A Glimpse into my mind

After having followed much_ado's postings about reclaiming her space through paint and the like, the urge to deal with the front hall of the Doma has returned. Over the summer I did pick up paint chips to find the color I would like. I've narrowed it down to three in the same color family.

The problem is that I will need to replace all the molding around ALL the doors when I do re-do the front hall (as I have to replace one section of one door, the only way to make it all go together is to replace it all).

And I just have SOOOOO much spare time between now and the Holidays.

But the urge to pull the paper off the walls, patch the dings and repaint has been stronger. It might actually be getting close to the time to do it for real. It's only been 5 years of thinking about it.

Anyone know a good plumber/repair man in the Buffalo area?

I need a new thermocoupler thingy for my water heater. Neighbor is not comfortable messing with gas (which needs to be shut off to do the replacing) and neither am I.

I'd really like to not spend an arm and a leg to replace this dohicky and I'd love to take a hot shower sometime soon.

I'm asking for help.

Over the winter one of the big wind storms that came through knocked down a section of the stockade fencing in my back yard and loosened another.

I recognize that i do not have the skills to replace the fallen one and either reattach or replace the loose one.

Do any of my friends here have the skills? I will take pictures if you require. I can scrape up the fund for new sections but I do not have the money to hire someone to come in and do it.

I would be willing to trade beer and grilled food stuffs in exchange for assistance in fixing my fence.

Unfortunately I need to do it sometime this coming month or I know the lady behind me will get grumpy and cause no end of hassle for me.

please let me know, oh friends of mine, if you think you could spare some time on a weekend to help me.

Yesterday dicea came over yesterday and helped me with a huge project. We tackled my garage.

For those who have seen my garage know what a big task that was. For those who haven't, when I moved out of my apartment July of 2007 pretty much all of my belonging went into the 2.5 car garage to eventually be sorted. After all, the house itself was full of Mom's things so I didn't have a place for my things nor did I really need much of it.

My goal for the summer had been to get the stuff in the garage sorted enough that I would be able to actually park in the garage come winter.

while I'm not quite there yet, it is a goal I now see reaching. We sorted, tossed and sorted some more.

I have a large list posted up to freecycle of things and clothes I no longer need or want. I will have a large pile of things at the curb in the morning for the garbage men to take away.

To give those who have seen the state of the garage over the last year and idea of the progress...

we can now walk ACROSS the garage from one side to the other in many places. Rather than just the narrow path through the stuff from the front of the garage to the door to get in the house.

I still have several boxes to go through but I'm very happy with the progress we made.

Today is laundry, laundry and more laundry.

Had the apartment walk through today. Turned in the keys. Signed the paperwork. It's official, I'm no longer a renter. I'm now... a squatter. Well, until the lawyer finishes up the paperwork to put the house in mine and the sister's names.

I've even got most of the stuff out of the van. This of course being a two fold reason... 1) get it out of the van because I'm no longer using the apartment and 2) the girls and I are going tomorrow to look at puppies and I don't know which car we are using so I wanted to make sure there was room for us all.

Turns out that one of the girls I work with's mother actually breeds chihuahuas. I called her and we talked. Turns out a litter was born on 9/11. And there are two boys in it. She also had a litter last night with one male and one female. I'm looking forward to the visit. I like the idea of getting a claim in at 1 week old. This gives us time to get our respective houses ready, gather together puppy products needs (I have a crate but need things like a puppy bed, food, toys, etc), and collect up all the funds.

These puppies, when full grown will be bitty things. Mom is only 4 lbs. and dad is 4.5 lbs. I am perfectly cool with the idea of a dog smaller than the cats.

The fun will come in, if we do place deposits down, is coming up with a name.

And for the record... the cold is almost gone. Day 6 and it's almost gone. Yep, it was a cold.

So instead of doing the umpteen-million things I need to have done around the Doma tonight (which was my excuse for not going out to the apartment and slapping another coat of paint on the bedroom walls), I let the one thing that has been bothering me since I moved in finally hit the nerve.

See, the living room is "technically" white. I say technically because well... mom smoked. Lots. So the walls are actually a beigey color with patches of white where I took pictures down.

At the base of the stairs is a BIG white-ish square on the wall where I took down a large string art thing. The color contrast has been bothering me for months. Today it got on my last nerve. So I dug out the large collage photo frame I bought back in July and the bin of family photos and put photos in frame and hung the frame. No more white patch on wall.

Then I see the small white patches on the wall of the stair well. More photos come out and now I have two walls covered in family photos.

Yes it's something I've wanted to do for a while. But Tuesday before a weekend where i have house guests coming is NOT the time to give into the wanting to hang pictures.

Oh well. I have a couple more days.

While I, rationally, know I got a lot done at the apartment yesterday, I'm not as far along as I want to be. I know that all I need to really worry about is picking up and making room and pathways so that on Saturday me and the other furniture lifters can get said furniture out the door and into the truck. I'd still like to see it almost completely empty. Not going to happen. I know people will be coming this weekend that could help pack up stuff, but it's tough to let them. Mainly because a lot of the little stuff is really me going "keep or toss". And to do that I have to see the item.

Oh well. Tonight after work I'll head back over, pack up the computer and do more picking up. I'll try ti finish packing up my books so that I can have help lifting the boxes. Also need to get the garbage to the curb tonight there. I think getting all the bags of garbage out will help with the "visual" sense of acomplishment.

Last night after dinner I got more laundry done. That is one project that will be on going for quite a while.

Also got the curtains for the master bedroom preped and hung. Prepping entailed sewing drapery pleaters onto them. They originally had tabs for hanging on a standard rod. But the rods in the bedroom are the kind that you pull a string and the curtains pull back along a carrier channel, pull the string another way and they close. Without the pleater tape it would have been next to impossible to hang, or at least stupid looking. Also got the valances ready. If I get home tonight at a decent time I will hang the valences up.

But the really cool thing I did last night was something I haven't done on the 4th since just after my sister was born. Around 9:30 I headed up to the master bedroom, climbed out the window, walked along the roof of the florida room, up the roof of the living room and up to the very top and sat. I watched the fireworks. When we first moved into that house my family and some of the neighborhood kids would go up on our roof and watch the fireworks. Back then we could see all around. Now, 28 years later, the trees are taller so I couldn't see all of them but I got to see the ones at the University of Buffalo, Niawanda Park and some over in the direction of Kenmore. There were a bunch that were set off locally by bunches of people in the neighborhood. I wasn't too thrilled about that. I don't like the banging/exploding sound that fireworks make. I like the pretty colors and seeing them from a distance on my roof from miles away is good. One street over is too close for me.

The cats are starting to adjust to the Doma. Tzar us still looking around for Mom. Talia gives me the "something is missing, momma" look. Alex emerged from her hidey spot about 11:30 last night and looked around the house some. She too was like "huh?".

Because we didn't get the bed moved over yesterday I crashed out on the couch in the family room. I don't mind. It's a comfy couch. The cats were the ones who minded. There just isn't room for me and three cats on the couch. I moved over a little and Alex snuggled in her spot for about 10 minutes until I had to move and she was forced to get down.

Got up this morning, managed to not only make lunch but start another load of laundry.

But now at work. Back to the grind.

In the immortal words of Diana Ross...

I will survive.

What: Moving Day
When: Saturday, July 7th
Time: 9am
Where: Start at the Doma
Why: I'm moving

If you are planning on coming out to help me move, even if you have already told me so verbally, please send me an email at baronessekat at hotmail dot com

I will need to know the following:
Who is coming (you and anyone else? animals? I do have a fenced in back yard)
When you plan on arriving
Can we use your vehicle for moving stuff?
Are you able to lift heavy stuff or can only lift light things/put things away?

If you are crashing at the Doma you will need the following:

bedding If you have an air mattress, bring it, just in case
Armor - fighters bring your gear, I don't see the moving part taking more than a couple hours so the afternoon will be yours to have a fight practice in the back yard. Front yard might be available too. (I will not say no to people who want to help unpack though or act in the capacity of "put that box there" organizers)
Dish to pass - going to do burgers and dogs on the grill for food. There are several grocery stores within a 5-10 minute drive of the Doma if you want to wait until you arrive to get something.
Beverage(s) of choice- if you want beer, please bring beer. If you want a specific kind of soda, please bring it. I will have a flat or two of water and a flat or two of generic sodas.

If you are crashing, keep in mind I have three cats. I do have one room guarnenteed animal free, potentially another.

Thank you in advance!

Tina/Ekat

( update on Doma stuff )
Today was sunday which I've tried to hold sacred as the "thou shall take time to do something fun during this maddening time". This resulted in me and dicea going up to Niagara Falls. Something for the last couple weekends has been pressing into the back of my mind that I need to go there. Just to walk around, mingle with strangers who don't speak my language and partake in the natural beauty of one of the Seven Natural Wonders of the World.

I expected a lot more people there. I mean today was Father's day. And it can be a VERY inexpensive thing to do. Especially if you don't park in any of the paid parking and stick to the park and the falls and not do any of the touristy things.

We got there and first discovered that the Falls must be a big thing for subcontinent Indian vacation spots. To the point that instead of the standard Hot Dog venders and the like on the corners, it's Indian food. The smells were wonderful.

We walked over to the Falls and decided that since Boogie was not with us we would not do the Maid of the Mist (like we were going to do if she was joining us - unfortunately she did not sleep well last night and sent us on our own). We opted instead to do the American Falls Cave of the Winds. I have done the Canadian ones before and that was cool. The Canadian side you literally go behind the falls in the caves and see the falls from behind. at first I wasn't so jazzed about the American side. You don't go behind the falls at all. You do down to the base of the falls on little walk ways and stuff. I was like "Yeah, how cool is that? Not much" Boy was I wrong.

It was soooooOOOOOooooo much fun. If you've ever heard me or Dicea talk about our experience at Diseny withe the Kahli River Rapids you will understand when I say "AGAIN!". We got drenched, despite the slickers they give you. You literally are at the base of the falls. And if you go on the Hurrican Deck as they call it, the water falls onto you.

Let me say, Shower Magic has nothing for clensing of the soul and spirit like a real Waterfall Magic experience. I know now where to go when I need a cleansing and recharge. Also learned that the rocky outcrops between Bridal Veil Falls and the Horseshoe Falls is the rookery for the largest congregation of Ring Billed Gulls in the Northern hemisphere. What this means in TONS of seagulls. And the babys. Baby Seagulls are adorable and cute and look like little fluffy rugby balls.

I had fun. And that was the point of everything.

When I got home I talked with my Uncle Alan. Wished him a happy father's day. He told me of their ordeals with getting home from their cruise of a lifetime.

The two fo them are coming out next weekend to grab all the geneology stuff from the Doma's dining room. This is good. That means I can move my sister's big-assed cabinet out of the living room and into the corner where the geneology stuff is now.

Long but good weekend.

Gonna go find some dinner now and relax.

Moo!