'What are words for?"

No pictures today. Just a check in. We had an AMAZING time at the wedding and grad party in Minnesota. We are missing cousins and grandparents and family. I have a "mother's helper" over just now (read - 10 year old boy who will build forts and play tag and not watch TV all day). It is glorious, but I'm having issues with starting ALL that has to get done. I'm basically staring at a mountain of move in organization. And so, I blog and Facebook and waste these 3 precious hours.

Welcome summer.

Happy anniversary, Duke and Duchess. Thank you for my most precious gift, RKZ. All because 2 people fell in love.

"turn down these voices inside my head"

No pictures today. Buck "graduated" from Pre-K 4 and we are done with another year of school. So many things I could write. I am excited to have my boy home and not have an extreme schedule for a few months. Tomorrow, we're off to MN (look it up) for a wedding of RKZ's cousin. He has a group of 20 something cousins, so we are entering "wedding mode" for a few months. It will be a very quick and fun visit with the G-side of the fam. Can not wait to see everyone.

Phone pictures will abound.

Now, to 12 loads of laundry and some packing. Kiss!!

"Send in the clowns..." (in honor of my friend's fun facebook status)

The Joads went home yesterday and H came to visit (see photos below). The washing machine repair man came to save my life this morning (2 weeks without a washer and we did ok? We have too many clothes). There was a "cleaning bee" at Buck's school today where the moms clean what they can to help out the teachers. Thunder (aka: Bam Bam) stayed with my very dear (one-year-older-but-not-than-me) friend and her amazing kids while I drank coffee and gossiped with the other moms. We also sorted through old books and taped weak puzzle boxes. It's overcast and I just found out that we weren't given a washing machine owners' manual and they haven't posted one on-line yet for ours. This is the definition of melancholy - so much to do and I don't have the manual :) 

So, Buck and I made dinosaurs and I drank diet root beer. Now, he's watching Scooby Doo. Thunder sleeps. 

This little guy makes me happy. Buck has been walking around like a T-Rex since making him. Love those Osborne how-to books.

 

H came down for a quick visit and it was the nicest we've had. I'll never get the image of her and my father out having a smoke around the fire pit out of my head. If anyone you know is considering adoption, I want to re-emphasize how open adoption is the way to go (considering that everyone in the situation is not psycho). Thunder knows H. She is as normal a part of his life as his aunts and uncles (who visit and love him but aren't always there). I am his mommy. Sitting around having a beer and laughing and being friends just brings all of us peace. There are awkward and delicate moments, but as we forge a new type of family, we are all ok.  When I look at these pictures, I can't get over how much I still think Thunder looks exactly like Shawn - and Buck, ironically. And the last time we were together, I asked H is she regrets her decision to give up T and she said, "It was the best thing I ever did." I think that peace and joy can only come from asking very difficult questions and allowing the other person to answer. 

See what I mean? Melancholy. 

"Mr. Jones wishes he was just a little more funky"

Some amazing things about moving - it's like rediscovering your own things. I find this especially true with the boys who have spent a week playing with toys they completely ignored a few months ago.

Quote of the week from my mom, "These cute little wooden toys are perfect for your sons to throw as weapons. You'll have to call me the first time they are having a wooden food war." We couldn't stop laughing because it's a totally true call. I love the little Melissa & Doug wooden toys, but they are very popular weapons for boys. They completely miss the cuteness and go right for the destructive qualities. Ma Joad is also convinced that we need to change Thunder's nick name to Bam Bam. For obvious reasons. 

  Our 19 month old screamed to use chop sticks when we got Japanese last night. And then he was pretty good with them! He actually got a lot of shrimp into his mouth with his "gather and grab" method. Considering he did better than our 4/5 year old, this was quite impressive.

  Pa Joad flew in last night at 1 am. This morning, he sat down to plastic waffles and pretend ABC cereal prepared by Buck. Thunder, aka Bam Bam, passed out bowls over and over. Kids are fun. 

Proof that we live in Canada - this is an actual Moose walking down the center of downtown on May 13th. Yes, this year a moose walked down Mainstreet in Calgary. There are 1 million people living here - it's not a crazy backwater in the Northern Territories - and yet, it's Canada and Moose walk down our city streets. Hello, Northern Exposure. 

"Meet you anytime you want, in our Italian restaurant"

Taking a minute to blog. It's a break from the above view - over and over again :) When the stagers came a few months ago to wrap up most of our things, they did a great job packing; but they didn't label anything! It's like "mystery move" around here.  So far, I've only wanted to give away about 50 things. They will be dutifully loaded into our truck in a minute. I have to get them out of the house quickly before "hoarder RKZ" returns from work and takes 1/2 of the things back out. It's a delicate balance we've got going here. 

As I'm writing this, I just realized I don't have a present for the birthday Buck was invited to tomorrow. Looks like we'll be making a late night run to WalMart again. I wish I was one of those super organized women who had birthday presents sitting around waiting for emergencies like this. Of course, the stagers would have packed it in an unlabeled box and I wouldn't know where it is anyway. 

"How long, gone are you gonna be?"

It's already been quite the day around here and it's only 2 o'clock! Ma Joad (Grandma) arrived at 10 pm last night and was thoroughly confused with our trip home from the airport. Our new house can be reached by a totally different drive even though it's only about 10 minutes from our other house. Poor, tired Ma Joad. RKZ had worked hard to organize some things and to set up Ma's mattress on the floor. Poor, Ma Joad. At least the house was quiet (after a day of crazy) and we had some tea for her before bed. Of course, the tea kept her up all night (poor, Ma Joad).

This morning, the movers came to finish our move. Sadly, what was finished was our favorite, gorgeous sectional couch (the TV room couch to those in the know). There is no way for it to fit downstairs through any of the doors to our basement. It is simply 4 inches too long (insert inappropriate joke here). The movers tried each entrance 2 times with different ideas. Even with 30 minutes of work, I know that RKZ will try to get those couches downstairs by himself after he gets home from work. I was just sad because the basement is my least favorite part of the new house and now, I simply don't ever want to go down there.

Good news? We're all physically moved in to our new home. Now, the unpacking begins. Thank goodness Ma Joad is here! I have 13 days to get this place in ship shape (or Grady 2 year pre-renovation shape, anyway).

"In case you failed to notice - in case you failed to see..."

Here are some pictures of our house from the front yard. It's funny about moving, somehow it seems to invite all sorts of comments on your home. So far, both the cable guy and our cleaning lady (whom I love) have given their opinions. The Cable guy said that he's looking for a house like this, "but we're really picky." I wasn't at all sure how to take that. I'm thinking he thinks we're not. Anita, our cleaning lady, really liked the house - but she likes all the things I really want to change, so I had no comment to her either. I won't even start on what the relator had to say or the washing machine repair man. 

I'm not good with change - even good change. It took me a year to feel comfortable married and I'm still working on the shock of children. I am happy to be here, but still adjusting. 

"Take a look at me now"

We moved to our new home. I sent a picture of myself to my email yesterday. This is the picture of the one time I sat down all day. I don't think RKZ ever sat down (except to eat). I am happy to be smiling in this shot. 

Moving is stressful. I'll overstate the obvious in case you are considering it. We've had a couple of casualties: a brand new washing machine and a loan officer (if RK ever gets a hold of him). Just normal "hiccups" in the process, we're told. The movers arrived well on time. Buck went off to school and a very fun play date and Thunder spent the day with one of my very good friends and her family. Our older friend (nearly family now), CSG (Canadian Safari Guide), showed up as a God-send because we really needed a third adult around. Or maybe just one adult to our naive adolescent minds. 

The biggest stress was the fact that we could only move in to our new house yesterday, but the new owners of our old house wanted to move in to our old house today. We had to cram a week of moving and moving related events into one day. Insane, truly. The culmination of the cramming was a house filled with movers, carpet cleaners, pizza delivery guys, children (after 4 pm), and eventually, boxes. Our garage literally "runneth over." And our kids runneth over as well, but mostly each other. 

There are so many observations that I would love to make right now about moving and children and husbands and older houses versus new...but I'm really, really tired. 

My mom arrives tomorrow night so that I can open boxes for the next week or so while she helps with the boys. Sometimes, a girl just has to let it all go until her mom shows up. 

FYI, we're back on-line, our phone # is the same and we have cable tv. I love living in 2010.