Full Circle

Sammy's room is in complete turmoil. There is a small path to his crib, but the rest of the room is covered in boxes - most rows three deep and three tall. Eighteen or so boxes of books. Twenty boxes of food storage. Toys. Clothes. Shoes (Oh, the shoes!). This weekend we have to pack 'everything else' in preparation for the movers to come on Monday morning. So, as soon as Isaac gets home this afternoon, we will start to pack the kitchen and the bathrooms and all the odds and ends I seem to keep forgetting about. Sunday afternoon we will take apart the beds and unhook the tv and load all of our furniture into the living room. Everything we are taking that the movers can't touch will be in our room. A lowly tv / tivo (we aren't savages!), my computer, an air mattress, Sammy's one box of toys and his pack and play, our clothes. We will watch with anxiousness and anticipation all of our stuff leave San Diego next Tuesday. And then the waiting to leave begins.

Next week, however, is still going to be a little crazy. I fear my goodbyes to everyone I should say goodbye to may not happen. Movers on Monday (plus a haircut!) and Tuesday. Sammy's last therapy appointment on Wednesday (need to decide whether or not to continue after the move), as well as a farewell lunch with Diane and making a huge IKEA shopping list for our new house. Thursday has been set aside for last minute Solana Beach shopping and a final trip to Coronado. Friday will be long since Isaac has to work, but Saturday will be all about cleaning and making sure our possessions fit in our car! And then Monday the 31st. FINALLY. Isaac's last day of work. As soon as he gets home, we plan on packing the car, showering and sleeping so we can leave bright and early April 1st. Well, dark and early. WAY early.

I remember this point in Portland. I was a mess. I was crying and trying to soak up every last bit of Oregon I could. I was so grateful that Sharon and Jacob were there to help. The last everything was killing me. This time around is completely different. I find the only things I will miss are my friends (and I will miss them dearly!), but I am so anxious to GO already. We've been preparing for four years and I almost can't believe it's actually here...

(here's hoping your weekend looks NOTHING like this!)

Goals

One of my goals for this year was to completely use reusable grocery bags and never use paper or plastic at any store. I've been meaning to do it for awhile, but it just kept getting pushed to the bottom of the to-do list. I used to have some woven bags when I was in college and I have regretted every day getting rid of them. They were awesome. So, a few months ago, I searched and searched. There are options everywhere, now, for reusable bags, but I wanted something that a) didn't look stupid and b) was compact enough that I didn't have to throw a dozen canvas totes into my trunk (where they would then be forgotten...).

What I finally found was Baggu Bags. I initially bought six for a trial run. They hold 2-3 plastic sacks worth of groceries (especially if you do it yourself and not let the baggers underestimate their strength!) and fold down nicely - I have all 12 of mine in my glove compartment in my car. They wash well, which was a big thing for me. However, I noticed that six wasn't enough for my coupon crazy food storage haul. When you are only buying groceries twice a month, and shopping food storage at the same time, you need a few of these! I bought six more about a month ago.

I am loving them. I'm happy to say that there have only been a couple of times we have forgotten a bag. We use them for groceries, Target, IKEA, grabbing subs for dinner, whatever. Isaac loves them, which is huge. It was a great switch for our family and feels nice to do a little something for Sammy's future.

The goal has expanded to all plastic, now. I have replaced all of our storage bowls with glass pyrex and I'm slowly trying to wean us off of plastic water bottles. That one is more tricky, although I have gotten a cute Sigg bottle for Sammy. Maybe if I start him early enough...

TV

Let's talk about American Idol. I totally wasn't going to watch it this year, but as writer's strikes have it, there was nothing else on. So I watched. I'm not liking it though! Anyway, how much did everyone suck last night? Wow. What a bad show! It highlighted my hatred of the Beatles nicely...

So the contestants. I get Brooke White. I would probably buy some tracks off of iTunes from her. Very much A Fine Frenzy vibe and I sometimes like that sort of thing. She's suddenly my favorite of the year (minus last night). David Cook is ok. He still reminds me too much of Scott what's his name from Creed, but he's ok. I like (looking) at Michael Johns, but waiting for him to really wow. Just...waiting. Jason Castro has pretty eyes and could follow in Jack Johnson's footsteps if he tried. Maybe. The rest of them, I forget about 3 seconds after they leave the screen. As far as making money & actually doing well after AI, my money is on David Cook and Brooke.

However. Can anyone explain to me why people like David Archuleta? Besides the Utah Mormon factor, is there anything else? Because if so, I'm missing it. He's very talented, sure. He's a cute kid (as long as he isn't incessantly liking his lips and acting humble). But really? The best? I just don't see it. I feel like I'm watching...I don't know what when I see him. Maybe a very special episode of David's high school talent show. I have never once made it through a performance without rolling / spraining my eyeballs. He's so...cheesy. And not in a good way. But everyone keeps saying how much they love him, and I really want to know why!

Routine

It's amazing how set into a routine we get. We have a certain way of doing things at certain times and while that routine may vary a little, for the most part it's the way things are done.

Isaac is taking / has taken a lot of time off this month. Our original plan was to move the first to middle part of March and use all of his saved vacation to do so. However, we work for the military so we get to move the end of March instead (thankfully I wasn't really holding my breath the first of March would really happen!). Which is funny since Isaac is only working about 10 days in March, so it seems a little pointless, but I digress...

With Isaac being home so much, we've had time to pack in earnest (movers coming one week from today!) and do a few last things in San Diego. But it has highlighted how much of my life is on auto-pilot; how set in my ways and routine things have become. One small change of Isaac being home and I'm suddenly not functioning as normal.

Once we get settled, I think auto-pilot needs to go away a little more often and not have it take something as dramatic as a move to get me out of the norm again.