In the Midst

So, guess what we did yesterday?

 Our move "plan", such as it is, consists of having a company dropping off a trailer in our driveway... loading our stuff into as little space as possible... having them drive it to PA, where it's now Jim's problem.  And Kaden and I will take a few days here, visit some friends, hop on the autotrain, and arrive in PA a day or two after the stuff has been unloaded into the new house (we're renting, have I mentioned that yet?).

We didn't plan on being in a hurricane's "Cone of Anxiety."  Or on Kaden getting sick the night before the truck came (not that you can tell from the photos).  Or on having so much freaking stuff!  I'm a bit dismayed- the wee lad himself has at least 8 boxes of toys (which doesn't include the basketball hoop, the car, the large trucks, OR any toy in Pennsylvania).  I know I gave away boxes upon boxes of books and stuff.  And yet... there's still so much.  And while there's nothing wrong with owning stuff- it's not how I pictured my life.

But we did have an awesome family come over and help, both with Kaden wrangling and with truck loading, and another unexpected friend to boot.  There is NO way I could possibly have done this without them, and we've saved quite a bit, so now I'm also taking suggestions for thank you gifts! What do you think?  What's a good thank you for 3-5 hours of sweat and general sanity-keeping?

More conversations

Kaden:  Will my voice sound the same later?
Kristi:  puzzled  Sure.  pause.  When?
Kaden:  When I'm older.
Kristi:  Oh. Yes, I guess.  Why would your voice sound different?
Kaden:  That's an interesting question.  pause.  I don't want to talk about it right now.
Kristi:  ???

sand or snow?

 ***

Kaden:  Mom, why are we leaving before those people?
Kristi:  Because I don't work here anymore, but someone just came in to register, so they have to stay.
Kaden:  Why don't you work here anymore? I liked it.
Kristi:  Because we're moving to Pennsylvania.
Kaden:  What do you work at now?
Kristi:  I don't really have a job, now.  I just get to stay at home with you.
Kaden:  Well, you could get a job and I could go to school.
Kristi:  sigh.

Burrowing Owls are common around here. Didja read/see HOOT?

***

In my old office, now inhabited by the replacement ;)  I had a "kid" section that she kept.
Kaden:  Mom, these are my toys.
Kristi:  No, they were toys I got for the church office and we left them here for other kids.
Kaden:  upset  No, they were MY toys and I shared, but now we need to take them to Pennsylvania.
Replacement:  Sure, honey, you can take them.
Kaden:  See, mom!
Kristi:  ???  sigh.

not ours- he was in the street. Kaden was upset I didn't "rescue" him...

***

We are taking SO. MANY. TOYS. to Pennsylvania- it's so frustrating. I was able to pare down our stuff (though JimDad may later question some of that!) but Kaden is hanging on to *everything*.  I know it's because of this move transition, but I am not a packrat and it's driving me crazy!  Thanks for listening.

Conversations

First Library Card, 2012

Nana:  Kaden, clean your room.
Kaden:  Let's compromise, Nana.
Nana:  Kristi, did you hear that?  He has such a great vocabulary!
Kristi (doubting her son's natural genius):  Kaden, what does 'compromise' mean?
Kaden:  It's when you talk a little, and then I talk a little.
Nana:  See! He does know!
Kristi:  And what happens after we're done talking, Kaden?
Kaden:  You do what I want.
***

Science Museum Visit, April 2012

Kaden:  How come I remember lots of things that no one else does?
Kristi:  (thinks- because you have no other things to focus on)  says:  I guess you have a good memory.
Kaden:  I think it's because I'm a lot smarter than you.
Kristi:  That can't be, you see, because you're my son.  You came from me, so where do you think you got your brains from?
Kaden:  Daddy.  Only he would never tell you that.

Sunflowers at their tallest, Spring 2012

***
 After cleaning out the condo and giving away a bunch of random furniture...
Kaden:  why did you give my bed away?
Kristi:  Your bed is right here, in your room.
Kaden:  Do my cousins have beds?
Kristi:  Yes.  (realizing he's worried about where he sleeps in Pennsylvania)  Kaden, we're moving to Pennsylvania.
Kaden:  puzzled look.  I know that.
Kristi:  Well, moving means that we pack up all our stuff and we send it to Pennsylvania, and we get a new house and unpack everything and live there- you, me and Daddy- we live together as a family again, with all our stuff.
Kaden:  I didn't know THAT!

Pirate Sock Puppet, a birthday gift and great airplane entertainment, July 2012.

***
Kristi:  Hey, Kaden, let's plan a "farewell Florida tour" - we'll go to all the places we're going to miss, and hang out a bit, say goodbye, maybe take some pictures.  Sound good?
Kaden:   like where?
Kristi:  Like the beach, or the fire truck playground, or the park near the river... where would you like to go?
Kaden:  Mmm, I get it.  I think I'm going to miss Chuck E Cheese.

Chuck E Cheese.  No, we never mentioned there's another one in Pennsylvania.
How long do you think it'll take him to find out?

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 :)