Truly, I haven't died...

An update in bullet-point form, just to summarize the last month or so:

• We found, and made an offer on, a house at the beginning of May
• The offer was accepted, but we had to scramble to meet some requirements for our mortgage loan, due to using the VA option (such as getting carpet installed in the property, and scraping and painting peeling window and roof trim)
• This rather unbalanced my work schedule, mental health, housework, and of course, LW's finally-tuned schedule
• We closed on the house the second weekend in June, and proceeded to move.
• Moving with a two year old, even two towns over, is a major hassle.
• Did I mention that LW turned two in the midst of this chaos?  We're bad parents.  We didn't do much to celebrate.  I gave her chocolate icecream with a candle on top and called it good.  But we're planning a dual house-warming/two year birthday party for next month.
• After being in the house about a week, we discovered a section of mold in the basement.
• Panic ensued, but it looks like it'll be ok with some fairly limited cleanup.
• My mind is also full of all sorts of quotes and such for other projects that need to happen.
• Also, I managed to plant our rather minimal garden.  I will take pictures of many things soon!
• Not much knitting lately.  I finished a baby shower present for a friend of mine, but then the house saga began.  However I now have a dedicated office/craft room, so that will help. 
• Of course, there's little time to knit, what with hanging blinds and needing to paint, and still unpacking, and such.
• I look forward to a time six months from now when I'm no longer freaking out about the possibility of mold in our walls, or an unknown pest invasion, or that my daughter is slowly being poisoned by lead paint.  Seriously - I think it would have been easier to live at a time when we weren't so well educated... a little lack of knowledge can actually be good for you...

Anyway, that's what's going on here.  I want to get back to writing more regularly, I really do, but my to-do-list is seriously a mile long!  When I get caught up, though, I'll post some pictures as well as share the story of how we found our house (and the ups and downs and all arounds of the process).  It's a compromise - it doesn't have the couple of acres of "room for a horse", rather is in a suburban village and has about 1/6 of an acre little tiny lot.  But there is a big enough back yard, and we have a small garden, and the neighbors so far seem nice, and we're walking distance to lots of good things (yarn shop, great library with fabulous kids section, shopping complex, parks, a church, etc), so it's not a bad compromise all and all.  And, my husband only has to drive 15 minutes to work, instead of the 45 it would have taken from anywhere that did have room for a horse.  Evidently a horse isn't a part of the current "blessing-package" :)

Hope you all are well!  Pray for us, in this transition, please!

Things and Stuff

Wow.  I know I've been really quiet lately, but I promise, I've got a good reason!  Life has been so very busy this month.  All the usual chaos has been present, plus - drum roll please - it looks like, Lord willing, we're probably going to be purchasing and moving into a house early next month!

That, of course, is a story in and of itself.  Nothing is for certain yet, so I won't tell the whole story until it is, but suffice it to say that we're cautiously optimistic, and as long as the various inspections and appraisals and legal stuff goes according to plan, we'll soon be homeowners.  It's been a long time coming.  We're pretty excited about it all; of course, with the state of the world these days, and the economy and all that, no home purchase (unless you're quite well off, which we are not) comes without compromise, and this is no exception.  We had to give up or put on hold some dreams in order to move forward with others, but all in all, I think we'll be happy with it.  And, there is a neighbor across the road with a daughter only two weeks older than LW, and who is expecting another baby girl in July, so I'm hopeful that we'll even be able to make some new friends in the neighborhood.

Incidentally, I've decided that the process of home searching, home buying, and moving is far, far more complicated than the process of planning a wedding and getting married was.  And that is saying something, because I really thought that was the biggest "planning" ordeal I'd ever have to go through.  Maybe it's just because it all happens in a much shorter time frame, though.

In other news, LW turns *two* in just a couple of weeks, as well.  I can't believe how the time has flown.  It seems like the first year of her life went by so much slower.  I think in the first year I was so focused on her: her needs, her growth and development, that I didn't have any time or energy (or truth be told, any interest) in my pre-baby activities or interests.  This year, that interest and energy returned, even if time remained limited, and at the same time, she grew more a tiny bit more independent, and more able to be a part of activities.  Thus, this year it feels like our family is back to "normal" - but a new normal, of which she is a crucial part, if that makes any sense!  I can't wait to see what this year of her life will bring, as she becomes more verbal, and even more capable.  It's hard to remember what life was like before her...

As a complication of life being so up in the air (in that we don't actually 100% know where we'll be a month from now), I haven't been able to start a garden yet this year, and I really miss it.  I'm hoping to at least get tomatoes and such in; if we manage to move by early June it should be possible, since I think I didn't put them in until at least Memorial Day last year.  My green thumb is positively itching though, especially last week when it was lovely and warm out.  This week promises to make me happy to stay inside, unfortunately, with rain and cooler temps.

It seems like it's a year of big transitions and changes for almost everyone I know.  Friends are getting married, friends are having babies, friends are moving and buying houses, friends are making important and far-reaching decisions about their lives; on the one hand, I'm glad to be a part of the general, dynamic, changing process, but on the other hand, the part of me that resists change is saying, "But we were happy here, we were comfortable, why oh why does it all have to change."  Even though I was desperately desiring the change, it is still oh so hard to have to actually go through it.  Upheaval is never easy, even when it is positive upheaval!

Anyway, that's the general explanation for my blog silence.  I'm hoping to get back into posting more regularly as the weeks go by, and after (if?) we move, life will settle down a good bit.  I've got a huge stash of yarn sitting and waiting for me to have a bit more time to knit (although I've been plugging away on projects even with the busyness; the great thing about knitting is I can bring it with me, and knit while my husband drives), and I also have quite a few things I'd love to write and share about.  In the meantime, please don't go away just because it's quiet here!  I promise I'll be back, more regularly, before too much longer, and if you've got any tips on moving, especially moving with a little one in tow, I'd absolutely love to hear them.  Please pray that the remaining hurdles are overcome, and that our move goes smoothly!