“I was never spellbound by a starry sky
What is there to moon glow, when love has passed you by
Then there came a midnight and the world was new
Now here am I so spellbound, darling
Not by stars, but just by you…”
What a difference a year makes! I’ve heard they say that about a day too (whoever “they” is), but I when it comes to home construction, I’m an authority on the difference a year makes.
The fourth entry to the Lee-Hall Farm blog was written about Monday, March 11, 2013. That was the day the unearthing of the driveway to our new home began. We received our CO (Certificate of Occupancy) on Friday, March 2nd. Our move-in date could have been March 3 or any day the next week, but I thought it fitting to wait and make March 11, 2014 our move-in date. Plus, we weren’t ready. You’d think like “Leaving on Jet Plane”, our bags would have been packed, we’d be ready to go, but we weren’t. Maybe we were afraid to be ready. Maybe in our subconscious we thought there was a curse. After all, John does hail from Boston and folks up there fell under a curse after the 1918 World Series win that lasted until 2004. Four had always been a lucky number for me, but maybe that yankee (yankee, not Yankees) from Boston changed all that. 2004 was a good year, but would 2014 be? Four and four add up to 8 — 1918. The mind can wonder, can’t it?
We weren’t ready because loose ends had to be tied and we couldn’t call the moving company and ask, “Hey, how about moving us tomorrow?” And so, I chose March 10 and 11. It would also help me keep dates straight in my mind. If you’ll recall from earlier posts, I’m not what “they” call a spring chicken (in this case, there is no question about who “they” are).
We had the greatest moving team. Five gentlemen moved us, four the first day, three the second with two gentlemen being with us both days. Anyone who has ever moved, especially from a dwelling where you’ve collected ‘collectibles’ for over twenty-five years and then have that compounded by moving two dwellings of collectibles, knows how placid the moving experience is not. When those boxes of collectibles start coming at you faster than the urge to potty when stuck in traffic after drinking a Big Gulp or for the women folk – when that probe first hits your belly during a pregnancy ultrasound – you throw up your hands and let the words you know you’ll regret leave your mouth, put it in the garage or worse yet, put it in the attic. You know darn well you’ll have to move those boxes from the garage or the attic to their proper room, but you can’t help it. Regrettable words always seem to leave your mouth when you have to pee like a racehorse or when boxes begin to pile up around the furniture you’re trying to admire in its new setting of your new home.
Considering the normal stress of a move, overall it was good as moves go, except it’d be nice if the moving company would send over a nice gentleman or two when I’m ready for a box to be brought in from the garage or down from the attic. I’d be thrilled if they’d also deal with the trash of the wrapping paper and boxes. I’d be over the top if they’d hold wall hangings here and there so I could decide upon their perfect place in our new home.
I am trying ever so hard to find new homes for my collectibles before John can find homes for his. You know how it goes, snooze ya lose and last one’s a rotten egg. Ahhh, the advantages of not having unretired! I get to unpack all day while he works. Poor thing, his stuff may become known as homeless.
If only that were true, the I get to unpack all day part. I also get to deal with all the visitors who descend upon you and I get to make all the telephone calls necessary once you move into a new home. Comcast, newly purchased family room furniture delivery, Comcast, guest bed delivery, Comcast, fence installers, Comcast, electricians who install floor outlets once you trick yourself into deciding, yep, that’s where I want the family room furniture to be placed, Comcast, the sound system installer, the brewery insulation installers, Comcast, the sound system installer, the brewery drywall installers, Comcast, the sound system installer, Comcast. Oh, I believe I forgot to mention Comcast.
I kid you not, on March 10, the Comcast tech shows up at 9:30pm and decides to become a dependent. He left at 1:30am on March 11. Of course we found out the next day that he left without thoroughly completing the install. We were in the house two weeks before the installation was a completely correct install. Except for that time when I was close to physically throwing a Comcast tech out of my house (literally, I tell you), I’ve never had a problem with Comcast. I prefer them over Verizon as I experienced Verizon through John when he lived in Boston. On the bright side, I have a couple new BFFLs, and guess where they’re employed – Comcast.
Needless to say, Sharon, John, and I have been working at frantic pace. Even so, we’ve had home cooked meals most nights. Both John and I love cooking in our new kitchen. You might recall that I did my best to get the kitchen set up prior to the move. What will make cooking in the new kitchen even nicer is when John and Sharon learn where everything goes. They’re always asking me where this and where that goes and my answer is always, “In it’s proper place, of course.” They didn’t pay attention when I set up sections in the kitchen, you know, like a cutting board section, a colander section, a used only of the 2nd Tuesday of even months section, and so on.
All that section planning landed me in the ER this past Saturday. I don’t know why we didn’t hire a cleaning service to clean the rental, but it never even occurred to me. I’ve given much thought to hiring a service for Stella, but not once thought about it for the rental. In my desire to hastily, yet thoroughly clean the rental so that we could get back to playing at Stella, I worked so hard and so fast that I got a terrible muscle knot in my back. It was like a crick in the neck, but it was in my back on the right side, under the shoulder blade. It grew progressively worse through the week that come Saturday morning my body began to go into shock from the pain. With the in-hospital treatments and the at-home treatments, by Monday I was back to my old not a spring chicken self. In other words, I returned to being a royal pain in the buttocks.
Another health frenzy came this morning when John awoke from slumber as Sylvester trying to conceal Tweety in his mouth. His cheeks were a might bulging. He at first feared he had contracted the mumps. A trip for him to the doctor came with a diagnosis of an allergic reaction to his Lisnopril/HCTZ medication. After beginning a round of Predisone his cheeks are returning to normal.
Sharon isn’t feeling too spiffy either. She also is working too hard at this moving business. Her symptoms sound like the lumbar symptoms I had in 2003 that required me to get an erector set installed in my back. I’m afraid rest, if a temporary help will be just that, temporary rather than a remedy. We’re all too old for this crap called moving!
John and I have been so lax of late in taking pictures. Don’t know why really, but we are of the mind set, seen one box, seen ’em all. We would have taken pictures except, I ran out of gas. I, I had a flat tire. I didn’t have enough money for cab fare. My party dress didn’t come back from the cleaners. An old friend came in from out of town. Someone stole my car. There was an earthquake. A terrible flood. Locusts. IT’S NOT BEEN MY FAULT, I SWEAR TO GOD. Actually, we’ve been busy.
I would be busy tonight except I can’t do unpacking work that would be quiet enough not to disturb John and Sharon while they sleep. In anticipation of this annoying factor, I decided to make it a writing night and in anticipation of that, snapped a few photos to share of the snail’s progress we’re making. For someone who likes to handle things once, you might say I’m quite frustrated at all the work to yet to be done. Like Scarlet and Annie, fiddle-dee-dee, tomorrow’s another day, I love ya tomorrow. It’s only a day a way.
Fence posts installed on Monday, 3/24. Fence installed on 3/26 – picture of that to come later. Is your eye keen enough to discern why we wanted a fence?
Remember all those pictures we took of an empty breakfast nook, well look, now in it are a table and chairs!
Dining Room – the first room to have something hung on the walls. Except for this collection of plates, I’m afraid to hang anything in case I don’t like where I hang it. I knew that was the only place for those plates. I love them there between the windows. Anna and Kim, the Waterford martini set is as useful as ever! For the record, it’s an illusion that the candles are not centered in the windows — I swear!
Dining Room – a bit blurry, but filling the curio cabinet with what may or may not permanently reside in it has been one of my night time quiet projects.
Dining Room – filling the china hutch (in this case, crystal hutch) has been another night time quiet project. Although we don’t have too many pieces, John and I love the crystal artwork of Simon Pearce. A few stemwear pieces are in the hutch and our newest piece, a Revere Hurricane, sits as the table’s center piece. The rest of the table is padded as it acts as a staging area (as notably do the chairs, mainly ’cause I don’t want anyone sitting instead of working!)
Cook Top – notice the four cooking accessory sections? You thought I was kidding about sections, didn’t you? Also, I swear to myself that I will only put three magnet doohickeys on the fridge – a note pad, a timer (so I can find it, no timer section as yet), and a bottle opener because everyone knows, of course, that the side of the fridge *is* the bottle opener section.
Break time – Ranee’, if you’re reading, I’m still fond on this nice little bottle of wine. Thank you for the intro. And for the alert among you, surely you’ve observed the cutlery section.
And finally, if you’re still with me, the entry’s title, At Last, Etta James’ signature song. I’ve never heard Etta recite the opening lyrics before belting out those first words “at last”, but they make me think of how bewitched we are by Stella. We’re now in her company day and night…At Last.