Settling In

Long-lost blogger here.

I am officially moved and officially on vacation now, so this seems like the perfect time to resume blogging.  A blog without actual blogging isn't very interesting, is it?

Let's quickly recap the major events of the past seven months:

• Get married (check)
• Become executor of my grandmother's estate (check)
• Move (check)
• Move in with parents (check)
• Move in with parents and children (check)
• Get puppy (check - and mate)

I think that should do me for a while.  Change, you are not welcome back here anytime soon.

The Journey Begins...
The move went great, thanks to the strong backs and loving hands of our friends from Harvest Bible Chapel in Decatur.  They were amazing!

The Love Nest is still in total disarray.  (I don't like total disarray.)  My goal (unbeknownst to my poor spouse) is to have everything unpacked and "done" by next Friday (10/30).  This should be doable.  We just need to pack up the kitchen and clean the old place and then unpack here.  Piece o' cake.

I had promised Jim and the kids that we would get a puppy after we moved. But puppies are hard to come by when your criteria fills two pages.  It had to be a girl, low shedding, brand new, blah blah blah.  So when one appeared on the horizon, I drove beyond the horizon to retrieve her.  Sophie joined our family Monday night and  I left for Chicago on Tuesday morning.  (How's that for planning?)

I got back home around 7:00 PM on Friday.  Jim was sick all week and we had a new puppy at home.  It was hard to be away, worrying about him and wondering about her.  After I got home, Jim and I had a nice dinner date alone.  We got back home around 9:00 PM and went upstairs to see what was going on with the 1645s (our collective name for the inhabitants of the house - 1645 is the house number).  Picture if you will...

Kids in their jammies, sprawled out on the living room floor.  Dad sitting on the couch, his chin hitting his chest.  And Mom, sitting in the easy chair, reading aloud from (wait for it)...Little House on the Prairie.

Jim and I looked at each other from our seats at the kitchen table and tried valiantly to stifle our laughter.  He looked at his watch and mouthed "9:00 on Friday night - what's happened to us?"

The answer is pretty clear to me, Jimmy Mack:  we've come home to the Love Nest on the Prairie.