fluidity in 2013

we survived our trip to minneapolis! despite a very traumatic departure experience at LAX / arrival at MSP on the first leg of the trip, we actually managed to have a mostly uneventful flight in between the two destinations. there was a power outage in LA that affected baggage check, and while i make it a rule NOT to check luggage 95% of the time, it was nearly impossible to avoid it when traveling with a 50-week old bouncing baby boy. long story short, aaron and his mom barely made the flight, and our luggage definitely did NOT make it. ugh. but joaq was awesome on the flight despite two 5-minute meltdowns, and i was SO GRATEFUL and, relieved. it helped that our flight neighbors in front and in back of us were AWESOME and very sweet with joaquin. it was also helpful that we made little packets with gum and candy and handed out ear plugs to anyone who wanted them "just in case." :)

the trip was a lot of ups and downs - joaquin slept terribly at my mom's house and made for some really yucky mornings. but he was great with mostly everyone and was his usual charming and adorable self. he had some moments, and there were stretches where aaron and i were just: DONE. but all-in-all i was glad he was able to meet so many relatives & friends and they were able to meet him. and, aaron and i managed to have some "adult" fun in the mix too.

the flight home was a DREAM. everything went smoothly at both airports and i was again: grateful and relieved. SUCCESS!

ps - facebook friends - this is still a secret in our real life as we are trying to surprise a few friends/family because we are weirdos like that. SO SHHHHHH

we arrived home around 10a on 8/22 and were shocked to see EVERYTHING in our house had been packed up. including: all shower items and BEDDING. we had asked our cleaning ladies to help us box up a few rooms, but did NOT realize they were going to do EVERYTHING. aaron and i wandered around the house for over an hour trying to reconcile the reality of this new version of our condo. it really felt REAL at that point. OMG. we did it! (we still have NO idea how much they are going to charge us as they went out of town; to say i'm a bit nervous is an understatement)

so on one hand: AWESOME. packing is done. but on the other hand, we sort of felt panicked because we didn't know how hard it would be to find a few things that we really needed for the last four days we would be staying here. but it's all good. i still can't believe we only have two nights left in this place. i'm really going to miss it.

so: we officially close on our condo on 8/28, which means we will be out of here basically on the 27th. we move into our new house on the 31st. so crazy. we have to store all of our stuff for a few days which also isn't cheap, and i keep seeing the $$$$$ grow and grow. i had a bit of a panicked feeling yesterday when we were at the new house measuring for shutters on ALL OF THE WINDOWS, and then got the price. it was high. then we went to the appliance store and bought a new refrigerator, washer/dryer and microwave. more $$$. then we got a quote from the moving company. $$$. then! the final touch was signing our loan. the closing costs were a good chunk of change higher than what we originally anticipated due to taxes and some other items, so again, i was feeling overwhelmed and instead of feeling super excited about signing things, i felt a huge wave of anxiety wash over me as i fought really hard (and effectively) to hold back tears.

SO STRESSFUL THIS IS!!

anyway. i came home and crunched numbers and analzyed our finances and i'm feeling a LOT better about things. but the net-net is that we didn't profit as much as i thought we would on the condo, and of course we are over budget on ALL OF THE THINGS we wanted to buy for the new house. AH, such is life.

today i've been changing my address on all of the bills, transferring services and just trying to breathe deeply as i realize that at this time next week, i will be in a HOUSE. a new home. and it IS thrilling. if i can just survive staying with my mother-in-law, wrangling a $$-happy husband and my own worst enemy - myself.

:sigh: