A New Adventure | Peaches Prattlings

{August 31, 2013} A trip to the mountains

Today was a good day to explore.

Remember last week when I told you about going up to Błackhawk, CO to check out the mountains and the casinos? Well, someone, not saying who, but I’ll give you one guess, has been jonesing to play poker in a tournament for a long time, to just play and not run the game. There is WSP, World Series of Poker, for those of you not in the know, Poker After Dark either on the TV or DVR most nights, something had to be done about it.

Well, today, that desire was fulfilled! DCM headed up to Blackhawk to participate in a Texas Hold ‘Em tournament. Let’s just say he had an absolute blast! He didn’t have to do anything except play (normally he runs the tournaments, controls the blinds, please don’t ask me what that is! keeps track of the players, everything) and when he was through, he came in 16th out 56, not to shabby!

Well, while DCM was live out his WSP dreams, I headed in the same direction to the mountains, took a left at the sign for Idaho Springs. It was a great drive with the top down on the curvy roads, seeing the people in the water, hiking and climbing the rocks, very nice.

My first stop was the Idaho Springs visitor center. There I learned that Idaho Springs was the place where the gold rush started; they had a population. Of 14,000 and now, 2,000, it got too expensive to live there, they were hit hard with the gas shortage back in the 1970s.

They had a letter from 1924 regarding the ballot for the presidential elections 1896 and the list of nominations, amazing! There were gems and minerals from the local mines, a pricing sheet for minerals at the time, costumes for women of the day, a car, fools gold, all very interesting, I’m looking forward to going back.

I started to drive through town, decided to park and then walked around. The town was cute and charming, had a nice small town feel, lots of shops and restaurants. I walked to the end of town, then started back down the other side of the street.

I stopped at the Underhill Museum, it was a business/home that was preserved as it was back I the early 1900s. I learned about the owner of the house and his family, it was charming.
http://www.examiner.com/article/museum-monday-underhill-museum-idaho-springs

Right outside of the museum was a sweet azalea bush, ok, it might not be an azalea bush, but I’m going with it, and flying around the bush was a hummingbird moth, it was amazing, looked just like a hummingbird, but it was a moth!

I walked the full length of the town back to my car, dropped off a letter at the post office for a nice woman looking for a post box.

http://www.idahospringsco.com/

I started driving, I was going to head up to Mount Evans, but I ended up driving to Georgetown, CO, another very cute and quaint town. The great thing…as I was driving there, is saw all the signs towards the different mountains that feature…skiing! I cannot wait to get on the slopes this winter, it’s been a while!

When I was in Idaho Springs, it was warm, when I got to Georgetown, the sweatshirt came out, the temperature had dropped at least 15/20 degrees, it felt like and it was raining a bit. I did learn that even in the summer, it gets down to the 40s in Georgetown, sounds good to me!

Georgetown, like Idaho Springs, which I didn’t mention, the main “drag” is about three to five blocks and just as charming as it could be! I found free parking, wahoo and got out to walk around. Right where I parked was the Hotel de Paris.

The Hotel de Paris museum that was a hotel that dated back to the mining boom with a first class French restaurant, showroom for traveling salesmen, and high dollar patrons in the hotel. The owner, Louis Dupuy, was an interesting man, had quite the checkered past! One of the really interesting things was that he didn’t have any family, so he left the estate to his main, Sophie, who he was very close with and since she was illiterate and couldn’t run the business, she was so stressed out, she died four months after he did!

There was only one way to tour the museum, guided tour, the reason, everything was open and very few things were roped off and everything was original to the museum, the only thing that had been replaced was the carpet in one room and some of the support beams in the basement.

It was a great learning experience! They had some great features like the hide-away beds that folded to look like dressers, so cool! Louis Dupuy even had his own ranch with cattle and once a week would go to his ranch, slaughter her own cattle and serve it in his restaurant, talk about full service!
I highly recommend this tour if you have the opportunity.

Home

Since the tour started at 3, I had some time to kill, so I walked around town, into some of the shops and galleries,and after the museum, I walked the rest of the town. I didn’t buy very much in either town, but in Georgetown, I did buy some local honey, it’s some thing I like to buy when I travel.

I treated myself to a cup of hot tea, it was definitely needed and a homemade peanut butter cup, yum!
http://www.town.georgetown.co.us/

After walking around a bit more and chatting with some of the people in town, I headed home, a beautiful drive, incredibly scenic.

{August 8, 2013} It’s girls night!

Tonight was that time honored tradition…Girl’s Night!

I think we talked about this a while ago, the night the ladies get together and go out and do something fun! The cool thing about Girl’s Night is we make a decision on where to go, someone takes charge and we all show up. Then we decide what we’re doing next month, someone is in charge and so it goes on from there…

(Welcome, Girl’s Night participants, to my world of random musings!)

Tonight, it was JS who got us started on Girl’s Night at Posh Splat in Boulder. This is a place that you go and they walk you step by step painting the selection of the evening. Tonight it was a group of trees in a field, I was told they were some sort of Aspen something, I was corrected as I thought they were Birch. See friends, ya loin somethin’ new every day!
http://www.poshsplat.com/

The thing I really like about these nights is that you don’t have to know how to paint, the instructor, tonight was Chelsey, walked you through everything, step by step. It was almost like paint by numbers, just without the numbers or the outlines, hmm…
How many comments do you think there were about “a tree, a happy little tree”. Nod to you HW!
(i added some step by step pictures)

To start us off right, TT sent out a link to Ladies Night by Kool and the Gang, who doesn’t love that?

This was a good group of women, we laughed and shared and had a great time! JS, her husband PS and DCM all worked together many moons ago and have stayed friends ever since. DCM and PS have worked on many projects together and worked together to build CEC what it is today. JS is an integral part of the CEC family, kind of a Jane of all Trades, you should see how she designed the office, the little details and touches that make it a fun and green place to work, she’s got great ideas and is incredibly passionate with everything she does. She’s also a runner and I mean a runner, you know, 20 miles just for fun! She’s about to participate in her first full marathon soon, on her birthday, good luck!

The rest of the group I had met briefly at CEC’s grand opening/open house, I don’t know as much about them as I will going forward, I look forward to getting to know them each time we get together.

TT is part of the CEC family, we sat next to each other and became fast friends. She has an in with race promoters and said she could get me into almost any race, who do yo think is going to be my new best friend?
Can you guess what my suggestion for a girls night was? (If it involved fun, a team name, team shirts and a t-shirt at the end of the 3.1 miles, you were right!) (doesn’t 5k sound further/farther than 3.1 miles? This would definitely classify as a random musing!)

JS’ stepmom, PH was there, she is quite the talent! She seemed like a lovely woman and we shared some laughs over some of the cards they were selling.

CD’s husband works for CEC. She is a real estate agent who was fun to talk to about real estate, Colorado, Atlanta and races and she is the lucky girl who is organizing our next girls night!

I met NP when we did the Epilepsy 5k when I first moved to Colorado, her husband, BR joined CEC a few months ago and her painting…I think everyone would agree..pure perfection! She added her own touches, the rest of us stuck to the script, you go girl!

LA’s husband MA works for CEC and they have a beautiful and very cute little boy named P, who loves Mac-n-Cheese boxes! Like the rest of our group, a lot of fun to talk to, joke with and have a good time.

As I mentioned, we laughed a lot! Thank you for including me in this time honored tradition, it was my first “night out” in Colorado and made me feel good (and miss my girlfriends back home in Atlanta, you know who you are!). I really am looking forward to next month! (I hear there is pampering involved! Jealous?)

{June 6, 2013} Living in an apartment

It’s been a long time since I’ve lived in an apartment.

Now that I am in one again, I remember what I liked and what I didn’t. I’ve only been in the apartment a total of 6 days, but there are things I’ve noticed and things that bring memories back, the good and the bad.

I said its been a long time, and I wasn’t kidding, it’s been about 14 years, I bought my first house in 1999. First house…makes me sound like I buy and sell houses like crazy, nope, only had 2, trying to sell the one I have, wanna buy it?

When I tried to sell the first time, I thought about finding an apartment somewhere near the beach, a little 2, maybe 3 bedroom. A bedroom, office/guest/hobby room, definitely with a back deck/patio. If I didn’t have a mortgage, I’d get any kind of job, maybe beneath the apartment I was renting, just need something to pay the bills, is that wrong? Have a job with no pressure, get to do whatever I want and ensure everything is taken care of, sounds pretty good to me!

So, back to the apartment. I know people who have owned homes, sold them and are now in apartments and don’t want to go back, despite the benefits of owning a home, especially financially.

Let’s see…with an apartment, sometimes all or most of your utilities are included, there’s no yard work, if something breaks or needs repairs, like the A/C or dishwasher, you call someone and they come and fix it. Exterminator, routine maintenance, general grounds work, not your problem.

On the other hand…you can hear almost everything, the sound of bodies being dragged down the hall (I know it was luggage, a cart, maybe a dolly), voices in the hallway, someone hammering on the wall next door at SIX AM! really? We have no lights in the living room, either bedroom, not even sure if there are no, I so cannot remember the word at the moment, the thing that you can attach a light to,there are light switches, but no lights. Our bedroom has a very nice walk in closet, but the other bedroom closet is smaller than a hall coat closet; there is no place to put linens.
Did I mention the stupid pet fees?

I will say, it’s not horrible, but it’s a bit of a haul to get from parking to the apartment, mainly when toting a lot of groceries, haven’t gotten a wheeled cart yet, left the others back in Atlanta, but I can walk to the grocery story, restaurants, shopping, incredibly convenient and their is a very nice gym that is down the road and we get a discount for living here.

On the other hand…there is the opportunity to make friends easily, saying hello to a new neighbor, maybe at the pool, there are a lot of people with dogs, that’s a good way to make friends. Sometimes they have social events you can participate in, the funny thing is, in this place, they put those notices in the elevator, which we only used to load in our stuff when we moved.

We’re limited on space, as you know, I put most of my stuff in storage, so I have very little here, especially in terms of my crafting items. I selected the specific things I wanted to work on until I can get to my things (DCM said that if he’d known how much crafting stuff there was, he would have bought me more! If he’d told me that before we loaded up the truck…). It does seem a little odd going from almost 3,000 square feet to a little over 1000, but so far, it’s been good. There is a bedroom, an office (which will be a guest bedroom for you to crash in when we get a pull out sofa in there!), a comfortable living room, an eating area, a nice sized kitchen with lots if cabinets, a laundry room with a washer and dryer and a balcony to enjoy, do we need more?

Did I mention covered parking? Annie will be so happy in the winter!

I’m almost done unpacking boxes and once that is done and we can throw away or put into storage what’s left and get some furniture: I am an admitted bed snob, I am 5′ 1 1/2″ tall with a king sized bed and I like it that way! Bedroom furniture, lighting, some shelves for books and one for my plants on the balcony, hang some of the artwork we brought, a little shelf for me to put my crafting projects, keep them organized, I think we’ll be in business.

It’s all new for the cats, but they seem to be adjusting well, Peanut loves to jump in, over, up, on all the boxes, they’ve found places to hide and sleep, especially by the sliding door that leads to the balcony, plenty of sunshine! the life of a cat is a tough one!

All in all, we are settling in quite well, we’re cooking dinners together, only been out to eat once so far, I’m learning the area, where to go and how to get there, I know you’re not surprised at that one. So I can say, it’s not bad in an apartment, kind of like riding a bicycle, comes back to you.

{June 6, 2013} The day got away

Good evening friends.

Apparently the time change, unpacking, early mornings and other factors are catching up with me, I started typing and next thing I knew, DCM was tapping me on the shoulder, I had dozed off on the sofa!

I am going to get some sleep and I will type at you later!

Happy Wednesday!

{June 3, 2013} Pack, move, throw away, birthday brunch, fly home

What a day!

No chapters today, the telling won’t take as long!

I got up at 7, started moving things downstairs and to the garage, spread out more rubber mulch (looks good!)at 9:45, my good friend, CMD came over and we went over everything that needed to be done: cleaning, moving, etc. I left everything in her capable hands, the house looks great! Thank you! You’re awesome!

Off to brunch with the girls, a surprise for CKM’s birthday, it is the 18th, but I’m here! SDL and hr sister DJL, Miss A, TS and AL. We went to Pastry a Go Go in Decatur, we had a great time talking, catching up, laughing. For dessert, we had to sing happy birthday, so I found a birthday candle app, we sang, took a picture then everyone went on their way.

CKM and I ended up walking across the street to Heliotrope, that store that has all the things you didn’t know you needed until you went to this store! We walked to The Cook’s Warehouse for a few minutes to dream, then I realized what time it was! I had to get to the airport!

I made it to car return, then bag drop with literally 2 minutes to spare! Made it to the gate, flight was delayed 20 minutes. We get on the place, I fell asleep and when I woke up and hour alter, thinking we were well on our way, we were still sitting there we took off eventually and got to Denver about 1.5 hours late. DCM was there at the top of the escalator waiting for me, sigh. He was laughing, apparently I was shaking my head/trying to flip my hair, not possible!

We stopped by the store for sandwich rolls, made some dinner an now we’re watching the end of The Return of the Jedi, what could be better!

Mentally, I know it’s 11:00pm, MT and I want to keep thinking that way, to adjust, but my body knows its almost 1:30 am. So, I bid you a very good good night and keep your fingers crossed Saturday, I get to sleep in!

{June 1, 2013} A day full of surprises, a tradition, silliness, visiting and I’m not done yet!

Ok folks, you may need to take a nap before you read this or during! It has been a very long day and it’s not over!

(I was thinking about chapters for this novella, so here goes!)

Chapter 1
So, another yard sale was planned for this morning, (yes, I have thatmuch stuff left over! The alarm was set for 7, I was having a dream about sleeping and CKM says something about getting up and I realize that the alarm is going off and it’s 8! Oh no! I throw on some close, run downstairs, open the garage and start moving things around.

Two people showed up to look at stuff, just browsing, my new friend TP showed up to talk about some stuff I want to put on eBay and he is the king and enjoys it. I am not and don’t want to do it and I will give good commission! When he showed up, I said, screw it, I do not want to do this and closed the garage door. I’m ok with it, I may try to find someone to do another yard sale for me, or have The Salvation Army pick it all up and have mondo (my sister used to love that word) write offs for my taxes next, that may be worth more, already have made 3 runs there, wedding dress and all!

TP came inside and caught up, so much to talk about since we just met last Saturday, but you know when you meet someone had have that connection? And talked eBay and he was on his way.

I cleaned up and headed out the door.

Chapter 1A
As I was getting dressed, I realized I needed something new to “hold up the girls”, I am excited to say that I am no longer a 40…(none of your business) and now a 38! Wahoo! The girls are sitting pretty and I think I look better!

Chapter 2
I headed out to meet CKM for my traditional biannual (I had to look that word up, it always gets me!) haircut and donation, we’ll talk about that in minute, chapter, whatever. I get in the (rental) car and stop at the entrance of the neighborhood, to get the yard sale sign. I did something I have NEVER done before, I got out of the car, while it was still running and DID NOT roll the drivers side window down, got out to get the sign and…the door locks itself! What?!? So, I proceed to try to find a way in, turns out the trunk was open, how, I don’t know! But I tried, no lucky! You can get out of the trunk by the release,but not back into the car! (Just so you know, every time I try to type car, I keep typing cat!) I call Enterprise, they schedule someone to come out, which will cost me $57 because I didn’t get the roadside assistance, which I have NEVER gotten, because I have never needed it, of course! I asked if there was a remote unlock…nope, in GM, yes, Nissan, nope, go figure!

Sabrina, the nice lady helping me asked if there was anything she could do, yeah, make me feel less stupid! I’m over it!

Meanwhile, so many people stop to ask if I need help, I love is neighborhood! PL, one of my neighbors and his twin brother, didn’t know he was a twin! Stopped to help, even got into the truck themselves, and they’re not little boys! No luck. The said if I wasn’t in by the time they got back from Home Depot, they would find a way in. Luckily, the guy showed up and it took him about 3 minutes to get in to the car, really? He used something to pump the window open, used a snake like thing, and I was in.

The car was like an ice box! I had the AC going and the radio on, I heard the end of Car Talk and the beginning of Wait Wait, Don’t Tell Me on NPR. If I had child or animal in the car, they would have been fine, scared maybe, but fine. I could see myself trying to talk to the child to get them to open the door!

So, an hour after I was supposed to leave, I was off.

Chapter 3
While as I was waiting, I got a call…KT had her baby at 9:52 am! DCM was a grandfather a second time and that made me a grandmother too! (Two!) JJ was excited! He called me last night that her water broke at 9:30 last night and we were on baby watch! He sent a picture, what a cutie! I of course forwarded that on! AJH, 8 lbs, 3 oz, 20″. How fast do you think it took me to forward that picture and brag! (Kvell is another great Yiddish word, it means swell with pride!)

I sent a message to KT via Facebook and told her I couldn’t wait to meet him! I told DCM I would it go to the hospital later this afternoon and represent.

Chapter 4
After I got back into the ice box, I headed out to meet CKM, my photographer for the event, she was with me the last time, it was a nice tradition. First we met for breakfast at Thumbs Up! in Decatur, the food was good, service left something to be desired, it may have been his first week.

We walked across the street to Super Cuts, signed in, took a few pictures and waited my turn. The woman who cut my hair was very nice, I told her that I was donating my hair and go as short as she needed to. I told her why I had to cut it today.

My mom, EMS passed n June 1, eight years ago, from Multiple Myeloma and every 2 years on June 1st, I cut and donate my hair. There wasn’t quite 10″, what we needed for Locks Of Love, but there are companies out there I can send it to and I will. I love and miss you mommy.

While I was in the chair, CKM snapped photos and she was great to stop when i started tearing up, it always gets me as the first snip goes through my hair. As more and more hair fell away, I saw my mom more and more staring at me, it happens every time, you’d think I would be used to it!

She kept cutting and kept cutting, she even used a trimmer on the back, I la la la LOVE it! My dad said it looked great, my sister said the same, great cut for the summer! CKM too and DCM liked it a lot, those are important opinions to me. I can’t wait to see the reactions on Facebook!

It’s fuzzy in the back! My neighbor, DG, when he cuts his hair, he gets a buzz cut and our tradition is for me to rub his head! The back of my hair is just like his! Tonight, I keep rubbing it, maybe I’m hoping to get a wish!

An emotional, therapeutic, enjoyable experience.

Chapter 5
After the haircut, we went to the Michael C Carlos Museum at Emory, someplace CKM had on her list of things she wanted to do, who am I to deny a birthday list! We and a lot of fun, through the Greek art, Egyptian, African, mummies, jewelry, waaaayyyy too many ear spools! Those are the things that expand your ear holes, no thank you! And a lot of Lime Sticks! Enough said!

Quite enjoyable, but only one floor and one special exhibit up a LONG flight of stairs, slightly misleading.

Chapter 6
We parted ways and I went to Kennestone Hospital to see the new grand baby! The hospital is huge, I had to ask two people how to find maternity! I finally found it, parked and saw HB, KT’s step brother and we went to the room together. Everyone was there! CG, KT’s step mom, the new daddy, J, KT’s boyfriend, DCM’s youngest, DCM (yes I know, you need a chart!) some friends and now me!

We all agreed we couldn’t wait for LB to see her new cousin, she’s been talking to KT’s belly, telling him to come out and play, she can’t wait to meet him!

What a cutie! He has brown hair, blue eyes and really long fingers and fingernails. I was third in line to hold him and how sweet to hold and feel the soft skin and watch him sleep, what a joy! I got someone to take my picture, sent to to DCM and he posted it on Facebook. Of course everyone wanted to know who he was, so I bragged!

The funniest thing, DCM is a Falcons can, KT is not, so he will make it a point to get lots of Falcons stuff for AJH, well, her boyfriend is a DENVER BRONCOS fan, she said, “that’s ok, I’ll talk to JJ” you know it! I’ve got your back, KT! Already taken care of that!

I’m so glad that I was I Atlanta for the birth of KT’s son, it was exciting for me to see them! I know that she wanted her dad here and I know he wanted to be here, but I hope that I represent him well. We’ll be back in July, so it won’t be long before he gets to meet his grandson! And of course, there is Skype and FaceTime!

After about 1.5 hours, I headed home, it was a long drive and I have a lot to do still! I did feel bad and apologized to DCM, I said I would pick up flowers and I couldn’t find a place anywhere near the hospital to buy flowers, I’m sorry (hanging head).

Chapter 7 (you still with me?)

I hit traffic every which way! Took me almost 2 hours to get home. I stopped at Home Depot for more mulch, got there just as the gate was closing, got 10 bags and headed home. On the way, on a side street there was a huge branch in the road, I stopped the car to move it out of the way. It was cool, cars stopped in both directions so I could move the branch.

I stopped by my neighbor’s house, PT and her husband JT, I didn’t get a chance to say goodbye before I left, so I stopped in to catch up, what was supposed to be a quick visit turned into about 1.5 hours, it was wonderful.

We used to get to spend more time together, this past year has been crazy for both of us.Her husband had had some health issues, but he’s making great strides and it was so good to see him and it was fun to banter back and forth with him.

The great thing about Facebook is we can keep up with each other, hope to get a Skype date with her!

Chapter 8
I got home, started packing more stuff, the goal is to get everything out of the house that needs to be out of the house, staged and all. I got a phone call and sold a piece of lawn equipment, not a total waste today (yard sale wise)!

I talked to my dear, sweet friend CMD, who is going to come tomorrow to see what needs to be done and get the house sparkly clean to have pictures taken so it can sell, sell, sell!

Now, it’s 12:30 and I decided to sit down and write you a novella before it gets too late! I’m about to get back to it, get everything to the garage, wish me luck!

Hopefully tomorrow’s post will be a lot simpler, especially after you’ve had a nap!
Sweet dreams my friends!

{May 29, 2013} When do I get to sit still?

First, let me say how surreal this is, I’m in my house and there are no cats running all over me, I’m not sure which way to turn.

I want to tell you about my day, but I would like to start with something that really ticked me off, but I didn’t want spoil my happy post yesterday. When I went into the office to fill out my rental application and add the cats, I had a rude awakening. When DCM first asked about the pet deposit, they said $200 for the deposit and $50 per month (I couldn’t remember if it was per cat), ok, I knew there would be a fee, I just didn’t realize how big!

It was $50 application fee for me, fair enough, then there was a $200 refundable pet deposit, in case of whatever and the $50 a month rent, I still can’t remember if its for both or per cat, probably per cat. THEN…they hit me with $200 PER cat NON-REFUNDABLE pet application! What??? I had to give the. $650 for me and the two cats, seriously??? What do they do with that money? (Especially since there are no lights in either bedroom or the living room! Take some of that money and put in some lights! Ok, I’m done.

Today stated early..6:30 am for a call, that’s a bit early, but everyone is on EST, so it was only 8:30 for them, I’m glad I’m in EST tomorrow, I have a call at 8am! I have decided to keep my EST work hours, since DCM gets up for work at 6:45, my commute is about 15 feet, so I get up, start work at 7am MT, which is 9am EST, the cool part…I get off work at 3pm! (Don’t burst my bubble!)

There is a shuttle for the airport that will pick up in front of the apartment complex, it was so easy! $38, 45 minutes, I don’t have to deal with parking, it was great. I think I will use them as long as DCM can’t take me to the airport.

There was a nice group of people on the shuttle, 3 people from Boston, go figure and one from Northern California. It was interesting, we started talking about technology and how people don’t talk anymore, they are always buried in their smart phones, especially kids, and here we were talking and wasn’t it nice and refreshing and as soon as we got to the airport, it was “see ya!”

I got through security, grabbed a bite to eat, headed to the gate and fell asleep before we took off, my favorite. I woke up and then the turbulence hit, so not fun! I went to the bathroom and when I came out, one very pleasant flight attendant said “you need to get to your seat ma’am” really? Did she think I wanted to stay in the bathroom the entire flight? I told her I was trying not to throw up.

Friends, I have I tell you…for anyone who knows me, you know I love to travel, I’m comfortable on a plane. There are times I’m flying every month, if I have a job that is 100% travel, I’m in the air more than on the ground and I don’t usually get affected by turbulence, but this was unusual. I sat down right where I was and eventually got back to my seat. After about 20 more minutes, it started to settle down and I settled in to finish watching The Guilt Trip, Seth Rogan and Barbara Streisand. I will have to rent it and watch the whole thing so I can give you a decent movie review. I did get choked up towards the end, Barbara Streisand still reminds me of my mom.

By the time we landed, I had had enough, I went to the rental car terminal, which was surreal in and of itself, being back in GA and renting a car. The guy who got me into a car and set up was very pleasant, the woman behind the Enterprise counter, not so much.

This takes me back to what I have said many, many times..it’s not my fault that you don’t like your job or its not your dream job, so…if you don’t like your job, find another one! You chose to get into the customer service industry.

And who am I to break tradition, it was late, but a stop at Fellini’s for a slice and coke were in order! Back on the road, head down Hwy 78, cruise control is on (I’ve been sooooo good for over 6 months, I am not jinxing it!)

Now I sit in my bed, going to get some sleep in a few, get up, work at my job, try to see some of the people I didn’t get to see before I left and work on finishing things around the house (including another yard sale!) to get it really ready to sell! Fingers crossed friends!

I think I have adjusted to the time difference, it’s only 11pm in Colorado and guess what…I’m awake!

Here’s to the next adventure, but please tell me when I get to sit still!

{May 29, 2013} My life in a 10×15…and now I’m home

After approximately 28.5 hours total trip time, which included a 3.5 hour nap, a poor excuse for a good night’s sleep, and about 2.5 hours stopping for gas, food and rest stops, we made it to the apartment, my new home, our new home.

DCM was right, it’s definitely easier to unload than load a truck. At the apartment, before we could unload the truck, we had to get the keys out of the backpack in the trunk of my car. Do you happen to remember what happened the night before? We tried everything to get to the keys or open the trunk, no dice. Later, we found out that, of course, the keys were in the back pocket, farthest from us!
Luckily, there were some guys driving by, I flagged them down and they were able to give us a jump, thank you new neighbor! We got into the trunk, got the keys, opened the truck, started unloading and carrying up to the apartment.

It’s a nice two bedroom, one bath with a nice sized kitchen, lots of cabinets and a great view from the balcony. I didn’t get much time to really look around as we had a lot to bring up to the second floor, thankfully there is an elevator!

The best part…there was a message on the mirror…”Welcome home…(Love you)…About time!”

We got everything out that was staying, at least that’s what we thought. Then it was on to the storage unit, DCM drove the truck and I followed. I got my own storage unit, 10×15, the largest they had available. Everything but three pieces of furniture fit in the storage unit, those went into DCM’s. I had had this great idea of going through a few boxes every month to see what was in it, throw away, organize, whatever. Based on how packed the storage unit is, I am not going to see any of it until we move again, oh well.

My life, well, at least the past 19 years, fits into a 10×15 storage unit.

It took us 2 hours start to finish to unload the truck, not bad for having taken about 15 hours to load it! After we were done, we headed to the store for some essentials, we needed to eat! It was about 8:00 by then and we were worn out!

We headed to the apartment and got settled in, had some dinner and crashed. Before we crashed, I looked at the message again and realized…I am home.

{May 27, 2013} And we’re off…

So, I have to tell you about the rest of Saturday, packing, loading the truck and driving out to Colorado.

Remember me telling you CKM came to help with the yard sale, it was double help, she came to help load the truck, awesomeness! She is really good at keeping me motivated and giving me that look that says, “really?” And commiserating with DCM about all the stuff I have! She was a serious trooper, she stayed until about 12:45, thank you, thank you, thank you! She was also able to get her photo of the day, my sweet girl Peanut, awe.

TS sent me a text telling me she was hoping to come over, I was excited to see her before we left. She was awesome, she brought us food for our trip! There were sandwiches, hummus, drinks, chips and Reece’s Peanut Butter Cups, how fantastic was that? She hung for as long as she could, until her cat allergies got the best of her and she had to go. Thank you, it was terrific!

We kept working until about two am and fell into a coma like sleep at 3, we didn’t set any alarms, we needed as much rest as we could get. Of course, my body decided to wake me about 7am, so I got started on getting things ready to, last minute food stuff, the plants, I put them in individual bins so they would be safe, they were going in my car, the truck was loaded and locked, or should that be locked and loaded? The cats would be the last to get prepped to go.

I do need to tell you that we didn’t finish the house. The person who was supposed to finish the floors hasn’t and I need to find someone to finish, there really isn’t much left to do on the floors, but I don’t know how or I would do it myself. So somewhere about 11, we decided to stop stressing and I would go back to Atlanta next weekend to finish what needed to be done. I also talked to a friend of mine, CMD, who cleans houses and she agreed to clean my house, make it sparkle for anyone who comes to look at it. I’ll finish the floors, the yard and maybe ever have another yard sale,this time, in the garage and whatever doesn’t get sold…hello goodwill! I also plan on seeing some people who i didn’t get to see before I left, but don’t forget, I am coming back bunch this year!

So, DCM got up about 9, we loaded the car, got it on the trailer, couldn’t figure out how to open the door, so I climbed out the window and we left the window down. Wait until later, you’re going to laugh! We got the cats in the car, I hated tricking them with treats to get them in their carriers, but what else was I going to do? By 11:10 we were off, stopped at the gas station to fill up the haul and away we went, we were on the road by 11:24 and poor DCM, I was asleep before we got to 75!

I wanted to stay awake, but I reverted to the way I was as a little kid, I dozed off as someone else drove. DCM did ALL the driving! I offered and offered and offered, but he drove, said it was like driving a tank, but not as much fun, no live artillery aboard! I would doze and the pop awake for about an hour, if I was lucky, then doze again. DCM didn’t mind he had his book to listen to, which suited him fine since he doesn’t get to listen during his commute to work since its so short. He used to listen when he game to see me. 1.5 hours is great for an audio book!

I tried to get pictures of the state welcome signs, but the reaction time on my phone is awful! I’d wake up, we were in Tennessee, I had some fun, saw the sign for Clarksville, asked if he knew when the last train was, I made him laugh and groan a bunch, it was fun. Kansas was a very, very very long state to cross! Every time I’d wake up, I’d ask fi were still in Kansas…there’s no place like home, but not Kansas for me!

Here’s where you get to laugh…At some point, it started to downpour so we pulled off because e had to put the window up. No dice, there was no way to get to the window, close it and get out, so I turned the car on, climbed out the window and DCM closed the window. Today, he finally noticed the tabs sticking out and then figured it was a fender release so you can still open the car door. Well, great! Guess what died because the ignition was on all night!

About 3am eastern, DCM had had enough driving but we didn’t stay at a hotel because it was going to be a few hits, so we stopped at rest area with the big rigs and tried to sleep. The cats were a little crazy and finally settled down so we could be some sleep! Lets just say, sleeping sitting up leaning against the door with cats running all over the place, not so restful. The alarm went off at 7, I was already up, mostly. We hit the road.

Speaking of the cats, they cried, as you figured they would for about an hour, then they were m
Ok. I finally let them out and they settled down, yeah, on my lap. Better than could be expected. Whenever we got to rest stop or stopped for gas and got out of the cab, they ran and hid!

Back on the road, I didn’t think Kansas would ever end and when we first got to Kansas City, it was cool, a real city! So not Dorothy’s Kansas, then as we kept driving, we found it! Wide open and boring, to me that is! We stayed on that road for what seemed like days and then we were in Colorado!

We stopped at a diner for lunch, the I70 diner, they had a campaign to be on Diners, Drive-Inns and Dives, the food was alright, the staff pleasant, it was cute, but all Pepsi products! What?

Ok friends, I will continue this saga tomorrow! I am wiped out! Going to crash now!
Have a great night!

{May 25, 2013} Still Packing

We are still packing and loading the truck.

Lots to tell you, will fill you in tomorrow! Happy Saturday!

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