We Made It

 I choose to forget all the horrible fatigue and aching muscles and frustration that goes along with a move and just think about today and how totally happy I was all day.  I'll get back to writing more details, but this was a day that checked all the boxes.  Except the weather.  I'm past ready for some more warm weather!  Not the heat we endured earlier but just a day that feels like it wants to be spring.

I met a new friend the other day when Noreen and I were sitting in the sunshine at the pool.  Emily had told me one of her friends had a mother who was moving to town and would be in the apartments.  When this lady came up to the fence asking what the pool code was, I immediately knew this was Celia's mom.  I met her another day when I was getting my mail, and we made plans to have pool coffee today.  I'm so glad it worked out the way it did, because even though I took a jacket, I was just chilled, and there was no sunshine at all, just gray sky.

I asked Mary if she wanted to just come to my place (yikes! visitors already), and she did, so we had a nice warm visit.  Besides grandchildren and children, we spent a good bit of time comparing how to fit a full house of "stuff" into a tiny place.  I'm surprising myself with how much I'm able to get into those kitchen cabinets and the hall closet.  This morning I felt like I could fit nothing more in, but I knew the boxes with the mixer, the waffle maker, the toaster, and 2 decorative things I like a lot were still to be unpacked.  I'll have to take some pictures later on, but I do think I have everything I use within easy reach, and mixing bowls and casserole dishes and Dutch ovens are around the corner in the hall closet.

The rest of the day I spent emptying almost all of the boxes.  Such a good feeling.  I had a nice guy come get all my boxes earlier this week, and I texted him tonight that I had about 15 more if he wants them.  Fingers crossed.  Nothing cleans up a garage better than getting the empty boxes out.

The cats seem to be coping nicely.  I have 3 big windows across the front of the apartment, and one or both of them are always perched there looking out at the sidewalk, hoping for some excitement.  If I go sit on the porch, they will creep out there with me and wander off to the area between mine and Noreen's porches where there is a pretty area with a Japanese maple and some evergreens.  Bowie loves to act like he knows how to climb a tree and puts his paws up on the trunk.  They keep a pretty good eye on me though, and when I stand up, they are inside before me.  I'm glad.  I don't want them out stalking birds and exciting passing dogs.  They seem to love just this little bit of wildness.

I kept the girls some of every day this week except for today.  They had tennis camp every morning from 9:00 until 12:00, and they loved it.  I think it was mainly because of the teenage boys who were their coaches and the 6th and 7th grade girls in the upper classes who were sweet to them.  I'm not ready to hear about apps and phone cases quite yet, but I'm thankful for nice little girls who are sweet to my babies.  They invited them to the Dairy Freeze one day.  The older girls rode their bikes, but we drove over there, and it was a nice outdoor little ice cream party (lemonade for the vegan girls).  I met a couple of the mothers, and the girls loved having some time to talk.  Graysen is now hoping she gets invited to a sleepover by one of them.  Calm down, little girl.  There's plenty of time!

I'm exhausted at bedtime and have no trouble sleeping, so I haven't been concerned about having windows so low.  I close them and lock them right now, but I think most people just leave them open.  I can't say I've heard of a break-in here - just some cars - but I have to get comfortable before I do it.  Last night my squeegee fell in the shower.  The shower is not tile, and the suction holder gave way, and the metal handle made quite a bit of noise.  I was disoriented when I woke up and thought the sound was coming from the living room/kitchen.  I really don't like being awakened so suddenly like that, and it took me a long time to get back to sleep. 

I'm hoping for some advice and muscle this weekend for moving a few things around and hanging some pictures, and I think I will feel right at home.  I've been parking outside the garage the last couple of days, but I like knowing I can park on the street just 10 steps from my front door if I want to.  I brought in six bags of groceries this week - easily.  I do not miss those stairs AT ALL.  

I'll see if I have any pictures this week.

They have to do chores and reading before they can start any games or other activities.  They love to read, but it's hard to get them settled down to actually do it.  The library is finally open, but there was not a good selection.  We'll try some different libraries next week.

The garage is a nice place to make a mess.  It opens from the laundry room, and it's easy for me to keep an eye on them.  They only wanted to mix colors and do "experiments" and make potions, and they did a good job of making that mess.

Those expanders and retainers and other hardware are doing their jobs on Katherine's teeth.  Her new ones have plenty of room.  It makes me sad to see her have to sleep in a "cage" and see the red marks it makes on her chin sometimes.  :(  She does seem to be adjusting just fine though.

New tennis friends.

This is the only picture I took the whole week.  I was able to wait in the car and have them come to me.  Ryan took one of Katherine the first day.  One of the coaches said she was a good server.  I had a little worry about her getting frustrated, but this was just a little one-week camp, and those teenage boys got right down on their level and make them feel special and made them laugh, and the girls just adored them. 

And the house.  I finally took up that plastic pathway.  I was glad to have it, as many steps in and out as we took.  Even moving down in size, I wanted to keep Mama's china cabinet, and I think it will work.  I don't need a whole bunch of chairs in there, and I enjoy seeing it along with Aunt Myrtle's marble-topped plant stand and the little desk Mike and I bought at a junk store in Trion, GA, in 1968 for $35.  First purchase - favorite thing I own.  Can't forget the little case Kathy gave me for maybe a Christmas gift?  We keep the girls' books in there.

I enjoyed K204 while I lived there, but I don't miss it.  All the memories from there aren't good, but it was fine while it lasted.  

At some point, the girls' kayaks passed by on their way to storage.

Not much time for taking pictures or much of anything this week, but it will all be much better from now on.

Counting Down Until Moving Day

 I have to admit I've been quite overwhelmed by all there is to do to get ready for this move plus trying to stay cool and trying to cover all my bases on address changing and coordinating moves and keys and just all of it.

I was hoping to get in earlier than Wednesday, but there is a strict policy here about going in the apartment before you take ownership, and that's July 7th.  So it will be a little bit of a surprise to me, as much as white walls and a familiar floor plan can be.  At least the carpets and floors will be new, and it should smell fresh and clean.  I'm not sure if I'll have to give up much in the way of space but might even gain a little.  Since Elise had the 3rd bedroom, I won't miss having it.  

Ryan came yesterday and moved down ALL the packed boxes.  I had wanted him to clear a path from the bedroom to the front door to get the recliner out in case I found someone who wanted it.  I can't even pick up a medium-sized box, and he was stacking them up AND taking them down all those stairs.  It does look much better, and I've vacuumed today and spot cleaned a little bit.  I now have boxes open in every room and just drop things in at random.  I shouldn't need more than a few things and will not be cooking at all.  

I picked up some things today at Safeway, and Katherine now has me shopping the sushi section.  She asked for cucumber rolls last time we went, and I tried an avocado one at their house this week.  Yum.  Even better, it has no fish, raw or otherwise in it.  Just a piece of avocado with seaweed-wrapped rice.  I'm not convinced I can give up meat, cheese, and eggs, but it's much easier than I thought.  

I'm not sure I would have tried it unless I had first taken a bite of Katherine's cucumber one.  It's just fresh and light.  Maybe I'll venture out and try some different things.  

Sitting out at dusk is my favorite thing lately.  It's almost too cool to enjoy it, but I start my audio book and work on a puzzle or just stare into space and listen.  

These two look interesting, but I might be too sleepy tonight to start one.  Nothing puts me to sleep faster than to get in bed with an audio book, and nothing is more aggravating than rewinding to find my place when I wake up.

I hear fireworks tonight, but I think we'll have the usual community fireworks display sponsored by the Church on the Ridge tomorrow night.  I can see it all from the balcony, but I'm thinking about taking my foldup chair and sitting across from park and watching closer.  I don't know what the family has planned or if I'll be awake at 9:45 when it starts!  All the fun activities and parade are not going on this year - officially - since we've just opened up socializing.  There is an unofficial parade tomorrow that goes right by the new apartment, so I'll probably go sit on the steps and watch that.  I'm not sure if the girls are going to do that or not.  Every day brings a new surprise.  Sometimes every hour, but I like it that way.  The pool is open too, and the girls have gotten to swim a couple of times since it warmed up.

Thursday we were going to the library, but they met me when I got there with cries for Squishy Slime Balls.  Santa Claus had brought them that set, and the adults in the house had put it up as a nice project for Mimi to do on a summer's day.

I don't like messes, and I knew this would be one, but they were so excited.  They immediately went upstairs and came down with the box, dressed in their "scientist" T-shirts.  Katherine's glasses were for sun protection rather than safety, but we soon had a cloudy day.

We prepared just as directed and covered all surfaces and really started out with good intentions.  See how neat.  Just a drop of paint at a time, blah blah.  I made the wrong choice of background color, and my ice cubes inside didn't even show up.  That's why I had to go first - to iron out the kinks.

Katherine then made hers with plastic sprinkles in pink, and Graysen called hers Galaxy.  They were quite beautiful, but I allowed them to take over more and more of it, and they were so excited and eager to see their creations that pretty soon there were glitter and sequins all over the table and under the table and on us.  

It wasn't too bad though, and they got a ton of fun out of it.  SO much fun.  They're not really balls but just yellowish balloons filled with slime, but it was something different, and we did talk about activators and beakers and things.

I think I would give it 5 stars.

To end the day, I went upstairs and found them with their little office set up.  I was to be the "mean boss," and that was fun.  I couldn't dampen their spirits no matter how hard I worked them.  I've never had a bad boss to model my character on, but I did have one at one time who was a little unreasonable, so I used him.  I had a phone call at one point (Debra from GA!), and my employees got a little rowdy, so I had to fire them for running with a pencil and tripping over my phone charger cord.