I... I have a blog! Yeah. I don't expect anyone is still out there. But lately, I have things to say and nowhere to say them. I could dig out an old fashioned journal but that's never worked out too well for me.
So jack be nimble, blah blah blah... LIMBO! I don't think the game version is the right definition but I couldn't think of anything witty related to the existential version so I just went with it. In the photo above, Grace is duct taping Charlie's mouth shut. See how she's doing it nice and gently though? She is duct taping his mouth shut because we are always together. Always. And sometimes, it gets to be a little bit much. A bit much too loud. A bit much too crowded.
We are living in the space of what used to be the H&R Block office on the first floor of the historic hotel my parents own. See the very cool brick wall behind Charlie and Grace? This building is full of wonderful little architectural gems like that. Currently sharing this building is the law office, George my hair stylist/genius, and a nail shop.
Anyway, the H&R Block space (also local Obama headquarters during the 2008 election) is cozy. We share one big living room, one smaller room partitioned into two separated sleeping spaces, a porch where we store our clothes and a bathroom. There are no doors on any of these rooms except for the bathroom. Like I said, we are always together. Justin has taken to calling the room where the beds are the "reading room" because that's where he retreats to read in relative peace and the living room is the "media room" because that's where the tv, video games and computers reside.
We're here for exactly 28 more days until our new house is built and we can camp out there instead of here. The whole experience has been much better than I expected. I've enjoyed the cozy togetherness, I think it's really been good for us as a family; we've had to become more patient, more considerate and more willing to do things together rather than just go our separate ways. There are days though, like the duct tape day, when the ability to escape to our own rooms or the backyard or even the kitchen is sorely missed.
In addition to the limbo in our home situation, I am in limbo in my job. I'm going to save that topic for another post but it's something heavy in my heart tonight after a particularly trying day.
One unexpected benefit of this living situation is that it has provided much grist for the imagination, lots of stories and adventures and just silly tales that I want to record but I don't really have an outlet for outside of this blog. Today's silly tale comes from the laundromat. The kids didn't have school because of Dr. King's Day. I've been putting off going to the laundromat since Friday - when I went last Monday someone had been sick, and while I finished the laundry, I was not eager to go back. Today we went in and it was... worse. It smelled like dirty kitty litter. How can a whole laundromat smell like dirty kitty litter? It soon became clear it was thanks to one woman there who probably should have just stripped down to her underwear and thrown everything she was wearing into a machine.
Laundromat etiquette (as far as I'm aware) requires that you don't acknowledge unpleasant smells or odors. You don't even acknowledge other customers - you just go about your business quietly and quickly and keep your head down. Charlie is blissfully unaware of laundromat etiquette. He and Grace went straight into the game room (we'll call those video poker machines the game room, okay?), came out to see my progress and asked, at the top of his lungs, "Mom, why does it smell so bad in here? Mom, it smells just like Lucky!"
Lucky is the stray cat my husband rescued on my birthday last year. Lucky is Lucky because her microchip revealed that she was previously owned by a Chinese restaurant approximately 45 minutes away from our home. They didn't want her back. She was a lithe black bullet 7 months ago. Today, Lucky resembles Jabba the Hut and she is not a fan of grooming at all. Sam, our fastidious Siamese cat is forever trying to groom her but she tolerates only her ears and the top of her head being cleaned. Lucky does not always smell very good. In fact, Justin told Lucky last night that she needs a moist towelette.
I don't think that woman knew about Lucky but she packed herself out of there very quickly. While embarassed by Charlie's gaffe, I admit that I was also grateful. Because he was right, that whole place really did smell just like Lucky.
