Beep... beep... beep...

Yep, that's right. There is a heartbeat. I'm still alive. I'm climbing out from under the wreckage that is MOVING and RENOVATING, back into the land of the living. Slowly... but surely!

We moved into the new house at the end of January. (No wheels! No hitting walls or ceilings or other people when I stretch out my arms in all directions! Yay!) We went through a treacherous several weeks of popcorn ceiling scraping, wallpaper peeling, retexturing, and painting before our furniture was delivered, then more painting, unpacking, etc. We had a garage sale, have hung a FEW pictures, and finally broke in the pad with a congregational dinner. I tell you, I worked harder these last two months than I have in, well, about 5 years, I guess. Which was the LAST time we moved and renovated! Actually, this time was worse because of all the ladder climbing and ceiling work, but, thankfully, my strapping young husband did all the really hard work. (Note: He's not younger than ME, just young. He's much strappier than me, though.)

There are still several projects to be completed, like painting the outside of the house, closing in the open loft, painting the interior trim, tearing out and reinstalling a shower, and changing out a few faucets, but, we'll get to them all eventually. We decided to slow down for a bit. Well, I really didn't decide to, because there is nothing more burdensome than projects looming over your head, waiting to be completed, BUT... Fatigue finally set in and I had to do it. Honey has been working crazy long hours, so he didn't have much of a choice, either. I think sometimes, when we don't choose as we should, God has to push us in the direction he wants us to go. Does God want my trim painted? Well, surely He does, right? Maybe so, but maybe it's not that important RIGHT now. Maybe those little rugrats that have forgotten all their Latin vocabulary over 'Moving Break 2011-2012' need a little attention now more than the trim does. I'm pretty sure He cares more about THEM than the trim. I do, too, of course, but it's easy for a Type A like myself to lose sight of anything that's not written on my To-Do list.

Speaking of the rugrats, they are totally enjoying having their own rooms again. They have had to adjust to the small yard and having neighbors, but probably not as much as the neighbors have had to adjust to having THEM. So far, we've only had complaints from one house, and that's not bad, considering how many neighbors we have. We sure aren't in the country, anymore, Toto!

Levi started baseball season with a team of boys that are all new to him, but he seems to have settled in fine. He's always excited about practice, which is a first, but I'm not sure whether that's because he's older, because he's sick of seeing the same three people all day, or because he really likes his coach and teammates. Probably a little of everything. And also because he's been able to pitch, which he loves.

I'm still planning to post before and after pics of the house. Soon. It really was quite a transformation from 1984 pink and blue to now, so I'm excited to share. Of course, unless you did the actual labor to transform it, you can't TRULY appreciate it, but you can try, lol. If only I could convey the filth and exhaustion that went with each room... Soon.