Settling In

It seems that my posts are becoming more and more infrequent. We are still in the throes of trying to feel settled, getting the house in working order, which to me means that everything has a place, and hoping to steal some quality family moments. I am hoping that that changes in the next few weeks. 

I can say without a doubt that 1) I am loving fall on the East Coast and 2) I think that this house will be really great for our family.  Here are some photos from the last few days. As you can see that Grandma C. came to visit us! Mae was so excited about her visit that on the day she was expected to arrive she woke up at 5:30 and exclaimed, "Today is the day Grandma C is coming!" It was wonderful to have her here and to see the kids absolute adoration for her. 

Whit trying on the Cinderella clothes. He kept saying, "I am cold." And then put them on. 

The front yard has a Japanese Maple in it. Something that we had at our house in Seattle, which we loved. Mae loves being able to climb this one. 

Grandma C in Virginia! 

A little afternoon art on the deck. 

We Are In!

I am typing from my couch in our [rental] house in Arlington. We finally have internet and cable! And I think that I can say that the lion share of the work has been done.

In a nutshell, the move sucked for me.

As mentioned, Pearson was out of town for six days and five nights starting last Wednesday. Our crates from Seattle arrived on Friday in a torrential rain storm. I thankfully was able to hire my parents' neighbor's teenage son and a couple of his buddies to help me unload the crates. Just in case you missed my earlier point, it was done in a torrential rainstorm. Upside, the boys were hard workers and we able to bang it all out in a few hours. Then the next two days, Saturday and Sunday, were spent unpacking and moving all the furniture and boxes where they needed to be. Huge thanks to my younger and older sister and my mom for manning the kids for those two days so that I could focus during the day on what I needed to do. On Monday, I brought the majority of the stuff over from my parents house and then brought the kids over to see the place. Pearson then arrived that evening and we spent the first night in the house.

All but a few boxes have been unpacked and we are settling in. I can't lie and I am not going to sugar coat this, I am a little bitter at Pearson for going away for a drunken, golf trip while I was stuck to deal with the mess. Oh did I also mention that Sunday was our six year wedding anniversary. But as I said to him I will get over it, it might just take me a little while.

All in all, I am liking the new place so far. I especially LOVE that my kids are going to have a play room. No more toys scattered all throughout the house or one can only hope! I will try to post photos of the place. 

Packing, Packing, Packing and More Packing

So now that I updated you about our trip to Pittsburgh, here is what we did next.

We returned from Pittsburgh on Monday afternoon and I flew out to Seattle on Tuesday morning at 6 am. I flew out three days prior to Pearson coming to get started on the packing of the house. We didn't end up selling our house so we decided to rent it. Pearson originally billed the first three days as a chance for me to get some alone time and get a jump start on the packing. When he said that I envisioned packing  few boxes everyday, then laying on the couch watching TV, catching up with old friends, visiting all my favorite food places, sleeping in, and sitting in a coffee shop reading a book and screwing around on the internet.

What did my time in Seattle actually look like? Packing, packing, packing, packing, and more packing. Little did I know we had more stuff crammed into every nook and cranny in our house. I was fortunate to see some friends for drinks/dinner every night. Boy do I miss all of them! But the majority of my waking hours were spent boxing, taping, labeling, and moving all our stuff. We also donated a crap ton of stuff and who knew we had that much stuff to throw in the land fill.

Pearson eventually showed up on Friday and we managed to load the three crates with all our worldly belongings. Oh and to make it even more awesome, it rained for the entire weekend. Trying to load a storage crate in torrential rain is pretty much no fun at all. I said that UPack should come with a complimentary marriage counseling session. Along with the actual packing, we also had to sell our car and deal with cleaning and dealing with getting the house/utilities done for our renters. On Sunday night we took the red eye back to DC. I would love to say it was bitter sweet to be leaving Seattle again but in truth I was so happy for it all to be done and to see my kids smiling faces.

As for all our stuff, it comes tomorrow and we are going to move it into our new rental house in Arlington. Oh and yeah, what makes this awesome [insert large amount of sarcasm]. Pearson is gone for five days on a golf trip so once again, I am point person for making this all happen. Oh and it is raining here today and is supposed to rain all weekend. 

Pittsburgh

Prior to starting this post and telling you about our trip to Pittsburgh, I must give the biggest THANK YOU to my  Uncle Roger for arranging the most spectacular, easy, and fun weekend for our family. I am also highly embarrassed to say that I have yet to write him a thank you note so here is my very big "public" thank you to him for an unforgettable family trip to Pittsburgh. My Uncle was the most gracious, giving and thoughtful host. He thought of everything to make our trip simple and one for the record books. And after a very stressful few months, it was great to be taken care of and enjoy some family time with our immediate family and extended family.  

As for the weekend.

A few months ago, my Uncle Roger [my mom's youngest brother] emailed me seeing if Pearson was interested in going to the Bears vs. Steelers game in Pittsburgh on September 22nd.. To which Pearson emphatically responded YES! My Uncle asked Pearson who he would like to attend the game with them and Pearson said to me, "Your dad." For those of you who don't know, my father is a big time Pittsburgh sports fan. Since my uncle said he would probably have four tickets, and it so happened that September 22nd is my mom's birthday, I also thought that it might be nice for my mom to join her brother, husband, and "favorite" son in law on this little adventure. Then my Uncle was able to secure 6 tickets for the Bears vs. Steelers game so it was then decided I and the kids would go along for the ride. 

We arrived into Pittsburgh on Saturday afternoon and it was a less than ideal drive. The kids were great but it down poured for the last two hours of the drive. At one point on the Pennsylvania Turnpike, Pearson said he was going to have to pull over because he couldn't see due to all the rain. I failed to mention that my parents were meeting us in Pittsburgh after driving our car cross country. As soon as we arrived, my uncle greeted us with such warmth that it seemed like no time had passed since I had seen him last. My Uncle, see note above about how amazing he is, also managed to score 6 tickets for the Pirates game on Saturday night for the gang. I had decided to not go and stay back with the kids while my parents, my uncle, Pearson, and my other aunt and uncle went to the game. As it so happened the next door neighbor was having a birthday party that night and my Uncle had spoken to the parents of the kids and they said we could come over and join the festivities. One never to shy away from a party, I decided to head over with the kids. It was the perfect way to get the kids energy out after a five hour drive. 

On Sunday morning, we woke up and decided to explore the city a little bit. We went down to the Point, where the three rivers meet. The kids had a great time running around for a few hours. Following   the park, we decided to take the kids for a ride on one of the incline planes and to see the city from above. The kids loved the "roller coaster" ride and we got a good laugh at the lady taking money for the ride. One observation while out and about in the city, everyone and I mean EVERYONE in Pittsburgh seems to own a Steelers jersey and everyone seems to wear them on game day. After visiting the incline, we went out to lunch at the famous Priminati Brothers Sandwich joint.  We then all headed back for a little R&R prior to the game starting and the babysitter arriving. Again, my uncle thought of EVERYTHING and arranged for a babysitter for the night for the kids. We also celebrated my mom's birthday then with a cake and a singing of Happy Birthday. And again, my uncle thought of everything and got my mom a cake for her birthday. 

After the babysitter arriving, we bailed out to head to the stadium but before the game starting we hit up the casino, which is right next to the stadium. An hour at the casino and a professional football game equals a very fun night. My cousin joined us for the game and was the sixth of our party. The game was a blast and the Bears won. Here are some photos from the wonderful weekend.  

Again, a HUGE thank you to my Uncle Roger for such a wonderful weekend in Pittsburgh. We can't wait to go back again soon.