Wordless (it's still) Wednesday: My New Home

We gathered up the goat rodeo, made the 2000 mile drive and are now in our new home.  

Our youngest took to this place instantly.  When we stepped out of the car, she looked up at the house and announced with certainty, "Dat my new home."  

Then, while enjoying one empty (and horribly colored) room (colors will be livable in the near future), she announced, "Dis my new home.  I spin."  And so she did.  

Apparently, the proper way to celebrate the purchase of a new house is with spinning.  Who knew?  Obviously, the 2-year-old did.  

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Wordless Wednesday

One is the loneliest number

One day left in our house, that's all we had.  Tomorrow, we close and leave for Washington.  

This weekend, I got my husband back just in time to leave my friends.  

We've had to say our sad goodbyes to the places and people we love.  

Today, as we drove, I found myself taking a walk down memory lane.  I remembered specific events we celebrated at restaurants, parks and houses that we passed.  

I'm ready to turn this house over to a new young couple.  I'm ready to leave the state and head West.  I will never, however, be ready to leave the people here I love.  I've been absolutely amazed at how much our friends have helped and cared for us during the house selling and moving.  I HATE that I have to leave them.  

One of my daughters' best friends wrote them a letter about how much she would miss them.  This made me teary and I think sums it up nicely.

Lehit ra'ot. Lehit ra'ot. Shalom, chaverim! Shalom!

Shalom chaverim, shalom chaverim,

Shalom, shalom.

Lehitraot lehitraot

shalom, shalom.

This is the park where my youngest celebrated her first birthday.  

This is the park where my twins celebrated their 8th birthday.

This is the park where the local branch of the March of Dimes holds their March for Babies every year. This year's walk here is 2 days after we close on our new house.  It will be the first walk we've missed since 2004.  

This is the park where my kids have met friends for play dates.  

This is the park with my kids' favorite splash pad.  

That tire swing to the right is where I got my favorite shot of my son and husband playing.  

Towards the center, is the covered slide my youngest loved riding down with her 6-year-old friend (who insists on being at the baby's side any time she's around).  

That ditch right there in front is the same one that damn-near made my heart stop every time the kids got too close.

That bench in the center is where I sat and chatted with friends while our kids played.  

To the right, not shown in the photo, is the pavilion where my daughters' had their end of the school year Girl Scout party today.  

In a quiet moment, I looked over at the empty tire swing.  I remembered my son playing there with his father.  I remembered my brother pushing my kids, his son and some friends on there at the baby's first birthday party.  I remembered the girls giggling with one of their best friends as another friend spun them quickly.  

This place is haunted with happy memories of friends.  Everywhere we turn, we're reminded of playing, talking, sliding, hiding and laughing with some of our favorite people. 

I didn't want to leave the park.  As the rain started, everyone else filed out.  I sent the kids to say, "Good bye," to their friends, some for the last time.  I stayed behind and looked around.  The immensity of leaving these memories, these places, these people behind hit me hard.  

Good bye, my friends.  Good Bye, my friends.

Goodbye/Peace.  Good bye/Peace.

Until we meet again.  Until we meet again.

Good bye, Peace.  

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Wordless Wednesday

Mothers and other lesser creatures

I recently spent time with a friend who confided that her husband tells her repeatedly that she doesn't do anything all day because he works outside in the heat and she stays home with their two year old.  He threatens to kick her out of their house because, in his mind, it's really only his since he's the only one who makes any money.

There was a list of other hateful things she hears often which tear her down for being a mother.

It's only this Mother's Day, after hearing about those hateful things, that I truly appreciate my husband's views on motherhood.  Even in situations not nearly as extreme as that first friend, I've heard stories from other friends about snide remarks their husbands have made or expectations they have which clearly show they don't believe their wives are their equals.

I've never heard a negative remark from my husband about my lack of a paycheck (and I should point out that, before we had kids, my salary was the highest of the two).  He doesn't expect me to serve him food, much less serve him before myself.  Hell, he doesn't even expect me to cook dinner (he's the better cook).  He is not at all the type to refer to parenting the kids as "Babysitting."  Even though he works full-time outside the home, we split the cleaning duties.  He changed diapers (cloth diapers even) and gave baths without complaint (well, without excessive complaints about the diapers at least).  When he was still home, bedtime stories were his thing.

I've had the luxury of forgetting how some folks view mothers in a negative light.  My husband respects me and motherhood and for that, I'm particularly thankful, this Mother's Day more than ever before.

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AKA

Mama's Losin' It has a cute video blog today about how the title of her blog came to be.

That got me thinking.  What would some good alternative titles be for my little corner of the interwebz?

Here's what I've come up with thus far.  Feel free to jump in and add your 2 cents.

I remember one friend of mine suggested, "Laughing at the Library," because we would live at the library if they let us.  I was only half-joking when I told friends that librarians are like Pokemon for my kids.  The last time my kids walked in to the children's library and saw a new librarian at the desk, my son turned to his sisters and said, "Look, there's a new one.  YES!"  My kids collect children's librarians.

A friend once had Weird Al and Kate Winslet's song (Yes they did), "I Need A Nap," as my ring tone for me because I use that phrase all too often.  So there's an option.

Here are some more:

There's Not Enough Coffee In the World

Lorelai Gilmore's quotation is oh so accurate, "Oh, I can't stop drinking the coffee. If I stop drinking coffee, I stop doing the standing and the walking and the words putting-into-sentence doing. " Yet it's a bit lengthy for a title, don't ya think?

Coffee NOW! (If you're not sensing a theme, you're not paying attention)

Sexually Deprived For Your Freedom

Oy Vey, That Boy!

Queen Of The Freaking Internet (this is a close second to my current title)

Yeah, They're All Mine and Yes, We Did That On Purpose


Children Aren't Meant to Come In Pairs


What Part Of "Jewish" Do You Not Understand?


1 Minute Apart (for all those who look at our twins and ask in a judgmental tone, "How close in age ARE they?")


My Dignity Was Delivered With the Placenta


Keebler Elf-sized (I'm tiny)


Yay Rum!  


Now, tell me, which one's your favorite?  What would you have named this blog?

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