I know you guys want to hear about the new house, and see pictures, and all that good stuff. But because of all the moving-day craziness (being locked out, the previous tenants leaving stuff here including their very sweet cat, etc.) I didn’t get to take the photos I’d envisioned taking. [Edited to add: Yes, the previous tenants did come get their stuff and their cat that same day. It all ended about as well as that situation possibly could have.] The photos I got aren’t inspiring me very much. Honestly, you might not get to see many photos till after Brenda has the house whipped into shape in a couple of weeks.

The good news is, you’ll get to see photos in a couple of weeks instead of in six to eight months. Usually when we move our goal is to be completely unpacked by the following Christmas, but next week Brenda (and Bug) are coming to visit and help us unpack! I’m very excited about it, which is a first for me. I hate unpacking. I get overwhelmed trying to think of where I want everything to go, so I do nothing. Well, not nothing. I unpack and organize the kitchen right away, and then I stall on the rest of the house.

Given all that, you can see why it was SO COMPLETELY AWESOME when Brenda house-sat for us a couple of years ago and asked if we minded if she unpacked a few boxes while she was there, and then went and unpacked and organized the entire house for us. I told her that I would fly her to all our future homes if she wanted to help us unpack them all, and she enthusiastically accepted. That is why she gets free birthday cakes for life, people. Well, that and being one of my best friends. You know what I mean.

I’m sorry you won’t be seeing pictures of the house just yet. I’m sure I’ll get some of the “before” photos up on Flickr eventually, so keep an eye on my Flickr stream. Meanwhile, here’s a conversation that took place this morning as we were driving around trying to find a McD’s with a PlayLand:

“I guess there’s an election tomorrow.”

“On a Wednesday? Where did you hear that?”

I pointed at the election signs clustered on the median. “It says ‘Vote March 2nd’ on those signs right there.”

“That’s today. Which makes sense, because it’s Tuesday.”

“Oh. Oh! In that case, happy anniversary!”

Troy laughed. “Uh, happy anniversary to you too!”

Annalie piped up from the backseat. “What anniversary? What are you talking about?” I explained that it was the fourteenth anniversary of the day we got married. “Oh. Uh, Mom?”

“What, sweetie?”

“I’m sorry, but I didn’t get to buy you and Daddy an anniversary present.”

“Aw, thanks, but that’s okay. It’s been kinda crazy with all the moving and stuff, hasn’t it?” Annalie agreed. I winked at Troy and said, “Besides, I’m sure Daddy has a fabulous anniversary surprise for me. I can’t wait to see what it is.”

Without missing a beat, Troy said, “What do you mean? Isn’t the 14th anniversary the McDonald’s anniversary?”

Happy anniversary, Troy! Fourteen years, eight moves, six states, one Canadian province, two years of grad school, three cats, six years of parenthood, and countless remote controls…and you’re still the one who makes me laugh. Thank God for that!

p.s. New banner! What do you think?

A few days ago, I downloaded photos from my mom’s camera, and I found these pictures she took of Annalie and Bug. My mom was trying to take some nice pictures of their last day together before we moved, but they were both being so goofy that the photos are quite hilarious. We’re missing our California friends but I’m so grateful we have all the photos we do of our fun times together.

P.S. Dolly the dolphin made the road trip with us. Annalie begged to be allowed to bring her, and she agreed to not bring a pillow if Dolly came along. I’d say a good half of the time we were in the van, Dolly was on Annalie’s lap. Kids choose to attach to strange things for their lovies sometimes; I guess a four-foot plush dolphin isn’t the oddest thing I’ve heard of a kid dragging around with her.

I guess I’m not a very good Chuck fan. I neglected to mention on Twitter, Facebook AND my blog that the two-hour Season 3 premiere of Chuck was this past Sunday, and that another episode aired at the regular time on Monday, on NBC. So, um, watch Chuck next Monday!

I have good reasons for not mentioning it though. I was busy enjoying the last few days of my visit with Lauren, who sadly had to fly back home before the Chuck party.

Then I was getting ready for the Chuck party. We grocery-shopped and made magnets and put together some goodies for the party favor bags.

We got t-shirts made with the awesome graphic that Brenda designed. She also designed the bitmap art (inspired by the Chuck opening credits) for the favor bags.

We did some house-cleaning and some cooking.

Then there was the actual partying, woohoo! Along with me, my mom, Annalie and Brenda, Sonja and Noah, Jen and Emily, Heather and her girls, and Brenda’s mom Sue all came down for the Chuckaganza. (Troy came up with that one.)

We showed off our kung fu moves.

Then there were the mustaches. Oh, the crazy mustaches. I think Brenda came up with the idea, and then I said, “I have this cheap felt that’s been sitting in my cabinet forever…here, cut up some mustaches!” We got double-sided tape and the rest is history. Much to Sonja’s delight.

No one—and no thing was safe from Sonja’s mustache-ing fervor.

See? There were also mustaches on the kitchen trash can, Annalie’s piggy bank, and a drawing of a teddy bear taped up in the hallway. Though I think the trash can might have been Brenda’s doing.

And after we put the littles to bed, we settled down with our coffee and chocolate souffles to watch the two-hour premiere. It was, in a word, awesome. The episode that aired the next night was even better. I think this is gonna be a good season for Chuck. I’m so glad I discovered this show (thanks again, Mike!) and have been able to share the fun with so many other people.

Not to mention the mustaches.

For more photos of the weekend, go to the photoset Chuck Party 2010 in my Flickr.

If you want to catch up on Chuck, you can see the first three episodes of this season, plus the last few of Season 2, on NBC Video Rewind. A few more are available on TheWB.com.