Melting ...

I'm melting. And no,it's not cause Dorothy just dumped water on me! I wish... with all this heat, a bucket of water would feel very nice! LOL!
It's so hot here. And I know it's hot in a lot of other places. And some places are even hotter than we are (hugs to all you people who have hotter weather than me). But I was not made to stand 100 degree weather. Yikes. So crazy.
Anyway, so I still want to move. It's been slightly more than a week and I'm ready to go. I keep telling dh that cause he thinks as we get farther and farther from vacation I will change my mind. Or the more I think about it, the more I'll change my mind. Hmmm ... we'll see, but so far, still liking the option of moving.
Nothing else going on here. I did realize the other day I have no language arts for my 6 year old. So, I guess I will be checking out first grade language arts programs for her. But I'm not too worried. I have the reading side covered ... it's the writing side, so it's not like if we started our year tomorrow we would have nothing, kwim?
Speaking of kids, my middle child will be 4 in like a month and half! Holy cow! Where did the time go? I can't believe she will be 4. She has requested a Froggy-themed party. Second was Care Bears. I tried so hard to convince her of care bears, but nope. Her mind is made up. And seeing as she will be 4 soon, I will let her pick and so frogs it will be! I guess she will start her next year of life off hopping!
Babyboy is good. We have a semi-schedule going with him and nights are getting much better. He also taking some food aside from nursing which is helping me feel better. I just couldn't/can't keep up with his demands. He doens't even do a full jar of babyfood a day, so he's not taking a bunch, but maybe 3/4 of the jar and it's enough to tide him over. Although we were given the jars and I dont' really want to have to buy more, so as soon as heat wave passes, I'll be pureeing (really botched that word I think!) my own fruits/veggies for him and trying to get him maybe to do foods with a thicker texture. We'll see - but for now, I'm pretty pleased with where we are with him.
Anyway, that's my happy update for now. I guess the biggest thing is it's still a happy update. I still feel refreshed and able to handle life - which is good, because we tend to be very hectic around here most days!

Wasting time ...

I made a list of all the things I would like to accomplish by roughly Halloween - yes it was a LONG list - and yet, here I sit on the computer wasting time.
Procrastination has been my specialty lately. I have procrastinated on pretty much every little thing and even a few big things that I'm actually quite embarassed about procrastinating on :-( But I don't know, I'm having a hard time actually facing the things i have to do. It seems we are in a period of huge transition and a lot of what I need to do represents change coming or loss of something or gain of something. And the losses are sad - very sad, but the changes and the gains aren't sad. They are just different and well, different scares me. It terrifies me to the point of paralysis. And although I'm kind of speaking figuratively, I'm really not. I mean, I write these lists. I think about doing these things. I want to do these things. I start to do these things. Then I stop because I can find something else to do or something else that should be done first, or that isn't the most important thing so I'll stop that to start this, but this isn't the most important thing so I'll stop this to start the other, etc, etc.
Hopefully though, my HUGE list will be my motivation. I'm calling it my "Fall To Do List" and so hopefully my making such a broad list that spans a few months it will give the ability to do things slowly, in my own way, but yet allow me to finish them and feel a sense of accomplishment. Well I can hope anyway!

Do I or Don't I ...

comment on current news? I haven't really done it in the past, but I don't know ... hmmm ... thinking about this ;-)

Big decisions ahead ...

Well, vacation was so much fun that it might leave more of a lasting impression than just memories and photographs. Dh and I have been talking and talking and talking and talking ... lots of talking lately, about picking up the family and moving to the New Hampshire/Southern Maine area. This would be quite the move and jump for us - going from a Chicago suburb to New Hamshire. Dh doubts my ability to actually survive a move like that, given most of our family (I'd say 90%) is here in the Chicago area. That said, we know that we will probably face a lot of negativity from said family in the area if we were to pick up and move.
But I have to tell you, moving out there seems right to me now and even dh agrees.
We have a lot to think about though - I've never wintered there, and we have a lot to research:

• job market,
• cost of average homes
• homeschooling there,
• doctors,
• dentists,
• will my teaching certificate transfer,
• what is the average income vs. cost of living,
• finding new friends for us and the children,
• what if my dd is in fact dx with something that will require therapy and intervention - can the services be found out there as well
• can I survive without my family close
• how often will we be able to fly back here
• how often will they be able to fly out there
• etc, etc, etc.

That's a lot of things we need to figure out. We also have that we were pretty set on buying the house we are in now if we could. But here's the deal, if we bought this house we would be SO straped for cash that would it be worth it if we had a nice house but had to eat pb&j half the month? I don't know. I'm not sure that dh knows either honestly.
But I tell you what, I am excited at the possibily of moving out there! It excites me. I think this area is just, I don't know, not for me anymore? Anyway ... we'll see what the future holds for us. We should make a decision about by Halloween. If we do move, then we will probably end up parting with lots of our things, so we would want to start trimming then and keep Christmas light if a move is coming in the spring like that!

Back ...

and refreshed.
Last week the family and I had a much needed vacation. It was fabulous and wonderful and full of so many great things (including a lot of new experiences for me as well as the rest of the family).
Let me tell you - this has been one rocky summer for me, for my dh and I, and well we've hit a lot of low points lately. This trip provided a much needed break from the daily grind as well as a good time for dh and I to reconnect.
I am back refreshed, re-energized, and a lot happier than when I left. I am so glad we took this trip (which we almost passed on when it was first discussed).
But we had a wonderful time and I'm back and ready to take on life again! Yeah!
Anyway, more vacation details to come soon I hope! =)

So much ...

to say .. no time to say it! Lots of updates coming after the holiday - I promise! =)
Until then ...
Happy Fourth of July! =)