Drumroll, please…It is finished!

Not the selling of our house, or the packing up of our house, or the fundraising.

THE WEDDING SCRAPBOOK!

Finally, it is finished. 3 years, 3 months and 24 days of marriage; 3 scrapbook binders; 2 photo albums; 5 rolls of double-sided tape; 3 gluesticks; lots of trash (including the extra invitations, programs, bits of cards, photos); and a sore back from sitting-on-the-floor-instead-of-at-a-table LATER…I have completed our wedding scrapbook and disposed of the trash that it generated.

My life is a tiny bit simpler and my office is a tiny bit more organized and straighter. And, my list of things to finish before February/we leave/sell our house/move out of our house/ is now minus one! I SHOULD be dancing around celebrating!

But what do I do afterward? Cry buckets.

Why, you ask? Well, see. There’s a crazy grief that comes with moving to a different country that sometimes manifests itself in unexpected ways. So, here we are.

After messing up yet another set of polished nails because I started moving around too soon, I can remember hearing my mom say, “You just have to be still for a few minutes after you paint your nails. Can you sit still just a few minutes?” When I tried to be still (you know, after my nails were already ruined), she laughed at me and tried to explain that it doesn’t really matter if I’m still after I’ve messed them up. The time to be still is while they’re drying. I think about this conversation often when I’m painting my fingernails–usually clear so that you can’t see as much when I mess them up.

This week, I had a pedicure. AND a manicure. Harry’s parents gave me some money for Christmas to use to pamper myself. So, I did. And my toes feel really pretty.

My finger nails, on the other hand, did not fare so well–even though I sat under the little light thing for a few minutes and had my keys out before my nails were started so that I didn’t have to dig around in my purse for them.

Alas, within 30 minutes, they were ruined. Some things never change, I guess.