Another corner I like.

Good for: morning coffee, journal writing, evening chats, and escapes.

Waiting.

He waited so patiently for his turn.

For the most part the kids are much more patient with this move than myself. They accept playing with just each other. They accept having a new space. They accept the goodbyes with awesome anticipation of new schools, new friends, and a new life. Me: not so much.

But, back to the dock. We escaped the never ending boxes and stuff for high tide and kayak rides yesterday. Both kids slipped in the boats for a paddle in the creek with Mario. I sat and wrote in my journal between rides enjoying iced tea, child chatter, jumping fish, and skidding shrimp.

The creek brings patience and calm to all of us. (And keeps us saving up for 2 seater kayaks so we can all go at one time with ease and grace.)

When mama is busy.

Or tired.
Or moping.
Or drinking coffee.
Or using her brand new internet.
Or writing letters.
Or talking to friends she misses.

These kiddos go to town.

A developing corner.

There's a closet in the main room of our house. There are also a lot of lamps that have no homes yet. Actually, there's a lot of stuff that doesn't have a home in our house here because I'm a little stuck on the transitional phase of things right now. So, they remain in boxes and on tables and wherever our mover helpers put them a week ago.

Anyhow, back to the closet. My vision: a mini workspace/office area. In an energy burst fueled by Allison's Diet Mountain Dew addiction I pulled out all of the junk I had thrown in there, put a table inside, tied up a hanging lamp, found a chair and declared it to be just that.

Thursday afternoon the Internet arrived. Last night wireless arrived thanks to Mario's tech skills. Today I can surf and figure out how to make this little nook at least one organized fun space amidst the chaos. It has great potential. And a mini project feels manageable. Finding a spot for the rest of the stuff in the kitchen does not.

This is where we live.

1000 words or a few things to point out from this lovely camera phone picture.

1. Wesley is naked on the walkway because he wiped out under the pier at the beach and we had no extra clothes in the van. (note to self: carry plastic bags and extra clothes everywhere again a la 18 month old style)

2. Clare is swinging in the most favored swing on the island because it goes super high right in front of the kitchen window. I just ordered a disc swing to hang from another branch. It should arrive by Saturday.

3. There are mountains of boxes on the front stairs. It costs $12.50 to recycle each load so we save up van loads before recycling.

4. We have a sand and leaf yard. There is no grass.

5. The first window on the left is Clare's room, second from the left is Wesley's room and the last 2 windows up high on the opposite side over the garage are the MBR.

6. The little tiny windows on the bottom of the house are flood vents b/c we are in a FEMA flood zone. Dunbar Creek runs right behind our house, in fact we need to add more in the garage and in the back of the house.

7. I have no idea where my real camera is yet.

The library was closed.

So we hunted for hermit crabs on the beach instead.

Moving is messy.

My kitchen. 9:44 PM.

Is it over yet? Not the Columbia part, just the insane amount of stuff and packing.

Today we made more progress but we are definitely in the ugly phases of moving. Dust bunnies are flying, random noodles are resting in cupboards, and wee bits of condiments waiting for burial on Thursday are waiting in the yet to be cleaned refrigerator. This is not the part that is easy to help with yet my friends continue to amaze me with their offers to do just that.

Boxes hold stuff. Garbage bags hold clothes. I find solace in the idea that this will all be over on Friday by 11 AM. It has to be over by then so we will make it happen.

Current loves: tape guns, boxes of any kind, drawstring garbage bags, sharpies, notes from friends, meals I don't make, chocolate, and caffeine.

Current loathes: generic packing tape, dust bunnies, filled garbage cans, forgotten drawers of stuff, goodbyes, and stray socks.

Until today I'd never...

--been inside the Adluh flour company.

--owned an Ernest Lee original painting.

--walked the Granby Park riverwalk.

--or sipped a Blenheim ginger ale.

But this morning Laura and I took a tour and did a bunch of things in Columbia that I've always wanted to do but never got around to doing (minus actually going inside the State House). We talked to Ernest (did you know he's left handed like me?), bought grits (did you know that Adluh is Hulda spelled backwards, the name of the original Dutch owners daughter?), went to road side stands and sipped spicy spicy Blenheim with the windows down in the big red van. Good stuff this morning.

And I'm glad I got to check some of those straggling things off of my list after living here in Columbia. I arrived in Fall 1998 from Saint Simons Island, Georgia and on Friday, May 20, 2011 we are returning to Saint Simons Island as full time residents. (And celebrating our 11 year anniversary!)

We close on our house here at 11:00 AM, we will pick up Clare at school afterwards, and then we head South. Hopefully my recurrent nightmare: our stuff not fitting in the truck will remain just a dream. In the meantime we are packing maniacs becoming fast friends with the staff at the local liquor stores. My living room looks like a liquor store stockroom and my mantra is now 'keep putting stuff in boxes to keep momentum going.

Last weekend we made a giant pile on the curb, put FREE signs up on the real estate sign, and watched stuff disappear. Urban recycling at its best. There is so much more we ought to purge but instead we will have to wait and host the garage sale of the century on SSI.

Until then I'll be packing boxes, drinking coffee, and cramming in as much Columbia as possible. Oh, and the place I'll miss the most besides our house and Laura's kitchen: the library.

Some news.

Mama made.

Today I finished my tunic at sewing school! I spent two Friday mornings at Creative Sewing taking a beginning sewing class ($55) learning how to make this tunic. The class was more advanced than I thought it might be, but the instructor made everything so exact and concrete.

The other day I printed a simple children's pattern off of the Internet. I actually understood what it was telling me to do! Taking the class taught me the starting steps of a new language and for the first time I crossed the line between sewing hacker into actual sewing. It's interesting over here in the land of real sewing. Irons and pins can do wonders.

In Clare's world.

Mario: Hey, did you see the bird tents?

Me: No? Where? Huh?

Mario: You've got to see these. Clare just showed me. Just go around to the next aisle.

Clare to me: Look Mommy! Bird tents for the birds! They can fit inside of these. They are just like the ones that they have at Target.

Me: Wow. I'll take a picture of them with my phone. Okay? Then we can send it to Aunt Rena and show her!

Clare: Okay. Can I see it when you are done?

(Dick's Sporting Goods. Sunday afternoon.)

Mother's Day: The List

sew something

a coffee mug that does not leak

church

run

craft with clare

clean sheets

clean van

sex

muffins in the morning

Mother's Day DIY

My brain remembers childhood addresses and phone numbers, but not passwords. I have no idea how old I was when we lived in the blue Cape Cod house on 7565 Allegheny Road. Aside from the actual house address and layout I also distinctly remember that we had to tear down a shed in the backyard of that house one Mother's Day afternoon. Crowbars were involved.

My mom had this idea that Mother's Day meant that she got to plan what we got to do for the day. I hated tearing down the shed that day and all of the subsequent years of projects but I now love that she gave me that idea. Around here we did the cards and gifts on Sunday but I really enjoyed this little painting project of a recent curbside find with Clare.

At the end of the day snuggled under the covers with her cute new bob hair cut she asked, "How was your day?"

"Pretty good."

She prodded further, "Was it happy?"

"Yes. It was very happy."

A smile crossed her face and she said, "Good. That's what we were trying to do."

I wonder how she will feel if I add a shed demolition project to the Mother's Day wish list in a few years?

Clare's new skirt.

On my list for Mother's Day 2011: sew somthing. My newbirthday sewing machine from Mario plus the sewing class I'm taking put the wish on the big list. Add that to the fact that sewing stuff for little people is lots faster than it is for big people and you have an evening lazy days skirt from the free Oliver and S pattern found here. She's such a good sport to put up with my creations.

Bailey by Steve Morrison

Look what we got this week! A portrait of Bailey so real that when I pass by the dining room and catch it out of the corner of my eye I think he's actually there.

Steve Morrison is the father of one of the kids at Clare's school and he did our house painting/sketch and this one. His contact information is here. Go for it. You'll be so glad you did. He created each of our art pieces from pictures and email exchanges.

Pre K or Pre Alegebra?

Overheard en route to church Sunday.

Wesley: Daddy, how do you count to 178?

Mario: You'll have to ask Clare.

Clare: I don't know, I only know how to count to a million.

Another reason I love Clare.

Yesterday we had brunch at DiPrato's. For the first time she showed interest in their heavenly pimento cheese (my favorite in Columbia).

Clare bypassed the pita dipping chips, scrumptious and deep fried, and ate the pimento cheese. With. Her. Fork.