7 (not so) Quick Takes

I was catching up on a few other blogs and thought this post would be a good way for us to catch up, too :) With this being the second post in the last three months, I think it's fairly evident that we're winding up the days at here Florida Ink.  I have a few more posts in mind, on the transition and surrounding Kaden, and then I'll officially switch.   As of this week, I'm officially an unemployed, freelancing Mom, and I'm already spending more time than I'd like working on computer projects (less time with Boy Wonder), so... let's not drag out the goodbyes, eh?

1) Vacation Bible School - this was my sixth at the church, but the first one where I haven't been in charge.  What a struggle!  So, it was very odd to be "consulting" and not "leading" MY volunteers :)  But the kids seemed to have a great time in any case :)  We went with the SKY theme, and then one of our volunteers works at the "little" county airport... and arranged an optional field trip for our group.  Captain Kaden approved.

2) You may remember earlier this year, when Jim and I lived it up by faking a Disney trip with Kaden. Well, thanks to a particularly generous cousin, we did the real thing last week.  Kaden LOVED it.  The characters, the rides, the random nice-ness of people.  Back in January, he shied away from any large costumed folk- this time he not only asked for autographs (and said thank you, bless him) but he was hugging them and leading parades and just generally soaking it all up happily!

We were super fortunate not to have to wait for any lines.  First, there was a character breakfast with Pooh and friends.  Then the park was fairly empty because of TS Debbie.  I'll take a soggy, less waiting day anytime!  And when we went to Hollywood Studios Animation Station, Minnie, Daisy and Donald were all there with NO lines.. and a ten minute wait brought us to Mickey.  Nothing like the at-least-one-mile-long-line to see Merida (kids) and the guy in the kilt (moms).

3)  Our condo finally sold.  To put this as succinctly as possible:  we now have firsthand experience as to how badly the banking system is broken.  It was a "short sale", which is a laughable name because there was nothing short about it.  We had a buyer in August, which the bank muffed and we lost.  We then had one (or two?) other buyers who dropped out somewhere in the process.  Finally, we had a buyer in early FEBRUARY... and, due to following the bank's procedures (the only option to actually sell), closed in mid June.  The bank got between $15-20 grand LESS than if they had accepted the offer back in August. We got a credit score hit and A LOT of additional frustration.

To give you an idea of how screwed up this was, during one week we had received:  a call from a collector about the overdue mortgage, an email from our 'negotiator' requesting forms that we had already signed and turned in, a mailed letter offering us a mortgage reduction, and a sticker with very good glue on our front window declaring the property inspected and VACANT (which was placed there to protect the bank's interest!  Huh?  By notifying potential thieves they have a good target?).

Despite all that, and the necessity of moving, I will miss our first home.  It was cozy, and brightly lit, and we had planted a few things - like this flower in memory of one of our miscarried babes.

4) I have three freelance gigs worked out, though the pay rate is still being negotiated.  One, I'm working on a few small websites for people I know.  If I like it, and am decent at it, I'll hang a shingle later.  Two, I'm part of an online course to teach Catholics about using technology in their ministry.  LOTS of work, and LOTS of fun, too.  Especially rediscovering all the ideas I never had time for when I was a full time church employee!  Three, I'll be part of a blogging team on a publisher's site.  There's a lot to be worked out for this last one, but I'm pretty excited nonetheless.


5)  Leaving Florida means leaving our church home behind- and this guy (photo taken by Kaden):

He's been our pastor the past 6 years, and our boss, and baptized Kaden, and just generally been a nifty guy.  We're going to miss him.  He's already missing Jim, and will miss Kaden and I - though I doubt he'll miss the 100s of questions I brought to him each week.  For fun.

6) Part of the moving transition involves finding a house in Pennsylvania.  And, really, what's up with the houses in PA?  Here, hardly anything was built before 1960s.  There, almost everything was.  You want an affordable 4 bedroom?  Sure, if you don't mind having ONE bathroom to share.  Oh, wait, you want two bathrooms?  Okay, we'll just double the rent.   And people live in the basement?  Doesn't anyone else find that... odd?  Apartment complexes are looking more and more civilized the longer I look at houses!

7) It's not all craziness... there is a bit of hope in these parts, too. Here's a shot of a sunflower bud.  Kaden and I planted a BUNCH of these in our garden for the summer.  Only about 5 survived the seedling phase, since Kman was still "farming" and "planting" by pulling them out...

But the ones that made it! Oh, what fun to see them so tall and bright in the backyard!

And that's a wrap.  For my 6 readers out there, tell me if you want any specific topic before the lights go out :)

Listmania (or, Here's Your Sign)

How I can tell when:

... I'm up too early: 1) the boys are still sleeping 2) the skylights aren't illuminated 3) there's still morning fog outside

... Our household is battling way too much sickness: 1) we go thru 8 oz of honey in less than a week 2) we run low on tea bags 3) we have to call a dr to renew a prescription before an appt 4) I'm desperate enough to spend money on untried items to ease someone's discomfort 5) we buy ice pops more than once a week 6) I have to cancel plans to see friends

... I need to get the computer organized: 1) I can't find photos from last week 2) I'm not sure if I have videos from Kaden's "baby time" 3) I never updated microsoft and now can't open word documents 4) the bookmarks are so plentiful that they're not really helpful

... The house needs serious cleaning: 1) my mom cleans the bathroom 2) Kaden points out dirt in the kitchen 3) the dustbuster christmas present hasn't been opened yet.

... My husband and I need a real date: 1) we pay a babysitter so we can go to a meeting 2) we can't remember the last time we went to the movies 3) our racquetball racquets have cobwebs

...I read too much: I can go thru one book in one night, but can't keep up with magazines... oh, who am I kidding. I can never read too much!

Quick Takes

1) I can't remember what day of the week this meme should be, but it fits today.

2) Thanks to a NPR story today, I learned how to pronounce 'meme'. rhymes with a "ream" of paper, nothing like someone's grandma. Perhaps I'm not as young and hip as I thought.

3) Kaden is adjusting well to "school"- has a blasted stuffy nose, which means he's currently propped up on a few pillows with a generous dose of vicks. Also means he'll come see us tonight, after he wiggles his way to his favorite pose (face down, half under his pillow) and doesn't breathe easily there.

4) I heart postcrossing, everything about it. The random-ness, the suprise. The happy mailbox feeling. Learning about other people and countries. The cool stamps. Looking at someone's profile and choosing a good card to send. Having a card I sent be marked "favorite". sigh.

5) Skype is also way cool. Kaden sometimes wanders to the computer and says "Uncle Steve? Motorcycle broke. Uncle Jack now? Where'd Tali go?"

6) today in the mail, I received SIX author copies of the publication I wrote last year. Six copies of lesson plans for ONE youth group. Okay, so one looks pretty on the shelf, another goes to Youth Coordinator Extraordinaaire... and I have to pawn four off to unsuspecting friends. "Hey, you work with teens, right? I happen to have a really great resource here, it's like an add on lesson for class... yeah, and I wrote it too, would you like it?"

7) One of the things I always find cool about writing large projects is that I don't remember writing every piece, but I can recognize my "voice" and tell if it's been heavily edited. This is a skill I didn't have in my 20s...

8) I'm thinking of painting both bathrooms. Why not, right? I mean, clearly I have gaps of time waiting for something constructive to appear.

9) I hate our porch roof. It leaks fairly often, but never predictibly. We can't tell when -- or where-- the water will come down. Which means we spent a wad of dough to make a hot, sometimes used porch into a STEAM room.

10) I love starbucks. They've brought back the pumpkin latte, but I refuse to order one until it gets below 80. I don't care what the temperature is in Seattle or New Hampshire, friends. It ain't fall here yet :)

Fast Fact Friday, or something like that

1. Jim is doing another triathlon tomorrow- the bike portion of a relay team. I'm planning on going up, with Kaden, to cheer them on. But the race site won't tell me where parking is, and my best guess is that it's about 2 miles from the swim start/transition area. Why yes, I thought the perfect way to spend a Saturday 6am *would* be a mile long stroller walk with a toddler.

2. Store clerks, if I buy a reusable bag, USE IT to pack the rest of the stuff, ok? There's nothing that gets my goat more than you stuffing a perfectly fine fabric bag into one of those plastic ones. Seriously.

3. Kaden has his 2 yr checkup today. Perfectly healthy, as far as we can tell. Even the doc noticed that he talks. A lot. Oh, and for the first time he actually cried more than 15 sec when getting the vaccines.

4. Last night, we had 3 bikes on the porch. The only one Jim actually owns is his least favorite ride. He met a guy who might give him an oldie but goodie. Which means 4 bikes. This is why I'd like a garage. Or at least a proper shed.

5. A while back, our washing machine took out its frustration with us by flooding the porch. We had to throw away the fantastic carpet tiles that were made from recycled bottles. Maybe we didn't have to throw them away, but I actually got tired of fighting with the porch and trying to do it "green". This week, we just went into home depot, picked out something from a roll, came home (in the rain, natch) and set it up. In less than 4 hours, the job was done.

6. If someone asks Kade a question, and we whisper the answer in his ear as a "help", he turns around and whispers the answer too.

7. Yesterday, Jeopardy was ending and I asked Jim "What time is it?" Before he could respond, Kaden said "8 Oclock! Time for bathtub!" He was completely right, but I seriously doubt he knows any other time of day.

8. Oh look, it's 8 oclock, bathtime right now. Good night, all!

7 Quick Takes Friday

1. I'm stealing this, as so many things, from Aimee at The Mother Load. Actually, most of the blog ideas are stolen from other, better bloggers. In fact, I sometimes restrain myself from stealing another idea because I don't want to be a, uh, stalker type...

2. Facebook is amazing! It's also a time-sucking vortex. I mostly respond to others, but still have so many online friends that it's impossible for me to keep up with them. So it takes even more effort to find the ones I want to chat with. And the applications?! Let's just not go there...

3. OH! I WON A CONTEST! This is super big news since I rarely win stuff. Amy over at Crunchy Domestic Goddess hosted a giveaway and I won! It comes with all this cool Earth's Best baby food- like 24 jars of baby food, 8 jars of baby juice, a bib and one of my favorite books: Guess How Much I Love You with Big and Little Nutbrown Hare! Yeah! Thank you Amy for hosting and thank you EB for the cool giveaway! Okay, so a random number picked my comment to win- still, it feels pretty cool.

4. Speaking of baby food-- Kaden REALLY doesn't like avocados. I tried a few more times after the video below, but his faces kept getting worse, his protestations a bit more frantic. The thing that sealed the deal for me was the look of utter bewilderment he gave me after his second taste one day. Okay, Kade, we'll move on to bananas. (But I'll try the good green stuff in a month or two!) Who needs fruit, though, when you've got such yummy toes?

5. Being a green mama - yeah. I'm fairly certain I'm a mama by default, but the green part? Not anywhere near what I'd like. We are feeding him organic foods,and will try an organic formula soon. The food so far is homemade, though I figure the EB stuff will also come in handy for traveling and what not. But the diapers? He looks so adorable in the cloth ones. And I feel so fantastic when I put one on- soft for his bum, good for the earth... so I feel pretty fantastic until I feel wet, because I can't get the hang of checking them more often. Yup, I've got a 80% leak rate due to my inattention! We're not giving up, but I'm feeling pretty discouraged that none of my ideas are panning out... and the reason they're not working is my lack of willpower/work on it.

6. It's raining today. Right now, actually. And 60 degrees. So no outside play today.

7. I love my husband. He - and you- don't hear it often enough. He just ran out to the store in the said rain to pick up some needed stuff. And he rearranged his work schedule so we could get house stuff done. And he just walked in- with a bonus frappacino as a goal reward for when I meet my deadline this weekend. Plus, you should see him with Kaden!

Guess this wasn't quick afterall. Oh well, have a good weekend anyway! Look for some Super posts on Sunday ;)