Cross your fingers!!

Here I sit - typing away on our new laptop! This thing is incredibly handy, let me tell ya. Today, I folded several loads of laundry in the living room while keeping an eye on my e-mail program to see if Tai sent me any messages. No need to run to the bedroom every few minutes to check! (It's much easier to stay on task if you're staying in the vicinity of the task.)

We found a townhouse for rent that I really, really, really like. It's got three bedrooms. The kids' rooms are about the size of the rooms they've got now, but that's ok: there's a HUGE rec room in the basement!! The master bedroom is much, much bigger than the one we've got now, and there are two big closets in it. The kids' rooms have big closets, too. One of them (the bedrooms, not the closet) has built-in shelves covering an entire wall, too. The living room isn't bad - it's a bit smaller than ours now, but the layout of the living space makes up for it. There's a real dining room - probably big enough to put the computer desk as well as the table. Alternatively, it has a real-regular-room kitchen (not this galley crap all of the apartments are sporting these days), where the computer desk could fit. There's a pantry and a deep coat closet on the main level as well. Oh, and it has a big deck off the main level via sliding glass doors from the dining room...which is really cool, because that is NOT ground level in the back. The basement is walk-out level, too - walkout onto another big deck, and a small fenced yard. Did I mention the rec room has a fireplace?! All of this and more - for only $180 more per month than we pay here...for probably twice the usable square footage. Ooooh, and it has all of the appliances, too - including a washer and dryer!

Ok, now on to the reason that you'll be crossing your fingers if you're any kind of friend, family member, or decent human being. ;o) They want a full-month's deposit. And then there's the fact that we cannot possibly move the furniture ourselves. So we need to find a way to beg/borrow/steal/make about two grand ASAP in order to get this place. You could also cross your fingers that our credit is good enough - mine is questionable at best, and Tai's is ok, but we don't know what they consider "good enough".

We tried to get our marriage license today - the website said that they were open until 4:30. We got there about ten after four. Unfortunately, the door was locked, and upon inspection, had a sign saying they close at 4:00. =o( Alas, no marriage license for us today. That's ok. We will be able to get it Friday if all else fails. There's no required wait here like there is in Illinois, so immediately prior to the ceremony will do.

Gerbil update: Lenny seems to be surviving ok. He won't take the Tylenol that I've offered him. (Let me tell you, it's no small job to dilute Tylenol to gerbil strength! 2 tsp of Children's Tylenol to 22 tsp of water, and he gets a 1ml [1/5 tsp] per dose!)But he does seem to be eating and drinking. And he still goes up into the nifty wheel thing to go potty - now just why they chose the wheel as their bathrooming area, I'll never know. *shakes head*

I don't think I've mentioned on here that my cousin Jennifer had her baby toward the end of July. He's a beautiful baby boy, Matthew. Unfortunately, they've discovered he has a hole in his heart. From what I've heard, he's doing ok, and they're going to leave it be for now. Hopefully it will take care of itself. If not, he may need to have it stapled. Prayers would be appreciated.

My cousin Michelle is due on Friday the 13th (my wedding day!). If she "pops" before we're married, her wee one will be the first female great-grandchild of the family. If not, D will be the first official one, though she'll be a step-great-grandchild. Regardless, we're going to get some little girls into this family one way or another soon!!

My cousin, Kate finally has pictures up of her new baby boy, Elias, and her 2 year old, Pedro. They are adorable kids. Drop by and see the pics.

I **think** that's all that's going on...don't forget to keep your fingers crossed!