Quiet

My house is so quiet. Ian has taken The Herd up north to his parent's house for the remainder of the day so I can paint the upstairs hallway undisturbed. They have been gone for only about 5 minutes and my heart has started to feel heavy. I love my family and I love being with them. I hate it when they are apart from me. I know that they will have a great time, and the my inlaws will love on those kids like crazy, and I will be able to knock off the upstairs hallway from my Things To Do List...but still... I am in love with my family and any time spent away from them makes me sad.

Jordan made her debut at church this morning. Because of our plans for the day, we chose the early service. I was glad because the first service typically has less people, and less people = less cootie infested peeps asking to hold my baby. Ha. Only one person asked and I couldn't say no since she lent me a gorgeous moses basket. Everyone said she was beautiful and many said she looks like me (poor kid.. let's hope she grows out of that) She slept throughout the entire service which was good.

Today I was looking at Julie while she was sitting on the couch playing with her DS. When did she get so big? When did I look away long enough for her to turn into this long legged beauty? Wasn't she just born a year or so ago? Time flies.... time flies...

Last night was amazing. My mother came to watch the CHILDREN (ha Jen, that was for you) so that Ian and I could go out for dinner alone to celebrate our 12th wedding anniversary (Apr 20). We went to The Keg for dinner and while the food was excellent as always, what I loved was time alone with Ian, holding hands across the table like we used to when things were new and fresh, the way he looked at me, like I was beautiful. I felt shy at times and our time together had such a "new" feel to it. We've had a hard couple of years (who am I kidding.. we've gone through just about everything a marriage goes through in a lifetime, yet we've seen it all in 12 years) but sitting there, seeing in his eyes the love he has for me, it was like all those years just peeled away and we were those innocent young adults again. After dinner we went to see "Forgetting Sarah Marshall". I really liked it. We don't get out much these days so we have to be very picky when choosing a movie so it's good that this one was funny.

So, the other day I bought all sorts of cleaning supplies. I am not a housekeeper... I despise housework. I know everyone does, but I REALLY REALLY do. When I was growing up we always had a cleaning service and when I got married I had no idea how to clean anything. Not that I wanted to learn mind you. Fast forward 12 years and I still don't want to learn. Anyway... I spent time looking at all the products and reading what they do. I ended up buying this Lysol kitchen cleaner stuff, not really knowing if it would work. I couldn't very well ask people what to use to clean because then they would wonder what the heck I've been doing all along. Well.. let me tell you... this stuff was AMAZING. It took off marks from everything. My stove looks brand new!! My friend Jen called while I was cleaning and I must have sounded like some sort of commercial as I told her about this product. I'm surprised I didn't demand that she go out and buy some right then. Jen then new my secret... I am a newbie to cleaning. From the stove I went to my dishwasher... EVERYTHING came off... then I took everything off my fridge and guess what? It looks as new as my stove. Prepare yourselves, my dear 2 readers.. I even mopped the kitchen floor.

I wonder if all the other stuff I bought to clean with will bring me such joy and excitement. It feels like Christmas.

Jordan sees the doctor this Friday for her one month appointment. How is it that she has been here for a month already? She has filled out so much and has such a healthy look to her. I will be interested to know how much weight she's put on.

Sigh... so much to do before the house is ready to list. I am hoping to hire someone to clean up the yard and do some painting and repairs soon. I really, really want to have the house listed by May 15th, but it's going to take so much work. Our original date to list was May 1st but we jacked around too much and well, that's just not going to happen. Now it's May 15th and I really don't want to have to bump the date again. The CHILDREN (ha Jen) are so excited about being able to look for a new home and Ian and I are ready to get things underway. We're jammed in here pretty tight.

Well, guess what? The hallway isn't going to paint itself so I'll sign off for now.