Our inherited bounty

Top Finds When Moving Into A House That's New... To You:

(Some of these TOP FINDS are positive and exciting while others are depressing, funny, or gross. But it's all a part of moving in after someone else has just moved out!)

1.) Knife sharpener for both straight edge and serrated edge knives. Since we got a fairly nice set of stainless steel knives as a wedding gift over two years ago, I have used our knives just about every day and haven't sharpened them once. This summer, they didn't even really want to slice through tomato skins, so I knew I needed to hunker down and whip out that long scary pole sharpener that came with the knife set. But, eureka! Upon moving into the new-to-us home, I discovered a fancy knife sharpener in an unemptied junk drawer in the kitchen.

2.) Fleas in the front and back yards. Yup, you read that right... fleas! Poor Little Vespa with her fair pink skin and champagne fur has revealed countless little scampering fleas on her warm little undercarriage. What blood sucking insect wouldn't want to cozy on up on a belly like that? It's a good thing she's on her regular flea/tick/heartworm medication, or I would be even more worried. For now, Hubby is playing his part and spraying the yard with some serious stuff and that should hold down the fort for about 3 months....

3.) Light switches that make absolutely no sense. What. So. Ever. We have a light switch in the house that controls whether or not two other light switches actually work! I swear, it makes absolutely no sense. At all! We flip the switch ON and neither the dining room chandelier or the kitchen overhead lights will turn on. We flip the switch OFF and both dining room and kitchen lights are good to go. See? No sense at all! And what kills me is, the switch is in the living room. Yes, seriously.

4.) A lonely Lurch-like old man next door neighbor who yells at the neighborhood dogs all day. I actually watched our next door neighbor man this morning tromp across the street, shaking his fist the whole way... the way Tim Gunn shakes his fist, or like the President points... with his thumb facing forward. This neighbor man, he marched right up to the fence in the back yard of the house across the street from his and shook his fist and hollered at the dogs to stop barking. They would eventually stop. And then start again once he want back to his house. And the vicious cycle would repeat. While this may seem comical at first glance, I better NEVER catch him in our yard yelling at yippy littly Puppa, no matter what!

5.) An unexpected microwave. I was so excited with hopes that the previous owners would leave behind some of their cute furniture that I actually had a dream a couple weeks ago that they left all of it! Now, that didn't actually happen, but we did turn the key to our new home to discover a rather nice looking microwave sitting on the kitchen counter. Woohoo! That's one more appliance we don't need to buy.

6.) Drippy toilets. Two of them. And that's all the toilets our house has! While my parents were in town, my dad quick-fixed the simple issue with the hallway toilet and it immediately quit running. But he didn't get a chance to check out the toilet in the master bathroom, which is the reason that thing trickled and tinkled and kept me awake for two nights before Carlton and I decided to cut the water to it. My dad's quick fix to the hallway bathroom didn't work on the bedroom bathroom, but in my early afternoon frustrations yesterday I discovered the source! The half-shell shaped clapper plug isn't sealing completely, causing water to trickle constantly. Off to Home Depot we go!

7.) A fancy stainless grill with built-in thermometer and smoking chamber. That's right, guys, they just left it here. It's a good looking little grill, with a retro shape to it, and our grill was one thing we sold before we left Arizona, so this was a great surprise!

8.) Congratulatory wedding gifts left of the doorstep. The couple who lived here before us got married the weekend before the closing of the house. Their online wedding registries weren't updated with their new address until this week. I mean, how tempting was THAT! I had to call them and let them know that a gigantic package addressed to Mrs. Erin & Mr. Ted had arrived on our new doorstep. That Bed Bath & Beyond was calling my name, but I have a feeling those sheets would have been tainted if I had kept them for my greedy little self.

9.) No internet. None until the 14th of October. Carlton is going out of his computer lover's brain, just trying to hold onto that stolen single point of internet from a faraway neighbor's password-not-protected wireless router. Off to the Red Box for another $1/night movie rental!

10.) Unpacking our own wedding gifts after two years of waiting to enjoy them. We've gotten tons of use out of our casserole dishes, everyday china, and other kitchen necessary items. But I have been waiting for the day when we would be finished moving across town and across the country to open all the breakable, expensive, and extra special goodies. They've all awaited their grand opening in my bedroom at my parents' house for over 2 years, and we have had SO MUCH FUN in the rediscovery of all the beautiful (and some incredibly ugly and useless) gifts that were given to us!

11.) Surprise! A washer and dryer! That's right kids, the previous owners left behind a perfectly good washer and dryer. If we didn't have our very own HE front load washer and dryer that I love, we would be even more excited about this handsome somewhat-new set of appliances. This is a great set to sell at our next yard sale, and we didn't have to do anything but wheel them out of the kitchen!

12.) Our first real mail at our first real home. It couldn't have been better: Katie Anne sent us some precious school pictures! This was the perfect first mail to get at our new home! I opened the rusty little mailbox door and one lonely little yellow envelope smiled at me from inside. No bills, no junk mail, no wedding gift cards that would need to be turned over to the previous owner. Just a sweet, happy little yellow envelope with pretty little pictures inside. :)

Thanks, thanks, and more thanks to my fam for helping out so much! How much do we owe you?