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Tuesday, August 23, 2011

Restless

It's days like today that I'm a little restless. There are a few dates that I will always remember, and Aug 23 is certainly one of them. It used to be that it was the day that I started school, then it was the day I'd normally move into college. But far more important than that, it's mom's birthday. Around our house, mom's day was a big deal, as it should have been. But since she has passed, Aug 23 is just "normal" I guess. Last year, with a due date of Aug 18 w/Miriam, we though how cool it would be (then) if she came late and landed on mom's bday. how crazy would that have been - a mom look-a-like born on the same day!?! But, Miriam had other plans and came 7 weeks prior (and now I think I can say that with a "thankfully" in it).
This year, I didn't even psyche myself up for it. In fact, it wasn't written in my calendar, and I didn't think about it anytime prior...until this morning.
Today, Miriam got tubes put in her ears to hopefully help with those rascally ears of hers. When signing her in the surgery center at 6:15 (AM!!!), I looked at my watch for the date and time and immediately said - ooh, I gotta call mom and wish her a happy birthday. J just kind of looked at me, and I caught myself mid-sentence too. Funny how "normal" it is without her, so much so that I reach to call her on the phone. After that point, I was a little sad and bummed - I knew I couldn't chat with mom today, and it just stirred up some of the restlessness that reappears in times when I miss her so.
Sometimes I hate that our life has become so "normal" without her. But at the same time, I'm glad that we've been able to press forward and continue moving on in life, with sweet memories, and moments like I had today. Even though I couldn't call, I still remember my sweet momma today and am so thankful for her birth 58 years ago today. oooga boooga.

Sunday, August 21, 2011

Before and after...and no pictures to show for it!

We at the Ghent home have been quite the busy family this weekend. We've been on a mission to get rid of some of our junk/your treasures, put some extra $$$ back into our pockets and clean up a bit around our house. Spring cleaning hasn't really ever had it's fullest extent in our home, until this weekend!
Project #1: Move the living room furniture around to accommodate a HUGE entertainment furniture that my mom loved and bought a few years back (it costs more than our bedroom furniture!!). This entailed, moving the piano from the living area to the dining room, getting rid of the large recliner that mom bought for us our first married Christmas (another post on that piece of furniture to come), swapping the couch and love seat, purging all of the wobbly tables from the room, getting the furniture from dad's, and moving it in to the house THEN set up shop.  The project officially started at 9 a.m. yesterday morning, and was fully complete by 10 p.m. Of course, we did things here and there and in between.  It also involved the purchase of a new vacuum cleaner (the SHARK Navigator Lift-Away!), as well as a monsterous LCD tv. Now, in our house, we've never owned anything larger than a 19" anything. We haven't even purchased a TV in all of our years together, so we thought this change of scenery was a cause for celebration and we went all out - then of course had buyers remorse all day while we watched the huge screen! Now, we just have to "decorate" the shelves. I'll get a picture up soon, so you can help me with that.
Project #2 - Clean out the office/exercise room/craft room/music room/play room/storage room/picture fram room/etc/etc. We have a 4 bedroom house, and that poor room has gotten a beaten in 3 years. Since we're about to celebrate the start of year #4 in our home, we decided to purge some things that aren't functional, like this desk. We got it as a hand-me-down, and did a dirty thing - sold it for $35 on craigslist. Our junk, their treasure, right? It was probably worth about $200, so they certainly got a deal! Got rid of that sucker this afternoon.
Project #3: Sell Jeremy's beloved Sentra. Now, we sold the honda LAST weekend to a great family, who's high school daughter will put some love into it. It was such a great car, and it was definitely hard to part from it. But J is having a hard time getting rid of his car. It seems 3 things are holding us back: only one key, chipped paint on the top of the car, and an ubiquitous rattle that comes and goes and was "fixed" last weekend by our trusted mechanic. Otherwise, this car is in great shape, with low miles, new tires, and J was the only owner.  We've had several folks take a look at it, some more serious than others, but we've come to realize that we aren't going to get what we thought we deserved for it, and it's going to be harder to sell than the honda. If you know of anyone interested, send them our way!

Whew, what a weekend - but we feel so accomplished, and certainly a little cleaner around these parts. Come visit us and see our new "do"!

Sunday, August 14, 2011

Glorious sleep

These days, with the stormy sleepy weather, I can't get enough of sleep!  J and I have been so blasted busy that the weeks just fly by and the days keep getting shorter and shorter.  A few weeks back when Miriam was sick, we did loose a lot of sleep, so I just keep telling myself we're trying to gain it all back.

There's nothing I look forward to more than the Sunday afternoon nap. Now that Miriam is almost 100% consistent with her 2-4 or 4:30 nap in the afternoons, I set out to take full advantage of that for "me" time. That "me" time means parking my tush on the couch, grabbing the pillow and blanket, and snoozing away til I wake up. There's just something about it - and the fog that I live in for the next 30 minutes while I try to regain consciousness before I hear Miriam tell me she's awake.  After an early, hard working morning at the church, I deserve it - right?

I wish I would have listened to the advice from family and friends about a year ago when they said "sleep when baby sleeps"...why was it so difficult to do that then? Now, I just make it to 2 p.m. and I'm ready for a snooze.

So thankful that Miriam is a great sleeper and good napping baby still. We've certainly been blessed!

Tuesday, August 9, 2011

Paging Dr. Ghent

So, I went to the doctor myself today after taking Miriam last Thursday for a double ear infection/upper respiratory infection. She got meds, but I didn't. After waiting my 30 minutes, I coughed for the doctor, and he patted me on the shoulder whilst saying: "Mrs. Ghent, you have a cold and a sore throat. Get some rest, hydrate yourself, and take some tylenol."

I'm pretty sure I could have told him I had a sore throat - judging by the fact I had no voice until about 4 p.m. today.   Oh well, maybe next time there'll really be something wrong with me. I just made it way too easy for that guy to make his money today.

Monday, August 8, 2011

How do you sell a car?

So, along with the thousands of changes in the Ghent home over the past few weeks, one of the biggest and best was Jeremy's gift of a work truck.  It's his to do all of his traveling to a from work, to job sites, to potential clients, and even here and there in town. So we've recently displaced the good ol' sentra to the parents' homes. It stayed at work for a few days, then at the Ghent home for a few days, and now it's at dads (along with my old honda from high school/college days). So we're going for it: we're going to attempt to sell both the honda and the sentra.
But how do you do that? Mom never taught me how to do that. She taught me how to use one of these:
and she taught me what to do with this:  and how to fill out one of these: Go to fullsize image...but she never taught me what to do when I needed to sell a car. All I know is that she said NEVER buy a BRAND NEW CAR off the lot - no matter how much haggling and price lowering. She said that wasn't worth my time or my wallet. So what about the selling part? Do I pretend that the Blue Book value is what I need to ask for? Do I sell it on craigslist? Do I put an ad in the paper (I know, so like 5 years ago...)? Do I give it to a company for a flat price so I don't have to deal with it?
What do you think is my best bet?

Friday, August 5, 2011

I paid a lot but still got it on sale...

Today I took Miriam shopping for shoes - these were going to be the first pair of shoes I had purchased for her EVER, thanks to my big Sis and her two wonderful daughters and their previously worn shoes...so, naturally we headed for the Stride Rite store (since momma always told us those were really good shoes for babies learning to walk). I pulled up and saw something glorious:

It just happened to be a BOGO50% off day, AND it was the first day of tax-free weekend, so I grabbed my baby and headed in. We measured her (tiny) foot, and managed to walk in and out with 2 pair of shoes and 3 pair of big girl socks for $60!  Aren't they precious?! My friend's daughter, Taylor, has the same sneakers, but I just couldn't pass up the deal and they're so cute on!
Lilo H&L

I know, I know - 60 bucks for shoes for a 1 yr old?! Might I justify: like I said, these are the FIRST pairs of shoes we've bought for her in a whole 13 months! AND she needs them for her upcoming abilities to walk super fast especially when she returns to preschool in September.
And of course, the most important part of all, I GOT THEM ON SALE!