Griffin is 19.

Sorry it has been so long since my last post. Now, let's see....when we last saw the Gast family, they were trying to find some type of pet friendly housing in Madisonville and trying to figure out what to do with their house in Pontiac. Let's catch up with them now...they are busy trying to find pet friendly housing in Madisonville and trying to figure out what to do with their house in Pontiac. That's right folks...not a damn thing has changed, essentially, except that the amount of packed boxes grows everyday. We have had a frustrating go at finding a place to live down there right away so we have decided to take the hospital up on their offer of a furnished house for the immediate future while we look at homes in person. It was just too hard to make a years' commitment to a house without seeing it first. Sunshine is going to take a little holiday at Pa and Ma Gast's house while we find a suitable place for us all to be together. I am already feeling sad about leaving her, but I know it will be very short term and that will be the motivation I need to search until I find someplace FABULOUS!!

We are still feeling extremely frustrated with our house in Pontiac. All the real estate agents we have talked to tell us that if we want to price it to sell in the next 6 months, we will need to be ready to lose 25K to 30K!!!!! We just can't see how that makes any sense right now, so, looks like we will be signing up with a property management company who will be renting it out for us. Now y'all can look forward to plenty of future blogs on the trials and tribulations of landlordism!! I will tell you this though kids, it will be a long time and a wicked cool house to get me to sign on the dotted line for ownership again!!

Besides working out the kinks, we have been saying goodbye and having many "last times" with our good friends here. Last Sunday, we had our last dinner at Vida and Matt's house. As always they took the opportunity to ply us with excellent food and incredible red wines. We loved sitting outside, sharing great conversation and enjoying their brand new brick patio and pergola!

We also had our last regular playgroup this week. We ended up going to a lake at the local state park. It was a HOT day, so the lake felt so cool and the kids played in it for hours. Griffin and his best bud Jake have no idea about the separation that is about to occur. They have so much fun together, and are really getting into interactive play (they call it wrestling!) It is going to be really hard on them. We will be looking forward to the Webbers' visits down to Kentucky!!

We also met some of our playgroup families at the zoo last night. We got to see baby Samuel for the first time...what a gorgeous baby! We will really miss this group. After I had Griffin, I was really longing for friendships with women who really "got" what I was feeling. I had many friends who were very supportive, but none in my close network had recently had a baby and I just wasn't connecting with them on that level. It was a very lonely time for me. When Griffin was about 4 months old, I joined a group parenting program. It met two mornings a month in a church basement. It would be a two hour meeting, the first hour was a myriad of different speakers and second hour was for socializing. After about 14 such meetings, the program was over and it was up to us if we wanted to continue to meet. Although our numbers have dwindled, the core group has continued to meet for 3 years. On the first day I was soooo nervous! It felt like the first day at a new high school (remember I had 4 such terrible days in my past!). I was so worried...would I be able to nurse Griffin in front of these strangers? had they had the wherewithal to dress nicely and actually get some makeup on that morning unlike myself? would I be criticized for my decisions to nurse/stay home with him/use disposable diapers? would they be friendly? On that first day as we sat around in a circle and introduced ourselves and our 14 incredible babies, I knew that it was going to be OK. I knew in my soul that I had found friends, a circle of warrior Moms who all wanted to be the best they could be on this journey and were also looking for support along the road. These friendships have meant a lot to me over that past 3 years. I have looked forward to our twice monthly meeting that have been filled with laughter and tears, swapping parental tips and recipes, discussing all the different paths we have chosen for our children with love and respect for one another. I will always hold a special place in my heart for these women and their brilliant gorgeous spirited children.