That Reno Life

With moving comes that long list of things to accomplish.

Immunizations, updating credentials, listing crap you don't need for sale and all. the. freaking. doctor. appointments.

"I'll book that dermatology, well visit and dental appointment when we get settled in our new place." And so here we are. Settling and booking appointments. Adulting at its worst.

Lemme tell you. Seven hours of kid-free time goes by very quickly. I manage to get in a little exercise and like a phonecall before having to pick up the kids. 

This week resulted in adulting of the dental appointment nature. My own. I picked this place because of proximity to home and because the Yelp reviews told me they give complimentary lavender paraffin hand wax treatments, warm neck pillows and soothing eye cucumbers at each cleaning. The place even smelled like a spa. (That wax treatment was freaking incredible.)

Somehow it made the news of two more stupid freaking cavities and one more forming a little easier to handle. There go two more hours of kid-free time during preschool and a few hundred more not-covered-by-insurance dollars. Which then also resulted in me buying another Sonicare because the one I have is old and ancient and each replacement brush head costs the equivalent to taking my whole family out to lunch. No matter how insane the routine (brush, floss, pic floss, flouride rinse), I still manage to receive bad news from the dentist.

And somehow I left the office buying a tube of extra flouride toothpaste to the tune of $20 that I later found online for $15.

I'm starting to recognize the locals here in Reno, because I ran into a mom at the dentist that I've seen at the library before. She's one of those moms with three perfect kids who are totally smart and agreeable and she herself wears a perma-smile that just screams we can't be friends because she probably doesn't have a dead baby. It's not that I think these thoughts always, but it's sometimes clear as day. She probably didn't have any cavities either.

The weather is starting to chill just a wee bit here and the nights are down into the 40s. Pools are closed and I'm actually breaking out some long sleeves on occasion. We bought ski passes for the boys up at the coolest little co-op near Mt. Rose that we plan to spend every weekend in the winter. We'll cross our fingers about the cooperation level of our kiddo, but hoping for the best. I'm thinking the chair lift will be the incentive he might need to participate, at least for the first few lessons. And perhaps knowing he has the power to glide at top speed down a hill without his parents being his second piece of motivation. 

I'm attempting to sell on Craigslist to clear out the garage junk that didn't make the cut being stuffed into every crevice of this (half the size of our IL) house. Andrew, Benjamin and Claire's crib sold today. I'd say it was bittersweet, but it wasn't. I was ready for it to leave. I had a ton of time to think about it because it sat on Craigslist for like 10 days before anyone bothered to actually come buy it. And to top it off, I'm sitting on some currency that I'll have to verify authenticity because I fear we have some counterfeit on our hands. Seriously, selling used goods in Reno is turning out to be a crazy ordeal. Whether you're buying or selling, communication is shockingly slow and almost impossible.

I had a dream last night that we went back to our IL home and just went to stay for a night while the new owners were living there. We didn't really communicate or acknowledge one another, but I vividly remember our awesome former neighbors having a pool with a slide and about 30 teenagers (and us) enjoying it in their backyard. The new owners were tearing up all kinds of stuff to change and exposing brick (that didn't exist). Then we left without tidying up or anything. Just poof. I'm happy to be free of home ownership, at least for now. We're busy as can be, but none of that is related to caring for an enormous yard, painting, or replacing something broken. Maybe we'll own someday again. Not ready yet.

Tomorrow I'm taking the kids to the Nevada Museum of Art, followed by waking up at like 3 a.m. Sunday for the Great Reno Balloon Race. September is turning out to be one heck of an awesome month living here.