Ready to Pack!

She dressed herself today and came down yelling .... Let's paint! That is some painting outfit

You have to love how she made a too-small summer dress work in the winter. I asked her to wear pants under it because it was cold- so she got creative and put a purple tu-tu under the dress to make it longer/ warmer and knee socks. Gotta give her credit....

Drowning....

We have a  POD parked in front of our house and are supposed to have it filled by Sunday night. I have a sinus infection and cannot sleep, we are not packed, I need to set up appointments with the flooring people, mortgage people, realtor to measure and take pictures (WHAT! OF THIS MESS!), and maybe hire a painter (REALLY? PAY SOMEONE TO PAINT?). Oh, and I am giving a lecture wednesday morning (NOT STARTED YET), meeting with my boss on Tuesday regarding my future (kinda hope he fires me...), evaluations for one of my residents due on 2/1/2012 and a meeting re: the other resident I mentor. Oh, and Casey is sick and has we are not sure what is up- likely something very bad and we are not sure what to do, and I do have the at pretty little girl named Lauren running around who I would like to pay a moment of attention to. Perhaps I will find time to do a load of laundry becaue all I have are two black bras left and I am running out of dark shirts to wear them under, and the grocery store is only 2 miles away and surely contains more than pizza and spaghetti and we are out of Kleenex and  bread anyway...... AAAHhhhhh- Choooo!!

We hope to be moving...

Life is a whirlwind! Two hours with a realtor, POD ordered, WE ARE SELLING OUR HOUSE!

So bittersweet, I LOVE THIS HOUSE. SO MUCH! We were newlyweds in this house. We learned to be married and love /deal with one another. We were first time homeowners here. We hurriedly signed papers the day it went on the market, we happily payed over asking price in a bidding war, and we thought we WON! We endured the MOVE of our jobs- when we bought this house our hospitals were within a few miles of home. They have both since moved to the 'burbs and we drive out there at 6:15 am each morning (even our jobs moved to the 'burbs? maybe its time to get the hint?). This is Casey's house- we fixed him up a dog door and a bed on every floor of the house, he has spent most of his life living here. We cut a bed in half to make a "Garden- level" guest room for the new grandparents, and repainted the guest room, filled it with a crib and rocker and tiny soft baby things. And on December 8th, 2008 - we brought home of beautiful little girl to live with us in this house. 3 years of life- this is the only home Lauren has ever lived in-it makes me sad to think she will not remember it. We have hosted deck parties galore, my 30th birthday, our annual resident welcome party, a wedding day brunch, a few baby showers, and thousands of bratwurst served on our deck!

But here we go- in search of a bigger yard, quieter street, driveway to ride the bike in, neighbors with children and ultimately a nicer public school system. I will SOB when we leave this house, I have no doubt about it. But someone new will LOVE this home as we have. They will revel in its history and charm. The fact that it has been standing for over 100 years, and the windows are made of hand-made glass panes that make rainbows on the floor on a sunny day. This house came on a train from Chicago, someone's Sears Roebuck order, and wont be going anywhere soon. As fondly as I drive past my childhood home in Wisconsin, this house will hold a similar nostalgic charm.

Wish us luck and come help us paint- HERE WE GO!  The plan is to be on the market by St Patrick's Day and I hope to be moving this summer. I imagine this is going to be stressful......

Facebook- what do you think?

What does everyone think about the new Facebook format? I have to admit I was annoyed that they were changing up things again- and since I spend little to no time on Facebook I was thinking "no way will I have the time to make mine all fancy like that!". Well, today I logged on and to my surprise and delight- it was already reformated in the new fancy way and looks really nice! I think I am going to like it! I especially like that it is prompting everyone to put up old school wedding photos and such for their timelines. What do you think about it??

Disneyland

It was awesome! Lauren's highlights were Minnie's house, the roller coaster and meeting princesses.

Arkansas Trip

In January we went to visit my dad's family in Arkansas, and my brother met us down there. It was a super fun trip, but sadly I did not take much for pictures. It was Jeff's first time in Arkansas, and the weather was lovely and he loved the open countryside where they live. Lauren had a dream trip, her time was filled with popcicles and cousins and being spoiled rotten by her grandparents. They even bought her a special toddler bed to sleep in (although I offered to bring her blow-up bed). My step-sister Catherine has 3 lovely children who are just a bit older than Lauren and were so kind to her, she felt like the most loved little princess ever! On Saturday we went to Little Rock and rode the trolley around the riverfront area and hit the Children's Museum there. It was different than the Children's museum here- stuff for little kids and big kids alike. It was a fun trip and we definitely will be back!! (and take more pictures...)


Grandma and Grandpa let me eat popcicles whenever I want- before dinner, two after dinner....



Sweet Cousins

San Diego

Cororando Beach