Little House Read-a-Long news, #Estellagram

• I have made the decision to move ALL of the opening posts for the Little House Read-A-Long to the first Monday of the month, instead of the first of the month. I don't know about you guys, but it's much easier for me to put together a thoughtful post over a weekend. I apologize if any of you rushed to get it read before today. I have finished Little House, but I didn't want to just throw a post up.
• Are you on Instagram? Are you participating in the #Estellagram? No? You should be! I am, you can follow me as lharsma.
• In possibly the most exciting news in years, we have a moving date! Guys, I'm so ready to leave this little apartment!! March 23rd! (Coincidentally, Mike's birthday.)
• Which means that yesterday our dryer stopped working. Yes, it's part of the apartment, not ours, but really? We couldn't go another month without having to call the landlord?
• Florida man swallowed by sinkhole in bedroom. Horrifying!
• I had a job interview yesterday, and I realized on my way to the interview that it was the first time in my life that I've ever interviewed with a man. It was also the least chatty interview I've ever done. I don't think this was a coincidence. In other job search news, I have not yet found a job, but I'm getting pretty blase about interview outfits. Also, if you are looking for a state job, be warned that the process moves very very slowly and it doesn't pay to get your hopes up.

What I Read This Week:

• First, let me just say how glad I am that I keep this running list, because otherwise I'd just completely forget what I read!
• Little House on the Prairie by Laura Ingalls Wilder. Of course.
• Back to the Good Fortune Diner (Harlequin Superromance) to by Vicki Essex. I was expecting good this from this from other reviews, but couldn't ever connect with either main character and ultimately didn't buy the love story. It was a NetGalley book, so expect a short review about why.
• Eleanor & Park by Rainbow Rowell. I really wanted to finish this one this week for it's release date. I did not make it.

Shhh!!!

The move is going well and unlike last time we have internet and cable! Today we go back for more boxes and tomorrow we clean the old house and then it's done.

Now, someone tell me how long it's going to take of me saying "Shhh! There are people living on the other side of that wall!" before it takes. Or, perhaps easier, what do I bribe my neighbors with to make them love my very loud children?


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My done list and my to do list for Monday.

Things I done did:

• Drove approximately 149.5 miles of a 150 mile trip prior to blowing out my (not at all old) tire.
• Blew out my tire half a mile from my friend's home, my final destination.
• Stayed up way too late and the slept in a twin bed with two of my children.
• Loved myself for purchasing Roadside Assistance when I swapped insurance last month. Hi, free tire change in the snow!
• Spent much of Saturday chasing down a new tire for my odd sized car. A $167 tire.
• Side note: I dealt with four different companies for all this, and had excellent customer service at all four: the company that handles Progressive's Roadside Assistance, Carter at Tow Pros, TMA and Martin at Tires Plus.  I would recommend any of them.
• Went to Target to console myself.
• (Mike, look away.)  Bought new sandals for me and the girl. (Wanted these but her feet are too thick.)
• And a shower curtain.
• Loaded all of the rest of my crap from the old house into a trailer.
• Drove 3 hours back home with a crying 5 year old who wanted out of the car. 
• Stopped at one point, in the absolute middle of nowhere, and offered to let him out.
• He declined.
• Did I mention, it was snowing? (See: new sandals.)
• Unloaded trailer at storage unit.
• Came home, did not unload car. Dude. I'm tired.
• Woke up to more snow. (See: new sandals)
• Took the Pirate to school while the Bug complained, loudly, that he wanted the Pirate to stay home.

We move on Friday. That's like 4 days away. I have a lot to do. This is my list, just for today:

• Drink coffee.
• Feed baby.
• Print new weekly to do list and fill in already scheduled tasks.
• Do dishes and wipe counters. (twice)
• Put roast in crock pot.
• Move all the laundry to the laundry room.
• Start laundry.(three loads!)
• Unload car.
• Sort boxes of crap from the car into things that go to storage, things that go to the apartment, and trash.
• Attempt to do 4 (four) hours of paying work today. (This is a bit optimistic.)(1.5 hours as of 8:45pm)
• Pack the baby's closet.
• Pack the office closet (this house has a wide closet with a built in office.)
• Do not get distracted by sorting paperwork. Just pack it.
• All the other daily things like meals, diapers, school pick up, etc.

Yeah, not so bad. I can do that. Rah rah!! (I'll let you know how it goes.)(Updated: 8:45pm- original post at 8:51, not 7:51, I can't figure out how to change the time zone for posting!)



I am an Amazon Associate. As such, any purchase you make at Amazon.com after following a link from this blog will earn me a (tiny) percentage back as income. Thanks. All content copyright Books. Lists. Life. at http://bookslistslife.blogspot.com. If you're reading this post anywhere other than there, you are reading stolen content.

Random Saturday, after Thanksgiving recovery

Everyone have a great Thanksgiving? Lots to give thanks for?  Before I recap our adventures, I want to say that I'm so thankful for all my online friends. You are all so supportive and awesome and some days when I'm here alone with the babies (The Bug and the Princess) I'm just so happy to have you all with me. Thank you.

Now, on to our adventure!

On Tuesday the babies and I drove out to Pierre so that I could go to the Grand Opening Party at Mike's new store. The store is beautiful, Mike is just thrilled by it- and he should be, he worked his butt off to get to here!

Wednesday we went to the store for a few things than I decided to drive past the house we were considering.  Instead, I hit a chunk of ice that a truck threw off and bent the rim of my car. Instant flat tire. I called Mike who came and rescued us, but the tire required a tow truck to fix it. We got the donut on and parked the car until Friday. This meant that my in-laws had to drive us around the rest of the week. I really should have given them gas money! Wednesday afternoon Mike took his work truck out to pick the Pirate up- my other brother-in-law had picked him up from school and met Mike halfway.

Thursday was Thanksgiving and we enjoyed the day at my in-laws house. The food was terrific and the company was lovely, but I sure did wish I had my own car!

Yesterday a terrific little tire shop in Pierre (WW Tire, if you happen to need one) was able to straighten my rim and sell me a temporary used tire and get us back on the road home. The kids and I came home last night, and Mike will make it in today. We'll put the snow tires on this weekend and the car will be all better, I hope. Mike wasn't able to come back yesterday because it was Grand Opening Day at his store, so exciting.

In addition to having all the tire problems, all THREE of our laptops died this week. My brother-in-law managed to get this one (Mike's work laptop) working again. The netbooks are still on the fence as to if they will be fixable. Mine seems to think it no longer has a hard drive. In any case, we'll be sharing this one for a while, sounds fun, no?

And last, we found a house! With any luck, we'll move next Saturday. This means I have a ton to get done this week, in addition to packing. Return library books, talk to the schools, get a copy of The Princesses birth certificate, spend time with local friends, etc. Oh, and I sold a banner, so will be making a banner this week too! Plus, I have a handful of book reviews I'd like to type up so that the blog doesn't go dead while we're moving. I should really wrap this one up and get going, huh?

Hope you all had a great Thanksgiving!



I am an Amazon Associate. As such, any purchase you make at Amazon.com after following a link from this blog will earn me a (tiny) percentage back as income. Thanks. All content copy write Books. Lists. Life. at http://bookslistslife.blogspot.com. If you're reading this post anywhere other than there, you are reading stolen content.

I thought I could read twenty-seven books in the next month?!

As I've mentioned (ahem) we're moving soon- in less than a month if all goes as planned. I've packed up most of our books, but of course left a few out to read while we (I) pack. In fact, I keep 27 books. I usually read less than a book a week, so I'm not really sure what I was thinking.

Here's the list of the 15 I kept from the library. Clearly these are the priority, since I can't take them with me. Two of them are half read (as noted) but what do I read after that?

• Steamed: A Steampunk Romance (Paranormal Romance (Signet)) by Katie MacAlister
• Too Good To Be True (Hqn) by Kristin Higgins
• Packing for Mars: The Curious Science of Life in the Void by Mary Roach
• The Baseball Codes: Beanballs, Sign Stealing, and Bench-Clearing Brawls: The Unwritten Rules of America's Pastime by Jason Turbow
• When Did I Get Like This?: The Screamer, the Worrier, the Dinosaur-Chicken-Nugget-Buyer, and Other Mothers I Swore I'd Never Be by Amy Wilson (Half done!)
• Made by Hand: Searching for Meaning in a Throwaway World by Mark Frauenfelder
• Generation Debt: How Our Future Was Sold Out for Student Loans, Bad Jobs, NoBenefits, and Tax Cuts for Rich Geezers--And How to Fight Back by Anya Kamenetz
• Debbie Harry Sings in French by Meagan Brothers
• Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret. by Judy Blume
• Coop: A Family, a Farm, and the Pursuit of One Good Egg (P.S.) by Michael Perry (now past due, oops)
• The Stay-at-Home Survival Guide: Field-Tested Strategies for Staying Smart, Sane, and Connected While Caring for Your Kids by Melissa Stanton
• Ina May's Guide to Breastfeeding by Ina May Gaskin (probably won't read this one)
• What We Eat When We Eat Alone: Stories and 100 Recipes by Deborah Madison
• How to Talk So Kids Will Listen & Listen So Kids Will Talk by Adele Faber
• Two Parties, One Tux, and a Very Short Film about The Grapes of Wrath by Steven Goldman (half done!)

Yikes!

And for a complete list, these are the ones I kept off these two lists:

• Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close: A Novel  by Jonathan Safran Foer (added after Trish made me)
• Look Me in the Eye: My Life with Asperger's by John Elder Robison
• Queen of the Road: The True Tale of 47 States, 22,000 Miles, 200 Shoes, 2 Cats, 1 Poodle, a Husband, and a Bus with a Will of Its Own by Doreen Orion
• Didn't I Feed You Yesterday?: A Mother's Guide to Sanity in Stilettos by Laura Bennett
• Throw Out Fifty Things: Clear the Clutter, Find Your Life by Gail Blanke
• Just Listen by Sarah Dessen
• Lock and Key by Sarah Dessen
• In the Woods by Tana French
• The Queen of Palmyra: A Novel (P.S.) by Minrose Gwin
• Buyology: Truth and Lies About Why We Buy by Martin Lindstrom
• The Mysterious Benedict Society by Trenton Lee Stewart
• Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants (Sisterhood of Traveling Pants, Book 1) by Ann Brashares (bought at the library sale after the list was made.)

A wee bit ambitious during a move, wouldn't you think?

I am an Amazon Associate. As such, any purchase you make at Amazon.com after following a link from this blog will earn me a (tiny) percentage back as income. Thanks. All content copy write Books. Lists. Life. at http://bookslistslife.blogspot.com. If you're reading this post anywhere other than there, you are reading stolen content.

Wordless Wednesday

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A few notes, nothing important or life changing....riiiight....

So on Friday I went to my place of employment and quit my job. I was courteous, I gave them two weeks notice- which ends the day I was supposed to return. This is scary for multiple reasons- how'm I gonna support my Starbucks habit? who is gonna spend all day with my three children? ack! I've been there for 7.5 years  and it's kinda sad to leave without any fanfare, but since I was expecting to go back in two weeks I didn't have a going away party or anything.

But.

I'm leaving my job because we're MOVING! That's right! I'm gonna pack up my house, my 5 year old, my 2 year old and my 1 month old and move 150 miles east. My husband has taken a different position with his current company and we're headed out. He starts the new job on November 1 and the rest of us hope to join him by Thanksgiving.

So. Pack my house. Clean my house. Paint my house. Sell my house. Take the Pirate out of school and into a new one. Find a new daycare (side note, I CRIED when I told my current daycare, I've been going to her house every weekday for almost five years now. I wanted her to raise my daughter too!) New pediatrician for the kids. Find a new place to live. Halloween. Move. Unpack.  Holidays. Not too much going on, no not at all!

To complicate things: a baby who cries a lot. No really, a LOT. And a 2 year old who will be home with me full time starting Monday. At this point the boys have unpacked pretty much everything I've packed.  In the last week we've painted the front deck and gotten rid of TEN garbage bags worth of little boy clothes.  We've taken 2 giant loads to the dump. The basement is chaos. Today I touched up all the siding on the front of the house and painted the front door. And held a screaming baby. A lot.

I plan to document this as much as possible, when I remember to take pictures. Wish me luck, I might need it!


I am an Amazon Associate. As such, any purchase you make at Amazon.com after following a link from this blog will earn me a (tiny) percentage back as income. Thanks.