Slowly Getting Settled

It has been a few days, well four to be exact, since the movers dumped a gazillion boxes inside our new house.  We are still surrounded by boxes but making progress every day.  It feels a little slow going because, for a housewife, life has to continue whether boxes need to be unpacked or not!  I keep plodding along doing laundry, making lunches, buying groceries, taking the dog for a walk, making the bed (yes, that's right, among all the chaos I am still making the bed....it makes me feel normal!),

Brand new Speedo swimsuit in Size 8 not Size "squeeze" for $2.00!!

Brand new Speedo swimsuit in Size 8 not Size "squeeze" for $2.00!!

Woo Hoo!!!!!!!!!!!!

It's final.  It's done.  We sold our house in California!  Woo hoo!  I can't even begin to tell you how exciting this day is.  In all honesty, I think today is more exciting than the day we bought it.  After what we have been through, we are so glad to get rid of it and the $250,000 "chain" hanging around our neck!

Operation Swimsuit

Now that we have arrived in Arizona there is lots of work to do, but we must make sure that we have some fun too! Since the temperature is still in the high 90's, we have to make time for some swimming. Oh, right, I'm not sure if I told you, but the house we are living in has a swimming pool and the kids think it is AWESOME!

We Made It!

We made it to Phoenix! Well, Gilbert, Arizona actually.  I apologize in advance if this is not my best post but I am pretty exhausted, surrounded by boxes and lucky to have an Internet connection!

I Raise My Glass

Today I am not going to write about me or my journey.  I am here to tell you about two people who are responsible for me "being" at all.  You see today is the 60th Anniversary of the day my Grandma and Grandad were married.  I can't imagine what it is like to live for 60 years let alone be married for 60 years.  Oh, just in case it is not clear, yes they are both alive and, yes they are still married!

Wordless Wednesday - Because I Don't Have the Energy for Anything Else!

Getting Rid of More Stuff

Today we set out on a mission to get rid of more "stuff".  I have a small selection of 80's vinyl records, but I can't remember the last time I had a turntable.  Michael inherited thousands of baseball cards when his father passed away 10 years ago, some worth something, some worth nothing.  Both of these collections have been moved over and over again from Washington to California to Nevada...........I am not about to move them to Arizona!

The Last Supper

Here we are in a house with no kitchen table and no couch.  Luckily, we have a card table and a couple of camping chairs.  You see, I'm not sure if I explained this to you, but we decided to get rid of some of our older furniture because the house we are moving into is already furnished.  We are taking our own beds, so at least we have something to sleep in until Friday.  But we have sold our kitchen table and our couch.  Nothin' says, "White Trash" like a couple of Coleman Camping Chairs and a card table in your living room!

Keeping up appearances

Life is unpredictable.  Life can be great.  And then suddenly you get whacked upside the head and your world is turned upside down.  These whackings that I speak of may be big or small but when you combine them in multiples, life begins to feel insurmountable.  I personally, have received many whackings over the last 16 months.

Welcome to the Weekend, Moving Sale Done

The weekend is here, the moving sale is finally done!  We worked hard Friday and Saturday morning, got rid of most of our "inventory" and we are about $700 richer.  Albeit, the majority of our stuff is now in a truck on it's way down to Mexico........it doesn't matter to me, we got rid of what we needed to and I have a wad of cash in my pocket (well actually it's in a plastic box).  Here is the final picture of what was left when we closed up shop at noon:

Moving Sale - Day 1

I don't have too much to write about because most of my day has been consumed by our Moving Sale. The day began at 7am with the usual routine of making coffee and getting Madison off to school. Amazingly, we were ready for school early so Madison helped us get some things out on the driveway. The hardest part was getting all sweaty trying to help Michael move the larger furniture out the back door, around the side of the house and onto the driveway. Not the, "Boy it's hot out here and I'm working really hard" kind of sweaty but the "I should be in bed, my head is all fuzzy, my nose is stuffed up, I'm getting clammy and I'm working really hard" kind of sweaty. We put out the signs at 9am and by 10:40am the driveway looked like this:

Thankful Thursday

I have been inspired by my friend Dwija at www.houseunseen.com to participate in Thankful Thursday.

Here goes:

I am thankful for Dwija for continually inspiring me.  Especially today because I was feeling particularly uninspired due to a head cold.

I am thankful that today is Michael's last day of work and he will be free from THAT stress.

Slacker!

I woke up this morning feeling totally unmotivated.  Not the "I'm tired and want to go back to bed, please get me some coffee" kind of unmotivated.  But the "I feel like sitting on my butt and doing nothing all day" kind of unmotivated.  I actually sat there contemplating whether I could be one of those Moms that drops their kid off at school in her nightgown. 

Taking a break from the chaos and having a normal day

Today started off dark, dreary, rainy and 68 degrees which in Las Vegas this time of year is cause for celebration!  So I decided I was going to take a break from the chaos of moving and try to do some normal things.

Baby steps......and a few huge ones.

In my first post, I mentioned taking baby steps. Well those steps have begun or at least the thought of them has.  There is so much going on on this crazy old brain of my mine and the ideas come randomly.  The baby steps I am talking about are the little things that we plan to do in our new life, some of them will begin before we even get to Phoenix but they are all for the greater good of our new life!

I Must be Crazy, I Set My Alarm on a Saturday Morning

Yes, that's right!  My alarm was set for 6:00am this morning.  No children had to go to school, no husband had to go to work, no sporting events or practice to attend.  "Why did I set my alarm?" you ask.  I'll tell you why.  I am frugal!  I have always been frugal.  My Mother is frugal my Father was frugal, all of my grandparents were frugal, it is in my blood.  This is one of my good qualities and I intend to use it to make this journey of ours a successful one!

The Prologue

OK, so here goes......tap, tap, tap......is this thing turned on?  Am I really doing this?  Am I really about to share our dirty secrets to anyone who wants to listen?  Or maybe I should have said, "Tap, tap, tap......is anyone listening?"

So, I'm gonna put it out there.  We are jobless but we aren't homeless (I'm very thankful to my Mother!).  Today is the day that our journey begins.