pots and pans organizer

Look what I made! I'm so proud of myself. This thing is STURDY. 

The previous setup was not the worst situation, but it was not ideal. 

Things got cattywampus pretty quickly, pretty often. 

I believe that if you interact with something daily, it needs to function optimally. And if you need to make an investment to make that happen, it's worth it. For someone who cooks at least 2 meals every day, I needed something better.

So I started to research pots & pan organizers, and those flimsy wire contraptions were NOT going to cut it.

I remember that my grandma had some sort of custom built-in similar to this in her kitchen, and even as a child I thought that was really cool.

Since I couldn't find anything pre-made in the size, quality, or price that I wanted, that meant it's project time. 

I drew up the dimensions, pulled out some scrap plywood & leftover paint, and went to town. FH did a few drive bys to see how I was doing (I know it drove him nuts not to help). I had to have him show me how to use the nail gun, but otherwise I did it all by myself.

Look how good it is! Nothing is wobbly, everything has a place. *wolf whistle* Hubba hubba.

Plus apparently I have space to buy 2 more pans.

snow dayyyy

We got proper snow in Houston for the first time since I've lived here. And the first snow at all (for us) at the river.

Even though we're further south, we got enough snow to make it worth a trip outside. Some evidence:

I was thankful for our ski clothes at this point

We had to do a lot of prep to make sure the pipes didn't freeze (the well is more complicated than city water), and we prepared for the power to go out. It did, but not for a long period of time. Thank goodness, because even though we ran it a few days prior to test it, the generator wouldn't start. It was too cold and the battery died. Lesson learned.

Skillz

Add "replacing a threshold" to the list of things I now know how to do.

The youtube videos described cutting out the old threshold, but this one was so rotted and wobbly that I could almost kick it out. Too bad, I was looking forward to using the hammer and crowbar.

The frame was pretty rotted on one side and that required some creative repairs. Three different caulks and 2 types of paint later, we're all pretty and new. And functional. The air used to blow right through that door and with the *snow* coming, the timing on this project was perfect. 

all right.

I've been in a bad mood all day. 

I woke up in a fantastic mood, but shortly after that... I don't even want to talk about it because I'm going to get mad again.

There's a psychological phenomenon, I forget what it's called, where when you're pissed off you remember more times when you were pissed off, and when you're happy, you remember more times when you were happy, and today's rage kind of snowballed.

Anyway.

Couple of things:

-I need to start working out. Feeling weak and mushy. I hurt my shoulder a while ago and in the process of letting it heal I lost all my arm strength. Starting over from scratch.

-I miss having a cat. Don't want to get another one because I like not having to deal with litter boxes, cat hair, and pet sitters, but I do miss all the snuggles and cuteness. I can see why they say that having a pet lowers your blood pressure, because I'm finding that since I don't have a snuggle buddy, I relax less.

-Pretty sure I convinced FH to get chickens. I've always wanted them and, you know, I prescribe to the "life is short so let's do whatever we want" vibe.  It's on the list, but not sure how high it is. We have a lot of home maintenance items higher up at the moment.

-Found a doctor and a dermatologist locally. Hoping that with a smaller practice I'm treated like a patient and not an insurance claim, but honestly at this point I just need some checkups. Also hey, mammogram age.

-Taking a birthday trip to hot springs, arkansas. Plane tickets the Sunday after Thanksgiving were astronomical, so we're taking my new Rav4 for a road trip. Something new, for sure. We got a cute airbnb in the mountains on the edge of a national forest that has a hot tub and full kitchen, so if we do nothing but veg and go hiking I'm considering it a win. (But also we're doing to dig for diamonds.) Very much looking forward to that.

-Work has been crazy busy for a while now but we have wrapped up all of the huge projects in town so we just might get a breather. Feeling a little more balanced there. Going to take a minute to regroup before I volunteer to help in other areas that are slammed. My boss forwarded a job opening for a promotion last week and I flagged it to consider, then promptly marked it as complete because I can't even fathom that right now.

closet makeover

The River closet is small.

One of the hard requirements of moving in was making the closet work harder. This is what we came up with.

1. Raise the existing rods & shelves to make room for a shoe shelf on the back wall

2. Add a small drawer unit and build hanging rods & shelves on top for each side.

And here's how it turned out.

Now, we can take our suitcases (full of clothes) out of the middle of the kitchen where they've casually been for a week.

The kitchen really is too big but that's a story for another day.

a few things

Today I mopped the floors for the first time in 2 months. The dog puked a few times last night, and after cleaning it up I decided it was time to give the floors a proper clean. I counted it as cardio.

I had to change the water 3 times it was so dirty. Which surprised me because we run roomba several times a week and the floors didn't LOOK that dirty. But I guess they were. Now my back hurts haha

Tomorrow is my bachelorette party! I opted for a low-key, dress up in your sparkles and bring a bottle of wine for a MEGA-tasting with my favorite gals. Should be a blasty blast. 

Work has been mega busy lately and I'm involved in an initiative that should be good for my career, but because of it I've been right in that "Tired but Not Burnt Out Yet" zone. Basically I'm done trying to hustle in my professional life. I'm happy to coast until retirement, but they've been making me work and I'm not used to it. In the last 2 weeks, I've visited each coast. Talk about jet lag.

Wedding planning is in crunch time. We're in that time frame where a lot of stuff has to be checked off the list and it's kinda stressful, kinda fun. I did the alterations on my dress, which was nerve-wracking but adequate. I'm still adding the beading to the bodice, which is tedious but actually relaxing. You know, lots of immediate contradictions going on here.

The river house is deep into the negotiations of getting raised. We've met with the architecture company, and if we can get some details ironed out, the project could start as early as mid-October. Which, between that and the wedding and upcoming taxes and FF's lack of income, we could be pinching some pennies pretty tight for a while. Good thing we like beans.

That's all for now.

game changer

This is important.

I have found the easiest way to clean windows.

The river has several very large windows that get grimy quickly and it looks really obvious when they're dirty. I didn't pay a bunch of money to get new windows only to have obstructed views.

After exactly one time of struggling with windex streaks and rubbing until my arms were jelly, I ordered myself a few things that have changed my life.

1. Libman concentrated window cleaner

2. A microfiber scrubber and squeegee set

I had all the windows clean, inside and out, with no scrubbing, streak-free the first time, and didn't even break a sweat. I was so amazed. It worked so well. 

I raved about it for approximately 8 hours, until FF was tired of hearing about it. I don't care. It was awesome.

I had extra soap, so I tried it on the glass shower doors and while it didn't cut the hard water spots as well as the brillo pads, it did a very good job and would be a great in-between-scrubbings option. It took hardly any effort and the doors looked great.

I wonder what else I can clean with these?

The secret to cleaning glass shower doors

I found it. 

The secret to cleaning glass shower doors aka the 2nd most annoying chore in the world.

Glass shower doors suck. Not only do they always leak, but cleaning them is a nightmare. 

I hate HATE trying to clean hard water deposits off of glass shower doors. To the point where when I had them, I would clean them, then shower in the other bathroom so they wouldn't get dirty again. To the point where it was a deal breaker when we were looking at vacation houses. I have tried (almost) every product out there to clean glass shower doors and was never very happy with the results.

Tell me why I wound up with glass shower doors and VERY hard well water with this house. (Ironically, this house is full of deal-breakers but I do love it)

I remember when we first looked at the house, I noted how clean the shower doors were and wondered... HOW? 

When we moved in, I found something curious: the previous owner left a box of these sitting under the bathroom sink. I wondered why he had such a heavy-duty product in the bathroom, but the guy did some weird stuff so I tucked the information into the back of my brain, ignored them, and left them there.

After we moved in I procrastinated cleaning the shower doors for about a month and by then they looked so bad that I had to do something. So I tried a bunch of stuff that I knew wouldn't work, just to get the majority of the scum off. 

Fast forward to a couple weeks later and the shower doors were, again, disgusting. At that point I was so fed up. I remembered the curious box under the sink and decided to give them a try. I was afraid they would scratch the glass so I did not scrub, just lightly wiped them over the wet doors. 

Y'ALL. Y'ALL! 

These are it! I didn't even scrub and they took the majority of those blasted hard water spots. I couldn't believe that after YEARS and trying SO MANY PRODUCTS that these humble little pads did the trick. My life is CHANGED.

I can't wait to try these little miracles to clean other things.

Double meaning

Look what I made!

I got my inspiration from this pin that I pinned a long time ago in the original Lake House board:

Sure, I could have ordered a poster for $30, but where's the fun in that??

I made it using old fence boards and craft paint so I spent nada, and I now have a pretty cool piece of art to hang above the bed at the river.

hey I'm tired

Dude. Apparently it's too much for me to manage one household and establish another at the same time. We've been spending every weekend at the river, trying to get things in order, and during the week we're so busy that we can barely figure out what to eat for dinner.

I have been working nonstop. Between actual work and projects at home and the river, I haven't had a moment's rest. Well, not if you count the alternating afternoon power nap or iced coffee to get me through the rest of the day. I'm stretched pretty thin lately.

I need a relaxing day where I don't do any work or host- just laze around and read magazines and do a craft and take naps. So I looked at my calendar, hoping to schedule it on the weekend or take a PTO day, and I'm looking at August before I can catch a break. Oh. Okay.

I'm so tired that I told FG to call the house cleaners. This is a big deal. He used to use them a lot but I do a better job than they do and I enjoy cleaning, so we haven't called them in a long time.

I'm at the point where I don't have the time or the energy and the house is a freaking mess and it's stressing me out. So they came today while we tackled approximately 1,000 projects that we've been ignoring at home while focusing on the river house. And you know what? It's not perfect but it's clean enough. I'm noticing clean things that I didn't have to do: There's no cat hair on the lamp shade on my desk! Nothing sticks to my bare feet as I walk around the house! They even cleaned under the couches, which I would never do. Well worth the money. I'm so grateful.

In the meantime FG and I (and the cat) are covered in sawdust but we put thin strips on the new fence between every picket so it has privacy and I can garden naked if I want (and I do), and the flower beds are actually going in, yay!

And the bedsheets are clean and the bed was magically made while I shoveled dirt and picked up stray nails and cigarette butts in the backyard in the 100+ heat.

Tomorrow we pick back up on the projects bright and early, but because of the insane heat we decided to take a mid-day break and I get to go see my sister and parents. I'm embracing these mini-breaks where I can.

Also, I mentioned before that FG and I have been snipping at each other a lot lately, and it's started to put a strain on our relationship. I'm trying to nip this in the bud and have really tried to maintain a positive attitude and treat him with more kindness than usual, especially when tensions start to get high. 

And it's working! It turns out, when the cycle of crabiness is broken, it's broken. 

...thank goodness.

Chair makeover

I finally got around to updating this chair. (Fun fact, I still have and use all of the items I bought that day. Except the oil can.)

The fabric had worn and it was looking a little gross and shabby, so I started slowly taking it apart. I took a ton of pictures of small details as I took it apart, so that I would have that as a reference for when I put it back together. It was basically staples and glue, but there were several times where I went back and checked the pictures to make sure I had things positioned properly.

I couldn't re-use anything because the foam had dry-rotted and basically disintegrated as I pulled it off. Messy and gross. I oiled the springs so now it doesn't squeak when I sit down, and I painted it a glossy black.

I upgraded to a much thicker foam for the seat, and found some fun fabric. For the trim I was going to use matching double cording, but then I saw the fun braided kind and I like the way it looks a lot. Here it is now:

I love it. Of course now that the chair has been updated, my desk looks shabby...

Turning a flat sheet into a bedskirt

Have you priced bed skirts lately? I was finding it difficult to find a bed skirt to fit an 18-inch tall California King frame. I'm not paying $100 just to hide the crap under the bed.

Fortunately, I'm resourceful. I found a flat sheet in the right size (for $20) and here's how I tailored it:

First of all, IRON the sheet. It will look so much nicer. Wrinkles don't fall out over time, no matter how much you try to tell yourself that they will. 

Next, drape the sheet over the bed frame, wrong-side up. Line everything up where you want it. Mine happened to be the perfect size so that all the edges lined up with the floor.

On each corner, pull the bottom corner of the sheet out and pin the sides of the sheet together along the leg of the frame. Make sure the bottom edges line up.

Trim the excess, leaving a few inches of fabric to work with.

Remove the sheet from the bed frame. One at a time, lay each corner flat. Mark where the top and bottom pins are with a pencil. Move the pins over and use a ruler to line up with the marks. Draw a line, to mark where the pins were. Baste along the line. 

(Since the initial measurements were eyeballed, I felt more comfortable basting first. If you're confident in your pinning abilities, go for it with a regular stitch.)

Put the bed skirt back on the bed and, if necessary, make adjustments. Once you're happy with the fit, take it back off and sew using a regular stitch. Trim the excess fabric, then use a zig zag stitch along the raw edges to prevent fraying. Turn the corners right side out and press with a hot steamy iron.

I also added 4 ties (ribbon I had on hand) to the top of the sheet, so that it could be tied to the head of the frame to help keep it in place.

Look at how nice those corners look.

(I still needed to adjust that one corner when I snapped the picture.)

Stick the mattress back on the bed, adjust if it shifted, and you're done.

wild saturday

Sitting next to FG on the couch munching on a snack plate and drinking wine while he watches football.

Today was perfect hiking weather. Did we go hiking? No. We completed a few tasks on the to-do lists and I spent much of the day battling one of those damn headaches that makes me useless. The damn heater spews all that dry air and it fries my sinuses. Gotta bust out the humidifier. 

The bedroom transition is moving along. We have looked at approximately 100 bedroom sets at 7 different stores and didn't love any of them. Then we decided that we don't need to be spending $5000 on bedroom furniture while we are trying to buy a lake house. So the new plan is to update the bed (the '70's porno bed is GONE), get an additional dresser on a budget, and upgrade to a matching set later on. So far I found a headboard, frame, and bedskirt for less than $200.

FG just asked if I was blogging about the good loving I got last night. LOL. I told him I don't generally blog about that.

Little baby Olivia was born this week and I've been doing my best to respect my brother and sister-in-law's space, but I'm going to need to snuggle that baby soon. She's so tiny and Emma's reaction to her baby sister is the cutest damn thing.

Starting to feel itchy but I'm trying not to take benadryl so often bc of the dementia-related risks that Suzy pointed out. The dermatologist recommended this lotion that smells like old people (or like icy hot) but works pretty well. I have also found that when it gets cold and dry, if I don't shower my skin feels better. Something about the hot water? But I can only go so long without a shower... 

belly, floors, lake, clothes

I feel like I've eaten SO MUCH FOOD lately. 

My stomach has been tolerating everything I eat and it's awesome. I wonder how long this bout of normalcy will last? I feel so nourished and soft and happy. People really take it for granted when their digestive system simply digests food without complaint.

Also my period was 4 days late this month. Normally it's on a very regular, 28-day schedule and in the past I would have freaked out, but since I got my tubes removed, it's no big deal. I love that peace of mind.

A friend of mine told me that instead of sweeping or vacuuming his floors, he uses a leaf blower and blows all the pet hair and dirt out the front door. I tried it today. Sure, it blows all the stuff out from under the couch, but it's very hard to direct the flow. Everything blew up into the air and while some of it made it outside the door, I think half of it is now on every surface in this house. Now I have to freaking DUST! My other least-favorite chore! I won't be trying that again. The 3 roombas will just have to do.

We don't have any trips planned. Weird, right? FG is going on a cruise but I refuse to be trapped on a floating cesspool. Ever. (You will never find me on a cruise).

The current lack of traveling works out okay because I'd rather spend my weekends looking at lake houses. The perfect house got away from us, and we were crushed because it had everything we wanted and we really thought that was OUR house. Man, it was hard to lose it. It had original hardwood floors and an incredible view and it was just so good. That's okay though because there will be something else that is just as good. Everything happens for a reason, right?

I started taking benadryl at night again. It seems to help with my itchy arms and it helps with my sinuses too. FG thinks it's creepy that I don't wake up when he comes to bed and kisses me goodnight, but I'm perfectly happy to sleep like a rock.

Work is still really slow. Again, I'm getting a little stir crazy but I'm also choosing to embrace it, because I know I'll be slammed again at some point.

I bought 10 pairs of jeans online and returned all of them. I know that high rise pants are the style right now, but that is NOT a good look for gals with no butts. Even the mid-rise styles didn't work for me. Not only are they unflattering, I don't like the feel of the material over my entire belly. I'd prefer them to hit at my hip bones, but apparently I need to wait for lower rise styles to come back into fashion and buy that shit up. Buying pants sucks.

I think I'm going to make some peanut butter cookies. Because right now, I can eat them and they won't fuck me up. Cheers.

hey you, porker

Hope this blog post finds you well.

I'm sitting on the couch looking at boxes of Christmas decorations that need to be put back up into the attic. In the meantime they just make the house look messy. It can be messy for a few days. I'm telling myself that... over and over.

After taking a break from house-related changes, I declared that 2022 is the year that we bring our bedroom into this decade. The bulky old waterbed frame and mismatched furniture don't exactly lend a relaxing vibe. As long as FG can find a deal on the furniture, I'll get my new bedroom.

Also working on the living room situation. The couches and end tables are awkward in the space and I'm just not great at the home styling stuff. I tend to find pieces that serve a purpose but also look pretty, and sometimes those things don't go well together. For example we replaced the gigantic useless coffee table with a storage ottoman, and I love the ottoman but it doesn't match the couches and looks a little off. FG drew the line at new couches (if you give a mouse a cookie), and he's probably right, so I'm going to have to figure it out. I'd almost like to hire Frank's decorator just to have a fresh eye in here. Hm.

The lake house search is ongoing and I'm hoping that after the holidays people put their houses on the market. We have seen a lot of cool houses but we have so many requirements that it will have to be a very specific property for us to really be interested. I'd really also love to not pay for that storage unit every month and drink my coffee with a beautiful view. You know?

That was a lot about houses and home decor. 

Oh, I'm getting my face lasered next week. Hopefully these sun spots and old acne scar discoloration will fade. Not that it's super bad, but I want to try it.

Also about 3 months into using latisse. I asked my eye doctor about dying my eyelashes so I didn't have to wear mascara every day and she said that's a terrible idea and would likely cause a lot of irritation and not be worth it. So she prescribed latisse just to try. Overall I like it. No issues. My lashes are much longer (almost too long), but they're not much darker or thicker. Also my right eye has some scarring along the lash line from when I was a kid, so the growth has always been uneven and that's true now as well. So my lashes are super long but not exactly even. I've also been trying a few mascaras and I have some detailed reviews coming up.

It's also about time to update my wardrobe. I walk in my closet and have "nothing to wear" which means I'm bored with the current choices. Considering trying stitch fix again. Still looking for a good resource for pants because nothing fits anywhere.

I am happy to report that I am still doing daily pushups. I've stalled at 15 but I'm ok with that. We got a gym membership but months later we STILL have not gone. I don't really care and am leaning more towards getting a yoga membership instead. I haven't practiced in months, even at home, and I really do feel better when I do. Plus my job will reimburse the cost of fitness-related expenses so why not?

Work has been slow the last few months. I've learned to TAKE the breaks when they come, because it's only a matter of time before I'll be slammed. We got huge bonuses and I got a good raise this year, so right now I love my job.

Got a little bit of the sniffles going around our house. FG got sick first and we did an at home test for the big C, (fun fact: the tests you get at the drug store are the exact same as the kind used in the hospital labs) and it was negative. His symptoms were mild and ordinarily we wouldn't have bothered to test for it, but we were going to visit his dad who has significant respiratory-related medical issues and we didn't want to take the chance. Anyway whatever he had, I now have, and no matter what you call it, it sucks being sick. Hoping this runs its course fast and doesn't linger like these things tend to do.

bliss

Today, at approximately 5:30 pm, I looked at FG and said, "There's no one else I'd rather be cranky with in Home Depot."
Which lightened the mood considerably. 

That's the kind of day we had. But really, it was actually pretty good. This weekend was exactly what I wanted it to be. After last weekend's badass trip to Vegas (literally the funnest time I've had in a LONG time... my entire family in Vegas, my little brother getting married, I won $400 on a penny slot, it was just SO FUN), I needed a mellow weekend.

So we slept in, hung around the house, and crossed a bunch of stuff off of our to-do lists. I made watermelon slushies and we set up the pool and stripped to take a dip when it got too hot.

We also took a quick drive through the country to drop off an impromptu gift of an outdoor rug. FG decided that Ash & Collin needed one for their new camper so we crashed their first family vacation in that new camper. It derailed my plans to try out a local wine bar but honestly I think I enjoyed sitting at that picnic table gossiping about dramatic moms in my moomoo more than I would have enjoyed an overpriced glass of wine.

When we got home that night, a broken bottle of wine AND some dog pee had to be cleaned up in the game room, which slopes so both of those things ran downhill for a longer distance than we'd prefer to clean up. Of course this happened AFTER I had mopped and while we were both starving. Fun times.

In conclusion, the shower no longer drips, we upgraded and streamlined the door locks, the floors got cleaned, the roses got pruned, and a bunch of other stuff got crossed off the lists. And I'm happy.

Now I know how to fix a dripping shower. Also I'm ready to plan another trip. I've always wanted to go to Vermont when the leaves change...

Products I'm loving lately

 Another round of stuff I'm loving lately:

-Olay Glow Boost mask. I found this on sale, but when I run out I'm going to buy it again full price. I love that it's in a stick so it rubs on easy with no mess. It's less harsh than some of the other charcoal masks I've tried. It washes off easy with no residue. I've been putting it on every day after I come home, and my mask-related irritation and breakouts have diminished. 

-Dawn Powerwash. This stuff is cool. It's like a degreaser but not as harsh. I've used it to clean greasy dishes, but really, it's good for cleaning anything that's really dirty. I've used it...
-In the bathtub to clean bath oil residue.
-Grimy blinds. After they were removed, I laid them down on the pavement and sprayed it on, scrubbed them with a broom, and used the hose to rinse. Sparkling clean.
-Super old grease on kitchen cabinets.
-Filthy AC vents.
Next I'm going to try it on some patio furniture.

-Stovetop Espresso maker. So simple, makes the super strong coffee that I like. I use it whenever I have a mellow morning or need an afternoon perk.

-White cotton gloves and vaseline. My hands have been beat up lately because of moving and various home repairs, cleaning, etc. I rub some neosporin on the cuts, coat my whole hands in vaseline, and sleep with the gloves. FG thinks it's a little weird but it has seriously helped keep my hands from becoming chapped, cut up messes.

Stuff.

Stopped by the storage unit today.

You know, besides the furniture, I think 3/4 of it is kitchen stuff and seasonal decorations. 

We wrote down a timeline for when the rest of the rooms will be painted, so I know how long I have until we can start going through it all. 

There is an end in sight, but there is lots of work ahead of us.

We decided to keep one of the storage units to store things destined for the lake house. We figured that the cost of a storage unit for a year or two is way cheaper than buying everything new for the lake house, especially furniture like the kitchen and patio tables, a grill, and the bed. Have you priced mattresses nowadays? Sheesh.

I like having a plan. It makes the chaos seem slightly more managed.

more integrations, it's real

Oh, guys. Today FG and I got a joint bank account. 

Let's back up. This morning at 5am I woke up with a terrible headache. I can't take pain meds without food in my stomach and it was too early to eat, so I heated up my rice pack and put it on my face and went back to sleep. 4 hours later, I woke up again, still with a headache. 

I got up, prepared to make myself a cup of coffee and breakfast so I could take some medicine, but FG had saved me some breakfast and had a hot cup of coffee waiting. He had also fed Pumpkin and made sure she had fresh water. 

It's so hard to do anything with one of these headaches, and I was SO grateful for his considerations. It wasn't how I wanted to spend my day off, but I spent most of the day in bed waiting for the pain to go away. It didn't go away until it rained at about 3pm, while we were at the bank. 

Oh yes, the bank. 

We got a joint checking and savings account so that we could easily pay shared bills. He pays his mortgage and taxes separately, so the savings account is for the tax payment each year. Since I'm a new customer at this particular bank, I was able to take advantage of a promotion that gives you $500 if you meet certain criteria. You bet I'm going to meet that criteria. 

So the plan is to pay bills from this joint account, and keep the rest of our money in our personal accounts and I'm pretty okay with that, but it did make me slightly uneasy to open up a joint account. It's just so... committed. I'm direct depositing a big chunk of my paycheck into a joint bank account that another person can access. I trust FG and I am onboard with the system, so I'm not sure why that gives me anxiety. Still processing that.

The other thing I need to figure out is what rights I have. My name is nowhere on the mortgage or any of the bills, and while I'm paying half of his mortgage he gets all the equity. Is there such a thing as a prenup for moving in together? I have to figure that out. I'm not just going to essentially be paying him rent. If I'm putting money into this house I'm getting something back, just in case this doesn't work out. Plus we are going to have to draw up wills just in case something happens to either of us.

So many things to consider. 

adjustments and integrations and such

This is life right now. Everything is still messy and I'm trying not to let it make me crabby. Trying to focus on the fact that each room is slowly looking cleaner, brighter, and fresher. It really is slowly transforming into a new house. 

It doesn't quite feel like home yet, though.

It's hard to go through your physical objects and try to merge them. We are both splitting our things into categories: Keep for home, Keep for the lake house, and Donate. All of my stuff is in storage, so it's really all on FG right now. Most of his decor was picked out by his ex wife 10 years ago and has Got to Go. He's been pretty good about it but it's a struggle sometimes because I'm trying not to make him feel like I'm forcing him to get rid of stuff. It's a delicate process.

We went to the storage unit today and picked up a few of my things. I am eager to start putting my stuff in the house so it'll feel like my home. The problem is, there's not much I can bring back into the house until it's done being painted, because right now it will just be more stuff to shuffle around from room to room. 

I prioritized and got my craft table set up in my office, and that makes me so, so happy. I have a space that I can call mine and retreat to and sew or whatever and I love it. 

So there's another few weeks of feeling like I'm camping out at FG's house until I can really start to integrate. It's okay, I can deal- I have my craft table now. That was oddly important.

I'll still have to store things like my kitchen table and bed for the lake house, but it's nice to have a clear direction in the meantime. Even after purging so much prior to moving, it's easy to get rid of things that don't fit. If I'm indifferent and FG doesn't like it, it gets tossed into the donate pile. We both rarely fight for things and if we do, we know that it stays and we'll find a way to make it work. After all, it's just stuff.

One thing that made the cut for our home: this bookshelf, which I love.

Honestly, it's been a lot of work but it's been fun to integrate the things we love the most and get rid of the things that don't really matter.

Other important news. We started locking Pumpkin in the game room on the other side of the house at night, because her nighttime meowing was really starting to interrupt FG's sleep. I am pretty much used to it after 17 years, but I do have to admit that I don't miss the cat hair in bed and I do sleep better without the meows. 

But then there's the dog. He sleeps in the bedroom in his little bed and I am NOT used to his noises. Ugh, he makes so many little scratching, licking, whimpering noises and I'm about ready to kick him out, too. I'm giving it a couple of weeks to get used to. Like I said, the hardest part about moving in together has been tolerating each others' pets.

We had to cancel our trip to Vegas this weekend because we have so much to do and the city is half shut down anyway so it won't be much of a trip. I'm still sad. I was looking forward to seeing Luke. I kept my PTO for tomorrow so I get a 3-day weekend. I'm ok with that. It will be nice to relax a little and complete a few pending projects around here.