Moving Pics

Some packing shots ...

The skeleton looks like Iron Maiden's Eddie from The Trooper, leaning over the boxes.

This is weird. A refrigerator void of menus, magnets, kid's drawings and bumper stickers. We are fridge clutter whores, it seems.


The cats love this bag. It's beyond love, I think. This morning, I went to feed them and Larry decided he would rather chew on the bag. IKEA must put something special in their plastic.


*sigh*

I Gather Darkness to Please Me

This always happens to me. And to Jere. One day, we're thinking, "hmmm... I should check up on [insert band we would like to see perform live]" and as soon as we peruse the tour dates, we find out that they had JUST PLAYED IN OUR AREA. This time, I am absolutely furious, as I've learned that The Melvins were not only in New Haven and Boston, but they played a gig in Northampton. Less than a month ago. Now, they are off to South America, then to Europe. Meanwhile, I am completely oblivious.

Incidentally, I hate packing. HATE IT. And that's all we are doing today. Also I have a pretty mean crick in my neck. Nice.

Meow, Meow, Eggs and Stuff

Jere and I discovered Mr. Peabody's today. Good eats.

First Night in the New Casa

So, we slept in the new house last night. Since our sofa bed was delivered on Sunday, it was pretty easy to crash there. I went straight after work and, after picking up an inexpensive manual push mower from a Craigslist seller in North Providence, I went right to work in the basement. I ripped up the bad, dank-smelling carpet, scraped up the glue and foam-like residue, and swept. Scraped, swept, scraped, swept. I should take some pics so I can document the progress. I read today that the foam-like stuff comes up much easier if you wet it first. It also cuts down on the amount of dust flying around. Jere showed up around 10 PM, just about when I was fully covered in basement floor stuff and ready for a shower (BTW - the shower works well and we have a nice, deep tub). He is mowing our lawn today and hopefully scraping more of the basement floor. The plan is to get down to bare cement, then cover it with a nice gray floor paint. The walls - which are wood paneled - will be painted white. The trim will be either gray or red. Phase one is just about complete!

It was cool to sleep in the house, but I must admit that I didn't sleep well. I was actually cold. The windows were open (because it's summer) and I forgot a blanket. I remembered sheets and pillows, thank goodness. I was also terrified that I wasn't going to wake up on time. I set my phone alarm for 6, not knowing how long it was going to take to get to Waltham. I left Providence at 7:15 and got to work in an hour. The commute was moving along swimmingly until I hit 128. There was a broken down vehicle in the far left lane and it had an impact. I got in the office early despite it. I think I could probably leave at 7:30 everyday and make it in well before 9. So, this means getting up at 6:30 everyday, which isn't too bad. I still need to find a decent coffee spot on the way, but it looks like it's going to be Cumberland Farms for a while. They have decent varieties, but no ambience. The bonus is that they also sell gas, so I can do one-stop shopping.

Bumper Sticker Idea

MY TAPEWORM ATE YOUR TAPEWORM

Deep Thoughts

Acid Rain ... what ever happened to it? It's still harming us, right?

In things that are awesome news, how about that Jason Bay?

IKEAR (Bostonians add r's to words that don't technically have them.)

Between waiting in line at the register, waiting to pick up our furniture, and waiting in line to get our furniture shipped, we spent a good 2 hours in a queue at IKEA today. You might think we're nuts, but we saved over 50 bucks due to the tax-free weekend purchase!

Here are the goods:

[Red Sofa Bed]

[black and white rocker]

Pics from the New House

Okay, these were the pictures that were on New England Moves Dot Com, so please know that the furniture and accessories are not ours. Though, I must say that the sellers have good taste.

[front of the house]

[patio and backyard]

[this will be my new office - I'm going to paint the walls white, me thinks]

[this is going to be Jere's new writing room]

[master bedroom]

[living room - the fireplace works, but I'm terrified of fireplaces - some of you know why]

[dining room]

[kitchen - all new appliances and stuff]

Soon, this blog is going to be called: Gibberish from the 02905

Closing Is Tomorrow!

Firstly, I would like to publicly apologize to my friend Taylor (he is a friend - and an attorney - who has offered to eyeball our paperwork) for not getting him our real estate documents to look over. This time, the process seemed very rushed. However, I did read everything over carefully and I think we are in very good shape.

The closing is scheduled for 10 AM in Warwick. Rhode Island, that is. We had a few "jump through major hoops at the last minute" moments, but that isn't very unusual when it comes to buying real estate, as many of you can probably attest to.

This coming weekend is tax free in the state of Massachusetts, so we are going to buy a new sofa bed. We could drive about 20 minutes to the NH border and do this any old time, but I guess there is something kind of special about doing it in your own state. Which won't be our state much longer. Until we finally move to Northampton, which is the long term goal.

I hope you all come visit us in our new pad soon!

The Results Are In!

The results of my mom's latest tests are in and they are very good. Though the cancer in her lungs is "stable" (meaning no further growth, but no improvement), the disease in her lower back is beginning to eradicate. (To follow up on an earlier post, the ER doctor was totally full of it and there was never a period where the cancer suddenly left her lungs) We are happy as clams! She is going to cut the chemo back to once every three weeks so that she can enjoy one solid week a month of feeling good. She called me this morning to find out if I knew anyone who could get her some reefer. This was recommended by her oncologist to fight the chemo-induced nausea she's battling with. Unfortunately for her, I don't dabble in that kind of stuff. I bought pot one time in college and felt so awkward doing it. Mom's oncologist said that he could prescribe a pill form of the drug, but it wouldn't be as helpful as smoking the real McCoy. So if you all know anyone that can perform this discreet service ...

The MOBA is branching out! Not only do they have a permanent collection of shoddy classics in Dedham, but the Somerville Theater now houses a new crop of gaudy goodness! Furthermore, the MOBA has recently published a book, cataloging their priceless works. It is a must have!

Speaking of publishing, Jere and his mom's book has had it's publication date pushed out to October 15th. Fear not, Red Sox mystery enthusiasts ... it's worth the wait!

Onto gripes (which I am becoming quite good at these days). High gas prices have forced folks into a greener lifestyle, meaning that a lot of people have decided to cast their cars aside in favor of pedaling their bikes from point A to point B. This is great news for the environment and helpful in cutting back some demand for oil. I hold these intentions in the highest regard, especially since I am still shoving gas into my vehicle, thus perpetuating our dependence on the stuff. With all the new bike riders on the road, I think a refresher course re: the rules of the road is in order. Either riders don't know or know and choose to ignore the basic rules of the road. Here they are, lest we forget:

• Ride only one person on a regular bicycle; seat facing forward; not on handlebars.
• Ride with at least one hand on the handgrips at all times, do not hold packages.
• Ride one person to a bike unless it is designed for more passengers.
• Bicycles are vehicles like cars, and follow all traffic rules.
• Ride to the right side of the roadway.
• Ride a bike path adjacent to a roadway, if one is provided.
• Exercise safety; wear a helmet and give the right-of-way to pedestrians on sidewalks.

I have never witnessed a person on a bike stop at a traffic light and wait the full amount of time required. I rarely see cyclist using proper hand signals. Often times, bikes come out of no where and sit in my blind spot on the wrong side of the road. I don't want to have to accidentally injure anyone. Why, oh, why are people hell bent on not using common sense? There is nothing to physically protect a cyclist from danger (and, more often than not, their own naiveté). I hope that the police have raised this concern and notify people on bikes when they break the rules. Are the not subjected to the same moving violations as anyone in a car?

Crap I Don't Care About

I don't have any interest in Brad and Angelina's new twins. Does this make me a bad person?