December 1, 2018: The Girls First Friend’s Birthday Party

Saturday.  There is still a lot to be done to get the truck back.  It was supposed to be back this morning at ten, so we had to get up and get to work right away.  I was not at all ready to jump out of bed and get lifting things again.  I did get eleven hours of sleep, however, so did recover quite a bit since yesterday.  Mostly I am just tired and stiff this morning.

We basically only have the furniture left to get, but it is the heavy and awkward stuff.  It will be as much work to get that out of the truck as all of the unloading was yesterday.

There was so much to do, and so little time in which to do it, we decided to just get the couches down and to set them on the yard so that at least the truck could get back to U-Haul.  That alone was a lot of work and I could barely stand after doing it.

We got that done just in time for Paul to drive the truck back.  Then we had to get the girls ready to go to Isabella’s birthday party.  This is why we raced back from New York to make sure that we did not miss today’s party.  It is officially from ten until noon.

It is a pajama party, so the girls are all bundled up on a warm day, in pajamas.  Dominica took the girls down and picked up Paul on the way home. They stopped at the Guatemalan bakery and got donuts on the way home.

Before Dominica left, Ken made it over.  He did some work in the lawn, and then helped me to move the couches into the house and to move the old couch outside.  It was super hard maneuvering stuff into the house as the couches are so long and can’t make it around the front corner because of the pillars.  So it was three times the work of just carrying them in.

So we had everything in and arranged before Dominica got back with Paul.

Dominica spent a lot of time today cleaning the couches.  They were so dirty, and covered in mildew.  It was no small project.

At noon, I ran out to pick up the girls down in Addison.  The party was far from over, so I just stayed.  They ended up going till closer to one. The girls were having a great time and made new friends.  They did hand painted plates at the party as an activity so they brought those home.  Very cool party idea.

I got to meet Juan for the first time, too.

On the way back home we stopped at Papusa Dona Lola on Beltline and got papusas for Dominica, Liesl, and me.  Paul didn’t feel like them and Luciana will just never try them.  They were so delicious, though.  Probably the best ones yet.  I really like mine just covered in coleslaw.  And it make them that much healthier.

I watched some Fuller House with the girls while I ate.  They decided that they want to watch through the series yet again, since we finished it a couple of weeks ago.  Luciana especially is addicted to this show.

After a bit of the show I moved to my office.  I have been away from it for so long.  Just getting a chance to be semi-alone for a bit is nice.  I need a break from people for sure.

We did some unpacking today. Several boxes and bins were emptied.  We have some shelves and stuff to fill, so we got some immediate progress done.  Our goal is to do a few boxes every week.  It will take a very long time, but we will get through it all sooner than it seems.  The house is very full, and is going to feel much more full until we get it all figured out where all of this new stuff is going to go.

The “new” couches really take up a lot of space in the living room.  It is going to be packed in there.  Not only do we move from one couch to two, but we have our side table to add to the room as well.  And the dining room table is going to move into there to be used as part of the school room, while the dining room space gets turned into a real office for Dominica and Paul as they have been living without one for quite some time now, just working from the living room on furniture not meant for that.

The girls watched Fuller House all the rest of the day.  For dinner, Dominica made angel hair with vodka sauce.  The girls just had the pasta with butter, as they always do. The vodka sauce worked out really well, though.  It was delicious and the first time that I can ever remember her making that kind of sauce.