For Want of Shelf Paper, They Ate Out of Tupperware
For want of shelf paper, the plates were lost
For want of plates, the boxes were lost
For want of boxes, the packing was lost
For want of packing, the basement was lost
For want of the basement, all household items were lost
All for the want of shelf paper, the diners were forced to eat dinner out of Tupperware that was laying around.
RichardM...thank you for the push. Moving took (is taking) much, much, much longer than expected. And it is quite disheartening. We had to cut it off at some point in order to chaperone Moose to a conference.
We worked our butts off to get everything out of the house so our friend/neighbor could move in. If we hadn't had that hanging over our heads we would have taken our time and felt less pressure. But it is what it is. We managed to empty the "house", but there are still remnants in the garage that will have to be dealt with next week.
DefCon is a nice break. Though this too shall end and back to the grindstone we will be dealing with paint, carpet, more moving of his mother, of our stuff out of the basement and into our living area. Sigh. I refuse to think about it.
I had hoped to share pictures, but since we are still in the middle of moving I haven't had time to give you teasers. Here are a couple of walk through images that might tide you over for a little while.
What is terribly depressing is that my entire previous household manages to fit into one room in the basement, with room to spare. Sitting in the emptiness that is upstairs, waiting for carpet, makes me feel the massiveness of this new house. I do not intend on filling it. I'm liking empty space...
But we do have a little slice of home set up in another room in the basement. Oilburner is finally getting his movie/theater room.
We have way too much shit. (Sorry Grandpa, but that is the best word for it. Crap just does do this junk justice.)
We've managed to pack up about half of the kitchen, most of the bookshelves in the living room (devoid of books, but fragiles remain for packing), and most of the spare room. Remaining: master bedroom, closet (ugh), office, and garage (oh my goodness, I don't even want to think about that!!)
The bad part is that I really want to downsize, I just don't want to spend the time and energy to go through the stuff now as that is precisely what we don't have: time. So it is all getting boxed up and moved to the new place. Oiburner and I have made a pact that as we unpack we will purge.
I just think of Sonja and Roland and friends D&T going through their items three or four times, winnowing down the "important" items and taking only what is necessary. I want a simpler life. I need a simpler life in order to face the changes coming up.
My Mother In Law is no longer capable of living on her own. After some changes of mind on her part, she kinda sprang it on us that she wanted to move in with us. (Yes we had offered, but she was pretty adamant at one time that she wasn't going to accept.) The sudden reversal of decision and subsequent edict to go out and buy a new house had us spinning. Yeah, MIL could live in our house, but then she wouldn't be able to bring any of her stuff.
Her primary requirements were bed (king size), baby grand piano, and grandfather clock. I understand all these things. But they won't fit in our current house. We really struggled with an idea of finally building that garage we wanted, turning the current garage into living space, and calling it good. However, that wouldn't happen in the truncated time table we had to work in. MIL had made up her mind and didn't understand what was taking so long.
So we canceled all vacation plans and set in earnest to looking for houses that would fit all of our requirements. That was not a fun process, especially as Oilburner was traveling in another state for much of it. In between, we also flew to CA to help clean up her house in order to put it on the market. Again...mind made up, it has to be done NOW!
Then the struggles began to include, "So now I get to bring all my furniture" instead of just the three most important items. Yeah... that is a daily, ongoing struggle that will only end when the furniture truck arrives and we put our feet down as to what makes it past the hallowed doors...and what doesn't. I'm not looking forward to this...
As for the moto content...wait till you see the man cave... We close this Friday, I'll post pictures then.
Update: 90% of the master closet is packed (which is also the linen closet), the office closet is empty of various and sundry motorcycle and all other manner of clothing, and the bookshelves in the office are starting to show some bare patches. Wonder if we actually will complete this disaster by Friday???
One little hatchling has made an appearance. Not even strong enough to cheep, just lift its little head. Hope momma comes back with food soon! Oilburner is thinking of going to buy some worms...
It was beautiful riding weather this past weekend. The temperatures were perfect near 72F, wide blue skies, slight breezes light enough give you a whiff of the blooming flowers. And we didn't ride.
Of course, people are constantly telling us that there is more to life than riding. I guess I have to agree with them, but that doesn't mean that I always want to do much more with my life than ride.
This weekend was a change. There has been some crazy stuff going on in life lately, and it was a wise idea to have a relaxed weekend and just take the 4 wheeled vehicle some place.
Years and years ago we learned of a place in Alabama called the Unclaimed Baggage Center. This is an interesting business paradigm that purchases the unclaimed baggage that the airlines are not able to get back to their owners. (You can read about the process on their website.) They have discovered some unimagineable items in luggage they have purchased, from African Tribal Breastplates to live snakes. They purchase the bags, catalog and clean the contents, and put them up for sale. (This is legal as the airline has already reimbursed the bag owner for the lost luggage.)
We had never traveled there as it was on the cusp of a day trip vs an overnight. It is about 3 1/2 hours away by car, one way. When we had puppies, I didn't want to subject them to us being gone for that amount of time. So we never went. Of course, by the time we lost our beloved puppies, we had forgotten about the place.
We were reminded of it a couple weeks ago when some friends wanted to go. Again, we agonized over making it an overnight trip. But truthfully, there isn't anything in Scottsboro, Alabama that one would want to see, other than Unclaimed Baggage. Going there for just that seemed a waste of a good weekend. (Though there are a couple of good roads on the way, just add another 2 hours to the trip to get to them.)
We also had to question if we should ride or drive. Riding would be more enjoyable, but the saddlebags are only so big. What if a canoe had come in that just had to come home with me?
Well, we decided last weekend was the one, and instead of staying in Scottsboro, we would hop over another hour to Chattanooga, TN for an overnight trip. Now, to ride or drive? Bah...drive. As much as we would have enjoyed riding, we wanted to relax and spend some time together.
The Unclaimed Baggage Center was interesting. At one time it may have been an hodge podge type place where you could uncover some phenomenal deals because someone didn't know what they had. With the popularity of the internet, ebay, and amazon everything can be discovered quickly and can be priced competitvely. Though deals can still be found on items that are not mainstream yet and people don't know what to look for. (Case in point, our friend found a bluetooth headset attached to a charger. It was placed in with all the chargers on a large peg board. For his knowledge of what the item was, and his eye to actually spying it, he would never have seen the $140 bluetooth headset that was priced for $16 amongst the hundreds of other chargers.) However, for iPad's and iPhones, they darn well know the market price for those and price those items accordingly
Not being a big clothes shopper, or handbag user, much of the place is lost on me. Though even I could see the attaction of some name brand handbags for $2. I am just more attracted to electronics. The bags and bags of chargers wasn't appealing, as I had no interest in sifting through them, so I sauntered over to the camera counter. There were oodles and oodles of point and shoot cameras, mostly just slightly used looking. I love seeing the rows of colorful cameras all lined up like little soldiers. But my passion lay in the DSLR cabinet. You could take your pick of Nikon or Canon. I can't tell you what Nikon models were there as I'm not up on those, but there were plenty of Canon's with many Rebel models well represented. Yeah...unfortunately my eye was captivated by the 7D...
We also went to the Lodge Outlet, makers of fine cast iron cookware. I am a firm believer that all women should own a cast iron skillet. For self defense. ;) (No pictures, I don't know what is with me and my missing camera lately.) I did happen to purchase a skillet for pancakes and a couple jars of jam.
Our only form of sightseeing was this cool bridge in South Pittsburg, TN that Moose thoroughly enjoyed. Moose was less than thrilled to see the Bellefonte Nuclear Generating Station. Though it has never produced any electricity and has been sitting for more than 20 years, even supplying spare parts to other reactors in the area.
