"One loyal friend is worth ten thousand families" ~ Euripides

I love my husband, am grateful towards my in-laws for taking my husband in and raising him as their own when he was a child, but I am so glad that we're closing on the house this week and  moving in two weeks.

We rent from my FIL as many of you know and have for several years.  I shall be making offerings and lighting candles to every Saint I pray too and every superstition regarding welcoming the brownies/sprites into your home that I know in short order.

I'm that grateful. 

My FIL has apparently been fretting about a tree in the front yard and told SSG that he wanted to deal with it on Friday.

No mention that oh, your brother will be by Sunday morning and if you could help him out that would be great?

No knock on the door to let us know that they were here or that we could move the cars if we wanted too.  

The tree in question is near power and utility lines, BIL is not insured for that type of work and is a foolhardy idiot.  I sure hope his wife has a good life insurance policy on him.

Then the rest of my BIL's family arrived to "help with the clean up".

Still no knock on the door and we overheard someone whining that why weren't we out there helping.

Maybe because you didn't bother to inform us in a reasonable amount of time that you would be there.

So sorry, we're not at home to callers today.

No BIL is apparently bitching out my husband.  Oh, there will be blood.   So much.  It'll flow like wine.

/figuratively speaking, I'm quoting a book.  Not to be taken as a threat.  Idiot brother-in-law would take hyperbole as a threat.   

"If I'd known how much packing I'd have to do, I'd have run again.”- Harry S. Truman

As excited and thrilled I am about our new house I am just as less thrilled and enamored about having to pack.

It's been five years since we last moved and our things have predictably grown as well.   It's not that we've been pack rats or clutter fiends, we just moved from a small 2 bedroom apartment into a 2 story, 2.5 bedroom house with full basement.

I do admit that my painting hobby-business has a tendency to collect blanks, but I do try to keep everything under control.

Part of the challenge is trying to pack enough now so that we're not scrambling at the end of the month and still be able to live in our house for the next four weeks.  Still, packed two boxes yesterday and am going to try for more this weekend as well as weeding out the rest of the junk drawer.

One area of this whole house packing project that I am taking great delight in is finally being able to downsize my makeup.   My makeup collection is...impressive.   Being both a pro and having a passionate affair with makeup has led to having enough makeup to do any number of runway shows without running out.

Since attending Dragon*con last year and taking part in a seminar panel about an amazing pro makeup called Skin Illustrator- that's all changing.  Slowly.  Each palette is $75+ and the family does like to eat occasionally.   Ordered and recieved my first palette this week and I'm in love.  Never going back to conventional makeup again.   Especially foundation.

A foundation that can be perfectly matched to your skin tone easily, dries damned quick and doesn't smudge?  Ever?  Until you remove it?   Miracle of science.   I love living in the future.  

Which brings up a discussion that friends and I have had on and off over the years.  To varying degrees we all like and enjoy Renn, re-enactments and SCA life.    Biggest selling point for today over any other time in history?   Science and modern medicine.   I personally enjoy being able to see, treat infections and breath without trouble during the growing season.   And look fabulous at the same time.  

Week 2 and my ankle has been holding steady.  It still hurts, still needs to be wrapped for prolonged activity, but swelling isn't as bad and I can actually rotate it fully without feeling like someone just shoved a hot knife into the joint.   So progress!