Finding a way to complain about everything

Moving is a lot like childbirth – you forget how horrible it was the first time around until it’s too late to avoid it the second time. Plus, we’re trying to find renters for our current home, which is kind of tricky because a) I’m a slob; b) we’re in the middle of packing; and c) we have a dog we can’t let out of the house unsupervised (even in our fenced yard) for another few days. The house is a mess. A hot mess.

Not only that, but I’m taking two hybrid classes for my library program. Hybrid means exactly what it sounds like: it’s a combination of online and in person classes. I’m having trouble keeping up with the online portion because things are pretty crazy around here. I’m working part time at Barnes & Noble, and I’m also volunteering with the kids at a reading/literacy camp 3 days a week. I sort of went from bored out of my mind to crazy out of my mind in about 60 seconds.

Meanwhile, back at the new house, the washer hookup is not quite right in the laundry room, which we discovered when we were getting ready to have the washer installed. Then the washer arrived damaged, of course, but we still don’t know quite what to do about the laundry hook up situation. The garage door stopped working last night along with the yard lamp in front of the house. Weird. Just weird. I’m hoping when I meet the builder at the house tomorrow we can straighten out some of these weird things.

Moving Day

Moving day is quickly approaching. I’ve got all sorts of lists going, but the lists won’t make moving the furniture or packing up books any easier. It’s starting to feel more real than it did a week ago, but I still can’t imagine living anywhere but in this overcrowded house.

Murphy won’t be moving with us. Remember that nervous little rescue dog we adopted in April? The one who never quite warmed up to Mark? The same one who would growl whenever Mark entered the room? Well, this past Sunday, Murphy bit Mark in three places requiring stitches. Mark is okay – a little bruised and raw, but the pain pills help :). The wonderful director at the rescue place said she has a place for Murphy and will welcome him back as soon as the rabies quarantine has passed. That will probably be on June 9th or 10th.

Mark was trying to leash Murphy as he let the dog out of the crate. Murphy obviously felt threatened and just started biting. The ironic thing is that Mark was trying to leash Murphy so that he would be able to keep the dog near him and overcome the fear of being in the same room with him. Good intentions. We all know where those lead.

I’m heartbroken that this happened – that Mark got hurt and that we can’t keep Murphy. All around it’s a pretty sucky situation.

More Pictures

The End Is In Sight

We are nearing the end of the whole process! Next week we will walk through with the builder and make a final punch list, so I’ll take pictures while everything is still beautiful and clean before we move in.

Meanwhile, I’m completely overwhelmed with the prospect of packing things up over here. It’s a huge job to cull through the crap we’ve accumulated over the years, and let’s be honest: I’m kind of a slob. We will be renting out our current house, which requires me to take pictures of the best features of the house in order to list it online. So I have to clean up everything (while I attempt to cull through all the crap) to take pictures, which explains perfectly why I am sitting here blogging instead of facing the music.

Recently we rescued a dog – Murphy- from a local shelter. He is definitely a rescue in the sense that we have a lot of re-training to do. Plus, we’ve been spoiled with Millie. She is such a good dog for our family, and I guess I assumed getting a second dog would would just double that. I think we’ll get there. Murphy has made good progress over the last month or so, but he is still skittish and timid especially around Mark.

It doesn’t quite feel real yet. The whole moving thing. I will miss our neighbors over here a lot. Having cool neighbors makes friendships easier to maintain. But I am so looking forward to having a screened porch. And bigger closets. And a storage room that does not involve pull-down rickety stairs. And a laundry room on the same floor as the bedrooms.

Big Future dot com

What a crazy weekend. In the last five days, we visited three colleges in three different states. I’m exhausted.

Bryn Mawr was our first stop. Sarah and I drove up on Friday night in order to attend the information session and campus tour on Saturday morning. We stayed at the Wyndham Alumnae house, which was really cute but reminded me of Aunt Tillie’s house in more ways that one. Or two. Or even ten –  but there were no bats so I’m not complaining. Saturday morning, we traipsed around the campus (through the cold and gusty wind) with about six other prospective students. The tour groups were small, with the tour guides trying to elicit information from the high school visitors. It was evident to me that Bryn Mawr cared about the experience everyone has on their campus regardless of their status as a student. Some interesting fun facts: Bryn Mawr is one of the Seven Sisters Colleges created when women were not allowed to attend Ivy League colleges; their school song is sung in Greek; Bryn Mawr is one of 83 colleges in the area, so the fact that it’s a small women’s college doesn’t limit the social opportunities.

After our tour of Bryn Mawr, Sarah and I drove to the Amtrak station in Philadelphia. One word about driving in the city trying to find parking: AVOID. We caught the train to New York, where we met up with Mark and AJ. We stayed at a very touristy hotel on Times Square (which I never, ever, ever want to do again), but we chose that one specifically for its location to the Metro. We used the subway to go everywhere from the World Trade Center Memorial all the way to Barnard College, so the hotel location was of more importance than its other clientele (who were mostly noisy).  After visiting the Memorial, we found a fun pizza place on Stone Street in the Financial District. I think we all want to go back there at some point to try all the other cute little restaurants located there.

Barnard is also one of the Seven Sisters Colleges. It is also one of the four undergraduate colleges of Columbia University though it maintains its status as an independent women’s college. Barnard seemed like an older, more worldly sister to Bryn Mawr, existing in less of a bubble of safety (probably because it’s in the city). Our tour group was much bigger. Much bigger. The visitors were divided into two groups, with probably 10 or 15 girls (not counting parents) in each group. It felt a bit more intimidating.

Next, we hopped on the train back to Philadelphia to pick up our car and drive to Washington D.C.. We stayed at the Georgetown Inn, which was much quieter than the Crown Plaza on Times Square. It is a quaint hotel, but not as “charming” as the Wyndham Alumnae house at Bryn Mawr. We ate dinner in the hotel restaurant and then went to bed since we needed to be at Georgetown’s admissions office at 9am the next morning for an information session and tour. AJ and I sat this one out. The tour group was so large that we decided not to take up space meant for prospective students. We walked back to the hotel and waited for Mark and Sarah (okay, so I took a nap). From their reports, Georgetown felt a lot like Barnard than Bryn Mawr, which makes sense because Georgetown is larger and also in a city.

We’re back home now, trying to process all of it. Or at least trying to let Sarah process it since she is the one who will be making the final decision. We will probably visit a couple of other colleges over the summer – one being Kenyon College in Ohio, and the others having yet to be determined.

Can’t think of a decent title

Next week is Spring Break, so Sarah and I are going to visit a few colleges. Mark and AJ will meet up with us along the way so we can celebrate Easter. It will be fun to see what the different colleges offer and what appeals to Sarah. I have to admit that while I am really excited about what the future holds for Miss Smartypants, I would be totally okay with her choosing to live at home and go to a local school. I like hanging out with both of my kids, and I never really want them to leave.

The house is moving right along. The plumbing, electrical, and hvac has been installed, so next (I think) will be the tile, drywall, and flooring. Probably a few county inspections along the way, too.

House Pictures:

March Madness

So here’s what has been going on since last month. We’ve had a few setbacks with snow, but things seem to be moving right along. The house will probably be entirely framed next week. In the meantime, AJ’s lacrosse season starts, Sarah will take the SAT, and we will continue pestering her about college visits.

Fun Stuff! #sarcasm

The New House, or How I Jumped Back in to Blogland

You know that saying that true friends can go months and months without talking to one another, but when they meet up again, it’s like no time has passed? Well, yeah….. this is like that, right? Maybe you’re wondering how I have time to blog these days. I’m not working right now. At least, not in a classroom. I think I finally admitted to myself that I was becoming a burned out shell of a teacher. It was getting harder and harder to stay positive about the state of education in general, and I’m absolutely heartbroken at the devastation all this over-testing has caused our students. But that’s a tangent for a different day. I’m switching gears and I’m getting my license in School Librarianship. Yes – that’s really a thing. It’s not the same as getting a degree in library science, although there are elements of that in some of the classes I’m taking. It’s more about making the library a nexus of information and learning in the school. Kind of like the kitchen: the heart of any home.

Speaking of homes, we’re going to be moving this summer – probably end of June. We’re hoping to see exhibit A transformed into exhibit B over the next few months.

I’m planning to document the progress as we go. So far, things have been quite smooth. We’ve chosen a builder we believe is excellent. The property is in the same school district, so we aren’t moving that far away. Maybe 10 minutes. We will have a ton more space, and if I have my way, exponentially more storage space. First thing I started doing was designing closets.

So that’s really the most exciting news I have to share around here. Other than that, the dishes still need to be done, the dog needs to be bathed, and all I’m still in my pajamas.

On my nightstand….

well, it’s actually more like “on my nook” because the tower of books was getting ridiculous. But you get the idea. Here’s what I’ve been reading lately: 

 The Bell Jar – Sylvia Plath

Reading this is kind of like going to Wal Mart when you feel bad about yourself. “Wow,” you say to yourself. “Things could be a whole lot worse. I could be like that!”

Sylvia Plath’s depression was much more devastating and debilitating than mine has been. She has an elegant way of describing her depression, though. So elegant, in fact, it’s hard to believe the depths of crazy to which she plummets simply because her prose is so beautiful. Clear, crisp, interesting. From TBJ, I then started reading a couple of biographies about Ms. Plath. Truly a tragic character, that one. 

 Persepolis – Marjane Satrapi

This is an autobiographical graphic novel (comic book style) about a Persian girl’s experiences trying to get out of Iran in the 1980s. I found her story very compelling and also confusing. There is so much about the Middle East that I just don’t understand. 

 Tomatoland: How Modern Industrial Agriculture Destroyed Our Most Alluring Fruit– Barry Estabrook

Pretty much the title is the summary.  Over the last several years, tomatoes have become less and less appealing to me – and now I know why.  Needless to say, I’ve started six of my own tomato plants out on my deck.

 

Cooking In The New Kitchen

I’ve been having some fun in my new kitchen, baking and cooking and stuff. I have even been doing the dishes before I go to bed because this kitchen is so glorious in the morning. 

– homemade pizza crust, garlic knots, and pretzels 

-spinach artichoke dip

– lemon poppy seed muffins

– the perfect chocolate chip cookies 

-red velvet cookies 

I had pretty much given up on baking because my old oven was so unpredictable and, frankly, useless. Most of our meals ended up being skillet dinners or things I could make without having to do anything more than heat in the oven. But now, with this fancy shmancy technology called “electricity”, I can bake just about anything. 

Who knew?