mommy knows best

First off, we are here! No intermet until next week, though, so updates will be spotty...like right now when we are at Chick-fil-A So we could send an important email. Rather than post about the move or the house or Josh's job I offer this anecdote:

When my mom helped us pack and clean the house before the move, she asked where my ammonia was. "Oh, we dont use ammonia," I said, all proud of myself. I do 90% of my cleaning with vonegar and the like because heavy cleaners give me a headache. Well, my mom walked herself to the store for aome ammonia to clean a particularly tricky grease spot. Fast forward to yesterday, when it was apparent that whatever the previous tenants had cooked, spilled, and then not cleaned off the stove was too much for my abilities. I sent Josh for some ammonia and conquered the stove. I do have a headache and I will still mop with my trusty vinegar, but mommy was right. The ammonia did cut the grease.

our version of packing

I found this really helpful video on how to fold a suit to avoid wrinkles. I hope it works because I didn't bother with wardrobe boxes. I guess I'll let you know if it works. If it doesn't work, I probably won't have time to tell you because I'll be ironing suits. It seemed to work pretty well. My little suit and shirt packets were a little narrower than the video's, but maybe my original suit is too. I also notice that the original suit folder did not have to contend with two children who think it's hilarious to lay on said suit like a blanket and pull said suit back out of the suitcase to watch you do it again. So what's the point? I'm even more awesome at folding suits than that guy, I guess.

Either that, or I'm about to be really good at ironing them.

more muffins!

I get so disappointed when my favorite blogs aren't updated (especially the private ones since I go through the effort of actually remembering to check the blog as opposed to letting a feed reader do it for me) that it fills me with guilt when this one languishes. Just trust me that all extra time and energy is being spent preparing for the move and saying goodbye to the places and people we love.

As I was making muffins this afternoon (tomorrow is Sunday, after all), I realized I haven't added our new favorite recipe to the muffin recipe list. But first, some back story (Because isn't that why I love blogs and haven't really embraced twitter yet? I'm verbose.): I don't love banana bread. It's often oily and I don't love overly ripe bananas to begin with, so the flavor is often too much for me. Add to the propensity toward greasiness the fact that it's often dry as well (yeah, that sounds like it wouldn't happen, but it does) and I'd much rather have a cookie. When I discovered this recipe for banana nut bread, I was hooked. We love this. I love that it uses a ton of bananas. Somehow it's moist without being oily. We love it with tons of walnuts mixed in. I should say that the reducing of banana juice (you'll have to read the recipe to know what I'm talking about) is a step I've only done once or twice. It's a nice thought, but most of the time I just strain the bananas (or more often let them defrost in a strainer since I'm always making it with frozen bananas) in a sieve and add a little more milk to the batter if it seems thick.

The moral of the story? It's amazing. Now return to your blogs and write! I need something to read when I'm avoiding packing.

Dear Post Office,

Dear Post Office,

It would be nice if at least one of your three entrances had doors I could push open. Pulling open double doors with arms full of boxes is difficult. I'd much rather pull them open when I leave empty-handed.

one more word!

Caroline is definitely saying HI! It's pretty cute. She's also figured out how to nod and thinks she's pretty amazing. She still sometimes forgets and shakes her head when she means yes, but when she remembers to nod she smiles and laughs. Nodding is so much fun.

my doomed career as a furniture salesman, part 2

We had a garage sale yesterday. I don't really care for garage sales, but it seemed like a good way to get a lot of our furniture sold in one go. Turns out, it worked out pretty well. Another week of Craigslist and another garage sale next Saturday (if needed) and we should be set. That said, it wasn't a perfectly smooth event.

Josh and I were awake, showered, and set up for the garage sale at 5:30am. We had our first customer at 6:30 and our first sale (a whole dollar!) around 7:30. I was really dragging by 10:00. Most of the morning, Jonah spent wandering around asking why no one wanted to buy our stuff. Most of the people who came by in the morning didn't buy a single thing. A lot of women asked if I was selling any jewelery. Since we were only selling the big stuff we can't move (and a handful of unwanteds), they were disappointed. Jonah had a minor melt down around lunch time when someone bought a stuffed animal. He then went through the pile of animals that he helped me set out of his least favorites and "saved" 5 or 6.

In the end, we had a few people buy multiple items and a couple people come back later in the evening. The hardest part of the day for me was watching someone ride away on Josh's bike. Josh and Jonah love to ride bikes together, but there's just not room in the trailer for Cherry. The person in question walks probably two or three miles from work to home every day, so I think she will love the bike. When someone bought my washer and dryer, it was a bit of a crisis for me. You see, Josh had panicked and decided he couldn't part with the microwave two whole weeks in advance. If I'd had more than 10 minutes to think about it, I might have done the same with the washer and dryer. We do a lot of laundry around here!

I have no future career in selling furniture

Josh is a better salesperson than I am. Two different times he has sold someone on extra furniture when they have arranged to buy just a single piece. The living room is looking pretty bare these days with only a piano and coffee table left.

And to the person who texted me about the dining room table after midnight last night? I wanted really desperately to text back when the kids woke up at the crack of dawn, but I resisted. You're welcome.