We're Here Because We're Here!

I really don't have the brainpower or willpower to write much at this moment. Just a quick hello. We made it. Not easily, at first, but we are here none the less! And I. LOVE. OUR. APARTMENT.

Quick breakdown of the day. Ok, breakdown is a bad word to use. We were running a little behind schedule, maybe 30 minutes or so. Everything was loaded up, went to say goodbye to my father. It was exactly 11. We wanted to be out by 10:30 at the latest. Pulled out of my father's driveway in my Blazer, ready to meet the truck. Got two properties away when we hear a loud BOOOOOM!! Smoke started pouring out of the front of the car like it was going out of style! I pulled over quickly, Zalmy grabbed Benny (he was on the same side as the car seat), I grabbed my wallet and phone, and we RAN from the car! There was some sort of fluid gushing out from the engine area.

I called Shuky, "I'm not joking around, the car just sort of blew up."

"Chani, that's not really funny. Are you kidding???"

"Nope. Totally serious." (I had been joking about this happening all morning)

Basically, my dad totally saved the day. He came with his truck, helped us transfer everything from Old Smokey to his reliable steed, called AAA and told us to get on the road. We'll figure out how to switch cars once mine is fixed!

So we were off. Extremely uneventful drive after that, thank God. Registered with the management company, got our keys, opened up our apartment. It was love at first site. It's adorable! I have a great little patio. Washer/Dryer combo is right in the kitchen, no more upstairs/downstairs lugging of clothing. The master bath is what really stole my heart, though. Private, door from our room, walk-in closet included in bathroom. I'm home.

Benny LOVES his room!!! Went straight to his window to say hi to everyone down below. Then made a beeline for his toys, which are now ALL over the room. Fortunately for him, he didn't need to worry about the mess as he is sleeping in my room. Unfortunately for Uncle Zalmy, he does as he is. In exchange for him having to deal with the mess, he gets one of our dressers in his room until he leaves.

By the way, everyone here is so happy and friendly! Our truck was blocking someone's car so instead of complaining and making us move it, he got out of the car with his son and helped to unpack the truck into a parking space. Everything that was still inside. And then refused the money we offered. The son is our downstairs neighbor, I told him to come up anytime he needs help with something! Then, after they left, the guys continued bringing things upstairs. Some other guys (upstairs neighbors this time) threw pieces of furniture on their backs, not exaggerating, and brought the stuff right into our apartment! Also refused the money. I made them a bunch of hot dogs and brought it up to them. They were super happy. We are all best friends for life now!

Ok, so I said I wasn't going to write a lot and here I go, rambling to no end.

Quick wrap-up. We are about 1/3 unpacked. Everything left is nicely organized. We can enjoy the apartment and unpack slowly. We already went touring a bit, made a WalMart run to get some necessities. Benny is asleep. Shuky and Zalmy are getting the TV stand set up so we can veg. I am happy.

Meet you on the patio in the morning for coffee!! :)

It's The Final Shabbos (TTTO Final Countdown)

The theme music playing in my head right now sounds a bit like this. This is our last Shabbos as residents of Postville and I am mucho excited!!!

Have a good one!

Come Here Often?

We've got to stop meeting here at these crazy hours! People will start asking questions ;)

I can't wait for this move to be over with. Tensions and tempers run high. Patience runs low. Food runs out. I want to run away!

Today was a very long day, trailing after yesterday's extreme longness, and sleeping in just wasn't an option this morning, nor will it be tomorrow!

Shabbos has NEVER been so highly anticipated like it is in our house right now. We are invited out for both meals so, hopefully, before Shabbos rolls in, our truck will be full. All that will be left are the beds, Benny's little table, and the A/C units. God bless those A/C units and beds!

Speaking of beds, mine awaits. We'll talk more some other time. My eyes are closing on me. Good night!

I Said I Would!

In an effort to stick with my goal, I am writing. Doesn't matter that technically it's tommorrow already. My day has not ended yet, so in my book it's still today. But take heed before reading further, I have been up since the ungodly hour of 6:30, out ALL day with Benny, more or less on my own. Driving for a good portion of the day too. So words may sound good to me but not make any sense at all. Like I said before, take heed.

To repeat, 6:30 am - that was me grumbling as I made my way around the house. Got myself dressed. Got Benny to eat his cereal and get dressed. Packed enough food to go on vacation for a week. Packed enough diapers for two. Lugged everything to the car. Went to my father's house to steal his GPS and found his recycling strewn all over the neighbor's lawn, thanks to last night's storm. Being the dutiful daughter I am, picked up said recycling, all wet and gross. Got filthy. Didn't have time to go home to change. Touched bases with the Slaters. Started my road trip. Realized I forgot to stop for coffee. Poop. (Not the action word, that's raw emotion people!)

The good part started around 9:30. That's when I strapped Benny in to the stroller (which I lugged to the car this morning) and made my way into the Lands End Warehouse Clearance Event for the shopping expedition of a lifetime. They hand you a 35 gallon garbage bag when you walk in. That's your shopping cart. The place was HUGE! Filled from wall to wall with pure amazingness. I'm talking long denim skirts for $5, rain boots for $7, mens pants for $7.50, super fluffy fleece sweaters for $6. Let's put it this way - my one fully stuffed bag and half of another came out to $95. I'm pretty sure I got good deals! :) I didn't even try things on - at these prices, I know I can find someone to buy the stuff from me if it doesn't work! Imagine the lines. They were advising people to put their bags on hold by customer service, go get something to eat, and come back to try things on. The checkout line was about 20-25 minutes long. Doable. When you don't have a kid ready to shoot you and everyone around you. I did it anyway. Oh, by the way, thank you to that little girl who kept handing Benny the things I was busy taking away from him. I'm going to mail you a really large box of junk food. Don't eat it until Mom tells you it's time for bed!!

The best part about the sale was doing it with the Slaters! Benny and Moshe Alex took full advantage of mommies freely giving them lollipops (definitely sure Benny finished most of the bag himself, in M.A.'s defense!) But they also had an awesome time when we let them run free in the playground!

From there, we continued on to Madison, about an hour past Dodgeville. My father's flight wasn't coming in until late in the evening but I had a fun day planned for me and Mr. B. We went straight to the Henry Vilas Zoo, a volunteer-run zoo with free entrance. Don't let that fool you into thinking it was a dinky little place. This place honestly rocked! There were a ton of great exhibits, although there were quite a few that were closed temporarily. There was a goat feeding station, a walk through 'Discover the Primates' exhibit with great views of the different monkeys, and my favorite part of all - the kiddie area. A ride on train, an amazing playground, and Benny's favorite - the carousel. He chose the tiger to sit on. When the ride started, his eyes went wide in amazement. "Mommy, the tiger is flying!" And every time we passed the guy running the thing, he waved and yelled that to him. When we walked off, the guy shook Benny's hand and said, "Come back soon!" Benny took that very literally. He turned to me and asked, "Mommy, Benny come back soon???" We went again. This time it took a few tries until he found the perfect animal to sit on! We started on the elephant, moved to the giraffe, and ended up on the cheetah. He was ecstatic! Wanted to go again. I literally had to shove him back into his stroller, kicking and screaming. He was, that is. I just wanted the Earth to swallow me up. 

We continued our day with a trip to Barnes and Noble, or is it Nobles? I can never remember! Anyway, we love their train tables they have set up. Benny was there for about an hour. Saw many other kids come and go. All taller than him. Not necessarily older than him. He was very reluctant to leave there as well, but we had places to go and things to do! 

Went to the mall, had to pick up a couple things. Got him the neatest little beanie at Gap. As I described it to my sister, it's 'very Park Slopey.' That slouchy beanie style that just gives off an 'I'm way too cool' kinda vibe. He's way too cool.

At that point, we headed over to the airport to find out that El Padre was delayed. Still in Chicago, in fact, so, very delayed! We worked our way over to Old Navy, got me some boring, same-as-every-summer-but-super-comfortable tshirts. Continued on to Target, got Benny a Harold the Helicopter to go with his train sets in honor of his (mostly) good behavior thus far. Headed back to the airport to wait for the big arrival.

Had we waited, Benny would not have his nifty little helicopter. We'll just put it that way. To say that he wasn't happy the entire way home is an understatement, and a gross one at that. Can't say for sure what all the screaming was about, only understood bits and pieces, such as "NO MORE MOMMY'S CAR!!!!" and "I want my shoes OFF! NO! I want them ON! NO! I want them OFF!" Put that math symbol that means repeat over that screamtance (that's my new word, by the way, it's how Benny's sentences come out) and you get a pretty good understanding of where I'm going with this. 

We stopped at WalMart for a bit, diaper change was needed (don't worry, he pulled the 'I want to go on the toilet Mommy' line MANY times in the car!) and a little less energy sounded great. Took us half an hour to get him back in the car. Many times of me asking, "Benny, you ready to head home yet?" To which he politely responded, "Not yet, Mommy."

To make a long story even longer, I got home at about 12:30. Unloaded EVERYTHING from the car, let Shuky get the sleeping Benny (FINALLY!!) and came straight to my safe place - this computer :)

And now, I must peel my contacts out of my eyes, (hopefully my pupils will stay put!) and go to sleep. Tomorrow, we load the truck, even though I'm not done packing yet! Eep! Wish us luck!!!

Take Me Away....

The house is slowly starting to look empty. I am slowly going crazy.

Scratch that, the craziness is not coming on slowly in the slightest!

Today, I decided I'm done stepping on every toy Benny has ever accumulated and started packing them away. I'm not suicidal, obviously, so those boxes are not sealed! He is obviously pulling out most of what I pack but it takes him longer to make his huge mess as he has to go treasure hunting first!

Last night, I went to Doba Greene's wedding in Rochester, MN. It happens to be that I LOVE weddings! I've always had 'Wedding Planner' tucked away as my dream career. Never really lived in the right city to do something like that, though. Back to last night's wedding...Her parents are the Shluchim - they run the Chabad community there and help people visiting the Mayo Clinic. They are really amazing and selfless people. Our families are friends so when I got my invitation (verbally, the week before the wedding, lol) there was no question about it. I planned my packing around the trip!

It's a 90 mile drive, usually takes about an hour and 45 minutes. It was like a mini vacation for me, Shuky stayed home with Benny, attempting to pack. Needless to say, Benny had other plans. But, I'm getting side tracked again! The wedding was lovely, done at the Kahler Grand Hotel. This bride was honestly the most beautiful one I had ever seen. Everything about her spoke elegance and pureness. Her dress was simple and at the same time extravagant. She radiated happiness!

I got home a little after midnight. Passed out. Woke up too early this morning. Had to take Benny for his two year old checkup. He is finally moving up in the percentile charts! He weighs 28 pounds, he's 33 inches tall (although I think the PA may have measured wrong, pretty sure I saw 32.5"). His head circumference is still in the 90th percentile. Yes. 90th. He got one shot today and as soon as it happened, he turned to me, crying intensely, "Mommy, I got a booboo!!!" I love him!

Made some good progress today, packing-wise. Biggest accomplishment of the day, I finally got someone to take my dining room table. I was offering it for free but no one I knew really needed one! I gave it to the guy who's been doing the work on our house! Shuky pulled it apart on the spot and we helped him load it into the car! THANK YOU JEFF!!!

I am exhausted but excited about tomorrow. Benny and I are going to the Lands End Inlet Sale in Dodgeville, WI. Hoping to snag some great steals. We will be continuing on to Madison, going to hang out at the zoo and then picking up my father from the airport. A day away from the craziness of our house! Yay!

PS Now that Benny is two, I am getting ready to plan his Upsherin - the neurotic woman in me wants to have everything planned soon and just let the year sail by! :)

Yee-Haw!

Shuky was called in to work today, mid-packing. There was no way I was about to stay home and box things up on my own with the little guy driving me crazy. So I called Menucha (check out her blog here) and plans were made. We headed out to Clermont, to Heritage Farm to see what they were all about. Kids 10 and under are free, everyone else is $10 a person. We were going specifically for their petting zoo, which I called to confirm it's existence.

Turns out, they were hosting a tractor pull today. For anyone who is not a hick, you're probably scratching your head right now, trying to figure out what in the world that is. Apparently, we are not hicks either, as we stood on the sidelines, scratching our heads, wondering what was going on! If I caught on correctly, there is some heavy piece of machinery that gets hooked on to the back of each tractor, and the concept is to see who's tractor is the strongest, who can pull it to the finish line the fastest. Because of this event, the petting zoo was not set up. We got our money back, marked another random thing done on our belts, and headed elsewhere. 

In Elgin, there is a maze made out of a corn field, called The Maize Maze (Maize is a type of corn). They have a free (!!) petting zoo that actually has animals! Benny scared all the animals and tried taking home the kittens. He also made a request to ride the baby goats. Let's put it this way, I believe we've found the first place that will NOT miss Benny when we move next week! 

Benny vs. the Cow

The maze is $6 for each adult, kids under 5 are free. They hand you a map, show you your exit (on said map) and push you in. Benny and Moshe Alex LOVED it! They were running through it, leading us in every wrong direction! Sometimes holding hands, usually just running together - Benny was his crabby self and got overprotective of his hand at one point, "This Benny's hand!! Don't touch it!" My angel.

Notice the kids escaping as we study the map.

They're on a mission!!!!

And they're off!!

A natural explorer!

We made it out, both kids thoroughly grubbed up and wiped out! Within minutes of pulling out of the parking lot, Benny was asleep. Two hours later, he still is. As soon as he wakes up, we power wash him outside! ;)

'Twas a very nice day. Not much done in terms of packing, just the little bit accomplished before work called. But there's always tomorrow!!!

Shabbos Has Gone Away...

Shabbos was very nice. Our dining room was supposed to be cleaned for our Friday night meal, but for some reason **looking everywhere but at you** it wasn't! Instead, we pulled a folding table and the chairs into our newly vinyl-ized kitchen and had a nice, very conveniently close to everything we needed meal.

We were invited out for lunch so that was great! Good food, good company, as can always be expected at this particular house. :)

After Benny's MUCH NEEDED afternoon nap, we went to play with his good friend, Moshe Alex (or Shalex, as Benny likes to call him). Hours on the trampoline, swings and the slide made for an exhausted little boy. As soon as Shabbos was over, the little guy was taken up to bed and eventually went to sleep.

Speaking of being a little guy, seeing him next to the other boys today made me realize how absolutely tiny he is! He is fully two years old (in both calendars) and his shorts he was wearing today were size 12 months from Gap. And they still have some room in them. Granted, most of his clothing are 18 month at this point but still, he's little!!! Tuesday is his two year checkup. I'll let you know his stats!

Tomorrow will be a very busy day!!! Err, today. Wow, it's late! Good night everyone!