Dear June,

You've been a difficult month, full of ups and downs. Lets review. First there was the awesome bunco night at our new friends, the Cleaves, home. I never got a bunko, but I did get two baby buncos, and while I didn't win, I did do better thank Erik. Then there was packing up the house in New Bern. Bleh, I hate packing. While packing went okay, the continual driving back and forth between Beaufort and New Bern took it's toll on all of us.

I grimace when I think of Friday the 12th. Sheesh, all I wanted to do was get home so I could do laundry before we had to turn around and leave to go up to Raleigh the next day. What happens? Twenty minutes out of New Bern and the car starts overheating. I call Erik, he comes, sees the coolant level is quite low so he adds water The car is still overheating. So I join AAA, get a tow, get a mechanic to look at the car, all of that, and $150 and five hours later we find out there is nothing wrong. Probably there was an air pocket created when we added water and the system just had to "burp" itself. This is me not swearing. I get on the road and Erik heads to the house in New Bern to finish packing up. Five people signed up to help Erik get all of our stuff loaded in the moving van, and only one person showed up. Where is the love? That was a long night of moving for Erik and laundry for me.

The next day we drove up to Raleigh. Erik was going on a business trip to Baltimore, Charlotte and I were going with him (we all flew out of RDU), and Amelia was staying with my parents. While in Baltimore Charlotte and I both got sick, which means neither of us sleep very well. I did get to see two of my old roommates from my Ricks college days, which made the whole trip worth it, plus Maryland is absolutely gorgeous, but I was still pretty miserable and sleep deprived throughout the whole trip. I was so glad to get back to Raleigh at the end of the week. We did enjoy spending the weekend and celebrating Fathers' Day with my family .

Sunday night we drove back to New Bern to clean our house before closing. We were supposed to close on Tuesday the 23rd at 2 o'clock. Unfortunately for our buyers, Bank of America royally screwed up on getting everything ready and to the lawyers office in a timely manner. For the next 24 hours we exchanged phone calls with our agent over where (New Bern or Havelock) and when our closing would be. We finally closed on our house the next afternoon (2 o'clock in Havelock) . Hurray!!!! Then I promptly got so sick I could barely stand being conscious because every single part of my body was in intense pain. Thank goodness for same day doctors appointments, antibiotics (an ear infection), and a wonderful husband to take care of me and the girls. Fortunately I'm feeling better and I'm hoping a full recovery comes soon.

So June, you see, I won't miss you when you are gone. I promise not to hold any grudges, and we'll make a fresh start next time you come around. Good bye and good riddance.

All my best,
Elizabeth

In the Beginning

Six years ago, June 14th was a Saturday. The day started out with Erik and me helping my sister move out of my parents house. She was moving in with her BFF Mackenzie. I was taking apart a shelf and when I pulled out one of the plastic legs it hit me in the forehead and I sustained an injury. Nothing too serious, but there was blood and a I was left with a headache. I still have a scar in my right eyebrow from the incident. After helping Catherine, Erik and I went back to his apartment to hang out. We spent the afternoon flipping between SNLs (this was back in the day before E! had the exclusive rights and SNL could be found on at least one channel any hour of the day), watching a movie with Andrew McCartney, dozing on the couch, and making out.

After a fairly uneventful, but thoroughly pleasant afternoon, we decided it was time to get some dinner. We went back and forth and finally I picked Golden Corral. All that moving and kissing can wear a girl out and I had quite an appetite. After dinner Erik and I went over to Lake Johnson to walk around the park, which is something we had done often while dating. After walking for a bit, we sat down on a bench to rest and enjoy the scenery. While we were talking I picked up a stick and wrote E hearts E in the dirt. Erik said it was his turn and told me I had to close my eyes. When he told me I could open them, there was a message that said, "Will you marry me?" written on the ground. Then he got down on one knee, pulled out a ring box, and proposed. I, of course, said yes. For the next hour we sat on the bench, and all I could do was laugh because I was totally in shock that I was getting married. As a side note, I would not have picked going to Golden Corral for dinner had I known that I would be getting engaged later. The rest is our story. I just want Erik (and anyone who stops by) to know that I love him. He is a wonderful husband and father and I'm am truly grateful to have such a wonderful man to ride this rollercoaster of life with.

Fluffy Day

Monday was declared a no nap day by Amelia. Instead of napping, she decided to pull the fluff out of her pillow. Fluff everywhere. I'm not sure if the memory foam was better than if it had been feathers. The following is what took place when it was time to clean up the fluff.

After getting up as much as we could by hand it was time to employ the vacuum.

Fatal Attraction

As Charlotte's mobility increases, those things that she is and is not interested in become more apparent. Currently a few of her favorite things are electrical cords, paper, and plastic bags. This is very reminiscent of Amelia's likes and dislikes at this same age. Why is it that the baskets and bins full of toys hold no interest, while those things which can cause the most harm are intensely attractive? I believe surviving infancy is truly a feat. More specifically, I feel that me surviving my daughters infancy warrants congratulations. The fun goes on.

On a completely unrelated note, today we attended the christening of Erik's nephew Anderson. Before the service began I took Amelia to use the bathroom. We walked into the stall and I turned around to latch the door. The latch looked something like this, except that there was a hole in the door for the bolt to slide into.


The hole and the bolt and hole were not lined up very well, and I worked and worked trying to make the door latch. I even tried lifting the door in attempts to get the door to latch. I was getting somewhat frustrated when I glanced up a few inches and saw there was another option.



The hook slipped into the eye without a problem except for the feeling of foolishness that lingeres with me.

It's going to be like Christmas . . .

As I've been packing the remaining items at our house in New Bern, I realize that in twoish years when it comes time to open these boxes, it's going to be like Christmas seeing all my, um sorry Erik, our stuff again. Mostly this applies to the kitchen and bathroom stuff because all of our bedroom stuff is already with us in Beaufort. I also wonder if it is worth keep the electric skillet that I use maybe once a year. I'm trying to convince Erik to get rid of the George Foreman Grill, but he has some sort of unnatural attachment to that thing so off it goes into storage. Perhaps if I get rid of the skillet he'll let the Foreman go. We'll see.

Perhaps someday when we finally organize all the stuff that we've brought to Beaufort it will be like a wonderful Christmas present not to live in the disorganized chaos anymore. Keeping up with two children day in and day out leaves me with little desire to clean and organize when, and if, the opportunity arises. Oh well, I guess I should go and try to get some more stuff packed.