Gal on the Go

God Bless You Nana

2008-12-28T18:31:00.006-05:00

It has been a very bittersweet year for us. While we are still struggling with my Daisy girl - who has her good days and her bad days, we had a major loss in our family the week before Christmas. My grandmother passed away just a month after her 99th birthday.

It was quick - she was in the hospital about a week after falling and catching pneumonia. It happened so fast it's like time stood still.

She was the matriarch of our family. I've never known anyone like her. She was the definition of the word life and she lived it to the fullest and always on her own terms. And she has left a hole in our lives that can never be filled. I know I'm lucky to have had her in my life all these years, yet for some reason I never expected her not to be here. It was a tough loss for all of us and frankly I took it harder than I ever expected to. I was lucky to know her not just as a grandmother but as something more thanks to recent years I lived with her.

I'll never forget how she loved to see my family, spend time with my nephew and how she'd get all dressed up and look forward to my annual Christmas parties (she insisted when I moved there that I continue my tradition). I thank all of my friends who have shared their memories of her with all the times they spent with her. It helps me smile through all this.

Those of you who knew her know how much she loved champagne and how every family gathering began with a glass or two. I have always thought of her every time we have some when she's not with us. Now even more so. Thanks to the many of you who remembered sharing a toast with her and enjoying her stories and love of life. You were blessed to have known her.

I gave the eulogy at her funeral a week ago yesterday. I wanted to do it, then thought I couldn't do it but with some courage instilled in me from my mother I know I did her the justice she deserved and she would have been proud. The sad part was knowing that when I was done, Nana wouldn't be sitting in the pew next to me as she often was at family member's services, asking me if she could have a copy of what I wrote. At one point during the services, my two-and-a-half year old nephew (who is wise beyond his years) tapped me on the shoulder, handed me his blanket and said "here Auntie Liz, take my blanket, it will make you feel better." His sweetness and empathy beyond his years was something I'll never forget.

Christmas was her favorite time of year, which made it more bittersweet. It was a tough one to say the least, but I have so many memories of Nana and the wonderful holidays she hosted the majority of my life that she will live on with all the traditions for as long as I am here on this earth.

God Bless you Nana. You will be sorely missed. I love you.

A Prayer for My Daisy Girl

2008-12-03T11:44:00.003-05:00

Fourteen years ago I brought you home as a Christmas gift for the entire family, at the time we had no idea you would become the best gift any family could ever wish for. (Although we’ve dubbed you the gift that keeps on giving many times). You have brought more joy into our lives than anyone or anything I have ever known. Your love to cuddle, give kisses and just to be with us at all times is something I can’t imagine being without. Daisy you are the definition of unconditional love. A love I can’t imagine not having for the rest of my life.

Over the years you never failed to welcome us home, give a whimper when we had to run out or be there to jump in our laps and make us feel better when we've had a bad day or cuddle up next to us at night with the warmth of your body at our side. Now that your hearing isn't what it used to be, we don't get the amazing greetings we used to, but once you realize we're home it's like time stopped - you may be growing older but you are still the lovable puppy you were when we first met you.

You have had the best life of any dog I have ever known. You never lacked for love, affection, food, medical attention, walks, treats, toys … the list goes on and on. I’ve always joked that in my next life I would come back as you, Daisy, and it still stands to do. You’ve lived a very charmed life and you deserved all of it.

For weeks since you’ve been sick a day, a moment an hour doesn’t go by when my eyes don’t well up with tears imagining that someday you’re going to have to leave us all behind. Years ago we thought we lost you – but your tenacity and strength pulled you through it and you surprised us all, including Dr. Kaye. We were blessed with additional years we never expected, but that doesn’t make you growing older any less difficult for us all.

At 14, despite the chronic cough you’ve been battling the past few weeks, you still have the sprite of a young puppy and that beautiful little face that hasn’t changed since I brought you home when you were only four months old.

Today Daisy’s spending the day at the vet in the hopes they can help her. The antibiotics she’s been taking for the past 11 days have not helped, nor have the efforts of my parents who many times daily have taken her in the bathroom to sit in the steam to help clear up the congestion.

We should know sometime this afternoon what the prognosis is, and I’m hoping with all my might we may all have one last Christmas with our holiday angel.

I love you so much my beautiful baby girl and I hope and pray you can be helped.

Shoes - A Girl's Best Friend

2008-11-10T15:02:00.001-05:00

As much as I love the hunt for the perfect pair of shoes, one thing I enjoy even more is the ability to be able to wear those shoes for as long as I want.

For years I’ve been a fan of the cobbler. There aren’t many left and when I recently moved farther north from Boston, finding a new one was a challenge. It’s a dying business. I remember as a child and into my teens the local cobbler was in my town center and my mom would bring her shoes there as needed. I was on a mission, I had to find one.

Lucky for me he did. He’s Russian, an older gentleman and my new best friend!

I stopped by his shop one Saturday afternoon with my bag of shoes – seven pairs to be exact. Heels that needed new heels, soles that needed replacing, snaps that had fallen off, straps that needed sewing. He didn’t blink – it was his business, his craft and I was lucky to find him, although I wouldn’t know until much later how lucky I was.

I pulled out my last pair for him knowing deep in my heart that as much as I’d like to have them fixed, my favorite pair of black Joan and David’s were well beyond their last legs and there would be nothing he could do for them. I was wrong. He picked them up, admiring them as only a shoe aficionado could. “Ah, these are original Joan and David’s,” he said. “Now they only make them in China, but these, these are original. You must have paid over $150 for them.” I did – it was more like $180 and that was nearly 10 years ago. “Can they be saved?” I asked. Fully expecting to hear an apology. Of course they can. And so I handed them off to him with soles that not only were split but were worn through and a hole in the side which was quite embarrassing. “No problem,” he said with a smile. “It’s what I do. Come back Thursday.”

Last Thursday I picked them up. They were like new. A new, sturdier sole, and no hint of where that hole once was. I also had six other pairs of newly fixed and shined shoes. At a total of $70 ($10 per shoe) you can’t beat it. I have what appear to be seven new pairs of shoes for the price of one – and the best part is they are my favorites and are ready to live yet another day – or 10 years – assuming my cobbler friend stays in business.

We Are Furnished!

2008-10-28T14:23:00.005-05:00

Today was like Christmas morning in October - our furniture finally came! Here are the before and after photos of the living room and dining room. I'm in love with all of it!

Living Room When We First Moved In:

Living Room With A Little Paint:

Furnished Living Room:

Dining Room When We First Moved In:

Dining Room With A Little Paint:

Furnished Dining Room:

And of course a picture of Miss Molly checking it all out:

I'm so happy with the results - everything worked out just as I planned. Just need to add my artwork and some curtains (and a TV in the living room) and we'll be all set. Now I'm going to finish up some work and looking forward to a night of catching up on some long overdue reading on my new couch!

Finally!

2008-10-20T20:48:00.003-05:00

Got word today - our furniture is coming a week from tomorrow. I can't even begin to tell you how excited I am. I literally fell to the ground on my knees when C texted me this afternoon with the news. No more watching TV in bed, now I can look forward to lazy weekend days on my couch. No more digging through boxes stacked in the guest room looking for my favorite books, now I can have them all where they belong - dispalyed on bookcases lining my walls. No more being told by friends on the phone that I'm echoing. Of course I'm echoing - I'm normally calling from the empty dining room or living room :-)

In one week this house is finally going to feel like home and I can't wait!

Update

2008-10-14T14:04:00.002-05:00

I know I’ve been slacking on the blogger front for a while now, and while it was my intention to blog more, the days just got away from me again, but now that I’ve decided to settle in a bit and get working on a book I’ve been plugging away at for a while now, I’m going to be much better at blogging to get my writing skills back in check.

In any case, here’s what’s kept me busy the past month:

On Sunday I spent the afternoon with my mom’s family as we gathered together to spread my grandmother’s ashes. It was the most beautiful afternoon for this and I am so glad I was there for it.

My other grandmother (Nana) turns 99 years old this week. God bless her! So I’m gearing up for her birthday dinner late tomorrow afternoon and picked her up some gifts at lunch today.

On the homefront we've made some serious progress. The dining room is finally finished (I'm completely in love with the color - Benjamin Moore's Saybrook Sage) and the hardware is now on the kitchen cabinets (and I’m grateful because I could never figure out which way to open the cabinets without looking for the hinges). That means all that’s left to be painted is the kitchen and the upstairs bathroom. I’ll post photos soon – as soon as I can find a second to download them off my camera.

Still waiting of for our furniture to come in. Every piece is waiting for us with the exception of the secretary/bookcase combination. It’s still on a boat somewhere and we’ve decided to have everything delivered at once. Just keep your fingers crossed it’s all in and delivered before Thanksgiving. I need a table and a couch!!!

I’ve started taking dance class again two days a week and I’m so happy I did. I used to dance four to five times a week until about seven years ago and missed it dearly. I forgot how good it can be for me both physically and emotionally. Nothing like an hour and a half ballet class to clear the mind (because really, when you’re doing ballet you can’t think about anything else)

I'm almost 75 percent done with the main front flower bed by the front door. One more row of bushes to plant and I'll be done (as soon as I buy them). I also spent the weekend planting tons of bulbs (85 to be exact) red and yellow tulips, daffodils and crocuses. I can't wait to see how it all comes up in the spring.

Aside from that I won’t bore you with the details about being busy at work, etc…

I also have a few things brewing, but will tell you about that in another post.

We Have A Winner ...

2008-09-21T14:17:00.004-05:00

Six months later, every piece of furniture for our living room and dining room have been ordered and with the exception of the secretary and a special-ordered rug, every piece is in stock and ready for delivery.

I went to the store last night with every intention of pulling the trigger on the table with the black accents from my previous post. Some discussion later and concern that the table might be too long and take up too much precious space, I brought myself back to my original want - an over sized round dining room table. There, just four feet away from the set I was looking at was just this. Unlike the others I had chosen in the past, this table does not have a piece that would extend it for more than 6 or 8 people, but it's the perfect shape and style for my room. I took Tracey's advice to heart and got what I wanted and figured when we have a holiday if there are more than 8 of us, I can pull in another table for the overflow. So Tracey thank you - your words stuck with me and I couldn't be happier with my decision.

Here's the table (it looks smaller in the picture but it's 5 ft in diameter):

And because the accent pieces that went with it were monstrous in size, I opted instead for a low profile console. You can see it in this picture, just the bottom piece, not the hutch:

I decided to go with a black accent - since I still believe it will nicely tie both rooms together. They are both French provincial in style and compliment each other very well.

Let me know what you think (unless of course you think I made a grave mistake - if that's the case, don't let me know)

Why I Still Don't Have a Dining Room Table

2008-09-15T13:31:00.007-05:00

We moved into our new house what? Nearly six months ago? And I still don't have a dining room table. Don't get me wrong, I had one picked out more than nine months ago, but I was waiting for C to paint the dining room before pulling the trigger. This was my original plan a beautiful Liz Claiborne piece:

Then when the time came to buy it I realized something. My dining room and kitchen is one long front-to-back room on one side of the house and both open into each other. The problem: My cabinets are maple:

It simply wouldn't work :-(

So that nixed my idea for a super dark wood slightly formal table. So in the past month and a half I've been to literally every furniture store Massachusetts has to offer and have perused every furniture website out there. I thought I solved the problem when I found this at Pottery Barn last week:

But leave it to me - first of all the round table was too small, but the rectangular one would have been perfect. Back to the "leave it to me" part - they have officially discontinued this wood style leaving me with the small round table or a giant square one (not a fan).

Back to the drawing board. We found ourselves Saturday night back at the furniture store where we purchased our living room furniture. We had to go back to order the area rug for the living room (because remember, I can't use Nana's after all). When we were done with that I found what I think might be the perfect table. Wood on top, black legs, black chairs with wooden seats, absolutely solid and very striking in person. I figure it will tie the room together nicely as we have black appliances and black accents in the kitchen (or will - they haven't been installed yet)

Unfortunately the only picture of it I could find online shows it as an oval with different accent pieces. The one I plan on purchasing is a 72" rectangular style with really beautiful pieces. Nevertheless here is what it looks like oval (and I'll be honest, this picture simply doesn't do it justice):

Thoughts? I'm open to all advice, as I have yet to buy anything but really need something in place otherwise my relatives will be eating Thanksgiving dinner on the floor!

I'm Back

2008-09-10T10:13:00.003-05:00

What can I say - it’s been a very long month so blogging had to take a backseat, but now that the fall is upon us (have I mentioned this is my absolute favorite season) I'm back in the game.

August saw my birthday, a bunch of family parties, trips to NH, Nikki’s bachelorette party and the nearing completion of our living room (room has been painted, furniture should be delivered in a couple of weeks).

It’s also been a month of babies, as Katy welcomed her baby girl on Aug. 15 and another girlfriend of mine is set to deliver twins in about a month.

Put simply, it’s been busy.

But in the midst of all the craziness at home and at work, I finally decided to pull the trigger. After nearly a seven years hiatus from dance classes, I found two near my new house and started this week. Two days a week I’m now back in the studio and enjoying every second of it. I’m definitely sore – as it’s been years, but I figured with more than 20 years experience behind me I should be back in shape within a month. I love it, it makes me happy and I’m so glad I finally did it. I’m also meeting some new people which is great since so far I only know a couple of people in my new town and this will definitely help it feel more like home.

I’d type more but I have two issues that need to ship here at work in the next two days, along with a 2009 editorial calendar that has to be finished, 2009 assignments to be handed out and a budget to balance.

I’ll be in touch.

Birthdays, Reunions (or Where the Hell Does the Time Go?)

2008-08-12T15:26:00.001-05:00

Here’s one for you. My (gulp) 20th high school reunion is Oct. 3. I have no idea where the time has gone. (actually I don’t know what’s worse – turning 38 on Thursday or realizing I’ve been out of high school for two decades!)

Since I graduated from a small Catholic high school for girls, my class was rather small – 38 to be exact (hmm, same age I’m going to be Thursday – interesting). The way they do reunions is they do the “all alumnae reunion” inviting everyone to the event from all classes, with special recognition to the actual reunion classes for that year. They don’t have it at a hall or hotel or anything, they have it at the school. Which when I was younger I wasn’t so keen on the idea, but now that it’s been more than two decades since I walked those hallowed halls, I think it would be nice to go back, take a look around and see how everything changed.

A group of us got together and went to our five-year and had a really great time and then spent the rest of the night drinking Mai Tai's and eating Chinese food at a local haunt. For the 10th, rather than going to the reunion, a group of us went into Boston for dinner and had our own reunion (even though at the time we did manage to get together at least once a year). But the 20th is a different story and there’s been a lot of discussion and a lot of debate as to what the game plan will be for that night

I’ll keep you posted.

P.S. I’m upgrading my digital camera for my birthday this year. I’m thinking it’s going to be the Nikon ND40 – check it out here.

Molly's IBD Treatment Goes Probiotic

2008-08-06T12:48:00.002-05:00

In an effort to make Molly’s life a LOT better, as well as ours, on Monday, July 21 I added something to her daily medications, probiotics - Pet Flora. I ran it by my vet who said they’ve had great success with it in dogs and that since it’s all natural and you can’t overdose on it, it would be worth a try. After all, it’s advertised to be for treatment-resistant diarrhea and vomiting and anyone who has been following this blog for a while now know I’ve been doing everything humanly possible to mitigate my cat tossing her cookies for more than a year now. I do have to admit, we are in a much better position than we were before her diagnosis, but still it needs to stop for all our sakes.

Back to the product, after another nearly $100 later (I can’t even bring myself to add up how much I’ve spent on medications for Miss Molly this year) I had the starter pack:

And did I mention they tout their “multi-factorial approach” has a 97 percent success rate? It was certainly worth a try.

Here’s some info:
“Everything combines into two simple feedings.

The caps, Lithothamnium and Pet Flora, may be opened and mixed with the Feline Comfort powder and the Luxolite Liquid. The combination makes an activated paste that can be added to wet food. Almost all cats like the taste.

For very finicky cats, the mixture can be administered with an oral syringe which is provided with the package.

The second part is even simpler. You just use the droppers in the Soothing Solution and the Herbal Anti-Inflammatory to put the solutions directly onto the food. Since cats are attracted to the licorice taste in the solutions, acceptance is very high. For extremely finicky cats, the solutions can also be administered with an oral syringe.”

And some more:
“Supplements such as Pet Flora and Canine Comfort and Feline Comfort are specially made to ease gastrointestinal disorders in both cats and dogs. These medicines are rich in microorganisms that help your pet to digest and absorb the nutrition from food. Today, doctors all across the country are switching to Pet Flora and Canine/Feline Comfort as a natural adjunct to antibiotics.”

So we started with step one and step two. She gets a capsule every morning and again every night and with her meals twice a day she gets ¾ of a tablespoon of “Feline Comfort” sprinkled throughout her food. I figured she wouldn’t go anywhere near it but I have to tell you – she’s eating now more than ever!

Imagine my surprise when I woke up this morning to realize we are on Day 15 of no Molly hurling! I’ve been thinking about how successful it’s been every day for the past week, but totally jinxed myself by telling C last night. (this always happens).

This morning I came down, made my coffee, gave Miss Molly her morning pills and then fed her. I was upstairs for about 10 minutes when C alerted me that he just heard her hurl. NO!!!!!! It couldn’t be. I was in complete denial. So slowly I went down to discover that yes, indeed she did throw up. But it wasn’t as bad as it used to be, it was pretty much half digested food and frankly I think her gag reflux may have been affected by this morning’s pills. (Hey I’ll look for any silver lining at this point). But unfortunately I just updated her calendar – yes, I mark off non-sick days each month in green highlighter and sick days in orange – and had to mark it a “sick” day.

Now to determine, do I move on to step three of my new herbal remedy and see how that works or continue with steps one and two for another week or two?

Thoughts?

Christian the Lion Reunion

2008-08-01T21:07:00.002-05:00

I can't stop crying - check this out!

Locusts Falling from the Sky

2008-07-31T10:23:00.003-05:00

I was just outside at work getting something out of my car when something hit me in the head. It wasn't hard and it didn't hurt but it slightly freaked me out. There was nothing there so I went about my business figuring it was probably an acorn or something (even though it isn't fall this made me feel a bit better). A moment later I looked at the grown where I previously stood and what was there on its back trying to flip itself over? A locust. (Did I mention where I was there are no trees and this insect literally fell from the sky?)

What could this possibly mean? I'm dying to know.

P.S. In case you're wondering what became of the Locust (even though I'm a firm bug hater - we flipped him back on his legs and he left). Besides, he was too big to even think about squishing.

Baby Thoughts

2008-07-29T09:51:00.001-05:00

Baby Thoughts

I feel like I’ve become a blogging slacker. As always, work and the life on the homefront has been keeping me busy, along with catching up with old friends now that I’ve finally had the time. Which brings me to the latest. I have four friends who are currently pregnant. Two are due in two weeks, including the fabulous Sasha, and two friends – both carrying multiples who are do in a few months. And I couldn’t be happier for all of them. I also must admit, I'm a tad bit jealous.

My friends from childhood all have families, but they started them long ago when I was in my early 20s. So it’s been a while since I’ve been surrounded by the excitement of those close to me preparing to have their first (and in some cases, second) child.

Two of my girlfriends are in my age group and I’m beyond excited for both of them. One is having her first in two weeks, the other fraternal twins in matter of a few short months. You might say I’m living vicariously through them since I still haven’t come to the point in my life where I’m a mother – but man I’m counting the days. I’m scooping up baby clothes at every store I come across, along with toys, blankets, you name it. My nephew is even benefiting from my obsessive (you all know I am right?) desire to outfit other’s children – he has a slew of new super cool stuff only a 2 year old would love waiting for him when I see him at my mom’s house this weekend. I can’t wait!

But it’s all a bit bittersweet for me right now. I really want a child. I always have. If you asked me 10 years ago about it I’d tell you that by my mid-30s I’d have at least two if not three. Yet here I am – two weeks from my late-30s birthday (gulp) and I’m still not at that point in my life. Yet. There is nothing I want more than to have a family with C. And while I used to hope for at minimum two children of my own, depending on how the universe favors this position for me, it may only be one child and I’ve finally come to accept that. Of course most of this is due to the age-limit I set myself a long time ago (the age at which I determined is too old for me personally to get pregnant).

In any case, my biological clock has been ticking for years now and I think that’s what’s been keeping me up at nights lately. And while on some level I always thought I’d be a mother by now, I know I wouldn’t change a thing because it’s with C I want to raise a family and he wasn’t on the radar until a few short years ago. We have the new house with a white picket fence (I know, cliché, but it came with the house) and in the next year or two I hope together we can fill it with a child of our own.

In the meantime I’ll continue to spoil my friends and their children and be grateful they have included me in the journey toward motherhood. I love you all!

Bunnies!

2008-07-13T17:45:00.005-05:00

Look what we have - we officially have a bunny here like we did at the other house. I couldn't be happier, now it feels like home! Check him out:

Craig came home from work the other night, called me from outside and told me to come out and be quiet and I saw this happily laying in the grass:

So I decided to get a better look:

He didn't move at all:

I think he actually liked having his picture taken:

Ah bunnies. Did I mention he's one of a group of 10 we see frolicking in the neighborhood? Who knew living in the "country" could be so entertaining? Not this gal.

Yard Update (Making Serious Progress)

2008-07-05T14:22:00.008-05:00

I made it a point to use my time off to make some serious progress on my yard, and do some repair work to flooded flower gardens thanks to all the rain we've had in the northeast the past few weeks. Here are some photos (Kristi, I know you've been waiting):

This is what happens when you have a great garden and it rains for three weeks. The weeds took over and the rose bush kicked the bucket.

And here it is after I cleaned it up, removed the dead rose bush and planted another Hydrangea!

This was a big project I was putting off forever. The area along the fence. Full of weeds and things that looked like plants that really weren't.

Another before shot.

Three hours later and a giant bag of lawn trash later we have this! I also added the brick border - I found a pile of them behind the house from the previous owners. I have to admit I'm pretty darn impressed with myself right now.

And a shot of the staircase. More flowers damaged from the rain.

As well as some up close photos of my new blooms.

This is the next project. Then the yard is complete. I'll have an update as soon as I find the energy to finish this.

You Just Never Know Where the Truth Lies (with update below)

2008-06-29T09:55:00.012-05:00

What a difference a day makes.

Three weeks ago, I said goodbye to my grandmother's house. It was emotionally charged, a bit disappointing even though it was our only option - none of us could have afforded to keep the house or even live in it. And frankly, none of us really wanted to. The house itself was it's own entity filled with memories that will last me a lifetime and beyond.

And then yesterday morning - that all changed.

When the house was sold we were told several times that the new family was in a hurry to get in there, start doing renovations and was hoping to be setting up their home in time for a grand Labor Day party. Good for them. A new family would bring new life into our home. In hindsight we should have known they weren't speaking the truth. The first indication was when my grandmother's next door neighbor called to tell me she met "one of the owners" and that it was three men. Odd, I told her that couldn't be because we were told it was a family, a hockey family from a neighboring town so taken by the fact when they looked at the house a second time they saw children playing street hockey in the street and that sold them. Boy was I wrong.

They lied. They lied about what their plan was, they lied about what they were doing. I have no problem with anyone buying the house - it was up for sale for someone else to call home, but why weave an intricate wave of lies when, at the end of the day, it simply wasn't their intention at all? I'll never know. It's not like we were only going to sell it to someone whose plans we approved of. We were happy it sold as quickly as it did. I'm stunned.

Basically yesterday morning I found out from the neighbors that all that work they were screeching through at the house over the course of the past two weeks was for one thing and one thing only - they were flipping. it. And last night, it was official. A "For Sale" sign went up on the lawn and I got an email in my inbox from the real estate website I watch informing me there was a new listing for a house on my grandmother's old street. It was her house. I'm stunned.

There were photos to go with the listing too, and while they didn't do a thing to the outside. They did rip up all the rugs, refinish the hardwood floors which had been hiding beneath them for decades and painted - and man it's beautiful.

Here's the question - there is an open house this afternoon. My folks can't make it -so therefore I'm going over there this afternoon to walk through the house. I have two reasons for doing this. The first is I want to see what they did in 14 days, the second is because it appears from the listing they may be subdividing the lot on which it stands and selling them both separately - which would make sense because the asking price on the house is only 30K more than what they paid for it a few weeks ago. C is concerned it's going to totally freak me out to walk back into a house that on the inside will be unrecognizable when the last time I was there I left in tears overwhelmed with the emotion it's no longer in the family. Either way I'm going. But don't worry, I'm bringing support. But am I doing the right thing?

Update:

So I went to the open house yesterday. Turns out they are actually selling the house and the side yard lot separately with plans to build a house on the lot that has, since the house has been in existence, been the yard. Or, as the realtor told me, I could purchase that lot for $300K because it's buildable. (We've always been told it was not) Which means the house literally won’t have any yard at all. It’s a real shame – I think between that and the shoddy, quick paint they slapped on a few walls really devalues and frankly destroyed a beautiful house that simply needs some fixing and new decorative touches. That’s all I have to say on the subject.

(Long Overdue) House Update

2008-06-20T11:22:00.003-05:00

It’s been a while since I’ve had a house update with everything else going on. Three months after we moved in, here’s the latest:

My two new flower gardens at the front of the house are doing fabulously and make me smile every time I pull in or walk out the front door.

I have a design plan in place for the main area in the front of the house under the windows. C and I have discussed what we want and will be making a trip to the nursery soon.

On the inside of the house – while most has remained the same - we are ready to begin the rest of the work. C finished decking the attic last week so we can finally get all the boxes out of our lives and put up there whether it’s indefinitely, for the holidays, summer/winter clothing or simply the stuff that will be there temporarily until we finish our dining and living rooms (need to be painted).

This weekend my goal is to get all those boxes staged and lined up in the two other bedrooms for (near) future attic placement. Then we can set up both bedrooms and the upstairs (sans curtains) will be complete! (oh and we have to paint the upstairs bathroom).

So we’re getting there. Slowly but surely. And now that the only house we have to worry about is our own, it should be a no-brainer. And yes, of course, I found myself driving by Nana’s house the other day just to see what was going on and it was a lot of work taking place inside (they had the doors open so I could see in).

That’s that. Tomorrow I’m spending the day at my mom’s and Sunday I have a jewelry party (thank goodness I haven’t had any jewelry business in two months being so busy and all).

But now I’m back in the groove and ready to take it all on!

Have a great weekend everyone!

Happiness Is ...

2008-06-16T14:22:00.002-05:00

My new Coach bag!!!

Thanks Mom!

Goodbye Nana's House

2008-06-11T19:02:00.005-05:00

Tonight I went to Nana's for the last time on my way home from work to pick up a few remaining things and take out the garbage for the very last time. It was very bittersweet. By this time tomorrow a new family will be calling this house "home."

Goodbye Nana's house and all the wonderful memories that will live on in a place that as a child I considered nothing but magical and as an adult, majestic. You will be missed.

Nearing the End of an Era

2008-06-10T14:18:00.003-05:00

Tomorrow is the last day I will ever go to my grandmother’s house. C and I are heading over there after work to pick up the last few things still there and take one more final load of garbage to the curb. I’m feeling better about it than I did last week, but sometimes still, when I’m not thinking about it, the memories start creeping in and I start thinking about all the wonderful times we had there through my life and throughout my grandparents’ lives. I have boxes of photos from the 1940s to present day of huge parties in a house built for just that.

My dad grew up in that house – having moved there when he was a little boy. My grandfather was a contractor and bought the house from a prominent businessman and spent a significant amount of time renovating it. My grandmother can still tell you exactly how it looked and how small the rooms were before the renovation. The house itself is absolutely amazing. A grand foyer with a circular staircase, a living room so large it easily fit a 10 ft Christmas tree and comfortably could hold 75 for cocktails. A master suite I would do anything for with a dressing room with windows overlooking the lake at the bottom of the hill and a sunken tub in it’s private bathroom, even a maid’s room with private bath. It’s a house many have dreamed to live in, including me.

My mom got dressed for and had photos taken before her wedding at Nana’s back in the late 1960s. And was married at the church down the street (the same church where both my brother and I were baptized). My cousin Nancy who was just a little girl and a flower girl at my mom’s wedding was so taken with the experience that in 1991 she had her wedding at Nana’s. Both my brother and I had Christenings at the house that, in photos, would remind you of the wedding scene in “The Godfather.” We also had a beautiful cocktail party for Nana's 95th four years ago at the house. It was absolutely lovely with nearly 100 in attendance.

As a child and through my college years, we had family Christmas’ with easily 25 to 30 people at a time with my grandmother cooking the entire five course meal for all. It was all so good but took a number of years before I could sit through the entire meal. You see dinner always began with homemade ravioli as the first course and since ravioli was (and still is) my favorite, I’d eat too much of that and leave the table only to come back hours later for Nana’s homemade cheesecake – which this year I finally mastered myself. Thanksgivings and Easters were the same. While the menu would change slightly for every holiday, it always began with ravioli. And then there was what we laughingly referred to as “the annex” – the overflow table in the foyer just next to the dining room. The same folks ate there each holiday, but we always found ourselves by that table taking in the fun of a small group – oh the memories! I can still picture Marguerite, Auntie Maria and Auntie Helen having a grand old time. (Incidentally, Auntie Helen and her husband Uncle Jimmy survived the Coconut Grove Fire in Boston back in November, 1942) 492 people perished in that fire. Helen and Jimmy were the only couple at their table that night who survived. In fact, as Nana told the story, Helen was thought to be dead and was among the dead when she was found alive. It was a miracle.

Back to the holidays. All holidays – heck, all get togethers at Nana’s, always began with one key element. Champagne. And to this day that tradition continues. We’re the only family I know that can kill a case of champagne in less than two hours flat and everyone can still walk. I remember how special it was to me when I was finally allowed my first sip. C and I have what’s left of the last case of champagne that was at the house. I’m waiting for my next family get together to open a bottle. Or maybe I’ll open one tomorrow night in honor of the house changing hands.

As a child I would visit my grandmother often and spend a lot of the time also visiting with my Auntie Eva. Eva was my favorite of all the aunts, of everyone. She gave me my first perm (even though it blew out in the wind on the ride home), taught me to make a mean homemade apple pie and how to appreciate old movies. Eva lived right next door to Nana which made a trip to visit Nana even more fun.

While Eva taught me to bake, Nana made sure I knew how to make her sauce. She was always on me to learn how to cook – because “no man would marry an Italian girl who couldn’t cook,” she’d say. It took a lot of lessons, but eventually I caught on. Unfortunately I’m still only good at cooking anything Italian, nothing else. And while Nana wasn’t the baker in the family, she did pass down to me her Pizzelle and Biscotti recipes – even giving me my own Pizzelle maker – this fall I hope to start making those – hopefully as good as hers were.

Nana’s house had a sad side to it, too. My Uncle Michael died a few years ago. He had Down’s Syndrome and unfortunately his body gave out just before his 60th birthday. But the one thing he always asked for every day at the hospital was to go home. After his death he got just that. He was waked in front of the fireplace in Nana’s grand living room thanks to some help from the local funeral home. It was a wonderful way to honor his wishes and to bring him home one last time. We kept our word.

With summer here I can’t help but remember how much Nana LOVED to sit out in the sun in the yard. When I was a kid she’d be out there all day with Eva – toasting themselves and soaking their feet in a kiddie pool purchased just for that purpose. In her later years, I’d join her out there to sit and talk and drink her favorite summer aperitif – gin and tonic.

And there’s so much more but the more I type, the more I remember, the more I drift off into those memories and feel a sadness in my chest and the more you’ll all be forced to read.

200th Post!

2008-06-10T14:18:00.001-05:00

Wow I just realized that last post was my 200th this year. Feels pretty darn nice!

When Did He Become A Little Boy?

2008-06-07T17:45:00.003-05:00

I must have blinked too long because it seems all of a sudden my baby nephew is now a little boy! (or maybe it's the little boy haircut?)

Nearing the End of the Journey

2008-06-03T10:35:00.002-05:00

The past two months has been, to say the least, very stressful. In the past 60 days, C and I moved into our new house. My family has sold and finally finished cleaning out my grandmother’s house. And my cat – well Molly is still having some issues. (actually just put a call into the vet this morning)

Needless to say with everything going on at the home front, along with some really stressful situations at work, I haven’t felt like myself in a long, long time. But I’m trying. I really am.

I’m still not settled in our new home. Still have boxes everywhere – although now that the attic is almost finished (C had to deck it) we will, in the very near future, be able to get all the boxes currently residing in our two spare bedrooms up there and out of sight. We also plan to “temporarily” store anything we have taking up space in the living room (also full of boxes) until we get it painted and furnished.

I have met my neighbor across the street finally. She’s very nice and shared some Day Lillies with me last week that her girlfriend gave her. (who doesn’t love free plants!) I was very happy. And as I mentioned a week or two ago, I’ve been gardening like a madwoman every weekend trying to make the outside of our house as attractive as possible since I’m at a standstill on the inside.

Like I said, we finally finished cleaning out my grandmother’s house. My mom, dad and I have been at it for months now and once a week C and I handle getting it all out to the curb for the garbagemen. We’ve even enlisted the neighbor who lets us add our trash to hers as the piles are so large. It also helps the house is on the corner of two roads, so we’ve been piling it up on both sides every week. And today, finally, after everything, at this moment the house is empty. The estate guy came to take the remainder of the furniture and all that remains is boxes of trash to be put out tomorrow night, along with the contents of the garage.

Now I can focus more on my own house and trying to finally after two months of living there get the rest of it unpacked and organized. I also intend to get myself organized again. If you know me you know how organized I am when it comes to work, etc.. but in my personal life right now everything’s a mess. I need to pull it together and get everything, EVERYTHING, back on track.

I’ve been very emotional lately. Not sure if it’s from being overwhelmed at the many tasks at hand I’ve been juggling for a while now or because at the end of the day it’s also the end of an era. In a week a new family will begin putting their mark on a house my family spent many a holiday at over the decades. I plan a more memorable post on my grandmother’s house in the future, but I don’t have it in me right now. I think it’s also hard because I did live there for a number of years myself.

It’s just a place full of memories and now I can’t imagine what it will be like to go in there tomorrow afternoon and see it completely empty as it was when they bought it in the ‘40s. But tomorrow I’ll find out. I wonder if I should bring a box of tissues.

Long Live the Long Weekend

2008-05-23T09:29:00.003-05:00

For me it’s only a few hours until the long holiday weekend. I can’t help but love the fact my company closes early the day before a holiday or the Friday before a long weekend. It’s definitely a perk. And while I was overjoyed waiting for the weekend to be here to lounge, read, plant some flowers and just relax, I’ve managed (as always) to put a bit more on my plate then I may be able to chew.

When we leave here at noon my co-worker and I are heading to the flower center to do our annual plant buying. While last year I bought everything at once and immediately felt overwhelmed by everything I had. This year I actually have a plan. I’m going to deal with the flower garden to the right of my front stairs and then the area at the bottom of the stairs at the corner of our white picket fence. Easy enough. Two smallish projects to begin and then I’ll work my way around the house the next few weeks. Later tonight C and I are going to a fundraiser for someone he works with.

Tomorrow I have to go to my grandmother’s and pick up the few things I left behind. So I’m hoping to do that first thing. Then at noon I’m meeting a woman who owns a consignment shop in my area to bring down a load of clothes. Hold your breath ladies I’ve finally come to the realization I have more clothes than anyone could ever need. Whether it’s something I finally realized myself or whether it stems from watching my mom and dad back bag after bag after bag of Nana’s clothes’ collection – whatever is the reason I have decided to make a big dent in what I have. So far I have two contractor bags going to the Salvation Army and two for the consignment shop. She’s willing to take 30 pieces from me on Saturday and right now is looking for capris, tank tops, summer dresses, sandals, etc… Easy enough! I had two Rubbermaid containers filled with these items that simply JUST DON’T FIT anymore. Regina keeps telling me I should just go into business myself and while I’d love to there’s no way I could find the time or extra funds to open a storefront, but man I certainly wouldn’t need any inventory. That’s for sure!

Oh and planting – I want to plant mid-day Saturday, along with trying out my latest dessert recipe on C. The last two weren’t so good so maybe the third time’s the charm? (everyone cross your fingers)

Other chores on deck this lovely holiday weekend? Getting everything that’s going into the attic out of cardboard boxes and into Rubbermaid containers and determining which items will live up there permanently as those are going in first. And somehow, someway, getting the furniture I’ve chosen out of Nana’s house and over to ours.

And I guess by the time that’s all said and done it will be Tuesday morning. Did I really just get back from vacation less than two weeks ago? Because I could really use another.

Happy Memorial Day everyone!

P.S. In case you’re keeping track. Molly had another horrifying vomiting episode yesterday when we were at work. Similar to the type she did before I started spending $100+ each month on medication. Help!

For Katy :-)

2008-05-21T19:13:00.005-05:00

Who unfortunately didn't get to stay for our entire Austin trip! Love you!

Katy and Mike

Katy and I at the airport waiting for the fun to begin

What Do I Want to Be When I Grow Up?

2008-05-21T11:27:00.000-05:00

What Do I Want to Be When I Grow Up?

I know, it’s an odd question for someone who has been cultivating her journalism career since she was 16. Twenty-two years later I’m the executive editor in charge of a pretty successful publication geared toward design engineers. Who am I kidding? We are one of the company’s flagship publications. I have a great staff, a wonderful group of co-workers and of course an office with a door and a window (took me years to get this).

But at times, while I know (and I’m not being conceited it’s truth) I am one of the best damn managing/executive editors out there, my ability to be challenged is coming into play once again.

When I first came on board more than two years ago, I made some changes, that after six months started to make all the difference. Everyone is on a schedule, editors make deadlines, production is handled in a professional and organized manner and my editorial department really does run like a well-oiled machine. I take pride in what I do. I take it personally and at times let my professional life bleed over into my personal life. Anyone who knows me knows I spend way too much time at night and on the weekends putting out fires on my Blackberry and answering emails from editors and vendors.

Which brings me to the latest. I’m fed up with some things going on currently in my position. Nothing that can’t be changed, I’m just at a point where if it was any other situation I’d say I was in a funk. But I know it’s not a funk and therefore it’s not something I need to “snap out of.” What I may need is a change or an added direction to my career path.

I’m working on a strategy of what I’m going to do and what I want to do next and hopefully I can make that all happen here at my current employer. I want to get more involved in other aspects of publishing, while keeping up with what I’m doing. The perils of running a well-oiled machine is that when things are running super smoothly you can find yourself with a lot of downtime – something I do not handle well. I like to be busy. I love a challenge and I’m always willing to push myself further toward any goal dangled in front of me.

Now I have to put my plan into action, make sure it’s attainable and see how I can make myself a better me.

Quick Molly Update: My kitty managed to go three full weeks with no vomiting! It’s a record, although she did break the record yesterday. But I have to tell you it feels nice to have her warm little furry body in the crook of my arm all night long. I swear it helps me sleep better at night.

To Not Work

2008-05-12T14:24:00.001-05:00

So I’ve been back to work barely one day and I’m wondering what it would be like to be a lady of leisure? (this working stuff is for the birds especially after coming off a week's vacation) Of course I can’t seem to control my spending with a salary, so I’m not sure if this is something that would work out if I had no salary to spend. Either way, it’s a nice pipe dream. Sigh.

I'm back!

2008-05-12T10:04:00.004-05:00

It’s Monday and I’m back at work after being off a week (sigh). C and I and three other couples were in Austin, Texas and I have to say we had a really great time! I’ve posted some photos below.

Now back to reality. (and a long overdue update)

Molly finally seems to be getting better. She survived the six nights being boarded at the vet while we were away and this time she got a great review. She was social and sweet and the cat I know she is, not the monster that stayed there for a weekend late last month.

I spent all day Saturday at my grandmother’s house cleaning out some more stuff that had to go and going through things with my family to determine what we want to keep versus what we are going to have the Estate guy come and take off our hands. He’s coming by tonight to do that. I swear it’s the greatest thing ever. He’ll take everything from furniture to rugs, to lamps, to clothes. Can’t beat it. We also found out after the fact of course, that he would even do a “clean out” for us, but as you know my mom and I spent a significant amount of time over there doing that ourselves. Oh well, at least we have comfort in knowing it’s all set.

Yesterday was basically gearing up to get back into the groove at work. It’s been a while since I’ve taken a whole week off so my goal was to unpack a few boxes (because in case I haven’t mentioned it – with everything going on we are still living among boxes) and then just get organized.

Oh and Kristi and Sarah you’d be proud of me. The other day I took my KitchenAid mixer by the horns and made my first cake from scratch! I have to say it came out pretty good!

Five Cat-Free Days, and I Hate It

2008-04-22T13:59:00.001-05:00

It’s been a long five days.

I dropped Molly off at the vet Friday morning to board her for our weekend away to Connecticut. I planned it a while ago and they knew my intention was to pick her up on Monday morning first thing as we’d be home Sunday and picking her up Sunday wasn’t an option because they were closed. This was the first time I ever boarded her and only did so because she’s on all that medication now and needs to be given it twice a day and even when the vet is closed, someone does come in to do it. Well, I managed to get the check-in lady at the front desk with no compassion, no soul, and frankly, no social skills. So when she asked me when I was picking her up I told her Monday the 21st. She tells me flat out well we’re closed Mondays. Great. I didn’t want her there in the first place but had no other choice, and now she’d have to be there nearly two full days longer because we both work on Tuesdays and the soonest someone could get there is 4 p.m. today when C gets out of work.

It’s one hour away and I can’t wait to break my little peanut head out and have her back at home. I just hope she doesn’t (a) think I abandoned her there and (b) hate me because I was the one who dropped her off and C gets to be the hero picking her up.

And did I mention I spent most of the weekend still not feeling well? Left a message for my doctor this morning but still haven’t heard back. I need to get better soon. This is all starting to get to me. Is this what happens as you near 40?

Sound Familiar?

2008-04-15T15:16:00.002-05:00

Does this sound familiar?

So the first week Molly started the steroid she was taking it twice a day. She did vomit a couple of times but that was to be expected because she was just starting treatment. Then, after 7 days, we were supposed to reduce her dosage to once a day. That didn’t work – she started vomiting almost daily after the first two days. So last week she was back on the prednisone twice a day and lo and behold she didn’t throw up once in seven days. And on Saturday she was back to taking it once a day. And guess what? My cat who was enjoying lots of time spent outside of the cage she’s been held captive in, enjoying the country air of our new home, was fine the first two days, but then yesterday she threw up three times in eight hours. THREE TIMES IN EIGHT HOURS.

This morning I called the vet. Now my regular vet is on vacation until Thursday so I had to have someone pull her file, explain it to another vet on staff, and then tell me what to do and starting today she’s back to twice a day. And I have to check in with my vet on Thursday when she returns from vacation (lucky her).

Oh and did I mention I had that horrific back pain in my kidney area again for the past two weeks, and like last time I figured I really hurt it moving stuff with all the moving and cleaning we’ve been doing? Yeah no, results came back today. I have another kidney infection. What is wrong with the two of us? I know misery loves company but give me a break.

The Grass is Always Greener ...

2008-04-10T09:08:00.001-05:00

Yesterday morning I left my house to the best surprise – the landscapers finally came. Since the house we bought was in foreclosure the yard hadn’t been tended to in nearly two years. That meant the long, dead, overgrown grass that was nearly thigh high when we first saw that house late last summer, early fall – was now squished and looked like hay after spending the winter under snow that finally melted. It was desolate, but you could tell the yard at one time was a showcase (and the neighbors confirmed it). Trees lining the back fence were surrounded by brick, brick also trims several flower beds and the areas just in front of the house, along with the small Christmas tree-type trees lining the front of the house.

Last night after coming back from nana’s – where we had to take out more garbage (the garbage men must hate us) – we were so excited we were like kids going to the first carnival of the year. Then we pulled down our street and into our driveway and there it was. A perfectly manicured yard. I can’t even begin to tell you the different – but it’s absolutely beautiful and now the outside is really starting to feel like home. We aren’t done out there yet though – we have some bushes we want to plant and some mulching – and (I’m not sure if this is a blessing or a curse) but I have a lot of flower planting to do so hopefully I learned something from my experience last year as there’s lots to do and I can’t wait!

Molly Update

2008-04-04T12:15:00.001-05:00

I had to call the vet last night and she’s so good – she called me back first thing this morning. Basically here’s the scenario. Molly started her medication almost two weeks ago to help heal the inflammation she has from her Inflammatory Bowel Disease. She’s currently taking prednisone, a liquid (Metronidazole) and a Pepcid (as an antacid). For the first week she was supposed to take the prednisone twice a day and then the others once. After that first week, she was doing pretty well considering. She got sick last Wednesday morning and then not again until Sunday morning. Plus she is eating much better and her coat looks and feels amazing (although I have to admit I never noticed it before) But after that first week she’d be taking the steroid only once a day – starting this past Monday. Well that does not seem to be working. She has thrown up (the poor thing) four times this week. To else it felt like she was taking a step backward.

So I called the vet and explained the situation and let her know the only thing that has changed this week is the frequency of her medication based on her script. She called me this morning and said we should, starting today, put her back on the steroid twice a day for another full week and also change her diet. Which, if you’ve been reading this blog, I’ve changed many times, but this time we are going with prescription cat food to help with her condition.

That’s where we are at today. Hopefully it will work and she’ll be healed. My poor kitty!

Moving/Life Update

2008-04-02T13:04:00.002-05:00

I know I’m long overdue for a post so here’s a quick recap of what’s going on:

1. Last Monday I had to go to city hall to get stickers to dispose of all the TVs at my grandmother’s house. There were 9 total (and only 2 of them were hours). The rest were living in the garage for years. In her city, it costs you $20 to dispose of a TV so I had to buy the stickers and then call and make the appointment. C dragged them all out Monday afternoon for the Tuesday pickup and he thought we were messing with him and tied rocks to the bottom of them because they were so heavy – of course that wasn’t the case – they were just old and thus super heavy.

2. On Wednesday morning the movers came bright and early and by late afternoon we officially moved into our new house (whoo hoo!!!) and I absolutely love it. I couldn’t be happier. The boxes have had babies so there is still a lot of work to be done there. C and I spent the better part of Friday unpacking all the kitchen boxes and washing everything in our first dishwasher and thanks to my friend Jenn, she and I managed to whittle that pile down to nothing during the course of Saturday afternoon (of course consuming a bottle of wine between us didn’t hurt the cause).

3. On Sunday I met my folks at my grandmother’s house to start de-cluttering and with my mom we did a lot of that “sell this house” stuff along with making rooms that were jammed with so much look nice and spacious. Of course the garbage men this week are going to hate us, but it’s all good. We plan on doing the second floor this weekend. Fun!

4. Molly is still in the large dog cage we put her in when the movers came on Wednesday. We are keeping her in there until she’s feeling better (don’t get me wrong – it makes me very sad) but the vet actually suggested it. She only threw up once so far (knock on wood) Sunday morning. But the medication seems to be working. She’s eating much better than she has in months (or maybe even years) and she’s no longer throwing up on a daily or every other day basis.

5. C and I both came down with this horrific 24-hour bug yesterday. Thankfully I only spent a short part of the evening tossing my cookies. My poor C had it way worse than I did (though to me it was terrible because I never have a throwing up episode).

6. Work is kicking my butt – again. If you’ve followed the news you know that everything happening with the economy and so forth is affecting publishing. And thus it’s affecting what I do. Revenues are down and when that happens editorial (me) is affected in terms of page counts in my book, etc…

And that – I think – is the complete current update!

Pre-Moving Overload

2008-03-24T16:35:00.005-05:00

Maybe it's because we moved to our temporary house piecemeal, or maybe it's because some how the universe allowed me to accumulate WAY too much stuff over the course of 6 months, whatever it is - it's kicking my butt! I spent all day Saturday and all day today (had yesterday off for Easter dinner with the family)packing so everything is ready for the movers first thing Wednesday morning, but man I already packed this much:

And I still feel like I haven't made a dent. I had to right? Worst part, I know for a fact 90 percent of our stuff is in storage. I'm so afraid it's not all going to fit in the new house. Guess it's time to purge again!

Pray for me!
L

Update

2008-03-20T09:27:00.001-05:00

I’m long overdue for an update and I apologize. We are moving in less than a week and I’m so overwhelmed with what needs to be packed, what needs to be trashed and getting my arse in gear that I fear I’m falling by the wayside. There is also a ton of pressure on us right now at work and because I’ve decide to take next week off to get organized, I have even more to accomplish at my job by week’s end.

On the Molly front I just got off the phone with the vet and the biopsy results are back – my poor little kitty has Inflammatory Bowel Disease – hence the constant puking. She will be put on a steroid (not sure which one yet – my vet wants to be careful since Molly’s still young so she’s thinking about a small does of a synthetic one). I’m just hoping she doesn’t blow up like a Macy’s Day balloon!

And that’s the update. I’d type more but with so much to do I can’t lose a minute!

A Fasting Kitty is Not a Happy Kitty

2008-03-12T17:33:00.002-05:00

It's 14 hours until Molly has her endoscopy and 11 hours since she's had anything to eat (the Vet insists she must fast for 24 hours before the procedure) and I swear she just gave me a dirty look - cat style.

C let her eat as much as she could this morning before taking her food away and actually hiding the bag in case she got any kitty caper ideas of ripping it open and fending for herself. Less than 20 minutes later as I was pouring my coffee into my travel mug for the ride to work she looked at me, meowed and starting licking the empty food bowl with the most pathetic look I ever saw.

Thankfully, I was at work for 9 plus hours so I didn't have to have the guilt of watching her do her "I'm starving bitch" routine, but man do I feel guilty now. Every time I open the fridge, even for a drink, she comes running thinking she's getting food (and she doesn't even eat wet food so I'm not quite sure what she's associating the fridge with).

Then I had to hide - literally, in the bathroom so I could eat some chips before dinner - since I haven't eaten since noon and I'm starving. I'm about to put dinner in the oven for C and wonder how I can do that without her thinking I'm depriving her even more. To make matters worse ... we're having chicken!

Oh no!

House Day 12 & Molly Update

2008-03-11T16:05:00.003-05:00

Molly is officially scheduled for her endoscopy Thursday morning at 7:45 a.m. (and I'm still very nervous). My poor kitty - starting tomorrow morning at 7:45 a.m. she can't have any food at all for the entire 24 hours prior to the procedure - although she can have all the water she wants I know she's going to be a VERY unhappy kitty. So I fully intend tonight to make her eat and give her some treats (which I try not to do too often, especially with her regurgitation problem).

On the house front things are good. The last bedroom was painted today - man C is a trooper! And I've started to make some headway on window treatments - although C and I have totally different views on that subject.

However, I did finally find a solution to my sliding door treatments. What do you think of this in a natural color?

House Day 11 - Shoot Me! (updated)

2008-03-10T12:32:00.009-05:00

I’m sitting at my desk at work and the phone rings. It’s C. I figured he had a question about window treatments as that was the last conversation we had about an hour prior. I WISH that is what he was calling for.

“Can you Google me the business number for the Wilmington Police Department,” he asks. Why? Well here’s why:

After putting in another 10 + hours in at the house yesterday, he left the new house last night at 9 p.m. got back there early this afternoon only to discover that someone tried to break into our new house. Yep! In a sleepy little suburb some A-hole decided why not? There’s nothing in there. The house is still empty – did they want an appliance? A place to crash? Were they watching us going in and out the past week and thought something was up? So many questions and of course no answers.

What makes it worse is that it, on some level, totally took the shine off the rose of our new house. No one actually made it inside the house, so obviously we have no idea what the motive could have been, but it’s very unsettling to know these things happen and that they are happening and we aren’t even living there yet.

Just some background on the town – has one of the lowest crime statistics in the state. Our neighborhood isn’t off a major highway or any type of location where if someone wanted to make a quick escape they could. They can’t there are too many small winding streets to go down to get in and out.

I’m just stunned. Stunned.

Update: Talked to C. apparently they tried to jimmy open the front door, the slider on the deck and tried to pry open a basement window, but didn't manage to get in. Thank goodness! The police in town were wonderful and sent not only a sargeant and patrolman, but also a detective who dusted for prints and talked to all the neighbors. They seem to think it was someone looking to grab something they could make a quick score on. Tools or something. Thankfully we really don't have anything in the house but paint cans. Now C is on his way to buy another new lock set.

Endoscopy for Miss Molly

2008-03-10T10:09:00.002-05:00

As much as I don’t want to do it, Molly has an appointment for an endoscopy on Thursday morning to find out why (oh why?) she throws up all the time. My poor little kitty, I swear it’s so commonplace it doesn’t even affect her (well not as much as it affects C and I). But either way, it’s not a way to live for any of us, let alone Molly and we need to really hunker down and find out what the problem is.

I’m terrified.

While over the past few months, if you’ve been reading this blog, you know I’ve tried every possible solution to the problem and while it’s not nearly as bad as it once was, it still exists and she obviously has a problem.

When we lived alone together – years back before moving to the North side of Boston – she never threw up. Then we moved here and she’s been doing it more and more. I do not believe it’s due to the environment (although I liked to think that for a while). I believe it’s most likely due to a change within her as she’s growing older.

Now back to being terrified. I guess the procedure itself is as simple as it is for you or I. I have to drop her off at the vet for an appointment at 7:45 Thursday morning. She will be under anesthesia, but I’ve been assured the doctor who does this is a pro and has done hundreds of them and that it only takes a half hour start to finish. They will take a look inside her tiny belly and take up to 10 samples (the size of a pencil head) to be sent out for biopsy. They also told me that this test can tell them immediately if there is something seriously wrong with the animal (please pray nothing is seriously wrong with my little girl). She may only be a cat to some, but to me she’s my child.

What we are hoping is that the test shows she has inflammatory bowel disease, which is what the vet thinks it very well could be from the symptoms, and then they can treat her.

In the meantime I’m a complete mess.

New House Day 9 & 10

2008-03-10T10:04:00.003-05:00

The new house is really coming along. We got the estimates on the carpets (still waiting on the flooring) but the rooms are starting to be alive and take shape! C painted the front bedroom on Saturday - and I couldn't be more pleased with the color (I hope I feel this way about them all!) Yesterday was the master bedroom project and it looks absolutely beautiful!

And again, every time I walk in the house I fall more and more in love with it!

I'm at work today and C, again, is heading over to the house. Not sure of his plan for today, but an email asking for the paint colors for the hallways/staircases and the "man town" (aka basement) would indicate he's still a painting machine.

As far as window treatments go I decided for now to just go with cordless pleated shades in a cream color for all the windows in the house and go with white wooden ones for the bathrooms. That way we are no longer living in a fishbowl :-)

Until tomorrow ...

New House Day 8

2008-03-07T14:37:00.003-05:00

The environmental guy we hired a while back came back out today to check on everything and retest air quality, etc... We also had the rug guy come out to measure for our new carpets. Craig's been working on the ceilings - painting, fixing, etc... I have to work tonight so I'm sure I'll be thinking about all the things I have to get done both at where we are living now and at the new house.

I'm still working on window treatments, but think I have narrowed down my choices and hope to have my final picks by the end of the weekend.

I have my first two jewelry parties this weekend. Really looking forward to that and kicking off my new business. It's so much fun and so easy - I really recommend this to anyone interested in making some super easy side money. Just drop me comment and leave your email address and I'll get in touch with you.

If I don't talk to you later, wishing everyone a great and safe weekend!

New House Day 7 - Your Help is Needed

2008-03-06T11:43:00.003-05:00

Last night I saw the house without the carpets and I have to say everytime I go there I fall in love with it even more. We went back to the carpet store we went to for the last house and ordered the same carpets we had there. They are very neutral (putty colored) so I think they'll look great. We also took home some wood flooring samples to match the upstairs floors for the lower level room. The guy is coming Friday to measure the rugs and another guy on Monday to measure for the new floor.

My next task is window treatments (which I'm hoping is easier than paint colors were). We have two sets of sliders in the new house and since I'm not a fan of vertical blinds I'm trying to come up with curtain and sheer sets to work in those areas.

As for basic window treatments I have a question for you all:

If the rooms are all different colors, but the trim throughout the house (and window frames) is white. Do I have to go with white shades, blinds, etc.. or can I go with an off-white, neutral color? I’m concerned it will pop in a bad way, but maybe not with curtains, etc.. Please let me know your thoughts.

New House Day 6

2008-03-05T16:11:00.004-05:00

All the carpets are removed from the bedrooms, hallways, staircases and in the "man town." And last night I handed over the paint choices list to C so he can take them to the store and get all the paint we need for the house. Thankfully he's allowing me some more time on my decisions for the bathrooms (I'm still at a crossroads there).

Tonight we are going shopping for rugs to replace all the carpeting in the house and to find a laminate wood floor for the "man town" that will match the hardwoods currently on the main floor of our house.

I purchased a new duvet set for our bedroom - it's bluish because I'm doing the bedroom in blues and browns. And today I found a really pretty yellow set to go in one of our spare bedrooms (the one with the double bed). One more bedroom to go and then I'll have all the color schemes for decorating for all the bedrooms. Whoo hoo!!

I'll have another update tomorrow but for now things are moving along quite nicely and I'm getting more and more excited everyday!

Final Color Palette

2008-03-04T10:15:00.005-05:00

It took a while but I finally have my color palette all set to go for the entire house. (with the exception of the two bathrooms - I have to narrow it down from 2 to 4 I really like)

Here is what we decided: (note: unless your computer monitor is calibrated, when you click on the links to colors they may not appear as they actually are)

I walked away from doing a cranberry tone in the dining room and kitchen. The reason is actually easy, while the room is large enough to support a deep cranberry or brick, after lots of discussions with designers and friends, I came to the conclusion it wouldn't work well with the dark wood I want in my over sized dining room table. So, for the dining room and kitchen I'm doing Benjamin Moore's Saybrook Sage. I love it!

The living room is going to be Benjamin Moore's Concord Ivory.

I'm keeping all the hallways and staircases, top to bottom, the same color: Benjamin Moore's Philadelphia Cream.

Our master bedroom will be the same color as it was in the old house: Benjamin Moore's Tyler Taupe. You can see what it looked like on the walls at the old house here.

I decided rather than do specific colors in the other two bedrooms, I would use a shade of color as the rooms are not super small but not very large either. Therefore the back bedroom will be Benjamin Moore's Lemon Chiffon. (you'll have to scroll down on the page to find this one). And the other room will be Benjamin Moore's Silken Pine.

As for the basement (aka "man town") I've decided to walk away from my original idea of a burnt orange and am now going with Benjamin Moore's Light Khaki.

The bathrooms, as I said earlier, are still in limbo though I know for sure one will definitely be Benjamin Moore's Bleeker Beige. I'm also in love with Providence Olive - anyone think this would be too dark? The other two choices I'm batting around (and have to settle on by day's end) are Elmira White and Sag Harbor Gray.

That's today's update! Please let me know your thoughts - I'd love to hear what you think!

New House Day 5

2008-03-04T10:13:00.003-05:00

So it's officially our fifth day of home ownership of the new house and progress is certainly being made. C spent the majority of the day at the house yesterday doing some repairs to the furnace (he's so technologically savvy I'm jealous!) and replacing thermostats. Today it's rug removal day for the upstairs, basement and staircases. It's coming together and each new day brings more excitement as we are soon to be living in our new home and with spring on the horizon it makes it even nicer!

Signed and Sealed!

2008-02-29T13:20:00.004-05:00

Let the next step in our journey begin! We successfully closed on our new home and now it's all ours! I'm really excited. Over the next two weeks we have a lot to do - everything from replacing the upstairs carpets, upgrading our kitchen countertops, painting and buying new furniture. So now the fun really begins. If I could only settle on final color selections for the rooms. I have half the upstairs figured out and half the downstairs, but I need to have it all settled. Anyone have a suggestion for a good color for the staircases and hallways? It's a pretty open floor plan so I'm having some trouble finding something that's neutral, but not too grey and certainly not too white. Your thoughts, as always, are most appreciated!

Paint Pallete Pandemonium

2008-02-27T15:43:00.001-05:00

Why is it every time I think I’ve settled on a palette for my new home, it changes? Honestly, it’s not even a dramatic change – more like a bit lighter here, a bit darker there. In any case, just spent another afternoon at the paint store and think I finally might have finalized everything but one bedroom and both bathrooms (but I do have ideas for these). I have my sample cans, my foam core boards and my little rollers so I’m ready to test and hold up to the walls to see what everything will really look like. I’m started to get excited (very) but also stressed (very). I knew this was coming, but for some reason I never let myself get into it for fear it may not happen. But it’s happening. We have the walk through tonight and by this time tomorrow we’ll officially have our new home!

Closing on the Horizon!

2008-02-26T13:37:00.004-05:00

Having a new house is actually, finally a reality. Just got word today we are closing on Thursday! One week earlier than the date they set after they postponed our first closing which was one month ago.

Very exciting! I can't believe it's almost finally here.

I've managed to narrow down the master bedroom plan - tyler taupe walls and chocolate brown and blue accents - loving it!!! I think I'm good with the living room, just still working on the exact paint shade. The diningroom, alas, I think will be a sage green - with a 72" round diningroom table and chairs. Two more bedrooms to go and I'll be done with my plan. I certainly need to get on it though - it's almost here.

Yippee!!!

I can't wait for you to be ours!

Blog Issues - Anyone Else Having Trouble?

2008-02-25T13:25:00.001-05:00

Grr!! For some reason when I open my blog initially I don't see any posts. And I'll admit it was pretty darn scary the first time I saw this. Yet again today, same thing. I had to hit the refresh button twice before any of my posts appeared. Is anyone else having trouble with this?

First Me, then Miss Molly

2008-02-13T14:02:00.003-05:00

For almost as long as C and I have been together Molly has had a, well, digestive problem. Those of you who have read this blog for a while know it’s a vomiting problem - a chronic vomiting problem I’ve been trying to fix forever. But in the past two months I’ve started talking to my Vet on a weekly basis and trying every option (aside from a medical procedure) to come up with a solution to make Miss Molly’s tummy settled and to keep C and I from killing each other.

I’ll admit it (I can’t believe I’m doing this) C was right (sort of) – I was in some denial that what was happening with Molly was a problem. All cats vomit right? Sure they do, only mine would do it several times a week, for no rhyme or reason, and without any pattern to help us figure it out. She’d vomit if she scarfed down her entire bowl of food, she’d do it if she only ate two pieces. She’d do it when she ran around too fast, or when she was just chilling. I couldn’t win. To make matters worse it’s not even like she has hairballs because she doesn’t.

I tried it all. About two months ago I switched her food to a formula specifically for digestive care. While that minimized the amount of vomiting, it did, however, make the consistency worse. Instead of hard little food pieces to pick up it was now porridge. (I’m sorry I guess I should have put a warning on here that this is not for the weak stomached).

Not only that but there’s nothing that can prepare you for the experience of having your cat high up in a window overlooking your bed who vomits in the night and you have to get up and clean it. Let’s just say the past two times it happened, not only was Molly tossing, so was I.

I tried elevating her bowl – which seems to have also helped a bit – I started this late last week and she hasn’t (EVERYONE KNOCK ON WOOD) vomited since last Thursday. Course she also knew I made a vet appointment on Friday and I think it was her way of telling me “I told you so.”

This brings us to Monday, I left work early so C and I could take her to the vet. I had to have C come because basically (and I’m owning up to this, too) I have no credibility when it comes to the cat. In fact C calls me F. Lee because of my tenacity of proving she’s not doing anything wrong (even if she is).

Basically the back story is when I called the vet a while ago she told me to try myriad things to make it stop before bringing an essentially healthy cat in for a very expensive appointment. But time is running out (we have to order new carpets for the new house and can’t have her vomiting all over them) and our options had basically run out too.

We spend an hour and a half at the vet Monday night where they poked, prodded, drew blood, drew urine, x-rayed and pretty much scarred my pet for life. There’s absolutely no way I’m ever getting her back in her travel case to go back there – ever. Period. The initial tests Monday night proved she was slightly dehydrated so they gave her some IV fluids and that she has a small heart – even by cat standards, but Dr. Hayes said it’s not something she’s overly worried about because just like the fact Molly has always had low blood sugar, she could have always had a small heart.

What they were doing Monday night was creating a baseline on Molly and to try and rule out anything that could be determined by that battery of tests. They even gave her a dewormer just in case that was causing the problem – they figured it couldn’t hurt. And they gave her a shot of Pepcid. We hoped and hope this would help us rule out anything serious or show us something that can be treated otherwise the vet wants me to schedule an endoscopy for my poor little kitty so they can go in and take a really good look at just exactly what’s going on her tiny little tummy.

Well Dr. Hayes called me back last night to tell me everything was fine, her thyroid was good, etc… and that her calcium level is slightly high – not in the range the would indicate a lymphoma, but close enough. So for the next two weeks I’m to give her a quarter of a Pepcid every night (just like my mom gives the family pup) and see if anything changes. If it does then we’re all set. If it doesn’t then we have to do the procedure and while I have no problem with that – the more I think about it the more I do not think I’m going to have it done at my vet’s office by their traveling surgeon. I’ll bring her to Angell-Memorial in Boston and have my dog’s vet – Dr. Kaye - do it if he can. He’s great and it’s a big hospital and I trust them more with my baby girl.

And that’s the crisis of the week. Hopefully next week NOTHING happens good or bad – I could use a few days of just the status quo.

Lia Sophia Jewelry Anyone?

2008-02-09T18:18:00.002-05:00

So I've determined I need a hobby (OK, I determined this years ago) so I've decided to join a friend of mine and sell Lia Sophia jewelry. For those of you who have heard of it you know what I'm talking about. For those of you who haven't, it's great - very reasonably priced and has a lifetime warranty so you can't go wrong. I got hooked on it about a year ago when a friend of mine had a party. When she decided to sign on to sell it - it only made sense that I join her.

If you know me you know over the years - since college - I have sold everything from Partylite Candles to Princess House Crystal to Stampin Up products to Mary Kay - all with sucess. So I figured this would be fun - something I would enjoy wearing and selling.

That being said, any of you who have done the home-based business know that, when you you start up - your starter show is most important and it has to be the biggest. My starter show - which is set for Friday, Feb. 22 - has to be a minimum of $650 in orders. A tall price to pay but it's worth it. Considering all shows after that only have to be $250 to qualify and that's a piece of cake.

Needless to say because of the way I am, I am doing everything I can to ensure my starter show meets this goal. So I'm reaching out. Anyone who thinks they might be interested in looking through a catalog and placing an order (no matter how small) let me know. Send me your email address and I'll put you on the invite and get you access to place an order. And if you live in Massachusetts and want to host a party and get lots of free stuff let me know that too. If you live outside the area, we can work something out (maybe a catalog show).

For now if you want to check out the product you can logon to www.liasophia.com.

Thanks to all of you for your support while I try my hand at yet another something new!

Update

2008-02-05T11:32:00.001-05:00

Gosh I’m sorry I haven’t updated in a while. I’m doing fine now – pretty recovered, but man I was down for the count there for a bit. I never tend to get sick so I’m not used to it and this was really bad. But now I’m feeling much more like myself – just ask my co-workers and staffers :-)

In any case, I do have a house update. And I preface this by telling you all it’s not really a big deal. Apparently with so many foreclosures in the system, judges are behind in processing all the paperwork. That being said our closing, which was originally set for this Friday, Feb. 8, is now pushed off 30 days. The bank wanted more time. And since we have a place to live and aren’t moving out of an apartment, it works out pretty well for us. So we are temporarily on hold which works out well because we have some work we promised my folks we’d do at Nana’s before moving and it gives me time to start making my lists.

Yes, in case you didn’t know, I’m a list person.

What I discovered the other day that although I purged SO MUCH when I moved in with C I still have a ton of stuff. (Note to C: I know, I know and I’m so sorry you had to lug it around so many times). Needless to say, I’m purging again, big time. I know what’s going to work in our new house and I know what’s not going to work. And I’m gearing up for a giant yard sale at the earliest possible time in spring to get rid of it all. Why drag it all out to the curb to have the garbage men ignore it when you can actually get money for some of it and have someone else haul it out of your yard?

That’s the scoop.

I’ll have more soon
L

Temporarily Out of Commission and Also Ready to Quit (whether I want to or not)

2008-01-25T16:44:00.000-05:00

I'm temporarily out of commission. For the past two weeks I've had excruciating back pain in my lower back. I thought nothing of it - besides the fact that it kills, because I'm always in some sort of pain. I have fibromyalgia (was diagnosed with it in 1996) so I'm used to something hurting, but this was bad. But I figured OK, maybe I slept funny or turned funny and did something to it, but it never went away. Then on Wednesday, while the pain stayed in the lower part of the right side of my back, it had also traveled to my pelvic area. Then yesterday it was the left side of my lower back. It was definitely time to go the doctor. But going to the doctor for me is never easy. (a) even though I moved (years ago now) I refuse to switch my primary because he knows my history and pretty much will give me any referral or refill I need no problem and (b) I hate change. So I procrastinate. Plus I hate being that person who has to leave work to go to the doctor.

This morning my co-worker and friend Jenn told me to call him. I figured, nah, if it still feels bad in the morning I'll go to the urgent care hours his office has. But she insisted I do it so I called first thing this morning and got an appointment for this afternoon. So I go. Now normally when I run to the doctor with odd pain, etc... it ends up either being nothing or some weird random thing they can't figure out. (remember, you're talking to the girl here who never had the chicken pox or the flu - knocking on wood now).

Turns out he believes I actually have a kidney infection. He did a full blood workup, urinalysis, etc... Gave me some high-powered antibiotics and sent me on my way. Of course since he's my doctor - he's notorious for this - he gave me a pregnancy test to go with it all. I'm supposed to call first thing tomorrow to get those results before starting the Cipro - just in case. But I know I'm not pregnant and he says he doesn't think I am so it's only precautionary. Then on Monday I have to call him to get the results of everything else.

I'm also running a low-grade fever and frankly haven't felt like myself in easily a week and a half. The good thing about this diagnosis is that I've been instructed to rest and now can do it without feeling guilty - I'm never good with lounging around doing nothing - always feel like there's something else I should be doing.

So that's that.

Oh and then this - where I'm going to need all of your help.

I asked him if he could refill a couple of prescriptions for me while I was there. Specifically my estrogen-free birth control and my migraine medication. He said no problem, then reminded me that I still smoke against his wishes and gave me the lashing of with my migraine history and birth control pills - smoking is a wish for a stroke and that I need to quit - today. (He also went so far as to say that he was only refilling my birth control for two months and will even test my urine for nicotine before giving me a refill two months from now). I had been planning to quit (see my New Year's resolution post). So I told him I bought two boxes of nicoderm patches the other day - only to find out from him that using those is just as bad as smoking. Great. I have an addictive personality - but thankfully this is the only true addition I have (OK that and computer solitaire at night, don't know why but I just can't stop playing). So I emailed Nikki for some advice, got in my car, smoked the last butt I have and now I'm here. I guess basically beginning a smoke-free life. I hate smoking, hate the way it smells, etc.. but there's something about it that keeps me from stopping. I'm going to need a lot of strength to do this and so is everyone around me especially C because I know how irritable I can be.

When I head down to the pharmacy in an hour to pick up my prescriptions I'm planning on buying a bag of lollipops and a ton of gum (although I HATE chewing gum). Hopefully it helps. Right now I'm drinking a glass of wine to see if I can do it without smoking (course I have no choice because I don't have any and have no intention of buying any).

Wish me luck!

(oh and wish me luck on returning the $60 worth of patches and hopefully finding my receipt so I can get my money back!)

Room Designing 101

2008-01-23T15:54:00.002-05:00

I've been meaning to blog for days but honestly I do not know where the time goes. There is just so much going on with everything right now (mostly not house related) that I'm having a heck of a time trying to focus on what's really been and really should be at the forefront of my thoughts - designing the rooms in our new house.

I started doing rough layouts of the rooms based on the measurements I took during the home inspection. Thank goodness Jordan's Furniture has an online room planner - that's the easy part. The hard part is determining how to layout furniture in a long (width of the house) room. So I'm going to need your help. As you can see I've started, but I'm stumped what to do with the left side of the room, although I'm definitely thinking bookcases along the left wall to the window. (if it's too small to see click on the photo and you can get a better look).

What do you all think? I'm desperate for suggestions so please feel free!

Color Conundrum

2008-01-17T15:49:00.001-05:00

It’s funny now that all is said and done and we are simply just waiting to close on the new house, there’s a long list of things I’m trying to figure out before we get in there.

With C poised to jump in and start doing work (removing carpeting, putting down new carpets and flooring in the lower level, painting and even talk of updating the kitchen counters to granite) I have – in my own true fashion – given myself a deadline which I feel is looming.

First step: paint colors.

Why did I think this would be easy? Probably because I quickly and easily picked them for the two largest rooms in the house – the living room and the master bedroom. Basically I fully intend on painting the master the same color I chose for our old house because I absolutely loved it! And the living room will also be a tan color – just slightly lighter than the bedroom paint.

I’m thinking Benjamin Moore’s Monroe Bisque for the hallway, staircase and landings, as I know it’s a very neutral color that slightly changes depending on the amount of light it gets so I thought that would be best for these areas that flow into each other. But now that I’ve hyperlinked it – the color is looking a bit too “tan” for me. Oh God.

The dining room, however, is another problem. I’m stumped. Honestly. I’d love to paint it a deep cranberry – but I fear it may darken the room too much. But it’s a large square space with white trim and a wood floor so I think it would look great. I just can’t pull the trigger. For that reason and because I’m flip flopping on colors – originally I thought of doing that room a pale green or a Wedgewood blue – but I’m really not a blue person and I think I can use the green in one of the other upstairs bedrooms. So I’m torn. Maybe Cranberry Cocktail or Cherokee Brick?

I do, however, know for sure the second of the two other bedrooms will have the same paint color as one of our spare rooms in the last house – Benjamin Moore’s New Hope Grey – I just loved it for a bedroom.

And Saybrook Sage for one of the two bathrooms – which one I haven’t decided yet

Help!

Let it Snow, Let it Snow, Let it Snow

2008-01-14T08:39:00.000-05:00

If you live in New England there's two things you know: December was one of the snowiest on record and last week it all melted as temperatures soared into the 50s and 60s. Between the warm weather and the days starting to get a little longer, I somehow managed to convince myself spring was coming. Even some trees had buds on them - no joke! But the joke was on me. I woke up this morning to find the weather forecasters were right on the money for a change - calling for close to a foot of snow in our area. Thankfully I have the luxury to be able to work from home so I'm in my sweats, sipping coffee and working from my home office. But before I settle down for a day's work here's some wintry shots from my front and back door - and it's not even 9 o'clock yet!

Love, Love, LOVE Our New House!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

2008-01-08T20:35:00.001-05:00

I can't express it enough! I'm absolutely in love with our new home and so is C. It's everything you could ever want at a great price! And the best part is it's like buying a brand new home (because of the age 3 years) - OK so it's slightly used, but who cares! Fresh carpets and some paint and it's going to be incredible. We spent hours there today during the home inspection (which went well) and we also had an environmental guy to come in and check the air quality and for any mold, etc...) It's a three-bedroom, one and a half bath split Gambrel Cape. Waiting certainly paid off and all of you who told me when we found the right house we'd know - well we knew. :-)

Here are some pix:

Exterior Shot

Kitchen

Looking into Dining Room from Kitchen

One End of Living Room

Other End of Living Room

Fireplace in Living Room

One End of Master Bedroom

Other End of Master Bedroom

Basement (a.k.a. "Man Town")

Upstairs Hallway and Staircase

Full Bath Upstairs

Half Bath Downstairs

Home Sweet Home

2008-01-03T11:09:00.000-05:00

The house is ours. Our offer was accepted over all the others (it was an out and out bidding war on this property - which is grossly under priced). The P&S will be signed in the next day or two and barring nothing we can't handle doesn't come up in the home inspection we will close in early February and it will be ours. I can't bring myself to get too excited yet. It's a town I'm very unfamiliar with but the location isn't bad, and it's a nice, small town. Maybe it's because the whole house hunting process has been such a grind (totally burned out). Maybe it's because we made so many offers and had nothing to show for it in the end. Who knows.

But this house has to be some type of sign. It was the house that started the entire house search oh so many months ago. It was one of the first we saw, but then it disappeared from the radar. The fact it came back on the market as a foreclosure within hours of us walking away from the other house has to mean something. I am a bit excited, but honestly I will not be completely excited when all is said and done, when all the T's are crossed, all the I's are dotted and the moving truck is pulling into the driveway. Then the fun begins (furniture shopping, picking out paint colors (who am I kidding, I've already determined what will be done in each room, etc...)

Here's a look for those of you who haven't seen it. (Did I mention it's only 3 years old!)

We Got It!

2008-01-02T16:40:00.001-05:00

We got the house! I'll give you more details as they become available!

A New Year = A Time for Reflection

2008-01-01T17:22:00.000-05:00

I've procrastinated listing my New Year's resolutions far longer than usual. I'm sure it has something to do with the same reason I procrastinated getting a sticker for my car, buying Christmas presents, making New Year's resolutions, etc... - because my life is still in flux.

However, it's now Jan. 1 and it's time. But before I do that, I did spend some time reflecting on 2007. Actually, before I could really do that, C talked to me about it this morning after going through my year's worth of blog entries. It was a pretty good year. A momentous year, a year where we thought we'd have challenges but instead easily coasted without incident. And while the end of 2007 definitely had some challenges (moving to temporary housing after selling our house, losing my other grandmother, still looking for a new home, Nana falling and ending up in rehab and her future still up in the air), overall it was a pretty good year.

My job is still amazing, although I'll still hold firm that I'm grossly underpaid (though paid much more than I was when I was in the newspaper business), my friends (old and new) are still the best people anyone could ever have in their lives. C is more than I could have ever imagined in a partner. My family is wonderful and healthy, supportive and a ton of fun. 2007 also brought a whole other person into my family's life - a toddler version of what was once Baby Anthony. He's talkative, interested, hysterical, a pure joy and honestly the happiest little guy I have ever had the honor of knowing.

Now a new year is upon me. A year full of more joy from my family, C and my nephew, who will continue to grow in leaps and bounds. Two girlfriends got engaged over the holidays (best wishes Nikki and Lynne!) so there are weddings to plan and celebrations all around. At some point (hopefully sooner rather than later) C and I will be moving into our new house and creating a home in which to build many future memories.

My life really is pretty good and I really don't have anything to complain about. Which brings me to my list of resolutions. (which are hard for me because anyone who knows me knows I'm great at giving advice, horrible at taking it - even my own)

1. Stop sweating the small stuff - stop over agonizing about things I can't do anything about. I need to roll with the punches and let the chips fall where they may.

2. Finally, really (no joking) quit smoking. I hate it (have for years now) so there's no point in continuing. It's bad for you, me, everyone but particularly me and there's no reason for me to continue poisoning myself. It's going to be hard, but with some support from all of you I believe I can do it.

3. Get back to the gym - or any type of exercise regimen. I can make time, I just never do and no more excuses. I'm not getting any younger so it's time to treat my body the way it deserves to be treated (after all, it's put up with me all these years).

4. Lose the final 15 pounds I've been dragging around the past year and a half. So far so good, but now I need to make it happen (no excuses).

5. Stop being so negative about things. Overall I'm a very happy, outgoing person, but I tend to focus more on the negatives than the positives and I really have no need to. I need to stop and smell the roses and not be angry if they are growing up around my windows and driving me insane.

6. I need to focus on my future and the next steps in my career. I need to create a game plan of where I want to go from here and then determine how to attain it.

I have more, but frankly I think six is enough work for now. When I achieve one of these I'll add one to mix, but for now I think in 2008 I have plenty of work ahead of me.

Happy New Year everyone! May 2008 bring you all much joy, happiness and good health!

Another Offer

2007-12-30T18:40:00.000-05:00

Remember that house I was talking about earlier today? Well right now, 6:41 p.m. EST, our realtor is here at our house with us and we are signing an offer on it. This will be our fourth offer in two months. Which means - in case you haven't been following - we've made three offers on three different properties, gone through one home inspection and still don't have a new home. I have to wonder why it's so difficult? We (C and I) figured selling our house would be the problem, not buying a new one. But in a real estate market like we have right now there are so many choices and so many great buys.

This house, like the last one, is also in foreclosure and bank owned, but (unlike the last one) it's only three-years-old. So really, there is nothing wrong with it. A pipe did burst over the winter before the home was winterized but that has been fixed and even if it wasn't, C isn't afraid of anything like that. It has a gorgeous kitchen, a very large square-shape dining room (which will be perfect for my dream round over sized round dining room table, a front to back living room with fireplace, front to back master (so we can upgrade from our queen-size bed to a queen, two full baths, hardwood floors, etc... It's great! And it's SUPER CHEAP! I only hope it's not too good to be true! Cross your fingers folks!

Hear We Go Again

2007-12-30T15:30:00.001-05:00

Well our driveway fears prevailed and very early Friday morning C and I walked away from the house. It's funny - all the work that needed to be done to it was nothing over the fact we'd need hiking boots to get up the driveway. What's even funnier - though not really - was that several hours after we walked away from our offer we found out the house failed the radon test. Talk about karma!

We figured we were back to the drawing board - again! This would be three offers now, one home inspection and still no place to call home.

Then something unbelievable happened.

When we started this journey many, many, many months ago it all began when we found this yellow split gambrel cape - it was a "short sale" and was at a decent price. We tried to look at it but our realtor didn't have the key from the seller agent and the garage code didn't work so we simply couldn't get in. At the time it seemed like a score. The house was only three-years-old and ready for occupancy. Then before we could get a chance to get into it and have a good look - it was off the market, then pending and then disappeared from all our lists.

Well lo and behold our surprise when it came back on the market Friday night as a foreclosure super cheap. Remember - it's still a (practically) brand new house and you can't beat the price even if you paid full asking.

So we are again at a point where we are planning on making an offer. Cross your fingers folks and bear with me for some more ups and downs - lets hope with this one we come out on top!

When is a Driveway Too Steep?

2007-12-27T09:37:00.000-05:00

So we love the house - the open floor plan etc.. But we discovered over the past few days and even more so yesterday during our home inspection that the driveway is very steep and has a high pitch. (didn't notice it too much before because it was covered in snow) If it was a steep driveway that leveled off at the top that would be fine, but it doesn't. It isn't flat and level until you pull into the garage. As far as snow and ice are concerned we know what we have to do - keep it clear to the pavement and make sure it's treated. But is this going to be a problem in our day to day activities? Is living in a house with a steep driveway an issue? Do any of you have a driveway like this? I need to hear what you have to say. Thanks in advance and I'll have more later.

Basically the only thing that is keeping us from signing the purchase and sale (which we have to do some time today) is our ambivalence about the driveway - the one thing we really can't fix.

We Have a Home

2007-12-21T12:21:00.000-05:00

We have a home - well not officially, we haven't signed anything yet, but our offer was accepted last week in the middle of the Nana crisis and our home inspection is scheduled for the day after Christmas. It's so surreal. With everything going on and the holidays only days away, I haven't even had a moment to be excited about it. But the short version is our offer was accepted and assuming all goes well with the home inspection C and I will have a home for the New Year!

What is Wrong with People?

2007-12-21T10:03:00.000-05:00

I know you don't always get the best care all the time. And I know hospitals are understaffed and overwhelmed, even more so in the winter months with accidents and people slipping and falling, etc.. But the care my grandmother got yesterday (during the day - by the end of the day we were better) still has me seething!

My poor grandmother fell yesterday morning in her bedroom trying to put on her shoes and called me just as I was pulling into my parking spot at work (after it took me an hour and a half to get here in the snow). Any of you folks who live in New England are well aware we've had more snow in December than we have in the past 37 years and it just keeps on coming, yet no one knows how to drive in it. But that's a story for another day.

I left work, drove home, called the ambulance from when I was almost there so we all showed up at the same time. I didn't want to take a chance and try to get her up even though she said she was fine - just wanted to be on the side of caution. She was taken to a local hospital for X-rays, etc.. and they said it would be a while. So I decided to go back to work for a few hours so I could get some stuff done.

Around noon I call to check on her and they tell me she has to come home, she didn't break anything and frankly they need the bed. So much for having some compassion for an elderly woman who fell and yes, may not have broken anything, but is certainly very bruised all over. They tell me they are going to send her home in an ambulance and I'm telling them they have to wait because she doesn't have a key and I need to get home first. Would you believe it was a fight? I just don't get it. And mind you I told them at the hospital SEVERAL times that she lives alone and there's no one to take care of her there.

So the EMT's bring her back home in the afternoon - with all the snow it was better to go this route because there was no way I, alone, could safely get her up the walkway. And they have to help get her into her chair - as she wanted to sit in the sunroom. As they are leaving I'm asking if she's really ok to be home - because it didn't seem that way AT ALL. They were like yeah, she walked, and I'm like ok.

After a short while Nana wants to get up and go upstairs can't blame her and I had to convince her there was no way for her to get upstairs last night. But then I discovered she couldn't get up. She couldn't get out of the chair on her own and I couldn't get her up either. She tried. I tried. It just wasn't fair to her. I was so mad. That hospital NEVER should have sent her home.

How can the people in the medical profession not have compassion for someone like my grandmother? Granted I understand that if she goes in and nothing is broken they deem her "ok." And I also understand they probably see their fair share of elderly people in and out for falls and breaks. But when someone goes in there with her and is very concerned and lets them know that she will need help shouldn't they listen? Shouldn't they be sure there is someone at home who can take care of her, assist her in the transition - even if nothing is technically broken. I'm beside myself with anger toward these individuals, I must say.

So I call her doctor and explain the situation and that we have a problem because she can't get up and we can't get her out of the chair. He's going to call me back.

In the meantime the hospital calls to tell me her file of life was left behind -shocking - and that they are putting it in the mail and to look for it today. Great. I ask to speak to the nurse I was dealing with earlier in the day and tell her what's happening and she's like but she walked, she was fine. I don't doubt she did some type of walking, mind you - so I asked her how she could walk if she can't get up. And she was like "oh as long as you have two people to get her up she's fine - one under each arm." I was like are you kidding me! You sent a 98-year-old woman home from the hospital and she can't even get out of her own chair? It's not like she has people home all day everyday to help get her up! I can't believe the complete gross incompetence on their part.

The doctor then calls me back, does some really quick work and after going back and forth with me for an hour he gets her the last bed at a rehab down the street, we just have to get her there. Which I explain if she can't stand up and I can't help her up how am I going to get her in the car? He makes some more calls, calls me back and gets me medical transport, so I call again and sure enough I get the same fire dept. crew and EMTs from the morning. Anyway, we get her up there and they're good. She was admitted and the place was great. They had her in a bed and had dinner in front of her in 10 minutes and then her doctor met us up there. Talked to us and her and ordered a bunch of tests for this morning. Oh and he also told me he spoke to the emergency room doctor and gave him a piece of him mind.

Whew.

Third Time's the Charm?

2007-12-18T14:29:00.000-05:00

Yes, something was brewing last week, yet (again) we are still without a new home. We made an offer on a house – a really great offer (only $9K under asking price) frankly a tremendous offer in this market, but it was rejected. No counter offer, no negotiations, nothing. The seller flat out wants full asking price or bust. Good luck to her.

But it did make me realize something. I really didn’t want to live in a town so far north – although it was a decision the two of us agreed to a while back. I tried to like the idea, tried to picture myself raising a family and growing old there but it’s just not for me. It’s a bit too far off the beaten path and while yes, having a larger lot and home with tons of room is something that can lead to a better quality of life, isn’t that quality also impacted by how far you have to drive on a daily basis to get to where you need to be? I think so.

So last night C and I headed out to look at some properties in a neighboring town to where we are now. Not so far north and VERY centrally located. (We’ve actually looked here before and we are familiar with the area). And believe it or not – we found ourselves a winner.

Now I don’t want to get too ahead of myself for fear of jinxing us again, but we put an offer on it this afternoon. It was originally a half a million dollar house, now in foreclosure and right in our price range.

I’ll keep you all posted if you all keep your fingers crossed.

Somethings Brewin'

2007-12-15T15:09:00.000-05:00

Don't want to say too much right now (but promise to give you more later). But we made an offer on a house last night. I haven't been able to talk to C all day as he's working, so I'm not sure where we are at with it, but I can tell you it was a good offer on a house across the street from the first one we made an offer on. (the one that fell through). Tim, you'll be happy, it's the one you told me to go with way back when!

More to come tomorrow!

Still Searching

2007-12-07T11:25:00.000-05:00

I owe you all a post. I’m sorry I’ve been MIA lately, between the marathon house hunting (which is still continuing – I think now we’ve looked at nearly 80 houses) and getting ready for Christmas I’ve simply been too tired at night to type.

As you can assume, we still don’t have a new home and frankly we’re both getting a little antsy. Man it’s hard. Plus with the market tanking around us – every day something new is coming up and the prices are getting better by the day so it's hard not to want to hold out and see what comes up tomorrow.

C is actually looking at a great house tonight in our range which is about $90K under its original asking price. I have to work so he’s going on his own – we have to do it this way because at that price, in the community we really want to live in, someone will be snatching that up very soon.

So keep your fingers crossed – I really hoped we’d be in a new house by Christmas. It’s my absolute favorite time of the year. I love nothing better than decorating for the holidays, carefully choosing those special gifts (which is so much easier with the ability to do the majority of it online) and wrapping everything while enjoying a fantastic bottle of wine and listening to my holiday music playlist on my iPod (a gift from two Christmas’ ago). But this year it’s bittersweet. All my decorations are in storage and we really don’t have the space for the tree with all our boxes of what we needed for our temporary stay at my grandmother’s. I’m hoping to get myself into the spirit a bit tomorrow night wrapping my gifts and listening to music, but not being able to admire my tree - which every year is covered in antique ornaments passed down to me from my great aunt who passed away many years ago (she was my favorite) - is going to be hard. So while this year will be a bittersweet holiday, I at least know there is something to look forward to in the New Year – setting up our new home (wherever that will be).

Have a great weekend everyone!

Fears Faced - Bring on the Baking!

2007-11-25T19:58:00.000-05:00

I finally did it! Kristi – you’ll be so proud. I bit the bullet and finally decided 11 months was long enough to wait to get acquainted with my KitchenAid. And I’m no longer afraid.

I used it for the first time Friday night. My girlfriend was telling me a week ago she uses hers for everything so I figured why the hell not – I used it to make mashed potatoes. No one told me it does things in seconds that normally take me forever! I was in love!

So Sunday, after another marathon afternoon of house hunting, I settled in to make my grandmother’s German cheesecake. This was a first (although I have a vague recollection of making it years ago once but it did not come out well at all).

And since I have the counter space in my temporary kitchen, that I did not have in the old house, Little Miss KitchenAid is now always in place and ready to go. And I’m obsessed – spent the most of last night looking up recipes to make just to use it! C certainly isn’t complaining – it’s a nice treat for someone who usually does all the cooking to have me obsessed with a kitchen appliance.

Remember how happy I was when I got it for Christmas last year? (little did I know I'd be so intimidated by it that it would be almost a year before it was put to use)

Here she is – unveiled for the first time.

A work in progress as my cheesecake fixings come together.

And the finished product!

Thanksgiving Shots

2007-11-25T19:53:00.001-05:00

Happy Belated Thanksgiving everyone! Another holiday has passed and I can't believe it's less than a month until Christmas - so much to do! Where does the time go?

I wasn't my usual camera-happy self on Thursday, so I only have a couple of shots to share.

Here's C cutting the turkey at mom's

And of course a photo (OK, a couple) of the little guy with my Dad!

Early Sesame Street: Adults Only? You've Got to Be Kidding Me

2007-11-20T10:30:00.000-05:00

I don’t know what to think. The New York Times this week ran an article about the “Sesame Street” we all enjoyed as children. The article, which is highly cynical, actually talks about how the original “Sesame Street” is now available on DVD but it has a warning on it: Adults Only. Are you kidding me?

“What they did to us was hard-core. Man, was that scene rough. The masonry on the dingy brownstone at 123 Sesame Street, where the closeted Ernie and Bert shared a dismal basement apartment, was deteriorating. Cookie Monster was on a fast track to diabetes. Oscar’s depression was untreated. Prozacky Elmo didn’t exist,” said the author. And let’s not forget that only Big Bird can see Mr. Snuffleupagus – thus he’s hallucinating.

Now, I for one never thought anything like this as a child growing up watching these episodes. But then again, in the 1970s we weren’t exposed to things that are so mainstream today.

The article talks about a segment in the first issue where Gordon brought Sally home to meet his wife and gave her milk and cookies. And in today’s world, a child going home with a man to meet his wife is just frightening. Why? Because the world we live in today is a pretty scary place to be.

My mom always says she gave me the gift of fear – and we both believe it’s a good one. And we do laugh about it – but know deep down this is the greatest gift she could ever give me. Not a fear of everything, but more of a fear to be aware of your surroundings at all times. When the other kids used to cut through the woods on the way to elementary school, it took me a little longer because mom told me not to walk in the woods and I never did.

As a little girl on my necklace chain I had very small gold whistle – the size of a charm. The idea was if my mom and I were ever separated while out shopping, I was to stop and blow the whistle. I have a very vivid memory of losing my mom in a department store and looking up and seeing all these women with the same blonde hair but couldn’t find my mom. I called out to her. Nothing. A woman came over, took me by the arm and told me she’d help me. No way! I started blowing the whistle (while this woman, who honestly in 1974 only wanted to help me find my mom looked at me like I was a lunatic). All of a sudden an arm went up from across the store and my mom called out “Elizabeth, I hear you – I’m coming.” Now that was pretty forward thinking on my mom’s part if you think about it.

Today I always check under my car as I approach it (you never know when someone might be hiding underneath it). I always check the far back of my SUV before opening the door. I walk with my key stuck out between my fingers in case I need a quick way to defend myself from a predator. I lock my doors, don’t let any strangers in my house and overall think I’ve lived a pretty safe existence.

While this author goes on to explain why the original Sesame Street series is carrying this adult only rating, it makes me nostalgic and disappointed at the same time. Those decades were a lot different then the one we are living in now. The world was a friendlier place, people weren’t abducting children and doing horrible things to them, terrorism wasn’t something we thought about on a daily basis and people socialized with their neighbors, said hello to passers-by on the street and left their doors unlocked. I think watching these early episodes of Sesame Street are no different than watching 1950s television programs. They are a reminder of the world we used to live in and a refreshing break from a world where we are always looking over our shoulders.

I'm Not Crazy

2007-11-07T15:22:00.000-05:00

So yesterday I posted about the fact one of the houses high on our radar screen felt to me as if it had a bad vibe to it. In fact, that was one of the reasons that turned me off to it completely when we first looked at it. And I didn’t feel crazy about it because I’ve always had a sixth sense – ever since I was a little girl – and it comes and goes and that’s the way it is. Plus when I sensed it the first time we looked, my realtor felt it, too. Though C I swear thought we were both nuts.

In any case, we went back to take another look at the house last night. It is after all a great value, a giant house (2400 sq ft), is on more than an acre of land and is only 17 years old.

So we did and I had to admit, I wasn’t having too much of that feeling last night. Until I went upstairs. While it wasn’t super bad, I did get a bad vibe. I was talking to our realtor last night while C was walking around checking the outside of the house and I asked him if he felt anything this time. He said, “not like last time.” Again, not so bad, but I was starting to feel a little crazy. It's a great house. Am I willing to give it up because of a "feeling?"

Today I was on a mission. To find out EXACTLY what happened there to make me feel that way. And here is what I found out thanks to a little detective work. The police were called 10 times in 10 years for domestics. Absolutely horrible and these people had three children. I can’t image how horrible it was inside that house.

On a lighter note, no one died in it and I think this beautiful home just wants a happy family to live in it. Hopefully if all goes well, we’ll be putting in an offer this week. I’ll keep you posted!

How Do You Choose?

2007-11-06T16:00:00.000-05:00

Another day another house panic. We looked at a really beautiful split level in a nice neighborhood on Sunday (along with seven other houses). There’s really nothing wrong with it. Brand new kitchen, beautiful floors, ¾ of an acre of land, a garage, but I think, personally, that the bedrooms are too small. Of course our old house had huge bedrooms and some of the other houses (close to 50) we have seen have had larger ones as well. But overall it’s well kept – well loved, and very attractive.

On the flip side there is another house we looked at quite a while ago. It’s a split gambrel cape. (which works out for both of us as I love capes and C is a big fan of splits). It has more than an acre of land. A front to back living room and a front to back master. When we looked at it many months ago I felt like I got a bad vibe from it. I’m pretty intuitive and maybe my intuition was off that day, but frankly I didn’t like how it felt. But it’s in a great neighborhood in a location I want to live in – and every other house on the cul de sac also boasts more than an acre of land each. It’s large, sunny, everything. But I poo-pooed it for quite some time.

The past few weeks I haven’t been able to get it out of my mind. The size, the yard, the location. Ah. So I did some research and no, contrary to my initial belief no one died in it. It was a divorce, just as C suspected and that’s why it is on the market.

Here’s the problem. We are going to look at both of them again tonight after work. The first one the owners are anxious (even though they just put it on the market) because they have found a new home and want to move. The second one is empty and has been for quite some time and has been on the market even longer. They are both the same price. Though the second one is assessed for less than the asking price and the second one is assessed for almost $100k more.

It’s hard. I feel like the split is smaller than some of the other houses we’ve looked at – but it had a good family feel. Then again it’s well decorated, painted in tones I would have chosen and lived in. The other is empty and begging for a family to move in.

Decisions decisions. Going to head over to both tonight with an open mind and hopefully come to some decisions. We’ll see. Whoever would have thought this would be so difficult and there would be so much to choose from?

My Most Wonderful Time of the Year

2007-11-02T09:18:00.000-05:00

It’s officially Autumn and we officially have a break. We are settled into my grandmother’s house while we continue our house search and for the first time in quite some time I’m at peace. There’s a nice feeling knowing there is no more rush to pack, move boxes and be sure not to send anything you might need to storage for an indefinite amount of time.

But the best part for me is it’s November – which I’ve always enjoyed, but after meeting C it’s an even better month for me.

This is my favorite time of year. The crisp autumn chill (though this morning in Boston it felt a lot like winter). The crunch of leaves under my feet. The smell of a fire from neighboring chimneys after the sun goes down. And it’s apple season! Every year since I was a little girl I’ve spent my fall weekends making apple pies. My great Auntie Eva taught me and made a tradition out of it – baking apple pies and watching old movies. To this day I still make sure I have an old classic on while baking them in her memory.

November is also very close to my heart as C and I met this month and had our first date. What more could a girl ask for than to meet her perfect guy during her favorite time of the year (and yes, C is a BIG fall fan too!)

And (I know many find it annoying) but my other absolute favorite thing about the month of November? Come the week of Thanksgiving there’s a radio station in Boston that plays 24 hours of Christmas music everyday until Christmas. I simply can’t get enough of it! Though I know, unless some miracle happens and we buy, paint, replace carpeting and move into a new house before Christmas, this will be the first year in a very long time that I won’t be trimming my tree with my heirloom ornaments or decorating my mantel. It’s bittersweet – but will be worth the wait knowing when we do find our perfect new home it will be a place where we can build new holiday traditions year after year after year.

"Even My Skin Hurts"

2007-10-31T08:48:00.000-05:00

I think C put it best in the wee hours of this morning when he said “even my skin hurts.”

Yesterday was a VERY long day for us as it was our last official day in our house. At 4 p.m. the movers came to take the final load to storage and I packed up the trusty Hondamatic with some more boxes (mostly cleaning supplies, empty boxes that need to be trashed, etc…). Then my job was to wait for the realtor and the new owners to come do the walkthrough at 6. C went with the movers. Well here it was quarter to 5. I poured myself a well deserved glass of wine and caught up on some email, when C texted (is this a word?) me.

“Did you empty the Hondamatic yet?”

What was he talking about? He never said anything about driving the stuff over to the other house and unpacking. And I was in no frame of mind to think clearly. Shoot. This was bad. So somehow, in rush hour traffic, I flew to my grandmother’s with my car packed to the brim, unpacked it and got home with 15 minutes to spare before the walkthrough. Not really sure how that happened, but it did.

Then the fun really began. We ate pizza on our kitchen floor since we had no furniture – but I did manage to find the salt and pepper (I always know what is in what box when I pack them). Then more trips. C’s truck and my SUV packed back and forth, back and forth. It was tiring, yes. Moving the giant man-sized TV – even tougher but we did it - together. I’ll admit, while I have been pretty focused and pushing myself harder than I usually do throughout this process last night I was sore, exhausted and borderline moody. it was bound to happen. Let's just say at about midnight I curled into a ball on the floor of our empty livingroom and went to sleep. But We finally finished up last night about quarter to one in the morning. I’m a zombie and every muscle, every smile hurts right now. But it’s all good. The house is officially sold and it is no longer ours. C’s off today – taking care of some errands and trying to make some sense of the tons of boxes littering my house at the moment.

Tonight we celebrate at a romantic dinner for two – I only hope I don’t fall asleep in my soup!

Thank you all for listening, for your friendship and for talking a usually super organized person off the ledge many times this week. I owe you all!

Good-bye Home Sweet Home

2007-10-28T16:26:00.000-05:00

It's been great having turned this house into our home. To watch as each room was brought to its full potential through a lot of hard work and sweat, but now as the days are numbered, it's almost time to say good-bye.

All the closets are empty, the only furniture left is our bed and our kitchen table. And of course the high-def TV - can't watch the Sox sweep the World Series without it! Every room is finally empty and now we are about to make our last trip to my grandmother's with the last of our stuff we'll need during our transition. The bed and table are coming Tuesday.

That's it. No food, except some cheese in my tiny college-dorm-like fridge, which also holds cream for our coffee and some soda, wine and water. The clock is finally counting down and in 48 hours we will no longer call this great century-old house home. It's bittersweet. It was the first major step in our at the time newlywed phase of our relationship - but now we are moving on to an even bigger step. Finding the home we will together grow old and raise our family in.

A toast to you our great home. You've done us good and made us very happy. I hope the happiness I had here is something the new owners will enjoy as well as they put their own personal touches on a house once belonging to someone else that they too can now call home.

(On a side note: while in 2004 I got to see Game 2 of the World Series with my dad, this time around I was left in the bullpen. Dad and my brother both went to Game 1 and as I type, my brother has been in Colorado with the Red Sox brass taking in all the action from there. Go Sox and A - have a great time and be safe!)

Give Me Strength

2007-10-22T09:00:00.000-05:00

What a weekend. Too many life-changing events in too short a time.

My grandmother (my mother's mother) passed away Saturday night and we weren’t expecting that – it was tough, but we are all doing pretty well considering.

Then yesterday we put an offer on the house we wanted, and they countered (which we expected) but countered at only (hold your breath) 1.5 percent under their asking price. In this market that is insane! Needless to say we came back up another 1.5 percent and then they notified us in no uncertain terms that they were staying with that number take it or leave it. We left it. We’re good – there are at least 10 other houses on our list that we can get for a better price. So we’ll see. We can't actually do anything this week as we have to move and the closing is next week. But rest assured - we'll be moving full steam ahead once we get past the closing!

But the stress of sitting in the realtor’s office yesterday morning making an offer on a new house, knowing we had the movers coming on Tuesday and my grandmother’s death just finally physically stopped me in my tracks. It was simply too much for me to handle – emotionally and physically I am exhausted.

I’m actually at work this morning – need to get some stuff done before I lose time this week. Working half a day today, half a day tomorrow and then I’ll be out on Wednesday for the services.

Give me strength.

Almost There

2007-10-16T13:16:00.000-05:00

This weekend was yet another turning point for us in our quest to vacate our house for the new owners and get one step closer to finding our new home.

On Sunday morning, early – way too early for someone who was at the Red Sox playoff game Saturday night (or wait, should I say into Sunday morning) – we headed out to look at two houses I had wanted to see for a long time. They are both large split-level homes, both on the same street (in fact, they are almost across the street from each other). They were both absolutely beautiful, turnkey (except for some interior paint and paper), on great lots of land in a neighborhood I could picture raising a family in and growing old together in. In a word, they were perfect and we are leaning toward possibly making an offer on one this week.

After trudging through nearly 40 houses in the past six months, this was such a completely different experience. Everything was what we wanted. The location, the neighborhood, the size, the space – everything. And for the first time, we are both in agreement – which I never thought would happen. (last time I found “the house” C found “the house” too – although they were both different houses!)

Then yesterday we made some real headway. We took everything (with the exception of clothing and what we need to cook for the rest of the week) over to my grandmother’s house (where we are settling in temporarily while we wait to move into our new house). Three trips with both the truck and my trusty Hondamatic packed as full as possible. It actually wasn’t so bad. But definitely tiring.

So we are making headway – moving along and by this time next week will be out of our house – whether we are ready or not – the movers are coming a week from today to take our furniture to storage (what am I going to do without my bed for two months!)

But in the end I know it will all be worth it. No more city for this suburban girl. Back to the suburbs for me (though it’s so far out I’d have to say it’s more country than suburbs, but it sure beats city living).

Until next time …

The Continuously Ticking Clock

2007-10-11T14:12:00.000-05:00

The clock is continuing to tick (not the biological one but the one that says we have to be out of our house within the next two weeks). This week has been a total bust for me in terms of packing thanks to a cold that started slowly last week and has been kicking my ass ever since. All I want to do is sleep and no matter how much it’s never enough. I’m exhausted, every muscle is sore and yet I’m still turning out page after page here at work and trying to create crafty ways to get everything that’s left to be packed taken care of by the end of the weekend.

Problem is – the weekend is two days away and I only have a limited amount of time to get anything done. I’m working tomorrow day and night. Saturday afternoon we are going to look at two more houses we are interested in (thanks to me finding them online before we went ahead and chose among our top four which was the original plan). Sunday morning we will doing second showings at at least two of the houses and then Sunday afternoon we picking Nana up to take her down to my parents’ so we can all go out to dinner to celebrate her birthday (her 98th by the way!).

Whew.

I’m off on Monday – the plan is to get everything we plan on taking to our temporary housing over there so all that’s left in our house is what the movers will be taking off to storage the following week. (sniff, sniff) I still can’t believe we are moving. I’m definitely looking forward to finally finding our new house and making it a home. And C is on a mission to make that happen as soon as humanly possible. Until then we will be living the life of a couple of nomads squatting at my grandmother’s house. But thankfully she has plenty of room so space won’t be an issue. Now if I can only be sure not to send anything to storage I may need in the meantime.

Oh and did I mention the majority of what I have left to pack is my clothing? And you all know how much work that’s going to be! (I did incidentally already pack up all my shoes) – I think they had shoe babies in my closet – I don’t remember having this many!

How Cute Is This?

2007-10-04T14:49:00.001-05:00

Yesterday I was talking to my mom. She was telling me she was out with my nephew (who is now 16 months old) and as they walked into a store an older woman held the door for him. He walked halfway through the door. Stopped. Looked up at her. And clear as day said "thank you." How precious is that? I couldn't be a prouder aunt!

Making Progress

2007-10-04T14:45:00.000-05:00

I’m on a roll – this has been a week of what I like to refer to as “power packing.” And even though work has been so crazy busy this week for some reason I can’t keep my head above water – I’m not letting that affect my goal and challenge to myself to have the majority of my crap boxed up and labeled by week’s end.

All of my books (with the exception of the rather large pile I have yet to read) have been packed up and trucked off to storage. I have even managed to pack all my china and dinnerware, as well as all my stemware with the exception of eight glasses which will be coming with me to my temporary location (I intend to pack those up tonight). I even boxed up all my games – well, except for our chess set and Trivial Pursuit – you never know when you’ll be in the mood to play a game and I certainly don’t want to be without.

I started boxing up my clothes to go to storage with the original intention of only taking what I might need to our temporary living arrangement, but then realized last night that there is plenty of room there so to make life a bit easier, they are all coming with me. Besides, clothes are the lightest and easiest to transport right?

That’s all for now. Tonight I tackle the shoes – sending the summer stuff off to storage, and gearing up to make sure by tomorrow night all my stuff is taken care of so I can start to help C with everything else we have. Wish me luck!

And So It's Begun

2007-10-01T12:07:00.000-05:00

I’m actually quite happy with my progress. On Saturday my girlfriend came up from the Cape for the day and visited. We haven’t seen each other in FAR too long so we had a ton of catching up to do. And while we caught up I packed … and packed … and packed. I managed to pack up the entire china closet in the dining room by day’s end Saturday. (which incidentally ended with a delicious meal C made for us – he’s too good)

Then yesterday, we went house hunting again – looking at four of them in two different towns. Again, some we liked but this time there was only one that was put on the “no” list. So we’re making progress there.

When we came home I fully intended to crash on the couch for an hour or so and just do nothing, but the packing bug got the better of me so I dragged out 80 percent of my china from my hutch, piles of newspaper and boxes, and plopped down in front of the TV to finally watch the season premiere of “Grey’s Anatomy” while packing. I’ve always been a multi-tasker.

And I’m proud to report, by the time I was in bed dreaming away last night – 20 boxes of china and books were packed, taped, labeled and ready to go to storage. Not so bad.

My goal tonight is to finish the china, catch up on some more TV premieres awaiting me on the DVR and then gear up for tomorrow night. My clothes. Ah, I finally get them organized and now they have to be separated into (a) going to storage (likely all summer wear, sandals, etc…) (b) going to Goodwill (already have a full bag but want to do it all at once) and (c) going with us to Nana’s (where we are going to be living temporarily).

When does the fun begin?

Forging Ahead

2007-09-26T15:21:00.000-05:00

Now that everything is all said and done the realization that we have to be completely moved out of our house in less than a month has finally hit me. C, too - though I'm sure he realized it immediately, I tend to get distracted and forget about such important issues.

So while we continue to search for our new home, our priority now is to get packing and decide what's coming, what's going to storage and what's going to trash. We also have to decide what to bring with us for our temporary housing - which incidentally is back to my grandmother's house until we find the new home and close on it. Though we won't need much since mostly everything is there and we won't be there too long (fingers crossed).

In my only way to stay focused I've been making lists and planning on spending a minimum of one hour each night packing my stuff and getting everything organized. That way when it's time to move, mostly everything has been done and at the very least all my crap is taken care of. I don't have to even worry about C - he's so on the ball, but I don't want to be the progress parachute and have us scrambling because I couldn't get my act together. (Anyone who has been through the moving process with me before - Jenn, Sarah, Kerri, Lindsay, Becky - you all know what I'm talking about) And no worries this time gals - I've got it all under control and all you'll have to do is come over for a little wine and check out my new digs when we finally move in :-).

I'm off to get some boxes and get started. Wish me luck!

We Won!

2007-09-25T13:43:00.000-05:00

A while back when work was ultra hectic I blogged about the coverage we were doing here about the rollout of Boeing’s new 787 Dreamliner. Well that all certainly paid off.

This weekend we were in New York for the 2007 FOLIO Awards. We were up for an EDDIE Award (editorial excellence) for Best Online News Coverage for our Boeing coverage. I was beside myself for just being one of the three finalists as we found ourselves in the big time competing for the award with Time and Newsweek. What more could an executive editor of an engineering publication ask for?

You can check out our coverage here.

Well, imagine our surprise when we took home the Gold – the first place trophy in this category. It made everything worthwhile and was a great diversion from house hunting – although I was only in New York for a whopping 18 hours. My editor-in-chief John, publisher Joan and myself were there for the awards. Regina, our web editor, unfortunately was too sick to make the trip - but we were sure to include here in our celebration calling her from a restaurant in Times Square at 11 p.m. to let her celebrate with us - even if it was just by voice :-)

Here are the three of us with the trophy:

And here is John accepting the award:

It's still so surreal - I guess when you're good you're good!

Now back to house hunting …

The Hunt Is On

2007-09-20T10:14:00.000-05:00

Now we are seriously hunting for a new house. We have three appointments scheduled for late afternoon today and hopefully more on Saturday. Keep your fingers crossed! We have also decided, since we do technically have a place to stay, we aren't going to rush to buy something just so we have something (course we never planned on doing that anyway) but are defintiely going to make sure it's the house we want to live in for the next 30 years. Talk about pressure!

Update

2007-09-19T09:39:00.000-05:00

Today is one day shy of a week since we:

Put our house on the market
Got an offer
Passed the home inspection
Are readying to sign the P&S

Insanity!

And while yesterday I was so sure I wanted us to live in that beautiful brand new house by the lake, by yesterday afternoon I had second thoughts. I love it, don't get me wrong, but again, it's a little farther north than where I want to live and frankly I'm not a big fan of the neighborhood. Don't get me wrong - it's a nice neighborhood, but it's not where I pictured our new home to be. Thankfully, last night, C mentioned the same concern. And since no one has put an offer on that house yet, we have some time to make some decisions. The realtor has been instructed to tell us immediately if and when they receive an offer - at which point our feet are to the fire and we have to decide to fish or cut bait.

In the meantime, we are setting out to look at even more houses to see what else is out there. We've decided to go a little beyond what we want to spend in the hopes we can get a really good deal on properties that have been on the market for quite some time now.

Like I said before, we looked at a bunch on Sunday and ruled them all out but one. We are hoping to look at three more tomorrow afternoon and more on Saturday. Sunday and Monday I'm out of town so C is going to go ahead and do some looking on his own to weed them out. This is tough, but it looks like no matter what happens (we find our home asap or we find one in a few weeks) we are likely going to need temporary housing (aka putting everything in storage and moving into either Nana's for the time being or renting an apartment - both of which make me queasy but at least I know it's not forever and at least C and I (and Molly of course) will be together in all this.

I'll keep you posted.

Found!

2007-09-18T08:17:00.000-05:00

Oh man, so yesterday we spent some more time at the new construction house and it's simply perfect. Quarter acre of land, front to back kitchen and front to back living room. Not to mention a front to back master bedroom. And closets that would not only hold nicely ALL my clothing, but even more! It's unbelievable really that in this market we could actually consider new construction.

My only, only gripe, is that it's farther away than I wanted to live. But it's beautiful, in a neighborhood surrounding a lake, with lots of trees and quiet. It's perfect.

While it will be farther for people to travel to see us, on the other hand, I've talked to several people at work who live there and it seems the commute is no different than my current one (which really is nice). I just wish I wasn't so directionally challenged and could see how it all comes together. But I will. I have to.

I really want to call this house home - keep your fingers crossed. This could be simply amazing!

The Hunt for the Perfect House

2007-09-17T12:23:00.000-05:00

Yesterday we went out and looked at more than a handful of houses, since things are moving so quickly, we really need to get our act together. But alas, they were ruled out quickly. In fact, last night we had kept two as definites (one is a brand new construction) but we had to eliminate one we loved because unfortunately the street was too busy and C had horrible visions of me trying to back out of the driveway with a child.

So that brings us to today.

Later this afternoon we are going over to the new construction house to get a better feel for it and get more information. C was going to go alone, but I've decided to head out of work early to join him. While I'm not a super huge fan of the area, or the town itself (though parts of it I do like) this is something so brand new there's still time to choose the flooring and the appliances. I never thought, and neither did C, that we could possibly own new construction in this market. But never say never (whoever would have thought we'd sell our house so quickly?)

Oh and did I mention the home inspection on our house is now set for tomorrow? Talk about moving swiftly along!

Unprecedented!

2007-09-16T17:44:00.000-05:00

It's unprecedented. In a fledgling real estate market, where homes in our area have been on the market for weeks, months and sometimes even years, we have a buyer for our house. In record time.

Was it only two weeks ago we made this decision, got the place ready to sell and got us to this point?

Our listing for our house went up mid-afternoon Thursday, we had three showings Friday (one was a second showing). We had five showings Saturday (and again one was a second showing - the first one) and by early afternoon Saturday we had an offer - and I'm talking about an offer just a little bit under asking price!

Not only are we ecstatic at how quickly this is all moving (they have a large down payment, the house inspection is scheduled for this week and they want to close on Halloween), but I'm personally thrilled that what we had to go through Friday and Saturday is (fingers crossed) behind us.

While many of the couples who came on Saturday were pleasant and "normal" some, really just left a lot to be desired and frankly pissed me off with stupid questions, ignorant agents and plain laziness. I don't know about you, but when I look at a house as a potential buyer (and we've looked at many) if I open a closet door, I close it. These people would trek through the house, leave closet doors open, the shower curtain pulled aside, the window curtains in disarray and even screw with the blinds. Problem for me was that we had so many appointments, I was running around like an idiot tidying up again as each left (and because everyone who came stayed for a while, it only gave me a few minutes between showings to put it all back together). Not to mention wiping up muddy footprints off the kitchen and bathroom floors, not to mention the rugs (leave it to us to have it be a rainy Saturday).

But I digress.

Things are good and this is actually happening (although there was a part of me that for some odd reason thought we would stay here and moving was just an idea). But it is happening, this lovely house I've been happy to call home and leave my mark on is going to be someone else's. Now the hunt is on to find our next home - a place where for the next 30 or so years we will grow old together, raise a family and live happily ever after.

Update

2007-09-14T15:51:00.000-05:00

Now it looks like both showings today were so good both couples are coming back again! One tonight, the other tomorrow morning. That doesn't even include the (so far) four other appointments tomorrow. Could we actually have a bidding war in this real estate market? I guess a girl can always hope. This just seems unheard of.

I Wasn't Kidding!

2007-09-14T12:51:00.001-05:00

We had our first showing this morning and would you believe just after they left they called to see if they can come back and take a second look tomorrow morning??? Craziness!! Add to that another appointment this afternoon and so far two additional ones for tomorrow - I guess there is a lot of interest in others wanting to call our home theirs!

The Price Must Be Right!

2007-09-14T08:51:00.000-05:00

We must have done something right. C was all about pricing our house to sell (quickly) and I think he was right. Within six hours of the house listing on MLS we have two showings scheduled already for today! Talk about a rollercoaster. But on the other hand, the house is still totally immaculate, no clutter, nothing other than furniture and some choice staging :-). But poor Miss Molly, because of the two appointments today while we are both at work, she's in a big dog cage (in front of a window of course) in the front bedroom, complete with a blankey to sleep on, her litter box and her food and water. But she was stunned! She's never been caged (unless you count the small travel on to take her to the vet, which of course she hates). C got her in there this morning when I was blow-drying my hair and there she sat and stared at me - completely stunned. Followed by the crying shortly thereafter. But she's safer there and we don't have to worry about her getting out. I just hope everything moves quickly, at least for her. My poor kitty. And poor me. Couldn't find my watch this morning with everything being put away and no clutter, I actually started crying like a 4-year-old. I guess this is what moving and selling stress does to people?

P.S. Mike and Katy - thanks for loaning us the cage we'll take very good care of it and appreciate you helping us keep her safe :-)

Now the Wait Begins

2007-09-13T13:27:00.001-05:00

We’ve finished everything that needed to be done and needless to say, at this point, our house is model-home perfect with barely anything, anywhere that would remind anyone that someone else, besides the potential homebuyer, is living there.

It’s neat as a pin. The shelves which were once “cluttered” with things like food, spices, even books, are now homes to things like that antique teapot, a pretty canister set and a vase of flowers. But seriously, whose pantry shelf is bare except for a Crate & Barrel bowl overflowing with polished green apples (which normally sit in the bag on the counter until they are eating)? At least I learned something from reading my Martha Stewart Living and Real

So it’s done. The rooms are organized, everything is cleared out and either tossed, in storage or temporarily living in our basement or attic. No more framed photos, not even my collection of photos of my nephew and my dogs (and Molly, of course) on the side of my fridge. It’s very sad.

Our broker was finishing up taking pictures today and our house should be online and ready to be purchased this afternoon. Now the real fun begins. Hopefully it sells quickly, effortlessly and the discovering and moving into our new digs goes just as smoothly.

Keep your fingers crossed!

Sigh

2007-09-12T13:30:00.002-05:00

What does it mean when you see the listing sheet for the house you are about to sell and all you can think is "man, I want to live there!"

Man this is hard. I just hope I feel this way about the new house - if not more!

When the Going Gets Tough ...

2007-09-10T15:08:00.001-05:00

Work is kicking my ass today. I'm not sure if it's because instead of coming in at 7:30 this morning (which is great bec it gives me a good hour and a half to get a lot done without anyone bothering me) I got here at 9:30 (bec I wanted to be there when the broker came this morning) or if it's because I worked so hard all weekend, but I thought I'd take a moment to write in an effort to clear my head and make better sense of things.

So the house is about 90 percent ready for showing. All framed photos have been taken down and boxed up. All cards which live on the mantle have been boxed away as well. The mantel is decorated sparingly, as is the table in our front hall, the table in our upstairs all, my desk, the dining room (you get the idea). I boxed up four boxes of books to make my bookcases more appealing to the eye, and managed to purge a bunch of stuff at the same time. I even spent some time in the yard tossing my summer plants which have decided they lived long enough and cleaned up the ones that are still thriving. We tossed lawn furniture we won't be taking with us (instead planning out the new set we'll buy for our new yard and deck).

This morning, after meeting with our broker, we did realize we still have a few more things to do and for me that means mainly organizing my closet - God help me. She said it's good that she can see the width and depth of it, but any boxes on the floor need to be moved, along with the disorganized piles of clothes climbing to the ceiling on the left side. Well C went out and rented a storage unit so we started putting stuff over there today so I'm thinking as much as I dread the idea, I think some of my clothing and shoes (gasp!) may have to go there. Not so bad considering I already sent all the summer clothes there. We'll see. Still a lot to do and only a day or two left to do it!

Now to wrap my arms around what's happening here at work and hopefully in a few days I'll be able to breathe and again enjoy this experience of finding a new home!

Some Big Decisions Finally Made

2007-09-04T10:23:00.001-05:00

So they say home is where the heart is right? Well for me home is where I can live happily and comfortable with C – while also being fairly close to my family. But at the end of the day, C and I are making this move to start our own family.
While we’ve been house hunting for quite some time now, mostly in one area of the state, a few weeks back we went looking to see what we could get closer to my family. Now keep in mind, right now I’m only 25 miles away from them (but it seems farther as this area I’m in now is still, even after nearly 5 years, totally new to me). But I digress.

So off to my hometown we went where we found some interesting properties but what it meant was downsizing from our antique colonial into a much, smaller ranch or cape with a tiny lot for a significant amount of money over what we want to pay. But C was willing to do it. And I really wanted it. All to be closer to my folks.

All this is being complicated by the fact we want to put our house on the market ASAP for the fall, rather than wait for spring. And while C is good at putting together a plan and turning it into an action, I, on the other hand, when it comes to big decisions, flip flop, try to avoid them at all costs, and take it to an emotional level. But I’m working on that and I think I’m doing pretty well.

Throughout the weeks and says of discussion, the idea of not moving back to my hometown would literally bring me to tears, all because I want to be closer to my mom, dad and brother. Which I finally realized is insane because (a) I don’t live near them now and haven’t in nearly 5 years (and I’m down there every weekend, and (b) everything we want (affordability, lots of land, nice neighborhoods, great schools, a lot of house for less money) is all up here. And really, at the end of the day is it that much farther away? (Sorry girls, but it looks like Liz won't be moving back to the area)

Last weekend was a real turning point for us. We did some more research – because we needed to decide what we were going to do, where we were going to go and then put the plan into action. What we didn’t know is that if we looked for homes a bit further north than where we live now (approx 6-10 miles) we are talking about a whole lot of house (nearly 2,200 sq ft) on a whole lot of land, for a whole lot less than we’d spend moving back to my home town (where incidentally the taxes are also insanely high).

That being said, we mulled our options, made lists, had lots and lots of discussions and made our decision to get the house ready to market (ASAP) and start looking for a new home. Now to pack up everything we have that we aren't using so this house will fit the bill of any "Sell This House" episode.

And I have to say after all the drama (internal and external) I’m happy with the decision because I know it’s the right one. I’m happy that we are doing this together I’m happy that we are planning to have a family, I’m just happy!

I can't wait for this next step in our lives together and setting up our new home! Whoo hoo!

Thank God because up until a few days ago I was having nightmares like you wouldn’t believe about buying a new house, moving, losing shoes, even one where a crown on one of my teeth fell off – and if you know me you know nightmares are a rarity in my world.

But, because I’m me, I’m still having inner turmoil on one tiny issue – figuring out what to do with Miss Molly when the house is being shown.

Do we keep her in the house and let the realtor know she can’t get out and put notes on the doors? Or do we simply move her somewhere else in the meantime (which I really don’t want to do)? It’s not as simple as getting a heads-up when someone is coming to look at the house, as in this market if we want it to move (which we do) we need to make it accessible at all times of the day whether we are home or not.

Anyone have any thoughts or words of wisdom?

Done!

2007-09-04T09:52:00.000-05:00

So those of you who have been following this blog know that C has been working on the house we are currently in for years now (more years than anyone really should). Up until recently the last of our four bedrooms has been complete and I just had to share the transformation with you all. I love it!

Before:

After:

He's Really All That

2007-08-22T13:10:00.001-05:00

There's nothing I enjoy more than getting together with my family and for my birthday dinner, it was as always, highly enjoyable. Of course, what makes these get togethers even more fun these days is the attendance of my 15-month-old nephew. He's so good - the little guy sat at the table all during dinner, enjoying himself, sharing my scallops with me, looking up intensely and nodding when the waiter was talking to him. He was an absolute joy, an angel and just precious. It was also my first experience of hearing him talk (aside from saying Daddy, uh oh, and no). My mother handed him a cracker and clear as day he said "cracker." Later I was in Stride Rite with him and looking at shoes and as I held one up he looked at me and said "shoe." I simply love this little guy!

My absolute favorite picture of the two of us:

The little man:

Enjoying some man time with C:

So cute:

Checking out every grown-up man's favorite store (that's my brother and C off to the left:

Oops, I did it again!

2007-08-22T13:03:00.001-05:00

If you can believe it (and I know MANY of you can't) I once again tried my hand at camping with C's family. Again, I was pleasantly surprised by how much fun I had (though I will admit to checking my email via the Blackberry - yep I had service). And again, like last year, I can handle anything for one night. C did have a nice surprise for me - our own tent! Last year we shared one. And by the way, this is how we started by birthday weekend!

Here's some pix!

C setting up our tent - heck it was small but who cares - it was all ours!

The two of us:

Our campsite: