I’ve mentioned that we are renting the house in which we currently reside. We rent through a decent sized property management company. One of the things in the lease agreement was that they would do quarterly inspections at their discretion. I figured it was a CYA clause recommended by their attorneys and we would never see them again. Last week, we received a letter telling us that our quarterly inspection would be sometime Tuesday or Wednesday of this week between 8 am and 5 pm but they couldn’t or wouldn’t narrow it down beyond that. And if they arrived and couldn’t gain entry due to locks being changed or an unsecured animal, we would be charged a $75 fee for their time and trouble.

My first reaction was annoyance. Even the freaking cable company can narrow things down to a 6 hour window. But I am usually home at this point and when I am not, the dog is in his cage so it shouldn’t have been a problem. Key word in that sentence being “shouldn’t”. Guess when he came? Go ahead, guess. If you’ve been reading here for awhile, you’ll know that my luck runs in such a way that the guy showed up this morning in the 15 minute window that I was in the shower. Sabrina was in the bathroom with me playing with a toy and I couldn’t figure out why she kept pounding on the closed bathroom door yelling “dada”. I turned off the shower and heard: the doorbell ringing, the dog going insane, my phone ringing and Sabrina yelling for Dada (anytime the phone rings, she is convinced it is Steve). I pull a towel in front of me (because at this point in pregnancy, I would need a beach towel to actually wrap it around me) and run out to answer the phone. It is Steve. He is frantic because the property management people called him and he thought something was wrong since they were reporting no one home and a dog running free in the house. I assure him that all is fine. I open the door a crack (still dripping wet in my towel mind you) and tell the guy he is going to have to give me 10 minutes because I was in the shower. I get dressed as quickly as my fat ass and swollen legs can move these days and scoop up Sabrina, who is a little freaked out by the commotion, and go back to the door. The guy is gone.

If they think we are paying a $75 missed inspection fee they can bite my big pregnant butt. Not happening. Go ahead and laugh. It is kind of funny.

** Updated…apparently his wittle feelings got hurt.  He called the office and said the mean lady slammed the door in his face so he left.

About 6 weeks ago, new family moved in next door.  I’ve met the woman and their young daughter – both seem very nice.  But some how, without any effort or participation on our part, we’ve become engaged in a passive-aggressive lawn struggle with them.

The majority of lawns in our subdivision are fenced.  Our neighbor’s is one of the few that isn’t.

I don’t know if you can see, but he has been leaving an 18 inch strip of grass/weeds in his back yard.  He has decided, for some unknown reason, that our lawn extends about 18 inches beyond our fence.  He hasn’t mentioned it to us.  We haven’t said anything to him.  It doesn’t bother us because we don’t see it – it is outside our fence.  (He rents like we do so it isn’t like he had the property surveyed prior to moving in.)  My thought has been if he does say something, I will offer to take my 9 month pregnant butt out and do 1 swipe with the lawn mower and then inform him that we will be encouraging our dog to poop in that strip of “our” lawn which happens to be about 3 feet from his kids’ swing set and kiddie pool.

Moral:  The pregnant lady is cranky and has lots of time to think up passive-aggressive retaliation while propping her feet up to prevent cankles so just back away slowly.

I wish the past 3 days were a true representation of summer in TN. It has been gorgeous. Low 80’s, low humidity, sunny, pleasant, open window weather – darn near perfect even for those of us who are pregnant and nearly impossible to please.

Last night, I finally got back to my book club after a 3 month absence. I love my mommy groups but I really adore the change of pace of hanging out with women who talk about boyfriends/husbands and careers and places grown ups go and things other that which is toddler related. I had a ball sitting on the patio, coveting the glasses of wine they were all sipping, chatting about everything from my pregnancy to state capitals named after presidents (there are 4…can you name them?). I was enjoying myself so much that I sat until my ankles and calves swelled to 3 times their normal size.

And today, the ultimate hostess around these parts invited Sabrina and I for lunch. Meredith made us a lovely quiche, salad, and lemony frozen dessert. We sat in her yard under a large tree, ate our lunch, and watched the children play. Her son was quite the gentleman and played so well with the girls. And girls, one being slightly under 2 and one being a bit over 2, did surprising well despite being at non-sharing ages. It was a lovely afternoon filled with great company and yummy food. Thanks Meredith!

I took a camera but of course didn’t get it out of my purse. Here is Sabrina prior to 2 hours spent playing in the yard. She came home a little dirtier and a little tired but had a great time.

My BFF, her husband and her daughter came to visit this weekend.  For some strange reason, I never get the camera out and take photos when people visit.  I take photos all of the time of ordinary days but when something interesting is happening – nothing.  We took them to a Nashville Sounds game last night and I managed to take a couple of photos at the game but none of them (duh).  It was a rather dull game but a fun night out.  I made a silly mistake: a hotdog + a hot pretzel with salt + 85 degrees + almost 8 months pregnant = ankles the size of Canada by the end of the game.

It takes more than ice cream in the freezer to make a house a home.  I’ve been grumbling about all this crap we have schlepped around.  I figured if I hadn’t seen it in a year, I couldn’t possibly need it.  And that is partially true.  I don’t need it in a physical sense but it is amazing what it does for me emotionally to have some of my things around me again.  I didn’t realize how much I missed some of the familiar objects that were packed away in storage.  They connect me to my past and who I was before I moved 600 miles away from everything I knew and became a stay at home momma of 1.5 kids.

Everyone has different stuff that does that for them.  For some people it is mementos in a box or hope chest.  For some it is china and silver.  For some it is personal photographs.  For me, it tends to be a strange hodge podge of things.  The amazing print that was the first purchase Steve and I made together, my “Believe” sign, my framed Scottish postcards (love my coo with his tongue sticking out), and
My antique amish buggy bench purchased at a festival in my hometown that I used to attend every year:

My $15 flea market find – an old sewing machine table (with the incredibly silly portrait of our dog hanging above it which we love):

My fun and colorful daisis found a new home in the kitchen window:

And my whimsical wooden flowers purchased at the Yankee Peddler (a tradition for many of us who lived in that area of Ohio):

Admittedly, it is all just stuff.  The only things I really *need* to be at home are my husband and daughter.  But these things help me feel settled and centered more quickly.  What makes you smile and think “home” when you see it?

Just a quick post from Michelle’s technical support team.

I very much enjoyed meeting other folks in town who share the same experiences as us. I rarely get to meet new people here in town as almost all of my time is taken up with work and being a dad, so interacting with other men (and women) who aren’t in that world is a big bonus. I’m really looking to meet some guys in my area who share common interests, and barring walking up to perfect strangers and asking, “Will you be my friend? I have beer, and my wife is hot!”, events like this are my best avenues.

As for the addition to Michelle’s site today, I am wholly responsible for that, so if you start seeing links that have nothing to do with the content of this site, please bear with me as I figure out the nuances of Google and get relevant items showing up.

I’m currently developing a small site that we can use to share information, pictures and details about any future picnics for us Middle Tennessee adoptive parents.

Coming soon to a theater near you…. adoptiveparentspicnic.org

And if you see any errors occur, please remember that it’s an undocumented feature…. not a bug.

Yesterday, we gathered together 14 families from the area for a picnic at the park. Despite the fact that no one really wanted to be in charge (I seriously don’t have the brain power to be put in charge of anything right now), the hastily thrown together picnic was a success. All of the families were wonderfully nice and the children (Guat and home grown) were beautiful. I had a great time chatting with everyone and admiring the darling kids running around.

I’m not sure who traveled the farthest…I think I heard someone say they were from the Memphis area and that person would get the prize. But Kristi came from Alabama (a little over an hour) and even if she didn’t make the longest trip, she gets props for getting herself permanently banned from adoption.com. I love fellow rebel-rousers.

We hope to make it a bi-annual event – once in May and once in October so we that can avoid the heat. My uber geek hubby will set up a password protected site to display the photos from the picnic and a group email thread for updates on upcoming picnics or events – so if you are in the Middle Tennessee area leave me a comment that you would like to attend in the future and we can get you added.

And because some of the attendees don’t like having their faces or their children’s faces splashed across the internet, even on my quiet little blog, I will stick strictly to Sabrina cuteness.

A little rocking chair just her size at Cracker Barrel (Steve guessed that perhaps some breakfast goodness might cheer me up after the consignment sale gone wrong). She is currently enchanted with chairs her size:

Showing daddy her treasures – a paperplate she found on the ground and a ball she stole from another family:

She was amazed that another mommy brought picnic supplies to a picnic! Her mommy certainly didn’t so she had to check them out.  She hasn’t experienced this phenomenon called preparedness:

I’ve been excited about a “big” consignment sale for weeks. It has its own website with photos of rows of cribs and strollers and outside toys. It is a sale for large items – no clothes or small toys. I have been holding off any baby purchases in hopes of this sale having the mother load of affordable baby items. I was hoping to find a crib, double stroller, and/or outside slide or play house for Sabrina.

It started at 8am this morning and was scheduled until noon. It is about 40 minutes from our house and we arrived at just about 9am. I’m not sure if the sale didn’t collect as many items to sell as it had in the past (they had photos!) or if there was a crowd of frugal moms waiting when the doors opened at 8 but when we got there, there was nothing left. There were 5 strollers – 1 double but it wasn’t one I wanted, 1 toddler bed, a couple of child desks, a dozen of those mats with the hanging toys for babies, a rickety crib, and an over priced changing table. That was it.

It is quite pathetic how heartbroken I was to find nothing we wanted or needed. I never dreamed I would have to line up at the door before it opened and throw elbows to make purchases. Anyone want to camp out in line with me for the next big sale?

The move is done.  All of our stuff is under one roof for the first time in a year.  I did a quick cleaning job at the apartment and Steve will turn in the keys tomorrow.  I predict a major purge of things as we unpack because it seems that we can’t possibly need all of this stuff. I wasn’t able to purge much when I packed up the house in PA because I didn’t want to make those decisions without Steve but now we are both sick of carting it around and ready to start gifting it to Goodwill (or the curb when appropriate).  If it didn’t just add another thing to my list of things to do, I might hold a garage sale.

Now I just have to find the energy to do it.  But it feels good to have everything here and to call that part of the move done.

We had a lovely day here in Tennessee today. It was sunny for most of the day, breezy and in the low 70’s. We went to the spring arts festival – and surprisingly didn’t really buy much of anything. We both love those types of things and love to get something for the house when we go (feeds my pottery fetish). Today, I just bought Steve a Father’s Day gift. I don’t know if it knowing I still have so many boxes to unpack or what but even with the offer of a Mother’s Day gift if I wanted something, there wasn’t anything I felt like I would regret not picking up so I walked out with just a bag of kettle corn.

Sabrina had a ball because everyone brought his/her dog so she got to see lots of puppies. And she loves kettle corn as much as momma so a good day was had by all.

This is the first booth we saw upon arrival – it made me chuckle because it sounds so southern:

That’s Chubby Bubby’s Smokehouse if you can’t read it.

Sabrina was pulling out all of the cute today.

******************

One more thing…I’ve been doing some browsing for a double stroller. I am looking at one that I found on super sale (because I can’t bring myself to spend $300 on a stroller). It is a Peg Perego Aria Twin – I say super sale because for that brand it is super cheap but comparatively still a little pricey. Steve says just buy it. I hate to buy it without test driving it – the site I’m looking at has good ratings from everyone but some other sites have some good and some bad…guess you can’t please everyone. Anyway – does anyone have this model or another double stroller that they love? It has to be light enough for me to get it in and out of the car by myself. And despite getting overwhelming feedback about Phil and Ted’s excellent strollers, I can’t bring myself to spend that much on a stroller. So I’m taking suggestions and here is the one I am looking at if you have any feedback.