Tuesday-11:15am

Good morning!

I emptied a corner with two stacks of boxes...

...that filled the two bookcases in the living room. 

Little by little. 

Karma caught up on her sleep all weekend when it was just the two of us.  Here she's scratching her face on the corner of a box that holds one of Ian's trucks.  

Karma could care less about boxes or living out of a suitcase...just wants it to be quiet with no company--LOL!  I finished the bookcases over the weekend. 

I have an issue with the rug placement, though.  We thought the desk was going to be on the other end next to the window, but it fit better up by the kitchen.  

Terrible placement for the edge of the rug.  The desk chair hits it all the time.  So, as annoying as it will be, the rug needs to be moved up closer to the kitchen... 

...and farther away from the sliding glass door. 

We can't do that until we have more of the mountain of boxes emptied in the kitchen...  

...so there's a place to put the living room furniture in order to move the rug--LOL!  Sound familiar?  Yes, I have a lot of stuff.  ;)    

Leah was here last night and made quite a dent in box mountain.  We're starting to put things away in the kitchen and the pantry, too.

I even remembered a shot of my trusty red thermal cup for T-Stands For Tuesday.  Hi, Ladies!

I thought it was appropriate for it to have the box mountain as a backdrop--LOL!

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Cute picture of Ian stolen from an auntie's Facebook when he was visiting in Henning, Minnesota.

Ian sat with me last night for a while and watched nature shows I had recorded off PBS.  Almost done with the recorded shows and then it is goodbye TV computer (where they were stored) and antenna (which doesn't work here).  I am switching over to Chromecast.  

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Leah brought Chromecast over last Friday and hooked it up ($30 on Amazon).  Anything on my laptop screen (or tablet or cell phone) can be "cast" on to my TV screen so I can watch Netflix streaming or any programs they show online right on the TV...and I can still use my other folders on my laptop to check email or whatever as long as I keep the one open I am casting from.  I'm not very good at explaining techie stuff, but it is awesome!

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This past weekend I went through the websites of the broadcast channels I used to get with the antenna (ABC, CBS, NBC, PBS, CW & FOX) and wrote down all the programs I used to record/watch.  Then I cross-referenced them with Hulu and Netflix.  Almost everything except for PBS I can get on Netflix.  Might be a year later, but I am already quite used to that with all the cable shows I follow.  PBS has a lot of their programs available to watch online, so I won't miss any of the main series I love.  Hulu was pathetic, IMHO.  Even when it actually said it had a show I liked--well, it might have 4-6 episodes of a 13 episode season.  Was a lot of old stuff and reality shows of all kinds.  Only maybe 10-15% of what I was looking for...and often difficult to locate (so many short clips!) or partial seasons.  Ugh!  No thanks!  

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In that case, I'd rather pay more for Netflix and get more DVDs now that I won't have any current TV anymore.  I'll need to go online to check a local TV guide regularly so I know what to search for online if I want to watch some of my shows that are currently airing.  Quite a few of them are available online a day or two after they air.  You know I am a joyful list maker, so checking out TV guide and keeping track won't be much of a problem.  ;)  And I was already signed up for the PBS newsletter emails.  Nice!

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So this means I won't need to buy either parts or a new TV computer after all.  Hurray!  And that I won't have to get TV through the CableOne monopoly here in the building, either.  Hurray!  Leah's even got some new phone idea I don't understand--LOL!  Oh the technology these days!!  I love it!!  And would be totally lost without my McFamily tech support--LOL!

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Leah and Ian are planning on coming over every day this week in the late afternoon.  Then Dagan will stop by after work and help where needed for a while (last night he hauled empty, broken-down boxes to the garage).  When Ian gets restless Dagan will take Ian home and Leah stays to help unpack...well, she did most of the unpacking last night.  ;)  We're working on the kitchen and pantry while Leah's here.  Hope to get that all unpacked this week.  Leah is also going to put up things like the wall racks for my coffee/tea and such...the broom holder...the coat rack...etc.  We've got a list of things for me to look for at Bed Bath & Beyond and Target--hopefully next week.  So exciting!

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Leah told me last night that she thought that she and Dagan were even more excited for me to leave West Winds than I was--LOL!  [I didn't even tell her that the week before I moved there were four squad cars there because of a violent domestic dispute over division of garage property--two garages filled to the brim--a mother-in-law was involved.  I would only see police cars from my third floor perch, but could get the inside story later from an older guy named Joe if I ran into him by the mailboxes.  Joe always knew everybody's business. ]  

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There are so many little things I love about our new home!  I can get the refrigerator door open far enough to get both the crispers out to clean them.  I get hot water faster on first floor.  I love the sliding closet doors vs. the folding kind--and they are full size!  The carpet is so soft and cushiony.  The flooring is nicer and not squares that pop out.  Extra counter space in the kitchen and bathroom.  I don't have to pay to rent the washer and dryer.  I have a double garage.  The AC works so well I hardly notice it's been in the 80s.  Nice clean hallways and entryway.  And the studio!  OMG!  An art & craft room!!  Ahhhh!  

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So many things I do not miss one little bit.  I don't think the mailman will find murdered pet mice in the outgoing mail slot here.  I doubt there will be kids lighting plastic bottles on fire in the stairwells or peeing in the elevator or ripping the stair railings off the walls or tearing the exit signs down off the ceilings in the hallways or ripping the trees apart in the yard.  No.  No.  No.  So many, many things I will not miss at all.  And the people you meet in the hallways here or outside the building say hello and often introduce themselves--to me, Dagan, Leah, and Ian.  :):):)  Such a different atmosphere!  I can't even tell you what it means to me.  

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Right off--the very first night--it felt like home.  You know how usually when you move you wake up and wonder where you are and everything feels off kilter?  And it takes a while before you turn that key in the door and it feels like you are actually home?  It felt like home here right away.  Comfy and cozy and safe...beyond my four walls, you know?  Doesn't matter that there are boxes everywhere or the blinds & screen door are cheap quality or that I am still living out of the suitcase and microwave...it feels soooo good here.  Even Karma, as nervous as she can be at times (especially with the sliding glass door and company), hasn't barfed once and seems totally relaxed most of the time when it is just us.  (Although I scared her this morning by opening the sliding glass door so she flew off her chair and is hiding under my bed--I'm so mean.)

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 I thank each and every one of you who ever said a prayer or had a kind thought about us getting into this new home over the past...goodness, it's been over a year!  OMG!  Was late spring/early summer when I found out they were building these apartments.  You all are such kind, supportive, loving people.  I even thank all you lurkers who listen quietly and maybe think good thoughts.  And I am deeply, deeply grateful to Dagan and Leah for making it possible for me to even move at all.  McFamily means the world to me...on so many levels.  I am blessed beyond measure.  :):)  What goes around comes around.  I expect you will all be blessed in return...in many ways...many times over!  Thank you all!!

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Karma and I are home.

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"Goodness is the only investment which never fails." 

Henry David Thoreau