Homeowner perspective

The teacher next door swears that now that we're homeowners, a baby can't be far behind. I beg to differ. We want to have a life for a while (read: at LEAST 2-3 more years) before we give up all independence. (We live to serve you, O colicky one...)

Scary how grown-up we are starting to sound. Heard/said while talking with the furnace/water heater guy yesterday...

"That will really improve our resale value."

Yikes!

They will be installing said appliances on Monday.

Tonight we will be packing up the rest of our stuff so that it can be moved tomorrow. Actually, with half our stuff gone, the old place isn't seeming so crowded any more.

"Sick" day

Took off yesterday because I had WAY too much to do and not enough time to do it in. Plus, I have only taken 2 sick days this year, and the couch and love seat were being delivered yesterday. They are sitting happily in their new home now, the first furniture in the new place. They are nice and cushy.

The big move is Saturday. We are shamelessly bribing our movers (friends) with pizza and beer/soda, which they don't get until everything is moved in. But we have done a LOT of the little stuff so far...we took out our clothes for this week and moved all the rest of the clothes. We took a lot of the dishes, and the books are long gone. Much of the kitchen stuff has been moved, which is great because breakables are a pain to pack.

I am also working hard on invitations. Addresses are trickling in. We were going to try to mail them by this weekend, but I think it will be another week before we get them out.

We picked out tuxes a couple of weeks ago. I sent my dress to the dry cleaners last week. I have my first fitting in a couple of weeks. It's all coming together.

I guess it's a good thing that we have all these stresses at one time because perhaps next year, my life will have something resembling sanity again.

Perhaps not.

Oh and by the way, the guest list just keeps growing. 322 invited at last count. Let's hope some of these people don't bring guests, or that they already have plans for 4th of July!

Stop the insanity!

Much craziness ensues.

Not only do we move in a week, but also we need to get the invitations out as well. These things are becoming like having a baby...been carrying them around for at least nine months, working slowly on them as the size grows, and finally, with a lot of labor at the end, they will come out. But it's gonna hurt.

I'm probably going to take a sick day next week-I just have way too much stuff to do, and lots of sick days left (only taken 2 this year).

I've changed my address with a bunch of people today, although I'm sure I'll have to do a bunch more before this is all over. Ah, the joy of moving.

Actually, I am enjoying the leisurely pace and the move-and-purge aspect of this. I love having time to go through my stuff and get rid of the things I don't need or don't use. I have 8 bags ready for Goodwill and counting. It's like a massive Spring cleaning. I find that there's something soothing about purging and simplifying. We will be so much more spread out in the new place...it will be great not to be crammed into a space any more. I am sure that we will grow to fill the space, especially after the wedding, but for now it will be great to have some open space. It feels good to be cleaning, moving, purging, changing. Somehow, it's appropriate for the Spring and the renewal and the rain and nice weather.

I feel like I'm growing up, but I think I'm ready.

No more rent, now it's a mortgage. No more single me, I will soon be married.

We can put holes in the walls and paint and decorate. If we make friends with our neighbors, we could be on Trading Spaces.

Look out, grownups, here I come!

We're homeowners!

Sign here...and here...and here...and initial here...

All done and it's ours. We drove up there with the intention of renting a carpet shampooer to do the rugs (they had cats and a smoker) and discovered that we forgot to call and have the electricity turned on. Whoops! But we did take up a first load of stuff including some vanilla candles (conveniently, we have several dozen for the wedding) that we've heard will help with the smoke smell. It's not too bad, you just notice briefly when you walk in and in one of the rooms especially.

Oh, the closet space. The closet space!! :-) Going to Olive Garden to celebrate tonight.

Closer and closer

The closing is looming. It's a week from Friday. We are scheduling our final walk-through for Monday, including an inspection of the gas leak repair. I am excited but nervous.

It seems like there's too much to do before the wedding. How am I going to get all this done and do my schoolwork and move?? We haven't even talked to the priest yet. He asked us to contact him after Easter. I just hope he isn't leaving the country for the Pope's funeral or anything. We need to find out how many readers and pieces of music we need and start asking people to do this for us. We already have one reader and one musician, but we will need more than that.

We are going to do the printed parts of the invitations this weekend. Then hopefully we can start constructing. I am also in the process of gathering addresses, which is more difficult than you might think (look, if you want to invite your second cousin twice removed, I'm going to need her address!!).

Anyway...I am feeling overwhelmed with everything that needs to get done in the next few weeks. Plus, several people close to us are having a rough time. D's sister was rushed to the hospital with appendicitis last Friday night (they removed it, she is fine), and also my mom totaled her car and suffered 2 broken ribs and a broken arm the same night. Yikes! Several friends in town are also needing help-one recently miscarried, and one's husband has been hospitalized for depression. I guess when it rains, it pours. We are grateful that our lives are fairly stable so that we can offer support to those who need it.

I should go get ready for class now.

Week 9, Day 45

I can count the weeks left without taking off my shoes.

This is a good thing, because I have been inclined to eat copious amounts of chocolate after some days of school the past few weeks. This is not a good sign.

I really wish I could start the year over knowing what I know now. I know that next year will be much better, but I'm getting impatient to finish this one because I can't change much of the behavior patterns and expectations that I have set, inadvertently or advertently (is that a word? If not, it should be.)

I'll just try to make it through; that's the best anyone can ask.

We are less than 2 weeks away from closing (the 15th). I have already arranged for a sub, and I think we will bring the first load of stuff up in our car when we come to CR to close. D is already packing up his books. I haven't started packing yet, as boxes always make me sad and discombobulated. I'd rather move in a short period of time than have it strung out over weeks.

That said, moving day (major furniture and the rest of the odds and ends) is set for May 1st. We do want to get the furnace and hot water heater replaced before we move. I am checking on a lady at school whose husband does heating and cooling systems.

I am staying at school waiting for my massage...we have a lady who comes in and does chair massages every other week. Aaahhhh. Only $15 for 20 min.!