Our progress on our move is coming along nicely. For the past two days we have been inundated with packers who have managed to packup every item we own. Now our house is nothing but a jumble of boxes; boxes that, by the way, I have managed to stub every single toe in while attempting to maneuver my way to the bathroom in the dark in the middle of the night! Today the moving van arrives to pick up said boxes and all the furniture. Once the house is completely empty the cleaning can begin. That should not take to long. However, in the midst of cleaning we will be packing all of Shannon's belongings into a rented U-Haul and driving it across town to her new apartment. So,my weekend will consist of cleaning this house and helping Shannon set up her apartment and shopping for items she will need.
Monday we will close on the house and Marcus will leave, returning to Virginia with our dog. I am anxious to close on the house and have our fat little profit wired to our checking account. I want to send all that money off to various creditors before I am tempted to spend it. I really think that renting a house instead of buying one was a great decision for us as it allowed us to pay off nearly all our debt rather than spend our money on a buying a home. The prospect of paying off nearly all of our debt is very appealing!
On another note, I am finding it very strange that I am not feeling sad about this move. Usually when we move I am sad to leave my town, my house etc. So sad in fact that I usually break down crying several times. That has not really happened yet--well, no breakdown concerning leaving the house!! I am very sad and worried about leaving Shannon behind, but I am handling it much better than I thought I would. Certainly better than I handled leaving Lindsay; but, that could be due to the fact that Lindsay was only 17, whereas Shannon is 21. I think part of me is excited to go to the new house and part of me is excited about this new life that Marcus and I are about to embark on. We have NEVER been just the two of us--we have always had children. It will be interesting to see how we adjust to this new found freedom.
my coffee? Someone must have because I am eerily calm when I should be running around like mad trying to get everything finished before the movers come in 6 days! Things seem to be falling into place little by little. We finally came to terms on the lease agreement and I should be receiving the amended version today--will just have to sign it and fax it to Marcus. Tomorrow he will meet with the agent, sign the lease and hand him the check (GULP). Then Marcus will leave to come back to LA to help me when the packers come. I am anxious to see him again although the month we have been apart seems to have just flown right by.
I've found a decent kennel for the dog to stay in until we get settled and the fence we are having built at the new house is complete. I still have 1.5 million things to accomplish, but at this point just getting one thing done seems monumental.
Coming soon: Pictures of the week! Can you guess the subject?
that seems to be the constant mind frame I am in as of late! I thought that once we had confirmation on the house I would be able to breathe a sigh of relief and relax. However, I looked at the calendar this morning (BIG mistake) and realized that my movers come in TEN days!!!!!! If you have ever made a big move then you know what that entails. I need to go through every room in the house and weed out the stuff I do not trust the movers to take--photos and stuff like that. I also have to weed out all the things I intend to leave for Shannon's apartment--kitchen stuff, bedding, furniture, my printer--stuff like that. All this stuff I have to "hide" so the packers do not accidently pack it. I also have to pack all my paper and my embellishments--YIKES.
Marcus is coming home on the 14th to help me weed through the attic and bring everything back that we currently have in storage. He will stay around long enough to help with the movers and then take the dog back to VA with him (so I only have to travel to VA with two cats). The movers come on the 16th, 17th, and 18th. On the 19th and 20th we can move Shannon's stuff into her apartment. On the 21st we close on the house.
I plan to make a quick trip to VA probably the week after Thanksgiving so I can be there when the movers unload our stuff into the house. That way I can tell them exactly where I want everything put. I'll stick around for a few days, unpacking boxes and then will head back to LA to hang with Shannon for a couple weeks before heading to VA permanently. I need to teach Shannon all about paying bills etc. Poor girl is 21 and has no clue how to live on her own yet because she has always lived at home. She is about to get a crash course!
Anyway, looks like life is about to get CRAZY for a while!!!! All this while I am trying to do my Christmas shopping, finish 13 Finn calendars for Lindsay and finish up my Christmas cards! Oh ya, and I am trying to get in all of season 1 of the Desperate Housewives and watch all the season 2 episodes I have on TIVO before the movers pack my DVR!!!! Priorities People!
After two weeks of hashing out the details, we were finally just now notified that the house we have chosen is ours!!! The owner of the home actually has another house that I was really interested in, but since that house had mostly carpets on the main level he offered us this one instead. I was happy because I actually liked both houses and was having difficulty choosing. Today, however, he decided that we can have our pick of either house.
From here on out I am going to try to post a photo once a week. Usually one I've taken, but in today's case this is a recent photo of Finn that Lindsay snapped.
For some reason, Finn is really into hats right now--he loves to wear them. He prefers to wear his newsboy cap backwards.
Yesterday was such an emotional day and not really for any specific reason. I think I was simply overwhelmed with everything I am trying to accomplish right now. After nearly having a nervous break down, I finally heard back from the realtor. The owner has agreed to not raise the rent during the 36 month lease!!! That is good news. Now the only issue we have is the fact that the owner intends to put in the lease that my dog remain outside and my two cats be kept on the main floor of the house. Excuse me? I thought we were paying a $500 non-refundable pet fee, $6,000 in security deposits and and extra $250 tacked onto the rent every month so we COULD have our cats in the house. That is sort of like telling us we can rent the house, but can only use two of the 4.5 bathrooms in the house. Weird!
Anyway, we filled out and faxed in the credit check form today and that should come back just fine. We need to get the pet issue solved once and for all and we need to sweat out the fact that two other people have filled applications for this home--hopefully they don't make a better offer than we did. If all this pans out, then the house will be ours as of Nov. 25th!!!
Went to donate my blood today and they decided they wanted my platelets instead. Donating platelets instead of whole blood would probably be better for me because when you just donate your platelets you get your RBCs back. According to the nurse at the center that would help me not be so exhausted for days after giving blood (it took me days to regain my strength back after the first time). Not that any of all that mattered because after the medical screening I was not allowed to donate because my blood pressure was 161/107 and that was after taking my blood pressure medication. I am sure it is so high because of all the stress of this house stuff. I will go back and try to donate tomorrow.
Shortly after Hurricane Katrina, I donated blood for the very first time ever. I don't really know why I had never donated before; perhaps it was the needle or the fact that the thought of draining that much blood from my body made me queasy. But after the disaster of the hurricaine I needed desperately to feel like I was doing something, no matter how large or small, to help, so I donated blood. I didn't realize until today how such a simple act could be important months later.
I reaceived a phone call today from the Life Share Blood Donation Center. There is a woman in my area who will be undergoing a liver transplant soon and they are trying to stock pile blood for her in the event that she needs it. Apparently, my blood is a match to hers and they called to to ask if I would be willing to donate blood for her tomorrow. How can one possibly say "no" to that?! So tomorrow morning I will head out and do that. It is nice to know that something we take for granted can help save the life of another person. If you can, donate blood--make it a gift to yourself because you never know when you might need it from someone else.
