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By kilax, December 10, 2015 6:21 am

That’s the cat equivalent of “baby steps,” right?

I wrongly assumed it was the long corridor at the rental house that was freaking out Data. It’s not that at all. IT’S THIS:

Ha.

I realized it yesterday when I saw Data run by the office (where the ceiling fan is) in to the back room with this look on his face:

Poor guy.

But the good news is, he was brave enough to go in to the office this morning! Kitten steps! Ha ha.

The office has french doors, and when we first visited the house, I thought Data would want to be in that room all the time, looking in to the back yard! I even set up his tower of judgment there, so he could laze by the doors in comfort. It never crossed my mind that the fan might freak him the eff out.

Eh, I am sure in no time, he’ll be in there ALL the time, on my desk, meowing in my face, when I am trying to work.

Steven reminded me that the new house has a ceiling fan too, in the living area. But it’s on a high sloped ceiling so I hope it doesn’t have quite as strong as an effect…

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By kilax, December 9, 2015 12:23 pm

… even though I’ve bought exactly two holiday gifts this year (one this week… and one in August),

I can’t wait to give Luca this (and some practical presents, too)!

and our rental house has ZERO decorations up (does a fake Christmas tree in a box on the living room floor count?!).

I’ve been listening to holiday music since early November, and am looking forward to spending time with family and friends, but presents and details about gatherings are just not where my focus is right now.

It’s interesting to me, how our holiday celebrations have changed each year, since Steven and I’ve been married. We switch which family we spend Christmas with each year (ideally seeing the other family in mid January), and the gift exchange is different each year, too, at least with my family (whether we buy for all or draw names, etc.).

Gift exchanges have been different with friends, too. I feel like my friends are the easiest to buy for, since I know a lot about them and their hobbies, but I started asking people last year if we could do something together instead of exchange gifts, and people liked that idea. This year, I’ve asked more if we can do the same. It’s not that I am cheap (although things are tight with the impending home purchase), I just value memories over things. And with all the packing we’ve done lately, I realize there is nothing I need, and a very small amount of things I want. I really do feel shame about the amount of STUFF we have. And we’ve made SO many trips to Goodwill.

Gosh! This did get a bit Grinchy! Or at least, gloomy! Oops!

I was just thinking about this because during a meeting today, someone asked everyone what their holiday plans were and how holiday prep was going. And really, all I have done is bought gifts for Luca (which I greatly enjoy), and found a place to rent that will house the two people (Steven’s dad and bro) we are hosting for Christmas. It seems like I should be stressed about it, but I’m not. I am cool with a low key Christmas – I NEED it! We’ll get to buying presents for people, we’ll put a few decorations up and cook some fun stuff. I will see my family in January, and we’ll have more time to prep for that after we’ve settled in a bit more at the rental and closed on our townhome.

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By kilax, December 8, 2015 11:46 am

We moved the majority of our belongings in to our rental house this weekend. Only a few things remain at the townhome, and we’ll definitely be able to bring them over before our close date on the 18th. Phew.

This x4

We had perfect moving weather for December – sunny and comfortable in jeans and a tee. Think we’ll strike that luck again when we do the second move in (hopefully) late January?

The weekend was such a roller coaster of emotions:

• Guilt/shame – why do I have so much stuff?!
• Anxiety/panic – how am I going to get this all done in time? Can I make this home comfortable for us for two months, and to host two people for the holiday?
• Gratitude/love – it’s amazing how many friends pitched in to help us. We really couldn’t have gotten it done in the timeframe we did without them. It means a lot to me.

I’m happy to report that I’ve stayed calm… even when there was a water leak in the basement of the rental yesterday and I had to move a bunch of boxes and unpack the damaged ones. Ha ha.

Steven, Data and I all slept in the rental for the first time Sunday night. Well, partially slept. We took Data over in the late evening and he was too busy exploring to sleep (and kept me up most of the night). Lesson learned – take him to the house in the morning, for the next move. That way, maybe he’ll be exhausted from checking out the new digs and hopefully sleep through the night.

Data is doing okay. He’s eating and using the litter box (phew) but he’s afraid of the long corridor in the house and spends most of his time in the living area. Hopefully he’ll come around in a week or so. I feel bad we’re doing this to him twice. I feel bad we’re doing this to us twice. But it’ll totally be worth it when we move in to our final, long-term, home.

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By kilax, December 1, 2015 5:38 am

On Sunday, the photo below popped up on my digital picture frame and I said to Steven, “Oh! I wonder if mom ever found the MBP* bracelet!”

I had buried it in the bottom of her purse on Halloween and thought she’d never find it!

Then Monday morning, I went in to the guest bedroom closet to grab a bag and THE BRACELET WAS IN THE BAG!!! GAH! I groaned so loud and stormed down the stairs and showed Steven “LOOK WHAT I JUST FOUND!” Ha ha.

The funny thing is, my mom found the MBP bracelet when she dumped her purse out to organize it at my house two weekends ago. So it did take her a long time to find it… but since she always seems to dump her purse out and organize it when she visits, maybe it was bad idea of mine to plant it there, knowing she had a trip coming up. Dammit.

I won’t see my family until January to pass the bracelet back to my mom or snister. Unless I think of something else… muah ha ha!

*MBP = male body part. That’s not what I actually call it, but that is what I write here.

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By kilax, November 30, 2015 6:15 am

I was surprised when I wasn’t excited about the big snow storm we had a week and a half ago. I love snow! I love winter! What was my dealio?

So peaceful and quiet… what’s not to love? By the way, that’s our driveway…

At first I attributed my displeasure to the snow hampering on plans I made with my parents – the snow made it difficult (but not impossible) to get to (and around in) the city with my mom, and it completely squashed my plans for my dad to cycle with me while I ran. I had been really looking forward to showing him one of my long run routes.

So happy to have Metra as an option… even when the train home was delayed over an hour and the shelter was open to the outside… and that Amtrak train went by and blew all that snow on us… and our socks were wet… ha ha!

But we still had a great time with them, so whatevs. Then why was I still annoyed with the snow after they left?

Sigh, cause it meant instead of running routes like this:

I had to do one like this:

Loops until you lose your mind

Or this:

Run every cul-de-sac to get your mileage in…

But I did that second route Monday and didn’t hate it and was still annoyed to see all the snow covering the trails – what’s up with dat?!

Ahh, that’s it. The trails are inaccessible for running when they’re covered in snow (I mean… you can run them, but it’ll be hella slow and a bit dangerous) and I wanted to run my local trails as much as possible before moving!!! I can’t do that when they’re covered in snow!

Luckily, the snow melted, and I was able to do one of my loop routes for my Sunday long run. And sort of say “farewell” to that route. At least farewell to running it with the starting point as our home – I’ll still try to run those trails and forest preserves from time to time, after we move.

We’re so lucky that the home we live in now is right on a trail. And that the trail connects to roads and other forest preserves. It’s perfect for me – it allowed me to create many routes, and explore and become familiar with lots of areas, which I love!

The new home we’re under contract for is on a street surrounded by two (!!!) forest preserves. But it is just over two miles to get to the closest trail. And I’ll no longer be in a neighborhood, but on a dead end street, so running neighborhood loops when there is a ton of snow won’t be as… interesting. Ha ha.

The trade off for the privacy we’ll have is totally worth it. And I’m stoked to create new routes! But part of me is feeling sad to leave behind the ones I’ve become so familiar with. I’m happy I’ll get a few more runs in on them when they’re not buried in snow.

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By kilax, November 28, 2015 5:13 pm

Wow, Helper Cat is so useful when it comes to packing up the house!

Or… supervising us pack up the house. Ha ha.

Because, you know, that’s the most comfortable spot in the house to lay… silly Data.

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By kilax, November 24, 2015 6:23 am

… at this house

After hating our kitchen flooring for YEARS we finally had it replaced last Tuesday! YAY!

The new flooring doesn’t photograph well, unfortunately, but it’s a HUGE improvement from the original vinyl tile, that was full of nicks and dirty spots that wouldn’t go away, no matter how hard we cleaned. Our kitchen floor embarrassed me – I hated that it was the first thing most guests saw when they came in the house.

Flooring was the last change we were waiting to make to our townhome before we listed it for sale. But, we had everything else ready much earlier (it was a long wait for the luxury vinyl tile we ordered to arrive) so we ended up listing our house on Saturday, November 7th. We had a showing on Sunday and Monday, and two offers on Tuesday, and signed a contract on Wednesday, the 11th.

I guess the kitchen (and foyer) flooring wasn’t really that big of a deal, afterall*.

The inspection and appraisal went well, so… we really are selling our townhome! Wow. That went A LOT faster than we thought it would. Honestly, Steven and I thought the townhome would be on the market awhile. We thought we might have to take it off the market and list it again in the spring, since late fall and winter can be a slow season. We feel VERY lucky. And we’re happy that a couple is feeling excited about making the townhome their first home!

But where are Steven and I going?! We’ll rent a home for awhile. We’re under contract for a home we both love, also in Lake County. I really hope everything works out with that home, because we fell in love with it this summer, and haven’t seen anything else that we are both equally as excited about. Fingers crossed!

*We did leave a note out during the showing, explaining that new flooring would be installed in the kitchen and foyer.

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By kilax, November 23, 2015 1:25 pm

Have you ever cried because you felt happy for a complete stranger?

I witnessed that this weekend, and I have to say, as cheesy as this sounds, it was a touching, special moment.

My future sister-in-law, Alyssa, was in town this weekend with her mom, her best friend, and her best friend’s mom to look for a wedding dress in Chicago. My mom and I joined in on the search*.

Our first stop was Glamour Closet, a boutique that receives designer gowns that were showroom and runway samples, then sells them at an “outlet store” price. The gowns there were GORGEOUS** and they had such a variety. It was fun to watch other people try on dresses, and see how a style that you don’t like for you or someone you know would look perfect on someone else!

Oops, I digress.

The second dress Alyssa tried on was the one that started the waterworks for her, and us. She said that was the one that made it all (the wedding/getting married) feel so real. Then she loved the third dress even more, and tried on several gowns after that just to check them out. Not many people were in the shop for her waterworks dress, but by the time she tried the third one back on to make sure it was the one, there were a lot of people in the shop, watching their brides, or waiting for a dressing room.

Alyssa put the dress on and started crying and said “I can’t leave without this dress.” Most everyone there was watching her, and heard her, and starting tearing up themselves. A few people said “aww,” and “I can’t believe I am crying, I don’t even know you!” and someone started clapping, so everyone did.

I know, sounds super cheesy, right? But like I said, it was a really touching moment. Everyone was in the same situation, hoping their bride found their dream dress that day, too, and it was exciting to see someone else in theirs, and to see that person so happy. I am happy I got to be there to see Alyssa try on dresses and witness that moment. It kind of made me want to wait around and see what the other brides chose!

*Not that it matters to anyone but me, but the way I wrote this implies Alyssa came in to town with her family. She didn’t. She lives in Iowa now, and rode out to Illinois with my parents. Her family and friends flew in from Alaska for the weekend.
**We went to David’s Bridal after, and Mom and I both commented on how the gowns there looked blah compared to where we just were (note, my wedding gown was from there, so I am not knocking it, ha ha!).

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By kilax, November 12, 2015 6:36 pm

Yay! First house (I’ve seen) in our hood to turn their holiday lights on!

And the local radio station started playing holiday music today.

Ahhhh. They both put a smile on my face and calmed me down, which I really needed. I’ve had a highly anxious week and need to CHILL THE EFF OUT.

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By kilax, November 7, 2015 3:51 pm

I’m so happy our need for batteries took us near the clearance Halloween section at Target!