We’ve been here a couple of weeks now

Well, we’ve been here a couple of weeks now and this is the first time I have had a few minutes to update my blog. Usually, I fall asleep by 9:30.

The moving van arrived early Friday morning, September 21^st. We were to meet them at 8:00AM and scheduled ourselves to arrive at the house at 7:30. They called at 7:15 to say they were at the gate but couldn’t get in. When we arrived 15 minutes later, they were at the house. They had gone in behind someone else who opened the gate. So much for the security of a gated community.

The movers unloaded the truck and were about to leave when we pointed out they were supposed to unpack. They had to confirm with the office, but agreed. Unpacking means taking stuff out of the boxes and putting it on the floor. We had them unpack some stuff, mainly the kitchen, and just open most of the other boxes. By Saturday night, we had the kitchen in some semblance of order, but there are obviously boxes with kitchen stuff that we haven’t identified yet.

In trying to unpack, we realized there were a lot of things we didn’t know what to do with. So a high priority was to put the shelves on the bookcases we had brought with us and put in the garage. I use that for anything I don’t know what to do with right away.

The first order of business was to buy replacement furniture. We had taken the living room and dining room furniture. That fit fairly well into our new “great room.” Except there is absolutely no wall space for the paintings. But the 50” TV looked like a postage stamp. So we put it in the bedroom and bought a new 70” set. But where in the bedroom to put it? All we had brought with us was a bed. So we went looking for bedroom furniture. After some give and take about what we each liked, we picked a set. It will be delivered in (they say) about three weeks. They did have the “media chest” in stock so we had that delivered. But most of our clothes are (1) in the closet or (2) in the media chest or (3) still in boxes on the floor.

Next was the guest bedroom, which will double as Mel’s office. Again, all we brought with us was the bed. So we purchased a dresser and nightstand and, separately, a desk and hutch. The desk and hutch have since arrived but we had to hire someone to put it together. That is still in the works. Then we will have to sort out the stuff that goes there.

My office, aka the den, was next. I bought office furniture that will take a few weeks to get. So I am working on the dining room table. Eventually, I hope to put a convertible couch in there too. It turned out the movers had dropped all the stuff right where the desk will have to go. So I spent every afternoon for two weeks sorting through the stuff on the floor. Not all of it was from my old office. When the furniture arrives, I will have to find room for all the stuff now neatly on the floor.

We also needed a dinette set because the one in NY was built-in.
And a car! We had driven cross-country and left the other car behind. Now we needed a replacement.

I have now settled into somewhat of a routine… work from 7-12, Monday – Thursday, and then lunch, exercise, and unpack. I think it will take a year to finish.

We’ve managed to have a little fun too. We’ve gone out to dinner with friends we met here, and friends from NY here on vacation. And we got to see Don Rickles. We had seen him here when we drove cross-country on our honeymoon. He is still performing a 90 minute set, 45 years later. Today we attended a “meet and greet” for the new on-premises restaurant.

I’ve joined the computer club but have not gotten involved yet. There is a “sports frenzy” here this weekend where we can learn more about the sports opportunities. We will attend that. And I have promised myself that I will get involved in at least a couple of activities within the next month. I’ll let you know.