Things that I am doing

It's on the market, for real! Someone please buy it!

I hate moving. I love having moved. I hate unpacking. I love having unpacked.

So with that in mind, unpacking has been the name of the game for the past three weeks. It took awhile, but we finally got the kitchen up and running, so we are eating real food at home instead of the disgusting-but-somehow-still-delicious fast food crap we'd been eating for weeks. Baked chicken tenders never tasted so good.

Settling in has been challenging, but we're getting there. The house is great, bigger and much better suited to our family's needs than our old house. The kitchen is smaller, but we've adapted by buying a free-standing pantry and microwave stand to free up some space. They fit perfectly in the dining room and we can use them in the garage when we build our house in a few years. We went with function over form, so they're not gorgeous show pieces or anything, but they suit our needs for now.

Husband is enamored of the wood burning stove in the basement. He's had a fire almost every night since we moved in. I am enamored of how much light comes in during the day. I can get up and open window shades and not have to turn on any lights until early evening.

The dining room and living room are still full of boxes, because some of our furniture was left at the old house for staging purposes. So we have no couches or dining table for the moment, which sucks, but hopefully we'll get an offer soon and can have our furniture back.

The kids are adjusting well. They love their rooms and Husband and I love ours.

I did a pretty big round of decluttering when we packed up to move, and I've been doing it again as we unpack. I took two boxes to Goodwill last week, we unloaded some things on Craigslist and Freecycle, and I'm nowhere near finished. Husband and I agreed that we both want to live in this larger house with less stuff. We are not afraid of empty shelves and drawers. In fact, we're hoping for them. I feel no need to fill every nook with more crap I have to keep track of and clean.

So that's where we are at the moment. I'm perpetually exhausted, especially since we started back with our lessons last week after a five-week (MUCH needed) break. But it's good. We're finding our rhythm again. The kids are developing a routine and so are Husband and I.

Once we get the boxes unpacked, I'll take some pictures of the new place and show you around. Sorry for the boringness here. I am fresh out if wit and humor at the moment. I'm pretty wiped, actually, but it's good. Good stuff.

Another open letter to Mother Nature.

Dear Mother Nature,

How you doin'?

You good? You seem tense. Pent up. Frustrated. Verklempt. Depressed.

Bitchy.

Yeah. Remember a year and a half ago when I was trying to have my yardsale but you kept boo-hooing all over everyone? And we kept having to rework things and I had so much stuff piled up in my living room that I was one cat carcass away from my own episode of Hoarders? But we talked it out and we got you some anti-depressants and things were good?

Let's revisit that. Because my house has been on the market for just over a week now and temperatures have barely risen above freezing in that time. We've Polar Vortexed. We've exceeded snowfall averages. We've kept all the potential buyers hiding in their cozy apartments instead of checking out my awesome house.

Stop being such a twat.

It's time to pull up your big-girl underoos, put on some mascara and a pair of heels, get a fresh haircut, and stop the tantrum. It's hard to feel sorry for you when all you ever do is complain. Pull it together, and keep that groundhog on notice. Keep the sun in front of him at all times or you will basically be an accessory to murder when I hunt him down.

I hate to be so blunt about this, but I have no time for shenanigans, balderdash, or other such nonsense. I need to get my house sold and move on with my life. Let's do lunch this spring, maybe up at Devou or along the river somewhere. But until then, you've go to buck up.

Yours in Girl Power,

Jen

We've moved!

As of January 1st, we are in our rental home and the house we own is being prepped for sale. The HGTV addiction I had during my pregnancy with Bug is coming in handy with all the painting and the staging and the whatnots, we have an awesome realtor, and the house officially goes "on the market" tomorrow!

I'd say more, but omgthereissomuchunpackingandcleaningandpainting
andstufftodoandiamexhaustedandihavenothinglefttogivesostoppressuringmeasshole!

I'll post pictures when I have some. In the meantime, send me some house-selling vibes and I'll update when something other than box-opening and wine-drinking is going on.