28 Years Old!

So today is my birthday.  As you can tell by the title I'm 28 now.  I'm getting closer to that big 30 and I'm not sure how I feel about that.  I mean on one hand, I'm thankful that I made it here because after my best friend passing away last year at the age of 27, I cherish every day.  On the other hand, I am getting older but I'm ok with that, I really am.  Anyway today was a great day.  I didn't want anything big because since my birthday and my friend who passed away's birthday are close, it's just hard for me to be in a celebratory mood.  But after a minor breakdown and crying session yesterday about the fact that I made it here and my friend didn't make it to 28, I feel better.  So today I just relaxed for most of the day.  It started out with my mom calling me and then my dad and my stepmom, then my grandma in Rhode Island.  But when they called, I was still sleep.  Then I woke up and watched the Carolina Duke game and unfortunately Duke won.  Then my husband and I took a nap then woke up and went to Macaroni Grill in Greensboro and the food was great as usual.  Plus the waitress sang happy birthday in Italian with an operatic voice.  How great is that?!  Then we came home and watched some TV.  So it was perfect for this year's birthday.  Nice and calm and relaxing and with my wonderful husband. 

But if you're wondering why we were so tired today, it was because we've been unpacking for the past week.  If you've read my past blogs you know that last Friday, we started moving stuff to our new place and then on Saturday we moved the big stuff like the furniture, TV's, etc...  So we actually slept here starting on Saturday night.  But even after getting everything over here which was a huge task in itself, it has taken us (mostly me) a week to get everything unpacked and in its place here.  But what happened was that the only thing left to unpack and put up were the beds last night.  But it took my husband longer than expected to put the bed back together because when our friends dismantled the bed, they took EVERY screw out of the bed.  It's a canopy bed and instead of them just separating the 4 sides of the foundation of the bed, they took every metal clasp off and every piece that was screwed on.  So while he was putting the bed together, I was getting the guest bedroom together and doing some laundry but we got everything put together and in it's place.  But then I took my shower and got in the bed and looked at the time and it was 6:30 in the morning.  I had no idea that we had been up that late but I guess because we were determined to get everything done, we just didn't pay attention to it.  So that's why we didn't get up until after 1 pm today because we were exhausted.

This week has been a real struggle for me just because it's so nice to move into a nicer place in a nicer neigborhood but just little things like picking out an outfit when all your clothes are in boxes is just frustrating.  I do know now that the next time I move (which I hope will be a long time from now), I will unpack the bedroom first before anything else.  Up until last night, we were sleeping on just the boxspring and mattress on the floor and it wasn't that it was uncomfortable, it just didn't feel right.  Plus the frustration of having to wear the same pants over and over again because I just couldn't find any other pairs.  But the first day, I did the kitchen, which was the hardest room in my opinion.  Then the next few days, I worked on the living room and den which entailed me hooking up both TV's and both surround sound systems plus the game systems as well.  Then I worked on the bathrooms, and then the computer room which was the second hardest room because of the fact that it's a computer/cat/guinea pig/ebay business room and I have a lot of stuff in that room but it doesn't look cluttered at all.  Then last night we finished with the guest and our bedrooms.

But while all of this was going on, a few things happened to try to stop our progress.  For one, my husband's battery in his car died while we were making a trip back from the old house.  So long story short, he got a new battery.  Then after he got that installed, he found out it was the alternator so he had to get a new alternator.  Then he got that installed so all is well with his car again.  And we had a friend from church install it so it was way cheaper than a normal mechanic would have cost.  Also we had to put the dogs out on chains because we're waiting until the end of the month to get a fence installed in the back yard so they can run around.  So we didn't have dog houses for them when we moved because at the old house, they had a mud room that served as a giant dog house for both of them.  We were going to get 2 dog houses but not until the Friday that just passed.  But then a neighbor called the owner of the house and offered to give us this large shack to serve as a dog house for our larger dog because he said "there are nosy neighbors in our neighborhood that will not hesitate to call animal control if they see that a dog doesn't have shelter".  So I'm freaking out because I'm thinking, the dogs haven't even been in the house for a week and people are already noticing that they don't have a dog house.  Anwyay long story short, we got the shack for our large dog and bought a smaller one from Lowe's for our smaller dog which we were planning to do in the first place. 


But those are just a few of the bumps along the way that we experienced while moving.  So now I'm so happy that everything is put in it's place and I can just wake up in the morning and go back to my normal routine.  I'm going to start walking the dogs on a regular basis again so I can get a feel of the neighborhood.  And if you've read my past blogs you know that there are horses litterally across the street from this house.  So in our den, living room, and kitchen, you can always see them during the day.  It's wonderful.  Tomorrow I'm going out with my mom to do some shopping for the house.  I have to get some blinds for the den, and the guest bathroom, plus some steps for the side porch.  I'm also looking for a tablecloth and some cushions for my outdoor patio set so hopefully I'll find at least one of my items tomorrow.  Plus my mom hasn't seen the house finished so that should  be fun.  The animals are adjusting well to the house.  I thought the cats would miss the carpet, seeing that there are nothing but hardwoods here but they seem to love it here.  The dogs will be happier once we get the fence but for now they'll be fine.  Plus my grandfather has agreed to pay for the materials for the fence, which is just a blessing.

I honestly feel like I've been in a fog this whole week.  I literally have been waking up and going straight to unpacking until I was too hungry to go on and then eating and continuing until I was too tired to stay up, every day.  Oh and another bump was that this place has oil heat and the landlord told us that it would only cost $300 to fill up the tank but in reality it cost over $800 so we decided to go with heaters instead of wasting the money on oil just for a few weeks of chilly weather.  But before we got the heaters, it was FREEZING in here.  I mean it was to the point where I was considering sleeping at my mom's house because it was so bad.  But after we got the heaters and starting using the oven, it hasn't been bad anymore.  But that's pretty much been my week and my birthday.  Thanks for listening and God Bless.