Where is ....

... the box with the siverware in? Where are the bathtowels? Have you found the boxes with food in it yet? My underwear?!!

Oh yes. The fun begins!

Yesterday, I left the keys to the townhouse on the counter (per landlord's request). I am *finally* done there.

I have started unpacking, moving stuff from one room to the next so I can get to *that* box back there, only to move it back so I can get to things in the other room. What fun I'm having now! LOL

I've already had a mishap... I was cleaning under the cooktop of the stove (had to use oven cleaner 3 times!). I used a bucket of water to rinse the rag I was cleaning with. Dumped the entire bucket down the sink drain. Turned on the garbage disposal and at the same time looking around to see where I laid the rag. Yup! It was being eaten by the GD!!! Yikes... (I thought GD was sounding muffled. LOL) After shutting GD off, I fished out a mangled up rag. I'm sure that's not going to be the last time that happens...

Within 24 hours of purchase, my house went from this:


to this:


And this:


to this:

See little Celeste by the mattress on the floor?

Up until last weekend, I was sleeping on my mattress in the middle of the living room. S and I managed to get my bedroom set up, as well as the living room somewhat organized. I'm working on the kitchen... it seems like it's taking forever!

More pics of my house can be seen HERE.

Moved!

I spent all day and night Thursday cleaning the townhouse – It’s way cleaner than when I moved in...

On Friday, I moved the fish and aquarium. Much to my dismay I had to hold funeral services for EIGHT little fishies that croaked within an hour of moving. Wouldn’t you know the pretty, colorful ones were the ones who went to the big aquarium in the sky. :(

Yesterday, the last of my things were moved from the townhouse apartment to my “new” home.

Adios! Good riddance to flooding townhouse and nasty, evil neighbor lady!!

S and I also managed to get my bedroom furniture in my room and arranged in working order. One of the dressers is a long one with a huge mirror. Six years ago, I bought the furniture before I knew where I was moving to. At the townhouse, the mirror was too tall to be installed so it was stored up against a wall for the last six years. S put the mirror on the dresser for me – Boy is it tall!! It works out, though since there isn’t much room in the bathroom to get ready. I’ll just do my hair and makeup in front of the big mirror!

We also arranged some of the living room and the computer room. Things are still stacked everywhere in every room, but at least people can walk through the house without having to step over boxes to get from room to room.

My goal for this week is to get the kitchen cupboards wiped out, lined with contact paper, and filled with some dishes.

*** Homeowner! ***

Well, I’ve done it. I am now a homeowner and proud of myself for doing it all on my own! The closing was last Friday and went very smoothly. The previous owner brought me a ton of keys – multiples for every door! Wow...

For more info on my new home, click HERE.

After the closing, S asked: “Did you feel like you were gonna throw up at closing?” No, I felt nauseous on the way there. I was too involved in the paperwork and the attorney during closing to feel sick. S did say he wished he could be there for moral support. Awww, ain’t that sweet?


After closing, my Mom and I moved 5 truckloads of stuff. I was beat… she was still raring to go! Where does she get that energy? The back of my Dad’s truck was filthy dirty. I was the one who crawled back there and pushed/stacked boxes. Think Pigpen from Peanuts. That’s what I looked like by the end of the day. I told my Dad that my Mom said I needed a bath. He said: Why? What’s wrong with the way you look? LOL!

Saturday was another busy day of moving. My Dad/Mom moved 2-3 more truckloads before my brother and 2 of his friends showed up with more trucks and a big trailer to move the furniture. S also came with his truck and trailer. All of them had to work in the morning, then came to help me move. Troopers, they are! I’m very miffed at the fact that they were slamming/slinging furniture around (They were in a big hurry… not being careful) and my $800 oak roll top desk ended up not only scuffed (a lot!), but also needs the bracing underneath repaired.

I am very disappointed that a "good" friend of mine offered to help move did not show up, or even call. Every week for the past month she said she'd help me move. The day of closing, she said she'd help. I text messaged her to call when she got off work on Saturday and I'd let her know where we were. No call on Saturday -or- Sunday! Heck, here it is Tuesday and she hasn't even called. Yup. Very disappointed. Especially because whenever she's needed me, I was there for her. I even helped her move! :( *sigh*

I spent Sunday moving 4 more car loads (who’da thunk I had so much stuff!). I took my time...

During my lunch hour on Monday, I managed to move another car load. S came and we moved another truck/trailer and car load before going out to eat and then relaxing for a bit before he went home.

This morning before work, I loaded up another car load! LOL – I think I may have one or two car loads and a truck load left!

Boxes and furniture are stacked everywhere!!!

How Many?

Donna's comment from yesterday's post prompted this little contest. She wants to know...




"How many of the boxes
are filled with stash?"

So here's the deal: Right now, I don't know how many boxes there are, but I do know all my stash is packed. You get to take a guess at how many boxes.

I will count the boxes as I unpack them. The person who guesses the correct amount (or closest without going over), will win a little sumthin-sumthin from my stash. If two people guess the same number, names will be put into a "hat" to determine the winner.

If you'd like to participate, leave a comment on my blog with your guess. If you sign in under Anonymous, be sure to leave your name and email address.

Contest ends September 30th. Winner will be announced sometime in October. Good luck!

If I Never See...

... another corrugated box again, it will be too soon! Here's what my house and garage look like now. The garage is half full of packed boxes. I still have more packing to do!

What is THAT smell?!?

Ever since the flood, the basement just reeks whenever it rains. When it's not raining, I smell *that* smell (faintly) if I walk near the wall that separates the neighbor's basement from mine. I don't know if the odor is coming from there, or if it's my imagination. Or, maybe the smell is coming from the drain the floor of the basement. Whatever is the case, it reeks! Today, it's been raining all morning and the smell is terrible!

How long before I move out?

NINE DAYS.

Oh yeah... Nine days!

Monday Update 8/20/07

Freecycle
Freecycle is great! Last week, I put sent out a message for a bicycle pull behind. You know, one of those things you can pull a child in while bicycling. A freecycler came through! S and I picked it up last night. It should work just fine, with a little cleaning up.

In addition, I've been freecycling my own stuff like crazy. So far I've given away: a breadmaker, plants, two boxes of misc household items, books, a hand vac, and clothes.


Stitchy Stuff
We had some sad news this week. A 23-year old soldier from my area died in Iraq last weekend. I quickly asked for his name so that I can stitch a memorial for him.


I am going to do The Cricket Collection's "Red White & Blue".

Believe it or not, I've managed to stitch on Mime. Two nights this past week, I spent about an hour working on it. If I'm lucky, it'll be finished by the end of the year. Woo Hoo!


School
The fall semester is starting up again next week. I am taking an online Beginning Excel class. In Oct, the advanced class starts and I'm signed up for that, too. It'll be interesting to see how these two classes will pan out taking both together. I have extensive Excel experience so I'm hoping for the best. I tried to klep out, but that's not an option for these classes. :(


Gardening
The pole beans didn't turn out as beefy as I would've liked. They're sort of stringy and I don't like 'em that way. After freezing the first batch, I've left the rest on the vines. The tomatoes are turning red, and I've been able to harvest a few at a time.



Lastly, my flowers are really pretty right now.



Moving
I spent all day cleaning, purging, and packing boxes. I had a big pile of empty boxes in my living room. I'm down to 3 empty ones. Here's what it looks like so far:


Health
I really don't know what I did, but on Sunday I had pain running down the side of my neck all the way to my right shoulder blade. It was a nagging pain all day and got worse Sunday night. I spent most of my evening lying down with heat and ice trying to get it to feel better, but it didn't help.