We are finally done with Erie. I spent all day Saturday cleaning our old apartment and we turned in the keys on Sunday. We are officially done with Erie. I just about have everything taken care of here in terms of putting stuff away, storing stuff, etc. It is amazing how much stuff you can accumulate in 5 years! I was also flabergasted at how many boxes marked “TOYS” that we had! Fortunately, I’ve been able to toss some of those toys, unbeknownst to them

I don’t think I have ever been so tired in my entire life. I will be SO happy when it is all completely done and I won’t ave to mess with it all anymore!

Ryan lost his first tooth last night. I have a picture of his big, toothless grin (it was a top tooth) but I haven’t yet found the USB cord for the camera, lol. Once I find it, I’ll post the picture.

Another funny moving-in story: I have this big “DO NOT ENTER” street sign that was given to me by a sorority sister in college. There is a story behind the sign, but I’ll not divulge that right now. Anyway, I unpacked it from the van and set it next to the bathroom door, facing it against the wall in the hallway. A few minutes later, Alex tells Brian he has to go potty, but he has to go upstairs. Brian tell him no, just use the one down here. Alex promptly looks at Brian and says “But the sign says ‘do not enter’” Oh, my, it was so cute and funny!

I promise pictures of our new place once it’s all put into order. Until then, I’m off to go unpack more stuff!

Erie, Rochester, blogging, moving | 1 Comment »

I love that quote, and that movie! Ok, I digress.

Rochester is fabulous. It’s taking some getting used to, that’s for sure. It’s much bigger than Erie, but it doesn’t take as long to get to places. We went to get pizza on Sunday from a little mom-n-pop pizza place Brian had found. While we were waiting for our order, we were admiring the autographed Colts pictures on the wall (the owner is a big Colts fan!) and talking. Another customer overheard the boys say something about having just moved here and she starting talking to us. She asked where we lived, and when we told her, she looked at us and said “And you drove all the way over here for pizza?” Brian and I looked at each other like, what do you mean? We were, like, 10 minutes from home. It took us longer to get to the mall from our house in Erie than it did to get pizza! But, I guess people in Rochester sort of stick to their own little area.

I had my first driving excursion alone 2 nights ago and I discovered something. There are ways in which Rochester is like Erie. Not all of their streets have street signs. Now, I’m sure this is no big deal for the average Rochester resident. However, it makes it very difficult for those of us NOT from here. In retrospect, driving to Lowe’s in the dark in rush hour traffic probably wasn’t a good idea for my first time driving alone here. I got there just fine. It was coming home that was the problem. I’m sure that will all come with time. It’s something I’ll have to get used to, for sure!

The boys love their new school and especially riding the bus! I, of course, love that I don’t have to take them to and from school anymore! Saves me 40 miles a week Alex will be enrolling in kindergarten for the fall. The only thing that disappoints me about the school system is that they have half day kindergarten, rather than full day like Erie did. That, however, may be mandated by the state. Fortunately, with 2 years of preschool, he’ll be alright in half day kindy. He will also ride the bus, which he is looking so forward to! So far, though, I am really happy with their school experience. It’s only been 4 days for them, but they seem to love it already. They each have at least someone from their class that rides their bus, and one little boy from Ryan’s class lives across the street from us, so that’s nice, too.

Do I miss Erie? Maybe a little. But so far, I am really loving Rochester. I think what I miss the most about Erie are the firends I made there. There is one HUGE difference between Eire and Rochester, though. When we moved to Erie, everyone asked us why we wanted to come to a city like Erie. I heard so many people refer to it as “The mistake by the lake” that it wasn’t funny. They just couldn’t believe that someone would actually want to come to live in Erie by choice. When we moved here, I heard “Welcome to Rochester. It’s such a great city and I’m sure you’ll love it here! There’s so much to do!” That, my dear readers, is what Erie is missing. And, quite honestly, it’s made our move to Rochester perfect. We really feel welcomed here, and I really feel “at home.”

Erie, Rochester, blogging, community, moving | 5 Comments »

I have a good working washer and electric dryer that I need to get rid of. They are yours for free, but you must haul them. I can not deliver them. I think they may both be Whirlpools, but the dryer may be a GE. You must come get them either this Saturday morning, or next Saturday. It is the only time that I will be back at the old place to let you in to get them. You can have the hoses for them, too, if you need them. Leave a comment here, or send me an e-mail at mom2twinsplus1 AT gmail DOT com. The first one to tell me they want them and can come get them when I’m available will get them. If you come this Saturday, there will be help to get them out of the basement. If you come next Saturday, you must bring help, since it will be just me. I highly recommend bringing an appliance dolly, as well.

UPDATE: These have been spoken for and will be picked up tomorrow

blogging, moving | 3 Comments »

DH sent me the link to this article. I was in disbelief while reading it.

A MARRIED couple have had their union annulled – after discovering they were twins.

The twins were separated at birth and not told they had any siblings. They were adopted by different families, and – amazingly – as adults they met, fell in love and married.

The High Court ruled the marriage had never been valid and annulled it.

I can not imagine how they must have felt after finding that out. How horrified must they have felt? For more reasons than one, as you can imagine. Perhaps the Brits have different laws regaring access to adoption information, but I would think that the parents who adopted them should have told them, even if only for medical reasons, that they had a sibling, more specifically a twin sibling! Of course, that could just be the twin mother in me talking

Besides, what are the odds that fraternal boy/girl twins separated at birth would meet, fall in love, and get married???? That has to be a million to one!

News, blogging | No Comments »

I have most of the house packed up, and should have it all packed up by tomorrow afternoon. There isn’t much left, just odds and ends, really. I decided to take a quick break and check my e-mail. I had a message that one of my oldest and dearest friends have left me a message on Facebook, and while there, I started goofing around and took a fun little quiz that my brother-in-law sent me titled “What fruit are you?” Here are my results:

I’m Pomegranate
You are unconventional, unique, and just a little bit tart. you know how to make a lasting impression and often do so with your zest for life.

blogging, fun | 2 Comments »

The boys and I drove up to Rochester yesterday to meet Brian after his first day at WROC. Our goal was to look at a townhome we had found online and were contemplating renting. Obviously, the sonner the better for us, since we need to get up there ASAP and get the twins back in school. The townhouse is in the school district we want (their high school is ranked something like 17th in the country. One of the other schools is ranked something like 24th! And there are only 4 schools in the district!!!!) and it’s in our price range. It’s also really close to Brian’s work, so that makes it even nicer.

I digress…

As I was driving through (or perhaps around, since I was on 490) downtown Rochester, it struck me how much like downtown Indy or downtown Chicago it looked with all the sky scrapers and big glass buildings. I guess I have taken for granted Erie’s meager downtown for the last 5 years. It all looked so…well, intimidating. There are reasons that I only drove downtown Chicago and downtown Indy once by myself. I usually chose to be a passenger, and let someone else get lost in the maze. The boys were completely awed, too. Sure, we’ve driven around downtown Cleveland on our way to and from Indiana several times, but they’ve never lived in a place where downtown looked , well, like a downtown! They assumed it would be like Erie’s, and I guess part of me did, too. I don’t know why I was so surprised at the size. Everyone told me it was a bigger version of Erie. I guess I just didn’t expect it to be that much BIGGER. Somewhere in the back of my mind, Rochester’s downtown is how I have always thought a downtown should be, having grown up close to 3 of the largest 15 cities in the US. Still, something about seeing it shocked me a little. I just didn’t expect it. I guess I didn’t know what to expect, really.

Being there in Rochester, though, made me much more excited to move there. I was already excited, but seeing it elevated that. I’d never been there before, and it’s nice to know where you’re moving to, kwim?

Ok, I’m off to fix the kids lunch and do some more hard-core packing!

General, Other places we've lived, community, moving | No Comments »

I try very hard not to be envious of people, but I just can’t help myself tonight. I am envious of my mother-in-law. Why? Well, let me show you:

Yep, that’s my mil with Peyton Manning. They dined in the same restaurant in Indy last night. I want my picture with Peyton!! And yes, that’s as happy as Peyton gets, lol.

Colts, Family, NFL, Sports, The Inlaws, blogging, pictures | No Comments »

General | No Comments »