Stirring the waters

Tuesday we get the keys to our house - YAY! It has been a long time coming. It will be nearly 5 months since we moved out of our last house, and I can tell you, we have felt every day of those last five months.

Since October 2007, we have lugged all our earthly wares into seven different places across three different countries. Some stays were more fun than others, but each abode has been about the size of a shoe box...or smaller. We are seriously over it. For Ashley and I, I think our current situation has been the most unharmonious time in our entire 18 year relationship; this whole temporary waiting game has been completely unsettling, stressful and disconnecting - we literally, haven't known if or when we were coming or going.

We bought a house three months ago, JUST after we had signed a three month lease on a rental property. Sounds unfortunate, but actually we were very lucky. We needed to go somewhere, and this unsightly place, with its crappy bathroom; barely functioning toilet; tiles falling off the wall; archaic kitchen with no bench space and hideous wall paper, was the only place that was offering a short term rental contract, and as luck would have it, the place happened to be situated near the area we wanted to buy into, so we grasped it with both hands and figured we would live - and we have.

We have seen our new place twice, so I can't quite remember what the hell it looks like inside. I know (and shudder) that it has a nightmarishly steep driveway, but otherwise, I think it should be all right. It needs a bit of work, but nothing like the dump our old place was when we first bought it. I do remember this new place as having a bit more room for the four (or six) of us to spread out in, than our current dive. It also has a fenced yard for both kids and dogs to run around in. I can't wait.

We are spending about 10 days painting the kids rooms and installing built-in robes, fixing the kitchen floor and other tasks we are anticipating on surprising us, once we enter the place empty. It is our hope that we will be moving in on March the 7th. Then, with some luck, our family will finally be able to settle, and we will be able to start thinking about more interesting things.