O Christmas...Snowflakes?

What is turning into a tradition with my friend Jenni...pedicures and ethnic food.  Only one is pictured.

This is the message of Christmas: We are never alone. ~Taylor Caldwell

O Christmas Lists

Started to make my things-to-make Christmas list this morning.  Couldn't find any actual paper, so its on a folded up piece of wrapping paper (the kind you move with, not the kind you wrap with).

Yikes....its kinda long....can I finish it in 2 weeks?

It is Christmas in the heart that puts Christmas in the air. ~ W.T. Ellis

O Christmas tree

A housewarming gift from my dear friend, Sarah, who knows exactly what this place needs, even from the far away land of Texas....

My first Christmas tree, in all its miniature splendor:

I have friends in overalls whose friendship I would not swap for the favor of the kings of the world.

~ Thomas A. Edison

Pure Joy

I think that discovery is one of the biggest perks of moving.  You find things you had given up for lost, you finally make the decision to keep or throw, and you learn to solve mysteries every day...

I have discovered:
- why that lightswitch by the front door formerly had tape on it.  That means don't turn it off.
- the pantry light in the kitchen shines through this random large vent into the living room - making it the best nightlight ever
- just because the living room is warm, doesn't mean the bedroom will be (I indulged myself yesterday at Tuesday Morning and bought my first set of flannel sheets for my bed and a new down-alternative blanket.  I had to.  I was freezing...)
- it doesn't matter which direction I have my front window shades...you can still see inside.  This doesn't give me great confidence for my bedroom shades (which I am remedying today by finally putting up my blackout curtains)
- why half the lightswitches here have this random sheet of plastic around them...fingerprints!
- the backyard light is a motion light that only turns on when you cross the sidewalk to the right side of the yard.  GOOD TO KNOW. 
- my bathtub is super slippery.  perhaps i shouldn't have cleaned it so well.

Other good things:
- I met my mailman.  It could have been the morning light, but I would SWEAR he looks exactly like John Malkovich.  With hair.
- Atticus is doing much better.  The move stressed him out...the boxes, the suitcases, etc.  When I was in my apartment, he never left my side.  I accidentally kicked him a couple of times (not knowing he was there), and he still didn't leave my side.  Now, he's still clingy, but less so.  He enjoys sniffing all the nooks and crannies of this place...especially the closets. 
- speaking of apartments, I got rid of mine yesterday.  Spent 6 hours on Monday scrubbing the crap out of that place to have the apartment manager look around for a minute and say "looks great, you shouldn't be charged for anything".  I wanted to demand she look in the oven and refrigerator and all the closets, but I didn't.  I'd rather get my deposit back than make the point the place was clean.
- most of the kitchen is clean and unpacked.  there are so many drawers in the kitchen that I think I'm going to load them with kitchen towels instead of putting them in the linen closet.  the pantry is so huge that all my food fit on one shelf before I decided to spread it to two shelves to make it look more even.  To answer your next question, there's 5 large shelves and a bunch of tiny shelves to one side. 

You know, I had absolutely no questions or qualms or misgivings about moving.  Yes, it was stressful and a lot of extra work and money, but I never thought to myself "am I doing the right thing?"  I KNEW I was doing the right thing.  Despite all that, its nice to see proof that what I did was the right thing.

I call this photo "Pure Joy".  I just wish you all could see his face better.

Life is a great big canvas, and you should throw all the paint on it you can. ~ Danny Kaye

My bathroom (for a laugh)

In this whole house, there is only one mirror - in the bathroom.  (At the apartment I had 3 huge mirrors - I couldn't get away from myself sometimes).  I wanted to demonstrate how silly the single mirror was, but couldn't think of a better way.  I can only see myself from like the collarbone up. 

Introducing me, 8am, after about 10 hours of sleep, 2 cups of coffee, and no shower for 3 days.  (There's no other explanation for why I'm doing this.  And yes, I'm taking a shower in a minute....) 

My idea of housework is to sweep the room with a glance. ~ Erma Bombeck

Moving day! (the next day)

My day...in pictures...

My friend Jayme came over and hung out with me and Atticus while the movers did their thing.  I bought her washer/dryer and her microwave as well. 

Leaning tower of boxes before.

And after.  It was pouring outside during the move so there is currently leaves all over the carpet.

New place...Atticus supervising the movers.



He was so excited it was hard for him to sit still all day.



He approves of the large empty room.  (Bedroom 2)

A sunroom add-on to the house, which is a perfect place to dry off Atticus before he comes inside.  One of these days I'll show you all the cool details - it has indoor flower boxes that vent to the outside, and old fashioned vents at the top of the walls. 

New place...living room.  Apparently I can't take a straight picture.  This doesn't even show you how huge it is....all my furniture is still willy nilly.

Other side of the living room.  The fireplace is propane...I need to fill the tank.

Apartment kitchen.  Notice the lack of counter space.

House kitchen.  The set up is weird (refrigerator gets in the way of the cabinets and the stove is stand-alone), but look at the counterspace!!!!  10 feet of counters!!!  What you can't see is I'm standing in an eat-in area.  I need to buy a table.

My "new" washer/dryer.  At the end of the kitchen. I need to try them out to make sure they work/no leaks in the plumbing, then I'll stack them.  Pantry door on the right.  Door leading to the hallway straight on.

The coolest part of the kitchen.  This is a nook in the back of the fireplace.  Before the fireplace had the gas insert, it was woodburning....And this was the nook to put bread you wanted to raise, because the fireplace would of course make this nook nice and toasty. 

Oh yeah...and old red counters.  I'm in love.

So, thats a quick look at moving day!

If anyone wants a recommendation for movers in Kitsap County, I'll give you the name of my guys.  They were AWESOME.  Even more awesome was the one guy noticed I had put "coffee pot" on the box holding my coffee pot and put it on the kitchen counter for me.  I didn't have to search for it. 

This house has a ton of quirks and random things that are weird (like no room for the refrigerator and the fact that I need 3 different keys to get into the house), but its still awesome and I can barely contain my excitement.

Right now Atticus and I are just chilling in the 3am quietness of the neighborhood, drinking coffee, lounging around, and just enjoying the pre-day peace.  When 7am rolls around I'll be out the door, off to home depot (I need a needle-nose pliers to get some of the anchors out of the walls of my apartment.  Darn me for knowing how to hang a shelf properly), and I will spend the day scrubbing and spackling and cleaning.  My goal is to have the apartment sparkling so I can rid myself of it tomorrow. 

Hope you all are doing well this Monday after Thanksgiving.  Back to work!!!

Pleasure is spread through the earth
In stray gifts to be claimed by whoever shall find.
~ William Wordsworth

One day more

There are very few monsters who warrant the fear we have of them. ~ Andre Gide