Do you have a minute?

it has been a while. And like a shaken champagne bottle, I have a lot to release! I am finally back in the saddle. My laptop is new and wine-free and I have download a million photos from the past month of my life. So if you have some time to sit and listen to my stories, let's get started.
So..2 days before closing,, the appraiser decides to actually appraise our new house after much prodding by all parties. And of course, he comes in WAY low out of spite and horrid economy. So the seller's won't take this stupid appraisal and we are left to sell our house and move our stuff in to storage while we wait out the political bull crap. We leave the old house on Friday with NO idea when or IF we are going to purchase our new one. So..what does any homeless person do..head to the comfort of friends and dogs. We head to Kristen's to await our fate.
and pretty much do this for 3 nights..

The kids lay around a lot..
I am not sure if Stella is more disgusted by the slobbery squeaky toy or Dante himself
Regardless, she forces herself to lay on the soft bed
naps were had by all

Shiloh shows us her best smile!
While not sleeping, the helped Stella guard the yard.Besides our anxiety about where we might live, our fish were probably getting the shortest end of the stick. this is how they spent 5 glorious days. But alas, on Monday at 7PM we finally closed on our new house. We spent the first night on an air mattress as the movers could not bring our storage unit until the next day. But the first morning of our house..was sweet victory! Jason surveys our back 40 while waiting for the movers. And I take a look at all the flowers in bloom
Kristen and gyeong graciously bring our kids back to us after we had a chance to unpack a little. Dana needed her bowl and bed in a spot to prevent meltdowns!

I think the kids love their new yard!
The squirrels are a new nuisance that the previous treeless yard lacked!As well as our neighbor..meet Frick..it might be Frack..i can't tell you.
We spent every waking hour unpacking..Cali and Dana show off their probably favorite winter spotDante shows off his new deck!
and without fail, we get a foster pretty much immediately after moving. Par for course, i would say! We had him before, meet Skiddy Urban. he is a very good boy.

I decide to paint the 1/2 bathroom and Urban 'helps'Finally, after about 3 weeks, we are finally able to cook our first meal in the new house. And I might add that this is my view as I type minus the food :-)And of course..we throw a small party. This is only foreshadowing the massive one to come. But it was July 4th! Stanley says "Jaime..succomb to my power" or "I squish your head"

So that is my last few weeks in a very long nutshell. Now you are caught up and I am now devoted to providing fun shots with my new back drop. I have missed you all!!!

Stay tuned...

It will be a few more weeks before I catch everyone up with my move and all that it entailed. You can get an idea from Gyeong's blog, but as luck would have it, I stupidly spilled wine (ironic?) on my laptop. So I am now using Jason's computer until my new one comes in. I can scan the internet on my broken one, but occasionally the down arrow sticks and the 'r' sticks, so that makes surfing a little difficult. Only about 1/3 of the keys work.
So please stay tuned, I promise a lot of photos, stories and a return to normality. But until then..enjoy this photo..
Cali's last night at the old house..stupidly we forgot to close the pantry before going to dinner. Will the guilty party please raise her hand (and the tart's antics continued at Gyeong's house..check out his blog) Be back soon..new laptop arrives in 2 weeks.

We've come a long way..

As I sit here on the last day in my first 'real' home (there was one before this..but I choose to forget that one), I can't help but be nostalgic. At the present moment, the closing on our new house has been delayed by who knows how long. We may or may not close today. But I supposed that is a story for another day. Regardless of if we close or not today, we are moving tomorrow. So as my anxiety levels maxes out and I ponder the unknown..I will show you some pictures 'pre-blog'.
In June of 2005, the market was booming and we wanted in. You had to act fast and bid high at that time. Appraisers would say whatever you wanted (not so much the case today). We look at lots of houses and come across our favorite. She was rough and had been neglected a bit..but we saw the potentialThe backyard resembled nothing of what you are used to seeing today.
And quite frankly, the inside resembled nothing of what you see today. The paint scheme was interesting to say the least and the dirt was thick. (notice the 'contrasting' color of green in the main room and peach in the living room?and let's not get started on the high gloss yellow the stretched down the hall in to the kitchen. I have nothing against yellow..but there was a lot of it.So we jumped in with all our feet and painted every square inch of the house.And then we turned our focus to the back yard. Let the fence building begin! Jason rents a big man machine!And cuts a main power line (to his credit Miss Utility didn't mark correctly). I was never so happy for rubber tires in my life.But the fence must be built or the future as you have seen would not have been possible.
A few months later we adopt our first greyhound. I think you've met.
and almost 3 years later, we adopt the 2nd one....
The countless parties and numerous fosters have all been documented here pretty well. I considered posting recaps of a few of the better ones, but you can look back through the logs. Wish me luck as we go through this day of unknowns. I hope to post with photos from my new house soon..

Urban's Journey continues...

Skiddy Urban's road to retirement was started on Hound Life and continues here. Due to multiple people moving, traveling, etc..Urban is making his way to his forever home via multiple foster homes. But along the way, his story gets more and more interesting.
Urban arrived here with as you saw on Hound Life, a rather peculiar nose 'issue'. It was an old injury, and didn't really seem to bother him. We called it character.
Let's remind you of Before:
So, I take him to my vet to get his teeth cleaned and vaccines updated. As I explain his nose 'issue', they say "you want us to fix that?". But..in all his paperwork...his stay at a Veterinary university..it all says..his nose cannot be fixed.
To which they respond "sure it can".
So after a little consultation, we realize there is no reason not to give it a shot. Watching him lick oatmeal out of his nose at night's was loosing its humor.
So I picked up a brand new Urban tonight!
Check out the AFTER!The vet assured us the 'dimpling' will settle and there will be minimal scarring. CRAZY! Urban will recooperate here for a few days before heading to his next foster home, Beau and Belle. There he will meet his new forever mom (the owner of Beau and Belle's aunt) and continue his journey. So check out his blog for the completion of Urban's crazy GUR.
I think he will be happy to be away from the flashbulbs and frenzy of the paparazzi here with GPA-Richmond.On my front..nothing to report but Boxes..and whole hell of a lot of boxes. We move in 8 days.
My house:But rest assured..there is a path to the important things
And stay tuned for a look back at life on Brant lane ...the good times and bad...as we head in to the next chapter on Rose Bowl.