Integrating the past with the present

Before I moved last year the gigantic task of packing my belongings loomed vaguely in the path ahead. As I started tackling that activity, the task loomed even larger; it seemed to block out the sun. I found things I had forgotten from years before stashed away in little pockets of my tiny universe. I threw things away that should have been thrown away years before. I boxed and bagged and lifted and carried. Several times – it was a multi-stage process.

Along the way I decided that the things I took with me to my new residence should have a useful place in my home and in my life. I would prefer not to stow these things away again, unseen, for another 20 years; that just doesn’t make much sense.

So far, so good. The most obvious items of furniture found a home first, that was the first layer of things settled into the house. The second layer was the contents of closets, pantries and drawers – utility items that we would need to access on a regular basis. The third layer was largely visually decorative. Books, pottery, seashells, vases, photos, a collection of items that by themselves, are not necessarily beautiful, but together, form an appealing backdrop for our rooms.

But still, some straggling things remain. Two weeks ago I opened one of the bags that I had placed temporarily at the bottom of a closet and decided to filter through these things and bring them into my daily existence. They were things that belonged to my late father. His college degree, professional engineering certificate, numerous awards, interesting artifacts, memorabilia. Three of the items were already framed, so I hung them immediately and then purchased a few more inexpensive document frames for some of the other honorary certificates.

And today, the box arrived with the sturdy new frames and their crisp white mats. My father was an humble man and did not find much reason to rejoice in his accomplishments. He rejoiced in designing an innovative solution to address the problem at hand. But now, all that remains are the artifacts that point to these successes.

So a portion of these artifacts from his life are now living anew in my home. And I continue to make my way through the stragglers little by little, calling upon imagination, love and inspiration as a guide.

Overdue

True confession time. I’m a fugitive. Well, not quite yet. Truth is I have not yet been discovered for the scoundrel that I am. And if any Texas law enforcement officers should come knocking on my door after reading this tell-all confession, I will surely try to hide behind my dog, Jackie. Who is 14. And can barely stand up.

The back story: between the time that I was closing the real estate transaction on my old house and moving into this new house, I was living in a state of suspension. My belongings were packed up, but I did not have access to them. Day to day life proceeded, but I was just not grounded. Time was swishing by, almost on fast forward. By the time that we moved at the end of October, I had lived in this manner for about three months. The habits of managing some of the things in my own life had ceased, slipping unnoticed through the cracks. Things like updating the address on my automobile registration.

I was expecting a letter in the mail to renew my license plate. But of course it didn’t come. The sticker on my window says 11-09. That would be overdue. In December, I thought I might have a little spare time to drop by the appropriate government office to figure out what I needed to do about my tiny oversight. But, turned out that spare time was just a figment of my overactive imagination.

Yesterday I was studying that little sticker in my window as I drove to work. I’m hyper nervous that some eagle-eye big-brother radar instrument will spot me and I’ll be facing a fine the size of the state of Rhode Island. Which I can nary afford.

Then it dawned on me. That sticker is for my car inspection, not the license. Easy to remedy. Immediately. Tomorrow. Lunch hour, if not sooner.

Guilty as charged, of plain ordinary stupidity.

Racing to the finish line

Yes, the starting pistol has fired. You didn’t hear it? I heard it, but hit the snooze button once already and am about to tap it again. Holiday season! Dinners, family gatherings, traveling, parties, shopping, gift wrapping, decorating. Perhaps my favorite time of year, truth be told.

I know, I know, the accompanying stress associated with getting everything done (beautifully!) is so often a barrier to enjoyment.

Let’s see. Last year at this time, I was well on the road to completing almost all of my holiday shopping except for a small handful of personally selected gifts. Completing my Santa list turned out to be no trouble at all. In addition, Cristy and I hosted Thanksgiving dinner at her (old) house, I completed my seasonal decorating before the end of November, visited my mom in Oklahoma for 4 days, gave a pre-Christmas brunch at my (old) house for my small family and another little dinner party the following week for a handful of friends. Plus, Cristy and I attended several other family gatherings in celebration of the season. It was a busy time, but I managed to coast through it with almost no anxiety.

This year, I’m afraid I’m not going to be enjoying that coasting thing so much.

Decorating is going to be a challenge since unpacking and house arranging is not exactly complete. My gift giving inspiration has not yet arrived and I generally rely on a visitation from this muse to guide my projects and shopping. And much to my dismay, parties at our home may not be on the agenda this year.

So I will consider it my practice year. Yes, that’s it. I need one year to figure out how to decorate the house so it will look splendid. One year to get the chimney cleaned so we can actually use the fireplace for a cozy gathering at home. One year to somewhat recover from the chronic financial drain associated with moving, renovating, furnishing. What's that old saying about Carnegie Hall?

Don’t worry Santa, aah’ll be baahck.

Method to the madness

Snippets of conversation generally begin like this:

“Where did you get that kitchen towel?”

“Do you know what this plastic lid belongs to?”

“Have you been able to find the batteries?”

Yes, we are still in that post-move, not-quite-unpacked, trying-to-get-the-house-organized place. On day eleven, yesterday, our house really started to resemble a place that looks like we live here. It is transforming into our home. Cupboards, pantries, cabinets and closets are full and organized, in a reasonably logical way. Everyday items, books, towels, coffee cups, dog bowls and trash baskets have places that are now becoming predictable.

But the double-barrel unpacking approach (me & Cristy working in separate areas of the house) has some minor drawbacks. We have a lot of stuff. No kidding. So the person who unpacks and organizes the item is, for a while at least, going to be the only one who knows where to find it. Leading back to the long list of questions that seem to emerge in every conversation:

“Did you unpack the Tupperware?”

“Where is the toilet paper?”

"Wow, I didn't know we had that."

Hello Murphy

Nothing in life unfolds exactly the way you originally anticipate. That’s why they invented Murphy’s Law, right? And of course, when you have the least amount of spare time to focus on an unanticipated project, that’s when a pesky little project will materialize out of thin air.

This moving effort has been a huge investment in time, money and energy. Yesterday was the day that we officially moved all of our furnishings, appliances and animals from Cristy’s house and my offsite storage unit to the new house. The moving team was great [big kudos to Three Men Movers]. Naturally there will be a few million predictable tasks and errands that accompany a move. Now, thanks to Murphy, we can add three more to the list.

#1 the electrical plug for the clothes dryer is incompatible with the receptacle on the wall. Big problem. We have 5 dogs. Laundry is a constant in this household. We immediately went to Lowe’s to get a replacement connector with the proper plug type. Seemed like a straightforward fix until Cristy started working on it and found that she was unable to remove the old wiring. After consulting with several family members, Plan B appears to be to hire an experienced appliance repair person to replace the wiring. Cha-ching!

#2 Jasper figured out how to climb over the dog run fencing. OK, not a problem as long as we are here. The purpose of the dog run is to permit the dogs outside access while we are at work, but keep them away from the swimming pool. Sometime during the night, Jasper just climbed over the fence like it was nothing. Not good. We will go back to Lowe’s and buy another spool of fencing mesh, the taller kind, to replace the shorter segment that she scaled. Cha-ching! She is a clever dog, and obviously very motivated. I predict this will not be the end of the story.

#3 Jasper (again!) figured out how to dislodge the cover from the dog door. Another big problem. Having a cover on the door is a requirement to keep the dogs IN the house. Like when the lawn maintenance service is here, or when we are treating the yard with insecticide, or when we are entertaining outdoors and don’t necessarily want the canines standing at the fence howling to join in on the amusement. The solution to this problem is out of our current span of imagination. But I predict there is a high probability the cha-ching noise will accompany the solution.

In spite of the complaining about Murphy, it feels good to be here. Incredibly good. It will take longer than I anticipated to unpack and longer still to furnish it as beautifully as I want, but I’m not complaining. Every one of the non-Murphy projects can be planned, anticipated and will serve as a source of joy and inspiration as we feather this beautiful nest. For now, I sit here at the kitchen counter looking at the soft light all around me, the sleeping dogs and the haphazardly arranged furniture and feel nothing but pure bliss.

DIY (postscript)

The chandelier project is nearly complete, but the results were not quite as expected. While I did meticulously follow the directions for the Valspar porcelain crackle effect product, no crackles appeared. None. What I do have, however, is a chandelier with a pretty painted finish - white with a grey patina. It will do fine for now.

Kudos to Lowe's for making the Valspar product return completely effortless. Easy, done.

Next up on the list of DIY projects is painting two cute little tables that will go in one of the guest rooms. Primer and first coat has already been applied to the first table. I wll begin sanding the second table this afternoon and look into replacing the drawer pull too.

And the countdown continues...9 days to go.

Day one

He said 6:45.

“I’ll be there Tuesday morning at 6:45 ready to begin work.”

I was stuck at a broken traffic signal right about that time but arrived 10 minutes later to unlock the door to our new house for the first time. The crew didn’t waste any time and got right to work with hammers and mallets, breaking up the tile and carrying the debris out to their truck.

I started unloading my car. The first of five carloads of boxes, dishes and household items Cristy and I would carry over today.

Mid-morning an unexpected cancellation in another tradesman’s schedule permitted him to fit our foundation repair work in today. We met him at the house at about 3 o’clock, just after another car unload. By this time, the flooring contractor had taken a day’s worth of demolished tile and pulled-up carpeting off to a depository; Cristy and I had a few minutes of quiet in the house to plan our next move. But of course: a trip to Lowes! $350 later (not including $110 in coupon and gift card credits) we had several more projects mapped out.

I am headed back just now, with the last carful of belongings to move today. As a special treat, I’m bringing along some snacks for Cristy and am going to drop by Sonic to get a cold drink for us both. Too bad they don’t serve cran-tinis at Sonic.

Day one of the move-in extravaganza is drawing to a close. 17 more days until the remodeling and moving process will be complete.