Been a year!

Well, it's now been a year since we've been in our house. Time flies--not that it heals all wounds. :-)

It took us forever to get into our house. The loan process was a bear--we were using an out of town co-signer; our mortgage broker was non-helpful; and we had trouble finding an older home that would pass the inspections. When we finally found our home, we put an offer in February, and didn't close until MAY. LOOOONNNNGGG time.

Regardless, it was totally worth the wait.

Here are somethings that i have loved about our house:

I love the yard. We have a 1/2 acre property with fruit trees, grapes, a garden, and a nice big flat open area we call the football field. We are conveniently located in the center of the yard, so that neither of our neighbors next to us or behind us are very close. We live on a nice, quiet street that is right in between to the elementary school (ie. park!) and the lake. So we have some fun places to walk to. We have an apricot tree, 3 apple trees, 2 cherry trees, grapes...plus, lilacs, roses, and hollyhock. We have big, giant, towering pine trees and the biggest juniper you've ever seen. We have some cool climbing vines which i just love the look of on our cottage style home.

We have a great big front room with lots of windows-the biggest of which are kind of bay style. It has a pretty wood floor and an awesome wood stove. It's got a corner perfect for holding a christmas tree.

The kitchen is a color I wouldnt' have chosen on my own, but it turns out i like it and it's bright and open. Plenty of room. Our stove is ancient, but has two ovens--which we don't use often, but is still nice to have!! It also has a pancake/bacon griddle on the stove top....how could i not mention a built in place for bacon!

We have this awesome big laundry/mud room. It's huge, and a great place to put...everything. :o) Ryry always makes fun of me for all my terms for this room depending on what i'm talking about...it's either the pantry, laundry room, mud room, or storage room. I don't even realize i'm saying it.

We have a big cold storage downstairs in the basement, and a nice place to stack wood piles. I didn't think i'd want wood in the house, but it turns out that it's warmer than trudging through snow to get it. :)

We have a cool stairway that leads up to a big area that i've made into a reading corner. It's big enough for a recliner and a book case, and it's where i read to the kids at night, and it's a place i escape to read, as well.

The kids have their own rooms that are totally them. Boy's has a snake, a map, lots of room for books, is covered with rocks, and is his color--orange. (yeah, we painted it that way and i'm fine with that now!) Girl's is pink and girly and pretty with a canopy and sheer curtain entrance and dollhouse.

We have an extra room that is also multipurpose...it's a guest room, a toy storage, andrew's homework desk, and now contains the skeeball machine andrew got for his birthday. There is a big closet up there that has random toys in it, but could be organized into something great. Heck, it's even big enough to be like a craft room or something useful. :)

We only have one bathroom (i'm ok with that! only one toilet to clean!!) but it ha a big fat clawfoot tub. I LOVE this tub. One of the things we looked at when we were home shopping was the tubs. This tub=mommy time. Mommy time=good.


Kind of long and kind of boring. But at my one year anniversary, i'm just feeling grateful. :)

Mothers Day present

First of all, i need to say that I love my son very much, and i realize that he probably did not realize that he broke my heart.

But....for mothers day, his teacher had him make up a little book for me. So cute! It was an "interview" with him, asking him different questions--such as: "What does your mom do to make you laugh..." to which he answered "Tickle me". Which is great.

However, as i read more into the book, i came to realize that i don t get to see my kids enough. Want proof?

Under things my mom always says to me. "Go to bed".
If my mom was a superstar, it would be for: "Working."
and, most heartbreaking of all....things my mom and i do together: "Nothing".

He did not leave that page blank, he actually wrote: "Nothing".

Now, i realize that work takes a lot of out of me--time wise (obviously), and stress wise. But for him to say that we do nothing together just made me cry.

I know he didn't mean that, but i have to wonder where my priorities are. I want to be a better mom for my boy. I just don't know that i can do anything about it. I want to be home for him, but i have to work. I don't know, maybe i can try to get one afternoon a week off early or something. I just cant handle having to see that page in my head every day when i sit down at my computer.

I DO THINGS! I play games, we read books, i buy things on a whim for them. We randomly went to a movie on a school nite. We watch survivor together. We go on hikes, and (weather barring) go camping as often as we can. I know that we DO THINGS TOGETHER. I just am obviously somehow not giving him the impression that he is more important to me than work is.

Anyway, that s all. I am frustrated and sad, and need to make some changes. But at least i realize now, not 20 years from now looking back.