So...

We just bought a house...

And there is this thing called Christmas coming up...

It's keeping me busy and I'm not even the one playing general contractor.

We closed on the house on Monday, December 11. On Wednesday, we had the porch roof ripped off and met with a fencing contractor.

On Friday the HVAC guys started redoing all the ductwork. Also on Friday, we had a dumpster dropped off in the backyard at the new house. Also on Friday, my parents arrived with two van loads of stuff, including, but not limited to, a clawfoot tub, a dishwasher, a sofa, and a four poster bed. Also on Friday, we had to go to my husband's office Christmas party, which is a fun family affair with good food and lots of silliness.

On Saturday we (including my parents) all got up, dragged ourselves over to the new house and spent the whole day filling up the dumpster by clearing the piles of scrap wood filled with nails, trash, nasty underwear and other garbage from the backyard and garage. My mother also started in on the attic.

On Sunday, after church my parents and Justin worked on the attic and the backyard some more. Throwing away peed on mattresses left in the attic and much of the "insulation" (aka newspapers) left up there as well. The dumpster was full.

On Monday, I had to take the littlest to the doctor for his two month checkup. Justin took the day off from work and spent the whole day working on cleaning the attic. The first dumpster was hauled off and a new one was brought in its place. I watched kids, trimmed a tree and met with the guys who built the cabinets in the kitchen and whom we hope will finish the job now that it's under new management. Unsurprisingly for Nashville, they are country music singers as well as carpenters. Justin also met with a fellow who does a lot of the lawn care in the neighborhood and signed him up to clear the part of the backyard affectionately (or not) known as "the jungle." The guy told us it would really help with the snakes in the summer. That made me really happy.

On Tuesday, the yard guy started clearing brush and the HVAC guys finished all the ductwork and installed a new upstairs unit.

Today, the electricians began their work removing old ragwire and knob and tube. I baked cookies so we'd have a present for the kids swimming teacher, went shopping for Justin's secretary (I knew I had forgotten someone!) and bought an oven for the new kitchen. The credit card company thought my card had been stolen with all the shopping and made me wait at the appliance store for about 20 minutes while they verified my information over and over again. I was glad they were looking out for me, but it made us late for swimming. And since I had been up baking cookies at 7 this morning, I wasn't about to miss the chance to give them away.

And this evening? We have Bible class and I have to get over to the other house so I can mark all the places I want the electricians to put in lovely new outlets.

The fun never ends around here.