Dogs, Babies, Food, Wine + Fire

On Saturday morning, we did what we do every year... we went out for breakfast. When we got back from town, Nora was more than ready for a nap, but was in such a good mood that we lingered outside for a bit before taking her in.

Meanwhile, Hunter managed to sneak up on Coqueta from behind and essentially tackled her so that he could hug and pet her.

And then he might have put her in a choke-hold. You know, there was just SO.MUCH.LOVE. He couldn't contain himself.

Thankfully for Coqueta, she eventually escaped.

At one point, Trevor put Hunter in timeout. Doesn't he look so cute up there, sitting on the step? He seemed to handle timeout really well for a 2-year-old kid.

Once Nora went down for a nap, the entire group (except for my mom, the kids, and me) took a ride to Scranton for a little outing. The kids were sleeping, and my mom and I got to enjoy some serious peace and quiet. It was just us and the six dogs, ha!

Nora took a KILLER nap (like 2.5-3 hours) and when she and Hunter woke up, my mom and I decided to take them for a walk.

Hunter REALLY wanted to walk the dogs (we only brought the two little ones with us), so... we let him. Look at him, looking so responsible.

Nora decided on this walk that she no longer wants to recline in her stroller. She wanted to sit up completely straight. Big girl.

Hunter also walked Tessa for a while, and had a stint at helping me push the stroller. The little guy wants to be an adult.

By the time we got back from our walk, everyone was back, and we started thinking about showers and dinner.

Hunter modeled his sunglasses.

We "think about dinner" by consuming a few glasses of wine.

Everyone put together an impressive spread of grilled flank steak, grilled squash, corn and broccoli salad, baked beans, a fresh garden salad, salt potatoes... everything was so good. I hardly had enough room on my plate.

Nora was a fan, too.

Hunter spent some time loving on his own doggy (poor Buckley).

I put Nora to bed at dusk, and the guys started a fire in the fire pit. We spent the remainder of the evening hanging out together on the patio, enjoying s'mores.

Snuggling with Hunter. If you'll notice, he prefers his binky upside-down. Which is especially interesting considering Trevor used to do the exact same thing as a baby.

Great night. Great food. Great friends.

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Ol' Pocono

Another year, another trip with the family and friends to the Poconos. This year is extra special since it is Nora's first time in the Poconos. Well, her first time out of the womb, anyway. She was kinda-sorta there last year.

As always, we hit the road on Thursday night after work, and arrived in the mountains late. Once the cars were unpacked, Nora was in bed, and we all had the chance to sit down with a few beers or glasses of wine, we caught up for a little bit, only to discover that it was soon 1:00 a.m. Oops.

Nora woke us up early this morning--6:00 a.m., to be exact. We were pretty surprised since she had been up so late, but she was out of her element and in the same room as us, which can be a challenge. I brought her into bed and nursed her, then successfully got her to pass out again so we could all get more sleep. I have to admit that it was pretty nice to snuggle with her, because it's not something we get to do very often anymore. When we woke up again, we realized it was close to 8:30--whoa! Up we were, and downstairs for some breakfast in the morning room.

Nora was loving Grammy's banana bread!

Everyone else started to slowly trickle downstairs or over from the carriage house. We all sat out on the porch and enjoyed the beautiful morning together.

Nora practiced her standing skills. How cute are her little legs?!

This is a common scene during our Poconos weekends. Everyone sitting around with the kids and the dogs. Love!

With SIX dogs in attendance this year (yes, SIX), Hunter was in dog-lovin' heaven.

It wasn't even noon yet when the boys started loading up the floating cooler to take down to the pond with them. Vacation? Yes.

This is one of the new additions to the pack of dogs--this is Coqueta. Susan and Vinny (my mom's friends who own the house/land and host us every year) rescued her from Costa Rica. She is SO sweet.

The twin bros together. They don't look alike AT ALL. :)

Once Nora was up from her morning nap, I dressed her in one of the new shirts that her Aunt Marie brought for her. This one was a halter top! Adorable!

I had fun taking lots of photos of Nora on the porch. Gorgeous light.

Had to snap this one quickly, when Nora and Tessa were actually sharing a lap. Tessa is usually pretty cautious with Nora--doesn't like to lie next to her or anything. She's intimidated by Nora for some reason (she's a wimp).

My paradise. Seriously.

Later, after some struggle, Nora went down for an afternoon nap. When I suspected that she was finally sleeping, I went to go check on her, only to find her in her funniest sleep position yet:

That is her FOOT up on her face. Little one must've been sitting up, then was so tired, she leaned forward and passed out.

A clearer look from above (instead of through the mesh of the pack 'n' play).

These are Susan's other two dogs, Indie and Sashi. They were hanging out with the boys on the dock while they fished.

Tyler caught a pretty big fish (I'm told it was a walleye. Whatever that means.)

Doug (Susan and Vinny's son) fileted it while Hunter looked on.

This is the other new addition this year--Buckley. He's Trevor and Kara's (and Hunter's!) dog, a 10-month-old beagle they rescued.

Mom and Susan (and Sashi and Indie!) went out in the paddle boat for a while.

We walked back up toward the house from the pond, and played with the kids in the grass for a while. Hunter LOVES Nora (he calls her "Nor"), and after taking tons of pics of the two of them together, I managed to snag this one:

HOW STINKING CUTE IS THAT?! (I played around with this one in Photoshop, that's why the color/style is different from the rest.)

Mom with her grandchildren.

As we got ready to cook dinner, a storm rolled in and it started to pour.

It's funny, because it ALWAYS pours at some point when we're in the Poconos. Every year.

By this point, Tessa was so tired, she didn't care that she had to share my lap with Nora. :)

We grilled and enjoyed dinner together, put Nora to bed, and then all of the adults crashed in the living room to watch a movie ("Limitless"). In the Poconos, our days are relaxed, but full--we're all exhausted!

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Pinning

Surely everyone must be at least semi-familiar with Pinterest by now, right?

If you ARE familiar, are you registered (and therefore addicted) yet? Or have you been holding out, and have not yet checked it out for yourself?

If you AREN'T familiar, have you been living under a rock? (Relax; I'm KIDDING!)

I feel like I need to fulfill my duty to spread the Pinterest love. Because, well, Pinterest is pretty much the greatest thing since sliced bread. (In fact, I wish I had thought of it. I'd probably be well on my way to being a rich woman right now.)

You know the "Bookmarks" folder in your browser that is full of random websites, half of which you're not sure why you bookmarked in the first place, until you click on them again?

You know the "starred posts" in your Google Reader, that are terribly unorganized?

You know the searches you do in Google images, when you're desperate for inspiration?

Pinterest is the answer to all of these things. Pinterest is bookmarks + starred posts + Google images + a smidge of a Facebook feed thingy-majig. It's awesome. Trust me.

When you first log in, this is the landing page that you see. This is the "Facebook feed thingy-majig" that I am talking about. Here, you see all of the recent "pins" that have been posted by the people you "follow."

So here, I see my friend Jenn has pinned (a.k.a. bookmarked) a recipe for quinoa salad, as well as a style board for an outfit that is inspiration for fall. Kate over at This Place is Now a Home has pinned a few fabric samples that she plans to use for throw pillows and bar stools. If I, too, like any of these things--take the quinoa salad recipe, for example--I can "repin" the recipe to my own boards (read: "folders" for your bookmarks).

Here is what my board set-up currently looks like:

Currently, I have boards for categories such as "Nora," and "Recipes to Try," "For the Home," "Crafty," "Kitchen Makeover," "Parties," "Photography," and "Travel." As I browse through the photos pinned by all of the people I follow, I can repin their items to my own boards for future reference. It doesn't stop there, though. If I'm browsing around on the internet, and come across something I want to save, I can pin that page to my boards as well, by selecting "Add" then "Pin," and entering the URL. Cool, huh?

When bored, you can also look at ALL of the recent pins on Pinterest--not just the pins from the people you follow. That's a fun way to find random inspiration, I assure you! Looking for something specific? You can SEARCH Pinterest as well.

You pin things to your board using images that are on that particular web page. So, when you go back to look for something later, it's easy to find, thanks to the image and the description you choose to put underneath. Want ideas for dinner? Go to your recipes board, and drool as you scroll through all of the photos you've pinned. Find something you're in the mood for? Click on it, and you will be taken back to the source of the photo, so you can easily access the recipe you need.

The best way to familiarize yourself with it and get the hang of it is just to sign up and try it out! For some reason, Pinterest still requires an invite in order to log in. If you are interested and don't have an invite, feel free to leave your e-mail address in the comments and I'll send you one. Please be patient with me through the weekend, though, as I *might* not get to the invites until late Sunday or Monday.

If you are on Pinterest and would like to "follow" me, click here. I would love to have some new people to follow as well.

Questions? Still not sure what the heck Pinterest is all about? Ask away in the comments, and I will do my best to answer (or maybe some of my Pinterest-obsessed readers can help out as well).

PIN ON! :)

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Fun with Cages

Dog crates are the most funnest toys ever, don't you know?

I could play with it for hours.

Open the door, close the door... amazing!

Oh. Hi, Mama.

Let me take a closer look at this here interior. Looks pretty well kept, Tessa. Good job.

Now, I am going to inspect the lock on your door. I'd call it reliable. Which is good, since, you know... it's "key" to your security.

BWAHAHAHA. I crack myself up.

Now, let me take a peek at the roof. If only my feet weren't so slippery from these footie jammies! Ugh!

Alright. Roof looks stable enough, from what I can see.

Right, Mommy?

Label is in good shape. Wouldn't want that to come off now, would we?

This crate has officially passed inspection. I deem it safe for occupancy by Tessa.

My work here is done. Back to the living room to inspect the couch!

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End of My Rope

On Saturday, I suddenly realized I hadn't blogged since last Tuesday. Prior to that, I hadn't thought about it in days. Not once.

It was just one of those weeks.

On Thursday, I pulled into the driveway after picking up Nora from daycare. Michael met me at my car, saying, "It's 95 degrees in the house." He wasn't kidding. It was literally 95 degrees inside. Our central air conditioner decided to die on the hottest day of the year. We set a record high of 98 degrees, with a heat index of 113.

We immediately packed up and got the hell out of here, retreating to my mom's house for the night. Thankfully, we had a home buyer's warranty taken out on place, which covers anyone who buys our property for up to a year--and covers us while we are on the market. We were able to place a claim through that insurance company, and a serviceman came out on Friday morning and fixed the A/C. Even with the air working, it took several hours for the house to cool down again, so I spent the day working from home and cleaning in lower-90 and upper-80 degree indoor temps. I'm not going to lie; it was unpleasant.

We had another wedding on Saturday. We bought 19 gallons of paint for the new house at the Sherwin Williams 40% off sale. We visited with family on Sunday.

At the back of our minds during all of these everyday life occurrences, we were thinking about what the hell we're going to do about our condo (like always). Which, as you have probably assumed by now, has still not sold. We are just a few days shy of six months on the market. This is so far from our ideal scenario, I'm almost not even sure where our minds were when we originally started this nightmare.

We've had countless conversations, and we're ambivalent. We should find a tenant. No, we don't want to rent it out. We should drop the price drastically to make a last-ditch effort to sell. No, we should wait a few years to see if the market rebounds and we can sell for a better price.

In all honesty, it's sort of a lose-lose situation for us.

We don't want to be landlords. We wouldn't make any money by doing so. We'd have to worry about things breaking (mainly our ancient furnace and air conditioning), in not one house, but two. We spent a lot of time and money fixing this place up. We put in new carpet last summer, and we're afraid a tenant will destroy it.

But we don't want to sell for a rock-bottom price, either.

In the end, I know that we'll be OK. One year, five years, ten years into the future, we're going to be in a better place about this condo. Maybe we'll be landlords and it won't be as bad as we're imagining, and we'll make our money back. Maybe we'll finally sell it, and we'll never look back.

The thing is, I'm at the point where I kinda just don't care. As long as we're not paying two mortgages come October 1st, I am indifferent about how we get there. I just want a resolution. Because unless you have lived for six months (or, God forbid, longer than that) with this kind of weight on your shoulders, you have no idea what kind of toll this amount of stress can take.

What it really all comes down to--at least for me--is that I don't know when to call it quits and give in. I don't know when we should officially accept that we aren't going to sell this place, and turn toward searching for a suitable tenant. Because although I have come to terms with the possibility of renting, I would still much prefer to sell.

Our contract with our current realtor expires next week, and we have plans to re-list with a new realtor. I'm honestly not sure that he'll be able to do anything differently than our old realtor; I'm not sure that our old realtor did anything wrong. It just feels like we have to make a change, given that it's been six months. A new perspective, a breath of fresh air--sort of a fresh start, if nothing else. In my dreams, he comes in here and somehow manages to pull of a miracle and sell this place within a few weeks of it being back on the market. As we've been saying all along, it only takes one.

But if the end result is going to end up being the same--meaning we have to rent it--then we'd honestly rather get someone in here starting September 1st, instead of waiting until October 1st. And if we're going to do that, we need to start looking for a tenant... right now.

We know we could play both angles at this point. We could put a rental ad out there, and we could keep it on the market, and we can see what comes of it. And maybe that's what we'll end up doing, believing all the while that whatever happens to work out--whether it's a buyer or a renter--is what is meant to be. But if we sign a lease with a tenant, I don't know that I'll feel complete peace with it. I can see myself wondering, "What if we had given it just a little more time on the market?"

Thus continues the dilemma.

We are so ready to be done with this shit.

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