Bit by bit, I feel like I'm regaining control of my life. The fact that today was highly productive helps in that regard. I wrote 2500 words on a new short, unpacked/catalogued/shelved 9 boxes of books, spent 2 hours shopping at Target this morning for more necessities, and did various little things around the house. I also did some editing and spent an hour filling out paperwork for the kids to start school tomorrow. Which will be another step closer to the return of the routine.

Maybe organizing my books helped in more than just accomplishing something. I've been frustrated by my books for years. We had to keep most of them boxed while we were in England, and then once we were over here, they just got put wherever we had room. Now, I have enough bookshelves for all of them (I think, I'm not done yet), and with a fresh start, can finally organize them the way I want. It's a tad anal. All my unread stuff is separate from my keeper stuff, and each of those is broken down into various types. Then, I organize them alphabetically by author within each category. I got to catalog my unread stuff, too, which really shouldn't have felt as good as it did, lol. I'm not done. I have another 8 boxes sitting in the front room for me to go through at some point, but what I see on my shelves makes me happy.

Bit by bit. And boy, does it feel good.

I. Am. Exhausted.

And worse?

We're not done yet.

*headthunk*

( Cut for moving drama )

Well, I've been offline for the past couple days, and working my tail off - and am suitably sore to show for it - but last night, we spent our first night in the new house. Woo hoo!

That's the good news.

The bad news? The truck we hired to move our furniture yesterday was too small. We get to hire *another* truck to get the rest of it, including - but not limited to - our dining room table, Alex's dresser, an entertainment center, a TV stand, 3 bookcases...

*sigh*

We had to extend our lease by a week at the other place to cover the delay. And it's putting a crimp in getting things into order here. On the plus side, Craig and I spent the weekend moving 70 boxes worth of stuff, including 80% of the kitchen, and I unpacked all of the kitchen boxes before we did the furniture move yesterday. That makes it easier to get into a normal routine. Though there's nothing normal right now. I have to go down to the school tomorrow to finalize the kids' registration to start next week, as well as continue working.

Of course, in the midst of all that, I had edits to do. And I have a galley sitting on my hard drive as I type. And two more projects due by the end of the month.

I'm going to be very tired at the end of September, lol.

Our moving schedule seems to be firm now.

Monday, 8/24 - Final walk-through
Friday, 8/28 - Get keys
Sat/Sun, 8/29-30 - Move small stuff ourselves
Monday, 8/31 - Truck arrives to move furniture/bulky stuff/most boxes

The kids will start at their new school after Labor Day then.

What this means? My next two weeks will be INSANE. Because on top of the move, I have to write one more sex scene to finish a 40k novella due 9/1, write 6-10k addition for novella at LSB due 8/27, write 15-18k part 3 of my gay lawyers series due 9/15, and write the Waltz sequel (anywhere from 70-100k) due 9/30.

And the finishing packing, school shopping for the kids, unpacking...

I'm tired already.

Pepper and everyone left early this morning, so Craig and I went out to the new house and did a lot of checking on stuff today. We didn't get back until late afternoon, but there are new pictures and video up. Appliances are all in, though some of them are still wrapped in the film they get shipped in, as well as carpets, and the front lawn is finished. One week of them finishing stuff up, like the handles on all the cupboards, cleaning, finishing the details, fixing up the things we spotted today, etc. Then on the 24th, we have our final walkthrough, and get our keys on the 28th. It's almost here! To say I'm excited is an understatement, lol.

I blogged for Liquid Silver for Monday about why I love living in the Bay Area. I talked about the Writers with Drinks events I talked about here, but I'm giving away a book to a random commenter if you want to wander over and take a look. :)

Right now, I'm so exhausted, I'm just going to pass out.

Another step closer to the move. This morning, Craig and I went to the new elementary school to get the kids registered. I can't believe how fast it's coming up! Less than 2 weeks to the official walk-through, just over two until escrow. I am nowhere near ready.

Mom got an appointment at Mayo for the 25th. This pleases everybody to no end. That's much sooner than we anticipated. It's all baby steps at this point, but anything that offers hope and keeps spirits up is more than welcome.

We have started doing a Dollhouse marathon here. With Alexis slated for at least 4 eps of the new season, pepperlandgirl4 has no choice but to watch it now, lol. So I ordered S1, told her to ignore how crappy the first half of the season is, and we are settling in. This first half is a tad painful to rewatch.

All that whining I did a couple weeks ago about how lonely I was? I take it all back. I have spent more time on the phone in the past 48 hours than I have since high school. Sheesh. It got to the point today where I was screening calls because I just couldn't take it anymore.

Things went better than expected with Mom. She was in good spirits today, because the diuretics are working and her edema is improving. I know there will be bad days, but I'm just glad today wasn't one of them. One day at a time.

We got paperwork today regarding escrow in 3 weeks, which just reminds me how much packing I have left to do, lol. And next week will be tough to get much packing done because Pepper is coming with her husband and sister to stay for us for a week. We're going to show them the house on Sunday so more pictures will be forthcoming, though at this point, I don't think there will be that much different.

Since it's been two weeks since we last saw the house, Craig and I went out this morning to see what the progress was. Kitchen countertops, tubs, sinks, toilets, and light fixtures are now all in. No video this time, because the changes were so concentrated and not quite as drastic cosmetically.

It's really hard to believe that we do our final walk-through in 3 weeks. I'm nowhere near ready for moving, and something tells me, the next 3 weeks are going to fly by.

It is nine o'clock on a Saturday night, and I am currently sprawled on the floor in a conference room in Craig's office, while he and a co-worker hash out problems/testing with their latest project. We've been here since two, and we'll be here until midnight, at which point I made him promise to go home. It sounds a little weird, but when Craig explained to me last night that he had to come in today and work, and then proceeded to invite me in, too, I knew this was where I would be. I wasn't interested in sitting at home all day, working on stuff, without him around. Granted, he's buried in work, so it's not like we're sitting here chatting or anything, but it's infinitely better than being alone. At least, it is for me right now. I need the contact.

Somebody remind me of this at Christmas when I'm dying to get my house all to myself again, lol.

( Cut for rambling )

I'm here, just so, so busy with kid stuff and life stuff and Father's Day stuff. I'm going to make a real post soon, but we took a trip out to the new house to see how it's going on, and the pictures are up, so I wanted to share!

Today's trip to the new house

The drywall is up, which makes it start to look like a real house. They're actually 2 days ahead of schedule, which is good to hear, and we're still on the ball for closing at the end of August. I'm so in love with this house already, it's not even funny. I'm going to be absolutely silly when stuff like cupboards go in, lol.

*Sigh*

I fell behind again. I suck. But so much was going on, and then I was somewhere my internet connection wasn't great, and then there was sickness, and...I still suck. So here's yet another overview of what's going on in my life:

( Behind a cut because this got long )

And that's it. Lots of little stuff. Lots of time-consuming stuff. I'm alive, and I'm reading everybody, and I miss all of you.

I should probably post an update about what's been going on with me...

1. ( American Idol results )

2. It's been a week of medical stuff. Craig had an outpatient procedure done on Tuesday that thankfully showed he's healthy, so that's a plus. On the not so plus side...( Stuff about my mom )

3. Speaking of medical stuff, Alex's cough is back. :(

4. We've gone ahead and purchased the kids' flights for the UK. They'll be gone for 5 weeks. I also might be taking an interim trip with them out to visit my mom before that.

5. My 10th wedding anniversary is next week. Craig and I don't have real plans, because, guess what, we're hosting the Girl Scouts end of the year sleepover at our house the same night, lol. We've decided to do something after the kids leave for the UK to celebrate both our anniversary and my birthday in July. Right now, we're going back and forth between NYC and Hawaii. I think I'd have more fun in NYC, but we've never been to Hawaii.

6. The new house is underway. Craig has thrown up a website for us to share pictures and videos of the process. It's easier than wasting bandwidth to show family, so I'm sharing the site with you, in case anyone's interested. :) The interior pictures of the model home are just for reference. For instance, one picture of the kitchen has the layout, while the other has the cabinets/countertops I picked out. Ditto for the pictures on the floors. We wanted reference of the carpet and tile we picked out (the lighter ones), rather than just the dark tile in the model home.