I've restarted the race training/running blog posts. But I feel like there should be a moving post too. I'm starting this late, so the beginning is from memory.
This post is called Mom creates reality because it was my mother who set this whole thing in motion last fall, and called it all forth. She said 'wouldn't you like to go live in that pretty neighborhood with Captain Smiley?'. Around the same time a unit came on the market two doors down, and a friend was all 'you should use my realtor' And I was all '
okay, universe, I get the message. Thus began six months of house hunting, anxiety, and heart ache.
The anxiety is really the star of the show here, though I'm not sure that will be clear from the posts. It's calming down signifnicantly at this point, though it still kicks its heels up to dance every now and then.
(What do you mean my a/c doesn't work?)
May 24 - closing. After closing, I came and sat in my new empty house for a while.
May 25 - Olive and I did some shopping and 'renovations' to the place. Because garbage always belongs in a cabinet and not out for the world to see.
May 26 - renovations continue with Olive. Somehow this day was easier. Olive loves the easy close drawers.
May 27 - "Put everything I own in a box" day. This was at the old place. That was very disorganized packing. I spent the night in Captain Smiley guest room because, you know, my bed sheets and pillows are packed.
May 28 - Moving day. Goal for the end of the day was to have the bed med, know where my clothes are, and be able to go to work in the morning. Captain Smiley tried to take me for Ramen in the evening but it was a 'pop up' night, and the menu was too weird even for me, so we 'hole in the wall Asian' which was excellent.
May 29 -
Why didn't I take more time off work? Mom was right that it felt like a vacation when I got up and went for a run in a new fun place. In the evening, Captain Smiley helped me clean the old place. I was all 'you know, I'll sweep and wipe stuff off' and suddenly he's got my screens out of my windows, the fridge pulled five feet out so he can wipe that down, and he's trying to disassemble the ceiling fan, which is where my anxiety really got the best of me.
May 30 - Old place goes on the market. I get one offer. At 10:30pm. The offer expires at noon the next day.
May 31 - I get a second offer, but the first offer was the one I accepted. In between patients. And before noon, So yeah for my realtor on that one. Also, I think my a/c is not working. Like, it should be kicking on and it's doing... NOTHING. Nothing at all. I've called Captain Smiley HVAC guy.
June 1 - OMG, all of the unpacking. Why did I save so much stuff? Why do I have so many boxes? For supper, I got take out from this Thai place. I was all "either this will be the best food ever, or Professional Help will find me dead in the morning" because the restaurant was that sketchy. 8pm on a Saturday and the parking lot is EMPTY. No one in the restaurant but staff? This is weird. Food was great though, and I did not die.
June 2 - The cavalry showed up in the form of Hired Professional to help me unpack. And Olive came over to make adjustments to an earlier renovation. Also, I've learned to re-set the thermostat, so the a/c kicked on and it's the biggest relief in the world.
June 3 - First day of making myself breakfast and coffee at home. I can cook for myself like an adult again.
I had my first HyVee shopping trip, where I said "you have patio chairs out there that I want, but I will not buy them unless they fit in my car. How can I do this without getting in trouble?" A lovely young lady got all four chairs in my car, and then let me come back in and pay for them. Now I have patio chairs. Later, I got some stuff from the old place and made a Good Will stop.
Then I held a baby for a while, and that was like an anchor, holding me down so anxiety didn't make me so light I floated away into the "what if" realm. I had a nice evening with the baby's adult as well. My Pooky Bear and I hit up Applebees. Her choice. Again, a/c not working as expected. I shall reset. Again. What if the reset features stops working before next Monday when the HVAC guy can be here?
June 4 - First day of "the new way" at work. In the evening, Captain Smiley and I head off to spend even more money at Lowes. I now have a garden hose. And then I spent a half hour of my life trying to find the outdoor spigot water shut off.
I am so over home ownership. After that, I reset the thermostat again.
June 5 - I do still feel like I'm on vacation. Like "let's go for a run in this beautiful place, it's right out your back door".
In the middle of the day, I took lunch break to buy a bed for Mom and Dad. Probably the easiest sale that lady has had in a while. "Hi, I want a bed, queen size, with a bed frame and box spring, for under $1,000, delivered within two weeks. Please show me what you have."
Also, I found a vacuum cleaner.
After lunch, I worked and then went to a CEU all about anxiety, which made my anxiety much worse. Bonus was, I had dinner with one of my favorite colleagues and that was lovely.
June 6 - Second work meeting of "doing this the new way". This work meeting used to be Friday at 8am, it's moved to Thursday at 8am and everyone thinks it's Friday. I used to have to leave by 7:10am for this meeting. Not so today. I left around 7:25am, and rolled in with a couple minutes to spare, much less traffic, and lower blood pressure.
When I got back home, my a/c unit was just spinning around, doing it's job. I told My Pooky Bear that it's like the personification of my mental health. Not working, needs a reset, working, not working, looks like it's not working but actually is. I don't know what's going on.
Mail: I now understand why 'sorting the mail' is such a thing. Because I got like 5 envelopes of non-junk mail that all need attention and I have no place to put them.
I tried to see Dungeon Master before her Cuba trip, but that didn't work out. Instead, Captain Smiley and I had supper at the ramen place. They don't know me by name yet, but they recognize me on sight now.
June 7 - Professional Help came back and cleaned the first floor for me. And I did all of the laundry. I watered my plants after I ran. Apparently that has to be part of the routine this summer, but so far I'm okay with it. My trailing petunias were more like 'drooping and dying' so I hope I didn't kill them. I think my next 'unpacking' job is to go through my paper files. Some stuff needs to go, and I need some new files for all the utility bills I need to pay now.
Sigh.
June 8 - It's hotter than fire outside so I got up early to run, and then helped my Pooky Bear with her garden. On the way home, I found out the Ikea chair does indeed fit in my car. In the afternoon I hung out with Olive and another friend. Olive was dating a new dog to adopt. Our friend quit her job suddenly. She is really living her best life about it.
June 9 - I got up late and ran my one little mile. It was a pleasure. Then I went to get a bed skirt for the bed that arrives tomorrow, and groceries for lunches for the week. In the middle of the day, My Pooky Bear and her family came over to see the new place. Mr Pooky (wow, he may need a better name) helped me mount my TV on the hardware that came with the house, and explained that I had the wrong planter basket for my drooping
(now wilting) petunia. In the later afternoon, I went to Menards. I got the rest of the drawer pulls I'll need for the place, garden gloves, the right planter, moving straps
(that's another long story) and hit the mother load of a sale on kitchen bins.
June 10 - pretty sure this day needs it's own post. As a bonus, I thought I'd hate 'the toilet in the kitchen' as I'm calling my downstairs bathroom. It bothers me less than I expected it would based on location. One thing that does really bother me though: when I, ahem, sit down I can see myself in the mirror over the sink. It's kind of weird.
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