Life in Gratiot County...

We are learning about life living back home. This week has been interesting. My parents were out of town for the week visiting my aunt and uncle. Consequently, I learned about the responsibilities of living back home this week.

First of all, I got the 'Grandpa' duty. Mom asked me to at least pop out on him once this week. He's 90, but in very good health...but he lives by himself, so Mom likes to check in on him at least weekly. So, we pop over on Wednesday after dinner. Ring the doorbell, but no one answers. We do it again to no avail. Well, Grandpa's hearing isn't the best. So, we head to the front door and knock real loud a couple of times. No answer. So, Jut goes and peeks in the window. Sure enough, there's Grandpa watching the tv. So, Jut flags him down and we visit with him for awhile. That was fun responsibility.

Second, we got the 'corn' job. My parents plant more sweet corn than our entire extended family could eat for the year, I think. Well, a batch was ripe this week while they were gone. Since I am home, it fell to me to pick it, shuck it, blanch it and freeze it.

So on Friday, we went to pick it. I wish I would have had the camera. E went with Jut and I. Number 1, she loves the dirt. Playing is dirt is great and a garden is full of dirt...so she was having fun from the get-go. Then, she found my grocery bag full of shucked corn. She pulled out one ear, ate a few bites. Pulled out another and ate almost an entire row...pulled out another and ate a for awhile...you get the picture. She never eats cooked corn, but I guess she likes it raw because she at least one full ear. Anyway, the corn made her just a sticky mess...and you combine that with the already dirtyness of playing in the garden. She was a site to behold. When I got her home and threw her in the tub, I even found a corn worm in her hair. GROSS! But, she had a good time and so did Jut and I.

We took the corn home and froze 27 pints. Not a ton, but it was a good first effort. I've done it numerous times with Mom, but never on my own. So, I put my first notch on my belt as a 'real' grown up. I wouldn't say that doing up the corn is fun, but it wasn't too bad either.

The nicest thing about being home happened this evening. Mom and Dad needed to go grocery shopping and so they dropped by this evening on their way to the grocery store. We were able to chat about their trip and they played with E. We ordered pizza and had dinner. It was really, really nice. I'm glad to be home.

Settling in

We are managing to get settled in. E loves our new house with all the rooms and the stairs. She's always getting into something new here.

We have been exploring the area. Today we walked to a wonderful park that had a huge wooden playscape. E made a new friend, Caden. He's 2 and had lots of fun showing E how to go up the steps and down the slide. She would have followed him anywhere. It was pretty cute.

The landlords are FINALLY finished with the house. They finished the last touches to the bathroom yesterday. Yipee!! However, I was thankful that they were in the house because our sewer had a couple blocks and it was backing up into the basement. We didn't know about it because we never went down to the basement. So, luckily they were there and got the problem fixed right away and cleaned up the yuckiness, too.

Internet and phone are being hooked up next week and it will finally become "home"...I miss those 2 items. I'm a bit too dependent upon the Internet, I think. This month break has been good for my 'addiction'. ;-)

Moved in!

We've finally moved into our house!! Yipee! However, the laundry/utility room is not finished. Consequently our washer and dryer are still sitting in the middle of our kitchen...not the ideal place for them. But, we are there and no longer residences of my folks...so that's a good thing.

I have 1/2 of the kitchen unpacked and hopefully will finish that and the living room this evening...and then it will begin seeming more like home and not just a place filled with boxes.

I'm going to be adding pics sometime...hopefully soon.