Can't Hardly Wait

We have been busy like beavers here. Our house is on the market as of today, and there is a big, lovely house awaiting us (we take possession in three weeks!!) in my dream neighbourhood. The past few weeks have been spent clearing five years' worth of clutter from this house, and making what was left look as nice as possible. Now we just have to keep it all looking perfect in case anyone wants to come look and shower us with money for the privelege of living here. No pressure.

Actually, the kids have been quite great about humouring their uptight mother. "Don't touch that!" "Put that back!" "You're not going to play with those toys, are you?" "Stop having fun! It's too messy!" We are just going to find as much to do away from the house as we can, outings galore.

We were housebound this week, as the kids all fell ill again. This time was pretty rough--many, many days (and nights) of fever, a bit of barf, and a dash of diarrhea for good measure. G was the first to fall, and then N and J soon after. Poor G slept away a couple of days, and looks a bit skinnier now than he did a week ago. Upon our return to school today (which I wasn't entirely sure was a good idea, since he's still coughing so much), the teachers handed me a notice from the public health board stating that there has been a confirmed case of swine flu at the school. Hmm. I had been thinking about taking G to the doc, but just when I got to the "if he's not better by tomorrow" point, he got better. J is still fevery, and now I'm getting The Sick. I wonder if he and I should swing by a walk-in clinic tomorrow? I hate to drag my germy children through a waiting room full of people who are already not well. I also hate to be branded with the leperous swine flu tag. Perhaps if I call our regular doc ahead of time, they could meet us at the door with hazmat suits, or usher us inside via a secret, underground corridor. Then they can draw blood and marvel at its greenish hue before plastering a flourescent warning sticker on us and shoving us out into the cold. Wait, it's really hot out--before shoving us out into the blistering heat.

Gee, I hope we get a ton of interest in the house this week so I can drag my fevered, sweating carcass, cats and children in tow, to find Something Fun to occupy a couple of hours.

Okay, the new house--I feel like it's too awesome for us. Should we be allowed to live somewhere so awesome? Have we exceeded our awesome allowance? Firstly, it's big. It's really big. It's bigger than we need. Second, it's updated. We don't need to redo floors or rip out a kitchen or anything. Alright, so there's a few fixy bits to take care of, but it looks all purty inside. Finally, and most importantly, it's in an amazing location. There are places to walk to! The streets are lined with trees! The neighbouring yards are well-kept!

I have been so preoccupied with making this place look like a lovely, inviting home that I have given little thought to the lovely, inviting home waiting for us. I'm starting to get excited now.