Vacation fun and back to reality

The family and I just returned home from a wonderful 9 day vacation to sunny, fabulous Florida. No one really wanted to come back to the Mitten. Why would we? It's beautiful down there, the weather was amazing (I love hot, not cold) and well there was no craptastic family bs to deal with. 9 days of not having to deal with all the crap of our daily lives. It was heaven.

We went to visit my mom who I hadn't seen since last summer when we were there, and I can't even begin  to describe how good it was to see her. No matter how old I am I still miss my mom and I have to admit it kinda sucks not having her around all the time. But I guess if she has to live 1000+ miles away at least it's somewhere great to vacation.

We didn't do anything huge this year like Disney or Sea World. We did go to the Jacksonville zoo which is absolutely beautiful. Other than that we spent time with my mom and grandpa, did some shopping at the outlet mall and visited my great grandmother. Oh and of course practically lived at the beach. The beach I'm very sad I can't be at right now, the beach that I love almost as much as my family. I've been going to this beach since I was just a little one and I'll go back again for probably the rest of my life but for some reason this trip the beach was just well like home. All of us had so much fun, playing in the waves, walking along the shore, picking up shells, building sandcastles. Both kids were totally into playing in the ocean this year, even my timid little guy that wouldn't leave his tidal pool last year, this time we couldn't get him out of the water for love or money. Pretty sure they were meant to be beach bunnies not snow bunnies.

So after 9 wonderful sunny days of vacation we had to pack the van up and head back to our reality. Our reality is we our moving from the house we've lived in for the last almost 10 years into the house the hubs father signed over to us. The problem with this is my father in law is leaving town and all he is taking from the new house is his personal belongings (clothing, paperwork, a few photos) everything else is being left behind. Were talking 4 or 5 peoples worth of stuff from over 40 years. We get the pleasure of cleaning out all of it. Almost like if he passed away only without all the sadness of him actually passing. (thank goodness for that). But It's a shit ton of work, every room is full of furniture, knick knacks, clothing, etc. Not to mention that the house itself needs work.

Every room needs no less than a coat of paint and new carpet. But many of the rooms have wall paper that my wonderful FIL and his wife in all their wisdom decided to half ass paint over, some worse than others. Any room they decided to redecorate in, well fixing their work is going to be an exercise in patience not to mention a giant pain in my ass.

I'm trying really hard to be excited about the move the fact of the matter is the house is much bigger than the one were in, the payment is way cheaper and were going into it with equity already. The neighborhood is nicer, and the school district is supposed to be better. (not that the schools matter since I'm not really planning on moving the kids schools for at least another year). But there's so much work.

As if the work we have to do there isn't enough we still have to worry about packing and moving all our stuff. Deciding what were keeping and getting rid of from both houses and consolidating them.Having at least 2 garage sales to get rid of the stuff we don't want worth selling, several trips to the dump to get rid of the stuff not worth keeping or selling. Then there's finding a place for and moving my MIL and BIL which is another issue all on it's own.

All this reality pretty much smacked us in the face as soon as we returned home because you know real life waits for no one, and to make it all that much more fun we went from sunny 90+ degree days on the beach to rainy dreary and not even hitting the 70's. (Someone forgot to give Mother Nature the memo it's summer in the Mitten too).

Talk about wishing we could turn around and go back. When we got back, heard the weather for the week, started making lists and plans for all the things we needed to get started on the hubs and I looked at each other and both said we should have stayed the rest of the week and just enjoyed the last few days of our vacation before coming home to deal with this.



 

The summer that will change everything

I usually look forward to summer vacation with as much anticipation as the kids, and this summer is no exception I do very much look forward to the break from all the craziness that is the school year. However this summer will bring with it a lot of changes that are going to shake my little family up and all I can do is cross my finger and pray that it is all for the best.

We (meaning the hubs and I) decided recently we are going to get rid of the house were currently living in and take over the house his dad wants to get rid of. If everything goes well it should be a win-win for all of us. The new house is bigger, in a better area and the payments are way more in line with our budget. Of course this wouldn't be my life if there wasn't a whole list of cons and stress factors involved.

To begin with there is of course getting rid of the house were in. But that's really the least of our worries, were kinda at the point where whatever happens, happens. Our mortgage company has screwed us around, over and under and we just can't take it anymore. We would like to be able to work something out that doesn't mess up our credit for life but we'll see how it all goes down. We are talking bank of America here and if anyone has dealt with them your well aware it's akin to bargaining with the devil.

Then there is the cleaning out, packing and moving of 2 households worth of stuff. Yes 2 houses worth of stuff. My father in law is leaving the country and decided when he signed his house over to us that with the home came everything in it. So on top of having to box up and move my entire house I have to figure out what to do with a lifetime worth of his belongings.

Luckily we will have help with that and some of the stuff is already spoken for. We know a few things are staying in the house. My MIL, BIL, and SIL are all going to go through and decide what they want and after all that has been done the rest will be sorted, boxed and transported to our house to sell in our yard/moving sale. There may possibly be 2 of these depending on the amount of stuff we have from both houses. 

As if all of these issues weren't enough to deal with there is of course the human element. The princess and lil man are both coming to terms with the idea of moving, but nothings been packed yet it's all just words to them right now. I'm not sure how well this is all really going to go over once the boxes come out and possessions move from one house to another, fingers crossed they take it all well. I have a feeling it will take some time to adjust though. On top of moving from the only house they've ever know they will be losing their grandmother who has lived with us for the last 6 and a half years. She will be getting her own place not far from us but it still won't be quite the same.


There are a few other things that keep adding to the stress level and hopefully they can be dealt with, without bloodshed or any serious arguments. But I have my doubts on a few of them I guess I'll just have to wait and see what happens. I do know that a few of them were not part of the equation when our decision was made and those ones will be dealt with swiftly, and maybe not so pleasantly if they become serious issues over the coming months.

In 8 days the princess will go to school for the last day before summer vacay starts, then we will go spend 2 weeks in Florida with my mom. When we get home the craziness of this move will begin and my summer will pretty much be spent cleaning, packing, painting,  oh and selling off all the stuff that none of us want.

This summer may very well change everything, I just hope it's for the better for all of us. I think if we all come together as a family and work through it we'll be fine, now if everyone can just get along long enough.

The end of an era~kinda

I can't believe it. Today is the last day of preschool for my son. It seems like just yesterday I was dropping him off and crying because he was totally ok with me leaving him, and now it's all over. It's like the end of an era or something.

This year has just flown by so fast, and been so amazing to watch him  learn and grow as a little person. When he started he couldn't read or write, his social skills were well lets say they left a little something to be desired. But now he can read many a sight word, he can write his name as well as the alphabet and most of those same sight words that he can read. He knows his abc's and 123's, he is so much more social and less shy when it comes to making new friends. He went from being utterly terrified of school to loving it and wanting to go even on the weekends and over vacations. I think more than anything or anyone else I have his
teacher to thank , she is an amazing woman who I never had a qualm about leaving my child with. She's now taught both my children and they are both better for it. She's a very special woman, one of those rare teachers these days that you know is in the profession 100% for the kids and the love of teaching not just because she needs a job. Unfortunately the economy has been hard for our district like so many others and our preschool is being effected yet again, and though she'll have a job in the fall she doesn't know where at the moment but where ever it may be I hope the parents that get her next year realize how lucky they are to have such a caring, wonderful teacher for their kids. I wish her the best and will miss seeing her at our school, but I know there are still many generations left that will benefit from her.

As for my baby boy he'll head off to kindergarten next fall fully prepared because he had someone as wonderful as her guiding him this year. I have no doubt he'll be ok, because she would never let him go if he wasn't ready. Now if I can let him go is a whole nother issue. 

When did I start hating the phone

In my younger days like many a teen girl I pretty much had a phone glued  to my ear. Now my teen years are way back in the dawn of time you know right before everyone had a cell phone and texting was the norm, before any of us really knew what the internet was, let alone how to email or IM. The most advanced gadget we had was a pager which was just a way for someone to get you to call them when you weren't at home.

So the phone was my go to communication device for obvious reasons. When I turned 18 I got my first cell phone, nothing fancy still just a way to make and receive calls. Which was fine, I was a talker and that was all I needed. After a couple years I upgraded to push to talk cell ( the walkie talkie like Nextel/Sprint phones) still these phones were all about talking. It wasn't until I was in my mid 20's I got my first phone that took pictures and could text message. Now I adored these new features but I was still a talker. I've since upgraded a few more times and now have the do it all Droid 2 with more features than I even know how to use.

Somewhere along the way I stopped being a talker. Now and then I like to have an actual conversation, but for the most part I would rather text, email or FB than pick up the phone and talk. It has nothing to do with the people on the other end of the line, I don't love them any less, I just don't feel like talking. Now weather this change has more to do with me aging and changing or the changes in technology making it so much easier to be less personal I don't know.

Recently I've come to pretty much despise the phone for it's intended purpose. I'm happy to use it to text, email, post an update or a tweet,or play a game of angry birds, just don't ask me to make a phone call. I forget to call people back even the ones I really intended to call, if you have a cell and especially the same service provider I will text instead of calling . When it rings I get all annoyed without having a clue who it may be, just the ringing annoys me, and it's not the ringtone I've tried changing it, it doesn't help. I don't know exactly when my feelings about talking on the phone changed or why, but I actually kind of hope I get over it. I'm starting to feel like an asshole, shut in, whose not going to have any friends left because I can't be bothered to pick up the phone and return a call, or answer when they call me.

Veggie garden time

I love spring for so many reasons. The weather is starting to warm up, Yay! No more snow, another Big Yay. Grass is starting to grow, leaves start coming back, my flower beds start filling out again. My flower beds are a huge thing for me since I finally got them just about where I want them a couple years back and very little tweaking needs to be done to them each spring. Just the basic clean up and weeding and I can sit back and just watch all the hard work I put into them come back again and again. I love that.

But one of my favorite parts of spring is planting my garden (my vegetable garden). Every year I try and every year something goes wrong. Something will grow but only one year did everything I put in the ground actually grow and yield fruit or veggies. But this year I have a feeling things are going to be different. I haven't done anything massively different, it's just a feeling.

I started most of my seeds indoors in greenhouse flats, this is nothing new I've tried this before and failed miserably. But this year I waited until the middle of April and things began sprouting almost over night. I now have over half of 2 flats filled with starter plants that will be ready to go into the ground by next week as long as all chances of frost are gone. That shouldn't be a problem, but this is Michigan and it's not unheard of to get frost in the last week of April but I think by next weekend we should be safe.

I'm super excited about having fresh veggies all summer from my own garden. Last summer we had tomatoes,cucumbers, and peppers and just having those 3 things fresh on a regular basis was amazing. Not to mention money saving since we eat a lot of salads around here. I also love teaching my kids about providing for themselves, as well as others since any excess we have that we won't be able to use or can in time we will donate to local shelters or food banks. The kids will help with everything from planting, to weeding, harvesting, and if all goes well canning and preserving for winter. They will also go with me to donate any extras.

Until then I will be dreaming of all the fresh yumminess  that will hopefully be coming from my own backyard in the next few months. How about you, do any of you have plans for backyard gardens? If so what will you be planting?

Going to the North

This past weekend the hubs and I decided to take the  munchkins and all our toys up north. For those of you unfamiliar with Michigan lingo that is any where north of the thumb area where we reside. In our case it was about 5 hours 200 and some odd miles. When we told the kids we were going up north my son (the 4 y/o) immediately started saying we were going to the north, like were from the Confederacy and were heading into Yankee territory.

So we pack up the kids and the 4 wheeler, and dirt bikes, and go~kart, and hit the road in the wee hours of the morning. It was fairly nice weather in our area and all the snows been melted for at least 2 weeks. We get to our friend T's land at around 9:30 a.m and it's a little chilly but not bad definitely not bad enough to explain the large patches of un~melted  snow everywhere and still frozen ponds. We unloaded set up and gassed up all the the machines.

We  explored a few trails that didn't work out so well due to the snow,and we all look forward to getting back up there and seeing them when they're clear. But we did find some really great riding after awhile. The day warmed up and we found a pretty perfect clean path that the Princess was able to ride like a pro I swear I think she is better than me on a 4 wheeler, Apparently the go~kart is a pretty smooth ride or the boy was just that tired cause he actually nodded off at the end of the day in the passenger seat (wish I had a picture). For once the hubs actually got to let off some steam since I was there to watch the princess while he road his dirt bike.

A  couple really good old friends of ours were with us too, our friend T whose place it is we stay at and his cousin will just call him K. Anyway the princess had a grand time chasing them down on their 4 wheelers and trying to race them. She cracks me up sometimes last weekend she was at a pom competition, this weekend she was riding around on a 4 wheeler chasing down grown men and getting all muddy and loving every minute of it. Not to be out done the boy would backseat drive from the passenger seat of the go~kart and demand I catch the princess as she was not to win. 

We only got 1 day because the next morning we woke up and it was cold and raining like crazy. Everything was just a huge mud puddle mess. Which would have been all kinds of fun if a) it wasn't cold and b) we had more clothes but we had already gone through everything. But our buddy goes up every couple weeks, so we can go back up just about anytime and stay longer. Now it's just a matter of figuring out when our schedules mesh.

Oh well I'm not complaining even that 1 day away with the family to just go hang out and have fun doing something we all love together that really is just priceless.

Another Saturday another Pom competition

The princess and her pom team had Tri~States yesterday. It's like the 4th competition  shes's done in as many months. But for the first time I think she really enjoyed herself. She loves pom and she loves performing, but the being there all day is kind of boring for her.

Usually we all go as a family to her competitions, but this weekend the hubs had to work, and this one was a 2 hour drive one way on top of being an all day thing so I got my little sister to babysit the boy for me, because otherwise I would have spent the whole time running up and down bleachers telling him no and pulling my hair out. So it was just me and the princess. Which was kind of nice we don't get a lot of time just me and her.

On the drive there we talked about what she didn't like about comp. and mostly it's just how long it is and that she gets bored. I asked her if she ever watched the show or if she just hung out with her friend.She said no she never really got to watch , because her one friend didn't want to, and she was still getting to know the other girls because this is her first year on the team, and most of them have been together for 2 or more years. So I suggested that when she wasn't practicing with her own team she actually try to watch the other teams performances and if her one friend didn't want to watch then she could come sit with me or try hanging out with some of the other girls who were sitting down to watch.  When we got there the baton teams were still going on, and her team mates were all loosely gathered so we found seats in that general vicinity got her stuff together and off she went to visit. But every once in awhile she would come find me and sit down for a few to take in the other teams.

When it came time her team went out there and totally rocked. They performed twice once for open and once for championships. They placed 1st for open and 2nd for Championship. Yay!!!

On the way home she was exhausted but in a better mood than she normally is after a comp. I asked her if this one was better for her than the ones before and she agreed that yes it was. She had more fun, she actually liked watching the other teams, even the ones she was hoping her team would crush, she was starting to make more friends and that made a world of difference as well. She also really liked that it was just me and her and no little bother running around annoying her all day. Can't blame her there he can be a pain in the rear.

So all in all even though it was a long, exhausting day she was pretty happy about it all in the end. Now we have a break until the next one in May.