Our house is now on the market. It's been so hard getting to this
point, but we're finally here! Of course it's sad and weird to see this
house on the MLS...almost, but not quite as weird as seeing my childhood
home there. None too soon...the lot finally closed a couple of weeks ago
and they've been working in earnest over there. I was over there on
Tuesday and they'd started to dig the basement. I understand that the
plan is to have the foundation finished by the end of the month and the
house delivered in early June. It sounds like we'd only have a window of
a few days if we want to see it at the factory - hopefully we'll find
out next week whether that will work out or not (if it turns out that
the window of opportunity is in the middle of the week, I don't think
I'd want to take off that big a chunk of time - it's being built in NC
about 5 1/2 hours from here). In any case, I'm definitely planning to
take off the day the house is delivered - how many times in your life do
you get to see your house arriving on trucks? We're told that the
worst-case scenario is that it will be finished three months after the
house is delivered. Assuming it's not the worst-case scenario, we're
worried about how the timing is going to work out with our trip to MN in
August for Bob's parents' 50th wedding anniversary. Guess we'll just see
- there's no way we're not going to MN (I've even already bought the
tickets).
Anyway, we are so relieved to be past spending all weekend, every
weekend working on the house...
Well, bummer, turns out we won't be able to go see the house at the
factory. The best days to do it are going to be the Tuesday and
Wednesday after Memorial Day, and Bob has a summer student starting that
Tuesday so he can't take off. I had a little bit of mixed feelings
anyway since we were planning to go to Pittsburgh for Memorial Day
(we've decided to make this an annual tradition), but probably would
have gone for seeing the house at the factory and going to Pittsburgh
for the Fourth of July if Bob were able to take the time off. I'll still
plan on taking off to see the house delivered.
Another bummer of a conflict is that Laurel got an invitation to a
classmate's birthday party on Saturday, and we're going up to Northern
VA for therapy this weekend. I think the last time she got invited to a
birthday party, she was 2 1/2. But, no guarantees that she would
actually find it fun, and she is way overdue for therapy (I think it's
been nearly four months - between her surgery and our getting ready to
sell the house, it just hasn't been practical to go up there). If we put
it off, it would have to be for two weeks, since the following weekend
is Memorial Day. So, we'll go for the therapy.
Otherwise, things are OK here (I know I haven't said much for a while).
I had three deadlines at work in the last two weeks, so I was really
under the gun, but I don't have another deadline until the end of the
month so I'm actually managing to clean my desk off. Laurel is doing
well except for the ongoing problem of regulating her gas and BMs - when
we had the semi-annual children's rehab center extravaganza, it was
something we discussed with them, and we are trying to slowly add fiber
into her tube feedings. She didn't care for the scrapbooking Brownie
meeting (she was tired and had gas, but after talking to her afterward,
I also think the kid is just not into scrapbooking), but did all right
at last week's field trip to Ash Lawn. We had her IEP meeting last week
and it went well - next year they will actually test her (using her
usual two-choices format) on the second-grade curriculum, unlike this
year when they were more looking at kindergarten-type subjects (because
she did so badly in kindergarten, I think mostly due to all the pain she
was in). They were overall very complimentary of Laurel, but are
frustrated because although she seems to have finally mastered using two
switches outside of using the computer, when they get hooked up to the
computer she falls apart. Don't tell me computer phobia has skipped a
generation? Anyway, as I reminded them, last year they despaired that
she would ever get using two switches. She'll get there.
And as of right now, our first prospective buyers are touring our house.
Send "buy" vibes their way... 
UGH, that was not exactly the best weekend...
We went to Pittsburgh for the weekend, having decided that this was a
nice tradition and a good time for me to check in on the little garden
that's planted at my parents' grave. Didn't prove to be such a good idea
this time, though.
First off, we didn't get to Breezewood (PA, about the halfway point)
until almost 2 AM Saturday morning. This was partly due to having to
interview someone on Friday night to take care of Laurel for the summer.
We let getting the ad in slide too long (probably because we were so
busy getting the house ready to sell) and now we're scrambling - the
last day of school is next Wednesday! But partly, I guess it must have
been that there was a lot of stuff to do to get ready for the open house
on Sunday (haven't heard how that went yet), and partly, just bad
organization.
Saturday morning, it looked like Laurel was coming down with a cold, so
we stopped by a Wal-Mart and stocked up on cold medicine, since of
course we hadn't brought any of that stuff. We had picked up a Bedford
County tourist brochure and decided to do a driving tour of the covered
bridges and "Gravity Hill" (this is a road where there's this
optical illusion that makes it look like you're rolling uphill - it's
very convincing!). After about three covered bridges, it was clear that
Laurel was really struggling with her car seat. This was something we
noticed the previous weekend when we took her to Northern Virginia, but
we thought we had temporarily solved the problem by putting something
under her feet (we think basically her legs are too long to be
comfortable in the Britax Marathon any more - since there are no good
standard options for a kid her size with her lack of ability to sit
upright unassisted, we're trying to make an appt with the children's
rehab center to talk about what our choices are). We got out and took a
walk on a path around a lake at a state park...that actually turned out
to be the best part of the entire trip. We walked about a mile each way,
and we all had a good time. She seemed content in the seat after that,
so we took the rest of the covered bridge tour and then decided to head
west on Rt. 30 (much more scenic than the Turnpike). Naturally, once we
were well away from the Turnpike, she started to be miserable again. We
decided to stop for dinner, which turned out to be a good move, and
finally made it, exhausted, to the hotel.
Sunday morning, Laurel threw up. Massively. We did catch it in time to
ruin the hotel's towels, instead of their furniture. But then, we gave
it a few hours and she seemed better - didn't even seem to have the cold
symptoms any more. We asked her if she wanted to go to the zoo (which
had been the original plan), and she did, so we did. It was the most
crowded I've EVER seen it. We plunged on ahead, but we shouldn't have
done that. Laurel could hardly see a thing for the crowds. We had a hard
time getting people to make room for her, and she even got cut in front
of for the penguin exhibit, by two adults! What kind of person cuts off
a kid in a wheelchair?? After a while, she just couldn't take the crowds
anymore, so we left. I think she did enjoy the lions, which she got a
good view of, and the fish (the aquarium is always her favorite part).
We tried going to a mall to walk around for a bit afterwards, but she
was just tired and cranky and we wound up going back to the hotel room.
Then I went to the cemetery to take care of things. I lost a hubcap on
my way between Lowe's (needed a new plant) and the cemetery, which I was
able to do a U-turn and retrieve - but then I dropped some money and
some guy wound up running out in traffic to give it back to me!
Pittsburghers - they can be so nice, and then they can be such twits,
like at the zoo. After I got back, we went to the restaurant next door,
and then we went to Target to buy a new valve stem cover (I'd lost it
along with the hubcap), and Laurel wound up spending some of her
allowance on shorts outfits (they were way cheap - $3 each for the shirt
and shorts - and no, I don't normally make her buy her own clothes, just
when she doesn't really need any). I think that may have been the most
fun she had all weekend.
Monday morning, Laurel was just miserable. She'd developed some blisters
on her cheek, and one of them had popped and was oozing. I did some
research, and it looked like they were most likely related to the really
bad case of eczema we'd noticed she was having when we took her
sunglasses off after the zoo. (She has had problems with eczema off and
on all her life.) We decided we probably didn't need to find a doctor
right that instant, but she wasn't up for the planned trip to the
aviary, so after driving by my mom's former house and me having a good
cry, we headed for home. Slowly, with lots of stops...Laurel was
uncomfortable in the car seat pretty much the whole way. She was SO
relieved to be home, and Bob told me she had the hugest smile when he
put her to bed. I feel so bad for even taking her to Pittsburgh... 