Day Seven: Thankful for Our New Home...And The Happiness It Brings Us

                       

It occurred to me this morning, that since moving in to our new home, I have not taken ANY photos INSIDE the house.  Or even the front of the house.  The only pictures I have are of the pool.  So, that's about all I have to document today's Thankfulness.  But, I've written myself a little internal note to make sure I get some pics of the house... soon.

This time last year, I was very unhappy with our living situation.  I was thankful I had a roof over my head, but thankful it was still over our head and hadn't caved in.  I was thankful when it didn't rain, so that the house wouldn't leak and I wouldn't have to spend nights getting up and changing towels and dumping buckets of water.  I was thankful that the pipes hadn't frozen, the heating hadn't gone out (again), and that all the damage from the major roof leak hadn't destroyed ALL of Jelly's toys.

So, this year, to say that I'm thankful for our new home is a HUGE understatement.  I'm ecstatic.  Overjoyed.  I feel like we won the lottery of housing upgrades.

Our old house was a double wide mobile home.  When we first moved in, I was thankful to have it.  We had been living in a very small apartment before that, so getting a house with three bedrooms, and room for the kids to play was nice.  It was even big enough for me to start hosting my family for Thanksgiving.  

But, I can't really say that I ever felt "at home" living there.  It was our house.  But, no matter what I did, I just couldn't shake the feeling that it was just a house, and knew I would never really fell a strong connection to it.  Over the years, the house started to wear down.  Things started to break.  The walls were paper thin, so a few bumps here and there created holes in the walls.  Damage started to occur.  And, we would fix stuff over and over and over again...only for it to still break.  The condition of the house also started turning my family off from coming over.  They didn't feel comfortable there.  And it's not just the house's fault.  Once I started to get tired of all the problems we were having, I started giving up taking good care of the house.  The house became nothing more than a place for me to eat meals and sleep.  I didn't like being there, and it became a mission of mine to get us something better.

This year, I told myself that no matter what it took, I wanted to be in a new home by the time 2013 came to an end.

In February, I started putting Project: Find A New House in to effect.  I contacted a realtor, I got pre-approval for a loan.  That in itself was a MAJOR stepping stone.  For years, Hubby and I had been working on building and repairing our credit, so to hear that we were finally eligible for a home loan was a huge relief.  But, then we had to think about how much we could actually afford.  What type of home we wanted.  Where we wanted to live.  

And, I will say right now that making those decisions are some of the hardest decisions a couple can make together.  I said many times during the whole ordeal that finding a new home would either make or break my relationship with Hubby.

When I liked something, he didn't.  When he liked something, I didn't.  I had a list of requirements, he had a list of requirements...and those requirements put together, according to our realtor, would be almost impossible to find.

He wanted a house in the country, a little land, seclusion.  I wanted at least four bedrooms.  He wanted to be closer to his work, I wanted to be closer to mine...and we work in opposite directions.  

We looked at several houses.  Nothing really meshed with either of us.  

After some searching and coming up short, my realtor finally asked us to at least look at a few homes that happen to be in the city limits.  She explained that with our budget and our requirements, there just wasn't anything on the market for us out in the country.  Land is super expensive, and just having a couple of acres really jacked up the prices on some of the houses we looked at.  She told us that if we took our search in to city limits, we'd get a lot more bang for our buck.  I couldn't care less about being in town or out of town...Hubby was the tough cookie to break on that one.  But, it was important to both of us to find a house that was "move in ready".  We didn't want to spend a lot of money fixing a house up.  So, he reluctantly agreed to look at the houses she had picked out for us.

On a Sunday afternoon, she set up three showings all in the same town.  Three different houses.  All with four bedrooms.  All on the outskirts of town.  All with almost an acre of land.  The best she could do with our requirement list.  

House number one was super cute, but super small.  The majority of the square footage went in to the bedrooms.  They were all of decent size, but the living room and kitchen were so small, it would be hard to fit our family in either all at the same time. 

House number three was also super cute, but very oddly laid out.  An extension had been added on at some point, at it was just weird the way the living room and bedrooms were set up.  There was an enormous backyard with a pool, except the pool was open to the backyard without any fencing around it.  Also, the house was about $10,000 more than the other two houses.

House number two was the ONE.  I knew it the minute I stepped in the front door.  2434 sq. feet.  New laminate flooring.  A huge living and dining area.  Beautiful kitchen.  Four decent sized bedrooms.  A huge backyard AND front yard.  A fenced in pool.  A pool house.  Nothing behind the house but open land.  A country feel, inside city limits. Everything we wanted and more.  Even Hubby had to admit when we left that he really liked the house.  And the price was right in our budget.

Even though Hubby liked the house, it took a little bit of convincing.  He was so worried about the strain a mortgage would have on us.  He worried about if we were ready for home ownership.  We hummed and haad over it for days...until I finally put my foot down and said we had to make a decision.  And we did.  We put an offer in, counter offered back and forth for a couple of days, and then we finally received word that they had agreed to our terms and the house would be ours.

Moving in to our new home ranks right up there as one of the happiest days of my life.  The kids finally had their own rooms.  We finally had a home to be proud of.  A wonderful gift of new furniture from P-Momma was icing on the cake.  For the first time since moving out of my parents' house, I was HOME.

Since moving in, we have had some wonderful times.  Having the pool was a big help during the summer.  The kids had a blast with it, as did I.  I've invited friends over, something I never did in my old house.  I love sitting out on the patio with my coffee, or relaxing on the couch in front of the TV.  I feel comfortable here.  

We've had a few minor issues since moving in.  We had problems with the shower in our bathroom, and it's had to be repaired.  Twice.  Our AC went out, but luckily only required a very inexpensive part to fix it.  We had a water pipe break a couple of weeks ago, and again this week...that Hubby has fixed both times. But, I knew that we were bound to run in to a few snares here and there.  The house is 30 years old... so I'm just thankful that the problems have been minor.  

One thing that I'm extremely thankful for, is the fact that I will once again be able to host Thanksgiving dinner for my family...and them actually wanting to come.  Holding a major holiday get-together means a lot to me.  I got to host July 4th here, and my family all had a great time.  To know that I'll get to do it again for Thanksgiving is a huge deal for me...and I'm so thankful that our new home will be a big part of that.

At the end of the day, we may not have extra money to play around with.  We may have a few issues here and there that have to be fixed.  But, neither hold a candle to the happiness our new home brings to me.  

I have worked hard to achieve home ownership.  I searched for the house that I could feel at home in.  And I found it.  

I look forward to the memories that are yet to be made in our home.  First Thanksgiving.  First Christmas.  Sleepovers.  Dinner parties.  Pool parties.  Barbecues.  And at some point, my children will start to move away and hopefully come back and visit with significant others and grandchildren.  

My home has barely skimmed the surface at the memories that will be created here.  

I am thankful for the memories that have already been created, and excited for those yet to come.

This house will be something I owe a lot of thanks to in the future, I just know it.

When It Rains, It Pours

Not a very happy camper, at the moment.

We have no water in the house.  And I'm not sure when we'll actually have water.  

Yesterday, Hubby and my brother spent several hours trying to locate the source of the leak that was causing water to run underneath the house.  They found it.  It was a giant split in the main water line that leads in to the house.  Right where it goes under the foundation of the house.

However, because of there being so much water and mud, they weren't able to dig out enough of the pipe in order to fix it.  Because a large section of the pipe needs to be replaced, and they're not exactly sure how they are going to dig it all out and get a new piece of piping under the house... because the crawl space that has the broken part of the pipe under the house is too small to reach.

UGH!!

Last night, they were able to come up with a solution that they think they are going to try, but it was too late to do it then.  So, they are going to do it today.  I just pray to all things holy that they do get it fixed and we're able to have running water again by this evening.  Of course, there's a good chance for rain today.  Isn't that just the way the cookie crumbles?  If it rains, it's going to be extremely hard to take care of a broken water pipe.

I just don't know what it is with us and leaks.  We have some sort of leak curse.  No matter where we go, we end up with some kind of water problem.  I thought that once we ditched our old house, we left the curse behind.  Yeah, not so much.  In this house, it started with our bathroom.  The shower in our bathroom is broken, and we're not using it at the moment until we can afford to replace the whole shower.  Could be awhile.

I don't even want to think about what our water bill is going to be like next month.  Who knows how long that leak has been there, especially since Hubby just happened to notice the water running out of the area where the air conditioner sits...and it dawned on him that the AC hasn't been used in several days.  He decided to check it out, and that's when he found a puddle of standing water under the house and water running down one side of crawl space.

I'm hoping that if we report the leak, the water company will work with us on the bill.  Not sure if they will do that, but I remember several years ago that we had some kind of leak in an old house and the water company adjusted our bill once they knew we had a leak.

Besides having no water, I'm ready for this week to get started.  I'm excited about the fact that I only have one night of traveling planned.  For the rest of the week, I will be able to come home at a somewhat reasonable hour.  Tonight is Peanut's last volleyball game - I think - and then the volleyball season will be over.  Of course, I thought that last Thursday, and then found out that the girls had a tournament tonight.  If, by some miracle, the girls win tonight... I'm sure there's a possibility they'll play again this week.  

I got to see Butter for a little while yesterday.  He's doing well.  His poor hand is swollen something silly, and he's very nervous about anyone or anything getting anywhere near him because the slightest bump causes severe pain.  I'm going to try and call the doctor today about getting him in for his hard cast, and hopefully he'll be able to come home tonight.  If not, he'll be out again tomorrow until it's taken care of.

The main priority with him is pain management.  He needs some pain pills that will help with the pain, but won't knock him out.  He can't very well go back to school either being in a lot of pain or taking medicine that makes him sleep.  Either way, he wouldn't be able to function.  So, my mom and I think that once the hard cast goes on, the doctor may be able to give him a more mild pain reliever.  One that doesn't affect him enough to keep him out of school any longer.

Of course, the only thing Butter is worried about is how much homework he's going to have being off so many days.  I can understand why that's a concern.  He was lucky that he didn't break the wrist of the hand he writes with, but trying to spend a lot of time writing or sitting at a desk to get work done will be uncomfortable for a little while.

Seriously, when it rains, it pours around here.  There can't ever be one obstacle at a time.  It's always a ton of obstacles thrown my way at one time.  First juggling volleyball and football.  Then, when that gets to be easy...a broken wrist is thrown in the mix.  Then, when I think I have a handle on that situation, I'm graced with a broken shower....and then a few days later a major water leak under the house.  

Can't I just have a "normal" life for a little while?

These next few weeks will be anything but, I'm sure.  Next week gives me fall break, then the week after is Halloween and a fall carnival at work.  Then, a few weeks after that Thanksgiving....it's that time of year where everything will fall down on me so quickly.  Will I even be prepared for any of it?

Of course I will!!

I always am.  I'm no stranger to this type of lifestyle. Anyone that's read this blog for any amount of time will know this.  In my world, there's no such things as a normal life.  It's ALWAYS one obstacle after another...and you'd think by now, I'd be a pro at it.  But, I will never be able to say that my life was boring, that's for sure.

OK, it's that time for me to start getting ready for work.

Have an awesome Monday, everyone!!

I'm Cursed!!

Yesterday just wasn't my day.  It started off just fine, but things did not seem to go my way as the day went on.

First... hottest day of the year so far.  Temps flew in to the 90s in a matter of a couple of hours.  Would be a great day to jump in the pool with the kids and cool off, right?  Wrong-O.  Of course Aunt Flo would stop by for a visit.  And, yes, I'm perfectly aware that I can swim if Aunt Flo visits by using certain feminine devices.. but I don't use them.  And now you know way too much information about me.  Aren't you happy now?

Second...After spending two grueling hours in the heat watching over the kids while they laugh and frolic around in the pool, it's time to get out and head inside for me to cool off.  I go out in to the kitchen to get something to drink, and I walk in to a puddle of water.  That's never good when the puddle is right in the middle of the floor.  Not that a pool of water is good in any place, but an actual pool... but you know what I mean.  It's not by the sink or the dishwasher, so I could rule those things out.  Hubby comes in and starts digging around only to find there's some kind of leak coming out of the bottom of the refrigerator.  Awesome.  Thankfully, he fixes it pretty quick.

And then...I'm sitting in the living room wondering why on earth I'm really not feeling like I'm cooling down.  I'm still sweating... and I should be feeling nice and relaxed after being in the house almost an hour by this point.  Not even two minutes after having that feeling, Hubby comes to inform me that our AC isn't working.

Really?

Awesome!

I swear, I think I have some kind of Air Conditioner Curse.  It doesn't matter what house I'm in, something ends up causing our AC to break down.

At first, I'm thinking it's no big deal.  Our AC unit is only 4 years old, so surely it's still under warranty, right? YEP.  It is.  For the parts.  The warranty doesn't cover the labor that will be involved for actually replacing whatever parts are actually broken.

And to put some icing on the cake, all of this happens at 5:28pm.  Normal service hours for the local AC repair place is 5:30pm.  A service call before 5:30 costs $82.  A service call after 5:30pm?  $123.

Could things get any worse?

Actually...no.  My parents called and asked if we wanted to go eat dinner with them.  I jumped on the chance, being that I was sweating like a banshee and needed to get out of the house for a while.  Hubby stayed behind.  He wanted to fiddle around with the AC some more.  He was convinced that the problem was a burned out capacitor.  Which, buying the part and fixing it ourselves, would only cost about $30... had any of the part stores been open.

When I got home around 8:00pm, it had barely started to cool off outside.  The temps outside were still in the high 80s, but the temps inside the house were higher... so it was time to open up all the windows and doors to let in some air.  It was at that point I thanked all things holy that we have so many patio doors in our house.  We have four.  One on the front, two on the back, and one off of our bedroom.  Opening up all of those bad boys lets in some nice cross breezes.

We brought with us all of our fans from the old house, thankfully, so we had fans to get us through the night.  Hubby was up bright and early to get to a dealership to buy the new part for the AC.  It only cost him $27.. much better than what it would have cost had we had a repair man come fix it.

It took Hubby all of two minutes to replace the part and.......?

Wallah... we have AC again.  YAY!!

I guess I should be thankful that our problem happened on a Tuesday and not a Saturday evening.  I guess I should also be thankful that it was a small job that was easily fixable by the not-so-mechanical hands of Hubby.

That's because today is a new day!  Yesterday wasn't such a great day, but today is going to be better!

I didn't get any feedback yesterday when asking for opinions on whether or not I should dust off Diary of a Mad, Fat Woman.  So, I did anyway.  I dusted off the old blog...gave her a fancy new paint job, updated the header, and deleted the post that directed traffic to this blog.

AND... I decided not to go with the Wordpress format.  I'm going back to my original domain name... and just starting off fresh.

I've decided that I'm going to keep this blog as my day to day happenings.  Diary of a Mad, Fat Woman comes back to talk only about my weight loss efforts.

I'm excited and a little nervous about embarking on that journey once again.  What will it be like?  Will I have any success?  Will my old blogging persona come back in full force making me kick butts and take names in the process?

One can only hope.

I'm ready for my journey to begin again... I really feel like I am.  I've had a couple of years off.  It's time to jump back on the band wagon.

And, right now... it's time to start jumping...right on over to my other blog.

Come see me there!!  But don't leave here!!

Two blogs.  Two personalities.  Both the reflections and thoughts of me.

Here... The Life and Times of Jo

There... Diary of a Mad, Fat Woman

Life.  Love.  Family.  Stress.  Crazy.  Work.  Weight loss.

There's just too much of me to fit it all in one place.  It just makes sense to open up some space that's been vacant for way too long.

Here I go!!

Barbecue Was a Success!

Well, the first family barbecue of 2013 was a huge success!  It didn't matter that the weather was only 79 degrees, making the pool feel like swimming in the Arctic - everyone had a great time and seemed to thoroughly enjoy themselves.

I'll admit, I was nervous about having everyone over.  Nervous if I had enough food and drink.  Nervous there was enough room for everyone to sit comfortably and enjoy the conversations.  Nervous that I'd have so many little kids running around that someone would get hurt or something would get broken.  But, I didn't have to worry about any of it... everything was A-OK.

I also didn't have to worry about my mouth pain.  I didn't have any.  OK, so there was still quite a bit of swelling, which still made it hard to open my mouth too wide... so things like laughing were something of a struggle... but I managed to eat just fine, swim just fine, and talk just fine.

My family arrived around 2pm, and until after 10pm last night we were out on the patio.  The kids swam for hours and hours... despite their little shivering bodies and blue lips.  When they did finally call the swimming quits, they quickly found something else to amuse themselves with.  They had the choices of basketball, or miniature golf, or riding bikes, or sidewalk chalking the driveway.

The adults talked and laughed and conversed.  The teenagers teeter tottered back and forth between the little kids and the adults.

The food was fantastic.  Hubby cooked up some wonderful ribs, hamburgers, and hot-dogs.  We had potato salad to go with it.  Despite the fact that I can barely open my mouth more than maybe an inch, I wasn't about to at least try eating my most favorite BBQ food:  Ribs.  It was a little painful, but well worth it.  The ribs were DELICIOUS!

At 8pm, my sister took all of the kids up to Sonic for half priced shakes.  I'm pretty sure that we are going to become VIP customers at Sonic.  We've gone almost every night this past week... but I chose to pass last night.  I was still too full from dinner.

Once the kids finished their shakes, it was time to try and get them to settle down.. somewhere.  Jelly tried to play the gracious host and offered to pull out her extra mattress for my niece and nephew to lay on.  She tried... but they weren't too keen on the idea of laying down and watching TV.  They were still in play mode - to the dismay of Jelly who was most definitely ready for bed.  In the end, my brother got my niece and nephew to sleep in Jelly's room.  Butter watched over one of the foster kids in his room.  Jelly went to sleep in my bed.  And the adults sat out on the patio for a couple more hours enjoying adult conversation.

Finally, around 10:30pm, my parents decided it was time to head home.

I really expected to get up this morning and have a disaster of a mess to clean up.  But, I didn't.  Hubby had gotten up early and hosed off the patio and got rid of all the trash.  That was about all the cleaning that had to be done.  I couldn't believe it.  I have the whole day to not really do anything... except for laundry and normal clean-house duties.

What an awesome feeling!

So, it's time to get to enjoying my day off.  Well, what I consider a day off....

Taking the Day Off

Yeah, I know it's super late in the day for me to be posting my blog post.  A lot of that has to do with the fact that my allergies had me up at 3am this morning, and I just couldn't get back to sleep until 7am.  I was so tired and drained, I slept until noon.  I would say that's what being on summer break is all about - sleeping until noon - but not when you're up most of the night.

Even before my horrible night, I made the decision that today I was going to take the day off.  No unpacking.  No cleaning.  No going anywhere.  Just a day off to relax and recharge.  Of course, I've got about a million loads of laundry that I don't get to put off... but if laundry is all that's on the agenda for today, I'm OK.

I know that Hubby is getting a little upset with the pile of stuff that still needs to be unpacked which is taking up all the room in the office area.  But, that and a few things in my bedroom are all that's left to be unpacked.  Everything else is done, in it's place, and moved in.  I don't think there's any reason it's going to hurt to take a day off and leave the stuff laying around for one more day... especially with how cruddy I'm feeling now.

The pool is ready to use, except for needing a little more chlorine.  Hubby has been playing quite the pool boy by getting up each morning, getting the pump turned on, and skimming and vacuuming it. I feel like I should be doing more to get it ready to use - being that Hubby doesn't swim - but he's beaten me to the punch each day.

Peanut went out to do some mowing this morning.  It's something she's been wanting to do for some exercise.  I admire her... and wish I could do stuff like that.  If I didn't have such bad allergies right now, I'd totally be out there doing some yard work and considering it "day off relaxation".  I love just sitting out on our patio, but I've even had to ration out the amount of time I'm out there... because I start sneezing and coughing.

With the amount of medications I'm currently taking, it's making me feel like a zombie.  I have an allergy pill, a decongestant/ sinus infection pill for my head congestion, and now an inhaler for my seasonal asthma that I have to take twice a day.  That doesn't include the Aleve I'm taking for pain for my headaches.  For a person that doesn't take medication for anything... I'm sure making up for the lack of meds I've used in the past now.  And I hate the feeling they all give me.  My inhaler increases my heart rate and makes me shaky.  My decongestant makes me cloudy.  The pain pills make me sleepy.  And none of them really take care of my allergy symptoms.  They just, basically, take the edge off.  I'm running out of medications to try...and this new medicine I'm taking is supposed to last all day, but only lasts a couple of hours.  I have more luck with the generic allergy pills you can buy at Wal-Mart.  They only last 4 hours, but they work much better.  I think I may just have to go back to using them.  Prescription meds just don't cut it with me.

But, right now, I'm going to throw another load of laundry in the washer and then plant my happy behind firmly on the couch.  And I'm probably going to stay there for the rest of the day - minus bathroom breaks and laundry doing.  I'm hoping some rest will help me feel better.

Fingers Crossed.

Friday Funday

I guess it really doesn't matter much that it's Friday.  Wednesday was my Friday, and my next Monday isn't until June 14th.  That's quite the nice, long weekend.  I'm sorry, it sounds like I'm bragging, doesn't it?  Well, that's because I TOTALLY AM!!! HA!  Just kidding.  Not really.

Today, I've decided that I'm going to get some serious unpacking done.  Pretty much everything is out of the old house, but it's still all boxed up and sitting here staring at me.  It can stare all day long, because it's not getting unpacked until it's all been washed and cleaned and scrubbed.  In order to do that, I have to make a run to the store for more cleaning stuff, laundry stuff, and other miscellaneous stuff that I still need to get.  Which I'm totally going to do after I finish my blog and get myself ready.

I need a morning of shopping to put my mind into the right state in order to tackle the tasks that are before me.  It's so overwhelming having piles of boxes and bags, and no clue what to do with it all.  My bedroom just about killed me yesterday when I actually got to realize how many clothes I have - and how much room I don't have to put them.  I know I will miss having a walk in closet, but it's time to start deciding whether I'm ever going to fit back in to the clothes that I'm so dearly holding on to or find a couple of space saver containers to put it all in.

Good news.  I went with some under the bed space savers.  I had two lying around, and I need another one... but I'm not giving up on the thought that soon I will get back in to all of the cute clothes I bought a couple of years ago.

Which reminds me.  I've really been thinking about what I'm going to do this summer to lose some weight.  My allergies are not being friendly to me right now, but I'm hoping that once the weather is hot enough to use the pool I can start working out in that.  Also, once it gets hot enough to burn off some of this pollen, I should be able to start walking up the street, around the park, and back again.  Now that I'm home, have a plethora of stuff to do to exercise, and absolutely no reason not to take advantage of all of it... it's time.

This morning, it was pretty chilly outside.  Every day this week we've been running the pool pump and cleaning it out, but it's just too darn cold to get in it.  We're getting towards the end of May, and the highs are only getting in to the 70's.  Usually, I'm already complaining that it's too hot..and now I'm complaining that it's too cold.  Weird, huh?

It is good park weather, though.  Once I've got some work done around here, I'm going to take the girls up to the park for a while.  Walking there.  How nice is that?  Having a park within walking distance.  It's like I'm on my own little vacation.  Nice new house, pool, park, shopping.  I can totally get used to this.  Actually, I am going to get used to this.

But first I need to go get my rear in the shower and get ready.  Work first... play later.

Ten Things Thursday

1.  I'm officially off work for the summer!  I celebrated by sleeping until 8:40 this morning.  Even though that may not sound very late, it's 4 hours later than what I'm used to getting up.  It was so nice not being woken up by an alarm clock or children or anything but my own eyes opening.  OK, so the cat nudging against me may have had something to do with it... but it was an easy, wake at my own rate situation.  And that I can totally get used to.

2.  I woke up this morning with no headache, toothache, face pressure, runny or stuffed up nose, or wheezing chest.  For the past three days, I've had the most horrible headache.  It felt like someone was inflating my head with air, and any time I stood up it felt like I was being slammed in the skull with a sledgehammer.  No exaggeration.  It was bad.  Thankfully, it seems to be all gone this morning.  I'm pretty sure I was in the midst or beginning to get a sinus infection.  It appears that may be subsiding... fingers crossed!

3. I'm making the last trips to my old house today to completely finish up getting anything out of it we need.  I'm dreading it, because the house has been locked up since Sunday with no AC.  It has also rained butt loads since then, so I'm sure there has been plenty of leaking going on.  That's going to make for one not so pleasant odor being omitted.  I so can't wait to drive away from that house for the final time, and never looking back.  Of course, once I get everything out of the house, I have to go back later with Hubby so that we can get our pet snake.

4.  I'm so excited to spend the next few days finishing up the unpacking in our new home.  I hate packing.  I hate moving.  But, I love unpacking and setting up a new house.  Well, I'm loving unpacking and setting up this new house.  There's still a lot of work to be done, but even with boxes laying all over the place and piles of stuff waiting to be placed in new homes - it still feels homier here than I ever felt in that old dump. 

5.  I'm kicking myself for not taking pictures of the place when it was completely empty so that I could do some before and after pics.  I don't want to take pictures, now, because there's still a lot of moving in to do.  Once the house is all set up the way I like it, I'll take some pictures so you can see what it looks like.    

6.  Jelly had her last day of preschool on Tuesday.  That also meant the last payment for daycare to be paid by me...ever.  Of course, there will be plenty of expenses that come from going to school - but I get to keep $300 in my pocket each month from now on.  I have picked up the kindergarten enrollment forms for her, and I just can't believe my baby is going to be starting kindergarten.  **SNIFF**

7.  Butter is going to go and spend a few days with my parents today.  I think that Peanut, Jelly, and I will be spending some time at the park - once all of the unpacking is taken care of.  That and possibly getting in to the pool.  Hubby has been working hard the past couple of days to get the pool cleaned out, once again, after all the storms hit.  Now, if the temperature would just get up past 70 outside, it may be warm enough for us to actually use it.

8.  I have a rose bush in my little side garden area that is blooming some beautiful pink roses.  I've decided that I'm going to get a few more rose bushes to put out there and have myself a little rose garden.  It's going to be a while before I can actually get out there and do a lot of work...and I've missed most of the planting season... but I'm determined to make it my little oasis.  I'm thinking white, yellow, and pink roses will do the trick.  Also thinking about planting some wild flowers and maybe a few hanging baskets.  Never thought I'd be one to actually think about working in a flower garden. HA!  

9.  If my allergies will cooperate, I'm going to be doing quite a bit of yard work around here this summer.  Hubby and I picked out a new weed eater, that's ALL MINE!  He's going to take care of the mowing, and I'm going to do the trimming.  I think it's only fair that I do my part, and I want bragging rights when people compliment how nice the place looks.

10.  I've stalled long enough.  I really have to get over to the old house so that I can finally be done with the place.  As much as I'd just like to say to heck with anything else left over there, I can't.  I know that there are several things over there that I need and will miss if I don't get.  But, I'm hoping to be as quick as possible gathering it all.  Ready...Set.... GO!

Tornados, and Allergies, and Pain, OH MY!

So, we are all safe here in my neck of the woods.  The past 48 hours have been quite the wild ride.  Watching and hearing about devastating tornados taking out entire towns just hours away from us can be pretty scary.

Sunday, the wind was raging on most of the day but the sun was shining.  The wind ended up taking down a tree in our neighbor's yard that ended up destroying a portion of our fence.  It's pretty sad that we ended up with tree damage from a bit of wind.  It was nice to be able to meet our neighbors, but not under those circumstances.  He was friendly enough about it, though, and gave my brother a chainsaw to use to get rid of the tree.  My neighbor has recently had open heart surgery, so he wasn't in any condition to start taking care of a fallen tree.  He said he would take care of the fence, however, and was super nice about the whole ordeal.  

That night we got a bit of rain, but nothing too bad.  I know there were several tornados in Oklahoma, however.  But, I knew that last night was the night to watch out for.

Yesterday, at work, I had the most awful sinus headache from my allergies.  My head felt like it had been inflated with air, and I just needed to jab a needle in it to deflate it a little.  Thankfully, there wasn't a whole lot going on at work yesterday due to there only being two days of school left.  We played some games in the morning and watched movies in the afternoon.  My classroom still doesn't have AC, so the heat didn't help my headache any, but I'd much rather sit in the heat than try and teach with a pounding headache.  

I stayed after school to attend the 8th grade graduation ceremony.  I took the opportunity to start cleaning up my classroom a little, and being that my brother was with me he was able to help.  My head was getting worse and worse as the time went on.  After about an hour, there was an announcement made that due to impending bad weather, the graduation was being cancelled.  I couldn't believe it.  I was so sad for all the kids and the hard work they put in to getting ready for the ceremony, but relieved because I was sure my head wasn't going to withstand much more.

We finally got home around 5:30, and by then I was almost in tears with how much pain I was in.  I knew a doozy of a storm was coming because the pressure and thickness to the air was stifling.  I made my way to the couch in order to try and give myself from relief from the throbbing going on in my head...which didn't help.  I decided to give up about 30 minutes later when the first tornado warning was issued through our TV.  Of course, that sent a mini frenzy through my household with my brother and my kids.  I told them not to panic, and tried to see what was going on.

About 5 minutes later, the tornado sirens went off.  We have a siren right across the street from us, so it was super loud.  I did the one thing I always do when I hear a tornado siren...went outside to see what was going on.  I know, I know... not smart.  It brought back a lot of memories, though, of living in this town before.  The sirens used to go off quite a bit, and I'd always step outside to see if there was anything to worry about.  Thankfully, like many, many times before, there was just a severe storm heading in.  The winds were pretty strong and it was lightening really hard, but other than that.. just a nasty storm.  

The storms lasted all of 20 minutes, maybe.  The news kept saying there was rotation around us, but no tornados actually touched down.  Then, it was just rain and a bit of lightening.  My headache did not let up, however, and I finally had to call it a night and try and get some sleep.

Thankfully, when I woke up this morning, my headache was gone.  I hope it stays that way.. because I don't want another repeat of yesterday.  I have awards ceremonies and graduations and talent shows to attend today.  

It's the last day with my kiddos, and I know it's going to be a tough day.  But, I'm ready...as long as I can enjoy the day minus any allergy problems.

Almost There

I'm posting from my iPad again today because I haven't gotten my computer set up yet.  Plus, I can sit on my patio with my cup of coffee and my iPad to write.  I tell ya, I can definitely get used to doing this every morning.  Listen to the birds chirping, the leaves rustling in the wind....nice writing atmosphere.

We've pretty much got everything moved in.  There are still several small items at the old house that need to be pilfered through.  I hate pilfering.  I'd much rather just say forget it all and just start over, but I just know that a couple of months down the road I'll be looking for something that I left behind.  Plus, there are several pairs of my shoes still over there....they definitely can't get left behind.

The unpacking process has gone really well.  Most of the boxes have been unpacked as they arrive, and my room is the main room to still be done.  That's only because I need storage tubs to put some of my clothes in.  I've had to give up my walk-in closet for a standard his/her closet.  I have my own closet, it's just not big enough to hold all of my clothes.  That means that I'm going to have to start hanging seasonal clothes in the closet and storing the rest.

Yesterday, my parents came over.  My dad and brother helped Hubby move all of the remaining big stuff like the refrigerator, washer, dryer, all of the book shelves, my computer desk, and so on.  There were two truck loads of big stuff to haul.  I went out and did some shopping with my mom and bought some new rugs and towels.  I felt a little guilty that while the men were doing all of the heavy lifting, I was shopping... but they were better off without the women folk hanging around.  Once they were done, the whole family loaded up in our cars and went out for a family meal.  Minus Hubby.  He stayed home to finish unpacking the trailer and getting stuff set up.  We didn't get home until after 10pm, so after they left I was ready for bed.

Today, it's just going to be Hubby and I..plus my brother who's staying with me until Wednesday.  Peanut is with my parents, and Butter and Jelly are going on a skating trip with church so they'll be gone until later this afternoon.  We are going to take the opportunity to go out and pick up a few more things that we need around the house and then come back and do some unpacking and arranging.  My computer will definitely be set up today.

I still need to go over to the old house this week and get the rest of the stuff out of there.  I might do it this afternoon, I might do it after school this week.  Not sure.  Depends on how I feel.  It's been pretty hot the past couple of days, so the old house is like a furnace.  I'd much rather be in my cool, new home than over there.  There's also supposed to be some nasty storms rolling in the next few days..so that should be interesting, too.

Right now, gots to get ready....so much to do!

Back Online

Don't worry, I'm still here.  Just been off the grid with the moving from one place to another.  I either had a computer and no internet or internet and no computer.  Now, I have internet and my iPad.  My computer is finally here at the new house, but it's not hooked up yet because my desk is still at the old house.  The internet though?  WOW!!  We finally have high speed cable internet instead of DSL, and I'm still awing over how fast it really is.

My iPad had 50 app updates to do.  At my old house, that would have taken about 3 hours.  Here, it only took about 5 minutes!  Pulling 26 MBPS is unbelievable.  We clocked about 2 - if we were lucky - at the old house.

We've been staying in our home since Wednesday night.  Hubby and my brother spent Wednesday moving all of the beds and mattresses so that we didn't have to spend one more second trying to sleep in the furnace that is our old place.  It's been heavenly.  We had TV service on Thursday, so we only had to go one night without it...not that we cared, there hasn't been much time to just sit and watch TV.

Here in a few, Hubby and I are heading over to the old place to open up all the windows and air it out a little before my family come over to help us move.  Peanut and I went over there last night to do some work, but it was SOOOO hot.  We didn't end up staying long.  Not just that, but the smell from it being all closed up for a couple of days in the heat is unbelievable.  That's horrible for me to admit... but OH EM GEE does that house stink.  The mold and dampness from the last round of rain has really done a number in there.  I'm going to hate having to have people in there today moving stuff.  It's a total embarrassment.  Luckily, they'll have this nice house to come back to.

Well, that's it for me for right now.  I really have to get up and start working.  I just wanted to check in and let you all know what was going on.  I have tons to tell you all, but it has to wait until the work is finished.

Feeling a Little Helpless

No post yesterday, because once again someone (me) forgot to set their alarm clock or turned their alarm clock off instead of hitting snooze when it went off.  Not sure which one it was...all I know is that I didn't wake up until 6:38 yesterday morning.  Being that I usually leave my house at 6:30, it was quite the mad rush to get up and get around yesterday.  Thankfully, I was still able to get to school before 7:30, so I wasn't late.

That's twice in the past month or so that I've done that.  Which is two times more than I've done it in the past couple of years.  When I move, I'm dusting off my old alarm clock instead of using my phone.  It's just not loud enough to wake me up when I'm really tired.  It works fine most nights... but here lately, I've been EXHAUSTED!

Hubby and I were at the house the night last before messing with the pool.  We couldn't really do much else, because we've got to the point now where it's mostly big stuff that needs to be moved.  Well, I say that, it's mostly all big stuff and all of my stuff that I haven't packed yet that still has to be moved.  Because the pool pump hasn't been run as regularly as it should, we're starting to notice a green tint to the water.  That's not good.  I don't want algae appearing in the water, so we ran the pump for a couple of hours and cleaned out the pool the best we could.  My dad came over last night to look at the pump and clean it up a bit.  Hubby said it's working better, so it will run again today for a while...and hopefully we'll have a much cleaner pool by this weekend.

You remember how I've told you all before about how bad of a procrastinator I am, right?  Well, now it's really biting me in the behind.  My half of the office still hasn't been touched.  My desk is piled high with stuff, the book shelves are all still full of my teaching books, and until I get it all boxed up - my desk can't be moved.

Last night, I didn't get home until almost 9pm because of the spring concert at school.  The last thing I wanted to do when I got home was start packing.  I'll have to tonight, though.  Hubby now has the truck and the trailer from both of our parents - so it's go time.  My brother came over yesterday to help him move today.  They are going to pick up our furniture and they are moving all of the beds.  If I want my office moved and set up tomorrow, I'm going to have to pack it tonight.  Regardless of how tired I am after coming home from a day at work.

I'm really excited that tonight may be the first night we sleep in our new home... but I feel a little helpless at the fact that all of the moving is going on when I'm at work.  I feel like I'm not being much of a help.  My stuff is still needing to be packed, I still have stuff that I need to sort and make sure I'm not taking stuff with us that we don't need, and I just wish that we were getting out of school this week so that I could have the time to focus on the house.  But I don't and I can't.  So I just have to do what I can...and wait until the weekend, if I have to, to get the rest of my stuff taken care of.  As long as the stuff we need right now is taken care of, I guess that's all that really matters.

My poor little cat is a little restless right now.  It's like she knows something is going on, but she can't figure out what it is.  She's stayed pretty close to me the past few days.  I'm convinced that she thinks we're going to leave her behind when we move.  But, she has to be the last thing we move... because I don't want to leave her in strange new place without me.

The other thing that is suffering is my classroom.  I should be staying after school each night getting it packed up and ready for the summer.  But, I'm not.  Even last night, when I was at the school until 5 without any kids, I didn't even touch it.  That's mostly because I have no AC in my classroom at the moment, and it's freakin' HOT!  I figure that today and tomorrow, I'll start doing little stuff here and there...and then next Wednesday, when I'm at the school alone, it will get done and I can then be free to enjoy my summer.

As you can see, I'm a little flustered right now.  I know everything will all work out and fall in to place, but it doesn't help my nerves or stress all that much.  Even though it took a couple of months to close on my house, it seemed like everything happened so fast.  We knew we were going to move...we just didn't know when.  Then when we did know, it happened in a matter of a couple of days.  My goal was to be packed and ready the minute we closed.  That didn't happen.  Sure, we had a lot of stuff packed... but not near enough.  Now, I'm paying the price and it's causing me to feel pretty overwhelmed.  But, it's also a good overwhelmed.  I'm excited and ready to get out of this house...and I know it's going to take a little hard work and sweat to get it done.  No big deal.  It will get done.

Until then, I have a classroom full of excited kids counting down to the last day of school...and it's taking all of my energy just to keep them contained.

Just five more school days left.  I can do this!

Furniture's Taken Care Of... Kinda.

That's kinda sorta what my new furniture looks like.  It's the same style, but I picked a gray color instead of the beige.  And I also picked out an over-sized love seat and over-sized chair to go with it.  I spent a whole lot more than I meant to on furniture, but it means a lot to me to finally have furniture that all matches.  It's simple, but comfortable.  

Unfortunately we don't actually have the furniture yet, though, and probably won't until next weekend.  Hubby, the kids, and I spent most of the day driving around in the most beautiful weather visiting different furniture stores.  Of course, the minute we buy our furniture and make arrangements for my sister to bring my dad's truck to us so that we can haul it home - dark black rain clouds start making their way over us.  I wasn't about to risk getting our brand new furniture wet, even with a tarp.  So, now it will have to sit and wait until we can get the truck over there to bring it home.  I'm not going to pay $125 for them to deliver it to me when I just forked out the kind of money I did to buy the furniture in the first place.  It can wait.

We also ordered our new entertainment center that should be here early next week.  It looks like this:

The book shelves are separate from the main TV stand, so we can either set it up like this or use the bookshelves in the room a different way.  It will depend on space, and what I decide when I actually have it in front of me.

Hubby and I have also decided to give up our crappy old bed and go with a bed frame for now until we find something we like - and can afford.  The bed we have now is HUGE.  It's an old waterbed, but we have a regular king sized mattress in it.  It has a head board that's about 6" deep, and it's full of shelves...which is really uncomfortable and awkward to lean back on.  There's some nice storage underneath, but the drawers sit back about a foot under where the bed hangs out, so they are awkward to get to.  I'll be so glad that we don't have to try and move that monster, and we'll just throw our king sized mattress on a bed frame and throw some storage drawers under the bed.  We managed to find a king sized bed frame at Sam's for less than $40 - so that's all taken care of.

I know that reading about buying furniture isn't the most exciting thing in the world to read about, but this is all such a new experience for me.  I have never had brand new furniture.  Funny, huh?  Every couch, chair, love seat, sectional, and bed I've ever owned has been handed down to me by a family member or purchased used.  Wait, that's not true.  I did buy a brand new futon when I lived in my old apartment once, but that's about it.

Every time my parents have bought new furniture, I've inherited their old furniture.  When a friend of mine moved, she let me have her sectional sofa that I've loved ever since she inherited it from her aunt.  The thing is over 30 years old, looks like it's been through a few tornadoes, but it's comfortable.  But, it's time to say goodbye to that old gem.  And as soon as we get situated enough to start buying a few more pieces, all of the old dressers the whole family have will be gone.  But, they have to go with us for now...all the furniture money has been used up...and then some.

I guess that's the best thing about buying a house, though.  We'll take little steps here and there to get it to way we like it.  I'm teaching summer school so that we can have a little extra to buy paint and some other small items, I don't have to pay for daycare anymore so we can put a little bit back each month for bigger items, and even if it takes a few years - we'll eventually get everything we want.

I've realized this new sense of pride I have about our new house.  It was OK to have old stuff in our old house, because it's just a place to eat, sleep, and get ready for work.  From the moment we moved in seven years ago, it's been a temporary dwelling.  I knew we wouldn't be here forever.  But now?  It's important for me to respect my new home by not taking the old and rundown with us.  It's a brand new start for my family, so a brand new start it will be.

Kids will no longer eat in the living room.  We will sit at the dining room table and eat our meals.  Clothes will no longer be strewn around the house wherever they fall.  They will be placed in hampers in each bedroom or bathroom.  Toys will no longer be stepped on or kicked while making the walk from the living room to the kitchen.  Each child will have their own room for their own stuff, and that's where it will stay.  Clutter will no longer start collecting in every corner.  Everything will have a place and a purpose - and if it doesn't?  We don't need it.  Cleaning will no longer be a dreaded chore that I put off because I know it's a waste of time.  It will now be a weekly ritual that's done with excitement in refreshing and maintaining beauty.

Can you sense my excitement?  I sure hope so...because it's coursing through my veins.  In just a few more short days we will finally be able to move in.  I will say goodbye and good riddance to the past, and my family will begin our future that we've waited so long for.

I know I'm not alone...cause I'm gonna make this place our home.

So Much To Do...So Little Time

Yesterday was a busy day of moving.  We got our first load in the car and headed to the house, and when we got there we discovered this little guy in our pool.  I named him Walter.  He was happily swimming around enjoying the nice weather and the cool water.  I just didn't have the heart to evict him straight away, so he got to enjoy the pool for most of the day until it was time to start cleaning it.

Hubby eventually got out the electric pool cleaner that the sellers had so graciously left for us.  It took us a while to figure it out, but once we did we set it loose on the bottom of the pool.  I tell you what, for the pool being uncovered for almost a month without anything being done to it except for the pool filter running a couple of hours a day, it looks pretty clean.  Sure, there were some leaves and dirt that had collected in the bottom, but our electric cleaner soon took care of that.  Apparently, the pool is one of our top priorities, because come on - after a busy weekend of moving the huge stuff next week, we want to be able to dive right in!

To make sure Walter wasn't the victim of a nasty severing from the pool filter, I scooped him up with the pool net and dropped him carefully over the fence.  Jelly then proceeded to catch him, play with him for a while, and then delivered him across the neighbor's fence which leads to a very nice mini lake.  Hopefully, he found a nice home there.

Which reminds me.  Do you remember a little while back when I wrote the blog post about my dream home destination?  I wrote all about not really having a set place I wanted to live, but I wanted to live near something.  And that would be water.  Preferably a lake.  Well, guess what?  Across the back fence of my property is a mini-lake.  A very large pond is probably more the best description.  But, it's water.  That I can see from my privacy deck outside my bedroom.  That means, each morning I can grab a cup of coffee and either sit on the outside patio or my back deck and look out over the water.  Could this house be any more perfect?

P-Momma came over to see the house yesterday, my parents saw it the night before, and my brother and sister came yesterday afternoon.  All were very impressed and thought our house was wonderful.  P-Momma got to hang out with us for a while, and we just sat on the patio and visited.  I'm already entertaining without anything moved in!  I have to say, the feeling of welcoming people to my new home and feeling proud to show it to them was a feeling I've never had before.  For years, I've tried to keep visitors away because I was so ashamed of the house we were living in.  Now?  I want people to come... I want to entertain and give tours and show off the one thing I've waited so long to have.

My brother and sister brought over my dad's truck so that we could get a nice big load of stuff to move over there.  Even though we couldn't really move any big stuff, we managed to move most of Jelly's toys, all of the boxes that we'd packed prior, and the dining room table and chairs.  All that's really left, now, is the stuff we've needed and haven't packed yet and the big stuff:  TV's, beds, washer, dryer, desks, dressers, stuff like that.  We plan on moving all of that stuff next weekend - when we make our final move.

It's going to kill me not being in the house until then.  Each night, I'm still going to have to come home to the old house and long to be laying in my new house.  But, it's just a week...and I'm sure that each afternoon once I get off work I'll be driving HOME and unpacking some stuff.

Ahhh, to call a place home.  What an amazing feeling.  I've never really done that since living in the old house.  It's always just been "the house".  We're on our way back to the "the house".  We have to go the "the house" first.  Are you going to come to "the house" to pick up the kids?  After next week, I will proudly declare the trip HOME each night.

Today, I've got some packing and sorting to do and then we are going to take a trip out to look at some furniture.  One good thing is that none of our old furniture is going with us.  We get to buy all new furniture!  New couch, new entertainment center, new bed for us... fun, fun!

But, I really have to pack some more if I want to go out shopping.

Toodles!