I'm looking at my last post, which was rather long, and noticed the date. This would be my 16th wedding anniversary which I spent picking lice out of kids hair!! ... with no husband... and I'm ok with that. I really am.
I thought this would be a terribly, horrible, very bad day for the old emotions... and I'm sailing through fine.
Mom called at about 2 this afternoon to make sure I was going to be ok on the anniversary and I had to ask her what the date was so I would be able to find something to do that would be fun on the 19th.
I was a little surprised to find out it is the 19th. I haven't thought about it all day and wouldn't have known until this last blog posting that I missed my anniversary.
I should have had some cake.
I need to get my cake pic of the week (mom is emailing it to me) so you can get a chuckle.
That was my first real stressor of Thursday morning, but it has to be seen to be appreciated!
Friday, October 19, 2007
The Circus leaves town
This has been the most stressful couple of days... good and bad... in a while.
My parents came up on Weds afternoon. Yes, this was the first day of school for my little chickies and I thought that would be difficult. Actually, it worked though. When you have 5 kids that all have amazing stories and all want to talk at once it was good to have a couple more sets of ears to listen!!
Gwen was having a good day (she slipped a disk in her lower back a couple weeks ago) so she brought her brood over for a visit. For about 15 min it was utter mayhem until we got smart and sent them to the park... all but the 2 youngest boys. We figured at 3 and 6 mos, they may not enjoy the park as much as staying home with mom(s).
We were down to 2 kids and 4 adults with the kids not talking much. It worked far better that way. We were able to chow down on lemon and coconut cream pie.. with coffee served with International delight hazelnut coffee cream. Ok, I'm a sucker for anything that has the word "delight" in it, but this coffee cream is amazing!!
That turned out to be the calmest few moments of the next 48 hours.
The kids came back.
The McQuarries left.
Non stop talking until bedtime.
Thursday brought more interviews at the school for me ... with the little guys enjoying having Gramma and Papa to themselves as THAT never happens... and then...
The crew arrived from Rothesay to help get this house together.
They were scrubbing in the cellar.
The lawn is mowed... stove cleaned out... boxes unpacked...
Mr Brown built me a boot rack and is fixing to make me a bona fide mudroom by the backdoor.
He also listed everything I need to do for the house so if someone asks what they can do I can give them the list and say "pick something". Hopefully they will understand shop talk because I discovered I can't even change a fuse.
That's another story.
I need to update the fuse box to a breaker panel.
Its on the list!!
There were many stressful little issues including baby blankets (and some other useful things) almost going out with the trash. Thankfully Mom suggested we check the garbage that was put out as there seemed to be too many trash bags.
I need to get clear trash bags...
Making my own list!
We went through all the trash bags and boxes.. tons of fun late Thursday night. Garbage day being Friday morning a lot of it was bona fide garbage so going through it was a treat. The things you don't expect ever to say...
"Yes, last night Mom and I spent a good 2 hours going through trash bags for toys for the kids."
Barbies, lego, dolls... it would have been sickening if we hadn't noticed we were missing things until the next day!!!
The problem is now fixed.
We have our goods and the real garbage is gone.
Mom and Dad left this morning. Everyone else had left before we noticed the missing stuff Thursday afternoon. By 10 am today I was back by myself. With sore feet, but a much calmer home!!
For the first time, when the kids came home from school I could sit and talk with them. And did. After about an hour some of the kids new friends came by and they all went to the park for an hour before dinner. Then at dinner, they had a whole new set of stories.
This move will be good.
Caitlyn made the basketball team. Gotta love small towns. She showed up for an info meeting for the BB team. The coach asks, "Who was not on the team last year?" Caitlyn and her friend (either Jessica or Jamie) put up their hands. "What size uniform do you need?"
They are getting new uniforms this year. They will also have sweatshirts that will have their last name on their backs and first name going down the sleeve.
Too cool.
One child came home with a detention... first week of school!!!
Connor and Courtney went to Nacawick for the participation track day. They had a 1.5 kilo run through a trail in the woods. They were some wiped out tonight. They all asked if they could go to bed.
I'm liking this.
One child has lice nits in her hair... uh, make that a few kids.
Not liking that.
Tonight I went through 2.5 heads. Lots of nits, no real lice so far. It took about 5 hours. 2.5 heads to go through tomorrow. Whoo hoo!!
Monday they will walk both to and from school. I have been driving them in the morning and letting them walk home. They will now walk both ways, unless the weather is bad.
On a final note...
I ordered a bunch of stuff from IKEA!! I'm so excited!! My dining room and office part of the living room will look great in a couple of weeks.
My friend Kathy is excited because she loves to put furniture together as much as I do and she's coming over to help me with it.
Its like an adult size puzzle, putting furniture together.
Anyone with a decent amount of Rouse in them will understand the fascination!!
My parents came up on Weds afternoon. Yes, this was the first day of school for my little chickies and I thought that would be difficult. Actually, it worked though. When you have 5 kids that all have amazing stories and all want to talk at once it was good to have a couple more sets of ears to listen!!
Gwen was having a good day (she slipped a disk in her lower back a couple weeks ago) so she brought her brood over for a visit. For about 15 min it was utter mayhem until we got smart and sent them to the park... all but the 2 youngest boys. We figured at 3 and 6 mos, they may not enjoy the park as much as staying home with mom(s).
We were down to 2 kids and 4 adults with the kids not talking much. It worked far better that way. We were able to chow down on lemon and coconut cream pie.. with coffee served with International delight hazelnut coffee cream. Ok, I'm a sucker for anything that has the word "delight" in it, but this coffee cream is amazing!!
That turned out to be the calmest few moments of the next 48 hours.
The kids came back.
The McQuarries left.
Non stop talking until bedtime.
Thursday brought more interviews at the school for me ... with the little guys enjoying having Gramma and Papa to themselves as THAT never happens... and then...
The crew arrived from Rothesay to help get this house together.
They were scrubbing in the cellar.
The lawn is mowed... stove cleaned out... boxes unpacked...
Mr Brown built me a boot rack and is fixing to make me a bona fide mudroom by the backdoor.
He also listed everything I need to do for the house so if someone asks what they can do I can give them the list and say "pick something". Hopefully they will understand shop talk because I discovered I can't even change a fuse.
That's another story.
I need to update the fuse box to a breaker panel.
Its on the list!!
There were many stressful little issues including baby blankets (and some other useful things) almost going out with the trash. Thankfully Mom suggested we check the garbage that was put out as there seemed to be too many trash bags.
I need to get clear trash bags...
Making my own list!
We went through all the trash bags and boxes.. tons of fun late Thursday night. Garbage day being Friday morning a lot of it was bona fide garbage so going through it was a treat. The things you don't expect ever to say...
"Yes, last night Mom and I spent a good 2 hours going through trash bags for toys for the kids."
Barbies, lego, dolls... it would have been sickening if we hadn't noticed we were missing things until the next day!!!
The problem is now fixed.
We have our goods and the real garbage is gone.
Mom and Dad left this morning. Everyone else had left before we noticed the missing stuff Thursday afternoon. By 10 am today I was back by myself. With sore feet, but a much calmer home!!
For the first time, when the kids came home from school I could sit and talk with them. And did. After about an hour some of the kids new friends came by and they all went to the park for an hour before dinner. Then at dinner, they had a whole new set of stories.
This move will be good.
Caitlyn made the basketball team. Gotta love small towns. She showed up for an info meeting for the BB team. The coach asks, "Who was not on the team last year?" Caitlyn and her friend (either Jessica or Jamie) put up their hands. "What size uniform do you need?"
They are getting new uniforms this year. They will also have sweatshirts that will have their last name on their backs and first name going down the sleeve.
Too cool.
One child came home with a detention... first week of school!!!
Connor and Courtney went to Nacawick for the participation track day. They had a 1.5 kilo run through a trail in the woods. They were some wiped out tonight. They all asked if they could go to bed.
I'm liking this.
One child has lice nits in her hair... uh, make that a few kids.
Not liking that.
Tonight I went through 2.5 heads. Lots of nits, no real lice so far. It took about 5 hours. 2.5 heads to go through tomorrow. Whoo hoo!!
Monday they will walk both to and from school. I have been driving them in the morning and letting them walk home. They will now walk both ways, unless the weather is bad.
On a final note...
I ordered a bunch of stuff from IKEA!! I'm so excited!! My dining room and office part of the living room will look great in a couple of weeks.
My friend Kathy is excited because she loves to put furniture together as much as I do and she's coming over to help me with it.
Its like an adult size puzzle, putting furniture together.
Anyone with a decent amount of Rouse in them will understand the fascination!!
Tuesday, October 16, 2007
Another new adventure
Well, life is about to take another major change.
First, I'm a single mama.. then a baby... hand surgery... the big MOVE... and now..
Tomorrow will be the first day of real school for most of my kids.
Yes, I am sending my kids to school.
I love homeschooling, but have decided that for the moment its too much to do if I want it done well. I am not homeschooling well this year.. not by a long shot. Its time to admit that I need some help and I'm taking it.
The school here is K-12 so all the kids will be in one place, just more kids!
Most of the teachers, I hear, are Christians.
I had a tour and the kids were all attentive and not even fidgeting in class.
My kids just may be the troublemakers!!
The kids are excited/nervous about going.
I feel strangely at peace about it, even though I am a homeschooling at heart mom.
It sure will be weird at home with mighty Jack (3) as the oldest!!
Spending more time with the wee three will be good for us.
A new adventure, yes??
First, I'm a single mama.. then a baby... hand surgery... the big MOVE... and now..
Tomorrow will be the first day of real school for most of my kids.
Yes, I am sending my kids to school.
I love homeschooling, but have decided that for the moment its too much to do if I want it done well. I am not homeschooling well this year.. not by a long shot. Its time to admit that I need some help and I'm taking it.
The school here is K-12 so all the kids will be in one place, just more kids!
Most of the teachers, I hear, are Christians.
I had a tour and the kids were all attentive and not even fidgeting in class.
My kids just may be the troublemakers!!
The kids are excited/nervous about going.
I feel strangely at peace about it, even though I am a homeschooling at heart mom.
It sure will be weird at home with mighty Jack (3) as the oldest!!
Spending more time with the wee three will be good for us.
A new adventure, yes??
Thursday, October 11, 2007
Internet is finally going!
Hey, we have internet!!
I was hoping to have the super duper wireless modem/router that we had before... but they now charge $2.95 a month for the privilege of having one. So we are hooked up to the wall again. Of course, its the wall in the dining room that is still the workspace for the guys who are fixing up the house soooo... I'm sitting on the floor (and its not comfortable at all anymore) with the kids tripping over me. They do NOT get the fact that the computer must be where the phone jack is at all time if we want to be connected to the internet.
They are also getting very cranky.
I think I should go feed the baby and get the kids busy with something... anything!!
Martha
I was hoping to have the super duper wireless modem/router that we had before... but they now charge $2.95 a month for the privilege of having one. So we are hooked up to the wall again. Of course, its the wall in the dining room that is still the workspace for the guys who are fixing up the house soooo... I'm sitting on the floor (and its not comfortable at all anymore) with the kids tripping over me. They do NOT get the fact that the computer must be where the phone jack is at all time if we want to be connected to the internet.
They are also getting very cranky.
I think I should go feed the baby and get the kids busy with something... anything!!
Martha
Monday, October 08, 2007
One More Night
This is our last night in the old place.
Tomorrow night will be in our new home.
It looks good... actually great since Laun, her Dad and friend Janice stayed there all day until late tonight to finish it. This is how good people have been to me. I don't even know Janice... well, I do now!! She has been so generous to me and I am humbled by such help.
The girls room is sweet. They didn't want to leave today. The boys can't wait to see how their room looks... I can't either since it wasn't done when I had to leave today.
Joy, Laun's mom, baked cookies, a pie, a cake, a casserole, made sandwiches... yum, yum... I love other people's cooking!!
Tomorrow we will take whatever we can fit in the car and then Dave will bring the rest out little by little.
I think we have almost everything we need.
I'm excited... and very sad.
This was not what I had planned... to move on without Dave.
I can't let myself be sad though. I'm choosing to trust that God knows what is best for me even when the world isn't making sense. I have a Bible study called "Trusting God when the world doesn't make sense." Dave bought it for us to do in January and then didn't have time to do it with me. Now I will be happy to have it and do it myself.
I will learn many new things this year, including how to run a wood furnace.
Never done that.
I will learn how to manage 24/7 on my own. This is scary.
I can do this.
I need to go to bed earlier.
I need curtains... or else we will be going to bed when the sun sets!!
Tomorrow I'm picking up curtain rods... tonight would have been more convenient except that everyone who is everyone took today off for dinner.
Thanksgiving is everyday, but our feast will be in a week or 2.
We are too tired to cook a turkey dinner... that was a Victorian we, meaning me.
Mom tried to convince me to drop everything, play hooky and eat turkey with them... but I'm glad I didn't. The work is done (not much thanks to me!) and tomorrow starts a new adventure.
G'night and God bless,
Martha
Tomorrow night will be in our new home.
It looks good... actually great since Laun, her Dad and friend Janice stayed there all day until late tonight to finish it. This is how good people have been to me. I don't even know Janice... well, I do now!! She has been so generous to me and I am humbled by such help.
The girls room is sweet. They didn't want to leave today. The boys can't wait to see how their room looks... I can't either since it wasn't done when I had to leave today.
Joy, Laun's mom, baked cookies, a pie, a cake, a casserole, made sandwiches... yum, yum... I love other people's cooking!!
Tomorrow we will take whatever we can fit in the car and then Dave will bring the rest out little by little.
I think we have almost everything we need.
I'm excited... and very sad.
This was not what I had planned... to move on without Dave.
I can't let myself be sad though. I'm choosing to trust that God knows what is best for me even when the world isn't making sense. I have a Bible study called "Trusting God when the world doesn't make sense." Dave bought it for us to do in January and then didn't have time to do it with me. Now I will be happy to have it and do it myself.
I will learn many new things this year, including how to run a wood furnace.
Never done that.
I will learn how to manage 24/7 on my own. This is scary.
I can do this.
I need to go to bed earlier.
I need curtains... or else we will be going to bed when the sun sets!!
Tomorrow I'm picking up curtain rods... tonight would have been more convenient except that everyone who is everyone took today off for dinner.
Thanksgiving is everyday, but our feast will be in a week or 2.
We are too tired to cook a turkey dinner... that was a Victorian we, meaning me.
Mom tried to convince me to drop everything, play hooky and eat turkey with them... but I'm glad I didn't. The work is done (not much thanks to me!) and tomorrow starts a new adventure.
G'night and God bless,
Martha
Saturday, October 06, 2007
On the MOVE!!
I am taking a break from packing!
This has been a crazy couple of days of packing, lugging, sorting, trucking, unloading, moving, moving, MOVING!!
I commented (rather vainly) two days ago how good my nails were looking. My fingernails almost never look good so I was pretty impressed.... I now have ONE fingernail left and its discoloured from when I got my hair dyed this week!
So much for vanity.
On Friday Pastor Steve and Arthur (with the help of Chester's truck) moved ALL my beds for me to the new house. Thanks guys... not that you ever read blogs, but you are thanked all the same.
Andrea came up and helped all day yesterday and today.
Laun and Jodie came up yesterday... brought a ton of stuff with them!!! ... and thoroughly cleaned the new place.
Andrea's husband Andrew came up today with his truck.
My brother Jeff brought up his truck and my nephew Trevor.
Last but certainly not least, my friend Pat brought over her wonderful new truck (its a Chevy Avalanche and its loaded.. that's who I drove with!!) and helped a bunch. Then she went home and bought a bunch of Greco pizzas for supper.
Do I have great friends or what??
I do need to mention Eugene. He is the angel I'm buying this house from. Not only is it a superb deal and he's holding the mortgage for me, he is constantly at the house putting on new trim, doors, siding, etc.. He is giving us the history of the house and the low down on the town, making me feel like this is my home. He is essentially giving me roots.
He wants to put some extra shelving for me when he's done his work.
He looks like Santa...
We had a few mishaps... somehow I was expecting to chase down baby clothes on the highway... and wasn't disappointed!!! Though I wasn't expecting to see the wicker bookshelf fly off Andrew's truck and over our truck.... I needed the exercise though to chase down my stuff and pick up pieces of this and that off the new super duper twinned highway!!
Jeff and Trev got their pictures taken by the big axe.. that was a thrill... ha! ha! I'm expecting to be sent those pics if Jeff can get them off his phone.
I have more stuff to pack here. The old house is a disaster, which is pretty amazing given all the things that were taken out of here!! How could it possibly look messier than on Weds??
I am at a loss.
There is a mouse in the back of my stove making terrible clicking noises... at least it was until I kicked the oven door a few times... right after telling Connor not to kick it. He doesn't think this was fair, but it is my stove after all, at least until Tuesday.
On Tuesday we move!!! Yep out the door and into Canterbury.
Dave is helping us finish moving Monday.
That will be weird... my husband finishing moving us out of his home.
Oh well.
He will be getting back from Atlanta tomorrow night. I wanted to be out before he got back, but just couldn't do it.
He is most likely getting the biggest award he will ever achieve in his career this weekend.
It the PMI award for Professional Development of the Year. He is accepting the award with some people from Global Knowledge. He is the only one accepting for Skillsoft. Skillsoft and Global Knowledge won it together for the Project Manager Development program that Dave headed up the creation of.
I am trying to be happy for him. This was one of the major things that Dave put in front of his family and makes him happy. We are in the way of his career. Its so sad. He thinks he'll be happy... he's not so far.
Right now he's out to some fancy dinner with the others from Global.. its a Brazilian Restaurant.
I'm wondering what Brazilian food is.
The mouse is acting up again. Our cat is a waste of time and airspace. It couldn't catch a mouse to save its hide... unless its bringing one in from outside... or killing one beside the dinner table when I am at dinner.
And people wonder how I'm losing the baby weight so fast!
I'm off to do more packing. I'm going until I'm out of boxes. Tomorrow is my day off. Monday we move these boxes, unpack some at the other house and then bring more back to pack.
Its almost over.
It will be nice to be done.
This has been a crazy couple of days of packing, lugging, sorting, trucking, unloading, moving, moving, MOVING!!
I commented (rather vainly) two days ago how good my nails were looking. My fingernails almost never look good so I was pretty impressed.... I now have ONE fingernail left and its discoloured from when I got my hair dyed this week!
So much for vanity.
On Friday Pastor Steve and Arthur (with the help of Chester's truck) moved ALL my beds for me to the new house. Thanks guys... not that you ever read blogs, but you are thanked all the same.
Andrea came up and helped all day yesterday and today.
Laun and Jodie came up yesterday... brought a ton of stuff with them!!! ... and thoroughly cleaned the new place.
Andrea's husband Andrew came up today with his truck.
My brother Jeff brought up his truck and my nephew Trevor.
Last but certainly not least, my friend Pat brought over her wonderful new truck (its a Chevy Avalanche and its loaded.. that's who I drove with!!) and helped a bunch. Then she went home and bought a bunch of Greco pizzas for supper.
Do I have great friends or what??
I do need to mention Eugene. He is the angel I'm buying this house from. Not only is it a superb deal and he's holding the mortgage for me, he is constantly at the house putting on new trim, doors, siding, etc.. He is giving us the history of the house and the low down on the town, making me feel like this is my home. He is essentially giving me roots.
He wants to put some extra shelving for me when he's done his work.
He looks like Santa...
We had a few mishaps... somehow I was expecting to chase down baby clothes on the highway... and wasn't disappointed!!! Though I wasn't expecting to see the wicker bookshelf fly off Andrew's truck and over our truck.... I needed the exercise though to chase down my stuff and pick up pieces of this and that off the new super duper twinned highway!!
Jeff and Trev got their pictures taken by the big axe.. that was a thrill... ha! ha! I'm expecting to be sent those pics if Jeff can get them off his phone.
I have more stuff to pack here. The old house is a disaster, which is pretty amazing given all the things that were taken out of here!! How could it possibly look messier than on Weds??
I am at a loss.
There is a mouse in the back of my stove making terrible clicking noises... at least it was until I kicked the oven door a few times... right after telling Connor not to kick it. He doesn't think this was fair, but it is my stove after all, at least until Tuesday.
On Tuesday we move!!! Yep out the door and into Canterbury.
Dave is helping us finish moving Monday.
That will be weird... my husband finishing moving us out of his home.
Oh well.
He will be getting back from Atlanta tomorrow night. I wanted to be out before he got back, but just couldn't do it.
He is most likely getting the biggest award he will ever achieve in his career this weekend.
It the PMI award for Professional Development of the Year. He is accepting the award with some people from Global Knowledge. He is the only one accepting for Skillsoft. Skillsoft and Global Knowledge won it together for the Project Manager Development program that Dave headed up the creation of.
I am trying to be happy for him. This was one of the major things that Dave put in front of his family and makes him happy. We are in the way of his career. Its so sad. He thinks he'll be happy... he's not so far.
Right now he's out to some fancy dinner with the others from Global.. its a Brazilian Restaurant.
I'm wondering what Brazilian food is.
The mouse is acting up again. Our cat is a waste of time and airspace. It couldn't catch a mouse to save its hide... unless its bringing one in from outside... or killing one beside the dinner table when I am at dinner.
And people wonder how I'm losing the baby weight so fast!
I'm off to do more packing. I'm going until I'm out of boxes. Tomorrow is my day off. Monday we move these boxes, unpack some at the other house and then bring more back to pack.
Its almost over.
It will be nice to be done.
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