The maze and door vs. cat

Just wanted to give a small update.  Still no pictures.  They are all on my camera where they are safe until we get the server hooked up so I can download them to there for permanent storage.  After a recent breakdown over losing about 50 pictures I do not want to experience the breakdown over losing about a months' worth. 
It wouldn't be pretty.

But someday you will get to see! If you're good.

Unpacking is moving along, very slowly, but it's moving.  I found a really good method for getting about 3 unpacked in 30 minutes - look for a vase (or something else you really really want).  I knew which box I had packed the majority of my vases in, but couldn't remember if I had stashed one or two in a few other boxes.  Those boxes were easier to get to since I knew where they were. 

I had not. 

Oh well, my china is completely unpacked and I did find a vase for a few peonies I had cut from my yard.

FROM MY YARD!!! I love having pretty flowers in my yard.  I also have quite a few rose bushes, but they aren't too healthy right now. I hope I can fix that.  There is also a few of this one kind of bush that I know will eventually bloom, but I have no idea what it is or what the flowers will be like.  They too, like the roses, are COVERED in aphids.  For now.

Getting boxes out of the garage to unpack is 'fun' all by itself.  The garage is stuffed full of all our stuff.  I've worked out a few maze-like trails to get through.  I have one to the freezer and one to the area where all my boxes seem to be, which also seem to be under all of Robert's SUPER heavy boxes.

Speaking of the garage - looks like we're in the market for a new door opener.  The sellers went out and bought us a second door opener remote a few weeks before moving out, which was really nice of them.  However, that's when the opener became possessed.  It opens the garage by itself at random moments throughout the day and night.  The neighborhood seems safe enough so I'm not too concerned about someone trying to run off with our heavy boxes, but I still don't want the door open. 

We've found it open when coming home several times and this morning when Robert left to take the kids to school and go to work he found it open again. 

At first he thought the new remote had just accidentally gotten reprogrammed onto a neighbors' frequency, but after reprogramming the remotes several times and some other attempts at fixing it, it is just staying possessed.  So new opener it is....

I should have told everyone to go buy stock in HomeDepot before we signed - we have spent more money there in the past month than I would like to admit.

This last weekend we worked on the kids rooms and ripped out about 6 bushes - which Peter identified over the phone as Heavenly Bamboo (my neighbor called them that too).  YAY PETER!  Peter has a great green thumb, I wish he lived closer. Now we can walk around the porch to the backyard without feeling like we're going through a jungle.  We have about 6 more that need to be pulled so we can put a second door on the porch to get to the backyard more easily.  I am going to try to move those.  They are still small and look a lot healthier (probably because they didn't have to be constantly hacked to get by them) and they are very pretty bushes.  We'll see how moving goes.  If they become a pain, they get tossed.

I don't think Simba is taking the move that well.  He started out very nervous about being outside (the neighbor has three large, loud labs) but is now making 'rounds' like he usually does.  He has been caught 'marking' in the house twice, which I don't get.  He has access to a perfectly fine litter box, is the only cat allowed outside, and he has been fixed so he shouldn't have that urge anymore.  This morning he was also found in the garage peeing on Robert's mechanic overalls - the outside was right there - WHY SIMBA WHY?!

He has also decided that the small rip in the screen of the patio door needed to be larger so it could accomodate him as his personal cat door.  I have squirted him to the point he was dripping (all in one afternoon) in an attempt to try to teach him not to go through there, and still he goes through. 

I might be making him a strictly outdoor kitty.

Slowly coming together

The past 2 weeks have been so emotionally and physically draining.  More emotionally though. 

I've heard from many many people that if a couple can buy a house together, if they can deal and cope with that stress, then they can deal and cope with anything.

And I believe it.  Boy have we've been stressed! But I think we are handling it okay.

It has been a long road, and while the end is very near we just can't quite get our hands on it.

After getting the keys we decided that we want to paint before we move any furniture in because it would be easier. And it was, except it wasn't.  We completely underestimated the amount of paint we needed.  Word of the wise here - even if the walls were recently painted, if you are going with darker colors (which is anything other than white) count on needing AT LEAST 2 coats.  There were a couple that actually needed 3 coats. Or use primer. Live and learn. Live and learn... And painting a ceiling is such a pain in the neck - literally. I had trouble turning my head the next day.

And I do have pictures of the rooms, of the pretty pretty colors that I love love love. And I promise I will share. But I'm still just getting computer time on my lunch break since my evenings are driving home, getting kids fed, bathed, and in bed, playing catch-up with my laundry, and keep up with the dishes all while unpacking a box or two.  Robert was able to get the rooms painted during his week off of work, he just missed the bathroom and now is questioning my color choice so I have to come up with a new color for it or convince him on the gray again. He has been setting up computers, TVs, hanging closet shelving, replacing light switches and plugs, and finishing up moving stuff (we just have 'little' stuff left).  When replacing some plugs he found a couple outlets where there was bare wire just hanging there - fire hazard. Just crazy I tell ya.  He also had a whole saga on trying to hang his LCD TV for his computer monitor - no studs in the wall where he wanted to hang and the anchor broke and .... whole saga, poor guy.

I've decided - I don't like having to drive to work. I love my lazy commute of walking from the kitchen or bedroom or whatever to the office. LOVE IT!  Nothing like having to miss something to make you appreciate it that much more!

We have one more week of commuting kids to school and me to work, and then I get to do about 3 weeks of kid taxi juggling until the end of the school year.  The way I drive home is GORGEOUS though, and I have pictures of that too - hopefully - I'm pointing the camera towards the window and hitting the shutter. I hope some of those come out.

To top things off, today we go to court to testify as witnesses in a domestic abuse case. Fun fun...

(Just to be clear, that 'fun fun' was completely sarcastic. I am not looking forward to it, am very very nervous about it. And not just nervous about being in court for the first time ever!)

Lift with your legs!

Moving day (weekend) is here.  We hope to spend our first night in our house tomorrow night!

I'm working today (this is my lunch break) and Robert is loading up by himself.  Well, until I get off of here and go help for my lunch break.  Eating on a lunch break - psssh - eating is for woosies. (I will grab something to munch don't worry). I'm having so much trouble sitting still because I have so much to do but I have to work. ANXIETY!  Where is the ability to clone yourself when you need it!

Tomorrow, we finish up loading the beds and such and will head on over to get those up first.  They are priority since we wanna sleep there.

Robert's mom will be here to help and I'm assigning her to finish off the kitchen - and then clean bathrooms. I hate cleaning bathrooms.  THANKS A MILLION BARBARA!!!!

Anyone else wanna come help? I have tons of jobs I could assign ya and I pay in coffee, pizza, popsicles, and soda.