caitri | Settling In, One Week In

We (Scott) painted the master bedroom, my office, and the living room last week. Still to do: guest room, tv room, and eventually redoing the kitchen and bathroom (both of which are serviceable but dated/cramped; when I have a bath I at least want water that covers my navel, you know?).

The previous tenants had left behind various bits of furniture, some of which we are using--an old mattress that is better than no mattress, a dining table and chairs, a chest of drawers, etc.--so we hauled the remainder to the garage for the moment. Unfortunately this seemed to trigger Bilbo, who seems worried we're going to move again, and he has been anxious--whining and having accidents. I've tried mitigating the latter with copious treats every time he goes outside to do business, which is working so far. But he whines pathetically every time I go outside--to shovel the sidewalk or take the trash to the curb. It's very heartrending and sad. Friends advise to just try to be as normal as possible and establish a routine, so I'm doing my best with that.

This morning I went to campus to start my new hire paperwork. I still won't start for a month, but now I'm in the system, so my boss can file stuff to get me an ID card with the appropriate security controls and stuff. Thursday I'm going back to campus to do a seminar thing on employee benefits, which I fully expect to be boring but useful. (I'm not sure why three hours is needed to cover health care programs (okay, I know why), but considering I spent two hours today learning that Sexual Harassment is Bad and Workplace Ethics are Good....).

Scott flew back to CO yesterday to work on prepping the house for sale. He's flying back here in two weeks when our first POD arrives so we can unpack some of our furniture. With any luck the house can go on sale in early/mid-March and be sold quickly, then he can move here full time. Being on my own is rather stressful when in a new place--the toilet was running a bit last night and I fixed it, but I had stupid blind panic for about five minutes of "please don't break while I'm alone!!"

I'm tired! And so much yet to do...