My Post About Being Busy

Good Lord, things have been BUSY. Since I posted that we had found a house, I can't even begin to describe the level of busy-ness I have been operating at. I still could have found time to write, but I honestly was not making it a priority.

My priority has been keeping my sanity.

Part of maintaining my sanity has been "To Do" lists like this one. The week after we moved, I had four pages like this one (front and back). I had to keep everything organized somehow. By now I can't even make a list. It is too overwhelming. Not because there is even MORE stuff to do, but because I already spent all possible energy and used up all of my superwoman brain cells. There is nothing left. I don't know how or when I get a recharge, but I am hoping it is soon...

Here is what we have been up to...

We celebrated Easter. This involved friends and food, presents in Raine's Easter "nest," bubbles, more food (including cupcakes) and more bubbles.

We went back to Illinois for a visit. There was a lot of playing to be had for Raine with his cousins, and then we had our fair share of food and beverages, and lots of time with friends and family.

We packed a lot for our move. We tried to pack a little bit every day. Raine liked to pack and then unpack, pack, unpack, repeat.

We finalized paperwork on the house and made several trips out catch glimpses as it was built.

We had it inspected and then had a new homeowner orientation with the builder.

We signed a lot of paperwork and closed escrow.

Then on Saturday May, 4th, we moved in!!!

We tried our best to help all pets adjust to the new house. This included training Rocco to use a doggie door. We crossed our fingers that he would use it while we were away at work throughout the week, so we wouldn't have to come home to accidents all over the new hardwood floors and carpet. It took about two weeks until I felt completely comfortable leaving him alone. Now he uses that thing like a BOSS.

Hobbes made some surprising trips to the vet, racking up ridiculously large bills. He had two teeth removed and was diagnosed with Hyperthyroidism. He has to eat expensive prescription food now, of course.

Rocco also has had to have some extra vet visits and tests. Most notably in just the last week, he has developed what we believe is Lymphangieasia, which is causing protein to leak out of his intestines. He started medicine yesterday and I am working from home this week to monitor him until we can get him back to the vet on Thursday and have his blood checked again to see where we are at. If he has stabilized on the medicine, there is hope we will have him around a couple more years (as we will continue to treat it with a prescription diet). If he does not stabilize, we will have to help him get more comfortable and say goodbye in the next two to three weeks. We are stunned and sad and nervous.

Immediately after we moved, we spent a week cleaning the crap out of our condo. (This included Mother's Day. However, before Raine went to the baby-sitter and cleaning commenced, I did get to have a groovy little breakfast en plein air with my boys at Henry's Hot Breakfast. And hubby gave me roses. Sigh.)

After listing the condo, we waited for six agonizing weeks to get tenants. Just as I was about to lose my shit, we found them. I just gave them the keys Monday. HALLELUJAH.

In between all of this, I have tried to attempt to baby step my way into tackling major changes with my daily job and special projects, including the business I want to start. The short of it is that nothing much has changed. ;) I am still at the same day job and it is still very stressful and even less ideal now that I live 30 minutes away. My plans to amp up posting and content of this blog has failed, but I did finally gather together my goodies for my side project, snail says. It is in early prep stages and I will not be formally launching it, or making any sort of announcement, necessarily, when it is up and running. The plan is to leak it on Pinterest eventually, when I reach a certain point in the content level (which I think is scheduled for late August or September). LOL. I wish I could tell you more, other than ... It will basically chronicle Dan and I's love letters and creative tokens of affection during our courtship, which was ten years ago this month. This is the only time I will likely mention this project because I want it to happen in a space exclusive of this blog, with it's own organic possibilities.

And, the business. It is forming. I have a P.O. box, email address, and company name with a blog/web site and Twitter account. It is in such early stages I hesitate to share details but if your really want a peek, you can get a glimpse here.

OH. AND AS IF THIS ALL WASN'T ENOUGH. I have also poorly attempted to be a super sister and super daughter and help and/or stay on top of (at least) my mom's medical progress. More about that at another time, because there really is no simple way to recap that.

ABOVE ALL, THOUGH. 

I have been falling in love with our home and our new town, as well as the greater community and county we now live in. I am beside myself with peace and joy having at last found my elusive Oregon roots. They are reaching deep quickly and finding nourishment here. I look forward to what they produce.

The Perfect Home

We have spent the last six weeks looking at houses and it has been a tremendous test of our patience, communication, and faith in the hope that we can find the right home for us and our family.

It all started with a listing for an incredibly rad mid century modern ranch in central Beaverton. Photos boasted a stunning post and beam style with walls of glass, restored hardwood floors throughout, and an updated kitchen with stainless steel counter top and bamboo flooring. Despite a lackluster location situated adjacent to a major commercial intersection and neighboring lots of car dealerships, we made the call and requested our first viewing. We didn't even have our financing approved yet but we were starstruck! Despite the enthusiastic listing, it still needed more work (especially updated energy efficient windows!) and at the top of our price point, we weren't interested in being the ones to provide the muscle (er, checkbook.) We were bit by the house bug, though, and finalized our financing so we could get out there and really look at more places.

I don't think we thought we would end up looking at as many houses as we did...

 

 

In as many cities as we did...

 

  

 

With as many different styles as we saw...

 

 

There were some definite NOS. There were some maybes. There were ones that I fell in love with but couldn't convince Dan it was right. Or vice versa. (Oh the domestic disputes...) And there were some that we both felt were THE ONE and put offers on. A total of FIVE of those. One didn't work out after the inspection, another didn't feel right after a couple of rounds of negotiations, and two went to other buyers who outbid us. But finally, FINALLY, one special little one became OURS today.

And I don't have a photo of it.

;-)

It is still being built!

It is a lovely little gem in Carlton.

We are beyond happy and look forward to beginning this new chapter of our lives...!!!

Stay tuned!

I Guess I Took a Hiatus

Hubby texted me a rainbow one crappy morning.

Life feels like it is moving at warp speed.

I may have already typed that once or twice before ... I will type it again in future posts, I am sure.

Time as a measurement is completely different now than it has ever been in my life. 

I am running the domestic marathon, now afterall!

So let us play catch-up.

It is rainy season and there have been some crappy days, but we get so many rainbows it is hard to stay a grouch! However I have spent much of these soggy days over the last twelve weeks worried. I have worried about my mother, my friends, and the goals of my little family. Instead of really doing much of anything productive about my worries, I have spent my evenings (that weren't related to the holidays) sipping winter brews, speeding through whole seasons of TV shows thanks to online streaming (Hello, Downton Abbey!) and ....oh wait. That's it. Drinking beer and watching TV. ;-) 

Well, since I last wrote about my mother, much has happened and her health issues are finally getting resolved. I didn't feel a need to write about it on this blog because I was sending emails to my closest friends to keep them updated and then my sister was keeping a journal on the Caring Bridge site. Ultimately, cirrhosis and other severe things like cancer were ruled out but the local specialists and medical community were taking SO GOSH DARN LONG to get anything done and in the meantime her ascites was increasingly threatening her quality of life. Finally, my sister and she went to The Mayo Clinic in Minnesota and the doctors there were able to act quickly and decisively. They gave her a transjugular intrahepatic portosystemic shunt. (Say that three times fast! LOL.) This tube, placed between her portal and hepatic viens, will be there indefinitely to improve the flow of blood in and around her liver and stop the accumulation of fluid. (Here is a picture from U of Washinton.) She is in rest and recuperation mode now, doing physical therapy and slowly letting her body adjust to no longer having the fluid (and the toxins that came with it.) We will most likely never know what caused her ascites, but at least it has finally been treated! THANK THE HEAVENS FOR THE MAYO CLINIC.

I saw the same rainbow that Dan saw that morning.

As for my friends I have been worrying about, they are all doing fine but there were some health scares and some extremely unfortunate news for my lovelies who were in the process of adopting internationally. My heart has been especially heavy for them.

In light of those somber developments as well as our local mall shooting as well as the shooting that followed in Connecticut, I feel a little silly to worry about my own family and situation. We are doing fine. There are just changes in the making and some of those changes are taking longer than we thought. I'm trying not to be discouraged. I'm trying to be optimistic. I'm trying to throw my optimism out into the universe as much as possible!

My rainbow of optimism in the middle of all the worries is these two guys...

Photo text from hubby at the vet. Raine snoozed through the whole appointment.

Magnet fun.

Park time.

Photo text from hubby.

Another photo text from hubby. Good reminder.

Rhododendron Gardens With Grandma Mary

 

Today Raine and I returned to the Crystal Springs Rhododendron Gardens with Grandma Mary. It was a gorgeous day. We took our time and watched the animals, admired the blooms, stopped for a picnic. We enjoyed every moment. More photos here!