Joanne Heim

Saturday

We got up and went to the Paris Street Market yesterday (yes, even Toben!). I saw lots of people I know, something that makes me feel like we really live here. When I'm out and about I love running into people I know. It's one of my favorite things that makes me feel like I really belong somewhere.

We ran into Kimberly and her family--so I got to give her a little baby gift. And she brought me a quilt frame she's not using--thank you, Kimberly! I set it up in the living room and hope to get a quilt on it later today.

We also saw my friend Jennifer--we were best friends in preschool and she and her family moved to Denver earlier this summer from LA. It's been great to reconnect and get to know each other as adults rather than 5-year-olds!

Mom and Dad came (and brought Audrey and Emma who had spent the night with them) and I also ran into Lizzie, who runs the Sweet William Market, and a gal I met earlier this week who runs Mind Your Manor--a great antique shop in Littleton.

Such fun.

Of couse, I found some treasures. A bag of old wooden spools, a bag of old dominoes, a little something for Tyson, and a little something for my dad. I also got a big bag of quilt squares for only $2.99. Look how fun they are!

I washed and pressed them and am having fun thinking about what they'll become. Zippy purses for sure, possibly belts, and maybe some coasters and bookmarks. I'll let you know...

The chair I've been refinishing is now white. After staining many coats the stain just wasn't soaking into the wood quite right, so Toben sanded it down and restained it. No go. So now I'm on the final coat of spray paint. (Of course the spray paint is only $1.97 a can, the stripper and stain and steel wool and such was more than $30. Frustrating!) I'll post a picture when it's all dry and cushioned and put in its spot in the living room.

Emily's been staying with us this weekend since she had a class at DU on Friday, Saturday, and today. I love having her here and tried to convince her to stay an extra night so she could go to Denver Fabrics in the morning with Janna and me. But she misses her hubby and her puppies, so she's headed home after class. Darn.

She's a perfect guest--as she and I say, she's not company at all. She just fits right into the family and we all are so glad when she's here. We've had great conversations and wandered through the fabric store and bounced creative ideas off one another.

Before we moved to California, Emily was my next-door-but-one neighbor and I so miss being able to just run down the sidewalk to see her. But 35 minutes away is a lot closer than California, so I guess I can't complain!

Seems like there was something else I planned to blog about, but the paint fumes have totally gone to my brain. I think I need a lot of fresh air today!

Climate control

I am having a hard time adjusting to this climate. Don't know if it's the huge variance in temperature each day (lows in the low 40s and highs near 80), too much cardboard handling, or just the dryness of Colorado in general, but my skin is NOT happy. My hands are dry and scratchy, my poor heels are prone to cracking, and my face is having a flashback to age 14.

Thank goodness for Proactiv and cocoa butter and this really great lotion that Terri bought for me that I keep in my car. But even with all that, I feel like I'm barely staying on top of it. I have thoughts of filling the bathtub with lotion and soaking it all up...but it would take too much lotion, and I imagine that cleaning up afterward wouldn't be very much fun.

Pictures!

The family room:

The loft:

Looking down into the living room from the loft:

The dining room (with all the pictures to be hung):

Emma's room:

Audrey's room:

Our room:

The basement first thing this morning (aaaah!):

The kids' area in the basement several hours later:

I think that's it for now. I've been hanging pictures this afternoon--it's much easier to put holes in the wall while Toben is away and not wincing with each crash of the hammer! So all the bare walls in the pictures are slowly getting filled!

Blah, blah, blah

Blah, blah, blah, boxes, unpacking, blah, hanging pictures, bubble wrap, blah, blah, blah...

I think this process of getting settled is getting a little boring and starting to sound like a broken record. All of the progress I've made today is not very noticeable, so it feels like I'm standing still some.

But here's something I'm really exited about--the basement. I love basements. Houses in California do not typically have basements, while almost all houses in Colorado do. Our basement is unfinished, but divided into two rooms--one for permanent storage and laundry, and one that's (or make that was) empty.

In the main room in the basement, I'm setting up a huge craft area. Cabinets to hold my supplies, a bookshelf to hold my crafty books, a huge table to work at, a big bulletin board to hold pattern instructions and ideas, and I'm not sure what else just yet. The table is piled high with stuff, but tomorrow I'm going to finish getting it all organized and set up just the way I want.

And Emma will play happily while I do, because the opposite corner of the room is set up as a kid craft/play area. I've put a little tv/vcr for watching movies, a CD player for tunes, an easel for painting, tables for crafting, clothes for dress up, boxes filled with Barbies and dolls and puzzles, and glue and markers and colored pencils and crayons and stickers and pads of paper and a big bulletin board to display whatever the girls create.

Hmm...what shall I craft first when it all gets done? A caftan/beach cover-up from a vintage pattern I bought? An outfit for Ava? Pillows for my big window seat in the living room? So many choices!

Tired of take-out

Chick-Fil-A, Burger King, Noodles & Co., P.F. Chang's, Krispy Kreme, Einstein Bros., the Cafe at Nordstrom, McDonald's, Del Taco, Mimi's, Heidi's Brooklyn Deli...and more.

Take-out is convenient, but we're definitely done. Even Toben (who said the other day that he never gets tired of eating out) is tired of eating out. We brought over the last load of kitchen stuff from my parents' house and the kitchen is ready--more or less--for me to start cooking again.

Tomorrow, I'm going to make meatloaf for dinner. Plain old, comfort food, meatloaf. With roasted potatoes and some kind of vegetable. And maybe I'll even drink milk with dinner. And make a pie for dessert. (Well, probably not, but pie sounds just about right!)

My cookbooks are unpacked and put away and I'm very ready to start planning meals and cooking again!

(I did take pictures today, but I can't find the cord that hooks the camera to the printer. I think it's in a bin in the basement somewhere--and the thought of going downstairs and then upstairs again is more than I can bear. As I told my mother on the phone, I sat down to eat lunch and dinner today--and other than that I've been on my feet, unwrapping and putting away and breaking down boxes and going upstairs and down.)

We're getting there...

The family room has furniture and no boxes!

The kitchen is almost done.

My clothes are all unpacked and put away.

Toben installed a chandelier in the dining room today and the china is all unpacked.

The books are on the shelves and I've made up the daybed in the loft. (Audrey's all tucked up in it reading at the the moment!)

Tomorrow I've got to finish the kitchen and get our bathroom squared away. I'll tackle the girls' rooms and bathroom while they're away at school on Monday. Then I'll unpack all my little treasures and accesories and it will really feel like home.

I love it already...

Pictures coming soon!

Boxes, boxes everywhere!

But they're all in our own little house! Mom and Dad helped us move all day; we went so fast and furious that I didn't even think about snapping any pictures. Maybe tomorrow. Just a few more pieces of furniture to go, and all the random stuff in the kitchen, pantry, and fridge.

Time to fall into bed and savor the feel of sleeping in a new house for the first time...

I [heart] primer!

Painting with primer is so much better than painting without. We primed and painted the girls' rooms this morning--well, until 2 p.m. Not bad for two rooms, two coats of primer and paint! We even found tinted primer in the basement that was perfect for painting Audrey's room this morning. (And all without one argument, to boot!)

So goodbye blue (or in the case of Audrey's room, BLUE!) hello Cafe au Lait and Carnation Pink! The rooms look great, but Emma's blue carpet makes the pink look sort of lavendar late in the day. Hmm...we may have to replace the carpet in there. Too bad, because it's wonderful, new carpet, but blue. Why? I ask you. Why?

I've showered and scrubbed with Lava soap and a loofah, yet remain covered in the primer from Emma's room. Kilz does not come off. And it not only covers germs, smells, and old paint, it kills brain cells (I'm sure) and makes you dizzy for the rest of the day. I'm glad it was warm enough to paint with the windows open at least. If not, I'd be even less smart tonight!

Kristen, Wade, and Ava came over unexpectedly for dinner, then we all ran to CJ's for custard. After all my hard work today, I figured I was due a little hot fudge! Then we drove them over to the house to take a peek, since they'd not seen it yet.

And now I'm off to fall in bed and moan like Billy Crystal in When Harry Met Sally...uuuuh...uhhh....mmhhh...painting is hard work!

P.S. Yes, those are Container Store elfa shelves in Audrey's closet. Emma's closet has them too. Yippee!

New key for my ring

In about 45 minutes yesterday afternoon we signed our names a hundred times, handed over a really big check, and got some new keys for our keyrings. We drove home and wandered around an empty house for a few hours--sorting through paint and other strange things the previous owners left behind.

I really, really love this house--so much character and so much potential. I stood in the living room and envisioned deep, comfy couches, a roaring fire, a pot of tea, some friends, and knitting. Dad's providing the firewood, knitting is always at the ready, friends and couches will come sometime in the future...

And in the way of things, in the midst of being so excited, Toben and I got completely off-kilter talking about where furniture should go and what kinds of things the house needs. I tend to think out loud and say things like, "I think a small sectional would go here and a bigger one there, and a new oven would be perfect (the one in the house is yukky!), and wouldn't area rugs be nice?" All he hears is me spending every last penny we have. I tried to explain that I'm just dreaming out loud, and that I'm not proposing we transform the house in a week like a makeover tv show. But we still ended up on opposite sides of whatever it was that seemed so important at the time, and it colored the whole experience gray.

Why does that happen all too often?

I've been reading Ephesians this morning, and am struck by the idea of unity and peace--something we'll continue to need as we paint together today (another project we approach differently) and move later on in the week. I'm glad God is a god of do-overs, and am praying for a fresh start the moment we walk in our new front door later this morning.

I do love St. Paul. I know he often gets a bad rap, but I see in him a desire for order that I can relate to so well. I envy his vision of seeing things in a broad perspective, an eternal perspective, as I so often get caught up in the narrowness of the moment, my immediate feelings, and the sense that as things are right now they will be forever.

Here are some of the verses that stood out to me this morning:

Be very careful, then, how you live--not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity. (5:15-16)

Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. (4:2)

For he himself is our peace... (2:14)

And I've always loved a good benediction--and this is one of my favorites:

Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen. (4:20-21)

Countdown

We close on our new house tomorrow--exactly one month after closing on the sale of our house in California. Somehow it seems like much more than a month has gone by.

It feels like we've been displaced all summer--since from the time school got out we've been packing, out of town, packing some more, driving across several states, staying with family, moving into my parents' Denver house, unpacking a little, looking for a house, waiting to move into a new house, and now getting ready to pack up and move one last time.

I'm ready to be settled--which I've said before to the point that I'm sure I'm beginning to sound like a broken record.

I feel like we've established some good routine while waiting to move into our own home. We're reading at breakfast, I'm getting the coffee maker filled before I go to bed each night, we're picking out and setting out clothes for the week on Sundays so school mornings are free from clothes crises, I'm getting up early to have my own quiet time before everyone else is awake.

We're not doing a great job of eating dinner at home--despite a freezer full of food. I'm anxious to get my cookbooks unpacked and plan meals more thoroughly. I find I need to know what's for dinner about lunch time, so I can be prepared when Toben asks, "What's for dinner?" and so I can get a headstart on it before the girls come home and we get involved with homework.

I'm also not doing a great job with keeping the house clean. I'm ready for some more structure in that--Mondays for laundry and ironing, Tuesdays for grocery shopping, Wednesdays for vacuuming and mopping, and so on.

It's also time to get the girls set up with regularly scheduled chores. We've tried an allowance in the past, but we always forget and they haven't seemed to care. They do make their beds and keep their rooms cleaned, and they're usually willing to pitch in and set the table and such. But I'm looking forward to being more deliberate about their chores and setting up an allowance--which I'm sure will go to American Girl stuff.

And I'm ready to find a church, meet some people, and get our Sunday routine down. Sunday dinner after church (pot roast, of course!), naps in the afternoon, perhaps a walk, and Sunday night supper.

We do have our bedtime routine down pat--speaking of, it's time to go get the girls tucked in for the night...

School tests, looking at a house

We took the girls to their new school this morning to get tested. They both did great! The school is really nice; we're pleased. We chose and applied to the school over the internet, so this was the first time we'd seen it. Emma's classroom is especially huge and bright and sunny. We got to see both of the third grade classrooms, but don't know yet what class Audrey will be in.

We met Kristen and Ava (sister and niece) for lunch at the Cafe at Nordstrom, and then went to go look at a house. While the girls were getting tested, we drove around the neighborhoods close to the school and found one that looked interesting. It was okay, but the pictures were definitely better than the real thing. It would need quite a bit of updating and half of the yard would require some serious landscaping makeover work--something we're not all that excited to do.

So, we've begun to look, and figure it's one down and about 99 more to go. (We tend to impulse buy houses--we find one we like and buy it without looking at any others; we're determined to take our time and go slowly this time.) But in all reality, we'll wait until the girls start school before looking at any more homes. That way we can drive around to check out neighborhoods and look at potential homes without the girls arguing in the backseat, saying they need to go potty, and touching everything in the houses we look at.

We also drove by mom and dad's house in Denver--the one we'll live in for a while--and saw the tennis courts, playgrounds, and swimming pools. The house next door is for sale, but something tells me it's a little bit (okay a whole lot) out of our price range.

All in all, it is good to be here, but still doesn't feel very real. More like a temporary vacation. I keep saying things like "at home...", "back home..." Truth is, San Diego is still home for now. It's going to take a while to adjust.

Welcome to Colorful Colorado!

We're here! We arrived yesterday afternoon after only about six hours in the car. Mom had Sunday dinner ready and we ate pot roast, took a walk, watched the girls play horseshoes, unpacked, and sat in the grass under the pine trees. Kristen and Ava came down from Denver and it was so nice to all sit around the table together and eat pie.

Joey is starting to recover from being in a little kennel for two days, Daisy is ecstatic to be on solid ground again, and the ache in my lower back is slowly subsiding. I slept better last night than I have in many days, and feel like a whole new woman.

Toben and I are sitting at a coffee shop, checking email and such since there's no internet connection at Mom and Dad's; blogs may be a bit hit or miss for a while. I did take pictures on the road, and will get them downloaded later and up and posted the next time we need some coffee.

We're off to buy kitty litter, dog food, and a hairbrush, since I forgot mine. Then I plan to take a nap in the hammock and listen to the wind in the tops of the pine trees for the afternoon...

On the road

Hours in the car: 13ish

Miles travelled: 844

States seen: 3--California, Arizona, New Mexico

Hottest temp: Only 91

Stops at McDonald's: 2 (for breakfast and a snack)

Stops at Wendy's: 1 (for Frosty's)

Stops at Subway: 1 (for lunch)

Movies Audrey watched: 4

CDs left for The Secret Garden: 1

Phone calls to Mom and Dad: 3

Hours I slept last night: about 4

Stops for gas: 3

Cheapest gas: $2.95

Times Daisy threw up: 0--A miracle!

Life-size dinosaurs on the side of the road: 5

Miles left to go: about 400

Goodbye

Tonight's our last night here. The girls are all tucked in on the floor in our room since all their sheets and blankets are in boxes. I went into Emma's room to make sure everything got out, and shut the door behind me, suddenly feeling so very sad that I won't tuck her into her pink room again. I'll say goodbye to Audrey's room tomorrow morning (after I move the litter box out). Saying goodbye to our house is surprisingly hard.

But par for the day. I said goodbye to my friend Terri today. We spent the afternoon at the beach again--a wonderful, perfect afternoon full of sun and sand and finally some clouds and a cool breeze off the ocean. Then we had dinner with Uncle Jim and Aunt Susan and said goodbye to them too. I realize I really hate saying goodbye. I much prefer "See you soon."

When we first moved to San Diego I couldn't imagine it feeling like home. I missed Colorado, my family, my friends, and would have turned around to drive back the day after we arrived. Toben was diagnosed as bi-polar just after we arrived and our first year here was the hardest year I've had thus far. I've never felt more alone, more scared, more desperate than I did then. Life was strictly about surviving the moment before moving onto the next.

But once we made it through the crisis and healing began, our life here flourished. There's a verse in the book of Joel that says, "I will repay the years the locusts have eaten." After such a hard year, God has totally come through on that promise and made our last two years here so full, so vibrant, so incredible and good. He's made this place home.

All that's to say, now that I have the chance to do what I would've given anything to do at one time, I don't really want to go. I've had a painful lump in my throat since early this afternoon and I can't stop blinking to keep the tears in.

Ugh.

On the way home from dinner, I told Toben I hoped we were done saying goodbye. He responded, "Now we get to start saying 'Hello.'" Good point.

Up to box no. 157...

...and still going strong (well, not strong really--I'm running out of steam). No matter how much I pack, it seems like there's always more to go. Thus requiring multiple trips to buy just 10 more boxes. That should do it, really, I say. But it's never quite enough. I think all the remaining stuff stuff multiplies while I sleep.

I'm determined to be finished by noon tomorrow. Enough! Enough, I said!

And then I'll head to the beach to soak up some sun, sand, and surf...enough to last me a while.

We're leaving first thing on Saturday morning and I'm not sure if I'm excited about the drive or not. I usually love road trips, but I usually don't drive all that much. I'm just not sure if I can hold up for 12 straight hours of driving (well, almost straight...we'll stop for breakfast, lunch, dinner, snacks, potty breaks, and snack breaks--combining as many of the above as possible). Sitting for so long makes my knees hurt, but I have cruise control and will use it so I can wiggle around as needed.

I ran to the library this afternoon and got The Secret Garden on CD. And Sarah, Plain and Tall; Skylark; and Caleb's Song. That should help the time go by. Plus I have The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe and Anne of Green Gables too.

It's very weird to think that a week from today we'll be in Colorado. Everything for the past couple of months has revovled around this weekend, and I've not put that much thought or planning into after The Move. My calendar is jam packed with stuff everyday through this weekend, then it's wide open from here to eternity with only birthdays and anniversaries to mark the days.

I just have to remember that our life will fill up with time, and that in a weird way, I should enjoy the empty space and time while it lasts.

Good intentions...

Oh I had such good intentions to pack up all the china and crystal today. And to pack up the coat closet and several other things that we're not using and won't really need until fall or winter. But instead I sat in my comfy chair and reread a Harry Potter book. It was much nicer to escape to Hogwarts than to think about all the things to be done.

I have friends who read all kinds of "important" books. Not me. I do read to learn new things, but mostly I love to read to escape to another time and place... (Truth be told, I love trashy romance novels--cotton candy books. I really try to avoid them for the most part--just like real cotton candy. It's fun every once in a while, but you can't really live on it and it's not really good for you!)

The sign went up in the yard today and I'm expecting to have to clear out some tomorrow for showings. I've instituted a new rule--everyone up, dressed, fed, hair done, house clean by 9 a.m. That way we won't have to scramble if the phone rings. We'll see how it goes in the morning!

Post 98

Hmm...I'm getting up there and need to start thinking of something for my 100th post. Hmm...

I'm cleaning the oven with some "fume free" cleaner and the fumes are making my head feel funny, so if this doesn't make any sense, I'm going to go with the oven cleaner fumes as an excuse.

Bought many, many moving boxes today and came up with a list for what to pack and when. This week's going to be the china, games, movies, and maybe some winter clothes. And we'll have a sign in the yard by the end of the week, an open house on Sunday, and oh my, we're really moving soon.

I spent the morning painting interior doors, dining room window trim, and wondering why we've waited until we're moving to do these kinds of projects. Next house, I'm doing what I want to do right away. Definitely.

Covered wagon or 80-foot semi

Two different moving companies came today to bid on our move to Colorado. It was rather eye-opening. When we moved to California from Colorado almost three years ago, Toben's company paid for the move and I don't recall ever knowing any of the details.

First, moving is expensive.

Second, despite downsizing when we moved here, then getting rid of LOTS more stuff, we still own a lot of stuff. Fourteen thousand pounds of stuff, to be exact.

I worked through this pile of ironing the other day and watched several episodes of Little House on the Prairie while getting it done.

If you haven't seen Little House on the Prairie for a while, the show begins with a covered wagon at the top of a hill. A covered wagon pulled by two horses and holding everything the Ingalls family owned, and with room for five people to boot. (It's on the Hallmark channel for a couple of hours everyday if you need a refresher!)

How did they do it? Of course they didn't own hundreds of books. They didn't own a superbly comfortable, most wonderful king-size bed in the world like we do. They didn't have everyday dishes for twelve, china for ten, and a box of dishes just for the Christmas season. They didn't own couches, or a dining room table, kitchen table, two desks, or a lawn mower.

As I recall they owned Pa's fiddle, a change or two of clothes for each person, Jack the dog, an iron spider for cooking, a tin plate and cup for each person, Ma's school books, an oil lamp, and a family Bible. Laura and Mary each had a doll, and Ma only owned one knick knack--the china shepherdess. (Somehow I think Ma must have had some sort of a fabric and yarn stash, because...well...who doesn't?!)

Somehow I can't imagine it, though it does sound so wonderfully simple and appealing. So I walk through the house, looking for what else I can donate or get rid of, and I just don't know where to start. I've already culled the obvious stuff--where to go next?

And then I remind myself of something I say a lot: that choosing a simple life isn't always easy. That some of the choices are hard. And so I think the Christmas dishes may need to go, and perhaps some more books. But not until tomorrow...