Rudderless

 I have no motivation. I'm not doing badly, thins are okay, I just don't feel motivated to really do much of anything.  Am I depressed or just need a new focus?

The house

 I have finally got the furniture in its interim locations for the most part and I have unboxed enough that I am actually hanging pictures!  Yes I am stressed and I am struggling to get back into a routine, but I'm doing a heck of a lot better than I was. So I am calling it a win.

Better at the beach

When I was a kid, my maternal grandparents had a camper. We went to Edisto Island SC a lot. We fished and caught shrimp and crabs and oysters, rode bikes, and walked the beach looking for shells (a major family affair). There was a small gift shop/bait/grocery and that was about it. It was the first place I heard the Gullah language spoken, long before I knew the term. In the late 70s a small number of condos were built over on the marsh side but then the city council got involved and updated the ordinances to keep Edisto as undeveloped as possible.

We started going back when Fox was kid. We didn't have a camper so we went in with mom or sometimes friends and rented beach houses. The grocery had been upgraded to a Piggly Piggly and they added a bike rental shop and a small handful of restaurants. Other than that, very little had changed.

Today the Piggly is now a Food Lion (much to the detriment of the hot bar). That's about it. There's some new mega houses tucked between the more modest, older beach houses. But the restaurants are still mostly the same, the bike shop is the same, and it's still a bit up the road for wi-fi.

We did a lot of the same stuff I did as a kid, walked the beach, cooked, visited old graveyards, read, did puzzles, and reminisced. Three generations out on the porch, listening to the ocean. It doesn't get any better.

No catchy title

 Well, let's see. We're back from our multi generational week long beach trip. Which was amazing! My husband lost his job. I started a side hustle with my best friend. I got on the scale.

So I have a lot going on and lot to catch up on.

Having said that, I've been feeling like crap lately physically. And I just couldn't keep doing it. I'm trying intermittent fasting and a significant overhaul of my diet. It's not perfect, but it's better than it was. The need to save money is just an added incentive to cook at home both economically and healthfully. 213.7 if the number I saw yesterday. Frankly I thought it might be worse.

Sometimes the thing finds you

 I told myself I would start Monday, but I had a mammogram at the VA which took a chunk of time. But I saw this video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wK-ukqgd3VI

A Tracy Reifkind easy 10 minute workout complete with instructions on how to make progress. It's stuff I already knew, but it was an important reminder: just start. somewhere. anywhere. Just do it.

So I did. One workout down, more to come.

My poor neglected blog

After we got back from vacay, a friend came for a week long visit (she leaves tomorrow). So between unpacking from vacay, company, working around the house, my job, everything else has sort of fallen off the radar. 

That all changes Monday when operation sort my sh&^  out begins. 

Back

 Back from vacation, trying to settle into the house, get caught up at work, and blah blah blah. Need to refocus.

And now for something completely different

 Incredibly enough, it is now time for our annual camping trip in PA! To say I am unprepared is a sort of accurate statement. I'm neither prepared nor worried, I'm going to do the best I can and let the rest go. I don't have the spoons for that.

Boring city

 We finally spent our first night here Saturday. Susie used the dog door today. So its (slowly) coming together! Pictures soon.

Final push

I booked a truck for Saturday. Final push to get our stuff out of mom's, and mom's stuff out of storage. 

So very tired.

Still alive

The storage unit is emptied of our stuff (my mom has some things in there), the house is (slowly) coming together.

Last week sucked but I made a lot of progress.

I am afraid to get on the scale.

Vacation!

 

Today is my last day of work!! A friend is coming down and I am taking next week off to move stuff and knock out some projects.

The good news regarding the roaches is this: they can't survive without water and there isn't any they have access to in the house. So they are highly motivated to vacate! The exterminator has used baits, traps, get, spray, and put out FAR more than he would if humans were living in the house. The toilets are saran wrapped so that is the ONLY water in the house and they can't get to it. I am really hoping we get a clean bill next week! Fingers crossed! After that we will do regular maintenance. The situation isn't as challenging as Florida, but its the south and the war on bugs never ends down here. Ha ha

Expect lots of photos next week!

And so it goes

 Old house have issues. So do new houses - just different ones.

This the continuing saga of the great German cockroach infestation of 2023: At the advice of the exterminator, I have saran wrapped my toilets, sealed the drains, and removed the appliances that involve water (dish washer, fridge, washing machine.) But of course the builder built the island in place and it can't be moved without detaching it. Fox had to remove the pantry door, the doors off the freezer sections, the handles off the fridge sections, and the front door to get the fridge out of its nook and out of the house. So on my to do list I have added "make island NOT attached".

They are scheduled for next week to come back out and napalm treat the house again.Y'all pray for me.

I know a year from now this will be a distant if unpleasant memory. A mere molehill in the rear view mirror. But right now its front and center in the windshield and looks like a mountain. I know there are worse problems and I'm grateful that I don't have a pending deadline of an expiring lease or anything, but I was really hoping to be moving in next week. Oh well. 

Floors! And a profound dream

 Houston we have floors!

I had this dream the other night that I moved into the new house, told everyone my name was my middle name, and then totally changed my habits, lifestyle, and how I presented myself. In my dream I was someone very focused on fitness and home decorating. 

Huh. Sounds like a good plan!

Ugh

 The roach infestation is still an issue. We've had the exterminator out twice, his recommendation is to remove the appliances and put them outside a few days. Yes, they like to live in appliances. 

Yuck.

It was a day

 So there I was, eating breakfast in my PJs when the phone rings and the floor guy's number shows up. I didn't mean to answer the phone with "Oh sh^&", but yeah. Because floor was starting yesterday, but I had not even thought about how they were supposed to get into the house. So a quick run to the house and I could get back to work. 

Clearly I have way too many spinning plates.

Pictures soon!

 It looks so much brighter with the ceiling painted! He started the main room and the lightest blue in the color swatch looks amazing!

It's ours (and the bank's)!

 We closed yesterday. I took some photos so you could see why we felt the carpet and painting needed to be addressed immediately.

Not shown: the results of the initial pest control after discovering the roach infestation. Sigh.

House pictures

I think these are fairly self explanatory as to what is what. You will notice this is A LOT different from our last house! This house is NOT my style. But it is newer (important to my spouse who was tired of dealing with wiring and plumbing older than us), the neighborhood is small but nice, and the back yard is a good size. The bones are good and eventually it will be more my style, but it's going to take a while.

So here we are:

View from front door.

View of the front door.

Living, dining, kitchen is one open floor plan. 

The master bedroom is immediately to the left as you walk in. To the right is the coat closet and door to the garage. It has a walk in closet and master bath with soaking tub. I'm not a huge fan of the master facing the front of the house, but we have that nice little enclosed patio out front which adds a layer of privacy. I also plan to add some plants to further block the window.

Moving back out to the living area, you can see off to the right there are doors to a bedroom, a bathroom, and then a little landing where the stairs are and a second guest bedroom.

This is the guest room that is the last door on the right - the windows face the backyard so this is going to to be the home office.

This is the hall bath

And on the other side of the landing at the bottom of the stairs is a third bedroom.

Those windows face the side of a neighboring house, so this will be a guest room.

Then there is a bonus room (FROG) above the 2 car garage.

And then the back yard. They had a trampoline and a pool,  so the grass isn't in great shape and there is no real landscaping. But it's a mostly blank slate!

So that's it. The people had 4 kids (as you can tell by the paint colors). The walls and carpets are in terrible shape. They had already dropped the price and it had been on the market 30+ days when we looked at it the first time. A lot of that is that people don't seem to want projects - they want turn key. So we got 13k off the price for a floor and paint allowance. Next time you see photos the carpet will be gone and everything will be painted. Closing is May 31, then we'll have the floor & paint people in, and then we'll start moving our stuff in!

The end is in sight

 Closing is set for May 31. Floor deposit made so we can get it ordered. Getting a second quote on paint.