Rosie turned 6 this year, and as usual she has a birthday Season rather than one party. On her birthday proper, it was a Thursday and she had dance class, so she just opened presents from us and Grandparents, had dinner with me and her dad, and Uncle Chris skyped in to join in singing Happy Birthday before she blew out six candles stuck in a slice of cheesecake.

That Friday her aunt Sarah flew in for a visit, so Saturday we had a sort of "family" party with some close friends, and we had a small ice cream cake with strawberries, and another round of singing and presents. And having Sarah visit was a gift in and of itself.

TODAY we have the "friends from school" chaos, I mean, party, and it's going to be here at the house as well. It would have been easier to go to Chuck e Cheese or a similar place like most of her classmates have done, but once we got a house with a pool she had her heart set on a pool party, so we have a lifeguard friend coming over as well as 8-10 school friends, and we got a Slip and Slide type slide which we still haven't set up yet, in case the pool gets boring. There's still a big pile of boxes in the living room but I worked hard the last few days getting boxes *out* of the playroom downstairs and setting it up with toys, and Brian installed the cat door to the utility room, so we can lock them out of that, so I'm hoping the kids will pretty much stay out of the living room because it's boring compared to the pool, the sun room, and the play room.

I just really hope no one sprains or breaks an ankle or anything, because the yard is full of trip hazards we haven't resolved yet. And the party starts in 3 hours and I'm still cleaning.

I'm trying not to freak out, though. Or as I imagine Chuck Wendig might write, "I'm not freaking out! YOU'RE freaking out. Just shut UP over there with your stupid 'freak-out' face."

Cupcakes are made and will be frosted once Brian and Rosie get home. I'm going to get back to sweeping and vacuuming, and then we will put up decorations.

Wish us luck!

We made it! 26-foot Uhaul towing the Mazda, with Rosie riding in the Jetta, driven separately (four drivers+the baby in our caravan, three of the drivers swapping around except me -I was always in the Jetta). Epic move was Epic! So glad to be done.

Still unpacking, of course, and we won't have in-home internet until Saturday, soonest, but my sister Sarah and our friend Chris, who helped drive us, stuck around through Tuesday and helped reduce the chaos after the Sunday truck unload, so the place is otherwise fairly functional. The stereo is set up, at least, so Rosie got in some sessions of silly dancing with her Aunt and her mom (and dad and uncle Chris) that were good for the soul, especially after the push to pack up and then get here.

That was a hot week for moving to New Mexico... In oklahoma I think it was over 100 degrees all day.

We started out slow... Tuesday after we got the truck packed and the apartment cleaned, we made it to Guy and Becca's B & B in cincinatti just after midnight. The next morning the boys slept in (Sarah and I are morning people who can't do that), and what with the extra time to back the truck out (complicated by towing Brian's car on a dolly), we hit the road around noon and went about 270 miles that day. The next day, though, we were on the road before 9 am and went some 570 miles before Rosie finally melted down and we called a stop. That made friday and Saturday fairly easy -370 miles Friday to Amarillo, tx, then 260 or so to Albuquerque from there.

Friday night in Amarillo we enjoyed a most congenial and delicious dinner at the Pacific Rim restaurant, then Saturday morning we had breakfast at the Pancake Station and (luxury of luxuries!) Chris and Sarah took the kiddo to the other room and Brian and I took a nap together. Then we still made it to Albuquerque shortly after 5. The landlady met us at the house and showed us all around, and we signed the lease (details...).

Sunday we fortified ourselves with breakfast at the flying star cafe, then met the local movers we'd hired at 10 am to unload the truck. After the truck was unloaded naps were had all around, then we celebrated with dinner at a small family-run Cuban restaurant called Havana. Wonderful food, and they helped entertain Rosie, too! She charms people everywhere we go.

Monday we did lots of unpacking... SO much stuff from storage I forgot we had... But later we managed to make time for the tram up to Sandia peak for another nice dinner at the top.

Today the house is quiet with just us. Brian's playing music on the stereo and cooking dinner. Rosie's asleep in my lap (I'm typing this on the iPhone, and thank ghu for this thing, I tell ya). We miss everyone already, but on the other hand, some quiet is nice.

Next week we head to Worldcon in Reno on Tuesday, so just time to adjust and settle in some, then off again! But after that we don't expect to travel for a while except maybe to visit relatives near here. That'll be nice too!

So far we really like the new house, and the sunsets, and we step outside and get a lovely view of the mountains! Rather a bonus, there.