Monday, July 31, 2006

Checking out

I had to go to my old place after work to meet up with my landlord and walk through the apartment. It was a little sad. My first year in Bremerton was a good one and I loved living downtown and very close to the ferry. The views of the sunset were good and I like a little city noise (and there was plenty of that). I love my new place and I'm so glad to be back in a home that I own, but I will always have a soft spot in my heart for my old apartment.

My mom did an incredible job of cleaning, so my landlord was very happy and I'm going to get my entire deposit back. It was a full Monday and I am going to try to catch up on some sleep tonight.

Tomorrow is Noah's birthday so there should be plenty of family pictures to post. Also, a shout out to Hannah who is coming to visit this week. I'm really excited to see her and I'm really happy that she may be coming to live closer to us in the near future.

Happy Monday!

Sunday, July 30, 2006

Everything works!

The move on Friday went well and I was really grateful that I had hired the movers. Mom and Dad and I took care of all the little stuff that was still in my old place and the movers moved everything I didn't want to lift. Mom stayed back during that part and cleaned my entire apartment. It is now ready for checkout and I couldn't be more grateful for her help.

I've spent time starting to unpack, but I decided not to be in such an all fired hurry about getting everything done. I've unpacked most of my clothes and all of my shoes. I set up my computer and today the cable guy came and gave

me an internet connection and digital cable. Now I have TV back. It was touch and go, but I made it an entire 48 hours without TV or internet. Hardly seems possible.

Tonight, Robb, Rebecca, Josh and I headed over to the Boat Shed and enjoyed a nice dinner on the water. It was great to enjoy some downtime and have good conversation. It was Robb and Reba's anniversary yesterday - 11 years. Congratulations you guys and best wishes for many more happy years.

I'm off to sleep so I can be back to work tomorrow. Sleep well and happy dreams!

Friday, July 28, 2006

All is well

I just got a lovely e-mail from Sears.com telling me that my washer is now available for pickup. It looks like I may be able to get everything actually moved in tomorrow. With all of the stuff I have, I am always amazed that I can transport it from one place to another. I will be really grateful to get in and get settled. I have all kinds of projects on my list of things I want to do with the house, but my number one priority is to get back to a semblance of a balanced life. The last month has been a lot of fun and a lot of hard work, but I'd like my house projects to revert to weekend status.

I'll be offline for a few days until my cable is installed on Sunday. I'll try to drop in on a few friendly computers to post, but happy moving to all of my moving friends (Amy and Joanne) and Happy Friday to everyone else.

Wednesday, July 26, 2006

I took pictures

I finished the table and chairs and brought the leather chairs up from the basement and I took pictures of the whole arrangement and then left my camera at my house. So, no pictures tonight. Everything is arranged for the move in. The garbage has been taken out, the basement is cleared out for me to move my couch in, my dad vacuumed up all of the bugs downstairs and I put the lamps back in the living room. The only thing I didn't get built are the pieces that will go in my closet. I'm not feeling too stressed about that because I can always build them this weekend.

So that's it. I'll have more pictures tomorrow. Happy almost Friday to me.

Tuesday, July 25, 2006

Work is killing me

This week is really busy and stressful so I have to find outlets. Tonight, Chess and Cribbage. And lots of losing. I must be losing my touch.

I get like this on the back stretch sometimes, I have to let go of the house, the packing, the pressures at work. This time, I am glad that I got so much done in advance and this week I can afford to just have fun.

Hey, I'm taking Friday off which means I am halfway done with my work week.

Sweet dreams and good days, the heat has finally broken.

Monday, July 24, 2006

Putting together the furniture


It seems like a very modern thing to buy furniture and put it together yourself. I left work at 5:15 (a small wonder) and had almost no traffic, so I decided that I would build a table tonight. It took almost no time, but then I got to the chairs. For some reason, the chairs are taking longer and I was getting very hot (I just can't get the house to cool down. It is the number one thing I have to figure out when I move in.) This is my lovely table that will go back in that corner when the boxes are removed and will become a small breakfast nook for me.

I have taken a new attitude and decided to dial down the projects this week. It is so hot and I feel like I have been moving for months. So I made the rational choice - I will not work on any big projects this week.

After I finished the table, it was time to be a little social. I can never resist a good game of cards or really just any games. I headed over to my friend Josh's house and we all tried to forget how hot it was by playing Boggle, Chess, Cribbage and then a rousing game of Hearts (which I know Joanne will want to know I lost handily).

Time to sleep. Happy Monday everybody. Only 4 days til moving day. :)

I like to eat ice cream cones while I drive

I have taken the advice of smart people and decided that the only way to beat the heat is to eat cold things. I took myself off to McDonalds at 4:00 today and ordered a giant ice cream cone. I have been a fan of soft serve ice cream for a long time and for my money, McDonalds does it best. I am also a big fan of the Tully's ice cream cone - a vanilla/espresso swirl - it is my current addiction at work since there is a Tully's in my building. Ah, yes, back to my drive through today. I took a long drive out a road I had never been on before just to see where it went, but mostly to enjoy the air conditioning for a few more precious moments. It was heaven.

With all of that, you would think I didn't get much done today, but I have moved most of my kitchen and half my clothes and all of my shoes (yes, all 40 pairs) to my new house. Everything is sitting in the basement right now waiting for the floors to cure for a little while longer. Move day is fast approaching and to top it off, I have a big week at work.

Okay, iPod update is complete. Good Monday morning :)

Saturday, July 22, 2006

Can I move in yet?



If the floors didn't need a couple of days before they can handle furniture, I probably would have moved in today. The floors look great - totally worth the investment of time and money. They really look like new floors.

I spent the day packing and moving things over to the house. I got the rest of my books and 1/2 the kitchen moved. I love to move like this because it makes it seem really fast on the actual moving day because the only thing that has to be moved is furniture.

Tomorrow I am going to pack up all of my clothes. That should be a challenge since it means I will have to pick out what I am going to wear for the whole week and I like to have lots of options. Speaking of options, I went through and weeded out more clothes tonight. I am going to have such limied space that I don't want to move things I am just going to end up giving away once I move in. It has really made me think about how much "stuff" I need in my life. When you actually have to pick up all of that stuff and move it around, it seems amazing to me that I have accumulated all of these things. I'm back up to almost 25 boxes of books. Must weed out.

So hot again today which made the packing and moving so fun. I'm headed off to my cool bath and my book.

Grooving to Snow Patrol Eyes Open - love my Brits.

Reading The Memory Keeper's Daughter by Kim Edwards. Started it at breakfast this morning, so I am looking to some time to get into it tonight.

Friday, July 21, 2006

Hot Hot Hot



Business dinners in the 21st century are a little different than they used to be - they are quite informal. I know they still have more formal dinners in New York, but here we like our laid back approach to things. Tonight I dined at the Black Bottle on 1st Ave in Seattle. The food there is all small plates to share and the coctails and wine are quite good. The conversation was interesting - we talked about books and discussed moving and the joy that it brings and we were all finished by 8:30. Perfect.

I got to drive home at my perfect time of day. The sun was just starting to dip behind the mountains when I left Seattle so I got treated to a gorgeous array of blues, purples, oranges and pinks the whole way home. Driving over the Tacoma Narrows was simply stunning. I let out a "wahoo". And I made it home in record time so I can enjoy a few minutes of writing and then go off to a cold bath.

Yes, a cold bath. No one here invests in air conditioning for the 10 days a year that the temperatures top 90 so the best way to get cool is a bath. I'm going to try to finish my book before I fall asleep.

Pleasant dreams and Happy Friday.

Thursday, July 20, 2006

Patience and the definition of toxic

I couldn't wait one more day to see my floors. They still need one coat of finish and I knew I couldn't see them for long, but I went straight to my house after work to check them out (and to turn on the water - I'm still trying to save my lawn). They look gorgeous. The floors in the bedroom had been stained darker than the natural wood, but I opted for a natural finish and now everything has really lightened up. Amazing. The other amazing thing is just how toxic the finish is. When I entered my house, my eyes started burning and watering profusely and I could only stand to be in there for one minute. Worth it? I'll let you know when my eyes recover...

It has finally turned warm here and I am sitting at my desk enjoying the view from my second story window. At this point, I am trying to determine how early is too early to go to bed. Since I was out so late last night, I think it will be okay for me to go to sleep in about 3 minutes.

Goodnight!

At least I got home before midnight

This post is late because I stayed in town tonight for a business dinner and then ran into horrible traffic on my way home. Now I am off to bed after a small update...

The floor refinishing began today and the sanding should be done. They are going to put the first coat of finish on it tomorrow. :)

9 days and counting to move day.

Tuesday, July 18, 2006

Fearless

The house is ready for floor refinishing. There is nothing left on the hardwoods. For the past week or so, I have had a bunch of stuff hanging around - table and chairs in front of the window (for McDonalds/Arby's/Taco Time meals), shop vac, lamp, tool box, step ladder, ladder ladder, drop cloths. Before I got there tonight, my parents cleaned up a major part of it. Then, my friend, Josh, came over and helped me install the shelf in my bedroom closet. Thanks to Josh I now have a very level shelf (thanks, Josh!). While he was there, my electrician, Kelly, came over and installed the outlet for the microwave. So, everything that I wanted to finish before the floors were refinished is pretty well done. I can't wait to see what things look like on Friday.

I've been meaning to write a little about fearlessness for some time. My friend, Joanne, always calls me a fearless knitter because I am not intimidated by new things or new patterns. I've been thinking about this for a while (especially last night when I was putting up blinds). If you don't try things, you never know what you can really do. The worst thing that can happen is that you fail and there is always someone who can fix it - especially on housing projects. So, while things don't always go as smoothly as I wish (see back to my first post about plumbing), I always end up learning something. I get a lot of this thinking from my parents who are fearless about housing projects (Dad) and computers (Mom).

Time for me to take a break from house stuff and pack. I really don't like packing. I'm looking for ways to make it as painless and easy as possible and I am currently considering the option of shoving everything in plastic bags so I won't have to pack and unpack boxes. That's me, fearless, but always looking for the easier way.

Sleep now or forever hold your peace - Happy Tuesday! T-10 and counting til move day!

Monday, July 17, 2006

The Y in DIY



Tonight I started the process of clearing everything off the floors and did all of the other projects that had been back burnered in favor of painting and appliances. Sometimes I am the kind of independent that needs to do things on my own and tonight was a little like that. I put up the curtains and curtain rod in the kitchen and the blinds in the spare room. Now that I see them, I am wondering if I should install blinds in my room instead of curtains. Hmmmm....

Tomorrow I have to finish getting everything put away and off the wood floors.

I also called the movers about my piano today and ended up booking them for all of the furniture. It turns out that you have to hire them for a minimum of 2 hours, so I might as well get the full 2 hours worth. That means I am roughly 10 days from the big move. I'm not sure I quite comprehend that yet. I think I will feel it a little more this weekend as I pack up and move the kitchen and the rest of the books and the book shelves.

I took a moment tonight to enjoy the sunset. Lots of pink and purple. It is going to be a nice week here. Happy Monday.

Sunday, July 16, 2006

Sundays in the Park



Yay! All of my appliances are in and the cabinet is remounted. Installing the microwave was the only thing on my to-do list today because I knew it would take a lot of time. After church, Mom and Dad came over to help with the installation. It took about 3 hours to get it all done and there was only a little swearing. Perhaps you did not know that cabinets are heavy and hard to hold up for long periods of time while holes are being drilled and screws are being put in. Yes, it was a challenge. Comparitively, the microwave was easy since it came with such good instructions.

I'm thinking about installing blinds and curtains tomorrow night since all of the trim painting is done. I have only a few things left to get done by Wednesday when the floor refinishers come.

One Sunday tradition in my family is to go down to Illahee State Park and barbecue. The kids were dying to jump off the dock, but there was rumor of a shark caught earlier in the day and the kids were reluctant to jump in with the possibility of sharks lingering. No explanation that these are small sharks that don't bite humans could coax them back in the water.

We enjoyed our barbecue and afterward we roasted marshmallows over the coals to make the traditional S'mores. I can only eat one s'more, but I love roasted marshmallows so I had many many more - hot off the skewers.

I had the perfect Sunday. This morning, I had coffee and spent an hour reading the latest -Water for Elephants. I will write more about it when I finish it, but I will say that I started it last night and I am already 125 pages in.

I forgot to review the last book I finished on Thursday, The Book of Lost Things by John Connolly. It is a take off on fairy tales and involves a young boy who goes into the fairy tale world. I loved the way he twisted traditional fairy tales and I am a sucker for a young protagonist. This book didn't discover any new territory as much as it made me once again appreciate the transition from childhood to adulthood and the way we give up some things to gain others.

I'm off to sink back into my book.

Saturday, July 15, 2006

I had a really good name for this post, but I forgot it

Lots of pictures today. I went over to my house early. It is a sad story, really. I was so tired last night that I accidentally turned my alarm on. After I hit the snooze button about 4 times, it occurred to me that I could just turn it off. At that point, I had already gained consciousness and noticed that I was a little too warm and a little too awake. So, I got up and headed out.

The good part is that I got all of the doors and doorways painted. My dishwasher is installed and my dad is going to help me install the microwave tomorrow after we put the cabinet back up. I think it is a good Sunday project. We should be able to get it done in plenty of time to go have a barbecue tomorrow afternoon at Illahee state beach.

Since it is Saturday, we had to give the kids some entertainment. Tonight, we took part in an American classic - the monster truck rally. I'm not sure I imagined I would ever attend something like this, but it was a blast. Jacob (on the right) is really into it and he cheers and says, "This really rocks" a lot. Totally worth it.

Such a good day. Still my favorite day of the week.

Friday, July 14, 2006


Friday nights are my nights off from house related things. Tonight I went to see the Seattle Storm take on the New York Liberty (WNBA). I went with my friend, Amy, pictured here and Tara and Maia (who took the picture). I am not the most knowledgable person when it comes to basketball, but it is one of my favorite sports to watch. I like all the action - lots of running up and down the court. Plus, it is a great thing to do on a Friday night.

Robb and Rebecca's move is done and they sound tired, but happy. There is a time after you finish putting things in your new house when you feel the sheer relief that you are done with the transporting.

On that note, I was thinking on my way home tonight about how caught up I got in my own schedule when I first got my house. It was almost too much to bear that I couldn't move in right away. Now, I am grateful for the extra time and my floors are going to be redone next week. It seemed like it was impossibly far away and now it is almost here. Must learn to be more patient.

Happy Bastille Day!

Thursday, July 13, 2006

The first move

Robb and Rebecca (my sister and brother in law) are moving tomorrow. Their move will kick off all of the moving weekends we have forthcoming. I think my grandma is going to move next weekend and I am moving the weekend after. By the end, I expect everyone to drop from sheer exhaustion.

Tonight, we loaded up their U-Haul. Robb's roommate from college, Tim, came up to help. After wrestling with furniture and getting the truck mostly full, we headed over to the local pub for some sustenance (aka beer).

On my home front today, I had the plumber come in and install the garbage disposal and the fixtures in the bathroom. I will post some pictures of the bathroom this weekend. The fixtures make a huge difference - all of the gold pipes are gone. Then, the electrician came and began the process of wiring up the garbage disposal, the microwave and the light in the living room. All should be done by tomorrow. Saturday is dishwasher installation day! Can't wait.

Happy (almost) Friday everybody.

Wednesday, July 12, 2006


Yay! Tonight I bought my leather chairs. I've wanted leather chairs for a long time and I have the perfect place to put them - right in front of the fireplace. Costco had a super deal on these and they come with the ottoman. How could I resist?

My parents have been really helpful this week. Obviously, I cannot lift these chairs by myself nor could I have put them in my car. So, they picked up a couple of other things for me (a table for my breakfast nook and the lights for my living room) and then helped me get the chairs. I can't wait to see these in front of the fireplace after the floors are refinished.

So, all of this time waiting for the floors to be refinished has given me the opportunity to really get a lot done and for all of my complaining that they couldn't be done faster, I am glad I got the extra time.

Tomorrow, the plumber and the electrician are coming to get everything ready for new appliances to be installed on Saturday.

Fading a little so I better get some extra sleep tonight. Good day.

Tuesday, July 11, 2006

Of vocabulary and music

I feel I must respond a tad to the comments on my last late post. It seems that spiders elicit reactions on both sides and have both their supporters and detractors. I am especially appreciative of my policy being categorized as draconian. (Good word.) So, I will reconsider. In order to eschew obfuscation, I must say that the circumstances that prompted the post were thus: I walked out of my office and down the hall to drop exhaustedly into bed and there was a spider dancing around and taunting me on the floor. Well, that may be a slight exaggeration. Perhaps the spider was just being still in hopes that I would not notice it. But in my slightly giddy, tired phase, I had nothing left for spiders last night. Therefore, I will amend the policy slightly to one more tolerant of spiders when they are not terrifying me after 11pm.

Obviously, I am really tired and slightly over the edge tonight as well.

I did get all of my bills set up to come electronically and to be paid automatically. I love the internet. It was actually really easy and I am surprised that anyone writes checks to pay bills anymore.

Last night I started realizing that I am listening to the same albums over and over again. My favorite bands (Coldplay, U2, Death Cab for Cutie) all released albums last year, so there was going to be nothing new from them this year, so I had to try a few new things. I bought 3 new albums last night. Here I shall give you my reviews of them:

Angels and Airwaves, We Don't Have to Whisper - You know how you hear a song in a movie or on a tv show or commercial and you just feel like life has all of these great possibilities. You will walk out the door in the morning, the sun will be shining, you will have the perfect day, etc. That is how this album makes me feel. Happy and kind of like I want to dance (great for painting trim).

Dashboard Confessional, Dusk and Summer - Very Dashboard, all about the girl that got away or the chance you never took and how all of those things held so many possibilities and next time you should do the right thing and just take a chance. Love it, but not as much as the first album.

Postal Service, Give Up - I love the electronic keyboard that feeds the entire album. Pretty, listenable music. I failed to find one song that I wanted to go back and listen to over and over again because they are all smaller songs that make me want to listen to the entire album again from the beginning and straight through.

I also put the following back into rotation:
Snow Patrol, Eyes Open - I loved Final Straw so much and I listened to it over and over again and this is not the same album. But, I am the kind of person that likes a band to branch out and do different things from album to album. I love his voice and I think Snow Patrol could be the next Coldplay.

Time for a little reading and sleep! I'll try to be nice to all small, crawling things...

Monday, July 10, 2006

Late Post (for Hannah)

I've gone back to my old policy - death to all spiders indoors.

Many hands

Short post tonight - I just got my first bills so I'm going to set up my house payment online so that I can continue on the path to NO MAIL. I try really hard to pay everything on line and to get as many bills as possible that way. I only end up shredding them - which is annoying.

Mom and Dad brought me a sandwich from Arby's tonight and we got started on all of the projects. My dad pulled out the dishwasher and discovered that there is no plug back there. The thing is wired down through the floor to the junction box. We did this because my electrician is coming tomorrow night and I wanted to know what I need him to do. Apparently, I need him to wire an outlet up there.

My dad also painted the closet tonight which makes it look so much better. That way I don't have to be stressed about getting the doors in there before I move in. Mom and I went after the trim paint. We got 4 more windows and the mantle painted and they all look great. Tomorrow I only have two more windows to do and then I will start on all of the door frames.

Only 19 days until I move in! Happy Monday.

Sunday, July 09, 2006


The most stunning sunset is taking place ouside my window right now. (I typed that and then ran and took a picture.) It is also stunningly hot in my townhouse. I keep forgetting to leave the windows open all day while I am gone. The bedroom window is open, but I left the downstairs all shut up which makes it very stuffy. In a few minutes I will run a cool bath and that should make everything better.

Today I worked on the little stuff, the detail things. My favorite, right. I took down the tape in the kitchen and the spare bedroom, cleaned all of the trim around the windows to get it ready to paint took down the rod in the closet since I am going to use a wire shelf that doubles as a place to hang clothes. For installation, I will get to use my drill, and a leve and a stud finder (insert joke here). Then, I spackled in the closet to fill the holes and get it ready to paint. Finally, I painted the trim around the kitchen window and the spare bedroom windows. Once I finish the window trim, I can put up the blinds and curtains I bought. Tomorrow, I have to call the electrician so that I can get an outlet installed for my microwave and another one for my garbage disposal. Yes, truly the fun stuff.

I did give myself the night off, though. I figured I should get to see at least one of the big summer movies. I met my parents and we saw Pirates of the Carribean. Wonderful, great adventure and sword fights and at least twice I jumped and may have screamed a tiny bit.

A couple of book notes:

The book I finished on Friday night: Him Her Him Again the End of Him - which was funny and fast and not as much of a murder mystery as you might imagine from the title. It was written by a former Saturday Night Live writer so there were moments when I laughed out loud.

Tonight I will be reading: The Book of Lost Things - which is a dark story about the world the imagination creates when reading and how sometimes that world can be more real than this one. I can't wait to get into it.

Good sunsets everybody!

Saturday, July 08, 2006

Derby!
















Tonight we went to the Kitsap Destruction Derby. I went last month with some friends and thought the kids would just love it. They really got into it. They loved it when the cars slammed into each other. They also loved the rollover competition. This event is truly one of those summer things that you have to love. Hot Dogs, Cotton Candy, Nachos, Sno Cones and loud cars.

On the house front, I went over this morning and started making lists of things I needed to do in every room. Then, I went shopping to get all of the supplies I needed. I had a grand shopping spree. The biggest things I bought are being delivered next Saturday - a dishwasher and a microwave to go over the oven. They are going to install the dishwasher, but my dad and I will put in the microwave.

My mom and I spent the afternoon looking at everything from curtains to towels to kitchen tables and all things decorative. I now have my week ahead cut out for me. Of course, I decided to repaint all of the doors and doorframes in my house. They have been painted before, but they need a refresher coat and in a lot of places, it looks like they only got one coat in the first place so they do not really look finished.

It was a full day and again, one of those great, summer days in Washington where the sky is blue, the water is beautiful and you can see Mt. Rainier. Truly breathtaking.

Happy Saturday (my favorite day of the week).

Friday, July 07, 2006

Bliss

Today was a great and glorious day. Let me count the reasons:

1. It is Friday.
2. It was perfect today - sunny and 75 degrees.
3. I left work in time to catch the 5:30 ferry so I got to ride home with friends instead of trying to beat the traffic.
4. I just had the most wonderful dinner at my favorite new place.

A few months ago, my neighborhood restaurant, Cafe Destino, decided to close. Now, the food at Cafe Destino was great and I absolutely loved going there for that reason, but I also loved that it was close enough to my townhouse that I could just walk over. I am also a fan of the view which looks out across Evergreen Park towards the water.

When I passed by tonight, I noticed that a new place had opened there, Augustino Obrigado. So I dropped my car off at home and took myself down there. I mentioned that the weather was just about perfect and there were tables outside, so I ordered some Osso Bucco and a glass of red wine and finished my book as I waited. Lovely. I think I may make this a regular habit on Friday nights. I like giving myself a night off - no projects, just a good meal.

Happy Friday everyone!

Thursday, July 06, 2006

Painting accomplished

It feels really nice to say that I have put the final coat of paint in the kitchen. I may now proceed to other fun projects.

This weekend = doors and shopping for trim. And maybe appliances.

Time to sleep.

Wednesday, July 05, 2006

I like my coffee

Every day, as soon as I get home, I set up my coffee for the next morning. It is the hardest part of my day because I am usually so tired that all I want to do is crawl upstairs and go to bed. But, I use it as a transition time to let the day go and then, when I am done, I feel like I can do a few things (like blog and update my iPod and maybe some laundry).


Almost done with the painting. My dad came over and we put the first coat of paint on in the kitchen. You can't see it, but the walls are texturized which looks really cool, but makes a second coat of paint very necessary. This is the last of the big painting projects and now it is on to the details. We measured the closet for doors so I will get over to Home Depot on Saturday to start looking at options. I also need to look at some of my trim options including the moulding for the ceiling and some of the finishing touches in other areas. Everything is starting to really come together and feel like my space. After all of the painting is done, I am also going to cut back on some of the weeknight house projects so I can get some time to pack my stuff and also to have a little bit of down time. I think there is a limit to the amount of time I can spend working.

On the other hand, summer is a little bit of a slow down, so I might have a few extra days here and there that I can dedicate to home improvement. We shall see.

As I suspected, there are still a few fireworks going off tonight and the witching hour is about to begin. Better go start that laundry.

Tuesday, July 04, 2006

4th of July


I love a holiday in the middle of the week. It makes it feel like I just got another Saturday - which is my favorite day of the week. I am sitting in my office amidst the pops and booms of fireworks exploding all over Bremerton. It is a really cool view.

I took a little time this morning to finish my book at Starbucks and then it was off to painting and primer. It felt like it took forever to cut in the spare room and then my parents brought over lunch, the lawnmower and painting clothes. With their much appreciated help, the spare bedroom is now done, the kitchen has primer on the walls, the closet wall is patched and sealed, the lawn is mowed and watered and all of this by 4:30.

Of course, it wouldn't be the 4th of July without a barbecue and my parents just bought a nice new one, so we headed back to their house to try it out. We had chicken, burgers, hot dogs, vegetables and corn all done on the grill. The vegetables and corn turned out best, but it was quite a feast.

Grandma joined us and then we went over to her house afterward to start sorting through some of the things she is going to get rid of before she moves. Yes, that is right, my grandma is moving. By the grace of God, she sold her house and got into a great independent living place near by. She will have her own apartment, but they provide dinner every day as well as activities and other fun amenities (like a weekly house cleaner). It sounds suspiciously like camp to me and I asked Grandma if I could get an apartment there, but she reminded me that I don't quite meet the age criteria.

So my entire family is in the midst of transition. Robb and Reba are moving into their house next weekend, Hannah is moving fairly soon, Grandma is moving the weekend of the 22nd and I am moving the following weekend. Mom and Dad have promised to hold off on buying a new house until at least August so we can all catch our breath a bit.

I am now going to kick back and watch the fireworks out the window now.

Monday, July 03, 2006

Independent

Tonight I asked myself the age old question, "Can one person move a refrigerator?" The answer is - yes. Of course, they put refrigerators on wheels now, so it is not really a fair question. The stove also appeared to be light as a feather. I can tell you that the two hardest things to move are pianos and washing machines. They definitely win in the heavy category. Sofa beds are way up there as well.

Here is what I found underneath the refrigerator:
a pea
a penny
pasta
dust

Here is what I keep finding outside:
spiders - man, do they make my skin crawl. I would like them to be far far far outside my line of sight. Even though they are good, it takes all I have not to scream and run.

I met my neighbor tonight and he told me the good news and the bad news:
the bad news - there is a little entrance between my roof and the attic and he saw wasps flying in there today. Apparently this is not terrible news because it is easy to fix.
the good news - the trees in the back that have grown very bushy and are now blocking my view of Mt. Rainier are community property and we agreed to cut them back this summer - yay, a view of the mountain.

I got a lot of prep work done, but now I am exhausted and ready to fall into bed.

A note on fireworks:
I just moved back here a year and a half ago from Colorado. In Colorado, fireworks are illegal within city limits and in a lot of the surrounding areas because it is so dry and they don't want wildfires to be started. Here, fireworks are completely legal. I love seeing all of the things that people are willing to shoot off overhead. Beautiful. And tonight, they are lighting up the sky.

Happy 4th of July everybody!

Sunday, July 02, 2006

The long drive home

No pictures today, just hot, hot, hot driving across the state. I was very thankful for air conditioning. I went by my house when I got back in and checked to make sure it was still the same (it is). I had to water the grass since we have had unseasonably warm weather this last week and the grass was getting a little brown. My dad has volunteered to help me put in a sprinkler system - he has installed them in all of our houses and now he can put his skills to good use on my house as well (Thanks Dad).

Okay, here is the list of things I want to get done before (and after) moving in:
1. Paint the guest room (taping tomorrow and priming on Tuesday).
2. Paint the kitchen (taping on Tuesday, priming on Wednesday, first coat on Thursday - maybe).
3. Pick our moulding for the ceilings - I don't think I am going to go with crown moulding because it is a little too big for the house.
4. Pick out and paint new base boards.
5. New Dishwasher - pull out the old one to find out if there is a plug back there for the garbage disposal.
6. Install garbage disposal (will most likely require a plumber).
7. Install microwave over stove and remove vent and raise cupboards (yeah, this one will require an electrician).
8. Price out granite counter tops - this one is a BIG maybe - and if I do this, I will get a new sink.
9. Pull out linoleum in the entry, kitchen, hallway and bathroom and replace with tile.
10. Patch and paint the wall in the closet in my new bedroom.
11. Install closet doors.
12. New mantle?
13. Install lights in living room and figure out if there is a switch for them (electrician again).

Hmm, who thinks I'm being a bit ambitious here? I think you can see on the list the things that are necessary and the things that might just be a pipe dream. Plus, I have to save up a little money for the yard - I'm going to plant some trees outside. Yep, I'm going to be busy this summer.

Okay, back to life. I'm excited to get going on this again and I wish I had more weekends to work on it.

One last note on vacation - I read the following books:
The Littlest Hitler - by Ryan Boudinot - I liked the quirky, somewhat creepy short stories.

The Expected One - by Kathleen McGowan - I'm still mulling this one over in my head. It was challenging in some ways because it goes into the story of Mary Magdalene in what is a new and different way than some other famous novels.

Still reading:
The Hard Way - by Lee Child - pure, unadulterated entertainment. In fact, I think I will go and read more of it right now.

Saturday, July 01, 2006

Last Day







We had a lovely breakfast this morning at the Blue Diamond Marina where they serve pancakes on the deck. It was surprisingly warm and we had a really nice time. After a gas stop, we came back over here and made preparations to spend another day at the beach. Our plans were interrupted by a large thunderhead that came over and dumped on us. We waited out the storm and then got our lunch on the beach.

We rented a great inflatable today that could hold two adults and one of the kids and we got some great, fast runs in on the lake. There were moments of giant laughter as we bounced over waves and held on tight. My arms and shoulders are now like noodles.

Dad and Robb have taken the boat out of the water and are driving it down to the marina where we are leaving it for Robb's brother and sister in law. It is starting to feel like we really have to go home tomorrow. It was a great time and I am now as sun soaked as I'm going to be and I am going to enjoy one last sunset on the lake.

Happy trails everyone.