September 30th, 2009: Bryan and Mary move in.

So, today we are officially and completely moved into our new home. We've been moving for near a solid week and let me tell you, the end couldn't have come fast enough! Poor Bryan's hands were raw from moving heavy furniture, appliances, and miscellaneous boxes of shit. Me, I am like an Olympic runner with a lame leg. Not much good. I try, I guess.
Well, another "epic" event that is happening is that tomorrow (or this evening?) my oldest son travels to California to celebrate his great grandmother's 80th birthday. She is springing for the entire shindig and wants to have her great grandchildren there. She has two great grandchildren and one great-great grandchild. All boys. I can hardly believe she is aged that much but then again, I can hardly believe that Robert is gone. Robert is her husband, my oldest son's great grandfather. He passed away last year. The man with the gorgeous grey eyes, the easy smile, the giving heart, and the lovely dark wavy hair is gone. At least Soren got to meet him and they knew each other for one day before Alzheimer's came and took Robert and his memories away. That was enough in my book, can't ask for more than that.
Enough of that, right now we are discovering new loves and dislikes. Projects to be done and exploring where we want everything to go. It was exiting to unload all the band stuff into the finished basement! I can't wait to get a stand for my base, set up my keyboard and to see Bryan's drumset put together and be ready to be pummeled! He is a powerful drummer with a fantastic foot and I just can't wait to see him play again! YEAH!
It was also exciting to just simply start home improvements, unpack, and set other things up. I haven't nailed up any pictures or artwork but I will once all the furniture is just exactly where we want it. I mentioned in my last blog about this key that we had found, or maybe I didn't mention the key? I don't know (I'll have to go look--haha!). But we found a strange skeleton key situated above the bathroom door, on the jamb. We couldn't find where it went to but we decided the little tag that says "A KEY" and the key, will remain exactly where they were. Call it superstition, but we just think it belongs there. It's the heart of the house I guess.
Another cool thing that I came across was a calendar of the woman who lived here until the house could be sold. She had minimal things here, mainly just house sitting to ensure that vandals and thieves didn't come and wreck the place. Anyway, as I was replacing her calendar with my own--with cute ferrets for each month--I saw ghost imprints of something that had been written. I quickly broke the tape that held the previous months from flapping down and saw that she had kept a sporadic daily diary of events and thoughts.
It started at January 1, 2009--of course-- and I quickly ate up everything that she wrote up until the time we moved in. She documented Elvis's birthday, Lincoln's 200th birthday, casualties of overseas war, casualties of Hollywood, birthdays of people that I don't know, deaths of people that I assume are her family or friends, and little notes about bugs inhabiting the windowsills.
Inspired, I circled September 30th and wrote, "Bryan and Mary moved in." I filled in the days following with "Moving--still moving--more moving (moving sucks!)--and I haven't returned to fill in anything else yet. I was reminded of my grandmother Mary, yes I am named after her, who kept a daily diary on her calendar. I remember sitting on the toilet and reading her small and perfect handwriting on the calendar, conveniently hung next to the toilet for either filling out or for, ahem, reading.
She even wrote things that were very personal in nature but you know how kids are, they are a nosy lot. I read every word. She wrote about my mother, how much I looked and reminded her of my mother (who died four months into my 16th year of life), she wrote about Papa, other family members, about her gardening, about...well, everything. I wish now that I had kept her calendar but it wasn't in the cards. My cousin Terri was supposed to keep an eye on their house (it had been granted from the indians--my family was relocated, you know, that whole Trail of Tears business) but Terri is a raging alcoholic--yeah yeah, seems stereotypical, doesn't it? Damn drunken indians are words that I had heard all too often while growing up. It hurt, especially since I knew I was one of those "damn drunken indians". Anyway, Terri was also an addict and had severe mental illness.
She went to jail and several "friends" of hers ransacked the home and not only did they steal everything of value to sell for drugs and to square away debts that she owed them, they destroyed everything that they could. They broke out windows, they broke hanging pictures, they cut up the furniture, they destroyed the grandfather clock that I remember from my earliest childhood memories, watching as the moon and the sun would trade places slowly as the dial turned with the ticking of the hands...I always missed hearing that chime that it did in the mornings.
I hate Terri still, for her stupidity. I had also lost many of my mother's things and tons of photographs. My aunt, my mother's oldest sister (my mother was the youngst child) who raised her has a lot of things but other family members will probably get her stuff and I will once again not inherit my mother's things. Ah well.
Where was I? Oh yes, the new home! It has a fenced in front porch, a finished basement, a very spacious upstairs that the boys use for their bedrooms as well as a playroom. When everything gets put together it is going to look fantastic, I think. Speaking of putting things together, Bryan is hard at work replacing faucets that are corroded and just plain gross appearing. Last night we changed all the locks, and Bryan got my dryer up and running. It is wonderful, as is he. Bryan has given me the greatest gift anyone could give me in a relationship outside of mother and child bonding--unconditional love. And a place to call home.
I love you Bryan.
I guess there really isn't anything more exciting to report. The kids are loving it and I am so happy to see them so happy! Today we have to square away the laundry and pack my oldest for his trip. More arranging and unpacking...putting together beds and such...enjoying the day as a family. So with that said, I am off to do just that.