How to move, Lara Croft style.

Double fist everything and look pretty while doing it?  Nah, not really. But it does look pretty cool, doesn't it?
I am over picking up/cleaning to show the house.  I am over it not being rented or sold.  I am over everything.
When I first started boxing stuff up I would write with care what the contents are and make sure they were doubled up on packing tape, so not to break mid-carry.  Twenty Rolls of tape and a hundred boxes later (and one month) today I found myself throwing our belongings carelessly into the box - even playing my own version of basketball - and as for writing on the box it would go something like this:  Shit we don't use but he won't let me ditch.  Kitchen.  Because the kids and I have been living here still, I waited to pack the kitchen last.  Unfortunately, most of the stuff is fragile and my give a damn is busted. On one box I wrote Misc. shit.  That was about a week ago and I have no idea what's in it.  I had to make my way through all the boxes a few days ago because Jake had no pants.  All the ones that I left out for him...too small.  When did that happen?  Maybe it's the man sized appetite he has.

Silver lining:  I have learned during this whole process.  I didn't know I was capable of painting ceilings, trim and walls in four rooms.  Had no idea I could go to Home Depot, saw my own piece of moulding and install it on the worlds most uneven wall.  All by myself.  Well, with help from YouTube.  Yup, they have a video on how to install moulding on uneven walls.  I took carpet out of three rooms by myself and hauled it down to the road for large trash pick up - one piece of a time. I even dealt with the nasty padding under it.  Blech.   It has been an exhausting month, but I am getting to move to where I want to be and that is the biggest silver lining.  I had my moments of sheer hate spewing out of me but I quickly replaced them with Faith.  That faith is quite amazing when you believe in it.  I never understood it's true meaning until this move.  My ADD is kicking in and there are some ginger snaps hollering for me to eat them.  C-ya.  OOhhhh something shiny.

Horsin' around...

You know how "The song remembers when"?  Well, the smell does too.  Murphy's oil always takes me back to the same place.  As I close my eyes in the now, I imagine I am fifteen and am cleaning tack...saddles, bridles, hackamores.  I can almost feel them in my hands.  I am at Johnson's Riding Farm and I am getting Cricket ready to go gallop into the high fields.  There is no greater pleasure in my life than flying through the woods and jumping everything in site on horse back.

 Jolting myself back to reality, because this house isn't going to clean itself, I am almost sad.  Why, I ask myself why did you ever stop riding?

Myself can't answer that.  I suppose it was a combination of boys, needing to see the world and money.  Horses are expensive.  And I'll be honest, with the anxiety issues I have now I would be petrified to jump even the smallest stick while on a horses back.  I'd sit there and analyze the fifty things that could go wrong and then put myself right into rapid heart beat.  Yup, gotta love anxiety.

I have heard all these things about moving, such as "we didn't know how much crap we had..." or "living out of boxes" or "don't wait until you are moving to paint and replace the carpet, you'll be pissed your doing all this work for someone else to enjoy."  I get ALL of these.  Our rooms look huge without so much 'crap' in them.  And I am currently sleeping on my mattress in the living room and all of our clothes are in bins in there as all the furniture is out of the house. I have pretty much painted three bedrooms, ceiling, walls and trim solely.  I have also had to paint some downstairs.  That being said, I am absolutely thrilled my career choice was not house painter.  Dude, that job sucks.  My back is glad I am not a furniture mover.  It is screaming for Advil right now.

I am far too pretty to have to work this hard.  I am constantly sobbing that in my mind.

So here's my advice about moving.  Marry rich and hire people to do it for you.  Now, since that is not the case with me I am keeping a positive attitude (most of the time) and keeping my "Eye on the prize" (thanks Holly).

After all, if dreams were easy to reach - everyone would be doing it.  Hard work never hurt anyone.  Well, accept maybe the wrist of a painter and the back of a mover.