Peppy's Dream Moving Adventure Blog

Today is the 150th day since we left Whitestone.  I told Eric since we’re going on NUTRISYSTEM next week, and will not be eating out much (like we do now), we should go out tonight and celebrate 150 days.  It’s not really our last hurrah, because we will be eating out when we go to L.A. next week, and when our nieces visit from New York the week after, but we’ll be eating VERY sensibly, so it’s our last night to “be bad.”  For me, that means Italian!  There’s a great place right up the block which we’ve only visited once, even though we had a great meal, so I figured that’s where we’d go tonight.

I might start working on Monday (I hope), so I decided today was the last day to run a bunch of errands.  I left the house around noon and saw something under the windshield wiper on the PT.  A ticket!  How lovely!  It was a $25 ticket for not having a valid registration displayed.  I was totally confused, because Eric and I noticed that no one in California has a registration sticker in their windshield. I did receive my registration in the mail, but it was just a piece of paper, which actually said it DIDN'T have to be displayed, just to keep it in the car.  

I didn’t know what to do and the only people I could think of to ask were the guys who sold me the PT at ENTERPRISE, so I drove over there.

A guy named Ron, who I never met before, told me they’d take care of the ticket, because they registered it for me and there was some kind of mistake with the registration.  I’m still not sure exactly what the problem was, because they sent me the new registration, but they didn’t send the sticker!  The only reason I got the ticket is because it’s now 2008 and the cop noticed the little sticker wasn't on the rear license plate.  Last year it was green; this year it’s orange.  Since I parked on the empty side of the street, a cop was able to get a good look at my plate and noticed the color was wrong.

Ron told me he’d take care of the ticket, but I had to take my registration to the DMV, which is a few miles away (from my apartment, and from ENTERPRISE) and they would give me the 2008 sticker.

I drove to the DMV and got on line.  I had to fill out a one-page form and they gave me a number – B144.  When I sat down, they were up to B110.  I couldn’t believe I was going to have to spend my whole day at the DMV.  Long story short – I got the sticker in about an hour, but they told me I had to get a new driver’s license.  You are supposed to get one after 30 days and we’ve already been residents for longer than that.  I couldn’t do it today, even if I wanted to, because you have to bring your original birth certificate and original marriage license (because I have a different last name than is listed on my birth certificate).

So, if I don’t work on Monday, Eric and I know where we’ll be spending the afternoon.  The thing that scared me the most is that they give you an 18-question driver’s test.  Will I know the answers?  I took my driving test 24 years ago!

I got out of there at 1:00pm and drove to Pacific Beach and went to the SALVATION ARMY.  I didn’t find any frames there today, so I drove to SPORTS ARENA BOULEVARD to hit a lot of the stores there.  First, I went to STARBUCKS and got an iced venti decaf nonfat sugar-free mocha latte.

Then, I went to GOODWILL and picked up a frame to make another pin board.

Then, I went to PIER 1 IMPORTS.  I wanted to get a coffee table for the living room.  I wasn’t happy with the one we made out of boxes, because the tablecloth on top didn’t match the rest of the room and dragged too much on the floor.

I found a gorgeous trunk and was able to use the two gift certificates I got from our friends, Brian and Elaine and Andrea and Mark.  I even had some money left over and bought some scented soaps (Eric loves them) and some beautiful cards.  The trunk is called "Vallejo" and is part wood, bamboo and rattan.  It is an orangy brown and has the kind of hinged lid that can’t slam down on your fingers.  It has brass handles on each side and a slit in the front for your hand to fit into when you open it.  It’s perfect to store the blankets, pillows and sheets for guests who sleep on our lovely sleeper sofa!  We’re so happy with it.  It looks great and is practical and useful, too!

I’m so grateful that I was able to get this lovely piece of furniture for the apartment and didn’t have to pay a penny for it.  Thanks, again, to our friends for this lovely gift!

After PIER 1 IMPORTS I jumped right next door to another SALVATION ARMY store.  I found another great frame.

Next, I drove back to Clairemont and went to MICHAELS and BURLINGTON COAT FACTORY, where I found another beautiful frame.  I’m going to be making these frames into pin and earring boards to try to sell them.

My last stop was in another store in the same shopping center as MICHAELS and BURLINGTON COAT FACTORY called HOME FABRICS.  This is a fabric store, but the kind that sells fancy, expensive fabrics for upholstery and curtains, and also sells rugs and trimmings.  They don’t sell fabric for crafts, quilting or clothing.

I bought four curtain panels (2 in light blue and 2 in chocolate brown), because I had an idea to make a “headboard” out of curtain panels covering the ugly vertical blinds.  They drive me and Eric crazy, because when we’re laying in bed they’re always hitting us in the head.  I’m going to see if I can take down the verticals and, if I can’t, I’ll just hang the panels right over them.  At least, even if we lean against them, they won’t be hitting us in the head anymore!

When I got back I showed Eric all my purchases and he told me about his ride.  Apparently, he almost got run off the road by an idiot in a pickup truck who actually backed up to yell at him and tell him to “get the ____ off the road.”  Eric said the drivers here are crazier than in New York.  I don’t understand how someone driving a car can get so mad at someone riding a bicycle, but it happened.  I’m just glad he’s okay.  He said the guy practically ran him off the road.

He went on a tour of different neighborhoods in San Diego and told me that he went to a part of La Jolla were the mansions were so huge that they put Malba to shame.  Malba was the neighborhood right next to ours in Whitestone and there were mansions there that would make your head spin.  A lot of them looked like estates, behind big iron gates, with marble columns (ya gotta have marble colums!).  I told him I want him to take me there in the car, so I can see!

We went to LA DOLCE VITA, right up the block, for dinner.  I had salad bar and eggplant parmigiana with spaghetti.  Eric had lentil soup, salad bar and penne a la vodka.  Everything was really good.  This place is so close and they have great food.  That’s dangerous!

After dinner, we decided to walk to 7-ELEVEN so Eric could play LOTTO and MEGA MILLIONS and we could get dessert (Ben & Jerry’s Chocolate Peanut Butter (what else?)).

We walked back to the apartment and Eric watched basketball and had ice cream while I blogged and had ice cream.

We’re glad we have no plans for the weekend, because it’s supposed to be raining all day Saturday and Sunday.  It’s so funny, because it’s big news that there’s a “winter storm” coming.  They have NO idea!

I’m actually looking forward to a rainy weekend, because now I have three frames to put together and Eric and I will keep busy working together all afternoon (if we’re not watching TV or taking naps!).  Sounds like heaven to me!