avoid paying for a storage unit, but we may not be able to get around that. Oh well. We have 2 weeks to figure that out.

We have a lot of crap. I mean, really... it's ridiculous. Already have gotten rid of lots of stuff - um, why did we move it across country and store it for 5 months? hmmm...

Got the internet today. Hooray! I was suffering from withdrawl after 3 days... i'm such a trooper.

The girls room and bathroom is completely finished and wonderful (again, thanks to Dad and Illeen)...and I happen to think it's wonderfully sweet.

Once we get these (*@& boxes out of here, I'll post some pics...but may be awhile...

A quick and sincere thanks to Shane and Anna for letting us live with them for 5 months, and not complaining about it. Awesome.

An Apartment in Our Future

An apt application and fee have been turned in... hooray.

Now, for the house to close. We've already signed our closing documents and fed ex'ed them back.

If all goes according to plan, we'll sign our lease on the 21st.

Woot!

There was some mild haggling involved...which will save us some $$ on the pet deposit in the long run, and also $10 off rent each month. I'm pretty pleased with how it's all turned out.

And a very awesome thing about the place we're moving is that our apt unit is all but next door to a tot lot. Woot!