The Blogging Blues

Sorry, Delicious Readers. I just haven't had the heart to sit down and write much of anything lately. I've been completely out of sorts.

And I think I've figured out the reason why...

I don't have a desk anymore.

Sounds silly, right? I mean, I have a laptop and I have a lap, so why's a desk so important? (I've really been analyzing this in efforts to pull myself out of the blue funk and back into the pink haze of happiness.)

Here's what it all boils down to: I need a place to settle into, to organize, to set up and make pretty. I need someplace I can line up all my writing manuals, my beautiful and sharp Ticonderoga pencils with the perfect erasers and my 12"x12" mind maps. I need one place where I can toss random papers and stack the bills.

Right now, there's paperwork, bills, lists and receipts all over the house. I can't find anything when I need it and I'm seriously beginning to lose it!

So I found a desk and have gone to Office Depot to stare at it several times. It's a cream-colored beauty of a writing desk--exactly what I want. It's a great price to begin with and to make the deal sweeter, it's on sale.

But I have yet to pull out my debit card. I just can't make myself do it. The place in the living room I've carved out for it just isn't right and I don't have anywhere else to put it. I've literally been losing sleep over this dilemma. How pathetic is that???

So on to Plan B. (Or is this C or D or E?) The guest room bed is now my desk. I'm kidnapping a little bookshelf from Hayley for my books, I've set up a rolling cart with office supplies and I'll just be using an expanding file for paperwork. See? I've got it all worked out.

There's only one itty-bitty mite of a problem: my desk is a bed. A bed, people! We all know that I like to sleep way too much, so what am I going to be doing instead of writing?

Ding!Ding!Ding!Ding!Ding!Ding!Ding!Ding!Ding!Ding!

You guessed it! SLEEPING!!

I'll just have to take myself out of the house for a couple hours each afternoon before the kids get home. Starbucks, the library, a park... anywhere that does not have a bed, a pillow and a comfy blanket to curl up in.

At any rate, I'm going to try really, really, really hard to blog (almost) daily again. 'Cause one of these days the house will actually be completely unpacked and in shape. And I'm gonna want to show you all photos!!!

The Great Paper Attack

Remember the photos from yesterday of all the paper in the kitchen? What happens when you add to that stack the rest of the packing paper from around the house?

The pile grows to a GARGANTUAN size!

Now you could feel overwhelmed by the insanity. By the fact that it takes up 90% of the living room. Or by the fact that you actually have to do something about it. 

Yes, it has to go. No one (and I mean no one) wants to decorate their living room with packing paper. 

Thus, each and every layer of the Great Paper Attack must be flattened. And then neatly folded with its counterparts and slid into Space Bags before sucking all the air from the bag and flattening them until they're as flat as, well... paper.

A word of warning, though, as you dive into the stack...

Don't let it suck you in!

But it's really fun to burst right back out again, scaring the innocent 

children in the room with shrieks of surprise!

And after that, it's time to make paper angels!

Another word of warning?

Make sure the paper goes all the way down. 'Cause throwing yourself back onto a pile of paper that's really just balanced between two tall boxes really hurts. My patootie got a big ol' bruise and 

the muscles in my lower back stretched the wrong the way. Ouch!

And I'm thinking this photo here of this itty-bitty paper monster would be a 

fantastic photo on the back of my book. Don't you?

I need all these kitchen gadgets why?

Seriously, do they reproduce in the darkness of the drawers? How did I get three drawers, one 6"x10" in. container and one pitcher on the counter's worth of spoons, knives, potato peelers, spatulas, etc. etc. etc.

Sheesh!

I keep going through the chaotic plethora, yet I can't decide what to get rid of. It all seems crucial.

Let's look at a favorite D. family meal... beef stew.

Knife to cut the meat
2 potato peelers to peel the carrots and potatoes (The girls like to help with this part.)
Another knife to cut the veggies
Can opener to open the can of green beans (I'd love to use fresh, but they're often way too expensive.)
Multiple measuring spoons for the seasonings
Spatula for stirring the meat while browning
Large stirring spoon for occasional stirring
Large ladle for serving

That's nine separate gadgets right there!

Double sheesh.

I just don't think I can eliminate anything.

Certainly not the ice cream scoop. The jar opener has to stay. Kitchen scissors are imperative. The two spreaders work so much better than knives for frosting the occasional cake. The pot strainer? Can't cook ground beef without it. The egg separator, the egg slicer and the basting brushes? Crucial.

And I'm sure you all agree with me that one can never have too many tongs.

So what kitchen gadgets would you get rid of if you had to? What can't you live without? I'm truly interested to hear what you have to say, so click Comment right underneath this post and tell me!

Hello from the newest residents of San Diego!

Phew! We made it!

I have to say that this was the smoothest move in the entire history of moving. Our driver was great; our crews were professional. Nothing went wrong and nothing got broken!

Woot! Woot!

It's taking longer than I anticipated to unpack and I've been trying to figure out why. I think it's because this house is a completely different layout than what we've had in the past. Our furniture just doesn't fit as well and we turn in circles trying to decide where to put things.

That's not to say that there's not enough room.  There is.  It's just a matter of figuring out what should go where.  Like all the random things... packing tape, extra boxes of baggies, the stapler... 

Ahhhh.... the problems of owning things... LOL

Anyway... here are some photos you might get a giggle out of...

Two-thirds of the way through Moving Day and we're exhausted!

One of our amazing crew members loading us up in Vancouver.

We think Emma's helping, but we're not entirely sure.

Is she playing or actually deflating the exercise ball as asked?

The second round of food give-aways. 

Grocery stores have a deliberate hand in the high-cost of moving.

Hayley, Official Photographer of Moving Day, somehow obtained a press pass. 

The driver let her on the truck, lucky girl.

The pile of packing paper is now taller than me. And this is just the kitchen!

On our drive down, we met up with our wonderful friends, the Larmon Family. Here's Hayley, with her soul mate, Samantha. They're 12 days apart in age and have an unbelievable amount of personality similarities. They've also never lived within 150 miles of each other, yet have still remained best friends since infancy! Cool, huh?

Here's a story that had the rest of us practically wetting our pants... Emma (in pink) and Savannah (Samantha's sister in blue) really didn't remember each other, but they hit it off grandly. While sitting next to a fountain to eat their ice cream, they found a penny on the ground and asked if they could go give it to the Cold Stone employees as a tip. I said, "Go for it!" When they didn't come out after a couple minutes, we looked around for them and saw them waiting in line. We seriously thought they were taste-testing! We all laughed and laughed and laughed. Turns out they didn't know that they didn't have to wait in line to tip the crew. ROFLOL!

Tomorrow, I'll write more on our adventures. I have any number of posts to write flying around through the word processor that is my brain. But it's almost midnight and it's time to dress my bed in clean sheets so I can fall asleep in cool comfort.

And today we pack the kitchen!

Woohoo!

I actually started yesterday, but then I remembered that Neighbor Gloria wants to learn how to pack dishes and I promised to let her watch/help me. She was otherwise occupied and couldn't come over, but hopefully she's free today.

Then I'll start cleaning... the fridge, the girls' bathroom, the laundry room floor.

And I'll pull all the nails and screws out of the walls and start spackling. I've always liked spackling.

Scott's still working. I really wish his last day was yesterday so he could be here to finish up the garage and his own things that need to find box homes. I'm perfectly willing to pack his stuff, but I don't know which books in the large stack in front of his dresser he wants to bring with us on the trip, nor do I know his preferred method of packing his Lego Star Wars creations.

I certainly wouldn't want to mess those up. ;)

Off I go to get started! This is so fun!

I love you, Sir Arthur Flemming.

Thank you for discovering antibiotics. You are my hero.

Someone come rip VBS out of my clutches!

I love it too much! I can't let it go! I don't wanna let it go! I don't wanna leave two days before it starts!

No no no no no no no no no no!!!

I want to be there!!!!!!!!!

One week ago today, I gave all my materials to Pr. Martha. The premise being that I could concentrate on move-related concerns.

But because I've been so far ahead of schedule with packing, I offered to help further with VBS. The one hour I dedicated to it today turned into three and I still have plenty left to do.

And I'm having so much fun with it! I really am.

Vicar Kristin and I decided this afternoon that we need to set up a "Kate Cam" so I can still participate. Via Skype. How funny is that?

Funny it is, but I'm completely serious about the "Kate Cam".

Can't you just imagine an image of me sitting on the work table directing the entire production? How about a giant image of me on the big screen in the sanctuary singing and dancing and doing all goofy hand movements for all the really cheesy VBS songs?

That wouldn't be embarrassing or anything. LOL (It'd probably end up as a YouTube video with people around the world laughing themselves silly. Hahaha!)

And now I'm off to finish name tags and sign in/sign out sheets. Then I guess I'll have to sign myself out. *sniff sniff*

5 Days and Counting...

My lovely and amazing Hayley packed part of the kitchen for me today while I slept.

I know, I know. You all must think I do nothing but sleep! It certainly feels that way to me. But this sinus infection has kicked my patootie like few things ever do.

I walked over to Neighbor Gloria's house around lunchtime. She was already outside, so we stood in the driveway for about 15 minutes talking. I made it maybe 7 minutes before I felt the desperate need to sit down. I couldn't, though. Seriously, how pathetic would it be for me to plop down on the driveway while an 88 year old woman stands strong?

Upon getting home, I went straight upstairs to bed. Fell instantly to sleep and didn't wake up for an hour and a half.

Now you may be asking what I did to wear myself out like that. A completely valid question, if you ask me.

So here's what I did... I watched part of Another Cinderella Story with Emma, took a shower and talked to my mom for half an hour.

That's it. Pathetic.

But the rest did me good and I accomplished quite a bit this afternoon. Deep cleaned my bathroom, packed another box in Em's room, helped Scott outside and started tackling the laundry room.

Now, at 10pm, I can barely keep my eyes open. And I most definitely cannot sit up. My poor swollen face hurts to the touch and I'm filled with guilt at not being able to run on full steam.

If I'm going to feel guilty, though, I have to give myself credit for being organized. We're still way ahead of schedule!

\o So long. Farewell. o/

Tonight brought some of the hardest good byes. Our wonderful church friends threw a party in our honor and in honor of another family that's moving just after us. (Shout out to the Morris Family! We'll miss you!)

What a blessing to spend the evening with friends, talking, listening to music (thanks, Jeff and Dave; you're both awesome!), watching the kids run around and play... Makes me wonder why we didn't get together more often while we still had the chance.

I'd like to say I won't make that mistake next time we find ourselves encompassed by an amazing group of people. Life does have a tendency to get in the way, though...

We stayed as long as we could but eventually the girls wore themselves out so completely they could barely stand up. I'd actually been waiting to leave for sometime by that point. Not because I actually wanted to leave, but because I was (am) in horrendous, unbelievable, difficult-to-breathe-through pain.

Remember the cold I've been dealing with all week? Turned into a raging sinus infection.  It is so bad that the left side of my face is actually swollen.  Fortunately, it's not particularly noticeable unless you know me well.  

I'm taking 4 Tylenol at a time and it's barely touching the pain. Sudafed, Zicam, saline... nothing is making a difference.  I did get an rx this morning for amoxicillian, so I'm hoping that this time tomorrow I'll be feeling better.

It's hard to concentrate on anything but the desperate desire to slice open the roof of my mouth and relieve some of the pressure.  Instead I have to resort to hot, moist compresses or, as I discovered this afternoon, actually putting my face in hot water.  I laid on my side in a bath this afternoon for ages with the left side of my face submerged.  It helped.  Just barely, but it did make a difference. I'm thinking about taking another right now.

Ow.

And boohoo. Good byes are no fun. No fun at all.

8 days and counting

Boxes litter the house and I've made frequent trips to Good Will.

A plethora of boxes remain and Emma's fort remains in tact.

Hayley is a natural-born packer and I don't know what I'd do without her!

I'm so far ahead of packing that I'm continuing to help with VBS even though I technically handed over the reigns on Wednesday.

And I also have time to take a nap every afternoon.  (I'm still sick, so it's perfectly acceptable, right? LOL)

Now that's not to say that this weekend won't be busy.  I'm planning to tackle under the beds (which actually won't take long) and help Scott with the garage (what I haven't done already). We should also pull some weeds and trim a couple bushes.

After we sleep in of course.... ;)

How did this happen?

You all know by now that I'm Director of Vacation Bible School this year. I'm having a blast, loving (almost) every minute of the planning.

There have been a couple moments of confusion, though, like when I counted up a total of registered kids two Sundays ago. 92 kids.

92 is a lot of children. We normally have 130-140, so I wondered what happened and what I could do to encourage more kiddos to register.

I talked to the Pastor about it and she announced at the next service that VBS still had openings. Apparently that was all that was needed.

In ONE week, 40 kids registered! How cool is that?!!!!

Now I'm putting together class rosters and am amazed at the size of our classes. Good thing we have 70+ volunteers! We're going to need them all!