Thing 11

We had no plans for this weekend.  Nelson wanted to get the last of our belongings over to the house, but I quickly dissolved him of that notion.  My rationale?  If we don't get away this weekend, we won't have a chance for quite awhile.  Besides, I told him, I worked my tooshie off all week to make this weekend a fun one.  A little rationalizing, with a whole lot of sweet talking can work wonders!

I had a hankering for Maryland crabs and longed to sit in a crab shack with butcher paper on the tables, and hammer in hand.  My fabulous hubby had the perfect locale in mind, and it was only a 4 hour drive to dinner.  That's much closer than from Oakville!  Cantler's Riverside Inn outside Annapolis is THE place to go when you want the atmosphere and crab eating experience.  Here's an insider's tip: get there early.  We figured 4:30 pm would be less busy, but we still had to wait almost an hour.  It was messy, it was fun, it was DELICIOUS, and most of all, it was memorable.  Both the kids tried crab, and only one walked away loving it.  Still, it's more about the adventure and trying something new, which I find is easier when you're doing something out of the ordinary.

It would have been nice to stay and see more of Baltimore and Annapolis, but that will have to wait for another visit.  We still have SOME work to do before the movers show up in the morning.  Darn.  On the work part, not the moving part.  FINALLY, we'll get to sleep in our own pad tomorrow.

Thing 11 I love about this move is that Maryland crabs are much closer.  Tie that in with my family going along with my crazy idea of driving to Baltimore for dinner, and we have a winning combination.  We shared plenty of laughs and jokes as a result of the trip, and that wouldn't have been the case had we done boring old work all day.

Maryland crabs rock.  But not as much as my family does.

                                             Guess who wasn't loving the crab....?!

                                            Her smile grew wider after losing a tooth that day.

The truth

Truthfully, I wanted to post another "thing I love" but I would be dismissing the fact that life isn't always a bed of roses, especially when it comes to a move.

This move has gone more smoothly than I could have planned (shout out to the Big Kahuna upstairs).  We've had a beautiful apartment to live in for the past three months.  Our contractor has been amazing- even finishing ahead of schedule.  The "U and left turn" sign isn't leaving me cursing nearly as much.

Yet, three weeks of back and forth to the house, and not having it be our home just yet, can play with one's emotions.  Something in me snapped the other day.  I was grumpy, tired, and just plain fed up with having a nesting instinct, but not being in my nest.  Patience anyone?  I think- no - I know, God was using that moment to teach me.  Driving back to the apartment alone, I broke down in tears.  It dawned on me that we've invested in this house, so that we might enjoy the fruits of it.  But God wants us to invest in people (using our house) so that we might bear the fruits on the other side of heaven.  My prayer from day one of this move has been that we might be used to further His kingdom.  If my house can exude anything good, let it be the love of Christ.

A few more tears were shed, and then KLOVE played a perfect song- what a surprise.  NOT.  God's got me covered.   I just needed a good smack on the head and a strong reminder that there's a much bigger picture here.  Losing sight of that wasn't helpful.  Now with only a few days left until the movers appear, I'm confident that whatever frustrations take hold with boxes, or lost articles, or chaos, there's a perfect God who has it all under control.

That's the truth.

Wanna peek?

We spent a week in Maine, trying to escape the "normal" here.
Turns out it was a great call.  The floors were finally being done, and the painting in the kitchen, family room and mud hallway were being finished.

Surprises and me are the best of friends.  I love them- it's precisely why I waited to find out my children's sex until they were born.  When we left last weekend the biggest rooms weren't yet painted, and I'm so glad I had to wait a week to see it.  All week, there was the anticipation of seeing what the paint looked like on the walls.  Would we like it?  Did it turn out as I planned?  Was this a huge mistake?

Yes, yes and no to the above.  WHEW.  Dodged that bullet!

And can I tell you?  The floors are the cat's pajamas!  We made the decision to have them darkened slightly and they turned out stellar.  It's all fallen into place perfectly and I couldn't be more pleased (or excited, truthfully).

The down side of this is that we now have to begin moving our belongings from the apartment to the house.  Silly me, I thought we didn't have that much stuff here in this small flat.  WRONG, WRONG and WRONG.  It multiplied overnight, that's all I can figure.  My "we don't need a minivan" minivan will come to the rescue, yet again.  She's handy that way.

I thought of you when I was taking photographs there tonight.  Really, I was.  I'll show you a few to whet your appetite.  No peeking at the kitchen, however, until later.  Until then- enjoy!

                                                    Piano room before .......

                                                                  The piano room after.

                                                     Family room before.....

                                                         Our soon to be American family room.

                                                      Dining room before.....

                                                                  Dining Room after.
                         

Thing 10

We were all set to head to the Science Center this morning....a fun activity by all accounts.  One that was sorely needed since apparently all we ever do is "visit the house and run errands".  Whoa....back up the bus!

In an attempt to make things more palatable, I called Nelson's co-worker's wife.  We hadn't yet met, but from what he told me I knew we'd get along (plus she stays home with her two kids).  I asked if she's like to meet up with the kids.  She was game and suggested the Science Center.

Today was the day. Excited kids, well rested Mom, and we were good to go.  Except for the car.  It began making this horrible noise.  I put it in park and walked around the vehicle to see if I ran over anything, or if something was hanging off the undercarriage to cause such a racket.  The one thing I noticed was a half-flat tire.  Lovely.  Those two excited kids I mentioned?  Now they weren't so excited.  They understood completely that we shouldn't be driving 45 minutes on the highway, only to chance something worse happening.

Our day's drive took us to the local dealer instead.  Luckily they could fit us in and fix it.  Not so luckily, it wasn't cheap.  (Is a trip to the dealer EVER?)

All this is to say that when I called my new friend to tell her the bad news, she was disappointed, but offered to have us over for dinner instead, so we could still meet and talk.  How cool is that?  I'm telling ya- people like that are instantly high on my list!  Another confirmation that God's got us covered here.

Thing 10 I love?  That one person was willing to be hospitable on the fly.  My day easily could have been soured, but by one small act, she turned it around for us.  You never know how your actions will affect someone else.  Keep that in mind next time you do something kind.

Moving along....

 Week one of renovations is over, and the house is an entirely new house.  Whew!

Most of the house hadn't been touched in over 20 years, and needed lots of TLC.  It was the era of wall to wall carpeting, with each room a different color.  Wallpaper in hideous prints abounded, and in the master we hit the jackpot- painted walls with wallpaper UNDERNEATH.  Yippity-do-dah.  Thank God for great contractors.

The wood floors are visible throughout now, and luckily, are in great shape.  There's not a stitch of wallpaper left anywhere, and the walls have been patched and primed, even painted in some rooms.  Finally, the house is no longer lost in time, but has been brought forward to 2011.

We've been visiting the house daily to see what transformations occur.  Sometimes we even find little projects to keep us out of trouble.  Just today, we tearfully removed some brown and orange window treatments (sniff sniff).  If you believe that, I've got some ocean front property in Kansas I can sell you.
The decor that was left behind couldn't make it's way to the dumpster fast enough.

Enough babbling.  I bet you'd like to see some photos of what the rooms are looking like now....
Wait no longer!

                                 Upper hallway is now wallpaper free and has lovely wood floors.

                             Our Master, with all new dry wall thanks to the painted over wallpaper....

                                                   Master looking into the bathroom hallway.

                 Soon to be piano room, off the front hall and kitchen.  It's now wallpaper free too!

                  My kitchen is finally wall paper free and white.  Won't reveal the paint color until later....

                                   Look Ma!  No ugly wallpaper!  This mama is much happier now.

Ahhh....yes.

You knew this post was coming sooner or later- admit it.

What's the one thing every out of state (or out of country) move involves?  Anyone?  Anyone?

A trip to the DMV of course!  And today our number was up.  Nelson had been told by others to expect the process to take 5-6 hours.  Yep- you read that right- 5-6 HOURS.  Granted, we had to attain our licenses,register the vehicles, take a written test, and get the cars inspected.

I'm a big believer in planning ahead.  My plan of attack was to get there well before they opened so we could cruise right in and be ahead of the rush.  We showed up at 7am and were the first in line.  (Pat on the back for that move.)  An hour later we were greeted by the "boss" who was quite chipper, and requested us to "greet his employees in a friendly manner", because-  "if you had to see all these people in one day, you'd want people to be nice to you."  I swear on my Bible- that's what he said out loud.  Only  in New Jersey.

 So would it surprise you, that in stereotypical DMV fashion, not a single employee was friendly, or helpful?  In fact, quite the opposite.  But then, you're not surprised.  Please say you aren't.

It's a good thing I'm reserving judgment of New Jerseyans here.  The saving grace, is that I'm pretty sure all DMV experiences are the same everywhere in this nation.

7 hours in total spent in that building.  7 hours I won't get back.

Now it's time for a stiff drink......

Thing 9

There's a Texas sized dumpster sitting in our driveway.  Does this tell you enough?

I'm not going to share photos just yet of the work.....that will come later, in a transformation post (bet you're just itchin' to see the befores and afters!)

You'll be happy to know that today, I finalized paint colors throughout the house.  Many times I had to remind myself that being "risky" is good, and that life would be terribly boring if all decisions were "safe".  Of course, my idea of "risky" could be another person's "safe".  With any luck, our personalities will be showcased in our choice of colors.  You'll have to visit to give your opinion.

But I digress.  When the contractor was removing the sheet rock in our master bedroom he found something interesting in the wall.  The house was built in 1967.  Just setting the stage....

Here's what he found buried in between the studs:

Are you kidding me?  Not just ANY beer- but Schaefer beer.  I about fell over laughing!  My maiden name, on a can with a nearly perfect spelling (short one f).  To me, it was another confirmation that we are exactly where we're supposed to be.  Call me crazy, but I'm keeping this can and framing it to display somewhere in our humble abode- maybe next to the really old built in radio that I refused to let Nelson remove.

Thing 9- I love that an old beer can from 1967 can be a reminder today, that nothing is a co-inky-dink!