So if it sunny and warm, why is it raining in my heart?

I think I am having a recurrence of Washington blues. It is sunny and beautiful with unseasonally warm temperatures, but I just wish it would rain. And all my Washington friends just rolled their eyes at me. I wonder if others who left the PacNW miss the rain? This feeling has been very strong this week, on the edge of tears and thinking of what I miss. Moist and green and cozy afternoons inside with friends coming over to play. And the house (inside) is done and the neighbors are great but the feeling is there. E has been feeling it too , but I think it is due more to pressure about school for him. Mine is everything slowing down and I have time to miss our old home and E's is more wishing to go back to the good old days of 3 recesses.
Kid update:
M is amazing. Smart, cute, cunning. When I taught I really believed in cut off dates for kids starting "big school", but now that I have a smart little third child who is stuck with a November birthday and could probably handle K, but will have to do an extra year of preschool. My younger teacher self would lecture my parent self about the value of the extra year and the social skills he will learn and maturity and my parent self wants to tell her to jump off the Narrows Bridge. The kid is bright, on top of it academically and possesses mad social skills. Luckily, he will do 5 mornings a week next year with an option of lunch bunch a couple days a week. Yeah!
G has adjusted well. He has found a best buddy in the neighborhood that he clicks with and fell right into his class. His teacher said it's like he has been with her all year. Changing schools as a first grader is much easier than later on. He shows the mean part of himself more often now but that is normal for his age. Mostly he just goes with the flow.
E. Where do I start? Moving is harder socially for a 4th grader; he seems to have navigated that part the best. School work has been the ultimate test for him. Literally. They have tests here that are graded with letters and count. And there are grades that are averaged. And there is a planner for him to keep up with his assignments and it is his responsibility. And when he is told to study for something it means he has to do it on his own at home. And the homework takes hours, not minutes. And the report cards have letters and the kids are competitive about what they get for grades. And we just moved him here from Never Never Land. And he is struggling trying to grasp it all and nervous about looking silly by asking questions in class. Considering what he was tossed into with no prep, he has done terrific! Especially since his mommy was busy completing a house and didn't catch on to how different it was for a couple weeks. We are working together to get on top of the work and get him caught up, though I am sure for E it feels like we are just on top of him all the time yelling and nagging. He will get there. One pleasant surprise for me was that he loves palying the recorder. They must learn to play as part of music here and while he does get frustrated, he really glows when he memorizes a song and plays it right in class. Go E! We are searching for those positives right now.
Landscaping goes in over the next couple of weeks so I hope that will create a distraction for me so I can stop wishing and waiting for rain to make this feel more like home. B

Odds and Ends

We could also call this leftover thoughts.
Not feeling that hot-- I think the family is all sharing a cold which is making us all short with each other. M might be getting an ear infection with his and E seems miserable, but I am scared to keep him out of school yet since he already so far behind kids here. G has just a runny nose so far, but for him runny nose is a permanent state of being.
I am addicted to Scrabble Free on my phone. Addicted, almost as bad as I am addicted to Coca-Cola. Not good.
I miss my radio stations in WA. The state of radio in the state of Virginia is bad; I have even had passing thoughts of having satellite radio put back in the van, but I don't drive enough to justify that.
My phone has made my typing worse. I know it will add periods and capitals for me so now I forget to do it when I am typing on the real computer. I do hate the fact that when my phone fixes words it thinks it knows what I really was trying to say and it changes whole phrases for me.
I can text now. If you want any work done on your home in a timely manner you have to communicate in the way people will pay attention to and respond to. Not a fan of the text, but if it gets the job done then I do it. This doesn't mean you can text me as a regular means of communication. I only do it for work so far.
Drywall. It came to a point in the final finishing of the house where some walls had gouges or marks that could have probably used drywall repair, but do you know how many days drywall repair adds to a project? First they have to apply it one day, the next day they massage it and sand it, the next day they smooth it and whisper it words of love and encouragement, then they come for several more visits before it gets approval for paint. Spackle. $2 for a little tub and a couple hours to dry.
A word of advice: If you have been apart from your spouse for several months and it is time to be reunited, building a house together is not the activity to undertake during an already stressful adjustment period. D lived in the land of all quiet, neat adults for nearly 5 months and I was in the messy, chaotic, noisy land of children and when the 2 worlds collide in an unfinished house...lets just say we had a few tense days. Things are smoothing out now that the work on the house is almost finished. Shelves are going into bookcases as I type and the final list of items to complete has been handed over. By Friday we may even have a TV in the den so we don't have to go down into the basement toy pit to watch TV at night.
We are very happy to be back together and it will get happier around the house once we get done with this family cold.
love and hugs and orange juice and chicken soup, B