Amazing how one action can snap everything into focus.
I went to another furniture store today. This one's called "Just Cabinets," and maybe when they started that's all they had. They've branched out since. They have all sorts of furniture in there. My bus passes by it every morning and evening, and I just today decided to wander in.
Twenty minutes later I bought a table and four chairs. The price I got 'em for is $200 less than the one listed on the website. They're having a "Grand Opening" sale--not for themselves, though. Apparently they throw a party every time a franchise opens up, and one just opened in Maryland somewhere. The set is on clearance (I got the second to last table, and four of the last eight chairs), so that link may eventually stop working. I copied the image to guard against that eventuality.
It wasn't purchasing the table that put things into focus. It was giving the address of where they were to be delivered, and when. That's the first time I've directed anyone or anything to that address. And I'm buying something that I couldn't possibly fit in my existing space, so it must be going in the new one. And since the table is a real object....I must really be buying a house.
Gaaaah! Where's the tape? Where are the markers? What's getting boxed up next?
Sunday, May 18, 2008
T minus 27 days and counting...
Not that I'm excited or anything.
No really, I'm not. I'm still having trouble believing this is real. It's all going far too well to be happening to me. I'm half expecting it to fall through.
That's probably the reason why I'm having so much trouble motivating myself to pack. That, and what am I supposed to do with the boxes afterwards? I asked my Mom that and she said, "Put them where the things were that you just packed up." That doesn't quite work when I'm unloading bookcases, though. And another thing: what happens if I pack something now that I need next week?
What I have been doing is wandering around home improvement centers and sections of stores looking at paint chips. I've decided I'm doing the living room in a sandy color called "honey." It's nice and neutral, and I've been finding it as an accent color in all sorts of drapes, upholstery, rugs, etc. One of the smaller bedrooms (which I've designated "the craft room") I'm leaving alone for now. This is the current owners' daughter's room, and it's cute. They painted a bright blue sky on the ceiling with puffy clouds--looks fairly realistic. Then they put little glow-in-the-dark star decals on it, so at night she's looking up at a starry sky. How sweet is that? They did the rest of the room as blue, and I don't see any need to change it.
The other bedroom ("the guest room") I'm painting lilac or lavender. Gonna get all girly in that room--eyelet and violets and what-not. No doilies, though. I draw the line at doilies. I'm going to (eventually) get a cast iron day bed to put in there.
The kitchen's okay too. I have always wanted a strawberry theme to my kitchen, and for years I've been collected and stashing away little strawberry things for my first house. I've been looking for drawer pulls that are strawberries and I found a few. Of course, the ones I really like are $5-$7 a piece. I have 20 handles in the kitchen (I counted them when we went in for the inspection), so it looks like that's going to have to wait for a while.
The room I really, really need to paint is the master bedroom. And of course, that's the room I'm having the most trouble deciding colors for. At present it's somewhere between peach and orange (I've been calling it Tangerine Dream). I own absolutely nothing in that color, and for a very good reason. I don't like orange. At. All. I keep going back and forth about whether it should be a nice restful color like sage green or aqua, or a bright happy color like yellow. Mom suggested when I move in to buy samples of the colors I like and paint a couple of patches on the wall--test 'em out in the various kinds of light I'll have in the room, see which I think I could live with best. I really want to get the painting out of the way before I move in, but I'm thinking I'm going to take her suggestion here.
I've also been prowling around furniture stores looking for the drop-leaf table I have in my head. I'm not finding it. I think I'm going to have to go with my "Plan B" table. I must say, though, that I didn't know we had so many furniture stores in town.
My real estate agent called me last Thursday to let me know she hadn't forgotten about me. I told her the bank I'm getting the mortgage through had (finally) cashed my check for the appraisal. I asked her if that meant they'd started it or that they'd finished it. She said she thought it probably meant they finished it. Usually, she said, you don't hear anything about the appraisal unless they don't think the property is worth what you want them to lend you. She thinks we're in pretty good shape. It's probably worth more than the asking price.
About a week before settlement I have to get the utilities changed over to my name. I need to give my complex manager a gentle nudge about writing up that release. Other than that, there's really nothing left to do on my end. Except pack, of course. Bleah.
No really, I'm not. I'm still having trouble believing this is real. It's all going far too well to be happening to me. I'm half expecting it to fall through.
That's probably the reason why I'm having so much trouble motivating myself to pack. That, and what am I supposed to do with the boxes afterwards? I asked my Mom that and she said, "Put them where the things were that you just packed up." That doesn't quite work when I'm unloading bookcases, though. And another thing: what happens if I pack something now that I need next week?
What I have been doing is wandering around home improvement centers and sections of stores looking at paint chips. I've decided I'm doing the living room in a sandy color called "honey." It's nice and neutral, and I've been finding it as an accent color in all sorts of drapes, upholstery, rugs, etc. One of the smaller bedrooms (which I've designated "the craft room") I'm leaving alone for now. This is the current owners' daughter's room, and it's cute. They painted a bright blue sky on the ceiling with puffy clouds--looks fairly realistic. Then they put little glow-in-the-dark star decals on it, so at night she's looking up at a starry sky. How sweet is that? They did the rest of the room as blue, and I don't see any need to change it.
The other bedroom ("the guest room") I'm painting lilac or lavender. Gonna get all girly in that room--eyelet and violets and what-not. No doilies, though. I draw the line at doilies. I'm going to (eventually) get a cast iron day bed to put in there.
The kitchen's okay too. I have always wanted a strawberry theme to my kitchen, and for years I've been collected and stashing away little strawberry things for my first house. I've been looking for drawer pulls that are strawberries and I found a few. Of course, the ones I really like are $5-$7 a piece. I have 20 handles in the kitchen (I counted them when we went in for the inspection), so it looks like that's going to have to wait for a while.
The room I really, really need to paint is the master bedroom. And of course, that's the room I'm having the most trouble deciding colors for. At present it's somewhere between peach and orange (I've been calling it Tangerine Dream). I own absolutely nothing in that color, and for a very good reason. I don't like orange. At. All. I keep going back and forth about whether it should be a nice restful color like sage green or aqua, or a bright happy color like yellow. Mom suggested when I move in to buy samples of the colors I like and paint a couple of patches on the wall--test 'em out in the various kinds of light I'll have in the room, see which I think I could live with best. I really want to get the painting out of the way before I move in, but I'm thinking I'm going to take her suggestion here.
I've also been prowling around furniture stores looking for the drop-leaf table I have in my head. I'm not finding it. I think I'm going to have to go with my "Plan B" table. I must say, though, that I didn't know we had so many furniture stores in town.
My real estate agent called me last Thursday to let me know she hadn't forgotten about me. I told her the bank I'm getting the mortgage through had (finally) cashed my check for the appraisal. I asked her if that meant they'd started it or that they'd finished it. She said she thought it probably meant they finished it. Usually, she said, you don't hear anything about the appraisal unless they don't think the property is worth what you want them to lend you. She thinks we're in pretty good shape. It's probably worth more than the asking price.
About a week before settlement I have to get the utilities changed over to my name. I need to give my complex manager a gentle nudge about writing up that release. Other than that, there's really nothing left to do on my end. Except pack, of course. Bleah.
Tuesday, May 13, 2008
(Ladies, insert your Dad here.)
Overheard in the café attached to the grocery store where I was last evening:
Man on cell phone: "I'm in a grocery store in [location] Pennsylvania. Yep."
[pause]
"Well, I have to go to all sorts of strange places to earn money for your tuition and rent, and to take you and your Mom to fancy-schmancy meals like the one yesterday. What did you think of that place, huh?"
[pause]
"Yeah, me too. You know, the chef doesn't normally come out and talk to diners like that. Only special guests."
[pause]
"Well, anyway, keep up the good work at school. Your mom and I are proud of you."
[pause]
"Okay, love you too. Um. Honey? One more thing. That dress your wore yesterday? Uhm.... I... think you need to wear leggings with it or something. It... well, it looked more like a blouse than a dress. Nearly gave me a heart attack. Okay?"
Funny how the clothes men stare at in appreciation on strangers will make them uncomfortable when worn by their own daughters.
Man on cell phone: "I'm in a grocery store in [location] Pennsylvania. Yep."
[pause]
"Well, I have to go to all sorts of strange places to earn money for your tuition and rent, and to take you and your Mom to fancy-schmancy meals like the one yesterday. What did you think of that place, huh?"
[pause]
"Yeah, me too. You know, the chef doesn't normally come out and talk to diners like that. Only special guests."
[pause]
"Well, anyway, keep up the good work at school. Your mom and I are proud of you."
[pause]
"Okay, love you too. Um. Honey? One more thing. That dress your wore yesterday? Uhm.... I... think you need to wear leggings with it or something. It... well, it looked more like a blouse than a dress. Nearly gave me a heart attack. Okay?"
Funny how the clothes men stare at in appreciation on strangers will make them uncomfortable when worn by their own daughters.
Wednesday, May 07, 2008
One weekend wasted
Last Wednesday evening while packing and doing laundry I got all sniffly-sneezy. I assumed I'd got a noseful of dust or something. By Thursday night I had that dry, thirsty feeling I have right before I get a beaut of a sore throat. Friday, sore throat, cough, and congestion. Still thinking it's allergies, I went to work. I mentioned my symptoms to a co-worker who gave me a meaningful look and said,
"That sounds exactly like the creeping crud I had last weekend."
Uh-oh.
I'd already arranged to take Friday afternoon off, ostensibly to chase down the complex manager. By the time Friday rolled around, though, I'd already managed to bump into him, explain my situation, and get let out of my lease.* I was going to use the afternoon to pack instead but by noon I was feeling horrible. Glad I decided to take the afternoon off, because I spent most of it asleep. Was completely useless all Saturday--achy, weak, sleepy, and sweating out a fever. Whatever this is was just about done with me by Sunday. I felt good enough that afternoon to go out to a furniture store to look at dining-room tables (it was mainly just to get out of the apartment). Didn't see anything that wowed me, but there were a couple of nice looking ones.
What I really want is a drop-leaf table like my grandparents had. The thing looked tiny when the leaves were down, but once you folded it out you could fit 12 people around it, at least. If I can't find one of those, there's a "farm table" set at this place that would suit me.
So anyway, I did a little bit of packing Sunday night, a little bit Monday, and a very little last night, but for the most part my apartment still looks like a hurricane hit, followed by an explosion at a box factory. I have a lingering cough, though nothing nearly like what I had. I don't think this is going to turn into a sinus infection and bronchitis (knock wood), 'cause I'm not all wheezy. There's that silver lining.
*Still waiting on the paperwork for that one. Must remind myself to send him a little email if I don't get anything by Friday.
"That sounds exactly like the creeping crud I had last weekend."
Uh-oh.
I'd already arranged to take Friday afternoon off, ostensibly to chase down the complex manager. By the time Friday rolled around, though, I'd already managed to bump into him, explain my situation, and get let out of my lease.* I was going to use the afternoon to pack instead but by noon I was feeling horrible. Glad I decided to take the afternoon off, because I spent most of it asleep. Was completely useless all Saturday--achy, weak, sleepy, and sweating out a fever. Whatever this is was just about done with me by Sunday. I felt good enough that afternoon to go out to a furniture store to look at dining-room tables (it was mainly just to get out of the apartment). Didn't see anything that wowed me, but there were a couple of nice looking ones.
What I really want is a drop-leaf table like my grandparents had. The thing looked tiny when the leaves were down, but once you folded it out you could fit 12 people around it, at least. If I can't find one of those, there's a "farm table" set at this place that would suit me.
So anyway, I did a little bit of packing Sunday night, a little bit Monday, and a very little last night, but for the most part my apartment still looks like a hurricane hit, followed by an explosion at a box factory. I have a lingering cough, though nothing nearly like what I had. I don't think this is going to turn into a sinus infection and bronchitis (knock wood), 'cause I'm not all wheezy. There's that silver lining.
*Still waiting on the paperwork for that one. Must remind myself to send him a little email if I don't get anything by Friday.
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