I hate Packing

After just completing two whole days of solid packing, (from about 10am till about 7 pm) I can honestly say that I hate it! It is a back breaking job and mine is killing me. I am beginning to hate the smell of cardboard. Thankfully, I am almost done. Good thing since I only have Thursday night and Friday to finish up. Tomorrow and Wednesday I have to be at the new house all day while some installers do their thing. I am actually glad for the break and excited to be able to spend the day at the new house and gaze out at the lake while I (maybe) line some shelves.

One thing that I feel bad about is my pets. I have totally been neglecting them lately and they are letting me know. They have been following me around from room to room watching me pack and they bring me a toy occasionally with a look of hopefulness on their face. Awwww... After we get moved in I will have to make it up to them. My parrot screamed a lot today and tonight I finally realized why - he was out of food and was trying to get my attention so I would notice and feed him! Gees, I felt so bad. Moving is an all consuming job!

Well, I have to be up and ready to leave by 9am in the morning and as you know, if you have read any of my other entries, I am not a morning person, but one who likes to procrastinate all morning with my coffee and newspaper, etc. So, I better get to bed early - or earlier than my normal 2am.

A Stolen Day

I played hooky yesterday and didn't pack one thing! I started off by having a few errands to run but then I just kept finding more things to do and places to go, till before I knew it, it was 8 p.m. and realized my dogs and cats haven't been fed yet. I rushed home and they were all over me, wagging their tails and licking my face. What a greeting pets give you. It doesn't matter if you have been gone 5 minutes or 5 hours, the greeting is the same! People with no pets don't know what they are missing!

To make up for yesterday, I have to put in a whole day of packing today. My husband is in Saudi Arabia on business, so I don't need to stop for dinner and can work on through the evening. Of course I WILL eat, just not at a scheduled time. I have been procrastinating all morning and it is already past lunch time. I am not a morning person, so it takes me awhile to get going, unless I have to be somewhere at a certain time. I like just lingering over my coffee, reading the paper, making phone calls to family and friends, catching up on a magazine or two and then finally deciding to hop in the shower and get my "real day" started!

So, I guess I better get going. Moving day is next Saturday, but I don't have the full week to pack. I have to be at the new house Tuesday and Wednesday for a couple of installers - cable and home theater. And Thursday, my youngest son is arriving from Orlando to help with the move and help me finish up some packing. So, today through Monday will be solid packing days. I only have the den, kitchen and master bedroom left to do, but I guess they are the hardest, especially the kitchen. Oops, I forgot the office. That is a huge mess of stuff in bookcases. Ugh!! I have more than I thought... I better get busy!

Progress

Well the house is now ours! The closing was quick, painless and exciting. Afterwards, we went over to the house to meet with a home theater guy to discuss putting in all the sound system and speakers throughout the house. Some exciting stuff. I also met with a blind guy (actually a man who does window treatments) and he measured all my windows and we discussed window treatments for most of the house. They are now ordered and will be in by the time we move. I spent most of the rest of the day putting in shelf liner. I didn't get much of that done, since I kept getting distracted by other stuff.

Here at this house, I have continued with repair people. There is still so much to do in getting this house ready for sale. I didn't realize this place was in such disarray. They came and took pictures today. I worried how it would look since a lot of stuff is packed and boxes are strewn about and shelves are empty, but she said not to worry. Tomorrow, the carpenters are starting on the eaves of the roof replacing some rotted wood and Home Depot will be delivering and installing two hot water heaters. Also, the Salvation Army will be here to pick up half a garage full of stuff from our attic that we are donating. Hopefully, in the middle of all this, I will be able to get some packing done. It worries me that our move in date is fast approaching and I still have so much to do.

Well, we lost our first football game of the season. Does anyone else besides me think that David Carr stinks? Getting sacked 5 times is ridiculous! I wish they had used our draft this year to get a new quarterback! Oh well, it looks like we are off to another crappy season. Let's hope I'm wrong!

My prayers go out to all those who lost loved ones at the WTC on this 5 year anniversary!

A day out!

I got to leave the house today for the first time in a week. It felt so good to just be in my car driving down the road. It didn't matter where I was going, I was out of the house! Woo Hoo!

Actually, I had to do a bunch of errands. First up was a visit to the bank. I had to get the cashiers check for the closing on the new house tomorrow. Next I stopped at Target to get some cosmetic sponges that I like but they were out of them. I did manage to get some spot lights we needed and a new letter holder for the new house. Then I was off to the carpet store to order replacement carpet for our dining and living rooms. The dogs did some damage to the carpets in those rooms that was beyond repair. Next, it was Bed Bath and Beyond to get shelf liner. I have tons of new shelves I'll be lining when I get some time. Then I hit Petsmart for pet food. It seems I was almost out of everything for my pets. As a treat, I got them all a new toy. I know, I'm just a push over! Every pet should have an owner like me! My pets have their own toy box!

I also stopped in a jewelry store looking for something for my daughter-in-law for her birthday, but didn't see anything that I thought suited her. I ambled into Bombay to look around and another gift shop all in this same little strip shopping center. I also hit a drug store and a place for some lunch. Can you tell I haven't been out in awhile? I think I was gone most of the day but I enjoyed every minute of it!

I'll be getting up early tomorrow. We have the closing on the house and then will be meeting some installers at the house afterwards. A busy busy day, but one that will be fun and exciting!

Repair people!

So far this week,I seem to be bogged down with repairmen, and phone calls to set up repairmen. Does anyone answer their phone these days? I get nothing but answer machines/voice mail at almost every number I call. That is so frustrating because then my whole day is shot waiting for a call back. I guess I could forward my calls to my cell phone and leave, but I have all the paperwork and information I need to convey to each person here. It seems we have a few things that we need to do to this house to get it ready for sale. Most of the things have been this way for awhile and we should have had it repaired, but you know how it is, you just keep putting it off.

Today, Julie and Robin are here repairing a crack in the marble of one of our sinks. They are also going to fix a knick in one of our bathtubs and as a bonus, are fixing 3 cracks in our Corian countertops in the kitchen. The Corian people wanted an outrageous amount for this work and we didn't want to pay that amount when the new buyers may just want to rip it out and put in granite. What a waste of money to just make something look nicer for a sale. But Julie and Robin are doing it at a much more reasonable price and they are fun to watch and talk to. They are a married couple who have their own business - kind of like a "mom and pop" business. I love that. I would rather pay them to do work rather than some big corporate outfit and probably am getting better quality work.

The air conditioner guy is on the way to inspect our heat and air and also our hot water heaters and give us a certificate that they are all in good working order. Hopefully they are and won't need any repairs. The realtor says prospective buyers will want to see that things like that are in good working order. Makes sense in an older house.

All this has kind of put a halt to my packing, but I guess I will get it all done in time. It's nice to have a reprieve though!

Ouch!

I tripped over my vacuum cleaner today and hurt my knee. I mean I fell on all fours and it almost knocked the wind out of me. How stupid is that? I thought I was fine but it has started to really hurt tonight each time I move after being in one position for any length of time.

I wouldn't have been vacuuming except for the fact that my husband scheduled a meeting with a realtor first thing tomorrow morning at 9am. Like I don't have enough to do with packing up this house, now I have to get it presentable for a realtor who is going to look at it with a critical eye. I am not a happy camper. I thought all that was going to wait till we moved out since everything on the new house was happening so fast and we haven't had time to do any of the maintenance that we need to do on this one. But he has it scheduled and the house had to get presentable, so that is why I was vacuuming. Ugh! All this is happening so fast!

I will also be making potato salad, macaroni salad and deviled eggs in the morning to take to my son's house for a BBQ at 2pm. So, I have a relaxing afternoon to look forward to with NO PACKING! Yeah!!! I hope the realtor isn't here too long so that I can get that stuff done. Somehow though, I think she will be.

Happy Labor Day!

Progress report

My husband took off Friday and we spent the whole afternoon out at the new house. We were to meet the builders supervisor and have a walk thru of the house where he would explain what everything was and how it worked. Afterwards, we stayed and went through the house with a "fine toothed comb" (as my husband likes to call it) making a 'punch list' for the builder. For those of you who don't know, a punch list is a list of things that you note down that needs fixing or touched up in the house you are about to buy. You give this to the builder and he fixes each of these things before the closing of the sale. You have a final walk through the morning of the closing, or maybe the day before, to check that all these things have been completed to your satisfaction. Anyway, mostly just minor touch up paint and caulking to be done-nothing major, thank goodness.

I loved spending the day there. The lake distracted me from the job at hand, but that was okay. It's a beautiful lake and I can't wait to be there all the time. It's so peaceful and beautiful there!

I packed several more boxes today. The living room, dining room and all the linen closets are now packed. Tomorrow I think I will start on the gameroom and bedrooms upstairs since no one uses those rooms and they can be packed up without inconveniencing anyone. Then I will still have the master bedroom and closet, the den, office and kitchen to do. I think I am leaving the hardest rooms till last- but then I am still using all those rooms, so they have to be last. My husband will tackle the garage and I'm glad that he will be doing that and not me!

I did have to stop a couple of times today and play with the dogs. They were feeling neglected! The cats got some play time in also.