Whew.

Thanks to my parents, Zach, my aunt, two cousins, our family friend Mr. Dave, Mr. Misner, and Jared L., we’re about half way moved in as of tonight… boyoboy do we have a lot of stuff. You would think we were an old married couple with thirty years of accumulation.

But the sad news (which about threw me into a hyperventilating fit and a series of convulsions) is that once we pack up the computer here in about ten minutes, our internet won’t be connected until around the 2nd of March. You might consider praying for my withdrawals that are sure to start in, oh… about a day or so.

But, peoples… this house is beautiful. The outside that I saw last week is nothin’ compared to the absolutely perfect interior. Detailed photos of both will be forthcoming as soon as I get my computer back. If I thought I was in love then… well, I just had no idea.

So, we’ll see y’all then. Please try not to let anything too terribly exciting happen while I’m gone, okay? Thanks. ‘Preciate it.

You know, there are times, when blogging on Blogger, that I miss some of the features of LiveJournal–the community-style bloggie place I began my addiction bloggin’ ramblin’. The main thing is the comment system. On LJ, when someone comments, you can reply directly to them, with your new comment appearing below theirs and a little off to the side. And then, the reply by the blog author is emailed to you. Pretty nice, if ya ask me. BUT, the downfall is that sometimes it ends up taking for. eh. vah, since, you know, if you reply to one person, you kinda feel like you should reply to ALL of them. Because they’ll all see it. And on LJ, the comments can sometimes come by the droves. (What are droves? I dunno… it just sounded good.)

I often wish that Blogger had the same option, because frankly, I don’t often go back to check and see if a blog author commented back to me with another comment. I forget. That’s probably bad, but it’s a fact. And so I don’t often write “response comments” to all of you, because I don’t know if you come back and check either.

When I started getting responses directly in my email box from people using Wordpress or Typepad, I thought that perk alone would be a reason to switch hosts. Then Boomama told me that Blogger had the same feature. But, me being me, I still couldn’t figure it out.

THEN I read Sarah’s post about clicking the “show email” box. And it clicked. (Not only the “how”, but the main point that checking my email in Outlook Express was hindering me from this little feature.)

Now I know how to respond to your comments.

So those times I want to respond to you individually, like to some of the comments on the picture hanging post, I don’t have to just wish anymore. And that’s something to get all excited ’bout.

On Friday evening, I went to the grocery store without a list.

I know. The world has come to an end. It really has.

I can think of two times in my married life that I’ve gone grocery shopping without a list. And, as both of those times were, this time was a complete disaster. I came home with more food than usual, less money than usual, fewer meals able to be made from what I bought, and a fried brain from the stress of it all.

The other Very Shocking Thing was my laundry.

I haven’t done laundry in… about a week and a half. John agreed that this is the longest we’ve ever gone without running the ol’ washer, and that the growing pile has never been as big as it is at the moment. I usually try to do it on my one “laundry day”, but I always find things I want to wash… rugs, more towels, a large blanket that hasn’t been washed, and every other day I have a load of diapers in there, so my washer and dryer don’t usually get that long of a break. This is virtually unheard of.

Thankfully, this is where the Excuses can be put into good use, and even more thankfully, the Excuses actually sound valid enough to perhaps convince you to momentarily excuse my um, severe LACK in the homemaking department. I’m blaming the whole deal on this little adventure we’re in the midst of (moving?!) and the fact that there’s a lot to do in a short time (pack?!) . The grocery store thing kinda happened because we were planning on making a grocery trip that afternoon, and then it turned out that our good friend–a new Marine who happens to be stationed here for six months–and his friend, who were going to come “hang out”– yes, in the middle of our tornado of a house–needed to go to the commissary also. When he called to say they were ready… I wasn’t. So we went to the store. With no list. I almost had a panic attack in the produce section.

And then, when we got home and they were “hanging out” with Zach, I thought about starting the laundry. But there was just something about carrying a huge pile (or two, or three) of laundry, with who knows what kind of unmentionables hanging out, through the living room, past a group of three young guys, and then washing all of it with them here. So, I pushed it to the back of my mind, where it promptly stayed until yesterday, when we weren’t home. Then until today, while we were at church… and then now. So I guess I should take my leave to go put a load of laundry in the washer and figure out how many meals I’ll be able to make from the supply of unrelated food I threw in the cart.

What craziness.

Troy is cutting the second of his top two front teeth. Which means drool galore, crabby baby syndrome (because every problem a child has is a syndrome–it can’t ever be their fault, right?), excessive clinginess (which IS a word in my head dictionary, people!), short naps and nights, and a child who wants to nurse every fifteen minutes. I told John that I feel like I have a permanent growth on me in the shape of a little person.

So while I sit and nurse my baby for the millionth time today, thinking of all the packing that must be done in the next couple days, (because, guess what?!, we’re moving! You didn’t know that, did you?), I’m contemplating something of great importance when we move into The New House.

Will I hang pictures up on the walls and set out our normal decor?

We will have from next week until July in this house, and, did I mention that it’s beautiful? I want to enjoy the beauty… but not cause undo work or waste time on something just to pull it all back down.

So, I ask you, what would you do?

(And dear Lurkers, will you fill out the poll? Don’t worry, you need not come out of hiding and comment, but you can click a button. )

If you were moving into a gorgeous new house and would only live there for a few months…

And I’m not talking about John!

Not, of course, that I’m not absolutely head-over-heels in love with John–more than you could even guess… BUT, the object of my affections of which I’m currently speaking, that is not John.

(I’m also completely beside myself in love with a certain little tow-headed boy, but, the Object isn’t him, either. Even if it is Valentine’s Day.)

Last night I fell in love with our new house.

It is beautiful. It is brand new. It has never, ever been lived in. It is almost twice the size of our current house. It has a two car garage. It has a yard. It has a pretty back porch. It has landscaping. The outside is actually painted a color besides a faded cream/yellow. It doesn’t have a metal roof. It has tile in the kitchen. It has a real dining room. It has pretty cupboards. It has three bedrooms. It has two and a half bathrooms. It has a laundry room inside. It has windows that actually let in sunshine. It is the most beautiful on-base house I’ve ever seen.

And we only get to live in it till July.

Pardon me while I wail for a minute or two.

Anyway. Yesterday we had another shift in plans. SHOCKING, isn’t it??!! We were given a new house in the right housing district, as opposed to where they had originally put us… and new move-in dates. The 20-22. Of this month. As in, next Tuesday-Thursday. Yep, that’s what I was thinkin too.

So we’re in super-pack mode, and it’s kinda fun. We’re finding a lot of things in closets that we didn’t know we had. Like a bag full of clothes for Troy, with the tags still on, from places like Baby Gap, The Children’s Place, OshKosh and Gymboree, in sizes like 0-3 months, 3-6 months… and one 12 month pair of sweats. Oh yeah, and some things we’ve been looking for, such as his Alabama football (OH yeah! ROLL TIDE!!!!) overalls, which are thankfully a little big still, and his adorable Songs From God’s Garden book we were given right after we found out we were expecting, and was stashed for future use in the closet. (You should see him with that one. It’s one of those books with the buttons along the sides–and it plays hymns!! Every little person needs one. But Troy dances to them. We try to remind him that he’s an Independent Baptist boy by blood, but he doesn’t listen. He still bobs his little head and shakes his little hips. What’s a parent to do when faced with such cuteness?)

So we’re moving… surprise, surprise! I feel like a parrot. I seem to be announcing the same fact in different forms every post.

And if I’m not around as much as usual, you can be sure it’s because I’m buried in packing paper, or have accidentally barricaded myself with heavy boxes inside a bedroom without a telephone and I’m waiting with bated breath for John to get home and let me out.