The Simple Things

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I think all of NOVA is feeling pretty ripped off right about now. Just two days away from spring, and we woke up to more snow on the ground this morning. We were teased with a couple of days that broke 60 degrees, and we danced outside in the steaming sunlight, joy filling our winter-throttled hearts once more. It all sounds so dramatic I know, but it is dramatic to wake up to snow on March 18th. 

Monday was Monday - in the way that Mondays are best. It culminated with running into the grocery store after work, through what had disintegrated into a cold, drippy rain, only to realize the grocery list was still in the car. There was deliberation about whether to go on...but it was needed. Back into the rain. Through the parking lot, the puddles...dug through the car, there it is. I put in in my coat pocket with my keys and journeyed back in to the store where I had left my buggy. (I do call them buggies.) A reach back into the pocket, and the list was not there. Apparently it just wasn't meant to be. Time to jog the memory. I would have retrieved it from the puddle on the way back to the car if I weren't battling an arm of grocery bags, the car keys, an open umbrella, and the Harris Teeter store-front traffic jam.

Back home, the groceries unpacked, the debate about whether or not to go to the gym. We went. It was a good decision. Something about pumping the iron just beats the Monday right out of ya. Another great thing is that the gym is right next to Whole Foods, which we went in for the first time last week and discovered they have delicious individual desserts in a fridge next to a checkout line. We came down the stairs at the gym and Levi pulled me aside into a dark corner and whispered in my ear. Wanna go get a dessert from Whole Foods for tonight?

My face lit up like July. Like fireworks in July, like the sunshine in July, like everything there is to love about July. We scampered through the rain and into Whole Foods, where we (I) kept seeing yummy things as we walked by. Want to try it?, he asked. Just try it. Let's get it. Ok! Walking towards the dessert cooler, somehow we landed in the ice cream aisle. Girl: MMMMMMM. Boy: We could get that instead of a dessert. Girl: But I don't think I want it more than a dessert. Boy (opening the door): Then we can get it with a dessert. Because it's okay to make it extra special sometimes. There was something else on the way to the dessert cooler. We got that too. And finally, a dessert.

We kissed at the register, and paid $21.07. Thinking about how we're supposed to avoid walking in grocery stores and spending random sets of $21.07's only lasted a tiny second, because those words were still ringing. It's okay to make it extra special sometimes. 

$21.07 on the simple things just really hit the spot. Good riddance, Monday. And when those simple green sprouts finally decide to spring, we will say good riddance, Winter.

Email from an Angel

Well, a strange and wonderful turn of events happened yesterday evening. After spending the day trying to schedule a tour of a condo that we thought might be our place, and not making any progress, I was on the way home from work feeling a little anxious and a lot frustrated by how much time and energy it can take to do this whole looking for a place to live thing. I can't even imagine when it's over buying a house. We'll give that one some time.

I had just taken the exit off the highway into our town and was sitting at the stop light when I compulsively checked my phone to see if I had any new calls or emails. It's something I've gotten in the habit of doing since we've been calling and emailing so many different people. The little gmail icon was displayed in the top left corner, and I thought...hmph...probably another junk email. Normally that little gmail icon doesn't spark so much excitement, but lately, I've practically lived to see it.

It was no junk email though. It was sent from an angel. Well, it was the realtor we had met and submitted an application with before, but it might as well have been an angel. The subject line showed the address of the place we had applied for, and then said >> Fully Available. See, the only place we had applied to yet was our favorite, favorite place - you know, the one I've been talking about in previous posts - the one we weren't accepted for.

The traffic light turned green, but I tapped the email and had to keep reading. Between looking up at the road and back down at my phone, I made out words like "previously accepted tenants" ... "medical emergency" ... "preventing their move" ... "condo fully available" ... "interested?" ... "asap." My heart was racing as I skimmed it again to make sure I wasn't seeing things, and sure enough, it was available. I called Levi even though I was less than 5 minutes from home, then called the realtor and couldn't say "we'll take it!" fast enough.

He told me the only reason we weren't accepted in the first place is because the other applicants had dogs, and the owner has dogs, and she knows it can be difficult for dog owners to find a pet-friendly home. I harbored a tiny bit of hatred in my heart for pet owners all around the world for about half a second - as I thought to myself "are you kidding me??" - and then quickly didn't care any more because we had our condo!!

The realtor got in touch with the owner to tell her what was happening, and I tried to reserve my excitement until we really knew for sure that it was ours. Then at 6:20-something this morning when my alarm went off and I saw that gmail icon on my phone, I was two taps away from seeing the lease agreement on my screen through my blurry morning eyes. We signed this evening and will have access in three short weekends!

God knew our desires and brought them to pass even after we had long since let them go. And we are SO happy.

Negative, Ghost Rider, the pattern is full

Or the condo, as it were. Pardon my Top Gun references (that movie was SO painfully 80s), but we were not granted a flyby. It turns out that we didn't find out about our application Tuesday...nor Wednesday...NOR Thursday...but Friday! It was a long week of waiting, just to find out another application was accepted.

But if there was one thing I developed over this long week of patience, it was a little bit of perspective, and a realization that it would actually be okay if we didn't get that condo. Sure, we really liked it, and sure, I would have been over the moon if we had have gotten it, but I was so tired of waiting that I would rather just know we didn't get it than keep wondering. So here we are!

This weekend will hopefully consist of viewing more condos (there are still a couple of possibilities in that complex, so I'm still hoping) and probably purging more of our excess belongings, duplicate books, etc., in preparation for our pre-move yard sale.

And probably watching movies, because that's what we do. Speaking of movies, we finally got to experience first-hand why Safe House was constantly out of stock at Blockbuster. And by constantly I mean we tried to rent it a couple weekends ago, then on a Thursday, then on a Monday, then on a Wednesday, and every. single. time. it was gone. Finally this past Wednesday I drove back to Leesburg just to get their last copy, and we watched it. And it was really good. So if you're looking for a movie this weekend, I recommend that one, but good luck finding it!

Maybe Tomorrow??

We submitted an application Saturday for a condo that we really really like and think is the perfect fit for us. I can't stop thinking about it because of how badly I want to move in to it!

We knew at the time that we were the third applicants, but then the realtor we were working told us Sunday that he had just found out the building right across from the one we'd be in was going to be torn down and rebuilt, so there would be about 18 months of construction going on. We kept our application in, but I hope it weeded the others out!

We should find out tomorrow or Wednesday at the latest about whether or not we get it. We've been sending up lots and lots of prayers, and reminding ourselves that God knows every detail of what we want and need and will take care of it in His time and way.

But in the meantime, the questions that swirl through my head at various moments throughout the day are...

...I wonder if the owners have gotten the applications and credit results yet?

...I wonder if the other people dropped out because of the construction?

...will we find out Tuesday? or Wednesday?

...what will I do if I find out we get it? or if I find out we don't?

...I can't wait to move into that place! (Oh wait, we don't know if we are yet. SIGH.)

...WHY CAN'T WE FREAKING KNOW ALREADY?!?!!?!!

...sigh.

...maybe tomorrow!

...ok I really need a distraction now because I'm not getting anything done.

And that, my friends, has been the past 2 1/2 days of my life. Over and over and over again.

I wonder if we'll find out tomorrow!

It's Just A Matter of Time -- Part II

As I sip my coffee on this bitterly frigid afternoon, I think back to a time when not coffee, but OJ, was my drink of choice first thing in the morning. I just couldn't start the day right without a tall glass of OJ, and if the container was empty, I was an intensely grumpy world-hater. I don't really know how I changed from that, but I hardly ever drink OJ now, and coffee is by far the most important provision from God's creation for my morning.

But back then - in "the OJ days," we could call them - I started another morning habit that I still practice. I grew fond of English Muffins (the Thomas brand!) - toasted, with butter and raspberry jelly (seeded!). I still buy those by the bushel, and since I eat them so much and have been trying to find creative ways to spend my spare moments throughout the day, I have started noticing a variety of things I can do in the 2-3 minutes that my late-morning delight is toasting. Here are a few:

{make the bed}

{put away the clean dishes}

{add some items to the grocery list}

{sort yesterday's mail}

{clip my fingernails}

{pay a bill online}

{sweep the kitchen floor}

And the possibilities go on. It's so much better than standing in front of the toaster and then jumping through the roof when it pops because you were staring at the hot coils daydreaming. (That's happened to me.) So maybe you're a college student and can't have a toaster in your dorm, or maybe you have a toaster and just don't eat English Muffins. But either way, I bet you do have those couple minutes every once in a while that you're tapping your foot waiting on something to be done.

Of course, sometimes I just like to sit down and not do anything while I'm waiting. And other times, my fingernails are too long and I just can't stand it anymore. And that's when I love those "spare" minutes.