So I thought I'd reserve my comments on our new roommate until things settled in to a regular routine.  If you need catch up, my brother Tyler has moved in while he goes to Saint Cloud State University.  As far as I can tell, a well-put-together teenager is a breath of fresh air compared to my all-or-nothing three-year-old.  Sadly I have nothing dramatic to report.

There was a bit of drama however last night during the "off to school night" at Axels new preschool.  One of the tasks on our "get to know your classroom" scavenger hunt was to think of a name for the class fish.  Being the first people in the classroom, I happened to notice that the Beta fish wasn't presenting in prime shape.  In fact, I was 100% sure that he was 100% dead.  Immediately I alerted the teacher in order to spare the nearly 30 preschoolers the pain of naming an expired fish.  The teacher, brushing me off said, "I'm sure he's fine, I just picked him up this morning." 

Axel honed in on the dead fish immediately.  "He's stuck," and ultimately, "I think that fish died."  Quickly I diverted his attention to the Lego table in hopes that he wouldn't be the spoiler...the "there is no Santa Claus" kid.

The kids came up with plenty of names for the fish, some of them endearing and some of them after themselves.  Kids are hilarious that way.  Jahred and I wrote Axels selection on the sheet just to give the teacher a chuckle at the burial, surely to follow the chaos of the open house.  We thought his name should be "Flush."

Hopefully when the kids show up next Wednesday for their first official day, Flush will be looking dapper in a bright shade of purple, at least I hope one of his relatives from the pet store shows up.

Today after buying a few school supplies we took ourselves out to a deli to celebrate the upcoming school year.  Have we finally found our "go to place" in our new hometown?  I'm thinking so.

Now that's a deli sandwich.  For the record, Jahred was only able to eat part of it.

My vegetarian pita.  It was even more delicious than it looks.

"Mom, is that your old board?" Axel asks me this morning.  Although I heard his words, more importantly I heard them coming from outside, where he shouldn't have been.  So I wrangled a pair of shorts and sped to the front door to see what he was referring to.

Sitting outside my front door was the most beautiful antique ironing board.  Super strange.  Having just moved here, nobody knows me and therefor I don't receive many random deliveries.

Immediately I started to hypothesize.  Is this one of those "pass the white elephant gifts" where you dump a random object from yard to yard?  Was this perhaps litter, someone dumping it in the middle of the night?  If someone really did intend for me to receive this, why not come during the day so I could thank them?

This is perplexing...but really a great accident.  I have adopted the abandoned "old board" and will be using it until it's claimed.

So my new living room is shaping up nicely.  Only one hole remains, as I have yet to procure the round coffee table of my dreams.  With my gallery hanging system, I'm sure to be changing art like the tide, and rearranging furniture to increase the "funk-shui." 

The beige chair (seem partially on the left of the photo) is from my grandmother and I love it's antique and well-loved style.  The orange arm chair came to me from a yard sale where I discovered it with dark wooden legs.  I found that painting those legs white gave a "mad-hatter" hint to the piece, and I like it.  The two white end tables (hidden) came to me and became white in a similar fashion.  Perhaps you all remember the zebra sofa, upholstered by yours truly, two homes ago, for a webinar I taught through Etsy?  It is really the crown jewel of the arrangement.  The white bookshelf, right, was built for me by Jahred as a birthday present a few years ago.  I remain in love with that piece.

As for the art.  Center, a photo of Axel with a canine friend; snapped at a wedding in Pittsburgh this spring.  I liked it so much that I bought the rights from the photographer and blew it up massively.  On the right is a print I bought from an elderly art dealer.  The paper itself is a bit wrinkled, but I just LOVE the colors in this city scene, he only had one of these and I like to think it's OOAK (one of a kind).  On the left is a print, made by a student of mine from my teaching days.  Those days seem long gone, but I've always adored this amateur piece and like to think of "where is she now?!"

So there you have it.  I bit of what I've been working on.  It's taken a while for this house to tell me how he wishes to be decorated, but we're communicating quite nicely now and I suspect smooth sailing from here on out.

One happy kid watched his piano being brought into the house today.

Thanks to one always reliable delivery crew and one newly hired "muscle crew," the piano is back with us, safe and sound.

While our last home offered the perfect antique ambiance, our new digs deliver a touch of the modern world to this 1919 beauty.

Not able to wait until the art was hung straight, my giddy little man was demanding his first role.

If there was a way to include sound bites in my blog you would all hear the rin-tin-tin sound of a truly unique "player piano."  For those new to "player pianos," yes, this lady plays and moves her keys all by herself.

Our first role, "Happy Birthday" which includes renditions of "The Gang's all Here," "Auld Lang Syne," and "For He's a Jolly Good Fellow."  Role number two, a rousing German Polka.

We'll surely be dancing the night away, enticing any passers-by to welcome a new gal to the block!

Being a family on the lamb means just one thing...little attachment to town, community or latitudinal coordinates.  This summer, knowing our move has more permanency than a snow fence, we've decided to take it all in!

On Saturday we were pleasantly surprised that our new home is just blocks from the famous Sartell Summerfest festivities.  (Insert cheering from people who refuse to drive/park at crowded events.)  I couldn't help myself from waking up before dawn, biking to a garage sale or two, and packing the stroller with parade essentials.  Among the gear was our under-used picnic blanket, three bottles of water and a plastic bag (for the candy of course).

Off we went, a bit early I admit, but what mother doesn't wish to procure the perfect curbside location for her toddler to witness Minnesota tradition?  I like to think other places in the world experience parades, but in Minnesota they're special; limited amount of decent weather in which to spectate them, and attending a parade could give you your first sunburn of the year.  Sunburn equals a bit of a swagger for the normally ghost-like complected.

What a parade it turned out to be!  I had no idea that such a small river town could produce 77 floats and nearly two hours of candy throwing action.  Axel was digging it.  Like every parade goer, Axel had to decide for himself which floats were worthy of a wave, a clap or an ear cover.

Police and Fire = definite wave
Flags = a darling hand over heart
Go-Carts and Old Cars = tight ear cover
Anything Throwing Candy = no time for anything but running and grabbing

With a parade under our belts by noon, we headed south to the old homeland for one swimming session, one grad party and several cupcakes.  One sleepy and overstimulated kid met once again with the driveway around nine, only to stroll up to the fireworks which I think he would have slept through had it not been for the "cowboy cover band" which he found quite loud, but worth the trip to the front of the stage.  (Picture a jaw hanging open and a the only dance move he could muster, a head bob).

Whew, a day that started and ended with Sartell, with community and with becoming involved. 

I just have to share our experience at the Munsinger Clemens Botanical Gardens today.  We started the week out at 103 degrees, today is a nippy 50, and the splash pad just wasn't going to work.  Based on a friendly suggestion, we threw on our wind jackets and went in search of these beautiful grounds.

I'll just roll the pictures since words won't do.  I really feel like we stumbled upon a private oasis where surely we'll become regulars.

First rule of becoming an explorer . . . find a GREAT stick.

Axel must have "taken a rest" on every memorial bench.  Sweet.

 . . . and then we found the upper gardens.  Although I begged, he simply wasn't going to turn around for the camera.  One word . . . FOUNTAINS!

Constant AWE!

Missing a photo opportunity with this duck . . .

 . . . I convinced him that a more subtle approach to duck photography is best (notice the mallard in the background).

Unbelievable.

So, because once again, Nikon's battery is dead, I'm forced to grab point-and-shoot from my purse.

A funny thing happens when you pull out the "emergency camera," you discover pictures that have been clinging to digital media for a while, just waiting to be uploaded and remembered.  Tonight is such an occasion.

The FedEx guy must work overtime around here because around 7pm, long after normal delivery hours, a long and slender package arrived at my door.  I knew exactly what it was.  AS Hanging System's top notch gallery track hanging supplies, coveted "for a long time" by me and recently purchased for my new walls.  Almost immediately, the cordless drill, ladder, level and the contents of my package were gathered and ready for installation.

Hanging just one track, on my tall purple wall, I became so proud of myself that the old Cybershot came out and I have the first cryptic photos to show you my new "gallery" (scratch that...home).

Now, here comes the fun.  Uploading the pictures I knew wouldn't do justice to the fabulous wall system, I discovered the final pic taken of our humble apartment.  It seems like we kissed it goodbye decades ago and a bit of nostalgia comes with seeing it's picture once again.  Sigh.

So, just to peak your jealousy, and encourage you all to display art (however trivial) in a uniform and respectable manner, here is the first glimpse of "gallery meets living space."  (Never mind that I still have no furniture.  I'm a big girl now, and I'd rather cross legs on the floor looking at beautiful walls than stare at unembellished space.  Besides, when's the last time you saw living room furniture in a GALLERY?)

While inside the house I'm toiling away, scrubbing walls, picking paint colors and infusing our own smell, the nature of our yard seems to be freshening up all on it's own.

Last weekend, Axel and I traveled to Pittsburgh and were lucky enough to spend some time at an east coast wedding.  The wedding took place on a farm, complete with dogs that napped on the dance floor, one wickedly good "cookie table", and a barn fit for Kate Middleton herself.  If you're in the market for a Pennsylvania wedding, I highly recommend Armstrong Farms!

So coming home from spectacular landscaping I felt compelled to do some exploring within the fenced confines of our own lot.  Over 20 trees grace this city sized chunk of land (that's way more than necessary)...some of them already on the chopping block...but will wait until fall so we can experience a summer in full bloom.
 
Leading with the camera, I first captured a few tiny beginnings and then got down and dirty trimming some of what 20 years of "wild" has created.

plum tree blossoms

fiddleheads

all trimmed up . . . pine

Four, going on five nights spent in the "garage house."  Phrases like "happy as a clam," "right place, right time" and perhaps "giddy as a school-girl" come to mind.  Granted, it hasn't been all roses during the move in process, and the previous owner has given us his share of "bachelor grime" (including a bathroom drawer filled with fingernail clippings), but really...we're up to our elbows in bleach and smiling all the way through to our cheek bones.

Just a few peaks today on what this 89-er currently features.  Not much of the decor will make it through my purge, but in case you need a flashback...here's a glimpse of some fabulous hardware (I have 47 of these handles), seizure inducing wallpaper and a light fixture that's sure to WOW you.

If anyone is in the market for wooden towel racks I may be able to arrange a dozen or so shipped your way.

Really...the fun is just beginning and Axel is all about putting wet rag to wall.  (Insert sinister laugh here.)  (Add sound of 90's decor fleeing the room.)

After a visit from the Easter Bunny, my family of three kicked the apartment for good and found greener pastures in the "Grandstay Hotel" of Saint Cloud.  Axel has learned the key points of hotel life quickly...

1.  Indoor Pool (A private pool at that, since we may be the only three vacationing in downtown Saint Cloud.)
2.  Cable TV
3.  Continental Breakfast (Donuts and orange juice anyone?)

Wow...why buy a house when you can further delay cooking, housekeeping and property tax?  One week from tomorrow, at 1pm, we'll be signing our life away once more to commitment and yard work.  I honestly cannot wait.