Goodbye old house

I have no mixed feelings about leaving our old house behind. Despite the fact that it was my first house, and the first place I really felt like I had allowed roots to grow. Brian and I share many great memories, and a few very sad ones, of that house. One of the first things I did at the new house was to unpack Ember's ashes and put them on the mantel. Not for his benefit, I don't believe in heaven and afterlife, but for mine, so I could just feel like a part of him is still with me. I miss him so much.

If there is any sadness over leaving the old house it is completely eclipsed by the joy I feel over being in the new house. Since Wednesday we've been living in the new house and getting used to all the quirks that come along with it. Adapting things to be more convenient, such as putting the lamps in the living room and bedroom on X10 switches, and relocating things when we find their current location to be awkward. There are a few things for which I need to find solutions, such as where to put our shoes when we enter the house, and where to store all of the stuff that used to be in the office closet in our old house. The office in our new house is lacking a closet.

Brian went to Houston this weekend and I spent some time hanging out at the house and putting up art work. The house looks so bright and beautiful with all the colourful paintings up. The wall colours chosen by the previous owner really compliment the paintings, too. It must have been meant to be ;-)

Brian had a fun time in Houston and took some really good pictures at the Grand Prix with the Nikon D50. Some might even be art-worthy. Meanwhile I worked on a project for our anniversary (which is coming up on May 20th!) and spent some quality time with the girls (and Ethan). I had dinner with Jen and Ethan and Barbie on friday night. Jen's got some exciting things going on in her life right now. I won't disclose it because it's up to her to do that, but suffice it to say that it's a big move, and she's super excited, and we couldn't be happier for her and Ethan.

On Saturday I found myself completely lacking in energy and it was all I could do to get off the couch and go run my errands. I seemed to pick up some energy around 2pm or so and headed off to the mall to see if I could find something cute to wear for girl's night. I did find a couple of tops and a really cute pair of pink sandals. It's surprising, but I did not own a pair of pink sandals. Shame on me! Saturday night was so much fun hanging out with the girls down town. We went to Cuba Libre for appetizers and drinks, though mine was a Shirley Temple. Delicious! Then we headed to the Key bar, and ended the night with some blueberry bread pudding at 219 West. I got home at a very respectable 1:30am. A big thanks to Jen B for planning some much needed girl time. Our lives are all so busy that we sometimes don't remember to spend time with those who are important to us, and I always say I'll try harder to make time for my friends. I really need to act on that more.

Yesterday (Sunday) Brian came back from Houston and made a final trip over to the old house to mow the yard and pick up the last load of things from the garage. He unfortunately got a little over zealous with the broom and managed to snap the wire to the garage door sensor. Consequently, we had to make another trip over there with the tools so he could fix it. I did a final walk through of the house to make sure we didn't leave anything behind, and we reprogrammed the garage door keypad to its factory setting so that the new owner can choose his own code. Then we waved goodby to our old house forever!