Wahh!

Callie, Mommy, and Iain watching the Kentucky Derby at Callie's House. Note the TOTAL CONCENTRATION (on the cannoli)
Photo courtesy of Callie's blog

This morning, Iain asked to see his "Bog." Then he asked to see Callie. Then he asked to go to Callie's house.

I showed him a picture of the two of them from late this winter. They were at the Arboretum, sitting on a bench together. He keeps saying, "Iain and Callie."

Then and Now

Above, our house in Lexington, emptying of its furnishings one box at a time. They left most of the furniture to the end, and those things that needed disassembling last of all.

Below, the same stuff, in a new space.

We're still working out the arrangements. But so far, it's a cozy house, with a good feeling to it.


And the light in the kitchen is just great. The kitchen faces west, so in the late afternoon (and evening, this time of year), it's sunny and warm. In the morning, it's bright but not blinding. Joy.


I have no idea why Iain, seen below enjoying his new, not-carpeted, floor (much better for trains) has been turned on his side. Note the bedhead. Maybe that's what re-oriented the photo.


Today we unpacked more boxes. Today I put a lightbulb in a lamp, plugged it in, and turned it on. In a moment, I'll go downstairs, unpack my clothing into two closets (I have a lot of shoes, y'all), and maybe even hang a picture. That's progress.

Many thanks to Iain's paternal grandparents. They came, they saw, they supervised and babysat and fixed and cleaned and cooked and ran errands and smiled and complimented and put up with all the crazy.

Now We're Cooking with Gas

Literally.

No, literally. In the Lexington house, we enjoyed the beauty of new cabinets, engineered granite countertops (just like granite, but not one slab, a product made of ground stone that makes for one smooth surface. I dunno, it looks, feels, and is composed of granite, but it's not a slice of rock. Google it.), and almost-new appliances.

Therein did the problem lie. Those appliances sucked. They were absolute poo. The fridge didn't open all the way because of molding on the door.

The cooktop was solid glass. I'd always wanted a solid glass cooktop, because it looked easy to clean. No. Also: very unpleasant to cook on. All the inconvenience of electric cooking, PLUS my pots would spin around like tops because they're not entirely flat on the bottom. I cooked in my cast iron a lot, because at least it's flat! You haven't lived until you've caught a spinning pan with a wooden spoon just in the nick of time before hot fat splashed onto your hugely pregnant belly. Good times.

The microwave was built-in above the cooker. Result? No room to boil water in a pasta pot and reach the controls. I'd have to turn on the burner, push the pot over it, then use a wooden spoon (yes, that again) to turn down the heat or turn it off. And all that steam? Wafting up onto the front of the microwave, whose weak little fan did nothing.

Blech.

So tonight I cooked my first meal in our new kitchen. Our new (old) kitchen with a gas cooktop. Be still my heart. It was great. the pan got hot. It stayed in place. It responded quickly to changes in the flame. The oil bubbled, the chicken browned, and all God's children were happy, happy, happy.

Shopping Kabow!

Price: $169.84. Plus $10 tax if we lived in Lexington. Plus shipping.

EXCEPT: We have Amazon Prime, so no shipping. Then, we moved to Utah. No tax. But wait, there's more! I had a $102 gift card from when we cleaned out our change in the old house. Then I had a $50 gift card from my parents. Then I had $10 as a reward for filling out an online survey.

Result: We paid $7. 34 for this item.

Slowly Moving Toward Normal

Brekkie: toast with butter and jam, plus cereal, plus milk, plus 2 mandarin organges. All that for Iain.

Coffee and toast ("Totes!") for us.

We're not there yet (for example: where's my robe??!!), but we're moving toward regular life. I unpacked the waffle maker yesterday, so this weekend I think we know what Mommy will be doing...

Gettin' Lucky in Kentucky

First, there was the shirt above. Good fun. Then, tonight, Lawrence alerted me to the shirt below.

Wow. Looks like everyone likes to have a little wink at their locale. I know some people who need these.

EDIT: Can I point out that the top shirt appears tailored to a female torso, while the bottom seems to be male? Yeah.

Part 2

So the reason our things were off the truck but not entirely in the house is this:

Our truck driver was delightful. He told Charles many amusing stories about moves he's worked, including a story about a woman who packed only tiny boxes. She said she was old, and that boxes sized about 8 inches on each side suited her - not too heavy, not too hard to move around. So she packed more than 250 of them.

When the truck arrived at her new home, she wanted all the boxes in her garage. All 280 or so. The crew worked until midnight, fitting and re-fitting until every box was in. Every box save one. She demanded that they unpack the garage and re-pack it to fit that one box. They said no.

Hmm....we have a 2-car garage. We have a lot of boxes. Hmm...

So we asked our driver to put all the boxes in the garage. Furniture went into the house, boxes in careful rows (with hallways between), in the garage. The result: our furniture was easier to place and we can go out, select a box, unpack it in the house, then return for more. No tripping over boxes. No piles of boxes in the way of the bed. Nothing unpacked first instead of last because I just had to get that box out of there.

Meanwhile, we're moving furniture around, carefully placing what we want where we want it. And when we are ready, we unpack boxes, 4 or 5 at a time. It's no slower than the usual method, and much less icky.

But for now, I have to take this headache and sore throat to bed. Tomorrow: photographs.