It's the little things

The tiny ways that life in Step Universe complicates matters: yesterday was tie-dye Tshirt day at camp for the girls -- and minutes before we left I discovered that all of T's white shirts had migrated to her dad's apartment in the city. So I ran to a children's consignment shop near camp and begged them to open early and sell me a three-dollar white shirt with doggies on it, which I ran back to camp in the nick of time.

The big ways it complicates matters are sometimes too hard to contemplate, let alone blog about.

Maybe some contempletive time over the weekend. One can only hope.

It's been real

For a fitting farewell to our favorite watering hole, go to www.baristanet.com. Goodbye, Seven Hills.

To The Buyers

Dear new owners of our house,

To think that you are stepmama readers! Did you find the house first or the blog first? Either way, you know how much work and love we've put into this house, and my husband and I are thrilled to pass it on to you. Welcome. This was the first home of our very happy life together as a new family -- may it bring the same to you.

So glad that you liked the wreath!

And a special hello to Moose, your lab mix, from our two dogs, Artemus and Freddy.

We loved how much you loved this house. Thank you for telling us.

Champagne all around!

Tonight

Optomists that we must be to keep the machine of our stepfamily moving forward, we painted the girls' bedrooms at the new house. We asked them what colors they wanted: D requested "the color of a peach smoothie" and T requested "the color of Simba, The Lion King." I think we actually succeeded.

The new house stands empty. My great-uncle's boarder of 10 years finally moved out, and it waits for us.

We open bids for this house tonight at 6:30 (the plural is again optomistic). Will it all work?

Arrgh

After all of our hard work getting this house ready to sell (my husband was installing cabinet doors twenty minutes before the realtors' open house on Friday) -- the real estate brokers made a huge mistake and listed our house in the wrong town! The newspapers have it all wrong! Now instead of having the most affordable home on the market in one of the most desirable towns in the state, we are listed as having the most expensive house in a different town all together. No! No! Forces beyond our control will ensure that our house doesn't sell!

We have so much riding on this sale -- if we don't do well, we can't afford to buy my uncle's old house. If we don't do well, we can't pay off our debt. Couldn't this have happened to someone who can afford it?

Theory of Everything

The bad news: looks like the Supreme Court isn't going to save the Seven Hills from the wrecking ball after their big-bucks-loving decision on eminent domain yesterday. I'm shaking my head at the turn of the world -- twenty-five years ago, who dreamed that Sandra Day O'Connor would be the justice who spoke up for the little folk?

The good news: Corporation for Public Broadcasting still stands. This is personal: NPR's All Things Considered gave me a huge break by putting a commentary of mine on the air two years ago. I'll fish up the link someday in case someone out there is reading and wants to listen. Too bad that most of the debate over CPB's future took place on public broadcasting stations and not through commercial media -- as my dear friend, a public radio producer in North Carolina, says, having the debate over public broadcasting air on public radio is a bit like having Haliburton debate the war in Iraq.

Here's an idea: Haliburton can buy my house under the auspices of eminent domain and build a public radio broadcasting station. Go ahead, H-people: the open house is today. I'll throw in the wreath for free.

The Domestic Arts

This stepmama must speak up about a certain ex-husband who thinks he can get away with not registering the car that has been unregistered for six months because he has decided that I want to sell it back to the dealer. Uh-uh. He's going to Motor Vehicle, yessirree.

Isn't it just exemplary of the human condition that I turn to the domestic arts only in time to leave my house? Last night I planted window boxes for the first time in my foliage-challenged life. The first one leans to the left (as do I, maybe it will be a secret sign for liberals to buy my house); the second one strikes a better balance. I was thoroughly shocked to wake up this morning and find that the teeny red and white begonias which looked half dead in their little egg-crate thingee from the garden center had actually opened up and bloomed happily. Soil, water: it works!