New Rental House

(Sorry the pics are so cruddy - camera phone w/ no lighting)
Long await has paid off and we’re finally moved. We don’t close on our house until next week but I am proud to say that we’ve moved into our rental and settling in before mom comes into town on Friday. I have realized every time we’ve moved it has gotten harder and harder. You get more stuff, you have kids/babies. It’s just harder! And finally the move is over. The TVs work, the computer works, I got my washer/dryer (just got used ones because my new ones will go into my new house once it’s built) and finally got laundry done, and I have all my stuff up -- finally I’m at peace …for a few days before mom gets here. Then another chapter of craziness begins!

… and I finally have time for a haircut tomorrow. I can’t wait. ME TIME! I almost forgot that exsisted.

Moving Day

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Maysen started school last week. He goes 4 days from 1130 - 215 and he loves it. He is looking so forward to learning Science. Miss Nicole is his teacher again this year. She taught PM preschool last year and things have moved this year and she is now teaching PM Pre-K. He loved her and it's great he gets her another year. He is also thankful for returning friends from last year! Griffin just HAD to stand in this picture with him on his first day. It turned out to be one of my favorites. Bubba can do no wrong in his eyes ... I wonder how long that will last.

Tomorrow we are moving into our rental house. It is a 4bdrm, 2 bath approx 2000 sq foot house only 1 yr old so we are pretty lucky. It was either get a small house and save money, or get one with enough space to accommodate mom on visits. We are going to temporarily move mom into an Adult Foster Care home when she arrives in Oregon. We have decided that based on the realization that we are unsure exactly what mom's needs are right now. It's been about 4 years since either Jenn or I have seen her and assessing her needs seems to need to be a priority right now. Unfortunately there were no acceptable foster cares in my town that had availability so she'll be staying in a really nice place near Jenn in Portland. In the meantime, mom will come stay with me for lengthy periods and we needed a house big enough to accommodate her.

God works in mysterious ways and I can't wait to figure out what He has in store. In the last 30 days we've made the decision to move mom, put our house on the market, sold our house, found a rental and signed lease and will be moving tomorrow. On top of that, Nate found out today that all of his former coworkers from Weyerhaeuser got laid off just today. Nate accepted a new job about 4 months ago and it was a decision he didn't take lightly. In other words, he was torn. I can't imagine what life would be like with all that is currently going on -- only to find out today that my husband lost his job. They might just have had to commit me! And what's even more weird about the timing him getting his new job, is that Nate wouldn't have left Weyerhaeuser if it weren't for Mel coming and finding Nate and offering him a new job. So wild ... Thank YOU LORD!

One more blessing is that my dad and Jo are here to help. They had planned to come visit for a few days (Mon-Wed) and dad announced they were changing their plans for the rest of their vacation to stay and help. Totally not expected but it's been an absolute life saver. I think in the delusion of everything going on we didn't realize all we had to do. Thanks to them ... I have a great family.

Life's Curve Balls ...

I think my name should be “Changes”. That seems to be where my life has been headed the last few weeks. So, shall we just begin and hold on … it’s a bumpy ride!

My mother has Multiple Sclerosis. She has been living with it for a long time now, and it has moderately affected her life, getting worse each day. Last week my sister and I made a decision to move her out of her current (bad) living situation in North Carolina and move her here. It was a sudden decision that had to be made. What now? Well, Leslie (me) has taken it upon herself to decide that what is best for me and my family is to build a bigger home to accommodate mom. She needs her dignity and that requires her own living quarters and handicap bathroom. So, on Thursday last week our house went up on the market.

On Friday morning I got a call to see if the house could be seen that morning. Ok, Nate and I were planning on taking the kids to the mountains for Labor Day weekend. We rented a brand new 3bdrm resort house at Eagle Crest and given all the stress that has occurred with mom’s situation over the last few days I was personally looking forward to the private hot tub on the back deck. The showing happened at 10:30am and as I picked Nate up and headed out toward the mountains my phone cell phone rang.

We had an offer. (Notice Sale Pending in pic above!)

We had to accept/decline/counter within 24hrs. Once we got to the property management company they were kind enough to let me use their computer/fax and we were able to get the counter out. We signed papers today and our HOUSE IS SOLD! 5 days on the market and it is officially sold. That’s got to be some record!

I’ve been on the move with rentals and we are going to be renting a 1921 Victorian house right across from the park in town. It’s got 2500 square feet and I’m relishing over the fact my kids will actually have room to play! We’re just renting it for now while we are on the hunt for property to start building. What an amazing last 7 days ..

Mom will be arriving into Oregon September 25th. We will need all the prayers as we all adjust to this new and hectic life. It is a good feeling knowing I can help my mom, and she’s not been able to get to know my kids yet. Or my husband for that matter. I’m looking forward for her to get to know my family for the first time.

On another note, Maysen starts pre-kindergarten tomorrow!! He will be going 4 days a week and I think we’re both equally excited. I will update Griffin’s blog tonight … his words are sprouting faster than he is growing! Its an amazing time right now in our lives …

Work is great ... I've been asked to step up into more scheduled hours as a full fledged PACU (recovery room) nurse and even work some in the O.R. Could be interesting! I'm only going to stick to my 10hrs/week ... I love being home too much and I get my RN fix as well. The other day I had a patient nearly crash from a Fentanyl injection. BP drop is common and it just so happened to flatten out this guy ... as his heart rate dropped 55, 49, 44, 38, 33 ... on the monitor. Needless to say the color drained from both our faces! But ... IV fluids bolus (big gulp, basically), O2 and some reassurance we had him back up in no time. I LOVE my new on-call Nanny. The boys love her, too. I came home from work she had my laundry done and dinner started. Life is good!

I will be posting more as events progress in my life. Stay tuned!