November 3rd, 2017

This morning was so hectic guys, you would not believe. One of the newest downfalls of this move has been my brand new memory foam mattress- I’ve been using the same old fashioned one since high school and only just upgraded- it’s huge, lovely, and entirely too comfortable for its own good. This morning I slept through not one, not two, but five separate alarms. I wasn’t even up late, I was out by 9pm! Then, work calls, and says I don’t have to come in until 10:30 because three of the babies won’t be coming in today. So I go about my morning leisurely for the next ten minutes or so- take the dogs out, put my lunch together, etc. Then work calls again. Coteacher is sick and they need me to come in asap. So I end up at work half an hour before I was originally scheduled to, unshowered and wearing my sister’s shirt because I haven’t found my laundry yet. Just- I like working for a private school, I really do, but is it too much to ask for some stability? My schedule changes every week, and that’s fine, but it can’t be changing three times in the same day, minutes before I walk out the door!

I wish I was getting out of here early today like yesterday, but with baby H here, I won’t be leaving until 6pm, at least. I just want to go home and be at home. This weekend is going to be so nice. Like, we have a lot to do (laundry, RENT on Sunday, general weekendry stuff), but it’s all stuff that has to be done anyways, and isn’t as much if a hassle as it used to be. It’s nice. Plus, we’re going window shopping at the stores by us, which I’m really looking forward to. I have kind of an unhealthy addiction to knick knacks, which will only grow now that I actually have room for them, lol!

My aunt sent her yearly Christmas list demands this morning, and I was ahead of the curve because mine was already drafted!

• Essential oils
• Quilts
• Gray stuff
• Electric toothbrush
• New purse
• Anything from Lush
• Bath and Body Works Stress Relief line
• Socks
• Throw pillows
• Board games
• Chap stick
• Violin
• Candles
• Those Mexican lollipops that are shaped like mangoes and covered in chili powder
• New laptop

It took me months to come up with this. Making Christmas lists is hard for me, I don’t know why. I just don’t feel comfortable asking for things? It’s stupid, but every year I get hounded for only having a few things on my list, so this year I made it as long as I could without asking for stupid stuff. I think I did okay, tbh.

And who wouldn’t want these games?? They’re beautiful!

November 2nd, 2017- Evening

Two posts in one day, how ambitious of me! But my day went so nicely, I wanted to share. It’s not often I get a relaxing afternoon off from work, let me tell you. I either get off so late that my entire day is gone and I have nothing to do but watch half an episode of Bob’s Burgers and pass out, or I’m still getting off that late, but I also had to wake up insanely early, so I got no morning time in, either (which will be my day tomorrow- 8:30am to 6:00pm). But today I went in at 8am, was off the clock and on the bus back home by 12:30, and in the door by 3:00pm! It was sooo nice, I wish I could afford that work schedule, lol! It gave me time to do more post moving fun- unpacking, cleaning, unpacking AND cleaning- and get an early start on dinner, since I had the time, and I had a new recipe I wanted to try for creamed corn (will post tomorrow morning- was not impressed tbh). 

I cannot tell you how hard it is to cook dinner for a family of three in a tiny kitchen with one working burner and exactly zero working ovens. Tonight I cooked dinner on a fully functional stove, and even heated up an apple cobbler in the oven which also works!! Imagine that! Granted, we were eating off of Christmas dinnerware because we haven’t gotten anything else, and we drank Fresca right out of the bottle because our three glasses are in the dishwasher right now, but progress. 

I think moving at this time of year is multiplying my excitement for the holidays. I’m so thrilled to just sit and think about all the dumb stuff I get to worry about in the coming weeks because we own our home and it’s the holidays. Like, I want to be able to complain to another teacher at work about all the cooking I have to do to satiate my visiting relatives, or how I just can’t find that one blown fuse in my christmas lights, or grumble about not having any privacy because the house is so full. That sounds like a wonderful set of complaints to have, coming off of too many Christmases spent feeling left out, inadequate, and guilty. 

November 2nd, 2017

Today I woke up at 5 am, and actually got up and was productive, instead of trying to sleep through my alarms, work, and life in general! I let the dogs out (they’ve been transitioning very well, only a few accidents during the day, and hardly any through the night!) and started a load in the dishwasher. I was at the bus stop before the sun even came up, it was strange, but also nice. I’ve got Christmas music going like always, since it’s only 53 short days away!

Our new neighborhood is so beautiful, I can’t wait to see what it looks like with all the lights and decorations up. I found our christmas bins last night (while searching desperately for a pair of pants- I was unsuccessful) and all I want to do is pull them out and go crazy. But we don’t even have our walls or floors done yet, so wait I must. We haven’t put up a tree in about four years though, so I’m more then willing to wait a little bit longer. I’m also really excited for my sister this year. Our Christmases have never really been focussed on our house, wherever we lived. We go to our grandma in law’s for Christmas eve, and our aunt’s for Christmas morning, but even other christmas stuff- baking cookies, making ornaments, etc.- have never happened at our place. This year I’m hoping to steal one of those activities, lol! 

The only downside to this move has been the commute to work. It is going to take me two hours to get home by bus, and it’s the same on the way there. I lose four hours of my day just trying to get to and from work. So ive been looking at jobs around our new house, but nothing, so far. I’ve pretty much decided that, job or not, I’m quitting after the holidays. I just can’t keep this up, and I’m not getting nearly enough hours to make the hassle worth it! So hey, if you know any childcare centers looking for an experienced infant teacher in East Tucson, hook a girl up, lol! 

November 1st, 2017

So last night was our first night in our new house! I’ve been sleeping on a twin mattress at our rental for a month now, so it was so nice to get to sleep in my new bed after a long night of trick or treating. I’m so excited to start our life in this house- it’s our first home, and we’ve already started renovations, which is scary but fun. This weekend we’re painting the living room and beginning to lay flooring, which hopefully isn’t as scary as it sounds? 

Already I can see a difference in how we live in this house, versus our tiny old rental. We hated being in that house; we went out of our way to spend as little time there as possible, only really sleeping and bathing there. Even our dogs had little interest in playing outside at our rental, which is a pretty depressing thought. But this morning was one of the nicest I’ve had in a long time- ate breakfast on the patio while the dogs played in the yard, unpacked some kitchen stuff, even ran to the store up the road for spaghetti fixings! Typical stuff for most people, but something I’ve never had before. I was actually kind of sad I had to go to work! 

What I’m really looking forward to is spending the holidays in this house- we have room to actually put up a tree this year, and a pretty house to decorate. Not to mention a big kitchen to cook in! I haven’t cooked holiday food in at least three years, because our old kitchen was so tiny, you couldn’t breathe, let alone cook a big meal. In true McLain fashion, Christmas music has been going nonstop since midnight, and it feels so homey with the heat on. And not this year, because of renovations, and being tapped out cashwise, since buying a house, but next year we’re even going to host a Christmas party! Again, it seems silly to be so excited for things most people do daily, but it’s not something we’ve ever had. Heck, I’m even excited to do laundry in my garage, and not at a laundromat! 

My mind is full of ideas for the upcoming months, and I can’t wait to bring them to fruition!

And guys, please look at this sunset last night. If ever there was a sign of good things coming.. 

August 26th, 2017

Christmas is making its ever steady creep into the year and I’m so ready for it. We were at Hobby Lobby and they already have so much stuff out, including this ridiculously wonderful Christmas piggy!

So I don’t know if I mentioned that we are in the process of buying our first house? If everything goes perfectly (which- and I don’t want to jinx it- it has) we close on September 21st! It’s a bit of a fixer upper, but mostly cosmetic stuff, so we might be able to spend this Christmas in our new home! We’ve never owned before, and I’m just so excited at the idea of having a real home. Because no matter how you dress it up, a rental tends to always feel like a rental. We haven’t even done anything to this house yet and it already feels like home. Even if we can’t host anything, or even really decorate, it’d be nice to at least get the tree up. We haven’t bothered for the last couple years because our current place is so small, and the cats tend to knock it over anyways.

I started my Christmas shopping yesterday, and my Amazon cart is full of some weird stuff my dudes. Why are men so terrible to buy for?? Girls, you can never go wrong with like, a manicure set or a robe, or wine or something if you’re stuck, but men have no generic gift that doesn’t harken back to the 1970s! So I’ve got some Earth, Wind, and Fire concert dvds and a book about Colorado Springs (he’s obsessed, and it’s weird) for my sisters’ dad, and a shirt, a reusable egg carton (he keeps chickens) and a blank recipe book for my uncle. Awful, and I’m pretty sure at least a couple repeats from years past. Luckily those are the only guys I have to shop for, though. The ladies are all fairly easy to shop for, thank God, except for my aunt- who’s greatest joy seems to be being 100% impossible to shop for, and my oldest cousin, who’s interests change every year and I always end up doing a Christmas Eve Desperation Hunt for. The hardest part is not overbuying for my youngest sister, who is, conversely, way too easy to shop for. Every year without fail her gifts add up to half my budget!

I haven’t bought anything yet, however. Normally I would, but with us moving next month, I don’t want to send everything to this address and risk losing something in the move, or being moved out before I got all my packages, and having to deal with -shudder- the post office. 

Tomorrow were going to look at toilets and doors at Home Depot, which should be… Something. Has anyone else ever moved at this time of year? Am I crazy to think we’ll be done in time for christmas?

August 20, 2017

Hello, my friends! It’s that time of year again, the time of year when it is far too early to get excited about Christmas- and thus, I get excited about Christmas. Christmas movies and holiday episodes of tv shows are on a constant loop until December 25th from this point on. Amazon becomes one of my top 5 most perused websites, along with mymerrychristmas, Pinterest, and allrecipes! This year the holiday season comes with some extra added excitement, as we are in the process of buying our first house! It’s a bit of a fixer upper, but we hope to have most of the major projects (floors, depopcorning the ceilings, updating the kitchen and bathrooms) done by December, leaving us the rest of the year to just relax and enjoy the holidays in our new home.

At 127 days until Christmas, it’s sadly too far away for even me to have any concrete plans for this season yet, but I still have some fun, Christmas centered posts planned, and some really fun stuff planned for December!! Stay tuned and be sure to follow for daily updates and anecdotes! Which, come one- you know you want to hear about the crazy life of a Christmas obsessed infant teacher! The hijinks I get up to… None. There are no hijinks, I just lied to make you think I was cool. I’m sorry. Please follow me- it makes me feel nice!