September Update

We are settled in that all of our belongings are either in the garage or our house. We are planning on getting a storage area, especially for our books, but we are still unpacking and trying to figure out how to best organize what is staying at the house to have the smallest storage area possible. Every day I get a little more settled, but no areas of my house are completely like I want them. I think in October I will concentrate on one room at a time instead of working all over the house each day. On Sunday afternoon we organized the garage so we can fit one car in there. We took out a lot of trash from both our landlord and us (bookshelves that didn't survive the move, boxes that were unpacked). The trash man took all of that today.

We took my grandma's cedar chest to a furniture repair man after a DIY repair 15 years ago didn't survive the last move. All the legs are on strong now and he also polished it so it looks almost new. It was so worth the money to get it repaired and I couldn't believe how fast he was. One more area for storage is available now. He was shocked that we not only had the cedar chest, but we also had the key and the lock worked. I estimate it is from 1925 as it was a high school graduation present.

I took part in the Reformation swap this year and I notified the lady that will receive my mug that with moving it will be late, but it will be coming. It was fun to "meet" another Lutheran and I am having fun getting her package together. I look forward to receiving my package.

We had two trips to the doctor since we arrived here. 1. To ER because Ram cut himself. 2. Lamb 2 had the worst case of chigger bites the Dr. had ever seen. That was a big mom fail-my boys that don't remember playing outside before we moved to ID had no idea that you needed to wear bug spray to play football outside in the backyard. I was busy unpacking and didn't remind them to wear bug spray. We have learned our lesson and are extra cautious about going outside now. Lamb 2 is surviving on Claritin, Benadryl, and a prescription cream. The other Lambs have more mild cases.

Ram needed new glasses and he had not bought glasses at his checkup this spring so insurance paid for about half of his new glasses.

We bought a mattress online and there was some delay getting it shipped to our unknown to the credit card company new address, but we have slept on it for a couple of weeks now and Ram and I like it.

House closing was more complicated than I would have liked due to us just getting internet installed, not setting up a printer/scanner yet, and having no idea where the printer paper was packed, but the money from the house sale was direct deposited into our account the day after closing. It is wild to me that you can sell a house by doing almost everything online, getting a direct deposit instead of a check, and not going to a title company nor handing over the keys on the day of closing. We left the keys and garage door openers in the kitchen drawer. Then it was time to notify all the companies to get our final utility bills and house insurance refund. It is so good to be completely done with that house less than two weeks after we arrived here.

We are still church shopping and have one more church to attend before choosing which ones to attend a second time. It has been fun to connect with friends at these churches, but I am getting anxious to get involved in one church.

Homeschooling has resumed. This year I plan to be more academic since Lamb 1 is in middle school and Lamb 2 has some catching up to do. We are off to a good start. Today I gave the Lambs and Ram haircuts, the first ones they had since we left ID.

My parents are retired, but they have invited us/asked us to help them attend several events in the past few weeks. They told us October is even more busy than September. This weekend we went with my dad to the airport to meet the Honor Flight, took my mom out to lunch for her birthday, attended a high school football game, helped my dad shop for and set up a new TV, and attended a high school band contest. We are enjoying being able to attend all this, but hope to get involved in our own activities soon.

When you move to a new area learning how to grocery shop in the new area is difficult. I had quite the time getting my Fred Meyer card transferred to a Kroger card, but I went shopping on Friday and it worked so I could get my Friday Freebies. I also had a difficult time finding a store that sells bulk spices (I miss Winco!), but I accomplished that on Saturday. All of our spices are replaced now. I have enjoyed starting over on my pantry/freezer with fresh food and hopefully purchase more healthy foods too.

The Lambs attended their first choir practice last week and the director and I decided they need voice lessons before they are ready to be part of this special choir. We are working towards getting settled enough to bring a piano in our house so they can resume piano lessons and their voice lessons will begin in October. In the future I hope they can participate in homeschool choir, but for now we will concentrate on the academic part of homeschooling and try voice lessons. Lamb 1 and 2 are signed up for a basketball camp in October. We will look for other activities for them to get involved in here too.

My days are kept busy trying to update our address everywhere. It seems like we get less snail mail than we used to, but it is still a lot of places to contact!

I don't know if anyone still reads my blog after it was so neglected this summer. I am going to try to get back to more posting in October whether I feel settled yet or not.