I love to hear those stories about people down to their last dollar with no food in the house. Then they come upon some money that wasn't expected. Well, it can happen in other ways, too. I got the sweetest email with a huge compliment today from an old friend of my younger sister. Just when I needed it.

I'm gonna do it. I'm bringing up politics. Later. When I can do it calmly and nicely.

Oh, and did you notice? I opened my blog back up to public. I don't like it being private. I'll probably switch again some day. That's how I roll.

Tomatoes and a new career.

So there we were in church on Good Friday when Zane got called into work. Yep. Halfway through. I proudly rounded up my kids from various benches and made a grand exit out of church. Lesson learned: sit in the back so that we don't make a scene if and when it happens again. Zane's ears and my face were various shades of red the whole 40 or so minutes of our drive home that night.

And today. Not embarrassing, but it sounds about right. I just paid the water guy $50 to come out and see what was wrong with our water softener. Turns out, a lever was in the wrong position. $50 to hear that. Sweet. At a rate of $50/min, I think I need to get into the water softener business.

Sometimes you just have to laugh, dontcha?

Then came evening.

I feel like a fraud. Yesterday's post was so joyful, almost gag-me joyful. At the time, I was. But it was short lived. I think the stress and busyness of the last couple months had started to come down on top of me. Picture me standing in a tent as it starts to cave in. Madly trying to hold it up. I got it back up, just a little cock-eyed. I actually said, "Ha!" out loud as I stood completely overwhelmed and thought about my overly happy post earlier in the day. The truth of the matter is that I do love the things that I said I love. I just have a lot of small, medium and large things piling up that I don't love. Gah. Life's never perfect, is it? I'm feeling a little more even keeled today.

The remedy? I held my (happy) baby in my arms while having an adult and much needed conversation with my husband yesterday. Turns out, he's feeling as out of sorts as me and that's unlike him. In a weird way, it's comforting to know that I'm not the only that feels "piled up on". So does he. It's nice to have someone to trudge through things with. Misery loves company, after all. You can join us if you want. ;)

Home Sweet Home.

Everything happens for a reason. And it makes complete sense to me why we didn't end up in MI four years ago. Like I had hoped. We took a little detour that changed our life and outlook. And collected up some wonderful friends and memories along the way. (Even C & M and D & S. They wouldn't have meant as much to us as they do, had we not met them so far from here) I am forever thankful for that. And with that priceless opportunity tucked securely in our hearts and minds, we have finally landed ourselves here.

In a place that fits. This is home. This is what I've been waiting for. And, hopefully, it's been waiting for us. Never before have I ever felt like I was in it for the long term. Now I do. I hope this feeling never changes. I really do. I'm not saying that I won't get antsy in a few years hoping for a change. I think it's in my blood, the need for change. However, I hope it's not a moving type of change, because Zane and I both agreed we aren't leaving anytime soon. This is a perfect compromise for both of us. We both got a lot of what we were looking for in a home and surrounding area. Maybe I'll just have to remodel my house or something like that. ;)

I love my house. I love our land. I love our neighbors. I love our friends. I love how even strangers welcomed us with open arms. (thank you!!) I love being close to the church I grew up in. I love seeing people from my past, even those who I haven't seen or thought of in years. I just love it. I hope I always do. And. I love having the internet again. *giggle*

*happy sigh* I'm a lucky girl.

AAAA...

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAACCCCCCCCCKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKK!! We made it. We are on this side of crazy. Crazy being our past month, of course. Having all of our things packed up, too many weeks in a hotel, moving across country in our Beverly Hillbillies getup, closing on our new house. In a couple days, we'll be moving in. Halleluja!! I am going to enjoy every square foot of space we have there, finished or un. And the land to run! Or, more correctly, for the kids to run. Halleluja! I'm here and alive, somehow. I'll be a blogging fool again soon. After we get moved in and our computer hooked up. Until then, I'm not making any promises I can't keep. Missed you, though! Can I hear a halleluja?

Dream Machine

When we booked our househunting trip, I was so excited to get a free upgrade from a full sized car to the next best thing. I pictured me looking all cool cruising the streets in a Jeep Commander- my dream car that I'll never have because we have a lot of little bodies occupying our home. Finally! I would get my chance to have one, if only for a week.

Heh.

Double Heh.

Instead, I floated around in this beauty:

Sometimes, mind you, me in the backseat and Zane solo in the front because the baby was fussy. We looked way awesomer than I had imagined.

Lemons & Lemonade

I'm completely uninspired. Seriously. If I blogged too much, you'd be as close to sleeping as I am. Which is pretty darn close, fyi. My baby woke up every hour to eat last night. Apparently stress decreases your milk supply. Who knew? Not me. (You were right, Susan. I am stressed!)

But with everything bad, comes something good. I've found that to be very true.
*We found out last month that we'd be homeless in less than a month. Yep. Perfect. Just what I wanted with a new baby! The good part? We don't have to worry about selling our house like many people in this economy do.
*We had a completely lousy realtor on our house finding trip. But completely wonderful friends to help us out.
*Zane and I both fell in love with the same house. Nothing bad about that.
*It costs more than we wanted, but we got more than we wanted. Including two different neighbors from our church! Who wudda thunk it?
*We will be living in a hotel for the weeks that we are in between houses. (shudder) But at least I won't have housework during that time. And continental breakfast is nice, too. I know, I'm reaching. It won't be great.
*I don't want to leave these wonderful friends we have here behind. It makes me sad to think about. However. Before you know it, we'll be in our gorgeous home in an area filled with people who already have welcomed us with open arms.

Life has a way of evening the score, doesn't it?