so much bliss right now

I cannot help it, I am wicked, (yes, I have lived in Massachusetts long enough to be able to say "wicked") blissed out at the moment. I have found the best pizza in N. Attleboro, (appropriately from a pizza place named "Best Pizza") am digesting the crust pieces of said pizza along with a decent Greek salad, washing it down with KJChar, in my thrift store "Mom" wine glass, watching "What Not to Wear" while my cherubs watch something from the library in the upstairs loft. I have managed to change my address with my banks and credit cards and the registry. I have bought wine. I have bought food. I have figured out my finances, (or lack therof). I have picked up my cleaning. I have gotten a North Attleboro library card and about a cubic yard of books, tapes and DVDs. I have dropped off stuff at our house. I have taken the kids swimming. I have ordered pizza. I have done a Firm workout DVD. I am done.

To interupt my reverie, I hear the boys say, "Nat is punching me" and then the offender asks for some more pizza. Universe, thank you for everything today, and if you have one last trick up your sleeve, get these kids to bed before me....

FAQs

1. How are the kids doing at the Pineapple? that is such an easy one. There is a pool and two old fashioned TVs hooked up to cable. While they are smarting some from not being able to have their on demand features and the 24/7 access to "their shows", quantity allowances have made up for quality. Additionally, there is just one real bed and one sofa bed, which the kids have termed "the transformer bed". Yes, they are entertained by watching me turn an unassuming couch into a luxurious, double bed.

2. How is the training going? I am training for the Avon Walk for Breast Cancer. Training was easy at my old house, even in the midst of moving as I was able to squeeze in a run or walk while checking email, (that old Sears treadmill has been functioning beautifully for at least 10 years.) I have five things that keep me in shape/training while at the Inn.

• There is a cool reservoir right by us and there are trails into the woods/people's back yards. There is lots of goose poop and I am irrationally afraid of the werewolves and vampires thanks to the Twilight series, but it is a good little break.
• Exercise DVDs- bought one of the Firm DVDs and alternate that with a yoga one. When I do the cardio and weights one though, I shake the whole building. Considering I am kinda small, it is disconcerting to see that.
• There is one flight of stairs in our chalet
• I walk around with the kids- a lot.
• there was something else I thought of, but it has now slipped my mind entirely.

3. How is the house coming? This is probably the hardest question because I don't go there too often as I am watching kids and trying to get acclimated in this new land. From what Tom tells me, we have de-pooped the house, the pee soaked carpet is pulled up, the interior painting is almost done, the bamboo floors are delivered, the kitchen is specked out, and the cleaning continues. I have sworn to get there this week to take some progress pics.

4. How are you doing? Just fine. My wish to be able to clean my house in a half hour has been granted AND I have maid service for towels and sheets. I have a fridge with all the foods that my kids need to eat, some that I do, and wine and beer. I have a pool which offers not only chlorinated rejuvination, but an opportunity to gain local knowledge of pizza places. I've got my loves and August heat to keep me warm, (and AC I am not paying for to keep me cool.)

5. How is Tom doing? Just fine if not even better than that. He has been a home improvement machine. He has had to take a lot of vacation days, and this is the antithesis of a vacation, but he is digging getting the house put together.

I guess there are only 5 so far. So allow me to summarize lessons learned from the first week of Pineapple residency. Kids are fine anywhere there is a pool, Tom and I really are a well matched couple, and I really could live in a trailer park.

one week old pineapple patrons

Today is the one week anniversary of our Pineapple poshness. I will post pics today of our temp digs but suffice it to say that we are happy in our little chalet. Tom leaves no later than 8 in the AM and is back around 6 on the days he works at our house. It is good to be close or we would never see each other!

We had a great weekend - went over to Jan and Monty's for a home cooked meal Saturday and Sunday, Kerry accompanied me to the nearby mall. (My amusement park days are behind me as I was completely sick to my stomach from the mall merry go round.)

We have lots of news on the house. Tom and JR have gotten most of the carpet up, most of the painting done, and the floors delivered. Paul is coming today with some design for the kitchen and that is next on deck.

My goal today is to get pics of the Pineapple up and then by Friday, some pics of 10 Shady Lane progress. We also are heading to KidzWurld today- I am going to sign up for a membership for August...

Reading and Living the Twilight Series

One of my coping mechanisms for all this change has been to read the Twilight series. I am more than half way through book 2. I read a lot of book one when we found out that our buyers for 39 Briar almost didn't get their mortgage in time, ( couldn't pack, didn't know if the whole deal was falling through), and now find reading about vampires and werewolves to be very soothing in my new surroundings.

So the moon has been full and not coincidentally, we saw our first police and detective meeting here in our new home. Looks like the no-tell Motel is living up to its reputation!

What happens at the Pineapple Inn, apparently, does not stay at the Pineapple Inn... Stay tuned for more details.

I'm mowing on up!

My faboo hubby broke the lawn mower tractor, (you know, the one that you ride?), right before we put the house on the market. Truth be told, I have always been afraid of it. You hear stories of people getting run over by it, flipping it over, just seems like something I shouldn't operate under the influence of anything. The regular push mower was more my speed and after a quick lesson, I mastered its operation. With all the stuff that had to happen with putting the house on the market, I took over the lawn mowing for the most part. It took me about an hour and a half and it was a major drag. The worst part of mowing our lawn was, wait there were two equally horrible aspects. The first awful part was that our yard was VERY hilly. There was a part on the side that was at a 45 degree angle, into the woods, (and they didn't call it Briar Drive for nothing.) The front yard was also like a butt blaster workout and my neighbors all had lawn services or better mowers. I had mower envy. The second equally crappy thing about mowing my old lawn was that there were sections that would not grow no matter what we did. Little patches of a blade or two stuck up on the side and parts of the back lawn and they reminded me of hair plugs. The sparse nature of the lawn in these places made it near impossible to tell if you actually went over it with the mower, or not. The OCD ness of my nature had me going over these sparse spots over and over. Good times.

Now here I sit in my motel kitchen, looking out at a fresh cut lawn. The guy who mowed it had one of those cool, professional landscaper mowers that you ride on- standing up. I feel like the Jefferson's- I'm moving, (and mowing) on up!

its pinEapple

whoops, in my flurry to get my blog per Cheryl's instructions, I neglected the spelling check of Pineapple. Now, the question is, can I correct my blog title?

Today I walked into my new home away from home for the first time. I got a smell reminiscent of my Grandma Baker. While our room is non smoking, that is a rarity here and I can smell that not all the chalet rooms are non smoking. The smoker smell of Grandma Baker reminds me of me and Lara learning how to smoke to say nothing of pronouncing "Marlboro", at my grandma's house. We lit the cigarettes off her space heater and smoked near a pack one night we slept over her house. Now we both are hotties in our 40s who of course, don't smoke. Smoking is now such a mystery, how can it be a white trash habit when it costs near 10 dollars a pack??

But anyways, back to motel living., Ahhhh motel living. I am digging it. Now that I have realized that I can glom onto a nearby wireless connection, I am completely at peace. The fellows across the way from the pool look a bit like they just walked out of a White Snake video, but it is all good. To get even more in the spirit of it, I had doritoes with melted mozzarella cheese for dinner, (baked and part skim respectively). Note to self, it is no small wonder there are fewer and fewer skinny bitches in this economy...

The kids are somewhat phased, but only by the fact that the sheets for the "transforming bed" (aka a sofa bed), are pink. Otherwise, the wall unit air conditioner, the lack of flat screen TVs, the general 1960s feel of the place is lost on them. I am loving the fact that for the next few days, my area to clean has shrank to one and a half rooms AND I have someone to make beds, empty garbage, and clean the bathroom. I feel like the queen of a small country.

So, I am going to try and figure out how to get these munchkins to bed sooner rather than later, and then I am done. I put my pedometer on this AM and estimated today would be a high mileage day. So far I am at 13,600 + steps, and I definitely have a few more trips in my future before I get to take my sleep meds and get ready for the closing tomorrow!

Suffice it to say, the house at 39 Briar is empty thanks to Carol, JR, Dunkin Donuts, the Floods, the Bowman's and Mark's Moving. Just keep swimming....

t-1day until Motel living

So I sit here at my breakfast bar, daughter on my lap, surrounded by the unusual chaos of moving t minus one day. I have a busy day ahead, even though I decided to lie to the kids about a party we were supposed to go to, (lie by omission- what party?). Instead of trying to get them to the party and much more difficult, have them leave in under 4 hours, I am taking them straight to Auntie Sheila's pool where they will be spoiled and loved and not rushed out. After bringing them to Sheila I am going to swing by the party of the year, drop off presents and see a new baby. Then it is back to 39 Briar to pack up cats for separate homes, (another tearful goodbye for the day), pack more, take trips over to the motel, new house, and lord knows what else.

Ia stopped by yesterday and worked like a dog on nothing but pelleginio water and cheetos. Thank you so much Ia! and Cheryl, her lovely fiance, her late father's beamer, and her holy gotrocks engagement ring stopped by to view the chaos and suggest that I write a blog about motel living. So in honor of the funniest girl from Cheshire, I launch the blog about a little mama, trying to work at starting a business with the coolest company, while moving into a 1.5 room chalet motel, (a motel 6 like thing with a loft), while we get our new house cleaned up enough for four and 2 legged creaturs to inhabit.