head full of pixies

this is what happens when .....

you're making a turkey sandwich... and your 2 1/2 year old finds the bottle of lotion ::

a show of hands

for all you installation /photographic artists out there, i have a project for you:

stand at a toll booth and take photos of each person's hand as they throw their money into the chute. 

i've been going through the toll booths AT LEAST 6 times a day since we moved here and i still am amazed at all the different hands,  and the sleeves, and the way the hands move to toss in the money.  it would be a fun game to match the hand to the car - i would be wrong about 98% of the time...

i don't know why i find this so amazing, but i do.

house hunt

so this is what i have written on the little post-its around my computer.  the ###'s are MLS numbers for houses i've looked up. 
#### : sold
##### : ugly
##### : pool (we don't want one)
##### : nice, but too pricey
##### : ugly and far away
##### : 2 bedrooms downstairs (don't want that)
##### : where the heck is it?!
##### : new listing, no picture ....
##### : nice house, too pricey
##### : no
##### : river plaza - no.

hmmmphf.  4 1/2 months of living in someone else's home without your own furniture, but lots of your (kids') stuff is very hard.  although i really shouldn't complain since we sold our NC house, and are living mortgage free.  but it is really hard.  we all need our own spaces.  the family bed is cool and all, but when chris and jack end up on the "lower bed" (the twin mattress on the floor next to the "upper bed" (the double bed where emma, maggie and myself are snuggling)), it's getting to be a drag.

i'm really supposed to stay positive.  but i want to paint walls in colors like "george of the jungle" and "ballet shoes".  i want to hang our pictures on the wall.  i want our family bed to fit all of our family.  i want to plant roots. 

i just want a home. 
p.s. (sorry for pouting)

happy new year!

           

whew.  2007 was full of ups and downs.  LOTS of both.  i like to keep this blog positive, and i like to keep my life positive, so i have been busy focusing on the ups of the last year.
i am so excited for this new year.  today i went for a run on the boardwalk, overlooking the ocean )which always holds so much promise, you know?) i couldn't help but feel elated at the prospect of all that this coming year will hold.  the feeling i have had over the last day or two is so different than that of years past.  i feel a happiness so deep in my bones and a confidence that we have found a really good place in life.  i am so, so thankful for the blessings in my life and for dear chris who has stood by me through some of those trying moments of motherhood and life.
i am so looking forward to getting to know you, 2008!

(image from spell with flickr)

d:: daughter

d:  daughter.
lots of ups. lots of downs (teen years). lots of misunderstandings. lots of complete and total understanding. 
lots of love.

c : change

c:: change
i know a picture of the ocean may be a little cliche but i'm okay with that.
i took the kids down to the ocean last week on a grey and misty day to kind of say goodbye to a lot of things and hello to a lot of others.
i feel like we really fit in here in new jersey, even though we are living temporarily in my in-laws' beach home, digging through boxes every morning to find something to wear.
our lives have changed so much and so suddenly in the last month ( i think this calls for a list, don't you?)::

• chris made a drastic career (life) change for the better and it has been so rewarding not only for him, but for all of us. 
• jack has started big-time catholic pre-school (5 days a week! - more than this mama wanted) and he loves it.  of course, being surrounded by 13 other boys his age all week must be paradise.
• maggie and emma have me all to themselves for 5 hours a day and we love our girl time.  emma takes a nap right when maggie and i eat lunch together at the table every day, and i cherish our time together.  we have great conversations as we pore over magazines, craft books, sports illustrated and catalogs (my personal fave!)
• i am having a great time getting to know the other mothers and i feel like i already fit in.  i'll be seeing these mothers for the next 8 years and there is something comforting in that.  i spend quite a bit of time in the car these days looking at the different neighborhoods, looking for houses, looking for the essentials like the library, post office, deli, and chinese take-out.

i miss my family terribly, but the phone calls have been little treasures.  and i think it has given my mom some space in her life to make some self improvements and i am so proud and happy for her. 

another big change ::
due to a variety of circumstances and such, i will be shifting my focus a little bit to a new business venture.  i still love head full of pixies, but i have to admit, some of the fun has been taken away from my crafting by doing it for the sole purpose of selling it.  i also haven't created the time to put into marketing, packaging, updating the website, photographing the products, etc. 

also, we are on a much stricter budget (still figuring out exactly what that word means because it is quite foreign to me), so i wanted to do something that i will enjoy, but will be more profit-oriented.
i will begin teaching stroller strides - fitness classes to mothers with their babes in the strollers.  being active has always, always been important to me, and being with my kids has always, always been important to me, and now i am going to combine the two.  what could be better than doing squats while singing and blowing bubbles to a bunch of babes in strollers? not to mention the social aspect.  it will be a great way for me to hang out with other moms.  i will also be hosting playgroups and mother's nights out through luna mom's clubs. 

so i will still be crafting away, but it will likely shift to gifts for our family and friends.  i will still keep the shop because it is fun, and i will still do craft fairs from time to time.

so, anyway. change is good. 

*and p.s. i had planned this blog post in my head last week while i was at the beach with the kiddos, so don't go thinking i named it "change" just because that was the theme of grey's anatomy last week!

b: books

b: books
i have always, always loved to read.
i learned to read right as i turned 3 years old, and have been reading ever since.
i don't think a night has gone by when we haven't read books to our kids before bed. (and not many days have passed without a book being read snuggled up on the couch)

anytime i am taking up interest in something new (which happens more frequently than i would like to admit), my first reaction is to read all about it. when i first got pregnant with jack i read (or at least scanned over) every single baby book in barnes and noble during my study breaks from my law school work.

chris loves to tease me about the wide variety of books you will find on my bookshelf. you will see books about karate, improv exercises, crafts of all kinds, homeschooling, geishas, biographies, sports and fitness, yoga, classical literature, next to some more craft books.

currently i am reading freakonomics which about made me throw up when i thought of reading a book about money, but i am here to tell you it is absolutely fascinating (and not really about money.) very interesting ways to look at things.

there is nothing like curling up with a good book and leaving this world for a short while only to return a little more "experienced"

a:

i thought i'd join in after the fact to bella dia's encyclopedia of me meme.

a:
apple. i know, i know - could i get any less original?! but just hear me out. my maternal grandparents owned and lived on a large apple orchard in california until a few years ago. i used to go visit them for the summer and run laps around the trees, and pick cherries, apricots, plums and peaches until i burst. we always had bowls of fresh fruit (and bowls of freshly made caramels or divinity) on the table to graze on. i used to go in to the farmer's market with my grandpa to sell apples. i'll never forget how he would pluck an apple off the tree, rub it on his shirt to get the dust and dirt off, and then take a huge, crunchy bite and then hand it to me. nothing beats fruit off of the tree. nothing.

at night, we slept with the windows open and could hear the horses and cows next door (and the crop dusters and the mosquito or two). my sister and i would put on "shows" for my grandma and grandpa, complete with music and event posters.
i still can't bite into a ripe bing cherry or a fresh apricot without being transported back into my grandparent's house.
i have mighty fond memories of my trips out there and miss it terribly.

one other apple thing. i've been feeling mighty swappy lately and was cruising the blogs for a swap to join in, and i found this apple themed swap. just the ticket.

my life is....

that about sums it up, folks..
we are living my in laws' beach house amidst lots of opened boxes with their contents spilling out. we got here the day before labor day (after frantically packing almost all of our belongings into a uhaul over a period of 18 hours). the rest of our stuff is in our house 500 miles away.

just got access to the internet, but only on christopher's computer, so i feel completely out of touch since i can't connect mine to the internet - i really miss (and need) my bookmarks, and ability to upload pics, etc....

jack started preschool last week and loves it (although he is home today, sick on the couch). chris started his teaching and coaching job. we are seeing a little less of him, but his spirit is so much shinier when he is here.

i'm still trying to carve out some time and space for my craftiness, which is harder than it seems. (didn't help that i was violently ill last week)

i feel like we are plants that are being repotted, but our new pot isn't ready yet, and we are in a temporary pot just waiting to plant our roots.

oh, please let us find a house. and fast!

despite the insanity (oh, did i mention i am spending 2 1/2 hours in the car each day taking jack to preschool and picking him up again), it really is quite nice here.

people are so very friendly, and the general outlook of people is so positive and forward-moving. it really helps on those days when i feel like i'm being tossed around in the sea.

and speaking of the sea, we are near the beach which can never be a bad thing. something so calming and peaceful about walking along the boardwalk at night. now that i am feeling better, and after jack feels better, we will be taking more advantage of that big blue sea.

(thank you spell with flickr for the image above.)

garden state

drumroll please.... here is our big news.

we are moving to new jersey.
when i met chris 11 years ago, he was always waxing poetic about his high school and being on the cross country and track teams there. during one of our dreamy-getting-to-know-you talks over coffee, i asked what his dream job would be if he could do anything in the world, and he said it would be to teach and coach at his alma mater...
i always said i would never move to new jersey (partially because i had to keep up my "tough-girl" appearance that i thought i sported back then) - except, of course, if he were to get this dream job.

well, he got that dream job, folks. starts day after labor day. yep, that's a whole lot of moving and packing to do in the next week!

i will miss a lot of things about north carolina (most importantly my family), but am so excited for us to see chris so happy when he walks out the door every morning and when he walks back in every afternoon.