Honey! I'm Home!

Yes, it's true . . . I'm in my new house!!! (You all knew I couldn't go an entire week without blogging, didn't you? I've been without internet access for the last few days, but I'm taking a well deserved break from moving responsibilities, so what else would I do?)

Anyway, everything went well at the closing, the move has been going even better. My boys LOVE the new house. Every time we have to leave to go back to the apartment they get upset and say they want to stay. My little one asks every morning when we wake up "Can we go to new house today?"

So, yes, I am on cloud nine ... or 12 ... or 104 ... it doesn't matter. Suffice it to say that, even with the overwhelming task of moving ahead of me while I sit in a maze of boxes, I am happier than I've been in a very, long time.

I took a picture today of my precious mantle clock on my new mantle, but I haven't found the cable for the camera that connects it to the computer - so I can't post it yet. But I will. You can take my word for it, it looks perfect.

Let's see ... I have all kinds of ideas running through my head, but really don't have the time to write about them right now. I shouldn't even be doing this. I have a kitchen full of boxes; I have a living room full of boxes; I have a dining room full of boxes - and people coming to help us move our furniture over here tomorrow morning and right now they don't have much of a pathway.

I should go. So until next time, take care of each other ... and thank you to all of you who have sent such kind and supportive words to me regarding my grandmother's passing. She's in a much better place now and after more than 15 years apart she's with my grandfather again. How can I be too sad about that . . .

It's TIme to Rise Up, Ladies!

I'm blogging over at The Soccer Mom Vote today if anyone is interested. It's a great community of women who take turns blogging about all kinds of social issues, politics, current events, etc. I've really enjoyed the discussions over there and this is my first post. I'll be posting on the 19th of every month and maybe even adding a little diddy here and there throughout the month as well (if they'll let me!) I've already got like three topics in mind that I want to talk about!

Other than that we're getting ready for the big move. We still have so much to do; it's more than a little overwhelming, but I can't wait to get in there!!

The only other news to report is that I was catching up on my magazine reading today. I was more than a month behind on The Nation, but it was worth the wait . . . My name is in the December 25th issue!! I'm so excited! Now I won't leave you in suspense - it wasn't for anything I wrote. It was because I made a contribution to the magazine last year (besides the subscription itself) and they list all their donors at the end of the year. But still! It was my name! In a magazine! I'm excited!! (Not as excited as I was when I got my first byline in a newspaper, but still) I'm keeping it for posterity . . .

And I'll pack it tomorrow ;)

I'm Totally Random Today

Well, I've received a request (Yes, a request!) to update the blogosphere about my big move. The reason I haven't talked about it in a little while is because things seemed to have hit a bit of a stall. Repairs that were supposed to get done (by the seller) and issues we had that needed addressing (by the seller) weren't getting addressed. In fact, we weren't getting all "No. No way. Not on your life;" We weren't hearing anything at all.

So my husband and I had been getting very frustrated. People were asking us about getting excited with the closing date coming up and my packing, etc. and all we could do was grit our teeth and try to smile because when it all came down to it, if we didn't get some answers soon we were ready to go look for another house. Don't get me wrong. We LOVE the house we found, but not enough to go into while there were still issues (especially ones that might cost me more money than I have) that needed to be taken care of. With the lack of communication, we had started to feel like we were being played and that maybe there were things wrong with the house other than what we alrady knew and that the sellers were trying to stall until it was too late for us to back out.

Whatever. So I sort of had a bit of a fit over the weekend (via an email to my real estate broker) and wouldn't you know it - the ball is rolling once again. Things are getting done, papers are being signed, repairs are being made . . . Hip, hip, horray!!! It's amazing what a few stern words will do and it appears that it wasn't the sellers at all, but their real estate agent who wasn't communicating with them. From a couple of phone calls we got this morning regarding a few of our "issues" it appears they're actually very agreeable. (Ask me again after I sign the final papers though.)

So we're still on schedule to close in a little less than two weeks (which really means that I should be packing right now instead of blogging, but it isn't the first, or the last, time that I'll be blogging instead of doing something else that requires my attention.) I've been packing, but I guess it's time to go turbo.

My hope has been restored and I am once again excited about moving into my own house! (If I'm lucky I'll never have to do this again!) I'm basking in the sunshine streaming through my window (which won't be mine for much longer!!) and I am giddy with the thought that I just did what was quite possibly one of my last pile of dishes by hand! (Yes, my new digs have a dishwasher and it's been WAY too long since I've had one of those!) I'll say it again - Hip, hip, horray!!!

On another completely random note, I read the January issue of National Geographic last night - AMAZING! INCREDIBLE! FIVE STARS! I had truly forgotten what I'd been missing the last, oh I don't know, 20 years. I remember flipping through it at school as a kid, you can always find a few good pictures to put in your latest collage creation from NG, and since it was such a cheap introductory offer (we're talking a dollar a month!) I figured, at least, the boys would enjoy all the bright photographs.

Well, I don't think the boys have even gotten the chance to look at it yet because their mommy and daddy haven't given them the chance. I mean, the photographs alone are worth having the subscription:

Not to mention the reporting. I read the cover story, Last of the Amazon, last night and it literally blew me away in words and in pictures. The portrait of devastation, of what further devastation would mean not only to the people of Brazil, but to the Earth itself - very, very dramatic.

It's not just the amazing writing or the breathtaking photography, but the wide range of topics covered by the publication - Science, Nature, Travel, Ecology, Culture, History, People (I could go on) - that there's really not much you won't get between the covers. How's this: It's like a passport that takes you anywhere you want to go even if you don't have the financial means to get there phsyically. (OK, now I sound like the advert I got in the mail!)

But it's just that good. I'm so glad we subscribed! Maybe I'll actually get around to letting the kids look at it, but only after I've poured through it several times because I feel like there's so much to it, I want to make sure I don't miss anything.

Now I just have to make sure I change my address with NG . . . and with the bank . . . and I have to call to have the gas turned off . . . I need to go through the boys' closet (I think there are some things in there to bring to The Salvation Army) . . . I need to get a list together for what we're going to need to buy for the new digs . . . I guess I really should be going now :)