Saturday, September 12, 2015

WHAT HAVE I DONE!!??!!

I am waiting for my tea to finish in the microwave.  We just finished eating dinner and it is before nine o'clock.  It has been a long and productive day despite the slow start this morning.  I managed to wake up at 9:30 which meant that taking my Dad to the Farmer's Market at 10 a.m. was an impossibility as I predicted the evening before.

I called him around 10:30 after I had my first tea and I could form sentences and comprehend as it takes a special kind of understanding to decipher some conversations with my Dad.  I also didn't want to have him sitting on the side of the road waiting for me.

Twice I called and no answer.  The second time voice mail didn't even come on.  Third time was a charm and he answered, music blaring in the background.  He was surprised to hear I had called three times as he was "staring at the phone" waiting for it to light up - he must have blinked twice, I thought.

I explained my position and told him I would be there in an hour or so since I needed more caffeine and a shower.  How I miss those pajama days - I remember. vaguely now, when I could go for two or three days in a row - now I am lucky if I get a half a pajama day!

It was a sunny day with a few dark clouds when I pulled out of my driveway around noon.  I figured he would be freaking out and wondered if he would remember his library books which we spoke about returning.

I called him when I was almost there. He must have been waiting outside since he was walking up the driveway to cross Crane Ave - which I completely hate for him to do since I am always afraid of getting rear ended while he is getting in the car.  He is stubborn and insists, however.

He had his books, I made a U turn in his driveway and headed toward the mall to the Farmers Market.  This one has more veggie choices and more reasonable prices than the Downtown Pittsfield Farmers Market which is more high end meats, cheeses and wines, along with food and vendors.

My Dad had the Farmers Market vouchers we had waited two hours to get and when we arrived he handed me half of them which was a nice surprise since I had been wondering how to turn that one potato into a side dish for two people for a couple of days now.

I got some onions, broccoli and green beans to further solve the side dish crisis I was in.  I decided then and there that instead of turning the center cut roast into 4 pork chops I would make the roast and gravy and potatoes still getting two meals and gravy - which is an added bonus.

I also grabbed a pumpkin to reach the limit on the voucher and we both walked out of there with a bunch of delicious fresh produce and $2.50 to boot which means another trip to the market.  We still had to go to get some bread and a few other things it turns out, which was fine, not too many people in the supermarket so we were in and out.

Dad had me make a pit stop at McDonald's for coffee on the way to the market.  The drive thru was packed so I parked and we went in, which my Dad thought would be slower but other than a slight mix up we were out of there in much less time than we would have been in the drive thru.

After the market we went to my house to get my Dad out of the house.  I had plans to do some serious work at home in the rearranging department, which I am thankful I didn't start last night.  While we were having our tea which was still scorching hot, from McDonald's, Chad called and asked if he could drop by.

I figured it would be a good opportunity for him to meet my Dad so he came down and hung out for a while.  About an hour into the visit, Tom now half awake on the couch, part of the reason why the living room is NOT his bedroom, since we were talking pretty loudly between the three of us, Chad brings up the conversation from the night before - "I'm surprised you haven't moved the shelves" says he.

Tom said "No, don't get her started." Dad just sat there, I said, "I am working on it, I almost began last night but wrote a blog instead",   "In my head I the tables are clear and I am clearing the shelves", as I got up and began clearing the tables and clearing the shelves.

Tom took his cue and left the room, knowing what the future held.  In minutes all five shelves were clear and dusted and the tables were full of dust collectors of all shapes and sizes.  I decided to move the Stephen King books I have been collecting forever first and was doing well until I dropped 5 of them throwing them out of order.

That is the problem with books.  Book covers do not list all of the books any more I found out the hard way, so it is easiest to go by date of publication instead of trying to figure it out from the books any more.

Anne Rice went next and those were horribly out of order.  A piece of paper became necessary to catalogue the ones which are somehow missing from my collection.  I began Anne McCaffrey and could have cried remembering the mishap with the books I donated and a good chunk of my Dragon Riders Collection gone like that!  I got discouraged and didn't even bother checking the Terri Pratchett.

That would just depress me since I had to stop collecting books and except for Patrick spoiling me with some new ones now and then I haven't been too luck collecting them from the bookstores in Northampton.  It is on the list and always on my brain when I do have money these days to slide towards books.

A few of my favorite books on the end and the built in shelves were full - except for the top shelf which was too small to hold any of my books.  I surveyed the table and quickly decided on my items.  I am over all very pleased with that set up.

Chad headed out, I set Dad on the computer looking at some photo's from one of our Road Trips he was asking about and I finished clearing the non book items off the shelf my great grandfather had made sometime before I was born.  It holds some serious memories in my life.  I had no idea where it was going, but it was empty.

After a while I decided to bring Dad home and Thomas came along for the ride.  It had begun raining by then.  We took the scenic route to my Dad's house which meant past the Lake and up through Lanesboro and over Partridge Road over to Crane Ave.

We said our goodbyes and I took the regular routes home, thinking about what my next step was.  I had created a huge mess in the living room, the dining room table was clear to clear off all the unicorns and carousel horses so I could move the big hutch out of the dining room.

I decided I would start dinner after I cleared the shelf off.  It was a two piece shelf which I have moved a hundred times over the past 20 years, but it was bulky and awkward and there was a boatload of stuff underneath it.  I took the top off the table base and put it in the kitchen and began prepping dinner.

Thomas led me to believe we were out of fresh garlic, but I found two heads of it in the fridge so I was happy as I stuffed the pork full of garlic, seared the fat on top and seasoned it before adding chopped  onion and tossing it into the preheated oven.

As I was doing this I was trying to plan my next step.  Working without a end game visually can be a challenge.  I decided that I needed to remove things from the wall and took down the Forest Landscape painting which really belongs in my bedroom.

Now of course, you realize that this project that I decided to take the first step and do is a MAJOR one.  Moving the living room around in itself is a piece of cake but now I am in the mode of what am I moving where and how are these three rooms going to look at the end of the day (or two).

Tom forced me to watch an episode of "Revolution" which we both thought we were at the end of the first season, but turns out we have 7 more episodes to go.  Colour us surprised!  We watched one and then I had to go make the gravy for dinner since the meat was resting and the potatoes were steamed and ready to go.

I set the table and thought some more about the mess I began.  Finished eating, washed all of the dishes minus the sink full of silverware which I dread as much if not more as doing these rooms once and for all.

As I type this blog I have put the hutch in the living room, but is it going to stay on the wall that it is on or am I going to move it across the room and go for a completely different idea?  That is the question.

I think my best idea tonight will be to clear off one of the tables, move the shelf out of the way so Sir Thomas can watch t.v. before he goes to sleep and tackle it after tea in the morning.  I am hoping for another rainy day - or at least a semi cloudy morning to motivate me to not procrastinate more than tonight.

I hate doing a job more than once, and all I can say as I survey the wreckage is "What have I gotten myself into??!!??"

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