Happy New Years Eve

Well, I am sitting here in a Rhode Island hotel room with a hot half naked guy in my bed(sorry you had to read that part mom). Sounds like it would be exciting right? Well, it would be more so if I were in bed with him. Instead, I am on the computer. Typing. To you guys. Oh when did I get so old. Oh, and it would be more exciting if I wasn't listening to snoring children :-)

The way that I deal with things is to hold everything in and then wake up at all hours of the night and just think. about everything and nothing. At least now I have this to type to and get it out. It's at least a little cheaper than a therapist.

It took me 11 years, 6 months and 5 days to build my house into a home. The packer boys (who were seriously funny and made me laugh my a$$ off a couple times) deconstructed it and had it in boxes in 7 hours. It took me longer than 7 hours to pick out what shade of paint I wanted in the bedroom! So that was yesterday. This morning we got up and the mover boys (who weren't as funny as packer boys but were nice) (and how come I didn't get as lucky as the movers boys I see in the movies. Not one guy worked topless and I can't say for sure that i would have wanted that!). Anyway, they had my entire house packed up in 7 1/2 hours. As cramped as we were in our little house, it didn't even come close to filling up a 53 foot trailer. I could barely move around off of John schiznaz that we *have* to keep and it wasn't enough to fill the trailer! Our household belongings are on their way to NY and then off to AZ. When I heard that they were oging to NY, I almost threw myself in a box to go with.

All in all I have to say my control issues were definitely put to the test and although no umbrella drinks were consumed (packer boys even packed my plastic cups I planned on using!!!) I think I can get used to boys packing and unpacking my things. We almost made it through the entire process without any hiccups. We did have one last minute hurdle but it was quickly taken care of...

We had spent the last few days going around to seeing my friends and John looked at me and said "I didn't know that many people liked you". Although I know he was joking it made me think. I really do have some great friends. I am going to miss the daily contact (please remember if you ever call me that I am 2-3 hours behind. So if something happens at drop off and you need to tell me, it is 5:30am when that is happening :-) heheh) but I know that I will stay in touch with everyone.

It is now almost 2 in the morning and I have to be up in 4 hours. I am going to try and get some sleep. I will post again shortly! I also have no spell checker and it has been a long couple days. Cut me some slack and put away your red pens if there are errors.

Stay tuned...

See everyone in a little bit.

Did we make the right decision?

I was just checking out the weather today and right now it is 50 degrees here......and 32 in AZ. Is this mother nature playing tricks on me? Granted I know that time is 2 hours behind but I didn't imagine that it would be that much of a difference ;-)

Oh no no no no no! The high here is going to be 61 and the high in AZ is going to be 59? Whaaat? Are you kidding me?

OK....I am going to have to seriously rethink this moving thing. When John gets up we are going to have a discussion about which place we are going to live. I mean.....it is warmer here for crying out loud.....stay tuned.....things might change...

Are you kidding me?

Really? How many days? As of Sunday night midnight we will no longer be connected to the Internet AND cable. I will miss out of my daily dose of which celebrity is sleeping with who, who wore the wrong outfit, checking football stats (I am totally into football now....and it isn't just the outfits....kinda), reading the blogs that I do, checking the weather (although in AZ does that need to happen?), getting email, my TV shows!!!, window shopping or the all important playing scrabble.

You have no idea how that is going to tick me off. To unwind, some people drink, some people smoke, some people eat, some people virtually take out their stress on shoot up em games, some exercise and then there is me. On most days I do go out for a run. In fact, when I am too much of the B word (see mom, I am cleaning my language up) I am actually told to go for a run. It helps me to relax and unwind (and the size of my a$$ decreasing isn't a bad perk either) but on the days that it is so flipping cold out here, I just can't bring myself to do that. For about 5 years straight now, I have play scrabble almost every week day (sometimes on the weekends/nights/holidays). I may not always win because my opponent is a walking dictionary so I win when she is distracted. I thought this move would distract her more but i still lost some.

For my family's sake the place that we are staying for temp housing until we close on our house has an exercise facility. Not to mention IT IS 60 OUT THERE RIGHT NOW. :-)

Since I lived in pre-internet era I think I will make it. My kids though? All I have to say is thank God we lost the power a couple weeks ago. They got some practice at being unplugged. It spared them from going cold turkey.

So, packer boys are packing my schniazz on Monday and then mover boys are moving it on Tuesday and then that is it. I am trying to get around to seeing everyone (and not just because I have to burn the gas down to ship the car) but if I don't make it, it doesn't mean that I don't care or wont miss you!! It just means you will have to come to AZ to say see ya to me :-) And with this nasty NE weather that is sure to hit, I know a few of you will take me up on that offer.

WARNING: When I move, I will have to start telling you about my ever so boring life rather than the move. Hopefully I will get my sense of humor back and my posts will be lighter airier and fluffier.....

I hope

everyone has a very Merry Christmas! Be safe and don't eat too much!

This is for you my friend....this is for you.

Since I had positive feedback on the picture of Brady (and surprisingly not from Mike), I will post another one of my favorites. I have more but I don't want to just lay out all my cards on the table....

I have issues

I know this. You now know this. John has probably always known this. I have issues. I think we all do but I will mention mine here.

I have trouble with goodbyes.

I am not good at them. I can't do them. Nothing feels right about them. I think it is because the way that I look at them, I have only said "goodbye" to a few people in my life. Everyone else I just say see ya later. I believe that there is a purpose for everyone that comes into our lives. There is a reason why they were brought to you. You are supposed to "get" something out of everyone that crosses your path. To say goodbye to me means never thinking/seeing/feeling anything about that person again. I can name two people that I have said that to and I no longer consider them friends.

Although I have done my countdown and mentioned I am leaving, I am in no way saying goodbye. I have made amazing friends here and I intend on doing what I have to to keep them (can you put two to's next to each other? hrm. Someone get out their red pen and make it right!) Sorry. I was being serious. Ok. I am ready. I am still great friends with the people that matter to me in MI and I have been gone from there for 11.5 years and I intend on staying friends with the people that matter to me here too.

That doesn't mean that I won't be sad when I leave. Many tears have been shed and will be shed in the months to come. I will definitely miss the day to day contact and so forth. But this is definitely not goodbye. It is a see you all real soon!

On a positive note

HOLY BUTT KICKING! The Patriots didn't let a little snow stop them from whomping some AZ butt! We were so torn on who to root for...I usually judge it on the quarterback and his level of hotness (or with the Steelers we defer to the coach) and how well they look in a uniform but let's put it out on the table.....Cassel is no Brady but represents our team and Kurt is kinda hot. It was a tough call. Ultimately we went with the Patriots. It was hard to watch AZ get beat so bad though....we will root for them next week (depending on who they play) ;-)

Stressors....

I am told by "them" that some of the top stresses in life are

- death of a loved one

- getting married/divorced

- moving

- finances

- living with someone who is your polar opposite (OK, I might have thrown that one in but it could be....)

I am generally a happy go lucky, slap stick, give me a good poo joke and I will laugh for ages. Speaking of that, next time you talk to me on the phone, I have a killer knock knock joke that makes me giggle every time I say it. I would type it because I have done that before and even though I giggle, it just doesn't have the same effect. I would have to agree that this moving thing is a huge stress. Not only selling the house, finding a new one, furnishing a new one, getting all your schtick to the new house etc. etc. etc.

I have mentioned briefly my stress in previous posts and I will try not to do so anymore since I think that it is changing who I am. What I need to do (and I know this) is get my spreading butt to the gym or in front of the DVD and work out some of this stress. Want to know why I haven't? I AM NEVER ALONE anymore! My kids have been out of school since the 11th! And John hasn't worked since October I think. It is time people it is time....

So starting tomorrow I am going to turn over a new leaf and get cracking on getting happier. It will happen...not to mention the Sangria Margaritas that are for dinner tomorrow night will help too!

Home Bound...

Can you believe that tomorrow is the first day of winter!?!?!?!? YIPPEE! I really hope it snows to seal the deal! Oh wait, IT IS GOING TO SNOW! I guess I should have expected it. I mean, we are leaving in MA in 10 days (11 days in leaving New England). Why not! Let's have a blizzard! It is going to be the last bit of snow for a while.

While it was weird seeing all the holiday decorations in AZ with rocks and cacti (is that the singular pronunciation for cactus'.....I don't even know.) I do know that not having the snow will have somewhat of an appeal at least this first year. I intend to spray paint my rock in the front of our house white in the winter, light green in the spring, dark luscious green in the summer, and brown for the fall. I think I might be on to something here.

So today we were home bound. Having gotten rid of our 4 wheel drive cars, we had a tough time getting up our hill (or down around the corner). It made me realize something though.....how much I miss the kids in school and John at work. :-D I only kinda kid. A little....

Off to read with the girl...while she still wants to spend time with me....even if it is to stay up later ;-)

Oh joy

The snow started a little while ago and yes, my kids are already in their boots (one set borrowed), snow pants (one set borrowed), jackets, gloves and hats (another one borrowed) and are outside and loving it! It is in fact 23 degrees outside and John and I are inside and watching them. I love my kids and all but I just got my house up to comfortable "i can walk around in absolutely nothing and not have to run from room to room" temperature so why in the world would I do anything to compromise that?

I am a good mom and like a good mom would, if we are able to get out of the house in the next few days, I am going to take them sledding. Oh joy. It better be 75 real soon outside for that to happen.....either that or I am going to have to bring a thermos full of happy juice :0)

Pictures of the ice storm

These are some of the images that John and I took on Saturday. It is just unbelievable. A friend described it perfectly. It looks like someone took a machete and chopped off the tops of the trees. It really is unbelievable. We are now gearing up for another storm. In fact it has just started to snow.

Holy Carp!

I just found out today that someone other than my mom reads this! WHOOO HOOOO!

That is fun and scary at the same time. I mean, I am the one that sent out the addy so that everyone would know what was going on with the move (passed inspections here, packer boys packing up house on 29th, loading truck on the 30th, getting hotel 30th, flight out of cold MA 31st) and the buying of the house (we do final walk thru of 2470 East Count.....NOPE just can't test the ju ju). I just figured everyone would look and go "ah, that's nice...." and move on. But no! YEAH!

Other than my mom (who I don't know why she would read this since I talk with her 2000 times a day so why would she need to) and my g/f's here (whom I only talk to 200 times a day since they all work), I didn't think anyone read it.

Pretty soon I am going to hopefully be writing about my racing schedule so everyone will have to help keep me on my toes!

And if anyone who reads this wants to come help us out during the snow storm tomorrow....just throwing it out there.... *hint hint*

A full week?

It has been a full week since my last post....want to know why? I thought it would be a nice adventure to show my kids hands on what it was like when their grandparents were little...you know...before electricity.

Madison comes home to me on Wednesday and says:

Mad: "Hey mom, I heard we are going to have snow on Friday, maybe there will be a snow day"
Me: "Oh honey, it isn't even winter yet, I am sure you will have school"

Me Friday morning:
Me: "Hey guys, no school today"

What do you know, Mom's don't know everything. I was w-r-o-n-g. and in a *HUGE* way. Not only did they not have school on Friday, they haven't had school all week...and won't for the rest of this week.

Why you ask?

ICE. STUPID ICE. We were without power for the past five days (OK, that was a lie, sorry. 119 hours and 15 minutes.....seriously). In all honesty, it wasn't so bad. It really made you well aware of the great friends that you have. You know, the ones that don't mind you coming over even if you stink. Those are the ones that you know you need to keep.

We have now had power for exactly 4 hours and 9 minutes and I have washed 5 loads of laundry, 2 loads of dishes, ran the vacuum, cleaned sheets, cleaned out fridge, and wrapped (bagged) Christmas gifts. By golly gee I think I am getting back on top of things. I am doing all this to prepare for the next winter storm....in two days.....t-minus 14 days.

Excuse me?

Where I thought I needed no extra words that it occured to me that I might have been to short, simple and to the point on that last post. Maybe there are people out there who don't understand the last post. I want to explain the magical place that I went to while in AZ. It is called "Super Target". It isn't just a super place (which of course we all know that it is!) rather they have groceries....FRESH AND FROZEN...and a bakery....and even wine and beer. Holy Schizznazzle do I need to say more? I am going to lock myself in there and not come out.

If that doesn't convince half the people who read this (mom and Kathie) to come out and move to AZ, I don't know what will.....I really don't.

Short and simple post

That's right my friends. Short. Simple. To the point.


SUPER TARGET

Can you see me smiling from where you are?

Holy Stress in a handbag

It is Sunday morning here in *sunny* AZ and I hear that we are getting snow back home. It does kinda make me sad as I always love the first snow of the season....about as much as the last snow of the season.

We have 2 homes that we love. We are going to make an offer on one today. It is my number one and John's number three top favorite. Last night we were going to put an offer on my number two and John's number two too. (that is a lot of two/toos). It was "temporarily pulled off the market". That sucked.

We went out to dinner with John's boss last night who told me that she would send me some contacts for the school system....apparently they need teachers (YES! Are you noting that Kathie? Kim would be ok out here). So the end of my retirement will be sooner than I expected dang it.

We are waiting to hear from the realtor today to put the offer in and we are going to switch hotels. Why would do we that when we are leaving in a couple days? This hotel we are at doesn't have a decent internet connection and I will be a widow if we have another night like last night.

Until tomorrow....

long day yesterday...

Well. We are out here in AZ with both kids looking for houses. We got here Thursday and and soon as we landed, found the hotel and nearest In -n- Out burger.....by far the best fast food burger that I have ever had.

Yesterday we looked at.....26 houses.....26!!!! It was a whirlwind of a day. We loved some, liked some, and hated some. A word to any of you that might be in the market to list your house....leaving your bra on the floor is not usually a selling point (unless your knockers are in them and they come with the house....at least for some of the guys....and yes, the lady on Blossom Street wears pink bras....) We had an amazing Vietnamese soup last night for dinner after letting the kids swim in the pool for a while.

We narrowed it down to 6 and that is what we looked at today.....and now we have it narrowed down to 3....I think that is perfect...a house for me, a house for the kids and a house for John!

I am getting bugged to go down to the pool again.....I will write again soon!

P.S. Holy mecca of shopping! AND they have a Super Target! I AM IN HEAVEN!

Hey Jen....they have Dick's Sporting Goods! I love that!

Very sad day tomorrow...

Wow, has it been that long since I wrote here? It has been a crazy couple weeks! We had a wonderful thanksgiving (since I didn't have to cook - thanks Mom and Dad for that one!)! Hope you did too...

We are leaving in 2 days to go to Arizona for a house hunting trip. We have (as of print) 26 houses that we are going to look at. Holy going to try and keep it together bat girl! I just hope my kids can last that long....for their father's sake ;-)

It is a very sad day for me tomorrow. I am going to be putting my first child down (not Madison...the other one). She is much too old to make the trip. I knew this day would come but I just didn't want it to be quite so soon. It has been 11 years since I rescued her from the white house with my then boyfriend (future father to my unfurry babies). John is the one that actually picked her out of the corner of the cardboard box and said that I should get this one....

We officially have the countdown beginning and it is starting to make me sad....very sad....it is becoming very real now. The packer boys are coming to pack up our things on the 29th, loading their truck on the 30th and then we fly out on the 31st. What a way to start the new year.