Monday at 11am!

Perhaps the most stressful part of me moving to Delaware is not the fact that I will have to put up with Mike's fashion style on a daily basis, but the fact that I am leaving my job of 5 years without having anything definite lined up.  Ideally, we would love it if I was able to have a few weeks off between my last day at my current job and the start of a new job to allow me to move all of my belongings over the span of a few days and also give me free time to be able to work on the house.  However, the fear of not being able to find a job and a "few weeks" turning into a few months is growing by the day.  I have sent out a few job applications for government positions, but have not heard anything after the standard "you are qualified, we will be in touch" response.  I would have loved to be actively interviewing right now for a job, but since I am in my last two weeks, I can not take a day off (and 2 hours each way make even a long lunch break impossible).  However, now that my last day is just around the corner, I have started sending out resumes for jobs in the private sector and a few of the wonderful attorneys here have passed it and a recommendation on to whoever they know in the area.  Sure enough, I have my first interview lined up for Monday at 11am!  And the best part about having an interview scheduled?  I need a new suit and I can finally justify going on a shopping trip (or two)!

Teddy and Gretta

I stayed home this past weekend so I don't have any updates on the house or any of our other many projects.  I am, however, told that progress is being made on the closet and that I will be pleasantly surprised when I see it this coming weekend.  I have also put wedding planning on the back burner for a bit while I focus on packing, moving and job hunting.  So, in lieu of no post at all, I thought I would introduce the world wide web to the other loves of my life (and sometimes source of stress headaches), my horses.  I began riding horses before I can even remember.  I believe the story is that I was under a year old when I had my first pony ride.  My mom got me into the horse world and it turned into not only a wonderful activity that we shared, but an entire way of life that most of my  memories revolve around.  From spending all day, every day of a hot summer doing barn chores to bundling up on the coldest days to smash the ice out of water buckets, my favorite memories are the years we spent together with our horses.  I will never forget riding side by side with my mom along the perimeters of each field as we checked for broken fence boards and feeling like the rest of the world was miles away.  Horses became my entire world and I enjoyed simply being at the barn just as much, or even more than, riding.  Not only did the great people we met through horses become our family, but so did the actual horses.  My mom bought Gretta when I was 10 years old and I got Teddy when I was 11.  They have distinct personalities- Gretta is a typical mare and such a graceful lady that tries to hide her sweet nature while Teddy is the dorky little boy allergic to everything that is so excited to see you that his ears look like they are going to pop off.  The were truly fun and frustrating horses to ride and show, and now that they are retired, they are still just as fun and frustrating.  Gretta was a dressage horse who loved to get in the show ring.  She was retired after she developed Navicular in both her front feet and deemed too lame to consistently ride.  Now at 27, she runs everyday through her field kicking up her heels and showing off her beautiful gaits; stick a saddle on her and put her in a ring and she can't trot a straight line without looking lame.  As for Teddy, after 10 years of doing everything from eventing to Western shows with me, he developed severe allergies and COPD and seems to cough at the sight of a halter coming toward him.  This past summer was extremely hard on him and he currently is being treated for a build-up of scar tissue in his lungs, yet when I go to see him in the field, he trots right up to me looking as happy as he can be.  I know it must sound strange to everyone else, but Teddy and Gretta really are members of my family.  So much has changed in the past 15 years, but the one constant thing in my life has been these horses that have seen me through the good times and the bad, the happiness and the heartbreak.  I still get excited to see them every time I drive down the barn driveway.  I hope they are as ready to move and start this next chapter as I am.

False Advertising?

Now that I am officially in my last two weeks of work, I have taken it upon myself to really buckle down- that is, buckle down and get all of my picture files in order before giving up my work computer.  While browsing through the pictures in my "new house" folder (all 219 files, so far) I came across the pictures from the real estate website that I downloaded when we first started looking at the place.  Most of the pictures of the house are fair depictions and reflect the state that the house is in now- at least before we started knocking down walls and putting spackle all over the place.  However when comparing the exterior shots to the ones that we took once the papers were signed, one can really tell how far the the yard fell into disarray- and just how many things the homeowner removed before settlement.  Where exactly did those bricks in the edging go anyway?  Regardless, it is obvious how much the former homeowners' cared for this house and how much work they put into it. Things just got a bit "unruly" while it sat on the market.  Even now, it really is not in bad shape, it just needs a bit of TLC.  At least we know it has potential.  Mike and his dad have already been working on getting things under control and looking better.  I try to help, but I don't exactly have a green thumb these days and yard work makes me have the attention span of a 4 year old.  I am, however, looking forward to springtime when we can really dig in and spruce everything up.  Maybe I can even talk Mike into letting me plant an herb garden, and then maybe I can talk him into watering it since I always forget about that part.  For now, a little unruly never hurt anyone. 

Backyard- Then

Backyard- Now

Backyard- Then

Backyard- Now

Mission: Closet- Part 2

I had originally intended to have two Mission: Closet posts- one for the demo and one for the construction.  But life rarely works out the way we plan and I am finding that these house projects are no different.  For a refresher of Part 1- see  Mission: Closet- Part 1.

So here we are, 3 weeks since we started the project and the end is just starting to be in sight. There have been a few hiccups in the process, but there has definitely been progress.  Over the past few weeks, all of the demo work has been completed, the remnants of the old walls have come down, the materials have been purchased and the construction plans have been formed in Mike's head- or so he claims.  This past weekend we had to call in reinforcements to get things moving along.  Mike's friend Greg came over to assist in the construction and my friend Lauren came over and assisted in the demo of even more drywall.  With everyone's efforts (especially the supervision Lauren and I provided from the sunroom while snacking on chips and guacamole) much was accomplished.  The opening where the guest room closet was has been framed in and the framing for the new wall in the master bedroom has been started.  Unfortunately I had to leave the wall building party early to go home and check on my sick pony, but Greg and Mike continued their hard work and made massive strides.  Things are actually farther along now than this picture shows and from what I've heard, the new wall is almost fully framed in.

One HUGE Step

I submitted my resignation today and Friday, October 15, 2010, will be my last day of work here in DC.  I have been with this firm for just over 5 years so this is definitely bittersweet.  As excited as I am to move on, this has been my home for 40+ hours a week (making it over 10,400 hours of my life!) and as much as I may complain about my job at times, they have been very good to me.  It is a little unsettling right now as I do not have anything definite lined up, but I'm looking forward to the challenges and opportunities that come with starting something new.  The best part is, this is the first big step I am taking to officially make my way to Delaware.  And while part of me is scared out of my mind, I can't wait.

Invasion of the Boxes!

I have a lot of stuff...A LOT of stuff...far more stuff that anyone my age should have. From childhood memorabilia to holiday decorations to family collectibles, I have boxes that easily fill two-thirds of my basement in Bethesda.  And this is in addition to having enough furniture to fill a single family home and enough everyday items to make it unnecessary for us to buy anything other than groceries when we officially move in. I refuse to call myself a pack rat though. Instead, I think of myself as a practical, albeit sentimental, person who over the years, has deemed these items worthy of saving. And while I try to reduce the amount of boxes I have every time I move, I still have quite a bit. So, in an attempt to not be moving lots of furniture and tons of boxes (and trunks of shoes) all at once, we decided that it would be a good idea to slowly start moving these boxes up to Delaware. We filled Mike's truck and the FJ (my current ride that we lovingly referred to as "The Thing") and successfully moved them into the new house. It is already feeling more like home now that I have my mementos close by.  Yet, it makes me a bit nervous to see we only put a small dent in the amount I have stored in Maryland.  Maybe another attempt at downsizing is in order!

Temporary Furnishings

As we are spending every weekend at the house now, we found it necessary to add to our earlier set up of a pair of camping chairs and an air mattress.  We added the new mattress a few weeks ago and Mike has even put up a big car poster over the bed to make it feel more "homey" as he calls it.  (I'm hoping he knows that is only temporary, but I'll let him enjoy it while he can!).  We have also added a futon to the living room (thank you, Jackie and Greg) and then added added my patio table and chairs to the sunroom.  Maserati even got his own piece of temporary furniture when Mike built him a perch so he could look out the window...a perch made with boxes salvaged from the liquor store.  All in all, the house truly looks like it is inhabited by squatters!  We are thinking of picking up a few milk crates to complete the look :)  As fun as it has been, we are really looking forward to moving in the actual furniture at the end of the month.  Enjoy the pictures!

Apparently Maserati likes the camera as he somehow managed to make it into every picture!