Living in the Moment

I just told my husband that the past couple of weeks have been the perfect crossroads of  home, family, and LIFE stress.  We moved.  My son got a stomach virus for the very first time.  (I’m not really great with “sick.”)  Then I got sick.  My crazy dog is losing his mind in this new house and won’t sleep.  There are stairs.  There are boxes.  There are Christmas cards to send out.  More presents to buy.  Christmas cookies to bake.  Teacher gifts.  And on and on and on.

I really am living hour to hour.  This is so unlike me.  I am a planner.  I’m super organized all the time. But I just can’t catch up.  I take it one box at a time.  I take it one school obligation at a time.  I’ve been to the store almost every single day to buy something I forgot when I went yesterday.  I haven’t even had time to make a proper list!

When I was sick I abandoned coffee and wine for the entire week and I swear that sent me a little out of whack too.

I also just colored my hair back to its original dark blond.  (Isn’t there a rule NOT to mess with your hair when you are in the middle of life change and are all stressed out?  Yes?  Well, I really just wanted the 2 hours of alone time at the salon.)

One thing I have realized is that living hour to hour is basically LIVING IN THE MOMENT which is actually a good thing for me.  It’s something that I needed to work on and I’m working on it without even thinking about it.

Last weekend our new neighborhood had a holiday party in the clubhouse followed by trolley rides to look at all the lights.  It was Saturday evening and there was SO much to do around the house but we just had to forget it all and go.  I mean, it’s Christmas time!  The kids were so excited.  We had hot chocolate and cookies.  They sat with Santa.  They made a craft.  We rode the trolley and looked at all the awesome decorations.  We sang Christmas carols in unison.  We met our new neighbors.  The kids met new friends.

We lived in the moment.

It was awesome.

Crazy Times and Giving Thanks

I have not had a moment to post some photos from our Thanksgiving celebration, because here is a quick list of what has been going on in my life since I last posted something on this here blog:

  – I got sick and was surviving on Dayquil, Nyquil, and lots of bad food.

 - We moved out of our rental home into a brand new home that we bought – Yay!  It was an amazing deal (a foreclosure that needed a little love) and we have been renovating the place for over a month.  It was done Friday night and we moved in Saturday morning.  It was a LONG day.

- Once we moved in, Bean got sick with a stomach virus.  Poor guy is still recovering, but on the upswing.

 - I am now basically in a state of physical and emotional disarray.  There are boxes all over the place.  Downstairs AND upstairs.  We have STAIRS now.  I was seriously nervous about them with the kiddies, but it has been going very well.  Annabel still goes down on her bum, but she stopped asking me to carry her, so that’s a huge win.  My emotional disarray is from being overwhelmed with the entire process.  Christmas is one of my favorite holidays and we still need to decorate, get a tree, send out the cards, etc.  I’m taking it one  HOUR at a time.

And so I wanted to post some Thanksgiving photos.  For two reasons: One, because they feature the final photos of our last home, and two, because I need to give thanks for these awesome people in my life.  THEY are the ones who ground me through all of life’s crazy transitions. 

PS – I also must give a really big thanks to my hubbie for setting up our cable the day we moved into our new home.  He knows I need my must-see TV shows to make me smile.  AND my internet.  Thanks, Baby!

Everything Comes in Threes

The past THREE days have consisted of THREE things that I’ve been SO wanting to write about:

A. Our big MOVE
B. The 2010 GRAMMY’s and
C. My BIRTHDAY

Because of THE MOVE, I have not been able to FIND my laptop amdist the sea of boxes and dirty laundry and Sesame Street paper plates.  But now I’m back to a semi-normal state in our brand new digs, so here’s a QUICK update.  (The final season premiere of LOST is tonight, okay?)

THE MOVE:

Our landlady kicked us out so we had to find a new place to live and FAST.  This all happened right after our Christmas vacation (Happy New Year! Yeah, right).  But it’s actually been a great blessing in disguise.  I personally don’t really mind moving because I’ve done it A LOT and it also gets me a chance to dig into my inner Hoarders fantasy of tossing out all this random stuff.  I get such a sweet satisfaction when I throw out bags of old junk and garage pilings.   Not that my house looked like an episode of Hoarders, mind you.  Quite the opposite.  It’s the OCD side of me.  Just ask my husband.

We found a bigger, nicer, and CHEAPER place to live that is close to Bean’s preschool and the mall.  What more could I want?  It was a little sad to move out of the house where Bean grew up and Annabel was born, but we’re excited for our brand new “home sweet home.”

THE 2010 GRAMMY’S:

The 2010 Grammy Awards were really great this year.  Lady Gaga opening the show with Elton John.  Pink continuing to swing around in the air and SING at the SAME TIME.  Taylor Swift looking cute while winning a bunch of gold awards.  But I really want to point out Beyoncé.  She is super talented and classy. I love that she is amazingly successful and married to the also amazingly successful Jay-Z. Yet they have no DRAMA.  No paparazzi scandal photos.  No stories in the entertainment gossip magazines.  They are just a  talented couple.  And Beyoncé had a really strong performance Sunday night.  You go, girl.

MY BIRTHDAY:

I hate surprises and I was totally surprised, BIG TIME, on my birthday.  In a GOOD way.  My hubbie took the day off work and did not tell me.  I woke up at 5:30 AM SCREAMING at him to “Wake UP!  You are SO LATE!  AHHHHHH!” and he just rolled over and said “SURPRISE!”  That was GOOD.  He made an awesome French Toast with Berries breakfast. He took care of the kiddies ALL DAY LONG. He sent me to the spa for a massage and facial. Oh, and he gave me THIS!

Yes, it’s a RECORD PLAYER.  AWESOME.  I have saved all of my albums and 45′s since the 1980′s and it’s been so much fun to unpack all day long while listening to these great songs on a RECORD PLAYER.  Maybe it’s just me, but I love it so.  Oh, and the grand finale to my birthday?  I’m seeing John Mayer in concert Saturday night.  Yep, it was a pretty darn good birthday this year.