.: All Boxed Up

The time has come. I have gathered a few. People at work are hearing the news. Everywhere I walk they ask, "Are you the one?" I shyly reply, "Yes, it's me." Then they tell me. As quick as I can, I rush to the scene. Phew! They're still there. With great strength and agility, I collect. Walking precariously, I cross the street blindly. It's a must. The true challenge starts at the car, though. Little Civy can't carry much and I have a lot of empty, odd-shaped boxes wanting to hitch a ride to Victoria!

End scene.

Last week I was working with a small group of students helping them improve their writing. They are beginning a narrative study and learning how to "show" instead of "tell" their story. Needless to say, I enjoyed the mini lesson and they laughed at many of my suggestions and the dramatic voice I presented them in. I think they understood the concept by the end. The above story is true; it's great! People know I'm moving and where the boxes are stashed around school. Score!

Tiff and Jared came for dinner Friday night. I didn't want to start packing until after our last night of entertaining in Victoria. It was a fabulous evening. Peter and I vacuumed and dusted for the third time in four months. Our house is always tidy but we don't do a whole lot of "serious" cleaning. I made this amazing dessert. I spent too many hours on it and told Peter in it's final minutes of baking that he had to promise to like it or I just might cry. Thank goodness it was tasty. I was pretty proud of my table arrangement. I'll share.

Pretty cute, no?

We had a great time with our siblings making dinner, eating, talking, laughing, crying from laughing, and playing games. So much fun ahead with those two cards!

Saturday we had big plans for ourselves but when you accidentally sleep past noon, things change. We woke up several times before then and dared to ask the question, "You ready to get up yet?" Obviously, we weren't. Eventually, we got up and did something with our lives.

Sunday was the big event. Our long time family friend and neighbor is really good at remodeling. He's a designer, a visionary, experienced, and he's got people. Score! He was willing to come over and give us some ideas and estimates. We told him our budget and he made a lot of suggestions- all within our budget. Friday we should be closing escrow. Guess what we'll be doing Friday night?!? Breaking things! Smashing things! Destroying our home! That's right- Demo Damage! We are so excited to get on our way with our home and home improvement projects. We will be taking lots of before, during and after shots. Just you wait.

So after a very encouraging day with lots of family and friend support, we came home. It was time. I grabbed an empty box, walked around in circles a few times trying to figure out where to start and then, I started. I love packing. It totally fits into my organized, planner head. It was a process- final entertaining on Friday, relax at home Saturday, prepare for the next phase Sunday. Sunday night- pack. It was hard to stop once I got going but Peter dangled the carrot: "Prison Break?". We are almost finished with the series and let me tell you, it is intense. Major turn of events in the last episode- good guy turns bad- and it was hard to sign off the Netflix. I signed in here instead.

The process of moving:

The gathered few

Please note my amazing, new advent calendar! I have been looking for one for 5 years and had yet to find the perfect one. It is beautiful, has no Santa type stuff on it and was $10. Whooo! Delayed gratification. I told Peter I found something I had been searching for for a long time every year at the after Christmas sales. He instantly new what it was because he had gone on many shopping trips with me in search of just the right one. OK, back to the boxes.