Moving Angst

We had really hoped to move into the new building over the holiday break. It was *finally* happening, and we were going to be into our new beautiful home.

If only.

The city has denied us the occupancy permit for reasons that I missed, but the result is that we get to start school again on the 7th in the old upper-school building. The WHOLE school in the upper-school building. We're going to be running half-days for at least one week, and possibly two, with the lower elementary meeting in the morning from 8:30 to 12:30 and the upper elementary/junior high meeting from 12:00 to 4:00. The high school will meet next door in the city youth center.

It will be far less than ideal, and it is CERTAIN to freak Coio out. The consolation I get is that my class - while on the boarder between lower and upper elementary - will meet with the lower elementary, so I'll be on the premises at the same time as she will be.

Someday we will get to use the new building. Until then, we will make do.

Ho ho ho!

For Christmas this year I got just what I wanted: teething. Well, OK, I got a Microsoft Zune, but the teeth are what I was really looking forward to. And not just any teeth; no sissy incisors that slice their way easily through the gums. No, I'm talking MOLARS.

You know what I'm talking about. The inconsolable fussiness. The resistance of anything with more consistency than an overripe banana. The nights that go on and on forever. Being awake at 2AM.

Good times.

WFMW - Pretty Presents

It's been ages since I blogged, but I'm thinking I'm going to try again. I'm going to start slowly by posting just once a week as part of Works For Me Wednesday over at Rocks In My Dryer.

So here it is, my debut WFMW post: Pretty Presents. I've gotten several compliments on the stack of presents underneath my (tiny) Christmas tree this year (yeah, we just put up the little tree and have the whole display fenced off from señor destructo-boy, AKA C-Rex.) What, you ask, is my secret?

Drum roll please: Let's hear it for cheap-o brown kraft paper! Three bucks will get you a roll of forty feet that can get you through this year's mountain of packages and well into next year's too.

But brown paper is pretty boring, you say. Well, you have a point. Now it's time to make with the pretty, and I direct you to fancy fabric ribbon. It's sort of pricy, so right after Christmas, hit up your favorite craft store and raid the Christmas ribbon display. It ought to be between 75% and 90% off, so you can splurge and get ten or fifteen (or twenty) rolls. Put it away until next year, and you'll be ready to put together a beautiful pile of presents.

Don't despair if you don't have any fabric ribbon on hand, or if you run out of ribbon before you run out of boxes to wrap. I ran out this year, and I was able to pick up more at 50% off at JoAnne's in early December. Not quite the steal it will be after the holidays are over, but still not bad.

So that's it. Plain brown paper and pretty fabric ribbon. It Works For Me!