Thursday, August 30, 2012

"Skinny" Struggles...and Shopping in the Girls Section

Jeans. My nemesis, no longer.

I am petite. Struggling to get/stay up to 100 pounds petite. It is due to a genetic condition where one of the (many) less serious characteristics is a high metabolism and difficulty gaining weight. It is a struggle similar to being overweight, although on the opposite side of the spectrum. It comes with labeling, stares, whispers behind my back, and people "hating" me for being skinny. About 10 years ago I found out (from someone other than my mom) that people used to ask my mom if I was anorexic. I don't remember if I ever asked my mom about this; but if it was true, how sad that people would ask her that. Anyone that knows me, knows that I love to eat. I eat a lot, and I eat often. It's actually a challenge sometimes because my high metabolism leaves me feeling hungry nearly all.the.time. Anorexia is a very serious condition, and while I have never been anorexic, I feel sad for those struggling with it because it must be painful not to eat and to view yourself as "fat" when you really are not.

It comes with dirty looks and comments when I am out with my 5 year old daughter and 4 year old son (I'm guessing they think I am a teenager...with two kids, which even if I was-still not ok to be rude); my favorite non-dirty comment was in the grocery store a while back when an older couple whispered to each other after I passed with my two children in the cart, "she must be the babysitter". Nope. I'm their mom. I just laughed to myself as we rounded the next aisle.

The two times that I was actually able to gain weight was during my pregnancies. I had polyhydramnios (excess amniotic fluid) with both, and gained 55+ pounds with each time around. I was HUGE. And it was mostly baby related. My former co-workers at the college would always tell me that from the back I didn't even look pregnant, and then I'd turn and WHOA! Watch out! :-) Several of the students that I helped there had asked if I was having twins; I was even asked once or twice if there were triplets in there! I loved being pregnant; gaining so much weight didn't bother me at all, and neither did the comments and questions. It was such an awesome experience. I had hoped some of the weight would stick around, but, it didn't. Here are a couple photos...let's just pretend I didn't really share these :-)


(left) Baby #1 - 39 weeks - May 2007   (right) Baby #2 - 39 weeks - July 2008

Being petite also comes with the difficulty of buying clothes that fit. I'd love to buy cutesy, fancy, dressy tops that many people my age wear may give me a more grown up appearance, but I'll just say I'm small all around and they just don't make them for people that can't fill them properly. So, I stick to mostly t-shirts, tank tops, and every once in a while find a "fancy" shirt that looks ok. Pants are similar; I don't have any hips to fill in the gaps. I had been lucky finding jeans at Old Navy the past couple years, but have grown tired of having to always cut off several inches from the bottom to hem them up.

I solved this problem on Sunday as I headed over to the 'girls' section. Yes, girls. Not juniors, not womens... I should note that I didn't feel I even needed new jeans (I have two pairs I bought after Christmas, hemmed up, and rotate) but I was out with my mother-in-law and daughter to do some school shopping, and apparently my hubby had told my MIL to try and get me to buy something for myself :-) I should also note that I enjoy sewing and I do have my sewing machine handy after our move (I know, I know, I was going to write about that...I'm a little 'off topic' here :-) ) but I just wanted to not have to go that route for once. Anyways...I tried on a couple different sizes and ended up buying a size 12 plus. In girls. It's crazy. They even have those buttons on the inside of the waist with the elastic to adjust the size, which comes in so handy for young children, and now, apparently ME. The size 14 was still too long, and the size 12 waist a bit snug, but the size 12 plus was perfect. The waist is similar to the 14 (and yes, I am taking advantage of the elastic in there) and the length is perfect. They feel great and fit great! And the best part is no one will know that I bought them in the girls section...well, except for anyone reading this ;-)

We all judge from time to time, whether it is spoken to another, or in our heads. Just be careful when you judge, you don't know why a person is the way they are, or in the situation they are in.

If you see a 'skinny' girl don't feel envious of her, she may be struggling as well. If you see a 'skinny' girl, don't label her as anorexic, she may actually eat more than you. If you see a 'skinny' girl, don't stare, it may deplete her self-esteem. If you see a 'skinny' girl, say "hi", she could be a good friend if you really got to know her.

We are all different in our own ways; there is no normal, there is no point of 'perfection', we should never assume we are better than someone just because they are different than us.

"Today you are You, that is truer than true. There is no one alive who is Youer than You." Dr. Seuss

Saturday, August 25, 2012

Past Foodie Links For You While I Continue Unpacking...

Last weekend was the big move, and it has been a busy, busy time in our new home. Hoping to have time to sit down and really "write" this coming week. I've had a bit of time to do some cooking/baking this week after starting to feel withdrawal effects, and honestly I have food on my mind All.The.Time. I love to cook and bake, and I love to eat!

Here's a list of some food related posts (in no order whatsoever) that have appeared on my blog, mostly recipes of others. I have a bundle of my own recipes to blog about in the future...

Enjoy reading, and give some of the recipes a try! Let me know if you do; would love to hear what you think and what kind of changes you may have made.  :-)

Fabulous Banana Chocolate Chip Cake w/Chocolate Cream Cheese Frosting (also w/Gluten Free modifications) posted 7/14/12

Coffee Craziness posted 12/21/11

My own recipe for a Finnish Chocolate Whipped Porridge. Breakfast or Dessert...you can decide! posted 12/21/11

Struggles of wanting to feed my family well, etc. posted 6/26/11

The Blog that started my addiction love of Food Blogs! posted 6/10/11

Snack or Meal? posted 3/23/11

Announcing going Gluten Free, plus recipe links. p.s. Still GF - 8 weeks in! posted 7/7/12

A Finnish Appetizer/Snack/Meal/Any Time Food...involving Bacon. YUM! posted 4/1/11

Banana, Strawberry, and Chocolate Chip Muffins. Still a Favorite. posted 5/24/11

Food and My Family posted 5/24/11

Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins. Made these Gluten Free this week, just as good as the original! posted 6/11/11

More Muffins...mmm...Gingerbread! posted 6/11/11

I hope you've been able to check some of these out! Have a wonderful weekend and look for an update about our moving adventure, coming up soon!

Friday, August 17, 2012

Popping Corn In The Bedroom

Saturday begins day one of our big move. We close on Monday morning, so we plan to have everything out by Sunday evening. I want to stay here as long as we can and starting tomorrow will give us 2 days to "leisurely" move. I'll bring the kids down to my parent's house after breakfast,and then they will stay over night there. That will give us a chance to get things moved and set up on the 'receiving' end.

We knew when we decided to sell that we weren't going to come out making money on our house. The housing market was a lot different when we bought our house just over 8 years ago. We were hoping to possibly break even. Had the appraisal come back differently, we could have actually come out a tiny bit ahead. But, the appraisal wasn't based on what the house is actually worth (in our eyes), it was based on comparable sales for our area. An appraisal that takes less than 10 minutes, isn't a true reflection of the condition of the house. I feel we have a beautiful home, and when compared to other listings in the area in a similar price range...it shines - but it was not based on houses for sale, just houses sold. Well, I guess I've already written about this, so I'll carry on :-)

In the end, we are able to make the sale happen (thanks to living like we were poor saving money over the years...not really knowing what we were saving for), but we are financially unable to jump into another house right away. Thankfully our families have been able to help us out immensely. My parent's have extra storage space in their basement for us to 'house' most of our belongings (many of which will be put in a big garage sale next year), and my husband's parent's have extra room for our family to live. I am lucky to have in-laws that I get along with and enjoy spending time with, although it will still be a big adjustment for our whole family. I'm sure we'll come up with many rules and agreements on things (mostly relating to the kids/shared space), but after some time we'll get into a routine.

We are fortunate that they can offer us their lower level (walk out basement). The kids will each have their own bedroom, and they have another level below ground with an additional room/office - which will be our bedroom. There is a living room and bathroom as well, and a door at the bottom of the stairs so we can close it off. We'll share the main level kitchen (although I've warned my mother-in-law that I'll be taking over her kitchen...she was ok with that). We've set-up some extra cabinet space (inexpensive put-together cabinets that we had used for arts/crafts/games/toys/etc) in their rarely used formal dining room so I'll be able to bring a majority of my kitchen stuff with, as well as have my own 'pantry' space. Have I ever mentioned how much I love our current kitchen? Geez, I am sure going to miss it.  I plan to do most of the cooking, cleaning of our areas, laundry, etc, and I plan to buy our own groceries, as well as any other necessities (bathroom/cleaning supplies, etc...). We're adults raising our family, and even though the roof over our heads is no longer our own, we intend to continue being adults raising our family.

Our stay is only temporary, as we save to move onto our next adventure. We are looking at 6-12 months, unless something comes up sooner and we are able to act on it. I feel kind of like we are just floating right now, but it's where He intends for us to be at this time. My husband has a steady job, and I plan to seek out part-time work after the kids are settled into school and in a routine (possibly with the school district) so it shouldn't take us very long to recover.

Oh, and even though I am saddened by the loss of my current kitchen, at least I will no longer have to air pop popcorn in our bedroom :-)  Yes, I am addicted to it (...our kids may be as well (we may or may not have had popcorn for dinner tonight...with smoothies...)) and here the kids bedrooms are on the same level as the kitchen, so if I want to enjoy some post-kid-bedtime popcorn I grab a tray with all the necessary popcorn making things and retreat to our bedroom in the lower level-opposite side from the kids rooms. I've also made smoothies in our bedroom several times. Please tell me there are others out there that have done the same? We enjoy smoothies and popcorn as a family quite often, but sometimes momma needs her own at night but waking the kids is not an option ;-)

I've got some more packing to do, so it's time to ditch the desk and get to it. More to come on our new adventures...maybe even a short tour of my beloved soon-to-be-someone-else's kitchen...and a monthly or bi-monthly post titled "Immil's Kitchen" (yea, more on that later for sure!).

Wednesday, August 15, 2012

An Overloaded Bundle of Emotions

Wow. We close on our house in 5 days. At 9:30am on Monday. So, by Sunday night we need to have everything moved out, since Monday morning won't allow us time.

It still doesn't feel completely real to me yet. Although when the piano movers came on Saturday morning to move my grandma's piano down to my parent's house (where it will be housed for now), things may have started to feel real. In the afternoon when I helped load up our big red comfy couch so it could be on its way to a  new home (we sold it), it continued to start to feel real.

But, I've been writing this post in my mind for DAYS, maybe WEEKS, and whenever I've sat down to 'write', I just can't do it. I'm feeling so many different emotions and trying to explain them just seems overwhelming. I'm just going to do my best here, not because I feel like I have to, but when I look back I want to remember how I felt going out. I may have to ramble a bit to get out what I really want to say, so please bear with me :-)

Moving is unfamiliar to me, in a way. I physically left my parent's nest when I was 22. In my mind I had already left, as I had been planning and preparing for years...so when my friend T and I moved into an apartment I was all set as far as furniture, bathroom stuff, kitchen stuff, etc... We stayed for a year, and then after a pit stop at my parent's house for a couple weeks (at which time I met my now-husband for the first time) I moved into a townhouse that someone owned and was renting a room at. I found it through a website and the funny part was that she used to come to my mom's daycare when we were young - we had been friends way back then. She also graduated the same year as my older brother. It was perfect! It was a great place to live, and A was an awesome room mate (as was T!). My next move came when S and I bought our current house. I don't know how all this 'history' really relates, but there you go ;-)

I guess the unfamiliar part comes in because growing up we never moved. In fact, my parent's still live in the house where my brothers and I grew up. Now here we are, after 8 years in our house, with 2 kids in tow, and we're moving out. I have to say our kids have been real troopers - preparing to sell/move, selling, and moving, has been a very busy stressful time for us, and I KNOW it has been for them as well. They have been handling things quite well, and I look forward to getting settled once again so they (and we) can experience some "normalcy" once again. Although it won't be the most "normal" situation (we'll be living with my husband's family while we recover from the sale...another post for another day) it will be better than the stresses leading up to our move.

Throughout the past few months I have experienced...

Stress...
Relief...
Sadness...
Happiness...
Feeling Overwhelmed...
Tiredness...
Annoyance...
Gratitude...
Being Blessed...
Anxiety...
Uncertainty...
Certainty...
Frustration...
Anticipation...
Fear...
Trust...
Joy...
Optimism...
Pessimism...
Love...
Acceptance...
Excitement...

It has been quite the roller coaster ride. We're ready to enter this next chapter in our lives, and ready to work towards getting to the next one. All in all we feel that we've made the right decision and that He will continue to guide us and bring us to each new chapter.

This first move is just a stepping stone...

Any tips or advice for the last days before a big move? Please feel free to share in the comments below...I would love to hear about others experiences!

Have a great rest-of-the-week everyone! I will be counting the days...

Tuesday, August 7, 2012

Two Weeks From Today...

...we will be starting our new chapter in life. We are scheduled to close on our house the 20th of August. It almost doesn't seem real yet. This week I'll be packing up what little remains that we won't need in our temporary housing situation that we'll be in. Hopefully I'll be able to fit it all in the trunk so I can store it away at my parent's house when we come for a visit on Friday (thanks again Mom for letting us use your basement as a storage area!). Then, next week I can start to pack some of the things that we can do without for the week. The move shouldn't be too bad, since I already packed up most of our house back in June. When I posted about this mid-June, I wrote:

"...it's enough to live on, and my hope is that we will find we don't actually NEED all that stuff, and we will eventually figure out what we DO need, and the rest will be put in a garage sale and/or donated. I'm craving living the simple life :-)  And the best part of all this is that when our actual moving day is nearing - I can probably have us packed up in a day, two at the most! Then it's mostly a matter of getting a moving truck to load up furniture."

Well, it HAS been enough to live on. We've found that we don't actually need all that stuff, and I do plan to have a garage sale next spring. Once we are out of our temporary housing situation (more on that in an upcoming post) and into our own home, we may need to bring back a few things - so I'll  make sure I don't sell/donate everything that's stored away :-) The simple life has been WONDERFUL, although I feel it could be even more simple...which it will have to be due to limited space in our temp situation - so it'll be a great time to discover what we really "need" and what we don't. Then, when we move into our new home we will have an idea of how we want to set things up. Simply is how it'll be, and we're definitely learning.

Look for posts later this week about how I am feeling emotionally and physically, due to the upcoming move as well as my food 'adventures' if we can call it that (gluten free, etc...)  :-)

But, for now I am off to dreamland. As of a couple days ago I'm trying to go to bed earlier...last night was before eleven, tonight not quite as early...striving for 10:30pm. I'll get there one of these nights...zzz...

Wednesday, August 1, 2012

Today WOULD HAVE BEEN My Little Girl's First Day of Kindergarten...

Before we made the big decision to sell our house, we had enrolled our daughter in Kindergarten. In our district we have the option of the traditional school year (starting right after Labor Day), or year round school. We really liked the idea of year round school because of the scheduled 2-week breaks that occurred every 9 or so weeks, with a 6 week break during summer.

Year round school started today.

Of course things have changed since March... When we put the house on the market a few weeks ago, we were then faced with the decision of whether or not to send her. We didn't know how long it would take to sell, and knew that if we didn't send her to the year round school, she would definitely have to start school the day after Labor Day...somewhere. Due to the high interest shown in our house right away...I sent in an Open Enrollment form to the school that I would like her to attend when we move, just two days after listing the house.

The school I'd love for the kids to attend is actually where I attended as a child, except that a new building was built 10 years ago - so same name, new building. The city/neighborhood we will temporarily be living in after the move is different than where this school is located, BUT it is still the school that is in the boundary where my parent's live...where I grew up. SO, if there is space available at that school for her, then I could either drive her to school, OR she would be able to catch the bus from my parent's house. My mom does daycare, and two of my nieces and one of her other daycare kiddos will be riding the bus as well. This would be perfect as I plan to work part-time after we get settled a bit. Luckily the school and my parent's house are only about 15 minutes or so from where we will be living; not too far out of the way. If there is not space available for her to attend that school, then she would still be able to attend the school that is in the boundary for where we will be living.

The current principal at the school (I'd like the kids to attend) was actually my 6th grade teacher! My 6th grade class was the last one to be part of elementary school, the following year 6th grade became part of middle school. I talked with him a few days after mailing in the form. He was just as kind as I had remembered him some 20 years ago (WHAT?!?! Did I really just say 20 years ago? Geesh.). In my early school days I had two favorite teachers, 2nd grade and 6th grade - the one's that I will always hold memories of. Of course I have a couple from high school as well; middle school - not so much. I was lucky to have only had to attend 7th and 8th grade during middle school-hated it!

Back on track here...I briefly explained our situation with moving/schools/etc and he was going to put a note in to the person that would be coordinating the classes and whether or not they could take more students. He couldn't guarantee anything, but thought there was a pretty good chance of her being able to attend. And...yes, I did mention the fact that I used to be a student of his - hey, why not? :-)  I also asked for his advice on whether or not to send her to school here (that started today) or to hold off and see what happens. He said that academically it wouldn't hurt at all to have those extra weeks of school, but emotionally it may present challenges, especially if she were to get attached to her teacher - and then have to start at a new school with a new teacher. He advised to wait. I agreed.

So, now we wait. It will be a couple weeks, or more, before we find out if she will be able to attend my former school. If she is - that is GREAT because then our son will also be able to attend Kindergarten there the following year (unless we are able begin homeschooling...I won't get into that here, another post for another day). If she isn't able to, I do feel better knowing that the principal there knows the principal of the other school she would be able to attend 'automatically' really well, and said it is also a really great school.

Hopefully our closing date on the house will not change so that we can have a couple weeks to get adjusted before school starts. It's crazy how quickly things are happening...before we know it we'll be settled in a new home, school will have started, and all of this worrying decision making will be just a distant memory :-)

---- on a side note ----

I don't think I have mentioned here that our son receives speech services through the school district (he was in a program called Sound Pals throughout this past school year, working on speech articulation). We have an IEP (individualized education program) set up for this coming school year, which we know will transfer between school districts (we discussed possibly moving when we met w/his teacher this past spring), but we also have him enrolled in preschool here. If we weren't moving, then he'd go to preschool Tues/Thurs and his speech teacher would meet with him for a period of time each of those days. But, we are moving, so I need to un-enroll him and work on plan B. We know he will still receive services through our new district, but now we have the dilemma of figuring out preschool for him. He doesn't have to go to preschool to receive speech services, but we still think preschool would be beneficial for him, socially. I have been researching various preschool options for our new area, and tomorrow will start calling to see if there is space available. It would be nice for him to receive speech services where he goes to preschool, if it is through the district, but I have more research to do to find out if he has to receive the speech services at a particular school, based on where we live, etc etc etc.

Maybe I am getting into another post with this...I'll just leave it at: I have some more figuring out to do with what is hopefully the last piece of the puzzle, as far as figuring out school plans for our dear kiddos.

Has anyone else with children moved shortly before the school year started? Any tips/advice/etc?

Was the Appraisal Really Necessary?

A week ago was the unexpected appraisal. I had mentioned in my last post that the appraiser was only here for about 10 minutes total - inside and out. I thought it was quite unusual. We are most certain that he knew before he even came what he would be appraising our house at (based on recent nearby comparable sales). Whatever the case, the house didn't appraise at what we were hoping it would. We tried to contest it, but, were unable to make any changes.

We were bummed, BUT, we knew we were taking a risk by listing it above what the average was for our area (we hoped to break even). We KNEW there was a chance that it wouldn't appraise for that price - so we shouldn't be too disappointed since we were "warned" :-)  The frustrating part is that we had multiple offers at our list price, and the last deal we were presented with before the appraisal was actually above list price because of the multiple offers, and the buyer really wanting the house. People were willing to pay what we asked, but, the appraisal sets the bar when it really comes down to making a deal, because it would be very unlikely for someone to pay MORE, since that would then come out of their pocket.

Hubby and I spent several hours yesterday discussing different options, scenarios, solutions, etc. I could describe them here...but...not today. What it all came down to was that we need to do what we think is best for our family at this time. The future is unknown; if we wait then it may cost us even more to sell - so why risk it any more; the time is now. We need a new adventure! We have made the best deal that we can for the situation at this time.

Our proposed closing date is August 20th, so as long as all the paperwork can be written up by that time - that will be the day. That day also happens to be our 7th wedding anniversary. :-) My hubby's weekend is Sunday-Tuesday, so closing on a Monday seemed ideal - move things out Sunday, close on the house Monday and get situated in our new temporary home, relax on Tuesday, right?!?! ;-)

This has surely been quite the experience for us! There will be more posts to come about it. Just praying that things are set and we don't have any changes and are able to close on the 20th!

Have you sold a home? What was your experience like? I'd love to hear about it...feel free to comment below...