Frequent Citations

Ow, The Irony

I start work tomorrow. Obviously finding the right shoes was a high priority task for this weekend. I needed two pairs: one to walk to work in, and one for work. And despite the torrential rainstorm, I found both! Beautiful pumps with sneaker technology and a high enough heel that pants actually fit instead of dragging on the floor--these were easy to find, as I knew exactly what I was looking for and there was a store close by that had them. Fabulous. Then I found a cute pair of sandals that are flat with awesome arch support and a closed toe so I can wear them to walk to work in, with hose on, without looking like a complete fashion disaster. No tennis shoes with a suit, thanks.

But now my foot looks like this:

I was unpacking a box last night--the box contained both lightbulbs and a crucial lampshade as well as artwork yet the movers only labeled it as artwork--when the floor reached up and stabbed me. I shrieked, TFL came running (all 5 steps), and I pulled an exacto knife blade out of my foot. It was buried pointy side in, something less than half an inch.

Wow, your foot can really bleed. I only got one drop on the rug, though! And because I had unpacked the bathroom boxes already I could tell TFL exactly where to find the gauze and the first aid kit he insisted on keeping even though I thought it was too big to haul around with us. Um, yeah.

I haven't looked at it again. Don't worry, I'm not getting red streaks up my leg or anything, it just throbs when I have it down and hurts if I put too much weight on that one spot but otherwise it's not bad. But that it will heal in time for me to happily wear my darling new shoes tomorrow, I doubt. Poo.

By the way, that picture was taken by me on TFL's ultrafancy new phone, which explains its poor focus (me) and low resolution (phone). The phone is pretty awesome though. I've named it Jeeves, as it knows all and is a darn handy thing to have around.

Nestling In

We arrived at our new apartment late on Monday and spent the next few days rattling around an empty place and trying to get ourselves oriented. Most of one day was devoted to hopping in and out of fun little design shops downtown, wherein we found lots of things we liked (Armani, surprisingly, was one of the bigger hits) but didn't buy a thing except for iced coffee.

Thursday the moving guys and the cable guy all arrived simultaneously, and it's been nothing but chaos ever since. Lots of running out for this or that, lots of unwrapping and cursing the borderline imbecility of the packers, a little crying over the breakage of a couple of favorites. Let it be known that I have never had anything that I personally packed break during a move, and I have moved more than anyone ever should. And I'm still frantically looking for my pots and pans, and I'm almost out of boxes where they could be hiding. Not Good.

I'll post more about our adventures on the road and getting settled here, but I wanted to let you know we're here, we're alive, it's mostly all good, and I start work Monday. Ack!

En Route

We're going from hither to yon, via the back of beyond.

The trip includes a little family, a few Twilight Zone episodes of unfindable motels, a lot of miles of road. Tomorrow should find us in our new home. Without any furniture, but one can only expect so much.

Anyway, we're still alive. Those of you who know me by name will get an email soonish with details of new address and such. If you don't get said email, feel free to nag.

Work Must Stop

We're in this weird state of limbo. The movers have come and gone leaving nothing but our luggage and a few pieces of furniture we haven't yet pawned off on anyone. We can't even leave for the new place until Friday. But it's amazing how much work we have to do in the meantime.

We got most of the rest of GirlChild's stuff over to her place today. And failed to get a futon. And did a Target run.

With nothing in it, I am baffled at how the place can get to be such a mess. We're actually showing it tomorrow too, so we're bustling around cleaning and tidying.

Ok, that's a lie. I'm not bustling at all. I'm moving in slow motion, wondering when I'm going to keel over and slip into a coma. But every time I lie down, I'm wide awake thinking of all the things that Must Be Done.

I so look forward to arriving at our new place.

Jiggity Jig

GirlChild is home again, home again. Her bag even arrived too--about 6 hours later.

The movers arrived yesterday and took everything away, so we're rattling around in a flat empty of all but a few pieces not making the move and an enormous pile of donations to Goodwill. Cooking involves a certain amount of improvisation, but I made a passable soup to feed the prodigal daughter.

Mostly today was about catching our breath and figuring out the coming week as we hover between one home and the other, neither here nor there but still needing shelter for ourselves and Dogness. I think we finally have it mostly sorted out and have our reservations made. Things keep changing, though, so it'll be interesting to see how the week goes.

Tomorrow will be a busy day of getting GirlChild and the last of her stuff settled in her new home. Then, naturally, we will need to take her out to celebrate the Big Birthday. Nevertheless, at some point I will make time to sit down and read through the issue of Paris Vogue she brought back for me.

Ah, Paris. Oh, moving. By the way, if anybody's seen my glasses, which I had last night, please tell me where they are. Thanks.

Chinatown

It's been a hectic few days. Wednesday was devoted to moving GirlChild's stuff to her new apartment. Boy and I spent all day on that, and she still has things left here in the flat. Then I spent most of the night packing and organizing things to store with my parents until we get ourselves situated and find a storage solution on our new coast. Thursday Boy and I packed the rented SUV as full as we could, drove to my parents, and stashed a few tidy piles of boxes in their basement. We then collapsed until Friday morning, when I delivered him to his dorm, ran around getting some of the things he needed and helping him set up his room, and then finally drove home (traffic was very light, Mother).

So by last night I wasn't up for doing much more than sprawling on the couch and watching a movie. I popped in Chinatown, freshly delivered by Netflix, and settled in to be awed. I was, in a word, disappointed.

It's important to remember, when reading my opinions about movies or books, that I am shallow. Also, the only tragedies I'm willing to subject myself to are Greek drama, Shakespeare, and sometimes the news. Otherwise, I prefer to avoid pointless violence, stunted character development, and wallowing in misery.

I will say that the movie was beautifully filmed, and it was interesting to see such a young Nicholson. But the ending felt both contrived and awful. And it was too obvious: look at the horrible man and his horrible deeds and know that he will be repeating those horrible deeds, unmoved by the devastation he wreaks. Bah. The movie does have some excellent dialogue in it though.

Ah well. We're not moving our dinosaur of a television, so if anyone has recommendations regarding a not-huge flat-screen we can buy after we move, that would be fab.

Futon Recommendations?

I need to get a futon for GirlChild. Recommendations?

Two Home Household

TFL flew out to talk to a few people about jobs and hunt down a place for us to live. He had two days and a mission, and he by golly accomplished that mission.

So we now have a place to live! In, unfortunately, two cities, because the flat STILL has not sold. Not even after we knocked the price down a LOT. I am not amused.

But anyway. It's a HUGE relief to know that we have a place to live now, somewhere to tell the moving company to take our stuff, an address for all my work forms. TFL did an excellent job: for within our budget we get a whole bedroom, which is even pretty sizable, a large living room, an actual kitchen, and lots of amenities. So yay! And I except to see a lot of you as visitors. As a bonus, and unlike the other places he looked at, the word "creepy" did not once cross his lips as he described the place he picked.

The Park is 3 blocks away, work is 6 blocks.

See, I knew what I was doing when I sent TFL on this mission.

Going Cheap: One Flat

No, we still haven't sold the flat. We've sold a lot of the stuff inside the flat, so it's starting to look frighteningly empty. This place is huge.

I've been selling off law books on Amazon, and trying not to spend the money as fast as I make it. We sold the car this weekend too (and we found the title for it), so that's one less headache. Tomorrow the piano goes. Next week we move GirlChild's stuff to her new place. The next week--we go. Egad.

It's hard to believe I'll be working within a month. In the meantime, as there's not a lot of packing to do right now, I'm going to go watch some awesome tv and eat chocolate zucchini bread. (Use the best vanilla extract you can get and be generous with the cinnamon, and don't cook it for more than an hour.)

I Hate Cars

We're getting rid of the car, and when you post it for sale at an insanely low price it's astonishing how quickly it can go.

If, that is, you can find the title. It has to be here. Somewhere. Grrrrr.