The Nomads

OK, so today is Tuesday, December 20th and we have not had power/heat since Thursday, December 15th at 8am when a lovely little ice storm it us like a freight train. Our neighborhood (as does the rest of Greenville) looks like Bosnia with all of the snapped trees and damaged cars, houses, and roads. Needless to say we are not all chipper and in the holiday spirit! We have bunked with my family in Columbia till Saturday, Bryan's parents in Simpsonville Sunday and last night we stayed with Bryan's business partner here in Greenville. We all have colds, Heath is afraid we are going to leave him somewhere, and I have a upper back ache like no body's business...Apparently in between getting married and having 3 children I can no longer sleep on a blow up mattress. Lewis and Clark, I am not! :-)

So the good news? MMMMmmmmm.... we are officially in our new house and have officially sold our old house as of yesterday. Bryan is smiling all the way to the bank right now as I write. We made a substantial amount on the sale of our old house, but before you come knocking on our door for a loan, I plan on using a chunk of that to renovate our new house then the rest is going towards the mortgage to get that paid down...

The renovations are at a standstill due to the whole power thing...apparently workers need power to run their power tools...imagine that! We did order the cabinets which is what this whole project is hinging on right now...eta on those are January 23rd...here's hoping the cabinet business is slow and they crank those babies out. Let me tell you if you are looking for a profession to get into, cabinetry might be the ticket as its the biggest racket I have ever had the pleasure of dealing with!

Bryan mentioned that we might want to go ahead and purchase a Christmas tree....ya think? So let me tell you that sucker will have a couple of strands of lights and 50 candy canes on it and that will be the extent of my decorating if we are only going to have it for a few days! The Martha Stewart award will have to pass me by this year! I have also decided that everyone will be getting happy new year cards this year...because the thought of cranking out 80 Christmas cards this year makes me want to curl up in a ball with a bottle of vodka and drink myself silly! Of course this was the year that I was going to be so on the ball and I ordered several sheets of those cool Christmas stamps from usps online. Good one Christina! Oh well that will mail the Happy New Year cards just the same now wont it??!?!?!?

Well, here's hoping the next time I write we have power and some semblance of normalcy in our lives...my friend, Shelley says this builds character, and I think my smart ass remark back to her in an email was something like, "my character is already built, thank you, I am ready for the damn power to come on!" I will tell you this...I will be buying some kick butt gas logs for our new house, some french doors for the den so we can heat just that room, and lastly a little generator to keep our fridge and a couple of lights going. Live and Learn! I can be taught! Merry Christmas!

The Calm Before the Storm

So we got the house...after MUCH drama and some creative juggling of bank account information we had a "Dry" closing on Tuesday and we got the keys after the wire transfers were received on Wednesday. So what have I learned from all of this?

Well, I have learned that when there is a process that you are not in control of, there is no reason to get bent out of shape about it and just do what you can to expedite the process. I have this little problem of wanting to control situations I am in....anyone who knows me will attest to this. My Mom says I am manipulative, but to me that is just a way of saying I maneuver things to get them to work out like I want them (doesnt that sound nicer? :-) Before you think I have obsessive compulsive disorder, its not to that degree and much more subtle than that. Sometimes I do it without even knowing its happening. Anyway, thank the Lord for Bryan , because he definitely grounds me and makes me calm down when freaking out about things like this closing.

So we have the keys, we are waiting on the architectual plans, and preparing to move ancillary items this weekend. My Mom (probably for the first and last time) is taking all three children so she can get pictures done and spend time with them for the whole weekend. I have a feeling she will be on my doorstep bright and early Sunday morning! :-)

I have beaten down Bryan and hired movers to move the furniture on Saturday the 10th and my fabulous new washer and dryer (thank you Mom and Dad!) will be delivered on Monday the 12th....so watch out folks, we are really moving....

Right now its the calm before the storm when we look around and contemplate moving items...Saturday is when the shit hits the fan and it all becomes real....Two weeks before Christmas we are moving our belongings and family!

About that Christmas thing, can I tell you it has really put things into perspective, shaking up the routine like we have this year. Heath keeps asking things like where our Christmas Tree is? and do we have a chimney at our new house that Santa can come down? My favorite is...Will Santa know we moved? I have tried to focus on Baby Jesus's birthday but Santa always creeps into the conversations about this.

Heath did chunk a truck into my shopping cart at Publix and said Baby Jesus would like it for his birthday. This is in the aftermath of purchasing several birthday presents for birthday parties of his friends and cousins. So I guess he gets it a little bit.

There is a lot going on right now, but this too, shall pass, right???!??!?!?!?!??