I worked from home today, answered emails, made many a phone call, ran some errands for my CSTs, met with potential office leasing people. I actually do think I found office space, and barring any unforeseen circumstances should be officing about 8 minutes away from my house by the middle to end of next month.

Total success on that scene.

I started unpacking and rearranging. I think I’m mostly unpacked and organized in the bathroom. Still more to go there but for the most part that one is finished. We tackled the kitchen tonight. Mark went through each cabinet, we made another sale pile, we opened more boxes. “I’m like a box valet” he says. “Just tell me what you want.”

I wanted my kitchen unpacked. And while there are a few things on the counter and I have no idea where the cookbooks will go and we really need to clear out some other drawers and ultimately we may wind up reorganizing it all over again…it is unpacked and functioning.

My kitchen.

I’m happy with that.

He just moved my dresser into a space and off of its side. I can now start putting away clothes and figuring out that part. I think we’ll see some major progress by the weeks end.

Hopefully I’ll be moving into my office by the month’s middle.

Then no more moving. Just nesting. That’s what I want. And time for us to ride our bikes. And time to get the teardrop in shape for our trip at the end of next month. and and and  🙂

I’ve thought about writing.

I’ve thought about it and then like this morning, I look up and it’s time for me to get my lunch ready and get myself ready and get on the road for my commute. So once again, I put this into the draft section and move along and think…I’ll write again. Things are calming down and I’ll have time to do my daily writing again.

Finally.

It’s a week later.

I’m officially moved.

The cats are here.

There are boxes and stacks and piles everywhere. Furniture in every corner.

But I’m here.

I thought I’d write. Write and write and write and tell you all about it. About my garage sale success (over 1500!!! paid off a credit card!) About moving the cats. About a certain showercurtainincident that probably will go unmentioned here. About my job and the actual moving day and the emotions and the cranky. About coming home to the same place. About the caterwauling that happens about 3am when Stormy NEEDS OUT DAMNIT TO HELL. About the new fancy litter box that is the loudest most frustrating 40 bucks ever spent on crap disposal. ugh. About making plans with Mandrea to bookend the shenanigans that Brokedown Palace was a witness to with a bottle of wine on my wood floors. About how life has changed so much since I bought that house.

I thought I’d write about Trisha being here this week (thank you GOD) or about my first CST meeting or about the Tornado Task Force at work. About the 4+ inches of rain and subsequent flooding on Friday, or the awesome house concert featuring a group called Carolina Story that we went to. (I’d tell you to buy their cd, but it sounds like crap. Wait for their new one. Because they truly do have amazing voices.) I thought I’d write about BlogHer what I didn’t go to even though I had a ticket (new job) or discuss how friendships change and shift and how interesting the feelings are that come around when you’ve been “officially” blocked by someone who you weren’t ever really great friends with but certainly have no reason to think you are an enemy. I wanted to talk to you about LTYM and plans for writing in my future. I thought I would talk about the Leadership Conference with Sarkeys Foundation that I’ll be attending in November, because I’m really excited about that.

I kind of wanted to talk about how I think True Blood is a waste of my time and how Newsroom is so awesome and how I’m so excited for Breaking Bad to start and can’t wait for my tv sessions with Michael to resume.

I also wanted to tell you about our impending Colorado vacation and the teardrop’s first trip.

But I’m so freakin tired.

And there is laundry to be done. And cats to be fed. And so many boxes. So. Many. Boxes.

So I guess what I’ll tell you instead of all of those things is this:

I can’t remember being happier in so many areas of my life at one time…and not being scared that it was too good to be true…being able to really feel it and trust it.

I’ll be back on a regular basis sometime soon.

I’ve sold all of my furniture.

My microwave, some planters and wall decor, the Cuisinart food processor and other awesome kitchen wares and maybe a Cuisenart coffee maker. Maybe.

We have things priced. We have things hung up. We have things ready to move out into the yard tomorrow morning. We have change. We have stickers. We have it all. Ready.

I’ve been doing some self check-ins. How am I feeling? Do I really want to sell this? What’s the prognosis on my mental state?

I’m keeping some things, but selling everything I should.

It’s getting exciting, really. Because after the sale tomorrow, we’ll pack up tv’s, clothes, and the cats. We’re all just going to head to Norman. The OFFICIAL move really isn’t until next Saturday, with the whole house being emptied then. There won’t be anything here but my clothes and my bed. No furniture, all the dishes are packed, everything is done. SO, for me, for us, for all intents and purposes…IT IS HAPPENING.

I could not be happier.

My sisser is here. She’s been a cornerstone of strength getting things organized. Just time together. Just..time. So good.

Tomorrow.

Apparently, it all begins tomorrow.

If you’re in the area, come buy some of my stuff.

Have you heard? I’m selling everything. Lots of things. Most all of the things.

Last night I packed more. Reposted my Craigslist ad. Fielded questions online. I think we’ll sell some good stuff for the Friday night two hour presale I’m doing for Facebook/Twitter friends. Taryn comes up tomorrow night, Mark will be up tomorrow night to move things into the garage. I myself have to attend a community tornado task force meeting representing Girl Scouts, so that kind of bites in terms of time to work on it.

But. Whatever we don’t sell, we either give away or we move and sell at the one we’ll have in Norman in a few weeks.

Im excited for a weekend with my sis. I’m excited to purge myself of things.

I’m really ready to be past the next two weekends.

So are the kittys.

These real weekends are pretty awesome.

Friday afternoon after the week of training ended, Mark and I met his work friends for drinks and lots of laughing. And more drinks. We went elsewhere and ate some dinner and then came home, sat on the porch and saw the same gang of raccoons leaving their lair from across the street. It’s never boring. That’s for sure.

Saturday we went to my house and packed. Mark repaired the cat door. We packed and sorted into garage sale items and discussed the pros and cons of hiring movers.

I am Pro.

He is Con.

shake my head.

We got much done, felt really productive but the reality became more…real.

I’m going to live with a boy.

All that stuff, is coming to this house.

All of my big stuff…will be sold.

It has made me stumble more than once, that thought. I’m selling everything. Save about three things. Just a little anxiety. Nothing serious.

I’m all good now.

Quality time with Mark, progress around our house(s), learning to relax. I picked up the new David Sedaris book. It has been a delight thus far.

Right now, I’m grilling farmers market vegetables for a salad. Oh yeah. We went to he FarmersMarket on Saturday morning.

I am crosseyed with the giddy.

I’m part of a couple that gets up and goes to the farmers market and then gets to prep and eat on it all week.

I. Love. It.

This week has lasted for 7 months. I promise you that. This is the week of our staff development/strategic planning shut down where the real work began, and the true emotions and personalities came out.

I am thankful that I have some co-workers with the same sense of humor that I have, whose eyes I can catch and speak a thousand words from across the room.

It’s been said that the only way to eat an elephant is one bite at a time.

Our company has a circus full of them.

This week they’ve been “on the table” and “in the room” and everyone wants to talk about them, and while that kind of communication is the birthplace of forward motion, I think there have been several that got caught up in the victim mentality and instead of chewing on their bite of elephant, they’re just gumming it into a soggy ass mess.

Spit. It. Out.

Didn’t we learn that as the youngest of humans? The moment you bit into a piece of gristle filled meat, your mom knew by the look on your face to get a napkin up to your mouth. Right?

If something tastes bad..we SPIT IT OUT!

I am thankful for the lessons I learned young that have carried through until now.

I love my job. I love getting to know these people. They are a dynamic, passionate, amazingly gifted and talented group of people who are…I do really believe…committed to the same goal of bringing some cohesive and productive forward motion back into Girl Scouts.

This week has been hard. But the hard work is where the changes come that everyone so desperately cries out for because right now, for a long time, it has been a completely dysfunctional workplace. For many reasons. But right here. Today. Things are moving forward.

I truly hope that when I get to the office that everyone will have taken a breath and pulled their panties out of their crack and realized that nothing is stagnant. If something needs changing, change it. Don’t complain about it. ***

Today I am thankful for my personal philosophy that I’ve had since I don’t know when.

“Everything is a choice. Breathing and dying are not. Every Single Thing Else IS A CHOICE.”

Choose.

Choose differently.

Get happy.

Stop being a victim.

This serves no one.

That’s the message I’m crafting in my head for today’s end of planning celebration and happy happy positive fun time. And I will. I’ve had great input from two parental units who actually DO this kind of training and reengaging and development for a living. I’ve learned at the feet of masters.

I am thankful for the family that I was given and the lessons they have taught me.

I’m going to finish my coffee on my porch as I watch the world wake up. I’ve been awake since 4am, and really I should’ve just got out of bed and come outside. It’s really quite beautiful

I’m thankful, oh so thankful that it’s Friday. That I get to do the 2nd Friday Artwalk with my love tonight. That we get to spend the weekend packing up my house and working on the garage sale. I’m thankful that my a/c repair guy is my friend and I can trust him to just go to my house while I’m at work and right the wrong that sent me to Norman last night to escape an 80 degree house.

I’m really thankful for this coffee cup that we got at Buc-ees during Cousinpalooza. It reminds me of how a group of individuals can come together and spend quality time and not be assholes.

My office could use a lesson from the Cousins this week.

The most fabulous thing I’m thankful for this week?

Our Listen To Your Mother videos went live on YouTube!!! You can watch them here! Aren’t these stories just heartfelt? What a great great thing that was.

Here’s my story. Let’s end on a piece of laughter ok?

What are you thankful for?

Happy Friday ya’ll!

 

***remind me to tell you about our end of week thing I’m planning. It has everything to do with the culture of complaining.

So the office is closed down again this week for intensive staff development and strategic planning. I’m all for it. Seriously. I love this stuff. The thing I dislike is the negative energy that some people are bringing by the handfulls.

I know this reaction comes from a place of fear. Perhaps it really comes from a bully-type attitude. Too afraid that someone is blaming them for processes that aren’t working, not willing to focus forward to the best possible processes and just make that leap. So much time being spent qualifying poor behavior and service that yesterday it felt as if we were in a quagmire of that stuff swirlling around Pigpen on the Peanuts cartoon.

I had plans to have drinks with Trey who I haven’t seen in 8 months. I had an invite to happy hour with the office girls. Seriously. The Office Girls Invited Me To Happy Hour!!! I did neither. I called in a salad and came home and sat in the dark and ate in the quiet. I had a pounding headache and just felt generally awful.

Our day began with an intense 3 hour talk from the gang task force of the OKC PD.

We have more gang members in OKC than we do Girl Scouts.

That’s the nicest fact I can put down.

So it was just a heavy day.

I’m also coordinating our end of week finale. Because when your CEO says, “would you like to be on the Celebration Committee?” you say “Yes.” Even though you know it’s a committee of one. So I’ve been doing that. And with a little help from my friends, facebook, and family, and a little grace from that dude off Ebay…I think we’re going to end the week with some good food, smiles, and debrief in a way that is fun and most important POSITIVE.

I didn’t pack one single thing last night. I did get a call about a free ticket to The King and I tonight. Which means I won’t pack tonight either. It’ll all get finished. I know it. Today is a brand new day. Brand. New. Day.

Also, HUMPDAY ya’ll!

 

Yesterday was truly one for the books. On a Saturday, five people got up at the crack of hmm-hmmm and got ready (some spiffy-er than others) and got in their cars and drove about an hour and a half down to the Wichita Mountains to Mount Scott. We drove up up up curvy twisty turns until we came to the most perfect spot. Some last minute adjustments such as changing clothes, wrapping ribbon around the bouquet, and finding just the right spot…and a wedding ceremony took place.

Mandrea has been one of my friends for a long time. 7 years maybe? 8?

She was the last roommate that I had, and while I’m known for not being the easiest person to live with (I’m too old to live with someone I’m not having sex with) we hold many many memories close. Our friendship has grown over the years into something more. I love her so much and when she asked me to be the one to officiate her marriage to Ryan, I jumped at the chance.

And I began to read and research and rehearse things in my car and I had the biggest case of nerves because I could never get through any of those things without tearing up. Ever.

Because like all of us, she’s been through the ups and downs of love and life. I was a witness to some of the bleakest moments and it was indescribable joy for me to be there for this one. Ryan has been through those ups and downs as well and for them to have found each other, to have grown with each other and moved forward TOGETHER…well that has been a beautiful thing to watch.

They truly did it right. Just the two of them. Myself as the minister. Mark and the photographer Carrie as the witnesses required by the state. It was maybe about 15 minutes and then we were wiping just a tear or two and popping open some cold Fat Tires to toast the happy couple.

As I was standing in front of them, my voice got thick and wavered a bit. I had flashes of Mandrea and I in our most finest moments, singing to each other, having coffee on our couches in my house, telling each other secrets in the hallway, finishing each others sentences and just laughing until we have tears.

I had flashes of her and Ryan together. They love riding their bikes together. They live loudly. They live and play as hard as their beloved puppies Nova and Jack Monster. I got choked because of all the romancyschmancy crap you see in the media, this was the truest, most honest union of best friends and well..damnit, it was a miracle I made it through without the ugly cry.

I know that at the end of the day, they truly LIKE each other. They always have. Even when there need not be sharp objects around either of them, even when we maybe should have said woah horsey to that last glass(es) of wine, even when there is nothing that can be said the right way and everything said is wrong…they like each other.  That’s why when I found this book, I knew I had to read an excerpt for the ceremony.

I  like you and I know why
I like you because you are a good person to like
I like you because when I tell you something special, you know it’s special
And you remember it a long, long time
You say, Remember when you told me something special
And both of us remember
When I think something is important you think it’s important too
We have good ideas
When I say something funny, you laugh
I think I’m funny and you think I’m funny too
Hah-hah!
I like you because you know where I’m ticklish
And you don’t tickle me there except just a little tiny bit sometimes
But if you do, then I know where to tickle you too
You know how to be silly – that’s why I like you
If I am getting ready to pop a paper bag,
then you are getting ready to jump
HOORAY!
I like you because when I am feeling sad
You don’t always cheer me up right away
Sometimes it is better to be sad
You can’t stand the others being so googly and gaggly every single minute
You want to think about things
It takes time
I like you because if I am mad at you
Then you are mad at me too
It’s awful when the other person isn’t
They are so nice and oooh you could just about punch them on the nose
I like you because

I don’t know why but everything that happens is nicer with you. I can’t remember when I didn’t like you
It must have been lonesome then

I like you because

Because

I forget why I like you but I do.

So many reasons

On the fourth of July I like you because it’s the fourth of July.

On the fifth of July I like you too
Even if it was the 999th of July
Even if it was August
Even if it was way down at the bottom of November
I would go on choosing you
And you would go on choosing me
Over and over again
And that’s how it would happen every time

 

 

I was really excited when I was asked to be a part of this. I had no idea how much it would truly touch my heart.

They did it right.

 

Today we brought my grill, my bike, patio umbrella and stand and some other bits to the Norman house. July 27th will be the official Moving Day complete with the hired truck and if I have my way, hired movers. I’m hoping there isn’t much of the big stuff to move, as it will all be sold the weekend previous at my giantass garage sale. But that’s a horse of another feather.

We set up the grill and Mark did some magical manly grill cleaning and futzing and voila! It’s in the perfect place. Home. He’s aired up the tires on my bike and tested the brakes and gears etc. We made homemade ice cream in our new maker. MeMe Mid’s recipe and it just tastes like a memory. We have some outdoor games, washers, bean bag toss and some ball flicking things.

The food is all prepped and ready for the grill, and I’m taking a quiet minute before I get in the shower and the whole family arrives. We shall eat, play and then go to the park and watch some fireworks!

This time last year, I was spending the day putzing around my house, then spent a few hours with friends that night, no fireworks, no ice cream. And that was fine. I liked my life last year. A real lot.

But this year…this year it feels like home. I love it.

A real lot.

 

Our first annual Cousinpalooza trip is officially in the books.

I’m going to call it a success.

Mark and I drove back to Norman yesterday from Austin, TX. The first day back is always difficult. His day has been worse than mine. He’s still working, technically. I’m about to get laundry going, and unpack my suitcase and tackle some of these house chores and maybe pack some china.

Now that it’s July…

This is the month I have my giantass garage sale. You want an awesome piano, treadmille, couch, oversize chair and ottoman, love seat with some cat damage, queen size mattress set/bed frame or headboard? I’m your girl.

This month, I hope to get officially moved to Norman.

This month, I hope to find office space in Norman.

This month, I want to eat more real, fresh foods than restaurant food.

I want to settle in.

But tonight, I’m just going to do a little laundry, eat some more salad, and think about last week and how much I love my family.

If you’re interested, check it out here:

www.cousinpalooza.blogspot.com