Moving Day foto-novela

Living Room



Beautiful oven!



Huge pantry that made the sell. Don't believe us?



How 'bout now? Yes, that's us IN the pantry. The walk-in pantry. I'm in love.



Half of the office.



Spare bedroom



You'll notice that pillar has arms.



The room's much, much more than just the King bed. The walk-in closet just isn't presentable yet.



Landen was with a friend most of the day. He showed up just in time to help eat the coffee table.


We're glad he didn't strain himself.


It feels good to be home.

Nerd in Training

First, I hope everyone had a happy Halloween. We were lucky to have Erin here for a visit but I think the jack-o-lantern she made scared away the trick-or-treaters: we only had 3 groups stop by. If you're in need of candy I'll send you some.

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We've unpacked the flip to share how fun Landen is with everyone. He's started to initiate games like peek-a-boo and patting our lips to help us make funny noises.

Unfortunately, you're not going to see any of these fun games because Smacky can't see a gadget without chasing it. Remotes, cameras, you name it. The second we get the camera out because he's doing something wonderful, he drops what he's doing to catch it and push the buttons.

Cultural Differences

A group of moms came to the school today to help the staff get ready for the Fall Festival. I brought some toys from my room so their pre-school aged kids could entertain themselves and then tried to learn some Spanish from everyone.

Later in the day, one of the moms was quietly searching for her 3 year old son. She couldn't find him by herself so she walked right past me who spoke with her earlier, Mariah who she knows as a pre-k teacher, and THREE kindergartner teachers to pull her oldest son out of his classroom and sent him running around the school shouting for his brother.

I talked with both of them and walked them to the office when I realized what was going on. I asked them, "does the office know he's missing? Have you talked to any teachers?" They both looked perplexed. In their minds, the school is only a place to send the kids. Even after hours of preparation at the school, for a school celebration, they don't see the staff as partners or members of the same community.


I see we have a lot of work to do.

While the bank gets some sense knocked into it...

One of my kindergartners brought some toy cars to school today. He showed me the cars and was very excited to tell me, "I'M A CLEPTO!"

I've witnessed his more 'clepto' moments when he was in the pre-k so I know he's capable but he's well aware it's not something to boast about. I listened very carefully but just couldn't figure out what he was trying to tell me. He soon gave up on me and moved to Mariah.

"Teacher! I have cars. They're CLEPTORS!"

She offered alternative words that started with C. It only took her 3 tries to get to COLLECTOR. He has cars, lots of cars, "THOUSANDS OF CARS in my pack-pack. I'm a cleptor!"

Also, his dinosaur has died but it's not anything to mourn. "Don't cry for dinosaur, Miss Ashley. He eats you."

Ouch.

I've heard "suspense is worse than disappointment." Robert Burns is a fool.

Waiting during escrow was almost pleasant for me. Planning, dreaming, hoping.

Our signing date has been postponed. Again. I made several calls to various persons involved to remind them the hardships they've put me, my husband, and--most importantly--my child through (and that I am willing and perfectly capable of reciprocation). These calls led to some hard truths:

1. If we can sign on Monday it will be through an act of god or guilt trip fabricated by me and laid on the VP of a national bank.
2. The seller would be happy to see the deal fall through because we held him accountable for the deals he offered us 3 months ago.
3. The lender would be happy to see the deal fall through because, while they agree the house is worth what we've offered, they think the seller shouldn't be able to make such a large profit from flipping a previously foreclosed home. What are they, the moral police? I have a Merrriam-Webster's definition on "flipping" in my pocket waiting for my next conversation with them.
   
4. Another, local bank may be willing to take on the testy seller (who may agree to work with them) but it would cost us a huge jump on our interest rate. And it would take 2 weeks.
5. The seller has the legal right to walk from the whole thing.
   

The disappointment is crushing. I'd like my suspense back, please.

New Teeth

Landen's new teeth have proven to be elusive. My dad and I spent fruitless minutes trying to get pictures of them (my mom wished aloud that she had pictures of the whole scene).

It's not that he doesn't smile (he has a darling tight-lipped smile he's fond of lately) and it's not that he doesn't open his mouth (he spends most of his play time squawking or squealing). It's that he is ON. THE. MOVE.

A short example:

Twilight zone

I've had opportunity to spend the last couple of days with 2 of my cousins, Robby and Miranda. Besides the pleasure of being around teenagers as kind, thought and straight forward as them, I have the unique connection with Miranda: we share a birthday.

Last night we were talking about how our birthdays went. Miranda m

entioned she kind of shared her birthday celebrations with her boyfriend because his birthday is the day after hers.

That's right folks, we share the same birthday and the men in our lives share theirs. I'm a little blown away.

Now here are some gratuitious Smacky pitures: