Settling in and coming clean

Now that the poll is closed, I suppose it is time to come clean with the truth. The results were pretty close, but in the end the majority won out. It's hard to say if the voters had pegged me for a lead foot, or if they had read Kyle's leak on facebook. He divulged the truth in a status comment "by accident". Tsk tsk.

Yeah, I got pulled over in Wyoming.

My car was set on cruise control, and my foot out of instinct had found itself on the gas. As soon as I noticed what I was doing, I looked down at the speedometer, saw I was going faster than I meant to and immediately slowed down. Not even a second later looked in my rear-view mirror to find the flashing lights. It really happened that fast. It was one of those unintentional speeding moments and I got caught.

If I were to get pulled over, I should think it to happen this way: Zoom down the freeway very intentionally, probably a result of me running late. Spot a state trooper parked in the median and immediately hit the brakes. Pray the cop wasn't clocking me. Check the rear view mirror every other second. 30 seconds later, see the flashing lights and feel indescribably sheepish. Perhaps some of you can relate with this scenerio, with the exception of my mother. Up until a few years ago she had never received a ticket.

Fortunately the officer was pleasant, contrary to the stereotypical Wyoming officer when pulling over out-of-staters (not that I would know. Kyle is more experienced in getting pulled over in Wyoming). He asked me where I had come from and where I was going. He then requested my license and told me to sit tight, that Chicago wasn't going anywhere. He came back with an "official written reminder" for me to slow down and sent me on my way. Confused, I read the paper. The offical written reminder was a warning. I could not believe my good fortune. This sort of thing never happens to me. Ever. I'm the one that gets a ticket for going FIVE over on the i-15. I'm the one that gets a ticket for a rolling stop exactly ten feet from my destination. Getting a warning really lifted my spirits for the rest of the trip. I am happy to report that the rest of the trip was pull-over free.

We're finally getting settled here in our little apartment. With all the rain we've been getting lately, I've been forced to stare at the chaos inside. Chaos has an uncanny ability to make me cranky. I took pity on my kids and husband, and finally decided to unpack and put everything away. Everyone is happy now. It boggles my mind how we arrived here with like one-twentieth of the belongings we had to unpack in Boise, and it has taken me the same amount of time to settle in. If I were a math whiz I could perhaps come up with a brilliant equation explaining that. But I am not a math whiz, so I've narrowed the causes down to the following possible excuses:

a. Kyle is no longer available to help preoccupy the kids
b. The thought of unpacking is so very disheartening. Knowing full well that in just a few months I'll be packing the stuff up again can cause anyone to drag their feet..
c. Good weather. We had some beautiful afternoons last week, so I was really able to successfully avoid the dysfunction inside.
d. I've been too busy cooking gourmet meals to worry about unpacking
e. I've been to busy baking chocolate cakes to unpack.

If anyone knows me d is not a feasble excuse. E is certainly a possibility, sadly not the truth though. We fixed that problem and baked a cake this afternoon. It is a bummer kyle's not around, but even in my few spare hours I avoided unpacking like the plague. B and C are the most likely options. Here's a little of what we were up to before the rains came:

Cade has taken ownership of the pink Hotwheel. He's convinced it's faster and it has a number 5 sticker on it. Thankfully (and surprisingly) Savannah doesn't care.

Cade is reunited with his beloved Jeep.

Savvy loves to pretend she's flying on the swings.

watering the "flowers"

Playing by the creek.

cade felt it very important to not forget about the bushes, so he watered them.


Question--- My kids need rain boots. Like yesterday. I have decided they are absolutely necessary. I don't care if they play in the rain and mud, I just don't want to spend the rest of my days washing their shoes or getting the mud off their pants. I only checked out Target and they did not carry toddler sized ones. Help! Where should I go?
Thanks!