House Hunting and Cute Cheese Graters

Checking to see if the cheese is coming out.

We've been house shopping!

House shopping takes a lot more work than shopping for a car or mattress! I thought those were big projects. But house shopping takes all of the online research and the test driving, plus traveling to every house you think you might be interested in. 

We live almost 200 miles away from where we're buying a house, so we've also been travelling a ton. We've been home from our last (and hopefully final) house-hunting trip for five days and I finally feel human again.

Quick update:

Darren graduated from HSU in December 2018. Yay! 

We had a rough month when a promised job fell through. But he was offered a job with the Soil Service (USDA) in January. I am really grateful that the job 1) started right away and 2) allowed him to work in the Arcata office so that we didn't have to move right away. 

Ultimately, Darren's supervisors want him in the Chico office (which may relocate, or not, things keep changing). The housing market in the Chico area is impacted because of the Camp Fire last year (both renting and buying), so Darren's supervisors have given us extra time to find a place to live over there. 

We just started inspections on a house. It's a little bit terrifying and a little bit exciting.

Meanwhile, 

life with kids is like living in a blender. 

We missed lunch and tea time today (Lilli and I are attempting to establish a hobbit meal schedule). I was a little skeptical about Davey helping with supper (which turned out to be dinner), but he clearly asserted that he wanted to help with the cheese. 

It turns out he was hungry. He worked at it for several minutes, then asked for help. When I gave him a hand, he promptly ate half of the cheese in the serving bowl.  

I guess I better do better at the meal schedule...