Life According to Kiera: Rock, Paper, Scissors In The Dark

Written by Rowonna McNeely – Well, it finally happened. We bought a house. Yeah! We had probably the best landlords that a person could ask for but we wanted to own our very own place. It’s been a crazy few months as we worked towards buying our new home. In fact, I’m pretty sure that I have a few new gray hairs that can be attributed to the last couple of months.

This last weekend, we were able to move into our new home. Basically, we packed in one weekend and moved the next. To say we are tired is a huge understatement.

Wednesday, Thursday and Friday night Aaron and I would load up the trailer and unload at the new house. Saturday and Sunday were the hard-core, heavy lifting days. Thankfully, we had help from family; otherwise we would not have made it. I know I would have collapsed in a puddle of Rowonna and that would not be pleasant.

Saturday, as we moved boxes in, Kiera immediately went to her new room and began to unpack. I glanced in her room from time to time as we carried boxes in, refusing to cringe as she pulled out more things. I wanted to give her a little bit of independence in setting up her new room even if it meant a crazy time for this Mama.

Finally, we had almost everything moved in from the old house… not including the back yard stuff. At that point, we began to set up our beds so we could gently lie down. Ok. I’m kidding. We set up the beds so we could fall in a heap on them. And honestly, that’s still not the entire truth. Aaron and I wanted to crumple into heaps, Kiera wanted to play hide-and-seek.  I think if we had tried to play hide-and-seek at that point, I might not have been able to get out of my hiding spot.

Anyways, finally, we showered, ate and climbed into our comfy beds or I should actually say, bed, as in singular. Kiera was a little hesitant to sleep in her new room, which is understandable, so she asked if she could sleep with us.

Without hesitating, Aaron and I agreed. She climbed onto the middle of the bed, settling in with her Troll pillow. Aaron turned off the light and without warning; three dogs suddenly joined us.

“Ok! Off, guys!” I exclaimed. “Off the bed!”

I flipped the light back on. Ziggy, Sloane and Reis sat at the end of the bed staring at me with big eyes. Knowing that they weren’t really sure what had happened, I trudged off to the living room to grab all three dog beds and pull them back into our room.

Once the dogs were settled, I climbed back in bed and flipped the light off. As we lay there, muscles that I had not used in a long while began to protest their use.

I tried to ignore the twinges and aches while we laughed and joked with Kiera. At last, Kiera began to wear down. “Can I have a glass of warm chocolate milk?” She asked.

“Are you sure you need a glass of milk?” Aaron asked.

“Yes, please.” She responded, snuggling further under the blanket.

Knowing that Aaron was in as much pain as I was, I tossed out an idea. “Rock, paper, scissors?”

“Sounds like a plan.” Aaron agreed.

I lost. I found out later, he cheated since the lights were off. But, it all worked out.

I groaned when he declared he had won. Leaning up, I went to swing my legs off the bed but was immediately gripped by a huge spasm in my back. “Owwww!!!” I wailed. After several attempts of trying to get up, Aaron took pity on me and went to make the milk.

Now, in our kitchen, we have a perfect place above the stove for our microwave. Aaron had actually set the microwave up earlier in the evening. This will come in to play in just a few minutes.

Kiera and I listened to Aaron stumble to the kitchen. “Her cup is by the sink.” I yelled.

We listened as he opened and closed the refrigerator and I heard him open the cabinet where the microwave and Nesquik resided. A short minute later, I heard the cabinet door close.

There was a moment of silence, then, “Where’s the microwave?” Aaron yelled.

Kiera and I immediately dissolved into laughter. Taking a deep breath while trying not to continue laughing, I yelled back, “Baby! The microwave is above the stove… where you put it!” I started laughing again then continued. “It’s beside the Nesquik that you put in the milk!”

We heard him laugh as he microwaved the milk. “Ok.” He yelled back as he turned the light off over the sink. “Now, where’s the bedroom?”

It’s been a rough week but we are almost completely in our new home and we are blessed. Tired, bruised, but very blessed.

Thank you for sharing in our weekly journeys. If you have missed any of our past stories, check out our new blog page at www.lifea2k.net or drop us a line at lifea2k@yahoo.com.