Workin' hard(ly) for the money

What a beautiful Memorial Day! And what a fun-filled, goal-achieving Memorial weekend! Friday night was our first night in our new house. It was spent running to Walmart (we were in desperate need of a shower curtain) and doing some light unpacking. We were asleep by 9:30. Saturday I had big plans. I was hittin' the yard sales, as I do every Saturday. But this Saturday was The Yard Sale. The 5-mile Joel Road Yard Sale. PLUS a community yard sale at Union Pines High. Jackpot! I raced off to Union Pines, angry at myself for oversleeping, because it started at 6 a.m. and all the good stuff was gonna be gone. It was practically 7:30 by the time I got started, and all that was left was junk. 5 boxes of trashy romance novels (not Inspirational romance novels, which I would have forked over the cash for) and some old Union Pines uniforms. Kind of weird. A little deflated, I started my journey onto Joel Road. For those of you not from around here, this is an annual yard sale where the people on this road all have yard sales on this one specific day. It is crowded as junk, awkward, scary, frustrating - yet an absolute must. My first stop, I got some onesies for 25 cents (for future babies or baby showers) and baby socks for 5 cents. I was offered a breast pump from the lady giving the yard sale but politely refused. My next several stops were disappointing, as I hungrily pawed through boxes of books only to find more trashy romance novels. I finally bought something at a yard sale where the theme was Makeup. I bought cotton balls for a dollar cheaper than I was planning on buying them at Lowe's later that afternoon, and a pretty tube of lipgloss for $1. (Note: I wore the lipgloss yesterday. After about 3 seconds, my lips started burning and I was afraid they were going to blister. I wiped off the lipgloss and slathered Vaseline on my lips. Turns out the lipgloss was that "plumping" lipgloss. So not worth it!!) After several more stops, and only buying two more things, I wanted off of this road. Traffic was at a standstill because of people trying to find parking, people running in front of cars, and people just aimlessly wandering on the side of the road, assuming they weren't going to get run over. As soon as I hit the end of the road, I felt such a sense of freedom. You might think that that experience has made me realize that it's not worth it to hit that yard sale next year. Tut, tut, my friend. I didn't plan as I should have. I've already mapped out my strategy for next May....

I got to mom and dad's at about 11:00, famished from skipping breakfast and walking in the hot sun for 4 hours. Luckily, mom said, "Want to go to 195 for lunch?" Boy, did I!! I could already taste that stir-fry. So, mom, dad, and I went to 195 for lunch and shopping. Then it was time for me to go home and try to unpack some more before Stephen got home. Steve and Aaron came with Stephen, along with all of our furniture and everything left in our storage shed. They stayed for a few hours, unloading and putting together everything for us. We ordered pizza from the Village Pizza (okay,but too expensive for the taste) and were in bed by 9:15.

Yesterday, I spent the early morning hours unpacking, then went to church, and then headed to mom and dad's for lunch. Left early-ish to go home and unpack so that I could impress Stephen with how much I got done. Ended up unpacking for about 3 hours straight (plus doing dishes, dusting, etc.) and then realizing I had to be at choir practice by 5:45. Tried to think of an excuse why I couldn't go but couldn't come up with anything that was valid. Went to choir practice, and church, went home, watched an episode of The Office. We were in bed by 9:15. I totally overslept this morning, don't know if it was just because of so much unpacking or what. Tonight after work I have to go straight to play practice and then it's off to Jenn and Matt's for a Memorial Day cookout! Then I will try to get home before Stephen goes to bed so I can actually see him. The next three days I will see him at least a few hours a day because he is off. I miss him. As soon as we finish unpacking I think we will see each other more and be able to have more quality time together. But I'll tell ya what, there's nothing like having a conversation and not having to hear anyone else's input on it. (Although we each have one person in our family who I am REALLY tired of hearing their advice for us.) And there's nothing like having a shower with actual pressure. And sleeping with our door open. And so many other little things that you miss when you're living with someone temporarily. Even though it's fun to unpack, I long for a day when I can come home and just sit with Stephen and do something mind-numbing like watch a movie. Or play a game. Well, that day will come.