Update!!!

Maybe if I put exclamation marks I will fool you all into thinking that this is going to be a great post.

I cut Meg's mullet off. Now she has a cute little bob that kind of looks like Scout for the movie To Kill A Mocking Bird.

I watched the Hallmark Hall of Fame movie last night and I didn't cry.

I totally lied when I said I would be sending the camera down with Bryce to take pictures of the house. My apologies.

A moment of honesty....when we first moved I really wanted to be in a house by Christmas not because I need space, I do, but the primary reason? I have all of these Christmas decorations that I've been accumulating over the year and I don't think I could stomach not putting them up for another year...

I'm becoming a bit rotund. If I say that out loud to myself, maybe I won't get my feelings hurt as much when other people say it to me.

I ran out of diapers....yesterday.

We won't be in our new house by the 4th, more like the 11th. Don't worry, you don't have to tell me how lame that is.

Katie

A Bit Untraditional

I know many of you this week are taking the time to count your blessings and list the countless things that you are thankful for. And I will do that too....later. For now, I'm going to do something a bit unconventional:

Things I am NOT thankful for:

• sunburns


• mosquitoes


• moles: on the skin or in the ground


• luke warm showers


• temper tantrums


• stretch marks


• gum: on the sidewalk, under a desk, or in your hair


• expired coupons


• library late fees


• poor vision: physically or metaphorically


• pens with no ink


• insensitive remarks


• stuffing: the edible kind


• cold toes


• delayed flights


• watching movies or reading books that I didn't know would be horrible before I started them

What are you not thankful for?

Katie

Don't worry, next time I will try and perform my civil duty with a more typical Thanksgiving week post. You know the surprising thing, there weren't as many things that I'm not thankful for as I thought there would be.

In Case You Care...

Bryce is done with training!!!

He's heading to Eugene today...hoorah!

We'll be moving into our new house in approximately 2 weeks. Mark your calendar for Dec. 4th. Bryce will be in Medford working to get the original wood floors back to their former glory after too much laminate and glue.

Thanks for all the love and support through this trying, depressing, I'm-never-doing-this-again, lame, I-barely-survived-Adeline ordeal.

I will also work on figuring out what's wrong with my camera so I can send it down with Bryce to take some pictures so when we move in and have our own computer once again you will experience picture overload bliss and continue to wonder why I still insist on thinking run on sentences are acceptable.

Katie

One other thing, I've been thinking of doing another giveaway once we're all settled, Christmas-ish time, and do a 'Katie in a box' package where I'll put together some things that I really like and send it off to a lucky participant.

A Series of Letters Part II

Dear Hot Shower Every Morning:

You are my salvation.

Dear Meg:

I don't know not to tell you this, but you have a mullet.

Dear Eugene Drivers:

The speed limit is an expectation, not a suggestion. Ten miles below the speed limit is not acceptable.

Dear Contractors in Medford:

You suck.

Dear Elizabeth:

A boy sibling will not be any easier to get along with than a girl sibling, so stop asking for one.

Dear People that I Talked to About My House Being Painted Gray:

Just kidding, it's actually blue. I blame Sherwin-Williams.

Dear Fabric Across the Nation:

I'm coming for you. I have huge plans to utilize you.

To The Lady at the Estate Sale Who Had Great Taste:

Thank you for having not one, but two, Madeliene Brent books. You're my new favorite person, or would be if I had actually known you, and you were still around.

To My Toes:

Why are you always so cold?

Katie

A New Story about an Old House

Two weeks ago I went to Medford to work on the house. I was having a lot of different people coming over to give me estimates about how much things would be to get done: flooring, electrical, re-vamped bathroom, etc.

Normal, no?

When I headed around to the back of the house, one of the windows was broken, a door was left open, one of the window panes on another door was broken, the toilet was running and....our brick was stolen. Not like a pile of bricks, but like bricks from the house.

The house has a 'storage' room at the back of the house that has brick facing. It was originally detached, but over the years with the addition of a hallway and laundry room, it is now part of the house. A whole side of brick was missing, gone.

I called Bryce, then I called the police. Well, actually, I called 911. Where do you find the number for 'just police' anyway?

So, the police officer shows up, nice as can be. He takes notes, looks bewildered, asks some questions, and then asks to see the house, not because he's looking for evidence, but he's down right curious about the house.

I give him the grand tour and we chit-chat about the possibilities, our plans, how much he likes the house and so on.

The police officer's opinion: he really likes the house and it reminds him a lot of the house that his grandparents used to own, he is impressed that it is such good shape and admires that much of the original 'stuff' is still intact, he is jealous of the lot size and can envision some laying hens and an area devoted to blueberry bushes, oh yes, and the brick? Probably just some handy-man/contractor trying to save some money on a job.

This is the worst thing he's seen on his beat of 12 years.

To the officer: thank you for appeasing my fears and loving my new house almost as much as I do. Oh, and thank you for not saying anything to the effect 'this house will be a lot of work'.

Kind regards,

Katie

Heard all too often, across the world....

Things I could live with never hearing again:

• I got a new job, in Oregon, and I have 10 weeks of training, and you'll be living with my parents.


• Your appendix ruptured, like, two days ago.


• How many babies are in there?


• It's good that your baby is crying, it helps her to clear out her lungs.


• I'm breaking up with you.


• Then, I won't be your daughter anymore!


• Mom, can you come wipe my bum?


• Oh, sorry, I was actually asking out your roommate...


• There's something you should know, my dad, he's a polygamist...


• Um, I don't think you should be gaining that much weight.


• It's o.k. if you're sister's the pretty one, you can be the smart one.


• I think that we should have a Lord of the Rings marathon night - crickets chirping in the background.


• Wow, this house is going to be a ton of work. Are you actually planning on living here?


• Anything about marital relations from my grandma, ahem.


• I bought the new Halo game.


• You're right, you do look like garbage, I mean, tired.

Katie

A Story About Life

This may start out sounding like a brag post, but hang in there, it's not.

I have a great memory. Really, it's something I pride myself on. I will not go into the details of how I work on it, let's just say it has something to do with car license plates and being an eye witness in the case of an emergency.

Bryce has a love/hate relationship with my impeccable memory. He loves it when I can remember where he put something months ago, he hates it when I can recount exactly what happened seven years ago during an argument where he came out losing.

I like pencils. The common, #2 wood and graphite with pink eraser pencil. They're my favorite. I have a large, large stash of them, just in case. Just in case of what, I have no idea. I like them best when they're freshly sharpened.

So....in middle school and high school I had a little red, cheap, plastic pencil sharpener. Run-of-the-mill dollar store variety. I remember distinctly having it on my desk during tests, putting it into my back pack, using it for homework, etc. Mind you, very clear, visual memories.

The other day. Well, not really the other day, more like back in the day when my life was normal and I lived in my own house with my husband and children and I had a closet for my clothes. Anyway, ONE day, I was in the bedroom and I found my red pencil sharpener. I have, since having children, moved the red pencil sharpener to a common use area. It had disappeared. I found it among Bryce's things. Horror, of horrors.

I confronted Bryce. He gave me some song and dance about it being his and how he had it in college, blah, blah, blah. He probably did have it in college when he secretly confiscated it from my stuff after we got married.

Anyway, I took it and put it back where it belonged. And he took it back, so on and so forth. We have the great pencil sharpener discussion yearly.

So how does one resolve such a situation and save a marriage? Bryce will be getting a pencil sharpener for Christmas. It will not be red.

Katie

An Interview

Editor in chief of Wonder Women, Sandra Samson, recently caught up with Katie Bell at her in-laws house to see what she's been up to. Katie certainly is starting to show. However, she is calm and attentive to her children, even when they interrupt us againandagainandagain.

Sandra: What's been the hardest part of this transition?
Katie: It's been hard not be able to have things that are 'me'. Does that make sense? I don't have my best friend- Bryce, my space, my hobbies, my schedule. All of those things combined are what I am. It's certainly been an adjustment.

Sandra: You've received numerous compliments about your previous house and your decorating style, are we to expect the same creativity in your new house?
Katie: Absolutely. This house will be easier and harder. Since I already have a 'style' and the furniture, it should come together pretty effortlessly. The hardest part is if it doesn't look like I have it pictured in my head.

Sandra: Tell the readers something about yourself that they don't already know.
Katie: I hate cleaning toothpaste off the bathroom counter. It triggers my reflux reflex, for sure.

Sandra: You recently came out of the closet about being pregnant, how is that all going?
Katie: Fine.

Sandra: Nothing more on that note?
Katie: I feel fine, I'll stop feeling fine when I get huge and tired, till then, I feel fine.

Sandra: What's your favorite and least favorite part about the new house?
Katie: My favorite part is the layout. I like how all the bedrooms are upstairs and all of the living spaces are down stairs, oh, and the sun room. That's pretty great. My least favorite part (with pained look on her face) the well. When the inspector came out and we were going through the laundry room, my first laundry room by the way, there was a door in the floor. We thought it was just another crawl space. Nope, it's an honest-to-goodness, 1875 well. Fortunately there were no dead cats in it. It's pretty spectacular from a historical point. It has rock around the perimeter, it goes down a good 15 feet and the water's clear. Part of me wants to show it to my kids and then make that the time out spot and scare the begesus out of them. The other part of me, the part of me that hates scary movies, wants to forget it's entire existance.

Sandra: You keep up a strenous blogging schedule, how is that going?
Katie: I love to blog. It's gotten harder as my schedule has changed. I have less time to think about what to write about, and frankly, less to write about. I'm looking forward to posting about the up coming changes though.

Sandra: We really appreciate you taking time to sit down and answer some questions, oh yes, and the home-made bread. I'm sure our readers will love knowing a bit more about you. Is there anything else you'd like to add?
Katie: I'm just flattered I'm considered worth interviewing. Thanks for coming out. You'll brush up those photos from the shoot, right?