Mystery Sound

Slowly each room in our new home is coming together. This morning the boxsprings arrived for two of the guest beds. This means we have the beds made up with quilts and pillows, so the rooms look almost finished. We hope to get art on the walls in the upstairs bedrooms tomorrow.

I was hoping to have everything finished by Thursday when we go to stay at Megan’s home with her dogs for five days. That may be a bit of a dream on my part. Still, I am happy with our progress.

Tomorrow we are driving about 30 minutes to pick up my writing desk in Coon Rapids. It has been on backorder, and I do not want to wait any longer for the store to schedule it for assembly and delivery. Joe will assemble it; by tomorrow night I will write at the desk instead of the island in the kitchen or the credenza in the sunroom.

I was sitting in the sunroom earlier this evening and heard this strange sound. I thought Joe was doing something in the house that could create the sound. It sounded like a cackling fireplace and neither of our fireplaces were turned on. My next thought was that we left the kitchen fan on. Keep in mind the sunroom has ten windows in it that look out onto three distinct parts of the yard. Joe walks into the room and I ask if he knows where the sound is coming from. He says no and looks at the fireplace and the fan over the stove. Finally, he goes to the window near the gas fireplace and announces that it is raining. The sound we were hearing was the rain overflowing from the gutters. When it dries out a bit he will go clean the gutters. Why didn’t we see the rain coming down? It was not raining at an angle; it was pouring straight down silently. We could not hear the rain hitting the roof or the windows. Once we recognized it was raining, we could see that our neighbor’s patio was wet. Guess if we had been outside in it, we would have figured it out a lot sooner…

Reflections

Megan is at it again, displaying her impressive cookie decorating skills. Here are her Mother’s Day designs:

 

I slept twelve hours last night! Today I felt much better. I spent part of the day working on address changes with still two thirds of the list left to do. Joe built a pantry cabinet to go in the garage. This meant he took down the existing shelving and moved things to our storage bay under the sunroom to make room for the finished cabinet.

It rained most of the day. Therefore, the cat outdoor structure is still sitting in the family room. As of now there is no rain forecast for tomorrow, so we hope to finish the structure outdoors and get the family room set up.

We also managed to get artwork up in the entryway, living room, dining room, and kitchen. The artwork helps to make each room feel finished. We still have the bedrooms, family room, and hallway upstairs to “decorate.” The house is beginning to come together nicely.

Today would be my mom’s eighty-fifth birthday. I took quiet time to reflect on my mom’s life. By most accounts she had a tough lot in life. I respect that she plowed through and did what had to do to take care of five children ranging in age ten to newborn when my dad had his construction accident. Living paycheck to paycheck, in a state where workers’ compensation had to be “proven,” meant there was no savings to live on. She took herself to the welfare office in 1966 and explained her husband had been in an industrial accident and he was hospitalized. The welfare staff informed her that she was able-bodied, and she could go to work.

So, she did. She flipped burgers for a brief time until she could secure a job in a factory where the pay was better. Neighbor girls took turns babysitting when they were available. Then my brother Kenny and I at ten and nine picked up the care taking. My dad was in the hospital for a year (I am told) until he was released and could enter both physical and educational programs to be rehabilitated. This took another 18 months. Meanwhile our mom was a single mom for two and a half years.

I saw my mom as super strong and resilient. I think she was happy until she got much older and then she was simply tired. She survived round one of breast cancer in her sixties and the subsequent heart issues caused by radiation treatment for the breast cancer. On July 16, 2016, she died from a combination of COPD, coronary heart disease, and cancer that had spread into her lymph nodes, liver, and brain. She was seventy-seven years old. She did a lot of living in those seventy-seven years.

The only reason I know Mothers’ Day is coming up soon is that mom’s birthday was close to Mothers’ Day, and because Megan is decorating cookies.  I wish mom were here to celebrate Mothers’ Day with us. 

Sunday Wrap-up

We finished unpacking the master bedroom today. Joe assembled sections of Alto’s outdoor cathouse in the family room as It rained off and on all day. We will finish assembling outside, when the rain stops, as it will not fit through the doors fully assembled.

Joe and I took breaks from unpacking throughout the day. He read and napped. I napped in the sunroom with a cozy gas fire. Looking out the window at the gray skies and feeling the warmth of the fireplace put me to sleep quickly.

This afternoon we tackled sorting plastic food containers. Deciding what to keep in our kitchen and what to put in the pantry in the garage took energy! Joe will assemble the pantry in the next couple of days.

All the boxes in the communal areas of the house are emptied. Joe still has personal boxes in the basement where he will have his own space. He has been focusing on shared space boxes. I plan to organize the family room tomorrow and get more artwork hung.

Megan and Jeremy are heading to California on Thursday. Joe and I will take Alto and stay at their house with Pan while they are gone. I think the best part about that is that I can feel guilt-free about not organizing our house.

Despite the afternoon nap, I am sleepy. A shower, a cup of hot tea, read or watch a movie, and bed time by 8:00pm sounds like the perfect plan to me. 

Baltic States - We Get Close with Authentic German Food

We started our morning with a Radon Mitigation System installation. Two men installed the system in our basement utility room and up into the garage and then into the garage attic and to the outdoors. The lead person then went over instructions for us to complete over the next several days. On Tuesday morning we have small testing kits that we open in three different areas of the house. The tests measure the radon level for four days. After four days we mail the kits into a lab which sends the results to the mitigation company and to us.

Joe and I unpacked boxes until Megan and Caleb came over around 12:15. Megan, Caleb and I went up to The Hog and The Hen for brunch. Another great meal! It was Megan and Caleb’s first visit to the restaurant. We came back to the house after lunch and Caleb and Joe played a little pool while Megan helped me select artwork to hang in the living room. Joe had unpacked the art this past week – the pieces are strewn about the family room propped against various walls until we decide on a home for each piece.

This evening, we went out for our monthly international meal. This month the YUM box snacks were from the Baltic States (Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania). We could not find restaurants in the region that were specifically Baltic and went with traditional Easter European food. Germany seemed a good bet as the foods are remarkably similar and Germany is on the Baltic Sea. We dined at The Black Forest Inn in Minneapolis.

On the drive to the restaurant we did our monthly Trivia Facts that come in the YUM booklet each month. Joe won while Caleb and Charlotte tied for second place.

Our appetizers were German Potato Salad, pretzel with mustard and cheese sauce, potato pancake, and sauteed mushrooms. No photos of those! See Megan and Jeremy's photos below for entrees and descriptions.

Front of the restaurant (photo by Megan).

Duetschburger Casserole - Jeremy's choice was made with ground beef, onions, and mushroom

sauce served over spatzel with mozzarela cheese.

Joe opted for 1/2 order of Hungarian Goulash

I chose Veal Jager Schnitzel which is a lightly floured and sauteed with mushrooms and a creamy brown gravy. Spatezel and red cabbage are also served with it.

Megan ordered KOnigsberger Klops which is a spiced meatball (about the size of a tennis ball) in white caper sauce. It also came with spatzel and red cabbage.

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Charlotte opted for the Spatzel and cheese casserole (they say it has 3 cheeses but the cheese types are not shown on the menu).

Caleb had a hamburger and french fries.

And of course there was dessert to share!

Apple Strudel with Whipped Cream

Black Forest Torte

After dinner we did our monthly taste testing of the YUM Box Snacks. Surprisingly the one snack that got all smiley faces was the mushroom chip.

I am having an early bedtime. Last night I was in bed by 8:00pm and asleep by 8:05pm. I suspect I will fall asleep just as easily tonight.

Eighth Day of Unpacking

Joe took a break today from unpacking chores. It was a well-deserved break. I worked in the sunroom all day unloading and sorting. The sunroom boxes were full of financial documents, office supplies, and books. There will not be room for all of it. I am not sure how I got everything in my smaller desk drawers at the house in California. Quite a few items were sent to other rooms in the house. I am surprised to discover how many rolls of scotch tape are on hand. Maybe ten or twelve. To be fair the previous owner of the house may have left four or five rolls. They must have thought they had too much tape.

I am extremely tired this evening. Joe told me it was because using the brain takes 25% of our energy reserves. Today I was using my brain all day. Now it wants to sleep.

So, I am going to make this short and take a nap before bed. I cannot keep my eyes open.

Leaving you with a photo of Alto I took after lecturing to her about her total lack of help in unpacking the house. You can tell from her expression she has no remorse. 

Sadly, Rufio passed over the rainbow bridge this afternoon. He was so weak it took very little assistance to make the crossing. Everyone is feeling sad and at the same time grateful that he is no longer suffering.

 

Productive Day with Sad News

Joe and I drove to the Wright County Compost and Recycling Center this morning to get rid of empty moving boxes. The boxes still in undamaged shape are available free of charge to people in the community for moving. That seems like a good deal. I never thought to check with Yolo County Landfill when we were packing in California in late 2022 and early 2023.

On the drive there we came across Pelican Lake which is a bird production lake. On the way back we discovered an access road so did a little bit of exploring. Here is a photo from the access point:

The rest of the day we continued to unpack. I took a thirty-minute nap this afternoon which helped me to complete the unpacking all the "known" kitchen boxes. The sweet spot of my day was when Joe hung our spice rack. The Ginger Burden built spice rack. Now I feel like our kitchen is complete!

The sad part of our day was learning that Rufio will be crossing the rainbow bridge tomorrow afternoon. Joe and I went up to Jeremy and Megan's this evening and spent a little time with Rufio and the family. When Jeremy told Caleb and Charlotte that this was their last evening with Rufio, it was a very emotional moment for all the adults. The kids were clearly sad and they got down on the floor with Rufio to give him pets.

Megan posted on her Facebook page the following: 

In early February, we took Rufio in for a small mass of what I assumed was fatty tissue forming on the left side of his ribcage. He was also breathing a little louder for the few weeks prior. We could hear him in the silence of our bedroom at night. The vet suggested that we should perform some xrays. While I prepared for the possibilities of the mass, I never once expected what the vet blindsided us with.

A tumor/mass growing on his heart, that was already nearly the size of his heart. Filling his chest cavity and pressing on his lungs and diaphragm. With no concept of how long it had been there or how quickly it was growing, we started him on steroids in an attempt to make him more comfortable. Unfortunately, they weren't enough, and with another xray after 2 months, growth was clearly there and escalating quicker than we had hoped. We could see the change in his day to day demeanor slowly fade too...and it finally became a question of QOL.

We decided tomorrow would be our last day with him. He is getting spoiled with love and extra snackies. If he can muster the energy for the dog park, we will go walk it at his old man pace one last time. I just hope he knows how loved he was, how much laughter he brought into our home, and how much he means to so many people. Ruuuufi-ooooo!

All reaction

Progress

Today I hit an unpacking wall and gave myself permission to slack off a bit and even to take an afternoon nap. Joe and I were wide awake at 4:00am and decided to get up and start our day.

I had a facial at Hidden Gem Spa which was a treat. If I hadn’t scheduled the appointment six weeks ago I would have cancelled to stay home and unpack. It was better for me to go. I needed the time away from all the boxes and chaos. Joe needed a break as well – from me. He is working incredibly hard today while I have put in about 50% effort.

Megan and Jeremy came by today so Jeremy could help Joe with heavy lifting chores. Megan helped to deliver boxes of items to each of the bathrooms in the house. She also put away the items and gave me recommendations on the bathrooms (i.e., two of the showers need shower organizers). She changed a lightbulb in one of the bathrooms for us. Both Jeremy and Megan were a significant help. Oh, and Jeremy found the laundry chute – it is in the guest bathroom above the laundry room.

I did not touch any boxes for the kitchen yet today. I am thinking I may feel a bit more energized this evening. If not, that’s okay as well. We will get this done!

Life is good in general. I love the house. It takes moving in to find all the nuances of items I would change. We have discovered that a pantry was important to us, and it was nowhere on our list of “wants” we had created. We have purchased a cabinet to put in the garage to store our backup inventory of food that Joe has always liked having on hand.

I am also discovering that while our sellers created a beautiful, elegant home, Joe and I are turning it into our own downhome eclectic home. The first photo below is what the open cabinet area looks like today and the second photo is a blow up of how it looked in the real estate listing.

Joe and Beth version

The Real Estate listing version

Now that I see those photos side-by-side, I am happy with our version. It seems authentically us. I didn’t take a photo of the counter areas though as it is a horrible mess and the clutter as we are putting items away makes me feel a bit crazy. I appreciate order and organization!

Megan reminded me today that it was only Monday that we got the rest of our boxes and furniture. I needed to hear a voice of reason to help me put our unpacking progress in perspective. Meanwhile, Joe has not stopped at all today. He is currently unpacking more kitchen items while I sit at the kitchen island writing. He looks exhausted and I keep asking him to stop and rest, or at least eat dinner, and his response is. “Let me finish this box.” Then he finds one more box to tear into. I know I have been doing the exact same thing since Joe started bringing boxes over to unpack, so I get the need to just keep going. At least until I could not go anymore today.

Writing, this evening, has been therapeutic and I am already thinking about opening two or three boxes tonight or at least putting away items that are stacking up because we have not worked out the “best” place for them to live. “One box at a time” is my motto. A week or two from now I will look back and wonder what all the fuss was about. I truly hope it is like childbirth, I will feel so grateful for the result that I will forget the “pain” of unpacking and putting away items.

I was going to take the day off from writing as I was feeling so drained. Instead, when I sat down to write that I was taking the day off, I found myself writing anyway. Now I feel energized. Maybe it was the coffee with dark hot chocolate I drank while writing? I believe though it was the act of writing itself that took me outside of my own head and gave me the “downtime” I needed to relax and find my bearings. We will go with that theory…

A Break to Celebrate Our Thirtieth Anniversary

I love Midwestern skies during storms. It was sprinkling a bit when we went out today for an early dinner around 3:45pm. Off in the distance we could see the rain coming down, I tried to capture it in this photo.

Hom Furniture delivery staff brought our bedroom furniture today at 8:00am. The two young men demonstrated pride in their work and were conscientious in asking me to check that they did understand how I wanted the rooms laid out. Truthfully, there wasn’t a lot of layout choice. In the end there was only one viable layout. I thought the rooms were bigger and look a tad bit crowded with the furniture in them. It made me realize that items appear smaller in the showroom! Without walls there is extraordinarily little frame of reference. Live and learn.

We decided to take a break from packing to go to Costco and get our shopping done. We got to Costco at 11:30 am and left at 1:30pm. We have a freezer in the garage which allows us to buy meat in bulk and then vacuum package it in portions for two, We bought walleye, ground beef, beef sirloin for stroganoff and stews, chicken breasts, chicken thighs, pork tenderloin roasts, pork loin chops, bacon, and hot dogs. There may have been more. While Joe went to Cub to get the items we don’t purchase in bulk, I repackaged the meats. It took me an hour and a half, but the good news is that I won’t have to do it again for months.

Today is our thirtieth wedding anniversary and we did not want to work the entire day away. We decided on an early dinner at The Hen and Hog. During my volunteer stint at the thrift store volunteers had shared that they thought it was great food and they thought I would like it. They were sure right! The prices are extremely reasonable, and our food tasted incredible. Joe is not a bacon fan, but he loved their hog belly bites as a shared appetizer. The description “slow roasted duroc pork belly, maple bourbon glaze, tart cherries, crostini” should have included “mouth watering and decadent.” We agreed the flavors in our meal today were among the best we have ever eaten. I told Joe it reminded me of my all-time favorite restaurant, Tazzina’s Bistro in Woodland, which went out of business in June of 2012.

Joe ordered a wild mushroom and Gruyere burger which the menu describes as two ground chuck and brisket patties smash seared with wild mushroom truffle confit, gruyere cheese and garlic aioli on a brioche bun. It was a lot of sandwich, the photo below is after he had taken several bites. He was in seventh heaven. I selected a dish that does not show on their current online menu. Pappardelle pasta with Wagyu steak bites, bleu cheese, and mushrooms in a crème sauce. Think first-class stroganoff. I brought half of my meal home as it was very filling and there had to be room for dessert! The Crème Brule was divine. Great anniversary meal.

After dinner we came home, and I spent an hour transferring spices from the original packaging to our spice jars for our one-of-a-kind Ginger Burden designed spice rack. We love the spice rack as almost every spice we use in cooking fits on the rack, in alphabetical order.

Tomorrow we will get back to unpacking. It is going to take us awhile to get the house settled. I am still hoping to have it done by the end of April. That may be a tad bit unreasonable but hey shooting for bug goals is what I am all about. 

Moving Day!

Joe and I arrived at Megan’s home this morning at 7:15am and the movers arrived at 8:00 am. Joe and I used the time to inventory the boxes we had left for the movers, marking them with the room they would go into at our home.

We were scheduled to have four movers for seven hours; however, they were short-staffed, so they sent two guys. Joe worked with them, which they appreciated. The two movers were professional, friendly, and hard working. They worked for two- and three-quarter hours and only had about five items to take upstairs when two more moving men arrived. Their timing was perfect as the twenty-six-foot Bobcat truck was full and so the second truck ended up holding all of Joe’s tools. We drove to the house while they stopped to pick up lunch to eat on their fifteen-minute drive to our new home.

I sat in the entryway and directed the four-person moving team (plus the fifth mover Joe Coehlo) for the next two hours. Everybody kept moving and before I knew it, they were finished. The entire move took five and a half hours. During this time, I heard them laughing and talking with Joe and with each other. They were extremely impressed with Joe’s prowess as a mover. When they found out he was almost seventy-four (in late May) they were flabbergasted. As I was tipping them the lead, Jamel, told me that they enjoyed moving us and it was a fun move for them. He said, “Many moves you just get in and can’t wait to finish, we don’t laugh and talk, all we do is keep our heads down to get it done.” He said it was a fast move for them and they really enjoyed how organized we were, which made their job go smoothly. This after climbing the stairs hundreds of times at both homes.

We invited the guys to come back in a couple of weeks to see the house unpacked. Jamel wrote “…yes we’d like to check out the new place when it’s finished…”  Suffice it to say that Minnesota nice was on full display with our moving crew.

I spent three hours this afternoon with Joe unpacking Master Bedroom boxes. We managed to get about half of them unpacked and our bed made. Our new bedroom set will be delivered tomorrow but at least the mattress is on a box spring/frame combination for tonight. No trying to get up from an air or futon mattress on the floor. Yay! At this point sleeping on a queen-sized bed that is up off the floor feels like a luxury.

Alto was in the laundry room for the two hours our movers were in and out of the house. When she was freed, she spent most of the next hour checking out the furniture. Joe put the futon frame together first. Alto is a happy kitty; she has not moved off it for the past hour and a half. She was curled up sleeping when I called her name to get her photo. The futon is in the sunroom which will also serve as my office/writing room. Looks like I will have company. Alto is quiet and does not need any supervision so I believe we can co-inhabit quite easily.

Tomorrow morning most of our new furniture for our bedrooms will be delivered. There are three pieces on backorder, including my new desk which will be in on the last day of April. I am also treating myself to a facial at Hidden Gem Spa. I need an hour of downtime.

Communications and The Cat Mystery

Guess what we spent the day doing? Yep, UNPACKING.

The irony is that I had concern that having a larger house would mean we might be inclined to buy “stuff” to fill the house. After two days of unpacking, and many more to go, I can say we have PLENTY of “stuff” already.

The Amazon packages also started arriving today. Joe is opening those as I write.

In past writings I have shared how I have had to improve my communication skills while traveling the country with Joe. I thought I had improved. I was wrong. It seems that my concept of the third level of our house is the direct opposite of his concept. He is using the “elevator” logic, while I am using “usage” logic. SO, when I say this belongs on the third floor, we must have an entire discussion around which area is the third floor. The house is 4-level but that does not mean four stories. Anyway, there may have been some raised voices, As we all know shouting makes everything clearer. The good news is that there are no hard feelings and no name calling. I am sure he bites the inside of his cheek more times than he would like when dealing with my “guidance” of where items belong. In this moment, the mystery is where I stored the cutting boards.

Is it possible someone came into our locked home while we went to Ace Hardware and “borrowed” the cutting boards? Everything else seems intact…

Megan came by today to tour the house. I also baked an almond pound cake (from a mix, just add 1-1/2 cups of butter, three eggs and a ¼ cup of water). And of course I UNPACKED. No rest for the wicked.

Alto, our cat, has been causing us concern. Yesterday she disappeared. Before we went to bed, I had Joe put her litter box on the porch in case she had snuck out during multiple trips in and out of the house. Joe searched the entire house twice, once with a flashlight looking in every nook and cranny. I searched the bedroom floor (aka upstairs or in my mind floor one as it is the top floor) and the main level (floor two, though it could be floor one) twice during the day.

I went to bed worried. Joe was concerned and yet it did not keep him from sleeping. I tossed and turned worried about Alto. I got up and went upstairs to do one more search (note: We were sleeping in the sunroom on the futon mattress as the air mattress wasn’t cutting it for me. The futon mattress is bulky and will normally be in the sunroom, so we just slept in the sunroom with the mattress on the floor. The movers will deliver the frame tomorrow along with our other furniture). As I opened one of the guest rooms Alto came darting out. She came out of a room that Joe had searched twice, and I had searched twice before. The only furniture in the room is a large cabinet with drawers and cupboards. Joe had opened all the cupboards. THERE WAS NOWHERE TO HIDE! The closet door was closed but we had looked in there as well. Joe is convinced there is a crawl space behind the cabinet that leads somewhere. It is big and heavy – I told him to ask the movers to help him pull it away from the wall so he can see for himself the wall is intact.

We keep all the doors to the bathrooms, bedrooms, and the lowest level (some would call it the basement, I call it the fourth level, Joe says if he were in an elevator that would be the first floor. Are you getting an idea of why communication in the Coehlo household is a bit strained)? So, she had to sneak by me yesterday while I was looking at the cabinet.

When Megan came over today, I told her the story and let her know Alto was safe. While she was touring the house she looked for Alto and did not find her. A bit later she went back upstairs and looked in our walk-in-closet. She didn’t say what prompted her to do so but she closed the closet door while she was in the closet and discovered shelves behind the closet door. Alto was happily laying on one of the empty shelves. Joe and I had not closed the door, so we did not know about the shelves. Perhaps there IS a secret corridor between the closet in our room and the first guest room (or it is the second guest room, depending on where you start the count. I am not EVEN going there with Joe. For now, I call them the guest room with the fish (fish trim) and the guest room with the cabinet).

My husband just walked by, and I read him what I had written for today as he does not read my daily work. This is his response, “Sweetie, you are brilliant when it comes to business and finances. When it comes to objects and places you have no talent at all.” He is not wrong. He asked me to tell you all that he is simple-minded (that is a big lie) and that he needs consistency (that is true) and clear communication (that is also true).

All of this to say, it is late. We must be at the Rockford house by 7:00 am for the movers. Time for bed. At least I saw Alto two minutes ago and can sleep without worry.

Unpacking Day 2

Day two, in our house we managed to get quite a bit of the kitchen boxes unpacked. Joe made three more trips to Rockford which is only 15 minutes by car while I unpacked, washed, and put items away.

We are discovering all kinds of nooks and crannies. Tons of storage throughout the house and so far, we are making effective use of it. We do not have a food pantry though! That was one benefit of our Woodland house. On the plus side this is our first home with a dishwasher, cabinet shelves I can easily reach, a refrigerator with ice and water dispenser, a sink in the laundry room, an alcove for appliances in the kitchen, and so much more.

This morning, we discovered that the internet company was unable to send a signal to the modem in our house as the coax connection was not connected. They sent an installer out this afternoon, and we are now hooked up. Because we tried to install and troubleshoot on our own, they did not charge us for the house call. The installer was nice and was happy to have Joe tag along with him as he troubleshot the problem and fixed it.

This morning, we mixed up a batch of focaccia and baked it this afternoon. Our first dinner in the house ended up being cold ham, brie, focaccia, sliced cucumbers, green onion, and zucchini.

Last night we slept in the master bedroom on the air mattress we used for car camping last year. It was okay. Not much room but at least the fall off was on to a warm carpeted floor. Joe picked up our futon mattress today so we can sleep on it tonight. Since we plan to have the futon in the sunroom, we are not attempting to take the mattress up to the master bedroom. We are sleeping in the sunroom tonight.

The next photo is looking out one set of sunroom windows. This morning, I watched two large dogs with the same coloring as Rufio and Pan playing in the yard with the tree house. This afternoon around 4:00 pm there were five children playing in the yards. Two of the children were on the trampoline and three were swinging and sliding. I could not hear a thing. This room is well insulated from outside noises.

Tonight’s plan is early bed. Tomorrow I will unload more boxes.

Moving On Up!

We moved from the basement level at Megan and Jeremy's home to our own home, so the title seemed catchy and appropriate.

Whew! Long day today. We started signing paperwork on the close of our new home at about 11:20 am. We ended up finishing around 1:15 pm. Our agent, Anne Monroe, was with us throughout most of the process. The Northland Title owner, Ross Danielson, walked us through each piece of paper we signed and was very thorough in answering my questions.

At one point Ross jokingly asked me if I would like a job handling his bookkeeping on the rental properties he owns. I told him sure if it were part-time, and I could work remotely, and it did not involve any HR work. He said he is going to give it some consideration. He does his own bookkeeping now.

As we left the signing, Anne gifted us with a beautiful plant. In addition to her work as a real estate agent she also has a floral business. You may recall she is also the saver of brides who forget their checkbook and must write a check to the judge. At least  Anne saved Megan’s wedding day. When she gave us the plant she pointed out, “The strawberry plants are for Joe.” Joe was thrilled. I love that my very first plants for the new house are from someone who loves plants as much as we do.

The plant from Anne is really a variety of plants in one pot. It is

temporarily sitting on the entryway ceramic tile floor. It is too cold

to be outdoors tonight.

It snowed for most of the day – the good news is that it did not stick. This was helpful as we drove from the title company to the new house first thing and unloaded about eight of the thirty-nine boxes for the kitchen we have in storage. Then we headed up to Rockford to get another load of boxes for the bedroom, bathroom, and freezer. Back to Saint Michael where we unloaded the boxes from the car and started unloading the actual boxes.

It took a good thirty minutes for me to figure out the dishwasher as I wanted to wash all the dishes that have been in storage for the past year. In my defense the dishwasher start button had the words 'control reset' next to it, so I thought it did not have a start button. An Internet search and the manuals the sellers had left behind did me little good. The panel on the dishwasher did not match the panel in the manual. Finally, Joe said, “For the sake of argument let’s press the button next to the words control reset. Damn, it worked. Joe Coehlo comes through for the win.

We then drove up to Rockford to have dinner with Megan, Jeremy, Caleb, and Charlotte. Megan made us breakfast for dinner. She had been up since early this morning decorating cookies for a Girl Scout function this weekend. Tomorrow, she picks up her troop of eight girls and they drive for 45 minutes to the location of the weekend event. That is commitment… or perhaps she will need to be committed come Sunday morning.

After dinner, we loaded up the car again with our cat Alto’s belongings and Alto in her carrier to bring back to her newest home. When she saw Joe with the carrier she hid under the bed. He left the bedroom, and I started talking to her. “Look, it is time to go to our new home. You will have a lot of room to roam. Most exciting of all, there are no dogs.” She hopped up onto the bed and let me pick her up and put her in the carrier. She cried for a long two minutes but settled down when we were in the car. As soon as we got to our new home, I released her. She started exploring immediately and a few times she would look at me and I swear she was saying, “All of this for me??”

Which pretty much describes how Joe, and I are feeling. Joe said that without furniture the house today feels smaller than he had been thinking. I have always had warm fuzzy feelings from this house since the moment we walked in the front door. The sellers had agreed to meet with us last night for the final walk through to explain the upscale systems in the house. Upscale for Joe and me. The built-in vacuum system for the house, the 4-level air and heating system. In the days to come, I will write more as we settle in. There will be photos of rooms as they get furnished. Right now, the kitchen looks like a cyclone came through. I tell myself it will all be orderly in four or five days. One box at a time we will regain order.

As I write this tonight, it strikes me that I am exhausted and yet feel incredibly peaceful at the same time. With the dishwasher running in the background, Joe sitting at the kitchen island across from me reading on his iPad, and Alto wrapping herself around the legs of the stool I am sitting on, I am feeling elated to be sitting in this space.

Here are three empty rooms to check out.

Family Room

Living Room

Dining Room

Today is my baby brother, Todd’s birthday. He is ten years younger than me, and that means he turned fifty-eight years old. Still a baby! Happy Birthday, Todd!

My joy for today is using for the first time the built-in ice maker and water dispenser on our refrigerator. 

Last Day and Night in Our Flat

Only last-minute items to pack in the morning before we head over to the Title company to sign the documents. We met with the sellers this evening and did the walk through. Everything went well with the walk through, and it was nice to be able to chat with them about the history of the home.

Most of today we packed and then placed orders for items for the house. I created a spreadsheet of what we ordered and the anticipated arrival dates. I am afraid I will lose track of what I ordered and what came in since there are about eight different delivery dates. After the walk through we drove to Albertville to pick up the bench for the foyer.

As I write, Joe is loading the car with our first run of boxes to the house tomorrow after the closing is complete. He is getting his steps in for the day. We will do five or six runs with smaller boxes and items over the weekend. The movers will get the furniture and the other hundred or so boxes that are left on Monday.

Short blog tonight as I still have address changes and forms to fill out for access to the Saint Michael compost site. The fun never ends.

Eleven hours until we close on the house!

Dentists, Utility Companies, and Virtual Chats, Oh My!

Dentist day! No cavities or gum issues. The dentist teased me that I was not helping his business at all. I told him I loved foiling dentists. He laughed and said he would eventually find something.

The hygienist, Jenna, was as gentle as the first time I saw her in October. I think she must jot notes about my visit as she asked if we had found a house, asked after my daughter and grandchildren, and asked if we were going to do another trip around the states this year. She shared with me that she is going to Germany at the end of September for Oktoberfest. Her children will stay at home with their two children, four and one years old, while she goes with her brother, sister-in-law, and parents. Her husband could not get the time off from his job and encouraged her to go without him.

We drove up to Rogers this evening to pick up a 4-drawer black cabinet file for Joe’s office. The nice owners threw in a few freebies including a large wire fish yard sculpture I admired. They are selling their home and moving to an apartment so are trying to sell everything except for a few pieces of furniture. She opened her garage door and invited me to pre-shop. It was mostly kitchen and housewares. We already have thirty-nine boxes of varying sizes of kitchen items to unpack. I looked though and bought, for $10.00, a Pampered Chef Stoneware Muffin Pan that had never been used. When I came home, I looked up the piece to find information on it and discovered they sell new for $108.00 at Amazon. Wow! That was surprising. Now I feel like I won the lottery.

Earlier in the day I enjoyed a virtual visit with my cousin, Eleanor. I enjoyed catching up with her. Time flew while we chatted away. Meanwhile, Joe was in the background ‘noisily’ taking apart the futon. That didn’t keep us from chatting.

I spent the rest of the afternoon changing over the utilities to our names effective on Friday. Gas and electricity are with separate providers. The recycling service is on the water bill. The garbage utility is still left to change. Saint Michael has five (5) garbage companies to choose from. I have no clue the advantages or disadvantages or costs of each. I thought I’d try to find out the provider used by the current tenants. Waste Management is one of the five, they also provide the recycling that is billed on the water bill; however, they checked their records and do not currently service the address. I may end up going with Waste Management though because we had them in Woodland. The Internet service was set up a few weeks ago to go into effect on Friday.

Tomorrow afternoon at 5:00pm we will do the final walk through. In addition to the walk through, the owners have agreed to meet with us to discuss and answer questions on appliances and maintenance programs in the house. We are so happy they agreed to do this with us.

Thirty-eight and a half hours left until we close on the house! The number posted yesterday had one day too many in the hours.

 

Dinner in the City

Joe and I met a friend from California in downtown Minneapolis for an early dinner. Our friend is in town for a trade show. We picked him up at his hotel at 5:00pm and went to J.D. Hoyt’s Supper Club for dinner. J.D. Hoyt’s was fabulous! I had grilled shrimp; Joe and our friend had a chicken pasta dish. We shared a basket of cornbread that was incredible! The servings were enough for at least two meals. Joe only ordered ½ a plate of pasta, so he did not have leftovers. The friend ordered full-size and had enough to take back to his hotel for two more meals. J.D. Hoyt’s Supper Club is known for serving athletic size meals. They are not bluffing.

The generous portions were not why I selected this place for dinner. On their website (https://jdhoyts.com/) they state, “J.D. Hoyt’s is the kind of place you look for when you travel to a new city – a friendly, shining, non-corporate place that showcases all that is good about the city that it calls home, the kind of place your cab driver might take you if you ask for the best steak or pork chop in town.” The claim caught my eye while researching a place downtown for our dinner. I will definitely add this to the list of places to take future guests.

After we dropped our friend back at his hotel, we drove past the Prince mural in downtown Minneapolis. I couldn’t get a photo since I cannot get my camera app open fast enough, so I downloaded one from the internet.

We had storms most of today. Loud thunder, lightning, and downpours. Just as we got to the hotel at 5:01pm the rain stopped. Perfect timing. Traffic was not too heavy going into the city, much heavier coming out as people left work for the day. Coming home after dinner, about 7:30 pm, the traffic was light. We are still trying to figure out the freeways system here, but it is mostly on the downtown city streets that can be confusing. I could never do it without a GPS system. I’d be perpetually lost or at the very least late.

Three and a half days (or 87 hours from the time I wrote this at 8:30 pm) until we close on the house! 

Found a Bench and a Goose

Five more days until we sign the paperwork for our new home and take possession.

Two friends sent us recommendations for either building and/or having a bench custom made. I thought I’d give it one more shot and actually visit a furniture store instead of checking out their websites. Today, Joe and I went to Ashley Furniture in Albertville. Albertville and Saint Michael are right next to each other. They share schools and a water tower. After looking at more traditional benches, we ended up purchasing a dining room table bench for our entryway. I will buy a shoe bench separately to store guests’ shoes. The good news is that the bench can be used in the dining room as seating when we have more than six people for a meal.

While shopping we came across flocks of Canadian geese in a pond near Ashley. Next to Ashley is the Albertville Outlet stores and I was intrigued by the goose heading to Five Below to shop. I assumed he/she was shopping.

This evening, Megan and I went to Clay’s Bar & Grill and played Bingo. I enjoyed the time out of the house. Thank goodness for Megan. She helped me. The caller would shout out N45 and I would look in the G column. In my mind forty-five should be in G, but it was in N. I don’t recall having that problem when I was younger. There were twelve rounds, each with a unique way to get Bingo. We lost all twelve games. I started thinking that a nice part of playing Bingo is that I feel good when I have the number called. That’s a win all by itself!

Tomorrow we are scheduled to meet up with a friend who is in Minneapolis for a trade show. I hope he remembers!

Entryway Benches...

Six more days until we close on our Minnesota house. I could start counting the hours. Everything is done except for the money transaction and the signing on Friday.

Today’s mission was finding an entryway bench. I have something in my head and cannot find it anywhere. I know it exists because let’s face it I am not creative in designing furniture. I must have seen something like it somewhere, probably as a child...

It is not as if I need it on day one. We have decided to make the house a “no shoe” zone and will offer all our guests slippers to wear. I want a place in the large entryway area for guests to sit and comfortably change from shoes to slippers with a place for their shoes to be stored. We have decided it needs to be wood not “engineered wood.”

This most likely qualifies as a ‘first world’ problem when I should be concerned about Iran’s attempted attack on Israel. Or all the politics and wars are WHY I am focusing on the entryway bench. That I have a direct say in resolving.

 

Down the Rabbit Hole...

Firsts. It strikes me funny (odd) today that I am experiencing firsts in my retirement years. Buying a house is one of them. Joe is not a first-time home buyer. He purchased three homes over the years, including the home we just sold.

Today I researched gas grills for our new home. This will be the first time we have owned a gas grill. Wow! Who knew there were so many choices? I went down the rabbit hole and invested about four hours in grill research trying to make sure I get one that best serves us and is affordable. I cannot imagine who is purchasing the grills with a price tag of $10,000 or more. Not me. I think I have it narrowed down to three. It is like the new house – bigger than the two of us need, but better for when we have company and want to grill (food, not the company. Though people who know me may think I am grilling them during conversations).

Another rabbit hole: I researched underground fences and came across the HALO collar. Megan agreed to try the collar on Pan for when the dogs come to visit or stay with us (when they are out of town). We will get to try it out and train Pan before they leave in early May for Shasta and Jackie’s wedding in Woodland, California.

I climbed out of the rabbit hole long enough to cook meatloaf for the family. Other than discovering that there is such a thing as a ½ Tablespoon AFTER I had salted the recipe, it turned out well. I even chopped the onion and garlic. In the interest of saving time, Joe often does the chopping for recipes as he is faster. I enjoyed making dinner this evening. Starting next weekend I can cook in our own kitchen! 

I Can Relate!

 

Posted on a friend’s Facebook feed, this cartoon that made me laugh out loud.

In my mind I am the deer on the sign. In reality, I am the first deer. Overweight and wearing glasses. Those who read the blog know I am neurotic about deer. Thanks to a three week stay in Michigan in June of 2023, I am convinced that deer should be smarter than they are when they see a car or truck coming at them.

Maybe I can keep the geriatric deer idea in my mind while driving. I suspect though that old deer are smarter than Michigan deer.

In the end it’s not the old ones causing me anxiety. I can relate to old deer!

Second-Grade Spring Concert (aka Charlotte Rocked It!)

 Tonight was Charlotte’s second grade concert. We enjoyed watching the children perform. Shelly and Artie came down for the concert and we got to visit for a few minutes before and after the performance.

I was able to get a photo of Charlotte as she came off the stage after the concert. The second photo is of the concert program cover. The second-grader artwork relates to the songs they sang. The top left and the bottom right pieces represent the song Roy G. Biv, the top right piece is for The Bunny Trail and the bottom left piece is for Sakura, Sakura (Cherry Blossoms).

Each second-grade class sang a class song they wrote themselves in February under the guidance of James Hersch, a singer and songwriter. The themes of the songs were practicing kindness, The three R’s (Respect, Responsibility, and Resourcefulness), and the celebration of the school’s 20^th anniversary as an Arts Magnet School.

In addition to the songs they created themselves, the children performed six songs including my very favorite I Love A Baseball Game. Clean My Room (sung to the tune of Jump, music by Eddie Van Halen) was my second favorite. Oh, wait, A Trillion Trees was equally amazing.

After the concert we came home to have root beer floats and macadamia cookies.

Happy Thursday from Minnesota!

P.S. Yesterday we had the Subaru in for an oil change and to trade out the snow tires for the regular all wheel tires. Want to take bets on if we just ended Minnesota’s spring weather?

Happy Sibling Day

I just saw on Facebook that it is Sibling’s Day. Did that ever exist before Facebook? I don’t think my brother Jeff has a Facebook account, so I’ll post a photo of my brothers and I taken after my sister, Jeni, died in September 2019. (Actually the photo is of the Kenneth and DeAnn Karnes children, their spouses, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren). Joe and Megan were not at the service. My brothers are cool people. Funny, Smart, and nice – in no particular order. They also worked hard to support their families over the years. Todd is the only one of us (siblings) that has not retired. HAPPY Sibling day, Kenny, Jeff, and Todd!

Front Row: Addie, Tate, and Joss Herendeen

Seated: Jeff Karnes, Kenny Karnes, Beth Coehlo, Todd Karnes

Third Row: Kathy & Renee Karnes, Megan Bauer, Cindy Karnes, Courtney Herendeen 

holding Lisel, Caity Karnes (now Starbuck),

Backrow: Jami Karnes, Diana & Jason Bauer, Mitchell Bauer, Jacob Karnes.

Shhh... I was the oldest person in this photo.

               

Photos of our sister, Jeni, are few and far between. She loved to laugh and could make other people laugh easily. Here is one photo that captured her fun personality.

Laying out furniture floorplans for the house, and more Amazon wish list shopping, took quite a chunk of my time today. I also researched and discovered Schulte’s Greenhouse and Nursery about two miles from the house. Joe wants to plant a few fruit trees. Surprise.

Joe’s other exciting discovery today was of a tool supply company about twenty-three miles away. They are having an open house on May 15^th. The open house is on our calendar. He may be ready to begin stocking his home machine/hobby shop by then.

It was a lovely day with temperatures in the low sixties and a little rain this afternoon. After dinner, this evening we sat on the front porch of Megan’s house, talking and planning more for the upcoming move. Nine more days and we get to move in. The packing has really slowed down as we are down to items we will use between now and the Friday we close on the house and get the keys.

Tomorrow night we are going to a second-grade concert to watch Charlotte perform. Jeremy’s mom, Shelly, and her husband, Artie, are coming up for the concert. We met them this past summer when they came over and we celebrated my birthday. Charlotte will have her own entourage!