Cardboard Boxes

Memorial Day is traditionally our summer kickoff, and we usually take a long weekend somewhere. This year we had 2 kids & too much to do, so we stayed home, but that meant it was the first year we were around for the town Memorial Day Parade. The kids had a lot of fun waving the little flags, and I always enjoy local color. It was Meredith's first parade, and it suited her party girl nature to have so much excitement around her. Sylvia loved the firefighters & police officers, and she loves anything that has to do with the "Grand Old Flag."

The bad news is that I have declared June a month of NO FUN. The good news is that June is no fun because we have to pack to move to our new home on July 1st! We found the perfect place just 2 miles up the the same road we live on now, our too-small home is sold & everything is proceeding as planned. Now we just have to put everything we own in boxes.

T. keeps saying it won't take long, we're almost done, this will be easy, we're in good shape . . . I did the bulk of the packing for our last 3 moves, and I don't think we've even made a dent yet. This is the first move in a long time that I haven't worked in a hospital, so I don't have an easy supply of boxes. Hospitals are the best places to get boxes--there is an endless quantity of every size and shape, and medical supplies come packed in really nice, sturdy boxes. There is always some place by the elevators or by the loading dock where the housekeeping staff piles up the boxes, so at the end of the day I would just swoop by, grab as many as I could carry, and come back for more the next day. This move, we'll have to buy boxes or rent plastic crates. I packed up some china yesterday (I'm not likely to need the gravy boat in the next 3 weeks) into a very nice dish box that must have been given to us by our next door neighbors in St. Louis 6 years ago. Haven't thought about them in a long time, & I wonder how they are doing. This is why we're buying our long awaited big house & settling down where we are--we've had enough of boxes and goodbyes.

Snacktime

I was carrying the baby through the living room when I stepped on something that I had never stepped on before--smooth with ridges, crunchy. I looked down & there on the floor was an entire box of dried spaghetti. Turns out the horses needed some hay.

Our dance parties now include Snacktime by the Barenaked Ladies--fun album. I love having dance parties with the girls as much as they love it. Mostly I do my "stretch dance" for my tense neck & shoulder. Then Sylvia & I do our dance move where I toss her onto the couch (why should daddies have all the fun?). Meredith tries to get in the thick of it, and she pounces on my head when I lay down to stretch my back. The dishes are piling up & the laundry isn't folded, but I figured out that I can either have a clean house or I can enjoy my kids while they're little. Some day I'll miss the Cheerios on the floor.