Big Ol' Catch-up Post

It's so hard to start blogging when you haven't posted for a long time because there seems to be an insurmountable amount of ground to cover.  Though it doesn't do these subjects any justice, in the interest of moving forward and blogging about future topics, I'm going to do bullet points to summarize what has happened since my last blog post:

• Moved to the exurbs.  While the family was in Costa Rica, I decided I didn't want to commute such a long distance and so I found a house in the boonies (near work).  It's quite a change for us to go from a cramped duplex (that I wrote about so fondly here) to what I call our McMansion: four bedrooms and three baths with a yard.  I need to do a whole separate post about that topic!
• Bought an electric car.  Now that we live in non-walkable suburbia, of course we need a second car!  To compensate for our less environmentally friendly life (though living in the burbs does mean a shorter commute for me), we were excited to buy the 100% electric Nissan LEAF.  We've had it for about two months and love it!
• Tori and the kids returned from Costa Rica!  They got back on April 24th and it's really, really great to have them back.  When I first saw them at LAX I cried and Zadie asked me, "Mom, why is your face so sweaty?"  Because Costa Rica was kind of challenging in terms of the lack of sleep and all the kids getting terribly bitten by mosquitoes (and then infected with empatigo), Tori was actually really excited to be in our big, comfortable house, which made me very happy.
• Tori is officially a stay-at-home mom.  Though she actually lost her job with the Peace Corps back in early March, she had her mom helping her in Costa Rica so that didn't really count as being a stay-at-home mom.  Now she's living in the burbs and home all day with three kiddos, so this really hard-core.  Mostly I think it's going well, although it's definitely more challenging than any office job she's ever done.
• The family is hitting the road again.  In about a week, Tori is driving to Washington state with the three kids.  By herself.  I don't know why she thinks this is a good idea (and why she hasn't learned that I'm always right about this stuff, e.g. Costa Rica), but she thinks she's going to have a super fun road trip from L.A. to Washington state.  I'll have to report back on that later!  Anyway, she'll be gone for a month, but I don't really mind them leaving this time because I'm going to spend 10 days in Washington with them in the middle of the month.
• My parents are selling the resort.  I know I've written on this blog many times about how much we love to  come to my parents' house because of the great weather, the pool, and my wonderful parents.  It's been a peaceful and truly blissful escape for us from the chaos (and, up until recently, cramped chaos) of our regular lives.  Sadly for us, the resort is up for sale, so we're having our last hurrah here this holiday weekend and taking it all in.  Their next home has already been purchased and is also going to be great, but of course I can't imagine my parents not living here and this house not being a part of my life and my children's lives.  But, as my mom says, we'll have lots more memories to make in their next home!