Peeking out from under it all.....

Phew. It's been busy. That moving thing will really turn you upside down. The quick catch up is we got out of one place, into the next place, and complied with Joe's "24 hours and we're parking in the garage rule", followed closely by his "72 hours and the boxes need to be unpacked rule" Check to all of that. For those of you keeping score, we are holding steady at a 170 box, 13-thousand pound load that requires two trucks and five movers (or more). We'll do it all again at the end of September/beginning of October.


I spent time with my girls on Mother's Day and had an easy out for dinner -- I cooked frozen pizza as Joe caught an afternoon flight out of town.



Speaking of Joe, my younger man is turning 40 in a few days. Uncle Frankie and Auntie Robin alread treated him to a Southern feast (Allen & Sons Barbeque and the world-famous beer can chicken!) along with cake and presents.



Aunt Leslie was here for the feast during this past very rainy weekend. We ducked inside for some junking and a trip to the North Carolina Museum of Art.


So that about catches us up. We have 7 days left of preschool and only 10 days left of big kid school. End of the year programs and parties are filling our calendar. I may have lost the cable that transfers pictures to the computer in this move, but I have FINALLY figured out the memory card can go straight into the media center on the tower. As you can see, I still need full-time IT Support!

A Little Action...

 

That's what we discovered today at one of our frequent drive-bys of that plot of Earth that will eventually be Home Sweet Home. The City Permits are back, trucks and men were working. It's enough to make you forget about packing all those boxes for our little side trip to the rental home that begins next Thursday. That's soon!

Happy Easter!

 

Here are the girls and cousin Adam (and the Bunny, of course!) at Brunch on Sunday. I love our relatively new tradition of eating out after going to church because it requires ZERO cooking on my part!



Saturday was busy with my swan song as Chairman of the Neighborhood Easter Egg Hunt. We're not moving far, but we are going just over the line into another HOA with its own events and traditions. Somebody slap me if I agree to chair anything, okay?

Signs of our Times

 



We are in the midst of big transition here. A couple of real estate signs tell the story.

This week: we settle the sale of our current home. Walk through Wednesday and lawyer's office Thursday. After that we are tenants here.

Also this week: grading begins on the new lot. We walked through it yesterday with our mostest favoritest (okay, only) builder, Mr. Derwin. We made decisions about trees that stay and trees that go and got a feel for the four corners of the property. Then we peeked over the fence and got a look at the COWS that live behind us! Really -- right here in the city -- cows!

(Joe and Mr. Derwin talking corners, property lines and driveway clearance.)

(We are going to have a tree service try to save this old thing.)



(Standing in the future backyard looking toward the street.)

Fun stuff......

Spectacular at Six!

 

It's been another busy Birthday weekend in these parts. Francesca is now 6 years old! She had a very fancy "Fancy Nancy" birthday dinner with her sisters and friends on Friday night. And on her actual birthday there was presents and cake and a party to attend. Busy, busy, busy....

Super Seven!

 

I don't really know when this happened -- but Sophia is now a super seven year old! The festivities included 15 girls to the movies for a showing of "Bolt" -- along with a load of popcorn, pizza and hot fudge sundaes.






She's beside herself with new gifts -- everything from that nifty Ninetendo DS to some of the latest and greatest fashions from Justice! She is so much her own person -- what an amazing thing this growing up is!

Carded by Carla

 

So I call it "Carded by Carla".. It is my fledgling venture to market my handstamped greeting cards and note cards. The CPA in Joe had a nervous twitch every time I donated a batch to this worthy cause or that. And so he came home one night with my confirmation to be a "vendor" at a Business Expo. He bought me my own little table for the opportunity to network and sell. He was, of course, in his element, networking his way through the room. I had to step WAY out of my comfort zone to participate. Talk about my cards? Explain stamping? Try to get sales? AAArgh.

But in the end it was a nice low-key event. All kinds of businesses were represented -- I had a Custom Builder on one side and an optical boutique on the other. Plenty of hors d'oeuvres and drinks for the guests. Door prizes galore. Loads of people to meet.

I didn't breathe for the entire two hours. But when it was over I had a chance to think about what I learned.

-People like my cards. They really do. Just call me Sally Field.

-No one could believe there is a soul left crafting things from ink and paper and glue.

-I have now stamped for profit. Well, initial sales can't be called profit since all I ever do is use the proceeds to buy more stamping stuff so I can stamp more stuff!

-Despite all the complaining about the storage requirements of the crafting supplies, my dear husband believes in my little hobby and seems to even support it. The CPA in him would probably like it a lot more if it was profitable. But for now he is my venture capitalist -- with benefits.

So come on -- get Carded by Carla!