Thursday, July 21, 2011

The Eye of Sauron

Good things are happening for us recently. I'm not allowed to go into details, but due to something wonderful and unexpected, we were able to drop the price on our house down to its current market value without having a short sale or losing money. Praise God! When we got the news, I instantly felt about twenty pounds lighter. I hadn't realized how heavily this had weighed on me. I'm continually amazed at the way things have come together for us financially over the last year, despite the early college years we spent with very little thought for the future. We certainly don't deserve it.

And, on top of this, one of my church friends gave me her old double stroller for FREE. Theirs got damaged when they flew, and the airline is reimbursing them for a brand new one. I spent about $20 to get a new axle and cup holder. We had an ancient bottom-rung Graco stroller covered in coffee and missing several (nonessential) parts. Well, we still have it. I haven't decided what I want to do with it yet. The smart thing would be to try to sell it or take it to Babies 'R' Us when they have their trade-in promotion. But I'd really like to drop it off a tall building.

Anyway, things are looking good in the house-selling department. We've had four showings since we dropped the price, and two of those were the same person. It's not a guarantee that we'll sell it soon, but it's a good chance. And you know what's funny? Now is when I get a touch melancholy over it. I remember when Grace was a baby, I'd drag out the tiny baby pool and sit in a camp chair in the yard while she splashed away. Or we'd blow bubbles in the front yard and watch them pop on the bright orange lilies. I love Emmy dearly, and having a sister has been very good for Grace and her neuroses. But I miss it just being me and Grace sometimes.

Enough of that. I'm getting all serious and mushy, and it's creeping me out.

THE SUN. The sun here is incomprehensibly intense. I wonder how long we'll live here before my brain can begin to understand this. I've learned to cover up or wear sunscreen if I'm going to be outside for more than fifteen minutes. But now I keep forgetting how unpleasant it is to be in direct sunlight between the hours of 8 am and 7 pm. This morning, the girls and I were up and finished with breakfast by eleven (yes, we get up late, but they also eat breakfast for about ten hours), so I decided it would be super fun to go for a walk along the river.

HAH. By the time I made it down the road, across the street, through the parking lot, and into the shade under the bridge, we were all listless and cranky. Like warm pieces of lettuce with PMS. I was determined to make it at least worth getting the stroller out, so we walked a little further (like, three yards), and I decided to go back. When we got in, the three of us lay on the living room floor and guzzled water for ten minutes before we could do anything else.

I was going to add more, but then I accidentally sat on a water bottle on the couch, and I should probably clean that up.

Or maybe I'll just leave it for Jeremy to discover when he gets home from work. So many difficult decisions.

1 comment:

  1. You are hilarious. Utterly hilarious. From "warm pieces of lettuce with PMS" to "a little further (like, three yards)," to the part where you sat on a water bottle and should probably clean that up... or leave it for Jeremy. So funny.

    Congratulations on the house stuff (I'm totally confused about how what you said works, but I'll assume that it's just good news and be happy for you) and the stroller!

    The memories of Grace sound lovely. You made me try to think of whether I had the same sort of thing with Emily, and honestly, while I remember baby stuff (like, from when she was six months or younger), I don't so much remember our time together after that. It feels like Jenny has been here forever. It's always been the two of them. Which is odd, as mine are father apart than yours, so there should have been more times for me to remember. I'm also older, so maybe I'm losing my memory. :)

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