Paint and boxes

It has been almost a week since I first turned the key in the door to my little house. The last few days have been a blur of paint and boxes.

My room is pretty much complete while the spare room, or the room my sister has claimed (which makes me smile because she keeps telling me we can't live together. And we won't, but there will always be a place for her when she wants it) has a coat of primer on it. The Atomic Orange colour is still trying to break through.

Elmo loves going over there. We can't leave him behind. He likes the back yard a lot which is well fenced to keep the little wanderer from getting away. While we work he is content to flop down on the floor and sleep.

The house has been busy and full since I took possession. Finally, on Saturday night my parents were out and we weren't working. I grabbed my journal, printed off a few e-mails I had been meaning to read, leashed up Elmo and headed over for some alone time. Once inside I opened up all the windows to let the place breath and enjoy the sounds of the neighbourhood.

Tonight I had my first dinner party. It was my mom's birthday so I hosted a small family gathering. I tried to keep notes of all the things I realized I still needed--oven mitts, salad tongs, note paper to write lists on. I'm not there yet, but I'm amazed at how close I am.

Here's my favourite part of the night. I walked into my room where my sister was wrapping presents. I noticed the card she was signing looked familiar. I asked her to hold it up for me.

I could hardly believe it. I had gone into the village at lunch to pick a card up at Shoppers' Drug Mart. After reading every Happy Birthday Mom card in the collection and finding they read more like mother's day verses, I decided to hit one of the other shops. There were many different pretty cards to choose from and I again laboured over the decision to pick the right one. The one I picked featured an image of a painting of a lady with a hat. Inside it simply read, "Happy Birthday". I just thought the picture was pretty. Apparently, so did my sister as only two hours after me, she went into the same store and picked out the exact same card. Stuff like that has happened before--like the time we bought each other the same obscure DVD movie for Christmas or how we'll get ready to go to a family function only to find we've picked matching outfits. So this time, all I could do was laugh and say, "oh Tracy, I love you."