Little Boxes

Little boxes, on the hillside,
Little boxes full of ticky-tacky,
Little boxes, little boxes,
Little boxes, all the same.
There's a green one and a pink one
And a blue one and a yellow one
And they're all made out of ticky-tacky
And they all look just the same.

This song has been spinning around in my head every time I look at that mountain of boxes....

Crack

Finally, the new carpet and linoleum are attached to the floors! It all looks great; we are very happy with the way it turned out.

Now comes the UNpacking part of the saga.

We've rearranged the living room furniture and are now digging through stacks of boxes, looking for all the CDs, DVDs and videotapes, and BOOKS so they can make their way to their new homes.

It took me 24 hours to find the box that had been packed at the last minute and was supposed to be opened first. It's the box with the bills that need to be paid today. So much for unpacking it first. But I did finally find it!

I was the first casualty of the unpacking saga. Last night I was unpacking a large box of clothing. You see, our dresser is a heavy wood (not presswood) whose drawers are not removable. I had unpacked about 2/3 of the dresser to lighten up the weight so it could be moved. There I am, putting t-shirts and sweaters back in the drawers, minding my own business. I stood up and turned and promptly smacked my forehead on the wooden hoop of a large mandala that normally resides on the wall. I saw black and then stars, and heard the wife call in "What was that?!?" I was ushered to the couch with a bag of ice on my forehead. I hit it pretty good. While I didn't get nauseous or dizzy, my head did feel very heavy. The wife kept checking my pupils. I think I probably managed to give myself a mild concussion. I've got a nice red welt in the middle of my forehead. Fortunately, the indentured servants were still here to move furniture and boxes for me.

Half-new

The place is half-way done.

The carpet guy did come and measure on Tuesday. The original plan was for the workers to come on Thursday to lay the new linoleum, and return on Friday to do the carpeting. We planned our packing attack based on this assumption. After several phone calls between the wifey and the carpet store, the guy at the carpet store said, "oh, they can do it all in one day!" Meaning Friday. They've got to be kidding. He added that we could arrange with the workers however we wanted to work it out.

So a crew of three guys shows up yesterday morning, takes one look at all our boxes and furniture and decides it's going to take two days. Duh!!!! Did we want them to come back Saturday, or Monday? I am not dragging this out two seconds longer than it already has been! Alex, can I buy a Saturday?

We do have new linoleum in the kitchen and bathrooms, and new carpet in the kids' bedroom and hallway. We still have the old carpet in the living room and our bedroom. After walking on the two different carpets (side by side comparison, you know), I must say that a 20-year old carpet pad leaves a lot to be desired. Last night, we shuffled boxes from the living room into the completed bedroom. Once they get here this morning, we'll find out which room they want to start with and rearrange accordingly. Fortunately, we do have indentured servants to help us move furniture today (my two youngest kids).

I can't wait til this is finished. The cats have been locked in our bedroom since yesterday morning and are scratching to get out, but there are still exposed carpet tacks and filings from the metal strips, and we don't want any sliced kitty pawpads. Once the workers leave, we'll vacuum and wet mop the new floors and then let the convicts escape to get their fill of new-carpet aroma. They'll be getting a lot of kitty-crack after this one!

Freak?

So I was on my break earlier this morning, and the first thing I did was start a pot of decaf coffee. I seem to be the only one who makes it around here. When it was done brewing, I filled my mug up. I realized the regular coffee was also empty and set a fresh pot to brew. Aren't I nice?

As I was putting the coffee grounds in, a co-worker asked "Are you a coffee freak?" I told him I just needed to hook up an IV and wheel around the stand all day. He laughed. I was serious. Most mornings, I have way too much blood in my coffeestream.

If I could figure out how to hook up a coffee drip and still taste the coffee through the hep lock, I would be in heaven!

Sore

We spent the weekend getting ready for the new carpet and linoleum that are supposed to come in this week. We packed yet more boxes, filled up another bag for giveaway*, and tossed a bunch of old stuff. I scrubbed the floor in the kids' bathroom - which is primarily used by the cats - so the lino people won't have to deal with the litter-encrusted moulding. Thank goodness for putty knives! And I cleaned off the balcony, which hadn't been cleaned for a few months, so that things could be moved out there while the new flooring is going in. I have to say, the balcony looks much better now! There's not a whole lot left to deal with, maybe one or two more small boxes to be filled, and that's about it. I hope.

I woke up this morning fairly sore and stiff. I've been popping ibuprofen since Saturday night, and last night my wifey spread lanacort on my hand that one of our cacti attacked yesterday. I'm hoping that our "new" apartment will make it all worthwhile.

* Anybody want a Thighmaster? Pickup Sticks? How about Connect Four?

Snagged from Elfkat

In 1964 (the year you were born)

Lyndon B. Johnson is president of the US After riots break out, Panama suspends relations with he US Cassius Clay becomes heavyweight champion when Sonny Liston throws in the towel in the sixth round in Miami Near Anchorage, the strongest earthquake ever to strike North America kills 117 Worst soccer disaster in history occurs when rioting and panic kills over 300 in Liverpool Hundreds of white college students work for civil rights in the south during "Freedom Summer" South Africa sentences Nelson Mandela to life in prison Kemeny and Kurtz create BASIC (Beginners' All-purpose Symbolic Instruction Code), an easy to learn high level programming language Nicolas Cage, Jeff Bezos, Rob Lowe, Elle Macpherson, Courteney Cox Arquette, and Keanu Reeves are born St. Louis Cardinals win the World Series Cleveland Browns win the NFL championship Toronto Maple Leafs win the Stanley Cup "I Want to Hold Your Hand" by The Beatles released in the US, sparking Beatlemania The Beatles appear on The Ed Sullivan Show, breaking television ratings records The game show Jeopardy! debuts on television Mary Poppins, starring Julie Andrews, is the top grossing film

What Happened the Year You Were Born?

Boxes

We started boxing up our belongings in late September, because we were told by the landlord that we would be getting new carpeting in October. I've been in this apartment for 10 1/2 years, and the carpet wasn't new when I moved in. The seams have long since separated, the pad has disappeared, and every couple of months I get to hammer carpet tacks down after slicing a heel.

Then in October, there was a delay, and it wasn't until the end of November that we got it rescheduled for January. Here it is, January, and we have had boxes all over the living room for 4 months. Our videos are in boxes. All my books are in boxes. (Say it ain't so!) All my office supplies are in boxes. (What was I thinking????? I still need an envelope once in a while!) Not to mention that since October, we have had no friends over, no parties, no meetings, no Yule tree - too many boxes!

Finally, on Thursday we met with the carpet people, and they are coming to measure on Tuesday, which means they will (hopefully) start with the linoleum on Thursday or Friday. The carpet has to be ordered, but it should be in around the same time. So now, we have to finish packing things into boxes. And since I work all week, it's got to be done in the next two days. All the breakable stuff, of course, which will require wrapping.

Several times over the last few months, I've threatened to move. We're already packed, right? But considering we don't have a place to move to, I guess we'll settle for the new carpet.

What I did on Vacation

Here it is, 2007.

Right before and after Christmas, I worked like a dog and my poor wifey had to do all the shopping and keep Nicole occupied while I was at work. Then we packed like crazy people to fly up to Seattle for our bimonthly visit.

We drove up to our friends' house in our rental car in the dark and were greeted by blazing holiday lights on the house and a lighted walkway. All the lights were beautifully reflected by the snow that was still on the ground from the snowstorm they had had a few days earlier. It was so nice to be up there in the woods! Our friends recently put a wood stove in their living room, so we got to keep a fire going most of the time we were there. Wifey got to chop wood (shhhhh don't tell the doc), and we played with and fed the kitties while we house-sat for nearly a week.

I finally did get to see Snoqualmie Falls! We drove up there on New Year's Day and got some great pictures. It was freeeeeezing cold up there, though; the wind was howling and the mist was blowing up from the falls. We didn't stay long, and as we drove back over Tiger Pass on Hwy 18, we got snained* on.

The other thing we did was go to Tubs. I wish we had places like that here in the LA area! I got a half-hour massage, and then we sat in a hot tub for an hour. What a relaxing thing to do!

Our friends came back from their trip on Wednesday. Wednesday night the temperature started dropping and we woke up Thursday morning to a dusting of snow. We had to go into Seattle on Thursday afternoon, and on our way back we got stuck in horrible traffic. Apparently no one knows how to drive when there's snow on the road! The snow level had dropped to 500' and there was 2 to 3 inches of snow on the highway. Grrrrrrrr I hate sitting in traffic!!!! We finally made it back to the ranch. Later that night, the sky cleared up and the temp dropped some more, and then the full moon came out. What a sight! the reflection of the full moon on new-fallen snow.... We tried to take some pictures by moonlight, but they just couldn't capture the reality. We went to bed around midnight and when we woke up Friday morning, even more snow had fallen - I'm not sure when the clouds moved back in, but we were very sorry to have to leave that day. What better vacation than being in front of a roaring fire with a hot cuppa in the woods, with fresh snow on the ground?

* "Snain" is a weather phenomenon that seems to strike only in the Puget Sound area of Washington, a unique situation in which rain and snow mix in such a way that you are not entirely sure if it is rain or snow; thus, "snain".