Lots of news! Doodles will come later

So of course, since I didn't post for a week, I have lots of information to give. I will try to keep it reasonable....for your sanity and the fact that I still have lots to get done.

Last week began the insane rush to pack and get ready to move. I went though so much shit to give away, and I really should go through my stuff one more time but I don't want to and have decided I will as I'm unpacking it. Last weekend we had a garage sale to try and make some money off of our crap, and made about $50...which is pretty good since most everything was priced at about $1 or less.

This week we spent all our free time packing. It was stressful, and we still had to attend classes, do homework, and go to work at our jobs. Yesterday was the big move. Hubby's dad came with a truck and another good friend came over to help. We had everything packed and unpacked by noon.

I'm going to back up a bit and explain our situation before moving on. Hubby and I were originally living with Hubby's best friend, in his house. He was kind enough to let us stay with him because we'd just moved back to the States from New Zealand, and thus had no jobs. We all lived together for about 2yrs, until recently (a few months back) when he asked if we would look elsewhere for a place to live because he wanted to take the relationship with his girlfriend to the "next level" and have her move in with him.

So fast-forward to about a month ago. We realized that even though we managed to find jobs recently they are only part-time and thus do not provide even close to enough income for us to find a place on our own. Luckily, Hubby's parents are very smart and kind. They proposed a wonderful idea for us to move in with Hubby's brother (who I shall call BIL, Brother-in-Law, for the sake of being lazy again). Unfortunately, BIL's apt does not allow cats, so I have to temporarily part with my "babies" and have them live with my in-laws, while we live on the other side of the city with BIL.

To be honest, it is a much better situation than when we lived in New Zealand, because our cats couldn't come with us at all then, and thus I was separated by half a planet then. Now I suppose if I start to terribly miss them I can come hang out and spend some time with them. But it's still going to be very hard on me, personally, because I won't have them around me and sleeping with me every night...and they really are very helpful for my stress levels, in that having their company tends to keep me calmer. :(

So now we are in the present again. Kitties are getting used to their new environment. It will take about 2 months of slowly introducing them to Hoshi, our 3rd cat. It's a long story so I will summarize. We do actually have 3 cats. When we went to NZ no one was willing to watch all 3 together for us. But my mother was willing to watch the 2 that were kind of mine and Hubby's parents were willing to watch the one that was kind of Hubby's. This worked great because Hubby's cat, Hoshi, seemed to do much better on her own. Well now, I think because she's been spoiled rotten by herself, she's become a giant bitch to everyone except my in-laws. It's been 3yrs since Sachi and Sonic have seen Hoshi, and now we much re-introduce them since they all have to live under the same roof again. Hopefully Sonic and Sashi, who are very outgoing, will help Hoshi come back out of her shell. :)

Re-introducing cats is no easy task...ever. Especially when one is reclusive and territorial, another is very dominant, and the 3rd is stand-offish. So that's been added to my stress levels, on top of just being separated from them. School is added to that pile because I desperately want to get A's so I can get into a really good doctrine program....and be super awesome #1 student :)  But because of my ADHD and learning disability tied to it, it's hard. Luckily, I was given a fresh breath yesterday when my old neurologist faxed me the paperwork I would need to request extra time on tests. Hopefully that will save me.

Work also does not have enough hours for me yet, so that's more stress. However, all that I mentioned does not compare to the amount of stress I received yesterday. It wasn't the move. Like I said, we were done by lunch time. It was after I saw BIL's apartment.


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Words...pictures...thoughts....anything......does not even come close to comparing to this level of messiness. It's not messy....there is a big difference between messy and unclean. I know there probably is a good reason for it...but it still doesn't mean I don't have little freak-outs when presented with it.

I was already stressed from the previously mentioned things, it took everything I had to not mentally break down every time I had to walk into this apartment to unload a box, or whatever. After it was all done though I did finally crack, in the car with Hubby on our way to the in-law's house. It was simply way more stress than I think any body should ever handle. Hubby was very kind and told me that it's ok and that these are the kinds of things I have him for. We are a team and we will work through this together. He reminded me that this is probably the worse it can get and that it can only get cleaner and better from here. :) He also promised to bleach walls if he had to, and that stopped my crying, lol! It truly is that bad. I will say one thing below, if you do not want to know about the level I am talking about here then do not highlight anything. J & K, this is where I told you to listen to me and not read it because you really do not want to know, and I know BIL doesn't want you to know as well. For everyone else just highlight the text in my post from here to the next paragraph, and the words that are currently in white will come up for you.

One sentence will say it all: Handfuls of dead fruit flies....inside the freezer. This is as far as I have seen, but that is the level of uncleanliness we are dealing with here. Do not ask me how they got in there, because I don't know and don't want to know...I just want them, and everything else that could devour my soul in that apt, out and far, far away...

Today, after class and work, Hubby and I will go over and begin the process of cleaning. It will likely take at least all weekend to clean it. Meanwhile, we are sleeping in my in-law's attic with the kitties. So I'm not as stressed about just suddenly being separated from the cats because I am able to see and sleep with them every night, while I handle this monster. I think I've gotten over the initial shock and am now numb to most of it. While that's probably not the healthy reaction to have, it's what will get me through this, so I will gladly accept it. We plan on tackling the bathroom first, because I mentioned how we might want to have somewhere to use the restroom while we're cleaning....and even though Hubby can stand I can't. I know was some of you are thinking. "Just squat" right? Oh no. Squatting will not save me here, as I'm positive that toilet will bite my ass off.

Despite the shear amount of cleaning I have ahead of me, I did get some cool news today. As of 2min ago I am now an official member of my college's newspaper staff, as the Managing Editor!  :) While Hubby's position (Chief Desginer) is paid, mine is unfortunately unpaid...but it's a really nice thing to have on my resume, so I'll take it.

Of course though, the boss said "Congratulations and welcome to the newspaper staff....I'll need your first story by Monday!" Lol. I knew it was coming, but still...it will make things interesting.

Like I said, I still have lots to do so this is all I'll be able to post for today and this weekend. Hopefully I'll be able to go back to my normal schedule on Monday. I'm sorry there are no doodles this time. I want to have them, but I'm busy as shit. So I will update with them later :)