Spontaneity

It’s been so long since we’ve done anything spontaneous.  When you live in the mountains, nobody just stops by.  No one comes over for a drink and then goes home.  If people come to your house it’s a planned event.  Planned well in advance.  Yesterday before work I put a flat iron steak in a ziploc to marinate and I went to work.  I had dinner planned, grilled steak, an acorn squash, a nice salad and leftover cake for dessert.  Then M. called and said she was going to the mall and then to a movie with a friend.  No problem, have fun honey. 

I get home and as I said, dinner is planned and we will have more than enough food for two.  My sister and her husabnd have been in Australia for three weeks, they haven’t seen the house , they weren’t around to help us move.  In fact we haven’t seen them since our wedding.  So I open a bottle of wine, (The S2 I mentioned a few posts ago) and call. 

“Have you started cooking yet?”  “Nothing that can’t be stopped”,  she says.  So she calls her hubby home from work and they pop over for dinner…on  a Tuesday.  No elaborate plans, just come on by, share a meal and a bottle of wine.  It was fantastic! We had such a good time just talking and eating.  Dinner was fabulous by the way.  I had an envelope of some kind of powdered marinade which I embellisehd because I always do and the steak sat in the marinade all day.  We threw it on the grill, medium rare and had a roasted acorn squash with a little butter and brown sugar, a basic salad with mixed greens, tomatos, cukes, carrots, sprouts, red pepper and goat cheese, with a balamic vinagrette.  My sister brought a nice crunchy sour dough bread to round out the meal.  All in all very satisfying.

 

Go Rockies!!!

I am not a professional sports fan.  I don’t watch football except for the super bowl and that’s for the ads.  I don’t watch baseball on TV although I have been to a few games.  I never know who’s playing, or who’s going to the playoffs etc.  That being said, I’m so excited that the Rockies are going to the world series.  I even tried to buy tickets on line.  That did not work so I guess I will save the money and watch on TV. 

O.K., this is my first attempt at posting a photo.  Here is a photo of the new house.         

 

Molly Dooker

I will just come out and say it, I am a Molly Dooker junkie.  We opened a bottle of the Shiraz, Blue Eyed Boy.  Wow…I know my spaghetti did not do it justice but it did not lessen our enjoyment of it.  We are not wine collectors and are not wine snobs.  I think the things we have, wine included are meant to be enjoyed.  I don’t have special occasion dishes or glasses, I buy things that I like and use them everyday. 

Kind of like this blog.  I write this for me.  I enjoy reflecting on the ups and downs of life, it gives me a place to vent.  I have no illusions that I am going to create something that will gather a following or turn into my ticket to retirement.  It’s just me in a “stream of consciousness” manner of speaking. 

Back to the wine, after we finished that bottle we opened another Mollly Dooker, the Boxer.  Also a shiraz and also quite nice but not quite as good as Blue Eyed Boy.  We still have 2 bottles of the Marquis Phillips S2.  Our wine guy friend says it’s time to drink it.  So perhaps tonight we will open it. 

We had snow all day yesterday and it put me in the mood to cook.  First I started out with a cake.  I hardly ever make dessert any more.  Too many calories, too much temptation and not enough people in the house to eat it.  The recipe that I was using called for baby food beets.  Who knew that they don’t sell baby food beets anymore.  My kids are way past babies so I have no reason to go down the baby food aisle.  Anyway, I made a quick substitution of prunes w/apples and it turned out pretty good.  It doesn’t quite have the same flavor as with the beets but no one in my house complained.  Actually M, my daughter, said “I’m so glad you’re a mom that cooks.”  I also made a pretty good shrimp jambalaya.  Good stick to your ribs comfort food.  The house felt so cozy and warm with the oven going, and all the yummy smells.  It was a great fall day.   

 

Our 1st house guest

Tonight we will have our first official house guest.  Pretty exciting!  We have gone to visit Mark & Jean often when they were in Arizona and they were always so welcoming and generous.  It’s nice to be able to reciprocate.  This time it is only Mark as he is here on business.  It’s too bad Jean can’t be here too, but she will come and stay one day too. 

 I really enjoy having people come to stay but I like it even more when I’m not working so that I can really prepare and entertain.  Mark doesn’t get in until late tonight so this evening will probably just be getting him settled, a little chit chat and then bed.  We all have to work tomorrow so we will all be up and out the door.  Tomorrow evening we will have a little more time to visit and catch up.  We have a bunch of really good wine so I will probably just throw together some spaghetti so that I can sit and enjoy the conversation.  I really do enjoy having friends over.  That’s going to be one of the best things about this house.  The space works so well for entertaining.  The kitchen level is nice and open and there’s a huge granite bar so people can sit and talk and the kitchen prep area is large enough for more than one person to be working at the same time. 

I was going to try to find some fantastic recipe and go all out, but coming home from work and trying to make something new with out a dry run sounds like asking for trouble. 

Yesterday I picked up all the trash from in front of Russel’s house.  Russel is our 80 something next door neighbor.  Nice man, I talked to him for about 30 minutes last week.  I’ve only seen him outside once and that was in the back yard, I’ve never seen him out front.  Anyway, the trash gets stuck under his bushes and it starts to look junky, so I picked it up.  Looks much better and I know Russel appreciates it.

 

Yep, still packing

O.K. so we’re not packing every day anymore.  I try to go to the mountain house at least 3 times a week.  Now it’s just the stuff that has accumulated that we don’t use.  Unfortunately, we can’t just leave it there.  Also the house needs a thorough cleaning.  Yuck!  P is working diligently to organize his dream garage.  He is so happy and I know that it will be really cool when he is done.  He has the El Camino up on the lift to get it out of the way and the sandrail parked underneath.  The motocycles are off to the left and the Ram and the 72 pickup are left to right after that.  Then there are a bunch of boxes to be unpacked and cabinets to be mounted.  I do believe that one day I will park my car in the garage.

 

Still Packing

Wow, moving is a lot of work.  You forget if you don’t move regularly how much work it really is.  We recruited my brother and his wife as well as J. and M. to help us with the really heavy stuff….the refrigerator, the washer and dryer, the beds.  Mattresses are a real pain in the rear.  Not only are they heavy but awkward and you can’t get a grip on them, the fabric handles that they put on are a joke.  Anyway, we managed to get most of the really heavy things and now we are trying to pick away at the rest on our own while working and trying to live life. 

The new house is great!!!!  Nice to be back in civilization.  I like the new neighborhood and we have a really great park across the street but boy is it noisy.  After living in the mountains for 15 years I really got used to things being quiet.   At night you didn’t hear anything but the wind.  Now if we leave the windows open, you hear traffic and people and sirens.  It’s very strange.

Duncan loves having a yard, but he’s used to the quiet too.  Whenever he hears anything he runs out there and starts barking his head off.  Way to make friends with the neighbors, obnoxious barking dog.  I know that he just needs to get used to his surroundings but I really don’t want to tick anyone off so I’m constantly running out there and trying to get him to quit.

M has started making friends at the new school and so that is definitely making things easier for her.  Her room at this house is much smaller than the old one and she will have to reorganize in order for things to fit.  Maybe she will decide she does not have to save everything and get rid of a few things.

When J. was leaving after helping with the heavy lifting he said we might see him more often now because we’re so much closer.  So I guess moving can be a good thing.  I miss him so much since he moved out. 

P. is in heaven with the huge garage.  He brought the El Camino down the other day and it is ensconced is the new digs.  We don’t have all the tools yet but I know that will be coming soon.   P wants to move all that himself and get the garage organized and set up just so.  By the time he is done I am sure he could have a spread in Ultimate Garage magazine if there was such a thing. 

One day if I am ever able to blog from home I will post some pictures, of the wedding, the new house, the fabulous garage, etc.

So we continue to pick away and the old house is looking abandoned and yucky.  I just want to finish so that we can clean it and have it looking good again and get it sold.  If anyone wants to buy a house in the foothills outside of Denver, let me know.

 

It’s all over!

Well, we finally did it.  The wedding finally took place on the 23rd.  All went well.  I imagine it went well.  It felt practically perfect to me.  It was so wonderful to have our family and friends around us and we committed our lives to each other.  The ceremony took place at our mountain house in the yard.  My son, J. walked me down the “aisle” actually across the grass.  My daughter M. was my maid of honor.  Friends from across the country came to celebrate with us and even my brother from Idaho came.  It was a beautiful day. 

 We debated renting a tent because P. hates spending money on things that don’t last.  I explained to him that it was like insurance and it turned out that it did rain lightly and the tent was well worth the money.  Oh, it was a good day. 

The funniest thing happened as things were winding down.  Many of the guests were leaving and we were starting to get food in the house, don’t want to attract bears.  Anyway, a door was left open and our little dog, Duncan decided it was time for a romp.  He took off running through the woods and we had wedding guests chasing him and he thought it was all a fantastic game.  Eventually we lured him back with a piece of beef tenderloin and it was all good.

The next hurdle was also cleared.  We closed on the house with the 6 car garage.  One small glitch, the money wasn’t wired on time and I thought poor P. was going to have a stroke but that too ended up fine.  We don’t actually take possession until October 1, but P. has started moving some of his shop equipment down into the back garage.  We will start moving things down a little at a time so hopefully it won’t be too back breaking or stressful.  

Now with a bit more time on my hands maybe I can get some photos posted.

 

I’m only complaining a little bit.

I really don’t like people who complain all the time.  Everything is a drama, the world is out to get them blah, blah, blah.  That said, I’m really trying not to complain because my life is pretty darn good.  So here we go.  Heard from Mr. Seller and he has a contract on another house.  This is good.  Hopefully he will have his inspection on Saturday, there will be no surprises and then….knock on wood…..we will be good to close at the end of September.  Not in time to have the wedding at the new house but still, time to move before it start snowing for real.  The next step is to get the current house sold fast.  Want to cut the ties from the mountains and start the next chapter of our life. 

 P. is so stressed out about getting this house.  He asks every day, “Have you heard from Mr. Seller?”  This house with the huge garage and all the space to work on his cars is really a dream for him.  When we move, he will have the space to work on his auto projects and I hope that he will feel more content and less on edge. 

Wedding plans are coming along, dress, guest list, catering, tables and chairs are all taken care of.  I need to nail down a tent, decide if I want flowers or some kind of decoration.  Need to get the house clean and ready for the house guests coming in 2 weeks.  All of this plus working full time and comforting a heartbroken teenager, I’m about at my limit.  It’s starting to catch up with me.  O.K. that’s it. I’m done, no more whining.

 

Am I the only one?

Am I the only one who feels so disconnected, so restless so uninspired?  I can’t be.  Sometimes I wonder though, I feel like I’m unhappy with everything but at the same time I’m not.  I think, this is just life, this is how it goes.  You get up, you go to work, you pay the bills, you take care of those you love…..or do you?  I wonder, who takes care of me, because I’m not sure anybody does……I think it’s me.  So some days I imagine what it would be like to just walk away and take care of only myself.  But of course that is irresponsible and selfish, so I don’t.

 

No news is good news?

Still waiting to hear if Mr. Seller has found another house so that we can move forward with our plans.  We continue to pack non-essentials hoping against hope that things will work out for us. 

 The wedding plans however keep progressing.  Did a little research yesterday and found out that to rent, I did say rent, not buy a tent for the reception on the chance that the weather in our beautiful Rocky Mountains does not cooperate will cost somewhere between $750 and $1000.  That seems absurd.  Of course that does include walls because walls cost extra.  Who knew? 

I had a minor meltdown the other day.  Tried on my dress and decided it made me look fat.  I loved it when I first picked it out.  Now it makes me look fat.  I have not gained or lost any weight since I bought the think…..now it makes me look fat.