The update

OK, so now that I've started the year (belatedly) with a fun post, here's the basic news:
Christmas was nice. December is always busy for me, being a mom, but it was particularly so because I was still trying to settle into a new house and a new routine. By the time it was a few days before Christmas, I was finally enjoying the season. And it was truly lovely here: our neighborhood was beautifully decorated, and in the foggy, hazy half-light of evenings, it was particularly gorgeous. Lights sparkled in the fog and dim and radiated softly. One evening I was walking around the neighborhood, and it felt like I was on a Hollywood soundstage: everything was just so perfectly arranged and lit for the holidays, and there was not a single car on the road (the setup of the neighborhood means there is no through traffic at all, and we're on a cul-de-sac to boot). It was just the pretty neighborhood and little ol' me. I could have broken out in a Christmas carol a la an old-style musical, or spoken a reverent soliloquy. That was a beautiful evening for me. Felt like Christmas.
The one huge difference apart from being in a totally new state and neighborhood was that we couldn't spend Christmas at my mom's house. We've done that for 10 years now, and it was a little weird not to be there. But we had our own new Christmas day and spent time together and then with the in-laws and cousins. It was quite nice and laid-back.
The day after Christmas, I took the girls to the Bay Area to visit Marce's aunt and grandma. It was a good opportunity to spread a little more Christmas cheer to some ladies who appreciated the visit.
The girls had a full three weeks off of school, so the week after New Year's, I drove them all up to Utah. We took my niece Dalessi, who's a junior in HS, with us. The drive was long and tiring, but beautiful and scenic. I wasn't at all looking forward to the driving part, seeing as how I had to do it all on my own, but I was eager to show my daughters and niece completely new territory. I've seen it but they never have: all those mountains, the great rocks and desert areas, the formations, the cities. Las Vegas was our halfway point, and they were all duly impressed with its garishness. We were able to take the time to drive down The Strip on the trip back, and it was fun to listen to all the exclamations of wonder. Cami thought it was cooler than New York City, and she did quite enjoy the Big Apple. She has asked me several times recently if we're going to get to go back to NYC anytime soon. Uh, sorry, no.
They were also fairly impressed with the scenery, at certain points. Dalessi was in awe of the mountains in Utah, and she took tons of photos. That was fun. I'd see a particularly nice view and look over and see her pulling out her camera again.
The big thing was the snow. There was quite a lot of it up there. Hey, it was January and Utah. And it snowed the day we drove up there, so there was a nice fresh big pile of it everywhere. When we arrived at my friend's house in Pleasant Grove after midnight Utah time, it took me half an hour to park my van on the uphill slope of the driveway. Here I am, wearing slip-on clogs and no jacket, at midnight in Utah, shovelling some snow and watching my friend in PJs toss salt on the driveway. It was a little crazy. I was tired and a bit punch-drunk. And then Charlotte didn't go to sleep until 2:30 a.m. Fun night!
But the girls got to play in the snow a bit, as best-equipped as I could get them with sneakers and gloves. It was refreshing to see snow on Cami's dark hair after she got hit by a snowball.
I pointed out to them all that as pretty as the snow was, give it a few days -- and then a few months-- and see how ugly the dirt-filled snowdrifts everywhere would be. And sure enough, before we left, they were able to see what I meant; there were piles of snow stained gray by road soot all on the sides of the roads and parking lots. That's the flip side to the sparkling virgin snow layered so beautifully on the mountains and people's lawns. But cool nevertheless!
I toured them around my old haunts at BYU (go Cougars!!) and Temple Square. I was absolutely thrilled to do so. I would have enjoyed having Marce along to help, but since he had to work, I was still OK doing it myself. I was a little worn out and strung out after it all, but I was SO excited to show them everywhere that had meant so much to me. I had so many defining experiences at college and on my mission that being able to share those with my beautiful, sweet daughters was a real treat and one I'd looked forward to for a while.
Now they're back in school and I'm mostly recovered from the trip. The weather is nice here, and they all have bicycles now and can run outside and play and bicycle in the cul-de-sac. It's great to be able to send them outside. It's been in the 50s and 60s, no snow in sight except for the tops of the mountains off in the distance. We've finally had some rain, which is most welcome because come spring and summer, it will be as dry as the Sahara. I'm definitely soaking it up while I have the chance. I am not looking forward to summertime. The girls will probably enjoy it, however, because they'll be able to swim in the pool. Cousins will most likely be spending a lot of time at our house, too, and we'll have a pool full of kids. That's going to be a whole other post, though, in a few months' time. For now, I'm enjoying some fog and rain.

First, the funnies

Since it has been two months since my last blog, and it is now a new year (although almost three weeks in), I thought that posting my little collection of funnies would be a good start. Here goes.
First, I found this witty little piece on YouTube thanks to a publishing-biz email I subscribe to. Those of you who have tried to get published or know someone who has (if you know me, then there you are...) should find this amusing indeed. Heaven knows I did. Nice work, Macmillan!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NQ78WHpGZ1o
Next, I found a very funny mis-spelling in an article by the Associated Press that ran in the Fresno Bee, which I now subscribe to. It's about cell-phone soap operas that deliver safe-sex messages to women at risk for HIV, etc. Interesting, sure. But what's hilarious is this quote: "'Women who watched the first pilot (cell-phone video) were getting upset, angry, exacerbated,' said nurse educator Rachel Jones." Notice anything wrong there? I hope you do. I sure did. I think what Jones said (and what the stupid reporter heard and wrote down wrong, and then a number of stupid, rushed editors didn't even notice) was that they were "exasperated." Good one. And what's even funnier is that it just doesn't surprise me that no one along the AP food chain caught this. A good copy editor is getting harder and harder to find.
Next is just a plain funny story run in a brief in the Bee. I found a slightly longer version on the Deseret News site. And here is the link:
http://www.deseretnews.com/article/1,5143,705277512,00.html
And there you have it for the funny news of the day. Good night and good luck and all that jazz.

Thanks be!

It is now the day before Thanksgiving, and I am astonished at how time has flown these past weeks. We moved into our very own house in California on Nov. 1, and since then we have been steadily unpacking, cleaning, painting; hanging curtain rods, towel rods, pictures, etc. and generally staying pretty busy. Our garage is nearly empty of full boxes and we are almost to where we can park a car in there. Just need to get a new remote somehow. We'll have a fence around our pool next week, we have new carpet in the living room, we have a flat-screen TV mounted on the wall in our living room where little fingers cannot reach it, and things are looking good. I cannot express how wonderful it is to walk into my own bedroom, with its own master bath and my very own walk-in closet. I can find my clothes easily and am getting to where I can find bills and other important paperwork and similar stuff pretty easily too. After three-plus months of living out of suitcases and NOT being able to find things very well at all, this is a huge blessing.
We have been warmly welcomed and continue to be warmly supported by the wonderful members of our church family here in the Visalia 2nd Ward of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Their kindness and consideration have been overwhelming.
We still miss our dear friends in Alabama. This is the unfortunate part of moving -- leaving loved ones behind. My one consolation is that we now have the Internet and flat-rate long-distance to stay in touch more easily and inexpensively.
Our girls are adjusting well; Brianna is the oldest and therefore having the hardest time getting settled in to her new school, but I can say from experience that this is simply something that time will solve. In the meantime, it's a bit stinky. She does have a very cool bedroom of her own to enjoy and little things like going to see the new "Twilight" movie with her mom. :)
The weather is finally turning cooler, and I am able to make soups. I love soups. I probably still belong in cooler parts of the country, but as fate would have it, I've ended up in warm locales. As much as I enjoy cooler weather, I admit I do not miss snow.
So in honor of this wonderful holiday, here is a short list of my greatly appreciated blessings (completely abridged and not at all complete, mind you):
1. A husband who is fun, laid-back, nice to be around, helpful, supportive, understanding, cute, sweet, and many more lovely adjectives. We've enjoyed 15 years together.
2. Daughters who are beautiful, fun, delightful, generally obedient, helpful, smart, talented, and very sweet. They amaze me and impress me on a regular basis.
3. Family who are loving and supportive and unfortunately spread out across the continent.
4. Faith in God and knowing he has a plan for me and my life. The gospel that centers around Jesus Christ gives me strength and a foundation for living and has brought all good things in my life.
5. Friends. You know who you are. If you're reading this, bless you! You are
the best. I couldn't have survived this long without you. I have laughed, cried, talked myself hoarse, been comforted, been uplifted because of you. I look forward to all living on the same street in heaven one day.
6. The world around me. It's varied, it's gorgeous. It's amazing and fascinating. I have seen much of it (but not nearly enough yet) and I have been awed by its diversity and beauty.
7. Chocolate. Ice cream. And the corollary: gyms. I actually do enjoy my workouts.
8. Music, art, good films and especially good books.
9. My experiences. The cool places I've been, the things I've done, the memories I carry around with me everywhere.
10. Life. Isn't it amazing?
I have so many things to write but other things to do, but this encapsulates my life recently. It's been down, up, down, down, down, up. But it's there and it's definitely always interesting.

I Tempted Fate and Fate Won, yeahhhh

OK, so I was really stupid to start making arrangements. I was even stupider to write about it. I said I was tempting Fate, didn't I? And I did. We should have closed pretty easily on this house loan on Friday, moved in on Saturday. So Monday afternoon, Tuesday, I get phone calls from the loan guy, saying the underwriters wanted more detailed info. I got up out of my sickbed (where I was hoping to actually SLEEP) and dug through the filing cabinet to find info that might help. Then I logged on to a website. I saved a PDF file and emailed it to the loan guy. Loan guy calls back, saying he got said attachment. They were wondering if I could craft a little letter to go along with that paperwork, explaining more info. Did that. OK, fine. No more nap, baby up. Kids home. No sleep. Picture me, dragging around, lying back in sickbed.
Today, I feel a little better, go to Costco, buy some shelf liner for the cupboards, etc., that I hope to be using in a few days. Yeah, sure. Noon, I email said loan officer. What's the update? Oh, he emails back later, (after a half-hour nap which wasn't nearly enough) the paperwork is all done and good to go, but now the title company is waiting for a really simple piece of paperwork from the bank who's selling the house. You'd think they'd have gotten that ready before now. But no. So we're now waiting on the bank. Ha.
So yeah, I'm starting to fall to pieces. Let's just say I'm glad no one other than some kids and sister-in-law were present to watch my breakdown. I sobbed on the phone to my husband at work, who is now feeling sick too but can't take sick time because, hey, he just started working there 6 weeks ago and hasn't qualified for that quite yet. So he's sounding like Ton Loc. If you know who that is. But a patient or coworker said that's what he sounded like, and yeah, I have to concur, he did sound like Ton Loc. A Filipino one. I blubber for 7 minutes, he listens while treating a patient, and I get off, not feeling any better; in fact, I feel worse for blubbering to him while he's sick AND trying to work. I have no one else to call. Except the satellite company and the TV installation people and the storage facility that's got our stuff in holding, and -- somehow -- all the people who have now committed to help us move on Saturday. I don't even like to think about it.
So, word of advice. Don't tempt Fate. It will always come back and bite you in the you-know-where. And unfortunately, my you-know-where is just bigger than it used to be, thanks to all the stress. My hormones are completely out of whack. I even visited an acupuncturist today, for the first time -- I'm so out of whack that conventional medicine sure as heck isn't doin' it. I've done some alternate work in the past, but today was the first I'd ever had needles stuck in my skin. Not bad. My qi is absolutely sluggish and depleted, and my heartfire or something is hot or ... not sure. But it's all bad. The tip of my tongue is red. My pulse is sluggish. I'm depleted and sluggish. So I got needles stuck in my skin in hopes that one day my qi will be happy and no longer sluggish. Maybe that will lead to less ice cream in and less you-know-what for the Fates to bite.

If we get to move in this weekend, it's going to take the bank sending that piece of paper first thing tomorrow and some moving of mountains by my hardworking real estate agent, Heather. But I could really use a miracle. Everybody, cross your fingers and say your prayers.

Almost there...

So here we are, in California. We've been "living" here for two months, but it's not what I would call fully living. We've really been more in stasis or in suspended animation, so it seems. I've been sitting around waiting for ages. But now it seems that the waiting will end. We will be closing on our house purchase this week and actually moving in this weekend. (Knock on wood -- I don't want to anger the Fates by making such a bold claim...)
I've been getting things scheduled, too. Phone service, satellite, carpet installation, cleaning, etc. So exciting.
I have to note here that I am incredibly pleased, amazed, and heartened by our new ward. Our house is in the Visalia 2nd Ward boundaries, and the members of the Church in 2nd Ward are just about the friendliest, most helpful, warmest people I've seen in one group in a long time. After all we've been through these past months, it makes me feel so good to be welcomed so heartily. When we first attended church in the ward a few weeks ago (before General Conference and Stake Conference), it felt like the people in the ward were jumping over each other practically to say hello to us. And then their youth brought us cookies that week, and now that we're moving, one leader has now told Marce, "Don't worry about making any more phone calls -- we'll take care of it." I cannot express to these people what a difference this makes to me. I am eager to be of service to them once we are settled in and able to do something.
When it all comes down to it, the people in our lives are just the most important 'things' we have. "Stuff" is nice but people are just the best. I cannot say enough what deep feelings of friendship and love and gratitude I have for all the wonderful people who have blessed my life in some way or another. I look forward to one day living in one place where we won't be separated by hours and miles but can easily "stay in touch." Perhaps mansions all in one neighborhood in heaven? So this is my "shout-out" to wonderful friends. If you're reading this, you deserve this kudos. :)
And here's to moving and settling and an end to waiting. For now.

I love to wait... ha ha ha ha

So, betcha thought I'd be done with waiting now, right? Wrong. House is still there, sitting, waiting for us. Closing is still a thing of the future. We're hoping that will be Friday. But that's assuming we can get a few items fixed beforehand, since we're getting an FHA loan. So closing might still be next week.... sigh. We went to Lowe's last week and ordered our beautiful new carpet for the living room and bought paint for all the rooms in the house. It's going to be lovely. We bought a Blu-Ray player and are shopping for the right TV. We've got a good place here in town that's going to mount it on the wall in the living room above the fireplace and get the system all set up for us. The TV and components will all be high above little fingers' reach. We hope. The house is going to be lovely. So exciting. Once we actually OWN it and can get in there and clean and paint and so on. It's going to be a good amount of work, but my fingers are itching to do it. After I'm done with all that painting, etc., my fingers will be curled into a claw for a good month, like they were 2 years ago after all the work we did on our house in Anniston (which is still for sale, by the way, if you know someone there looking for a gorgeous house for a reasonable price...).
Meanwhile, I sit. I wait. I try to keep myself busy, be useful. I bought a beautiful new quilt and shams for Brianna's room, which is going to look awesome. She's lucky enough to be in a room on the first floor with doors that open out onto the patio and backyard. Too bad, Brianna!
We even bought magnetic paint for the girls' rooms. This is a way cool thing. You paint it on the wall, two or three coats as a primer. Then you paint over that with a regular color paint. And the kids can just stick stuff on the wall with magnets, as if it were a giant refrigerator! No nails, no refrigerator overrun with art projects. That's going to be lots of fun.
I have been busy updating my website, Rated Reads. I'm very pleased with how it's coming along. I got good attention from the article run in the Deseret News and online Mormon Times. I've gotten some good contributors, too, so I can get many more reviews on the site now. I just added a blog and RSS feed, too. I'm excited about it. I think it's a great place for people to visit and get ideas of good books to read. I just can't wait to get in my own house and get all my books put up on shelves again! Poor things, they're sitting in boxes.
I also plan to get back to some writing soon. I started a YA book a while back and have been busily thinking on it for a while. Time to get some real writing done.
Here's to waiting...

News at last

OK, so I'm no longer waiting... Well, I'm waiting for different things now. Last Friday we officially found a house. I walked through it on Thursday, put in an offer late that evening (it's bank-owned, naturally) and then got a counter-offer from the bank first thing in the morning, countered back, and then the bank actually -- DRUMROLL, PLEASE -- accepted my offer on Friday afternoon! My real estate agent called that morning with a "are you sitting down?" and then that afternoon with a "I can't believe this!". I had to agree. What with the other two houses that are short-sale/bank-owned not budging at all in all this time, this bank's rapid response and generous acceptance of our counter was astounding -- and nearly miraculous. I felt positively giddy as I pondered the idea of having an actual house to live in sometime in the definitively near future.
The giddiness has eased and increased, alternately, with paperwork to fill out and information to gather, and so on; it has increased as the paperwork has gotten mostly done. Now only a few items remain and I can almost just sit back and wait with happy anticipation to simply move in. That, and shop. Not bad. Gotta find some carpet for the living room and a new HDTV. That will truly be the fun part.
Great news is, we don't have to do much work on it. Eventually, some painting. Some cleaning right away before we move in, of course. The house has a pool, so we'll need a fence right around the pool; there's already a fence around the whole backyard, of course. I would just like to be able to send the girls out to the backyard to play without worrying about the pool situation. So that'll be the next thing.
It's just so thrilling. A house of our own. Five bedrooms, three baths, a pretty neighborhood with lots of trees and established vegetation. A quiet little cul-de-sac tucked away a few streets removed from the main drag. The girls can bike around the neighborhood. Play. I might be able to have some quiet time inside the house while they're out in the California sunshine. Aaahhh. And I think I'll do some relaxing skinny-dipping at night when I am all alone. Just me and quiet, still water. Aaahhh.
My Rated Reads site just got some good publicity this week from an article run about it in the Deseret News' Mormon Times section online. I am thrilled that lots of people have taken a good look through the site and sent emails to thank me for the work I've been doing. I knew when I came up with the idea sometime early last year that it was a really great resource. It just needed some good publicity and word of mouth. Now some readers have emailed saying they got sent a link from their moms or something similar. Now that's what I was looking for. I hope it continues. I am excited about the possibility of having lots of reviews and ratings and plenty of new material all the time for readers who would like clean books to read. So ... life is moving forward. I'm still plenty busy. But I'm not treading water anymore, or pushing a boulder uphill.
Yahooooooo!!!!