Archive for the 'hill to haven' Category
July 5th, 2009 -- Posted in domestic engineering, family, friends, hill to haven, pain / disability |
Well, we’re all moved in!
I suspect it will be quite a number of years until we’ve “officially” moved in according to Helen Parr’s standards (from our fave family move the Incredibles)…
Helen: I’m calling to celebrate a momentous occasion. We are now *officially* moved in.
Bob: That’s great, honey. And the last three years don’t count because…
Helen: Because I finally unpacked the last box. Now it’s official! Ha ha ha! Why do we have so much junk?
It’s been 1 week since the big move (of the furniture and other large items) and I actually find it’s not too much of a disaster zone over here anymore. Having the kids away with their grandparents for much of the last week was helpful. Having my hubby home from work was even more helpful (thank goodness for vacation time, although hopefully he’ll also be able to take some time off later this summer for a more relaxing actual vacation!). Paul and I slowly tackled the unpacking as much as we could over the week and got some painting and other set-up done as well.
We were so glad to have many friends on hand to help us, including a few strong men (Ian, Kurt, and my cousin Dennis), a couple of strong women (Kat and Karen T.), an awesome kitchen-packing sidekick Alicia, and even Karen and Kelly who had just had their new baby girl a week before! We celebrated in the evening after most of the move was over and Nadia joined us for that part as well. 
House-warming party will be July 25th (invites went out via Facebook & e-mail so please spread the word to non-techy people)…
It’s looking hopeful as far as staying here goes. We’ve been doing the best we can to re-budget things after the loss of my income and it has made a noticeable impact. We are saving a LOT on childcare by having the kids home with me this summer, although I fear I will not be able to be as “enriching” for them as I have been able to during other stints as a full-time SAHM.
Hopefully they will be strengthened though by the experience of having a mother with disabilities and all the adjustments, patience, and helping skills they will have to learn for the sake of the family.
More soon – I have a blog post in the works with pictures of my paint + glaze techniques!
June 22nd, 2009 -- Posted in family, future / dreams / goals, hill to haven, pain / disability, work/career |
I actually like all those times of the year (and of life) where things change and you have a chance at a new routine. I guess I’m optimistic in the long-term and feel like maybe, just maybe, someday, eventually things will “settle”.
Theory: Perhaps parents shouldn’t make too great of an effort to make everything “easy” and “happy” for your children, as they may forever crave a level of stability that doesn’t really exist.
Another recent thought: Maybe my children will actually end up being really strong people and really determined individuals because of the challenges we’ve faced as a family. Even though my daughter is very self-centered right now, she has started to realize things aren’t so easy all the time. As we are making some changes to our lives out of necessity, she realizes a little piece of what she has taken for granted all her life. Even if we get to go back to the life & lifestyle we used to be able to enjoy (2 able-bodied parents working full-time, with enough time and money left over for lots of “extras” like music lessons and activities), maybe she will be more aware of the fact that a lot of what she enjoys are privileges.
I know that being a teen mom for a couple of years and living with just the “basics” (by Western society’s standards anyways) helped me to appreciate the comforts I was able to have down the road. Buying my first little car when Harmony was 9 months old was an exciting experience. It gave me a good starting place to exercise that classic human drive of wanting to always be improving and moving upwards and onwards.
As we finish moving everything from this house into our new house, it is a transition point in many ways. This our very first home that we will actually own ourselves, and we’ve been involved in every step of the process. We’ve been waiting forever for such perks as an actual garage and having our own walls (not being attached to anyone else… or their music or pets, etc!!).
With so many things still uncertain (will I ever find relief from the pain? will we be able to go back to being a double-income family somehow? will we able to cope with the difficulties that have come from being a blended family?), I don’t think I’m going to be able to find my “stable place” quite yet.
But I’m hoping that maybe someday I’ll have a year or two where I can just be in a routine with the family and kids without having too many negative and/or stressful life events coming crashing in at me from all directions!!!
June 18th, 2009 -- Posted in hill to haven, things that make you go LOL, work/career |
Every time I come down to the basement office , I can now almost guarantee that this spider will be waiting for me!
He hangs out in this little hiding spot under some flipped-up linoleum right beside the door. And as I approach the door and turn on the light switch on that side, he skitters backwards into his little crevice.
It’s become routine which is so not cool because a) ew gross, I hate spiders and b) he’s developing a bit of a personality. This is very bad because it’s much harder to kill something if anthropomorphism is involved. And as much as I loved Charlotte’s Web as a child, I’m sorry but no. My rule is that if we’re outside, bugs can have their space but in my own house they risk their own demise if there’s no easy (and sanity-preserving) way for me to catch them and release them outdoors.
If I find I’m unable to suck him up with a vacuum (my current spider elimination method of choice, as I discovered last week when a huge cousin of the office lurker scared me), then I guess I will just have to suck it up and deal with the creepy crawlies until I’ll no longer be down in this office. About a week to go really, before everything gets all packed up, including my computer!
It’s a toss-up, really. What’s more shudder-worthy: purposefully setting about to destroy a little creature who seems to show enough intelligence to hang out in a certain spot regularly and then vacate it when there is movement or light OR dealing with the phantom sensations of bugs crawling on me while down here?
I think I may go with option C, which is avoiding the basement office as much as possible until the moving transition is complete. Which means trusting my hubby to pack the remaining items in my craft area… Although scary in it’s own way, the sorting through of items that I didn’t pack might not be totally confusing. I’m sure I’ll be able to separate the cross-stitch patterns from the Today’s Parent magazines and spare page protectors.
And hopefully the only “bug” I will unpack in my new (non-basement!) home office will be my Cuttlebug. 
« Prev - Next »
