What's been on my mind...

We are officially home owners! It is so exciting but now we have to wait a week to move in. We all know I am not so good at being patient. It's an awesome feeling but there is a lot of other stuff going on in my life too.

This weekend Mike and I went and saw Kiss at summerfest. Mike thought that we should both see them at least once in our lives and this is the 35th anniversary tour so we got tickets. Mike enjoyed it but it was very much not my thing. I don't care to see Gene Simmons stick out his tongue for the entire show or to see him puke up blood. Chevelle opened for Kiss and they were good. They made me think back to high school a bit and left me missing old friends, more about that later. We saw Barenaked Ladies and the Bodeans too. They were both very cool.

My mom has been in and out of the hospital lately and I wrote a long entry about my feelings towards it all. It felt good to get it out but I wasn't able to hit that post button. It seems to private to just post out to the entire Internet and I don't know how to make this subscriber's only or whatever. I'll have to figure that out. Hopefully, she'll go home sometime this week. It was pretty scary though. Her blood pressure plummeted and she was hallucinating.

So, back to missing old friends, I don't know if it was Summerfest or the fact that it is summer but I am very much missing my friends. I'm still really struggling to make friends here. People at work are either parents and living lives revolving around their kids or still in college or single. I want to hang out with friends, go to dinner or go shopping. I want to sit on our new deck and cook on the grill and relax. I don't want to drink 'til I'm drunk, I don't want to sing karaoke and I definitely don't want to do drugs with you. I'm missing my high school best friend. We used to be so close we could finish each other's sentences. Towards the end of high school are relationship was strained and it only became more strained in college. Romantic feelings got in the way and later it was that the friendship wasn't working both ways. Eventually I called him out on it. I couldn't take listening to his problems and never being able to talk to him about my life. I know regret that because instead of fixing our issues it ended our friendship. He tried for a few weeks but then our friendship just crumbled. I was so hurt I almost didn't invite him to the wedding but I did and I'm glad. That was the last time we spoke. I called on his birthday but he didn't call back. It's sad but I don't know what to do about it. We are in very different places in our lives.

So that's what has been on my mind.

Quick Update

We found a house! We close the 29th and move in July 7th. If all goes as planned, details and pics soon!

This weekend I planned my first Doxie Platdate. I found this great doggie daycare and we had a great turn-out. They had baby pools for the puppies to cool off in and they had ramps and obstacles for the puppies to play on.

And the house hunt continues... We put in an offer on the house described in the last post and they counter offered and we counter offered and they counter offered. It still wasn't low enough so we rejected the offer and had to move on.  We have a new realtor and saw some great homes on Saturday. We have our eye on one but I don't want to jinx it. 

Other then house hunting, Missy is home from Prague! I missed her lots but she's having a hard time finding a job for the summer and an apartment for next semester. I think it's been a hard transition for her. Work is going well. There's a lot of drama but I'm still new so a lot of it happens without me knowing or being involved at all. My mom is ok, she has had a headache for a couple of days. It's hard to feel so helpless and there's a lot of old feelings that come back up. I had lunch with Missy yesterday and it was really good to have some sister time and talk about stuff. 

We visited Mike's parents over memorial day weekend. I went into it with hard feelings because we were not so much asked to come visit but told that either we were visiting or they were visiting us. However, it was an ok weekend. For 4 years we've avoided going to see the Abe Lincoln Presidential Museum but we ran out of excuses that weekend. Luckily it wasn't quite as bad as we thought it would be and it didn't take that long, just a few hours Sunday morning. 

My dilemma at the moment is that Mike's second cousin (who threw my bridal shower in Springfield) is having a baby shower the same day that my cousin (and bridesmaid) Sara is having her graduation party. I want to go to Sara's but I feel like I should go to Tina's shower. I've feeling torn. I have a couple weeks to figure it out though. 

New House?

Today Mike and I put an offer on a house. We will know by Thursday at noon. It is a beautiful home in Franklin. It needs some work but it is a 4 bedroom 2.5 bath. The first floor has a living room, formal dining room, family room with french doors out to the deck and marble fireplace. The kitchen has a large pantry and the laundry is also on the first floor. Upstairs are the four bedrooms. The master has it's own bath and a large walk-in closet. The basement is finished and has 3 rooms and another bathroom which isn't counted in the total count listed though I don't know why. The bathrooms and the kitchen need new cabinet doors at the very least. It is an odd sized yard because it it on a cul-de-sac but it is pretty big. We're keeping our fingers crossed!

This has been a week of deep thought, of hope and despair, a week to change the weeks ahead. This has been a week of pleading, of memories, of loneliness, a week of excitement and a week of sadness. This has been a week of growth and reconnections, with myself, with Mike and with God.

I wish I could say more and explain but I can't put it into words at the moment.

A friend from high school and his fiance started writing and recording songs. I love their music, it's great for thinking. "It's You" brings tears to my eyes. You can listen hear:

http://www.myspace.com/timothyandabigail

House Hunting

Mike and I began the long process of house hunting this past weekend. We did our own house search on the internet, mapped out the open houses and picked 7 open houses to attend. We were searching for a realtor as much as a house. House wise, we didn't find too much that we liked. We figured out some things that are important to us though like a large master bedroom (so our new bedroom set will actually fit), a backyard, and I really want a formal dining room so I can entertain. We are looking in the Franklin area since they have the best schools. That's years down the road but hopefully we will be in this house for years. 

We did find a realtor we really like. We are meeting with her tonight. We also met some realtors that were not so great. One guy, who was no joke 7 feet tall, shook Mike's hand first on the way in and the way out even though I was closer. It was just so clearly a "man is more important" move. 

It's very exciting. It's very scary too, though. It's crazy to be this grown-up, I'm not sure when that happened. I'm excited but I know it takes some people a really long time to find a house... 

For Isabella and Maya...

This is Duchess in her Mardi Gras Dress...
This is a picture of the Mardi Gras Doxie Meet-up in Chicago. This gives an idea of what a ton of little Doxies running around look like. There is a whole other section to the room too!

This is Baron as a crawfish for Mardi Gras and Duchess in her pretty dress!

Duchess in her favorite coat!

Easter Weekend

Easter was interesting. It's so much more complicated to celebrate holidays with both families. It's so busy and his family frustrates me and I'm sure my family frustrates him... Oh well.

This weekend my mom had a bad headache. It's been awhile since I've seen her that bad, with the confusion and stuttering. It was very hard and I think that was the first time Mike had seen her like that. Thats what so much of high school was like, it was very hard to be back at that place. By the end of the night I had the worst migraine I'd had in a long time. I don't know if whatever triggered hers, also triggered mine or if it was more of a sympathetic headache and was caused by the emotions of seeing her that way. 

I don't know. It's tough. 

I'm also incredibly homesick except the home I'm missing isn't around anymore. I'm missing old friends and remembering good times. High school friends and hanging out, pranks and concerts, going for drives, and hanging out. I miss them so much but we aren't the same people anymore so where does that leave this idea of home? I miss college and the good times I had there, thursdays at murphys, hanging on the quad but those friends have graduated too. That time has passed. I am not sure what to do about all this...

Junior League

So, in an effort to meet new people and learn more about the city and community, I'm thinking of joining the Junior League. There's an information session in 2 weeks so we'll see how that goes...

Baron's 1st Birthday!

Today is Baron's 1st Birthday. Boy, does time fly. It has been a very busy year though, moving back to Palatine and then to Milwaukee, getting married, adopting Duchess, our first married Christmas, new jobs...

We woke up and he and Duchess came into the big bed to sleep in. The they finished the milk from my cereal and we took them to the puppy store to pick out a new toy and treats. They played with the owner's Chihuahua Ti. Baron thought she was so pretty and loved chasing her around the store (we're regulars and they love our pups). Baron has a new shirt that says Mama's boy and Duchess has a new yellow spring dress. They also got new bones and a new rubber toy. Baron got Bacon flavored popcorn as a special treat for tonight. He loves regular popcorn so I'm sure he'll go nuts for Bacon flavored popcorn. After the store, we went for a walk by the lake and drove around enjoying the beautiful day. 

This is my kind of day. Casual and laid back and spent doing things together. The pups are exhausted after the long walk and we pulled out the sofa bed so we can all snuggle and watch movies for the rest of the night.

This truly is the best kind of day....