Apple Tree!

Over the past 10 days that we've lived in this house I've discovered things I like and don't like about the house. Today I learned something new as I was moving stuff from the garage to the shed, trying to make room so Paul can start pulling his car into the garage. We have an apple tree! How cool is that! :-) I saw apples on the ground and looked up and a couple are still on the tree. I'll enjoy eating those next year. It will save me a few $$ at the grocery store which is always a good thing too. A few things I don't like are how slippery the kitchen floor is, the location of the silverware drawer, and that only one of the four bedrooms has a light in the ceiling. A few things I like (which are all new things I've never had before) are:

• the fact that some of the kitchen cabinets open on both sides which will be nice when setting the table


• that there's a shed and swing set/slide in the backyard
• how many closets there are upstairs (including my first walk-in closet!)
• how many cabinets are in the kitchen AND I have my first pantry!
  
  
• the deck in the backyard (we need to buy a picnic table and chairs next spring!)
  
  
• ice maker


• jacuzzi tub (haven't had time to use it yet! and Paul calls it "Nadia's indoor swimming pool, LOL)


• fireplace
  
• central air


• an appliance hutch in the kitchen which has a rolling door (we put the toaster oven there)


• a cabinet in the kitchen that has a glass door so you can see the pretty things inside
  

I haven't taken pics of every room yet, but here are a few. Can you tell that a child lives in this house? She might only weigh 11 lbs but her presence is seen throughout the house

To respond to the comments - yes Nadia is still congested although it's not quite as bad. It would be awesome if she cleared up when she gets off the formula. She gets about 6 ounces of formula a day on average. We tried soy formula for awhile but that didn't seem to make a difference. Once life calms down (post moving) my goal is to start pumping so hopefully I won't have to buy formula (just been using the free samples thus far). As far as multitasking....I have always been one to do a couple of things at once. Even if Paul and I are watching a movie I'm usually doing something else also. What struck me yesterday was doing THREE things at once. That was not easy IMHO. Ironing while singing to Nadia to keep her entertained while she was in her bouncer was "normal." What felt too much was ironing with my right hand while holding my cell phone in my left hand talking about work stuff. For one thing I couldn't keep singing to Nadia and so she started crying. Almost every blog post the past 3 months has been written while nursing. I am used to doing two things at once. I realize life will still be busy as a wife/mother/homemaker, but I do think life will calm down some once the moving tasks are done (still unpacking!) as well as my workload is cut down at the university. For example I planned to type a midterm exam while Nadia napped on my lap yesterday afternoon after I got home from the grocery store, but the file wasn't on the computer, and I didn't want to disturb her nap. So I had to stay up after she went to bed to finish writing the midterm exam.

The discovery I made yesterday which ranks right up there with the apple tree today was that I found a grocery store I like that's only about 5 mintues away! I don't think of myself as a really picky person, but I didn't like the appearance of the first two I tried or the prices at the second one. Also both were missing items I ususally buy like the first one didn't sell any rye bread and the second didn't sell frozen carrots (not like those are exactly gourmet or strange items IMHO). Plus this one is the closest of the three! It's not a HUGE one, but I think it will work out fine. Now to find a hairdresser I like as I need a haircut. I am tempted to go back to Karen, but I know that would be a waste of gas $$ and time.

Here are some notes regarding the photos:

The penguin themed bathroom (Paul picked out) is in the downstairs half-bath. Aren't Nadia's coats so cute on the hooks? :-)

• The bookshelf is in the living room and aside from the top shelf which has my cookbooks, all the other shelves are filled with Nadia's books and puzzles. The bottom shelves are the ones we'll use first (board books and simple puzzles). I plan to start reading to her every day in the VERY near future. What fun! My mom said I shouldn't buy her any more books for the next 2-3 years. Hmmm I doubt that will happen, LOL.


• The monkey themed bathroom is the upstairs hall bathroom (I picked it out).


• The floral one is our master bathroom. I bought that shower curtain in 1994 and used it in Annapolis & Port Carbon but haven't used it since 2000 so it seems new.


• The bedspread in our room was a wedding present that we hadn't ever used so it also seems new.
  

Over the next few days I'll take pics of the other rooms in the house such as of course Nadia's room! :-)

P.S. I just thought of a funny thing in terms of multitasking. When I was in college I rarely took notes. I am a very auditory learner and remember what I have heard very well so I didn't have to study for exams that were lecture based (did have to study for the ones based on the textbook). During classes it probably looked like I was taking notes but I was actually writing letters to my mom. Well I didn't do that in chemistry class but in the ones I thought were easy I did. The irony now is that I deduct points from my students if I see them text messaging during class and really is that any different than writing a letter? I guess what goes around comes around! It's just that their actions are more blatant I guess whereas my letter writing was easier to disguise (not that some students aren't very adept at trying to hide what they are doing by keeping their hand in their bag or under their desk). Truly that takes talent! I've never sent a text message, but I would find it a challenge even if I was looking at the keys. I am amazed they can do it without looking!!