Apparently it has been awhile since I posted. It has been a grueling month on this end and I have been even less eloquent than usual, so you can thank me for that lovely month of silence.  If you would like a recap without the gory details, I suppose I can supply that.

June started with a bang: bridal shower, wedding, hospital visit with a friend, all on the same day! From there we went to a one year old’s birthday party (with extra toddlers), a graduation party, seeing friends, dinners, visits, etc. Basically one week of over stimulation. I threw a big “Good bye to the Homestead” party and lots of my friends and munchkins gathered for a semi-rainy good time.

And then I had to buckle down and do some serious packing. Packing, packing, packing. Gathering moving boxes. And doing more packing.

And in the midst of all the packing, there was a lot of whining from the Big Dog who could sense that changes were afoot. And she was right. BIG fat changes. In the middle of June, on the hottest day I could find, I picked up a moving truck, and some wonderful friends / brothers / sisters spent the day helping me move (mostly) out of the Homestead. We took a load to my parents house (where Suzie killed the last remaining kitten in front of all the helpers). And then a load to storage. I figured I’d finish the shed, garage, and remaining house dregs on my own since it was so horribly hot. As of that Sunday, when all the furniture moved, I started sleeping at my parent’s and took the dogs with me.

The next three evenings I worked on those things. It is always worse than you think. Even after the impressive packing / purging / etc for listing it was worse than I thought. I cannot express my gratitude for my family and friends who helped, encouraged, cleaned, and just were there for me during that rough week. And my boss who gave me the day off to finish it off.  That last day in the Homestead, I took the dogs back over for the day. They were SO happy to be home!! They napped, basked in the sunlight, laid on the gleaming, freshly finished floor, oh how we love home.  And then it was done. No more home to come home to.

Honestly, moving is rough enough when you’re moving to a new house. Moving is even harder when you are moving to limbo (or your parents basement) for an unknown period of time! Not to mention saying good bye to a house / yard you have loved and projected your heart into for the past decade. Yeah, it was rough.  And by the end of it, it was just a huge relief to be out. To sign all the papers and call it a day. Good bye Nichols Homestead.

So here I am, living in the partially finished “grandma” apartment off my parent’s living room. My parents have been working very hard to get this space ready lest my grandparents need a place to stay in the near future. I mean, it isn’t done. So moving a bunch of my stuff in here and trying to find my way around and make it home for the time being has been a challenge. I am so incredibly grateful for their generosity in letting me and the bitches stay here. Still trying to find some routine, some rhythm in life again, but incredibly grateful — and generally tired.

And the dogs are exactly as you might suspect: Suzie is happy as long as I’m home (and so very tired from all the running around). And Maggie spends a ton of time whining to go home.  We can’t actually say the word “Home” because Maggie goes howling up the stairs and sits at the door crying. Change is hard. I’m doing the same thing on the inside, but at least I’ve managed to keep it mostly on the inside.

The rooster is still alive, amazingly. Somehow he has freaked the dogs out and they refuse to go after him. He crows right in the doorwall that is our front door at 5 am, but when I open the door to let them out, they won’t go until he moves a safe distance away. So strange. Lenny has won the mental battle here and lives to crow another way to early morning.

Last weekend, one of my dear friends, my “let’s sell our houses” buddy moved her family (also to her parent’s basement while they look for a new home). And I have to say, it is a lot easier to be the friend on moving day who encourages, packs last minute boxes, bags dolls and bedding, and carries stuff to the truck. It wasn’t my dregs, it was their dregs. So much easier somehow.  After a long, long moving day, it was done. I could drive away and shower and not deal with the post moving ramifications (although I’m still doing that on my end). It was sad moving her out of her lovely home too. I have many happy memories in that house with those wonderful people. And yet, there’s a season for everything and this is apparently the season of moving and homelessness (hopefully followed by more moving).

Other than moving and not really settling in, Summer Softball has begun. One of my favorite seasons. So any given Sunday you can find me at the fields, with my people, having some good old fashioned fun. And it is great to be doing something that feels like my “normal” life, no matter how transitional everything else is.  Besides, we have the cutest fans on the planet.

I promise I will have more interesting and less tired things to say soon. In the meantime, God is faithful. He is teaching me, and loving me, and growing me in this process and I’m excited to see where we go from here.