Thursday, November 18, 2010
Home
So now we get to enjoy our mostly unpacked home for a quick minute before the next adventure begins. I'd like to laughingly say, "work on the nursery!" But we are not quite there yet ... I'll keep you posted. For now we are enjoying cold windy nights curled up on the couch watching through the dining room window as leaves drop off our brilliant red maple. Christmas has come early this year. Its heaven.
Celebration of unpacked boxes!
Thankfully the party was potluck. Otherwise, dinner would have been rather crisp and dessert would have come with an expiration date stamped on the box.
Guest started arriving promptly at 3:45 (the party started at 4:00) and the surprises: exotic dishes, unexpected faces, reactions to the house or the fire pit, another plate of dessert! didn't taper for hours.
Thank god mom was there to put all the potluck dishes out while I greeted and did house tours. Russ was out back with the boys keeping the fire pit stoked (everyone went out to visit throughout the night). I was expecting around 30 guests. We had over 50! Aunt Carol had to run to the store to get more forks and dessert plates. My sister showed up with extra toilet paper (we only buy a 4-pack at a time - plenty for us!)
Food kept arriving, plates kept being replenished, dishes were emptied and washed. The next door neighbors came over. Dessert was served -- tray after tray of cakes and pies and rice crispie treats.
Around 8:30-9pm the grandparents, parents, kiddies and older folks started clearing out. The last train to the city left at 11:30 and a few more people headed off. My crew of running girls begged one of the guys driving to stay and drive them all home. They would have to squeeze, but he would do it. Russ did some repair work on the keg's tap (beer was only dribbling out making it difficult to get refills). Once the keg was working, we runners enjoyed the free flowing beer and the boys sat around the fire pit until the sun came up.
There were a few children at the party. One of them was an inquisitive 3 and a half year old. He was in the process of packing his own boxes for move of house and to him the project seemed endless. I explained to him that I too had packed a lot of boxes and that we were having this party to celebrate that fact that we had finally unpacked all (white lies!) our boxes. I gestured toward the china cabinet and he examined all the unpacked glasses and dishes, mouth agape.
Guest started arriving promptly at 3:45 (the party started at 4:00) and the surprises: exotic dishes, unexpected faces, reactions to the house or the fire pit, another plate of dessert! didn't taper for hours.
Thank god mom was there to put all the potluck dishes out while I greeted and did house tours. Russ was out back with the boys keeping the fire pit stoked (everyone went out to visit throughout the night). I was expecting around 30 guests. We had over 50! Aunt Carol had to run to the store to get more forks and dessert plates. My sister showed up with extra toilet paper (we only buy a 4-pack at a time - plenty for us!)
Food kept arriving, plates kept being replenished, dishes were emptied and washed. The next door neighbors came over. Dessert was served -- tray after tray of cakes and pies and rice crispie treats.
Around 8:30-9pm the grandparents, parents, kiddies and older folks started clearing out. The last train to the city left at 11:30 and a few more people headed off. My crew of running girls begged one of the guys driving to stay and drive them all home. They would have to squeeze, but he would do it. Russ did some repair work on the keg's tap (beer was only dribbling out making it difficult to get refills). Once the keg was working, we runners enjoyed the free flowing beer and the boys sat around the fire pit until the sun came up.
There were a few children at the party. One of them was an inquisitive 3 and a half year old. He was in the process of packing his own boxes for move of house and to him the project seemed endless. I explained to him that I too had packed a lot of boxes and that we were having this party to celebrate that fact that we had finally unpacked all (white lies!) our boxes. I gestured toward the china cabinet and he examined all the unpacked glasses and dishes, mouth agape.
Whirlwind but we got there!
This week, Russ and I had our first days of coming home after work and just relaxing together. It's been amazing.
The whirlwind of activity building up to the house warming celebration this past weekend was intense. The bathroom on the main floor had to be finished, the pantry had to be built, and the house had to be cleared of sanding dust, construction debris and tools before it could get a proper pre-party clean. The time crunch took us to the brink of insanity.
Veteran's day, Mom came over and the yard work that had been relegated to a back-burner project was resumed with a vengeance. We raked leaves, thrashed edges, groomed trees and eventually when the lawn mower decided to start working we mowed. It was like giving a baby his first haircut.
Before lunch time, the house glowed with love on the outside so I made sandwiches and we started hanging pictures and arranging furniture inside. Russ had put curtains up in the living room and it looked cozier for it, but the stark walls rankled me to no end. Mom and I found spots for the few apartment-sized pictures I had to hang and day-dreamed about the someday wall dressings. I hauled the remaining boxes from the garage to the attic. I fought back panic as the large loft space became filled with Clutter. I pledged to attack those boxes after the housewarming. I told myself that the disheveled stacks of unused items (junk!) were only temporary ....
I didn't have much time to contemplate ... organize or discard ... the junk because we were off to the shops down the street for some final touches. Hand towels and a waste bin for the downstairs bathroom; Paper goods and juice for the party.
The morning of the party, Russ re-installed the sink and toilet in the little bathroom, hung my hand towels and added a hook-and-eye lock and a bar of soap. I filled the pantry with food items stashed on kitchen counters, filled a curio cabinet with pretty things (more boxes unpacked!) vacuumed, dusted, polished, prepared, set-out all that I thought we might need for the party.
The whirlwind of activity building up to the house warming celebration this past weekend was intense. The bathroom on the main floor had to be finished, the pantry had to be built, and the house had to be cleared of sanding dust, construction debris and tools before it could get a proper pre-party clean. The time crunch took us to the brink of insanity.
Veteran's day, Mom came over and the yard work that had been relegated to a back-burner project was resumed with a vengeance. We raked leaves, thrashed edges, groomed trees and eventually when the lawn mower decided to start working we mowed. It was like giving a baby his first haircut.
Before lunch time, the house glowed with love on the outside so I made sandwiches and we started hanging pictures and arranging furniture inside. Russ had put curtains up in the living room and it looked cozier for it, but the stark walls rankled me to no end. Mom and I found spots for the few apartment-sized pictures I had to hang and day-dreamed about the someday wall dressings. I hauled the remaining boxes from the garage to the attic. I fought back panic as the large loft space became filled with Clutter. I pledged to attack those boxes after the housewarming. I told myself that the disheveled stacks of unused items (junk!) were only temporary ....
I didn't have much time to contemplate ... organize or discard ... the junk because we were off to the shops down the street for some final touches. Hand towels and a waste bin for the downstairs bathroom; Paper goods and juice for the party.
The morning of the party, Russ re-installed the sink and toilet in the little bathroom, hung my hand towels and added a hook-and-eye lock and a bar of soap. I filled the pantry with food items stashed on kitchen counters, filled a curio cabinet with pretty things (more boxes unpacked!) vacuumed, dusted, polished, prepared, set-out all that I thought we might need for the party.
Monday, November 1, 2010
Settling In
We've been sleeping in our bedroom for the last 12 nights and its rather nice. The heat works, the house is pretty well sealed, and I found the feather comforter from my college years to make the bedroom extra cozy.
I had an amazing shopping experience at Bed Bath & Beyond. Someone with my exact design color palette returned a bunch of high end, thermal, room-darkening curtains. I collected all the half price curtains and rods I needed and paired them with their full price partners. Curtains for the living room, dining room and bedroom for a fraction of the anticipated price.
Hanging them has taken a bit of time, but the list of To-Dos is shrinking.
The master bedroom has gone from done to more done to lived in.
The dining room has fast become my favorite room, with plenty of family dinners around the table (pork and apples, scalloped potatoes and veg - yum!).
Inside is not the only place changing fast - the yard has undergone dramatic transformation. Uncle Jim and Cousin Jimmy were over with giant tree chopping equipment. The nasty tree overshadowing the entire facade of the house is gone and Saturday Russ and I spent the day clearing weeds, shrubs, and leaves. With each bag of yard waste the house looked less haunted. I'm not sure whether it add or detracted to our Halloween appeal for trick-or-treaters!
We had a Mom-crashing incident both Saturday and Sunday. She was a huge help finishing the yard on Saturday after I lost steam. I can marathon ... I'm not so strong for hours of manual labor though! Sunday, she was back to get curtains up in the kitchen and sunroom. The curtains in the sunroom were necessary once the tree was removed. The kitchen was pure (and needed) motherly-touch.
Tonight, the living room was set up courtesy of High-Tech Electrical. Russ had one of his buddies over to help get our pull-out couch up the narrow stairs and the living room couch and rug situated.
Next up for me is the little cupboard in the dining room. I sanded, primed and painted it yesterday. It needs a second coat and the shelves painted. I think I'll use the space for family photos. We certainly don't need any more storage space!
Next up for Russ is the powder room. It's components are currently in the entry way ...
I had an amazing shopping experience at Bed Bath & Beyond. Someone with my exact design color palette returned a bunch of high end, thermal, room-darkening curtains. I collected all the half price curtains and rods I needed and paired them with their full price partners. Curtains for the living room, dining room and bedroom for a fraction of the anticipated price.
Hanging them has taken a bit of time, but the list of To-Dos is shrinking.
The master bedroom has gone from done to more done to lived in.
The dining room has fast become my favorite room, with plenty of family dinners around the table (pork and apples, scalloped potatoes and veg - yum!).
Inside is not the only place changing fast - the yard has undergone dramatic transformation. Uncle Jim and Cousin Jimmy were over with giant tree chopping equipment. The nasty tree overshadowing the entire facade of the house is gone and Saturday Russ and I spent the day clearing weeds, shrubs, and leaves. With each bag of yard waste the house looked less haunted. I'm not sure whether it add or detracted to our Halloween appeal for trick-or-treaters!
We had a Mom-crashing incident both Saturday and Sunday. She was a huge help finishing the yard on Saturday after I lost steam. I can marathon ... I'm not so strong for hours of manual labor though! Sunday, she was back to get curtains up in the kitchen and sunroom. The curtains in the sunroom were necessary once the tree was removed. The kitchen was pure (and needed) motherly-touch.
Tonight, the living room was set up courtesy of High-Tech Electrical. Russ had one of his buddies over to help get our pull-out couch up the narrow stairs and the living room couch and rug situated.
Next up for me is the little cupboard in the dining room. I sanded, primed and painted it yesterday. It needs a second coat and the shelves painted. I think I'll use the space for family photos. We certainly don't need any more storage space!
Next up for Russ is the powder room. It's components are currently in the entry way ...
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