I Am, In Fact, Still Alive

So much has been going on. I just don't know where to begin.

• I've decided to homeschool the kids for at least preschool and kingergarten. I feel very good about this choice. The adventure formally begins in January.
• After much discussion, we're going to renovate our kitchen! I cannot even begin to convey how damn excited I am about this. The first place we got an estimate from was local and very good, but their contractor was pretty much soaking us for the other work that needed to be done. I went to Lowe's, was very afraid that they'd have outrageous prices, and was so happy when they came in more than $6000.00 less than the other place (and that includes more work than the original contractor gave us an estimate for...painting, for example was going to be nearly $1000.00 in addition to the crazy double-digit proposal that we received). Work won't begin until mid-November, which is fine-ish since Thanksgiving won't be here, and I am so thrilled to think of having Christmas in my new kitchen! Wahoo! (Bonus: the first place was going to have us without a kitchen for at least 4-5 weeks; even with the Holiday at the end of November, we should be all set within 2 1/2 to 3 weeks at most with Lowe's - awesome!)
• Speaking of the Holidays, I'm feeling rather blah about them. I think this has more to do with the fact that it's the first set of Holidays since my brother-in-law died and no one really wants to address that fact and there's a lot of tip-toeing around grief and the fact that things, especially at Thanksgiving, just won't be as great as they were last year (last Thanksgiving happened to be the best. one. ever. and everyone had a fabulous time)...so I'm not really looking forward to facing the festivities.
• In other really big news, I've decided to become a Pampered Chef consultant. I am so excited about this! I'm a little anxious about getting the first few shows booked, since I need to establish more of a network (and two good friends have already had shows in the past couple of months, so I can't ask them to host another so soon), but I'm really looking forward to this opportunity. It's time to get out a little bit and interact with more adults, but I still get to be here for Liam and Ella. It's a product I really believe in, and there isn't the pressure to sell, sell, sell. Wish me luck on my first few shows!

I think that's all I can muster up for now. I hope you're all well (if you're still out there!) and I promise to be better about blogging. As part of the Pampered Chef gig, I'm going to get a new computer, so I'll be around/online more than I am now - the only real drawback to the basement being redone is that the computer is now downstairs 24/7 and I'm not (before it was right in the middle of the action upstairs).