We moved! We have been talking about this for years now, and we finally bit the bullet and did it. I can’t tell you how much I love the new house, and the new neighborhood. It’s wonderful to have nice neighbors, who are friendly, have kids running around outside your house, riding bikes and squealing, and not wonder “What the hell is going on out there now?” It’s just a joy!
With moving however, especially when you’re going from a really big house to a smaller one, the packing is a killer. I purged quite a bit several years ago when I moved in with the Hubby, but he had never really done that. That’s not to say I was down to the basic necessities, not by a long shot, I mean the kitchen alone took forever! But, I did some pretty significant purging too. Hubby has many, many boxes of memorabilia from when he was a teenager, just about every t-shirt he has ever owned, and some of the most precious things from his mom and his childhood that I have ever seen! I was a little jealous to be honest!
At one point after we had moved the really big stuff, he came into the kitchen with a crumpled brown paper bag, that had clearly been around for a while. He said, take a look at this, you won’t believe it. When I opened the bag, the faintest whiff of roses hit my nose, but what was visible was a plastic bag with something brown in it. I pulled it out slowly and realized, it was his mom, Pauline’s wedding bouquet! It had withered and browned with age, but was still recognizable, and fragrant! Next was his grandmothers corsage from that wedding, with a sweet little pink bow attached and a white pipe cleaner swirl, that reminded me of the corsages I used to get with candy all over them for my birthday when I was really small. And next, was the kicker! He had found and kept the cake topper from his parents wedding, complete with the cookie wafer that had been stuck to it with frosting to give it a base to stand on the cake with. Simply amazing, I was so touched and excited!
I too found some really sweet things that I had forgotten about, books, photos and some hilarious cards and address books (thank you Google for keeping that together for me now!) I did come across, my Betsy Ross dress and cap, from the 1976 Bicentennial. That brought back such memories! My little brother Mark was only 3 that year, and he was all a-twitter about Betsy Ross and how she made the flag! Little did we know that that little darling would end up in the political realm so the adoration of Betsy Ross and the flag was appropriate!
The new house has the same amount of bedrooms we had before, so we have our bedroom, the extra bedroom, which doubles as my office, and a bedroom that the Hubby is using as his office, complete with his hundreds of book and beloved bookshelves. I am pretty excited about the office for me, I haven’t had one in a while that I would use regularly. It’s nice to have a space of your own, that you define and decorate and fill up with your stuff! Our bedroom is actually the full upstairs, complete with bathroom. That’s the Hubby’s, the downstairs (and much largerI might add) bathroom is mine. If anyone has my Facebook feed, you’ll see the terrible wallpaper in there, I’ll be getting to that in a few weeks. I had also forgotten how lovely it is to decorate and set up little sitting areas, and imagine using them. (Yoga anybody?)
The first few weeks in the house we didn’t have a stove, there wasn’t a gas line run to it, and I simply refuse to use an electric stove. So, there hasn’t been much in the way of cooking going on around here recently, although the stove is now up and running. I did make a few dinners, but they were nothing spectacular. And I made myself 2 pork chops last night, since the Hubby is away. That was pure bliss.
So, I am reaching out to all the Pinterest and organizing fanatics out there. We have an odd kitchen, it’s storage spaces are fairly shallow drawers (3 stacked together) and a few lower cabinets, but lots and lots of cabinets very high up. Now, I am a tiny person, so it’s pretty obvious those were specifically put in for a tall person, not a short one! What are some ideas for pantry storage, and yet keeping the counters fairly clutter free?
No recipe’s this time, just an inquiry to the Blogisphere! I need some help!
I just want to set the mood for when I am writing this. In the background is the “Whoot-Whoot” of the old steam engine at The Henry Ford, and it’s chilly and pouring rain outside. Yup, we moved to Dearborn! I also can hear many birds chirping away. I have to get out there and put some bird food out!
Confessions of a Detroit Foodist 