"It's All Over...There Isn't Any More...."

Last day of kindergarten!  It's a bittersweet week, with the last day of school for Will today and moving on Friday.  With hindsight being 20/20 and all, it's not how I would've planned it.  But hey, something about best laid plans and all that.

Will's kind of sad today but was happy to snap a couple of pictures to see how much he's grown from the picture that I took on the first day.  Let's compare, shall we?

Wow.  You don't realize just how much a kid grows in a school year because you see them every day.  But I'd say that looking at these two photos the growth is irrefutable. 

And what would the last day of school be without a little portrait of Mom and kiddos?  Probably the last picture to be taken in this particular kitchen.

  So really, a mixed bag of emotions this week.  Excitement of summer and a new house, sad to leave school and the house that we've been living in for the past 11 years.  These two kiddos have never lived anywhere else.  But we'll get through the week and there's lots of memories to be made in the new house.  After all, we've pretty much decided we're going to live there forever.  :)

Show Us Your Spirit!!

Ah....Spirit Week.  AKA the week that gives me heartburn.

I forgot that this week (starting on Tuesday and not Monday, natch) is Spirit Week at Will's school and that Friday is Field Day.  Did he bring home a notice?  Yes.  Did I affix it to the front of the refrigerator?  Yes.  Did I forget anyway?  Yes, yes. 

We were of course running later this morning than usual, and I finally managed to get the kids' raincoats on them and were jogging out the door. As soon as our feet hit the front porch I saw the girl across the street in a Bruins outfit. It struck me as odd, because she's normally in pink or purple and ruffled/bows/bedazzled. Then it hit me.....crap! It's spirit week and today is "Favorite Team Day." So I tell the boys to stay on the porch while I run back into the house. Searching frantically, I locate Will's soccer jersey from last fall and said "Here! Change into this when you get to school!" Whew. Crisis averted. Could've been worse, tomorrow is "Wacky Wednesday." That would've been tough to pull off at zero hour.


I'd like to blame this on the upcoming move next week or the fact that I haven't been sleeping well.  But I know all too well that when it comes to Spirit Week I always manage to have it sneak up on me.  (Sneaky spirit week....)  I know that it's fun for the kids, but it's stressful on the parents.  Coming up with an outfit to match each day's "theme" is a bit maddening.  Normally I hate this kind of thing.  But I'm bending over backwards because I know the end of the year is upon us and not only is he finishing up kindergarten, his friends are moving on to first grade while he's starting over in a new town and a new school.  He's feeling a bit sad and wishing that he was staying at the same school with his buddies next year.  And I'll of course do anything to cheer him up.    So stay tuned....tomorrow is "Wacky Wednesday" and tonight Will and I will come up with a "wacky" plan!

Turnaround

To all of you out there that were crossing fingers and toes, saying prayers and sending basic well-wishes our way?  Thank you, it's paid off!

The house was shown several times last week, and someone wants to buy it!  AND the bonus is that they don't seem, ahem, psychotic.  Or demanding.  It's a couple that wants to get out of an apartment and into their first house.  And they're really excited about buying ours. 

We're excited too.  It certainly takes a lot of stress out of the air, knowing that someone is going to buy the house.  One way or another, we were going to move to the new house in less than three weeks.  This makes it a whole lot easier.  So again I say....thank you for all the thoughts, prayers and well wishes.  It's meant a lot.

Just Right

At the end of the workday yesterday I found myself with a little time to kill.  There were showings going on at my house so I obviously couldn't go home.  They really frown upon the owner showing up while someone is trying to get someone to buy your house.  

Anyway, I stopped at the library in our new town.  Actually, this town isn't really new, I've been working there for over a year.  And I've been to the library many times.  The first time I saw this library I kind of snickered at its size.  Felt superior that MY town's library was bigger.  Then I spent some time there, and felt bad for judging it by the size of the building.  The children's room was full of great books, a pet area with birds and the boys' favorite, a train table!!  The library staff is helpful and friendly (having engaged with one of them about knitting books, I found out that she is the one that orders knitting books for the library.  And she knits mittens for Old Sturbridge Village, out of vintage knitting patterns on very tiny needles.)  And it's arranged in such a easy way, things are a snap to find.

So I found a chair and took out my knitting project., a shawl.  As I knit two rows, my eyes scanned over the titles in the aisle where I had chosen to sit.  And I realized that I was in the cookbook section.  I adore cookbooks, I really do.  After my two (long)  rows were completed, I decided that even though I couldn't cook a whole lot at home right now, I hadn't just browsed and brought home books for the fun of it in a long time.  So I brought home a nice big stack, of books for me, the kids, and cooking.  It feels delightful to bring home books again.  Really, it is these simple pleasures that are so enjoyable, who knew the act of bringing home library books would bring me such joy.  For the first time in a few weeks, the boys had new stories at bedtime and they were thrilled.  

So I will never judge a library by its size ever again.  This place isn't too big or too small, it's just right.

Monkey Wrench

Well. 

We are not moving next week like we planned.

The buyers pulled out of the offer, citing financing issues. This happened six days before we were set to put the rest of our belongings on a moving truck.   We've re-listed the house and had a few showings.  We're taking a really big gamble and moving forward into the new house anyway.  It will be nice to be able to live "normally" again, whatever that is.  To have all of our belongings under one roof, have our dog back with us under said roof, etc etc etc.

Things have been kind of sucky for the past week.  There's been tears, yelling and name-calling (not at each other, but in the buyer/lawyer direction)  unpacking of a few boxes and a lot of eating out.  (When you think you're moving in six days, you usually don't go grocery shopping.)  The boys are feeling the stress, and so we're decided to take a day off from all of the house craziness and spend the day at an indoor waterpark tomorrow.  They need some fun, and we need a break too! 

Crossing all appendages, hoping for a quick offer and turnaround! 

Caring is Contagious

Another six months...another package of baby items to send to Stitches from the Heart!  This time I have 21 baby hats in all different sizes, and two little blankets good for a stroller or baby seat.

I talk about knitting a lot.  A LOT.  And I mention my baby hats and Stitches from the Heart occasionally too...it's a worthy cause that just passed the one-million-mark of baby items donated!  Upon hearing about it, my friend Linda gave me some hats that she knitted, and one of my residents gave me 25 (!) hats that she and a friend crocheted.  I'm happily sending them out with mine.

  I'm so proud to be a part of this, helping out babies all over the nation.

A Math Lesson: Change Really Adds Up.

74.  Cash in our change jar. (5/27/13)

While packing this weekend, I've found a bunch of things that I just don't want to pack.  Like spaghetti sauce jars full of change.  I have fond memories of counting change with my brother, my mom was also a property manager and used to occasionally bring home laundry quarters.  She would offer us a little percentage of them and Bro and I would happily count them out while watching TV.  My dad is also big on rolling his change. One year my parents rolled enough change to pay for most of a trip for the two of them to Disney World!

When I realized that I had a FULL jar of pennies, I wondered what the heck we could do with them.  We don't have a local bank anymore so we couldn't just roll them and bring them in to be put into our savings account.  I remembered that a group of residents at work plays Pokeeno for pennies every Wednesday, so one lady offered to give me cash for my pennies.  

So Will and I sat down for a little counting lesson (or refresher, if you will) and counted out pennies to roll for the woman at work.  I told him we would count out enough to fill the paper rolls that she had given me and he could keep the rest.  He agreed eagerly, and we spent part of the afternoon counting, stacking and rolling.  In that time, we also found a handful of Canadian pennies, six dimes and a Sacajawea dollar!  All told, he made about four bucks and couldn't be happier!  I got to get rid of the pennies and re-live a childhood memory.  It's a win-win for all.