moving day

We picked up the UHaul yesterday, a nice new truck, clean too! and we have a couple of guys coming to help carry the heavy stuff. BUT it's supposed to rain - and DH woke up with a headache that is being stubborn... Now, of course, the NG has decided that they need a form, but the Big A Army has said, they don't. THIS should be fun, y'all.. NOTHING is more stubborn than a Minnesota National Guard fulltimer. Mulish, positively Scandahoooovian.

The phone calls to cancel stuff, start gas, electric... oh I forgot the PHONE! Think of me this weekend....

**** This evening. It went amazingly well. One of our neighbours did a fantastic job with arranging where everything went, he has a great grasp of space and order! my handyman brought a friend, who used to work at the bike shop where we bought the motorcycle.. and was invaluable at loading the bike. It's almost done. We are both so tired! Tomorrow will be packing the last of it, and cleaning with the help of a couple of neighbours. And then, taking the dog to our other neighbour, where she's going to live a happy life with kids to play with and cats to torment. We are going to miss her, but putting this dog in an apartment would NOT be good for her or us (or the new neighbours!) We also went out back and took movies of the back 8 acres in all it's fall colour.

LAW

ORDERS! whew.

They arrived this morning... name misspelled, but still valid. We can move!! Yay!

LAW

Hey, go congratulate her!

http://thoughtsbeforedinner.blogspot.com/

Go to that blog and congratulate Janey on becoming an American Citizen! She's a milspouse whose DH may be coming home soon too. LOTS of champagne over there.

This is a marriage, not a mortgage!

That's what I told someone at work the other day, who asked why I was moving when we haven't sold the house yet. OK, so we'll carry a mortgage and a rent payment, but we'll be in the same zip code! As I tried to explain to this putz, in the last four YEARS I have seen him for 8 months altogether, in little 2 week increments..

LAW

We're back on the frozen tundra

Oh, you think I'm kidding??? Freeze warnings tonight. there was sn-- (we don't say the word for the frozen stuff you ski on until November... just an avoidance for me) in Grand Marais... it is SOOOOO time to leave. We have a fire going in the woodstove and it's nice. Our new place doesn't have a fireplace, so we are enjoying this. One of the apartments we looked at had a wood burning fireplace - and white/beige carpet!!! good grief, who thought THAT one up!

Anyway..... (dumb way to start a sentence) we found an apartment! it's a lovely place, but ladies and gents..... it's tiny, compared to our house (3,500 sq ft) and 10 acres! but, at least I don't need to repaint, as the walls are a lovely cafe au lait with white trim and crown molding. The carpet is cream/beige, which should be soooo much fun with a gray/black cat! Large walk in closets but oh my, WHO designed the hanging area! the rod is waaaay too low, so you can't put another one underneath, so that's getting changed when we get there. The kitchen.. as Paula Deen would say "oh y'awl, this is just preeeecious" very small as compared to our present kitchen. But, if we can cut down on the crap we pack, we'll be fine. We have also rented a garage in the same complex, so storage isn't going to be a problem. GBear, Andi - it's in Kingstown, on South Van Dorn. gated community, quiet and only 20 minutes from Telegraph Rd Gate. We liked the look of the new quarters on Belvoir, but there's a 6 month waiting list, and we just don't want to move from one place to another that soon.

Now... we wait for Orders so we can rent the truck we have reserved and get moving. This weekend - the cat goes to the vet for shots and a check up and a couple of kitty valium, in case the trip upsets him. I got my hair cut really short, so I don't have to worry about it for a while, and then need to start looking for another good cutter.

This weekend is sorting and packing the kitchen. and the closet. I'm sure there's a lot more... but my list is in the other room!!

Later. Talk to you soon. LAW

First Showing!

To give you a picture.... boxes, boxes, tape, newspapers and shredded paper, piles of books to be donated, clothes to be boxed, suitcase waiting to be packed for the apartment hunting trip.. all strewn from one end of the house to the other..... ok, got it in your mind? Now, the phone rings. The realtor - "we have a showing scheduled!" in two days. Now, this house has been on the market for months, never had a showing. For many months, the house looked gorgeous, tidy, semi staged. Although, to be totally honest, for other months, it was a PIT (after the extension announcement it all went to hell). But recently, for open house etc. it was sooooo tidy and all that..

So, instead of packing and such - cleaning! at full tilt. ALL the boxes out into the garage (up on boards), pack up the clothes in a rush, put the books to be donated into the built in bookcase, and get that horrid RedWing pottery out of the to-be-sold box and into the empty china hutch, tidy the pantry again.... the list grows.

Wish us luck, both finding a nice apartment (GBear - we have a couple viewing in Kingstown first thing!) and selling this house! I may not blog for the days we are away, I may be totally insane when we get back.. but you know, it's all part of the milspouse adventure.

LAW

The Bike

Here 'tis.

LAW

Addio, Maestro

The voice went silent for the last time. Now we will hear "Nessun Dorma" until we get sick of it... but that voice will soar over and over again.

Pavarotti was so huge, not just his body, but his talent, his voice, his persona. when he sang with Sting - the Paulus -it was amazing, absolutely stupendous. He made those of us who don't like to sit through an entire opera enjoy Puccini and Mozart's arias, the bel cantos...

Addio.

LAW

Apartment hunting

I have been sending requests for availability, and trying to make appointments to see apartments in Woodbridge, Springfield, Lorton, Kingstown/Alexandria.... and really hoping that some of them are available! There is one across from the Springfield Mall that looks so nice, but then I wonder about the location.... and I keep hoping my trek/commute can be less than the time I now spend driving/on the bus. Sitting on the train/Metro would be great! We are hoping to be in the DC area next week to look at places. I refuse to sign a lease before actually SEEING it.

Rode on the motorcycle for the first time yesterday. It's been over 30 years since I was last on one - so I was a little nervous. One person tells me to sit still, one tells me to lean in the direction of the turn.... But it was soooo much fun! We went around an industrial park which is empty on Sundays. I really enjoyed it... the highway I am not so sure of. Sitting on the back of the bike really gives me a different vantage point (and I am hoping my back gets used to it!)

We took the cat for a ride again today, so he gets used to it. he ended up under my seat! quiet, not getting sick, but still obviously scared. I hope he doesn't spend the entire 2.5 day trip under the seat... Now we need to get hotel reservations for him as well.

Packing - packing...

TTYL

LAW