Well, our sale was a success! We spent all day thursday packing the stuff we want to keep, friday displaying everything we wanted to sell (until 6am sat for me, and Chris stayed up all night), and saturday selling the crap. It was worth it (we made a ton), and it looks like we didn't even put a dent in the stuff. We're going to have a "bag day" on Wednesday where you fill a bag for $X, to get rid of the rest, and then give everything else away Thursday. Then I'll be tricky... I'll pack up bags of stuff that's left, and place an ad on freecycle for "FREE grab bags." People are suckers for that.
Saturday will be our painting party, so if you can and want to help, come over! We'll be providing food and paint fumes. Yay! If you've already volunteered (kayla comes to mind), and we don't have your #, email me or look us up. I'd post the info, but you know... public blog.
Also... if anyone would like to store some stuff (not ours, a friend's stuff), please please let us know! We want it out of here this week. We've been storing it for someone and it's just not practical to do it anymore... there's about 10'x10'x5' of stuff.
Sunday, June 18, 2006
Wednesday, June 14, 2006
Everything's for sale!!
On Saturday we are selling everything we don't absolutely need. And we have a TON of stuff! Please come and look. Everything is "make an offer" to make sure we get rid of everything, and you get a good deal.
Show up from 10am-3pm (or later, if Chris gets the night off) to lighten our load and get cool stuff.
Show up from 10am-3pm (or later, if Chris gets the night off) to lighten our load and get cool stuff.
Cry for HELP!
We just talked to our realtor, and she gave us a list of things to do to make our place sell. Bottom line... WE NEED HELP so bad. We need all of our friends and family. We are desperate. If you feel like doing some charity work in the next 2 weeks, please consider us. We will have a "party" or two in the next 2 weeks (everything has to be done by July 4th) to get this stuff done in a hurry. If you want to join us, we would be so grateful. We'll try to figure out some sort of repayment, even if it means just providing good food for the parties. I am sure we won't be able to do much more, so this really is charity work. Thanks in advance to anyone who can and will help us.
Here is what we need help with:
Paint almost every room (need neutral paint and supplies)
Tile a bathroom floor (need everything but tile)
Replace carpet in the master bedroom (know where to get a free remnant?)
Shampoo our carpets (have a shampoo-er?)
Repair 2 kitchen drawers (tracks) and relace hardware (anyone have supplies?)
De-clutter and clean and arrange every room, including our unfinished basement and garage
Here is what we need help with:
Paint almost every room (need neutral paint and supplies)
Tile a bathroom floor (need everything but tile)
Replace carpet in the master bedroom (know where to get a free remnant?)
Shampoo our carpets (have a shampoo-er?)
Repair 2 kitchen drawers (tracks) and relace hardware (anyone have supplies?)
De-clutter and clean and arrange every room, including our unfinished basement and garage
Lost art
I used to be creative. I had ideas. I did stuff.
Why, oh why am I not doing anything? I have craft materials stored all over my house gathering dust.
I just got done looking at a bunch of craft blogs, and seeing all the cool stuff people make is depressing. And inspiring.
MUST. DO. SOMETHING. CREATIVE. SOON.
Why, oh why am I not doing anything? I have craft materials stored all over my house gathering dust.
I just got done looking at a bunch of craft blogs, and seeing all the cool stuff people make is depressing. And inspiring.
MUST. DO. SOMETHING. CREATIVE. SOON.
Tuesday, June 13, 2006
Monday, June 12, 2006
Won't you be my neighbor?
So Sunday Chris and I drove around North Minneapolis a little bit before church to see what the neighborhoods are like. We started in NORTH, and it's a good thing, too. It was the saddest part of Minneapolis I've seen to date, with every few buildings/houses boarded up. It was so depressing; I didn't know places like that existed in MN. It was Ghetto. We found a specific house that we loved (at least we loved the online listing for it), but it was too close to the ghetto, only a few blocks away. Bummer, too, as it was in move-in condition, complete with stainless steel appliances and privacy fence. So we moved on to the Camden neighborhood, which seemed like paradise after being in NORTH. Luckily, there are a ton of houses for sale there, so we are bound to find something we can afford and are willing to live in. Tomorrow we will talk to our realtor (Chris' step-sister, Tami) to see what we can afford, what to do next, etc., etc., etc... I suspect we won't hear as good of news as we hope, mainly because when we bought this place, we had my job to contribute to the debt/income ratio. Now we just have Chris', but we have equity... so we'll see.
So, to the good stuff. Here's the babe:
Learning to give kisses. Notice how her mouth is open so wide, it goes from my nose to my chin...
That "I'm too cool to give you a big smile" smile...
Last week was a crabby week...
Reading her favorite book, My Friends by Taro Gomi (Thank you, Sampedros!)
Ready to ride!
So, to the good stuff. Here's the babe:
Learning to give kisses. Notice how her mouth is open so wide, it goes from my nose to my chin...
That "I'm too cool to give you a big smile" smile...
Last week was a crabby week...
Reading her favorite book, My Friends by Taro Gomi (Thank you, Sampedros!)
Ready to ride!
Night crawler
Actually, it's morning, and Amelie just crawled for real! Twice! I set some toys a couple feet away from her, and instead of lunging for them, she actually crawled like 6 paces. I set it up again, just to make sure it wasn't a fluke, and sure enough... she crawled again! Woo-hoo!
We're off to do some lightning-quick baby-proofing!
We're off to do some lightning-quick baby-proofing!
Friday, June 09, 2006
Moving Parts
Last post of the night, I promise!
Chris and I have started talking about moving. At this point, we are just talking, but we're really excited about the idea. My cousin Sara just bought a house in North Minneapolis, and loves it so much, she was raving about it. We really hadn't considered moving for a couple more years, but I decided on a whim to look online at what was available there. It turns out we could get a house (with a yard!) the same size as our place... for less money per month, plus we could pay off all of our debt with the equity! Ahhh... it sounds so nice! We could save several hundred dollars a month by moving (in theory, of course; we have yet to see real numbers), and on top of it, have a lawn for Amelie (and maybe even a dog) to play on. We could have a garden. WE. COULD. BE. DEBT. FREE. So we're praying about it, and next week we should have some ideas from our realtor about what to do next.
GOD, please let the numbers be in our favor, and lead us to the neighborhood and house you want us in. Soon?
Chris and I have started talking about moving. At this point, we are just talking, but we're really excited about the idea. My cousin Sara just bought a house in North Minneapolis, and loves it so much, she was raving about it. We really hadn't considered moving for a couple more years, but I decided on a whim to look online at what was available there. It turns out we could get a house (with a yard!) the same size as our place... for less money per month, plus we could pay off all of our debt with the equity! Ahhh... it sounds so nice! We could save several hundred dollars a month by moving (in theory, of course; we have yet to see real numbers), and on top of it, have a lawn for Amelie (and maybe even a dog) to play on. We could have a garden. WE. COULD. BE. DEBT. FREE. So we're praying about it, and next week we should have some ideas from our realtor about what to do next.
GOD, please let the numbers be in our favor, and lead us to the neighborhood and house you want us in. Soon?
At the farm
Today we went to the zoo again, since it was nice and chilly. Inside the zoo it still felt like a sauna though, so we headed for the farm. We took the long way, which brought us through the African exhibit. We almost paid $5 to have Amelie pet the giraffe, with the rationalization that it would cost a lot more to bring her to Africa to do it. But had we done it, we'd have to wait there for about 20 minutes, so we decided to do it another time. At the zoo, Amelie got kisses from some goats (she does love goats!), watched Justine the cow get milked, and posed as a chicken (see pic below). Chris was in charge of the camera again, but I must say he did a fine job of aiming it at Amelie this time, instead of the animals.
Can you see the excitement on her face? She gets so hyper around animals (that are bigger than her) that she starts making funny noises and tensing up. You'd think she doesn't like them, but she keeps grabbing at them.
This is the one that kissed her. The goats were so excited to be hand-fed hay, even though they had hay in their pen, so they were all over us.
Excited!
Grabbing goat...
Excited, again!
"Can a girl lay her eggs in peace?!"
Peking Duck... er, chicken.
Can you see the excitement on her face? She gets so hyper around animals (that are bigger than her) that she starts making funny noises and tensing up. You'd think she doesn't like them, but she keeps grabbing at them.
This is the one that kissed her. The goats were so excited to be hand-fed hay, even though they had hay in their pen, so they were all over us.
Excited!
Grabbing goat...
Excited, again!
"Can a girl lay her eggs in peace?!"
Peking Duck... er, chicken.
Wednesday, June 07, 2006
To sleep, perchance to dream...
We were planning to go to playgroup today, but Chris picked up a shift tonight, so we figured we'd better stay home and keep the spring cleaning momentum going. We did a few small things around the house, nothing worth mentioning, really. But we did have a good, productive day.
I started reading a little bit of "The No-Cry Sleep Solution" to see if I wanted to keep it or get rid of it. I read some good stuff, so I'm going to keep it and give it a try. It says that babies are biologically programmed to go to bed early, so Amelie's late bedtime (11p-1a) might be a reason she wakes up so much at night and doesn't nap for very long during the day. We're going to try out the earlier bedtime and see if that makes a difference. If it does, I'll have to become a morning person, and with the quickness. Tonight she fell asleep nursing in the sling at 9pm, so we're off to a good start. I'm going to use some of this time to read as much of the book as I can. Hopefully Chris will still get up with her in the morning. :)
Basket O' Baby
Who wears ORANGE pants? We do!
Get up, stand up!
Still standing...
I started reading a little bit of "The No-Cry Sleep Solution" to see if I wanted to keep it or get rid of it. I read some good stuff, so I'm going to keep it and give it a try. It says that babies are biologically programmed to go to bed early, so Amelie's late bedtime (11p-1a) might be a reason she wakes up so much at night and doesn't nap for very long during the day. We're going to try out the earlier bedtime and see if that makes a difference. If it does, I'll have to become a morning person, and with the quickness. Tonight she fell asleep nursing in the sling at 9pm, so we're off to a good start. I'm going to use some of this time to read as much of the book as I can. Hopefully Chris will still get up with her in the morning. :)
Basket O' Baby
Who wears ORANGE pants? We do!
Get up, stand up!
Still standing...
Tuesday, June 06, 2006
Vacation's over
Chris got back Sunday afternoon and met us at church. I was going to leave home at 4ish to make it to church on time, so I put Amelie down for her afternoon nap at 3pm. She usually sleeps an hour, and I thank God if it's ever longer than that. Wouldn't you know it, she chose to sleep 3 hours before I decided to wake her up. So I missed church, but you never wake a sleeping baby. It turned out OK, though, because it was a long night for the babe. We finally got to church, and got to see Chris for a little while before he fell asleep on a couch (after the service).
While we (Amelie and I) were visiting with the usual after church crowd, Amelie had a leakage issue on Jenie's lap. It was kindof funny (to me -- sorry Jenie!). I'm just getting accustomed to using cloth diapers again, after a long hiatus while waiting for her new soakers to come in the mail, so I'm not used to having to change her diapers ever hour or two (max). I think I waited 3. Oops. She also drank a lot of water that afternoon, so the combo made for a big wet spot on Jenie's lap. And then another, because I didn't think she was really wet. Haha...
Well, we are finally getting our spring cleaning/babyproofing underway. I am so excited! We are thinning out our belongings, deep cleaning everywhere, and making the place safe for our soon-to-be-mobile Amelie. Change is really hard on Chris, and he's doing his best to make it hard on me, too. He hates to see open space, so when I move or REmove something, he starts to hyperventillate (sp?). If I don't get frustrated with his whining and complaining, it's REALLY funny. After a week or so, he should be in love with the changes, too. So anyway, today and yesterday, we did the kitchen and dining room. The cupboards are organized, rarely-used items are in the basement, and we have a big pile of stuff to get rid of. We also moved out a piece of furniture, making the dining room nice and open. I love love love it! By the way, does anyone know how the heck a silverware organizer gets dirty? Ours has been in the drawer, holding our clean silverware for a couple years, so how does it get food on it? Weird.
Tomorrow we put the finishing touches on the kitchen and dining room, and get going on the living room. And by the way: if anyone has a big area rug in a neutral color that they don't want anymore (with no pet stains), we would LOVE to take it off your hands.
Here are some pics from today:
She'll be a frog next year. Or the year after.
Wheels
"Look, Ma! No hands!"
Her new Lamb soakers...
and her new Flower Child soakers.
While we (Amelie and I) were visiting with the usual after church crowd, Amelie had a leakage issue on Jenie's lap. It was kindof funny (to me -- sorry Jenie!). I'm just getting accustomed to using cloth diapers again, after a long hiatus while waiting for her new soakers to come in the mail, so I'm not used to having to change her diapers ever hour or two (max). I think I waited 3. Oops. She also drank a lot of water that afternoon, so the combo made for a big wet spot on Jenie's lap. And then another, because I didn't think she was really wet. Haha...
Well, we are finally getting our spring cleaning/babyproofing underway. I am so excited! We are thinning out our belongings, deep cleaning everywhere, and making the place safe for our soon-to-be-mobile Amelie. Change is really hard on Chris, and he's doing his best to make it hard on me, too. He hates to see open space, so when I move or REmove something, he starts to hyperventillate (sp?). If I don't get frustrated with his whining and complaining, it's REALLY funny. After a week or so, he should be in love with the changes, too. So anyway, today and yesterday, we did the kitchen and dining room. The cupboards are organized, rarely-used items are in the basement, and we have a big pile of stuff to get rid of. We also moved out a piece of furniture, making the dining room nice and open. I love love love it! By the way, does anyone know how the heck a silverware organizer gets dirty? Ours has been in the drawer, holding our clean silverware for a couple years, so how does it get food on it? Weird.
Tomorrow we put the finishing touches on the kitchen and dining room, and get going on the living room. And by the way: if anyone has a big area rug in a neutral color that they don't want anymore (with no pet stains), we would LOVE to take it off your hands.
Here are some pics from today:
She'll be a frog next year. Or the year after.
Wheels
"Look, Ma! No hands!"
Her new Lamb soakers...
and her new Flower Child soakers.
Saturday, June 03, 2006
Vacation: Day 2 Part 2
We just got back from thrifting. I am SO glad I went!! I got a bunch of cool stuff for both the kid and me. We were at the first store (we went to 2), and I had looked at everything I wanted to see, but I didn't have enough stuff to use my coupon, so I decided to go sit in the toy section and look through the crap to find (possibly) one or two wooden toys. I sat Amelie on the floor and she sought out the tastiest tags to chew on while I dug through the bins. Well, I usually don't even look at the stuffed animals or dolls, but this time I did, and what should I find, but a WALDORF DOLL with the tags still on!!! For $1.69!! Who donates a Waldorf doll?! And it's one that was made with all natural materials. It's cotton and stuffed with wool! And on top of that, it has redish hair and green eyes, almost exactly what I would have bought her had I had the choice. I am so so excited! We were going to buy her a doll for her first birthday, and now that I got her this one, we can save the $40-100 it would have cost to order one. Yay!!
I'm a big dorky mom, because that just made my day!
I'm going to unload the car now.
I'm a big dorky mom, because that just made my day!
I'm going to unload the car now.
Vacation: Day 2
Well, last night Amelie woke up from 2-3am crying for apparently no reason. I loaded her up on Gripe Water, Motrin, and teething gel, which seemed to help a little. She finally wiggled and whined herself to sleep. Po baby.
We woke up at 10am to get ready for our day. We met my cousin Sara and her baby Grace at the MN zoo. It was fun. We walked around a little bit and then sat in the food area and ate and talked. So we didn't see many animals today, but that's OK, there's plenty of time for that later. It was nice to just hang out and catch up with her. For the record, I want to avoid saturdays at the zoo from now on. There are too many people, it's frustrating to try to get around. And I was so hot the whole time. What the heck. It's not that hot outside, and I'm already overheating. Nursing raises your body temp, and Amelie is a little heater, so until she learns to crawl I will be holding her most of the time. Sweaty.
When she wakes up, we're off to hunt more board books. I'm addicted.
We woke up at 10am to get ready for our day. We met my cousin Sara and her baby Grace at the MN zoo. It was fun. We walked around a little bit and then sat in the food area and ate and talked. So we didn't see many animals today, but that's OK, there's plenty of time for that later. It was nice to just hang out and catch up with her. For the record, I want to avoid saturdays at the zoo from now on. There are too many people, it's frustrating to try to get around. And I was so hot the whole time. What the heck. It's not that hot outside, and I'm already overheating. Nursing raises your body temp, and Amelie is a little heater, so until she learns to crawl I will be holding her most of the time. Sweaty.
When she wakes up, we're off to hunt more board books. I'm addicted.
Friday, June 02, 2006
Vacation: Day 1
It's Chris' vacation. He left last night for a "Letterboxing Extravaganza," as I like to call it. You can ask him about it, if you're interested. I thought I'd be excited for this weekend, too, because I have the car all weekend, and can do whatever I want... But I was sad to see him go. I miss my Christoph.
Today Amelie and I went to the Chiro, then came home for her nap. She slept for an hour, which gave me enough time to work out (yay!) and shower (yay! yay!). After she woke up, we went to Unique Thrift in search of baby board books. I found a couple, but did better with older kids' books. I also found an adorable tie-dye outfit for the babe and a nursing tank for me, among other things. When Amelie couldn't take shopping anymore, we went home for another nap. I was on a borad-book high, so when she woke up, I drug (dragged?) her to Goodwill b/c they have a huge book section. It turns out that they got new bookshelves, so while they're in transition, all the books are in bins. Yuck. And impossible to dig through with Amelie in the sling. It was a quick visit, and then we were off to Half Price Books, where we sat and read some books that didn't hold Amelie's interest long enough to justify buying. She just wanted to eat the tags on the stuffed animals (not the price tags, the "how to care for" tags; what's that all about, anyway?). Then we came home and she was fairly crabby most of the time... unless I left the room, then she was fine. Unfortunately, when she sees me, she whines; otherwise she's fine. I used to think kids were bratty if I babysat them with no problem, only to have them turn into monsters when mom came home. Now I realize that it starts before they're old enough to really be brats.
I've been expecting 4 mail orders to come in the mail this week and next, and I got the first (and most exciting) one yesterday: 4 new pair of wool soakers (diaper covers), and one pair of wool "shorties" (also a diaper cover, but longer in the legs, so they look like shorts). They are SO adorable! They aren't exactly like I ordered them, but now I think that may be because my monitor probably doesn't show colors true to life. But OH WELL. They're still awesome. I would post pics of Amelie in them, but Chris took the camera with him. Anyways, I had to order them because her other ones were too small in the thighs (they were mediums). I ordered XL so she could grow into them... they look like they'll fit her till she's potty trained. :)
In case anyone isn't aware: I have a serious sugar addiction. Serious. Almost as serious as cigarettes (which BTW, we are quitting by the time Chris gets home... God willing). So, I've decided that to wean myself from sugar, I can only have 1 serving of sweets (according to whatever package it somes from) on the days that I work out. That's my incentive to work out 3 days a week and cut back on the white stuff at the same time. So far it's going OK. I'm not going through withdrawl too bad; no shakes or sweats yet. By the way (JENIE), this is a weaning from SWEETS, not SUGAR, meaning that I don't check packages for sugar content. I just limit my candy/cookie/soda/dessert intake. Mmm... Ginger snaps be callin my name.
Even though I can't take pics today, I'll leave you with this one from earlier this week:
Today Amelie and I went to the Chiro, then came home for her nap. She slept for an hour, which gave me enough time to work out (yay!) and shower (yay! yay!). After she woke up, we went to Unique Thrift in search of baby board books. I found a couple, but did better with older kids' books. I also found an adorable tie-dye outfit for the babe and a nursing tank for me, among other things. When Amelie couldn't take shopping anymore, we went home for another nap. I was on a borad-book high, so when she woke up, I drug (dragged?) her to Goodwill b/c they have a huge book section. It turns out that they got new bookshelves, so while they're in transition, all the books are in bins. Yuck. And impossible to dig through with Amelie in the sling. It was a quick visit, and then we were off to Half Price Books, where we sat and read some books that didn't hold Amelie's interest long enough to justify buying. She just wanted to eat the tags on the stuffed animals (not the price tags, the "how to care for" tags; what's that all about, anyway?). Then we came home and she was fairly crabby most of the time... unless I left the room, then she was fine. Unfortunately, when she sees me, she whines; otherwise she's fine. I used to think kids were bratty if I babysat them with no problem, only to have them turn into monsters when mom came home. Now I realize that it starts before they're old enough to really be brats.
I've been expecting 4 mail orders to come in the mail this week and next, and I got the first (and most exciting) one yesterday: 4 new pair of wool soakers (diaper covers), and one pair of wool "shorties" (also a diaper cover, but longer in the legs, so they look like shorts). They are SO adorable! They aren't exactly like I ordered them, but now I think that may be because my monitor probably doesn't show colors true to life. But OH WELL. They're still awesome. I would post pics of Amelie in them, but Chris took the camera with him. Anyways, I had to order them because her other ones were too small in the thighs (they were mediums). I ordered XL so she could grow into them... they look like they'll fit her till she's potty trained. :)
In case anyone isn't aware: I have a serious sugar addiction. Serious. Almost as serious as cigarettes (which BTW, we are quitting by the time Chris gets home... God willing). So, I've decided that to wean myself from sugar, I can only have 1 serving of sweets (according to whatever package it somes from) on the days that I work out. That's my incentive to work out 3 days a week and cut back on the white stuff at the same time. So far it's going OK. I'm not going through withdrawl too bad; no shakes or sweats yet. By the way (JENIE), this is a weaning from SWEETS, not SUGAR, meaning that I don't check packages for sugar content. I just limit my candy/cookie/soda/dessert intake. Mmm... Ginger snaps be callin my name.
Even though I can't take pics today, I'll leave you with this one from earlier this week:
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