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Today, we take ownership of the house. And then the fun begins.

Our fridge isn't being delivered until Monday, so we at least have that much time to strip the wallpaper on that section of wall and get it painted.

We drove by there last night, as Paula said she sent a package to that address either Monday or Tuesday, and I was worried about it getting there too soon (even though I think the woman who is caring for the house - the deceased's daughter - would bring it in and leave it there for us). It looks like our trash and recycling bins have already been delivered, even though we were told it would take 2 weeks.

After that, we went to dinner at Pizzeria Fondi followed by dessert at Cold Stone Creamery. Oof. They gave me a larger size than what I ordered and I felt completely disgusting afterwards. I didn't even finish it all...Lance finished it for me.

I can't make a habit of eating like this. After working so hard and struggling to lose all that weight, it's slowly creeping back on because we lack the means to make any healthy meals, and I can't work out other than doing crunches and push-ups in our hotel room. But still, cooking here at the hotel - even boxed foods - is at least lower in fat and calories.

After that, we drove into Tukwila to check out the mall there. Stopped in Barnes & Noble, but walked out empty-handed...shocking! Also went into Best Buy and World Market, where I walked out with 2 bottles of Electric Reindeer White Zinfandel...my Mom and I get this wine every holiday, when possible.

Today is going to be a busy day. At least I got a bit of extra sleep. My jetlag is starting to fade away, but I was still in bed around 9 last night and up at 4:30 this morning.

First thing's first - I need to get a Swiffer Duster - preferably one of the long-handled ones. Walking through the house the other night, I saw how much dust has accumulated, especially on the blinds. Now, the blinds are eventually going to be trashed, but I discovered that what I thought were blinds in the living room windows are actually pleated shades...so those can stay. But they are filthy and in desperate need of cleaning. And aside from dusting them, I think they are quite dingy as well, but I don't know how to deal with that.

There's going to be a steep learning curve to this home ownership stuff.

Oh...and I got my first email today from the wives' group from Lance's detachment. It looks like the Lt. Col. and his wife live in the same neighborhood as us (ETA: Well no...about 4 miles away, but a lot of us live within a 5 mile radius of each other). And she shares my birthday. There is some holiday party tomorrow at one of the members' homes, and we're invited, but Lance already declined before asking me, saying that we were going to be too busy working on redoing the kitchen. Besides, the detachment party is the 22nd anyway, and we're going to that. We just need to find a "Dirty Santa" gift, which is some kind of gag gift. That's Lance's specialty, not mine.

Today is Closing Day

Tillamook yogurt is really really good. Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm. I picked some up the other day at Winco because I thought that the Dannon Activia was really expensive. This is some of the best yogurt I've ever had...even better than German yogurt, which I loved.

In other news...Lance just ordered a KITCHENAID CLASSIC STAND MIXER for me for Christmas!!! He wanted to get me something frivolous, but I told him that under no circumstances was he to do that. If he wanted to get me something, it had to be something for the house, and it had to be something that I've wanted for a long time. And Amazon had a great price (almost $100 less than Best Buy and over $100 less than AAFES) and free shipping.

He wanted to get me some attachments too, but I told him to wait for other occasions...like birthdays, anniversaries, etc. I need to decide what attachments I want anyway, although I might need an additional bowl.

He was looking at the Artisan series of mixers, but I told him that since I only plan for standard usage of the mixer, I don't need the more expensive models with the more powerful motors. The basic model should do just fine.

The other thing I really want is a bread machine, but that can wait. I had a cheap bread machine when I was in grad school, but I used it constantly. I love how it does all the work, and I still get fresh-baked bread. But I'll probably get a toaster oven right away.

The house is ours!

We waited all morning and a good part of the afternoon in anticipation of getting the keys to our house.

We were having lunch at Zoopa when our agent called. He wasn't expecting everything to be official until sometime between 2-3 pm.

Zoopa, by the way, is a great restaurant. It's across from the Southcenter Mall in Tukwila, and we ran to Office Depot today so Lance could get a new desk. So we had lunch there. It's a buffet, but it's all pasta, salad, soup and baked goods. Yummy. I had a relatively healthy lunch (big salad with fat free dressing, veggie and white bean soup, 2 breadsticks, tiny serving of penne with tomato basil sauce, and a small amount of roasted potato salad with sundried tomato vinaigrette) until dessert.

Anyway, we finished up our shopping and I was really in need of a nap, so we came back to the hotel and I dozed off for about an hour.

Shortly after 3, my cellphone rang. It was our agent, wanting to know if we were ready to get the keys to our house. He asked us to meet him at the house.

About 15 minutes later, we were there, and he was waiting in the driveway. He handed me the envelope with the key inside, and then he handed me a pointsettia as a housewarming gift. He said that we needed a touch of Christmas first thing. He went inside with us and we made sure that everything was okay. Some stuff was still in the garage and we couldn't find a garage door opener, but our agent said that the seller might be back to pick that stuff up and drop off the opener...she had until 6 pm to do that.

He decided to leave us alone in our new house, and handed me a box, which contained a coffee table book with beautiful pictures from all over Washington state. Then he left.

Lance and I kind of giggled and bounced around a little, and then we went off to Target to buy stuff. We still have lots of stuff to buy, but we got some of our basics covered, at least.

After Target, we stopped at Home Depot to pick up some more stuff. Then we came back to the house.

Shortly after we got there, an SUV pulled up in front. It was the seller and her husband. She introduced herself and handed us a bottle of Merlot (from Washington state) and a card. She said that according to her contract, she owned the house until 9 pm (which is actually correct...our agent was mistaken). But she just wanted to pick up the rest of the stuff and give us the garage door opener. Lance helped them load the stuff into their SUV. We got acquainted in the meantime...she and her husband both seem like really nice people. She swept out the garage, warned us about the bees that like to nest up in the garage attic, and then she and her husband wished us well and went on their way.

Lance and I unpacked our purchases and put them in their places. When we had the chance, we opened up their card.

My parents spent many happy years in this house, and we hope you do too. Happy Holidays.

Such a wonderful, heartfelt gesture. I think we will spend many happy years in this house, indeed.

The only touch of Christmas in our house