Despite the pep-talky title, I’m actually fine. As long as I don’t think about all of the tiny, little, bitty–oh, yeah! THAT!–things that I know that I am forgetting to factor into my mental packing/moving schedule, I’m fine. FINE, I tell you! (Insert nervous giggle plus facial twitch).

No, but seriously, packing is going really well. I’ve been at it steadily for over a week. And I’m really reeeeeally glad that I took the time to do all the decluttering I did before we even started packing because–even with that–there’s a lot. Just the clothing situation alone, what with the various seasons and sizes of clothes that aren’t even currently being worn (because, even though I’ve given away BAGS, I refuse to just chunk it all when there’s still really nice, perfectly usable stuff for the next kid in the mix), is a bit daunting. But I’ve sorted it (as the Brits so charmingly say) and, after seeing the fabulous shelving Shaun built for me in the family closet, I’m almost looking forward to unpacking those boxes. Almost.

The barn is an entirely different story. We’re tackling it tomorrow, and I’m not looking forward to that even one bit. Except that it’s been looming in the back of my mind for so long that I’m a little relieved that it’s finally getting its turn, so we can get it DONE.

Thank the Lord for my mama, dad, and sis-in-law who have all been enormous helps since Shaun is spending every spare minute at the new house building shelves, pouring concrete countertops (they look amazing so far; can’t wait to show y’all the finished product!), and just generally completing all of the last minute things that need to be done for the house to be livable in A WEEK!

The nice people buying our house are being very flexible with the actual move date, which is super, since it will all be a bit down to the wire. But even though we won’t have flooring or beds (just mattresses) or any exterior landscaping (hello, red East Texas mud everywhere!) or more than one functioning bathroom, we will no longer live HERE as of next week.

Our anniversary is next Friday, and Shaun and I were joking (only not) that we were going to celebrate by collapsing in exhaustion on the couch and saying, “Here you go, Honey. I got you a house!”

Works. for. me.

As has been the case for almost the entire process, everything has been going about as smoothly as it possibly could, considering all of the variables like weather and work schedules and availability of outside help. The painters I talked about a few posts ago are unexpectedly less busy than usual for this time of year, so we’re having them hang around and paint everything they can get a roller or sprayer on. I could very easily (well, easily as in it’s not hard…not easily as in having a ready opportunity) have painted after we moved in, but I know that the more we can get the house in a finished state before we move, the easier the transition will be, and I’m going to be grateful for any semblance of normalcy this summer, which is going to be gone in a flash, I have a feeling.

Still, even with the good flow, not everything has been perfect. I walked in this evening for a quick chat with Shaun and discovered that he was running an  errand, and the “Simply White” the painters were rolling on the wall was looking “Awfully Gray.”

Turns out, while Simply White is a Benjamin Moore color, Sherwin Williams (where we’ve gotten all our paint) has a SimPLE White, which is considerably darker. So, yup. Wrong color. Fortunately, the paint store acknowledged it was their bad, and I caught it before the painters had gotten that far. Could definitely have been worse!

A couple of other minor snafus (like the fact that somehow our cabinets didn’t end up having a symmetrical distance between them and the range hood, and we’re scrambling to figure out an add-on so it doesn’t feel lopsided) have surfaced, but over all, considering how many plates are currently spinning in the air, I have no complaints.

In other news, as of tomorrow, I will have an 11-year-old!!

mother's day

{Tomorrow’s birthday breakfast will look very similar to this Mother’s Day spread, except that, currently, that table is covered in packed boxes, so we’ll all be huddled around the island, per our usual eating situation}

Ezra is turning into quite the responsible, considerate, kind young gentleman, and–as much as the teenage years scare me a bit–I’m actually really enjoying watching him “age.” He’s always been an old soul (typical firstborn), and I can’t wait to see how his gifts of servant-heartedness and gentleness develop as he matures.

Oh! And one more house-related thing before I fall into bed and go to sleep in no seconds flat, I’m back to testing exterior colors, sadly.

I’m still set on a deep blue-green, but Lindsay’s husband (our painter) expressed a pretty serious concern that a color as dark as Riverway would fade a fair bit, so I’m back to the drawing board trying to find a more medium-toned blue-green that I love.

exterior colors

After testing now fewer than 5 different colors, I finally started mixing my own. And I *think* I’ve come up with one I really like (it’s that one to the left of the front door under the porch). We’ll have to see how well the paint store can match it.

ANYHOO, that’s all the coherency I’ve got for the moment! If you think to pray for this last mad dash to moving, I’d be ever so grateful.

As always, I appreciate y’all!

7 Comments

  1. Looking forward to new house updates! It is such a huge undertaking to move so many little people 🙂 Prayers for good rest amid the work in the coming days.

  2. I hope you did…I hope you did… been praying for you a lot the last couple days. Hope you are in!

  3. PS! If you haven’t done it already, you might want to check out Christi’s posts on concrete countertops on her blog: Addicted2Decorating. She is very experienced, but was not satified with the sealer she chose, because it stained. She had made them herself, but she had to have someone sand them down and reseal them.

  4. Awww, you are busy! I swore I would never complain about “the teenage years” the way my mother did! I believe children live down to your expectations. (Speaking from experience…my firstborn had undiagnised Asberger’s, depression, anxiety, and she was diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes at 13) those years are sometimes challenging, but the best part is seeing our children blossum into wondeful young adults).

  5. I was out running errands yesterday & randomly thought of you and said a prayer. You and your family will be in my prayers as you finish the move!

  6. Oh mama! Just reading this is making me tired. Thankful that all has gone smoothly and so excited for y’all to be settled in the new home. Prayers for a productive week ahead!!

I love hearing from you guys!