It's been too long...

When I started this blog, I envisioned myself blogging daily. That does happen. Sometimes. But I think I've been feeling uninspired since I can't find the freakin' cord for my camera to link pictures on here...

Anyway, this will be a random, train-of-thought post today.

It's snowing outside, little snowflakes that are coming down rapidly. It's beautiful. I hear we're supposed to get somewhere between three and five inches. I'm lovin' it, to quote the McDonald's campaign [that I don't get at all]. Seriously, it's hard for me to imagine loving McDonald's.

I fought the gas company, and I WON! When I called in early December to turn on the gas for our new house, I requested budget-billing, where they average your annual use and then charge you 1/12th each month, rather than paying ungodly amounts of money for gas in the winter. Since we have only ever lived in buildings built before 1920, we tend to have high ceilings, big (drafty) windows, and high gas bills. Anyway, last week, we got our first gas bill. WHOA... not a budget bill. It was a horribly high number, and I'm hoping it's from a combination of the heat being set on 80 (we're not sure how long it was set that high-- it's low enough for Cecil to reach the thermostat, and we should definitely change that) and from the back door being left ajar on the coldest night (so far) of the winter.

I called Vectren and said, we're supposed to be on budget billing! I was told that no, we were signed up for e-billing (where they email your statements), but not budget billing. She gave me a couple different options, none of which were acceptable to me, since WE WERE SUPPOSED TO BE ON BUDGET BILLING. So she offered (with a sigh) to research the phone call when I requested it. I gave her a window of about a week, during which I had called. She needed to know the number from which I called (I think it was Brian & Michelle's?), and I wasn't even sure about that. A couple days went by, and I assumed they weren't going to call back. But then they did, and sure enough, the records showed that I had requested budget billing! Woohoo! That just cut my bill for this month by three.

Confession: my Christmas tree is still up. I'm going to take the lights off today so Bob can drag it out to the street tonight. But I'm not really ready. Since I bought the tree by myself and we weren't here for Christmas and didn't even celebrate it the way I had envisioned (in our living room, with a fire in the fireplace), I feel like the tree isn't done... But the tree is done. It's incredibly thirsty and droopy. Objectively, it looks bad. But I still don't want to take it down.

Another confession: I want to be a Starbucks barista.

Here are some shots from Thanksgiving down in Evansville. We had a great time.

Stole from Michelle's Blog

You're supposed to copy and paste into your own blog, then boldface what you've done.

1. Started your own blog
2. Slept under the stars
3. Played in a band
4. Visited Hawaii
5. Watched a meteor shower-- yup. On the beach, no less. It was glorious.
7. Been to Disneyland/world
8. Climbed a mountain
9. Held a praying mantis
10. Sang a solo -- does it count if I was in 4th grade and it was for Mass?
11. Bungee jumped
12. Visited Paris
13. Watched a lightning storm at sea
14. Taught yourself an art from scratch--knitting, breadmaking
15. Adopted a child
16. Had food poisoning-- I was pregnant. It was not fun. Note to self: Wendy's salads? Not again.
17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty
18. Grown your own vegetables
19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France
20. Slept on an overnight train -- I've slept on a train in the middle of the night ... but never on an "overnight" train.
21. Had a pillow fight
22. Hitch hiked-- sort of. I took a ride from a stranger. I was out running in FL with my dog, and he collapsed. (It was hot, and we'd gone too far for him.) I was really scared for him, so I asked a stranger to drive us home.
23. Taken a sick day when you're not ill
24. Built a snow fort
25. Held a lamb
26. Gone skinny dipping
27. Run a Marathon-- for me, it was harder than childbirth.
28. Ridden in a gondola in Venice
29 Seen a total eclipse
30. Watched a sunrise or sunset
31. Hit a home run
32. Been on a cruise
33 Seen Niagara Falls in person
34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors
35. Seen an Amish community
36. Taught yourself a new language
37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied
38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person
39. Gone rock climbing
40. Seen Michelangelo’s David
41 Sung karaoke
42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt
43. Bought a stranger a meal in a restaurant
44. Visited Africa
45. Walked on a beach by moonlight
46.Been transported in an ambulance
47. Had your portrait painted
48. Gone deep sea fishing
49. Seen the Sistine Chapel in person
50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris
51. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling
52. Kissed in the rain
53. Played in the mud
54. Gone to a drive-in theater
55. Been in a movie
56. Visited the Great Wall of China
57. Started a business
58. Taken a martial arts class
59. Visited Russia
60. Served at a soup kitchen
61. Sold Girl Scout Cookies
62. Gone whale watching
63. Gotten flowers for no reason
64 Donated blood, platelets, or plasma
65. Gone sky diving
66 Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp
67 Bounced a check
68. Flown in a helicopter
69. Saved a favorite childhood toy -- the girls love "Momma's bear" aka Fluffy
70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial
71. Eaten Caviar
72. Pieced a quilt
73. Stood in Times Square
74. Toured the Everglades
75. Been fired from a job
76. Seen the Changing of the Guards in London
77. Broken a bone
78. Been on a speeding motorcycle
79 Seen the Grand Canyon in person
80. Published a book
81. Visited the Vatican
82. Bought a brand new car
83. Walked in Jerusalem
84. Had your picture in the newspaper
85. Read the entire Bible
86. Visited the White House
87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating
88. Had chickenpox
89. Saved someone’s life
90. Sat on a jury
91. Met someone famous
92. Joined a book club
93. Lost a loved one
94. Had a baby
95. Seen the Alamo in person
96. Swam in the Great Salt Lake
97. Been involved in a lawsuit
98. Owned a cell phone
99. Been stung by a bee

There are definitely some things on here that I want to do.

Small Victory

We've been in the house since December 18th. Today I found a pair of scissors! It's hard to make it through the Christmas season without them, but I "made do" with the kitchen shears I had unpacked right away.

Still no luck with the camera cords. I'll keep looking.

Settling In

I think blogs without pictures can get old, fast, so I apologize for the lack of pictures. I'm taking them; I just can't find the cord that connects the camera to the computer. I hope to upload some pictures soon.

I've slept in the new house nine nights, now; Bob's slept here six. (He went to Pennsylvania for a retreat, and I stayed in the house alone with the girls -- and the cats -- and the dog-- for the first three nights.) I had announced in November that I wanted to have a New Year's Eve party in the new house. Bob and I both were disappointed that we never really had people over to the old house, and I wanted to start this one off with a bang. At the time, we were planning to close November 21st, so it seemed reasonable. Then the closing was going to be December 1st. Then December 9th. Then, finally, December 17th. And after staying in the house for a couple days with two girls and without Bob, I hadn't gotten much unpacking done. And then we took off to Tennessee for a week... coming back the day before New Year's Eve.

To say that December 31st was a mad dash, start to finish, does not adequately describe it. Bob had to work, at least part of the day, and he was on-call because someone was dying, and his wife was saying (desperately), "I need your help!" I wish that I had propped up our little video camera and recorded Wednesday afternoon, then sped it up with a musical background, for your viewing pleasure. The transformation of the house was amazing. Almost everything we own was in the living and dining rooms at 3:00pm; by 8:30, Bob had distributed everything to its rightful location, I had prepared some munchies, and we were relatively ready for the party. That I had forgotten to unpack glasses and wineglasses was a minor detail. And forgotten, despite specifically discussing it with Bob, to buy any beer.

I had a great time. It was fun to ring in the new year and the new house with our good friends. I was sorry that some people couldn't make it, but we still had a good time. If only Bob hadn't had to run back to work for an hour and a half ... but he did make it back in time for the countdown, and the champagne in plastic cups.

A Quick Update

We closed on the house on Wednesday, Bob left for PA on Thursday, the girls and I spent our first night in the house Thursday night and bought a Christmas tree Friday night...

I'm trying to unpack, clean, get ready for Christmas, prepare for the New Year's Eve party I'm planning ... oh, and the washer and dryer aren't hooked up yet, and I have almost three weeks of laundry to catch up on. And we're leaving town on Tuesday. These next 48 hours are going to be packed.

I love this house. I'm so thankful for it. I think it's going to be a great house for our family.

Pictures coming soon.

Warmth

Ever since living in Florida for six years, I've had trouble with cold weather. And when I say "trouble" I mean "I don't like it." Kind of like my mom saying she's allergic to coconut (nope, she just doesn't like it).

Anyway, I love old houses, but old houses are not known for their air-tight-ness or their insulation, so imagine my surprise and delight to discover that our new house is toasty! I mean, it's almost too hot upstairs when we set the thermostat for 68 degrees. I don't know if this is due to good construction, or if it's the difference between a forced air furnace and a boiler/radiator system. But I like it. I mean, this is winter! And I'm too warm unless I'm in short sleeves!

And, as an added bonus, the basement (which has no radiators) stays warm enough for Bob to work in his workshop down there comfortably and for me to do laundry down there. And the attic, also unheated, is nice, too. I'm thinking the attic may be "my room." Bob has his shop, I'll have the attic. As long as I'm warm...

Perspective

I've been intermittently going crazy lately.

Originally we were selling a house and buying a house, both on Nov. 21. Then we were selling a house Dec. 1 and buying a house Dec. 9. Now, we've sold our house (on schedule, on Dec. 1), but have yet to buy one. We're living with my mother-in-law, as planned, in the intermediate time, and that's going remarkably well, considering we have four people in one bedroom, and lots of different schedules under one roof.

All our earthly belongings are in two moving trucks, parked at our old house. Our Great Dane and two cats are being boarded here in town.

Quick side-story:
On Sunday, I was supposed to drop off the cats at the kennel between 4 and 5. I started gathering them up just after 3, knowing that it might not be easy. I found Katie easily, and put her in the cat carrier. Then I started looking for Janie. I could not find her anywhere. She's quite a stealthy cat, so I checked all her hiding places (that I know of), and then started looking outside. They're inside cats, but I found pawprints around the perimeter of the house, so I started fearing (reasonably, I think) that she'd gotten out while we were moving things out on Saturday, and tried to get back in. I could not find her anywhere. I finally took Katie in without her, my heart almost breaking. I spent a lot of the evening walking the neighborhood, calling her name and shaking her food bowl. Nothing. I went through the house again a time or two. Nothing. We discussed making fliers and/or knocking on doors. It had been brutally cold (wind chill below zero), so we hoped someone had taken her in. We began to realize we might never see her again. We went about our business, cleaning the house, taking the last things out to the trucks, when all of a sudden, Janie walked into the kitchen. Hallelujah! She's an introverted cat, like her "parents", and I guess there had been too many people around for her to want to come out from wherever she'd been. We're so thankful she's ok.

Back to the original point of the post....

We're officially homeless now. I'm dying to live a settled life, to move in, put up pictures, decorate for Christmas, resume our normal life of cooking, laundry (am I really saying this?), living with our animals, etc. I've been hoping we could close on Friday so that we don't have to continue paying by the day for two moving trucks and boarding 140-ish pounds of animals through the weekend. And it looks like we're not closing on Friday. I've been feeling bitter, anxious, hysterical, you name it. Bob keeps talking me down.

Here's some perspective, though: we sold our house, at a relatively small loss, in a time when houses either aren't selling, or are selling incredibly low. We sold our house to a woman we really like, who loves the house, and who allowed us to keep our stuff in the house for a week after closing so we could avoid a storage unit. Our animals are warm and fed and cared for. Our belongings are safe. (I had clients once whose things were in a military storage unit, and EVERYTHING they had burned to the ground.) We have a place to stay that's comfortable, with free child care, meals cooked for us every night, and an open laundry room. Not to mention the fact that my mother-in-law is happy for us to stay as long as we need to. Not to mention the fact that we can watch all the football we want while we're there.