So much to catch up on

In the last week I have worked on cleaning the house a few hours here and there. I am now at a total of 11 hours with all the upstairs cleaned and most of the main floor. Once I'm finished I'll be proud to say that I have touched every inch of every floorboard in that house. Ha ha. Unfortunately, I am paying for it because my back is so jacked. My chiropractor told me I should just stop cleaning and tell my husband to hire a house cleaner. Hear ye, hear ye! I'm all up for that one. It's hard to believe how much dirt a house can accumulate actually. Every time we saw the house, we both thought it looked well maintained and in all honesty, it really is, but when I got on my hands and knees and up close to all the windows, the dirt became more apparent. I swear the window sills had never been cleaned. I found 1 dead bee and at least 7 dead flies in the windows I've cleaned. Gross! I just want the house to be as clean as possible before we move in because I know once I get furniture and stuff in the place, I won't be cleaning it this thoroughly for quite some time. I am now regretting the super-sized master bathroom, however. That sucker's a bitch to clean.

We've had some maintenance done too. We got the carpets all cleaned. They really pop now when you walk into the house. They look practically brand new. Yesterday I had an electrician in to move the garbage disposal switch. For some reason, it was originally placed out in the open where little hands could reach it. So we had it moved below the sink in the cupboard. Tomorrow we have a plumber/gas company coming to add in the gas line for the dryer and one for the stovetop. I'm not quite sure but many houses here have mainly electric hook-ups. Since we have a gas dryer, we figured why not get the gas line added in rather than buy a new dryer and maybe later down the road we can switch the cooktop to a gas one, especially since gas is cheaper than electric. This Saturday our new fridge will be delivered and later this week the bedroom dresser Shawn ordered that matches our night stands will be delivered. He ordered it from a discount warehouse, so fingers crossed there's nothing wrong with it. The rest of the week we are gearing up and getting things ready here for the big moving day on Sat.

This past Wednesday was our 4th anniversary. I had Shawn meet Inara and I at the house after work. I bought a couple heart-shaped balloons, had a candle lit, played our wedding cd, and had ordered pizza for us for dinner. Too bad the pizza man got lost coming to our house and Inara decided to scream while we ate. We scarfed down the pizza and headed back to the other house so we could get her to bed. She was passed out by 6:45. Oh well. Happy anniversary anyway.

Friday our friend Jason flew in to see us again. This time he surprised us by bringing his mom too. I was thrilled to see Grandma Di, as Avery calls her, because she never takes a vacation. She's known as a workaholic, so I was honored that she took time away from work to visit the Tomlinson clan. Of course, since Jason was here we had to play Mexican Train Dominoes, one of our faves in the house, except for the fact that we all hate how often Ed wins. It is everyone's goal to beat him. It was great to see Jason and his mom. I wish I had more time to spend with them, but for one, I had some house stuff to do and two, Kristi and I already had plans.

Thu, Fri, and Sat Kristi and I had an Arbonne table set-up at a Just Between Friends consignment sale. To all my readers that are parents, you've got to find consignment sales in your area. You can see if there is a JBF group close to you. Otherwise, start asking around and looking in your local paper. These sales are the shiznet! Yes, I spent a bunch of money these 3 days, but I got a few gifts for Avery, Kylie, William, Madison, and Jack (Kristi and Thane's soon-to-arrive son) and stocked up on 12-18 month clothes along with birthday and Christmas gifts for Inara. I saved so much by shopping there. I found her this awesome Little People Zoo playset I've been wanting to get her that runs for $70+ on Amazon for only $15. Then I got another Little People playset that actually ended up having a couple other playsets wrapped with it, which would have come to a total of about $90, for only $15! As for clothes, I bought her 36 items, some of which includes the top and the bottom for an outfit or even a top, bottom, and a jacket, for $79! You read correctly $79! WOW! And some of them are from The Gap and Carters, so we're not talking cheap outfits here. I now swear by garage sales and consignment sales for most of the things we need for Inara. Once you realize how fast kids grow out of clothes and lose interest in toys, it's not worth paying full price at a retail store. Needless to say, Shawn was shocked but rather impressed by my shopping skills. As for the Arbonne prospects, we didn't get as many as we had hoped for, but a few new contacts are better than none. Once I get settled into the house, I will be able to focus on my business again. That's one heck of a motivator if you ask me. I better start bringing in the big bucks if we ever want to finish the basement. Ha ha.

Lastly, I apologize for the lack of new pics. We've been so busy with visitors and house stuff that Shawn hasn't had a chance to upload the pics from my trip. Tonight, he and Thane are writing up a biz proposal for a side job they got. So I promise it's not because he's been slacking. I'm hoping he can get to it before we move on Sat. Gotta have an empty memory chip to take lots of pics of moving day!