If they saved us any more money, we'd be broke.

Oh, Labor Day and its sales! Thank goodness, but fie on it just the same! This weekend, we have become the proud new owners of a 5 piece dinette set, lifetime crib, changing table/dresser combo, 7 piece bedroom suit from Rooms to Go, tons of clearance items from a Linens n Things store that's going out of business, and a brand new Hoover vacuum cleaner. Glad we had some money saved up for this move, y'all.

Needless to say, things are coming together in the Lane home. We even bought groceries yesterday. It was a great time to shop because we hit a killer sale on baby food! Dean even seems to be falling into some new rhythms and that's good. Small town life is nice. Next week, between furniture deliveries, of course, we are going to pop over to the county library to check and see if there's a story time. If not, I may volunteer to start one. I do want Dean to be around other children as soon as possible. He did so well this summer around everyone at the theatre that we want to make sure and keep him very social.

I have to go clip coupons and balance the checkbook now. :P

How come...

Dean is fussy all night long, then this morning, after I've had 2 cups of coffee, he sleeps like an angel? When I can't nap? Because of the 2 cups of coffee!!!!!! Oh, well. I got a lot of work done around the house...

I've gone room by room and scribbled down ideas about color and what we need to fill and organize each space. This is gonna be fun! I think we have to get a hutch for the kitchen, just to store dishes or odds and ends. I miss my baker's rack, but there was no way it was moving from NYC. We are going to do the kitchen and dining room in red. I'm pretty jazzed about it. It'll look nice year-round and be especially fun to accessorize at CHRISTMAS!!!!!! Oh, I can't wait for Christmas. I'm going to hang a million lights on the house and maybe get one of those inflatable snow-globes for the front yard. (yes, I'm that person. And I shake presents.) When I told Marcus of these plans, he reminded me that Dean will still be too young to care. I reminded him that I wasn't really doing it for Dean. haha

Our neighborhood is really quiet. I like that there is a police officer who lives across the street and that people walk their dogs. I do wish there was a sidewalk, but the through traffic is so sparse that we should be able to stroll down the road without fear of dying. I imagine Dean and I will go up to the university and take walks once we settle in a bit. There's also an amazing-looking YMCA a couple of miles down the road that I plan to check out. Maybe they have a class that Dean and I can take together.

By the way, I totally could have taken a shower while Mr. Nappy McSleepy-Pants snoozed. Oh, well. I needed to check my email. ;P

Sweet Home Alabama!

We're here!!!!!! We don't have a stick of furniture and the house needs to be cleaned, but we're here!!!!!!!!! The weather is beautiful, our house is a blank slate just waiting to be filled however we want, and we are SO happy to be in the deep south! My mom and dad left this morning to go home to Oxford. They very graciously came to WV to fetch Dean and me and were a HUGE help over the past few days. Marcus's mom and dad are driving from DC tomorrow (!) with our stuff that has been in their basement all summer. They'll get to stay the weekend and see the house and the town for the first time. We are so very lucky to have such wonderful parents!

Dean is doing great. He's currently playing in his newest toy, the exersaucer. I love the exersaucer. Marcus and I played some scratch-off lottery tickets this summer (and got lucky) and ended up with enough money to purchase said exersaucer. Dean took right to it, especially the parts that play music. I think he'll be crawling any minute. He's got the position down, he just hasn't quite figured out how to throw his momentum forward to get moving. We also purchased bedding for Dean's new room. It's adorable--sage green with, you guessed it, MONKEYS! (Dean's really, really into monkeys.) We'll get his crib and dresser in a couple of weeks, then his room will be all set.

Coming from NYC, we don't have any furniture, so this weekend is about getting at least a couch, dining table and chairs and bed for the master bedroom. I am ridiculously in love with the shower, as I knew I would be. With the stone tiles and cozy set-up, it feels like a spa. YAY. We're still deciding on colors for all the rooms, but it's going to be FUN to fix the house up how we want it! And the washer/dryer? As good as I expected. Maybe better. It dries clothes in 35 minutes. A full load. In 35 minutes. :) I washed a load in my dishwasher last night. Oh, what a miraculous thing to have a dishwasher! I also bought Dean a sippy cup (we went with a Dr. Brown's since we liked his bottles so much). Mom friends, when did your little ones start with sippy cups? We haven't tried it quite yet.

Most importantly, though, the three of us are in a place of our own in a town we will certainly grow to love in no time. Dean and I are heading out for a Walmart/Target adventure later to start our nesting. (And to get some food. When we got here ,Marcus had a jar of olives and a 24-pack of pudding in the fridge. And that's all.) It's so good to be home!

Bring on the grass stains!

I, my friends, am the new owner of a Whirlpool Stackable Front-Loading Energy Efficient washer and dryer!!!!!!!!!!!! My darling husband, who said we could neeeeeeeever afford these units, went out and bought them yesterday and they were delivered to our new home this morning. WOO HOO! Between those two babies and the brand-spankin' new dishwasher, stove, microwave and fridge, I will be in domestic bliss for weeks to come.

Marcus made it to Montevallo safely on Saturday. He starts work today with a faculty meeting, then goes through 3 days of new-faculty orientation. Dean and I are (obviously) sitting out the company white-water rafting trip today, but will be meeting up with the company tonight at Pies and Pints for some tasty pizza.

Dean is REALLY into the Olympics. He seems to favor the Chinese team. We're pretty sure it's because they wear red uniforms. I dressed him in his 4th of July outfit today hoping to inspire a little patriotism for the good ol' USA. He's had a big week--he's learned to sit up (from lying down) all on his own, has learned to wave (at himself--it's kinda adorable), and has started giving fabulously wet open-mouthed kisses. He also learned to take off his diaper. I could do without that one. We're looking forward to our last week in WV and finally getting home next Monday.

To Do

As a stage manager, I love a good "To Do" list. I recently read a magazine article about a young woman who took care of her terminally ill sister at the end of her life. The sister had a Lifetime To Do list, half of which she had already completed by the time she was diagnosed with cancer. By the time she passed away three years later, she had completed all but 4 of the items on the list. This prompted me to make a lifetime to do list, which you can see if you scroll down to your right. Some things are kind of goofy, others really important. What would be on your list?

And now, some pictures!

It annoys me that blogger won't let you write captions directly under your pictures! If anyone knows how to do that, please share. Here are captions.

1. Dean and his cousin Adam had themselves quite a pool party!
2. The ADORABLE lion towel Aunt Ginger brought.
3. Dean discovers the exersaucer. Good times.
4. Daphne the cow and her newborn calf, Keith. He was born just an hour before this photo was taken at the "Mooternity Ward" at the WV State Fair.
5. Dean gets in a couple of rounds of mini golf.
6. Dean and G-Mama at the Exhibition Coal Mine.
7. On the Pontoon boat...before it poured. (Dean says "I look like a turtle in this life vest!")
8. Beautiful Sandstone Falls, part of the New River Gorge National River.
9. Adam--18 months old. (!)
10. Me and the Chik Fil A cow. I was SO excited to see him that I abandoned Marcus and Dean and ran over like an idiot to hug him.
11. Me at TWV's annual Ladies' Night. This year's theme was pajama party. Don't know where the pigtails came from, but they worked.

The Simple Life

I'm looking forward to living it. Marcus leaves on Friday for Alabama and Dean and I (accompanied by my parents) will join him the 25th. I cannot wait to be in our house in our new town starting our life in the south. I have a feeling Marcus is going to love his new job and I am so excited to start putting down some roots in Montevallo.

Last week, the Lanes from Virginia, as well as Aunt Ginger and Kevin from Florida, visited us. We stayed in the same cabins as last year, only this year we got the big lodge on the lake. It was a fun, eventful week. I"m going to post another blog immediately after this one of just pictures.

Ok, were getting a new car. Well, new to us. It'll probably be "gently used." I want something higher-up so it's easier to get Dean in and out of the carseat. And with my new role as stay at home mom, it will need room for baby stroller, lots of groceries and probably some bulk items from Sam's. We have been driving the Theatre's van this summer and we LOVE it (It's a Ford Windstar). We'll probably go the SUV route, maybe something along the lines of a Honda CRV, which is what Marcus's mom drives. Anyone have suggestions? Lots of space and good gas mileage are a must.

I promise to blog more often, y'all. I miss it so much. Lately, I've barely even had time to read the blogs I like to follow, much less update my own. But soon the "simple" life (is it ever simple, though?) I've been looking forward to will give me more free time. You know, between washing bibs...