sans TV

we've been without the tv for a little over a week.  dropping cable in the summer is kind of cheating; nothing new is on anyway, and it's (supposedly) nice enough to spend time outside doing other things.  however, we are all acclimating pretty quickly, and it wasn't until this afternoon that i actually though, "man, i'd like to go home and plop down on the couch."  FYI, we also are sans couch right now.  the old couch, it was gross.  it was free.  it was ugly.  it got taken to the dump, where the boys were lucky enough to see it smashed into a billion pieces with a very large tractor/trash mover. 

so yeah, no place to flop, nothing to watch tv on, what the hell are we doing?

making friends with netflix.  doing summer homework (that would be the girlchild).  watching insane amounts of kung fu and samurai films (boychik).  playing with the neighbor girls (girlchild!).  painting swatches of paint on the walls (me!).  going through boxes of old art and craft supplies and weeding out old/unused stuff (also me).  making lists of things we want to do in the new house, including,

• build a storage couch.  this is D's newest idea and i'm open to it.  i figure the hardest part will be the upholstery, but worse case scenario, we can start with a slipcover and go from there!
• do more embroidery.
• work on knit xmas gifts.
• read more (all of us!)
• grow a small garden.
• take more shorter/weekend family trips.  
• go outside more.
• watch less tv.  hah! fooled you with that one.  

i think we're well on our way.  tonight i actually made a somewhat healthy, home-cooked meal, and am getting ready to go lounge and knit and correct someone's summer homework.  is it wrong how much i LOVE pulling out my red pen?  putting stickers on good work and making what i think are helpful suggestions for the future?  because if it is, then i am oh so very wrong.  man, that's one thing i miss about being a T.A. in college: correcting papers.  i miss that and my tiny, stinky office and drinking shitty coffee late at night while fixing spelling errors and reading essays.  sometimes i think i missed my calling... 

psst...

over here! want to know a secret? last week i took a second vicoden too soon after the first, and ended up needing a ride home from work and then i barfed.  since then i've been afraid to take them, and have only taken half of one at a time.  that wasn't working, so i bit the bullet and took a whole one tonight.  guess what? i feel awesome and wish i'd done this earlier today so i could have gotten more done.  dammit. 

i will never go back to the other house again

neither will LuLu.  man, this cat loves the new carpet at this place.  it's soft, it's thick, it's cozy, and she has taken to flopping everywhere.  she especially loves to plop down in places where you might trip over her (like doorways!), and she's also discovered that darting between your feet while you're walking up or down stairs is seriously fun.  the cat might be the death of us.
 
it took what felt like forever, but we are finally, once and for all, done with the old house.  we still have a lot of unpacking and organizing to do at this house, but at least we can focus all our energy to here and not there.  i admit i've been feeling kind of tense, which makes me suzy sunshine, but i can't help it!  i just feel like there is so much to do and i want it all done yesterday.  my back is still royally fucked up, my sinuses have decided to jump in on the pain wagon, i'm sick to death of taking any kind of pain medication.  i'm set up to start some physical therapy soon for my back, which i think will help.  i might also see a chiropractor.  i also need to maybe take a deep breath and realize that stuff will get unpacked when it does, and as long as i can find towels for taking showers and my scrubs, we're doing okay.  the rest can wait. 

i've been going through fabrics too, getting rid of ones i've held on to for far to long.  anyone doing any serious quilting or sewing and want some fabric? drop me a line and i'll let you know what i have.

i also put some new plants out front, and bought some catnip for guess who.  she took a bite of the fresh stuff today and i think it blew her kitten mind.  i have to say, watching her acclimate to the house and neighborhood has been the one bright spot in all the moving shenanigans.  i'm endlessly amused at how amazing she finds it all, and watching her discover new nooks to hide, and new spots to perch, and seeing her happy tail and fluffy tummy all the time is pretty rad.  the kids are also beyond cheerful; the girlchild made friends already with the little girls across the street and the boychik loves his new room.  he's made it a cozy little man nest already.  we're all settling in, and that feels pretty good.  i love planning what i'm going to paint the walls and where i want to move things.  i just wish i felt better and could get more done!

FLOP

i just spent three of the longest days of my life trying to move out of one house and into another.  OMG i hate moving so much.  i hate that we have a million books, and that a quarter of them are insanely huge and heavy cook books. i have a love/hate relationship to the weather; one day it rained and i hated it, and the next two it was hot and muggy and i hated that too.  oh wait, i guess that makes it a hate/hate relationship.  i hate that we busted ass for three days, but glad that we did because we got more done than i thought we could.  i hate that the kids keep asking me where things are.  um, your guess is as good as mine.  i especially hate being asked if i've seen this or that book.  DUDES, really?  do you see it in the piles?

i do love the icy cold beer i have in my hands right now, knowing i get to take a shower in my rocking new bathroom tomorrow morning,  folding clean clothes, and the feeling of washing your face after a long, dusty, sweaty day.  i'm kind of sad we couldn't convince LuLu to come over with us, but i bet a night alone will change her mind. 

my body and brain are jello.  i do believe i will finish my beer, watch an old movie, and put more books away. 

up too late

pretty much every night this week.  then i'm late to work the next morning, confused when my alarm goes off, and generally useless that first hour.  fun times for my co-worker.  if he weren't such a laid back dude, i would be able to raise his blood pressure with my consistent disregard for clocks. 

since getting married, i've seen my husband about three times, and he's taken to sleeping in the living room.  that sounds shitty when i write it down, but it's the truth.  our schedules are complete and total opposites right now, even with all my staying up late.  he works until at least 1 or 2 in the morning, and i get up at 6.  on a good night he comes home as i'm heading to bed and i get a quick kiss before lying down.  this is new for both of us; things at the restaurant he works at have changed (the place itself got a make-over, people are going on and off vacations, and D made himself imminently available, which they've taken full advantage of), we need the money for the move and stuff, and while the wedding was awesome and i'm still glad we're married, this past month has kind of sucked.  in as much as i married a man i don't get to see a lot of, and you know, i kind of like him so that bums me out.  we spend most of our time talking about the move, what's going on with the kids and school (guess what! both decided to have shitty last quarters!), and things we'd do to each other if we had either the time or energy.

while this makes my life sound both boring and shitty, it really isn't.  it's just having a boring, shitty spell right now.  once we are moved, get settled, and start having barbeques in the backyard, i think everything will be a-okay. 

technology i am loving

• podcasts!  how did i ever live before podcasts?  i love NPR, i love the radio, i love listening to people to talk, but with a podcast i can do it anywhere, at any time.  that is awesome.  
• wireless internet. i was trying to explain to the girlchild the other day why we used to have "telephone tables," a place where you had the phone and a notepad and often someplace to sit.  i was telling her about how phones used to have cords, and you had to just sit there to talk.  she was aghast.  i kind of feel that way about using the internet now.  weird.
• my keurig coffee maker.  my co-worker made a wise statement the other day about how coffee makers are costing more money to make smaller amounts of coffee.  while he's right about that, i love that i can pop in that little cup, push a button, and thirty seconds later have a cup of coffee.  i know it's fresh, hasn't been sitting around for a while getting burnt, and i don't make four cups i don't need.  plus, the coffee maker itself is fun to use.  
• my kindle.  or rather, the boychik's kindle that i like to think i acquired through eminent domain.  (oh really, we all know i started using it and got hooked!)  being that we are in the process of moving about five thousand books from one to another, i appreciate my kindle even more.  there are about forty-five books on there already, and it still weighs the same. 

ack

i did not get as much done today as i wanted to, but we do have gas and internet/phone over at the new house.  i spent some time there today washing dishes (in the dishwasher!) and putting them away, unpacking boxes, doing laundry (we got a lot of new towels for the wedding, which is awesome) and waiting.  my mother-in-law came over and helped me line shelves, which was super nice because a) i'm not really very detail oriented sometimes and so b) they looked a lot neater and nicer because she was in charge. 

the difference between the two houses is amazing.  coming back to the rental is a downer; not just because there's still so much left to pack (and there is!), but because it's darker and not as spacious.  i wish my back would also get better.  since messing it up before the wedding, it is not the same, and i've had continuous pain for a little over two weeks now.  my lower back hurts pretty much all the time, and lifting anything that weighs more than five pounds is no fun. my left shoulder and elbow are also kind of wonky and achey right now too.  i feel like i have crabby old lady joints!  i think i might have done too much knitting and strained that left side.  i can't tell if that makes me a bad-ass crafter or a retard.  ugh.  in any case, my body is not cooperating with my mind, and the menthol back patches aren't really working.  i might need to go ahead and get the heated ones, take a ton of ibuprofen, and just power through. 

i did warn both kids that this weekend i'm getting them hopped on caffeine and exploiting their labor.  they can have ice cream when we're done.  i also really really really want to buy paint for our bedroom and get started on that.  i think in my nook i'll use this color (or something similar), but i want a warm-ish grey for the bedroom.  initially i wanted a creamy yellow, but the paint already in there is kind of dark, and the more i see grey tones, the more i love them. it's neutral without being tan, and will dress up or down nicely.  have any of you painted inside recently?  would you recommend a brand?  the glidden was easy to pick up samples for, but i hear behr covers nicer and wears well.    

some pictures for you

 the new family room!  while the living room upstairs is lovely, and i'm sure we'll use it often, this is the room we're planning on putting the tv and stuff.  it's got a supremely mellow vibe, and in the summer it's nice and cool since it's sort of underground, and in the winter, it's cozy because it's got a fireplace.

 yesterday while waiting for the new washer and drier to be installed, i made the first cup of coffee in our fancy new coffee maker!  needless to say, it was delicious. 

look at our cute new washer and drier!  i'm excited about breaking them in.  i can't tell if that is pathetic or awesome.  in any case, they are quiet and eco-friendly and blue, and i'm a happy girl.

after doing some house things yesterday, D and i took a long drive to nowhere.  i had a great time. i think D had fun too, but was also busy thinking about all the stuff we still need to do at the new and old houses, and so he might not have had as much fun as i did.  we stopped for a beer at the north fork brewery, drove up a curvy, scary logging road to watch paragliders, and we saw all three forks of the nooksack river.  it was nice to just be out in the sun, people and scenery watching.

today we get to wait around for various people to come set things up at the new house, which is kind of lame.  i hate the whole, "we'll be there between 8 and 5."  really?  you can't narrow it down to a morning or afternoon time?  i guess i should take a shower and pack up the car with another load and go relieve D.

ohmygod moving sucks so much

but the new house is so freaking awesome that i know it's going to be worth it.  KNOW IT. 

the kids are busy making me crazy and in turn, i think i'm adding new grey hairs to my streak.  when i get enough of them, i'm going to start dying them hot pink.  i might be close.

black cherry juice concentrate can also be added to any drink every made and make it better.  i'm so glad anne left half a bottle in my fridge!

i also bought a new home phone today, and that was sort of exciting.  i also had to buy those stick on heating pads for my back, and that was not as exciting.