Yessir, That's My Baby!

So today we got one of those "To Household" information letters detailing all the exciting things going on in the local school division.

(Gotta make people feel as though they're getting their money's worth in property taxes, I guess.)

I glanced at the picture on the front and thought, hoo-boy, that kid's got some crazy hair:

And then I burst out laughing.

That kid = MY kid!

Too funny.

Try as we might, we can't tame that haystack. Well, I suppose we could with a Number One clippers, but I don't like it that short. So, he looks like a scarecrow most days. He doesn't care. And, even though the entire city is now laughing about "that kid," I don't actually care either.

People keep asking me whether I'm settled yet, and I just laugh. It's not (really) for lack of trying. But life keeps getting in the way of unpacking, so I'm choosing to live it instead of emptying boxes.

We had our first visitors this weekend (well, second, if you count my parents who got prematurely sent home after the main drain clogged), and I was praying very hard for power, plumbing, and gas the entire weekend. We had a fabulous time - nothing like running water and electricity to really make hostessing easy.

However, things still do seem to be a tad precarious in the utility department, so every day I wake up wondering what it's going to be today. They are TOTALLY ripping up our street. Planned maintenance, but since the planning phase undoubtedly went on prior to our ownership of the house, it's taken us by surprise and has extended our move-in adventure all the more.

I'm good with the orange cones and the "no thru traffic" and the constant noise of jackhammering/heavy equipment. The whole "can you make sure your spigots are on because we need to turn the main water line off and run temporary water to your house" makes me a bit nervous, though

As did the whole "no problem, we'll be done in an hour" transferring of the gas meter from the inside of the house to the outside of the house, which (of course) turned into "sorry, ma'am, we've got a problem. Do you know why there is a big concrete slab here? We can't drill into it."

(Jimmy Hoffa? Dinosaur bones? Who knows?)

I will say that this move does seem to be a bit more difficult than it needs to be (and worse than anything I've ever done before). Ant infestation? Check. Roots in the main drain? Check. Demise of the vacuum cleaner? Check. Water softener replacement? Check. Flaky phone jacks so it's always a special treat when the phone actually rings? Check. Gas shut-off due to meter movement? Check. Water delivery via garden hose from the fire hydrant? Check.

(I so wish I was kidding about that last part.)

But we press on! Slowly, but there's a bit of progress every day. Look at me - I'm actually finding time to blog.

(Better send it quick. While I still have power...)