Janet and I have the worst case of mover’s hangover I’ve seen in a long time. We are never moving again. We mean it this time. We have moved four times in the last 18 months (I’m not counting going to Sacramento because we just drove down and left all our things in Vancouver).
Of course, you realize this means we’ll find the perfect house in about six months. We’ll pretend to be interested in the property as a rental, start fixing it up, getting the house just right, and then fall in love and want to move in right away. That’s just the way we roll; not always the smoothest ride, but never a dull moment in this household.
Janet and I have been spending a lot of time in big box stores, not something we intended to do, but we just can’t seem to help ourselves. We are being greeted as friends in several Lowes and Home Depots now and we recently went to IKEA to try and figure out creative ways to store all our stuff. I enjoy spending time in IKEA: not only are those Europeans clever but my pedometer gained quite a few steps on our trips.
Our storage problem is twofold: (1) we have too much stuff (or crap, depending on my mood), and (2) we moved from a 2000 square foot house with a garage to 1280 square foot condo with a 4 foot by 6 foot back patio and two assigned parking spots. I only see one solution. Janet has to get rid of some of her stuff. Clearly, it’s the easiest and best solution.
After spending two months in California, eating out almost every meal, I can honestly say I am tired of the severe shortage of home cooked meals. I never thought I would see the day where I couldn’t decide what to eat and I just wanted someone to put food in front of me because the thought of making one more decision on food made me a little queasy.
I’ve always enjoyed eating out but I’ve finally come around to the obvious conclusion that it’s expensive and not very healthy. I decided this past Sunday, while sitting around watching football, to start planning meals for the upcoming week. I’m pretty sure Janet thought I was kidding when I mentioned my devious plan on Sunday because when she asked what I’d had for dinner when she called on Wednesday, she was shocked I didn’t say cereal.
I told her I’d made spicy rubbed chicken with a cucumber salad on the side. She paused so long I thought we’d lost our connection. She then said, “who are you and what have you done with my girlfriend?” I told her my decision to eat healthier and save money by cooking more at home and she said, “no, seriously, who are you?”
She won’t be looking for the pod (from the Body Snatchers) because she realized she liked this new Jenn and doesn’t want scare away the version who cooks and cleans up after myself. I’ve never been a big fan of cooking, but I’ve always loved eating and it works out great when you put those two things together. So I’ve heard.
I don’t even know where to start talking about our budget (Curse you, Budge!), but I hope cooking more at home, and eating out less, will help with the devastation Budge had to endure during the endless month of November. Isn’t this financial disaster of a month over with yet? Buying a condo, moving and having to buy new appliances, not to mention startup fees with our friendly neighborhood utilities, has been an expensive endeavor.
I look forward to the day we can put the move and expenses behind us and look forward. Sitting here in my new living room, on my giant purple couch, I can see three or four dozen boxes which need to be sorted and unpacked. That’s the easy part; deciding where to put these things (crap) is another story. My head hurts. I am never moving again.
jenn
jjwallingford 