One question today:

I am thankful for...

You guessed it - still busy. The boss is on his honeymoon and we're the busiest we've ever been. The weekend should be nice and relaxing. Thank goodness it's Friday!

Because it feels like it should be at least Thursday.

I have come up for air. Mr. Boss Man is now officially back from his honeymoon and we're back in business. I just finished up the last two huge projects that kept me at work for more 11-hour days than I care to count. I feel like I need a vacation.

So what have I been up to? Let's see.

I installed the Movable Type 3.3 beta. While I'm pretty happy with the changes that I've seen, I really wish they'd do something more with entry formatting with pictures. But beggars can't be choosers, right?

I redesigned Divine Reality. Oh man, I have been aching for a new design. I've been spending all my time on everyone else's blogs, but none on my own. I was feeling a bit cluttered, so I went for the cute yet simple approach. No more skins!

I got my nails done. Last night I left work at a normal hour and Jimbo went out so I was on my own. I had been craving a manicure for a while, so I finally indulged. Cheap, too. Pink.

I gained 2.5 pounds. But, I'm convinced it was water retention from the yummy-yet-deadly french onion soup (when am I going to learn that french onion soup and me don't mix well, no matter how much time has gone by) because I stepped on the scale yesterday morning and I lost those 2.5 and more. We'll see the official number tonight at Weight Watchers.

It's a very odd day to love, for sure, but I've got some very good reasons.

Wednesdays are my days. Well, after I've escaped from the shackles of work, the evening is mine! I've been in the habit as of late, of taking the few hours before the weekly Weight Watchers meeting and doing whatever it is that I want to do. Mostly shopping, sometimes reading at B&N, or catching up on web work at Panera.

This week was different. Yesterday I had no desire at all to go shopping or chilling at B&N or Panera. Nope, I went home and immediately cuddled up on the couch under an afghan and did nothing but blink. It was much needed.

As I mentioned previously I gained 2.5lbs last week and I was very upset about it. So upset that I journaled religiously, exercised my butt off and ate very few flex points. It certainly paid off. Yesterday I stepped on the scale and lost a whopping 4.2lbs bringing me to a total of 12.8lbs lost.

I felt so much better and was so proud of myself that I treated myself to a crispy chicken sandwich, in lieu of the grilled chicken sandwich I get every week from Wendy's after class.

I'm soooooo tired. And still so not myself. I need, I need, I need. I want, I want, I want.

1. Dear weather...
   
2. The theme of my calendar is...
   
3. I drink...
   
4. If I had a superpower, it would be...
   
5. My very favorite gemstone is...
   
6. This weekend
   

To: Megan
From: Jimbo
Subject: Hey Meatball

I be going to the gym after work. Wanna come with? :)

To Jimbo
From: Megan
Subject: Re: Hey Meatball

only if they serve martinis

• pizza, wine and Something the Lord Made
  
• rain
  
• an hour and a half walking the mall with a good friend
  
• chocolate labs
  
• spending money at Target
  
• a long, luxurious nap
  
• cleaning, laundry
  
• chicken comfort
  
• success
  
• breakfast for dinner, chocolate chips and Elizabethtown
  
• peace and quiet
  
• clean sheets
  
• pajamas
  

Well now that work is less crazy, thing should be getting a little less hectic around here, right? Guess again.

But this kind of hectic is a good kind of hectic. The kind of hectic that flurries around big life changes and excitement! Yup! Big things going on!

Jimbo came up to me the other day.

Jimbo: I've been thinking
Megan: *perk* Oh yeah!?
Jimbo: I was thinking that maybe this fall...
Megan: *thinking... ooooh a vacation"
Jimbo: We could start looking for a house.
Megan: *jaw drops"

Color me surprised and very, very happy. Wait until fall? Puh! We started looking. This weekend we did an enormous amount of drive-bys while we wait for the official word on our pre-approval so that we can actually see the insides of these houses.

We've got about eight properties on our short list and we can't wait to get in and poke around.

Exciting stuff, folks. Pretty darn good.

We went to see our first choice house (we've got over 11 on our list) last night. It's unoccupied, so we've already been in the yard and on the front porch, looking through the windows. I knew I was going to love it and as I was walking up the stairs to the second floor I knew we were going to do everything we can to make it ours.

Jim stood around talking with his uncle the realtor while I ran around like a chicken with her head cut off checking out the place. The outside is freshly painted. There's a huge yard. Nice neighborhood. The back door opens into a room off the main part of the house, with paneling (ick, but will be painted if it becomes ours) and a zillion windows and a wood-burning stove. It also has a small closet that would be good for coats.

From that room we walk into the kitchen which is newly tiled and completely redone with new cabinets and all new appliances. There is enough room for a table and chairs. The 1/2 bath to the left of the kitchen is newly remodeled as well with a new pedestal sink and toilet.

To the right of that room is the dining room and then to the right of that is a nice living room with a large stained glass window, both have brand new carpet. Walking out of that room is the foyer. Brand new front door with a cute oval window leading out to a small front porch, the perfect size for a few chairs. Back to the foyer, we go up the freshly-carpeted stairs, past another stained glass window and onto the second floor.

On the right is a very large bathroom with (count 'em) three closets! The bathroom is completely remodeled with tile and new fixtures. There's even a window! I love a window in the bathroom.

Directly across from the bathroom is what would be the master bedroom with a pretty decent-sized closet. New carpet, paint and windows as well as the second bedroom next door, slightly smaller, with another closet and a little door which leads to a small crawl space which is big enough to make into another small room or use as storage.

The basement off the kitchen is a typical basement. Fieldstone, but clean and dry. A few pantry closets and a washer and a dryer. A good size.

We hung out in the kitchen and talked with his uncle about the possibility of putting in an offer. It's possible it wouldn't be accepted since we have to make it contingent on selling the condo, but we know what we want and we have nothing to lose.

The offer goes in today.

I can see us in this house. It's in the same town where we're living now and there's a nice big yard and it's really cozy. We're optimistic. But if we don't get it we've got about 10 backups, so we'd be right back out there.

Wow! Things happy quickly.

They accepted the offer, which is good, but because we have to sell the condo in order to pay for the down payment, we have to make the offer contingent on selling the condo. This forced us to include a kick-out clause that means that if they get any better offers between now and the time the condo sells then they can entertain other offers.

Jim's uncle (the realtor) told us that 90% of agents won't even show a house that is under agreement, so hopefully not too many people will be interested in it.

So we're putting the condo on the market Sunday/Monday so we'll be busy getting it ready. We've got all day to work on the condo and Jimbo's bro and my parents have been kind enough to let us store some stuff at their place in order to make the condo look more presentable.

Yay!!

1. I'm addicted to...
   
2. My dream house...
   
3. Last night...
   
4. There's nothing wrong with...
   
5. When I was a kid...
   
6. This weekend I shall...
   

So here we go.

I took Thursday and Friday off to clean/pack/purge. Saturday we helped set-up and attended Jimbo's brother's wedding reception. Dodged more than a few "so when are YOU getting married?" questions and drank a great deal of champagne and counted no points.

Sunday we were back to cleaning/packing/purging and moved what seemed like half our belongings to his brother's basement. I walked up and down so many stairs that my thigh muscles are still hurtin'.

Yesterday was back to work and the condo went on the market. We took some great pictures of the product of our cleaning/packing/purging. It's a good thing we've seen probably every episode of Take This House and Sell It. It sure gave us lots of great tips.

Now it's just wait and see.