Sleep is overrated

This transition has not been conducive for sleep. Each of us is experiencing a lack of it in one capacity or another. Since I was gone for the first four nights after our preliminary move, Iona suffered a little normal separation trauma. Then I finally returned last Friday and THEN the House was flooded with boxes and stuff; and she was NOT happy. She followed me everywhere, always underfooot. She would get herself so worried that she'd collapse in a corner three hours before bed, and then wake up in the middle of the night wondering what there was to do.

It is hard enough getting used to your bed again and sleeping in a new House when all other elements are equal. Throw in a nervous dog and that all amplifies. She would wake me up by standing on my legs. Then I would hear the furnace kick in, or the DirecTV hard drive whirl from across the room; and I would continue to get no sleep.

So what about the cats? When we first dragged our belongings over from the condo we decided to leave the cats there. Not permanently, but just until the subcontractors were done coming in and out of the House and the PODS were emptied.We went back and forth every day and made sure they had everything they needed. Flash forward to Monday and we'd still not brought them over to the House. On Tuesday Michael felt guilty and brought over the Chupa (yes, Jazmine is currently living alone in the Condo). Chupa spent the first couple hours exploring every corner and then has been glued to one of us since. At night I have her curled up on my pillow nesting in my hair and Iona crushing my legs. I am tired. Throw in some howling around 2a, some dog-cat races, and you get the idea. Michael typically sleeps through it all.

I expect we will have to bring Jazmine here this weekend. Since I leave for Miami on Tuesday, I suppose I should leave that decision to Michael. It's only fair as he'll be solely responsible for the Vomitorium and repeatedly hauling her skinny ass off of electronic equipment or breaking up fights between her and Iona.

Wow, that hotel room in Miami sounds fabulous. Hopefully everyone is all settled in when I return. I just need to hang in there a couple more days.

My man can build things

Michael is not a carpenter. Nor is he a contractor, a plumber, or an electrician. He is a smart man though, and somehow learned to put a lot of things together and use a bunch of power tools. No offense to the Terrys in his life, but I am fairly confident that he didn't pick these things up from either his dad or stepfather. Yet he is totally able to do them. Often under protest, but that is an entirely different story.

So where do you build things when you have no garage, it is raining and your storage shed is full? Well in the living room of course! Before we moved in, our House looked like a wood shop. Michael cut all the moldings, we split the painting and then he installed all the trim. We still have a lot of touch up left, but I'm impressed with how it came together.

His current project is the Mighty Mantle. It seems like ages ago that our living room and dining room were separated by a wall and the fireplace was covered up with plaster and ugly tile. We considered keeping the current mantles, but after everything was opened up they just didn't look right. And more importantly they weren't deep enough to support a Blue Dog or a plasma TV.

I was dubious at first. This is not something he's ever done before, but damn it is coming out cool. It still needs a little refining and some stain, but the plasma seems happy.

So why no post-move pictures. Because I am tired and I am a perfectionist. I want things to look "right" before I post. I know, I know, ridiculous. Bear with me please. We thought it was worth the wait.

Moved in? Hell YES!

Between an intense four-day leadership workshop and three days of moving, I can honestly say it has been one hell of a week. We are exhausted. I didn't quite know how much until I ran out to Target earlier today and happened to catch a glimpse of myself in a mirror. The tired creature that looked back forced me to immediately drive home, close the door and commit not to retreat until morning. I had plenty of boxes to keep me busy.

The box pile has gone down CONSIDERABLY! They aren't completely gone yet, but I am impressed that we managed to fit the equivalent of a house and a half into our small dwelling. Oh yeah, Michael's six trips to our storage facility and my restocking of Goodwill may have helped with that. Until the addition is done on the House, we are being tested with creative consolidation. I am also reminded both figuratively (by Michael) and literally (through the sheer volume) that I could bury us both with books. I actually have many, many, many more books than shoes. So there. That MUST mean something positive!

When I arrived back into Raleigh last Friday, I was greeted by this. Hallelujah! I wanted to immediately start unpacking but Michael made me select only as much as I could carry in one trip and then wait until the movers arrived in the morning. So one last night we spent watching TV from the rocking chairs and sleeping on the air mattress.

That is until THIS was unpacked. Once we saw it, we both just stood and looked. Could it really be? This glorious thing in front of us? Now I truly get why sleep has been so unnecessary these last months. I was missing this gigantic wonder. Seriously if you are ever in the need for a new mattress...invest in a Chatham and Wells. They can cost a bloody fortune, but they are so, so, so worth it.

Here was the view from our couch (YES, the couch!!!!) halfway through Saturday afternoon.


The dining room.


And our foyer.

The mountain is gone now and just the stragglers remain. Tonight I plan to sleep. Sleep more than five hours. Until then, I am happy to finally be Home.