.....but it did rise.  The creek, I mean.  It rose a lot.  But I digress.

It's not unusual to be completely out of sorts over the Christmas holiday, but this year was much more stressful than usual.  I feel like I've been wandering aimlessly through life for the past week, and although Jason has been on "vacation" for the past two weeks, it's been anything but relaxing.

We had a lovely and enjoyable last Christmas in our house, followed by a very long and soggy move.  We moved out of our house the two days after Christmas during what was described as the worst flooding/rain St. Louis had seen in decades.  So that was awesome.  We spent multiple days moving soggy items into our storage unit and my parents' house.

My parents live off of a major creek that flooded so bad that the main roads in and around their neighborhood were completely covered with multiple feet of water, leaving them impassible.  Thank the good Lord that there was a back way out of their neighborhood (that is usually gated), making it possible to actually get in and out of their neighborhood.  Otherwise, we would have literally been up a creek.    

But even though it was hard to imagine during the floods, we did get our house emptied and cleaned out.  It was very surreal to see our empty home.  It was the first house we ever owned and it was where we brought Katherine home from the hospital.  I probably would've been more sad than I was if it weren't for my extreme exhaustion that made me numb to those last couple of days before we officially closed on our house.



The day after we signed away our house was New Year's Eve.  There honestly wasn't a single part of me that wanted to go out and enjoy a typical New Year's Eve.  In fact, we barely made it to midnight.
Three nights after that, Jason surprised me with Wicked tickets and a much needed date night.



As for our new living situation, you could say it has been interesting.  I haven't lived with my parents in over a decade, so it's been tempting to revert back to my old teenage self with attitude and frustration.  I'm resisting so far.  The most challenging part of this transition is learning to use my parents' overly techy appliances.
"When the oven beeps once, you have one minute left on the timer."  
"When the refrigerator alarm goes off, you've left the door open too long."  
"When the washing machine plays 'Dixie' your laundry is done." 

Overall we are adjusting to our new living arrangement, and we're grateful that we have a place to stay until we find a house.

Here's to hoping we find a house soon, Lord willing and the creek don't rise.  Again.