Fun and Frolic With Long-Term Love

[PinkPig]

Oh, that's exciting that you're moving soon! I love seeing the progress you've made on your house. It's awesome! I love your kitchen/dining room. Also, just wanted to say that I love how you talk about both of your men. It's so apparent the amount of love that you have for each of them! Thank you for sharing with us. I really do like reading about your little polycule.

 

[Bluebird]

Thanks! I am glad someone likes me. My journal only has a 3 star rating, so give me some love, if you haven't previously.

Here's a brief list of updates:

My house was stinky today after the dissections (which went well) but it seems to have dissipated. I have a student coming over tomorrow to make up two quizzes he missed. He struggles some, but mostly because he'd rather be doing something else. In my head I'm like, you and me both, on some days! However, before he left today, I told him to take this week's quiz that is due on Sunday, tonight, so all his knowledge wouldn't leak out when I help him with the two things he's missing. And he did - I got it in my inbox, and he scored a 101. The stinker!

DarkKnight and I went out to celebrate his promotion. We ended up at the Greene Turtle so he could enjoy a beer. I love spending time with my sweetie! He had choral practice tonight though, and he couldn't skip out on it. This saddened me, because I received my copy of Reign of Cthulhu Pandemic in the mail today, and it really needs to be played. lol It was a lightning deal on Amazon the other day, and I HAD to buy it.

I've now lost a little over 6 pounds since Feb 18. It's going so slow, but I am remaining positive. At least it's going in the right direction! I have been planning a cheat day for when I am exactly 10 pounds down, but my 11 year anniversary with DarkKnight is this Saturday, so I am going to eat Mango Grill regardless of my weight loss at that point. It's our favorite place. However, I then will not have another cheat day until I am 20 pounds down. And oh, it will happen.

I helped Michigan apply for a secured credit card tonight. It's just her and I at home, and she was chatty with me while I was packing up a few things in the game room. She just left to go get herself some pizza.

I'm currently doing laundry, and about to start packing up the master bath. The amount of stuff still left unpacked is a little overwhelming, but I am trying not to focus on the big picture and just on each room individually. Otherwise, I might start crying! (Kinda a joke, kinda not.)

 

[Bluebird]

W00t! Down a total of 8 pounds now! I don't look any different but the numbers going down are making me feel pretty great. I am going to try Arby's Meat Mountain tonight (without the bun) for dinner.

I have been ripping down the basement ceiling and gah! gross. I will post photos later. Nothing like mouse poop raining down on me to make a day awesomesauce. Blech.

 

[Reverie]

We ended up at the Greene Turtle so he could enjoy a beer.

I love the Greene Turtle. CRAB DIP! I get to go there when I visit my family.

 

[Bluebird]

Soooo I am at the new house this morning. I have a window from 10 am til noon for Terminix to come visit me, and then I have a local inspection outfit coming at 3 pm. I am sure the mice in my house have gotten comfy when it was empty for the last 9 months, but since we are moving in next week, I'd like to have an idea of what we are dealing with! Both places give free estimates, so after all the mouse poop last night, I figured this needed to happen. I mean, we knew the house had mice back when we bought it, but now I actually wanna be doing something about it. Though, when we move in we will have at least 6 cats, so maybe it won't be an issue.

Pictures - ok, I did promise some.

This was my life last night. I filled 7 cans with ceiling tiles. Above the ceiling tiles were these thin wood strips, and above those were sheets of cardboard. Like, PunkRock said it was cardboard, but it's like some sort of construction cardboard. I don't know. Anyway, all of that was screwed into joists. You can see in my pics where I started removing some of the tiles, to reveal the stuff they were under, and then the other pic shows that PunkRock came along behind me and removed the wood and cardboard so we can see the mess in the basement ceiling.

Honestly, I would rather look at the mess than these horrible plain white popcorn textured tiles!

Cool huh? There was more written - people's names - and I posted about t on Facebook, and one of the people who signed the ceiling is still around, from when this was dated in 1986 - 31 years ago. I am waiting for her to message me back. I think that is hella cool. She looks to be a little older than me, so that means she was prolly a teenager back then.

Anyway, look at the holes - the square cut ones were done by humans, the torn out ones are where mice chewed through and poop fell on me. Not fun! The entire ceiling was like this over the basement kitchen, less so in the center room, and only once over the basement bedroom. Which kinda makes sense - mice would want to be where the food was, right? None of this was visible as it was covered with the ceiling tiles.

 

[Bluebird]

Now that the basement demo has started, I am a little nervous. The dumpster we rented is getting full already! Hopefully everything fits ok. I don't think I updated about all the issues we had with the garbage company, but they came out right away on Monday and moved it back a bit down the driveway, off the hose and far enough back so we can now open the door to it. They agreed that it was delivered too early and promised I won't be charged for the extra days. So it's all good now. They did say that when I buy a new hose, to email them the receipt and they will credit my account the amount. I have yet to do that because PunkRock wanted to check the length so we replace it with the right size hose.

I have decided to stop all work right now on the living room. The new furniture delivery will be the week after we move, so i figure if we run out of time prior, it won't hurt to drag out the painting to a few days after we are in here. So instead we are going to focus on other things. This little bit right here is as much for me as it is for my readers - and I am probably going to not finish it and flush it out because I will be interrupted by the pest control peep.

Today, Thursday, PunkRock has a doctor's appointment to get his stitches out, at 3 pm. DarkKnight works til 3:30 pm. So tonight they will both be here at the house - DarkKnight will be continuing with the trim in our daughter's room. Seriously - 2 coats of primer and 3 coats of paint. FML Hopefully that can be finished finally! PunkRock, I believe, is going to continue ripping down the basement ceiling until my son arrives to help load the dumpster, later tonight. I need to paint the hallway so we can rip out the carpet.

Friday - PunkRock will continue the basement demo. DarkKnight will start painting the trim in his office.

Saturday - Oh shit, I SOOOOO have to tell you about the stuff going down on Saturday! Anyway, I think we will cancel Pandemic this week, in any case. DarkKnight should be able to finish up painting the trim in his office. PunkRock can be in the basement again, which is good, because all demo needs to be finished by Sunday.

Sunday - PunkRock will work on my closet in DarkKnight's bedroom and finish it up. DarkKnight's cousin is supposed to come over for that, I think. DarkKnight will be in the basement painting doors.

Monday - PunkRock works late, but he has to come over and paint DarkKnight's bedroom. DarkKnight can come over and paint the trim in his bedroom.

Tuesday - PunkRock needs to finish installing the kitchen floor, and floor in the basement landing. DarkKnight has choral practice, but hopefully after work he can duck in and paint the bedroom trim again. The dumpster gets picked up.

Wednesday - kitchen paint touchups need to be completed, and the baseboards need to be installed. They're already painted, but they need to be cut to fit and mothered and nailed up. That'll be PunkRock. DarkKnight can paint the trim in the hallway.

Thursday is moving day!!!!

 

[AutumnLeaves]

OMG. Your blog reminds me why I bought my house move-in ready AND is inspiring me to maybe update my old lady bathroom.

 

[Bluebird]

Ugh. Fuck updating that to do list, it's all a mess.

I had two pest control companies come to the new place today to tell me about my mouse problem. Terminix came first and the guy went around inside and said there was no sign of there ever being termites, but he could sell me a $1300/year plan that would prevent them and mice too. He kept trying to push this and talk about termites instead of my mouse problem. He emailed me the quote and he priced the estimate for just dealing with the mice just a couple hundred lower than the termite one. It didn't leave me feeling very good.

The second company was local and amazeballs. The guy went all around the inside and outside of the house, pointed out every place a mouse could get in, and told me exactly what to do in each instance. He said it didn't look like any had set up housekeeping but rather were traveling in and out and we should be able to block them. He told me to close up everything he pointed out, and then see how the cats do for a month or so, and then call him for traps if we needed, after the egress window is finished. He said more than likely we wouldn't need him.

Fuck Terminix, for real.

 

[Bluebird]

OMG. Your blog reminds me why I bought my house move-in ready AND is inspiring me to maybe update my old lady bathroom.

Haha! I know the guys are not happy that they listened to me saying that we should get a fixer upper! I don't regret it but I do wish we had more time.

What REALLY happened tonight was that DarkKnight and Michigan went around the outside of the house and took down all the tattered window awnings, along with the frames. I didn't get a chance to look at the house without those there, but I will tomorrow! After dinner, my daughter came back and hit the trim in her room with more paint. DarkKnight is currently rolling out the first coat of wall paint in the hallway.

My son actually came over in the afternoon, and he and PunkRock are tackling the basement bedroom ceiling together - PunkRock is taking down the wood strips and my son is following behind to tear up the cardboard cellulose stuff. I haven't been down there either, to check on progress.

Instead, I set off right away and went and ordered the blue area rug I have been wanting for the living room. It'll be delivered the week after we move in - prolly the same week as the furniture! It was $400, but since DarkKnight's bonus came, I decided this was it. Lol Half the money actually went into savings to be put toward the egress window in case our security deposit is returned less than expected. There is no way we can't get the window done! So part of that is now set aside. I also took some of the cash and bought everything the local pest control person recommended - 4 new basement window well covers, some steel wool, spray foam, etc.

I also caved and bought $50 worth of linoleum for my daughter's closet, which will be installed so the cat litter box contents are easily wiped up if they spill, instead of them falling into and onto my hardwood floors.

After shopping is came back to the house and grabbed everyone to go to a buffet for dinner. I had to order a steak since most of the buffet is carbs. It was delicious. We got a table next to this big saltwater fish tank, which was great. There is no doubt that we are getting a wall tank installed. We're all on board with that! I think the website is actually like walltanks.com or something. We're going to cut away some of the hallway wall into DarkKnight's office, and because of where the archway is, the tank will be partly visible from the living room too, and from the front door! I have decided that when we buy it, I will hire a contractor to make it fit perfect and give my guys a break. It's exciting to think about. Maybe we can all chip in toward it for a Christmas gift for us. Something to think about!

Anyway, after dinner I had to call my mom. I had two missed calls from her but she was just trying to get a hold of my brother. Pfffft. She also wanted to tell me that my one aunt and my sister both hate my kitchen. Always trying to start drama! Honestly though, I don't give a shit. It isn't their kitchen, it's mine! Lol If only I could get it finished. Sigh.

After that I put on my work clothes and vacuumed out all the drywall bits in my new closet (which isn't finished) and in the sunporch, which was covered in sawdust.

 

[Bluebird]

Once again I have many things to say and not much time to get it all down. The photos from today are fucking crazy, but my phone is charging and I am writing this from PunkRockAwesomesauce's iPad.

I know I usually write stream of consciousness, but today it will be even more so, as think. No apologies.

I had another 2 hour dental appointment today. I took my first ever Valium last night and DarKnight said I didn't make it 15 minutes before I was snoring and drooling all over the pillow. I believe it. I have taken sleeping pills in the past (once or twice in between years) and NyQuil too, and those always hit me like a ton of bricks. My body doesn't even try to fight; it goes the fuck to sleep. Which, the night before a dental appointment, was sorely needed.

Crazy pants though - I was absolutely fine until I came home yesterday evening. I was so busy, I didn't have time to think. But the second I had some downtime and saw it written on the calendar, I started shaking and tearing up. I was getting pajamas on and I told PunkRock that I would hurry up and go cry in DarkKnight's room, because it was his night to deal with my messed up emotions. He told me to lay down, and he just wrapped me in a full body hug. It was so much love, and so very wonderful. I wish I could say it calmed me, but it didn't though. It gave me some waves of calm when I was able to focus on the sensation of his skin against mine, but then my mind would be off and I would start being out of sorts again.

Eventually I retired to DarkKnight's room and he fed me the Valium and started reading to me, and I don't remember anything after that! I woke with a terrible headache and though I was still dreading the appointment, it felt a little more...distant, maybe? I was able to shower without breaking down into tears, and I ate the scrambled eggs DarkKnight made for me. He drove me over to the office, so we arrived on time.

I keep getting surprised at these appointments. I have been going every couple of weeks, so I should know by now that I don't know shit, but apparently not! I thought the newly returned oral surgeon would just be taking measurements, but nope. He worked on my mouth for two hours! My med had long since worn off and I had tears streaming down my face for about half the time. Ugh. I could get into specifics, but I won't. I have another appointment with him on the 20th. Right now my crown looks much better as it does now fit the space. The color is still off, but it is closer. He cut the side support wires that the orthodontist cemented on in the back, and broke up the cement inside the hole the post sits in. He was not happy about the gum tissue thinning the orthodontist did, but he didn't say much about it. I fear that might not be fixable. I am going to ask the next time I go in. Right now it's like he fused the fake tooth with the real tooth right next to it on the one side because I can't get floss between them. They gave me another prescription for another Valium for my next visit.

I then went out to lunch with DarkKnight, but I canceled our following plans. Instead I came home, had 3 ibuprofen and took a nap. PunkRock came home in the middle, so I woke up briefly, but went right back to sleep. It was really good - when I got up for the evening, my headache was gone and I was no longer a sobbing mess. I woke up PunkRock and the three of us went to dinner, and then over to the new house. I dropped off my men and went to Sam's Club for some shopping, and then I paid a few bills. I have more to do tomorrow.

I will have to pick this up in the morning - it's late and I am still mildly shaky. It takes me a full day to recover from the dental visits. I wish that wasn't so, and I am so very unhappy about the fact that this is my life now. I remember running around and being perfectly ok before, during and after. Now it's just complete wretchedness and misery. I am not being overly dramatic here - it fucking sucks.

 

[Bluebird]

Y'all ready for this? Here's the Before and After of PunkRock demolishing our basement kitchen:

Fucking crazypants, right? Actually, it wasn't TOO surprising. We knew that the paneling was curling up and the home inspector had told us he was getting a "wet" reading there. We also knew that the paneling was affixed directly on top of the cinderblock foundation with no barrier whatsoever. Maybe the green paint was a waterproofing coat, but if so, it certainly hasn't held up through the years.

Finished basement, my ass!

Overall though, I think PunkRock is having fun. He got to beat the fuck out of the cabinets and use all manner of crowbars and hammers. Here are a couple of in progress pictures:

You can see that the stove pipe wasn't doing much good, as far as venting outside of the house. We didn't remove it though, as PunkRock wants a marker as to where it's supposed to go. When he is putting together his art studio, he can use this port for his painting booth, to take the fumes out of the basement directly. He's excited about having a dedicated station in his studio, rather than having me yell at him to take it outside or into the garage.

This is the central living room in the basement. That's the entire kitchen stacked up, waiting to be taken to the driveway dumpster. The ceiling is completely gone now, and the good news is that we uncovered an electric line that dead-ends over the center of the space. Imma have DarkKnight test it, and hope to hell that it is live. Right now this room has zero light, and the line is in a perfect location for a pendant light over our wargaming table. All we'd have to do is put up a box and the light. Then we'd put in ambient lighting in the form of LED rope lights on the bookshelves. The display cases already have lights in them. Keep your fingers crossed!

I am actually really glad to have had planned in our schedule to pull everything down. I can't imagine living in a place with this lurking under the surface. I mean, clearly they didn't pull permits. There's nothing stopping flames from shooting straight up from the basement - there are no fire stops! We have a long road ahead of us for getting this space sorted out, but at least the first steps are here.

Tonight PunkRock is going to finish tearing out the paneling along every outside wall, and bringing up the carpet and linoleum as well. The green tiles are worrisome. They might be asbestos, so we can't just break them up willy-nilly. Hopefully they will come up intact. This basement is going to be bare, so we can build it back to being habitable!

 

[Bluebird]

I feel like it's been ages since I posted and I don't have the energy to go read what I've written previously. We move on Thursday and there's a blizzard coming. I am feeing overly depressed at the moment though honestly I can't pin it on anything specific.

I have been up and down with my anxiety. Did I write about my oral surgeon visit? My tooth is looking much better but I have to go back in one week.

We had our contractor friend come over - the one who is doing the egress window - and he took notes & talked to PunkRock and I about several different projects which left me feeling optimistic and excited. He's supposed to get back to us by Friday about pricing. Namely, the 5 basement windows, putting down a basement floor and actually putting up new drywall down there. He had great ideas and ways to hook us up. If you'll remember, I had a quote to replace all 5 basement windows and it was like $2900 because they are a custom size and all have to be built individually. Well, contractor guy says that since our concrete window sills all tilt inward at an angle, all he has to do is chip away those and we gain another 3 inches, which mean standard size windows would then work just fine. Half price, easy. Those fuckers!

As far as the floor goes, PunkRock and I just assumed that we would skim the surface and get some leveling stuff and keep pouring it til it's good. Contractor guy says the highs and lows are so extreme, it'll prolly cost us more in headaches than just drylocking the existing cement and then building a subfloor over it with pressure treated lumber - while shimming it where needed. He said cement stuff would take about a week and he could do the subfloor in a day. We were both gobsmacked that we hadn't thought about that as an option and PunkRock was jazzed because that gave him a ton of new flooring options!

Anyway, as scary as my basement currently looks, it's about to get amazing. It'll just take a few months due to me needing to budget everything out.

I lost my debit card yesterday so I had to cancel it and order a new one today. So I am stuck at the moment with no way to pay for stuff, which is frustrating.

Today, at the moment, I am feeling depressed and down for an unlikely reason. I started looking for something in my journal and I got caught up reading about WarMan. I have been thinking about him the last week because as we are packing, I have a box of stuff that we've located here and there of things that belong to him. I thought I had been doing a good job getting past these emotions, but apparently not. I need a therapy session so I think tomorrow I will call to schedule one.

 

[Bluebird]

We have snow! PunkRock is home from work, which is actually a good thing. The basement needs his attention in the current house - he has a ton of packing to do still, and we move in two days! I guess I could give another photo update of the new place...

I put together my new board game bookcase. I am not at all sure if everything will fit, but if it doesn't, apparently a lot of people buy a 4x2 and set it on top. So that's what I will do. I am very excited to fill this up in a couple of days! It wasn't too difficult to assemble, but getting it to slide into the closet was tricky. As of right now, my gameroom/classroom has been emptied and vacuumed. (This was me last night, lol) Prior to yesterday, it had been our primary storage point for all things drywall, tile and paint. However, on moving day and beyond, it has to be the place where PunkRock's basement stuff resides, until we get the egress window done and the floor built down there. The classroom/gameroom remains unremodeled, which is the plan until after I finish teaching Chemistry this year and next. So Summer 2018?

I bought a couple of area rugs the other day at Target - the runner pictured, and a 5x7 that is a solid gray. The solid was on clearance because someone had bought it and returned it, so rather than $70, I got it for $35. Score! I am not completely sure where they will live long term, but I am thinking DarkKnight's bedroom. I also bought him two new tableside lamps. He picked out the shades. He needs new nightstands, but we decided to wait on those until the bed is in place - he might get one of those lamp and table combos for one corner, depending on the space available. We will see!

The hallway is looking great! DarkKnight painted it the other day, and then ripped out the carpet last night. There is zero chance the trim will be painted before moving day, but I am calm about that. I doubt the trim will be done in any room, honestly. That'll just have to be done over the next few weeks. That said, DarkKnight's bedroom walls also got painted, and the carpet is gone in there as well. Our dumpster is FULL. It will be picked up tomorrow. The order was for removal today, but they can't get it until tomorrow, and I don't think the snow will help their scheduling!


It seems silly with the snow and all, but I plan to get patio furniture soon, for the front porch. Just a seating area, to the left of the front door. Here are two sets that Target had. Opinions?

PunkRock likes these chairs best - we wouldn't get the loveseat or firepit. Just the two chairs with solid black cushions:

My favorite is this set - the two chairs and the little table:

To be fair, the black chairs are very comfortable! Neither of my guys have actually seen them in person - DarkKnight hasn't even seen photos! And, this is only one place.

 

[Leetah]

Well at least your choices are similar in style! I like the high backed ones but the black cushions certainly look comfier than the meager white ones.

Oh, How did you go about selling your excess stuff so expeditiosly? Craig's list or just putting the word out?

Leetah

 

[Bluebird]

There are Facebook yard sale groups and pages that are city and region specific. I just list there and wait. Craigslist has worked too; I cross post between those. Sometimes my stuff has sold to friends as well - actually, I am meeting the first guy I dated when I decided to give being poly a try, today at 1 pm - he wants to buy my old dishwasher! My son has stayed friends with him, so he networked and now that is finally selling! I am going to have an indoor yard sale next week too, at the old house. Everything that doesn't sell then will either go to the Habitat for Humanity Restore, or to Goodwill. I'm just going to have them come round everything up.

We got a lot of packing done yesterday, but we really need at least 3 more days I think. Well, in the basement, for sure. I think I should be able to finish up the rest of the place here today. I mean, I don't have much choice! We had a swath of time interrupted yesterday and it will happen again today - Michigan's car had some issues and it needs to be towed to the shop this morning. We think she's having spark plug issues. This is definitely not what we need to have going on right now! She was off of work yesterday too, due to the snow, and she taped some boxes together for me.

Did I mention LulaRoe? Michigan and I went to a local seller's place on Monday so we could try some things on. I own 5 pairs of the leggings, but have hesitated buying other pieces because I have been unsure of sizing. I am in love with the Amelia dress - I came out of the dressing room and Michigan exclaimed "Mom, you look so skinny!" Her and I are besties now. Lmao Anyway, I didn't buy what the consultant had in my size because they were all butt ugly patterns. I am on the hunt for a pretty one now, so I can wear it to Easter dinner. PunkRock's aunt has invited the two of us over to a family buffet brunch, and I have not met any of this part of the family - it's his deceased stepdad's relatives, I think. Anyway, I did buy an Irma, which is like a long tunic/shirt thingy (the technical term!). I was surprised that I liked this style because it's a scoop neck and I don't often wear those. However, I picked up a striped one that I loved. Now I am once again a member of like 15 different pop up groups on Facebook, just so I can look at Irmas and Amelias.

Holy crap, PunkRock and I had sex 3 times yesterday. It was so good too! He was just looking so fucking sexy. I couldn't help it. We were at each other one time right after the other in the morning, and then again last night. I don't think he expected me to be so horny before bed, but I pulled out the purple vibrator he bought me for Christmas and I was ready to go again, so he lended his assistance and his penis. Ooh he was amazing!

That said, I had some good loving from DarkKnight earlier this week as well - on our anniversary, he was in rare form. I don't think i posted about our 11 year celebration, but the sleepover was definitely worth waiting for! Lol Sex with him has REALLY tapered off - I think I am lucky if we do anything at all twice a month. We had a discussion about it recently and he just told me that he doesn't have the drive and just wants the companionship and cuddles. This saddens me, and I know it worried him, but I am up for everything and anything. I love this man so very completely, so I have completely backed off from initiating actual sex, but we still snuggle up on date nights and sleepovers, and he is even more attentive to my other needs, if that is even possible to describe. How I inspire such devotion, I can never explain.

Actually, my bestie in NY just broke up with her latest boyfriend, and they had been together for almost a year. She messaged me yesterday needing to talk and she wanted to know how I managed to keep two amazing guys, but also how I had found them. PunkRock was sitting with me (we were eating lunch at home when my friend and I were texting) and he said he fell for me because I was such a good person. This confused me a little bit. He said he was attracted to me for many reasons, but he wanted a relationship because I was just so intrinsically a good person. I put out so much positivity and help others with no thought for my own needs - he said he felt he needed that in his life. I had not heard him express anything like this before, so I was a little flabbergasted, I must say. Especially since it is not something I do consciously, and as such, I didn't know it was something I needed to be concerned about!

My friend didn't want to hear that being a good person got me a husband. Lol She thinks she is a good person, and she is. I told her clearly that will be different for each man she meets - or even who I meet. I mean, me running my Christmas charity didn't make WarMan stay with me, and while I was actually involved in it actively was when M and I split. Anyway. Men be crazy. Who knows - it's energy resonance on a subatomic level. Our strings vibrate. *shrugs* All I know is that I am crazypants and happy in love with both of my husbands. My life would be very different without both of them in it.

 

[vinsanity0]

I like the black ones. The other ones would drive me nuts because it looks like the cushions are too small. Also, I'm tall.

I am envious of your basement. We don't have those in Florida.

 

[Bluebird]

The move lasted all day today! We rented the largest truck they had and we filled it twice. We have to go do it again tomorrow, at least once. Crazypants! Where does all this stuff come from?? Thank goodness I rented it for two days and we don't have to return it until Saturday morning. My son is coming back over to assist us too. He was such a workhorse today! Lol The cats are all here and doing well.

Holy hell my classroom is full to the top. We can squeeze in to do laundry but that is about it. Hopefully our contractor gives us a cheap price for redoing the basement floor, because if it's $1000 or less, I am scheduling him next week. Lol We need that done so we can bring down all of PunkRock's things! They have completely made my room unusable. Keep your fingers crossed for us, please! I need this remodel phase to be affordable!

 

[Bluebird]

Well, the truck was loaded and unloaded one time today, and then we returned it about an hour ago. I ache in not so good ways at the moment. I didn't even do that much, honestly. I directed the traffic around the house, telling people which boxes to take, and sometimes queued them up for shorter walking distance. I did a lot with the unloading actually, which was a surprise because I usually leave for the unloading part. I have such difficulty with moving.

Today was harder because I had to call the dental office and tell them that the crown fix is once again not working. I was in tears during the 20 minute phone call. The best thing though, was that while I was sitting in a creaky chair in a half-empty living room, trying to keep it together while talking to a receptionist, PunkRock and DarkKnight both individually came up to me and just silently rubbed my back for a bit. It was SUCH a comfort, and it really acted as a force that brought me back to myself. It strengthened me and my crying was immediately much less. I am really lucky both my guys get that my love language is touch. ❤

Anyway, I am going in on Monday to see the oral surgeon again, but this time to talk about removing the entire fake tooth. It is uncertain if this is possible because obviously I have a metal rod in my mouth which is based into my jawbone. But I am willing to have it taken out if they can. The only thing at this point, that I am comfortable with entertaining, is getting some new Invisalign for the next 6 months to a year, to close the gap they made and just have the back teeth pushed forward. I am willing to deal with the pain just to get this over with and be DONE. I am tired of this, and so very exhausted of the horrendous anxiety every visit now gives me. It's just insanity.

My new house is also insanity. Downsizing was a great idea, only we made the house smaller and didn't get rid of all of our stuff! Holy crap, the rooms are full of boxes! Combined with all the half-completed projects, some rooms are really cramped. DarkKnight's cousin is coming over tomorrow for an all-day session of helping though - he's going to finish building my closet. Let me see if I can take and post a pic right now.

Yeah, so we have boxes stacked up, but the walls & ceilings are painted. The trim isn't painted, and that's my closet - it's knocked out, it's drywalled and mudded, but the back needs sanded and painted, and the existing wall studs are in the way. And obviously I need a door frame and a door. And molding. Actually, we own all of that, but we have to find it again. It's somewhere in the house! Anyway, this is in DarkKnight's room. Initially it only had a small closet and now it has two small closets. We couldn't make this any larger because the left side of it is the living room fireplace.

DarkKnight's cousin will be finishing this tomorrow, I hope! DarkKnight will be working on finishing the trim paint on our daughter's bedroom door and his office door. They've already been primered and they need to get finished so they can be rehung and people can have privacy! PunkRock is taking my daughter in the morning to help her put stuff in her storage unit - she still has stuff in a pile at the old house. Then he's going to come back and put down the linoleum in her closet - on the floor and 2 feet up the wall. He has to cut to size and nail down/up luan first, so we don't adhere the glue that will hold the vinyl down to the hardwood floors or the wall. So it's a little bit of a pain in the ass project. However, it's very necessary, because the closet area is going to be where we keep the cat litter boxes and we want the continual mess to be an easy cleanup.

I plan on being at the old house myself, tomorrow. We still have clean laundry in the dryer, clean dishes in the dishwasher and food in the refrigerator that has to be brought to the new place. We ran out of boxes and time! PunkRock still has much of his paint and his desk stuff in the basement, so we've got to grab that as well. All of his cacti and succulents have yet to be brought over too. Sigh.

My oldest daughter is coming down to clean the old house on Tuesday. Well, she'll do the cleaning on Wednesday, but she'll be here the day before. One of her part time jobs is with a cleaning agency, and she's a real pro at it! I am going to pay her $100 per floor. She had quoted me $200 previously, but I think $300 is more fair. Plus she's my daughter and she needs money. Then I am going to have an indoor yard sale on Thursday and Friday next week. Hopefully I can sell the rest of this shit. Lol

I didn't take many pictures during the move. Here is one of all the cat carriers stacked up:

Six cats.

Here is Milton, helping me pack.

Isn't he gorgeous? He's our polydactyl kitty - from our very first litter of foster kittens. He's the alpha cat in the house, and such a pain in the ass. I love his coloring though!

 

[Bluebird]

I have a closet! Yay! It isn't finished though, but we have progress!

I need a threshold, quarter round trim on the sides along the floor, and now that all of the inside drywall is mudded, sanding can happen and then paint. We will have to sand and repaint the wall above the door in the room too. THEN I can hang the closet storage system and put my clothes in it. When all these things will happen, I have no idea. I am cool living out of boxes for a few weeks though. This isn't a huge priority. I am so glad Dan's cousin had time to come over today though - he also framed out the doorway in the kitchen that we pulled out to put the fridge through - which is actually the door and frame that he just hung in this closet.

PunkRock helped my daughter rearrange and fill her storage unit, as planned, and put up the linoleum in my daughter's room. His day was certainly full! DarkKnight did a ton of small jobs - pulling up staples from the floor in the bathroom closet, hanging blinds and curtain rods for me, and routing out doorknob holes all over the house. He finished painting our daughter's bedroom door and rehung it.

I unpacked all the kitchen cookbooks, straightened up the sunporch and unpacked the boxes in there, and emptied out most of the main bathroom boxes. The ones I didn't get to are now in the bottom part of the hallway bathroom closet, so at least the bathroom is clear of boxes now! What else did I do? I was over at the old house and grabbed our clean laundry from the dryer and dishes from the dishwasher, and got some of the stuff for the yard sale set up.

Here is my baby Leonard helping me unpack cookbooks.

I am so lucky to have him help me. He is 8 months old now and I love him so very much.

Oh! PunkRock's dad and stepmom brought over the other cat from his relative's basement, so we had a mid afternoon trip to the shelter. That was kinda sad, but I was excited to see Smokey again, who was the 10 year old we delivered there last weekend and who we might get as a foster soon. He was looking very good.

I am tired.

 

[Atlantis]

I bet you are tired!
It is all coming together and looking great. Well done.