Friday, December 24, 2010

The Grinch Was Here

Twas the day before Christmas and all through the house, not a creature was stirring unless it's some poor mouse looking amongst the dust bunnies on the floors for some tidbit left behind by the moving company.  Seriously, it looks like the Grinch came over to steal Christmas and everything else we owned.

The house is empty, devoid of not just holiday decorations, but also furniture and decor.  The packers/movers were busy for three full days getting everything headed to storage here in Texas and England via air ship or sea transport.  Who knew we had so much stuff?  It was like a massive spring cleaning in December.  I guess that will be my Christmas present - a clutter free home in England. 

I hope everyone in the blogosphere has a joyful Christmas and blessed new year.  I imagine my next entry will be from merry old England.  Life should be really interesting for us in 2011. 

Thursday, December 9, 2010

Is it too late to change my mind?

This week it's all about text speak, full of OMG and WTH over here.  The old ball and chain has been in England since last week and we're hanging on here in Texas... by a thread.  Who the heck thought it was a good idea to move this family and all our worldly possessions across the Atlantic Ocean?  Because honestly, it's looking like a terrible plan right about now as we live amongst the chaos.  


The middle aged mind can only handle so much, some finite amount of information on the to-do list and then you're done.  Everything after that is just a waste of time.  It goes in one ear and out the other.  It falls on deaf ears.  It sees the mouth moving but the old noggin just aint getting the message.  


Case in point:  I was upstairs in the master bedroom, busy sorting through drawers and shelves.  I decided to move the sort-o-rama down to the guest bedroom.  Since I was listening to Christmas songs on one of our digital stations through the TV, I checked to see which channel it was.  I then proceeded to mumble 930, 930, 930 all the way down the stairs so I could put it on the same channel downstairs to enjoy more holiday music while I continued working.  


Once I arrived in the family room, I mumbled 930 one last time whereupon it became 9:30 in my head.  I immediately panicked because it was after 9:30 and that time was important because I was mumbling it aloud to myself.  So I rushed into the office where I keep my planner to see what was supposed to happen at 9:30.  According to the planner, there was nothing on tap for 9:30.  So I sat down and checked my email to see if I could find any clues as to the importance of 9:30 there.  I puzzled over it for a while until it finally dawned on me it was the TV station number that plays Christmas tunes.  


OMG and WTH - do I have early onset of the "oldtimers" disease?  For now, I intend to blame all memory lapses, flubs, brainfarts and general ignorance on the stress involved with this move.  Once we get settled, I'll just have to find some other scapegoats.

Friday, December 3, 2010

It's Beginning to Look at Lot Like Christmas - Just Not Here!

The calendar page has turned to December and that means Christmas preparations.  J lugged all of my plastic bins down from the attic filled with Christmas decor.  My Santa collection is pretty impressive.  I really enjoyed opening up everything... and then sent it to my in-laws for storage or repacked it in bubble wrap for the trip to England.  


Right now J is over in England, suffering through some snowy weather.  The kids were given snow days and folks are lounging about at home since the commuter trains aren't moving much.  Surely it will warm up soon from these uncharacteristically cold temps so the snow will melt.  J has quite a few errands to take care of on this trip, besides getting into the office, since he'll be back over here soon.  Momma needs a gently used car so we can sally forth on wheels instead of plodding through the cold, damp, and possibly snowy weather upon our arrival later this month.






Here in Texas, we had a cold snap but now we're back up into the mid-upper 70s by the afternoons.  Yesterday I was in my Yellow Box flip flops when I had lunch with Cal for her birthday at school.  I had to discard my fave black, well worn loafers due to an unfortunate incident with cat poop.  Believe me, you don't wanna know.  


Anyhoo, this week has really brought home to me the fact that we'll have weather to contend with that we're not accustomed to here in the sunny south.  I bought a boot tray and mat for the front door a few days ago at Target.  I've got a feeling that both will be getting some serious use.