We're In...

... but far from settled.  I am currently sitting at my desk in the living room, surrounded by boxes; most of which are labelled, "toys" or "kitchen".  About a third of them are labelled as something that they are not, since  they were boxes from previous moves, and my packing technique is far from organized.  Usually I have a whole bunch of partially filled boxes sitting open on the floor and I just put things into whatever box they fit in, and then don't know how to label them.  In fact, I found one box labelled, "bathroom stuff and dominoes". Anyone care for a game of  Mexican train while sitting in the tub?

I am finding the move and new house to be quite the adjustment.  I don't do well with change and this is a big one.  I've discovered that this house has several shortfalls: master bedroom clothes closet space is sadly lacking, and woefully inadequate storage in the kitchen.  We are putting up a stand-alone pantry tonight in one corner which will hopefully alleviate the space crunch.

Poor Mike has been working like a dog to get things done, but there is only so much he can do in the time that he has.  He's oiled the seriously squeaky doors and cupboard doors, replaced the shower head and added an extender, fixed the plumbing under the kitchen sink, replaced the heat register covers and cold air returns in the upstairs, rewired the phone lines and installed internet, rewired the satellite, replaced the locks and deadbolts on the doors, assembled some furniture and replaced most of the bulbs with energy efficient ones.  Previously to moving in he had painted the girls' rooms, ripped out the trim from their rooms and fixed and rehung closet doors in the bedrooms.  He hasn't even been able to spend any time in his 2.5 car garage to organize his tools and camping gear.  He probably has more storage space out there than I do in the house!

Before we moved in I had drain cleaners come and clean all the sewage drains, including the city lines, had the carpets cleaned, and washed down the bathrooms, kitchen and most of the walls.  This week we got a quote for new eaves troughs which will hopefully be done in a week or so.  We desperately need to get the living room/dining room patched and painted, but I have a feeling that is a long way off.  I'm not looking forward to raking the backyard either, as there is quite a lot of dog poop back there.

Our oldest had her birthday on the weekend and we celebrated with a family brunch at Perkins, followed by ice cream cake at our box-filled house.  She received a trampoline for her birthday, which we still have to assemble.  Unfortunately I am so disorganized that I have not yet coordinated a class party for her, nor did I remember to take her for her annual birthday pictures.  I did, however, remember to take her dress in to be cleaned for the pictures, but failed to take along the flower which had fallen off of the dress, necessitating another trip across town to the cleaners.  This has not been a good year for birthdays so far.

I was feeling very cut off from the world for a few days, but having the internet again really helps.  I try to remember that soon enough things will be unpacked and organized and life can get into some kind of routine.  It's just hard to get there.

I keep reminding myself of the Evie song from when I was a little kid:
"Oh be thankful for the good things that you've got,
Oh be thankful for the good things that you've got,
The good things that you've got, are for many just a dream,
So be thankful for the good things that you've got."