Let the adventure begin!

Well, we miraculously were able to shove everything in our house into one, giant moving truck, said goodbye to every room in our house and hit the road! We were left with a final snowy night and a little snowy drive, and were at PaPa and Ma's in time for a late supper. Hubs and I were hitting the road on Saturday, but weren't in any big rush. That is, until we were ready to go.

Hubs started getting antsy about getting a move on, but really had no good reason, just, "I wanna get there before...it's dark?" So as we were loading up (again), Ma announced that she needed to run a quick errand and she'd be right back. Cuz had just dropped off her 2 year-old to play, so we thought it best not to leave them all unattended. So we waited.

And waited.

And waited.

Ma returned, I had to run a quick errand before we left town, and we were on the road! THAT's when it hit Hubs. We did a remote closing on our new house, so our realtor had dropped our keys in Hubs' po box. And our po box is at a place that closes at 5:00 PM. And a place that's not open on Sunday. Sunday would be the day the truck was arriving to the house we had no keys to, and according to Garmin, our arrival time was 5:04 PM.

We called the Postal Place, and the girl said, "No worries! Take your time! Call me along the way, and if it's after 5:00, I can just scoot back over. I live RIGHT around the corner." Now, if I owned a mail place and had someone coming just after closing, I would just stay until they got there, but whatever.

We pulled into the city limits and gave her a call. After 4 rings, the call went to voicemail. No problem! She probably didn't recognize the number. We left a message and continued toward the mail place. When we pulled up, we were greeted with the CLOSED sign and dark windows. So we called again. Not only was there no answer, her voicemail was full.

Uh oh.

Luckily there was a bonefish nearby, so we decided to hang out there while we waited. As we enjoyed a celebratory chardonnay, we started weighing the cost of a locksmith vs breaking a window. Then we remembered that ALL of our closing paperwork was with the keys, in the po box at the now closed postal place. And seeing as we had out-of-state licenses and out-of-state cell phone numbers, it was going to be hard to convince a locksmith to open a strange house on a pinky promise that it was ours.

Finally, after figuring out what window to break, the girl called us back and we were able to free our keys! We drove over to the house, walked around and figured we'd scoot over to the grocery store to pick up some staples to tide us over. $96 and a redbox movie later, we were ready to go! We turned right out of the parking lot and the blue lights start flashing.

AWESOME.

I was digging around through the glove box looking for the registration (which, since it's a company car, I'm not even sure it had been put in Hubs' name yet) and we were both trying desperately to figure out what law we'd broken after coming to a complete stop and driving 5 mph. Turns out, when Hubs had his oil changed that day, they hit a reset button and triggered his automatic lights so they don't come on any more. WHEW! He made sure we got the lights on, waved and said, "Welcome to Florida!" and we were off.

PaPa and Ma lent us their 2 twin air mattresses, and we bought a crackling duraflame log, so we were ready to spend our first night in the new house. We blew up the beds, got the fire going, plugged in my computer and were ready to watch a movie and relax. However, we had forgotten pillows and blankets. Oh well! It can't be that bad!

I fell asleep very early into the movie, but woke up at some point to Hubs saying (or I thought he said, anyway), "Move over, my mattress deflated." I'm not sure our two kids could share a twin air mattress comfortably much less the two of us, so needless to say, that first night's sleep was not the greatest. But I just thought about how much nicer our 32 year-old mattress was going to feel in the morning. Well, imagine my surprise when my alarm went off to glance over and see Hubs' mattress FULLY inflated. I asked him what the heck he was doing on my mattress and he said, "No, I didn't say it was deflated, I said it felt like it was deflatING." Ugh.

We made a quick trip to Starbucks and loaded up on espresso. We met the truck at 8 AM and worked non-stop until 5. We somehow managed to get just under 4000 sq feet of stuff into a just over 2000 sq ft house, and had about 80% unpacked and settled! We treated ourselves to dinner and were going to see a movie, but ended up back at the house and dead to the world before 8 PM!

And, as if we didn't have enough "stuff" in the house already, we spent Monday driving all over looking for two additional pieces of furniture and after finding them, treating ourselves to a new mattress and boxspring (Merry Christmas to us and thank you Costco!).

We tried to make up for lost time on Tuesday and finish getting everything in place. I had a job interview at 2:00, so was watching the clock. At about 11:00 AM, as we were changing out a ceiling fan in Nugget's room, the power went out. We called to report it (after I totally blamed Hubs) and found out there was a tree down and they had no clue when power would be restored. And there I stood in a t-shirt, scrub bottoms having not showered. And I needed to be clean and pretty in 1.5 hours.

The good thing about having a husband who's lived out of a hotel for the past 2 months is you can call and get a room for an hour with little to no problem. I checked into the Hampton Inn at noon, showered, got dressed and thought about calling in sick to the interview and just taking a nap in the luxuriously quiet room, packed my stuff and checked out at 1 PM. The marathon interview ended at 5, and it took me 20 minutes to get on the interstate. Not because traffic was bad, just because I kept missing the ramp. Home for 40 minutes, we loaded the car and were on the road.

LONGEST CAR RIDE EVER. We were both SO tired, but were pulling off the interstate at midnight. That's when I looked at Hubs and said, "You did get my green suitcase out of the closet, right?"

Umm no....

"But that's the suitcase I brought outside, wasn't it?!!"

"No, that was mine! You didn't get yours?!"

"I thought that WAS mine!"

So as I type, I am literally wearing Mom Jeans (as in my mom's jeans) and am thankful we threw all of our dirty clothes in a giant trash bag to wash here.

We're hoping when we welcome the kids and pup home, there will be a little adventure.

Eh, nobody's dying.

We're closing in on the last few days here, and since the weather outside is frightful fabulous and snowy, we've been doing play dates at the bookstore. The one on Monday was so fun, the girlies decided they wanted an encore yesterday. So as soon as Strip got off the bus, she changed into her ballet clothes, I whipped her hair into a bun and we were off! The moms grabbed a cup of coffee in the cafe, then we headed back to the kids' area to play. Nugget went straight for the train table and the girls hit the books.

And it was time for me to get some sweet baby lovin! Friend Mom (FM) has an adorable baby boy who was born in October and I take every opportunity I can to get that sweet baby sugar.

I was standing up next to the trains, swaying back and forth (because you just HAVE to do that when you are holding a t-tiny baby) when an angry, older lady, came barreling past us to the computer to look up a book for a customer. I kindly stepped out of her way and continued chatting. The girls came over closer to us, and Strip knelt down to look at a book on one of the displays. Angry Lady started walking back to the customer and tripped over Strips slightly extended stabilizing leg. She caught herself, and turned to give us all the angry eye. I quickly apologized (not that it was our fault she wasn't aware there were CHILDREN in the CHILDREN'S section) and told Strip to watch her feet.

That was not enough.

Angry Lady turned to walk away, stopped and turned back to us. Glaring, she was desparatly trying to think of something to say. Unable to, her gaze shifted to the kids' sized picnic table where the girls had set up a Pinkalicious and dragon tea party with about 9 of the mini stuffed animals. BINGO!

"NO! NO! You need to clean this up! YOu can't do that! People can't even get to the table because of that mess NO NO NO!!!"

And she stormed away.

I was dumbfounded. We were the only ones in the back of the store, aside from the 86 year-old customer Angry Lady was assisting, and I'm pretty sure if she wanted to sit and read, she was going to opt for a comfy chair in the adult section over folding herself into the pint-sized picnic table. And it's not like we were leaving. We were sitting there, reading, drinking our coffee, enjoying the afternoon. Now before you start yelling, yes, I've worked in retail, and I know there is NOTHING more infuriating than setting something up only to have kids (or adults even) destroy it and leave. So, had she said, "Oh girls! Make sure you put those back, please," I would be fine, but YELL at MY baby? Oh no you didn't.

As she stormed away, I looked down to see a quivering lip. I quickly knelt down and assured Strip, "You did NOTHING wrong. That lady was not looking where she was going and tripped over YOU. And because she made a mistake, she had to find something to get mad at you about. You are NOT in trouble. That said, these are not your toys, so why don't you and buddy put all but two back."

Ooooh she rubbed me the wrong way! I looked back at FM and said, "Can you believe that woman?!"

I know. Nobody's dying.

I gave her a confused look, and she continued.

She went on to say that she thinks everyone should work in a nursing home or hospice care for a time in their life. It gives you a whole new outlook on your day. So after coming into work everyday to watch someone die and comfort grieving loved ones, retail stress just rolls off your back. 'OH! This display looks HORRIBLE!' Eh, you can fix that easily. 'These prices are WRONG!' We'll just re-do them. After watching someone struggle to take their last breath, you can pretty much deal with any bother in life.

So true.

Think before you type.

**I didn't take this picture. It's a google image from access Hollywood. There ya go**

I managed to snap a decent picture of the kids and Zoe for our Christmas card and didn't even need to photoshop it this year! As I was designing the card (and by designing it, I mean dropping my picture into pre-made cards online), I was trying to think of some way to combine moving announcement with the card.

I've got it! Adorable picture of the kids and dog, ribbon running across the bottom middle of the card with the phrase, "We'll be (in a new) home for Christmas!" an obvious play on "I'll be home for Christmas." However, on second glance, it looked more like an announcement that HUbs and I were shipping the kids and new dog off as a packaged deal to a new home and we were done with them.

Think before you type!

On a similar note, Hubs has been back and forth, so we haven't been able to watch Glee together. A week or so ago, Gwyneth Paltrow was on and did one of Hubs' favorite (as of recently) songs, "F-You," or as they cleaned it up, "Forget you." The more Hubs would sing it, the more it got stuck in my head, so when GP Gleeked it up (and if you missed it, you can see it HERE) I immediately thought of Hubs (who was in some random city the night it aired).

Tonight, a friend posted the video on her facebook page. After listening to it on a loop, I thought, "Oh! I don't think Hubs ever saw it!" So, instead of emailing him the above youtube link, what did I do? Posted it on my page with the caption, "This is for you, Hubs!"

Hmmmm. Who dedicates the song, "Forget you!" to her husband via Facebook?! Just so you all know, that was NOT an announcement of our relationship status. It was just me, failing to think before I typed.

Off to download the Glee 4 soundtrack!

Nugget says the darndest!

These are Martha Stewart's cupcakes. You can learn how to make them HERE. I didn't make these or take the picture.

But, I DID pick Nugget up from school today and noticed the remnants of a bakery box of cupcakes on the pickup table. We got in the car and were chatting about his day when I said,

Me: Hey buddy! What did you have for snack today?

Nugget: Cupcakes!!

Me: Ohhh That's special! Was it someone's birthday?

Nugget: Yes it was my friend JESUS' birthday!

I had no idea he was in their class!

Anyway, we head to the outdoor mall (because it was snowing, and I wanted to walk around a little) and were heading to a store where I wanted to check out something for the kids for Christmas. We get to the entrance and Nugget stops and says, "Hey! I can read that sign! It says, 'Balls!'"

Close buddy. Close.

Felix is back!

Felix is our Elf on the Shelf and he arrived back at our house on Monday. The kids were SO excited to see him, and I was excited to see the, "Shhh! Felix is watching!" behavior that inevitably follows.

While Felix did bring the kids a couple of surcees, he seemed to have left his magic behavior wand at the North Pole. So, Felix did what any good elf would do, laid down the guilt trip.

Because of the move, we weren't really going to be able to decorate for Christmas, but Monday night, while the kids were asleep, Felix filled the house with Christmas cheer (and decorations!). The kids awoke to find Felix atop a Christmas tree on the mantle, and with him was a note. Felix explained that the first report he had to give Santa was not so great, but he told the big guy all about our stressful Thanksgiving and upcoming move, and he and Santa agreed that they needed a little Christmas cheer in the house. He also asked that the kids sign the back of the note to confirm where they would be spending Christmas so that he could submit his paperwork to elf relocation and meet us at PaPa and Ma's.

So, last night, the kids signed their names and went to bed. Nugget went to bed easily, Strip, not so much. Overtired, over stuffed with dinner, she screamed and yelled about anything she could think of, "I need another book! This pillow isn't right! I can't see out my window if it snows! AHHHHHHHH!" Lovely. Hubs was packing for another road trip, so I was hanging out upstairs with him watching last week's Glee episode. I was about to go to bed when I remembered that my blood pressure meds (yes, I'm really 72) were downstairs. Hubs said he had to go downstairs in a minute anyway, so he'd get them.

No, it's fine, I have to move Felix anyway.

I'll do it!

So Hubs finds my drugs and comes back upstairs. We go to bed and he gets up to leave before the crack of dawn. A few hours later, I wake the kids up, we make our beds, get dressed and get ready to find Felix. Hubs ALWAYS finds the best spots for him.

Guess where he was?

Still on top of the tree. Holding the note. I text Hubs is Felix Fail, and quickly try to cover.

Well, Felix only has a certain amount of time to get to the North Pole and back. Maybe he was waiting until you settled down last night so he could give Santa a GOOD report, and missed his opportunity to leave and get back. So he just stayed?

Strip sighed and said, "here we go again..." Thinking she meant, "LIES LIES LIES!" I asked her to elaborate.

"Here we go again. Another day trying to be on our best behavior."

Whew!

Right at that moment, Hubs called, and as he was talking to Strip they discussed Felix's non-movement. I could hear Hubs saying something about how he left SUPER early, in the middle of the night even, and he SAW Felix coming back down the chimney. Ugh, we have GOT to get our stories straight. After they got off the phone, Strip filled me in on the Felix spotting.

Me: Well, that makes sense. If Felix was coming back in when Daddy was leaving, he probably got scared and just hopped right back on that tree, not having enough time to get to a different spot. And then I bet he was scared to move because he didn't know when we'd be coming downstairs.

Strip: Yeah, and he probably didn't have enough time after giving Santa that looooonng report about how we were acting up in the restaurant last night, and then me not going to sleep, so I bet he just brought the note back and will give it to whoever tonight when he goes back.

Me: You are exactly right.

Whew! That was a close one!