You Can't Take It with You

But you can come back to it. Being back in Garden City has been an adventure in so many ways. From living with my parents to buying our first home, from Joe's unemployment to his opportunity to teach, life in Garden has not been dull.

Things I Like About Living in GC:

1. Living just down the road from several members of my family and dear friends rocks!

2. I really like having my own home. No one cares if I put holes in the wall or that I have dogs.

3. My dogs. I never thought I would be this attached to dogs, and sometimes they drive me batty, but they are great to have around.

4. I like being back in a more rural setting. The attitude here is just totally different.

5. My job has been challenging, but has made me realize that I really BELIEVE in things like early intervention and that the brain development that takes place in the early years can make a difference for a lifetime and beyond.

6. I see city officials at the coffee shop.

7. The coffee shop. Patrick Dugan's is lovely.

8. Living here has made me appreciate my marriage (and Joe) more and take it (and him) for granted less.

9. The snow cone stand! I used to crave those snow cones in Denver. Once I almost made Joe come get me one. From Denver. They're that yummy.

10. Getting to be in the everyday lives of some very special kiddos and their parents. I'm so thankful for the kids in our lives and the parents that share them with us.

The Most Patient Animals In the World Must Live in Mongolia

If you haven't seen the documentary Babies, you should. It's whatever you want it to be: a happy little movie with cute babies, a look at child development, a commentary on societal norms, or a variety of other things. I have to admit that one thought that stuck with me is that Mongolia has some of the most patient animals in the world. That baby tugs them, pulls their hair, and they don't ever react. Also, the Japanese baby throws a grand fit that made me laugh a lot.

P.S. Thanks to Betsy for helping me figure out how to put the video in here!

A Month is Better than Seven

In the quest to keep up with things, I have done better at keeping the house chores done about every two weeks or so. Not perfect, but not awful.

I am still not good at doing the things I want to do. By the time I get home from work, make and eat some dinner, and do my chores, there's not a lot of time left. A perfect example of this happened last night: I got home, (on time!) we ate dinner, (Joe made it,) Joe went to work at the radio station, and I started my chores. I cleaned the bathroom and put all the laundry away, all the while thinking that I could do "my" stuff after one more thing. So I made our lunches, emptied the washing machine of water, (it broke last week,) put dishes away, made coffee for this morning, and took all the recycling out to the garage. And then I was ready to sit down and check my email. At 10:35 or so. To be fair, I did sit on my bed and watch a half hour of "Bones" after putting the laundry away, so I did get a little rest in there. So at 10:35 I made myself some herbal tea and checked my email, Facebook, etc. I went to bed at midnight. That's too late for a week night. Suffice to say I'm still working out the kinks of the system.

And I have not blogged twice a week, or even once a week. But this post will be just a little over a month since the last one, and it was seven months between the last one and the one before that, so I'm making progress. I find that I have trouble knowing what to write about. I could write about what I'm doing, thinking, etc., but won't people be bored reading about the mundane details of my life? Of course, I read lots of blogs and am very rarely bored, so that may be flawed logic. And then I start thinking that I only need to write about deep, sometimes emotional, sometimes not, thoughts, like Jack Handy only not funny. But that also seems likely to lose readers. As I've thought about it, I think the best blogs are the ones that are a combination of both, that are just an honest commentary on life. Life isn't always mundane, but it isn't always exciting or "deep," either. It's just life.

Taskety Task

My dear friend Betsy has inspired me to try a task schedule (sounds better than chore schedule, I think.) So, two days a week, I have put "blog" on my schedule and we'll see how it pans out. The thought of getting things done in a timely manner and not trying to cram it ALL (along with time for friends, fun, and family,) into the weekend is nice. I hope my perfectionist nature doesn't get in the way when things don't go according to plan or I don't get everything done the way I want to when I want to, because then I tend to just give up. If it's not perfect, or maybe if it's not my best would be a more accurate description, then I don't want it. Not always the best attitude to have, but it is how I operate.

I don't have a lot to say, so I think I'll just link to a favorite blog of mine, Cake Wrecks! I look forward to this one every day, especially on Sundays when they feature cakes done right. Enjoy!

There's No Place Like Home

I am BAD at this blogging thing. Bad.

But, it is a nice way to share information.

And we have news.

We are moving to Garden City.

I got a very good job working with a grant project in Finney County.

I officially start April 19th, (also my Dad's birthday.)

I am overwhelmed, overjoyed, and sad, all at the same time and all mixed in with what feels like a gazillion different emotions.

Emotions about the move, leaving my job, leaving Denver, being closer to family and friends, living in a small town, the new job, how this will affect our lives . . . you get the idea.

So, that's our news. I'll try to keep you posted as things progress, but I make no promises, as we've already established I am a BAD blogger. :D