I'm kind of excited. We're moving in June, so we went to a "vague location not to be named" to look for a home. And boy-oh-boy (or is that "boy howdy", Lauren??) did we find one. We got really lucky, or blessed as is the case. In a two day trip (trust me, with MUCH advance preparation and research), we narrowed it down and found the one we literally fell in love with. Both of us. Yes, both my husband and I agreed on it without even a teeny bit of coaxing, pouting, manipulation or blackmail. Not bad, huh? If you know me, you already know where it is, and let me just say, PLEASE come visit us. We have more than enough space (this market is unreal for a buyer right now. Again, so grateful for the blessings of fasting and prayer.) and we will actually be living somewhere WORTH VISITING!
Here are a couple of amazing kids who have strangely black and unidentifiable faces, standing in the entry hall of the new place. They traipsed through rain and snow for two whole days, looked at house after house, and spent untold hours in a car. And they were fantastic. Such good sports.
Speaking of that car... since our minvan is running on life support, we rented another one for this trip. Funny, when we got to the pick-up location, they were fresh out o' minivans. So we got a complimentary "upgrade" to a Traverse. In this context, the word "upgrade" means "introduction by torture." Have you been in a Traverse? It was like a clown car. And someone I know may or may not have been a teense perturbed at my implication that his acceptance of the "upgrade" was, in fact, crappy. Why are men so resistant to making a scene??
One of our children happened to stumble upon a juicy stomach bug. So I sent said child to the front seat and I moved to the middle row. I did this because
a) I am super nice
b) I was hoping to prevent those sitting around said child from having to watch her puke, thus spawning a vicious domino effect.
Anyhoo. While sitting in the middle seat of the middle row, I'm pretty sure I learned several new contortionist tricks. And since I was in between two booster seats, this is what I heard the whole time:
"Mom, check out my Ripley's Believe it or Not book. This guy is actually a lizard!"
"Mommy, I drew a heart for you."
"No, seriously Mom. He has HORNS."
"Mommy, look at my heart I drew."
"MOM! This lady's dress is made out of 736 DONUTS!"
"Mommy, should I make the heart more purple?"
"Whooooaaaa... he is getting shot in the stomach with a CANON BALL!"
"How about pink? Is pink better?"
"Mom, can people really eat 97 chicken nuggets in 8 minutes?"
"Should I draw more hearts, small ones, around the big one?"
"Can I have a string cheese?"
"Why not? How about a granola bar then?"
"WHY? A fruit snack?"
"Thanks. Look at what this guy built out of toothpicks. He used 242 THOUSAND. Wow."
"My purple marker fell on the floor. Can you get it for me?"
"I have to pee."
I'm still trembling from the whole tortuous experience. But hey. I got a new house. So I guess in the bigger picture, it's all good. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm off to try and realign my spine.
17 comments:
I seriously thought you were going to say you got the ipad, with everyone else this weekend. But a house is also exciting. Are you going to have to quit your awesome job? I hope you and skip bring some windows and carpets when you move in or the house will feel a little industrial.
CONGRATULATIONS ON THE HOUSE!!!!! You got it right, "Boy Howdy!!!" That is wonderful!! I felt so happy when I read that line. I feel honored.
I love how you both look so happy in the picture...and not just because you are free from the clown car. It is so wonderful that you are getting a great house.
I am laughing so hard at the quotes of what you heard as you were sandwiched between two booster seats. You are hilarious. We almost feel like we were there with you.
To be honest...I think that my kids would really dig a, Ripley's Believe It or Not book. Adam always looks at the Guiness Book of World Records book when he visits his school library and shares many fascinating, albeit random, things with me.
Can I have some string cheese?
Killjoy.
Oh. A new house. No one ever lived there before. My favorite kind of house! Congratulations.
Congrats on the house!!
A light at the end of the tunnel now, huh?
Granola bar and string cheese? Tell me you snuck a rogue fruit snack or oreo into the car as well.
I will take those conversations in a car over my daughter who screams whenever she is buckled in her car seat.
I'm taking her on an airplane to Chicago at the end of the month. Heaven help me.
oh, so exciting for you.
though, i'm a little irritated that you don't think this lovely state we live in now is worth visiting.
Congrats! Very exciting!!
I'm still laughing over the back seat conversation...
I'm planning my trip to visit you now! ;-) I'm so happy for you! I'm assuming from the photos that this is new construction which is always fun!
WOO HOO!
YAY!
THAT ROCKS!
AWESOME!
TWO THUMBS UP!
I can't think of anymore....
I am so excited for you though. :)
For REAL!!!??? Moving is so exciting. I hope you will email me and tell me where. Yay for you!
It's so exciting to move to central Iowa from northern Idaho, isn't it?
Finding the right house is the hardest thing...so glad you've done it.
When I got done reading your retelling of your conversation, I was laughing, but also asking myself why I read that...as I live it all too frequently myself.
Funnier when it's not happening to you, I guess.
Just reading this gave me horrible flashbacks from past car experiences. Brrrr. Congrats on the great find! Boo on your move.
Yay! A house! I'll have to come visit. And no, silly, I didn't eat NORI as fish- I just ground it up and added it to the beer batter to make the tofu taste fish-y!
Someday you're going to taste amazing vegan food, and then you will see that you love it. You WILL NOT react like Skip and the kids do to new foods. You will no longer fear tofu, nutritional yeast, or seitan. Promise!
Congratulations. That is great and exciting news. So awesome that you BOTH loved it. How often does that happen??!!
UM, I'd really like to know where this great place is....
Wonderful! I'm so happy for you and the family.
Congrats on the house!! You will have to disclose the secret location to me via a secret message. Is hubby retiring?
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