We are leaving the downtown scene for the burbs! Moving at the end of the month and getting packed again (luckily, a lot of what we brought down here is nicely organized and ready to go thanks to all of the great plastic boxes from The Container Store). Our new place is so much bigger and we have a spare bedroom (technically a den) which will be perfect for visitors (So come on down and visit us!) Right now, I can do everything in less than 10 steps – cook dinner, do laundry, dry laundry, put away dishes, pay bills, eat dinner and watch tv. But in a few weeks, it might just take me 100! I might need to start taking mid-day naps to get all of the household chores done. There is a utility room for a FULL size washer and dryer (no more running laundry behind a closet door that sounds like it is going to take off) which means that I can do more laundry and have things hanging to dry out of sight. And there is a garden tub which just sound heavenly and his & hers sinks in the bathroom (so now we will really know who is messier). And the bedroom has a nice walk-in closet which we share now, but…there is also a closet in the den if you get my drift (just the right size for boy clothes and two big boxes of wheels if you ask me).

Rich is excited to be closer to our favorite car wash (he does it himself, I roll through the auto – both are fantastic) and I am excited to be closer to groceries and shopping. Hopefully we can sell our bar stools and get a dining table – I think it will make my dinners taste even better! And we will need a vacuum which I have always dreaded but after the concrete floors which have turned out to be a dust bunnies dream, I am looking forward to zoom zoomin around. Unfortunately, I don’t think that Palmer will be coming with us to the new place – unless he is a dandelion palm tree, I would have to say that he is not looking so hot these days…I think it was the 17 days without water that did him in; he just hasn’t been able to recover.

This should keep me busy while I wait for a job. I have been fishing but no bites (even went to the bookstore…application hard to interpret and kind of intense for stocking shelves with literature. Why do they need to know if I have any regrets in life? Or if I have a problem criticizing people’s work? (What are they looking for? I mean, if your job is done poorly, shouldn’t you be told?) Or if I think that people should keep their problems to themselves – needless to say, I said “I agree” even though thinking back on it, they probably wanted me to say, “Strongly disagree” but do they really want their employees to spread stories of their sorry personal lives around the store??)

I have been trying the Flat Belly Diet (by trying, I mean that I skimmed through the book and got the gist of it and based on my interpretation, I am eating mushy things (such a prunes and avocados) that don’t bulk up my tummy) as well as baking up a storm of carbohydrates which have been delicious and I do not regret (do you hear that bookstore??) indulging in them between my prunie fix. I made pretzels for one of our Superbowl snacks and they were so great that I am going to make more this week (perfect for Valentine’s day – they look like heart…although a hollow heart which probably doesn’t completely translate but a heart nonetheless). I had been drinking my Sassy Water (a staple of the Flat Belly Diet) but then I took a sip and the lemons must have gotten shaken too much because it was wicked strong and my taste buds are so scarred that I can’t bring myself to drink it quite yet.

In a couple weeks we start our archery classes! Yes, me and a bow and arrow – poetic. Rich thinks that this could be my calling and I could become the Black Widow of arrow shooting. Wouldn’t that be something! What if they have never seen such talent in their life and I get recruited to be a secret agent bow and arrow sniper??

It is a bit chilly down here and a little rainy but sure beats the snow! Hope everyone is keeping warm!