I know you guys want to hear about the new house, and see pictures, and all that good stuff. But because of all the moving-day craziness (being locked out, the previous tenants leaving stuff here including their very sweet cat, etc.) I didn’t get to take the photos I’d envisioned taking. [Edited to add: Yes, the previous tenants did come get their stuff and their cat that same day. It all ended about as well as that situation possibly could have.] The photos I got aren’t inspiring me very much. Honestly, you might not get to see many photos till after Brenda has the house whipped into shape in a couple of weeks.

The good news is, you’ll get to see photos in a couple of weeks instead of in six to eight months. Usually when we move our goal is to be completely unpacked by the following Christmas, but next week Brenda (and Bug) are coming to visit and help us unpack! I’m very excited about it, which is a first for me. I hate unpacking. I get overwhelmed trying to think of where I want everything to go, so I do nothing. Well, not nothing. I unpack and organize the kitchen right away, and then I stall on the rest of the house.

Given all that, you can see why it was SO COMPLETELY AWESOME when Brenda house-sat for us a couple of years ago and asked if we minded if she unpacked a few boxes while she was there, and then went and unpacked and organized the entire house for us. I told her that I would fly her to all our future homes if she wanted to help us unpack them all, and she enthusiastically accepted. That is why she gets free birthday cakes for life, people. Well, that and being one of my best friends. You know what I mean.

I’m sorry you won’t be seeing pictures of the house just yet. I’m sure I’ll get some of the “before” photos up on Flickr eventually, so keep an eye on my Flickr stream. Meanwhile, here’s a conversation that took place this morning as we were driving around trying to find a McD’s with a PlayLand:

“I guess there’s an election tomorrow.”

“On a Wednesday? Where did you hear that?”

I pointed at the election signs clustered on the median. “It says ‘Vote March 2nd’ on those signs right there.”

“That’s today. Which makes sense, because it’s Tuesday.”

“Oh. Oh! In that case, happy anniversary!”

Troy laughed. “Uh, happy anniversary to you too!”

Annalie piped up from the backseat. “What anniversary? What are you talking about?” I explained that it was the fourteenth anniversary of the day we got married. “Oh. Uh, Mom?”

“What, sweetie?”

“I’m sorry, but I didn’t get to buy you and Daddy an anniversary present.”

“Aw, thanks, but that’s okay. It’s been kinda crazy with all the moving and stuff, hasn’t it?” Annalie agreed. I winked at Troy and said, “Besides, I’m sure Daddy has a fabulous anniversary surprise for me. I can’t wait to see what it is.”

Without missing a beat, Troy said, “What do you mean? Isn’t the 14th anniversary the McDonald’s anniversary?”

Happy anniversary, Troy! Fourteen years, eight moves, six states, one Canadian province, two years of grad school, three cats, six years of parenthood, and countless remote controls…and you’re still the one who makes me laugh. Thank God for that!

p.s. New banner! What do you think?

We were assured by the owners and the previous tenants that their final walk-through would be at 10am Sunday. The tenants (who were very nice, and quite gracious when we unexpectedly showed up at their house to check it out last week) told us it would be fine for us to stop by this afternoon to show the house to my mom before she flew home, even though we wouldn’t officially take possession till Monday. The keys would be in the mailbox for us, they said.

The keys weren’t in the mailbox. We could see through the open windows that the house wasn’t empty yet. No one was home. It was a bummer.

Even though we couldn’t get in the house, we walked around back so my mom and Annalie could at least see the yard and the deck. You can see about half the backyard in the photo above.

We drove back by the house that evening after we took my mom to the airport, just to see if anyone was there. The house was still locked up, with all the same boxes and furniture inside, no keys in the mailbox, and no one around. It made us a little nervous. How could they have had their walk-through if the house wasn’t empty and clean? It’s not like we could call anyone and complain though. It wasn’t our house yet.

I guess maybe the tenants underestimated how much time they’d need to pack up and move all their stuff. Maybe they’ll be working till 3am to get everything out of the house. That sounds like something I might do, honestly. We just have to hope they are done and that the keys are there tomorrow, because the movers are coming bright and early to start unloading our stuff.

Or at the very least, I dented it and some paint got scraped off. I was trying to delete two things from my sidebar—two itty-bitty nonessential pieces of code, honestly—and somehow I broke my theme. Then my blog disappeared. Aaaaaccckkk!

UPDATED: OMSH fixed it for me because she is a web genius and wonderful friend. Thank you so much, Heather!

I poked around a bit and figured out how to bring my blog back (whew!) but not the pretty theme. Which means my photos are all squished and my awesome Chuck banner that Brenda made for me isn’t up (boohoo!) and several other things are missing as well. I don’t want to poke around any more right now for two reasons: I might make it worse, and it’s after midnight and I have to get up early in the morning so we can go to the zoo. If I start tinkering now I could accidentally stay up till 4am trying to fix my mistake.

For now, I’m going to bed and hoping I’ll figure this all out tomorrow or the next day. In the meanwhile, if you want to see photos of the awesome International 7 Days Meet-Up we had yesterday in Lauren’s honor with Summer, Katie, Elaine, Bonnie & Brenda (Sonja and Jen couldn’t make it but we’re seeing them Tuesday), click the photo for the set.