gratitude

In tribute to Leah's gratitude Mondays:

This freezer-to-microwave lunch container is all I've had to eat or cook with since moving in Tuesday night. (I had brought my second-best kettle beforehand so I could make instant coffee while I worked. Still haven't found my best kettle, or my good coffee pot, or anything else pot or dish like.) Tuesday night I ate chinese takeout. Wednesday I got this out of the freezer to eat at work, and brought it home and thought "Oh! A dish!!!!"

moving: day one

Closed on the new house on Tuesday. Wednesday, new gas stove delivered, electrical repairs begun (not by me), fence estimate [faints] made and contracted, a few things moved in.

It begins. The professionals will finish it on Tuesday. You may hear from me from beneath the piles of boxes.

boxes

I have boxes.

Nearly every day I bring more home from work.

They are all empty. They are hungry.

waiting

No definite news on my move. The closing on the second tract from the auction will be the middle of this week, I've sent in the paperwork for the mortgage for additional money, I've made an offer on a house near my main job, but do I have a contract? Or not? This is strangely unclear. Once I have an approximate date for the mortgage I can push for a closing date from the bank that owns the house I'm trying to buy. In the meantime....

Booger chews her nails for me.

taking it easy

This cat does not live at my workplace, but he's a privileged visitor.

This spot at the top of the spiral stairs is very cozy and well defended. A good place to polish your paws.

You'll notice he's not studying any of the technical literature he's guarding.

I'm a lot busier than he is. I'll catch up later, I hope.

flowers for the sun

I always celebrate the summer solstice by changing the hand-painted-by-relatives plate on display, but I like to have flowers on the table, too (all the time, if possible.) After all the mowing that got done before the auction, I was lucky to be able to find any at all, but yesterday some black-eyed Susans bloomed at the edge of the trees where the tractor missed them.

The daisies, from another edge, are also rayed like the sun.

The tent of destiny

Saturday afternoon the house I've blogged about here will be sold at auction. I haven't been able to sell my old house (which is rented, but the rent is not enough to pay off the loan on this one) and I've decided not to struggle any more to scrape up the property taxes. Even with my new slightly better paid job, I only make enough to cover my expenses every month. (I'd really like to have health insurance again, but it will take a while.) Turning loose of this house that I expected to live in for the rest of my life has proved startlingly easy. I will miss it, but I need to move on. My allergies will miss it more: I dread going back to hot air heat, which is all I can find, and I don't expect to have the money to rip out a whole heating system and replace with hot water heat. The 45 mile commute is a factor in how willing I am to move. When I built this house I intended to work from home. That has not been possible, and I love my new job (and I sort of still love my old job where I'm still working two days a week) but I spend two hours on the road every day. Someday I'll cut back to a five day work week, but not right away, so being twenty-five minutes closer to work will make a noticeable difference in my life. I've found several possible houses, and on Monday I'll make an offer on my favorite. I'll let you know how that goes!