African Bath

When I went to Africa a couple of years ago, we either took cold showers or had to heat up water on the stove and bring it to the bathroom in a bucket where we would add cold water until it was the right temp, then you'd take a large cup and poor the warm water over you until you were thoroughly washed.

This is what we've been doing the last couple of days. The boiler seems to be non-functional currently. The first week we were in the house it would shut off about every 24 hours. This was bothersome because we had to go down and reset it every night if we wanted a warm shower in the morning. It was making me nervous because I thought, well, if it keeps turning off maybe there is really something wrong and it could be dangerous. I called the company listed on a sticker on it and they said that there was nothing to worry about - probably only needed to be adjusted and cleaned - unless it was powering off immediately. Then we should get it looked at right away because it could be dangerous. It was Friday morning when I made that call and I'm thinking, cool, we can wait a bit - as long as we get it done before it freezes - to get it fixed. But then that night, I went to reset it and it shut off immediately. So I left it and now we will need to call right away tomorrow morning to get this thing fixed. Thank heavens we have a home warranty!

In the meantime, it is African Baths for us.

Up to our eyes in boxes!

So we didn't actually get to sleep over at the house until three nights ago. We started moving things over immediately, but we had a very busy weekend, what with wedding season in full swing, followed by a very busy week with all kinds of evening activities. I will try to remember to take some photos of the maze that we are in right now and see if I can update this post later. Once we get things put into their proper places we will be living very zen - you know, lots of open space, very little furniture. But in the meantime it looks as if we are one of those hoarding families.

We've had some trip-ups. Like our box-spring does not fit through the stairwell. Thus we cannot get it up to the bedroom. Thus we are sleeping on the mattress on the floor and will need to buy a platform bed. The front door won't latch unless it is locked. Not such a big deal, and I think I can fix this pretty easily. I will also need to install a doorbell right away because we don't hear the knocking on the outer door at all. The basement door, on the other hand, is stuck shut and will not open unless you stick a screwdriver in the top to pry it so. This is inconvenient, but wouldn't be a problem if the boiler/water heater system didn't keep mysteriously keep shutting off, which requires that I go down and reset it so we can have hot water. This last thing is the only really concern. We've got to get it in order before winter.

Even with all of the mess and complication, though, we feel like we are on vacation! It is wonderful! No screaming and ranting upstairs neighbors at 6am. No dog barking incessantly. No constant traffic. No feeling like your on display when you go to your car or take the trash out. Aaaaah... And we get to be here for the foreseen future because we own this house!

We did it!!!

We are now the proud owners of this beautiful sight:


There is a lot of work to do (more than it appears), but we are ready for the challenge! We finally signed the papers last night around 7pm and got the keys this morning. After the signing we went over and just parked in OUR driveway for a little while gazing at the house. I am in the process of getting utilities changed over right now and then I'll go over and do some cleaning before we start MOVING IN!!

Oie!!

We were supposed to close at 2:30pm today (note that it is 4:45pm now). At the last minute the paperwork needed to be redone and things got pushed back, and then back again. So now we will meet with our lawyer at 6:45pm to sign the papers. We will not likely get the keys tonight, but instead will get them tomorrow morning. WE. ARE. SO. CLOSE! Only one more morning with Crazy Neighbor Lady!!! Happy, happy, happy!!

We're still awfully lonely around here. The grief comes in waves, though, and tonight was a doozy. It just hits sometimes. That sickening empty feeling that I could only imagine before is now very, very real. We wish she would come back to us, but we don't wish for the circumstances that would make that have to happen. I am going through the motions at work. Seems I'm getting the bare minimum done. The last couple of days have been a bit of a whirlwind, what with getting all of our finances - finally - in order to buy this house. Final walk-though on the house tomorrow. Close on Thursday. Very exciting. Very unreal.

Gone.

We packed her up and sent her on her way. I'm still crying. I don't know that I'll stop anytime soon.

Beginnings and Endings

Today is our 1st wedding anniversary. It has been a fantastic year. So full we can hardly believe it and the beginnings of so many new things in the works. We brought out that top layer of our cake and shared it with K's fam. It was just as good as we remembered it. Even so today is bittersweet and neither of us feel much like celebrating. We will postpone the actual glory of being married for a year in a couple weeks. Peanut is leaving in less than 48 hours and we need to let it wear off. We are both brittle. Neither of us can bear to begin packing her things up. We are both taking the day off on Wednesday so we can be a family for the last time while we get her all set for the 2pm drop-off. She has begun to whimper and cry much more in the past couple of days. Especially when we leave people's houses. I think she really knows, and feels, that she is potentially seeing these people who have been huge supports to us as a family for the last time. They are hugging her just a bit longer than they usually do. She has been having tummy aches in the morning. She and I snuggle on the couch with lots of blankets, with a big bowl by us just in case, and watching the 1st movie of Harry Potter over and over. I wish she felt better. I wish her tummy wasn't in knots. But I have to admit, I will always remember her snuggling in, looking up and saying, just because, "Mama, I love you." In so many ways, whether she is conscious of it or not, she is putting our prior conversations together to understand that this is really good-bye.

Her father has said he wants to keep in contact with us. We would like that and hope that he does. He will have my e-mail address and I'm getting a P.O. Box so we can write back and forth. Hopefully he really does want to keep in contact.