Dig It

Ok, if you know me, you know I am not Oprah's biggest fan (can I even say that out loud - will a Harpo Studios helicopter descend on my house at 3 a.m. now??). However, today while perusing CNN I got accidentally linked to an article from her magazine - and LOVED it. To be clear - it was not written by Oprah (thank God). It was written by one Ms. Lisa Kogan. Its a discussion of all those snarky little comments, clueless questions, or just plain mean digs that have come her way over the years (culminating in what she refers to as "The Question That Must Never Be Posed to Any Woman, Ever" which she was asked just three weeks after delivering her first child).

I'm posting the link at the end of this blog for your perusal just because its too good to miss. Its an easy and fun read with a bit of a zen message in there somewhere.

In the spirit of the article, I will share my own "most memorable" snark - and while I do think it may fall into the "clueless" category, it still made the top of my list:

I was about 6 months pregnant. During my pregnancy I had been lucky enough to have a friend/co-worker who was also going through her first pregnancy and we were about 3 weeks apart. One day we decided to go across the street to Starbucks for a treat (decaf of course - don't send me emails). We got our coats on and hopped on the elevator. Another lady had happened to be waiting for an elevator at the same time and got on with us. Things were politely quiet for a second until the lady spoke up. Looking at my friend she said "I have seen you around and I just have to tell you, you are just the most adorable pregnant lady I've ever seen! You're like a toothpick that swallowed an orange!". My friend graciously thanked her and made some comment or other about not feeling very much like a toothpick. Then things went quiet again. I sat there in the corner of the elevator feeling rather awkward and quite a bit like chopped liver. There I was, my cheeks matching the color of my red mohair coat ... the non-most-adorable pregnant woman ever. Once we got off the elevator and my friend and I separated from the other woman, my friend tried to smooth over my ruffled feathers by telling me "I'm sure she didn't even know you were pregnant! That's why she didn't say anything!" Maybe. Or maybe not. We'll never know. And I'll always wonder.

http://www.cnn.com/2009/LIVING/personal/01/13/o.slight.collector/index.html

The Big Event

Well the day finally came.  I thought I'd be a lot more excited than this.  Instead I just feel kinda blah about the whole thing and not as filled with anticipation as I figured.  Yup - we sold our house!  After nine months on the market, 3 offers that botched, and I-have-no-idea-how-many showings - our house is under contract and set to close on Feb 3rd.

So as if I haven't been an absentee blogger already, I'm just here to say that will get worse.  Getting a 5 BR home boxed up is no small task. And the problem is, I just don't feel like doing it.  Any of it.  I even looked into hiring packers but it would have been well over $1000 and I can't really justify spending that much on my sheer laziness.  But we do really have to get our butts in gear since we basically have 3 weeks to pack up everything we own (short of a few things) and get it all to storage.

Yup - storage.  We're building our next home and since the market is as horrid as it is we refused to break ground until we sold our current home.  Now we have to finalize plans, get an architect to draw them up "officially", put them before the development review board, get subs lined up and materials chosen/priced out and then dig a really big hole.  What will we be doing in the meantime?  Living with my parents.  Yeah.  All of us.  For about eight months near as we can guess.  My husband is a saint.  Of course when he remembers he'll be saving about $3000/month by doing that, he seems quite content.  And honestly we're very lucky to have parents nearby who will let us crash their empty nest for a bit.

We save money, get instant babysitters, and a free ride; they get 24 hour access to Cora.  It seems to work for everyone!  :)   (and before you have a hissy fit - no we are not really getting a free ride, there will be payment made as soon as we can figure out ways to do it which will fool my mother into accepting it).   

But back to the main point here ... why am I so darn blah?  Is it self preservation in case something falls through? Am I emotionally overwhelmed (this is the place I came home to after my honeymoon - the place I where I brought my first child home from the hospital)?  Am I just freakin avoiding packing?  Who knows.  We've had a lot going on lately even apart from the move.  

The only response I have to all of this is the old Indian adage: "How do you eat an elephant?  One bite at a time."   Or in our case, one box at a time!