I think I'm gonna like it here

It has been two weeks now, with use in the new house. It’s a quad level so the kids can run up and down the stairs, chasing each other until the fall down into fits of laughter. Then they cry out to be tickled and tossed around.

They are having such fun discovering all the nooks and crannies. All kinds of places to play hide and seek.

And then, tonight, when I was putting Pancake to bed, she says,

“Momma . . .”

And I say, “Yes Sweetie.”

“I love my new room Momma, thanks for buying us a house.”

I hugged her really tight and tried not to cry it was so sweet.

;)

Guess what I'm doing today? GO AHEAD GUESS!!!!

I actually wrote this yesterday because I just can't stands it! I'm prouder than a puffed up poodle!!

Guess what I am doing today? GO AHEAD . . . . . .

GO AHEAD GUESS!!!!!!!!!


Getting the keys to my new house.

I SAID I'M GETTING THE KEYS TO MY NEW HOUSE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

And opening the door. And I took ALL OF NEXT WEEK OFF TO MOVE ALL MY STUFF FROM THE TWO STORAGE SHEDS AND MY PARENT'S BASEMENT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


Thank you everyone who gave me words of comfort and said 'cheer up' when I needed it. Thank you for reading the saga about hunting for a job. Then having to relocate to accept this job. Of having to move to my hometown. Of having to live here without Mr. Hall most of the week. Of having to face issues I never wanted to face and then actually coming out better because of it.

Thank you for reading about all of it and then sticking around irregardless. And thank you, o thank you for never once calling me a blogger in my parent's basement!

Thank you, Thank you, Thank you!!!

I just want to cry and sob and get all snot bubble I am so happy.

SQUEEE!!!!!!


And I will do just that, later tonight. After we fire up the hot tub. Bust out some champagne. I still can't believe it. It's all coming true.

My dreams are coming true people. sniff, sniff, sob a little, wipes a tear . . .

The House of Hall has risen again!!!

ok, gotta go.

The hot tub is all warmed up :)

Blur - New Music - More Music Videos

Have a good weekend.

SQUEEE!!!!!!

Thank you, Dinosaur Train and Nightswimming

Thank you dinosaur train, for coming on at 8.00 am this morning. And thank you Thomas the train for coming on right after. Because the wee Mac cuddled for a solid 45 minutes, all warm on the couch, his back glued to my front.

And thank you eggs, toast. and jelly. Thank you omelet pan too.

Thank you Mac, for asking Pancake to "Come sit next to me and eat oatmeal." Then looking at her and turning to me all smiles and saying "That's my SIISSster, Pancake.

And thank you Pancake for hugging your brother and patting him on the back. Thank you for saying, "My brother is such a little bug!" And thank you for getting him a napkin before I asked you too.



Because every few minutes I would have this paroxysms of overwhelming joy. Because all of this will happen at our new house next Saturday.

And then I said to Mr. Hall, "When it's hot and summer out, we'll put the kids to bed and you and I can go nightswimming in our pool."

And he said, "Yeah, we can be all sneaky and swim naked."

It's almost too much for the human spirit to bear, this joy I feel.

Take care everyone and have a good weekend. ;)

Decor to make the Devil rise

Let's take a tour of my new house, shall we?



In this room I'll take off my shoes and lounge. The fire is so toasty and warm, I can task the dark apple cider on my lips... mmm, Snugglesville . . .



I'll spy on the neighbors through the windows. They seem nice, a bit strange though ;) The wife brought us the best casserole. She is quite stunning.



We've had them over for movies. We can also hold concerts there ;)



This is where we dine, enjoying the love as we say grace and give thanks.



Before we retire to bed, I shall draw a bath with lavender and vanilla essential oils. Hmm... which tub shall I choose tonight? I think this one will do. . .



What is true in all of this, which makes me weepy with the very thought, is this: Our cherry wood sleigh bed. I hear it calling for us. One week till we can liberate her from the storage shed.



After, to end the night, I do believe a midnight dip in the pool is called for.



It is a heated pool after all . . .

Have a good weekend all. And may all your flights of fancy come true.

When is good, good enough? Discuss.

Somewhere around the second kid I had a monster humungo revelation.

The pressure I felt to be THE BEST MOM IN THE WORLD, TO BE A GOOD MOM, TO PROVIDE EVERYTHING AND ANYTHING MY CHILDREN NEED 24/7, TO READ ALL THE PARENTING WEBSITES AND PARENTING MAGAZINES.... all of it is bullshiz.

The perfect mom is some artificial construct I made up. Some unattainable ideal I would compare myself to. That's no good. To be a good mom I needed to BE NICER TO MYSELF THAN THAT!!! That's when I decided, during my days off at work, I was going to keep the kids in day care if I needed a day off. And

AND

When they napped I was going to nap too. Not just stay awake "In case they needed me!"


WHICH BRINGS ME TO MR. HALL AND OUR NEW HOUSE.

Knock on wood we close soon.

First, let me show you the mind of Mr. Hall:



So complicated, yet so detailed and organized. It's the mind of an engineer. Complicated, detailed and organized. But this mind, it liked our soon to be new house. The inspector liked it too. He found about 13 things that required attention and fixing. Most were minor, none were deal breakers. And really, we really only needed 3 things fixed.

Mr. Hall called the carpenter, the pool guy and the roofer and got estimates. My head would get dizzy deciphering the details. He keeps it all in line. Its a thing of beauty, the mind of Mr. Hall.

So, right before we presented the estimates to the seller...............

We found out the seller had already fixed 12 items. Then, instead of fixing the 13th item, which was trivial anyway, they gave us their snowblower. And it is a sweeeet snowblower my good people. All told, they dropped 3000 fixing stuff. Um, ok then.

In all honesty, we were floored. We were thankful because yeah, thank you seller! Thank you for being a decent human being!

But here's the thing. They fixed everything, but not to the standards of Mr. Hall. Again, he is an engineer. And he had explained the best way of fixing stuff to me. His way of fixing stuff begins at the root of the issue. His way makes sense.

The seller had fixed things in more of a patch work kind of way. Less expensive and sturdy for sure but, gah. We know they didn't fix things the best way. The way we could have.

But here's the thing.

IT DOESN'T FUCKING MATTER.

NOT ONE BIT.

Because we have looked through so many houses. Torturing ourselves with questions, analyzing the data, working the angles. Because we are smart people. We know the best for us and we are trying to figure out the best way to get there.

BUT IT DOESN'T MATTER. I AM DONE BEING BEATEN DOWN BY DOUBTS AND QUESTIONS. I AM DONE TRYING TO BE THE BEST HOUSE BUYERS.

Because this good is good enough. Because we're getting a hot tub with this house. A hot tub that we can make new babies in. There's a fire place to warm my back during the winter. The kids will have their own room. Mr. Hall gets a work shop. So yeah, in this case.

Good is good enough. GRRR!!!!



So, I ask , When is good, good enough for you?

Chilly weather be damned, it's time for a pool party!

OR . . . . IN TWO WEEKS . . .



Ok two weeks and next summer.... but yes. oh yes my pretties . . . that up there, that might just very well be and lord help me it's looks to be true . . . that is part of

The New House of Hall!!

ROCKIT!




Does anyone else miss Beavis and Butthead? Hello? Anyone?

My crazy is attracting wildlife

This one time, at band camp, wait . . no, that's not right. Lemme start again.

This one time, when I was driving on a four lane highway, I saw somebody's wheel come clean off. I was in the right lane, he was all the way over in the opposite right lane. And his front wheel just rolled right off. Then a huge, bright-orange shower of sparks flew into the air as his rim skidded on the concrete.

He pulled over safely. The tire merrily rolled it's way across our lanes. No harm, no foul.

That's my brain right now. The wheels are falling off. And my crazy is activated. Which I am perfectly ok with. Because I know why I am going crazy. And it's all good.

Now animals are getting in on the act.

A few days ago, I was driving home from work. I had just left the parking lot and was on a side street. Then I saw an animal lounging in the middle of the road, almost blocking me. I slowed to way down, trying to figure out what it was. It took me a good five minutes. It was about the size of a cat, but it was reddish-orange and had wiry hair. It moved more like a dog but with a big puffy tail, with a white puff on the end. Then it hit me.









THAT'S A FOX!!

I have never seen a fox before. It was really cool. And really, it was lounging. We made eye contact. The fox sauntered off, all causual. There was no scurring, it just sauntered. All relaxed and see ya later babe.



Then yesterday, I was walking to my car on my lunch break. Looking down, I thought I saw a grass hopper on the sidewalk. It was blindingly sunny out. OOH so sunny and oooohhh so deliciously warm. But, it couldn't be a grasshopper. It looked too big and had a slanted "H" shape. I thought it was a wood chip, all broken or something.




I was walking and staring at it and walking and ... WHAMO!! Two grass hoppers jumped all the way up and pounced against my chest.

I screamed like a little girl!!!!!!

It echoed. Really loudly. I looked around and thank God I was alone.

The grasshoppers, they were getting it on. Right outside the building where I work. On the sidewalk in front of God and everybody. And even in mid hop they didn't unlock themselves. That's dedication to propagation.




After the yelp I realized I had left through the wrong door. My car was parked on the other side of the building. Now, our building only has 10 parking spots. All of which are in the back. Not only had a left through the wrong door, there was no reason for me to forgot where I parked.

Yet, there I was. Getting pelted with mating grasshoppers. In the blinding midday sun. I started giggling at my dorkiness. Then I started laughing. Laughed all the way to the car. ;)

So really, the brain, it's coming unglued a bit. And being rampantly silly. And now, my crazy is attracting all sorts of wildlife. :)

Which is fine and dandy. I have been so wound tight, driving this tense stress ball of my life. Keeping it all together. And now, very soon, I will have a house all to my own. My husband will be back where he belongs. With us, the wife and kids. It's about time I unglued!

When I think about our new house, I feel like I've won the lottery. I just know the guy with the big check and camera crew and people with balloons are just waiting for me. I just keep seeing it, us, in our house.

Paroxysms! Visions! Unstoppable seizures of joy I tells ya!

It's been a long, long, long road. And finally, it's leading me home.*




*Thank you Cam! Your the best!