Today at the deli

Stowa and I went to the grocery store today. While we in line at the deli, the woman ahead of us ordered 3 slices of ham. It just struck me as odd and I thought I'd share with the group.

June Cleaver's oven

The house we're currently living in has turned out pretty nice. We did a lot of cleaning. Lots. For a tiny house it has a ton of storage. The location is awesome as well. It's on the "Main Road". Stowa and I can walk to our PO box, the grocery store, the bakery, etc. It's also really close to the clinic. Which is great for Itchy since he's been on call (and has been called in a lot) since he bought the place.

The place could use a few updates though. Starting with the kitchen. This is our oven.
Only instead of looking all shiny and new, it looks like it's 60 years old. The stove top? Yeah, it slides out. So when you're not using it you just slide it back in and all that shows is the wood part. Awesomeness. Not only is the stove top right at Stowa's level (she can totally touch the burners and smack her head into the slide out) but the oven doors do not stay open. Makes taking a hot pan out of the oven a fun and challenging game. Will I burn my arm or will I get the pan out in time? Let's say that so far it's Oven 1, Lori 2. Good times.

Weird zoning rules

About 2 days after we had moved in Itchy and I noticed that we didn't have a mailbox. We naturally wondered where our mail would be delivered. We had already filled out the change of address forms at the post office.

Itchy called the post office. Turns out that we can't have mail delivered to the house because of some crazy small town zoning laws.

We had to go get a P.O. box. Which has always sounded fun to me. It turns out that it's not really that much fun. It kind of seems like more of a hassle.

It's nice that the post office is really close to our house. Stowa and I can walk there everyday when it's not too cold out.

You'd think two weeks would break the habit,

but it really just made my Internet addiction stronger. So happy to have Internet and TV again.

Things are going well. Mostly. There have been a few hiccups along the way but I guess it'll all work out.

The transition at the clinic has been better then expected. The staff is great. Most of the clients seem to like Dr. Itchy. Just a few stumbles there. Like when Itchy was on call and had to go in to do radiographs on a dog. No big deal if you know how to turn all the equipment on. Itchy didn't. He got it figured out but he felt pretty dumb. He's figuring everything out but it'll take time to learn the ins and outs of the clinic. Owning a business is a hell of a lot of work though.

Now if he could start getting paid we'd be in a much better place. Yeah that's right. He's not getting paid. We messed up some stupid stuff and our accountant is fixing it, but as of now he can't be on the payroll. Awesomeness.

Things at the house are ok. Most of our stuff is out of the boxes but it's not all put away. I'm sick of it. Want it to all go away. Stowa is having a hard time adjusting to all the changes. Or she's turning into a monster. I swear she cries more now than she did as a newborn. She'll get over this soon right?

I'll have to back track a little and tell you all about our "house hunters" adventure, the weird zoning issues, and about the stuff that happened with our landlord.

Here's one fun story. Stowa and I were at the local post office the other day. A woman there asked where she came from. I told her that we had just moved here from MN. She said "No, I mean what country did you adopt her from? China?". She seemed disappointed when I told her that she wasn't adopted.

Update

Just a quick update:

1. The clinic is ours as of Tuesday
2. We're moving on Sunday
3. We're no where near ready to move
4. Instead of getting shorter, our to-do list keeps growing
5. I'm ready for a vacation

Total eclipse

Itchy informed me yesterday that there was going to be a total lunar eclipse tomorrow night. The last one was over 3 years ago. We watched that one on the hood of of car on The Island. We'll probably be watching this one inside. It's a little colder here in MN than it was on The Island.

The article also gave the dates for the next few lunar eclipses. There are two of them next year. Amazingly, one is on Itchy's birthday (the big 3-0) and the second one is on my birthday! What are the odds? It's not like total lunar eclipses happen all the time. So having two in one year is pretty cool. But for them to be on our birthdays? That's gotta be some kind of sign!

Some of her new amazing skills

Stowa is busy being a one year old. She is officially walking all over the place. Running if she has something to hold on to (like her doll stroller or rocking chair). She can say a bunch of words that are easily understood by all (mama, dada, cat, kitty, 'See (cat's real name), moo moo, meow, no, fish, book, night-night, num-num, bye bye, etc). She can say even more words that only I can understand. She tried to say "not that one" (seriously I told her "not that one" and she tried to repeat it, it sounded more like no da on, but whatever). Speaking of the rocking chair, she likes to stand on it. Fun for her, scary for mommy.

Her ability to understand what we tell her surprises me for some reason. It's normal for her age. But if we tell her to go get her pacifier, she goes and gets it. If you ask her to wash her hands, she starts rubbing her hands together. Ask her if she's hungry and she points to her mouth. If you give her a brush (hers or the cat's) she will brush her hair.

Let's see, she also gives hugs and kisses now. It's pretty awesome. She also likes to "get" people. She thinks that she's tickling but it's more slapping. Funny little kid.

She is in love with dolls. She walks around carrying her dolls (or stuffed animals depending on her mood). She covers them with blankies and pats them, rocks them, and dances with them. Freaking adorable. One of the dolls she got for her birthday came with a bottle so she's been feeding her babies too.

Perhaps her most favorite thing in the whole world in Itchy's Iphone. She likes to pretend to talk on it. She must be a very busy person though. She needs both hands free so she holds the phone in place with a good old shoulder shrug and head tilt. Only thing is she then holds her arm out straight to help keep it in place. Then she walks around like that. Carrying on quite the conversation. Her "friends" must be funny because she laughs a lot when she's on the phone.

We've got our troubles too. She's not always sweet and innocent. I can't leave the room without her freaking out. She's very demanding. Hates the word "no". Oh the tantrums she throws when you don't give her the Iphone. She's a beast when she's hungry. She's also a very slow teether. She still only has 4 teeth. She's teething again now. It sucks. I think there are 4 more teeth trying to break through all at the same time.