A Brief Update

There will be more to the story, but I wanted to let you all know that we closed for real on the house yesterday!! Praise God!

'Call to Me, and I will answer you, and show you great and mighty things, which you do not know.' Jeremiah 33:3

He has done incredible things. I plan to post the entire story sometime soon. Right now? I'm packing, cleaning, and moving.

So for now, I'll leave you with some photos:

Not Freaking Out . . . Yet

You'd think that maybe I'd be freaking out by now. We are tentatively closing tomorrow at 3:00 (P.M. - obviously title companies aren't open at 3:00 a.m.). The house is marginally packed. I've been packing a little here and there - mostly non-essentials. There's the appearance that I've gotten quite a bit done when you look around and see empty walls, shelves, and cupboards. But there is still a LOT more to go.

Granted, we won't be moving in as soon as we close. There's some cleaning to do, particularly given that the house has been vacant for over a year. We'd like to do some painting also, but it's looking like that'll happen after we move in.

I've been incredibly random in packing motivation. I guess because everything has been so loose, I just can't get geared up about this. Not until papers and keys are in hand. And then. Then, I might just freak out. Instead, I'm sitting here, blogging about not freaking out. I really ought to do something more productive.

I did, however, sort papers while eating lunch. And talked to my mom on the phone. Multi-tasking at its finest. I'm still trying to sort and purge as I pack, but I suspect that before long, I'll have to switch to "throw it all in a box and deal with it later" mode. Until then, I'm being quite Monkish. But it won't last. Not if we start moving things in the next 4-5 days.

Unless, of course, closing gets bumped out. Which is always a possibility.

Insanity, I tell you.

{{edit to add: tomorrow is looking less likely. maybe thursday. still not freaking.}}

I Am Officially Affiliated

In my nearly two years of blogging, I've never been an affiliate of anything. But the amazing people over at the Company Porch from The Old Schoolhouse are giving away an 8 gb iPod Nano®. Of course, I'd love to win the iPod, but I am also a big fan of The Old Schoolhouse. So here I am, a proud affiliate (see the ad in my sidebar).



The Old Schoolhouse magazine has to be my favorite resource, hands down. It's published quarterly, which is probably a good thing. There's so much valuable information in each issue, that I couldn't possibly read it much quicker. The articles cover a wide variety of areas, so there's always something that applies to our family.

It's also much more than just a magazine. There are a variety of useful email newsletters you can receive, The Schoolhouse Store where you can purchase various books, e-books, curricula, and much more, and then there's The Company Porch blog and the entire world of Homeschool Blogger.

If you haven't made your way around The Old Schoolhouse and their myriad resources, I'd highly recommend checking it out.

Home Buying Adventures, part ??

The new roof was put on the house on Friday. I don't like the color. Boo. Sadly, it was my choice. The problem is that the brick is a variegated green and the paint is blue. And I had to select a color from the internet and my memory of the house. Not a good combination. Maybe it's not as bad as I think. Or maybe it is. My goal was to match the brick (the paint sure doesn't) so that some day, when we repaint the house, it will all tie together. We'll see.

No pix. Yet.

The latest (which changes all the time) is that we're aiming for closing on Wednesday. Since the entire deal with this house has been very loose and fly-by-the-seat-of-our-pants, who knows what that means. Our mortgage broker really does have to close this week, however. If not . . . well, we'd prefer not to go there. We're also planning to be out of our current house by the end of the month. Unless "if not..." happens. But we're not going there.

So hopefully this week, I can post about getting through closing, having keys in hand, and maybe I'll even share some photos.

Other than that? Sorting, purging, and packing. Speaking of which, Audio Adrenaline (old stuff) and the B52s (well, old here, too) make for an awesome purging/packing dance mix! Very motivating. Especially when the house is void of other family member and I can crank the music.

Stroll Down Memory Lane

Hosted by Cecily and MamaGeek

WARNING: This post got a little long and rambly. Okay a LOT long. Still rambly. Lots of photos, though. Enjoy however much you're able to get through.

Sometime during the past 4-5 years, I have gone through things in my bedroom (things being jewelry, hair accessories, and the like). I know I didn't get rid of a LOT, but thought I had it somewhat whittled down. After all, the area where I keep the jewelry which I wear on a regular basis really didn't have that much there. I was aware that I had a couple of boxes with some other things that needed some sorting and purging.

I began the process of cleaning up the jewelry, hair accessories, and other oddments so that I could pack. I made it through the hair accoutrement in good time. Then I started in on the jewelry. It was going just fine. Items I wish to keep on one side, items to give away on the other. Then I would pull out a small box, tin, or container of some sort, and go through the items in there. Then a very strange phenomenon occurred. There were more boxes, tins, and other random containers than I realized. There was another . . . and another . . . and yet another. Sorting could no longer be contained on the shelves, so it moved to the bed. In a rather large way.

Okay, say it with me now . . .

OH. MY. GOSH!!!


First shelf area (my shelves are old fruit crates)

Next shelf area



Third shelf area



Spilling over to the bed



And then some

Now, clearly there is more than just jewelry going on here. And some of this is old. Not antique old particularly (except one brooch and earring set), but old as in so-not-my-style-anymore old. These are the oldest. I'm thinking 6th or 7th grade.

While not the next oldest, these definitely get special notice. My sister and I found these at Claire's many, many years ago - before I was married. At the time, we thought they were the ugliest earrings we had ever seen. So we bought them. And shared them. Somehow I have possession of them. It must be her turn, since I think I've had them for the past 20-some years.

There was a time in my life when my best friend and I collected all things COW. This is just a tiny little sampling of the myriad cow items I owned. Some day, I'll show you my cow shoes. They're the best ever.

Lil Orphan Annie cows?!?!?

Even before my obsession with cows, I was a Bugs Bunny fan. And still am. For as long as I can remember. When we moved to Colorado from California (I was 3), I had a talking Bugs Bunny. Sadly, it was the trip from hell and I was car sick and hurled all over poor Bugs. He had to be left on the side of the road. It was a very difficult time for me. I missed old Bugs something dreadful.

Where was I? Oh, right, Bugs has always been a near and dear friend. While I didn't go collection crazy, I did have a few special items. My parents gave me this watch nearly 20 years ago. It needs a battery right now. Otherwise, I'd be wearing it. I even attended the 50th Anniversary Bugs Bunny Film Festival at the Tower Theater in downtown Sacramento with hubs and my parents.

I purchased these at a company craft fair when I worked for Hewlett-Packard in Cupertino (or was it Palo Alto?). They matched a sweater that my mom made which was my most favorite thing to wear in those days. Along with the lovely porcelain earrings, of course. Not only that, I was wearing these earrings with the sweater on October 17, 1989 - the day of the Loma Prieta earthquake. Funny the things you remember when big events occur.

When we moved back to Colorado, I was making tons of Friendly Plastic earrings. It was the thing to do, I guess. I also sold (well, attempted to sell) some at a local craft mall here. Imagine my surprise to find that I still had some of these. Thought I had passed them along many years ago.

I can't imagine these require any explanation. I had my first Gumby & Pokey when I was about 5. Back before merchandising madness and clay animation. I wore these earrings with a lovely Gumby Green, sleeveless dress.

I was definitely into large earrings at certain times in my life. Here we have two ends of the same LARGE spectrum. The pair on top? They're made from watercolor paper and weigh about as much as a gnat. The pair on the bottom? Holy smokes, are they heavy! Mother of pearl on top with a ton of beads dangling, for a total of about 6" in length. Yeah, let's just hang some bricks off my ears. Maybe they'll stretch out into Dumbo ears.

At a mall in California, there was a lady who sold crafts at a table in the big hallway area. She made these cute lizard earrings and also painted t-shirts to match. I never had a t-shirt (my mom & sister did, though), but the earrings were so bright and colorful (also heavy). It's amazing that my earlobes don't reach my shoulders today.

If you're still with me, this one is kind of sweet. It's a beaded daisy necklace/choker that I made as a young girl. Probably around 5th or 6th grade, I believe. I've done a variety of crafts and art throughout my life. Other than sewing, this is probably one of my earliest wearable projects. At least that I recall. I don't wear it anymore (doubt my neck is the same size), but it's just cute and sweet and lives in my jewelry box.

If you stuck around for this very long walk down memory lane, I hope you'll leave a comment. Like which item was your personal fav, or what on earth is something in one of those group photos, or what is the strangest item you noticed. Or come up with your own comment. Whatever strikes you.

Thank you for participating in the jewelry box tour.

Homeschool Memoirs #3: Routines

It's time for another installment for Homeschool Memoirs at The Homeschool Post (formerly known as The Homeschool Blog Awards). This theme (which is last week's) is Routines.

This could get interesting. You're talking about a woman who has a hard time with routines. Just the word itself conjures up images of consistency and habits. I've found that the only consistency in life I have is being inconsistent. Well, that and Dr Pepper, but I doubt that second one counts for much. Unless you work at the Dr Pepper plant and then you likely appreciate me. But I digress.

Anyway, we actually DO have a routine and we've been known to follow it. On occasion. So when we are on track, it looks something like this:

Disclaimer: Add the suffix -ish to all times listed below.

6:45 - Have breakfast, Bible study, and quiet time. Hopefully early enough to join Hubby. Do a quick check of email, twitter, and blogosphere.

8:30 - Get the boys up, utilizing the loud, meowing feline alarm clock. They eat breakfast while I shower, get dressed, and get laundry going.

9:00 - Begin school with Bible reading & discussion and prayer

9:45 - Take a walk (usually).

10:30 - Get home (depends upon where we walk). Snack time. Boys work on English & Math. I help as needed. I also load the dishwasher, tidy up the kitchen, and take the next step with laundry.

Noon - Have lunch. Sometimes I prepare lunch. Other days, they come fix their own.

By 1:00 - Back to school. 3+ days we do Science. Also KONOS unit study. Boys wrap up anything undone in Math or English. On Thursdays, the Comedian has bowling league.

They're usually done anywhere from 3:00-4:00. Art and computer usually happen in the afternoon. We still need to add foreign language into our days. I also include Practical Living Skills throughout our week, be it cooking, laundry, or other useful training. It seems that we might do something else (or maybe we should), but I can't figure out what I'm missing here.

The things that make the biggest difference for me are:

1. Quiet time with the Lord first thing - before the boys wake up


2. School plans the weekend/night before


3. Having meals planned and dinner started before 10:00 a.m.


4. Ignoring the phone during school hours


5. Staying home

When I follow the routine, things really go quite well. It's those FBTSOMP (Fly By The Seat Of My Pants) days that don't. Been there, done that too many times. Usually results in attendance at Slacker School. No thank you.

Homeschool Light 101 - This is the modified version of our routine which has been implemented during the "Mom has to pack the house, because we might move one of these days" mode. In this case, we have Bible & prayer and the boys do their English, Math, and reading. Sometimes we still get other subjects in, but not often.

Miscellaneous Monday Meanderings

I kind of like a very random post on Mondays. That's the kind of the day Monday usually is - a little of this, a little of that. Playing catch-up, regrouping, getting back on track, etc.


Inbox Update
Inbox contained: 1746 messages, 428 unread at 9:15 last night. Upon going to bed, I had begun the whittling process, getting it down to 1271 messages, with 306 unread. Not a huge accomplishment, but definitely a start. More whittling tonight.


Payday?
It's payday today. Which used to be a happy thing. Now it's just a matter of paying bills, grocery shopping, and being broke again. It's not so bad, though. I'm sort of getting used to it. That means we have about 2-4 days per month where we have the appearance of having money. The remaining 26-28 days, it's very clear we have none.

It does make for a busy day, though. Hopping online, on the phone, running around, paying bills, getting stuff, and honing in on that state of being blissfully broke. Broke is okay if the bills are paid. Mostly. Sort of. I guess.

However, God is amazingly and incredibly loving and faithful to provide. Every. Single. Time. He has never let us down. In some respects, being broke brings tremendous clarity in seeing God's provision in our lives. Anytime we see God more clearly is a good thing. So how can I bemoan no green in my purse when I can joyfully praise God?


Moving
Things are still progressing. Slower than desired (on my part), but God's timing is always better than mine anyway. I never win at that timing game. So I will trust His. The plumbing issues have been taken care of and a new water heater installed. Our loan and the appraisal are in underwriting and hopefully the roof will be replaced sometime this week. In the meantime? Packing and purging, purging and packing. Our house is in a state of boxes.


Homeschool
We're doing Homeschool Light 101 right now. An hour or two of packing per day doesn't cut it. So the boys do Math, English, Reading, and maybe something else. And I pack. A little is still better than nothing. Keeps their minds working, academically speaking.


Heavenly Reunion
Last Wednesday evening, there was a big old reunion in heaven as my 95 year old Grandma was welcomed into the arms of Jesus. Her husband, sister, and son were awaiting her arrival as well. While there were tears for her absence here on Earth, how could I begrudge her making it home to her final destination? No more frail body and failing memory (dementia was taking its toll). There will be a quiet graveside service for her on Wednesday in Washington. I won't be able to attend. But I plan to stop and have some time of quiet here in Colorado. She lived a good life, serving the Lord by serving and loving people. And now she has the ultimate reward - to hear the words of her Lord and Savior, "Well done, my good and faithful servant."


Things to Blog Here at Bunny Trails

• Homeschool Memoirs - Last week's assignment. Maybe the week before, too. I'm behind. Imagine that.



• Upcoming blogiversary (9/27)



• Laughs A Lot With Big Hair



• Thoughts from weekend service at church

Things to Post at Photo Bunny, my photo blog:

• Through the Lens Class, Assignment 3 - Yet again, behind. Assignment 4 was posted over the weekend.



• Some shots for Carmi's Thematic Photographic. This week's theme is Close Up. I love macro shots. Now that I know how to use my camera properly.



• Wordless Wednesday, of course



• PhotoStory Friday, hopefully

And in closing (yeah, I know, you thought it'd never get here). I have to do an abbreviated version of our women's ministry newsletter. Should be quick and relatively simple (famous last words). Decide what we'll do on Friday night when the boys are gone for a friend's birthday party and we have a date night! And keep on purging and packing. I feel like Dory - Just keep packing, packing, packing. Just keep packing...




P.S. - The Homeschool Blog Awards has had a face lift. It's now The Homeschool Post, a name we believe better encompasses the site's purpose: Encouraging, Informing, and Connecting the Homeschool Community. It's still the home of the annual awards, but it's so much more. Go check it out. Click on the color names below and to the right of the header and you'll see some different header versions. It's your choice - view the one you like best. Stay tuned for upcoming awards information as well!

Love-Hate Relationship

Email and the internet are fun and wonderful things. Except when they're not. Like right now. I was on the computer too long today, frittering away my time. Sometimes twittering away my time. I took a look at my yahoo inbox. Get this . . .

1746 messages. 428 are unread. Good grief.

Time to clean up. It's 9:15 pm and I'm going to see how many I can knock outta there before heading to bed (early - I'm getting sick). I'll provide an update tomorrow.

photo hunt: wild

I have to be careful how often I let them out.



Hmmm . . . does that mean he ate too much at Chipotle?



Facial hair already?



I guess it runs in the family.



Davy Jones impersonation?



Didn't know my neice was Pippi Longstocking, did you?



Good thing he keeps that in a cage!



Yep, at 14 this kid definitely needs a razor.



Room for his growing brain.



My honey's so fashionable.



My hair has its own ideas about style. My opinion doesn't count.

Check out the other WILD photo hunters this week.