Cleaning Struggles

This was something I knew was going happen.

I tried to ignore the signs of it, but deep down, I knew it would play out this way.

...Mr. Cap won't do housework.

He'll cook and clean the dishes, so it's not a total lost cause! But anything extending past the kitchen seems to be completely off his radar. 

I'm trying a tatic currently of splitting the house in half--if you get the top floor, you have to do all cleaning (in that area) as well as laundry. If you get the bottom floor, you have to do all cleaning (in that area) as well as the cooking.

Last week I had the top floor and dutifully vacuumed, cleaned the bathroom, and went to the laundromat (which might be another post in itself. I have very bad feelings towards the laundromat for some reason). Mr. Cap cooked food! ...and stopped there. I will give him props in that he furiously vacuumed the 1st floor when he realized we were about to have company on Sunday evening. But the bathroom was never touched (again, something that seems to not even register with him).

This week I have the duties of the 1st floor and he has the 2nd floor. I'm really hoping he does the laundry. If we go a week without that, the load the following week (my week) will be outrageous. I don't even know how two people produce so much dirty clothing in only 7 days... 

In all, I'm feel rather disheartened that the cleaning has all been falling on my shoulders. He hasn't done any of the laundry since we moved (and all of it has to be done at the laundromat or my parents' house since we still don't have a washer/dryer). I really appreciate him being willing to cook, but I feel like the trade-off isn't very well divided. We both work full time jobs 5 days a week, and we both have activities that happen on weeknights (so we're out of the house longer than a normal 9-5 day). I've been managing to handle the cleaning, but it's been making me feel really negative towards him. And I don't want that. 

Mr. Cap always talks as though he prides himself on being very pro-woman, but I think he spent too much time in his mother-run household. Even if he thinks he respects me as an equal, I really feel as though he also expects me to take care of almost everything in our living space. The fact that cleaning his living space isn't even on his radar of life events shows me that he's far too used to being catered to by his mother. 

I really don't want to become his mother.

February

Oh dear, I've neglected this blog quite a bit. 

Today I figured out how to log on to the mortgage website we're going to be using, and I *think* I got our automatic payment plan set up. I think. I guess I'll find out come March 1st if the payment was withdrawn...

In other news, the weather has been very snowy here recently. It seems like every other day we're getting anywhere from 2 to 8 inches of fluff. On Wednesday I decided to venture around the building to shovel off our back steps (because the snow was so high, I couldn't open the back door anymore). I ended up mid-thigh in snow, attempting to clean off the porch. This *was* as difficult as it sounds. 

Mr. Cap stood in the window watching and occasionally waving as I attempted to clear off the steps. Luckily he was watching when I managed to dislodge the 3-story icicle from the side of the house--and also luckily, I managed to dodge most of it. I'm a little bruised on one arm where it hit me, but otherwise I'm in one piece (can't say as much for the icicle).

February has been mostly uneventful--and I kind of like it that way. Mr. Cap seems to be getting a little stir crazy (which is actually...really odd for him. He's usually a huge homebody), and I'm hoping all the snow melts soon so we can actually get outside a little bit more. I'm putting together a post on more of my experimenting with the Tarot and such, so that will probably be up at some point this week.

Sick Day

Today I was out of work on a sick day (head congestion...why won't you stop?), so I decided to continue cleaning up around the house to make it more "presentable".

The progress is slow, but at least I feel I'm making some progress. Mr. Cap and I will be out of the state all day on an "emergency visit" to see some friends on Saturday, so I'm glad I had an extra day to do a little more around the house this week--albeit a sick one.

Currently I'm doing some cooking for tomorrow/the weekend. Made some baked oatmeal (with a few modifications to try to be a little more healthy) which should give us 3 breakfasts over the next few days, and I'm just finishing up a BBQ chicken pizza (my own recipe) in the oven. With that, we'll be all set for lunch tomorrow.

I have to say I'm really liking our shiny new gas oven. It's so pretty and clean inside, and the stove top cooks things SO FAST. After using electric for most of my life, I think I'm in love.

Feeling more like a homebody today, and I'm very much enjoying it. I wish I could stay home and just do things around the house all the time...although knowing me, I would get lazy pretty fast and end of reading blogs for the majority of the day.

The Flood

Our garage flooded this evening. D:

Mr. Cap and I were leaving the house a little after 6pm to stop by the store and pick up a few organizers, and I was hurrying out the door without really looking around me.

"Hey wait," Mr. Cap said as he stood in the hallway. "Do we have a leak?"

I looked behind me and noticed that there was a damp spot on the carpet right next to the entrance of our mechanical room.

Why yes--it did appear we had a leak.

When we opened the door, we found the floor was wet. Not flooded, but it looked like something had spilled all over the room. Luckily all we had stored in there were some of the empty boxes left from unpacking, and a couple other items that weren't easily damaged.

We looked around the room to see if we could locate a burst pipe, but had no luck. So I said "Well, let's still get to the and we can figure out what to do on the way there. I'll call my dad."

When I stepped outside, I noticed that there was a stream of water leaking out from under our garage door. When I looked at the other condos in our building...I noticed that their garages were leaking, too.

Mr. Cap opened the side door to the garage, and let me know that there was currently about 4 inches of water sitting in there. He opened the main door and a small flood poured down our driveway.

At this point, I decided it would be neighborly to stop by next door and let them know what was going on. I met the very nice lady that lived next door, and together we got to experience the horror of her opening her garage door and finding about a foot of water inside. She was panicked because they'd been using their garage for storage instead of parking, so her family had a lot of stuff that was possibly damaged. I then left a slightly hysterical message on the answering machine of the condo manager, letting him know that for some reason the garages of our building were floods (as where the mechanical rooms in all our condos). I crossed my fingers that he's get the message on a Saturday night,

The couple that lived in the third unit in our building weren't home, but the lady next door had their number so she called them to let them know what was going on. At about this point I got a call back from my father, and I headed over to his house (about a 15 minute drive) to pick up some laundry I'd left there, and to explain the situation to him. Mr. Cap stayed behind with the neighbor/s in case anyone showed up to help.

While I was gone, the fire department showed up and discovered that the sprinkler system's pipes had frozen (hurrah!). They turned that off, and the water flowing into our condos finally came to a stop. At this point we only had the water damage to worry about.

The condo manager showed up around 7:30/8:00 pm and left us a large fan to start blowing on our hallway. this was actually sufficient for the water Mr. Cap and I had received, however it turned out that the other two occupied units in our building had ended up with a lot more water than we had. At least a foot of water in their garages, and fully soaked mechanical rooms.

Mr. Cap and I came out lucky, but I really hope our neighbors do alright. It also started snowing during this whole debacle. Pretty, but a constant reminder that the temperatures are getting really cold here this year.

The Second Night

Last night we were supposed to have a snow storm--an expected foot of snow in the city I work in, and about 3-5 inches at our new home. My boss warned me to take my time getting in this morning, so I went to bed with the hopes that I'd be getting to spend the morning working on unpacking while waiting for the snow to let up.

Unfortunately for my plans, we ended up getting an inch of snow. Tops. We got more snow on the day we moved in (a day that was only supposed to have a dusting/no snow at all)!

The weather men really seem to be off the mark this year...

On the bright side, school was cancelled so the commute to work was an absolute breeze. I wish the traffic was so light every day!

The First Night

The first night sleeping in our condo was...really strange. I think the fact that I've been sleeping on a mattress on the floor for almost 2 years has made it difficult for me to sleep on a supported bed. I woke up with the entire left side of my body and my back hurting. Oh well--nothing a little Advil won't fix!

After that, Mr. Cap and I realized that we couldn't find out shower curtain. So morning showers occured without one, and I think the walls in the bathroom were all made a bit cleaner due to this (that's my positive spin on things!).

But other than that--not bad! It's so strange to wake up in a new place and think "I can do whatever I want here". The "whatever I want" mostly consisted of running around looking for missing hair products while half-dressed, but it's still a step in the right direction. 

The Move

It's crazy to think that we now have all of our furniture back. After almost two years of having all of our Earthly possessions stored in a pod (thanks, U-Haul!) today...today is the day we got them delivered. 

The move also happened to coincide with a surprise snow storm (hello, 4 to 6 inches of mashed-potato snow!). 

Everyone was a bit surprised when the big snowflakes began to fall. All the weather reports for the day had claimed that there would be a slight dusting of snow, or just some rain. Well, no rain happened. But we quickly came to realize that we have a wonderful view when all the trees are covered in snow!

Unfortunately, as pretty a it was we still had to get all the boxes and furniture into the condo. The poor guy delivering the pods to us almost didn't make it up the hill on our street. That was slightly horrifying--both of fear of him being pulled back down the hill by the thousands of pounds shoved into the pods, and also the fear that everything inside would be smashed up just before it made it back to us.

Thankfully he had some amazing driving techniques and was able to safely make it over to our unit (mental note--need to make sure I replace my tires soon. I'm not sure if they'll get me up the hill in weather like this, and it would suck to have to park far away and trudge up the hill...).

Mr. Cap and I weren't sure how much the guys were willing to help us (since they are only meant to unload the pod), but they brought all of the heaviest stuff up into our condo. It was a beautiful thing. We were worried for a bit that our couch wasn't going to fit in through the door, but eventually they found a way to get it done. This way included removing the front door, then deciding the back door was acutally a more viable option...but still, it worked out! And I'm so pleased to have the furniture inside the house instead of inside a pod, that I don't even care how they got the stuff in here. Suffice to say, all the large furniture pieces (except for our mattress and box spring) are now safely tucked away in their new homes. On Monday Mr. Cap and a friend of ours are going to bring the bed over to the condo. So until then...there is a lot of unpacking to be seen in our futures. 

The Paint Dries

When we returned to the condo yesterday morning, we were surprised to see how much the sample colors had changed (I guess that's the point of leaving them to dry overnight!). Of the two colors we thought would be out of the running, one became the color we ultimately chose to go with. On Thursday night, the color had looked like there was far too much yellow in the green--it had a sort of minty look happening that we really didn't feel excited about. But after letting it sit overnight/into part of Thursday, the color really toned down. The other greens we had liked actually ended up looking a little too drab--not quite what we wanted in our warm/comfy living room.

So the color of choice turns out to be Behr's Willow Grove. It also already had primer in it, so we were able to skip out on that step and just go with two cans of paint. 

We unfortunately weren't able to do all of the kitchen/living room with only two cans, but we did about 95% of them. There is just a small space over the kitchen window that needs to be done, and the wall behind the refrigerator. So most of the area that we'll be covering with furniture later on today is all painted and dried. We're liking how it's looking so far! :)

Also, shout-out to Mr. Cap being such a good sport with the move about to happen today (it being his 28th birthday and all). Here's to many many more, my favorite boy. :)

Personalization Begins

We decided that one of the first things we should do would be to paint the living room.

Last night Mr. Cap put up four different color samples on the living room walls--they're all sorts of variation of a sage green. We want the living room to feel warm and homey, but also not too dark. So we think a green in that ballpark would work out well for us.

So today we're going to choose the color we like the best out of the four samples (we already have an inkling that two of the colors will be completely out of the running) and head out to the store to buy a couple paint cans and primer.

Closing!

Today we closed on our condo!

Mr. Cap and I are now the proud owners of an adorable 1425 sq.ft. condo, complete with two bedrooms and a loft. :) It's right next to some conservation land and has some wonderful looking trees near-by. So happy that this has finally come to pass!

We got a lovely gift basket from our mortgage broker and a beautiful wind chime from our realtor. Looking forward to finally making this condo "our own".

Learning Lenormand

This isn't quite a normal post for this blog, but I thought I'd write about something new while we continue to wait for the condo to process. It does look like we should be able to finally close on it this week, though!

I purchased a Lenormand deck on Saturday (which I'll have to write a separate post about sometime. Suffice to say, it's beautiful and...quite vocal), and decided to do the "practice" reading that's suggested at the back of the handy-dandy little booklet that came with it. 

The spread I did was the Day Spread, with 9 rows of 2 cards. The book suggested doing it at the beginning of the day and then checking the results at the end of the day. Below I'll write the cards that I pulled on Sunday morning, and try to gauge how accurate they were in each category.

1. Someone you will meet, what comes out of that meeting.

- The cards I pulled were Ship and Coffin. Ship seems to stand for traveling, whether or business or pleasure. The coffin stands for painful change and transition.

Interpretation...? 

- I met a woman who was on vacation (from the same state as me!) and we ended up trading Facebook info after our encounter. The things we talked about would definitely instill a painful transition in me, if it were to take place.

2. Someone you care about, what they will do.

- The cards I pulled were Birds and Snake. Birds seem to signify communication, and generally stands for couples. The snake stands for deceit, cheating, and/or harm. 

Interpretation...?

- For this, I'm honestly not sure. It's possible the snakely issue is something that's under the surface that I didn't actually see. But I don't have any leads on what this one means currently. 

3. Someone who annoys you, what will they do.

- The cards I pulled were Dog and Stork. Dog is loyalty and friendship. This could stand for a pet, or a person that's a close friend. The Stork stands for movement, upgrades, improvements, and change. 

Interpretation...?

- The only thing that comes to mind is that part of the reason Mr. Cap wanted to go on vacation was so that he could pick out a few things to decorate our new home. He ended up not doing that at all, which kind of confused me (and maybe slightly annoyed--but not spending money is always a good thing!).  

4. Something that will happen to console you.

- The cards I pulled were Letter and Stars. The Letter stands for documents, messages, information. The Star stands for guidance and healing, and reassurance of lighting new paths. Seems to be generally positive.

Interpretation...?

- Well, we did attend an Oracle card reading class on Sunday night. I'd say quite a lot of information came through in that way! And some of the things that came up were "consoling" in a way, I suppose. The Star is probably a good card to have pulled for this particular category.

5. Something that awaits you.

- The cards I pulled were Anchor and Bear. Anchor is stability, security, and peace of mind. It's a symbol of hope or faith. The Bear is power, strength, and pushing through obstacles. 

Interpretation...?

- I guess from the Oracle readings that were performed on Sunday night, this could well be a path that awaits me. I'd love to feel secure in my choices, and I hope that the bear will come out of me (in a good way!) to push through to complete my new goals, even if I find opposition. 

6. Something that will help you.

- The cards I pulled were Key and Choice. The Key can lead to discoveries and will also unlock and lock things. Choice is...fairly obvious, I suppose? But the book indicates that it indicates multiple paths, and can sometimes be an issue when it shows up in a relationship. 

Interpretation...?

- Part of me wonders if the "thing that will help me" is this Lenormand deck. I definitely feel like it's a key to entering a path I've considered for a few years. I guess buying this deck sort of commited me to at least opening the door of this new path. But the choice is still mine as to which path I will follow. 

7. Something that will happen, which is a surprise to you.

- The cards I pulled were Ring and Child. The Ring can mean marriage, commitment, harmony, and contracts. The Child could mean an actual child, or someone/something new, young/immature, or a child-like personality.

Interpretation...?

- Well, all I can say is that I sure hope that going away for Mr. Cap's birthday didn't lead to an unexpected 9-month/18-year surprise. o__o Another possible thought is a conversation I had with Mr. Cap about some things that happened in his life when he was younger, and how he relates to them now. But there wasn't anything too surprising in that situation.

8. Something that you desire, whether it will happen or not.

- The cards I pulled were Moon and Mice. Moon is love, romance, psychic abilities, creativity, and admiration. Mice can symboloze loss, theft, anxiety and worry.

Interpretation...?

- This could also lead in to a lot of what came up in the Oracle readings on Sunday night. There was a lot (quite a lot) of implication that I need to become more spiritually active, especially in ways that currently make me feel very uncomfortable. Another possibility is that it has to do with my worry that writing (such as this blog) won't really amount to anything for me. I've tried many times, but I always fail to create something that I'm truly happy with.

9. Something nice. 

- The cards I pulled were Sun and Lilies. The Sun is success (hooray!), confidence, courage, and arrogance. Lillies are calm, peace, serenity, wisdom, family/ancestry, and satisfaction.  

Interpretation...?

- Possibly I'm being told that stepping out on to a new path will give me the peace and wisdom that I'm looking for. And that's something that would definitely be nice to hear. :)


So! After this experiment, I'm not 100% sure how I'm doing with these cards...but it's definitely an interesting endeavor. I'll have to give this more thought in the future. 

Slow Progress

There hasn't been too much progress on the house-front since my last post (goodness...that was in November).

We're still in limbo with the same condo. Closing was originally going to be in early December, but then it got pushed back to the end of January. Mr. Cap and I have been sitting tight and hoping that everything will still work out, considering all the money we've put into this purchase already. 

It's a little discouraging to look back and see that we've been working on getting this condo since October, and now it's January. But I'm hoping that it'll all be worth it in the end--it'll be really nice to finally have a place of our own.

Posts to this blog will likely continue to be few and far between until we find out the final outcome of the condo. Until then...fingers crossed for us!