Scott Baio has no redeeming qualities

Why is this the worst move ever? What were we doing last time we moved that made it so easy? I looked back to see and it was this.
I'm all chillen with some kids on a nice warm day while BILL is at home with the movers. This time Bill is working full time and I'm home, sorting, erranding, putting yet ANOTHER dvd on the laptop for the kids to watch while we sit at the dinner blanket (in place of a dinner table...we have a blanket on the floor) and eat PB & J (yes, I know we already had that for dinner last night).
Here's what it's like: the movers are there and I'm trying to point to things that don't go in the big shipment because they will go express with Cort in a sling and then I peek in on the kids because I hear Billie and Jackson competing for Sloane's attention and as soon as she see me, Sloane says "Mom! Drink! Snack! Pee Pee bathroom!" She knows she has to get in all her requests at once because I'll disappear again in 2 minutes and she is under strict instructions NOT TO LEAVE this room. Do not open the door, and be quiet until the movers are gone...Mommy will play with you in 2 weeks!
Now we're at the hotel and there is a TV- with reception and cable and everything!!! After not seeing one TV show for 18 months the kids are fascinated by commercials. Billie wants BRATZ dolls and Jackson wants anything spiderman and Sloane keeps saying "Watch THIS video Mom." as I flick through the millions of(49) channels wondering what is happening on the 48 channels I haven't had on for the last 8 seconds.
Shows are so awful that I stay up late watching them just to be sure they exist. Did you know that Scott Baio is married to an annoying pregnant girl? and who would have known what a whiny loser he is if you'd never thought of him beyond Charles in Charge? Then there's celebrity Rehab where people are ACTUAL drug addicts. I do miss sleep but who can sleep when there's all this entertainment right in the room with them.
I am so grateful for these idiot boxes when I have to make calls and pack boxes and the kids are bickering...there's enough TVs in our suite so that they can each have their own program on in separate rooms!!! Slightly disturbing that I would need that, yes.
here's some random laptop pictures from last time we were moving...i like the one of billie doing yoga with me when we were moving in.
look how little Sloane was!!! Cort is like that now...except he has NO skills at sitting up. He's good at spinning 360s on his belly on the floor like a breakdancer .

Guilt blog post

Cort with his first (in both senses) cousin, Rosalind- isn't she a sweetie? Cort's like "How come I hafta wear clothes?!"

Here is a random sampling of pictures in place of all the things i MEANT to blog about but didn't get around to...excuses for the lameness of the Christmas letter: I'm bad at keeping in touch and there are several cherished friends who probably don't feel very cherished and we are ONLY in Christmas letter contact so I feel I really MUST not let that tenuous line of contact close...so, the Christmas letter HAS to get done. But...I can't wait for inspiration and can't fit all the lovely things we do every year onto one page...so, I just sit down and write about nothing. Sorry.
Also planned to write about Christmas but didn't get to it: It was fun. Lots of people were here. I began to lose my mind at age 31.
THEN i was going to write about Sloane getting lost. The moment my heart ACTUALLY stopped beating as I ran up and down the street in front of our house screaming and crying like one of those crazy people you see in the movies calling "Sloane!" because I had looked away for 3 minutes as we were all playing (with friends over) in the backyard and she found a little gap between the fence. I couldn't think in my state of panic and was only considering the two exits for people who are over 3 ft tall, which are on the SIDES of the house. ACK! A neighbor spotted her in his yard and returned her home directly but talk about the most frightening 12 minutes of my life. woah. just a little something to keep me in perspective about how un-important moving all my crap is. After that day my brain was TOTALLY BLOWN at age 31 and has yet to be found.
AND i was going to write about all my crap: how I was just feeling good about getting down to only having the things we love/need around us. But now I realize that I am still suffering from affluenza and have more crap than ever. What the heck was i thinking buying MORE books?! uh...i'm insane.
So, there's some mini-blogs and here's some pictures.
This is a guilt post because i sent out a mass email with our new address and plan to be out of touch with everyone for ages and i felt bad to include a link to an old/boring posting now you have a new/boring posting to read!

the joy of friends

a high school reunion of the only people that count- my homegirls for the last 17 years.

the chicken dance is a popular activity at our house

chemistry set for christmas and lollipops f

shopping

25 minutes, 25 dollars, and 49 books- that's what I call shopping. Mostly I'm not so into shopping. I like shopping online. I know what I want, look for that specifically and buy it; no SALE distractions, no impulse purchases....it works.
I did manage to avoid the mall this whole holiday season (only 2 trips this whole year) haven't been to Target in months but I do still shop. Once a month there's a library sale- books are 10 and 25 cents. Here's what it looks like when I come home. I have to stock up because it seems unlikely that there is a library as great as ours anywhere else in the world (especially in a place where English is not the primary language!).