hard to believe that the first of my two much-anticipated moving days is finally here - we have the house keys, and tomorrow we can start moving our stuff in! after all these horrible years and this last very uncomfortable summer, my family is finally going to be able to start over on our own again. no more tiptoeing around that idiot who spends most his waking hours stewing in an armchair. no more going shopping all night, every night to escape our own home. this really is quite a change. think of it! we'll actually be able to sit in our own living room and watch tv! or engage in, who knows, maybe even a bit of friendly chitchat over dinner! what a concept.

yes, you do detect a note of sarcasm there. good eye! ;)

today was actually the first day i got to see our new home. i was definitely happy with it - it is very small of course, all on one floor, but it's all we need. and with only my mom and brother living there most of the year, it's plenty big. and it's clean, in good shape, in a good neighborhood (i hope i don't sound too much like a real estate ad) - really all we could ask for at the price we could pay. we were really lucky to have found it, and for everything to have come together so quickly. although i'm worried that mom and steven will be living on a too-tight budget (less than $10 extra a week!), nothing could be worse than what we've been living with for the last several years.

well, i really ought to get back to my packing. i've got a long way to go before i'm ready to get out of here - tomorrow! my incentive tonight in finishing early is getting to sense and sensibility - i figure if no more period dramas starring both emma thompson and anthony hopkins exist, i can begin to wean myself off with those starring just one or the other. and, as you should be well aware, alan rickman is not a shabby subsitute for sir anthony. :)