A post without a photo!

Yesterday the landlady and the handyman came. Originally it was just suppose to be the handyman but then we got the call that the landlady was coming also. (This is exciting because the handyman came to measure for installing a dryer vent so I can use my dryer!) Now a handyman stepping into a house that someone hasn't lived in a month yet and seeing the mess of moving is probably typical and expected.

But I *really* didn't want to have our sweet landlady see the house a mess. So I set to cleaning and unpacking and stacking moving boxes I didn't have time for so D could lug them to the basement. My goal is to once a week pick a box and "deal" with it. In all the terms that might mean.

I've said before and I'll mention it again, our move was truly an act of God. Everything fell into place. For something so rushed and so unexpected there was just too much that settled quietly like down feathers instead of crashing like a falling brick wall. If you just can't follow me there because you see God as something else, maybe a clock maker who set the universe in motion and walked away: the cog that got us to Wisconsin was well oiled with perfect teeth.

One of the first things my landlady said was, "Whoa! Who paints?" She said she knows someone who would love to buy "The African Lady" that I almost left in Gallatin hanging on the wall. The painting is 5 feet tall and for years was used as a baby gate. It stopped being "art" and turned to "functional thick gesso covered canvas on a good sturdy frame" about 2001.

Her next expression was, "I can't believe how cute you've got the place looking. Your stuff looks really really good here. I've seriously never seen this place so cute. Really."

I agree. And it only furthers my belief.

For whatever reason we're suppose to be here right now. I've already been cured of my online addiction thanks to a stolen iPod and lack of internet. My asthma symptoms are gone. Fi and G are off their allergy medications.

That being said there's some areas where I'm still very lonely. I have yet to make any friends. It's not easy in a vacation town where the locals assume with your accent that you'll be leaving in a few weeks like everyone else with an accent. A good friend called and asked if I was home sick. I'm not yet, but I'm lonely for certain places and people. After we hung up my heart ached for her and her sweet family, I suddenly wanted to stop by her house and hang out with them! The void that is created by the lack of my church family somehow gets bigger daily.

I'm a girl who needs a few good friends and a church family!

Churches are a complex issue in this area so I hope to investigate that over the next few months. As for friends I found a home schooling group in a town about 40 minutes from here and asked if I could join up with them the end of August and get my kids involved and they've been welcoming. I re-registered Fi for Girl Scouts and now just have to find a troop. Small steps.

And thank you to all you readers. I appreciate the comments and emails that are generated from this blog. It helps me feel supported in a more tangible way.

Enough over analyzing. Today is the doll show Fi wanted to check out, a polka dance contest in the park that we've gotta go hear if nothing else (I've never seen a polka dance contest! Doesn't it sound wild!?) and grocery shopping day. Pshew!