Fri night we went to see ‘Reno 911: Miami’. I had a feeling this wasn’t going to be that great and should be reserved for DVD viewing, and I was right. It wasn’t as good as the TV show, although there were a few funny parts. Joe was very eager to see it so we did.
Sat after breakfast we went to Bad Hair Day salon so Joe could get his hair cut. I got mine cut there 2 weeks prior and really liked the cut and the salon. The salon’s walls are black with the exception of the front wall which is all glass. In the waiting area there is an enormous crystal-looking chandelier, and on every one of the styling stations there is a smaller, lamp version of the chandelier. They play fun music and the stylists wear fun clothes. They also offer you a beverage (coffee, tea, water, wine, beer) while you wait. I told Joe’s stylist that I hoped he could cut Joe’s hair so that it gave him a ‘fresher, younger’ look since he’s had the same hair style for the entire 10+ years I’ve known him. The stylist did a great job and Joe looks fabulous!
Next we headed over to Home Depot with a gift card in hand to look for a cordless drill/screw driver combo. A very nice and competent gentleman helped us decide on one, since the prices ranged wildly. I explained I wasn’t planning to build a house with it; I just wanted a good weekend project tool. We also picked up a package of drill bits and screw heads along with a level. (I’ve always wanted a level to make picture hanging accurate.)
Next we went back to the linen outlet where we’d seen the curtain panels we wanted for the living room. (The store had 3 but we needed 4.) Last week the store manage sent an email to all stores in the chain regarding the panel we wanted, and one of the stores responded by shipping the panel to me. It should arrive tomorrow. So on Sat we bought the other 3 panels from our local store since the 4th one was on its way. When we got home I put up the 3 and they look great!
Sat afternoon we plugged the drill/screw driver battery into the charger and then drove to Dover. Although Rehoboth has the outlet malls, Dover has the chain stores like Target, Best Buy, Kohl's, and Value City. After checking out the goods at several places we headed back towards home and stopped for dinner at Meding & Son seafood. They have a gigantic ship's propeller in front of the restaurant and we've been curious about the place. Turns out the dad started selling wholesale seafood out of a pick-up truck, then opened the seafood carry-out, and then added on the restaurant. Gradually several family members have come to work with him. The food was terrific and we are definitely going back.
Sun after breakfast we mounted our replacement mailbox to a bracket, and then attached the bracket to the neighbor's existing mailbox post. We now have a fully-installed mailbox! Then we unpacked the last of the boxes. They were mostly decorative items, which is why we could function for 4 weeks without having unpacked them yet. It felt good to finally have everything unpacked – not that it’s all put away, but at least it’s unpacked. With all the boxes unpacked we loaded all the flattened boxes, packing paper and bubble wrap into the Suburban and dropped them off at the recycling center. Then we hooked up the TV, cable box, DVD player, and VCR in the 3rd floor rec room.
Later we stopped in at our neighbors Jim & Barb’s house. Jim had back surgery on Tues so we decided to bring them a basket of goodies to enjoy during his recuperation: flavored coffees, teas, cocoa, cookies, jam, and chocolates. They invited us in, gave us a tour of their house, and invited us to sit and chat for a while. They are very nice and interesting folks, and we had a lovely visit with them.
While we were visiting with Jim & Barb it began to snow. At times it snowed pretty hard, but only for a few minutes at a time. We got less than an inch, but it was just enough to give everything a pretty white covering. We both showered and then went to an Oscar party at our friends Steve & Paul's house in Georgetown (DE). Unfortunately the snow scared several people away so it wound up being just Rick, Steve, Paul, and us. But we had a great time anyway. They had decorated their house with movie memorabilia and decorations, they had food and drinks, and gift bags for attendees - just like the real Oscars!
Steve & Paul are real movie fans and have converted their dining room into a true movie theatre. The walls and ceiling are painted very dark, they have black-out shades and curtains on the windows, and they have a projection system TV that shows on a huge screen. They even have a candy counter stocked full of all your movie-watching favorite candies. They are really nice guys and we had a fun time.
By the time we left the Oscar party the temperature had risen a few degrees and it was raining. By Mon morning there was no sign of the previous day's snow.
Drag Queen name of the day: Della Ware
Wednesday, February 28, 2007
Tuesday, February 20, 2007
Long weekend
For the past several years we've spent the long President's Day weekend at the beach, and this year was no exception. Only this year we didn't 'go away' for the weekend, we stayed home, since we live at the beach now.
We decided to take advantage of the long weekend by doing some more unpacking, organizing, and getting settled. We’d gotten the house ‘functional’ so now we wanted to get it more settled.
We started by putting down the dining room area rug and then arranged the furniture until it felt right. Unfortunately that also entailed moving out a bunch of stuff that didn’t belong in the dining room to begin with. But in less than an hour the furniture that belonged there was in place and the stuff that had been removed was stacked in the walkway between the dining and living rooms.
Next we went to the 3rd floor where we had the movers put all 3 of our vintage sectional sofas. The pieces were all piled on top of each other all over the room, along with tables, boxes of vintage decorations, and the TV and TV stand. I took a deep breathe and wondered how we’d ever make sense out of this room.
It didn’t come easy. We separated the pieces of the 3 sectionals and began moving them into various arrangements. (Insert grunting, groaning, and a little bit of arguing here.) It wasn’t until about the 5th attempt that we arrived at an arrangement that worked. So we vacuumed and Swiffered the floor, put down the area rug, and sighed a huge sigh of relief.
It was after 1:00 so we decided to break for showers and then walk into town for lunch. It was very cold – only about 30 degrees – but it was sunny outside and we were up for the walk. On the walk back home I got a call on my cell from our friends Mike & Clark. They were in town for the long weekend with friends and wanted to see if we were available for a quick visit. They were only a block away so we turned around and walked back to town and met up with them. They came to the house with us and we showed them around, and then accepted their invitation to join them and their friends for dinner that night.
After they left Joe & I unpacked all of the boxes that had come from our dining room in VA. Then we unwrapped all the barware from the beach house. We grouped all of the stemware, platters, bowls, plates, and various serving pieces and began to display and store them in the china hutch, side board, buffet, and corner cabinet. To my surprise everything fit beautifully.
Sat evening we met up with Mike & Clark and the group of friends with whom they were spending the weekend: Maurice & David, Mark & Randy, Mary & Lynn, Michael & Bob, and Bill. Most of them were staying in 2 weekend rental apartments that had kitchens so they had made dinner. We brought 2 bottles of wine in case anyone wanted some with or before dinner. But first we started with cocktails. Mary made Cosmopolitans, which are right up my alley! We met all the friends and quickly got along splendidly with everyone. As it turns out, 3 of them are teachers for the same County school system for which my friends Kerry and Alex work. And one of the teachers teaches at the same elementary school where Joe’s nephews attend. A later conversation with Joe’s sister revealed that her sons both knew the teacher.
On Sun we had breakfast at the Dirty Finger and then did a little shopping. We looked for curtains at a few stores but didn’t buy any. After deciding on the ones we wanted we returned to the store to find they only had 3 panels left – and we needed 4. We did buy another mailbox, since our original mailbox was never returned. Afterwards we went to a special film screening for Film Society members like me. It was called ‘Coffee Date’ and it was really good! Then we unpacked more boxes and did more organizing. We had dinner at home and watched Rome on HBO.
On Mon we unpacked more boxes, did some laundry, and went back to the store where we’d seen the curtains. A 2nd employee checked the back stock and reported there were no more. She called another store in the chain but they didn’t have any at all. To make up for our disappointment we had lunch at one of our favorite lunch spots in Rehoboth: CafĂ© Sole. We both ordered our usuals: Turkey Stuffer for Joe (Thanksgiving dinner on a roll) and Fried Oyster BLT with Brie for me. Oh, and a ½ of a deviled egg for each of us, thank you. Now, I know that sounds like a big, rich lunch for 2 guys who claim to be watching their weight, but we decided that would be our big meal for the day. Dinner would be a smaller, lighter fare at home.
After lunch we took a very short stroll on the boardwalk. It was just too cold and windy so we headed back to the car while we could still feel our feet. More unpacking and organizing followed by breaking down the boxes and loading them into the Suburban. Joe cleaned the bathroom (because I hate doing that) and I vacuumed the 1st and 2nd floors of the house. Then we watched some TV and spent some time on the computer.
It was a really nice long weekend – thanks to the Presidents.
Drag Queen name of the day: Amber Light
We decided to take advantage of the long weekend by doing some more unpacking, organizing, and getting settled. We’d gotten the house ‘functional’ so now we wanted to get it more settled.
We started by putting down the dining room area rug and then arranged the furniture until it felt right. Unfortunately that also entailed moving out a bunch of stuff that didn’t belong in the dining room to begin with. But in less than an hour the furniture that belonged there was in place and the stuff that had been removed was stacked in the walkway between the dining and living rooms.
Next we went to the 3rd floor where we had the movers put all 3 of our vintage sectional sofas. The pieces were all piled on top of each other all over the room, along with tables, boxes of vintage decorations, and the TV and TV stand. I took a deep breathe and wondered how we’d ever make sense out of this room.
It didn’t come easy. We separated the pieces of the 3 sectionals and began moving them into various arrangements. (Insert grunting, groaning, and a little bit of arguing here.) It wasn’t until about the 5th attempt that we arrived at an arrangement that worked. So we vacuumed and Swiffered the floor, put down the area rug, and sighed a huge sigh of relief.
It was after 1:00 so we decided to break for showers and then walk into town for lunch. It was very cold – only about 30 degrees – but it was sunny outside and we were up for the walk. On the walk back home I got a call on my cell from our friends Mike & Clark. They were in town for the long weekend with friends and wanted to see if we were available for a quick visit. They were only a block away so we turned around and walked back to town and met up with them. They came to the house with us and we showed them around, and then accepted their invitation to join them and their friends for dinner that night.
After they left Joe & I unpacked all of the boxes that had come from our dining room in VA. Then we unwrapped all the barware from the beach house. We grouped all of the stemware, platters, bowls, plates, and various serving pieces and began to display and store them in the china hutch, side board, buffet, and corner cabinet. To my surprise everything fit beautifully.
Sat evening we met up with Mike & Clark and the group of friends with whom they were spending the weekend: Maurice & David, Mark & Randy, Mary & Lynn, Michael & Bob, and Bill. Most of them were staying in 2 weekend rental apartments that had kitchens so they had made dinner. We brought 2 bottles of wine in case anyone wanted some with or before dinner. But first we started with cocktails. Mary made Cosmopolitans, which are right up my alley! We met all the friends and quickly got along splendidly with everyone. As it turns out, 3 of them are teachers for the same County school system for which my friends Kerry and Alex work. And one of the teachers teaches at the same elementary school where Joe’s nephews attend. A later conversation with Joe’s sister revealed that her sons both knew the teacher.
On Sun we had breakfast at the Dirty Finger and then did a little shopping. We looked for curtains at a few stores but didn’t buy any. After deciding on the ones we wanted we returned to the store to find they only had 3 panels left – and we needed 4. We did buy another mailbox, since our original mailbox was never returned. Afterwards we went to a special film screening for Film Society members like me. It was called ‘Coffee Date’ and it was really good! Then we unpacked more boxes and did more organizing. We had dinner at home and watched Rome on HBO.
On Mon we unpacked more boxes, did some laundry, and went back to the store where we’d seen the curtains. A 2nd employee checked the back stock and reported there were no more. She called another store in the chain but they didn’t have any at all. To make up for our disappointment we had lunch at one of our favorite lunch spots in Rehoboth: CafĂ© Sole. We both ordered our usuals: Turkey Stuffer for Joe (Thanksgiving dinner on a roll) and Fried Oyster BLT with Brie for me. Oh, and a ½ of a deviled egg for each of us, thank you. Now, I know that sounds like a big, rich lunch for 2 guys who claim to be watching their weight, but we decided that would be our big meal for the day. Dinner would be a smaller, lighter fare at home.
After lunch we took a very short stroll on the boardwalk. It was just too cold and windy so we headed back to the car while we could still feel our feet. More unpacking and organizing followed by breaking down the boxes and loading them into the Suburban. Joe cleaned the bathroom (because I hate doing that) and I vacuumed the 1st and 2nd floors of the house. Then we watched some TV and spent some time on the computer.
It was a really nice long weekend – thanks to the Presidents.
Drag Queen name of the day: Amber Light
Wednesday, February 14, 2007
Happy Valentine's Day
Happy Valentine's Day to everyone!
This was mine and Joe’s 11th Valentine’s Day together. Probably like most people, we’ve run the gambit of Valentine’s traditions: a romantic weekend out of town, a fancy and expensive dinner, gifts, chocolates, cards, flowers. Each Valentine’s Day has been nice and enjoyable. It’s nice to do something different and not feel like we must keep an annual tradition just because.
After having just moved 3 weeks ago, we decided to stay home this Valentine’s Day. We’re both trying to watch what we eat, which is tricky when you eat out, and we’re also trying to watch our spending. So we bought a marinated pork tenderloin, some small potatoes, some peas and some corn and had a delicious and perfectly lovely dinner at home – just the two of us.
When Joe came home from work there was a lovely vase of flowers waiting for him. I bought dark pink astromerium, light pink snap dragons, and large white mums from the floral dept at the grocery store and arranged them in a vase. They really looked pretty. Joe is not fond of red roses, in case you were wondering.
For the past 10 years I have ordered flowers from a florist and had them delivered to Joe’s office. He loves cut flowers and getting them at the office gives him a chance to show his straight co-workers that they aren’t the only ones who can get flowers at work. Plus, I just think it’s hard to beat the feeling of getting flowers delivered to you at work. But since we’ve just moved and I don’t know anything about the quality of the florists near his office, and also to save a little money (okay, a LOT of money), I bought the flowers and arranged them myself. They looked beautiful and he loved them, which is really all that counts. Once again, it was different and it was good.
‘Different’ has sort of become our theme since we moved, and it’s not by accident. We both recognized that we could stand to make some changes in our personal lives and in our life together, and being open to something different is a key to embracing change. Joe wants to be more organized than he was before so he’s really been trying to pick up after himself more than before. He wants to be more fit and lose weight so he’s been going to a personal trainer and working out at a gym. I want to stop procrastinating so much so I have tried setting goals of productivity for myself and not allowing myself to put them off until another day. I want to be more physically active so as soon as the weather breaks the freezing point I am going to walk the dog or just walk myself on my lunch break. Living in this house is also a means of embracing change. Our house in VA had a huge basement for storage and a large pantry in the kitchen. These allowed us to store things without being organized and made it hard to quickly find things we needed. It also allowed us to keep things we didn’t need and never used. This house has neither a basement nor a pantry, so it has encouraged us to be much more organized and thoughtful about utilizing the storage spaces elsewhere in the house.
Whether its Valentine’s Day celebrations or storage – sometimes a change is good.
Drag Queen name of the day: Ginger Snap
This was mine and Joe’s 11th Valentine’s Day together. Probably like most people, we’ve run the gambit of Valentine’s traditions: a romantic weekend out of town, a fancy and expensive dinner, gifts, chocolates, cards, flowers. Each Valentine’s Day has been nice and enjoyable. It’s nice to do something different and not feel like we must keep an annual tradition just because.
After having just moved 3 weeks ago, we decided to stay home this Valentine’s Day. We’re both trying to watch what we eat, which is tricky when you eat out, and we’re also trying to watch our spending. So we bought a marinated pork tenderloin, some small potatoes, some peas and some corn and had a delicious and perfectly lovely dinner at home – just the two of us.
When Joe came home from work there was a lovely vase of flowers waiting for him. I bought dark pink astromerium, light pink snap dragons, and large white mums from the floral dept at the grocery store and arranged them in a vase. They really looked pretty. Joe is not fond of red roses, in case you were wondering.
For the past 10 years I have ordered flowers from a florist and had them delivered to Joe’s office. He loves cut flowers and getting them at the office gives him a chance to show his straight co-workers that they aren’t the only ones who can get flowers at work. Plus, I just think it’s hard to beat the feeling of getting flowers delivered to you at work. But since we’ve just moved and I don’t know anything about the quality of the florists near his office, and also to save a little money (okay, a LOT of money), I bought the flowers and arranged them myself. They looked beautiful and he loved them, which is really all that counts. Once again, it was different and it was good.
‘Different’ has sort of become our theme since we moved, and it’s not by accident. We both recognized that we could stand to make some changes in our personal lives and in our life together, and being open to something different is a key to embracing change. Joe wants to be more organized than he was before so he’s really been trying to pick up after himself more than before. He wants to be more fit and lose weight so he’s been going to a personal trainer and working out at a gym. I want to stop procrastinating so much so I have tried setting goals of productivity for myself and not allowing myself to put them off until another day. I want to be more physically active so as soon as the weather breaks the freezing point I am going to walk the dog or just walk myself on my lunch break. Living in this house is also a means of embracing change. Our house in VA had a huge basement for storage and a large pantry in the kitchen. These allowed us to store things without being organized and made it hard to quickly find things we needed. It also allowed us to keep things we didn’t need and never used. This house has neither a basement nor a pantry, so it has encouraged us to be much more organized and thoughtful about utilizing the storage spaces elsewhere in the house.
Whether its Valentine’s Day celebrations or storage – sometimes a change is good.
Drag Queen name of the day: Ginger Snap
Tuesday, February 13, 2007
Mailbox
Prior to moving into our new house, we noticed there was no mailbox. I asked the builder and they said they don't provide mailboxes since many people like to pick out their own.
So without a mailbox I decided to take the opportunity to meet the mailman as he was delivering the mail from his Jeep. I explained that we'd just moved in and didn't have a mailbox yet. The mailman was very nice and said it was no problem. When I saw him drive up the street I could come outside and he would give me the mail until we got a box. He also told me that the mailbox needs to be on the opposite side of the street from our house, since our street is a driving route and he does not get out of the Jeep.
I got the mail the next day, but unfortunately the following 2 days were his days off and the mail was delivered by substitutes who did not know why I was standing outside in the cold at the end of the driveway with no coat on.
We purchased a mailbox but did not purchase a post for it. I really didn't want to have to try and dig a hole in the frozen ground, get the post in straight, and then attach the mailbox. Its been really cold and windy here, despite the fact that we live near the beach. Plus, I reasoned, our neighbors across the street have a mailbox on a post that could easily accommodate a 2nd box. So I asked the neighbor about adding our mailbox to their post and they quickly agreed. It would prevent the street from getting crowded up with mailbox posts AND keep me from having to install the post or pay someone to do it. In the meantime, we still wanted to get mail so I had to come up with a way.
I took one of the large packing boxes I'd emptied and placed it next to the neighbor's mailbox post and set my mailbox on top of it. That seemed to work well the 1st day. But the next day it was very cold and very windy. The temporary mailbox stand (the large cardboard box) did not handle the gusts very well. I heard a clankity-clank sound, looked outside, and saw the mailbox in the street and the large cardboard box in a neighbor's yard. I went outside to get the box out of the neighbor's yard and get the mailbox out of the street, set them back up, and put a scrap piece of wood on top of the cardboard box for weight. Several minutes later I heard the mailbox hit the street again, so I repeated the above mentioned steps, but this time took my neighbor's trashcan (which hadn't budged an inch) and put it next to the cardboard box, wedging it between the neighbor's mailbox post and the neighbor's trashcan. (Fortunately they are very nice and are only here on weekends.) A few minute later I heard the mailbox hit the ground again. I repeated the above mentioned steps and this time picked up a bag of Qwik Crete and weighted down the cardboard box with it. "I don't think you're going anywhere NOW!" I said out loud to the cardboard box. The mailbox and cardboard box remained in place and I got the mail.
However, yesterday morning I happened to look outside and noticed the mailbox was gone! It wasn't particularly windy outside, and the large cardboard box (with the scrap wood and bag of concrete) was still in place. I'd gotten Saturday's mail out of the mailbox on Sun afternoon when we returned from VA, but Mon morning the mailbox was missing.
Several ideas began to float around in my mind. Why would anyone want a mailbox with someone else's address on it? It wasn't a particularly 'nice' mailbox. It was black metal, and was the least expensive one in Wal-Mart.
Had the neighbor's handyman taken the box to add a bracket in preparation for mounting it? Not likely, since the box disappeared sometime after dark Sun night and before light Mon morning.
Had the mailbox blown off its 'stand' by a strong gust of wind? If so, I should have been able to find the box somewhere nearby, but a search of the surroundings did not reveal the mailbox.
Had some teenager decided to play a prank on us by taking our mailbox? If so, then perhaps the prankster would return the mailbox, again under the cover of darkness, in a day or 2.
So we're going to give it a day or so and if the mailbox isn't returned 'miraculously' in the night or by a neighbor who found it in their garden, we'll buy another and actually attach it to the post.
Drag Queen name of the day: Bess Wishes
So without a mailbox I decided to take the opportunity to meet the mailman as he was delivering the mail from his Jeep. I explained that we'd just moved in and didn't have a mailbox yet. The mailman was very nice and said it was no problem. When I saw him drive up the street I could come outside and he would give me the mail until we got a box. He also told me that the mailbox needs to be on the opposite side of the street from our house, since our street is a driving route and he does not get out of the Jeep.
I got the mail the next day, but unfortunately the following 2 days were his days off and the mail was delivered by substitutes who did not know why I was standing outside in the cold at the end of the driveway with no coat on.
We purchased a mailbox but did not purchase a post for it. I really didn't want to have to try and dig a hole in the frozen ground, get the post in straight, and then attach the mailbox. Its been really cold and windy here, despite the fact that we live near the beach. Plus, I reasoned, our neighbors across the street have a mailbox on a post that could easily accommodate a 2nd box. So I asked the neighbor about adding our mailbox to their post and they quickly agreed. It would prevent the street from getting crowded up with mailbox posts AND keep me from having to install the post or pay someone to do it. In the meantime, we still wanted to get mail so I had to come up with a way.
I took one of the large packing boxes I'd emptied and placed it next to the neighbor's mailbox post and set my mailbox on top of it. That seemed to work well the 1st day. But the next day it was very cold and very windy. The temporary mailbox stand (the large cardboard box) did not handle the gusts very well. I heard a clankity-clank sound, looked outside, and saw the mailbox in the street and the large cardboard box in a neighbor's yard. I went outside to get the box out of the neighbor's yard and get the mailbox out of the street, set them back up, and put a scrap piece of wood on top of the cardboard box for weight. Several minutes later I heard the mailbox hit the street again, so I repeated the above mentioned steps, but this time took my neighbor's trashcan (which hadn't budged an inch) and put it next to the cardboard box, wedging it between the neighbor's mailbox post and the neighbor's trashcan. (Fortunately they are very nice and are only here on weekends.) A few minute later I heard the mailbox hit the ground again. I repeated the above mentioned steps and this time picked up a bag of Qwik Crete and weighted down the cardboard box with it. "I don't think you're going anywhere NOW!" I said out loud to the cardboard box. The mailbox and cardboard box remained in place and I got the mail.
However, yesterday morning I happened to look outside and noticed the mailbox was gone! It wasn't particularly windy outside, and the large cardboard box (with the scrap wood and bag of concrete) was still in place. I'd gotten Saturday's mail out of the mailbox on Sun afternoon when we returned from VA, but Mon morning the mailbox was missing.
Several ideas began to float around in my mind. Why would anyone want a mailbox with someone else's address on it? It wasn't a particularly 'nice' mailbox. It was black metal, and was the least expensive one in Wal-Mart.
Had the neighbor's handyman taken the box to add a bracket in preparation for mounting it? Not likely, since the box disappeared sometime after dark Sun night and before light Mon morning.
Had the mailbox blown off its 'stand' by a strong gust of wind? If so, I should have been able to find the box somewhere nearby, but a search of the surroundings did not reveal the mailbox.
Had some teenager decided to play a prank on us by taking our mailbox? If so, then perhaps the prankster would return the mailbox, again under the cover of darkness, in a day or 2.
So we're going to give it a day or so and if the mailbox isn't returned 'miraculously' in the night or by a neighbor who found it in their garden, we'll buy another and actually attach it to the post.
Drag Queen name of the day: Bess Wishes
Sunday, February 04, 2007
Real progress
I thought we'd be able to set up all 3 guest bedrooms on Fri night, but realized we needed to go shopping for groceries and other home stuff. So after dinner and a trip to the Super Wal-Mart we set up the 1st guest bedroom, the one that my office is in. We got the bed set up, decided on which bedside tables to use, and moved some boxes into the closet.
On Sat we really got busy. After walking a block to a moving sale, we went to Wal-Mart, K-Mart, and the linen outlet in search of curtains. We bought more inexpensive curtains panels and tension rods, then headed back home. We set up the other 2 guest bedrooms, put up curtains in 1 of them, and got them ready to be used later that night.
Then we started working in the living room. There was a huge pile of furniture and boxes from the VA house that actually belong in the new living room, there were things that belonged in the new house but not in the living room, AND there was furniture and boxes from the beach house that Joe's brother Paul was coming to pick up. We decided to move the furniture that was leaving over to one spot, and stacked it up on top of each other. After that we took the miscellaneous items out of the living room and to the rooms where they belonged. Then we began moving the pieces that were staying in the living room to their approximate locations to see how we liked the arrangement and see if it fit. With a few adjustments we decided on a floorplan. We vacuumed and Swiffer-ed the floor, unrolled the area rug, and got the furniture set up. I couldn't believe what a huge difference it was from just a few hours earlier! Actually, it went pretty quickly, once we had the other stuff out of the way.
I put up the curtain panels in the dining room as Joe took a shower. I was going to shower after him, but our friends arrived.
Kerry, Hugh, Kelly, Ana, and Emely had come from VA for the Polar Bear Plunge, a fundraiser for Special Olympics. This is their 3rd year participating. So we showed them around the house and got caught up on the latest news. Then we went to dinner at La Rosa Negra, an Italian place Joe & I had recently rediscovered. We had a delicious dinner complimented by a live jazz trio who where very good. After dinner we sat around in the living room and talked. Ana, Emely, and Kelly went to bed at around 10, but Kerry, Hugh, Joe & I stayed up talking until 12:15.
Sun morning we had coffee, dropped off some stuff in Ocean City, went to breakfast, then went to Rehoboth Beach for the Polar Bear Plunge. We were running a little late, but fortunately arrived just in time for our participants to shed their clothes (they had their swimsuits on underneath) and run into the water. We all came back to the house for hot coffee and to change clothes, and then they left.
It was a terrific weekend in my book; we made real progress on getting our house set up AND we had a great visit with our friends who are really more like family.
Drag Queen name of the day: Iris Bulb
On Sat we really got busy. After walking a block to a moving sale, we went to Wal-Mart, K-Mart, and the linen outlet in search of curtains. We bought more inexpensive curtains panels and tension rods, then headed back home. We set up the other 2 guest bedrooms, put up curtains in 1 of them, and got them ready to be used later that night.
Then we started working in the living room. There was a huge pile of furniture and boxes from the VA house that actually belong in the new living room, there were things that belonged in the new house but not in the living room, AND there was furniture and boxes from the beach house that Joe's brother Paul was coming to pick up. We decided to move the furniture that was leaving over to one spot, and stacked it up on top of each other. After that we took the miscellaneous items out of the living room and to the rooms where they belonged. Then we began moving the pieces that were staying in the living room to their approximate locations to see how we liked the arrangement and see if it fit. With a few adjustments we decided on a floorplan. We vacuumed and Swiffer-ed the floor, unrolled the area rug, and got the furniture set up. I couldn't believe what a huge difference it was from just a few hours earlier! Actually, it went pretty quickly, once we had the other stuff out of the way.
I put up the curtain panels in the dining room as Joe took a shower. I was going to shower after him, but our friends arrived.
Kerry, Hugh, Kelly, Ana, and Emely had come from VA for the Polar Bear Plunge, a fundraiser for Special Olympics. This is their 3rd year participating. So we showed them around the house and got caught up on the latest news. Then we went to dinner at La Rosa Negra, an Italian place Joe & I had recently rediscovered. We had a delicious dinner complimented by a live jazz trio who where very good. After dinner we sat around in the living room and talked. Ana, Emely, and Kelly went to bed at around 10, but Kerry, Hugh, Joe & I stayed up talking until 12:15.
Sun morning we had coffee, dropped off some stuff in Ocean City, went to breakfast, then went to Rehoboth Beach for the Polar Bear Plunge. We were running a little late, but fortunately arrived just in time for our participants to shed their clothes (they had their swimsuits on underneath) and run into the water. We all came back to the house for hot coffee and to change clothes, and then they left.
It was a terrific weekend in my book; we made real progress on getting our house set up AND we had a great visit with our friends who are really more like family.
Drag Queen name of the day: Iris Bulb
Thursday, February 01, 2007
The Moves
Last Thurs after I disconnected the computer and the TVs I loaded them into the Suburban along with Jordan the dog and Pouncer the Wondercat. On my way out of town I stopped by the cable company to drop off the cable boxes, remotes, and cable modem and then hit the road.
Jordan travels well; she’s made the trip to and from Lewes many times. Pouncer was a different story; he hates riding in the car. Pouncer has only left the house 3 or 4 times in the last 8 years, to go to the vet and be boarded when we were on a 2-week vacation. But there was no way around it – he had to get to Lewes in the car.
For well over an hour he howled and moaned, making sounds I’ve never heard from a cat before. I tried to reassure him with a calm tone and kind words, but it didn’t have much effect. For the last hour or so of the trip he did ‘maintenance moans’, not nearly as desperate as those before, just enough to remind me he wasn’t happy. We arrived at the beach house and I dropped off the pets, got them situated, and Joe & I headed to the new house for our walk-thru with our realtor, then to the settlement office.
The settlement went quickly, as we signed our names a thousand times on papers we’ll never read. Then it was done. Joe & I had dinner and then I headed back to VA. I had to meet the movers Fri morning. Joe stayed in Lewes so he could meet the cable installer Fri morning.
Fri I got up early and began packing the last minute stuff you can’t pack in advance: the shower curtain, bath towel, soap, shampoo, toothbrush, toothpaste. At 9:15 the movers called to say they were traveling slower than normal due to the icy roads, but had just crossed the Bay Bridge. Having made the trip a thousand times, that told me they should be there in a little over an hour. Unfortunately, they did not arrive until 11:00. It was bitter cold and very windy. It was difficult to be outdoors for more than just a few minutes.
The 4 movers came in two 24-foot trucks. For the next 5 hours 3 of the men carried everything outside and the last man packed the trucks. During this time I closed up some boxes I’d left open in order to toss in last minute items, and then I carried out to the Suburban some awkward items that wouldn’t pack well. Finally at 4pm we pulled away and headed into the city. I tuned the radio to WTOP for the traffic reports every 10 minutes. Just my luck there was a disabled car blocking one of the westbound lanes of New York Ave – the route we needed to take. New York Ave was bumper-to-bumper. Instead of the normal 30 minutes to get through the city, it took us an hour and 45 minutes. Lucky for the movers, who were being paid by the hour. We arrived in Lewes a little after 8:00.
Because of the cold, wind, and darkness I agreed that the movers could take the trucks back to their heated garage overnight and then deliver the stuff on Sat. They were scheduled to move our stuff out of the beach house Sat morning anyway. With a little schedule juggling the dispatcher told me the movers should arrive with our VA stuff at the new house between 12 noon and 1:00. They’d call before they left, she promised. At 1:10 I hadn’t heard from them so I called the office. They were running a little late but were leaving then, I was told. They arrived at 2:30 and began unloading the stuff. Fortunately the weather was much better – around 55 degrees – since I had to stand outside and tell them where all the stuff should go. They finished unloading at about 4:00. Then we drove to the beach house, only about 3 miles away, and began loading up the furniture from there.
It was not our original plan to move all the furniture from VA and the beach house to the new house. We thought we’d have lots of time after we’d move to the new house to sort through the stuff at the beach house, decide what we wanted to keep, and arrange for the rest to be picked up by relatives or donated. But when the beach house rented in just 3 days and the new tenants needed to move in on Jan 31, we didn’t have time to do anything. It all had to be moved out. The movers brought the contents of the beach house and unloaded it at the new house by 6:15. After having been on my feet for 2 days, I was exhausted.
We decided not to try and stay overnight at the new place, which was in a total state of chaos. Instead, when the movers left we went back to the beach house to care for the pets, washed up, and went to dinner. Then we went to Wal-Mart and purchased some curtain rods and curtains for the bedroom and bathroom windows, and then went back to the beach house and slept on an air mattress.
After a brief breakfast Sun morning we headed over to the new house with a priority list.
The first thing was to get our bedroom set up. We cleaned the floor, attached the mirror to the dresser, moved the dresser and armoire into place, vacuumed and placed the rug, attached the bedrails to the headboard, put the mattress and box springs on, and made the bed up with clean sheets. Then we shirred the curtains onto the spring rods and squeezed them into the windows. Since the windows have lovely trim and crown molding we didn’t want to cover them, so we opted for the light curtains on spring rods mounted inside the window casings.
Next came the bathroom. I put up a similar curtain treatment on the bathroom window and hung the shower curtain while Joe gave the bathroom a quick cleaning and put down the new bathroom rugs we’d bought the night before.
Next we unpacked all of our clothes and loaded them into the closet.
Then we worked on the TV room. We moved the sofa, chaise, and ottoman into place, removed some items to be donated, played around with the placement of 2 chairs and a lamp, put down an area rug, and then vacuumed everything in the room. We connected the cable to the TV and breathed a big sigh of relief when it actually worked.
After dinner we went back to the beach house to load up the remainder of our stuff. Since we’d had no time to pack the kitchen, pantry, or closets, the movers couldn’t take that stuff; they only took the furniture. We filled a few empty boxes and several laundry baskets with dishes, glasses, and food until there was no more room in the Suburban. We brought it to the new house and just added it to the pile in the living room.
Then we went into one of the guest bedrooms that also serves as my office. First I set all of my work and personal computer components on the desk, only to find there was no possible way it would all fit. I removed the personal computer components, since I knew I would need to use the work computer the next morning. After hooking it all up to my new cable modem, I just couldn’t get internet access. It was almost 9pm and I was exhausted so I decided I’d figure it out in the morning.
For several hours on Mon morning I disconnected and reconnected the computer components and cable modem, checking all the connections to make sure they were tight and to make sure nothing had been left unplugged. Then I realized that I needed to download the cable company’s internet software onto my work computer using the CD they provided. Ooops – my ‘new’ work computer doesn’t have a CD drive! I talked to a colleague who suggested I use my personal computer, which already had the software on it, since all I needed was to access the company’s network remotely. So I disconnected my work computer and reconnected my personal computer with hopefulness. I still couldn’t connect to the internet! Finally, in sheer desperation I called the cable company for help. After less than 2 minutes the technician told me over the phone that it appeared the modem had not been ‘activated’ when it was installed on Fri. Ugh… all that time wasted! The technician ‘activated’ the modem in seconds and I was in business.
Before I knew it it was 5:00 and Joe was home. It was time to make another trip over to the beach house to load up more stuff. We really didn’t want to; we wanted to start organizing our new house. But with only 2 nights until we had to be out of the beach house, we really didn’t have any choice. So we took the same boxes and laundry baskets over and filled up the Suburban again.
After work on Tues we made another trip to the beach house to load up. Every time we thought we were just about done, we’d open another cabinet or closet and find more stuff. Oh yeah, there was stuff in the garage too. We filled the Suburban but realized we were not done. We unloaded it at the new house and went back to the beach house again. We took a load to the dumpster, then filled the Suburban up for the last time, vacuumed the carpet and cleaned bathrooms, and drove off. We were finished loading! Meanwhile, back at our new house we still had yet to unpack a single box.
Wed after work Joe had his appointment with his personal trainer and I was exhausted so we ‘celebrated’ being done with the packing and moving by taking the night off. When he got home at 7:30 we had dinner and watched TV, then went to bed at 10:00.
Tonight after dinner we tore into the boxes of kitchen stuff like maniacs! We unpacked and put away 10 boxes of kitchen stuff from VA and 2 laundry baskets of kitchen stuff from the beach house! We can actually walk in the kitchen now without boxes scuffing our legs! The kitchen looks really good and I feel really good about our progress.
Our goal for tomorrow after work is to move the boxes and furniture out of the middle of the guest bedrooms, put the beds together, and stack the boxes and furniture neatly so a person can actually walk around in them. I think we’ll tackle the dining room on Sat. We need to move the furniture into place and then unpack the 5 large boxes of ‘fancy’ dishes and flatware, stemware, platters, and serving pieces. Then we’ll have to obsess over how they should be displayed. On Sun Joe’s brother is coming with a van to pick up some of the furniture from the beach house we don’t need/want anymore that’s piled in the living room. That will really help to open that room up so we can walk around in there, too.
Note to self: Try not to have to move out of 2 houses in the same week.
Drag Queen name of the day: Tanya Body
Jordan travels well; she’s made the trip to and from Lewes many times. Pouncer was a different story; he hates riding in the car. Pouncer has only left the house 3 or 4 times in the last 8 years, to go to the vet and be boarded when we were on a 2-week vacation. But there was no way around it – he had to get to Lewes in the car.
For well over an hour he howled and moaned, making sounds I’ve never heard from a cat before. I tried to reassure him with a calm tone and kind words, but it didn’t have much effect. For the last hour or so of the trip he did ‘maintenance moans’, not nearly as desperate as those before, just enough to remind me he wasn’t happy. We arrived at the beach house and I dropped off the pets, got them situated, and Joe & I headed to the new house for our walk-thru with our realtor, then to the settlement office.
The settlement went quickly, as we signed our names a thousand times on papers we’ll never read. Then it was done. Joe & I had dinner and then I headed back to VA. I had to meet the movers Fri morning. Joe stayed in Lewes so he could meet the cable installer Fri morning.
Fri I got up early and began packing the last minute stuff you can’t pack in advance: the shower curtain, bath towel, soap, shampoo, toothbrush, toothpaste. At 9:15 the movers called to say they were traveling slower than normal due to the icy roads, but had just crossed the Bay Bridge. Having made the trip a thousand times, that told me they should be there in a little over an hour. Unfortunately, they did not arrive until 11:00. It was bitter cold and very windy. It was difficult to be outdoors for more than just a few minutes.
The 4 movers came in two 24-foot trucks. For the next 5 hours 3 of the men carried everything outside and the last man packed the trucks. During this time I closed up some boxes I’d left open in order to toss in last minute items, and then I carried out to the Suburban some awkward items that wouldn’t pack well. Finally at 4pm we pulled away and headed into the city. I tuned the radio to WTOP for the traffic reports every 10 minutes. Just my luck there was a disabled car blocking one of the westbound lanes of New York Ave – the route we needed to take. New York Ave was bumper-to-bumper. Instead of the normal 30 minutes to get through the city, it took us an hour and 45 minutes. Lucky for the movers, who were being paid by the hour. We arrived in Lewes a little after 8:00.
Because of the cold, wind, and darkness I agreed that the movers could take the trucks back to their heated garage overnight and then deliver the stuff on Sat. They were scheduled to move our stuff out of the beach house Sat morning anyway. With a little schedule juggling the dispatcher told me the movers should arrive with our VA stuff at the new house between 12 noon and 1:00. They’d call before they left, she promised. At 1:10 I hadn’t heard from them so I called the office. They were running a little late but were leaving then, I was told. They arrived at 2:30 and began unloading the stuff. Fortunately the weather was much better – around 55 degrees – since I had to stand outside and tell them where all the stuff should go. They finished unloading at about 4:00. Then we drove to the beach house, only about 3 miles away, and began loading up the furniture from there.
It was not our original plan to move all the furniture from VA and the beach house to the new house. We thought we’d have lots of time after we’d move to the new house to sort through the stuff at the beach house, decide what we wanted to keep, and arrange for the rest to be picked up by relatives or donated. But when the beach house rented in just 3 days and the new tenants needed to move in on Jan 31, we didn’t have time to do anything. It all had to be moved out. The movers brought the contents of the beach house and unloaded it at the new house by 6:15. After having been on my feet for 2 days, I was exhausted.
We decided not to try and stay overnight at the new place, which was in a total state of chaos. Instead, when the movers left we went back to the beach house to care for the pets, washed up, and went to dinner. Then we went to Wal-Mart and purchased some curtain rods and curtains for the bedroom and bathroom windows, and then went back to the beach house and slept on an air mattress.
After a brief breakfast Sun morning we headed over to the new house with a priority list.
The first thing was to get our bedroom set up. We cleaned the floor, attached the mirror to the dresser, moved the dresser and armoire into place, vacuumed and placed the rug, attached the bedrails to the headboard, put the mattress and box springs on, and made the bed up with clean sheets. Then we shirred the curtains onto the spring rods and squeezed them into the windows. Since the windows have lovely trim and crown molding we didn’t want to cover them, so we opted for the light curtains on spring rods mounted inside the window casings.
Next came the bathroom. I put up a similar curtain treatment on the bathroom window and hung the shower curtain while Joe gave the bathroom a quick cleaning and put down the new bathroom rugs we’d bought the night before.
Next we unpacked all of our clothes and loaded them into the closet.
Then we worked on the TV room. We moved the sofa, chaise, and ottoman into place, removed some items to be donated, played around with the placement of 2 chairs and a lamp, put down an area rug, and then vacuumed everything in the room. We connected the cable to the TV and breathed a big sigh of relief when it actually worked.
After dinner we went back to the beach house to load up the remainder of our stuff. Since we’d had no time to pack the kitchen, pantry, or closets, the movers couldn’t take that stuff; they only took the furniture. We filled a few empty boxes and several laundry baskets with dishes, glasses, and food until there was no more room in the Suburban. We brought it to the new house and just added it to the pile in the living room.
Then we went into one of the guest bedrooms that also serves as my office. First I set all of my work and personal computer components on the desk, only to find there was no possible way it would all fit. I removed the personal computer components, since I knew I would need to use the work computer the next morning. After hooking it all up to my new cable modem, I just couldn’t get internet access. It was almost 9pm and I was exhausted so I decided I’d figure it out in the morning.
For several hours on Mon morning I disconnected and reconnected the computer components and cable modem, checking all the connections to make sure they were tight and to make sure nothing had been left unplugged. Then I realized that I needed to download the cable company’s internet software onto my work computer using the CD they provided. Ooops – my ‘new’ work computer doesn’t have a CD drive! I talked to a colleague who suggested I use my personal computer, which already had the software on it, since all I needed was to access the company’s network remotely. So I disconnected my work computer and reconnected my personal computer with hopefulness. I still couldn’t connect to the internet! Finally, in sheer desperation I called the cable company for help. After less than 2 minutes the technician told me over the phone that it appeared the modem had not been ‘activated’ when it was installed on Fri. Ugh… all that time wasted! The technician ‘activated’ the modem in seconds and I was in business.
Before I knew it it was 5:00 and Joe was home. It was time to make another trip over to the beach house to load up more stuff. We really didn’t want to; we wanted to start organizing our new house. But with only 2 nights until we had to be out of the beach house, we really didn’t have any choice. So we took the same boxes and laundry baskets over and filled up the Suburban again.
After work on Tues we made another trip to the beach house to load up. Every time we thought we were just about done, we’d open another cabinet or closet and find more stuff. Oh yeah, there was stuff in the garage too. We filled the Suburban but realized we were not done. We unloaded it at the new house and went back to the beach house again. We took a load to the dumpster, then filled the Suburban up for the last time, vacuumed the carpet and cleaned bathrooms, and drove off. We were finished loading! Meanwhile, back at our new house we still had yet to unpack a single box.
Wed after work Joe had his appointment with his personal trainer and I was exhausted so we ‘celebrated’ being done with the packing and moving by taking the night off. When he got home at 7:30 we had dinner and watched TV, then went to bed at 10:00.
Tonight after dinner we tore into the boxes of kitchen stuff like maniacs! We unpacked and put away 10 boxes of kitchen stuff from VA and 2 laundry baskets of kitchen stuff from the beach house! We can actually walk in the kitchen now without boxes scuffing our legs! The kitchen looks really good and I feel really good about our progress.
Our goal for tomorrow after work is to move the boxes and furniture out of the middle of the guest bedrooms, put the beds together, and stack the boxes and furniture neatly so a person can actually walk around in them. I think we’ll tackle the dining room on Sat. We need to move the furniture into place and then unpack the 5 large boxes of ‘fancy’ dishes and flatware, stemware, platters, and serving pieces. Then we’ll have to obsess over how they should be displayed. On Sun Joe’s brother is coming with a van to pick up some of the furniture from the beach house we don’t need/want anymore that’s piled in the living room. That will really help to open that room up so we can walk around in there, too.
Note to self: Try not to have to move out of 2 houses in the same week.
Drag Queen name of the day: Tanya Body
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