We are in!!

We are in the house and have gotten tons accomplished already. I would say about 80% of the boxes that are not Christmas/storage boxes are empty. The giant mural has been primed and painted over. The new futon put together. Lights replaced, a ceiling fan hung, my new washer and dryer delivered. The waterfall feature fixed, new shower heads. The list goes on. Oh and the yard...we mowed the mountain, trimmed the forest and did more edging than one could imagine possible in one yard.

A few really great things - love the house. LOVE our friends - who literally came out in droves. I think at one point there were 12 people helping. Awesome. LOVE my bro and his wife who gave up part of their long weekend to help with the giant list of "to dos" above.

Less than great - as excited as I am about the new place it was hard to leave the old. Sure sometimes my neighbors/parents made me nuts but most of the time it was great having them next door. My parents and I are friends and though its just a few minutes drive to the new place it won't be the same and that was a little sad. Oh and the AC broke...new unit comes Saturday. The repair men asked us how long we had been there and we literally had to say 24 hours...so that sucks. But we have learned an important lesson - home warranties are priceless on newly purchased homes.

So pictures will come later in the week...for now I have no internet on anything but this little comp and I cannot edit pics here so I will post some very soon...internet is supposed to get hooked up tomorrow!

24 hour countdown

Moving day is tomorrow - eeks!

Duet

In case you did not see it on facebook:

Closed

It was delayed and it took forever because I wanted to actually read what I was signing much to the other parties dismay but it's done. Will post pictures soon. Moving day is Saturday!

Stop the Madness!!!

Having one of those weeks that I recognize my life may have temporarily spun out of my control. Which sucks. Because I am a control freak. And I try to keep it in check and am sometimes more successful than others but this, not one of those times. Instead I have decided to tackle my stress with my favorite coping mechanisms - coffee and ice cream. So healthy.

So we are supposed to close on the house today. I have no HUD statement yet. Which means I have none of the other paperwork. Which means I am going to being frantically reading massive amount of paperwork written in legalese this afternoon prior to our 4:00 closing. It also means that I am somehow going to have to juggle my caseload today at work while trying to stay on top of the bank and their progress towards closing today.

Did I mention I have to work today? Exactly 8 hours after I got off work last night. (On a complete side note the psych population has more than doubled since I started this job - literally the madness is doubling. I used to see 5-8 patients on an ER shift and maybe 4 of those would be admitted. Last night I saw 12, and only 2 went home. We have a wait list for our psych unit. Scary really. Ok - side rant over.)

And then I just have a few other things to do...you know pack my house, work Mon-Thurs, attend Tori's open house Tuesday night, Tristan's open house AND Tori's gifted open house on Wednesday, first practices for softball and baseball and shoot some pictures of a customer I don't want to lose on Thursday night!

4 words: Coffee and Ice Cream

The Big 3-0

My twenties have come and gone and I am officially 30. The twenties were good to me. I enjoyed a decade of marriage. The joy of motherhood - not once but twice. I graduated college. I gained a couple of sisters, something I always wanted but never had. I worked multiple jobs and eventually started a career. I met amazing people along the way and built on the relationships I already had. It was a good decade.

But I am excited about my thirties. It's like having blank paper just waiting for a good story to be written on it. Unlike my twenties I am familiar already with most of the characters and settings but the plot...well that's all mine to create. And sure sometimes God or fate or whatever you may call it, will take the pen from me and add a few pages that are not the story I would choose, but I will be there ready to pick up where He left off. Writing what He taught me in those pages.

I love a good book, a great story. So I have no educational goals, no fitness goals, no monetary goals for my thirties. I have a goal to write a great story. To have a story filled with love and laughter and friendships and family. Maybe even an adventure or two. And maybe some pictures thrown in for good measure.

To those of you that have been and will continue to be main characters - much love to you! I can't wait to write another chapter with you!

First Day...of School

The night before school starts reminds me a little bit of Christmas Eve. There is a flurry of preparations and we tuck the kids in to bed earlier than normal where they will lie awake later than normal thinking of things to come. And then you wake up before the alarm goes off in anticipation of what the morning will bring. Fun!

And it's special because this is the last school year where the kids pictures will be here in front of this oddly painted mauve porch. Where we have started 4 other school years and where Tristan started kindergarten. And its the last year they will go to the same school until high school.

And it was a great day. Wonderful teachers. Revisiting old friends. The excitement of switching classes for Tori. An invitation to join a soccer team for Tristan and an invitation to All State Chorus for Tori.

And in traditional Maddex family tradition we heard the details over ice cream. Nothing says first day of school like a DQ blizzard. It was a good day. A very good day.

Oh yeah and one more thing, I turned 30, more on that later.