Friday, August 07, 2015

Friday-9am

So many pictures!
McFamily was here Tuesday and Wednesday.  Last night it was Leah and Ian--and they are coming back today.  (Leah forgot her stud finder--LOL!)  Lots of progress has been made--mostly by Dagan and Leah because I've been watching Ian.
Not a rough task, I assure you. 
He has a few toys over here at Gramma's now. 
Ian and Gramma did a lot of snuggling and watching nature shows.  Last night we watched some Andy Griffith.
Despite company every day, Miss Karma has been barfless.  She already has been making her way closer to the big scary sliding glass door if the shades weren't pulled open.  Here's me trying to grab proof right before she got up to skedaddle because something was too frightening. 
Wow!  After Tuesday night when they left box mountain was so much smaller! 
You could actually see some floor space in the kitchen.  :) 
Whoohoo! 
I usually would only get to a box or two (or none) during the day on my own. 
The rug for the studio/craft room/art room (I just can't settle on something to call it--any ideas?) arrived on Wednesday. 
Karma checks all the changes out every day after the disruptive-to-her-life company leaves. 
I'm sure Ian's toys smell interesting...and like Cherrios (his favorite munchie). 
I could almost hear Karma when she looked to the heaven's saying "Heaven help me!"  
 There have been boxes that had craft stuff from the living room bookcases which were mixed in with the kitchen box mountain.  We have just been shoving things wherever we could find a spot in there.  Organize later.
The pantry is getting full.  
Leah's been grouping things together and finding spots on the shelves.  (You know I will tweak later as each woman has her own system--LOL!)  I am thrilled everything in my kitchen is functional--except for under the sink stuff.  The utensil drawers need some new dividers, too.
And there are lots of things high up on the other side of the pantry...
...all along the top shelf... 
...that will go into the wall shelves once Leah puts them up.  You might remember I had them for my coffees and teas (plus more) in my old pantry.  They're like a wall of wire baskets--so cool!  They will go on the back wall here, too--and we plan to get more!
Dagan and Leah did so much on Wednesday night!  Remember the rug problem with the desk chair?  Well they had a desk chair mat they had gotten at Ikea and they don't use the desk upstairs much at all, Leah said.  So they brought that over and got that under the edge of the desk instead of moving the rug (which would have been a pain in the patoot!  
That is working and solved the problem...but I haven't worked on filling the desk because there is now a big wrinkle in the rug along side the desk there that I am hoping they can pull out flat first.  (It's just enough that an old lady or a toddler could trip on it.)
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Then they moved the table into the kitchen!
Now I have to go back to calling it the dining room table--LOL!  Not that I won't use it for projects of all kinds because I can put the leaves in it out here--tada!  So that works out for the best, really.
And they put down the new rug in the studio!  I love it!!  
It needed to be tucked under the art table (1) because that is where I do most of the painting and messy stuff and (2) so the door can open and shut easily. 
Leah had also arrived with step stools!  TaDa!!
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She had been texting me from Lowes.  Leah knew I had them on my list because everything here is way too tall for me...even the clothes in the closet...and some of it even with my old 2-step stool.  She had a 10% off everything you buy coupon so she saved me some money, too!  Awesome!
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I forgot to take a picture of the 2-stepper (which fits perfectly alongside the frig), but here's the 1-step... 
...and there's even a 3-stepper there against the wall in the pantry!  Has a paint can shelf if I need it , too.  Whoohoo!  Now I can reach the pantry shelves, top kitchen shelves, top bathroom shelves...well, you get the idea.  And these are very sturdy and safe.
I chuckle at Karma's getting used to the big glass door.  Here she was rubbing her head way over on the rug by the apartment door... 
...and she heard someone walking by. 
Well, I suppose--in her former cat TV perch by the window humans were only an inch high.  Now they are huge and life-sized...and often walking dogs or riding bicycles.  LOL!  Has to be quite shocking to her.  But she is slowly getting adjusted to the fact that none of these people come toward her or try to come in.  They just pass by and she is safe in here...so they can be observed...spied upon.  And one night she watched a big jackrabbit running back and forth across the grass!  Well, that peaked her interest in her new IMAX Cat TV, I can tell you.  ;) 
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She's eating better now, too.  
Oh, I forgot--Dagan and Leah moved the pen case and fish bowl... 
...into the bedroom on the triple dresser after they added power strips... 
...and tweaked the furniture into place for me... 
...so I can eventually get to unpacking all these boxes in here--LOL! 
Since boxes for the hallway bookcases were still in the kitchen on the table, I started on those yesterday, though. 
Big stack of broken down boxes in the pantry--held up by the big bag of kitty litter that arrived yesterday--LOL! 
I at least emptied boxes... 
...even if I haven't decided where it will all go yet.  I have the art & craft books grouped by category in the front bookcase: watercolor, acrylics, oils, drawing, pastels, colored pencils, polymer clay, book binding, Chinese ink painting, ink & watercolor, calligraphy, and reference books.  I got that far and that was all she wrote yesterday.
Leah and Ian came over.  Leah saw that the cube shelves I wanted in the espresso color were back at Target.  Not the red bins, though.  She brought over a black one for me to borrow in the meantime.
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  Anyways, I wanted Ian to have his own little spot at Gramma's.  Leah put it together last night!  It will have two red cloth bins or drawers and a little shelf to divide one of the cubes for holding puzzles.  Leah already brought over the push toy and a truck.
There will be books and toys here in Ian's corner of my living room!  :)  It is so nice to have more space!
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Leah & Ian are coming over again today.  Leah is going to work at installing some things on the walls for me.  Some of them are on the table...which is also covered in stuff that made it out of boxes...but got no further.
Since I kind of overdid it yesterday...(no surprise to any of you when you saw all the empty boxes in the pantry, I bet)...I'll be taking it very easy today.  But the more we get organized and put away the more excited I get to see it all come together.  Patience.  Patience.  Right?  I'll continue in a day or two...when I have gathered up some spoons--LOL!  Today.  I am saving all my spoons for Ian time!  Keeping Mr. Ian busy & happy while Mama plays with her drill for Gramma--LOL!  Then Karma and I might just be lazy old women all weekend.  ;) ;)
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Goodness!  With all the fantastic help I've gotten we might even get to the studio this month!  I didn't expect to get near that for a good long time.  I'll need a long break, though, before I start in there.  Like a good week or two.  Could be September, but that would still be sooner than I ever expected.  Wow!!  :)
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Oh, and my mom is doing well.  Still down in Florida in the nicer rehab place, but making progress all the time.  She plays bingo regularly now.  :):)  And Dagan and Leah are still waiting for the final leveling of the yard and to get the estimate as to how much sod to order.  Man!  They have had to wait and wait for so long for each and every step along the way!  They won't believe it when they finally have a yard with grass--LOL!  They do love their deck and patio, though!!  It's awesome!
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Well, that's the latest from Fargo.  I am thrilled that our new home is taking shape as quickly as it has been.  Feels so good to get things organized and find places for everything.  Ahhhh!  But--R&R for me the rest of the day till Leah and Ian arrive tonight.  I think I will spend some time with Andy, Opie, Aunt Bea, and Barney while I catch up on some letters.  ;)
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 Have a splendid weekend!!  :):)
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"Happiness is not a matter of intensity but of balance and order and rhythm and harmony."
Thomas Merton

Tuesday, August 04, 2015

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