7 Months + 26 Days Later...

...and the house is done. Today. I can hardly believe it. After all the waiting and decision-making, it's a bit surreal.

So, what's a person to do when she has so many things going on she can't see straight? Blog, that's what.

Here are some random thoughts of a crazy lady in the middle of a move, the flu, and a winter weather advisory:

-Swim and gym cancelled today due to ice on the roads? Great. Now I can use the beach towels to pack up the CD player.

-I tend to be a very methodical packer, walking round and round the house looking for the perfect thing to place in the last 4 square inches of a box. Bedroom stuff goes with bedroom stuff, kitchen with kitchen, etc. But now it's crunch time, so the unopened boxes of oatmeal get thrown in with electronic devices.

-God has a sense of humor. Perhaps He's trying to give me a lesson in control-freakness (as in, I need a smackdown). Lucy has the flu. In my paranoia, I'm sure the other kids and I are next. My dear hubby, who is brilliant, but not necessarily mechanically-inclined, may need to do the walk through with the builder tomorrow if my fears play out. Can I trust him to learn to operate the water shut-off valve and the security system? I'm sure I can, if only I let go of my need to run the show all the time.

-I hate the flu. What was I doing when it seemed like I didn't have time to take everyone for flu shots???

-Oh well, sooner or later, the illness will be gone and we will be living in the new house in a more or less organized fashion. Probably the latter, but I'm shooting for the former.

-Dreams of a new house, which God-willing, will be our family's dwelling place for the foreseeable future, are now concrete reality. We don't plan on moving (after this time, of course) for at least several decades. I'm thinking the nursing home van can come pick me up when it's time to move on. Anyway, there is something about this that makes me feel very hopeful and fresh. We have designed this place just for us, for the way we live, for welcoming family and friends and any other children God might want to place in our family. I am dreaming of holidays, gardens, homeschool co-ops, and just resting as a family. This period of transition, beginning with researching adoption agencies to completing a dossier to house-hunting to choosing a builder to house plans to international travel to bringing home a special needs son to adjusting as a family to living with unopened boxes, seems to be finally coming to a close. Life is always changing, just not generally with so much to do at once. Of course, we don't know what the future might hold, but I am optimistic that settling into a home and a routine are right around the corner.