Posting locale...

I know that you can't tell..  there isn't anything different about the way I type, you aren't enjoying the same atmosphere that I am right now, you cannot hear the music I am listening to.  Even if you were here, you most likely wouldn't even recognize the music to enjoy or appreciate it, and you wouldn't feel the same comfort I do hanging out with Merrill Pitcher..   I am not posting from my comfy computer chair in my loft, rather, posting from Merrill's lair.  Thanks to the lack of connectivity with the wireless internet that we had before Windows 7..  we still have some learning to do and some kinks to un-kink with our system.  But I love Windows 7 anyways. :)
His office (lair) is in the basement.
Have I ever said how much I love our new house?
Sure, there are times when I miss the old place..  like when we had to chop off the bottom of the Christmas tree to get it to fit in our living room..  but this house has answered a lot of prayers for us in many ways.
I had my own craft room at the old house, and I do here too.  My room here has room though..  room for what Merrill and I have ALWAYS wanted..  a comfy chair or even a love seat to be in my room for him to come and lounge on while we talk, and laugh, and while I create.  He loves to read and listen to his music too, and I love having him there.  We spend a lot of time as a family there.  The girls create and color too.  We get out the chalkboard and they play school.  Merrill will read to them while we sit there, all cozy and happy together.
At the old house, Merrill dreamed of having his own room..  an office slash music type of sanctuary.  A place where he could display his vinyl collection and autographed emepheria and not run the risk of little hands appreciating it as well. 
Don't get me wrong..  the girls hang out down here too.  We sing and dance and laugh.  Just today they were playing Best Western hotel with daddy.  They had their hotel built out of empty boxes (that came from somewhere..) in the next room and he was their boss.  It was so cute to hear the way that they were interacting with him.
We are in the process of making it his..  hanging things etc.  He even has his own Scentsy warmer, and picks his own scents..  it's really cozy here. 
We are hoping to get a nice comfy couch to have in his inner sanctum, where I can come and be with him, like I am now, but not on a folding chair that he complains of.  It is pretty harsh on the toosh.  Maybe hold a few make-out sessions?  Hey, mom and dad did to Gordon Lightfoot back in the day...  ;)
That would be an activity without the children.  We already get razzed enough by them..
Point is, we have a lot of space here, and it doesn't take us apart.  It has brought us together.  We have enjoyed getting to know each other even better..  and I thought I knew him pretty well 10 years into it!
Right now, it bring sus all together.  We don't have the distraction of a TV all the time, the girls have the space to play together..  I don't have to worry about where the hand-me-downs fit.  (O months to 7 years tends to make a lot of storage bins...)  It has been a good transition that has optimized our time together.  No more organizin and re-arranging things in the house to make room for this or that, we get to spend our time together.
Someday, the logisitics of things will change.  I bet that the girls will all be downstairs in the three basement bedrooms when teenagerdom hits, if not sooner, and then our rooms might enjoy a closer proximity, but now, the space is nice.  I don't have to stress or worry like I did before.
The fun just keeps coming!
So I guess I really don't mind the wireless not working like it should upstairs..  just gives me more time with Merrill. :)

I figured it out!!

It has been slightly emotional..
I love my new house..
Not just "love" it, but LOVE it!
There are so many blessings that come with it.. more than just the house..
But I still feel a little sad..  homesick, for the old house.
Whenever I get the chance, I drive past it.
It holds so many memories..  I believe I covered those previously.
But when we got the call the other night, that it had actually recorded (i.e. it was a done deal), I felt my heart do something weird.
It wasn't an excited beat.
It wasn't an anxious beat.
It wasn't a sad beat..
It was weird.
I drove past Saturday morning on my way out to run some errands.
The "For Rent" sign was down.  No one was there, but I knew someone would be soon..
Later that night, as I ran out to get some things for our dinner, I drove past.
There they were.  Them and their big UHaul.  Carrying boxes in just as I had carried them in almost 9 years ago..  then out.
I saw inside the open front door..
Saw the paint.
Saw the floor we put in..
The carpet going down the stairs..
The new door and windows..
The black garage door..
I teared-up..  that was my house.
So many memories.
I came home and told Merrill.
His reaction: "Good Riddance!"
Then it hit me..
That house is like an ex-boyfriend.
I certainly don't want to be with it.
I have many good memories with it.
But I don't want to see anyone else making more good memories with it.
Yup..  I am the jealous type I guess..

So ya wanna hear about my day?..

It has been a day of many things..
Lynn is better (cough, cough..) well, at least I haven't heard one..  so she went off to school.  I honestly couldn't take another day of her and Ashley being home.  Sounds awful, I know, I sound like my dad and pray everyday to have the inability to yell that my mother has, and her sweet, long-suffering patience..
Ashley was shuttled off to pre-school with the snack, which I forgot all about until last night shortly before 11pm.  Thank heavens for Albertson's (or what used to be.. RIP Albertson's name..) and their recent promotion of Quaker products 2 for $4..  I had snack covered.
Peyton and I were home for what was to be a measuring and sketching session in the craftroom to finish it up.  In my hunt for the tape measure, however, I noticed that my hunting was not necessary, if I would just tidy up the desk..  so that derailed me from my measuring and finishing.
I did find a South Ogden bill that was due on the 30th for the old house..  whoops! :)
I got to ordering more prints from Shutterfly, I have received 125 FREE prints from them in just the last couple of weeks.  Free prints, yum.  Grandpa W. will be happy to get some new pics of the girls.
I even set up an appointment for the power company to come and pick up the old refrigerator in the garage..  "See ya later, refrigerator!"
I felt like I had accomplished a lot.
Before I knew it, it was time to go get Ashley from pre-school.
Lunch closely followed.
As did a phone call from my husband.
"We need to be at Mountain View ASAP."
"Didn't we sign everything on our end?"
"They have more we need to sign.."
And indeed they did..  three addendums for the closing date of the other house..  dated respectively the 6th of October, the 28th of October, and today..
So fun.  I was excited though, that means I would own only one home by the end of this day.
And now I do.
But apparently, we weren't supposed to move in until today.
Second "whoops" for the day..
Second time I have moved into a house prematurely in my life.  Just tryin' to keep the streak going!
After that, I went to the funnest place, and got the hottest accessory of the season (of my life, really!).
I made a long overdue appointment to the eye doctor looong ago.  I knew I needed to do it, just kinda busy (and putting it off because it isn't the funnest activity).  I initially got glasses for reading, cross-stitching, crocheting, ya know, all the fun stuff that requires me to look at things that are relatively close to me.  I knew the situation was getting worse when I needed them while at the computer and later, when I was watching movies.  I am to the point now, where if I don't wear them, I get a headache, but if I wear them too long, I get a headache. 
I know, you are jealous.
I love everything about the eye doctor, well, except for the "One or two..  two or three..  two..  or three.." the air that they shoot into your eye, and those drops that dilate your pupils.
Shudder.
Luckily, no air.
But the drops were inevitable.
I took a nap after I got home to help ease the discomfort and frustration of my temporary blindness.  Lynn's thrusting of reading homework papers at me didn't restore my sight.
I feel great now..
Unless I go outside. 
Like I did to get the mail.
By the by..  thank you to retailers who know that I am ordering for Christmas, and send their products in non-descript packaging so my children are none the wiser. :) 
Thank you..
Another thank you of sorts goes to my two sistas, who helped me out today..
Thank you. ;)

Hello again..

Last time in the "old" tub.

So I guess I should start off with where I have been...
I have been inside 2 separate houses and various cardboard boxes, packing and un-packing and getting settled.
We moved just about everything in on Friday (thanks to all the awesome help we had!!) and spent the next few days getting the house all put together for my sister-in-law, Randee's baby shower that was on Tuesday.


Before you go calling me a "crazy woman", lemme explain..
We were originally supposed to close last Tuesday (the 22nd) but surgery for one of the sellers kept him from being able to put his Herbie Hancock to important paperwork which bumped us to Thursday (the 24th).. it was again bumped, to Friday (the 25th) due to difficulties with the underwriters on their loan at the old house, and so there you have it, I was really planning on a baby shower with a WEEK to get ready, not a measly 3 and a half days.
But I did it.
With LOTS of love and help.
Thanks again..
It's been a week of firsts and lasts..
I won't lie when I say that I cried going to the old house one last time, taking the key off of my keyring, and laying it with the other keys for the new owners.

As soon as we walked in to get the last few things from the basement, the smell hit me.
It smelled just as it had the first time we walked through it almost 9 years ago.
That was weird.. we had been living there, that long, with our own smells and way of life, and the second we are out, it takes on it's old smell.
That made the memories come rushing back even harder.
I walked through, taking pictures of all the empty rooms, sniffling and being sappy.



It was a good house.
I will try to get more pics up as laundry is caught up, and Peyton's room is more put together..
Here's what I do have:
Family room...
Kitchen..
Ahhh.. jetted tub.
The bubbles seriously grew to over a foot deep in there.
Just part of my closet.
The only painting project..
This will be a craft room that doesn't hurt my eyes...
I had to get my Halloween stuff up.. it is Randee's favorite holiday. :)

I am also rockin' an awesome clod.. that helps to make life even more interesting. :)
Not to mention the birthday Ashley has coming up on Monday.. I was just reminded.

Facts..

It is a fact that I love my house..
It is a fact that we could use more space..
It is a fact that this other house is awesome...
It is a fact that it will shave 1 minute and 23 seconds from Merrill's commute.. (yeah, like that is a lot, I know..)
It is also a fact that it is officially ours! :)

A new accessory..

Of sorts.
Maybe I should call it a decoration..
Either way, it's not mine and whose arrival is the bearer of fantastic news...


We close a week from today.. would be sooner if there wasn't surgery involved on the other end..
See, good news!!