Bran Does America: April 2009

>> Monday, April 27, 2009

Photos are from dropshots so they might be a little too big. I will try and upload them on photobucket tomorrow.

Photo Sharing - Video Sharing - Photo Printing

>> Friday, April 24, 2009

Yesterday I finished the unpacking and moving the rest of the boxes into the basement. Chris will be home tonight! Tomorrow we need to go to the old apartment and clean up, get some groceries and home to set up the coffee and end tables, as well as the dining room table. When we are done, our home will be ready!

We are having a beautiful warm day. The garage is already quite warm but the house is nice and cool! I don't think we will need the central air much this summer if they house stays this cool all the time.

The kids are having a grand time in the sun room with all their big ride on toys and the art supplies. Elizabeth is working on a masterpiece for Daddy's homecoming.
He will get home way after bedtime so it will be an exciting treat to see him in the morning.

My back has suffered a lot with this move. I am in almost constant pain right now in the middle of my back and hope that it is just strain that will heal itself with rest. We will bring our old good shower head from the old house tomorrow. It has a massage setting which brings a powerful pulse that feels good on the back.

Chris has had an awful week as interim manger in North Adams. The store he is working at is a mess of disorganization. He is trying hard to get organized for the permanent manger and of course, Chris being Chris, he needs to make sure that everything is done to perfection. He can't wait to be home tonight but is dreading going back on Monday. We both hope this won't last the whole 4 weeks. Two is enough!

We are Here!

>> Tuesday, April 21, 2009

We are officially moved! I am still unpacking so I won't say moved *in* but we are half way there. The new bed came today! There is something magical about a king size bed. It looks so big and beautiful in our room! I stressed about this bed for the last two days because I wasn't sure it would fit down the stairs! The men who moved it in were a little worried too until they took it out of the box and realized how flexible the mattress was!

Besides our new bed, I am fascinated by my new house toys. Ice maker, dishwasher and I adore our built in microwave! We bought a new 4 slice toaster and how did I live with only a 2 slice for so long? I haven't tried the new coffee maker yet because I forgot to get some half/half and well I'm a coffee snob! I need my cream!

Our living room is missing the love seat and end tables. Chris didn't have time Sunday to put them together so this weekend he will be doing that as well as the dining room table. We are loving the used sectional we bough off craig list. I am so happy Chris found it. It looks great in our living room and gives us more sitting room for company. That was a major problem for us in the old house.
The kitchen is slowly coming together. I am finding places for all the necessities and we will buy two plastic shelving units for the basement that I can use for my extra appliances and bulk food storage. The kids rooms are also slowly coming together. I am bringing in the toys today and separating them into the two rooms. Elizabeth is loving her new queen size bed(our old one). The bathroom is part way done. We need to get a new shower head though. The one we have reminds me of a hotel shower head and I don't like it at all. We need one with more pressure. The sunroom and backyard stuff haven't been touched yet and won't for a while.

While I'm doing all the unpacking and organizing, Chris is stuck in Massachusetts. He was told yesterday that they need him in the North Adams store immediately. As in, call your wife to pack you a bag and get to the new store by 4! They fired the old manager and since Chris is almost in a limbo between his current store and the new store opening, they pushed his Manager status through(his raise also! Yay!) and he will be managing North Adams for the next 2-4 weeks. He can come home on the weekends and is staying at a motel during the week. This is good because we can really use his raise right now but the store is a mess and Chris is up to his eyes in paperwork.

All in all the last week has been a whirlwind of change! I hope to have everything unpacked or at least unpacked and the rest in the basement storage by the time Chris gets home on Saturday. I hope to remember to put the trash out tonight! Our first trash day is tomorrow. Weird that I am actually excited about that!

I am taking pictures of the progress of our unpacking and will post later with the finished house.

I love my new home.

Yes, I can!

>> Tuesday, April 14, 2009

One of the big things we are moving is the kids swing set. It needed to be dismantled but with Chris working and Mike working, that only left ME to do it! I asked Chris if he thought I could and he laughed and said no!

Yesterday, I was determined to get the swing set ready for the move. I grabbed a screwdriver, the set of wrenches and went to work. 20 minutes later, the swing set is in a pile in the back yard waiting for the moving van!

Chris was amazed that I didn't hurt myself! Of course, my shoulders feel like fire this morning...but I won't tell him that!

Last day of school

>> Friday, April 10, 2009

Yesterday was Elizabeth's last day of school at Tecler Elementary. The class was having an ice cream party for all the hard work they have done this year. Her teachers were so sweet to do something special for Elizabeth's last day.

She came home with an adorable book called Off to Kindergarten from Ms. Fura, a gift card to Payless from Mrs. Eunice, a work book and pens from Ms. Kathy but the best gift of all was a book made by her friends. They each coloured a picture for her and her teachers made it into a little book. I teared up at the last page. Her teacher wrote:

Elizabeth,

We wish you & your family the best of luck in your new house. You are a very special little girl! Look at our pictures we made for you when you want to remember us. We will miss you! Love Ms. Fura, Mrs. Eunice & your Pre-K Friends. :)

Boxes and Bags

>> Wednesday, April 8, 2009

The packing has begun. Mike and Elizabeth's teacher brought over a whole bunch of boxes for us and Chris bought some of those space bags, which I love!

Yesterday we were in vacuum pack heaven. I used 2 jumbo, 4 extra large, 5 large and 1 medium bags. I have a few left for the last of our laundry just before we move. My closet looks funny with all these suctioned bags of clothes and teddy bears!

I've packed the toys, books and school supplies, my books, our dvd's and videos games and all of the bathroom stuff.

Not bad start and we still have a week and half to go. We do need more boxes though, I am running out!!

I also took Christopher's crib apart to sell it and put Elizabeth's toddler frame in his room for the time being.

For the love of Shopping!!

>> Sunday, April 5, 2009

We were going to go out browsing for new furiture today but didn't get past our computers.

Chris started looking online for beds and came out with an amazing deal! USMattress.com had a king size Serta memory foam mattress, box spring and frame on sale for $1199.99, no sales tax with free shipping! We grabbed it right away! We had sampled mattresses at a local place last week and this was the same as one that I feel in love with at almost $1200 cheaper!

To go with our new mattress set, we hopped over to www.Overstock.com for some bedding and came out with a set of 4 king size pillows, duvet, sheets and this duvet cover set

A quick hope over to Walmart.com for the following
Two desks

Two Chairs

TV Stand for the living room

and living room tables

We still need a sofa and we didn't order a dining room set yet because Walmart was sold out but we will pick this up at a local store.