Introducing Eleanor Jean!

Easter Sunday: Big and incomfortable

Friday the 13th: After only 8 hours of active labor and only 2 hours at the birthcenter, Eleanor arrives.

Two weeks later: Awesome friend wants to practice photography. Aren't they cute!

Birth stats: Born 6:44am April 13th Weight: 9 lbs 8 oz Length: 21.75 inches Head: 13 inches Birth: complete natural and drug free For those that are interested, I do plan on posting a birth story when I get it written.

Welcome to Jackson Acres!

I'd like to be the first to welcome you to our new home.


That's right! We are buying a home! And not just any home....

Our new residence includes the following:
2.13 acres (Can you hear chickens?)
partially unfinished basement
irrigation
well established apple trees (and a few nuts. No, I'm not talking about us.)
grape, raspberry and blackberry vines
black walnut tree just begging for a tree house
hardwood floors
roomy kitchen

We really are buying our dream home. Because I'm too tired to do much else, here are some pictures for your enjoyment.





Karl took some vidoes as well, but they are too long to post here. I'll see what I can do.

We have a job!

After just a few months of unemployment, we have received a job offer (two actually) and have accepted one. What a great feeling it is to know that in a month Hubby will be earning an actual income. Even better, we don't have to move. Since his job will be 15 minutes from where we currently live, we'll continue to live with my sister until we save enough for a nice down payment.

Hurray!!!

It finally happened!

Just so you all know, Hubby defended his dissertation this past Wednesday and his committee has decided that he can graduate. Ah, what a feeling! All he has left to do is get his reading committee to sign off on his actual dissertation and then jump through whatever hoops the graduate student office has prepared and then we are free. Here's to hoping that a job isn't too far behind.

Nothing is ever as you expect

In my last post, I was rather optimistic that my managing days were over and that the a life of peace and happiness was ahead of me. No such luck. It took a MONTH for them to find a replacement and I was stupid enough to offer to continue to work until they found a new manager or the end of March, which ever came first. Now that I'm not having nightmares about what happened (I really did have a few), I'll tell you the story.

March 1st: We were in process of evicting someone in the building. I got a call that day from a family member of the tenant involved saying he was at the building to pick up the tenant and would I please open the front door. I did so and stayed around until they left. And left they did: everything that was in the apartment. I didn't dare go near the apartment until several days later, and then only with someone with me. The place was filthy and was basically a drug house.

I almost quit right then, but I have an overactive sense of duty and I couldn't just abandon them. I did, however, refuse to clean anything in the apartment. The maintenance crew picked up all the needles, a junk removal company cleaned out the junk, and a cleaning company did the cleaning.

Wait a minute, you might say, did you just say needles? How many needles could their be? 10? 50? Try this:


Yes, that is the bathtub. Yes, it is full. No, no one believed me that it was as bad as I said it was, not even my property manager or the company that disposed of all of them for us. A friend of mine who works for the police department told her boss who thought "Yeah, sure. I'm sure the bottom of the tub is covered, but that's it." HA!

It is only got worse, if that is possible. We had fresh needles showing up in the parking garage for a while. Then the former tenants druggie friends were kind enough to break into every single storage unit in the garage and steal from a couple of them. Then a week later THEY STARTED TO DO IT AGAIN!!!! They only stopped when we changed the locks on all the outside doors.

And then they finally found a new manager and I was thrilled! And a week or so after that I finally turned my keys in. Oh, what a happy day that was!

What have I been doing since that blessed day? Trying not to have nightmares and spending plenty of time outside in our yard. I'll try to post more soon, if I can.

I QUIT!!!!!!

For those of you that I don't communicate with more frequently, I've been feeling that it is "needful for me to obtain another place of residence". Being an apartment manager can be hard work and for the past several months it has become quite stressful, especially as my children need more and more attention.

So I quit. I've been looking around for places to rent, in particular houses or duplexes, and just a few weeks ago we found a place with in our budget. Of course, the move corresponded with a previously planned vacation, so I wasn't really involved. But thanks to my most amazing Hubby and his parents, the kids and I came home to a new house already unpacked. Am I lucky or what!

I sincerely hope that by removing the stress of managing from my life I will be more able to be a better person, mom, wife and friend. Wish me luck! And look for future posts about gardening in a YARD!!!