To the airport I shall go...

John flies in this evening. Hurrah!! I do not enjoy the drive to DFW airport but it is 110% worth it when he is the one I am picking up.

Post-thanksgiving

I have spent today in full lazy mode. I did make two trips to the new house but otherwise me and the couch have been very connected. It has been wonderful and just what I needed. I feel like I will be able to go into work tomorrow and be productive and not mind the fact I am in work on a weekend as today has been my weekend. The rental place is finally starting to look like I have taken some stuff out of it and I am looking forward to the move on Monday.

-> Pause in here because when I wrote 'move on Monday' I remembered I had not reserved our moving truck yet. I now have.

The day ended badly yesterday - I was tired after moving all day, sad I was by myself all day, and then I broke the lid to the toilet. It was the straw that broke the camel's back. The toilet in the place we are renting likes to continually cycle water at random times for no reason. I was trying to stop it for the nth time and the lid slid and broke into two. Bye bye deposit. Last night it seemed like the end of the world, today it seems like a broken toilet lid so perspective has returned.

Thanksgiving

This month a lot of my friends have been posting things they are thankful for on facebook. One status a day reserved for giving thanks. Well today is Thanksgiving so I think I shall make up for not joining in on the thankful statements by making a thankful list. This is actually my first Thanksgiving in the USA that I am alone for - it just was not possible to go elsewhere this year and this is the part of the month John is away. I have been a little down in the lead up to today but yesterday I realised that I really just have so much to be thankful for that I really have no excuse to be glum.

1. It seems appropriate to start this list with something from my first thanksgiving. I am thankful for the family (not naming names) that were my 'host family' when I first moved to the USA and welcomed me into their family. I celebrated my first Thanksgiving with them and it was a wonderful way to start this tradition. They are still in my thoughts often and I miss them now I am not in Knoxville. I think the man upstairs really had a big hand in putting them in my life as they had a huge impact on many levels.
2. I am thankful for my wonderful relationship with John. He's really number one on my list. I know that I always have his support and while there are always going to be bumps in the road we are always able to talk to one another and sort things out together.
3. I am thankful for our new house. For years now I have wanted a place to call mine, that I can paint and decorate... and feel really at home in. I cannot wait for us to be settled there (not so keen on the moving though).
4. I am thankful for my parents. They are so supportive of me, of John and I as a couple, and of each other. They are having to handle most of our wedding planning themselves and they do it without complaining. They drive me nuts but they wouldn't be my parents if they didn't. I always know they are there for me, their love is a constant in my life (even when I am being a total PAIN to them).
5. I am thankful for my friends. They are what enrich my life, shape me into the person I am today and will be tomorrow, catch me when I fall, hold me accountable for my actions, and make me laugh till I cry. I am really looking forward to making new friends here in Fort Worth but I also acknowledge that I am already so very very blessed in the friend department.
6. I am thankful for my job. This is my dream job, what I have always wanted to do. I am so lucky. Every day I go to work I cannot help but wonder what I did to deserve the opportunity. I am amazed by it.
7. I am thankful that I have never been in a position where I did not know where I would sleep or how I would eat. As a student money may have been tight but never to the point where I went without - I was always able to give a little to others at the same time. I am always grateful for the opportunity to help others because my cup is overflowing.
8. I am thankful for my health. People often joke about my health and accident-prone nature but really I am very fortunate. I can get up every day and walk to work. I can lift the boxes I am packing for the move to my car (OK so they are not very heavy boxes).
9. I am thankful for the creative skills God blessed me with. I may not be able to paint or draw to save my own life but I love that I can sit and sew the flowers for my wedding, make origami, knit, and scrapbook. I find it relaxing.
10. I am thankful for snail mail. I LOVE snail mail. Not junk mail but a letter from a friend or relative - it gives me that lovely warm glowy feeling inside. Oooh I love letters.
11. I am thankful that I grew up and still live in a society where I was free to decide who to love, where to worship, what to learn, and who to talk to.
12. I am thankful for my Grandparents. I had a dream about both sets of Grandparents the other night and I am still a little emotional about it. They were all so very special and dear to me and I miss them terribly. It has been years since any of them have actively been in my life and yet I still find myself wanting to share with them what I am doing, what I have achieved, and where my life is going. I hope they knew how very very grateful I am that they were in my life. They are in my prayers all the time and I still feel their loss every day. I wish they could be at my wedding.
13. I am thankful that so many of my friends have found people that make them happy. I went to three weddings this Summer (and I am thankful that somehow I managed that despite just starting my new job) and it just warmed my heart to see my good friends so happy. I want the best for them.
14. I am thankful for indoor plumbing. I really enjoy camping but I life without indoor plumbing would just not be the same. Odd one for the list but a true one. It probably occurred to me because I need the bathroom (TMI?)
15. I am thankful that I am able to go home often and see my family and friends. Christmas will be so much fun.

Well this could go on for ever but I think I shall end it here - I need to make my dinner.

Moving...

Took the first load of 'stuff' to the new house today. Very exciting. Small car though so really not sure it counts for any headway at all into the moving process. I only managed one trip before it got dark - no electricity there at the moment (to save us paying on two places).

Good day

Sunday was a good day. My tooth was feeling much much better.

I feel that if someone followed me around all day Sunday they would have got a very good view of where I want my life to go... but not necessarily where it is now. I have a few goals I am working towards and they were reflected in my travels yesterday.

Stop 1: Fort Worth Running Company. The twins need a little support and this was the place recommended to me as the more generic stores never have anything in my size. I am trying to get myself into a little better shape as my fitness level is BAD. I had my 'body age' measured and it was very very much older than my actual so I need to work on that. I don't want to be a fitness crazed person but I want to not feel limited by my fitness level. It would be nice to feel energized more often than exhausted.

Stop 2: Sunflower Shoppe. This is the place to go for gluten free goodies. I really am trying to get a handle on my diet. Too often I go for absolute rubbish, which makes me feel awful. A part of having better food is being better prepared - the no gluten thing makes it difficult and if I don't have options in the house I opt for a fast food solution like french fries.

Stop 3: Bliss Bridal Salon. I went veil shopping!! I was sort of depressed at having to do this by myself initially. I do not have any female friends here yet. However, the lady who owns this salon is just plain wonderful and made me feel like she was a good friend - sign of a good owner there. I got to wear my dress for a while and try on lots of veils. Just like the dress I did not get what I thought I would but I love my purchase. No descriptions though as John reads this occasionally. Clearly getting married is not so much of a goal thing - but it is something I am looking forward to very much. Cannot wait to be John's wife.

Stop 4: Home. I cooked two lots of soup and a main meal yesterday to get prepared for the week ahead so I can make more sensible choices. I continued sewing my bouquet flowers (I am on the home stretch now). I did some laundry. I felt like stuff got done.

Aims for the week ahead:

1. pack up the house and start moving some boxes over to the new place
2. get the alarm system in the new house up and running - this requires me to turn ont he electricity
3. GET SOME WORK DONE
4. Clean the floors in our current place (it is a disaster)
5. do not eat out all week
6. drink my 6-8 glasses of water a day (this contributed to my OLD OLD body age)

Tee hee

It is interesting reading the previous post because I just find it funny today. Yesterday was cruddy to the nth degree but stepping back from it I am amused at how much I let things get to me. Easily done when you are in pain though I guess.

Today was a good day. I will post about it later... maybe tomorrow.

Bad Day

Urgh Saturday was a bad bad day.

I went to bed delightfully early on Friday night feeling just fine and dandy - my gum was aching a teeny tiny bit around my troublesome wisdom tooth, but nothing to worry about. 2 am rolls around and I feel like someone has driven a steak in my ear, down into my neck and I look like a hamster storing food in one cheek. WTH wisdom tooth???? Cue infection three for the last 7 months in my gum thanks to this troublesome tooth. I was in so much pain I was being sick, almost tempted to go to the ER/A&E. Why do teeth hurt so much? I try to cut my finger off and even the Dr. marveled at my pain tolerance but a swollen gum and I am a quivering wreck. I put an ice pack on my pillow and some pain pills in my mouth and tried to sleep till morning. 10 am and I am waiting in line at Urgent Care (no dentist here in Fort Worth yet). Thankfully the nice Dr. sorted me out - had to have some injections of steroids and antibiotics to kick in fast (I was a swollen wreck, not a pretty sight at all). Plus I have a nice week course of meds to kick the infection to the curb. Even got some nice antibiotics as the Dr. listened to me saying that antibiotics normally left me feeling really sick and gave me more belly friendly ones.

On the way back from the Urgent Care I decide to swing by the new house for the first time since purchase. We were told the key was left in a lock box on the property. No key. No key anywhere. They gave it to the title company (contrary to what they told us) and that meant no access to the house till Monday. I was annoyed on principle - be nice to get in the house that WE OWN!!!!! My realtor arranged for an emergency locksmith (we had planned to change the locks anyway). Turns out our new house is hard to break in to as I was there for THREE HOURS. Nearly two of them spent trying to pick a lock. In the cold (relative term in Texas but I could have done with a warmer jumper). With a swollen face. Unable to take pain meds so I could drive back to the rental house.

Oooooh bad mood.

Then I am feeling uber grumpy and uber sore and I am STARVING because I have not eaten all day and I cannot be bothered to cook - I want to lie on the sofa and have food brought to me. There are no delivery places near us that are not wheat-based delivery places. Pizza? Absolutely!! But I would rather not add gastrointestinal distress to my list of moans for the day.

Bedtime was achieved early in hope of a better day Sunday.....

Woo hooooooo

I closed on the house today. Guess photos should follow. They probably will.

Yawn, stretch

Having a very leisurely morning today. Forgot to set my alarm and woke up at 7.30 am feeling quite refreshed. Decided to be in no great hurry to get to work because even if I lounge about I'll be there by 9 am and that's OK. Sitting back, drinking a lovely coffee, surfing on amazon. Ahhhhhhh.

I need more time

Well the house is ours in under a week now and I just do not know how everything will get done. Eek. John leaves to go back to DC today for two weeks so I am by myself again. :( Luckily we will actually have our current house for another two weeks so there is overlap and I do not have to move us by myself - that would not be a good thing. Here is hoping John can get back here in time for the big move as it would not be the same without him. While he is gone I shall pack up and get us ready though. We are actually only going a mile down the road so the temptation is not to pack at all but that would be a decision I am sure I would regret. I started getting boxes out last night and some packing was done, not much, but everyone has to start somewhere.

Thanksgiving is coming up next week and it looks like I will be in Fort Worth by myself. I am mostly at peace with this as I still have not really embraced it as a holiday yet - but still who doesn't love an excuse to pig out? Well OK, I am sure some people don't but I sure do.

In other news John has a blog now - people should read it, if he updates it anyway.

http://funnybusiness101.blogspot.com/