This weekend was full of surprises–both wonderful and ugh.
And, of all the pictures I took of our adventures at the beach house, this one captures it best. Even though exploring the house was fun, we were all just as shell-shocked as the faces of those three kids. Also tired. Can you see the fatigue in those marshmallow faces? Oh boy, I can. But maybe that’s why I’m feeling it myself.
Perfect example: For weeks we’ve been preparing for the BIG CLOSING DAY. You know how it goes, all the details of working with the title company and realtors and sellers and mortgage company and insurance people and trying to make sure they all get along so closing goes smoothly. Tons of work and the Closing date got delayed twice because of all the details.
Because we also planned to spend the weekend at the house, I cooked all week. I didn’t know exactly what kitchen supplies were in the house, but I knew that if I didn’t make some go-to chili or spaghetti, we’d be eating McDonalds and Fruit Roll-Ups for three days. So, I loaded the cooler up with gallon-sized bags of homemade Texas Steak Chili.
Anyway, we finally got to closing on Friday–with our four kids, two dogs, and two cars full of stuff. Which, I can safely say, was VERY SURPRISING for the super professional title company. Lucky for them we left Manny (the Greyhound) and Maddie (the Cocker Spaniel) in the car.
The kids (with the help of blatant bribes like Kit Kats and Skittles) sat through closing with only about four hundred questions about “WHY DO YOU HAVE TO SIGN SO MANY PAPERS?”
All the professionals at Closing were surprised the kids were so well-behaved (again, thank the Skittles). They kept saying, “Wow. We are SO SURPRISED that went so well!
What surprised me was my emotions of closing on the house. It was all so happy and exciting, I kept wiping away tears. Luckily none of the professionals noticed, or I’m doubting they would have felt I was mentally competent enough to take care of my four kids…let alone two dogs and a second house.
Especially with what happened next…
The kids and I ran to the minivan to zip over to the beach house, just across the street. When Catie opened the door, she said, “Madison is bleeding!”
When I got to the car, I smelled the strangest odor. Like steak and smoked paprika and hours of my time. Like Texas Steak Chili.
SURPRISE!
During the TWO HOURS we were in Closing, Madison has MacGyver-ed her way into the cooler, torn open the gallon bags of chili, and feasted. Manny had (surprisingly) stood by and watched.
We didn’t know it, but that moment would be a clear representation of our weekend to come:
Super high-highs of fun surprises…
….and lots of work and clean-up.
Oh, and plenty of Skittles for the kids.
Because, of course, (surprise!) we had no chili .
