Last Saturday on Saxon Street.

Today is the last Saturday in our current home. We've been here about 11 and a half years, so that's about 650 Saturdays, give or take a few. The first Saturdays were just Iain and me, probably working in the yard, sleeping late, going to movies and me cooking really nice dinners with food from Central Market. Oh, we also drank alot of wine and kept a spreadsheet of what we drank, the price, how we liked it, etc...oh the life.

Then, in 2001 our Saturdays were initially all about trying to have a baby through intense medical intervention and how we'd pay for it. Then pregnancy! A great portion of 2001 were pregnant Saturdays, full of hope and joy and baby showers. Then Saturdays in 2001 were about death and grief and sorrow. Those were the darkest Saturdays of all. Excruciating. They seemed endless and only nightfall brought some relief.

Those Saturdays lasted a long time. I don't have alot of memories of how we filled our days for a few years, but we slowly emerged back into a life.

In about 2004, Saturdays become good and great again. Hope was involved. Iain started an MBA program and was gone for two Saturdays a month, and once again, pregnancy! Those Saturdays that Iain was gone were hard at first, but after a bit became a bit of a little treasure. While pregnant with Duncan is was some nice alone time for me. Total freedom! Little did I know how special that alone time would be. Iain would have to leave for class on Friday night, and would not be home until Saturday night. Wow, while I would not trade for that again it sure does seem particularly lovely now. Once Duncan was born those Saturdays changed but were still okay. I am sure it seemed really difficult with a newborn but seriously. It was ONE baby. My mom and sister were living back in town at this point so Saturdays became alot about family time with a new baby.

Those were mostly very good Saturdays! Although, at the time, they could seem long and lonely. Not alot of structure with newborns. Alot of moment to moment existence and alot of that nice freedom gone. Poof! But still, looking back....one baby!

Once Claire and Finn came along, Saturdays got a little more hectic. At first, they were just a blur. Iain and I running on very little sleep, one kid stops napping and two babies sleeping in the dining room (for four months.) I honestly don't know how we did it, but we did. So now, Claire and Finn are two and a half, and Duncan is almost six and our Saturdays have a fairly nice rhythm. Certainly easier than it has been in years. They are all old enough to go in the back yard and keep themselves busy, or play in their rooms...but seem most content when they are in the same room as Iain and me. Sometimes I think the size of our house would have no bearing on how many children we would have underfoot. They just like to be with us. So we hang out, play tee ball, swing high, have cheetah runs, play basketball, chat with neighbors, eat, climb, scream, laugh, and get through our Saturdays on Saxon Street.

Today was a crazy one...this last Saturday. Packing with all three of them under foot is challenging. Claire loves to put things in boxes and carry things around, so she undoes alot of what I have just done. Duncan seems a bit anxious about it all and wants to know where his things are...I inadvertently packed his baseball pants and he had to wear shorts to his game today. It caused him some initial stress. Finn just runs around with cars. As long as he has those, he is unfazed. We got them all cleaned (well 2 out of 3), fed, and to bed and will close the chapter on this routine of our lives. To start anew next Saturday.

Pack, rats!

So, here is how I pack.

Feel inspired. Tape one box together. Walk around in stupor for ten - twenty minutes trying to figure out what to put in box. Finally decide. Fill box. Feel proud. Then feel overwhelmed. Go sit. Stare at house. Walk from room to room examining how much stuff is still left. Make no plan. Tend to children's needs. Check email. Brush hair. Pace. Try to decide whether or not to have another cup of coffee. Wash hands. Look for reading glasses. Find newspaper and read Arts & Life section to confirm new Johnny Depp movie is not worth the babysitting money. Disassemble twins high chairs to find unspeakable things on the underside of seat. Throw seat covers in washing machine, on sanitize, and stand in awe of wonderful washing machine that is soon to belong to mother and sister because previous owner is leaving me her Whirlpool Duet Sport. Am bounced back to reality that we are moving in less than two weeks and need to pack. Repeat.

A Moving Experience

So, we have sold our house, and apparently bought a new one! We are moving! In just under four weeks. I am very excited, and very overwhelmed. May was busy, as it was. But now, we must pack and do everything else that is involved in moving all of our worldly goods to another location, along with three small children. Things that are keeping me up at night include:

• When do we dismantle and move the cribs? We can move our things into the new house on June 2nd, and must be out of our current home by midnight on June 3rd. Do we save the cribs for last? Do them first? My head. It swims.
• Where do we sleep on June 2nd? Current house? New house? Must have all beds in one place.
• Duncan's last day of school is also June 2nd! That just adds to the mix somehow.
• Okay, so my list is not as long as I thought it would be.

We had a small garage sale today, got rid of some stuff and made about $100. Not enough to buy the camera that I want but enough to justify some Thai food perhaps. Gratefully, our parents all came to help with the kids and it really was kind of fun. We have about two weeks until we close on both houses, then about three more days until we have to be out of here. Sometimes I just sit and stare at all the stuff and overwhelm myself.

Should I move the twins into big girl and big boy beds when we move? See, more questions.

Should we keep the twins in the same room or put the boys together?

Argh.

I am also trying to eat from the pantry and freezer. I would really like to eat up what we've got and not either throw away or move frozen food and canned goods. Things might get rather creative around here for the next two weeks or so! Tonight I did pretty good. I made a homemade pasta sauce with a can of organic tomatoes, oregano, garlic, basil. Yummy. Cooked up some frozen tortellini. Used a can of Pillsbury pizza dough and made a kind of ghetto version of bruschetta but it was good. Let me tell you. Oh, and the 8 green beans that I picked from our garden! We can each have one, then three lucky folks get an extra. Feeding my family.