i'm gonna wash that junk right out of my hair

So... wow... that was a long break from y'all... just needed some time to get my shit together and get to a point where I was no longer waking up with my jaw clenched from the stress I was feeling over the past few weeks.

We got through the inspection on the new house with flying colours - the inspector said he was really impressed with the really good foundation, and the overall shape the house was in for being 20 years old. So there you go, we've bought it completely now. We did not make it conditional on the sale of this house, as we figure we'll be able to sell no problem in this market. But at the same time, it has me a little anxious about ending up with two mortgages in the summer! I'm sure it will all work out, though, and it will all fall into place.

We got our current house in tip top shape too. That was most of the work recently. We have a lot of STUFF and we had to go through it all and get rid of a lot of it, either by giving it away, or storing it until we have more time to sort.

I was so stunned at how much actual garbage was in the house. The crawl space took me an entire day to go through, and I had 8 contractor bags full of garbage when I finished. Crappy old building materials that were there from the previous owners! Boxes for things we haven't even owned since we moved here! All those "I'll just keep this, cuz you just never know..." things. No more! The house looks so much better now, has more flow, has better energy and has even gained a few rooms!

We took all the band's equipment out of the basement, and moved my craft room down there for now. That left us with a spare room to set up as a sitting room, and suddenly, there is a place for people to stand and talk to us while we make dinner. Or, at least, at place for me to read a magazine while my husband makes dinner :) Shut up! I make our breakfasts and lunches everyday so it all works out :) There was this wierd counter thing sticking out of our kitchen, and we just never really knew what to do with it, except for putting junk on it (cool! A long horizontal space!), and so now we've got with the times, and bought some stools and put them along there, and now we have a breakfast nook as well! I love sitting there and chatting with arek, and eating breakfast there (wow! in the breakfast nook! what a concept!)

So... we are still doing a few things here and there, but the bulk of everything is done, thanks to the help of a lot of our friends and family. Thank you SO much to each and every one of you!! We couldn't have done it without you: Erika, Anton, Magdalena, Kevin, Sara, Jane, Mike, Jen, Ruth, Tina, and Joan, we love you!!!