Moving On

Yes, we are alive and well. Ok maybe not well, but alive. We don't have Internet access in our cute, new apartment yet and that makes me not well, but alive. Unpacking boxes has kept us pretty busy but I miss having instant access to the outside world in my own living room. But, uh, thanks for asking!

Anyway, we are almost officially non-Philadelphians. Thursday will be our last official day. We've spent the last few nights cleaning out our old apartment and all feelings of missing it went into the garbage with the 1,639th grimy papertowel I tossed out. Remind me never to move again. And remind me never to buy anything again. I don't think I've ever even seen half of the stuff that is now sitting in our new apartment. Where did it come from? Where does it go? Moving is a very good shopping-inhibitor. And a several hundred dollar security deposit is a very good cleaning motivator. I was telling friends at work if they ever wanted something very, very clean, dangle $700 in front of my face and they will see how clean, clean can get. I have cleaned parts of a refridgerator, stove, oven, and dishwasher that I didn't even know existed! Between cleaning our old apartment, unpacking our new one, and setting up my kindergarten classroom in a matter of two weeks I told David that I wasn't going to clean again for five years. Funny thing is, he thinks I'm kidding.

I took a few pictures during our move, mainly on Friday night when Keith and Heath helped us pack up the truck (renamed K-Dog and H-Dog, so that'll just give a little window into my evening). I couldn't really locate the camera after that night until recently. So I will be posting those as soon as I get the chance, along with some pictures of our new apartment when it is all nice and clean. I know what you're saying Mom, that you'll never be seeing pictures if nice and clean is the stipulation. I think I've turned over my pack-rat leaf after this move. If something doesn't have a place, it's going to be given away, sold, good-willed, or tossed out because I'm not doing this move again in another 20 months when we have to move where D's residency will be. All-in-all, it's a rather freeing experience. Anyway, more details to follow.

At least one out of the three of us is enjoying this move. Can you guess which one?? What he doesn't yet know is how he will be deposited at my work for his first overnight alone on Friday. We'll pick him up sometime on Saturday...or maybe even Sunday.

This summer has been officially named the Summer of Smoothies. By me. It all started on a trip to Big Y with Dad early on in our summer travels to Connecticut. We were in the produce section near the strawberries and tucked in one corner were some packets. Now this was no ordinary packet, it was a smoothie packet!! Dad said, "Get it" and who am I to argue. Little did I know that I'd be searching for those babies high and low all over the greater Philadelphia area.

Well, after much patience and perseverance I managed to find the first few packets at my favorite food store Save-a-lot (because you really do save a lot!). They were banana flavored and orange flavored. I preferred the orange and D the banana, but both were very tasty. Then Save-a-lot seemed to catch on to this smoothie idea and really run with it so the flavors I then bought were Mango and Lemon Ice. Again, both were extreeeeeemly yummy and well worth the 59-69 cents. But that delicious strawberry kind still eluded me.

Even though Save-a-lot was very good to me, I was still checking ShopRite every now and then in hopes of finding strawberry. No such luck...until one day when D and I were food shopping and I had long since given up on finding strawberry--there it was. Right next to the chocolate banana flavor!! I scooped up the remaining five packets ready and willing to spend the inflated price of 99 cents, until I looked at David. Ok so I really didn't need all five strawberry packets but it felt good to hold all of them after my exhausting but ultimately fruitful (um, no pun intended) search. So three packets went back and a chocolate banana was added and off we went to find some frozen strawberries. If you couldn't tell already, strawberry smoothies are my favorite.

I would be remiss if I didn't tell you about the pineapple coconut flavor that D found at Target. This kind came in liquid form and while it was tasty, it was very strong and not our favorite. In my opinion, stick to the powder packets.

There is an art to making smoothies that you may not know about. D got me a Dunkin' Donuts smoothie one time and while it was good, it just wasn't my style. We both like our smoothies thick, not watery (yuk!). To get this consistency you need lots of ice. However ice then waters the flavor down and well that's not good either. So my brilliant and ever-thinking husband decided to freeze the fruit we use in the smoothie. And boy does this work out very well. We add some ice, the fruit, a bit of juice or soy milk and blend these ingredients. We then add the powder from the packets and blend again. The smoothie is then poured into our special smoothie glasses (like D is holding in the picture below) and there you have dessert or a late-night snack. Healthy and delicious, what more could you ask for?

I think I may have talked about smoothies a little bit...ok a lot a bit...at work because this morning my friend comes into work with a bag full of goodies and said she'd be right back with a surprise for me. Now we are always talking about food: how to make it, where to eat it, what is good at such and such a restuarant, what we made for dinner last night, so I guessed it'd be some sort of food product. Before I knew it she plopped down two banana smoothies on the table saying, "You talk so much about them that I thought I should give them a try so I could converse with you." Whatever the reasoning, I got to enjoy an unexpected banana smoothie this morning...and I noticed that my friend finished all of hers too.

This is the area formally known as our dining room. We made slow but steady packing progress this week in an effort to avoid rushing around at the last minute trying to get everything done. And by "we" I mean me. David did help out here and there when I asked him to, but we've both had a busy week so that's his excuse. I keep thinking of how great it'll be to be only 3 minutes from work and 5 minutes from D's hospital...as I pack box upon seemingly endless box. As I previously mentioned I've gotten all our moving boxes from work and my coworkers have started throwing boxes away, without inquiring whether or not I need them as they had been doing. I promptly asked why they are doing such a thing when they know I haven't moved yet and the recurring response has been, "You still need more boxes?!?! I thought you had a one bedroom apartment." Upon which they get the evil eye as I snatch the box(es) away from them. I've also taken to using any suitcase, backpack, laundry basket, Rubbermaid container in sight. So? We have a lot of stuff.

Today being the last Saturday before we move and next week promising to be another busy week in the lives of us, I am planning an all-out packing day. Convenient that D is on call right now and I don't think I'd put it past him to ask to stay later if for some reason they decide to let him go early today. Can't say that I blame him. Box #27 was just packaged a bit ago.

So with some good music and a lot of pleasant thoughts of how nice it'll be to be in our new apartment, you know what I'll be doing on this fine Saturday in August!

"Aww man, I didn't get a chance to take any pictures tonight!" Pictures would have far better described this humble abode we visited Sunday afternoon into evening. For anyone familiar with the Devonwood section of Farmington, this house would be snuggled right in there with the best of them. I told Dana, the homeowner, that I wouldn't mind duplicating the house, putting it somewhere else, and living there for the rest of my days. It reminded me of a house out of the southwestern part of our country with a touch of New England elegance. It was simply amazing, right down to the last decorating detail. And the pool.

That's really why we went over. We were invited to a pool party and BBQ at Steve and Dana's, our Sunday School teachers, house. Back to the pool: it was in-ground with a diving board and surrounded by a beautifully landscaped backyard. We all went in and played various ball tossing games. The guys were kind of wimpy and got out first, but Sara and I stayed in for a while. It was too much fun!

Then came the delicious food: chicken, pasta salad, corn on the cob, and fresh tomatoes with mozzarella cheese and parsley. For dessert, Dana made a raspberry pound cake with fresh raspberries from her yard and I made monkey bread. Amazingly enough, some of them had actually heard of and had tasted monkey bread. Usually I end up launching into a big explanation about what it is and how it's made, but I didn't have to! We stayed and socialized on their screened-in patio late into the evening. However, not before D had a chance to cause some trouble...

Steve and Dana have a cat named Kitten who has recently been confined to the house for his own safety and other cats in the neighborhood have taken the liberty to roam freely on Kitten's former territory. Well one such cat mistakenly wandered into their yard and casually started drinking from the pool. Now this cat was relaxed and taking his sweet ol' time hydrating himself. So much so that he didn't even hear or see David sneaking up behind him in a stalking-type manner. Before the poor cat knew it, Dave through something that spooked him and he (the cat) was flying through the air into the pool water. If you didn't know before, you know now that cats can swim. I guess they don't like it though, the cat had turned and practically ran on water to get out of the pool and far away from that yard as possible. I'm thinking they probably have one less cat visitor on their property now. Although I hope their neighbors don't figure out what happened and get upset with Steve and Dana. And I do hope we get invited back there again...very soon??

A random act of kindness on Friday allowed D and I to attend a Philadelphia Phillies game on Saturday night. It wasn't just attending the game, it was attending the game in style because these seats were season ticket seats; season ticket seats that happened to be field box seats on the first base side. We were 22 rows back from the field and were able to see everything.

How did we come by such awesome tickets you ask? Good question. I was doing my thing at work on Friday when one of the parents I know well appears. This may not sound like a big deal since her twins are in my summer camp (and I had them in my first kindergarten class), however they were leaving for vacation that day and weren't there. Now, she is pretty high up in Immigration and Customs Enforcement (formerly known as the Immigration and Naturalization Service or INS) and told me the previous day that since the terror alert was raised to red she may not be able to go on vacation. So naturally seeing her at work on Friday I assumed that they wouldn't let her go and mentioned my condolences. She waved them off and said they were about an hour away from leaving but that she had "these" for me. "These" were the pair of Phillies tickets that her husband couldn’t use because they’d be out of state. She told me that he had said to see if David and I wanted them. Umm….YES PLEASE! We were planning on going to a game this summer but hadn’t gotten around to it yet and we’re thankful we hadn’t! After giving her a big hug and imparting my well wishes for a great vacation, I tried not to be too excited in front of all my non-ticket-holder coworkers and called David.

Below you will see a panoramic view of our seats that David took. It was an incredible night for baseball. We got there (only 10 minutes away), parked, walked in and found out that our seats were right there. I’ve never seen D so interested in the game before, he was borderline the-male-equivalent-of giddy. You couldn’t help but be when it felt you were on top of all the action. We ended up leaving in the top of the 9th, but not before getting a Phillies thank-you card and a few Phillies pencils for the twins. Oh yes, not that it mattered much, but they lost. And it wasn’t much of a surprise. We told one of our friends who we went out with Friday night about the tickets and he said, “Who are they play—I mean I should say who are they going to lose against?” Oh well, sorry Phillies. But you do have a great ballpark.

My friend was going to come visit us this weekend, but something came up and she isn't able to. Not mean- ing to be rude in any way, I am happy that she can't make it (sorry Rach!) Our apartment is completely overrun by boxes. Actually, now that I think about it, so is my car. I am very grateful for these boxes because I have been getting them from work and I don't know what we'd be doing otherwise. But the number of them has been increasing as of late and it's gotten to the point where I'm almost be embarassed to have people over. A simple, "We're moving" explanation would probably do it, but still. Now I find myself anxiously awaiting the day that I can start packing without anyone thinking I'm completely crazy because I'm packing way too early. Although the girls at work have greatly benefited from my cleaning out the apartment sprees, they look at me with this "you-haven't-started-packing-yet-have-you?" look. No--I haven't. But I have printed out the "Kitchen, Bathroom, Bedroom, Living Room" labels. And I've bought all the cleaning supplies to address the rather lengthy Move-Out list given to us by our Leasing Office. And I've gone through every room throwing away or giving away what we don't want to bring with us. So, yes, I'm basically ready to move. Now.

I first laid eyes on this piece early Tuesday morning as I was departing for work. I was going to throw something away in the nearby Dumpsters and had to step over a few pieces of furniture that were sitting in front. I glanced and admired and would have checked more into them but was running late for work. Oh well, I told myself, we have enough stuff to move anyway. And left for work without another thought of the discarded furniture.

Fastfoward to 9:30pm when D comes wandering back into our apartment after walking his friend out. He commented on a few pieces of furniture that were sitting out by the Dumpster and I remembered I had seen them this morning. After relaying my story, Dave said we should take a closer look at the pieces because we are always looking for an extra something to sit on when we have guests over. He's right. So we got on our shoes and braved the still 90-degree heat to have a better look at this furniture.

There were two chairs and one oversized chair (not quite as big as a love seat, but bigger than the two chairs). We only had room for one, which was too bad because everything was beautifully kept and of very good quality. Not wanting to be out in the heat for too much longer, we picked out the best of the two chairs and cushions. Both cushions had a few spots on them, so we took the one with less. Then I dutifully carried the chosen cushion while D hauled the chair upstairs all by himself. He's wonderful. Dave took the cushion cover off to be washed and we dicussed how to go about cleaning everything and that was that.

Next morning, before work, I washed the cushion cover by hand. It was dry by the time we got home and we reassembled it. We went out and got some upholstry cleaner and I sprayed the chair down with that. In this weather, it dried very quickly and before we knew it we had a new-to-us piece of furniture that fits nicely with our living room decor.

Funny thing is, when I've told a few people about our Dumpster diving experience and upon describing our newly acquired piece, each has said I should have called her or saved the other pieces because she could have used something like that in such and such room in her house. Who knew Dumpster diving was so popular?

And don't worry, I did a thorough pat down in search of drugs or other hidden paraphenalia and it was clean. You never know with the histories of some people around here what they might be thinking. Either that or I've watched too many CSI-type shows.

Dave and I ended up taking a road trip on Saturday with two other couples from our church. It was planned last minute, and while I was 3/4 asleep, on Friday night. It was also planned by the guys, therefore there was some confusion over the meeting place, but all in all they did a pretty good job! We were all headed for Ocean City, NJ -- Yaaaay!!!

However, so was about half of Pennsylvannia and just about all of New Jersey. An hour and a half trip turned into three hours, but fortunately we were all able to fit into one van and the company was extremely entertaining. Sara and Ron had just returned from the Poconos and purchased a BINGO road trip game. Keith was driving so he and Julie didn't play, so it was Dave and me against Ron and Sara. We won the first game and they won the second, but that wasn't the fun part. The guys can make a joke out of anything and all of us were in tears over some of the stuff that was commented on.

Finally we arrived at our destination. The sun was HOT and Dave rented an umbrella. The guys were brave enough to play frisbee while us girls were smart and stayed still. When Sara and I were sufficiently uncomfortable, we decided to give the water a try. I love the ocean waves and that was the only reason I went in as far as I did. We were kind of egging each other on to go in farther because the water was icy. But the waves were awesome and I was trying to think back to when the last time I was in ocean water and couldn't remember. It was such a fun time, we felt like we were ten again!

Everyone took turns going in the water and walking the beach. At one point I was telling Sara about this very weird dream I had about her feeding her baby under a beach umbrella, but she doesn't even have a baby. In my dream I asked David why he didn't tell me they had a baby and was puzzled over the fact that we just saw them and they weren't pregnant. After I finished relaying my story, Sara said, "Actually we are expecting." So that made my dream doubly weird. But it was very exciting news!

It was amazing how fast the temperature dropped once the sun started to set. An uncomfortable afternoon turned into a cool, breezy evening and the guys played frisbee once again. Julie, Sara, and I were content to watch the waves.

After everyone was all freshened up, we chose a pizza place to eat at on the boardwalk. In comparison to Atlantic City, the boardwalk was just okay. However the beach and the atmostphere in Atlantic City didn't measure up to Ocean City's, by far. I'm not even sure I could pinpoint what exactly about the beach and the atmosphere was so different, but even Dave commented on it. I guess you'll just have to visit for yourself and see what I'm talking about.