Thermostat

Some days I'm still figuring it out.  I mean I grew up in Michigan!  Spent loads of time in Wisconsin.  I live in New England people!  You'd think I'd have adjusted to the cold!  It seems like there is always a moment each evening where I am just freezing.  I float by the thermostat, just to see where the temperature is set.  Then it's a double-check of the thermometer.  Yup.  Heat must be working because it's showing an OK temperature in here.  If I have to step out of doors for even a moment, take out the trash or something, I get blown back by a gust of cold.  Then, suddenly my internal "gauge" registers that maybe it's warm in here after all.  It seems like every year I swear I'm moving someplace warm.  I'd love some tips about how to be more accepting of the seasons...

Sigh.

It's going to be a long winter.

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the Number 13.

Different months, but my boys were both born on the 13th.  I didn't think about it until later, but our new house?  The road it is on is also called Route 13.  And this year?  The year we finally moved into our own place?  It is our 13th Anniversary.  Aren't my flowers gorgeous?  They've opened up huge...  and smell divine!

Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.

Fall TV is in swing!  I want to like Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.  Really I do.  I've even sat down with my two boys who are into all such actiony stuff.  Lost the three year old almost immediately, as he kept looking for Iron Man or Thor or Hulk...  The eight year old made it two episodes in, and seemed to like the action... and then missed last night's episode.  I've been teetering.  I'm watching for Agent Coulson (Clark Gregg).  Love the mystery surrounding the how and why of his return, and he's a likable (better drawn?) character than the rest thus far.  Last night saw the eensiest bit of character development for Skye and Ward and some of the others...  as well as some cool effects when a scientist starts playing with gravity.  Action and a cool universe will invite me along for the ride.  But if you can't engage me with the characters, the ride may be a short one.  Staying tuned a bit longer.

My Kingdom for a...

Finally got caught up to the first episode of Sleepy Hollow.  Just in time for the second to appear.  Thank goodness for On Demand TV these days.  My kids and I keep a  - let's call it fluid - schedule.  It makes it especially hard when I want to watch shows that I really don't want them walking in on...  RIP Walking Dead.  I can't even squeak by with on demand for that one.  Sleepy Hollow shows some promise.  A twisty backstory with a modern take on the headless horseman tale.  Some chemistry with the lead actors.  I was immensely disappointed to see Clancy Brown in the cast, only to have him fall victim in the first 15 minutes of the show.  Here's hoping that he appears some more in flashbacks, or even voiceovers after his deputy discovered his stash of tapes/information.

I'm still trying to decide if my kids are going to get to see Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.  They've seen all the Avengers movies.  That reminds me.  Now that we're heading into October, I'm going to have to keep one finger on the remote at all times.  They always start previewing movies that are way too over-the-top for my little ones as they lead into Halloween.

We gonna rock down to...

So yes, my new town has an Electric Avenue.  And I find myself humming this chorus every time I drive by...  It also has:  multiple instances of bear sightings noted in the local police blotter.  Note to self...  no bird feeders!  Apparently they attract bears.  There are lots of crickets and peepers.  Lovely to listen to at night, until they creep into your basement and chirp directly under your feet at top volume.  There was also the skunk that kept breaking into the garage until we spread some mothballs.  (Thanks Google!).  Everything we worried about with the new house when we bought it is currently not a problem, but surprises and head scratching things keep cropping up.  I wish properties came with instruction manuals as part of the buying process, seriously!

And my big fret... pulling my 8 year old out of school in our old town, and having him start over at a new one (I'm uprooting my child!) appears to be progressing smoothly.  There was a slight incident of getting on the wrong bus to come home the first day, but we worked that one out.  D's been very positive about the whole thing.  Now to establish some "Mommy roots" as I still feel a bit adrift...  But hey.  It was 12 years at the last place.  We're at the very beginning of this new adventure!

MayDay

 

How to emerge from this - I hesitate to call it "lost" time?  Stuck on an island like in LOST?  No black smoke monster here, unless you count my mood from time-to-time.  Limbo?  Ten months of trying to sell our home of twelve years, and I expected to be settled by now.  Instead we are in temporary housing.  It eases Daniel's way as he finishes school, and yet leaves all of us suspended.

So many things to weigh.  Towns with schools we like, have limited choices we can afford.  Many of the things we can afford come with lots of work needed.  Scoot out further there are nice towns/schools/houses, and H winds up with a monster commute to work.  We can't seem to make things line up.

Home is so much more than the structure you live in, or the location.  If anything, this sojourn back to apartment living with kids in tow has helped remind me of that.  Yet I feel as if I'm casting about...  trying to find our place.  Still holding my candle up in the darkness.

Funkity, Funk, Funk...

So, I can only partially blame Miss Zoot.  She's one of my favorite, really real bloggers, who I had the privilege to meet at a Blogher conference a number of years back...  She started the earworm with "Funky Cold Medina..." and a post about landing in a funk, working your way out, coping skills...  and me, I've been humming "Funkytown!" ever since.  So now that you're thanking me for the dueling earworms...

My reality is that I've been feeling funky for awhile.  So much so that I've hesitated writing here as I haven't much liked the stress running through my head/life, much less putting it to paper (or at least down here for all to see).  Ten months of trying, showing, selling our condo put a stress on all our lives.  Not an easy task while running a family with two kids.  Two failed offers, and finally a taker - who would only buy if she could move in at the end of February - no ifs, ands or buts.  And so commenced the packing and moving, frantic and in the snow, to...  where?  Despite our best efforts, we are struggling with where do we go from here?  The right town?  School system?  At least an OK commute for H?  What can we really afford?

We found some temporary housing that is serving its' purpose for now.  But with the idea that it's temporary, we strive to not unpack completely - and so the chaos continues.  I stress, and I have trouble sleeping.  In between I hug my kids tight and try to keep life spinning as normally as possible for them.  Other than Daniel's school schedule, and H's 12-hour workdays our schedule is all over the map.  Suggestions for coping with a 2.5 year old in tow?  Other than my obsessive re-watching of Big Bang Theory?