Never A Dull Moment

While visiting with college girlfriends this past weekend I was reminded of two things. Both of which I was already aware, but are often made more obvious when I'm visiting with friends. #1 - I am incapable of telling a "short" story. #2 - There is never a dull moment in the Spann household. The first is displayed below. The second was reiterated this week.

We finally moved ourselves and all our stuff into our new house. We're very happy to be here. A new gas stove was installed the weekend we moved in and I was looking forward to the culinary masterpieces that would warm in this oven. (Okay, so Claire & I were making Pillsbury 'ready-to-bake' valentine cookies...) As the oven preheated, it began to smell. I chalked it up to being the first time we'd used it. The smell got stronger and both Claire and Nolan complained. Then Claire began to cry. She didn't like the smell. I thought she was overreacting, but also became concerned that perhaps there was a gas leak. I turned off the oven and called the owner of the house, who in turn, called the gas company. A tech came to the house and assured me that all was fine with the stove. He did do a furnace check, however, and it didn't look so great in his opinion. Two service techs later, the furnace was deemed unsafe due to rust buildup and CO2 violations. They turned it off. Oh, and did I mention that it was -12 degrees that morning?! It was to be the coldest night of the year and us with no heat! The owner, being a really nice guy, sent us out to dinner and to a hotel, on him. The next day Nolan and I spent the morning at the mall while Claire was at school, and after lunch we all wore our hats, mittens and several layers as we waited for the furnace to be installed and the house to warm back up. We were up and running with heat blasting by dinner...

Other than that little detail, the transition to our new home has been a good one. Claire started at her new school, which both she and I love. Her teacher is fantastic, and being a smaller school, Claire is able to take part in several things that her other school didn't offer. There are neighborhood kids in her class, as well as several kids from church.

And speaking of school, Nolan starts preschool tomorrow! Actually, it's sort of an intro to preschool. It's a one-day a week program, in a preschool format. He's very excited, though I know he'll be disappointed when he doesn't bring a snack or show-and-tell. Wants to be just like big sis, you know...

As I mentioned earlier, I was able to see college friends this past weekend. Girls (and their babies) traveled from Omaha and the Twin Cities to Rochester. It was a fun time, way over due!

We've got a busy weekend, but I'm hoping it stays relatively boring... we don't need much more excitement around here! Have a good one!