It always seems to happen that life is going along in the slow lane and then, bam, everything hits at once. In this case it's nothing bad, just lots of work (and lots of pressure to get everything in on time), plus we're still trying to rent our townhome, and having no luck. As frustrating as it is, I can't help but be grateful that we can afford our home (even if it is a little tight with two kids), and that we're not in any danger of losing it. It's so scary to see all these people losing their homes. Thinking back, I remember our realtor, the lender and even friends suggesting that we look into some creative financing to get into a larger house. While our friends were spending thousands more and buying much bigger homes, DH and I could only afford the townhome, so we settled for it. We always thought that in a few years we would be making more money, or the house would be worth more and we could sell and move up. But life doesn't always work out that way. Five years, two kids, a layoff, a major career change and a sluggish real estate market derailed our plans. So here we are. I have to remind myself of the positives aspects of living here. There is no lawn maintenance, it's easy to clean (just one great room), we're close to all sorts of stuff for the girls, we can afford our mortgage payment and it's new so there isn't much fixing up to do. I hope we're not living here this time next year. The girls are getting bigger, and we need to find a home in a better school district. But for now, it'll have to do.

Happy 4th of July

So I had this wonderful vision of my husband and I taking our two girls to all sorts of 4th of July festivities. Everyone would have a great time, take naps between stops, eat all of their dinner and fall asleep on the way home from fireworks. This is how it really went; the parade started late, I had to be the mean mommy and take away the candy (most of it at least) and the naps were too short to matter. The fire truck and helicopter display held by the local fire department was a great idea, but the sun and the asphalt made it too hot for two toddlers, and two tired parents to take. Someone decided that she didn't like hotdogs or pasta salad and only wanted to eat the icing on her birthday cupcake. And finally, after waiting an hour and half, both girls hated the fireworks and we drove home to find both them so excited by all the commotion that sleep was the last thing on their minds. The funny thing is, it was still a fun day.