I caught some of the 11 o'clock news last night. I wanted to see if winter planned to make an appearance here in New England (note that I am NOT complaining).

The weather is last of course - this way we must muddle through all the local drudgery. Apparently some Town Hall was going to redo their roof and residents were having a nit fit. In another town some folks are without power...again... tho really you would think we'd all be used to that by now.

Then we got to crime portion of the news.

In a town not to far from here it seems there was a store that was robbed. The newscaster described the robbers as 'two white men'.
A little farther north there was a bank robbery. These suspects were described as 'two black men'.

So people, please - keep your eyes out for either two white men, or two black men.

I suppose if you should see four men and two of them are white and two of them are black we can assume its a crime ring.

For that matter if you simply see one man and he is either white or black - you may have spotted one of them.

So if you see anyone at all - perhaps you should just call the police.

this can't be good

I turned on the Victoria Secret fashion show last night.
What's better than terribly attractive women in very little clothing?
Who needs in-depth programming or even a plot.
Simply eye-candy.

Oddly, its just made me hungry.

how to relax over the holidays

Go to someone elses house. heh.

After some 20+ years of hosting ... Thanksgiving, Christmas Eve, Christmas morning or Christmas brunch or Christmas dinner, Easter even Mothers day - perhaps all of these in the same year.
We had the unique opportunity to ...not.

This year my attractively-aging wife and I were hosted by our daughter - who seemingly loves to cook and entertain. She makes it all seem so effortless (and tasty). Ah, to be young.

This meant there was no holiday pre-clean. No shopping or cooking or basting and stirring. We didn't vacuum ...twice (thanks Free dog). We didn't rent tables and set up rooms in odd configurations to handle the masses. We didn't create a space for hors devours or a makeshift wine bar.

Instead - we lingered over coffee. We watched the parade, and scuffed around in jammies like it was a Sunday morning.

Later that day, we ate, we drank, we helped clear some dishes.

Then we stuffed ourselves into our car, and rolled home.

Where there was no post holiday cleaning, no crumbs ground into the furniture, no mountains of empties to rinse and put out. No dishes hidden under the sofa. Not a wine spill to be found.

I felt so lazy.

I could get used to this.

does this make me look old

The problem, as I see it, with this 'my hair should look like I just woke up' look - is that I can no longer tell if a guy is lazy and unkempt or seriously fashionable.

Friday

tip-o-day

It occurred to me -- while squishing myself into a tiny attic crawl space with several tools in hand, wearing a face mask, goggles and gloves and stuffing insulation between the floor joists (vapor barrier down, of course) that not only should I be paying somebody to do this for me - but that I need to share some important advice with my children.

Do the best you can to plan your life well. Save money when you're young. Don't squander it all on fun and dinners out and fancy cars and trips and fine shoes (well... maybe fine shoes).
That way, when you get to be the ripe ole age of 50 - you can hire people to do things like lay on their backs with a staple gun and itchy pink insulation in spaces that should only be accessed by the occasional house spider.

Excuse me while I go find my checkbook.

Friday

tip-o-day

It's best to move furniture away from registers during the heating season. This is especially important with baseboard heat where it needs to draw cooler room air up under the register and release it from the top at toasty temps.

To help keep furniture from sliding back up against the registers from normal daily use - use a small board (perhaps 1/2 thick by 3 inch width) cut to about 6 or so inches in length. I like to use pine scraps from my workshop and if they will be visible, I apply a coat or two of poly so it blends with our wood floors.
Simply place the wood behind each furniture leg and tuck it under the register or push it against the wall. This way the sofa, bed or table won't be able to get any closer.

Got power?

As you may have heard we’ve been having some ‘electrical issues’ here in the Northeast or perhaps it’s only Connecticut. Certainly seems to be anyway. Or maybe we just don't hear the news from our neighboring states over our own loud complaining.

Now I don’t run a power company, nor do I have any knowledge of the inner workings of such a business… but most people in the state, and especially those without power are certain that something is not right. Currently there is a lot of finger pointing and complaining, while we still have several thousand folks going without power now for 9 days. I heard there is even a lawsuit. Eek.

Granted it's been pretty bad here. Roads are impassable, schools have been out for over a week in some places, homes are damaged, trees are just destroyed. There are parking lots where folks can get drinking water, and places opening up called 'warming stations' for those folks trying to stay with their homes ..but who just need to get toasty for a little while. The shelters are full, the hotels with power are full, and those of us with power are taking in family and friends.
(this was not a hardship for us mind you... as it was our nieces who we got to take in )

I do know that despite any missteps by management that the folks working the lines are out there in force, working long, long hours – in the dark, in the cold and now many of them leaving their homes and families in other states to come help us out.

It so happened that yesterday on the highway I passed some of these line workers – looked like they were convoying to either another outage location, or maybe back home to their families and warm hearths.
There had to be at least 20 trucks traveling along in the right lane. The emblem on their trucks put them all from Michigan. Michigan people… wow.

And so.. I pulled into the middle lane and traveled at a speed where I could pass each truck in the convoy. Each time I came up next to a truck I beeped and waved and gave at thumbs up out of my sunroof. Each truck in turn tooted back at me. I passed so many of these guys, that by the time I got to the front of the line they were beeping and waving at me first. Other 16 wheelers joined in and beeped too, as well as some drivers who caught on to what was going on.

Down at our house by the marsh, our power didn’t even flicker – we don’t get much snow down here. But I really wanted to say thanks. Thanks to the people that go out and do cold, and important work --despite issues with management, flawed media coverage, and a bunch of cranky customers.

Friday

tip-o-day

If you know you're house will be filled with workers ALL day...who might possibly be tracking in mud and marking up your freshly painted walls - take you Xanax early.

It's still going on...

Just so you don't think we are all sitting around swilling Bloody Mary's here all day long...
(well not the entire day...)

Work continues here on the little house by the marsh.

This week we are getting all new windows. Believe me ...we need them.


The cement slab for our new 2 car garage has been poured. We don't have an actual garage yet, but really I can't be too picky.

Last week we had the entire back lawn removed.


We reseeded it. Which was more work than I had expected. Somehow I wasn't completely convinced that age can actually slow you down. That was a huge miscalculation.


Luckily the very next day found us in Provincetown - swilling Bloody Mary's of course.

Really…

I heard on the radio this morning that they will soon offer rides in space starting at about $200k per 2 hour ride.

People… if you happen to have $200k to joy ride in a rocket, could you just feed somebody.

look up

I am busy today watching the sky for space debris.

Hey... you never know.

and then there was one

The era of the land baronesses has ended. whew.
We now only own one house. It almost seems too easy.

I closed on mom's condo on Friday.

It was even more emotional than closing on our own house a few weeks ago.
As tired as we were of running three households there is just something about that moment when you realize you can never go back.

The closing went smoothly, in fact while I was signing papers the buyer called and asked if she could go in. Apparently she was sitting in her car with her daughter - after just having closed on her old house...waiting... nervous waiting. I agreed immediately, even wished I had thought to mention it sooner. I know the day must have been terribly hard for her. I wanted to do anything I could to make it as smooth as possible.

You see, Ita had been living in her home for over 40 years. She raised her children there, her husband was a teacher at the towns high school and she was a nurse (just like my mom). Ita lost her husband to cancer just this past March. I don't the story of how she managed to get organized enough to move so quickly - but I do know that moving to my mom's senior complex is right in between her two daughters. I have to believe that was a major motivation.

After I signed all the papers (it was just me and the lawyers - I am the executrix)
I headed over to my mom's plot at the cemetery which is just down the street from the condo. This was my thoughtful-wifes' idea, and as usual her suggestions are worth listening to.

The afternoon was stunning, warm sunshine and a cool autumn breeze. It was while I sat there enjoying the air and tending to the plot that I decided to go buy a small house warming plant and stop by to meet Ita. Was that crazy? I don't know. But it felt right.

The movers were there, and in full swing. As I approached the front door I waved to an elderly woman just inside. She invited me in even before I had a chance to introduce myself. Once I told Ita that I was the one who just sold her the condo she had me sitting at the table chatting in no time at all. Her daughter was there - helping her to unpack her kitchen. The three of us chit chatted comfortably about moving, and being a nurse, about how wonderful this neighborhood is how friendly the neighbors are - all watching out for each other.

I watched her furniture fill up the rooms that we had visited for over a dozen years. Her sofa set against the wall where mom's green one used to be. I spent more than a few nights during those last months sleeping on that green sofa, so I could be close to her room in case she stirred.
Ita's brown leather recliner remarkably set just where mom's favorite swivel recliner was. You could walk in any time and find her sunken into it. She would spin it around to face the door when she heard me come in as I called out a greeting. It was her go-to spot whether to watch a football game or when she was not feeling well. She even slept in it sometimes when the chemo made her too nauseous to lie in bed.

It did not bother me to see these changes. It felt good. I was happy for Ita. I was happy for the little condo. Happy for all the new memories that were going to happen there. Happy for the new grandkids that would come skipping through that door, calling out to grandma, who might be sitting in her recliner.
Knowing the good energy that was left there, and knowing how much Ita could use some now.

I was ready to let go.
I am ready to carry on.

peace mom.

Big News

I have had so much to say lately, it's time to get back to it...

What a better way to start than with this.
Last night we did something that most of you do every day - that we have not done in 25 years.

Yes, folks.

We loaded and ran a dishwasher.
Right here in our own house.
All by itself it sat there whirring and swishing and soon enough, it was done!

These new fangled gadgets are certainly amazing.

and then there was some wind

We're just fine. The little house by the marsh made it through the big, bad hurricane fairly unscathed.
The roof leaked a bit, the basement dribbled a little.
But we never lost power.

We walked down to the water several times that day. It was a shorter walk than usual.
Folks down there took a beating.
But hey - you have to expect that if you want to live on the fringe.

and then...

...there is Irene.

Here at the little house by the marsh we are busily preparing for the storm.

The latest models show a direct hit. The biggest issue for us will be flooding. Luckily our little house sits pretty high, but we are taking some precautions in the basement.

We chatted with a cop in the front yard yesterday morning who told us most likely they will post some police down here on our little peninsula, and then close off both access roads.
No in, no out.
We are also preparing to be without power for several days.
Meaning that we will fill our propane tanks and go to the liqour store.

Welcome to the neighborhood!

and then there was the bathroom

I don't have very good before pictures of the bathroom, but let me try to describe it.
The main bathroom is VERY small ... oddly we still bought the house. We were spoiled with our last house in that even tho we only had 1.5 baths, our main bath was rather roomy for an older house.

This bath is typical of the cape style houses found here at the beach. Almost every cape we went into had a similar layout. And actually one of the reasons we liked this little brick house by the marsh is that on either side of this bathroom were decent sized closets for each bedroom. The lack of closet space in houses by the water is astounding. Well...not the houses right on the water - I bet they have loads of closet space, or at least I would hope so. It would really piss me off to pay a million bucks for a house and have my clothes jammed into makeshift closets in the eves.

Anyway... back to the bathroom -

The previous owners had recently remodeled this tiny bathroom to include a really cheap plastic spa tub.
It may look ok in this picture - but the thing warped when you got in. And as we have already established, the previous owners idea of clean and my idea of clean could not be farther apart. I would NEVER be able to bathe in this tub. Just thinking of it now is making me shiver...

And ..yes... it is surrounded by black, fake-marbly tile. Even the ceiling was black tile. Really, what do people think about?

On the other side of the room they installed the largest vanity they could find - perfect for the tiny space.


Clearly ALL this had to go...



We had a new cast iron tub installed.

My artistic-wife picked out delicious tile for the floor - since it was such a small space we spoiled ourselves with marble. It feels amazing under bare feet.


She brightened up the shower area using white and some playful blues.



Then we went to Ikea - who shines at clever ideas for small spaces and got this small vanity and very cool sink/faucet.


Please note: that while currently functional, this room is still under construction. A leak (we now say "yet another leak") was discovered in the wall mounted bathroom fan... this leaking... is a whole 'nother story.

We started in the kitchen...

When we bought the little brick house by the marsh (we have marsh views...not beach views - hey we're not millionaires) we knew we would need to make some changes.

The previous owners had a decorating style that... we'll lets just call it early 80's gangster.

So we had already planned on doing extensive painting and to have the floors redone.
notice dark floors...and mustard? walls

..and what the hell is that thing over the sink.



But what we didn't expect to find was so much damage. These people were slobs. And apparently were clueless when it came to house breaking dogs.

yes.
ew.

We started to tear up the fake wood kitchen floor the day after we closed. What we found underneath was ...simply nasty.

My horrified-wife said,
I want it out.
All out.
Right now!

Bad timing for our friend Bill who was on his way over for the new house tour. But he handled it like a gentleman when I called him to say 'bring a drill'.


new hardwood in the kitchen,

and new cabinets.

Of course, as with every project here at the brick house on the marsh, there have been some glitches and delays.
But hey - plywood counters are way better than where we stared.

...and we're back

we've moved.
we put all of our crap in boxes.
25 years of crap.
in boxes.
and we used ALOT of tape.

5 guys came and put all of those boxes in two trucks.
we all drove down here to the beach (its a marsh actually).
the five guys then unloaded ALL those boxes into our new house.
our new house is smaller than our old house.
the movers lost nothing.
dammit.

we are nearly unpacked.
but thats only because I live with, and am in love, with an industrious woman.
a woman whose stamina and work ethic are terribly hard to keep up with.

we are still under renovation.
there has been MUCH renovation, and more to come.

in retrospect, I really wished I had been blogging this whole time.

its been hilarious, scary, daunting, wonderful and enlightening.
I don't recommend moving for the faint of heart.
my energizer-wife says the next move will be to the 'home' with just our toothbrushes and a picture of the kids.
I am down with that.

This is why we don't need a truck

My spontaneous-wife has been amassing plantings for the new house.
It's hard to see because of the background - but she pulled into the driveway with this...



I hear they loaded it into the car with a forklift, while commenting "Well this is a first."

She had it planted right away.

weese and her wife - land baronesses

Irony.
One of several reasons we bought the little house down by the water was to cut down on all the maintenance we currently have here.


As it turns out - we've ended up doing a 'bit' more work on the new house than first anticipated...


This has delayed our move in date.
So now we maintain two houses...and yards...and gardens.
Oh - and we still haven't sold my mom's house yet.

Is it any wonder why I have no time for blogging.