Home is Where Your Books Are

I have to leave for the doctor in half an hour. I am supposed to be sitting an exam right now, but the school web page is down so I am out of luck. When am I going to fit that in? Am I going to have to take it on a break at work?

In the process of moving our "stuff" into the trailer. It is exhausting and demoralizing. Today is the last day we have posession of the apartment. I expected to be done this past weekend, but instead the whole process is dragging on an on. I just want to unpack the boxes and go have a baby.

All that being said, I love waking up in my house. I can see it taking shape in front of me. I can see right around the boxes and whatnot. Lots, lots more to say about all that. Coming soon.

Verizon doesn't offer Internet in our area, so we had to get Comcast. I am not thrilled about that. So far we have had to call them three times. Let's hope this time is charmed.

Mommi, don't worry, the bookcases fit fine. There was no chopping involved ;)

Yesterday Kaila and Michelle stopped by to bless us. Olivia was hugging all over them. I could have, too. They brought two things for the baby that I never dreamed I would actually receive - a glider that rocks the baby front to back or side to side - this will be such a help for tired arms - and a beautiful portable swing that fits perfectly in the "kids" area of the living room (more on that later of course). They also brought us curtains and dinner *sniff*. That was so sweet guys, we are very grateful.

Here is today's schedule: I am off to the doctor in fifteen minutes. As soon as I get home from the Doc (midwife actually, but who's counting), we will head over to the apartment, throw another load of boxes in the back of the car, and clean out the fridge (last cleaning task). Then Lee will drop me and the kids at Nans so I can do some homework that's huge and due at midnight. He has to go to school for the last class before finals. After school, he will pick Joe up at work, pick me up at Nan's, drop me off at work (my last shift before motherhood sets in), meet Nicole at the apartment, and between the three of them take the rest of our "stuff" to the trailer. If you have a second, pray for Lee. His back is tired. Then he will pick me up at work and we will go home. I will submit my homework and we will go to bed. I guess I won't be unpacking any boxes today.

Prayer Request

It looks like the baby's back is against my back. This is most likely why I have been having so much pain with moving. That means lots of extra labor pain for lucky me if he doesn't turn. I am supposed to spend lots of time on my hands and knees... won't Boo and Liv love that.

Please pray for me!

Yesterday, Today & Tomorrow...

Yesterday the kids and I went to Mass at St. Theresa's. They enjoy a change of scenery, and I just wanted to say goodbye. I doubt we will go back to St. Theresa's at all after we move. I went to Mass there for the first time, and it will always be special to me. Fr. Lease was the celebrant, and he is a lot of fun to listen to. He is a young priest like Father Weiss, and he is an intellectual. He jumps all over scripture and all over church documents (yesterday he was reading passages out of Lumen Gentium) - to teach about the priesthood of all believers. It was really neat. The kids were very good, too. It was a nice morning.



We got to spend a little time with Daddy before heading over to pick up Grandma Sheila for the baby shower. Lee settled in for some down time with his computer.



The baby shower was awesome. There was a nice mix of friends from work and family there. I loved everyone who was there. I got to see my girlfriend Jenny for the first time in way too long. The food was amazing - my mom really knows how to throw a shower. Of course she will probably be throwing a lot of them over the course of the next 30 years or so... luckily many hands make light work, right? I can't even express how blessed we were for the baby. We received months worth of diapers & wipes, a few beautiful hooded towels & blankets & many other practical & beautiful things. I am so grateful. I may get a chance to post pictures later.

After the shower, my MIL helped me take all the baby's things down to the new house. We dropped them off in a closet... oh, separation anxiety! Then I took Nan to the grocery store. By the time we were done shopping I had some pretty strong contractions so she sent me home. I spent the rest of the evening with my feet up. I left the kids to sleep at Nan's - that routine is almost over for the summertime, anyway.

Today Lee and I both took the day off to get some important things done on the trailer. We stopped at the hardware store to pick parts up for the toilet. Then Lee finished working on the floor and laying the rest of the carpet padding. In the meantime, I sanded the kids door (NOT strenuous...). After we did everything we could by ourselves, we went home and hung out for an hour. Tomorrow, Lee, Joe and Nicole are going to lay carpet while I am at work. That is sure to be an adventure.

This evening I took my MIL to Walmart to cash her paycheck and pick up some things. Then Lee went to visit his buddy Jon tonight. I worked on some homework and packing.

Just to Say Thanks

This is just a quickie. I just got home from my baby shower which was amazing. I was soo blessed. Thank you to everyone who came and also to everyone who wanted to but weren't able to make it. Thank you also to my mom who threw an amazing party. I will get pictures and post them later.

Then my mother-in-law and I carried my new hoard to my new home. I really wanted to sit and go through it all, but I needed to take Nan grocery shopping, so we left pretty quickly.

I took Sheila (MIL) back to Nan's house. Boo was tired and wanted to play cars, so he stayed with mom, but Livvy wanted to shop with me and Nan. We ran down to Giant to pick up milk and bread. I was having mild contractions at the grocery store so Nan sent me right home. Now I am laying down in front of the TV waiting for these to calm down.

Another Beautiful Day

Friday was another beautiful day. Lee and a friend from school had free passes to go golfing that were getting ready to expire, so they met up for an afternoon tee time. The kids and I took advantage of that time to work with our plants. I can't plant anything in the ground since we are leaving at the end of the month, but I wanted to get my mint into pots. I had one big tote full of good dirt, and I wanted to separate it into two smaller pots. But I had a lot of work to do, and that seemed a little strenuous anyway - I really don't have that much [physical] energy right now! So guess what? Boo offered to do it for me! I was a little skeptical at first, but it's a big part of my parenting "philosophy" to let them do a little more than I think they're capable of. Sometimes I find that I have underestimated them, and other times they learn better what their own limitations are. Either way, it's usually a positive experience.

Well, guess what? He did an amazing job. he did exactly what I needed done, with zero supervision. There wasn't even leftover dirt in the tote. We planted all the mint into new homes that will travel with us to the trailer when we move all our "stuff" next weekend.

I am very proud of him.

A Beautiful Saturday

This past Saturday it was so beautiful that I took my little ones to the big park. They absolutely loved it.


While I was casually supervising, I overhead a woman talking about how homeschoolers have no opportunity for socialization and become backward and unsociable. I felt the need to interrupt her conversation and correct her. I guess that proves how unsociable we are!

I know it is probably not very polite to correct a stranger like that but I just couldn't let that go, you know?




After we played, we stopped at the grocery store and got ice cream. It was just a nice day in general.

Thursday Evening

Tonight Joe and Nicole met us and Nan at the trailer. We got to take a look at the carpet and worked some more on prepping the floor for carpet. We feel a little more comfortable each time we go.

I was afraid that Nan would make me feel bad about the trailer, but she didn't. Recently anytime I think she is going to let me down, she rises to the occasion and supports me.

Nan brings out things in Lee that I am unable to get to. He admitted tonight that he feels bad about moving into a trailer park - it feels like a return to his [unhappy] childhood. It's going to be really important for me to keep the home nice so that he feels like it is a home instead of a nest. I don't want to bad mouth Lee's family; I just want him to feel that he has moved on from what he is afraid of returning to.

Anyway, I am going to take a Monday off from work to take Nan up so she can clean with me. Well, actually she wants to clean FOR me: she doesn't feel I should be working that hard or around chemicals... I will find ways to help, though.

I need short red curtains for the living room. The carpet is green - baseball field green. Lee made a joke about doing a baseball field. I told him we could decorate the room for Phillies and he said 'don't tease me'. Wouldn't it be nice for the living room to really feel like a special space for Lee? We already have a few pennants to hang on the walls and a nice baseball shaped foot rug. It wouldn't take much to really make it special for him... especially since I'll be decorating the rest of the house to suit myself wink wink. :) Just kidding. Sort of. I am going to start scouring the thrift stores for red curtains, but even if I don't find any, we should be able to get fabric at Walmart for a song and Mommi can teach me how to make curtains.

Grace

This is not my favorite layout so far because it turned out a little too cluttered but I thought you would want to see it anyway.

We just received a donation of carpet for the trailer. One of the men who is helping with the trailer is going to install it, probably Monday.

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Boring Wednesday

Today Lee had to stay home from school to replace the battery terminal and the spark plug wires on the car.

I wish I had a picture of how dirty his hands were. It's so attractive when he does stuff like that.

Work is getting harder, physically. I am not sure why but it is harder to be mobile at work than at home. I feel like I can barely move at work. Maybe it's because I move too fast when trying to help customers, crossing half the store to find something. At home I work constantly but slowly and with small steps!

I saw "Uncle John" and "Aunt Susie" from the Brenizer wing of the family at work today. They didn't know I was pregnant. That was fun.



Tomorrow night, Nan is going to come over and help us clean the new house.


I am really nervous about that.

Sunday

I was going to sleep in and go to a later Mass today, but Lee wanted to get to the trailer early! (i.e. noon) So I wound up rushing out the door by myself in a snit. I got there just in time to not be late. And then... I felt so happy and calm afterwards.

Anyway, our friends Joe and Nicole met us at the trailer and we started working. Yours truly was manning the shop vac, picking up dust, old bits of carpet, old bits of newspaper, and, yes, dog doo. We cleaned out the food that was left behind in the fridge and put it out for trash tomorrow. Then Lee, and Joe started to remove old staples and nails from the floor to prep the floor for new carpet. Nicole was remove the old molding from the wall - I guess the carpeting goes underneath the moulding and we will get new stuff. The kids were following me around and helping me pull old bits of carpet off the floor which I can not quite reach without pain! Well, Elijah was helping with that - Olivia was spray-cleaning the metal closet doors with a spray bottle of soapy water that I made for her. Terribly ineffective, but having everybody involved is healthy for all of us, I think. All in all, it was quite fun. When we quit for the day, Joe offered to come back with Lee tomorrow since he (Joe) doesn't have to work.

Then we took the kids to Nans and had our date night. We went to see 'Run, Fatboy, Run', which I thought was going to be stupid and profane, but turned out to be touching and funny and not as profane as I thought it would be. Plus it was all British, and, well, Lee and I will see anything British.

By the way, Lee and I spent the day Friday in New York. I have pictures and need to blog, but Lee is tired and wants to go to bed early. It will have to wait.

Pics

http://housethatcleansitself.blogspot.com/

I have posted BEFORE pictures.

They are not for the faint of heart! :)

I wasn't sure if I wanted to post before pictures before everythng was done because it made me feel vulnerable. But it seems like everybody else is ok with being vulnerable so I guess I can be, too!

Camping

I used elements from Digital Design Essentials and Little Bird Designs.