Patience (Or Lack Thereof)

Not a lot to report from this week.  The majority of the week was spent desperately trying to keep the house clean and waiting for people to come see it who didn't come. I have to say that this experience of putting the house back on the market has been tougher than I expected.  I have joked that I have PTSD from the last time we listed, but I think it is actually really true.  If I am being honest, the fear of not being able to sell is really real for me.  It makes me feel trapped and that is not a happy feeling.

While I struggle with having patience at least I am surrounded by sweet faces to keep my spirits up.  We were able to spend some time at the park this week because the weather has been really mild.  One day, Carrigan ran into a friend at the park.  They were thrilled to see their matching scooters and coordinating helmets.  Elsie loved the slide and every time she got to the top she would say "Mom, can you take my picture?"

Yesterday, Merrick had the opportunity to go up to Mount Hood and sled.  Our church youth had a sledding activity.  Merrick was invited, even though he is not quite old enough, because all of his cousins were going.  The group headed off early in the morning, but Merrick had an 8am basketball game.  They lot by 2, but Merrick had about 12 blocks, so Jeremy took him up to the mountain after his game.  He had lots of fun sledding with cousins and friends and was grateful he got the special invite!

Also this week we moved Elsie from her full highchair to a booster at the table.  It feels like the end of an era for me, but she is pretty happy about it.

That's all for this week.  Thanks for listening to me complain.  The cute faces were worth it, right?

Here We Go Again

Remember last week when I said that we were doing a really good job of getting on the elliptical and exercising, well I spoke too soon.  In all fairness there have been some extenuating circumstances that derailed things this week.  Things started out normal enough on Monday.  On Tuesday I had a preschool fair that caused me to be gone all afternoon and evening.  Maybe it was because I was out of my mind from exhaustion when I got home Tuesday evening, but somehow a casual conversation about whether we should put our house back on the market on Sunday and Monday took a turn.  We made a spur of the moment decision that it was time again to get back on the market.  Wednesday I spent the afternoon cleaning, getting rid of junk and prepping.  Thursday we went live.  What?!?!  I do not make quick decisions like that!

Since Thursday things have been a mixed bag.  We have had a lot of online activity that we didn't have last time.  We also had a really busy open house on Saturday (which we never had last time).  Unfortunately, we haven't had anyone come outside of the open house though.  I am trying to stay calm, but it is really hard.  Our agent told me that I will have a much better time of the listing process if I can just let things go and not worry about the house being perfect all the time. The problem is that I live in the house with three small people and if I don't stay on alert at all times, things can go sideways quickly.

I am not sure I am going to survive the coming weeks.  Please pray for me and that the house sells quickly.  We ALL need it to.

New Year, New Decade, New You

So we are officially rolling into 2020 and, as is customary, our family sat down recently to come up with goals for the new year.  We each wrote a spiritual, intelectual, physical, and social goal and then we wrote some goals as a family.  Both Jeremy and I wrote goals under physical about exercising more regularly.  Luckily for us, I just so happened to get an elliptical for Christmas so it makes for a convenient way to accomplish our goals.

I know we are still young into this new year, but Jeremy and I have been doing a good job of making sure we make time for our workouts and trying hard to motivate and keep each other accountable.  What we haven't been good at is taking any pictures, but let's be honest, who wants to take pictures of themselves in full workout gear.  Thankfully my two boys were all too happy to pose for some pictures today.

I am I big believer though in that adage of  "moderation in all things" so I also made a big batch of chocolate chip cookies this week.  You know, you wouldn't want to be too healthy.  They were a hit.

Goodbye 2019

This week we wrapped up 2019 and started fresh, not only on a new year, but on a new decade.  2019 was a pretty good year for our family, although it did have its struggles and disappointments, particularly being unable to sell our house and some particularly big struggles for our extended family. 

We ended 2019 still battling sickness and homebound more than not.  One advantage of this is that we have had a chance to break in some of our new Christmas toys and develop some of our talents.  Merrick spends most of the day on his hoverboard and Carrigan has been working hard on her painting and drawing (she bought herself a deluxe new art kit after Christmas).  Elsie has been loving playing pretend.  She loves playing kitchen and with babies and particularly loves dressing up and wearing my (or Carrigan's) clothes, purses, socks, etc.

When we did get out this week it was often to the gym at the church to play.  It was nice to have a place to go play out of the weather where it didn't matter if we were 100% well.

The other thing that happened this week was that Merrick went to a baseball camp.  He had a really great time and hopefully was able to get some of the rust off his skill before baseball starts up again in a few months.  I was just glad his was well enough to go.

So that is it for 2019.  2020 is off to a bit of a slower start but I am tremendously optimistic about what this year holds.  So here's to 2020, see you there.