Growing up

I need to hang the pictures in this house.

First, I need to find out what is in the attic.

Then I need to organize the basement,

finally, the things in the garage that go in the basement 

or in the attic need to return to their respective places.

Only then will I be able to access the pictures to hang.

I started that process yesterday.

This move was perfectly timed.

The moving company packed everything up, and loaded it into the truck,

and dropped it off here while

 the sisters and I went to the cottage for the summer.

We had a fabulous summer.

Now that we're here, and the house is smaller,

we no longer have a toy room.  

Actually, we no longer need a toy room.

The sisters have outgrown their toys, 

and are satisfied to store them in the attic,

and generously donated a few as well.

Yesterday, while in the attic,

sorting through the boxes,

organizing the holiday decor which we will need in a few weeks,

I opened the box of dress-up clothes,

which was full of lots of things that didn't belong in there,

because kids rarely put things back where they belong.

I found two napkins from a tea party,

and a wipe-erase board listing 18 different kinds of tea served.

The long lengths of fabric used for so many things:

rivers, beds, forts, and costumes, 

were hopelessly knotted and tangled with safety pins,

couture designed by the sisters, 

worn by themselves and their friends.

It was weird, to see these items frozen in time,

and suddenly I wished 

for a moment

that the pretending days in our house were not over.

I wanted to post a picture here,

taken 4 years ago,

of all the neighborhood kids,

but iPhoto is still mad at me, 

and told me so by giving me a big, red exclamation point.

I gotta call that computer guy back.

Chandelier

 The dining room of the new house

has NO light fixture.

The previous owners were in love with their fixtures.

That's fine.

I didn't care much for them.

I was out the other day and I spied 

this beauty:

I brought it home,

and the whole family protested.

Bitterly.

They thought it looked like a bird cage.

They wanted something heavy and crystal.

But, we don't live that kind of stuffy life.

And, our furniture is rather traditional,

so, to mix it up,

like they do in France by showing

Jeff Koons in Versailles,

I suggested something less formal.

Two more trips to the lighting store,

and one Chick-fil-A peach shake bribe,

and THIS beauty came home.

You can see we like her better,

because she was actually installed.

And the good Lord said 

"Let there be light".

Unpacking

Mr. did most of the unpacking while I summered in Bay View.

He has been razzing me that I was 

on vacation

all summer.

I told him it doesn't count as a vacation

because I had to cook. 

And clean.

And do laundry.

(it really was a great vacation though)

So now I get the joy of the crappy unpack.

The house is functional 

(mostly)

but the garage is un-navigate-able

and all the shelves are empty.

Hurray for me, I recently found all those doo-hickeys 

that hold the shelves up.

While unpacking the china, I piled a shelf (made of glass) with china, 

then I noticed it wasn't sitting quite in the right spot. 

 I tried to nudge it into place, 

And the whole shelf broke,

and crashed all the china onto the shelf below, 

and in the process breaking some things. 

Nice. 

 I have ordered new thicker, tempered shelves 

 so I won't have the shatter problem again (hopefully).  

Boo for me! 

 I still have to try to find the replacement china but that will have to wait for another time.

P.S.  

My grammar check found the word shatter, 

and said it may not agree with the words around it. 

 I am here to tell you, that while it may not agree, it is the truth. 

 Those damn dishes and the shelf shattered.  

So there.