A great day

I was thrilled to wake up and see the sun shining. As I ate breakfast, I sat in the streaming sunlight. It just felt good. I guess I sat there pretty long, first eating and then reading e-mail on my laptop. When the sun rose too high, we went on errands. First we dropped off my embroidery machine at Huntsville Sew and Vac to see if they could fix it. Then we went to post to return a DVD, and check our p.o. box. Finally we went to Publix as a reconnaissance mission. We bought some veggies and checked to see if they have our other favorite items, too. Then on the way home, we monitored the odometer to see if it was closer than Kroger. Nope. Too bad, it is a newer, cleaner, brighter store than Kroger. Chris disappeared into the basement. I was pleased to find that he was unpacking book boxes. I joined him down there. We got a lot done. Later I noticed a strange red light outside the window. A couple from Freecycle had come with a U-haul to get cardboard boxes and paper. Yea! Then another couple came. They only got a few boxes, but she went through the give-away pile and took a bunch of puzzles and things for crafting. Double yea! Then I went upstairs for supper. Chris had already had his. Then we watched Chicken Run on our DVD player. We have unpacked two VCR's: one was broken and the other one broke yesterday. So, do we get rid of all the VHS tapes, or hope one of the remaining boxes has another VCR in it? This cuts our viewing choices roughly in half, maybe more. Anyway, after watching the movie, and seeing the special menu features, I put the DVD in my laptop to see the games. Sadly, no. The dvd opens a window to a webpage that is no longer active. So, while Chris read a book, I read more e-mail. I read about desktop pets (one comes with the video). Seems they are virtual 'pets' that you can create, and then you have to feed them, walk them, or whatever is appropriate. When I read that you can watch them grow old, it really made me sad, even though I don't even have an IDEA for one, much less a created version begging me to play with it. Stupid, huh?

*This is the wall Bob took apart. He was supposed to come back today and finish the job*

Unpacking Michele's boxes

It was freezing outside when I woke up. That did not change over the course of the day. But the sun did come out for awhile. I might use my Happylight tomorrow to make up for all the sun I am missing. Today I did two loads of laundry: one was Bob's towels, so they would not mildew. The other was miscellaneous items that I found in boxes as I unpacked. Mostly I did boxes marked "Girl rm". I figured that they would be easiest. Stuff worth keeping would go back in the box and anything else gets trashed or donated. But I found non-girl stuff mixed in. One box had a whole bunch of pillowcases. Some of them were the missing ones to sets in the closet. One marked 'hangers' had a few hangers, plus clothes, knicknacks, jewelry, and shoes. One box was almost all American girl dolls and their clothes (and their horse). Then there was the Harry Potter legos and trains, L5R cards, and a binder of Pokemon cards. Bet they aren't worth anything now. I must have a collection of just about everything 'cause I found a box of unused picture frames, and empty baby food jars. Must have been for some craft I can't remember now.
Bob came over to fix the leak in the wall. I told him about the water in the closet. That really set him back. But finally he did remove the paneling and check the hole in the floor under it. Whatever he had sealed it with had cracked. So he borrowed a hairdryer and dried it out. He said he would come back tomorrow to seal it with something else. Chris came home early. Then after Bob left, I ate lunch and Chris ate supper and we watched "Around the world in 80 days", a Netflix DVD. It ended at 9. I spent some time matching pillow cases with their sheets, and then tried out the electric blankets I found. One did not work at all, and one only worked on one side. Chris helped me move the coffee table from the dining room to its proper place in the living room. I got an e-mail from someone looking for moving boxes. They would like to come tomorrow with a U-Haul. Yea!
And now I am retiring for the night. Thanks to Kurt, I can now listen to my sleep mp3 on my laptop with the lid closed.

Organizing my linen closet

The porch was wet again today. The temp dropped from 50 to 30 and by late afternoon it was snowing. I did not go out. Instead, I spent the morning grouping the towels in the linen closet. I added a free-standing shelf on the top shelf. You can just barely see it in this pic. That allowed me to put more blankets in. I did not find a set of guest towels, so I pulled out the two best ones and put them in the guest room. There were no matching washcloths either. That means there is another box of towels somewhere. I selected toppers for the computer room and put the rest downstairs in the 'curtain' box. I took a moment to load the dishes in the dishwasher, and to test the four timers I found. One did not ring so I threw it out. I arranged the others by how well they rang. I thought I heard someone talking on a cell phone. When I looked out the front door, there was a Fed-ex van and I saw a box on my porch. Why didn't she ring the bell? Then I ironed a bag of crumbled strips and neatly stacked them in a paper box. Since I had found another box of denim and corduroy, I had to separate them and box each by itself. Then I had to rearrange the boxes on the shelving units to accommodate the new box. I finally took a break for lunch, and started listening to a audio. Chris came home early and surprised me (by coming home early). He called Knology and had another chat. I went downstairs again to work. When he came down, he told me that he had canceled the phone and cable, and that they would be turned off at midnight. I considered watching all the cable I could until then, but figured it would be better not to know what I am missing (if anything). Then Chris called Michele on Skype. So we all had a wonderful chat. It was so good to hear her voice. Chris fixed himself a burrito. About 6:45, we had run out of things to say, so we hung up. I made a cup of tea while Chris went downstairs to turn the TV to BBT on CBS. I hurriedly put away the towels which were stacked on our bed. Then I joined him downstairs. After BBT, we watched half an episode of Bones, and then on TBS we saw 4 more episodes of BBT, all re-runs. At ten, we turned off the TV and headed upstairs for bed and blog. So much for cable. It was nice while it lasted, but certainly not worth the highly inflated price they are trying to charge us (as opposed to the slightly inflated price we signed up for). Maybe William can find us a digital box so we can watch the free channels.

Cat comes back

As I lay awake in bed last night, I imagined my morning going perfectly. I saw myself waking up at 7, eating breakfast, showering, and fixing myself up for my driver's license photo. I imagined sun as I drove to post. I saw myself as second in line, and everything going smoothly. I topped it off with a trip to the P.O. to find that the supplements I ordered last week were here. And a quick stop at Wal-Mart for more tubs.
Well, I woke at 6:50, had breakfast, showered, used the blow dryer and a little make-up. I dressed nicely. The sun peaked through the clouds on the way to post. I stood in line behind one person. So far so good. But several people that had been in the line were sitting and filling out forms. So I was more like 4th. It started to rain, and as I sat in front of the examiner, the heavens opened up and the rain came down in blankets. That wasn't part of the plan. However, after receiving a paper license with a two-week promise for the real one, I left the commissary and went to the post office. And indeed, my supplements had arrived:) I smiled all the way home. I did not stop at Wal-Mart because of the rain. I was tidying upstairs in the computer room, and then trying to redress the windows in the guest and computer rooms. I happened to look out the window and see a large cat walking across our porch (see, cat came back). When I went downstairs to get more curtain rod pieces, I noticed water on the floor. Indeed, there was water in several places, and puddling where boxes were stacked. I called the rental agent and left a message. Then I e-mailed Chris. The rental agent called back to say he and his wife were coming over to see it. When they saw it, they went home for old towels, and called the assistant for a wet vac. The assistant came first, with his girlfriend. He tried to suck it up, but he did not have a nozzle for the vac and it was spitting water out the back. Then Bob arrived with an armload of towels. They used them to soak up the water and helped me move boxes and furniture out of the way. I sopped up water with a small towel and a bucket. Bob inspected the area, and decided what was wrong and how to fix it, but said he'd come back on a dry day. Just after they left, around 4, the cable man showed up. He ran cable from the garage, through the wall, into the basement to the TV. That is when I noticed water in the closet. None of the ideas Bob had would explain the water in the closet. As the cable man worked, I unpacked more boxes. I found a clock from Germany (in pieces) and chocolate coin wrappers. Was the chocolate eaten before or after they were put in storage? I even found more fabric, strips and corduroy. The cable man showed me the new remote. It is covered in buttons. I told him all I need is 'stop' and 'go'. After he left, I continued to organize unpacked items in the sewing area. That I when I discovered that he left his meter. So I called him. He came back for it, and I asked him how to remove all the dead cable leftover from some previous occupant. He cut it out, and then left again with his meter. I finished hanging lacy curtains in the guest room and went downstairs again. As I was puttering, I heard footsteps. I rushed up to find Chris, home early. He had just checked the mailbox and the cable bill was in his hand. It did not reflect the terms he had signed up for. So he called to straighten it out. The customer service people were friendly, but did not resolve the issue. We ate supper. Then we went down to watch "Ghostbusters II" on DVD. It ended about 9:30 so we got to see one episode of BBT on cable. We are thinking of canceling it and the phone service since Knology will not honor the terms Chris was given when he signed up.

When the cat's away...

Surely the title refers to the large, gray cat that was here a few days ago, in the back yard stalking something behind a tree. In other news, Chris left today for Tennessee. He will be TDY until Thursday. It was midmorning when he left. I had eaten breakfast and I read e-mail until almost noon. How does it get so late so soon? There was no point in going outside for lunch since it was raining. So I quit to work on getting this place in order. Let's see if I can remember everything I did today. The days seem to run together. I installed coat hooks in my closet and the main coat closet. I expected it to be a quick and easy job, especially with a cordless drill. But no, the coat hook was in the way of the drill, so I had to finish up with a screwdriver. And the small closet needed wall anchors, which slipped further into the wall when I tried to put the screws in. Somehow it got done. Then I unpacked the box Chris put on my sewing table last night. I found another set of speakers (this time in my sewing room) and I added a receiver and put the box in a pile of boxes with speakers and other audio electronics. I found more fabric strips in a bag and put them as nicely as I could into a box. I think I left several bags of strips in Korea, not realizing that I had more strips in storage. They were crushed so I ironed some of them so they would fit better in the box. I used the better of the two irons I have. I thought they were the ones I brought from Korea, but in box in the computer room I found two more irons, different from each other but much like the pair I had already unpacked - a Black and Decker and a Rowenta. Weird. I found my ribbon collection from Korea and took it downstairs, but haven't found a storage place for it yet. I found my greeting card collection. The packers had dumped it in a box, so I had to sort it all out before putting it in it's drawer. I unpacked a TV stand. I found a white melamine shelf. I can't find any shelving unit that it fits, however. I added to the empty boxes in the garage. I called USAA to open a CD. I hooked up the receiver in the livingroom to a CD player and a speaker. Only had one speaker wire. It sounded pretty good and I thought how much better it would sound with two speakers. So I went hunting around and found some lamp wire that William said I could use as speaker wire. Now I have two speakers, and strangely, it isn't noticeably better. But just adding music to this house has a very homey effect. Too bad I can't take a pic of the ambiance. I listened to classical music for a bit while reading e-mail. Now I am writing my blog and preparing for bed. Tomorrow I plan to get up early and go to the DMV satellite office on post to get my Alabama driver's license now that I have a SS card. I am not looking forward to it though as it does not further my primary objective of getting this place in order. Thus every minute spent there feels like a waste of time.

Dressing the windows

It started as a typical morning. As I ate breakfast, I listened to an interview with an emergency room doctor who researches the best ways to work out. I did not realize when it started that it would last 2 hours. After an hour and a half I just had to pause it and return to my one and only priority which is getting this house in order. I started with the windows in the living room and dining room. I had to piece together curtain rod sections to get one long enough for the main window. I put two toppers together. But they needed something to hang down the sides. All I had that was long enough was a pair of 6 yard swags. They were too long together, and not long enough individually, so I doubled each one, rubberbanded the extra out of the middle, and fluffed it as best I could. I am not entirely satisfied with the effect, but it will do for now. Putting up curtains did for the room what laying down rugs did not. It feels a little more finished now, in spite of the boxes, etc. Then I took the two tab curtains off of the single windows and added them to the double window with tiebacks. I had to throw something in burgundy on each of the single windows. Satisfied with that, I went downstairs to unpack boxes in the den area. I pulled out more video tapes. Not sure what to do with the Disney ones, I left them in the box. I opened a box with more wallpaper in it. What was I thinking? It also had rolls of cellophane, sticky-backed shelf paper, and laminating film leftover from the library at Westmont. Is there anything I didn't save? Nope. Also found a box of nothing but felt scraps. In my defense, I bought a lot of crafty stuff on yardsales because I usually found myself in charge of VBS crafts with a very small budget. Question is, will it happen again? Do I keep this stuff just in case? Also, I found a great picture of Michele wearing the pink power ranger costume I made for her one year. Too bad we don't have a scanner. That pic is positively SCAN-da-lous!
When I finally took a break for lunch, it was later than I thought. In fact, Chris came home from work just after I finished my salad. We talked for a bit, and he made himself a burrito. Then I took some empty boxes downstairs to the garage. Chris came down and moved a box labeled 'cloth fabric' into my sewing room. It looked like more decorator fabric. I did not get very far into the box. I tried to find boxes that maximize the space on each shelf. I like see-through tubs, but they are built so that the bottom is smaller than the top. What a waste of space! But I guess it is the only way they will stack in the store. About 8 Chris came down and we watched a home-recorded VHS tape. There were two movies. We watched the second one, "Still Almost Human". It was very cute. Then we had to REWIND. So last century. Sigh. Chris left after the beginning of the first movie. But I stayed with it, and it got better. I don't remember the name, but it was about a hockey player turning to figure skating after an eye injury. Cute and romantic. Made me want to take up ice skating again. It was after 11 then, but Chris was still up, though not for long. After I finish this post, I am going to bed and cuing up a sleep mp3 on my laptop. Sadly I do not know how to keep it playing with the screen down so I have to wear eyeshades to block the light.

VHS

We slept late but got up early enough to have breakfast and shower before church at 10:45. Baptism was the theme of today's sermon. With all the rain, it seemed appropriate. After church we went home a different way than we came. Ask the GPS why. Then Chris and I had another 'discussion', longer than usual. We both had our say. But did we settle anything? Chris and I went downstairs to move some furniture in the sewing area. We put Michele's chifferobe in there to house fabric. Then I rearranged a little, and unpacked some VHS tapes. Chris removed a low-hanging closet bar so I could put some under-the-shelf baskets there. He made pork for supper. It was very good. Then I went back downstairs. There were more videos to unpack. Why do we need so many videos? And why are the boxes marked with high-dollar security tags? Chris helped me identify the VHS that we replaced with DVD's so I could put them on the donate pile. Then we sat on the couch to watch "The English Patient". I swear we have seen it before (long before) but so much of it I did not remember. Same for Chris. Well, it was enjoyable and diversionary. When it ended, the time was later than Chris realized, so he went to bed. And I alone am left to tell the tale....