I’m moved.  Well, almost.  There are still random things at the “old” house and tons of boxes, camel crickets and dust balls at the “new” house, but the point is, all my furniture is here and most of my sanity.

Since I’ve been so ridiculously consumed with both a.) moving and b.) not getting fired by ALL of my clients, I have been neglecting the blog.  And frankly, no one wants to hear me gripe about my sore back, my cranky demeanor or the sobbing fit the first night I used my very dirty, very depressing “master bathroom shower”. 

Nicole has been a lifesaver.  Not only does she make even the most daunting task seem like “OMG! NBD!” (Oh My God, No Big Deal!), she actually lends a hand. She assured me that the bathroom was “fixable” and that no additional tears need be shed onto the cold, unforgiving, and very dirty grout.  She blogged about the process today (and made it sound like I was totally calm and sane, bonus points for you, Nicole).  And extra love for making it seem like I am posting an entry without really actually having to do it.

Yes, before and afters coming soon, especially since Robey rampaged through my house and threw out every stitch of artificial flower I owned.  It was the kind of purge I love. 

Hi there!  Welcome to my new house as of June 1.  I’m calling it the Brady house; we are the dysfunctional version of them.  And there’s no Alice doing the cookin’ and cleanin’, unless you count Nikki.  And I don’t think she’s very Alice like, thank god - nor is she dating a butcher named Sam.  (that would be kind of cool, I admit) 

Nikki took a bunch of pictures while I was signing a lease.  I’m going to give you some comparisons below before you get to see the whole glorious set, but keep in mind:

1.  The renters in the house are older, and they have a TON of furniture.  Grandma furniture.  They have twice the amount of furniture the house can really hold.  And two dogs.
2.  There is some work that needs to be done before we move in.  Like peeling paint on the bathroom ceiling.
3.  Look beyond the clutter to the potential that is this sprawling brick rancher on a fabulously calm and unpretentious street, in a fabulous school district.  That’s what I’ve been doing.

My current master bathroom:

My new master bathroom:

My current kitchen:

My new kitchen:

My current dining room:

My new dining room:

My current family room:

My new family room:

I kind of love the house.  I love that it’s smaller and I can clean the whole thing, from top to bottom, in less than an hour. I love the big garage with the storage space, the huge yard, the porch and the patio.  I do not love the master bathroom or any of the closets, but Sara will tell you that downsizing can be a great way to get rid of stuff you don’t need.  I will miss my sunroom and I will miss the pond, but I will not miss the mortgage, the majority of the neighbors, or the 4th graders being told to bring smoked salmon in for a Thanksgiving feast in the local neighborhood school.  I will miss the kitchen - a little bit. I won’t miss seeing the granite that every other West End mom has in their stainless steel kitchen.  I like that my friends will come to my house and be comfortable, and won’t feel like they are stuck with someone who is stuck up.  I like that my house will be cozy instead of sprawling, and best of all, I like that my new home will have character.

The girls seemed to like it, though they don’t really get it.  They spent most of the time on the screen porch jumping on a mini trampoline.  On the way over, Lily asked again about schools. I broached the subject of her changing schools next year - the school near the house is within walking distance and excellent.  She immediately started crying.  I told her we hadn’t made any decisions yet, but personally I think it would be easier for them to switch schools now instead of waiting. That way, Arden can start at her new school and not have to switch in first grade, and Lily can get her feet settled in 2nd grade.  It makes me sad that Arden won’t have the same Kindergarten teacher Lily did, but there are more - way more - traumatic experiences in life than that one.

The house is a big change for me.  Hopefully it will less for them.  They are excited about having bunk beds and sharing a room. I’ll put their pretty beds into storage, and repeat the mantra that this is a temporary thing for me.  I’m going to enjoy the ride.

Mike and I both have sunburns.  Minor but burns no less.  That’s what happens when you forget that you need sunscreen in April and spend the entire weekend outdoors.  This weekend we:

- put together the barbecue gazebo
- raked all leaves out of the bed
- cleaned off the patio
- rearranged the screened porch
- cleaned all the outdoor furniture
- mowed the lawn
- trimmed the grass and some of the hedges
- set up the fountain on the deck
- cleaned the deck
- did 6 loads of laundry
- saw Adventureland with Jennifer (I liked it)
- talked our neighbor into chainsawing a bunch of trees we needed taken down in our back yard - he loved it
- talked the same neighbor into letting us borrow his trailer next weekend to haul away all the cut down trees (actually, he offered)
- had a big cookout with our other neighbors
- scooped 50 random piles of dog poo into the woods
- weeded

and random other things. I took no pictures - I was too tired.  Thankfully the girls spent most of the weekend playing outside with the neighbor’s kids. They all get along fabulously! 

Tomorrow we leave for DC.  Susan and Eddie and family are leaving Charlotte at 5 AM (hey Susan, please DON’T call me when you get on the road, okay?).  I’m so excited to see them all - we don’t see each other nearly enough.  We’ll spend two days there, even though the weather is supposed to be kind of crappy, doing lots of outdoor things.  We may get rained out of the zoo.  I am also supposed to hook up with Mark, Cathy and Noah, here from Hong Kong.  I hope we do, because I have to make fun of Cathy at 6 1/2 months pregnant!  I’ll bet she still weighs a lot less than me. 

So . . .Spring Break here we come! 

As I mentioned, I got a bunch of help for the redecorating of Lily’s room.  One of my friends, Cathy, has a wonderful eye for things of beauty.  She has a photo blog now too and I am completely intimidated by her photo skills.  I digress.  Anyway, she recommended an Etsy site called Bad Ass Custom Decals.  I fell in love with their wall art. 

Unfortunately Mike is a hater of wall art of that sort. He had already talked me out of decals one other time.  This time, though, with Cathy on my side, I ignored him and ordered the 40 “Lots of Circles” Design.  I told him when they arrived that he was just going to have to trust me, and he was going to like it, dammit, or he could just SHUT IT.  He laughed and said okay.

I finally got around to putting them up. I tried to do it last night, but I didn’t realize I was going to have to cut 40 circles out from big sheets of paper.  Once I realized I could use a circle cutter I had for scrapbooking, it went much more quickly.  This morning I pulled out the directions and divided up the silver and white circles and began to go at the wall.

The final product is below.  Please ignore the missing hardware on Lily’s dresser - Lea Furniture sent us bum screws for the drawer pulls and we are currently on trip #2 to buy ones that actually work.  Also, I had to use a flash tonight since it is, well, dark out - and it makes the silver look more black.  I’m pretty happy with it, and thanks again to Kate and Cathy for helping me with some specific design tips.  I love you, man(s)!

I’m so excited. Maybe even more excited than Lily.  With some help from my internet friends (thanks again, Kate!!!) I picked out some new bedding and put together a furniture set. I’m really pleased with how it turned out. Mike picked the wall color - “Soothing Aloe”.  Lily was so excited she nearly peed in her brand new bed.  I nearly peed too.  Cuz that’s just how I roll.