Just thinking...

The kiddos are in Indiana bonding with the extended family as I focus my energy on the finishing touches to get the house on the market. I'm painting, patching, caulking, packing, and lots of that detailed cleaning. Like the dust on baseboard and the cobwebs behind furniture. You know, fun stuff. It's been productive, but the house has a sort of eerie quiet to it that's nearly impossible to shake. It's nice I suppose....to a degree. But just so unusual that it actually seems unnatural, if that makes sense. I think about the kids numerous times a day and wonder how they're doing and if they're having fun, which I'm sure they are. I miss their little voices, the laughter, just the presence of all seven of us together in the evening. And I miss the dogs, who are at my parents.

And Brian's in Michigan and Monday is his first day on the new job. Good luck hon! I'm sure you'll do great. Hopefully the house sells quickly and we can all head up to MI and start getting settled in up there. Preferably before winter, that would be so great.

Friends, do you know how much I loathe the process of moving? I curse in my head every....step....of....the....way. It's so much annoying work.

Yes. It's late, I'm tired, my legs hurt, my eyes burn, I'm venting here. But I hope we're done moving. We like Michigan and all it has to offer, and it's close to family. So, providing Brian has a job, we'll stay. I tease him that we'll be looking for our "Forever Home." He teases me back that we'll stay at least five years but I don't think his response is the least bit funny. My sense of humor waivers significantly on sensitive issues. Moving has become a sensitive issue.

'Nite all

Holland, MI

So, I believe the news has probably trickled down the lines of communication to the few folks who read my blog. Our lives are once again changing directions and we find ourselves looking forward to a new adventure. It requires the uneasy sacrifice of leaving the familiarity of an area we've come to know, with it's friendly people and big, wide open spaces, and traffic...lots and lots of traffic.

Hazy Morning

Texans endure hot summers but mild sunny winters. In the spring we face abrupt thunderstorms, sometimes with tornado warnings and a drawn out autumn that provides the luxury of open windows with a wonderful, cool breeze blowing through. We also have fields of wildflowers in the spring that display a vibrant rainbow of color that could only be painted by God himself. And tall sunflowers line the roads - and sometimes you'll see an entire field of happy, vivacious yellow screaming for your attention as you drive to and from in your chaotic life. For the boys there are spiders and snakes galore, even black widows. But the kids can identify them and even the little ones know enough to always look under the lawn chairs and tonka trucks.

Texas Garter Snake

Dueling Rainbows

The city of Ft. Worth can be seen in the distance horizon, and I always enjoy that sight as I take a right onto our road. Cows graze and numerous horses to boot....sometimes in the most unexpected places. Gorgeous sunsets every night, that somehow have a different look than the other places we've lived, but yet still provides the same soothing sight.

Sunsets

The children will miss Jiu Jitsu, and their friends. We will miss our dear friends the Schwedler's, and our nice neighbors. And of course there's Keno - a group of women who get together once a month for an eventful game of Po-Ke-No, a night full of girl talk and non-stop laughter, a witty group of girls who have become my friends.

We have spent the last several weeks packing up. Extra clothing, blankets, coats, shoes, towels...down to the minimal. Almost empty closets, an empty garage....clearing, cleaning, donating, decluttering....making way for the next occupants. Some other family will take our place and make their home here, with their own happy memories. It's a sad thing to pack up a home. A home where you painted the walls, brought home a new baby, planted a garden, and endured the ups and downs of life...the laughs, the tears, the tantrums and everything in between. Purple paint in carpet and a cut forehead from the Austin stone fireplace. I'm finding fiddlesticks in every nook and cranny in my home. (They are old wooden building toys for those who are unfamiliar.) The wall off the kitchen that holds a growth chart of our children which I have to bring myself to paint over. I'm painting over scuffs on baseboards and fingerprints on doors. I carefully remove family photos off walls and stare down at children that aren't so young anymore and I'm grateful for that one captured moment in time. For as excited as I am to be back in the midwest, close to family, close to Lake Michigan - there is a sadness to the ending of this chapter in my life.

Sprouting Seedlings

Dirty County Bumpkin