The New Establishment

Catchy title, right?  The place is new, and we are getting it all established, so I guess that makes it the new establishment.

Things are taking shape.   Almost everything is in it's place.  There are a few things I brought thinking I would need them and it turns out they are just not necessary.  I over stocked some things especially in the kitchen.  I don't have a dishwasher here.  I hand wash the dishes after meals.  As a result, I don't have any accumulation of dirty dishes, so I don't need to have as many on hand as I had at the old place.  I will probably pack some of them away for storage.

I am surprised how much room there actually is in my kitchen!  Counter top space is at a premium, but I have plenty of room for dishes, pans, even a really spacious pantry area.  I may figure out a way to combine some things and free up a shelf or two in there and call it my office.  I have way too many school/office supplies, and I don't really know what to do with it all.  Between home school and my personal study and writing materials I have accumulated quite a bit.  We are learning to do more of our studying and writing on computer, but hard copy and paper work are still big requirements around here.  I stored probably half of what I had, and I still have a lot.  I stored the stuff that I didn't think the heat would hurt: paper, folders, binders, etc...  I brought all the pens and pencils here so the heat wouldn't destroy them. Staplers and hole punches and the like; I use them every day.  I need to keep them here, so I'll have to figure something out.

I have too many books, as well.  I'm not sure what to do about that except to get rid of some more clothes or something.  I love having my books around and I don't think I'm willing to part with the few I have already it whittled down to.

There are a few other items that I need to keep on hand that I still haven't found a home for yet, but in the shuffling and reshuffling I'm sure they will settle into a spot soon.  It's mostly paperwork, mail, receipts and statements and the like.  I may box 'em up and stuff 'em in the storage.  I also have a bunch of seeds.  I'm afraid to put them in storage.  It's still so hot!  I don't know if heat will damage them or not, but I don't want to take the risk.

All in all, the radical downsizing is going pretty well.  It certainly causes one to prioritize.  I can plainly see what is needful and what is not now.  That's not to say I don't want to keep some of the less necessary items, but when we go to sort out the storage unit and narrow things down for the move, I should have no trouble thinning it out even further.

As far as the 'sardine' situation goes, I hate to dissappoint all of the folks that were so sure we'd be ready to strangle each other by now, but we're handling the proximity problems very well and we're adjusting quickly to the privacy problems.  We spent almost all of our time together before we moved anyway.  We homeschool, so we were always home together. We did most of our work at the kitchen table, and when we were playing on computers we were sitting within feet of one another. This is the same ol' same ol', as far as that goes, just a different place. The big difference is that now we can't go any place inside the house for privacy.  It's a little tough on my oldest boy, but he's adjusting.  We're making it work.

As for me...  I'm happy as a clam.  I love it all.  Well, except for the toilet.  I don't like it a bit, but we're looking for remedies.  I'll post about it as we solve problems so that anyone else going through something like this will have our experience to draw from.  More on that as it plays out.  If anyone has any suggestions I'd love to hear them.

Meanwhile, we're continuing to prepare for the move.  I'll be posting periodically about the progress there.   It's all so very exciting!!!   I'll be so glad when we're ready to go!!

See you soon.  Be blessed!

Sharing a Wonderful Blog

This is quite possibly my favorite blog.  I want to share it with my readers just to bless you, and also to spread the word that if you aren't reading this guy's blog, you are really missing out!!!  WONDERFUL, wonderful blog.  
Agrarian Nation - Respect For The Past. Wisdom For The Present. Hope For The Future.http://agrariannation.blogspot.com/
This  particular article was one I would like to draw your attention to.  I feel bad because the entire blog is so wonderful I feel like I'm slighting one entry in favor of another, and I don't mean to do that.  I just LOVED this one when I was reading it and I believe you will, too.
http://agrariannation.blogspot.com/2011/09/meditation-while-singling-mangolds-by.html

I will be back to blog soon.  I have been consumed with moving and setting up our new home/place/life, but it's coming along nicely, and I should have thing back to normal soon.  See you soon.  Be blessed!

The Deed is Done!

I should blog in depth.  I should give some details.  I should give an update.  I should chronicle the process... and I will: soon.  Not tonight.  I am so tired from the move, the change, the stress, the upset to the schedule that I can't write anything too in-depth tonight.  I just wanted to post and let everyone know we are out of our old house and into the new one.

It was quite an undertaking.  The physical aspects were much worse than I expected.  I thought of myself as the same person who helped move it all into the house almost eighteen years ago.  Unfortunately, eighteen years and 40(ish) pounds later and it wasn't the cake walk I was hoping for.  I'm not sure I can remember ever being so sore from just a little manual labor.

I'm ashamed at how out of shape I am!  Needless to say, all of this has caused me to see the need to do something about that as of NOW.  The diet is no big deal.  I'm a good dieter when I make up my mind.  It's a matter of starting a routine of some kind of exercise.  I'll probably start walking the dogs more, so that will help.  I am not sure what else I am going to do, but I will definitely be looking to do something, and fast!

Aside from the physical aspects of the move, the time constraint was stressful.  Once we were out, the pressure was off and I felt immediate relief.  Now all I want to do is sleep.  I swear, it's like my body just shut down on me and is in rebellion against all that has been going on.  I think in a few days I'll be back up to par, then I'll blog about some of the particulars and share some of my marvelous wisdom and amazing insight after surviving this ordeal.  LOL

Meanwhile, I'm going to tie up a few loose ends,  sort through a few more boxes, and sleep, sleep, sleep!

Good night..

The Time Is At Hand

The final push is on. Sorting, pitching, throwing. Packing, packing, packing. Hauling, stacking, stowing.  Tomorrow I haul off the furniture from the kid's rooms, make another storage run, drop a few things off at the trailer and a few big boxes to the local thrift store.  In the afternoon I have to cram in all the regular stuff; a quick trip to the grocery store, taxi my son around a little, fix some dinner and clean it up, the regular loads of laundry plus a few extra that were unearthed in the kid's rooms during all the sorting and packing.  Tomorrow night, sorting in my room.  A large pile for the thrift store and a small pile to keep, at least that's the plan.

My husband works until Friday and then he's on vacation for a week.  That's when we get everything that's left, everything we own, seventeen and a half years of our life's accumulation of things, out of our house, our home, for good.

For years I've dreamed of this.  Years came and went and even though I never gave up hope, it seemed like it was never going to happen.  Now suddenly, almost out of nowhere, it is time to go!  Maybe things didn't happen the way we wanted them to, or in the time I would have liked, but the time has come at last and I'm so excited and happy and almost overwhelmed!  Now we're pushing it into overdrive.

How could this sneak up on me like this, I wonder?  I, who have planned this in the back of my mind for so long, suddenly I find myself with a week and a half to be out!

Seventeen and a half years is a long time to live in a house. Even though it has been quite a task physically, going through our belongings wasn't as hard emotionally as I thought it would be.  Even throwing things away wasn't so bad.  A lot of things have some significant meaning, or some sentimental attachment, but things come and go and we can't save them all.  I saved what I could not be parted from and got rid of the rest.  Sure, some things were harder to part with than others even after the decision to part with them had been made, but now that it's done and they are gone, it's no real big deal. We are fine.

BUT... now we are seeing our rooms emptying out.  Bare walls, empty closets and corners are sort of a sad sight.  The events of the years of our life had accumulated in all these odds and ends that were crammed into all these personal spaces.


It's the spaces: the spaces where life and family used to be.  They are getting to me a little.

It's more odd, or weird than sad, really.  Hmmm....

Our children grew up here.  They lost their teeth, broke some bones, knocked holes in the walls, played together and fought like cats and dogs, snuggled, laughed and cried, peed the bed, suffered and healed, shaved their faces, marked their height against the kitchen door frame, all in this house.   They were buddies.  I loved every second.

Our marriage grew up here.  We have had our worst and our best times here.  We've had our happiest moments and our saddest moments here.  We have discovered each other, come to know and maybe even understand each other a little.  We have hurt and healed and grown together here.  What a pair!  I'm so happy with us!

All the cliches I've heard others use about such things fit in right here: strands woven into the fabric of our lives, and strokes on the canvas of life and whatnot.  Struggles, triumphs, grief, joy, bounty and lack-- the parade of pictures in my mind -- we have really lived in this house.  All of this has welded us together and made us into one family.  I am so blessed.  Looking through all of this makes me think one should not wait seventeen years to open up the memory boxes and search the corners.  The now empty corners.  Empty sort of like the blank place at the bottom of a page just before you turn to a new chapter.  Yep... another cliche'.

What a great life we have!  Now our memories go with us into a exciting new future.  Now a new adventure begins!

More later.  Stay tuned.....

The Rest of the Alphabet

Can't Do Enough For God, However I Just Know His Love Makes New Our Peace.  Quit Resisting Him.  Sit There Until the Volumes in His Word create the eXcellence You're Zealous for.

Yes, it's cheating, and a poor sentence, and a reach, but I'm a bit too busy for this, and my husband said writing about the mundane day to day is boring to read.

Back to blogging as usual... occasionally, irregularly, and when something seems important enough to write about.

B is for Baked

5:30-ish a.m. and we were up and working outside, and in just a matter of minutes we were sweating something awful! I had to finish by 8:30 because I had a meeting to go to, so I left a few raked piles of leaves and sticks and what not lying around.  I decided this evening to try to bag up some of the leftoverture so the wind wouldn't spread it back around the yard, but about an hour of that was all I could take.  103 degrees, storm clouds over the mountains so the humidity was up... not a comfy work environment.  I stopped for the day even though there was more that needed to be done.  I can take consolation in knowing that a lot was accomplished.  That leaves me with a good feeling.  :)

The yard had been neglected for all of the other odd jobs and more pressing matters until it was an embarrassment and an neighborhood eyesore, I'm sure.  A little time and a bucket of sweat and it's trimmed, raked, cleaned and much more attractive.  Me....... not so much!  LOL  Leaves and sawdust in my hair, spider bites, cuts and scrapes, and sweat and dirt.  Ew!

I burnt up my hedge trimmers, broke my rake and cut through my extension cord.  I filled two full sized dumpsters with the trimmings, saved the big wood for grampa's fire pit and still have another truck load left to haul off.  I poked my eye, and my head, peeled my thumb, smashed my ankle, got a couple of bites... and somehow I liked it.  LOL!  I like working hard outside, heat not withstanding.  I'd trade it for housework any time!

On the slate for tomorrow:  I'm going on a box run. I have to get cracking on the packing!
So let it be written, so let it be done!

A is for Action and Accomplishment

Without one you lose the other.  Sadly, I lost them both today in a haze of sleep deprived, heat frustrated procrastination.  I aimed to accomplish a few little things, but failed to pull the trigger.  Welp, I guess I'll reload and move on.  Tomorrow's another day and , another opportunity for action and accomplishment!!