The next move.

It's time to share my family's next move with you, dear readers. We are moving to Henderson, Nevada. Short version is that I got a job with a nonprofit services company based there and I start work on Weds. That's right - just a few days from now. Our house in Richfield has been on the market for 2 weeks. The 2 weeks before that were chaotic with projects and preparations for getting the house ready to sell. The garage is filling up with boxes and bins. And I am writing this post in a hotel room alongside I-80 in North Platte, NE. I left Minnesota today. Anthony and Fiona will follow me when the time is right. For the next 3 weeks my mom is with them to help with the transition. That's the short version.

I don't yet know how to write the long version. But you can believe it's full of emotions, to-do lists, and difficult decisions. It has been a whirlwind of a month since I accepted the job. So....I drove 640 miles today. I cried before I even got to the river just a few miles from the house. But then I saw a gaggle of geese flying south alongside the highway and I felt reassured that I was headed in the right direction. I am confident this is going to be good move for me and my family. It's just incredibly hard to leave.

As I drove south and then west I watched Fall go in reverse. There are still some gorgeous colors in western Iowa (which is much more hilly than I thought it would be) and eastern Nebraska. I drove by signs pointing to Nevada, IA and Henderson, NE. As I entered Nebraska it started to rain but soon I could see the back end of the front and made it through to the sunny side. Once you get west of Lincoln, the highway speed goes up to 75.....and just when you get excited about setting that cruise control there's one construction zone after another.....one stretch was the longest 9 miles of the day. I was behind a horse trailer those 9 miles. Nine. Miles.

High points: I played Monopoly at McDonalds for lunch and won a free breakfast sandwich. I had a surprisingly good dinner at Hong Kong Chinese Restaurant in North Platte tonight. And I saw license plates (excluding semis) from MN, WI, IA, MI, IL, NE, OR, MO, FL, CA, UT, CO, NJ, SD, and Ontario. I think it's a requirement that you spot an Ontario plate on a road trip in the U.S. I swear - every time there's someone from Ontario on the road.

Oh, and I saw some swans, shaggy ponies, and llamas....I think they were llamas.

Tomorrow I hope to make it to Salina, Utah. For now....I crash.

What part of the soul is chicken soup good for again?

I love it when a post writes itself as I am washing dishes on a random night of the week. But let me start with a list of things one should not give a toddler to eat in a home that is on the market and has to be clean as a whistle at every waking moment.....breath.....soup, raisins, edamame, juice boxes, milk, goldfish, rice, and water. Did I mention soup? Yes. We had chicken soup for dinner. It was tasty too. Fiona even ate it. And then it crashed to the floor by way of the table, her pajamas, and the fabric covered seat. I really hate wasting good chicken soup. And I really hate wasting it when a prospective buyer is coming to the house at 9am the next morning. So I send her off to her room to take off her soppy pajamas and proceed with the clean up and dishes. This is where the post writes itself.....

Gayly she bounds into the kitchen in only her diaper.

Fiona: I'm naked! I'm naked!
Me: I see that. Please go put on clean pajamas so we can read stories. (To myself: I bet she'll pick the bicycle shirt. She loves that thing.)

Ever so proud of herself she re-enters the kitchen with her very large Tour de Cure team t-shirt (her bicycle shirt; the most favorite thing she has) and a pajama shirt on as pants - both legs through the neck hole.

Fiona: I have it on backwards!
Me: No hon, that's a shirt, not shorts. (I'm such a buzz kill.)

She hops off and back again, this time with her lime green Pancremaniacs team t-shirt (her other most favorite thing) on backwards, over the bicycle shirt. Her legs are still through the neck hole of that poor pajama shirt.

Me: Fiona, please put that shirt back in your drawer and pick out stories to read. (I hope she doesn't take everything out of that drawer and make a mess in there too.)

Back to the kitchen she flies with ALL of her pajamas in her arms. All of them. So I finish up the dishes and go see what else is out of the dresser. Fortunately the chaos is contained to only the 4th drawer with pajamas and burp rags. But her soppy soup pajamas are smack in the middle of the pile so now there are three sets of pajamas that have chicken soup on them.

She eats 4 bites of chicken soup....well, anything...for dinner and goes completely gonzo hyper. Every night. Anthony isn't home tonight so I was hoping for a quiet night sans the 3 hour bedtime routine we've gotten ourselves into. Child won't go to sleep until 10pm - I don't get it. Let's just say I was happy to give her Benedryl for her massive eczema flare up tonight. She's been out of bed 3 times since I put her in there. Sadly, that's an improvement.

Oh, and as soon as the showing is over tomorrow I'm taking up the candy bowl. So not worth the struggle every waking minute.

Paying in the yard on a crisp fall afternoon

Jo liked the pumpkin. And yes, for those of you who were at Camp Bearberry in August, that is the raspberry hat I made for Fiona. She grew last week and it don't fit no more. Sigh.

Fiona was happy to have a friend to play with today. The neighbor boys are on vacation for 2 weeks and sitting in her stroller watching me weed the garden....well, that sucks. Those girls chased each other around until they got good and hungry. Aunt Heather came over tonight too. She has the Auntly touch I tell you. Both kids were calm when she was in the room. When it was me trying to put them to bed - I wouldn't call them calm so much as not calm.

And...she's making Fiona a new hat. It will match the new sweater she made for Fiona. It's good to have Auntlys who love you that much, isn't it?

Mind games.

Fiona got out of bed about 6 times before finally falling asleep tonight. Twice she came to the top of the basement stairs to ask me to come up and lay down with her. Both times I said I would while fully intending to keep my butt planted right where it was. She will fall asleep on her own and I will be victorious.

I just came upstairs to go to bed and found my body pillow on her bed with her leg flopped over it. She thinks she showed me. Ha! Just wait until she wakes up and finds it gone from her bed. My body pillow! Mine!

The payoff doesn't always match the input.

When you put energy into something, the payoff isn't always what you expect. Here are three examples from my home:

1. Canning tomatoes. A friend of mine gave me a huge bag of gorgeous tomatoes from her garden. Then my neighbor brought over 7 or 8 more. I had, from what I could tell, 4 different varieties. I washed them. I par-boiled them. I peeled them. I seeded them. I chopped them...and onions, garlic, celery, and carrots. I cooked them with red wine, bay leaves, tomato paste, olive oil, salt, pepper and oregano. I pureed them in the blender. I cooked them down to a thicker-than-soup consistency. I added fresh basil. I canned them. And this is what I got out of it:

There's another jar only 2/3rds full. I was hoping to give a jar to each tomato-sharing friend, but again this is all I got! We're having pasta tonight with the non-processed jar. That was a lot of work. I sterilized 5 jars. Wishful thinking. But I'd never done this before and now I know it's not like pickles. With pickles you get a lot of jars. Oh. Before I forget, I had to go to 3 stores to find canning lids. Why no one carries canning supplies this time of year I cannot explain.

2. Potty training. Suffice it to say I've been living under a rock for several weeks. I have no idea what's going on in the world. But I can tell you what motivates my child to learn to use the toilet. In the last few weeks, we went from the big potty to the potty chair and back to the big potty. We're on our second style of tracking chart. We've used stickers, stars, balloons, happy & sad faces, and in moments of sheer desperation, candy. There has been a lot of laundry. A. Lot. Of. Laundry. And running errands with child in undies takes no less than twice as long as with child in diapers. But unlike the experience of canning tomatoes, this has a big payoff. We are close to only using one diaper or pull-up a day (night time protection). Wow, the dollars that aren't being deposited into the tills of big box stores! Fiona is learning about her body. Today she was leaning over herself so far to watch herself pee that she lost balance and fell into the toilet. Balance is one of those things that make a very big difference in one's life. And now that she sees where her pee comes out, I think she's more interested and impressed with herself. She is becoming more independent and has even gone to the potty by herself (without prompting and she washed her hands!) a couple of times. It's getting better. It's slower than I hoped it would be, but it's getting better. We have to be close to a toilet at all times so for at least the next several weeks I expect to continue looking at the underside of this rock.

And when you live under a rock, it's imperative to amuse yourself. Behold! I made a tutu:

Too see more pictures from the Wandering Moos' birthday party, including the red velvet cupcake attack, visit their blog! There are some pictures from the State Fair visit there too.

Fog

Put water in coffee maker.
Filter in.
Beans in.
Wait, that's not right.
Transfer beans to grinder.
Push button.
Oh, please no. Don't be broken.
Plug in grinder.
Lean against wall until coffee is ready.
Burn tongue.
Go back to bed.

So. Very. Tired. Today.