Summertastic Part II

So we're moving, as I may have mentioned about a zillion times before. And moving, for those of you who haven't done it lately, really sucks. I'm in a listing mood, so I'll do some pros and cons. Pros first:

- Less rent. Much less rent. Thank you GOD, we'll pay less rent.
- Ramona's going to have a big fenced yard.
- We get to live with our friends. And on days when I feel like I can't possibly leave the house- I still get to
see friends.
- Guest rooms! So people can come stay with us!
- A play room for Wrennel!
- No more crazy landlady!
- The incredible blessing of options. We found a house! It worked out- with all our crazy variables. We
-can- move, thanks to a loan to see us through getting our deposit back from this place.
- And I mentioned the rent thing, but really, if the house was made of straw and insulated with live ants,
I'd still move because of the rent.

Cons:

- Ramona's an outside dog, even when it's cold and rainy.
- Oh who am I kidding? Lease Shmeash. Ramona's an outside dog except when it's cold and rainy, and
then I guess she's a utility room dog.
- We get to live with our friends! So even on days when I don't feel like leaving the house, I still get to see
friends.
- Going on the evidence of sleepless nights whenever we travel, I'm betting Wren is going to have some trouble with the housing transition. We're hoping the routines we already have in place will help her, and we're trying to come up with yet more complicated and consistent bedtime routines, just so she'll have that constant when we move.
- Packing! Moving! Boxes and tape and Uhauls and change of address and cancelling utilities and painting and cleaning the oven for the first time ever and those last few boxes that despite my best organizational efforts are just going to be random but un-throw-away-able JUNK. UGH I've done this all soooo many times and it's such a drag.

So, to make myself feel better about the whole moving saga, which is going to take a week and a half, and then untold months of unpacking and organizing and shuffling in the new place, I'm going to take my list-making mood to a happier place:

TEXAS! Specifically, things I'm looking forward to doing in Texas this summer:

- Going to Schlitterbahn! I'm an original New Braunfels girl, but you can totally talk me into either the Galveston or South Padre branches.
- Speaking of South Padre- floating in the bathtub warm waters of the beautiful Gulf of Mexico. Gazing from the hotel patio across a brown ocean of oil rigs and a beach of tar and seaweed. I've never been to Hawaii, and Lazlo says that would change my mind, but I have been to the so-called beautiful beaches of both the East and West coasts of these United States, and I gotta say, (without intended irony) there's no place like home.
- Swimming at Barton Springs, Hamilton's Pool, Mckinney Falls and oh okay I guess Hippie Hollow. But you'll have to google that yourself- I'm not putting -that- link up.
- Canoeing.
- Eating seafood at a cheesy beach restaurant in Padre with the extended Roden clan. Good times.
- Eating at Elena's in Beaumont with my mom and grandmother.
- Eating (and drinking) at Z Tejas with Lazlo for our anniversary. Mmm...tosdada bites...
- Going to Village Creek with my dad.
- Being home in the blazing heat of a Texas summer. When you step out of the air conditioning it should feel like you just got punched in the stomach, otherwise you're not home.
- Seeing all my Vincent, Mackellar and Roden relations whom we miss so much.
- Seeing the Rush family, and its new addition Chris, husband of Casey.
- Going to the Treasure House.
- Showing Wren off at St. Marks where old women will faint into the baptismal font from the force of her be-ribboned cuteness.
- Seeing Melio and his bride, Chet, and assorted Daves, and all our Austin friends.
- Being away from home for long enough to really appreaciate coming home when it's all over.