Move Update

For better or for worse we now live in the new house. The move went well on Saturday and we gathered the last of our things from East Side on Sunday. My dear friend Leslie flew in to watch Vin so Teri and I were able to devote full hands to moving before Teri left for San Diego on Sunday night.



I have to say that I am at the end of my rope with this project. For a solid 6 weeks we've been living in limbo and I'm ready for this to be finished. We're at the point now that all the major work is done but there are still lots of little projects to wrap up and this list keeps growing.



Vin and I slept here for the first time on Monday night. At that point we did not have an oven, microwave, washer, dryer, or hot water. I couldn't give him a bath and when I went to rock him to sleep I realized that one rocking chair was buried in the dining room under boxes and the other was in the garage. Then I realized that I left both his nightlight and my cellphone charger at the hotel. I had a complete meltdown and called Teri crying and yelling. Luckily James popped over for a visit and he went to get me a nightlight. This gave me faith that things had not really changed that much.



Tuesday our house was filled with electricians wrapping up their jobs and late in the afternoon our realtor & friend Brandi stopped by, we ran into Jessica, Michael and Isaiah in their stroller and then James showed up with a bottle of wine. Again, I had faith that life in the new house was ok. Plus, the gas guy showed up and gave me the gift of hot water and a stove! James made our dinner and he, Brandi and I sat in the back yard drinking wine and relaxing.



Then came Wednesday morning and I think the coffee pot was the instigator of my meltdown.

I have yet to find this damn thing. I'm also missing clean wash clothes, underwear and am on the last square of the toilet paper. The house is still a construction zone so it is sooo not kid friendly. We managed a good breakfast and then were off to home depot and were literally the first ones in the door.



As I write this, Wednesday at 12:30 I've had the opportunity to shift some boxes around and have located everything but the coffee pot, I have hot water and my washer/dryer is hooked up. My sister is coming over tonight to lend a hand and then slowly but surely things will shape up around here.

It's like I can see my life just in front of me, but it's still out of reach. Wish me luck!



Pictures coming soon.

Our house is not yet finished

Packing Up and Moving Out

Tomorrow is the big moving day. Teri took off work to help round up the last of the packing. Ashley and Katherine have volunteered some babysitting time and Leslie arrives tomorrow to be an extra set of hands to help with Vincent.

The floors are finished and the painters started yesterday. They hope to be finished on Saturday afternoon with some touch ups on Sunday. So that means we'll be moving in and working around the painters. We'll stay Saturday night at a hotel to let the paint dry and fumes dissipate and then we'll officially start sleeping there on Sunday. Unfortunately, Teri leaves on Sunday evening for San Diego so she won't really be there until later in the week.

Today we will pack up the last of our things, and then pack Teri for travel.

I still can't believe that we're moving even though we've been in the house buying/selling/renovating process for months now. It's strange to think that Vin will never remember this house, the house we brought him home to. As I've made renovation decisions on the new house I've always kept him and his future siblings in mind. "This is the house my kids will grow up in. Is there a place for them to eat cereal? Will this be a kid-friendly layout? Etc. Etc. Etc.

This is such an emotional time. Excitement for the memories to be made and grieving for our old house, our neighborhood, and most of all our neighbors.

About a month ago I promised a top 10 list of our favorite neighborhood items. I had planned to post them periodically with pictures but life has gotten in the way. Nevertheless, I'm posting our list which won't mean much to you but someday Teri and I can look back and remember these small things that were once part of our daily routine. These are in no particular order.
10. The House
9. Eggroll Hut - Mongolian beef and the sign
8. Year round Christmas decorations
7. Dog packs, Alice
6. Hello My Friend
5. Super Mercado tortillas & avocados
4. Characters - Pepe, Enriche, Lady with the limp, Love, Boxing Kids, Crazy Mary
3. Hack Berries
2. The mini-mall
1. Our wonderful neighbors

"See" you next week where we will have lots of pictures!

Wordless Wednesday

My family

This little family is so happy to be reunited. Teri's travel schedule has been intense for the past few weeks. For now she's at home with us and we're so happy! She's in the mood to cook and I'm in the mood to eat. I literally starve when she's not here. James and brought me a few sandwiches, the neighbors fed me steak one night and other than that I just eat whatever Vin's having so my diet has consisted of things like apple sauce, sweet potatoes, cheese sticks and saltines. As I type this Teri is making a Mexican style chicken salad with ancho and pumpkin seeds and I've got several requests in for dinner!


This morning I slept in while Teri and Vin hung around the house. Here are a few pictures from their morning. As you can see he is into everything. A busy busy little boy!

Stuck in a shelf.

Sitting in a frying pan.

Wearing a diaper hat.

This was taken last week at a mexican food restaurant.

Check out his lemon, avocado slices and chip.

Wordy Wednesday

Vin and I were reunited on Monday and I missed him so much. He and I have spent a good deal of time just smiling at each other, he really is a sweet little boy. Yesterday we renewed our Arboretum membership and went exploring around there. The weather has finally started to cool off a bit and it reminds me of my favorite Indigo Girls lyric that says

Summer's beginning to give up her fight

He thought the frogs were the splash park so I took his clothes off him and let him run around half naked to dry off.

House Progress

We're moving right along on the house. Last week the major projects were the installation of the kitchen cabinets and the hardwood floors. Next up is the painting, kitchen counter tops and then sanding and staining floors. We hope to be moving the last weekend of September.

Kitchen Before

Kitchen After

Hardwood Installation

Vin's Friend

This was taken a few weeks ago when we were hanging out watching Vin dance. Watch his face when he sees James on the front porch. He gets so excited and then on his way to meet him at the front door he does a few more dance steps.

Major Flashback Friday

We cleared out the attic last night and I've been sorting through it today. The historian in me saves lots of stuff and this drives Teri crazy. The attic was filled with 4 things 1)winter clothes 2)my fabric scraps 3)Christmas decorations & 4)my memorabilia. Teri found a box that was simply labeled "paper junk" which means it was letters, magazine pages, birthday cards and "paper junk".

Here are a few of my favorite finds of the day.


Many of you have heard this story on occasion. It's one of my dinner party favorites when the conversation gets a little dull. Here's the picture to verify this tall tale. When I was in college in Amarillo I lived in a 1930's hotel along with a great mix of college kids and the elderly . One night the clothes dryer caught on fire and caused a 3-alarm fire. The fire could've been caused by my overloading the machine with quarters so that I could watch Letterman longer with my cousin Shea.

The Amarillo Globe News article said this, "The late hour and thick smoke from the blaze appeared to have confused many residents... At least four residents retreated to the buildings roof to escape the fire. 'I heard people outside screaming and yelling said Cinnamon Abbott a 5th floor resident who said she fled downstairs to the third floor but was turned back by smoke... About 15 trucks including two ladder trucks and 45 firefighters responded to the blaze. Red Cross officials were also on hand to aid victims of the fire."

A membership card to the Twilight Club in Quanah Texas. A hole in the wall joint on the road from Amarillo to Dallas.

We have precious few pictures of Teri's childhood so these were a great treat!

This is the front and back of a picture take in 1986 at Hands Across America. I've scanned the back so that you could see how my mother labeled EVERY picture. Names, ages, and dates are on every single picture the woman owns. Needless to say the historian in me loves her for this but where did she find the time?

A Chili's promotional brochure circa. 1996. They held a casting call and I got the job. When Teri and I say we are a Chili's family we aren't kidding. I worked there for 10 years and Teri and I met while waiting tables.

This is a famous Kam & Wendy picture. Wendy calls us the deranged camp counselors. I'm sure she'll post a comment about this night.

Vin at Mayme's

De Leon House update

Busy busy busy around the De Leon households this month. We know it is a crazy time full of chaos but we are determined to survive this:

• Teri will be out of town for 2 weeks in Sept. and again some in October.


• The beginning of my semester. I have 7 classes.


• Vin is adjusting to 4 days a week at Mother's Day Out and is transitioning to 1 nap a day. (God help us!)
  
• Vin is cutting a molar. Yes a molar, can you believe that the kid only has one tooth on the bottom but has 6 on top and more on the way.


• Priming and painting the entire new house, ceilings included.
  
• Making big purchase decisions like paint colors, lighting, sinks, faucets etc.


• Packing up the East Side house and moving to San Saba

House Progress - now when you see some of these pictures you won't think it's progress but trust me, it is.

Kitchen before & after demo and new drywall

Hall closet after the AC unit was moved into the attic.

Dining room ceiling after the electrician stepped in the wrong place!



Garage and Craft Studio after demo. New insulation and drywall will be finished in the next week.

1. 
   
   2nd load of trash. We've already filled a industrial trash trailer once.
   
   
   
   Where we stand at this point:
   
   
   Jobs completed:
   Foundation repair

   New roof

   Kitchen and utility enlargement demo

   New drywall texture throughout

Electrical upgrades

Jobs remaining (keep in mind that Teri and I will not be doing any of this labor except the paint)

Repair AC closet and dining room ceiling

Replace, sand and stain hard wood floors throughout

Paint

Install kitchen

Install new toilets

Install lighting

Drywall, texture, paint garage and studio


Oh and I forgot to mention that in the midst of all of this, Teri got Lasik surgery yesteday! She just had her follow up appt. and everything looks great.

Free Chocolate!

Every Friday through September starting at 9:00 am and ending at 11:59 pm, Mars is giving away free chocolate when you fill out the registration form. The form takes less than a minute to fill out, and they are giving away 250, 000 coupons each Friday for a free single serving package of M&Ms, Milky Way, Snickers, 3 Musketeers, Twix or Dove. You can request up to four coupons per household over the course of this promotion. You can't beat free chocolate!