Monday, April 18, 2016

Currently: April Edition

Happy Monday! I hope everyone had a great weekend. Here's what's currently going on in my world these days!

Reading:  The Shining by Stephen King for the horror category of the read harder challenge. I don't do well with scary movies or books (I'm a wimp!) but I figured if I was going to read a book in the horror category, I might as well read one by the master of that category. It's definitely very creepy but Stephen King is a masterful writer. I'm also "reading" The Age of Miracles on audio book for the Read Harder Challenge. I don't listen to many audio books but I've enjoyed listening to this while doing things like cooking and packing.

Loving: the fresh strawberries that are in the grocery stores right now.  Yea for delicious produce!

Thinking: about how to make the most of the storage space in Phil's house. Believe it or not, my 860 sq. ft. condo has significantly more closet space than his 1,150 sq. ft. home does. That's because his house was built in 1915 and they had different standards for closet space back then! I've been spoiled and have had walk-in closets with so much shelving space that I haven't needed a dresser for the last 5+ years. He has a lot of storage space in the basement but that's not the kind of storage I need - I need linen closets and shelving in my bedroom closet! His closets are located along a slanted wall so there are no shelves as the bar for hanging clothes is right up against the slanted wall... I guess this means I'll have to make a trip to the container store which = my happy place!

Feeling: excited for our trip to San Francisco! We leave on Thursday afternoon and I just can't wait! I love San Francisco so much and can't wait to show Phil around and spend time with Kyria. She knows the city so well so is the best tour guide. We only have 3 full days in the area so we are going to have a jam-packed agenda, but it's going to be a blast. 

Anticipating:  my hip surgeon appointment on Wednesday. I'm so ready for it to be here as there was a month wait since this guy is THE BEST hip doctor in Minnesota and is known across the country. I don't do well with uncertainty so it's been hard to think about all the what ifs. If I need surgery, then so be it. I do better when I can actual deal with something rather than anticipate something that might happen but that I can't truly prepare for until it happens. At this point, I'm actually hoping I am a candidate for surgery as I'm so over being in pain.

Watching: Cooked on Netflix which is a 4 episode show based on Michael Pollan's newest book. It's really fascinating to watch and I really agree with Pollan's philosophy on eating. My book club is reading one of his books, "The Omnivore's Dilemma," for our May book club so I am looking forward to checking that out!

Working: on moving a lot of my belongings over to Phil's place, one card load at a time. I'm also working on getting rid of some of my furniture and other duplicate belongings, like my paper shredded, vacuum cleaner, etc. My goal is to have everything, with the exception of the furniture and essential kitchen items, moved out before my moving date so that we can move everything that is left within the 2 hour time frame that I'm allowed to reserve the elevator. I've made considerable progress! The living room area is empty as I got rid of my couch and coffee table (and my patio set so the balcony is mostly empty, too). The rug has been claimed by a friend in exchange for a couple of glasses of wine! I'm way ahead of schedule for the move but I'm traveling for the next 3 weeks - 1 trip for fun, 2 trips for work - so I needed to get ahead of schedule so I'd feel less stressed going into these trips, especially since I might have hip surgery in May.



Grateful: .that the weather is finally spring-like! The 2nd half of March and first part of April were honestly just awful.

Listening: to the sound of the Mississippi rushing through the St. Anthony Falls outside my condo. I'm so glad the weather is nice enough to open the patio door and window as that sound is so soothing. I'm soaking it up as much as I can before my move!

Wishing: that moving was less work! It does help that I can gradually move my belongings over between now and mid-May but it's still so much work to schlep all of your life belongings from one place to another. I sure am glad I did that big purge in February as it's making this move easier than it would have been otherwise.

What are you reading, watching, and grateful for these days?

19 comments:

Amber @ A Little Pink in the Cornfields said...

Good for you being so on top of this move! I am not surprised though because you are so organized. Moving is SO much work. I'm so glad this move will probably be the last of your moves for quite some time.
I'll be thinking of you this week and praying you will not need surgery!

Kyria @ Travel Spot said...

Whew! As always, you have a lot going on! I hope your Dr appointment goes well on Wednesday. Sometimes it is good just to have an answer, even if it's not an easy one. I can't wait to see you guys in a FEW days!! We are going to have a lot of fun for sure! Also, I read Omnivore's Dilemma when I was working in Iowa, which was kind of fitting, as he talks a lot about the corn industry. I really enjoyed the book although I forget which one I tried to read after (In Defense of Food) which I just didn't get into as much.

Moving is annoying / fun!! I do like the process of finding a place for everything, even though in my case it sometimes takes months or...in the case of putting photos on the walls, possibly years! But that is how it goes! You will have fun finding a dresser or creative ways of storing stuff! Or you can always build something!

Jeanie said...

Wow -- you are on a roll -- probably smart, given the SF trip. I get anxiety attacks when I even THINK about moving!

If there's room and you're in the market for new furniture maybe you should consider some of the free standing armoire-type things for nice looking storage. I know the ones at IKEA aren't terribly expensive (of course you have to put them together, so you also need a wine budget). So, that's a possibility if even the container store can't make the closet bigger!

Charbelle said...

You have made so much progress!!! It definitely helps to be able to move a car load at a time! I know you have loved living in your space but I also know you will appreciate not having to deal with the back and forth all the time! I was watching house hunters at the gym yesterday and they had a house that was older but had this ENORMOUS walk in closet, I.about.died!!! I switched out clothes on Saturday and realized that while yes I do probably have a lot of clothes, it's still not as much as what I had before. My closet is just not that big. Plus I don't have a full dresser. I have 4 drawers out of 6. I've done a great job of purging over the past year too, you would be so proud :)

Marlys said...

I think the armoire idea is a great one! It is amazing how people in those days could find room for their clothing and such. Your Grandpa's 100 + year old house here did have walk in closets, which is very unusual for that era. Your Charlotte Apt didn't have much closet space for a modern apartment, though.
I am enjoying spring and we even made beer-can chicken yesterday which tasted so awesome! Maybe you can use your Weber more when you move, asI see it is still on your patio.
WE are thinking and praying for your appt. with the surgeon on Wednesday and know you are ready for anything to alleviate the discomfort!

Nora said...

reading: Modern Romance by Aziz Ansari. I realize I'm not in the dating world but I find it so interesting to read; I can relate since I did some dating in the digital age and it takes me back to that really frustrating time. It's also laugh out loud funny

Wishing: That spring did not equal pollen. My allergies are out of control right now. We caved and turned the a/c on last night (between heat + pollen indoors, no thank you).

Grateful: Short work week for me, too! I need the break :)

San said...

Yeah, moving is a lot of work, but at least you're not moving too far away this time and can make some trips during the weeks leading up to your moving date ;) Also, having purged a lot previously definitely helps! ;)

I hear you on the storage space. Even though we didn't have much storage in our old apartment, our house was built in the 1930's and the built-in closets are very small. I still need to pick up a couple of dressers/shelves sometime to store everything we have.

Hoping for good news when you see the hip surgeon!

I am reading "Man's search for meaning" for the postal bookclub.
I am back to watching Parenthood on Netflix.
I am grateful for the park around the corner and our backyard, which I can't wait to use more this summer.

San said...

P.S. Would have loved to see you again (you're in SF, so close!) but I know your trip is short and I am actually out of town myself this coming weekend.

Carolina John said...

Have fun in San Fran! Totally jealous that you're getting to hang with Kyria again so soon.

Did Phil actually take the couch that he hates or is it just gone? Moving is so bittersweet. I totally feel your new pain with the closets too. ours are way too small.

Stephany said...

I find I prefer gradual moves like you are doing now. For the last move my mom and I did together, we did it gradually over a few weeks and it was nice to pack up a few boxes, take them over to the new place, and unpack. It's a lot less crazy than having to unpack everything at once!

I am currently reading Somebody to Love by Kristan Higgins, wishing for the weekend to hurry up and get here, and grateful for deepening friendships.

Unknown said...

So exciting that you and Phil are moving in together! :) Right now I'm reading a book for the postal book club but I can't remember the name and it's not next to me, I've gotten addicted to The Voice this season (I know, I'm so behind the times), and I'm trying to stay grateful that I had the chance to even go on a Caribbean cruise instead of pining away for the next trip. Ahhh, the wanderlust bug has bitten me good!

Leigh said...

Hope that your appointment goes well today!

Linda said...

I always feel a sense of melancholy when I see a home being emptied. I got that feeling seeing your photo of your empty living room!

I loved Cooked on Netflix!

Currently in a How to Get Away with Murder binge.

Caroline said...

Thinking about you and your doctor appt today! Hope it goes well. You have so much going on! Way to be on top of the move. Today was the first time I was even able to start thinking about my move in 2 weeks!

Jenny said...

Our old apartment was 355sqft and built in the 1840's but it had such high ceilings that we were able to really make the most of it with some clever IKEA solutions. We live in a 1970's house now that has lots of floor space but slanted walls and lots of windows so it's been a different challenge coming up with ideas and solutions but I find this sort of thing fun. I don't know what the container store is like but it sounds like my kind of place too! Happy Shopping :)

Anonymous said...

Too funny, I kept meaning to recommend Cooked to you.

Raquelita said...

Oooh! I'm envious of your trip to San Francisco! I can believe the thing about the closet space. I have lived in some apartments with huge closets and some large houses with tiny ones. We should do a minor reno in ours so that some of the space is more usable and not being blocked by small (and thus not very practical) built-in drawers.

We just finished watching the second season of Daredevil. I'm currently reading _Girl Waits with Gun_ by Amy Stewart.

Jolene - EverydayFoodie said...

Hmmm, a lack of closet space is definitely a challenge. I'd be interested to see what you end up doing (what you find at the container store).

I really like Michael Pollen, so I'll have to look for that on Netflix.

Yay, San Fran!!! I hope it's awesome!!

Amber said...

This past month, and really the past week, really opened my eyes to how much WORK moving is. Eric said "I think I only have 2 or 3 moves left in me" when we got to my grandma's. Even when you try to live a more minimalist lifestyle or purge things we still have so so so much stuff in our society! I am not really looking forward to unpacking in our news place but glad we have a bit of a break before we have to tackle that project!