My Name Is Cindy

So...the day started just like any other -- up at the crack of dawn to let the dogs out, fix a cup of coffee, check email and Facebook, blah, blah, blah.  When I went for my second cup of coffee, I glanced up at this cute little keyholder thing that is hanging next to the kitchen door and a wave of panic came over me.  Where are my keys?  Look around -- not in the kitchen, not on the kitchen table, not in the living room.  Okay, maybe my purse.  Nope.  Under the couch, under the cushions, in the refrigerator.  Oh my God -- my keys are nowhere to be found.  Not even in the trash that was outside waiting to be picked up by the trash man.  ICK!!!!!  That was disgusting.  I have an extra set of car keys...but still.

I have now torn the house apart in my quest to find the elusive set of keys.  And while I still haven't found them, I did discover something almost as bad.  Geeze...my house really needs cleaned!!!  So now I'm pissed.  You can ask my daughters and they'll tell you -- when I'm mad, I clean.  So I guess I will try to turn a negative into a positive and at least get something done today besides this unending searching.  I have just finished scrubbing the kitchen floor the old fashioned way -- down on my hands and knees.

So, for today, if you have reason to talk to me (or talk about me), please refer to me as Cinderella.  Thank you.  And now I'm off to scrub a toilet with a toothbrush.  Not my toothbrush.

Next Steps

A quick update for my dear friends and family who have been following my crazy journey. You probably know that we made a stop along the way on our move to central Florida and that we're living in the panhandle in a house that we bought a few years ago -- a house that was supposed to be a temporary purchase, a place for Jamie to live while he was working down here. We've done all kinds of things to the house and are all but ready to plop a for sale sign in the front yard. Of course, our timing couldn't be worse in terms of the economy. So I'm taking some time to think through our options -- trying to decide if we should wait, or if we just go for it. Think, think, think. The upside is it's allowing me the opportunity to sit back and relax for a bit, as has been suggested to me by "my other mother, Judy." I have a tough time just sitting and relaxing. I'm a little too project oriented, or it's a bad personality trait I possess, or something.

Another thing I don't do well is watch movies. I don't know why, but it's something I really just don't enjoy doing. As part of my "sit back and relax" effort, tonight I did something for the first time that probably everyone else in the whole world has already done. I watched Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone. I'll admit -- I actually enjoyed the movie.

Somewhere between Norbert and Wizards Chess, I had to pause the movie to let the dogs out. I thought you might enjoy seeing pictures of the clouds I took notice of while we were outside. All this, and barely a drop of rain.

Can You Paint With All The Colors Of The Wind?

This morning I woke up bound and determined to paint the front door. I seriously don't know what's gotten into me. After painting the interior of my house in Columbus from top to bottom, I swore if I ever picked up a paintbrush again it would be too soon. I'm starting to think I'm obsessed or something. I do have obsessive/compulsive tendencies, but that's a whole other story, one that I'm sure my husband and daughters would just love to rant about.

I whoa'd myself down a little and didn't get started on the door until about 1:00. Problem is, I don't think I can shut my door tonight because there's no way the paint will be cured and I'm afraid it might stick to the weatherstripping around the door if I shut it. I had already push-pinned plastic over the opening in order to keep from air conditioning the front yard, but was it sealed tight? Definitely not. Okay, so now I have tape all over the front of the house around the door. Not very attractive, but we're talking bugs here, and I already have about 8 mosquito bites from being out in the yard last night. I am NOT going through that again.

I'll bet my neighbors (if they're watching) are wondering why I'm taking pictures of my taped up, plastic covered front door. But, do I care? No, not really.

It's hard to believe you can spend a whole day painting a door. But I'm here to say "yes you can." How long does it take for paint to dry anyway? Ten bucks says it's longer than I waited. Patience may be a virtue, but instant gratification is my motto, so I let the primer dry for what I personally thought was an appropriate amount of time and on went the first coat of paint. I never said I was a professional and I'm certainly not getting paid by the hour, so -- the door is done. It looks terrific and it beats white all to heck!

Since I've already seen every episode of Designed To Sell (and every other show) on HGTV (at least twice), I ended up catching a few episodes of Hoarders while waiting for paint to dry. Talk about depressing -- yikes!

Other than that, I didn't do much today. Took the dogs out a few times and made a pasta salad. Big day in the Florida Panhandle.

Another Day in Paradise

Okay...so I've been a Florida resident (not officially, but I'm working on it) for a month. We have spent a majority of our time going through all of our worldly possessions, making decisions about what we no longer want or will no longer need in order to continue life on earth. Combining two households into one and trying to find space for everything in a smaller house is a challenge.

Today I'm feeling a little frustrated. Patience, apparently, is no longer one of my virtues. I don't know how I'm going to do it, but I am going to get the garage organized today if it kills me. For sure -- there's an old golf bag, two folding chairs in bags, and a bag of old curtains and sheets that are going to the curb. If I can muster the strength, there's a Pilates bench that will join them. I have, sadly, come the conclusion that I'm never going to use the Pilates bench. I should have come to that conclusion before I bought it. Sometimes I wonder about myself.

We are still waiting for some guy we met to come and clear the trees and brush from about four feet of land all along one side of our property. Until that happens, there's no way we can fence in our back yard, which means every morning I'm out walking the dogs through the yard at 6:00. I'm not whining for myself. I know the dogs would like to run free in the yard instead of being on leashes all the time. I'm whining for the dogs (and for the neighbors who have to lay eyes on me at 6 o'clock in the morning). It should be noted...we tried clearing some of the property ourselves and came to the conclusion that it can't be done by man. The job definitely requires a machine. We get an A for effort, but that's about it.

We have two bathrooms and a bedroom left to paint. That will happen after I get over "the joy" of painting the kitchen. Just know that this old girl can still climb a ladder and manage a mean cut-in along the ceiling with a paintbrush. I get an A on this project. I am also contemplating painting our front door. Somebody stop me!

Today I may venture out to Lowes to buy some flowers. I have these adorable, bright and colorful containers that I need to do something with. One of them is fairly large and really should be sunk a few inches into the ground. So my trip to Lowes is entirely dependent on whether or not I find the time and energy to go outside and dig a hole.

I'm thinking the garage may just do me in. Lowes may have to wait until tomorrow.

Hugs to all my family and friends in Ohio. Big hugs to Lindsey and Caroline, the most wonderful daughters in the world.

A Whole New World

The title of this post is an obscure reference to Disney (always have to throw a little in there). Anyway -- yesterday was my first full day living in the Florida panhandle. Jamie has lived in our house here, off-and-on, for about 3 years. Yesterday was the first time I ever stepped foot in it. The house is situated in a small town called DeFuniak Springs. We're about an hour east of Pensacola -- sort of in the middle of nowhere. Lindsey helped her dad move into this house and she's been back down here one other time when she and some of her girlfriends came to Florida. I think both Lindsey and Jamie were very nervous about my reaction to living "in the middle of nowhere," considering I'm used to living in a large city. I was pleasantly surprised with the house. It's smaller than our house in Columbus (no basement, of course), but it's very nice.

We took a drive down to the airport near Ft. Walton Beach yesterday to retrieve Jamie's car out of long-term parking. There's lots of trees and green here in the panhandle. Very pretty. We are a short distance from Eglin Air Force Base and we learned yesterday that the base will very soon be bringing in tens of thousands of military men and women and families as part of a base realignment effort. Base housing is or soon will be full, so there should be lots of people looking for offsite housing. I'm hopeful that someone will want to buy this house so we can get on with our plan to move to central Florida. We got very lucky in that the guy who lives next door is in the air force and knows a lot of military folks who would love to have the furniture that's currently in our house. We weren't quite sure how we were going to get rid of all of this stuff before our furniture and other belongings arrive here from Columbus. So, we shall donate pretty much everything in this house to one or more military families and that will be that.

Because Jamie had been back in Columbus for over a year, with a short trip back to Florida before we moved down here, a lot of basic maintenance issues have gone undone at the house for quite some time. The yard is a disaster -- more weeds than grass, and a lot of overgrown brush and bushes. The vinyl siding on the house was filthy (seriously, disgusting) so today we got up early and powerwashed the house. It's amazing what a little bleach and a powerwasher can do. The place looks practically brand new. I can't wait to get the edger and the lawnmower going. Now might be a good time to buy stock in a popular brand of weed-and-feed, because we're about to spend a few dollars on a large supply in order to bring this grass back to life.

Anyway, things are going well. Aside from the fact that I miss my girls and other family and friends, I'm very happy. I'll post more later.

And Away We Go....

I wanted to post this on my Facebook status, but you only get so many characters. And then it hit me -- I could post to my blog and it would link to my Facebook, and I can talk as long as I want. Why I haven’t thought of that before when I had a lot to say, I don’t know. I’m a dim bulb sometimes. But, I digress.

If you’ve been reading my posts, you know I’ve had a long-term dream of moving to Florida. When I say “long-term,” I really mean long-term. It’s been in my plan for years now. I spent just shy of 30 years working for the Ohio Education Association. I had a great job, but the last 10 years were pretty stressful for me. It was like being in a rat race. Long hours, long weeks, sometimes only having one weekend off in a month. I’ve spent the last five years at the Ohio Public Employees Retirement System. Not nearly the rat race of my prior job, but sometimes still stressful. I’m not opposed, nor am I unable to handle stress, but I’m pretty much over spending my days sitting in a cubicle. I am also extremely tired of winter weather. I love sunshine and I’ll take hot weather over bitter cold any day. And, as anyone who knows me knows, I’ve talked a lot about getting a job “selling balloons on Main Street” at Walt Disney World. Selling balloons on Main Street may or may not actually be in my future -- it’s more or less my way of saying I need to do something different, something fun, something less stressful.

Part one of my plan is about to come to fruition. I am moving to Florida on June 5. It’s a long story, but Jamie and I own a small house in the panhandle and that’s where we’re going until we can sell that house. Good luck…right? If anybody knows anybody who wants a house that sits in a quiet, remote area about 30 or so miles inland from Destin beach, send them my way. Once we sell that house, I will be on my way to “Main Street.”

If you’ve been reading my Facebook posts, you may have noticed that every time I say something about moving, there’s this “Beth” person who almost always replies with a “yea,” or a “me too,” or a “can’t wait” type of comment. Beth is my sister in-law, and the reason Beth is so excited about me selling my house is because Beth is buying my house. We have been seat partners on a non-stop roller coaster for weeks (months) now, trying to nail down details, secure financing, and talking about how crazy this is going to be – trying to coordinate me moving long distance to Florida, and she moving long distance from Arizona to Columbus. Selling and buying a house is not so easy these days! But, it’s done. We haven’t closed yet, so I suppose anything could still happen, but at this point I’m pretty confident we’ve crossed all the hurdles of the selling and buying part of the plan.

I just want to close by saying to my neighbors on Facebook – Lynne and Jay, Tony, Karen – please welcome Beth to the neighborhood. You’re getting a really nice neighbor. You will love Beth. She is a dear person and she has a sense of humor like no other. She’s originally from Columbus, but she’s been gone for so many years that it will take her a little while to get her bearings. She has lots of friends in Columbus, but that won’t help her in a pinch if she needs directions to Kroger. Ha!

Empty Nesters

As of a week and a half ago, Jamie and I are officially empty nesters. Lindsey and her little Yorkie, Cocoa, packed up and moved to Connecticut where Lindsey is starting her new life with "her Marshall." The minutes leading up to her departure were very sad for me, yet I realize there comes a time when you have to let go. I should add that another love of my life, Caroline, had already moved out of our home, although she is still here in town. My next difficult day will be the one when Jamie and I move to Florida and leave Caroline behind. I won't say anymore about that dreaded day, as I think I've already talked about it in a previous blog post.

Lindsey is doing well -- setting up house and looking for a job. I hope she finds something soon. Cocoa is adjusting to being the only dog in the house. The two dogs that live with me have adjusted to him not being here. I think so anyway -- they haven't said anything to the contrary -- they seem to be doing fine.

We have a buyer for the house here in Columbus. Just keeping our fingers crossed that their financing is approved. In the meantime, I've been busy packing up all the things that I don't need on a daily basis. I really feel like I'm making progress. I have to give credit to "Get-A-Sam," one of those moving companies that drop a large container off for you to load for them to then transport. The company doesn't actually deliver to where we're moving to. Their warehouse is about an hour away from our house in Florida. However, they've agreed to go ahead and drop the container in our driveway. I'm VERY happy about that. That takes a lot of pressure off of an otherwise stressful situation. I never thought that moving from Ohio to Florida would be so crazy, but it is. There are so many details.

In the meantime, I have boxes for moving, boxes of stuff for a garage sale, and junk. I have to start seriously thinking about a garage sale date, and then I'm having 1-800-got-junk come and pick up, well...the junk. I'm surrounded by boxes.

We're still working on some minor projects here at the house. Our buyer is a family member, so we're trying to make certain that the place is move-in ready. It practically is, with the exception of a few odds and ends. And, if something should happen that their financing falls through (which I don't think it will), at least we'll be all ready to put a "for sale" sign in the yard. I've had a blast working on this house over the last couple of years. I can hardly wait to get to Florida and "de-bachelorize" the house there. I might actually break my promise and pick up a paintbrush again. I guess I really do enjoy projects -- sitting still doesn't get it for me.

It looks like the goodbye tour is starting. We're having dinner Saturday evening with very dear friends Chris, Gary, Becky and Jim. Looking forward to that.

Signing off. I'm sure if I look around here I can find something to pack.

O.H.I.O.

Today was a Cricut day. We made this decal for Lindsey's car. Just a little something to show off our "Buckeye Pride."

Spring Has Sprung -- Hopefully!

Today was a beautiful day in Columbus, Ohio. I thought we were supposed to get rain tonight, but so far, nothing. Maybe I misheard the weather report. My luck, it will rain, since we just about have all the water pumped off of the pool cover. I'm contemplating yard work, but I spent most of the day indoors watching basketball and making a greeting card. I'm really starting to get into this greeting card thing.

I did manage to do a little something in the yard when I got home from work yesterday. I cleaned up the large planting bed that we have in our side yard. And, I went Round 1 on picking up the "fruit" that is produced by our Sweet Gum tree. I really have a love/hate relationship with that tree. It's pretty, but it drops these little prickly things all over the front yard. This year there don't seem to be quite as many, so I'm thinking Round 2 might be all that's needed. We planted this tree on Lindsey's first birthday and it was only as tall as the gutters on the house. Now it's one of the tallest trees on the street.

I'm also trying to come to grips with the fact that my beautiful Lindsey will be moving away from me in a couple of weeks. When I made up my mind a few years ago that I wanted to move to Florida, it never occurred to me that my girls would not follow suit. Unfortunately for me, neither one of them is the least bit interested in living in Florida -- not now anyway. I will get through this, but it will be very difficult. Jamie is coming home next week and I assume he'll be here until we move. With Lindsey moving, there's just no way I can manage the house and the yard and my job and plan a major move without some help. So, help is on the way! Wait 'til he sees the "to do" list.

I don't have any craft pictures to share today, but here's a really cute picture I took of Pixie.

Another day, another craft project

For about two years I've spent a considerable amount of time working on my house. When the girls were younger and Jamie and I were working fulltime, things just kind of went to pot around here and our house was in need of some major updating and renovation. I painted the interior from top to bottom, we updated the bathrooms and the kitchen, replaced windows and exterior siding, carpet, flooring, lighting -- you name it, we did it. First of all, it needed to be done. But mostly, it had to be done in order to sell our house. I'm finished, and I'm pretty sure I have a buyer for the house. Very soon I'll be living my dream in the sunny south. No more Ohio winters for me -- and this winter has been a doozie.

The time between finishing the house and actually selling it and moving out had to be filled by something. I'm not very good at just sitting around doing nothing. I'm also not very good at crafting, but I'm starting to learn new things and am enjoying the attempt. I've mentioned my Cricut in previous posts and I've spent hours watching videos and reading other blogs, drawing on inspiration from people who are really, really talented. I can only hope to get to the point of making such beautiful projects. It's also kind of hard to really dig into it, since I don't want to buy a ton of supplies that I'll have to pack up and move. So I'm starting slowly and doing some quick and easy projects. It's all part of the learning process and once I get settled, perhaps I can tackle something extraordinary.

So here's today project. A simple little picture frame.

It's a Cricut Day

I had this bright idea that I think turned out really cute. I fired up the Cricut today, cut some vinyl, and created this glass block decor. It has scarlet and gray ribbon wrapped on the outside, but you can't really see it in this picture.

Alice in Wonderland

I don't remember the last movie I saw in a theatre, and I don't watch movies at home because I just can't sit still that long. My mind always wanders, thinking about what I should be doing instead. My husband and my girls could watch movies 24/7, so I am definitely the odd man out in this family.

However, when a movie really intrigues me, I will drag myself kicking and screaming to the local movie theatre. I am really, really, really looking forward to Disney's new movie Alice in Wonderland. Alice is directed by Tim Burton and is coming to a theatre near you on March 5.

It stars Johnny Depp. Need I say more?

Got to www.disney.com if you want to see a preview.

So now what?

I've been back for a couple of weeks now. It took me more than a week to completely unpack my suitcase. I'm back at work, and last weekend I celebrated Christmas with my parents.

I started this blog for the purpose of sharing my Disney vacation with family and friends. I knew when that was over that I would have to decide whether or not to continue with the blog, and if I continued with it, what would I talk about. I'm still wondering.

I am a sucker for infomercials. Jamie used to joke that we are a testing site for As Seen On TV items. We have, or have had at one time: The Nicer Dicer (which I love), Tony Little's Gazelle, The Ab Rocket, The Ab Roller, Jump Snap, Thigh Master, George Foreman Grill, The LePresse, Hercules Hooks, The Handy Switch, Stick-up Lights, OxyClean, Smooth Away, Bump-it, Strap Perfect, FoodSaver, Tae-bo, Gel Toe Separaters (these are Lindsey's), Heeltastic, Topsy-Tail. I could go on, but you get the idea. For the record, I do not own a Snuggie.

True to form, just before my trip I saw an infomercial for the Cricut Expression, which is apparently a must-have for scrapbooking and cardmaking. I don't scrapbook and I'm pathetic when it comes to sending cards, but -- you guessed it -- I now own a Cricut.

I've been consumed with reading websites and blogs on paper crafting trying to find some inspiration. There's plenty of it out there. There are some amazing crafters in this world. I, however, am not one of them. It's kind of hard to believe because there isn't a craft that my mother can't do. She sews, she draws, she paints, she quilts, she decorates cakes. Seriously -- she can do anything with her hands.

One Cricut expert on the web recommends that you "think like a Cricut." I'm not entirely sure what that means, but I'm gonna run with it. I am going to work on thinking like a Cricut.

Lindsey and I decided last night that we would try making vinyl wall art, which you can easily cut with the Cricut. We picked a Walt Disney quote and transferred the words onto one of our walls. "If you can dream it, you can do it." That sort of seems to go hand-in-hand with thinking like a Cricut. We'll see how this all works out.