Five years in our home sweet home.

Five years ago today, Brett and I met up with a friend at Hexter-Fair Title Company so we could buy our house. The closing process involved a lot of ink and paper, but it was a breeze compared to the months it took to get us there. After about an hour of signatures and handshakes, we had those precious keys.

Later that night, we tiptoed barefoot onto the freshly shampooed carpet just to BE in our new house.

I was still taller than Ryan and Katie back in 2009!

Our house! It was a long time coming, but it was so good to be HOME.

Finally getting into our place was especially sweet because of what we went through along the way. When we first decided to sell our Watauga home, we had a buyer relatively quickly. Contract in place, we started shopping for our own new place in September 2008. We found one we really liked and made an offer.

Tim, our dear friend and real estate agent, in new house #1.

We thought it was perfect for us: three bedrooms and an office upstairs, a spare bedroom (for my office) and formal living, dining and family rooms downstairs. It was farther away than we’d hoped, but we’d be near friends and have access to a community pool.

Then our buyer had issues. We were able to extend our contract on the house we wanted, and since we were certain(!) the delay was temporary, started moving our mounds of stuff into storage. Then our buyer’s financing fell through, and the deal was off. Sadly, we gave up our contract on the five-bedroom home we wanted so badly. We also had to stay in our old house, just without most of our stuff!

Fast forward a few months. We had a new buyer! Or not. She backed out.

The third time was the charm. Finally we had a buyer with solid financing, so we again began our house-hunting in earnest. We looked at dozens of houses in a variety of neighborhoods, but when we saw our house, we just knew it was the one. The only hitch? It was a short sale. It could be months before we would get into that house. Were we willing to ride out the wait? It took about 5 minutes to say yes, this house was worth it. It was closer to our schools, which meant the kids could stay with their friends (thanks to open enrollment), and my commute wouldn’t be as long. Plus, the office was just right for Brett, and the game room—the massive game room!—was made for his many game consoles. We thought the first house we wanted was perfect for us, but this one was even better! Even without knowing how long our wait would be, we knew we loved this house.

So on Aug. 14, 2009, we moved out of the only home our kids had ever known. For the next six weeks, we lived with Brett’s parents, in a Holiday Inn Express, at a friend’s house, and then back at Brett’s parents’ home. Because of our nomadic lifestyle (which came just as the school year was starting, naturally), we were ecstatic when Sept. 22 arrived and we finally got those precious keys.

Now that we’re five years past that date, I’m again reminded how generous our friends and family were throughout that process.

• Brett’s mom and dad didn’t just open their home to us; they treated us like royalty! Of course, you’d expect nothing less from these generous people, but I can’t even count all the ways they helped us through that tough time. And hey, it’s hard to feel too out of sorts when Nana’s cooking for you!
• The North Richland Hills Fire Department, Farmers Insurance, and Holiday Inn Express really came through, too. Don’t know that story? Oh, it’s a good one!
• Our friends Jim Bob and Dana provided a nice respite between hotel and home. They were in the process of moving to a nearby community, so they let us house-sit for them. After a week of the four of us sharing a hotel room, it was wonderful to have our own rooms and an actual kitchen while we waited for our closing date.
• By listening to me vent, my friends at school kept me sane! When our closing date fell on picture day, one of my responsibilities, they quickly stepped up to cover my duties.
• Did you read the fire department story? No lie, it’s worth the click.
• And then there’s Tim. As our friend and real estate agent, Tim helped us throughout the long, arduous process, giving up many nights to deal with contracts and showings and questions and phone calls. When our closing date finally came, he may have been happier than we were, just so he could finally be rid of our hassles! We’re so thankful for his wife, Amy, too, for her willingness to share Tim with us throughout our misadventures in real estate. Oh, was Tim thrilled for us! Every time I saw him after that date, he’d ask the same thing: “Y’all still likin’ your house?” We lost Tim just three months after we moved in, but he has to know: YES! We still love our house! 

In five years this house has seen its share of crises, but there have been more smiles than tears, more laughter than anger, more love than tumult. Today we celebrate the friendships and faith that helped us get here.

(For more tales of our transition time, check out these Project GOOD posts.)

So very thankful.

More Thanksgiving photos are coming, but today I'm compelled to record just how very thankful I am that we're in our new home. This afternoon we pulled our Christmas tree out of the garage, and as we were setting it up, I remembered this time last year when we were just a few weeks removed from the tremendous disappointment of NOT moving. By the time the sale of our house fell through, we had already cleared out many of our belongings, and just decorating for Christmas required spelunking trips into the depths of our stacked boxes and tubs in storage.

As we decorated our tree last year, we were still grateful to have a home, but we were so disappointed that we weren't in the house we thought would be ours. By the time our house sold "for real" this summer, we were old pros at getting by without all our stored junk, but last Christmas, we were still unaccustomed to life without our stuff. We also felt like we'd never get out of Dodge and we'd be stuck in that house forever. Those were not the best of days for the Dubs! I'd like to think we made the most of Christmas, but looking back, I can remember so well that feeling of disappointment.

But we kept the faith, and here we are! Praise God! Today as I pulled out the familiar decorations and found new places for them, I was overwhelmed with joy. We've been in this house for two months now, but there was something about seeing our stockings above our new fireplace, something about hanging our old "DecemBear" calendar in our new kitchen, that got to me. We're here! We're really here!

Thirty days of thanks.

Many of my Facebook friends have been posting things they're thankful for as their status updates this month. I haven't done that, but I think that's an excellent exercise in gratitude. So today, on Thanksgiving Eve, I'm playing catch-up.

I'm thankful for...

1. My Father God, who loves me in spite of me.

2. My mom and dad who raised me to know and love my heavenly Father and who continue to teach me how to make my way through life's challenges, from health struggles to money issues to parenting dilemmas.

3. My husband, whom I love more every day. I'll never forget that Midtown singles Christmas party when we met. We were playing Trivial Pursuit and Pictionary, and I could tell I needed to get to know that tall guy who laughed at the same goofy things I did. Brett takes such good care of me and our kids, and he's the perfect even-keeled complement to my sometimes emotional temperament. He works harder than anyone I know, and he shows kindness to everyone he meets.

4. Our children. Ryan and Katie bless us every day with their sweet spirits, their insight and their humor. God has blessed us with them, and I try to do right by them.

5. My in-laws. Brett's parents are such wonderful people. Not only did they raise a wonderful man for me to marry, but they also have supported us over the years with babysitting and, most recently, with housing! I love them so much, and I thank God that we can live so close to them.

6. Our house. Oh, my goodness, I'm so thankful for our house! It took a while to get here, but I'm so glad we're finally here! I'm grateful for our friend who helped us navigate the real estate waters, too. He put in countless hours to show and sell our old house and help us buy this one. We're forever grateful.

7. My church family. I love Heritage, and it tickles me to see how much our kids love it, too. It's wonderful to have such a strong group of believers to worship with, to have a place to serve our Lord. I thank God for leading us to Midtown where Brett and I met, and I thank Him for leading Midtown to the Heritage community where so much growth has been possible.

8. My job. There's PLENTY to gripe about and much lately to be sad about, but today I thank God for putting me in a school with so many caring professionals who work so hard to enrich kids' lives. This is my 19th year there, and in those years, I've grown to love my Bell family so much. In times of hardship, that family has kept me afloat.

9. Summer! I LOVE having a job that gives me summers off! I wish I could've been a stay-at-home mom, but teaching is the next best thing. I relish my time with the kids. I have to remind myself of that when I'm bringing home mounds of papers to grade or when I'm working late every single night, but still.

10. Football season. Letting go of summer and going back to work is hard every single fall, but football season makes that transition easier. I love everything about football season, but the best part is getting to make those Austin trips to see my Longhorns play. The camaraderie with other Texas fans, especially our Section 1 friends, is unparalleled. It's nice to be among others who think burnt orange is the world's greatest color. (You think I'm extreme? There are women who paint their toenails burnt orange. I don't even do that!)

11. Facebook. I know that electronic friendships are no substitutes for real ones, but social networking has enhanced my life by allowing me to keep in touch with those real friends from days gone by. What's more, it's helped me keep up with friends I live near now but don't get to see or talk to as often as I'd like. That "ambient awareness" of what everyone's up to helps me stay connected, lets me know when and what to pray for, and gives me reason to rejoice with and for my friends.

12. Twitter. Again, many don't get the point of Twitter. They see it as some narcissistic nuisance. But for me, Twitter's not about what I'm saying; it's about what I can read from others! It's like being Facebook friends with famous people. Funny tweets, insightful tweets, some informative, some ridiculous—I enjoy the quick hits of info when I'm on the run. It adds to my sports-watching and enhances the way I get my news.

13. My iPhone. I joke that my phone changed my life. Now it hasn't really changed ME, but it has changed my lifestyle! When we were looking for a house to buy, it was awesome to go online and look up prices, square footage, etc. on the phone as we drove around town. When we need a movie time or a map or a score, it's right there. Too easy. Wonder where to eat? Give the phone a shake! House-hunting, vacationing, watching sports—all have been improved thanks to that phone.

14. ChaCha. You'd never know I'm not a cat person from the way I dote on my cat, but I'm not. Really!

15. Air-conditioning. I remember going to school before our elementary was air-conditioned: those big box fans, the open windows, the dirt, the sweat, the smells... I also remember that glorious first day of third grade when air-conditioning had arrived. I'm so thankful to live in a time and place where that luxury is so common!

16. Our cars. As frustrating as our cars may be sometimes, it's such a blessing to have our own transportation! Especially in our public transportation-poor area, this is such a necessity, and it's something we've never had to worry about. I take it for granted, but I shouldn't.

17. Proximity to shopping. Now that sounds superficial, but it's wonderful to be within minutes of a pharmacy, grocery store and gas station!

18. Plenty to eat. We're never hungry. Ever.

19. Plenty to wear. Now I may not like my clothes on any given day, but when we moved, I discovered that I had more clothes than I had closet space. Talk about an embarrassment of riches!

20. Adequate health care. Unlike many in the United States, our family is insured, and considering our needs, that's essential! I'm thankful that my insurance has no lifetime cap because we would have surely reached it by now.

21. Digital photography. Free from those rolls of 24 and 36 exposures, we can shoot to our hearts' content. Every now and then I have to remind myself how awesome that is!

22. Blogging. Even though I usually cheat and just post a bunch of football pictures, I still love having a creative outlet online. I'm a writer, after all, and at work, much of my writing is limited to responding to students' writing! I'm also grateful to have so many wonderful blogs to read (in all my spare time).

23. ESPN Radio. Because the Ticket is sexist and never seems to talk about, you know, SPORTS when I turn it on.

24. Blogs like Rude Truth. I'm thankful for women who call for the church to allow all Christians to use their spiritual gifts.

25. Kohl's, JCPenney and Belk for sparing me the hassle of shopping at the mall.

26. Chuy's bean and cheese stuffed sopapillas with tomatillo sauce. And the creamy jalapeno dip!

27. Our crazy dog. I usually refer to Frisco at Brett's dog, but she is really OURS. She's certifiable, but I'm glad she's ours because she makes Brett so happy!

28. The Brady Bunch, The Price Is Right and all the other mindless TV shows that remind me of my childhood.

29. YouTube. Sure, there's plenty of garbage on that site, but some of the old clips found there are gold!

30. These United States of America. We the people are blessed to think for ourselves, vote for ourselves, and express ourselves, and I'm thankful for all the men and women who have given their lives to preserve those rights for us.

AT LAST!

Don't look now, but...

WE ARE HOME!

After three contracts and more than a year of waiting, after six weeks of nomadic living and three temporary homes, we are finally in our new house. Praise God! We thank Him for carrying us through this journey and bringing us to this place. We thank Him for putting people in our lives who have made this journey possible. And we thank Him for reminding us how very blessed we are.

The garage with the gameroom on top dominates the front elevation, but this is the right side of the exterior. It will be a L-O-N-G while before the interior is ready for its close-up, but pictures are coming. It may be Christmas, but I will post pictures... someday! We spent a year filling our storage unit, so it may take us a year to find a place for everything here. But you know what? We've got time. We're not planning on moving again. EVER!!!

On the road again...

Quick recap: When we sold our house, we moved in with Brett's parents. After living there for a week, their house was struck by lightning and caught on fire and suffered extensive smoke damage, so we moved into a hotel for a week. After the hotel, we moved out to a friend's house.

But now the time has come for us to move yet again. We are back at Brett's parents' for what we hope will be just a few more days. We are set to close Tuesday morning, and after a few days of cleaning, we should be able to move ONE MORE TIME and get settled into a home of our own. We are ready to get into that house! It has truly been a long road!

Home, suite home and a Project GOOD update.

For one week after the fire, this was our home.
It was wonderful! We were thrilled that it had a separate sleeping and living area.
The fact that it had two HD TVs was an added bonus.
Still, after a week of all of us living in one big room, we were really ready for some space.
ESPECIALLY when it came to the bathroom! Now this was a lovely restroom, but—well... We'll just leave it at that.

After a week of the suite life, we moved out to the home of some friends. It's a WONDERFUL opportunity for us to stretch out, take some deep breaths. We're so very thankful to them. We'll be there for a while, but not too long because—(drum roll...)

The seller's bank has accepted our offer on the house we want.

Since it was a short sale, we had to have "third party lender approval." We now have that approval! We have also had the house inspected, and since there were no major repairs needed, we are headed toward a closing date. After all the issues and obstacles we have faced in the past, I hesitate to even type those words, but I have faith that this is it. WE ARE GO FOR LIFT-OFF.

Please pray for us that all will go smoothly!

First day of school: Suite life edition.

Last year, when we actually had a home and all, I posted flashback photos of the kids' first day of school pictures, all taken on our old front porch. This year, we didn't have a front porch so we settled for this:

Ryan as an eighth grader, Katie as a sixth grader

We're in front of the Holiday Inn Express!

Yes, as the first day of school rolled around, we were still living in the hotel post-fire. So instead of running around our house getting ready for our first day, we ran around our room and then

headed into the elevator to go downstairs. Weird!

Strange as it was, it was awfully nice to have a hotel-prepared breakfast! And it made for my shortest commute to work in about 14 years, too!

After school Brett and the kids met me at Fuddruckers for our traditional "first day survival dinner."

We always do this so we can kick back and discuss how the first day went in a relaxed setting.

Knowing we're going out also gives us all something to look forward to if the day gets stressful.

We had a ball! In fact, we had two handfuls!

GOOD grief!

a.k.a. "A Tale of Two Trucks":
First, the GOOD* news: We moved! It took three contracts and one year and nine days, but we finally sold our beloved house.
*Get Out Of Dodge

Then there's THIS:

So what's with the firetruck? Long story.

First we'll back up to Aug. 14, our last full day in our house.

We were scrambling to get out of the house, so I didn't manage to take many photos to mark the occasion.
I'm glad I at least have these two, but lemme tell ya, we had 14 years worth of junk in those 1,800 square feet, and it nearly killed our eight feet trying to get it all out. Some of our more fragile items we took to my mom's, to friends' houses or to Brett's folks'. But the rest? Some stuff was trashed, Goodwill got a ton, and the majority of the remainder went into our storage unit. Talk about a real-life game of Tetris! By the time the professional movers stuffed our big furniture and appliances into that space, it was hard to imagine getting a toothpick to fit in the remaining gaps. But my husband is a miracle worker, and he kept taking vanload after vanload to store.

By the end of that Friday, we were all exhausted. Physically we were beat from the heat and the manual labor, but emotionally we were drained, too. Earlier in the day we had to take ChaCha to the kennel that will be her home until we're settled. That was brutal. And of course, it was hard saying goodbye to the only home the kids have ever known. Our little castle there in Dubtown had seen birthday parties, Christmases, countless bedtime stories, family dinners, movie nights, video games...

During that last week, we indulged in one last late-night swim, and as we floated there, reminiscing, Brett recalled for the kids our life in that house.

"One day your mom came into the kitchen right in there and told me she was pregnant," he told them. "Then I blinked, and now here we are."

So we have finally overcome the ginormous hurdle that was selling our house. Of course, it would've been too easy to move straight from that house into another one, so wouldn't you know it, we fell in love with a house that's a "short sale." We REALLY like this other house, so we're willing to wait out the 30-50 days it may take for the bank to approve our offer. We considered renting an apartment in the meantime, but since we weren't willing to sign a (minimum) three-month lease (just in case we get lucky with the bank's timing), instead we moved in with Brett's parents.

Nana and Papa were SO gracious to allow us to come in with our computers and games and EIGHT suitcases (not to mention clothes to fill three closets), PLUS our noise and mess! Nana even offered to cook for us! Truly outstanding hospitality all the way around. So what do they get for their kindness?

First, they got to repair their air-conditioner. We had been living there for barely 24 hours when we all smelled something burning. Turns out the A/C motor was toast. At 9:30 on a Saturday night. Hello, weekend service call! We laughed about how the "black cloud" of home repair had followed us to their house, but then...

Remember the firetruck? About that.

A pretty intense thunderstorm rolled through yesterday morning. I was eating breakfast when a deafening clap of thunder startled me, Brett and Papa. The power surge—and the flash of light that came with it—sent Brett and me into the sunroom where our computers were plugged in. Everything was on a surge protector, but as we were getting it all unplugged, we heard screaming coming from Nana and Papa's bedroom.

"Call 911! The house is on fire! Call 911!"

There are some events you can relive in video, but not this one. From that point on, I just see snapshots. I see Ryan and Katie in their bare feet. I see our computers on the table. I see Nana running down the hall. There's some yelling and some futile attempts to use the cordless home phone. Then Brett and I are grabbing fire extinguishers: he finds the one we'd brought from our house, and I grab the one from Nana's pantry.

(This is turning into a Faulkner short story with all the flashbacks. Mea culpa.)

Here's the thing about the fire extinguisher. At VBS just a couple of weeks ago, the "scribe shop" was melting candle wax. Because flames were involved, a friend made a habit of putting a fire extinguisher in the A/V booth with us each night. You know, just in case. The first night he did that, I casually mentioned that I wasn't sure I knew how to use one.

"Oh, it's simple," he said. "Just pull the pin, point the nozzle and squeeze."

Those words came in awfully handy yesterday morning. I do not for one second believe it was coincidence that we had had that conversation. And how did I know exactly where Nana and Papa's fire extinguisher was? I had noticed it when we were moving some of our food into the pantry, and for some reason, I made a mental note of the extinguisher's location. (Maybe because of the A/C motor burning?)

So we run down the hallway, and I knew just what to do. Pull the pin, point the nozzle and squeeze.

(I didn't know it, but Brett was right behind me with our old fire extinguisher, but because it had gone off in my car last week, it was useless.)

This story already has half a dozen sidetracks; what's one more? WHERE ARE YOUR FIRE EXTINGUISHERS? GET FIRE EXTINGUISHERS IN YOUR HOUSE! KEEP THEM HANDY! Turns out they're pretty easy to use, and my goodness, they get the job done!

Because of that one (working) fire extinguisher, the fire that started in Nana's bedroom closet was mostly confined to that closet:

We feel certain that if we had to wait for the fire department's arrival, the flames would've engulfed at least the bedroom.

This breaker box was the culprit. A lightning strike started the whole shebang.

We're so very thankful that the fire was confined to that one closet. Of course, the smoke was HORRENDOUS. In fact, there was so much smoke, we were terrified that the fire had spread to the attic. Thick, choking smoke just inundated the house so very quickly. After getting the kids out, I grabbed the laptops and my purse. We made one or two more trips in to retrieve Ryan's glasses or Katie's shoes, but the smoke! Oh, my goodness, the smoke!

When the fire department arrived, they turned on their heavy duty fans and pulled out the still-smoldering remnants of Nana's wardrobe.
I felt so guilty that all of our stuff, packed into every one of her other closets, was spared, but her clothes were destroyed.

Sadder still to see the keepsakes the firefighters pulled out. Baby shoes, bags, pictures, even our beloved Trivial Pursuit games—gone. (Those Crocs must be made out of some super-substance, though!)


It was so sad to see these things damaged, but my, oh, my, are we thankful that we're all OK and that the house is still standing!

We are now big fans of fire extinguishers!

So now what? The smoke smell and soot permeated the house, so Farmers Insurance sent a cleaning crew to wash clothes, linens, etc. and wipe down all the interior surfaces. (The crew was there within four hours of the fire, by the way. Impeccable service from Farmers!) Because the house is uninhabitable for now, the six of us will be living the "suite life" for a few days.

To kick off our hotel living, we picked up some Popeye's chicken and had an old-fashioned "football picnic":
Then we settled in to watch the Cowboys-Titans in HD:
Even though yesterday had more than its share of "Are you KIDDING ME?" moments, my heart is filled to overflowing with gratitude.

I'm so thankful for our real estate agent and friend who has worked so hard for so long to help us sell our house. I'm so thankful for everyone who offered to help us move (even though we didn't get to take them up on it since our closing was bumped up a day). I'm grateful for those who have offered to let us stay with them until we can move into our own house (although in light of recent developments, I'm sure they'd reconsider that offer lest their own homes implode somehow). And I'm blessed to have good friends willing to listen to me whine about either my inability to sell the house or the fact that it did sell.

I'm so thankful for my friends at school who were so supportive when they got the call yesterday. I'm grateful for Nana and Papa's amazing neighbors who came out of nowhere with support: donuts and drinks for breakfast within half an hour of the fire, muffins delivered to the front yard not long after that. I'm reminded once again what a blessing it is that Brett's sister and brother both live here. I'm touched by the texts, the emails, the phone calls, the Facebook messages that have offered help. And I'm thankful that the insurance company managed to put us in a hotel with an indoor pool!

But more than anything, I thank God for always taking care of us. We don't know how long we'll have to wait before we can close on the house we want. In fact, we may not even get that house at all! We don't know how long we'll be in this hotel, or how long it'll be before our belongings no longer have that delightful campfire aroma. We don't know how long it'll be before we can see our cat or set up our Wii or sleep in our own beds. But we know God is in control.

And that is very, very good.

Ketchup.

Yes, I've been trying to catch up on some blog posts, but no, I'm STILL not caught up! You would think spring break would provide more than enough time for blogging, but we've been so busy!

Some posts that have been back-dated (updated 3/21):

I HATE CANCER
Music in the morning (band concert/sightreading)
Chili at suppertime (HCC's chili cook-off/carnival)
Kissing cousins (a visit from my side of the family)
At last (final yearbook deadline)
Out of our element (visit to Cabela's)
The family that plays together (Texas Pinball Festival)
Sweet shamrocks (St. Patrick's Day goodies)

And the one still to come:

A potentially AWESOME Project GOOD update

Stay tuned!

Cozy evening.

Before the ice storm hit with all its fury, we met for dinner at Nana and Papa's house.

We feasted on taco soup and an amazing cake in recognition of my upcoming birthday.

Of course, everything was delicious! Kelly and Mike were even able to come over, so it was great to catch up with them.

Seriously tasty cake and ice cream! Thanks, Nana!

After dinner the temperature was continuing to drop and the freezing rain was picking up, so we got ourselves home. Brett started building a fire, but it wasn't until AFTER he'd toted all the logs in that we remembered that our fire tools are all in storage. D'OH! Fortunately, he found an old garden flagpole that made a decent poker.

Voila! A nice, warm fire to round out a cozy evening!

We three trees.

Thanksgiving weekend we retrieved most of our Christmas boxes from our storage unit, but because of our current Project GOOD status, we didn't want to dig out our big Christmas tree. It was WAAAAAY in the back of the unit, buried under a bunch of boxes. Instead, we decided, we would set up my mom's old (smaller) tree and a new little white tree I'd picked up at Walmart. They were much easier to get to, and two trees could take the place of one bigger tree, right?

Um, NO.

There we were in the sunroom, setting up the first smaller tree, and I was just not feeling it. Brett and the kids were being good sports and talking up the cool factor of having two trees, but I just couldn't deal. My mom's tree, while a perfectly nice one, is not OURS. Waa, waa, waa.

So my sweet husband dug out our big tree. We're already disappointed that we haven't moved; seeing the "wrong" tree every day would just pour salt into the wound.

Now THAT'S more like it.

That's how we ended up with three trees in the house, a house that's mostly empty because of the aforementioned Project GOOD. Because of that emptiness, the kids' rooms have plenty of space. Nature—and Christmas, apparently—abhors a vacuum, so into their rooms the trees went.

Katie's Polar Express tree

Ryan's multi-colored sci-fi/video game tree

With that drama out of the way, we could get down to decorating our "real" tree.

Katie serenades us with "Ave Maria"

Katie welcomes us to her winter wonderland
(with her favorite Barbie ornament from 2000)

So that's how we ended up with three Christmas trees this year. Well, since I'm a little late telling this story, that's no longer accurate.

Once you have three trees up, what's a fourth?

Happy DecemBear!

Don't look now, but it's DECEMBER! Seems like it hasn't been that long since we hung the ol' "Beary Merry Christmas" calendar on the door last year.

(Here are the 2007 and 2006 versions of our DecemBear tradition.)

The German Club hasn't sold Adventskalenders yet, so we enjoyed only half of our countdown ritual tonight. You might also notice that just one Dub was willing to move our little bear to his appointed spot for day 1. Still, we're glad to hold on to this tradition.

By the way, I'm extra happy we were able to find most of our Christmas boxes in our storage unit! Since there's still a slight possibility that our would-be buyers will get approved, we entertained the idea of leaving those boxes in storage and NOT decorating for Christmas. Then we realized it'd be foolish to let someone else's credit issues determine how we celebrate this holiday! So out the boxes came!

We also ended up with THREE Christmas trees in our house this year, but that story will have to wait for another day.

P.S. - Every now and then I check Sitemeter to see how people came across this blog. This time of year we get several hits from people Googling "DecemBear"! In case that's what brought you here, let me just say I don't know where you can find a calendar like ours. My mom found this one in some store's fabric department 20-plus years ago. Sorry!

Recovery report.

Now that we're nine days removed from Ryan's fall and 12 days from our real estate implosion, I figure a State of the Household address is due. Last week was not one of our best, but we're still kicking!

Ryan's healing up nicely, but the inside of his mouth is still somewhat torn up. Some foods are a little difficult for him to eat. But his biggest problem lately has been a cold that's giving him fits—coughing fits, specifically. Still, this week is much better than last, and now that we're on Thanksgiving break, he should have plenty of time to rest and recuperate.

We're still adjusting to the idea that our house is back on the market. We're still forgetting that our belongings are not here but down the street in a metal building. We're still frustrated when we can't find the church directory or the game system charger. And we're still bummed about the house that got away.

BUT! The previously closed door was opened a crack last night when we heard that our would-be buyers have new prospects for financing. We don't dare get our hopes up, but the idea that we could sign new contracts with them AND for the house we want... !!! ??? !!! I just don't know what to think anymore. I do know that even that glimmer of hope was enough to send me back to our pictures of that new house for the first time since we terminated the contracts. I allowed myself to think—ever so briefly—about where the couch would go, what color the walls would be. Dangerous territory, I know.

Our only constant lately has been uncertainty! I don't know if the move will be back on. I don't know if we should even bother getting out our 17 tubs of Christmas decorations. (I also don't know if I can bear to NOT unpack those treasures.) I don't know if the house we want will still be on the market this time next week. And I don't know if OU will pass Texas in the BCS standings after this week's games.

What do I know? I know that the four of us were able to snuggle on the couch tonight to watch A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving. I know that Texas beat OU by 10 points on a neutral field. I know that all this house stuff is just a reminder of how blessed we are to have a house at all.

And I know, I know that my Redeemer lives.

We may not have moved...

...but our stuff has! This was our storage unit after our October 13 workday:


And this is what it looked like last Saturday when we went to retrieve a few things:It has taken a few days, but we getting used to the idea that we'll be staying here for the foreseeable future and NOT moving into the house we wanted. We'll be OK, and this house is already back on the market. It's just that we're suffering from a wee bit of separation anxiety. It's awfully nice to have access to that one book or that certain DVD at a moment's notice, and it's swell to actually have a glass from which to drink (instead of plastic). And my cold-weather clothes? In THERE instead of HERE. So yes, it's taking some getting used to!

Then there's our bare house. It just seems so much colder. I chalk that up to our missing books; books always seem to warm a home, don't they? The kids' rooms are really empty (and yet still not clean? Go figure). Ryan jokes that kids hear all the time that if they're bad, their parents are going to take away all their toys. Well, it's happened—even though Ryan and Katie aren't even close to bad! Thanks to the library, the Wii, Dish Network and the internet, the kids have plenty of opportunities for entertainment.

Last week we retrieved a vanful to bring back home:Today's Easter egg hunt will be to find my family cookbook so we can have Thanksgiving next week. (It just wouldn't be Thanksgiving without our traditional broccoli-rice casserole!)

And speaking of Thanksgiving, we are so very thankful to have not just this house, but a house for our stuff, too! In spite of our latest disappointment—or maybe because of it—we're reminded that we are blessed beyond belief.