I could bore you with details about a horrific nightmare that just woke me, but suffice it to say that it was like my psyche said, "Know what? Let's have most of her fears just come waddling out tonight and scare the bejesus out of her..." There's so much I'm not writing about here, mainly because a) I haven't had time, and b) when I do find a moment, I'm so pooped from all the 'setting up house' errands that I don't feel like doing anything but sitting and doing pretty much nothing. So let me sum up the week thus far on the most boring 'here's what I did' level...
Monday our mission was to buy a bed. It was going to be our biggest purchase--our one big splurge--and by Monday boyfriend was antsy that we hadn't checked it off the list. A local mattress store ran a big ad in the Sunday paper, offering huge discounts and free set-up and delivery. We had visited their Vacaville store a couple of weeks ago and liked what we'd seen. I noticed in the ad that they have a store in Davis, so we went there instead. Bottom line: bed was purchased and it will be delivered on Monday. We move in on Sunday, but we'll sleep Sunday night in Dixon. And we can finally say we own a decent bed--a major milestone for my gypsy ass. I've been sleeping on CRAPPY (borrowed, hand-me-down or cheap) mattresses my entire life! At 50 (and having suffered from insomnia since childhood) I think I deserve a decent bed. Maybe I'll actually, you know, sleep through the night. What a concept.
Also on Monday I helped CH order some stuff online for next week's Dixon May Fair parade. They're going to have a float (representing their bar) in the May 7th parade and they've chosen a Mardis Gras theme. The Mardis Gras masks we ordered online arrived yesterday and I can't believe how cool they are for the price (between $2.30 and $3.50 each). Still to come: hats (in Mardis Gras colors and most in a jester theme) and boas. Yesterday she received a kit she'd ordered to build a set of columns with a large mask joining them. We were going to attempt to assemble one of the columns last night, but her fabulous striper piccata dinner, followed by DVD watching in front of the fire, took precedence.
After we left the mattress store on Monday, we went to Borders to search for New Orleans music. We were looking for tunes that could be added to the mix CD played on the float during the parade. (CD's by Dirty Dozen Brass Band and Rebirth Brass Band were purchased. If you've got a hankering for that type of music, check them out.) Boyfriend will be riding on the float, playing the drums along to the recorded music. That's because I opened my big mouth and said it would be a good idea--so now he has to do it whether he wants to or not. :) But he's great at playing a New Orleans second-line rhythm, and who doesn't love the sound of drummers in a parade? First prize for parade entries is $500. So maybe they'll take the prize, although the float is mainly being done as advertising for their business.
Tuesday was utilities day. We opened accounts for electric/gas, land line/long distance, and cable/broadband (to be installed on Tuesday afternoon). In the afternoon we hit Target where we snagged a TV cart (which will also be used for the stereo) and two sets of shelves for the living room. In the evening, I took C. to her swim practice and then we swung by our new favorite (their favorite) Chinese place for take-out. The rest of the family met up with us at home after M. picked up K. from cheer practice and CH brought Z home from his baseball game (both in Vacaville). Z. went 3 for 3 (including a home run) and pitched. He was bummed we'd missed it, since the previous game we'd seen his team had played badly. These school/activity schedules spread across two towns make for some serious logistics juggling.
Wednesday the boyfriend had an appointment to meet with a guy at a country club in Davis. There was a job opening listed in the Davis paper and he jumped on it. But it was a disappointment--the guy told him he was WAY over-qualified and the opening was for low level work with pay to match. Next up on the agenda was a meet-up with boyfriend's parents, aunt and uncle, another aunt and a cousin. They were headed up I-5 on their way back to Portland after a road trip to Birmingham, Alabama. (We'd seen his folks off while we were in Portland.) We had them meet us at the BBQ spot in Woodland I mentioned awhile back. We had a nice lunch, hit the thrift store a few doors down to buy a cane for his uncle (he'd left his previous one at a gas station somewhere) and then they were on their way. We spent the remainder of the afternoon shopping for a stereo, finally making a purchase at Circuit City in Fairfield.
Yesterday our mission was to pick up the desk we'd purchased at the Woodland thrift store and swing by Target in Woodland to buy the dresser we'd spotted at Target in Vacaville (but had been unable to buy because it wouldn't fit in the car). We borrowed M's pickup to run those errands. Then CH joined us at the Chinese place for lunch. After lunch she headed to Vacaville to retrieve Z. from school, pick up K. after her cheer practice and then hit Target for some shopping. We went off to pick up C. from school, who was accompanied by her friend A. We told them they'd have to accompany us to Ace Hardware to buy some paint (for the desk and chair). C. dubbed our mission "boring"...although she wasn't so bored when a few minutes later she was surprised to find her oldest friend inside the store. :) The girls tried out the hammocks and porch swings while boyfriend picked up our supplies. I tried to keep them fairly restrained, but C. petty much does cartwheels all the time...including the aisles of Ace.
Then it was home for popsicles and trampoline-jumping (for the girls) and sanding and painting (for the boyfriend and me). The girls eventually wandered out to where we were painting in front of the garage and began PLEADING for the chance to help. I let them do some of the first coat on the chair. What had seemed "boring"' a short while before had suddenly become their new favorite thing to do in the whole wide world. Funny how that works. In between coats I zipped over to Wal-Mart to buy fabric and foam to recover the seat of our $5 thrift store chair. When I returned, there they were--cartwheeling in the front yard while boyfriend painted. They asked if I'd be their spinner so they could play Twister, and after we finished the second coat of paint, I obliged them. Twister was abandoned as soon as my sister-in-law came in the door bearing new sneakers for C. So I rejoined the boyfriend (who'd already applied the final coat of paint) to help him recover the chair cushion. We could have bought some desk-in-a-box unit from Target or somewhere else, but we kind of like having our little thrift store set-up--all painted and recovered to make it one-of-a-kind.
The to-do list is getting smaller and smaller. This morning we'll be back at Ace Hardware for some drawer pulls for the desk, and then stop by a storage place near the house to discuss renting a U-Haul on Sunday. M. has a small flat-bed trailer that he's offered along with his pickup. But the trailer doesn't have sides and by the time we secure everything (to boyfriend's satisfaction, which means it would require a lot of securing), it would be easier (and probably cheaper, gas-wise) to just use a truck and move it all in one trip. What a blessing it's been to have the garage here to use as storage this past month while we continue to add to our pile of stuff for the duplex.
And then there are a few things we'd forgotten to even put on the shopping list. Like a printer. (How we could have forgotten that item is beyond me.) And an iron and ironing board. (Not that I plan on doing much of that, but it will be a necessity at some point.) And towels. (I had to call the realtor to ask what color the bathroom tile is because we couldn't remember.) We still need to find out where the nearest laundromats are. Can't say I'm going to be looking forward to having to deal with laundromats again, but it's not the end of the world. Our little duplex beats living in a boxy little apartment in an apartment complex.
The realtor phoned on Wednesday to say she was having the tub refinished (very nice) and that her contractor will be repainting the living room and bedroom today and tomorrow (yay!). We meet her at 9:30 on Sunday morning to get the keys and do the walk-through.
It's hard to believe that by the time we move in on Sunday, we will have been in California a month. Our first weekend here, my folks were visiting, so it was all about family time. So we had about three days (Friday through Sunday) to just kind of chill. But even that first Sunday afternoon we went car shopping. By the following morning we'd decided to purchase the Solara from my brother...and we've been on the go ever since. Even our one road trip to Portland included a lot of shopping for the house. This is the first time I've ever had to set up house from scratch. I've either already had furniture...had it loaned or handed down to me...or in the case of St. Thomas, rented fully furnished places. Setting up a house (even a teensy duplex) from scratch is a lot of work! But it feels like we've done it the right way--we've tackled a few items on our to-do list every day, so we'd also have time for family activities, an occasional relaxing meal somewhere or just a few moments to enjoy the drive between points A and B. I know it hasn't made for scintillating reading, but thanks for hanging in there during this transition time. In a couple of days our new life begins (in earnest). We'll have our own place and we'll be able to get back to our own rhythms. I hope you'll stay tuned...
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