Passing Grades

"So do you have a timeline for the house?" Mr. Sexy called from the kitchen as he rinsed out a mason jar for his morning coffee.

"No, not really," I replied as I entered the kitchen from the minefield that is every room except for the kitchen.  Even then, you never know when you might step on an old banana slice or a pile of cheerios. Aaahhh, the joys of children.

"Hey, do you want a real coffee mug?" I asked.

"Do we have one?!"  

"Totally."  I knew right were to go and found Michael's circus mug that has a cute little elephant inside it.  

Now we both have coffee mugs.  That is a nice thing. 

Getting back to the original conversation, I said, "Yeah, I'm in no hurry to get this place done."

Mr. Sexy looked at me and smiled a teasing yet in-all-seriousness smile.  "You're learning so much about not stressing out." 

"There's just way too much," I replied.  

But he's right.  Life these past few years has been a huge course on stress management.  I (we) failed a few times BUT we didn't quit.  I would like to think that now I (we) are starting to get passing grades.  

Our house was built in 1902.  Yup.  It's an oldie.  Much of the house seems to be as original as it gets.  Most of the lights have brass plates with round buttons to turn lights on and off instead of a light switch.  The door frames are narrow and I have already hit Denai's head more than a few times.  Oops.  One of the coolest new findings is that this house still has the original kitchen cabinets.  The farthest left cabinets used to be a refrigerator or ice box. 

The house is a fixer upper and hasn't had a decent cleaning in.... actually, I don't need to know.  I'm not even close to being done with this place.  The cobwebs.  The caked dust on the ceiling fans. The flies that seem to have had their home invaded.  But it's all good.  I'm not stressed out.  I work when I want, relax when I want, sleep when I want, play when I want.  And let me tell you, play time is fun time out here.  

Driveway

When I go to the porch with my coffee or lunch or wet laundry, before I know it, an hour has gone by and I have no intentions of going back inside the house.  This place is incredibly peaceful.  We have HUGE oak? trees that look as if they have been here since the house.  They provide incredible shade so when it's 90 degrees, at my house, under my trees and my porch, it feels more like a breezy 75.  

Aaaahhhh, perfection.  

I don't have too many pictures of the house yet to post on instagram or to share here.  Doing that takes just a bit more energy than I feel like putting out right now.  (See, I still do what I want - and I love it.)

There is so much about moving that is stressful and it seems so much of that stress isn't all that controllable.  Or is it?  

What is most stressful for you about moving? How do you or did you deal with it?