Until our PODS come on Jan. 6, I’ll be living in an unfurnished house with a dog, the Internet, the stuff we brought in our car, no job, and no cable or rabbit-ear TV.
Unfurnished House: Day 1
Unfurnished House: Day 2
Unfurnished House: Day 3
Unfurnished House: Day 4
Unfurnished House: Day 5
Unfurnished House: Day 6
Day 7: Sunday, January 4, 2009
Get up around 8 a.m. to get ready for church.
Go to Redeemer Pres about 15 minutes away, where John has visited before. Some of the guys there are going to help us move in on Tuesday night! Very kind of them to help virtual strangers!! We talk to several people after church, all quite friendly. This may be the church we end up at.
Darra is crazy glad when we get home. We eat leftovers from last night. Yum!
Watch some Reba.
Clean the upstairs bathroom since my father-in-law is coming tonight. He’ll be commuting from Atlanta and staying with us part of each week. John reads.
Start cleaning the baseboards upstairs when Darra starts barking madly. Father-in-law has arrived much earlier than expected. Unload his Suburban, which has boxes of our china and boxes of liquids from our house (like liquids from the pantry and cleaning stuff).
Unpack some of the boxes while John and his dad talk.
Make dinner.
Watch some Reba and Kitchen Nightmares. Work on putting dates on this year’s calendar (2009).
John goes to read upstairs.
Post to blog. Check email. Check Facebook.
Walk Darra one more time.
Try to decide if this post will be last installment of Unfurnished House. Technically we have one more day of Unfurnished House on Monday, but it will be a BUSY last day before the PODs come on Tuesday.
Go upstairs to read before bed.
Showing posts with label moving. Show all posts
Showing posts with label moving. Show all posts
Tuesday, January 06, 2009
Sunday, January 04, 2009
Unfurnished House: Day 6
Until our PODS come on Jan. 6, I’ll be living in an unfurnished house with a dog, the Internet, the stuff we brought in our car, no job, and no cable or rabbit-ear TV.
Unfurnished House: Day 1
Unfurnished House: Day 2
Unfurnished House: Day 3
Unfurnished House: Day 4
Unfurnished House: Day 5
Day 6: Saturday, January 3, 2009
Got up by myself at 8:30 a.m. to take Darra out. Not freezing cold outside but foggy.
Make a smoothie for breakfast. Waste time on internet.
Tired of sitting upright. Go upstairs to read a book in bed.
Eat lunch. Watch some Reba.
Walk to Starbucks in the shopping center across the street to read on a couch. Stay for 2 hours.
Get back, walk Darra.
Watch more Reba.
Go to the nearby mall that’s 5 minutes from our house to scout for supper. (John’s dad said to have dinner on him.) Everything at the mall has too long of a wait on a Saturday night after New Year’s (maybe next time, Cheesecake Factory!), so we head back to the shopping center across the street from our neighborhood.
Go to the local Italian place in the shopping center. Inside looks nice; the wait is an HOUR. But we opt for eating outside and are seated immediately. The food was VERY good, even in spite of having just watched multiple episodes of Kitchen Nightmares the past few days (about bad restaurants). We will definitely go there again.
Return home. Watch some more Kitchen Nightmares. Go upstairs to read before bed.
Unfurnished House: Day 7
Unfurnished House: Day 1
Unfurnished House: Day 2
Unfurnished House: Day 3
Unfurnished House: Day 4
Unfurnished House: Day 5
Day 6: Saturday, January 3, 2009
Got up by myself at 8:30 a.m. to take Darra out. Not freezing cold outside but foggy.
Make a smoothie for breakfast. Waste time on internet.
Tired of sitting upright. Go upstairs to read a book in bed.
Eat lunch. Watch some Reba.
Walk to Starbucks in the shopping center across the street to read on a couch. Stay for 2 hours.
Get back, walk Darra.
Watch more Reba.
Go to the nearby mall that’s 5 minutes from our house to scout for supper. (John’s dad said to have dinner on him.) Everything at the mall has too long of a wait on a Saturday night after New Year’s (maybe next time, Cheesecake Factory!), so we head back to the shopping center across the street from our neighborhood.
Go to the local Italian place in the shopping center. Inside looks nice; the wait is an HOUR. But we opt for eating outside and are seated immediately. The food was VERY good, even in spite of having just watched multiple episodes of Kitchen Nightmares the past few days (about bad restaurants). We will definitely go there again.
Return home. Watch some more Kitchen Nightmares. Go upstairs to read before bed.
Unfurnished House: Day 7
Saturday, January 03, 2009
Unfurnished House: Day 5
Until our PODS come on Jan. 6, I’ll be living in an unfurnished house with a dog, the Internet, the stuff we brought in our car, no job, and no cable or rabbit-ear TV.
Unfurnished House: Day 1
Unfurnished House: Day 2
Unfurnished House: Day 3
Unfurnished House: Day 4
Day 5: Friday, January 2, 2009
Got up at 6 a.m. with John. Checked the weather online. Supposed to rain today. Supposed to rain on the day we unload the POD next week. Went back to bed.
Wake up again at 8:30 to pounding. Wonder if someone is in the house. Darra is on alert but not barking, so it can’t be a dangerous situation. Wonder where noise is coming from. Possibly from next door. Pounding nails and hanging pictures at this hour?
Take Darra outside. Eat breakfast. Think about what needs to get done today, like the kitchen, which I deliberately didn’t clean up yesterday so I’d have something to do today.
Waste time on internet.
Work on my sister’s resume.
Post to blog. Waste more time on internet.
Go downstairs to get something. Lie on floor, stare at ceiling. Darra whines to go outside, but it’s muddy in the backyard.
Eat lunch and watch more episodes of Reba.
Spend half the afternoon writing a review of the book Forsaken by James David Jordan.
John calls. Drive to bank to open new account.
Return home. Take Darra out for first time since this morning. (She never rang the bell.)
John gets the mail. Get several Christmas cards and newsletters from friends. Decide Christmastime is the best time of year to move – guaranteed mail from people you know.
Watch more episodes of Reba. Make dinner. Get craving for pudding. Or cake. Or ice cream. Mostly pudding though. Can’t have it. Can’t afford extras right now. As soon as the POD comes, and we unpack, I can make a smoothie and pour it into the push-up pop containers I bought a long time ago for frozen treats when I have an ice cream/dessert craving.
Watch episodes of Kitchen Nightmares. Both of us would really rather read, but there’s no comfortable place to lounge. John decides we should go to Starbucks or something tomorrow for couches to read on. Darra will just have to live with it for a few hours.
Go upstairs to read in bed.
Unfurnished House: Day 6
Unfurnished House: Day 7
Unfurnished House: Day 1
Unfurnished House: Day 2
Unfurnished House: Day 3
Unfurnished House: Day 4
Day 5: Friday, January 2, 2009
Got up at 6 a.m. with John. Checked the weather online. Supposed to rain today. Supposed to rain on the day we unload the POD next week. Went back to bed.
Wake up again at 8:30 to pounding. Wonder if someone is in the house. Darra is on alert but not barking, so it can’t be a dangerous situation. Wonder where noise is coming from. Possibly from next door. Pounding nails and hanging pictures at this hour?
Take Darra outside. Eat breakfast. Think about what needs to get done today, like the kitchen, which I deliberately didn’t clean up yesterday so I’d have something to do today.
Waste time on internet.
Work on my sister’s resume.
Post to blog. Waste more time on internet.
Go downstairs to get something. Lie on floor, stare at ceiling. Darra whines to go outside, but it’s muddy in the backyard.
Eat lunch and watch more episodes of Reba.
Spend half the afternoon writing a review of the book Forsaken by James David Jordan.
John calls. Drive to bank to open new account.
Return home. Take Darra out for first time since this morning. (She never rang the bell.)
John gets the mail. Get several Christmas cards and newsletters from friends. Decide Christmastime is the best time of year to move – guaranteed mail from people you know.
Watch more episodes of Reba. Make dinner. Get craving for pudding. Or cake. Or ice cream. Mostly pudding though. Can’t have it. Can’t afford extras right now. As soon as the POD comes, and we unpack, I can make a smoothie and pour it into the push-up pop containers I bought a long time ago for frozen treats when I have an ice cream/dessert craving.
Watch episodes of Kitchen Nightmares. Both of us would really rather read, but there’s no comfortable place to lounge. John decides we should go to Starbucks or something tomorrow for couches to read on. Darra will just have to live with it for a few hours.
Go upstairs to read in bed.
Unfurnished House: Day 6
Unfurnished House: Day 7
Friday, January 02, 2009
Unfurnished House: Day 4
Until our PODS come on Jan. 6, I’ll be living in an unfurnished house with a dog, the Internet, the stuff we brought in our car, no job, and no cable or rabbit-ear TV.
Unfurnished House: Day 1
Unfurnished House: Day 2
Unfurnished House: Day 3
Day 4: Thursday, January 1, 2009
Got up at 8:30ish a.m. since John has the day off (January 1). John took Darra outside.
Made breakfast: a smoothie. Would rather have hot oatmeal, but it’s packed, and I refuse to buy some when we already have it, technically.
Start laundry load.
Waste time on internet while John finishes his book.
Go to the nearest Lowe’s to buy wood planks. The decks on the 2nd and 3rd floors have a gap beneath the railing that is big enough for Darra to slip through if she’s determined enough to end everything. The wood planks will solve that problem. We discover several other stores around Lowe’s. Drive around that area some more.
Go home and eat lunch. Watch some Reba. Stare at the wall.
I suggest we discuss furniture placement. Walk around the house deciding where things will go when we unload next week.
Next week seems so far away.
John doesn’t want to stay and watch more TV, so we take Darra with us to drive around some more, using my printouts of places I’d looked up. Takes the rest of the afternoon. Discover lots of stores and shopping centers. Realize now we know where all the stores are that we’d want to go to, and they’re all within about 15-20 minutes of our house, but … none of them are close to EACH OTHER.
Get home. Watch some more Reba on the plasma TV. Watched an episode of Bones. Getting really tired of having no couches to sit on.
Work on LinkedIn profile while John watches the Bones episode. Wonder if “systematization” is a word. It is.
Watch some episodes of Kitchen Nightmares with Gordon Ramsay. Vow to avoid restaurants as much as possible.
Walk Darra. Very short walk.
Watch some more Kitchen Nightmares. Read a book before bed.
Never did write any resolutions today, the first day of the new year.
Unfurnished House: Day 5
Unfurnished House: Day 6
Unfurnished House: Day 7
Unfurnished House: Day 1
Unfurnished House: Day 2
Unfurnished House: Day 3
Day 4: Thursday, January 1, 2009
Got up at 8:30ish a.m. since John has the day off (January 1). John took Darra outside.
Made breakfast: a smoothie. Would rather have hot oatmeal, but it’s packed, and I refuse to buy some when we already have it, technically.
Start laundry load.
Waste time on internet while John finishes his book.
Go to the nearest Lowe’s to buy wood planks. The decks on the 2nd and 3rd floors have a gap beneath the railing that is big enough for Darra to slip through if she’s determined enough to end everything. The wood planks will solve that problem. We discover several other stores around Lowe’s. Drive around that area some more.
Go home and eat lunch. Watch some Reba. Stare at the wall.
I suggest we discuss furniture placement. Walk around the house deciding where things will go when we unload next week.
Next week seems so far away.
John doesn’t want to stay and watch more TV, so we take Darra with us to drive around some more, using my printouts of places I’d looked up. Takes the rest of the afternoon. Discover lots of stores and shopping centers. Realize now we know where all the stores are that we’d want to go to, and they’re all within about 15-20 minutes of our house, but … none of them are close to EACH OTHER.
Get home. Watch some more Reba on the plasma TV. Watched an episode of Bones. Getting really tired of having no couches to sit on.
Work on LinkedIn profile while John watches the Bones episode. Wonder if “systematization” is a word. It is.
Watch some episodes of Kitchen Nightmares with Gordon Ramsay. Vow to avoid restaurants as much as possible.
Walk Darra. Very short walk.
Watch some more Kitchen Nightmares. Read a book before bed.
Never did write any resolutions today, the first day of the new year.
Unfurnished House: Day 5
Unfurnished House: Day 6
Unfurnished House: Day 7
Thursday, January 01, 2009
Unfurnished House: Day 3
Until our PODS come on Jan. 6, I’ll be living in an unfurnished house with a dog, the Internet, the stuff we brought in our car, no job, and no cable or rabbit-ear TV.
Unfurnished House: Day 1
Unfurnished House: Day 2
Day 3: Wednesday, December 31, 2008
Get up at 6 a.m. with John. Once John closes the bathroom door, shutting Darra out, she goes to a pile of dirty laundry (darks) and lies on John’s dirty underwear, staring at the closed bathroom door.
Take Darra out, implement Fiendish New Potty Plan: If she doesn’t go in the first minute or two, I take her back inside. When she does do her business, she gets a treat immediately. She already knows to ring the bell to go outside, but now that we don’t have a doggie door and a fenced yard, I’m re-training her to go outside and go IMMEDIATELY, so I’m not standing there in the cold. She’s got to learn now that every time she goes outside, it’s NOT necessarily a walk!! After a minute or two this morning, I make a move to go back inside, and she halts, not budging. Immediately goes potty. I think she’s starting to get the picture.
Start laundry load #3.
Eat breakfast, go online. Post to blog. Check email. Check Facebook. Update Amazon wish list.
Think about getting dressed since it’s 8:30 a.m.
Reboot laundry. Get ready for the day. Wash down shelves of laundry room cabinets and store stuff there.
Hand wash some dishes. Clear off the counters and find a way to organize all the random paper and pens that don’t have a home because we don’t have desks, so they’ve been all over the place. Feel good about cleared countertops.
Reboot laundry. Start load #4.
Think about the fact that today is Dec. 31. Think about making resolutions, as I eat some chocolate. Ponder that this is the first year we’ll be alone for New Year’s Eve not by choice.
Look up directions to the nearest Costco, hoping it’s closer than BJ’s or Sam’s, which are both at least 20 minutes away.
Feel guilty about ignoring Darra, who looks especially pathetic. Take her on walk to neighborhood next door.
Eat lunch while watching Reba. See that the 2 newest episodes of House are on hulu.com!!
Reboot laundry.
Figure out directions one more time for hitting two stores in one trip. Take deep breath, leave Darra UNgated!! (since it’s obviously pointless), and gear up for serious driving in Raleigh.
Head out onto I-440, the loop around Raleigh. Eeeks. End up at the nearest SuperWalmart, about 15-20 minutes away. The store I patronize the most isn’t close anymore!
Also excited to see a pet store AND an Aldi’s across the street from Walmart. Yay! Aldi’s is probably the only store cheaper than Walmart!
Before going back home, I have to call John to ask him which exit we are on 440, which direction to go, etc.
Manage to make it home. Wonder how Darra fared while I was gone for 2 hours. But apparently John got home right after I left, so we still haven’t left her for a significant period of time.
Unpack groceries. Watch some more Reba. Make supper. Watch another episode of Wire in the Blood. Cannot get warm. Wrap up in afghan.
Walk Darra in the freezing cold. It’s a short walk. Thank goodness, she does all her business, so we’re not going outside again.
Try to figure out how to maximize bedding and pajamas for optimal sleeping. No socks or sweatshirt: too cold. Socks and sweatshirt: too hot, then sweat, then get cold from sweat drying. Really want my own pillow and bed, which are inaccessible for another week at least.
Waste time on the internet.
Read before bed.
Unfurnished House: Day 4
Unfurnished House: Day 5
Unfurnished House: Day 6
Unfurnished House: Day 7
Unfurnished House: Day 1
Unfurnished House: Day 2
Day 3: Wednesday, December 31, 2008
Get up at 6 a.m. with John. Once John closes the bathroom door, shutting Darra out, she goes to a pile of dirty laundry (darks) and lies on John’s dirty underwear, staring at the closed bathroom door.
Take Darra out, implement Fiendish New Potty Plan: If she doesn’t go in the first minute or two, I take her back inside. When she does do her business, she gets a treat immediately. She already knows to ring the bell to go outside, but now that we don’t have a doggie door and a fenced yard, I’m re-training her to go outside and go IMMEDIATELY, so I’m not standing there in the cold. She’s got to learn now that every time she goes outside, it’s NOT necessarily a walk!! After a minute or two this morning, I make a move to go back inside, and she halts, not budging. Immediately goes potty. I think she’s starting to get the picture.
Start laundry load #3.
Eat breakfast, go online. Post to blog. Check email. Check Facebook. Update Amazon wish list.
Think about getting dressed since it’s 8:30 a.m.
Reboot laundry. Get ready for the day. Wash down shelves of laundry room cabinets and store stuff there.
Hand wash some dishes. Clear off the counters and find a way to organize all the random paper and pens that don’t have a home because we don’t have desks, so they’ve been all over the place. Feel good about cleared countertops.
Reboot laundry. Start load #4.
Think about the fact that today is Dec. 31. Think about making resolutions, as I eat some chocolate. Ponder that this is the first year we’ll be alone for New Year’s Eve not by choice.
Look up directions to the nearest Costco, hoping it’s closer than BJ’s or Sam’s, which are both at least 20 minutes away.
Feel guilty about ignoring Darra, who looks especially pathetic. Take her on walk to neighborhood next door.
Eat lunch while watching Reba. See that the 2 newest episodes of House are on hulu.com!!
Reboot laundry.
Figure out directions one more time for hitting two stores in one trip. Take deep breath, leave Darra UNgated!! (since it’s obviously pointless), and gear up for serious driving in Raleigh.
Head out onto I-440, the loop around Raleigh. Eeeks. End up at the nearest SuperWalmart, about 15-20 minutes away. The store I patronize the most isn’t close anymore!
Also excited to see a pet store AND an Aldi’s across the street from Walmart. Yay! Aldi’s is probably the only store cheaper than Walmart!
Before going back home, I have to call John to ask him which exit we are on 440, which direction to go, etc.
Manage to make it home. Wonder how Darra fared while I was gone for 2 hours. But apparently John got home right after I left, so we still haven’t left her for a significant period of time.
Unpack groceries. Watch some more Reba. Make supper. Watch another episode of Wire in the Blood. Cannot get warm. Wrap up in afghan.
Walk Darra in the freezing cold. It’s a short walk. Thank goodness, she does all her business, so we’re not going outside again.
Try to figure out how to maximize bedding and pajamas for optimal sleeping. No socks or sweatshirt: too cold. Socks and sweatshirt: too hot, then sweat, then get cold from sweat drying. Really want my own pillow and bed, which are inaccessible for another week at least.
Waste time on the internet.
Read before bed.
Unfurnished House: Day 4
Unfurnished House: Day 5
Unfurnished House: Day 6
Unfurnished House: Day 7
Wednesday, December 31, 2008
Unfurnished House: Day 2
Until our PODS come on Jan. 6, I’ll be living in an unfurnished house with a dog, the Internet, the stuff we brought in our car, no job, and no cable or rabbit-ear TV.
Unfurnished House: Day 1
Day 2: Tuesday, December 30, 2008
Get up with John at 6 a.m.
Take Darra out. She only does half her business, but I’m too cold to care that I’ll have to go back out again soon. She’s distracted by every noise and enjoying herself. I’m not.
Eat breakfast. Darra also eats hers, which is good. Unload dishwasher. Make list of things to do today.
Back upstairs to unpack John’s remaining bags that he brought home yesterday. 4 piles of laundry to do.
Shower. Start first laundry load. Set timer downstairs in kitchen to remind myself the laundry is up there by the bedrooms.
Eat breakfast. Check email. Check Facebook. Post “Day 1” to blog. Ignore timer for laundry. Realize too much time has been spent online this morning. Typical.
Reboot laundry upstairs.
Feel guilty about ignoring Darra. Bring her toys to basement level where there’s carpet and play with her. Liveliest she’s been (INside the house) since we arrived.
Eat a snack.
DSL guy comes to set things up. While he’s busy, I do a walk-through for the rental company to indicate any pre-existing defects in the townhouse that they haven’t caught. I’m pickier, so I write down more than they did on the form. Don’t want to have to pay for damage that we didn’t do.
Check on laundry. Open double doors of laundry closet to find water dripping from cabinet knobs. Didn’t realize it would get that humid in there. Will keep closet doors open from now on. Discover that dryer didn’t dry at all. Change setting and try again. (We don’t have our washer/dryer now anyway, but when the POD comes, we’ll keep them in the garage instead of lugging one set down 2 flights of stairs, and lugging ours up 2 flights. Then repeating in reverse when we move out in 13 months.)
Walk Darra. She stops at the base of the stairway to each house, thinking it’s ours. (The front door of each house is on the second level, so you have to walk up a flight of stairs to get there. The stairs end at the sidewalk.)
Finish walk-through of house. Darra sleeps in sun on second-level deck. I scrounge for lunch. Spend way too much time on Facebook.
Reboot laundry. Discover that the lint trap in the dryer is NOT REMOVABLE. What kind of dryer is this. Does GE want the house to burn down around us? Have they not read the studies that show how easily lint in a dryer catches fire?? Reconsider switching out their dryer for ours, even with lugging up and down stairs.
Darra sleeps in sun on deck outside the kitchen while I look up dog parks in Raleigh.
Waste time on Internet.
Answer question on phone for person who replaced me at my job when we moved.
Reboot laundry. Take Darra outside to do her business.
Tired of house. Gate Darra into our bathroom, then go to mall down the street to check it out.
Crabtree Valley Mall is probably the biggest I’ve ever been to. It has a major parking garage that is, frankly, confusing and intimidating to someone who is the polar opposite of adventurous!! I’m mentally exhausted just trying to get in and park.
Walk the mall all the way around on level 1, then on level 2. Feel like a Mall Walker. Consider joining their Mall Walker group (hey, one holiday mall sign said that the mall walkers had a holiday party and got treated by Trade Secret!). Lots of “northern” fashion that is unfamiliar, but I would never wear anyway. (Try knit knee-length dress with tights and boots.)
Stop at a styling salon for prices. Stop at Payless. Stop at Franklin Covey store. Weirdly excited that there’s a Franklin Covey store! Never been to one. Linger for a long time, looking at planners. Wonder if I could get a part-time job there. And then get discounts.
Finish up at the mall, ready to go home. Mission accomplished: got to know the mall, and didn’t buy anything. Next hurdle: trying to get out of the parking garage. Even though my M.O. is to return the exact way I came in since by default it’s already “familiar,” that way involves awkward awful left-turn intersections in the parking garage. So I go out the back way, which is not familiar. But successfully leave the mall.
Come home to find that Darra broke out! She somehow upended the gate in the master bathroom doorway and has been trapped instead in the carpeted master bedroom. Good thing I shut the door just in case. Relief: no bathroom accidents or chewed up items. Just a wildly ecstatic dog who has no idea that we’re bummed the gate is no longer effective.
Darra and I go for our first mail run at this new address. We have real mail!
John comes home. We look up directions for how to get to various stores. Darra starts to play with her toys, the first time she’s done so by herself since we arrived.
Start dinner. Watch Reba on the plasma TV. Talk to John’s mom on the phone.
Clean up from dinner. Watch a British crime show, Wire in the Blood, on the plasma TV. Eat a British dessert called spotted dick.
Walk Darra, work our way through the neighborhood next to ours. Start a new book before going to bed.
Unfurnished House: Day 3
Unfurnished House: Day 4
Unfurnished House: Day 5
Unfurnished House: Day 6
Unfurnished House: Day 7
Unfurnished House: Day 1
Day 2: Tuesday, December 30, 2008
Get up with John at 6 a.m.
Take Darra out. She only does half her business, but I’m too cold to care that I’ll have to go back out again soon. She’s distracted by every noise and enjoying herself. I’m not.
Eat breakfast. Darra also eats hers, which is good. Unload dishwasher. Make list of things to do today.
Back upstairs to unpack John’s remaining bags that he brought home yesterday. 4 piles of laundry to do.
Shower. Start first laundry load. Set timer downstairs in kitchen to remind myself the laundry is up there by the bedrooms.
Eat breakfast. Check email. Check Facebook. Post “Day 1” to blog. Ignore timer for laundry. Realize too much time has been spent online this morning. Typical.
Reboot laundry upstairs.
Feel guilty about ignoring Darra. Bring her toys to basement level where there’s carpet and play with her. Liveliest she’s been (INside the house) since we arrived.
Eat a snack.
DSL guy comes to set things up. While he’s busy, I do a walk-through for the rental company to indicate any pre-existing defects in the townhouse that they haven’t caught. I’m pickier, so I write down more than they did on the form. Don’t want to have to pay for damage that we didn’t do.
Check on laundry. Open double doors of laundry closet to find water dripping from cabinet knobs. Didn’t realize it would get that humid in there. Will keep closet doors open from now on. Discover that dryer didn’t dry at all. Change setting and try again. (We don’t have our washer/dryer now anyway, but when the POD comes, we’ll keep them in the garage instead of lugging one set down 2 flights of stairs, and lugging ours up 2 flights. Then repeating in reverse when we move out in 13 months.)
Walk Darra. She stops at the base of the stairway to each house, thinking it’s ours. (The front door of each house is on the second level, so you have to walk up a flight of stairs to get there. The stairs end at the sidewalk.)
Finish walk-through of house. Darra sleeps in sun on second-level deck. I scrounge for lunch. Spend way too much time on Facebook.
Reboot laundry. Discover that the lint trap in the dryer is NOT REMOVABLE. What kind of dryer is this. Does GE want the house to burn down around us? Have they not read the studies that show how easily lint in a dryer catches fire?? Reconsider switching out their dryer for ours, even with lugging up and down stairs.
Darra sleeps in sun on deck outside the kitchen while I look up dog parks in Raleigh.
Waste time on Internet.
Answer question on phone for person who replaced me at my job when we moved.
Reboot laundry. Take Darra outside to do her business.
Tired of house. Gate Darra into our bathroom, then go to mall down the street to check it out.
Crabtree Valley Mall is probably the biggest I’ve ever been to. It has a major parking garage that is, frankly, confusing and intimidating to someone who is the polar opposite of adventurous!! I’m mentally exhausted just trying to get in and park.
Walk the mall all the way around on level 1, then on level 2. Feel like a Mall Walker. Consider joining their Mall Walker group (hey, one holiday mall sign said that the mall walkers had a holiday party and got treated by Trade Secret!). Lots of “northern” fashion that is unfamiliar, but I would never wear anyway. (Try knit knee-length dress with tights and boots.)
Stop at a styling salon for prices. Stop at Payless. Stop at Franklin Covey store. Weirdly excited that there’s a Franklin Covey store! Never been to one. Linger for a long time, looking at planners. Wonder if I could get a part-time job there. And then get discounts.
Finish up at the mall, ready to go home. Mission accomplished: got to know the mall, and didn’t buy anything. Next hurdle: trying to get out of the parking garage. Even though my M.O. is to return the exact way I came in since by default it’s already “familiar,” that way involves awkward awful left-turn intersections in the parking garage. So I go out the back way, which is not familiar. But successfully leave the mall.
Come home to find that Darra broke out! She somehow upended the gate in the master bathroom doorway and has been trapped instead in the carpeted master bedroom. Good thing I shut the door just in case. Relief: no bathroom accidents or chewed up items. Just a wildly ecstatic dog who has no idea that we’re bummed the gate is no longer effective.
Darra and I go for our first mail run at this new address. We have real mail!
John comes home. We look up directions for how to get to various stores. Darra starts to play with her toys, the first time she’s done so by herself since we arrived.
Start dinner. Watch Reba on the plasma TV. Talk to John’s mom on the phone.
Clean up from dinner. Watch a British crime show, Wire in the Blood, on the plasma TV. Eat a British dessert called spotted dick.
Walk Darra, work our way through the neighborhood next to ours. Start a new book before going to bed.
Unfurnished House: Day 3
Unfurnished House: Day 4
Unfurnished House: Day 5
Unfurnished House: Day 6
Unfurnished House: Day 7
Tuesday, December 30, 2008
Unfurnished House: Day 1
We won’t get our storage PODS back until Jan. 6 because of the holidays and high volume of business (I guess a lot of people are moving this month using PODS). So our (rented) townhouse currently houses one queen-sized air mattress (note to self: THANK MOM for perfect, unrequested Christmas gift!!), and some items that came with the house: an ironing board, plastic deck furniture outside, a washer & dryer, and shoe shelving units in the master closets (must tell Mary!!). Until The Day The PODS Come, I’ll be living in an unfurnished house with a dog, the Internet, the stuff we brought in our car, no job, and no cable or rabbit-ear TV.
A.k.a., The Simple Life.
Day 1: Monday, December 29, 2008
Got up with John at 6:30 a.m. (I think). Tried to wake up while John took a lukewarm shower since apparently the water heater wasn’t working properly. Got dressed, knowing I’d have to take Darra outside on a leash soon.
Try to convince John to have a bowl of cereal before going to work, then realize I had spoons but no bowls. John took a breakfast bar to work instead. He fixed the water heater before he left; it had been on the “vacation” setting.
Took Darra outside. Not too chilly, just comfortable with a pullover. She sees a rabbit and tries to take off. Have to re-orient her that it is POTTY time, not PLAY time.
Back inside, the iPod Bose unit is unpacked and the iPod set to the playlist Hymns. It was 7 in the morning, and now that we’re in a townhouse, we have neighbors on both sides of the walls. Have to be volume-conscious.
Want to start unpacking the few kitchen boxes we brought with us in the car, but I’m starving. Start hunt for plastic bowls instead. Jackpot: first box. Eat cereal with skim milk instead of rice milk for the first time in 2 years. Darra watches me, and ignores her own breakfast.
Start unpacking the kitchen boxes, including the ones that John brought from his car. Last night before coming to the house, we had driven to John’s work and got his car that he’d left there before Christmas. It had all his stuff in it that he’d used while renting a basement in Raleigh since the beginning of November (while he commuted, and I stayed in our house in Georgia). Darra climbs into her bed (which I’d put in the kitchen so she’d have a soft place instead of hardwood floors) and stays there looking woeful.
All (few) kitchen boxes unpacked and half put away, I reach a stopping point as I can’t decide exactly where I want things to go. (No sense putting them away only to take it all out and rearrange later.) Even though the kitchen cabinet layout is almost identical to the one in our former house, I still can’t decide where I want things. The cabinets ARE about 6 inches taller, and there are enough minor differences between kitchens that I can’t just use the exact same storage plan. Darra still ignores her breakfast.
Abandon kitchen and decide to take a break. Realize it’s only 8:45 a.m. Feels like afternoon. Put away packing materials from unpacking kitchen boxes with several trips down to basement/garage level where all boxes will end up eventually. Clean up a bit in kitchen. Think about kitchen cabinet arrangement. Rearrange the few cans and items in pantry.
Head upstairs to bedroom, the only place to “sit down” inside the house. Turn on computer and connect to someone else’s wireless network (our wireless will be set up tomorrow). Sorry, Foley network, it’s only for 1 day. Check Facebook. Check email. Email John to see if there are any folding chairs at work for him to borrow and bring home. Email everyone in my Contacts that we have a new address. Go to www.hulu.com to watch 2 episodes of Reba from Season 1. Darra still hasn’t eaten her breakfast.
Put computer away and unpack my suitcase in the master bedroom. Think about what will go in the large, separate his/her walk-in closets. Rearrange the small, unattached cabinets and shoe shelving that came with the house in the closets. Consider unpacking John’s suitcase. Leave it unpacked.
Start to unpack the toiletry bags in the bathroom, stop to go downstairs, get a cleaning washcloth, and come up again to wash out the bathroom drawers and cabinets. Not because they’re unclean; I’m just picky. See black scuff marks on some of the doors up here. Go down 2 flights of stairs to basement level to get Magic Eraser. Come back up and remove black marks. See serious dust on baseboards, top of doorway moulding, and in ridges on doors. DO NOT start cleaning all that. Save it for later. Continue to unpack bathroom stuff until finished.
Step out of bathroom to realize that Darra has taken up residence next to the sliding door in our bedroom that leads to a balcony. She is konked out in the sunlight on the floor. Decide not to go down another flight of stairs to get camera. She’d move anyway.
Look at clock and realize John could be home for lunch soon, and I still don’t have makeup or hair done. Do that. Brain starts thinking about New Year’s Resolutions. Moves to thinking about what we’ll do for Dec. 31 to celebrate. Acknowledge, probably nothing. Darra is still sleeping hard in the sunlight on the floor. Think about walking her, but John will be home soon anyway.
Decide to create blog post of what to do when there’s nothing to do. Write.
Realize it’s past lunchtime. Go to microwave lunch and see a metal rack in the microwave that is in fact part of the microwave, as it rests on built-in pegs. ???! Wonder what in the world is going on there. Remove metal rack and finish with lunch.
Feel very guilty and decide to walk Darra. Explore neighborhood, not as complicated as it initially looked in the dark last night. Close to a lot of other neighborhoods, which is good for walking the dog and running.
Need to go get groceries so we don’t eat out tonight. Must leave Darra for first time, gated in the bathroom, when she’s used to having a doggie door to the outside and therefore free rein in the house.
Go to grocery store, which thank goodness is basically across the street from our neighborhood. No need for complicated directions. It’s similar to Publix. I only buy things from my list, keeping in mind that we’re paying for a mortgage AND rent in January.
Come home just as John is pulling in. We manage to get both cars into the tiny box that is billed as a two-car garage. He brought home chairs from the office, so we won’t have to eat dinner standing up. Darra is ecstatic that we’re home. She finally starts to eat.
John works electronic magic and hooks his computer to the plasma TV that came with the house (which is located in what normal people think of as the dining room). Darra climbs into her bed, again woeful and forlorn. Probably wondering where her couch is. We watch some Reba as I make dinner.
Though it’s dark out, we walk Darra and see how people have arranged their furniture in the front living room that can be seen from the street. A surprising number of people haven’t pulled their curtains or blinds closed yet.
Return to thinking about kitchen. Decide where everything will go. Agree with John’s mom, who said I have more kitchen stuff than she does. Almost done mentally organizing kitchen with items I have to recall from memory, but get tired of it. John goes upstairs to read.
I give up on planning the kitchen. Walk Darra one more time before bed. Some old guy down the street watches to make sure I pick up her poop. Clean up kitchen, run first dishwasher load, clear countertops. Finally decide on kitchen organization. Each cabinet has a post-it note on it with what will eventually go inside. Feels good to be done. Head upstairs to read my book before bed. Surprisingly full day, no boredom.
Unfurnished House: Day 2
Unfurnished House: Day 3
Unfurnished House: Day 4
Unfurnished House: Day 5
Unfurnished House: Day 6
Unfurnished House: Day 7
A.k.a., The Simple Life.
Day 1: Monday, December 29, 2008
Got up with John at 6:30 a.m. (I think). Tried to wake up while John took a lukewarm shower since apparently the water heater wasn’t working properly. Got dressed, knowing I’d have to take Darra outside on a leash soon.
Try to convince John to have a bowl of cereal before going to work, then realize I had spoons but no bowls. John took a breakfast bar to work instead. He fixed the water heater before he left; it had been on the “vacation” setting.
Took Darra outside. Not too chilly, just comfortable with a pullover. She sees a rabbit and tries to take off. Have to re-orient her that it is POTTY time, not PLAY time.
Back inside, the iPod Bose unit is unpacked and the iPod set to the playlist Hymns. It was 7 in the morning, and now that we’re in a townhouse, we have neighbors on both sides of the walls. Have to be volume-conscious.
Want to start unpacking the few kitchen boxes we brought with us in the car, but I’m starving. Start hunt for plastic bowls instead. Jackpot: first box. Eat cereal with skim milk instead of rice milk for the first time in 2 years. Darra watches me, and ignores her own breakfast.
Start unpacking the kitchen boxes, including the ones that John brought from his car. Last night before coming to the house, we had driven to John’s work and got his car that he’d left there before Christmas. It had all his stuff in it that he’d used while renting a basement in Raleigh since the beginning of November (while he commuted, and I stayed in our house in Georgia). Darra climbs into her bed (which I’d put in the kitchen so she’d have a soft place instead of hardwood floors) and stays there looking woeful.
All (few) kitchen boxes unpacked and half put away, I reach a stopping point as I can’t decide exactly where I want things to go. (No sense putting them away only to take it all out and rearrange later.) Even though the kitchen cabinet layout is almost identical to the one in our former house, I still can’t decide where I want things. The cabinets ARE about 6 inches taller, and there are enough minor differences between kitchens that I can’t just use the exact same storage plan. Darra still ignores her breakfast.
Abandon kitchen and decide to take a break. Realize it’s only 8:45 a.m. Feels like afternoon. Put away packing materials from unpacking kitchen boxes with several trips down to basement/garage level where all boxes will end up eventually. Clean up a bit in kitchen. Think about kitchen cabinet arrangement. Rearrange the few cans and items in pantry.
Head upstairs to bedroom, the only place to “sit down” inside the house. Turn on computer and connect to someone else’s wireless network (our wireless will be set up tomorrow). Sorry, Foley network, it’s only for 1 day. Check Facebook. Check email. Email John to see if there are any folding chairs at work for him to borrow and bring home. Email everyone in my Contacts that we have a new address. Go to www.hulu.com to watch 2 episodes of Reba from Season 1. Darra still hasn’t eaten her breakfast.
Put computer away and unpack my suitcase in the master bedroom. Think about what will go in the large, separate his/her walk-in closets. Rearrange the small, unattached cabinets and shoe shelving that came with the house in the closets. Consider unpacking John’s suitcase. Leave it unpacked.
Start to unpack the toiletry bags in the bathroom, stop to go downstairs, get a cleaning washcloth, and come up again to wash out the bathroom drawers and cabinets. Not because they’re unclean; I’m just picky. See black scuff marks on some of the doors up here. Go down 2 flights of stairs to basement level to get Magic Eraser. Come back up and remove black marks. See serious dust on baseboards, top of doorway moulding, and in ridges on doors. DO NOT start cleaning all that. Save it for later. Continue to unpack bathroom stuff until finished.
Step out of bathroom to realize that Darra has taken up residence next to the sliding door in our bedroom that leads to a balcony. She is konked out in the sunlight on the floor. Decide not to go down another flight of stairs to get camera. She’d move anyway.
Look at clock and realize John could be home for lunch soon, and I still don’t have makeup or hair done. Do that. Brain starts thinking about New Year’s Resolutions. Moves to thinking about what we’ll do for Dec. 31 to celebrate. Acknowledge, probably nothing. Darra is still sleeping hard in the sunlight on the floor. Think about walking her, but John will be home soon anyway.
Decide to create blog post of what to do when there’s nothing to do. Write.
Realize it’s past lunchtime. Go to microwave lunch and see a metal rack in the microwave that is in fact part of the microwave, as it rests on built-in pegs. ???! Wonder what in the world is going on there. Remove metal rack and finish with lunch.
Feel very guilty and decide to walk Darra. Explore neighborhood, not as complicated as it initially looked in the dark last night. Close to a lot of other neighborhoods, which is good for walking the dog and running.
Need to go get groceries so we don’t eat out tonight. Must leave Darra for first time, gated in the bathroom, when she’s used to having a doggie door to the outside and therefore free rein in the house.
Go to grocery store, which thank goodness is basically across the street from our neighborhood. No need for complicated directions. It’s similar to Publix. I only buy things from my list, keeping in mind that we’re paying for a mortgage AND rent in January.
Come home just as John is pulling in. We manage to get both cars into the tiny box that is billed as a two-car garage. He brought home chairs from the office, so we won’t have to eat dinner standing up. Darra is ecstatic that we’re home. She finally starts to eat.
John works electronic magic and hooks his computer to the plasma TV that came with the house (which is located in what normal people think of as the dining room). Darra climbs into her bed, again woeful and forlorn. Probably wondering where her couch is. We watch some Reba as I make dinner.
Though it’s dark out, we walk Darra and see how people have arranged their furniture in the front living room that can be seen from the street. A surprising number of people haven’t pulled their curtains or blinds closed yet.
Return to thinking about kitchen. Decide where everything will go. Agree with John’s mom, who said I have more kitchen stuff than she does. Almost done mentally organizing kitchen with items I have to recall from memory, but get tired of it. John goes upstairs to read.
I give up on planning the kitchen. Walk Darra one more time before bed. Some old guy down the street watches to make sure I pick up her poop. Clean up kitchen, run first dishwasher load, clear countertops. Finally decide on kitchen organization. Each cabinet has a post-it note on it with what will eventually go inside. Feels good to be done. Head upstairs to read my book before bed. Surprisingly full day, no boredom.
Unfurnished House: Day 2
Unfurnished House: Day 3
Unfurnished House: Day 4
Unfurnished House: Day 5
Unfurnished House: Day 6
Unfurnished House: Day 7
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)