We've moved.

Number of trips taken in rental truck. 3.

Number of times we said, 'This is the last time we're eating fast food!' 6.

Number of times Buxton puked because he insisted on eating the grass. 5.

Number of spider crickets found. 1 alive, 1 dead. Darnitall!

Number of times Dominion Power was called in irritation. 5. Number of times Dominion Power was called in a mild panic. 10. Number of times Dominion Power was called in a complete and utter frenzy. 7. Number of times Dominion Power answered the phone. 1. Number of times Dominion Power said they would help us. 0. Sigh...

Number of days spent in the dark. 4 and counting.

Number of nights without water because you need electriticy to pump said water. 4 and counting.

Number of times Buxton ran out of the house without a human escort before the humans realized he needed to be tied up. 567.

Number of neighbors we've met so far. 7.

Number of neighbors we would have met if it weren't for Buxton continually running out of an open door. Maybe 0.

Minutes waited for cable guy. 0. Yay!!

Number of times we asked the cable guy if he could turn our electricity on. Just once.

Trips to Target. 3. Number of somewhat unnecesary things purchased. 10 out of 12. Number of necessary things we forgot. 3.

Total number of rooms furnished in the new house. 1.

Total number of kitchen cabinets left completely empty even after unpacking all kitchen boxes. 2. Yay!

Number of hours spent admiring our empty rooms and feeling happy with our new house when we should have been unpacking. 12 out of 48.

Happy in a Sad kind of way.

We're moving. Three months ago hubby and I were like, 'let's move out of this tiny place and get us a house.' And I was like, 'Yes!' And all the time while we were looking for our new house it was so exciting and fun and even frustrating because I wanted to move right away and we weren't finding The One. But, eventually we did and then I realized - we had to move out of our tiny place. We got engaged there. We got our little baby Buxton there. It was our very first tiny place of our own.

The best part about our tiny place is the neighborhood. So what you can hear Home Depot partying it up into the wee hours of the night? Who cares that people like to let their dogs do-their-business immediately behind our back gate? There is a cluster of us. Five tiny places in a row. We're all the same age. We hang out and drink beers on Friday afternoons. We badger the other neighbors to come out and meet us. We go out for dinner and sometimes breakfasts on Sunday. We have them over for fondue and for guinness on St. Patty's Day. I'm going to miss them.

Last week we were all hanging outside. One of the cluster was our real estate agent, and the time had come for the final walk-through of our new house. I was thinking, 'don't make me go! I like it here. I'll keep this tiny place.' But then the most wonderful thing happened, everyone stood up and said, 'Let's all go!' And so we did. The old neighborhood poured into their cars and we all drove the 4.1 miles over to the new place and did our final walk through together. And the cool thing was, the new neighborhood was all outside too. The old neighborhood got to meet the neighborhood, before we even moved in, which somehow makes it all seem a little bit easier.

bentley is cuter than buxton

ok now times Buxton's cutness by 10 and you have my bentley butt!!

im reading the astonishing life of octavian nothing, its really good but its taking me forever to read. ughhh i have to go feed dogs but i will be back to add more when i get back!

Buxton Brown is THREE years old!

It seemed like just yesterday he was a-little-baby-guy...



and he had his own little buddha belly.



and we had to teach him how to swim by persuading (or placing him) into the water...



and we had to tell all the other dogs at the dog park to stop making fun of our Buxton and remind them that some dogs take a little longer to grow into their paws...



and also their legs and ears and everything else.



He loved his first Halloween, so much in fact that he won't let us dress him up ever again just to keep it special.



We were all so proud when he passed his drivers test on the first try.



And now, 90 pounds later, he is still our big-little-baby-guy

prom pics!

laura matt me and mike



me and mike



the smac girls!! stacye margie amanda me and julia


my two best friends



at the prom

What I've been reading...

1. Here Lies the Librarian by Richard Peck

I think only Richard Peck could make me feel like I want to read more about the evolution of the automobile.

2. Enna Burning by Shannon Hale

This is the second book of Bayern (the first being Goose Girl which I absolutely loved) and all my favorite characters returned for a completely different story. This one was a bit heavier on the war aspect of Bayern - which may be the only reason I enjoyed Goose Girl a little bit more. Either way I am looking forward to reading River Secrets (which I believe is already out).

3. The Teacher's Funeral by Richard Peck

I went to a conference a few years ago where Richard Peck read the first page of this book (which was newly published at that point) and I loved the first line: 'If your teacher has to die, August isn't a bad time of year for it.' He writes old-time Indiana so well. I love the characters and the storyline and all of the details from that time - from going to school in a one room schoolhouse to living in a small town at the turn of the century. Almost as good as A Year Down Yonder...

4. Saint Iggy by KL Going

This is such a different kind of book than what I usually read. It reminds me of King Dork in the way that the reader is completely in the mind of the main character - we hear every single thought and it makes him so real. It also reminds me a bit of Fat Kid Rules the World, because I feel like I know the main character (Iggy) so well - like he's a close friend or a cousin - except that he lives in such a different world than I've ever known.

5. Notes on a Near Life Experience by Olivia Birdsall

Someone in my writer's group was nice enough to share this ARC with me and I was pleasantly surprised. Mia's parents are getting divorced, and her family is falling apart before her eyes. This is a popular theme in kidlit, but it's done really well here. The chapters are short snippets of Mia's life and you realize all of a sudden at the end that they meld together to form a very good story.

6. My Big Sister is so bossy she says you can't read this book by Mary Hershey

This could be my favorite title of all time. I heard she has a new book coming out 'My Best Friend is so bossy...' Very cute.