So, I'm Thinking A Lot About...

#1 Downsizing.  Why do we live in this house, when 99.5% of the time we are all crammed in the two smallest rooms of the house?

#2 Whether I should just drive a snow plow as my car.

#3 I really regret plowing through all the Miss Fisher Murder Mysteries episodes.  I mourn for them now.  Check 'em out, folks.  So entertaining.

#4 Moving to a remote fishing village in a house that is 1/3 of the size of my current home, with absolutely no storage or job prospects.  How could that possibly go wrong?

#5 How I can pull off taking the girls around Europe for a summer.  Maybe next year?  Or the next?  All that saved tuition money should cover it.  And we already have the passports.

#6  Maybe we could find a remote fishing village in Europe. The best of both worlds.  Plus, they have the snowsuits.

#7 How much I miss being able to watch House Hunters International!  HGTV never updates the episodes online. I would almost check into a hotel for one night just to watch a HHI marathon.

Saturday

"When Dad said 'Be quiet', I thought to myself, 

who doesn't want to wake up to the sound of their children's joyous laughter?"  

Kid remarked this morning.

 Those girls barely like each other.  

After Mr F and Baby left for a play date I thought of some great ways to procrastinate packing up the Christmas stuff.  I had Kid try on her new sport apparel... which if you remember the first time you tried to put on a sports bra you know that there were some hilariously awkward moments there.  We decided she should just wear it to school on basketball days rather than risk getting caught in the arms & head bound bare chest out position.  Not worth the risk, peeps.  But we did laugh really hard.

Then I had her put on her basketball shoes.

I can't even figure out what is going on with the laces... I mean is there some kind of a trick?! 

They are almost impossible to loosen & tighten.  Gah! 

Okay.  I swear to God I am packing that Christmas shit up right now!!!  

If I can get those bins out of here I'll feel much more productive.  

Then I'm working out.  I am back to my old school ways and I'm working out to old 

Biggest Loser seasons on Hulu.  There are tons of seasons I missed.  

That show never stops inspiring me... I cry during every episode.  

P.S. I'm down over 3 pounds in 16 days.  I'm feeling really good.  

The diet part is a piece of cake, I really am not suffering at all.  

The workout is a little harder, I still want to sabotage on that front but I haven't.  

I'm doing it.  

Update

more exciting breaking news...

Kid just got her classical guitar. Broody songs to come, I'm sure.

Updates... Of All Kinds

#1 I'm reading Blindness by Jose Saramago. Holy intensity, Batman! I've been up until 3 AM reading it most nights this week. It's hard to describe without revealing too much... but... it's intense and somewhat stressful. He does an excellent job of transferring the chaos and stress and horror... and... well... blindness to the reader.


#2 We've been having this crazy false Spring all week. Our couple of feet of snow is now nothing but muddy dirty grass and huge ice rimmed puddles. It feels so real. It is hard to take in the fact that this is merely a blip and winter will return. That is one thing I miss about Asheville... right about now winter really is winding down there.


#3 I got an Imitrex prescription from the Dr for my migraines. We'll see how that goes. I guess the key with the abortive is taking it in time. If this doesn't work I guess the next step is taking blood pressure medicine as a prophylactic. My Dr claims that is the medication of choice for migraines in women my age. I still would like to get an MRI to be sure, though.


#4 Guess whose Middle East song has come in real handy this past week?... aww yeah... we're feeling pretty high on our horse these days since we already knew exactly where Bahrain and Yemen were. Every time we are in the car and the news is on Baby can be sure to start belting out the song once she hears mention of either place.


#5 In case you were wondering... this is the best season on The Bachelor ever. Good God, it is so good.


#6 Speaking of God, remember when I told you I had a really funny Church story? Well, I have a feeling it's going to be even better by the time I get around to telling it. Yesterday a parishioner showed up at my door with a mug filled with guilt. A real mug. Figurative guilt. So stay tuned for that. It really is one of the funniest places I've ever been and if it weren't for the 9:30AM starting time we'd definitely go if only because we laugh so hard all afternoon after we come home. I may not technically believe in God (in a traditional sense) but I do believe in laughing my ass off and Mr F believes in Coffee Hour. So, I figure we are like 85% of the people there. This church deserves a reality TV show.


#7 Last but not least... I am sucked back into Ancestry.com. If you haven't taken advantage of the free 14 day trial (remember to cancel it in time!) I recommend it. I did that a year or so ago. This time I just bought a one month subscription ($20... which seems like a ripoff doesn't it?). Anyway, it's fun. Even if you have a detailed family tree it is exciting to see all of the census documents. I found out my grandmother's (98) great grandfather owned a hardware store in 1860... and let me say... according to the census documents that was a pretty profitable line of work.

It's Getting Harder...

To both live my life and write about it at the same time.

I feel very different from the person I was three years ago when I started all this.

In ways that are harder to talk about.

I don't want to alienate the friends I've made... but... I think that's getting hard not to do.

The things I think about are much more serious... much less frivolous... maybe less generally relatable (or maybe not...).

Sometimes I don't know what to say (here) without seeming like I am trying too hard to avoid the obvious.

Sometimes I feel like you bought a different book only to find in Chapter 20 that it isn't what you thought at all.

And maybe you don't like it. Or won't.

But I just am not the same.

Sometimes I see old posts I wrote 3 years ago... and it's like I was on Crack back then.

Like looking at a photo album from college.

Things were easier.

Simpler.

Less weighty.

And, yet, this is a good time in my life.

Better (on a deeper level).

Just quieter.

Less talk, more action.

I think.

We've Arrived

I almost died of a heart attack while driving between a concrete wall and double trailer semi. On the inside of a tight mountain curve. The longest 5 minutes of my life trying to get myself out of that horrible wedge.


The house feels weird, like we don't really live here. I feel bizarrely unemotional about it, which is a relief. Not like our old house in Ann Arbor which I still prefer to avoid seeing when possible.


I've already been bitten by about 20 freaking mosquitos.
For real. We've been here an hour... and I've been inside.

And some jackass realtor has left our back door open for who knows how long.


Oh, and you'll be interested to know that the damn hallway light burnt out AGAIN.

It's A Video-palooza Day

Now I'm off to help the girls roll beeswax candles...

And really, people, a craft could not be easier than this. You can buy all the stuff you need at AC Moore (not at Michael's). Get some plain beeswax sheets and wick and roll those babies up (ours are not from AC but from an online source so it was cheaper... but you're out of time for that now!). Each sheet will make two candles. Two pillars or two tapers depending on how you cut it. Buy some colored wax and use small cookie cutters to cut shapes out. The kids can roll the candles and stick the cut outs on. Very easy. Baby even did it.