Unfortunately, we can’t move into the new house until this weekend and so we packed up and moved everything into a storage unit for this week.  We get to move in on Sunday.  I can’t wait!

What all this means for today is that I am officially homeless.  Which isn’t necessarily a terrible thing considering where we just came from.  It also means that we have moved even more junk into my parent’s house.  We’ve been here for the past week and will continue to stay here this week until we move in next weekend.  Last week we had the things we needed to live in my parent’s house.  We brought out clothes and some of Bean’s toys and things like that.  But now that we have moved out, we brought even more crap home to mom and dad’s.

Now, there are miscellaneous boxes just hanging out all over the house.

And some of Bean’s bigger toys had to make the trip home with us, too. So the living room looks more like a daycare center.

And my mom’s big, clean kitchen counters have become flooded with the odds and ends that it takes to make our family run. Bean’s sippy cups, Goldfish, bread, snacks… The counters runneth over.

We’ve also moved our computer and office stuff into the breakfast nook, which means we are eating most of our meals as a family either at the formal dining room table or in the living room on our laps.

But the messiest area is without a doubt our bedroom. Chris, Bean, me, and the two dogs are staying in one of my parent’s guest bedrooms. We’ve got it as neatly organized as it can be, but we’re making a big stinking mess in there. Although, some of the things that look like a mess are really serving a purpose. Like, see that towel on the bed there? That’s Bean’s changing table, not dirty laundry.

And see that pile of random bags? Those each serve a purpose. One is my school bag, one is my bathroom bag with my toiletries, one is Bean’s new diaper bag (his old big one was stolen), and that big suitcase is full of shoes.

Oh, and look. There’s one of our televisions. Right there in our bedroom, in the box. How nice. And that’s our mail that we are trying to keep in one place so we don’t lose anything important during this transition period. And those are clothes that need to be dry cleaned (which I have to hide from my dad because he does laundry like a machine and if I leave clothing laying around, it’s going to be washed). See? All of that is useful, purpose-driven stuff.

Even though everything has some kind of use, it still feels a little chaotic. I keep losing things like my cell phone charger and the other day I even forgot where I put Lt. Dan!

But even with all of that going on, nothing can damper the excitement that Chris and I are feeling right now. We are so excited to be moving into the new house that we can’t even stand it! This new house has the same square footage as our house in Connecticut, so we’ll actually be able to unpack all of our things that we have had boxed up since we moved to Florida in March. I miss my serving dishes! I miss my candlesticks! I miss my throw pillows! And on Sunday, I GET TO SEE THEM!!

Until then though, I’ll be here at my parent’s house, trying to find my hair straightener and Bean’s left shoe. I know I’ve seen them here somewhere…

For the first few years of Lucy’s life, I was living in college apartments.  That meant that she learned how to walk on a leash pretty good because I had to walk her every day.  She got so good that she could actually go to the bathroom on command.

“Go potty, Lucy.”

Done.

But when we got Big Molly, we lived in a house with a fenced in backyard which meant that she never really learned to walk much on a leash.  Anytime we took her somewhere to run her, she was off-leash in a fenced in field and a leash usually wasn’t necessary.  She’s not horrible on a leash, but she isn’t great.  And she certainly can’t go to the bathroom on command.  In fact, Big Molly is having a hard time going to the bathroom at all now that we are at my parent’s house and having to walk her on a leash.  She doesn’t like an audience and so whenever we walk her, she happily goes for a little walk but there isn’t much business being done.

(I promise there is a reason for me to tell you about my dog’s bowel movements.)

So, yesterday afternoon when Chris got home from work, we decided to take the dogs to the dog park here where my parents live.  It is one of the nicest dog parks I’ve ever been to and our dogs love it.  Without the fenced in backyard to run around in, the dogs have a big case of cabin fever so we thought a good romp might do the trick.

We loaded up in the golf cart (yes, our dogs ride in the golf cart…) and we headed over to the park.  This park is in a huge field that is fenced in and divided in the middle – one side for the little dogs and one for the big dogs.  When we got there, I took Lucy over to the little dog side and Chris grabbed Big Molly to walk her over to the big dog side.

But they barely made it out of the golf cart before Big Molly decided that she needed to go to the bathroom RIGHT NOW.  Right there on the sidewalk.  Humiliated, Chris started grumbling under his breath and Lucy and I scooted into the little dog side before anyone knew we were with them.  Chris cleaned up the mess and then took Molly into the fenced in area.

Molly proceeded to spend the next 20 minutes pooping all over the dog park.  All over it.  Chris couldn’t get one cleaned up before she was squatting somewhere else.  And, I don’t know how familiar you are with dog parks, but it’s pretty poor form to have your dog crap all over the place.  You’re supposed to walk your dog before you come in to keep the area clean, but accidents happen.  So, once or twice isn’t that big of a deal.  But Molly probably went to the bathroom 7 or 8 times.

And the whole time, everyone was looking and staring and pointing and whispering at Chris.  What a terrible pet owner!  But it wasn’t Chris’ fault.  It was all Big Molly.  It was like she had been saving up for the entire week we’ve been here and now that we were out in front of everyone, she was ready to let it all go.

I was dying laughing.

Dying.

Couldn’t stand up straight.

Couldn’t catch my breath.

Chris spent the entire time we were there acting as a human pooper scooper.  And I know we probably should have taken Molly out of there, but she really needed to run.  She’s been cooped up in a house for a week with no fenced in backyard.  Girlfriend needed to run!

And apparently use the bathroom, too.

The whole time this was happening, Lucy was sitting next to the fence calmly, staring at Big Molly in complete disgust.  It was the look that said, “You are an animal and I can’t believe you are my sister.”

And then Molly would crap again.

I think that Chris ended up running around more than Molly did as he followed her around with plastic bags.

The moral of this story is that even if you have a fenced in backyard, you should still teach your dog to go to the bathroom on a leash because you never know when your house will be broken into and you’ll have to relocate temporarily to your parent’s house where there are no fenced in backyards and walking on a leash is the only option.  And in that situation, you will desperately want your dog to be able to go to the bathroom on a leash.

If you doubt this in any way, talk to my husband.  The Human Pooper Scooper.

Everyone that is, except Lt. Dan.

Our new fish, Lt. Dan, is turning out to be a royal pain the rear.  Apparently, I have the only demanding beta fish known to man.  From what I can tell, Lt. Dan is upset that he has been moved.  Though, I cannot fathom why.  He has been relocated to the kitchen table in my parent’s kitchen, right next to the bright, big front window.  Who wouldn’t want to sit in the warm sunshine?

Apparently, Lt. Dan.

He is none too happy about this situation.  I know this because he just keeps laying on the rocks in the bottom of his bowl.  There is no swimming, no frolicking, no smiling, no singing.  He just lays there on those rocks.  All.  Day.  Long.

And before you ask (Chris…), yes, he is alive.  When I poke him with the bamboo shoot in his bowl, he suddenly comes to life, thrashing and splashing around as if I have just stabbed him in the heart with a toothpick.  But after his little protest, he drifts to the bottom of his bowl again and resumes his stance on those rocks.

Well, not a stance really.  Cause Lt. Dan ain’t got no legs, remember?

He also seems to be protesting the new fish food we have here.  In the hustle and bustle of the move, I left Lt. Dan’s fish food at our house.  Which isn’t a huge deal because my parents have beta food at their house, too, so I have just been feeding him that.  But I guess Lt. Dan is a food snob now because he is completely opposed to the flakes he now gets, instead of the pellets he had at home.  Perhaps I should go out and buy him the food he prefers, but I’m refraining from that on principle now.

Lt. Dan, you are a fish.  Act like it.  You will eat what I give you or you will die.  Now, get up off those rocks and EAT THESE FISH FOOD FLAKES!

I’m not really that mean to him.  Actually, I’m being overly nice to him, given his awful attitude these days.  He sits right next to my computer and so even as I write this post I am talking to him, soothing him, pointing things out to him.  And yet, he lays there.  On those rocks.  Ungrateful like.

Lt. Dan better get his act together and start swimming around or something here very soon.  Dude’s here to entertain Bean.  And even Bean knows that laying on rocks is not the way he wants to spend a day.

Maybe we should strap him to the back of the golf cart and take him for a joy ride.  That always seems to lift Bean’s spirits.

In fact, their friendships are so tight that somehow all three girls managed to convince three different boys to marry them within a few months of each other!

That’s Michelle (the bride) on the left, my sister in the middle, and Evan on the right.

Michelle’s wedding was beautiful.  Both Ginny and Evan were bridesmaids (of course) and so they spent the day at the salon getting ready together.

This is Ginny’s hair.  Isn’t that gorgeous?!?!

But as pretty as I always think my sister is, it was Michelle who really stopped the show.  Which is exactly how it should be on your wedding day.  Wasn’t she a beautiful bride?

What I loved most about Michelle on her wedding day was that she had two something’s borrowed.  She wore the earrings that my sister wore on her wedding day…

…and she wore Evan’s veil from her wedding day.

I just thought that was the sweetest thing.  And as they all came down the aisle, one right after the other, I smiled as I thought how wonderful it was that these women were still standing side by side after all these years.

Michelle lives in Australia now, where she met her husband, Max, while backpacking for a year just after college.  I know my sister misses her more every day and being that far apart is really hard for them.  But even that kind of distance hasn’t diminished their friendship.  They Skype, they email, they send packages, and whenever there is the chance, they visit in person.

To me, that is true friendship.  The kind that can withstand anything.  I’m glad my sister has that in Michelle and Evan.  And I’m so happy to have had a front row view of such a friendship.  They are wonderful, strong women and I couldn’t be happier for them that they now get to experience their next big adventure as wives together.

After the break in last weekend, we packed up basically our entire house except for the furniture and went to stay with my parents.  It has been so nice to be here and to feel safe and secure while we make some decisions, instead of making them out of fear or in haste.  The only part that is a little tricky is that it is about an hour and a half drive into Orlando every day for Chris to work and last week, Bean Man and I had lots to take care of, so we were making the trip almost every day, too.  That part is no fun at all, but it’s just part of the arrangement right now and it could be much worse.

The first thing we had to do was figure out the living situation.  We had been holding off on moving because we really couldn’t afford anywhere that was much better than where we were without me having a job.  Which is why we hadn’t moved before.  But, we decided that job or no job, we had to move so we started looking around right away for somewhere else.  Turns out there were some options, but not great ones and though it was frustrating, we were just happy that we had other places to go.

And then, lo and behold, my oldest friend in the whole wide world, Sarah, called me last Tuesday.  She and her husband are both teachers and she told me that her school was looking for someone to teach a class.  Like the Saint that she is, she got me an interview on Wednesday.  After the interview, of course, I headed up to Sarah’s classroom to tell her all about it and as I’m sitting there gushing about some of my answers, in walks the person who interviewed me and she offered me the job.  Right there.  On the spot.

Prayer.  Answered.

I can’t be positive, but I may have started crying when she told me.  But I’m not sure because I was screaming so loudly I wasn’t able to concentrate on my tear ducts.  I can’t tell you where or what I’m teaching because of all that internet-psycho-mumbo-jumbo-safety-stuff, but I can tell you that I am so excited about it.  I’ve never taught before, but I really think I might be good at it.  School starts today, but there is a sub in my class until my temporary teaching certificate comes through.  And actually, that in itself is another blessing because I’ll probably start teaching in a couple weeks which would give us time to move in to our new place.  Commuting every day from two hours away would be really difficult since I have to be there so early in the morning and this way I have time to move before I actually start.

The next task we had to tackle last week was a daycare for Bean Man because he would be really irritated if I hid him under my desk all day.  And – wowza! – did we luck out!  We found a daycare very close to my school that is WONDERFUL!  I want to go there.  It is so clean and bright and all the kids looked happy and healthy and like they were having a really good time.  In Bean’s class, there were 6 other children and they were all his size!  It was a class of kids just like him!  And they were all sitting in little bitty chairs having a snack when we toured the facility, just like little people!  As we stood there, the two teachers helped them CLEAN UP THEIR OWN SNACK (can you imagine Bean cleaning up after himself?  I cannot.) and then move over to circle time where they all sat like little gems in a circle on the floor and watched as the teacher read a book to them.  All I could think was, “Bean is going to have MANNERS!!!!”  Seriously, I thought I had died and gone to daycare heaven.

Prayer.  Answered.

The cost of this daycare is about what we paid in Connecticut, which is a little pricey for this area.  But with my new job, we are able to pay it and we think it is totally worth the extra cost.  I really think Bean is going to love it there and it will be easier for me to go back to work knowing he’s in such a friendly place.

The last piece of the whole puzzle is a house.  With our income more than doubling since I now have a job, we were finally able to look in neighborhoods and at homes that we had imagined us living in all along.  Nothing huge, but nice, clean houses in safe, family-friendly neighborhoods.  And boy did we luck out!  We found a really great house in an older suburb of Orlando that is absolutely perfect.  It isn’t too big, but is comparable to the size of our house in Connecticut which means that – holy moly – we’ll be able to unpack completely for the first time in six months!  And the best part is that the neighborhood is full of families with kids playing outside, people walking dogs, and mothers strolling down sidewalks with their babies.

That’s right.

I said sidewalks.

Prayer.  Answered.

Now, I realize that these things might not be that big of a deal to anyone, but to our family who has lived in the ghetto for the past six months, sidewalks and kids playing outside are HUGE.  We put in our application to rent the house last week and we are hoping to hear this week if we got the house.  If so, we would move in Labor Day weekend and, hopefully, I’d start teaching the week after.

All in all, it’s been a pretty exciting time for our family this past week.  We went from the worst possible situation to the best possible situation in about three days.  I can’t even begin to tell you the roller coaster of emotions we’ve been through.  But through it all, Chris and I have continued to stay positive and have kept talking to each other.  Usually during the day, so much was going on that we wouldn’t really have time to talk too much.  Mostly just checking in with each other and updating the other on things that were happening.  But at night before we went to bed, we’d talk through things.  We’d plan, we’d worry, we’d squeal, but mostly, we’d laugh.  And it was just a reaffirmation to me that I had married the right person.  There’s no one else that could go through something like this with me more perfectly that Chris and I’ve never been more happy to have married my best friend.

And now, if you’ll excuse me, I have to go drag my best friend out of bed so he can go to work and bring me home a paycheck.

Best friends are really awesome when they bring home paychecks.

There just aren’t enough words to thank you all so very much for your kind comments, emails, Facebook messages, tweets, snail mail, offers of money and printers and computers and DVD players and cameras and all the things in between.  Your outpouring of love, support, and encouragement have made such a dark time much brighter.  It is easy to forgive the bad in the world when there is clearly so much good in it.

Chris, Bean, Big Molly, Lucy, and I are at my parent’s house, filling their clean, quiet home with dirty diapers, bowls of kibble, and lots of noise.  But they don’t seem to mind in the least.  Every need we have had during this ordeal they have met before we even had to ask.  I don’t know what we would do without them.

I haven’t blogged this week because I have been spending some extra time with my family, especially Bean Man.  Though he doesn’t seem to be having any trouble adjusting to all this chaos around him, I can’t help but worry that this time of transition is going to do some deep permanent damage and turn him into a serial killer later in life.  So, to ward that off we are reading lots of books, working lots of puzzles, playing lots of games, singing lots of songs, and watching lots of PBS.  If Sid the Science Kid can’t save you from your serial killer within, who can?

I’m also taking this time to get my own head on straight.  We have lots of things happening right now – all very good things! – and it is a lot for me to take in and adjust to myself.  The break in was just the push we needed to get things moving in our lives and we are in the process of finding a much better house and I am happy to report that I have had TWO job offers this week!  So, I’m taking time to sort through these things and make some decisions for our family.

Next week, I’ll be back with lots of exciting news for you.  But until then, please know that your thoughts and prayers have meant the world to me and we are seeing the effect of them on our lives this week.  Thank you for being kind, generous, loving, empathetic people.  Your warmth has radiated off the computer screen and wrapped its arms around our family.  I will always remember that.

With deepest appreciation,
Katie