Alas, the sun has gone and more rain is expected. Have I mentioned how over the rain I am? It seems as if it will never dry out around here. The ark jokes are not even funny anymore.

The new house is lovely. I even bought some plants for the yard. Yes, it seems it’s my year to garden. Maybe. I find I am willing to dig in the dirt about every five years. So as soon AS THE SUN RETURNS I will be digging. I hope it goes well since this will probably be it for many years.

The plants came from Flower Days at the Public Market. Somehow I’ve never attended this flower filled event. Unbelievable I know! I’ve lived in this area for about TWENTY YEARS… my God, am older than dirt… and never managed a trip downtown for the event. It of course it was cold and rainy on Sunday. The good news was it wasn’t very crowded because of this. Even without the crowds I got very overwhelmed and probably would have left without buying anything but luckily I brought a friend who kept me calm. We did a walk through to survey the goods and then went back and purchased what we wanted. Let me just say, that was the perfect way to handle it. One, no carrying heavy pots around and two, better to price things and narrow down before actually purchasing. Still, by the end of the walk through I was completely overwhelmed and not sure what to buy. I had to refocus on what I originally wanted and then picked up a few annuals at the booths I was already buying from.

So what did I get? Well, the big purchase was two gorgeous Rhododendrons in the traditional light purple. They had some lovely maroonish ones but I decided to stick with the traditional that reminded me of my youth (so important in us ancient ones). I picked up a bunch of basil, mint and coriander. Also got some gerber daisies, poppies and begonias. Why have I never taken notice of begonias before? They were amazing! So lovely. Maybe once I get them in the ground or the rain stops falling I’ll take some photos to put up here.

In other news, I’ve been baking tons with my new kitchenaid (thanks honey for the Mother’s Day gift!!!) and new double oven. The kids are thrilled with the baking of course because it means yummy treats for them. The scale however is very unhappy with me. Well, too bad scale. I’m having fun, enjoying homemade treats and making people smile.

I’ve also gotten even more crunchy. We’re still composting and recycling of course but now our garbage pickup takes even more recycling then the old one. We are down to about 2 – 13 gallon kitchen bags a week. For six people! And even then, one of them is usually not full. Also, there are still always extra people and kids around. I was a little worried that the kids would stop showing up now that we live further from school but that has not been the case. I’m so glad. I love having people hanging out everywhere. Makes me happy. (Plus, more excuses to bake!)

Oh, and on the crunchy front I’m going natural with cleaners and a steam mop to go along with the cloth napkins, hand towels and old rags instead of paper towels and napkins. I’m thinking I’ll be making my own laundry and dish detergent soon. I know! Who am I?

The boxes are slowly getting unpacked. So far my cake pans and measuring cup seem to have gone missing in the move but those I can definitely replace. The living room hasn’t been touched. Except the other night I hung a bunch of pictures on the nails left behind from the previous owners. Then I made Jeff take them all down because they were giving me anxiety. Yes, he agrees, I’m a freak. I have no idea why but I couldn’t stand them hanging just randomly like that. I prefer them in a box until I have a plan of some sort.

The bedrooms are mostly done. The kitchen is done. The rest? Well, we’re getting there. I haven’t even started painting yet! I did manage to change the hardware in the kitchen though. It made it so much calmer and updated looking.

Sorry about the poor quality of the photos. The one that is probably the closest to how they look in real life is the bottom right. So the top two? Shiny worn brass that came with the house. NOT my style at all. Bottom two? Antique pewter. Ahhhh, anxiety gone. And the change also totally toned down the oak color. Looks much more mellow now. Now, tell me what you think…

In other goings on, I’m not a fan of swyping long passages on my phone. It annoys me. This is why the grand idea I would blog from my phone all the time hasn’t really worked out. Until today that is. This is what the waiting room with children has driven me to.

On the house front… we haven’t had a single person look at our house in forever. Apparently the market is at a stand still in our area. No new homes on the market and no purchases. I’m hoping the weather will warm up and things will get going.

In the mean time I’ve been looking at home and design sites and blogs. I am not very bright when it comes to these things. See right now the thing to do is paint your woodwork white, paint your cabinets in the kitchen a light color, actually paint anything you’ve got – furniture, cupboards, etc. White is very in right now. So what happens in a few years when natural woodwork is back in vogue? You know it’s going to happen. It always does. And how in the hell does someone with 4 boys and a bunch of their friends live in a white house? Boys are dirty yo. The other thing I’m finding is spray painted ornate mirrors and chandeliers. Do people not have dust and cobwebs in their homes? Am I the only one that just sees more stuff to dust?

I’m not so sure I’m cut out for this decorating thing.

As you may have surmised from previous posts, we are planning on putting our house on the market. We are hopping to sell in time to put an offer in on a house about 2 miles away. It’s a move from the village to a country setting. As much as I’ve said I don’t want to live in the country, I suddenly want to. Hopefully, it’s not just the fact that I’m overloaded with socialization. With the constant sports since March I’ve been a bit burned out. I love the social season but I also love my winter hibernating. Unfortunately, that doesn’t look like it’s going to happen this year. Tyler joined the ski team. Ugh! Not only will I have to attend meets? races? whatever they’re called, I will have to stand in the cold and they are all at least 30 minutes away.

If you’re my friend on Facebook you hopefully saw the video of the talent show. Dylan and his band played a song he wrote. The 3 guitarists are all 12 and in 7th grade, the drummer is 13 and in 8th grade. I was mightily impressed. I see this as the beginning of a lifetime of concerts in my future. I may try to post it here later. I’m so proud.

Another thing I’m insanely proud of is the amount of work Alex and Tyler have put into getting the house ready. They have done everything I’ve asked and I haven’t had to threaten or cajole or anything. They have been heaven-sent. Also, it is nice to have the extra muscle around. I haven’t had to move anything more than a can of paint.

Oh, and thanks for voting. I went with Mushroom bisque for our bedroom.

I think it will give the room a fresh but warm and cozy feel.

I suppose that’s all for now. Have a million things to do!

Today was my first time cleaning up an entire gallon of paint off the floor.

FML.

• I love, love, love Old Navy’s Dreamer jeans. I forgot how wonderful it is to wear jeans that don’t gap in the back. In fact, I want to buy more and just toss out all my other pants.
• I won – Thank you Cursingmama! – a copy of The Mayo Clinic Diet book & journal over at her review blog. I also started it even though it cautions to wait until a good time. The week before Easter is decidedly NOT a good time. As I have mentioned every single year on this blog, my favorite candy in all the world is only available at Easter. The first two weeks (the Lose It! portion) you are suppose to give up sugar. Hahahahaha. Yo, that shit is hard. I’ve done… ok. Not perfect but not nearly as bad as I would have been if I wasn’t doing this. Also? I have to decided to eat as much candy as I want on Easter. For one day. I will be in a sugar coma. Then? I might extend the first 2 weeks for one more. We shall see.
• As anyone who follows me on twitter already knows, I had my annual review yesterday at work and it has been decided I’m full of the awesome. As for a raise, extremely minimal merit raises are being offered up. I for one am glad to have a job. Not that we couldn’t use the money but I’d rather have no one lose their job.
• Found out a friend from high school is in the hospital with an infection around his heart… from twitter. Twitter FTW! (As for the other business on twitter. Suck it, don’t suck it, I’m out of caring. Although, thanks for the entertainment.) As for my friend, I’m seriously worried. He is one of the kindest people I’ve ever met and we just reconnected. Get well Alan!

Child update for the related people and grandparents out there reading – non-related and non-grandparents, do not feel the need to read my annoying gushing. (I must gush when I can because usually I’m just complaining about them):

• Alex played for the Varsity baseball team during a scrimmage the other day. He was not nervous. I was a wreck. He held his own though. It’s his first year catching and he’s doing great but has some stuff to work on. What? I don’t know – see: not informed about sports. Still, the coaches seem to like him and he’s getting the hang of it.
• Tyler made the JV golf team. He’s very excited and we are very proud. Now we need to invest in a membership for him at the local golf course.
• The last parent-teacher conference ever for Dylan was the only one where the teacher had nothing negative to say. Only lovely words were spoken. And his grades are higher than they’ve ever been. Also, it has been agreed by all that Jr. High should be good for him. Apparently letting him almost flunk out last term worked. He’s getting all his homework done at school now. Now if he would just let me cut his hair.
• Zach. What to say about him. He’s a bit sassy. A bit whiny. All brilliant and still adorable. Baseball starts next week.
• The 3 youngest have all signed up for the mini-triathlon again.
• Clearly none of these children are related to me.