Moving, Moving, Moved!

Not really. We're still in the process. We've only lived in this house, what? Almost six months. My poor long-suffering mother has been having to put up with our stuff for far longer than I'm sure she imagined. We've finally moved most of the furniture. I think we just have three bookshelves, two steamer trunks, and a coffee table to go. That'll have to wait until Sunday, though. In the meantime, I'm cleaning my house and hers trying to sort through and get rid of the last four years of not-quite-hoarding. I'm tired of living out of boxes and bags, and I'm tired of constantly finding things I don't give two figs about but not the things I actually need.

This goes for books, too, unfortunately. We are most definitely book hoarders! I've found books I haven't read in years with pages falling out and it has taken all my willpower to just THROW IT AWAY. There's an Office 2007 book that I keep thinking, "Gosh, we should donate this to the thrift store." And then I have to remind myself that that was SEVEN YEARS AGO. Goodness! Where did the time go? I finally threw away my Creative Suite 2 book. And Ruled Britannia which was molding. And Oliver Twist. And all my Harvard University Press catalogs of "really interesting book" porn. The last were admittedly the hardest, and that probably tells you way more about me than you ever needed to know. Nobody likes Oliver Twist anyway.

So now we've got probably five or six boxes worth of books sitting around in piles waiting to go to the thrift store. My plan had always been to sell them when I opened my used book store, but that dream's on hold for probably the next thirty-five years and these babies aren't getting any younger. We can't haul them off quite yet because I only want to make one trip to said Salvation Army and we still have a ton of clothes to go through. We've been doing laundry for two days now and the end is nowhere in sight.

We've had to rearrange quite a bit to accommodate things. When I realized I couldn't live without books in my living room, we had to move Casablanca. It's now behind the door, which bothered me until I realized that means it's out of direct UV light, preserving the colors better and also positioning Humphrey so that his soulful gaze rests more easily upon mine. The dresser and fan and recliner and end tables all ended up in places they had originally been unintended for, as well. C'est la vie.

I'm excited about getting everything over here, though. It's finally feeling more like a home and less like a half-empty apartment. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to go rotate the wash.

Welcome Home

It's been a busy few weeks. Heck, it's been a busy few months. August is here and we're very nearly completely moved in. I'm still decorating, of course. And most of the furniture for the man cave hasn't made its way over yet since John's hand is stitched up. He's out of commission when it comes to furniture for another month. However, we are living here full time and have even been entertaining guests.

The project for today really completed things. Apparently the postmaster had a word with my dad about the fact that we still didn't have our mailbox up. Oops. So, that's what we did this morning. Many thanks to John's dad for digging through all that gravel! We weren't overly sure what the regulations were, so we haven't cemented it into place just yet. Once we're sure this is where it's going to stay, we'll make it more permanent and I'll plant some lovely climbing flowers around the base. Suggestions for plants are welcome in the comments section.

Speaking of plants, I also intend to plant a river birch between the front door and the master bedroom windows, opposite the cedar tree. My hope is that, much like at my parents house, the tree will quickly shoot up and shade the front porch. Our house faces west and in the evenings the front door becomes burning-hot -- not something pleasant to come home to. I'm doubly excited because river birches are one of my favorite types of trees. Much better than pine trees. :-)

Things I've Learned Today

1) Contact paper smells really bad.

2) Microsoft likes to punish you for not routinely updating your XBOX by making it take forever when you do.

3) There is no such thing as "cry it out" when it comes to cats. They have infinite vocal power and stamina.

4) Never put duct tape on wood furniture, especially if you don't plan to remove it any time soon.

5) There is a 3M Command Strip for every occasion.

6) Valances can give the illusion of taller windows. Drapes can give the illusion of wider windows. Both are necessary in a manufactured home.

7) Working three jobs has more disadvantages than otherwise.