lengthy absences & new hometowns

I apologize for the lack of posting – turns out that getting a house ready to sell, finding a house to buy, keeping my two children from killing each other happy and entertained, and wrapping up client orders takes up a LOT of time.

Since my business will be on hiatus for awhile, I thought I would use ye olde blog to keep family and friends (and anyone else along for the ride) updated on our big move to Erie.

First off, it turns out Vic wasn’t comfortable selecting a house all by his lonesome, so the kiddos and I flew up last week for a househunting trip. And may I just say right here: Thank GOD for iTouches, iPhones, and children who are old enough to be entertained by them for hours on end. May we all share in a Hallelujah?!?

As negotiations are underway, I won’t say more about the househunting, but hopefully I’ll have some news soon. If it doesn’t work out, I found a nice suites hotel that allows pets. And may I say right here: Thank GOD I’m not moving with a baby this time. Much, much easier.

We did have one nasty hitch during our trip: The lovely staff at the Hilton Garden Inn on Peach St. decided to empty the kids’ room (we had adjoining rooms) the day BEFORE we were leaving. Imagine their surprise to come back to find their clothes, toothbrushes, swimsuits, Ava’s rolling bag, and – most offensively – her stuffed horse Toby were missing. Umm….excuse me? That much stuff in the room and you don’t think to CHECK?? Unfortunately, the only thing that was found was Ava’s bag – now emptied of her Leapster Game system. Needless to say, that was NOT a good day.

As for Erie – LOVED it. The town where we plan to live – Millcreek – is glorious. Mind you, it isn’t November (so don’t hold me to my accolades), but the rolling hills, hardwood trees, gardens, farm markets, flowers, fescue grass, and SOFT SERVE stands so remind me of my hometown. It seriously was like going back. An added benefit is how nice everyone is. No offense to the folks in the North, but being from there myself – y’all know that sometimes “nice” isn’t a word used to describe us. But the Erie folks – everywhere we went we encountered nothing but friendly people – including the sweet older gentleman who sat next to us at WEGMANS and chatted us up for about an hour.

Wait – did somebody say WEGMANS?!?! Oh my goodness gracious – have you ever been in a Wegmans??? The kids and I walked in the door, and we all just stopped and went “Woooooooowwwwwww……” Seriously? The most gorgeous grocery store I’ve ever been in. Can’t wait to shop there all the time.

The highlight of our trip had to be taking the kids out to see Lake Erie via Presque Isle. You see, to my kids, a lake is something small and treed, and you can yell to the person on the other side. So the thought of living on Lake Erie didn’t thrill them so much. But when they got out of the car, crossed the berm and saw it in person? Shock doesn’t quite describe it. They then spent about an hour skipping rocks and begging to go back the next day.

More soon…and since no post is complete without a picture, here’s a quickie from my little Canon point-and-shoot of the kids playing at the lake.