Should I be embarrassed?

I finally unpacked the last 2 moving boxes that were laying about in my loft.

Yes, I closed on my condo on July 21st.

Yes, today is November 16th.

A 4-month time frame for unpacking isn't bad ... right? Don't get me wrong, I still have PLENTY that needs to be done in the condo before I'm a happy home-owner, but I would say that I've accomplished a lot in 4 months. Unpacking just seemed to be on the bottom of my To Do list!

These are just a few of the projects I got done today!

I emptied out these sets of drawers that used to have desk supplies in them and they now hold all my wrapping presents supplies (bags, ribbon, boxes, gift tags, tissue paper, ribbon). Little known fact about me: if I could make money doing it, I would wrap presents for a career. Anyone want to pay me to wrap all their holiday presents? :)

Yes, the office still looks like a giant mess, but I promise progress has been made. I took all the supplies from the drawers above and organized them in the file cabinet drawers. I still have some piles of things to be filed, but since I don't actually use my laptop at the desk, it doesn't have to be perfect quite yet.

These two 8x10 framed pics of Minnie represent the 400+ photos that I organized and FINALLY put in albums last night. I had them sorted out into events by date (going all the way back to 2006) and they covered the entire floor. I still haven't put the Minnie pictures into albums. I have a puppy "baby book" that I bought a long time ago, but I'm not sure how much effort I want to put into it. That might have to be winter/spring/summer break project. Getting the other pics organized was good enough for now. These two framed pics are hung on the wall right next to Minnie's hall closet that houses all her food, toys, treats, meds, etc.

And the kitchen! I had a giant batch of dirty dishes in the sink that were screaming at me to be washed. I am basically hand-washing most of my dishes since my current DW is worthless. Mom & Dad took me early Christmas shopping yesterday for a new DW that will be delivered after Thanksgiving. Yippee! I also cleaned off all the counters that were covered in crap since before I babysat last week. In the back right corner, I also pulled all my cookbooks down from the cabinet above the micro. I thought that if they were up there, I would never look at them. Maybe if they are out, it will encourage me to do more cooking!

Just wait until you see the transformation!

This is what my new room looked like when I got back into school about 2 weeks ago. As you know from previous posts, the construction made learning, teaching and just being difficult last school year. The packing-up process at the end of the year was very chaotic!

I think it's all paid off! The new building is beautiful, and the 4th grade team is lucky because we get to be in the new addition.



We got into the school and found that there was still lots to be done construction-wise, and even today (2 days before school starts) there are still lots of things to be fixed. We are short desks and chairs, we continue to get new kids each day, we are looking for boxes and text books, we don't have working phones and/or computers, the new copiers and printers are causing issues. I know it will all come together ... it just takes time.

I've been taking more pictures of my room along the way. I don't think non-teachers know how much time and effort it takes to get ready for the beginning of the school year. So much so, that I'm missing out on Megan's fun Bachelorette party this weekend in Chicago! I'll miss you girls ... have fun without me!

I'll be back up at school tomorrow to continue getting things put away and labeled. As for the rest of my really exciting Friday night? I'll be writing students' names on name tags and working on getting my bathroom painted! Woo Hoo!

The Move in Parts: Getting Settled

Now that things are starting to get unpacked and organized, here are a few pics. I'm interested to see if the people that came the first day can actually see a difference.

This is my NEW fancy couch! This couch and the black table behind it are the only 2 pieces of furniture I have that are new to me. Everything else is a hand-me-down that was given with lots of love ... however, it's still fun to have my own stuff that I bought with my own money! The couch came with all those pillows and actually two additional ones, but I had to move them because there was hardly enough room for a nap! :)
If you look closely, you can see my laptop (I was in the middle of blogging when I took the picture), Miss Minners stretching after a nap (she has such a rough life) the water gun on the table (used to squirt her since she's taken to barking at ALL noises outside) and 2 books laying around (that's what no cable will do to you!)!

This is in my back storage closet, off of the living room. I got smart and set up some bins for recycling. After living with Molly & Erik and their recycling service, I was feeling bad about everything I used to throw away ... no longer! So far I have cardboard, aluminum, plastic and paper sorted.

These apothecary jars are my new obsession. I've been collecting them for the last year or so, and now I can finally put them out. The goal is to fill them with some colorful rice, beans, grains, etc.

Here's my bed! Can you tell that I like PINK?!? Ha! Minnie has already found a perfect spot on here.
And my closet. This was one of the first things to get organized. Everything is color coordinated for easy use. The tiny white shelf in the bottom left is going to be my mini linen closet since it's right next to my bathroom.

Here are the plates Mom helped me hang in the "look through" part of my kitchen.

Here's the upstairs patio off of my bedroom. Minnie seems to like it just fine!

And my mail/keys/phone/catch-all table. We hung these things in a "random", not-so-straight way. I think I really like it!

That's it for now! More updates to come in the future ... I'm sure!

The Move in Parts: Moving Day

Most of closing day was spent cleaning (HUGE THANKS to Mom & Jeanette) and moving over small things that I could handle myself and clothes, which I didn't want going in the truck.

Then, on Tuesday, I met the moving company at Molly & Erik's house for our first stop. There were only a few things to pick up there, and I was amazed when we were already on the road to my parents' house at 10:30am, which was our original starting time.

Here they are loading all my stuff into the truck. There were only 3 guys, but they hauled all the stuff into that truck so fast, I could hardly believe it!

Here's one of the guys moving my large coffee table trunk by himself! That took Mom & I working together with several breaks to get it upstairs and into the truck when I moved it from Jenny's! They never used 2 guys to carry anything ... even when they had large stuff to carry up the stairs once we got to my condo!

Here I am with a HUGE smile on my face because I didn't have to move or lift a single thing! Hiring movers was the best money I ever spent. They were done unloading at my condo in about 1 1/2 hours after we first started at M & E's! UNBELIEVABLE! I kept calling Mom with updates along the way, because I was in shock over how fast it all went.

So now, here's the dining room/sitting room after they set up my table for me. In the very front, you can see the cute black & white doormat that Brenda brought me! I love it.

Here's the living room in complete shambles. We were leaving room for the couch to be delivered the next day. That large piece of art is my favorite thing I own. It's borrowed from my Aunt Susan and it is about 9 feet tall. It looks great in my living room with the super tall ceilings!

This is the loft that overlooks the living room. It will look like this for quite some time until I can find some storage and furniture for these things. Most of these boxes are books and photo albums. As of right now, I don't have any bookshelves, which means they will stay packed.

And my room. The movers even put my bed together for me. This was my childhood bed that Molly & Erik have been using in their guest room. They were nice enough to give it back to me ... and I love it!

The Move in Parts: Closing Day

Lookie! SOLD sign in the window of my dining room! I'm on the second floor. Those semi-circle windows go into my loft on the 2nd floor of my unit.

This is a picture looking into the living room and through the kitchen. Down the back hallway is a coat closet, laundry room, 2nd bath, 2nd bedroom (which will most likely be my office/craft room) and one of my balconies.

This is the fireplace in my living room. You can't tell, but because of the loft/upstairs, my living room ceiling is about 20 feet tall! It makes the room look much bigger than it is. The dark brown room is the dining room with nice wood floors.

Here's my kitchen. There are some things I want to change, but for the meantime ... it is great!

This is my bedroom on the 2nd floor. I love the high ceilings and the paint is a pretty light lime green that matches my bedding. (You'll see it in the next round of pics). I also have a balcony off my bedroom, and my bathroom is inside the bedroom.


And ... here is the best part of the whole place. Okay ... one of the best parts! MY WALK-IN CLOSET! This picture only shows 1/2 of it. Don't be jealous (Amy, I'm talking to you), because I will have to use a chunk of the storage space for a linen closet and bathroom storage. One of my short-term projects is to paint the walls in here. I'll also be painting the bathrooms, so why not? I think everything would look better with a fresh coat of paint and I know I'll enjoy it in the closet!

The Move in Parts: My Stuff

Yes. I have a LOT of stuff! These pictures show my personal "storage unit" that was actually my parents' garage for the last 2 months! It was quite frustrating every time I wanted to find something, and I knew it was in a box on the bottom of a stack in the middle of the garage. Arg!

Puh-leaze let this guy get caught!

Tonight at Trivia, I saw this report on the CNN news ticker.

The media hasn't been on top of this story for a few months. I feel like we don't really know where the investigations stands. Maybe that's a good thing.

So anyhoo ... Drew Peterson was recorded talking about the "disappearance" of Stacey's body and the mentioned that he wished he had cremated her remains. This guy is such an ass! I hope something comes up soon that helps to arrest and charge Drew. His behavior makes me sick!

That's it for tonight. That is today's rant. I took a break from unpacking & cleaning to go play trivia tonight with a smaller-than-usual team, which means that our final score was also smaller-than-usual!

Once I get my own wireless internet set up, I'll post pics of before, during & after the move!

Today's the day!

The closing on my condo is this morning! I can't believe it's finally here. I'll be cleaning, organizing and moving things over there by myself today. The moving company comes tomorrow, so I want to be totally ready for them. If I am, then I should be able to sleep there tomorrow night. All by myself in my new home ... Yippee!

Who knows when I'll be able to get the cable company to come and set up the TV and internet for me. In fact, I don't know if I even have the stuff I'll need for wireless internet (which is a MUST), so I don't know when I'll be able to post again. Hopefully sooner than later!

Wish me luck!

What to do ... what to do?

Today was an interesting day! Maybe because I haven't even been awake for 12 hours. Yes, you read that right. I woke up around 11:00 this morning after a BIG night out for Amy's Bachelorette Party. I'll post some pictures when I get a chance.

Anyhoo, I woke up to Molly emptying the living room here. All last week, M & E had tilers working in the bathrooms upstairs. It was not fun to try and calm Minners down from the workmen running up and down the stairs every 5 minutes; dodge tile pieces, dust and dirt falling from the ceiling; and move our stuff in and out of the bathroom every day. Well, this week will be the a totally different construction experience. Workmen will be here the majority of the week tearing down the ceiling in the living room (and under the bathroom that had the leak) to put up a new one. Erik's brothers came over to help empty all the furniture out of the room, and we also covered the carpet with that sticky plastic roll stuff. (I have pictures to share of this, too!)

What this means is the following: no couch and chairs to sit on; no "usual" meal time set-up (on laps in living room); no play place for Minners & me (she's at grandma's and grandpa's for now); NO TV or DVR!

We've only been without the TV for about 8 hours and I'm already going crazy! And today we even tried to be gone and run errands! I don't tutor this week, so this is the only week this summer that I have nothing to do and nowhere to be! Blech!

So now ... it's time for me to find stuff to do. I think I'll try and get some old magazines read and then recycled. I'll also try and get some more stuff posted on Etsy. Maybe go work at my "home office", Panera, a few days. Go to the pool. Read. Be bored!

Anyone have ideas???

I don't want to jinx it ...

... but as of today at 12:00 when I signed the contract, I should be a new home-owner on July 21st!

Yippee!

I will get some pictures uploaded in the near future. [Again, I need to get to some wireless internet to do that.]

I can't believe how smoothly this all has gone. The last time I did this just one short month ago, it ended in disaster! Now that I've found this new condo, I truly believe that I shouldn't have been at the last place, and if I was, then I wouldn't have found this wonderful condo.

Here are the specs:

• 1500+ square feet!
• 2 bedroom, 2 bath.
• Hardwoods in dining room, kitchen and hallway.
• WALK-IN CLOSET in Master bedroom!
• 1 1/2 stories with a loft.
• Super tall ceilings.
• Kitchen that will need some work over time.
• Paint colors I can live with and actually enjoy.
• Pool, clubhouse, etc.
• MINE all MINE! :)

Thanks for all the good thoughts you all sent my way. I know it helped.

Now ... this is going to be the hard part: Plan accordingly for a move that should happen in a month, but also be prepared for anything to happen! I can't wait for everyone to see my new home!

Waiting ... waiting ... waiting

I put a bid in on the condo yesterday! Mom, Dad & Molly all loved it and so it was time to make a move!

We heard back today with a counter-offer, so we counter-offered back.

Haven't heard back from them yet. Cross your fingers for me! I might not be homeless anymore, in the very near future!

Too tired to write much more about it. Must go get some sleep as I can barely keep my eyes open long enough to write this!

Happy Birthday to my oldest friend, Megan, today and Happy Friday to everyone else tomorrow!

Might have found it!

Today was day 3 ... I think of actual going out and looking at properties with my Realtor, Spencer.

After looking at the first 4 units, I was optimistic, but not really excited by any of the condos. Then ... I walked into a GREAT condo! I couldn't believe how nice it was! Lots of nice upgrades and LOTS of closet space!

I have to say, that as a girl who likes a lot of closet space ... that can almost be a selling point for me. Spencer thinks I'm crazy, but this is true!

So ... going back tomorrow with Mom and Dad. Even though it's MY place, to be bought with MY money ... I'd like their approval. They already vetoed the one house that I semi-liked on location alone.

More details if this goes anywhere.

Going to Adam & Jill's for Crafternoon into Crafterevening. I haven't done anything creative in a long time and I'd like to get some new stuff up on Etsy!

House Hunt

Today was day 2 of going out with my Realtor to look for a new home for me. If you are following the side bar in between my pictures on the right, you'll be able to see how it's going.

So far, we'e gone out to see 11 houses and I was pleased that the first one I saw today looked very live-able and I could actually see myself there. We'll go out again on Friday to look at more houses and some condos, too.

Keep your fingers crossed ... I'm pretty sure that Molly and Erik don't want me living here forever. It has been a lot of fun, but I'd like my own place, too!

Tonight they babysat Minners while I went to try and qualify for the regional finals for Trivia (we did!) and I came home to a note on my bed: I took Minnie out @ 10. She barked a lot! This is also a sign that we need to find a new home as soon as possible. They knew they were taking me on, but having a dog in a non-dog house is a totally different situation!

Alrighty ... off to bed! Tomorrow will be my last day of tutoring for the week, and after waking up at 6:30 this week, I'll definitely be ready to sleep in on Friday!

The sky is falling! The sky is falling!

Okay, maybe it wasn't the sky, but it was ceiling lights, ceiling tiles, walls and boxes!

I promised you all I would show you pictures of the war zone that is, scratch that, was my classroom! I know this is a bit of picture overkill, but I'm still completely shocked when I look at the transformation that my classroom took. I also can't believe that the working conditions we had were OSHA approved, or that it was safe for 450+ students to spend 8 hours a day in classrooms that had few ceiling tiles, cement dust floating around, holes in ceilings and walls to the outside and wires hanging from ceilings. But, I digress ... .. .

BEFORE: Here is my classroom the last few days of school. I still had things on my walls, and the room was still functioning. However, I had started to pack (what I thought was a lot of boxes) and I was making progress!

Bulletin boards and turn-in trays. Boxes of books and binders. The kids' desks, the reading corner and the front of the room. My corner from hell! What a mess this was!

DURING: This is what my classroom looked like literally 45 minutes after the kids left! We went down for our last-day-of-school lunch in the cafeteria, and I came back to very few lights, my desk and things shoved all over the room and the "tear down" process already starting!

My corner after they shoved my things all over and threw them on the floor. The ladder was in the place of my desk chair and file cabinets and I had significantly less lights!The kids were nice enough to help me stack chairs and desks. They were moved shortly after this.My corner, sans doors. The doors were the first thing to go. Brenda lost some things she had on her door window, and I grabbed her curtains as they were walking out the door!

AFTER: Here is what used to be my room and pod (hallway to those of you that don't teach in a BV school)! There are no more walls and many of the boxes have already been removed. If people thought I was freaking out yesterday when I came back to a few lights missing, they would have seen me basically having a panic attack when I came to find more of my things thrown on the floor and no lights and walls!

This is a picture of both my room and Brenda's room. Mitzi is showing them off! Brenda's room starts to the left of that TV that is hanging on the back wall.
There's Brenda waving in the back from her room. You can also see one of the construction workers. I'm pretty sure they were all tired of hearing us bitch and moan, but we were shocked to see movers that came in to move our belongings a whole 30 hours before we were told we had to be done!
My desk and corner, finally empty. It took about 10 helpers to calm me down and help me throw stuff into boxes that I labeled "To Be Filed". I don't know the final box count was, but I was constantly sending coworkers out to find me more boxes.
This is a view of 4 classrooms across the hall from me. All the walls were gone and their boxes were gone the day before!
This is the view from my end of the pod up towards the main part of the building.
My lovely teammates and I. They were so good when I cried several times throughout the week, and they were there to help me even when they weren't done themselves!
My room into Brenda's again. Wouldn't it be fun if I could always see her at her desk from mine? We probably would get even less accomplished if we were and open classroom building design! :)
I don't even know what this is. I think this is more of my room looking into what used to be a hallway. That is Mitzi's door back there on the left!
More of our pod.
This is the gym where they are going to be storing all of our things. I'm shocked the piles weren't taller than this!
More boxes and those are doors and wall sections on the right.
More boxes. Watch out for that tilting stack!
More furniture!

Okay ... that's it. I'm kicked out of there until at least August 10th. It is kind of nice knowing that I can't go up to work, even if I wanted to! I did bring home personal items and a few boxes of things to use for tutoring.

Off to run a few more errands. Hope everyone enjoyed the picture show of the construction chaos!