jeckle or hyde?

remember days like these?

shade seeking, popsicle eating, cool grass moments.

tree climbing, water fight thrilling, playground moments.

fountain frolicking, barefoot cooling, warm evening moments.

I honestly believe I suffer from a seasonal dysfunction.

winter brings out the hermit in me.

I could sleep ALL day long, or at least 'til mid morning easy.

I move like molasses, I think my blood flows like molasses.

but then the sun begins to shine again. and I feel light.

I move fluidly and effortlessly. more gets done in a day.

I create, and dream, and enjoy.

the world feels good and I feel good.

this week spring sprang back to winter

and the change in me was instant. and scary.

I am plagued by thoughts of greener pastures.

and never ending winters.

my constitution can't handle the backlash.

more and more I am thinking I need to look for an escape.

half marathon be damned if necessary.

something within driving distance.

somewhere warm.

requiring only short skirts and flip flops

in petite sizes for my little ladies.

any suggestions?

reason #3

we are moving.

if you haven't already heard. and not a typical get all your stuff and go kind of move, so it's a little tricky. we are popping the top on our house - putting up a second story.

I have spent the better part of last week applying for and researching lines of credit. (with much help from my sweet friend DeeDee - Thank You so much!) and this week, having pretty much tied up the financial questions we will now play that waiting game with the underwriters. so my efforts and attention have turned to how high can I really stack the boxes into this room.

and where I can get a hold of more of these items without actually paying for them - bubble wrap is pricey stuff! and determining what should come with us, what can get stored, and what should just get chucked. it is a little comical, if you think about it, that I have to move out of my house so I never actually have to move away. but they say to be careful what you wish for, so I guess I'm learning that lesson now.

you see, after we moved in to our non discript run down little house and got nice and settled; I turned to my architect husband and said, "I am never moving again. so if you decide we need more, you better make it happen at this house." I was sure my constitution could not handle moving our little family. (and it must be noted that the request came in many tones of whining and pleading, not in ultimatum form -this home was scheduled to get flipped a year after we aquired it and three years later we were still sitting pretty. HA!)

so we got to work. the basement came out, new plumbing and walls went in. a new roof, and some new siding, new cement work, step after step of updating and rebuilding a tired old place. all on the premise that we would sell. then gratefully John got attached too. granted it took him three years to my three minutes, but it happened. at least that is what I believe. it could just be the realization that if we did flip, we would end up in the very same situation we would be leaving. a tired new to us house that needs work.

some where the wheels began turning and once in a while we would talk "what if"s" and apparently, then John would sit down at his computer and draw those conversations. suddenly the idea of those house dreams got closer to possible realities. and today I am packing up my 2400 square feet of stuff to live in a 900 square foot rental down the street during these next months. we will be out of our house by May 18th, and our home will literally be missing it's roof by then of the third week of May.

talk about butterflies - that back country race has no comparison here.

who knew Johns grand dreams of architectural bliss, and my dreams of being rooted in one spot, would become the new reality we will live ( or try to live through - not sure how to put that).

but right now my reality is that I have A LOT of packing to do.

I am hoping that by sharing my final reason for being so distracted will bring lots of advice of how to survive it. as if life wasn't too much for me to handle every day already, I guess my constitution is gonna get a work out - I'll keep you posted on that goes.

winter gets the boot

I was straightening up after the whirlwind that are my children came in from their afternoon of fun. I realized something was different. our lives have gone from looking like this..... to looking more like this.....

ah, spring is in the air - or at least all over my floor! enjoying these rainy days.

spring forward

seems like daylight savings is kickin' our butts. how's it going at your house?

(and this is not staged - Ella is dead asleep on the stairs)

farm life

last Thursday night a friend mentioned that she was going to take her young ones out for some farm fun on Friday. we have been under the weather around here, not completely layed up, but lots of discomfort and gunk. it sounded like the perfect way to spend some time outdoors and away from the humidifiers and tissue boxes.

we borrowed a neighbor friend and took off for some fun! it really was a great time. we walked back into the trees and around the ponds. watched the ducks. when we got to the chicken coup we saw these ginormous chickens, it was almost alarming, then on to the ugliest turkeys in the world, and their friends the giant rats. just the way it is on a farm, I told them. then we got to meet Farmer Rick, the head farmer out at Wheeler. he took us around and showed the girls all the new baby lambs and pigs, the goats all so cute. and the sweet and innocent looking baby calf's.

and then it hit me. there are cows at Wheeler Farm. big fat e coli toting cows and their e coli toting babies. and here we are hands in their pen, getting licked and mooed upon. PANIC now sets in. I FORGOT THE HAND SANITIZER!
okay, I can deal here. "girls no one touch your faces!" "do not put your hands in your mouth!" "don't stick your fingers in your noses." "and no one touch the baby!" "we need to wash your hands RIGHT NOW!" those are all rational requests right? then I looked at them again, hands all over their faces. how often does lightening strike twice I wondered?

upon our last exploration of farm life we stepped through the geese (on our wasy to the restroom), they sat like individual pebbles sunning them selves in the still distant late day sunlight.

all in all I am so glad we made the trip and so glad for the heads up. the boy scout motto to be prepared is one to live by I tell you, (especially if there are cows involved).

thank you Farmer Rick for the enthusiastic tour and thanks for not acting like I was a total nut job as I barked orders at the kiddos about germs and what not. I am sure you were thinking it, and that's okay. a few days in a hospital room and several sleepless nights can do that to anyone you know?

here is to spring and all the new exploring to be done!