hello from michigan :)

hello. well, we've been in michigan for 11 days now. yikes. feels strange to be away from home for so long. 'specially since i still consider this to be home. when i'm in florida i am homesick for michigan and when i am in michigan i am homesick for florida. go figure.

camp update: so far, so great! les seems to be lovin camp. she calls almost every day and her little voice is just joyful. she is meeting new people, having new experiences, testing those little wings of hers. can't wait to see her this weekend though. driving up there with sal and kar to visit and drop off a care package. it will be 2 weeks since i've seen her! then she has one last week of camp and i'll have one last week of fitting in all of my favorite things to do in my home state: garage sales, antique hunting, lunching with friends, eating at junky big boy, catching up with all of the people i love and miss so much, walking along paint creek, enjoying all of the gorgeous flowers in bloom, talking hour long walks through the streets and looking at all of the cool old bungalows that bret and i would like to own one day, checking out fairs and farmers markets and all things michigan.

update on the new house: bret is going crazy getting our new home ready for us to move into when we return. painting. cleaning. building. planting. can't wait to get into it and start nesting. then i can finally turn my attention to the new school year . . .

last post for a bit

We closed on both houses today. Hooray!!! Feels like a big weight has been lifted. Bret and I have both been a little stressed - worrying that something would go wrong at the last minute.

Leslie and I leave tomorrow (camp for her and relaxing with my pals in Michigan for me!) so I won't be able to blog again until August. I'll let you know how the camp thing goes. This is the first time L has been away from me for more than a few days. I am really going to miss her. I hope I can make it 3 weeks! How will I cope?!

Bye for now . . .

yumminess

I don't love restaurants. (Yes, I do realize it is because we eat out so much. The irony.)

I don't love cooking. (Although I do love cookbooks.)

But I do heart having my friend invite me over to cook for me! This weekend we struck pay dirt. We drove to Boca for Jim's birthday party on Friday and were fed by Pam. And when we came home on Saturday we went to Jen's for a Fourth of July barbeque. She always makes us really yummy, pretty food. (See cake above.) Eating home cooked food that someone took the time and care to prepare for you is really better than anything.

turning over a new leaf

kay, b. & l. & I have turned over a new leaf.  we are not going to say negative things about this paradise we live in.  we are not going to complain about too many cranky seniors, or the lack of this or that, or even the weather (welllll . . . maybe the weather).  here is my list of reasons to love swf:

*the beach

*the boating

*lots of sunshine

*everything here is new and they were picky about zoning so there are no weird signs all over the place and no tacky stuff like in ft. lauderdale

*the rest of the world vacations here

*there are lots of nice places to drive to for a weekend away

*cafe normandie, miss saigon, food & thought, passage to india & all of the other little places we like to eat

*our cute downtown

*the new gelato place

*the farmer's market

*our new whole foods

ps  found that missing post . . . it just popped up out of nowhere

*

Hey, I could swear I posted another blog 2 days ago!  Disappeared!  Oh well, maybe in my moving haze  I accidentally didn't publish the post.  I do have a bit of a full plate right now.  Moving is not just boxes but also a million little details to tidy up.  Going on an almost 4 week holiday right after the closings isn't helping matters much.  Leslie and I won't even actually spend a night in the new house until we return from the trip.  Bret will be busy getting the new place clean, painted, shelved (new built in shelves and desk for me! yippee!), and sealed (the floors that is).  Then he'll have the furniture delivered right before we return.  

On top of the move and the trip I'm also a little distracted right now by the whole Leslie school thing.  Turns out we were given misinformation in regards to which high school the new house is zoned for.  Changing from private to public and middle to high is already a big deal.  But my poor little trooper has now been gearing herself up to start school in 3 different schools.  The school that it looks like she is actually zoned for would not be my first pick.  Or even my second.  But one of Leslie's good friends is going there and she seems happy with it.  I know that I tend to over think things & worry about the "what ifs".  I guess I need to just step back and see how it goes.  I am so proud of what a good student she is.  And the kind of person she is. I know that she will make good choices & the best of whatever situation she is in.  The mama in me just wants to keep protecting and watching out, I guess.  But I also know that I need to balance that protection and guidance with giving her some independence right now.  All part of growing up - for both of us, I guess.  

I have to end this little post.  A day of insurance agents, finishing up the packing, mailing out change of address cards, and lunch with my mom and Leslie awaits me . . .