Apology time: I am so sorry that I have not kept this blog up-to-date.
So much has been happening, at such a rapid speed. This year, the
holidays work out that every other day is either a holiday, one day off,
or Shabbat again. It's been impossible to find the time to write. But
now, after the first day of Sukkot, I finally found some time.
So, first of all, we moved. I know I mentioned it, but I probably breezed over it. We were very excited about moving to this new house. I was extremely organized, but this move still had some big bumps in the road. The biggest setback was that our mover did not bring us our final 30 boxes until the afternoon before the move. As such, we were not ready to move when they got to us. So, they quickly took everything that was out and put it into unmarked boxes or giant bags and moved it. Mind you, the things that were left out at the end, are the things that are most essential to us. Those are the things that we still have not located. It has made the adjustment into our new place that much harder.
We bought a house that was previously owned by a family of 11. No, that was not a typo. 2 parents, 9 children. This house and every wall inside of it received a lot of "love" from its inhabitants. So, to sum it up, this place is a real "fixer upper". But, we are excited and working hard to start fixing it up. Of course, it has gone something like this: Move cupboards, spackle, sand, paint- stop- Rosh Hashanah. Sand, paint- stop- Shabbat. Sand, paint, fix a bunch of things, sand, paint - stop- Yom Kippur. Put everything back, spackle, sand -stop- dear friend's wedding, Shabbat. Spackle, fix a bunch of things, Sukkot.
It's been a bit difficult to settle in. But we truly are loving it and we are loving making this home ours. One of the biggest difficulties was the insects. Before we moved in, I had the house exterminated. Clearly, it didn't work and the exterminator will be returning shortly. But there were bugs everywhere. Now, I may be a fierce Heart Mama Bear sometimes...but I am a scared chicken when it comes to slugs, earwigs, spiders, gray rolly ugly looking things, and ants.
One day, Tzviel was playing outside and he called for me. I was in middle of painting and told him I couldn't come outside. He screamed, "You have to see this!!! It's a turtle! A real turtle!" Then I hear Tehilla say, "Hello! Hello! Hello!"
So I came outside and there it was. A turtle in our backyard. Here is the video of the turtle and Tehilla being super cute.
So, first of all, we moved. I know I mentioned it, but I probably breezed over it. We were very excited about moving to this new house. I was extremely organized, but this move still had some big bumps in the road. The biggest setback was that our mover did not bring us our final 30 boxes until the afternoon before the move. As such, we were not ready to move when they got to us. So, they quickly took everything that was out and put it into unmarked boxes or giant bags and moved it. Mind you, the things that were left out at the end, are the things that are most essential to us. Those are the things that we still have not located. It has made the adjustment into our new place that much harder.
We bought a house that was previously owned by a family of 11. No, that was not a typo. 2 parents, 9 children. This house and every wall inside of it received a lot of "love" from its inhabitants. So, to sum it up, this place is a real "fixer upper". But, we are excited and working hard to start fixing it up. Of course, it has gone something like this: Move cupboards, spackle, sand, paint- stop- Rosh Hashanah. Sand, paint- stop- Shabbat. Sand, paint, fix a bunch of things, sand, paint - stop- Yom Kippur. Put everything back, spackle, sand -stop- dear friend's wedding, Shabbat. Spackle, fix a bunch of things, Sukkot.
It's been a bit difficult to settle in. But we truly are loving it and we are loving making this home ours. One of the biggest difficulties was the insects. Before we moved in, I had the house exterminated. Clearly, it didn't work and the exterminator will be returning shortly. But there were bugs everywhere. Now, I may be a fierce Heart Mama Bear sometimes...but I am a scared chicken when it comes to slugs, earwigs, spiders, gray rolly ugly looking things, and ants.
One day, Tzviel was playing outside and he called for me. I was in middle of painting and told him I couldn't come outside. He screamed, "You have to see this!!! It's a turtle! A real turtle!" Then I hear Tehilla say, "Hello! Hello! Hello!"
So I came outside and there it was. A turtle in our backyard. Here is the video of the turtle and Tehilla being super cute.
As it turned out, the previous owners owned 2 turtles and didn't take them with them. Or inform us that we now had turtles on our property! Well, we have only located one turtle and we found him a loving home with some of our friends. As soon as the second turtle is found, he will also be relocated.
A few days later, a very sweet, well groomed orange cat turned up in our yard. She was timid at first, but looked well kept and friendly. Not in a crazy rabies kind of way. In a normal cat kind of way. We called to her and she came. So, we put out a can of tuna. She gobbled it up extremely fast. Then we gave her some distance and watched her hunt lizards and bugs in our garden. I just kept chanting, "Hunt! Kill them! Hunt! Get rid of all of the bugs!"
And suddenly, all- no, I really mean ALL of the bugs stopped coming into our house. Not a single earwig or slug was to be found. We decided to let the orange kitty live outside in our garden. We named her Hunter. She is very affectionate and the kids adore her. Tehilla has learned to say "Hunter!" She also, unfortunately, started hitting the cat. The cat has never once done anything in retaliation, and Tehilla is always immediately punished to go inside.
Speaking of Tehilla- She will be turning two soon. On October 1st (there is your heads up, that some emotional posts will be coming). And she is taking the whole "terrible twos" thing very seriously. She has been pretty whiny and started saying "mine" and "I want" all the time. Not to mention destroying things and making messes wherever she goes. It's been...exhausting.
I had posted that she had a cold and cough. Well, it took a bad turn at one point. We took her to the doctor and she was put on antibiotics. She very quickly began to recover and is now doing very well.
This is the first year that we have an incredible sukkah space. Here is our sukkah that we have been eating in, some of us have been sleeping in and spending time in.
I hope all of you are enjoying your Sukkot as much as we have. May your holiday be filled with happiness!
chag samaech!
ReplyDeleteAwesome sukkah!
ReplyDelete