I want to write. I really do. Instead, I've been moving boxes and just now giving up in favor of paper grocery bags & small trash bags. We're stuffing our cars and making a few trips down the road.
This morning, I bought room darkening curtains for all 'cause we're not staying up this late every night waiting for the sun to go down.
This morning, we wandered around a new farmer's market and met an adorbs dog named Louie (part chi-woo-woo -as we say - and part terrier).
This morning, I woke up with both cats hanging around in my room. They hadn't ventured upstairs until last night. It looks like they're getting over some of their new-home anxiety.
This morning, my daughter decorated her wall with decals, and it looks jammin'.
Right now, I'm sitting in a beach chair in an almost empty living room, poaching my own internet and putting off the return trip and another unloading process in the HEAT for a few more minutes. I'm also watching some baseball because n-o i-n-t-e-r-n-e-t a-t t-h-e n-e-w h-o-u-s-e. It's like 1996 all over again.
Thanks be that my job does not have me work outside all year round. It would test the strength of my soul.
Saturday, July 22, 2017
Friday, July 14, 2017
All the leggin's, all the time
I have much, much, much to write about, but I fear that I will be just makin' y'all jealous 'bout all the leggin's, all the time. Summer = so many leggings.
(I'm also watching The Office right now because NETFLIX HOW DARE YOU?!?! for pulling it from your offerings?!?! I will undoubtedly forget things that I want to tell all of the you.)
Here's where I'm (mentally) at right now:
1. We close on our new house in 6 days. It turns out that the time between when you agree on a price and when you pay for the price is a long time. It's not that I'm all BALLOONS & CONFETTI & CHEERCHEERCHEER but rather like dearly beloved can we just get this ooooover with?
2. We close on the sale of our current house 4 days later.
3. I spent 9 hours today working with other teachers on crafting/planning/drafting rubrics, assessments, a schedule, and a decision on what material to use. We completed (almost) ONE unit. We're now (almost) through October. Le sigh...teachers.
4. This town continues to be a magnet for twisters, and as I woke up just a few days ago when the siren went off for the second time that night, I immediately thought "We're not going to end things this way, house!" (It's time to back off on life when you think your house is out to get you by attracting tornadoes. That usually doesn't happen, I hear.)
5. Our big furball is really a bony furball right now as he is on what I called "kitty life support" right now, i.e. down to his final days. He's in that bony hips & spine stage now, but his sweet, sweet eyes still have some life in them, and we can't tell that he's in pain. So we're gonna give it a go and take him with us to the new digs rather than take him to the vet for one final showdown in the exam room.
6. I apparently have to be trained in about three things this summer if I want to continue with any of my jobs.
7. I'm also currently employed by 4 schools, though one hasn't exactly paid me yet.
8. The Boy can't wait to do my taxes for this year, I'm sure.
9. I have a list of well-we-really-don't-want-to-have-two-empty-rooms furniture options. When I don't have grading that I have to work on, then I'm probs going to be searching, searching, always searching for ideas and cheap-but-not-too-cheap furniture because sometimes you just want a chair to sit in.
10. Neither of us don't really want to just buy stuff and more stuff because we have some space. It's a fine line to walk for me. Just yesterday, our financial advisor (ironically) told us happily "Oh, you'll grow into the space!" when we indicated that we want this to be our last mortgage and we're really intending to downsize hard when the girls go to college and shouldn't she be proud of us for our financial prudence. But we don't really want to "grow into the space." And then she said "Just don't get one of those tiny houses that you see on TV." I think there's a fair bit of space separating the two.
11. I ran 4+ miles yesterday, and it felt relatively easy. That's never happened before. (I also heard heavy breathing and was glad to see that it was someone behind me on the stair machine; I thought for a minute that I was just an obnoxious breather.)
12. A few hours after we close on the new place, the Boy is leaving for 3 days to go to cross country camp. This is the first time that he's done it even though he talks about doing it every year. His timing is suspicious.
13. I'll be basically moving us into the new place by myself after he helps with the couple of big things. I'm OK with this.
14. The day after the last closin' (which happens right after the movin' when I'll be wearin' the leggin's), I start back up again. I'm kinda OK with this, mostly just tired of waiting for it to start.
Something HAPPEN already.
But wait...that means I can't wear the leggin's as much. It's a catch-22.
(I'm also watching The Office right now because NETFLIX HOW DARE YOU?!?! for pulling it from your offerings?!?! I will undoubtedly forget things that I want to tell all of the you.)
Here's where I'm (mentally) at right now:
1. We close on our new house in 6 days. It turns out that the time between when you agree on a price and when you pay for the price is a long time. It's not that I'm all BALLOONS & CONFETTI & CHEERCHEERCHEER but rather like dearly beloved can we just get this ooooover with?
2. We close on the sale of our current house 4 days later.
3. I spent 9 hours today working with other teachers on crafting/planning/drafting rubrics, assessments, a schedule, and a decision on what material to use. We completed (almost) ONE unit. We're now (almost) through October. Le sigh...teachers.
4. This town continues to be a magnet for twisters, and as I woke up just a few days ago when the siren went off for the second time that night, I immediately thought "We're not going to end things this way, house!" (It's time to back off on life when you think your house is out to get you by attracting tornadoes. That usually doesn't happen, I hear.)
5. Our big furball is really a bony furball right now as he is on what I called "kitty life support" right now, i.e. down to his final days. He's in that bony hips & spine stage now, but his sweet, sweet eyes still have some life in them, and we can't tell that he's in pain. So we're gonna give it a go and take him with us to the new digs rather than take him to the vet for one final showdown in the exam room.
6. I apparently have to be trained in about three things this summer if I want to continue with any of my jobs.
7. I'm also currently employed by 4 schools, though one hasn't exactly paid me yet.
8. The Boy can't wait to do my taxes for this year, I'm sure.
9. I have a list of well-we-really-don't-want-to-have-two-empty-rooms furniture options. When I don't have grading that I have to work on, then I'm probs going to be searching, searching, always searching for ideas and cheap-but-not-too-cheap furniture because sometimes you just want a chair to sit in.
10. Neither of us don't really want to just buy stuff and more stuff because we have some space. It's a fine line to walk for me. Just yesterday, our financial advisor (ironically) told us happily "Oh, you'll grow into the space!" when we indicated that we want this to be our last mortgage and we're really intending to downsize hard when the girls go to college and shouldn't she be proud of us for our financial prudence. But we don't really want to "grow into the space." And then she said "Just don't get one of those tiny houses that you see on TV." I think there's a fair bit of space separating the two.
11. I ran 4+ miles yesterday, and it felt relatively easy. That's never happened before. (I also heard heavy breathing and was glad to see that it was someone behind me on the stair machine; I thought for a minute that I was just an obnoxious breather.)
12. A few hours after we close on the new place, the Boy is leaving for 3 days to go to cross country camp. This is the first time that he's done it even though he talks about doing it every year. His timing is suspicious.
13. I'll be basically moving us into the new place by myself after he helps with the couple of big things. I'm OK with this.
14. The day after the last closin' (which happens right after the movin' when I'll be wearin' the leggin's), I start back up again. I'm kinda OK with this, mostly just tired of waiting for it to start.
Something HAPPEN already.
But wait...that means I can't wear the leggin's as much. It's a catch-22.
Monday, July 3, 2017
Fare thee well, June. Thou wert rough.
Good people, we are looking at only 18 days left in this old house (that looks fresh and fit as a fiddle with its GORGEOUS new roof...it's very flaunty, right now). In the meantime, there are boxes to be attended to every day (5 boxes a day keeps the mental breakdown at bay!)
I'm trying to space out the packing by figuring out a handful of boxes every day, but most of them are a modestly-sized Amazon box and it comes in spurts. Por ejemplo. Today? No boxes. Why? Because I got lazy and felt icky this afternoon. And the boy worked on a few, so I felt like squelching on to his handful and calling it a day. Honestly, most of the not-really-using-right-now stuff is packed, so we're down to the it's-gonna-have-to-wait-another-14-days boxes for the crunch time maneuvering.
And it's been remarkably peaceful and unhurried and calm, the packing part at least. The rest of June was a HOT, HOT MESS. There were pre-planned 2 camping trips, a pre-planned 3-day synod assembly, 3 different classes to start/continue/finish, the funnest of the summer library activities, gymnastics, swim lessons, visiting the new school, muddling through money-money meetings, looking-finding-dithering-calling people-calling people-calling people new house garbage, and running to attend to.
Some days, they were a trial. But we're still here, all drama aside.
We surely did make it to July, or as I've been looking at it, the Promised Land.
I have big plans this month:
1. Consistently work on my Sunday crosswords before Friday.
2. Read two books.
3. Plan out the entire school year (maybe just the first 2 weeks).
4. Figure out what to put in "the living room" in the new place so that "the living room" doesn't become the receptacle for odds, ends, and sundries. This is a thankless task that no one else in this house will help me with. I feel adrift and refuse to get sucked into Pinterest's clutches. Good people! Do help.
5. Feed my family something other than tuna salad, egg salad or hummus sandwiches. We cannot be sick of those before school starts. I will weep salty, salty tears if my children won't let me send those to school f-r-e-q-u-e-n-t-l-y because know what? The Elder doesn't like peanut butter. Someone's gotta be the kook.
But this cleaning and packing thing has been so good for my soul. I love that we have at least half of the house packed and more empty boxes than full ones yet in the garage because we try hard to avoid accumulating stuff. I was surprised at the warm fuzzies that I got a couple of times when I stumbled upon some kept notes from good friends and The Boy. I realized that it was time to let go of some more stuff from our wedding with no regrets. I appreciate the ruthless quality that makes me reconsider every single thing I start to pack in a box, evaluating whether it is worth the time and effort to move it. If it weren't so expensive, I would move every few years just to go through this part.
So on to a new month. May it be merciful and kind. And, may we dig our toes in the sand one more time before facing the new school year head-on.
I'm trying to space out the packing by figuring out a handful of boxes every day, but most of them are a modestly-sized Amazon box and it comes in spurts. Por ejemplo. Today? No boxes. Why? Because I got lazy and felt icky this afternoon. And the boy worked on a few, so I felt like squelching on to his handful and calling it a day. Honestly, most of the not-really-using-right-now stuff is packed, so we're down to the it's-gonna-have-to-wait-another-14-days boxes for the crunch time maneuvering.
And it's been remarkably peaceful and unhurried and calm, the packing part at least. The rest of June was a HOT, HOT MESS. There were pre-planned 2 camping trips, a pre-planned 3-day synod assembly, 3 different classes to start/continue/finish, the funnest of the summer library activities, gymnastics, swim lessons, visiting the new school, muddling through money-money meetings, looking-finding-dithering-calling people-calling people-calling people new house garbage, and running to attend to.
Some days, they were a trial. But we're still here, all drama aside.
We surely did make it to July, or as I've been looking at it, the Promised Land.
I have big plans this month:
1. Consistently work on my Sunday crosswords before Friday.
2. Read two books.
3. Plan out the entire school year (maybe just the first 2 weeks).
4. Figure out what to put in "the living room" in the new place so that "the living room" doesn't become the receptacle for odds, ends, and sundries. This is a thankless task that no one else in this house will help me with. I feel adrift and refuse to get sucked into Pinterest's clutches. Good people! Do help.
5. Feed my family something other than tuna salad, egg salad or hummus sandwiches. We cannot be sick of those before school starts. I will weep salty, salty tears if my children won't let me send those to school f-r-e-q-u-e-n-t-l-y because know what? The Elder doesn't like peanut butter. Someone's gotta be the kook.
But this cleaning and packing thing has been so good for my soul. I love that we have at least half of the house packed and more empty boxes than full ones yet in the garage because we try hard to avoid accumulating stuff. I was surprised at the warm fuzzies that I got a couple of times when I stumbled upon some kept notes from good friends and The Boy. I realized that it was time to let go of some more stuff from our wedding with no regrets. I appreciate the ruthless quality that makes me reconsider every single thing I start to pack in a box, evaluating whether it is worth the time and effort to move it. If it weren't so expensive, I would move every few years just to go through this part.
So on to a new month. May it be merciful and kind. And, may we dig our toes in the sand one more time before facing the new school year head-on.
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