Hey out there, internets!  Remember me?  It’s the blog that time forgot … or the blogger that forgot time … or something like that.  I’ve been a bit preoccupied - but you knew that.  Thanks for being patient.  During this absence from the blogosphere the Simple household has experienced many a blog-worthy moment.  Let’s begin, shall we?

At this point, everything has been removed from the apartment and re-deposited in our new space.  There were, however; a few days in there where some stuff was here and some was there and some was somewhere in between, a situation that produced confusion, misunderstandings and ultimately a trip to the emergency room.  It seems that if one of two stressed parents is changing a stinky diaper in the car and fuming about how “this could have been much simpler if only….” and the other stressed parent is completely worn out from the demands of the day and one uncooperative three year old mistakes a couple of pennies for dinner then within 20 min everyone will find themselves sitting next to the guy with a bloody cloth wrapped around his hand.  Fun times.  I don’t have the real x-ray (and I’m not sure how to digitize an x-ray even if I did) but here’s a reasonable facsimile. (That red dot is supposed to be a penny… you know red because it’s made of copper… maybe that means it should have been orange.  Oh, well I’m not re-doing it now.  Not even to fix Brother’s clubbed foot look.)

The doctor assured us that Brother would suffer no ill effects from his escapade while, under my breath, I repeated my favorite parenting mantra.

This too shall pass.

Which makes me think of my next topic of interest:  potty training.  (How’s that for a segue?)  Changing Brother’s diapers has become increasingly difficult of late.  He doesn’t want to lay down or still.  He wants “Daddy change me!”, “No, Mommy change me!”, “No, Daddy!” then “I change me byyy mineself.”  I suspected a couple of weeks ago that he was ready to start going potty on his own but really didn’t want to deal with it in the midst of moving (or ever) but last week, finally, out of sheer desperation, I issued an ultimatum. “Listen boy.  You can either get this diaper on right now or march yourself into the bathroom and go potty like a big boy.”  His reponse?  “I go byyy mineself.”  And he did.  I set a timer for 30 minutes and he went again.  For 40 minutes and he went again.  And again and again.  Just after Will came home and I was telling him how well the whole potty thing was going, Brother went again…. in the kitchen.  Day number two was mildly successful until after lunch when Brother decided diapers weren’t so bad after all.  As it stands now, I ask him to go before bedtime and whenever there is resistance to wearing a diaper.  I remember the struggles trying to get Sister to meet my silly expectations and I am not eager to revisit those struggles with Brother.  I figure it will happen when it happens.

On the home front - the fridge, dryer & washer finally arrived on Friday.  Thankfully, the fridge worked perfectly and we were able to end our week long eating out marathon.  Too much fast food does not healthy (or happy) bodies make.  On the upside, we did find some great Chinese and pizza. Both are buffets, which in my mind is the only way to go with small, picky discerning children.  Anyway, so the fridge works and we are once again eating (mostly) at home.  The washer & dryer had a few installation … issues.  The two young men who brought them from Sears were clean, courteous and clueless.  To be fair, both units had to be installed in an extremely tight space and the outlet for the dryer (installed by the previous homeowner) was actually designed for a welding machine.  In case you want to dry your clothes with fire… or do some welding in the laundry room, I guess.  The electrician came on Monday but in the meantime we needed to do some serious wardrobe clean up (see above section on potty training) so we made a family trip to the laundromat.  When I was a child going to the laudromat was a weekly adventure and later as teen a weekly responsibility.  I would take a book and read to the rhythmic whirring of row upon row of washers.  If I didn’t have a book I would leave my garmets sudsing and walk down to the local library to find one.  In those days, in our small town one could actually leave laundry unattended and feel secure it would still be there when you got back.  I remember those days as a lot of work but also as a refreshing time alone.  Flash forward to Saturday at the Jiffy Wash, with Will and the little ones tagging along I wouldn’t say it was a relaxing experience but it was fun anyway.  And where else can you stuff 6 loads of laundry into one washer and two dryers, taking your entire wardrobe from dirty to clean in just under an hour?

I started my first load at home on Tuesday.  The new front load washer started to spin.  So efficient, so quiet, so nice …. kaplunk, kaplunk! … wha?  Wednesday, my Sears boys came back - this time with reinforcements.  It seems that you have to remove the styrofoam and packing braces surrounding the wash drum before it will spin properly.  Who knew? (obviously not the first delivery boys.)

In the last week I’ve packed and unpacked stacks and stacks of boxes, visited Lowe’s more times than I care to count and dealt with issues regarding plumbing, electric, cable, networking, yard maintenance and carpentry.  Oh the joys of home ownership.  At the end of it all Will & I decided we deserved a break so we put the kids to bed and settled into the den to watch a movie - “The Pursuit of Happyness.”  Have you seen it?  If you have then you know every little difficulty or “issue” written above is exactly that - little - miniscule, even.  I am blessed beyond measure.  There is nothing in my life worth complaining about.  In fact there is much in my life to celebrate.  Besides now having a yard to play in the kids now also have a room to sleep in…. and they do.  For the first time in almost 6 years Will and I have a room entirely to ourselves.  Oh sure, they come in for early morning snuggles but for the most part it’s just us.  Alone.  [Insert Hallelujah chorus here.]  We almost don’t know what to do with all the privacy… almost.