Drinking Wine From a Dixie Cup

We've moved!

After weeks of packing, condensing, organizing, and trying to prepare for the big day it is now behind us and all our of stuff is currently sitting in boxes in our new place (or in my car, still)

Sunday and Monday night we were at the Queen Anne apartment spackling, touching up paint, vacuuming and cleaning every last nook and cranny.

And you know what I've learned in all this?

No matter how organized you think you are, you're still going to wind up throwing a wayward shoe you found under the bed, a half-used bottle of shampoo, a too-late discovered library book and a box of spaghetti all in one box.

And, no matter how clean you think you are, you'll still find dirt in the windowsill and spatters on the stove.

That's life. Messy, dirty, and at the end of the day further under your fingernails than you're comfortable with.

Here's a couple shots during the pack up.

Roy would not stop itching a hot spot on his tummy and I got so fed up with him I put a t-shirt on him.

He wears it well.

And here's Mr. Matt helping pack up the kitchen...or something like that.

Friday evening Matt and I headed over to the New Place, signed the lease, did a quick walk through and unloaded our first batch of stuff. Mostly fragile stuff that I get nervous and fidgety about when I think of it riding in a Budget truck or important stuff that we'll need right away.


So basically, our china and the toilet paper.


so nice and clean! (for now)

Saturday morning dawned bright and clear, thank goodness. Our ever-so-appreciated friends Stephanie and Peter turned up and with their help we began moving our stuff from the apartment to the hall, from the hall to the elevator, and from the elevator to the truck.

Stephanie and I began the day upstairs tying up loose ends, but one trip down to the truck after a "It's getting full" from Matt told us we were more needed there.

We love our men, we really do, but for whatever reason their packing skills...well...are a bit lacking. You want a computer fixed? Peter's your guy. What kind of jacket do you need to scale Everest? Matt's your man. Both can carry massive loads without so much as a grunt, but ask them to play Tetris and they might have some issues.

The "almost full" 16' Budget truck had almost no floor space left, but things were only stacked a box or two high...

Enter Stephanie.

In ten minutes items were wedged and moved and rearranged to clear up half the truck space and pack everything in for a nice, cozy ride. She should seriously consider a career as a moving van packer, because she did an amazing job!

By two-ish we were starving, tired, and ready to head south. Stephanie and Peter headed off to Costco to grab lunch and Matt and I were off to the new place.

Now, you may be wondering in all this hullabaloo where the Roy Boy was.

Skiing.

My dog went skiing while we sweat and grunted and moved our stuff. Matt's friend John took his dog Cooper and our Roy up to the mountains and they would hike up a mountiain and while John skiied down Roy took full advantage of his webbed paws and ran/slid downhill.

As John said, "Roy is so much better behaved after an hour of running through the snow!"

At the new place, after a quick lunch and a promise for the zillionth time to Steph and Peter that we'd return to Queen Anne to visit (I promise!), we began the process of unloading. Mark and Sara--the couple who own the house--graciously helped us out and the unload process went much faster than the loading process!

Aaaaaaaah! Chaos!!!

And that's when you pour your wine in a dixie cup, pop a squat on the floor since there's no couch and listen to the rain fall. And did it EVER fall! Not on moving day, thank the good Lord. But Sunday and Monday we had a downpour like I've never seen!

Monday I was home with a migraine (guess I should mention I had it since Saturday morning...ah the joys of eating unhealthy and getting no sleep), and realized the rain was getting louder and louder.

Then I looked outside.

Hail!

Roy wasn't sure what to think of this stuff...

Inside, he has claimed his own spot on the stairs where he can survey everything and still listen to the kids upstairs.

And at the end of the first night, I looked over to see my men snuggling...awww...

That's all for now folks. Stay tuned for the next update, "In the Land of Two Names."

Condensing

It starts.

That period during a move where nothing will be tidy, neat or uncluttered.

For a while.

Sure the bed can stay made and we work on keeping the bathroom counter clear, but this morning I woke up with wonky hair and when I went to grab a Velcro roller to fix my wayward bangs I found I had packed all of them. I packed bobby pins too...so my hair looked a bit "off" today.

I like everything to have a "home." The bottle opener, for instance, lives in a nice cozy slot in the far right hand drawer of the kitchen. The pens live in their pen cup on the desk, the keys hang on the rack by the door. But what happens when I pack the bottle opener, the pen cup and the key rack? I need a pen and it's lying haphazardly around just waiting to get lost! Dear me...

Its times like these I need to plop myself down on our temporary futon-couch littered with throw blankets and a dog toy and remotes, pour myself a glass of wine in a cup I haven't stowed away, prop my feet up and ignore the mess my house is for 2.5.

So hi, y'all.

Let me clue you in as to a few of the things I've learned over the past week or so. About downsizing.

Its not that we're moving to that much drastically of a smaller place (was that grammatically correct?). Its more about wanting to live with less. Less clutter, less stuff taking up less space on walls. So I looked around at what could go.

I spotted our DVD stand.

Hmmm. Those boxes take up a bit of room...what if I got rid of the stand altogether and put the DVDs in...a case?!

Look at that! We only had the top three shelves full of DVDs but it filled up two garbage bags of their boxes! And all the DVDs fit nicely in that black case you see perched there on top. That case now lives in the entertainment center. And the DVD rack? Sold it on Craigslist...

Let me tell you of another revelation.

We have a coffee table ($20 at the Value Village, baby) with storage in the middle. I've been wanting to use it to keep our board games in, but they all just wouldn't fit! Then I read somewhere that you don't necessarily have to keep the boxes every single game comes in.

Whoa. Heavy stuff.

I got out some ziplock bags, tossed out a few over-sized boxes and all of our games and cards fit in the coffee table with room to spare.

Yet another shelf is emptied!

That's all my pearls of wisdom for the day. 'Till next time, this is the Packing Palmers, signing off!

Things We'll Miss...And Things We Won't...

As we're beginning to pack up my truckload of books, I realize there are things I'm definitely going to miss about living in our current place. One is the view we have:

I mean, seriously, who get a view like that in their early twenties?! Oh wait, I guess I was spoiled and went to Point Loma where I had an ocean view for 3 out of 4 years...what can I say I'm used to it now?


The downside of this view is cropped out though - the train yard in Interbay. When we first moved in I think I got heart palpitations from the thundering BOOOMS of trains joining up. Three in the morning and I would think a bomb had gone off in Interbay.

Or there's the braking...I'm not sure which is worse. The brakes emit a long, super-high pitched EEEEEEEEEEEEEEE that's comparable to fingernails on a chalkboard. Either one I won't be missing much...

As of this morning we've already sold our couch and overstuffed chair, a DVD rack, and our headboard and footboard. And technically we've sold the futon although our friends Stephanie and Peter are letting us hang onto it until we get closer to the move date so we actually have someplace to sit.

For the first week we just bummed it out on the floor.

Roy thought it was just a giant bed for him...

And speaking of my Roy Boy, let me tell you of a little adventure we had in the elevator the other day.

First let me introduce Theo. Theo is a stout, medium-sized terrier who lives one floor below us. The owner is the nicest lady, and when Roy's not around Theo is great. But Theo has something against Roy...and the lady never keeps him on a leash. One time Matt was walking Roy into the parking garage and Theo just charged. Luckily Matt was able to avoid a scuffle, but for whatever reason Theo just does not like our Roy.

That said, I was coming back from a walk and waiting for the elevator. It opened and there was the lady and Theo...luckily the lady was holding onto Theo's collar but he went all savage on us and began barking and growling and all that stuff. I smiled and waved and said we'll catch the elevator on the way back and the lady smiled back.

A minute or two later a gentleman had joined me waiting for the elevator and it opened and we got in...me constantly trying to teach Roy some elevator manners. Namely not poking his nose into grocery bags. The man got off on the fourth floor, and right as the door was about to close to take me to the fifth Theo bolts into the elevator.

Theo and Roy went nose to nose, absolutely silent.

Oh crap, here it comes...I thought.

Then Theo charged, teeth bared. Instincts kicked in and with my left hand I swung Roy around behind me into the corner of the elevator and with my right foot I caught Theo by the throat.

I stood like that, balancing on my left foot and fending off Theo with the right all the while keeping my 85-pound dog cornered behind me and my right hand waving in the air to keep my balance.

How the HECK am I doing this??? raced through my mind.

Then the elevator began to close.

no no no No N0 NO

What could I do? The way I was standing the buttons were behind me. Do I drop the foot keeping Theo at bay to hit to Open Door button? I strained with my right hand for the button still balancing on one foot as Theo continued to savagely growl and lunge and just before the door closed...

...an arm stuck inside and the lady wedged herself into the stubborn door and grabbed Theo by the collar, apologizing profusely.

Phew.

And that's one more thing I won't miss.

Going to Golden Gardens dog park and seeing the Sound at sunset. I will miss...but we can always drive over there.

For the next couple of weeks the Morning Cup is going to be mostly about the Big Move. As we've been preparing we're realizing we don't need all this stuff. Its clutter, and to be cheeky its cramping our style. I mean, do we really need everything that's crammed in our closets? Quite frankly, no. So we're downsizing. I had five large bags of clothing to give away. And my closet still looks full!

I actually gave away books.

Please pick your chin up from your desk.

My reasoning was if it was something I picked up for 50 cents and wanted to read "someday," but its been sitting around longer than a year...chances are I can find it for 50 cents somewhere else when I really decide to read it. Or I can check it out from the library.

It went like this: red leather copy of Pride & Prejudice I bough in Wales? Keep.

Circa 1970's paperback version of Virgil's Aeneid I bought for a dime 5 years ago? Give away.

I've been obsessively reading every simple life and uncluttering blog and website there is, and maybe I'll even share some of the things I've learned with you.

That's all for today, folks! 'Till next time: Less stuff more life!

The Last Day of the Challenge - Day 54

Wow, two weeks since I posted! And a lot has happened in two weeks. Another earthquake in Chile that was so powerful it literally shook the earth from its axis. Another quake in Taiwan. My mom even got one in Oklahoma (oh, and a tornado an hour away to boot). The earth is quite literally groaning.

A lot of big changes have gone on in the Palmer household in the past two weeks.

First of all we are moving!

Yup, in a little over two weeks we'll be loading up and headed a bit south to the Renton Highlands to live in a one bedroom apartment that's the bottom floor of a house. On the top two floors live a young Christian family with 3 boys. We're excited A)to pay a lot less rent! B)that Matt will only be 10-15 minutes from work as opposed to 45, C)to be closer to hiking trails and lakes, and D)to get to know this awesome family!

The apartment is a one bedroom, which as most of you know, means we won't have a designated guest room anymore. By no means does this imply we don't want company anymore! As long as we ever have floor space y'all are welcome even if we lived in a shack in the woods! We'll still have a blow-up bed, a sofa bed, and a tent to pitch in the backyard if we REALLY run out of room!

We've (okay, maybe just I) launched ourselves into a purging mode. Getting rid of all the excess, unused, cluttered stuff that fills our house. Condensing, cleaning, clearing.

But I'm getting offtrack. You want to hear about the end of the challenge, right?

Well here's Day 45 or something like that, and if you ever want to see a dorky picture of me here's your chance. I was REALLY bored of the smile at the camera thing by this point.

Here's Day 45, and Mom? Remember when I said "Smile, you're going to be on the Morning Cup with me?" Here you are! Oh, and this thing I'm working on is Roy's new toy box...but more on that later...



Day 49 I was wishing I could go back to sleep for a few more hours. Where's that off button for your brain again?



Here Day 52...the day after we sold our couches. Forgive the unsightly slouching but I was sleepy...you can just call me Grace.



And the last picture record of the challenge ends on a look back at one of the spotlighted charities: Krochet Kids. This is the supercute shirt I ordered from them...its a unisex shirt and Matt wants his own in blue (and a size larger, obviously).

Day 53



Day 54 I thought I was done and realized when I got to work that the sweater I had put on had been "drying" in the spare room for a long time and actually hadn't been included in the challenge...so I inadvertently kept it going!

So that's it folks. I went 54 days without repeating a top and that's pretty disgustingly impressive in a warped way. I now have four giant bags full of clothes to give away or donate, making it even more shockingly astonishing.

And in case you're wondering, yes I did keep my original promise on Day 1.

And even though the challenge is over, let's not forget that many people in Haiti are still living in sheet tents, without work, without access to fresh water or latrines, and are still suffering the effects of the earthquake. Please keep them in your prayers.

Wardrobe Challenge Days 38-40 & Come Together Now

January 12th.

That's when the earthquake struck Haiti.

The news reports have lessened, marathon fundraising has stopped. Not much publicity now unless you look for it.

But the people there are still struggling, still not knowing where their loved ones may be buried, and still trying to make it to tomorrow.

Just a sobering reminder of why I'm doing this silly Wardrobe Challenge at all.

is the flower placement here totally corny?

I'm coming up to the very end of my tops. Sunday I even wore my tube top and shorts as it was a toasty 57 degrees on my balcony! (Ok, without any wind and in the shelter of the patio it was much warmer...)

I do have to admit something, though. I may have cycled through all my dresses and pants once, but 'round about last Thursday I desperately needed to wear a pair of jeans and I caved. I still am trying to mix it up and wear more than just jeans, but I kinda sorta gave up on that part. I'm almost through all my tops anyways and was almost through my pants again as well...cut me some slack I'm not wearing all my slacks? :-)

On another note, I have to retract a statement. On Sunday I admonished you to purchase an online album from iTunes known as Hope For Haiti Now.

Well, I bought it, and all I have to say is save your poor ears and just donate $8 to the Red Cross. It is not worth $8 and I am just chalking it up as pure donation.

All of these were recorded live, and maybe I should blame the sound techs for not having the monitors loud enough, but it seemed everyone was flat! The whole thing is just not enjoyable to listen to...just wanted to give you an honest report. You may love it...it does have a lot of big name artists, but for me I would rather have dropped the money in a Salvation Army bucket.

Roy knows how to "hug" now...

more flower goodness

In regards to the play we went to see last Friday, all I can say is with live theatre you win some and you lose some and you REALLY lose some. This production falls in the last category.

I was coming-out-of-my-skin excited to see this play. I have all the songs memorized and couldn't WAIT to see it brought to life! Sadly, every actor was lacking any luster of life at all. There was no energy...it made me tired just watching them drag their feet around the stage and half-heartedly singing their songs.

Quietly singing, I might add. Their microphones were turned down so low, and that coupled with their lack of diction and projection made for an evening of us straining to hear what they were saying. By the end of the first number I was giving Matt the "I'm SO sorry for dragging you here!" look! I kept pleading with him, "Can you at least see the potential???" I think he nodded just to get me quiet since it was hard enough to hear the actors...

Well, the play may have been a bust but the dinner prior to that was outstanding. Do you know that cheese and I are good friends? Yes. Good, good friends who love each other. I love the way it tastes in my mouth and cheese loves the way it gets to hang around forever on my backside. Bosom buddies, you could say.

Well Matt and I started with the cheese plate. Oh heavens. When they brought out the wedges and dollops I thought there was no WAY we could eat all that cheese. Haha, what did I just say?

I wish I could remember their exact names and origins but I don't remember anything excepted the exceptional way they were each paired with something unique...goat cheese and raw apples, some sort of aged cheese with candied hazelnuts, a chalky strong smelling cheese paired with a sweet pear compote...it was like being a kid and discovering something new with each bite and getting way too excited about it!

We kept shoving bites in each other's faces--"try the blue cheese with THIS!!! Okay, take a bite of that then a sip of THIS!!!" Explosions of taste played on our palettes and I felt almost dizzy from the thrill of it all!

I know right now most of you are probably laughing that someone could get so excited over a cheese plate but I don't care! Matt was right there with me so I know I'm not the only one a little kooky over cheese!

My dinner was pork over mashed yams with poached pears and was good, but Matt's dinner--the pan-roasted chicken, was out of this world! Really, nowadays you don't come to expect much from chicken. But having tried a few of Julia Child's recipes and now THIS delectable dinner? Chicken is the new beef, I declare!

Moving on.

The beer was great too.

Really moving on this time.

Sunday brought another deliciously sunny and warm day. Far too wonderful to spend it inside! Matt's co-worker John and his dog Cooper came over and we all piled up in my car and headed off to the dog park.

Cooper is a chill dog. Excited but not spastically obnoxiously excited (but of course I'm not talking about Roy). Happy to see you without being attached at the hip (Roy isn't like that either, of course). Who am I kidding? Roy was the picture of absolute maniacal excitement next to Coop's cool composure.

Roy isn't great at sharing.

Somehow I was in the backseat with the dogs (ok I volunteered) and while Cooper kept my company sitting right next to me the whole way Roy didn't stop pacing for a second. Oftentimes pacing right on my poor thighs which now have a number of bruises on them...he does way upwards of 80 lbs...

Roy is thanking John for bringing Cooper. Meanwhile Cooper has wedged himself inbetween the front seats.

The men and their dogs...

Disclaimer: I did get permission to print photos of John and Cooper and when I become rich and famous I'm sure they'll line up to collect their share...

And for Day 39...

It had been a long day...

Monday morning...Day 40! Can you believe I've gone this far! You saw the pics of my closet on Day 1...just one side is tops! Well here it is anyways...me getting tired of the smiling and posing pics again...

Today's Charity Spotlight goes (definitely not to Hope for Haiti Now), but is just one song on iTunes and is what I think my mom was talking about when she first mentioned something on iTunes for Haiti.

The song is called Come Together Now (Music City Unites for Haiti) and even though I'm not the biggest Christian music fan out there, this one is worth the $1.29. Its a collaboration of over 100 artists but the only one I needed to see what that redhead front and center--Wynonna Judd. I've been a fan of hers since I was in the third grade and my mom bought her self titled tape casette (remember those) and my dad came home to find us all dancing on the coffee table...

Back to the song. Begins a little Christianese, if ya know what I mean, but the chorus grabs you. Here's an article that explains more about it, but for being only $1.29 I thought it was worth the buy.

Day 33-37 & Hope For Haiti Now

Quick Recap on The Challenge: I came home with a new shirt one night to realize I had PLENTY of shirts hanging in my closet. As a result, I wanted to go as long as possible without recycling one top, and each day I could do that I would make a donation to a charity helping in Haiti, and highlight the charity or fundraiser here on my blog.

Spring is a comin' here in Seattle. A couple of weeks ago I saw the first crocuses poking up through the mud. Then, seemingly overnight, the cherry trees blossomed into pink oblivion and daffodils bloomed and the tulips are budding.

I love being somewhere where I can see the change of the seasons, even though it feels like we didn't really get a winter compared with last years' snow and ice nightmare. Except for a week in December temperatures have stayed pretty warm, and my studded tires have definitely not been needed as of yet.

I've got this itching to get up in the mountains and see spring announcing itself there. Yesterday morning when I took Roy out everything was bright and quiet. The wind was blowing and it sounded like a friend standing behind you playfully boxing your ears. It made me want to turn around and chase it, giggling.

On another note, Thursday was Matt's birthday! Happy Birthday Matt! He's a whopping 27 years old now!

For my Valentine'd Day present Matt got me tickets tot he musical "Company." This will be Matt's first Sondheim musical...I, on the other hand, was taken by my mom to see "Into The Woods" when I was 6 years old. That play is about what happens in fairy tales AFTER the "happily ever after." I don't actually remember it, but apparently the wolf was entirely anatomically correct. I got culture young, baby. (And not complaining, Mom!)

Day 33.

Heater was broken in the office and a sweater was needed.

Also needed: Blue Steel facial expression.

Day 34

She's gone country, look at them boots, she's gone country, back to her roots...

I hear that song in my head every time I wear this shirt...even though its a technical quick-drying shirt from North Face.

My vacuum cleaner made a cameo appearance as well.


Day 35


I got sick of these boring stand and smile photos so I thought I'd show you how high I can jump.  Only I didn't set the camera low enough so it just looks like I'm making a silly face.  Guess I can't jump that high after all...

Oh, random side note: this is the Valentine's Day card I got for Matt. Being bored was the reason I never dated anyone longer than 3 months before I met Matt...I just flat out got bored with 'em! Matt? He's always kept me interested :-)

The actual day of Matt's birthday I was a bit under the weather and headed into work late...and forgot to take a picture. Well, Matt took a picture of me making roasted potatoes and garlic for dinner that night and it wasn't the most flattering one...

Day 37.

The day of many outfits.

Off to work I went for the morning...

Outfit #2.

I was off work early and headed home to celebrate Matt's birthday. While waiting for Matt to decide what he wanted to do Roy and I soaked in some rays on the balcony...

Outfit #3

We went for a two hour walk around Queen Anne and it was so warm I donned a tank top! I did get a few furrowed brow looks...it was 52 degrees out but in the sun it felt so warm! Didn't get a pic of me during the walk, but here are my boys...

And Outfit #4

Off to the theater!

We went to The Stumbling Goat Bistro for dinner (wow, sooo delish!), and then went to see the musical Company. 


More on that later, but at least dinner was great!

Today's charity spotlight goes to an album, actually. Hope For Haiti Now is available on iTunes and all the proceeds go to a whole slew of nonprofits, including the Red Cross. 


Seeing as you get 20 songs for $7.99, its a good deal even if the proceeds weren't for charity!

You can download it HERE

Challenge Days 28-33 & St. Boniface Haiti Foundation

No, I have not given up on the Challenge.

Yes, this is beginning to get a bit old.

And yes, I do have a lot more clothes than I realized. Just one closetful has produced 34 days so far! You saw the pictures on Day 1...only one side of my closet has tops...it didn't look like that many!

But lo and behold, here we are. Today will be Day 35, and I'm preparing myself for interesting combinations. I spent half an hour this morning trying to make this summery tank work with these wintery gray pants. I gave up on that one...the tank will have to wait for a round of jeans, I think.

Here's a crash course of pictures:

Day 28

My favorite thing about this picture is the way Roy's ears make him look like a bat. I've got an armful of all hit toys stuffed with hidden treats to keep him busy while we're at work...he doesn't mind us going to work so much now.

Day 29 I forgot to take a picture which is a shame since I like my outfit that day. Professional chic. But you'll have to take my word for it.

Day 30...again Roy with the Bat Dog ears.

Bat Dog...doo doo doo doo doo doo doo doo doo doo doo doo doo doo doo doo BAT dog! (Ok, that was the old Batman theme in case you didn't catch that)

Oh, and this was the day that I threw on these big ugly boots I wear to take Roy out when its raining...and forgot to take them off when I went to work. The combination of the hat, sweater, and boots led a coworker to call me the Bolshevik.

Nice.

Day 31 was Saturday, and I threw on something semi-respectable since we went to look at an apartment in Issaquah (we're probably going to move soon).

No luck with the apartment...or taking a picture for that matter.

Day 32.

Ah Valentine's Day.

The day where most men are guilted into roses and chocolates and women are guilted into wearing lingerie. Just kidding. Maybe.

I'm not a big Valentine's Day fan as I think its hyped up, but there's never a bad reason to tell my Matt I love him, or eat a nice dinner, or look nice for that matter.

I originally had the table set and ready for dinner (I cheated and got a gourmet organic frozen dinner from a little place called Eat Local...40 minutes in the oven and we had superb Beef Wellington!). The Olympics are going on, in case you haven't noticed, and I planned on watching the figure skating at 7 (when they claimed they would show it) and when Matt would still be at work or walking Roy. Then we could enjoy a nice dinner.

NBC had other plans. They stretched the figure skating from 8 until nearly midnight! To show what a good sport he is, Matt let me move the dinner to the coffee table and we spent Valentine's Day watching pairs figure skating. That's love.

I thought I'd give him something nice to look at since he was having to put up with triple axles and all that jazz.

Today's Charity Spotlight goes to Saint Boniface Haiti Foundation.

Their mission reads:

Founded in 1983, the Saint Boniface Haiti Foundation's primary mission is to provide health care to the poor of Haiti in the rural area of Fond Des Blancs and the surrounding region. This is done through the Saint Boniface Hospital, work retreats, and other projects. The secondary mission is to improve the quality of life in the Haitian community through educational programs and humanitarian aid. The final mission is to raise awareness in the United States of the extreme poverty endured by the Haitian people. In the past year approximately 50,000 patients were seen at the Saint Boniface Hospital.

Since the earthquake over a month ago (can you believe its been that long?), they have worked with other organizations to get supplies for the hospital, which is currently still full. It was far enough from the epicenter to avoid any structural damage, though some of their other buildings did sustain some damage.

To donate to the Saint Boniface Haiti Foundation, click HERE.