Quoteable: There could be trouble

"Hey, I am just going to go get in some trouble, o-KAY? Don't worry about it, just keep typing."

Then, "giggle, giggle," followed by the pitter patter of her little feet, and a door slamming. 

This was an actual quote from Eva as she craned her neck around the corner and looked at me while typing on the computer... and don't worry, I did go check on her and took away the toothpaste she was trying to eat. :) After I laughed, hard, at her pre-emptive warning to me about getting into trouble.

I love this girl.

Once upon a time...

Eva loves to tell stories and make up silly plot lines lately. She usually talks about something that we've done lately, or that she's seen Dora do lately, and mixes it up with new characters and some crazy connections. Her stories crack me up and are also very good diversions when she's crabby or doesn't want to do ________ activity. She also starts her stories with the prerequisite, "Once upon a time," although sometimes it doesn't come at the beginning. Here is just one example of the "power of story":

This past week we were packing a lot and she got a little frustrated one afternoon since we weren't playing together very much. It had been raining the day before and so we had been cooped up a lot - and she decided that she wanted to tell me a story. So, using her cherished angel mouse that she only gets to hold once in awhile (it's Peter's breakable childhood toy), here is a story about an angel, being in the rain, flying, and going to sleep (sort of). I give you, Miss Eva M, storyteller!  

Moving!

For those of you who have not heard already, we are moving soon! We found a great apartment literally five buildings north of the one we've been in for eight years total (five years when we were first married, three years since our move back to Chicago.) While we've loved many things about our current apt, the 2-bedroom and second-floor space with a growing and loud two year old has been increasingly frustrating. We're the only family in our six-flat building with a kid, so I also feel bad for our neighbors who have endured hours of running feet, talking Elmo doll, and her loud stories and songs on the deck! (She's also endured hours of traffic noise, late night party noise, cigarettes on the back deck, etc.) So, after our quest to find a house for over a year ended with no great choices and a still limited budget, we were very fortunate to find a perfect compromise to our current living situation - we found MORE room, MORE liveable kid space, and LOWER rent - all in our same little neighborhood (across the street from where Peter/sometimes I work!)

The more we move our stuff over, the more I am getting excited about our new place. We will have about three weeks overlapping of having both apartments, so we've been taking trips over when parents are in town to help or we have time on the weekend. Today I wiped down just about every surface in the apartment. For some reason, it feels more like home now that I've removed so many layers of grit, grime, dirt and sawdust. Now those doorknobs, bathroom tiles, closet shelf corners and dusty tops of the curtain rods are not only clean - they are mine! :) The new place will hold our stuff really well and is a great mix of big space, liveable lay-out, lots of charm and Chicago-esque built-ins and storage - right alongside modern updates (like central air, new appliances, our own laundry, redone hardwood flrs, etc.) It has three bedrooms + a den/playroom, a small backyard and side yard with patio and flower spaces, a garage we will get to use half of (!!), huge storage spaces in the basement, seven closets, two built in bookshelves by a fake fireplace, one built in buffet/hutch, one built in butler's pantry, and loads of character/beautiful dark walnut wood trim. There are some things I don't love about it - the top of my list includes gold lights in a few rooms and the landlord's rule that I can't paint the newly redone walls. But - I really can't believe how great this space will fit us - even though its consuming a few weekends of life right now. It is also so fun to re-decorate, re-imagine life in a space, and re-set up our home, even though its a lot of work. 

I am reminded today that God is good - options feel good - and that living in a city with a small child on a budget can surprise and reward you from time to time. :)

We'll send out a little "We are moving" update sometime too with all our new stats, but just thought I'd share some details for those who have asked to know more. (Also, to explain why I haven't written more/emailed you or called you back lately... hee hee.)

I put couple photos below that I took when we walked through the new place the first time - so they are from before the space was finished getting redone, but you can get the general idea of what our new little home looks like at least. We really do love it so far!

Laugh-out-loud Quoteable

While Eva and I were at a well-known department store the other day, a voice began speaking over the intercom and said something close to this:

"Thank you for shopping at Kohls. Please go online after your purchase is complete and fill out a survey to let us know about your shopping experience. Your satisfaction is important to us. We want to hear from you. Please remember to fill out a customer satisfaction survey. Thank you for shopping at Kohls."

To which Eva replied, with her head turned up toward the ceiling, and in a LOUD voice: "Okay, OKAY guy, I heard you the first time!!"

How many times have I wanted to say THAT in response to an overly long intercom message myself?

I couldn't stop laughing, for awhile; Eva kept walking next to me, totally unfazed.