Peppy's Dream Moving Adventure Blog

As you know, for five years Peppy's Dream was the collectibles, crafts and consignment shop I owned and operated in New Hyde Park, Long Island. I closed in February and Eric and I sold our house of 21 years in Whitestone in August and are moving to San Diego, California. We will be traveling the country in a small RV -- a Chinook Concourse. This blog will chronicle our adventures as we travel the country for the first time, heading towards our new home! 

Above: Miss Lucy's Kitchen in Saugerites, New York and Eric Enjoying His Lunch

We ate lunch at a fabulous little restaurant called Miss Lucy’s Kitchen. Their motto is “We aim to feed.” It was the longest wait we ever had for a meal, but it was worth the wait!  We started to talk about how people outside of NY just aren't in the hurry that New Yorkers are.  This is something we're both going to have to get used to -- especially me.  I'm Peppy!

We then toured the town of Woodstock, which is chock full of art galleries, book stores, hippie shops (tons of tie-dye to be found!) and great restaurants. We walked around there for a few hours and then headed back to the KOA Kampground. Eric found a friend, Ted, whose RV is next to ours, and he showed us how to get the TV going. Wheeeeee! I haven’t watched TV in almost a week and really didn’t think of it much, but I must admit I’m happy to have it again!
 
The Madonnas are finally home from their Alaskan Adventure and we will be going back there tomorrow afternoon and will stay overnight. We can’t wait to see my sister, Lenae, brother-in-law, Rich, and niece and nephew, Keri and Eddie. I hope we’ll get to play a game of Scott’s Granny’s Game!

Tonight, after a dinner of leftovers, and watching the grand finale of “So You Think You Can Dance,” Eric and I reorganized a lot of the cabinets in the RV. We fit a lot more stuff and the place looks better than ever!

We woke up at PECHANGA RV RESORT in Temecula and wanted to get some laundry done in their Laundromat before leaving, but two of their four machines were out of order, and since I had at least three loads, we decided to leave and do laundry in San Diego.

We stopped nearby and had brunch at THE BARLEY HOUSE WEST, which was in a big shopping center that was still under construction.  It looked like the restaurant had just opened – maybe even last week.  To give you an example of how new the restaurant was, the waitress didn’t know if they had ginger ale.  She knew all the beers (it’s really more of a tavern that serves food), but not the other drinks.  She even mentioned something about them not telling her what sodas they have when she was in training.

Their motto is “Big Beer, Big Food, Big Flavor.”  They serve everything in two sizes: “big” and “small/side.”  Eric ordered a cup (small) of beef barley soup and a small/half veggie burger (portabella mushrooms and roasted red peppers, over a vegetable patty with red pepper tarter on a bulky) and I got a cup of clam chowder with a half/side of salmon Caesar salad (grilled salmon, seasoned croutons, crisp romaine and classic dressing).

The waitress brought us the soups first, and as I was eating it, I felt a piece of clam that was very chewy.  I finally took the piece out of my mouth and looked at it, and it was a piece of white rubber, about ¾” long, but about the thickness of a piece of spaghetti.  I showed it to Eric, and then we called the waitress over, to show it to her.  She offered me another bowl, but I told her I assumed that the next bowl would come from the same pot, so what’s the use?  I told her the rest of the soup was delicious, it’s just that there was a piece of RUBBER in it!  I said, “Maybe you should show it to someone,” meaning her manager.

She brought us the rest of our meal, which was delicious (and we didn’t find anything in it), but she never mentioned the rubber piece again, or apologized for it, or anything, which really bothered me.

When we got the bill, we saw we were charged for both soups.  I have such a big mouth all the time, but I was too shy to demand to see the manager, or make a big fuss, but I told Eric I didn’t want to tip her, because I thought it was her responsibility to make sure the customer was happy (if only to get a good tip).  Eric said to just leave her $2.00, instead of the $5.00 we would have left on a $27 tab (he's a softie).  I did, and wrote on the bill “I wasn’t happy with the piece of rubber in my soup” and circled the soup on the bill.  What would it have meant to them to NOT charge me for a cup of soup?  The soup was $3.99, but what does it cost them?  If I lived in the neighborhood, I would never go to that restaurant again.

I know I just complained yesterday about the "potato salad incident" and today I’m complaining about rubber in my soup, but I hardly ever have a complaint and we’ve eaten out 2 or 3 meals a day for 95 days – YOU do the math!

So, we left Temecula and drove the 60 miles to San Diego.  On the drive down, we saw lots of burned trees, shrubs and land, but no houses.  I’m glad, because that really would have upset me.  It was bad enough seeing all the blackened terrain to the left and right of the highway.  That highway must definitely have been closed during the fires, because they burned so close to either side.  I mentioned to Eric how lucky we were that we went there when we did in October, because we would either have been trapped in San Diego, or unable to get there in the first place.  Our timing was perfect.

We went to a different campground than we stayed at last time.  MISSION BAY RV RESORT is right across the bay from CAMPLAND ON THE BAY (where we stayed last time).  It’s a little less fancy, but it’s all paved and CAMPLAND had dirt and sand everywhere, which we hated, so we’re much happier here.  It’s also $10 cheaper per day!

I registered and we went and checked out our site, then left to go to the Laundromat.  I got my Starbucks and did three big loads of laundry while Eric read in the RV.  Two hours later I was done, and we came back to the campground.  Eric continued to read while I took a nap.

When I woke up we drove to our new favorite sushi restaurant -- HAIKU JAPANESE RESTAURANT  on Garnet Avenue, which is the first place we went to on our last trip to San Diego a few weeks ago, before the fires.  We went there twice in the four days we were here last time.

This time, we had shumai, soft shell crab tempura and three rolls: Philadelphia, Special Shrimp Tempura, and Spicy Tuna.

Everything was SO good.  We love sushi!!! 

After that we walked down Garnet to the RV, which we had parked right in front of a store we had visited previously.  It’s called THE HIGH ROAD Lifestyle Store “2500 feet of the Coolest Sh-t @ the Beach.”  They sell lots of weird stuff, mostly bongs, pipes, and other smoking paraphernalia, along with beach cruiser bicycles, t-shirts, and – POSTCARDS!!!!  I got some San Diego postcards.  Tony, the guy who works there, was so friendly last time we were in town, and he actually remembered us!  He’s adorable.  I got a better look at him this time and noticed that what I thought were rhinestones glued on the outside of his eyes are really body piercings with rhinestones (or diamonds) at the ends.  Last time, Eric didn’t notice, but he did this time.

We told Tony we thought of him when we heard about the fires, because he is the only person we had really talked to when we visited last, and we wondered if he was okay.  He really appreciated that!

When we got back in the RV, I said to Eric, “Tony’s the only friend we have in San Diego!”  It’s been strange traveling across the country and so rarely seeing a familiar face, but it’s a much weirder feeling to “live” someplace and not know anyone.  I have emailed and spoken on the phone to Bonnie, our realtor, who is a very close friend of my cousin, Audrey, but we haven’t met yet!  We’re looking forward to that, because we're anxious to have friends in town!

Eric and I did our own thing today.  He went bicycling, while I did two loads of laundry and then did a little shopping before my 3:00pm appointment at ENTERPRISE CAR SALES office.

I got my Starbucks and then headed to a store I had seen on Garnet Avenue.  It’s called BUFFALO EXCHANGE and it advertises that they buy, sell and trade clothes.  I thought it was vintage, but it’s not.  It’s just used clothing.  There are actually a chain of stores all over the country (over 25).   They started in Tucson and have really done well.  It clearly caters to the teen and young 20s crowd, but I did manage to find a cute, thin, black cotton coat for $14.50!

After BUFFALO EXCHANGE, I went to the ENTERPRISE SALES office to buy another PT Cruiser.  I had already spoken on the phone to Mark (Fooch) Fucinari who told me he had some PTs on the lot.  The great thing about Enterprise Car Sales is that there is no haggling, you are guaranteed a price below the Kelley Blue Book value, and the cars are all certified.

Since Eric and I HATE going to car dealerships (you all know what a nightmare that can be), and we’re in a strange place with no one to even make recommendations, we thought it was smart to buy from Enterprise.  We have rented from them three times (Chicago, San Francisco and San Diego) and have never had a problem.  We know they’re giving us a good price, because we’ve researched it online.  The price is good, the car is still under warrantee, and it’s a 2007!

The first car I saw was a silver PT.  I had spoken to Eric about colors and told him I didn’t want Silver, because it was SO common and I never really liked silver cars.  I also don’t like black or white, so I told him I’d be happy with any other color.  They also had a bright blue and a cream color that I really liked.  I found out right away that the blue was sold, so we looked at the cream.  I really loved the color and the car was in excellent condition, but it turned out that it didn’t have some options we wanted (keyless entry in back and cruise control). 

So, we went inside and they finally found a purple one for me (the same color I had in NY!).  I would have liked to have a new color, but at least it’s not black, white or silver!  If all goes well, we will pick it up tomorrow.  I’m so happy, because I LOVED my PT and enjoyed the 2007 PT we rented in Chicago for 4 days.  I know it will serve me well as I shop San Diego for furnishings.

By the time I got out of there it was dark and I headed back to the campground.  We headed out to dinner and ended up at MARIE CALLENDERS RESTAURANT & BAKERY.  There are 139 restaurants in the United States.  They’re most famous for their pies!

Eric got the Chicken Pot Pie and I got the Gorgonzola salad, which had walnuts, cranberries and gorgonzola over greens with a delicious balsamic dressing.  I had a slice of Strawberry Rhubarb pie, too.  Wow!  That is such a great flavor.  The rhubarb is really tart and the strawberry is so sweet.  A great combination!

So, now I have to get a little serious.  Over dinner, Eric and I discussed his day, which was just another disappointing ride.  He is so frustrated that he says he’s not going to ride anymore at all.  I think it’s silly to give up so quickly.  After all, including the 5 days we spent here last month, he’s only been here 2 weeks, but Eric tends to go to extremes.  I always say with him it’s all or nothing.  He needs to find a ride that makes him happy or he won’t ride at all. 

While I was at the Enterprise office there was another employee, Veronique, whose boyfriend mountain bikes.  I told her and Mark about Eric’s frustration with the mountain biking situation.  She called her boyfriend and spoke to him about Eric and gave me his number.  He said Eric should call him and he’ll take him out for a great ride.  I told Eric and he agreed to call, but says he knows it will be just like the other places he’s gone – dusty, sandy, dirty and dissatisfying.

It’s hard to know how this will turn out.  We’re trying to find a place to live, buying a car, settling in, but I don’t know if Eric will ever be truly happy here.  We have agreed that the best thing to do is give it a year and see what happens.  I’m hoping he’ll either find riding he likes or adjust to road riding or find something else that makes him happy.  If not, I told him I’d be willing to go anyplace where it doesn’t snow.  I honestly believe I could be happy anywhere it doesn't get cold, but I can’t be happy if he’s not happy.

Life is all about compromise.  We came here because we both thought it would be perfect.  I thought he’d love the riding; he knew I’d love the weather.  I thought I was extending his life, because I thought that the cold weather was bad for his injuries and ailments.  I thought that working as a steamfitter would shorten his life and I wanted him to semi-retire while I went back to office work.  I thought that having the responsibilities of a house was getting to be too much for him and didn't want him to have to deal with shoveling and cleaning snow off cars.  I really believed it was the best thing for him.  Now, I feel so bad, because it seems like this move is taking away his greatest passion.  And I don’t know what to do.

I don’t want to upset anyone, but Eric is very down about this and it’s hard for both of us.  We will continue to work through it, and I know everything will work out.  We've been through much worse and have always come out of it stronger than ever.

So – good news – we got an apartment.  A cute, 2-bedroom apartment in a really nice neighborhood called CLAIREMONT in San Diego.  It’s 5 minutes from Pacific Beach, 10 minutes from Hillcrest and about 15 minutes from the Downtown area.  Eric really liked it best because there were lots of trees, and plants around.  Their landscaping is really beautiful.  The apartment itself is bigger than a lot of others we looked at, and it’s really clean and neat.  Also, we get one parking space in their outdoor, gated parking lot and we can actually store the RV there!  So, no RV storage fees!  The rent is also very reasonable.  And there's a pool in the middle of the courtyard -- instead of a fountain!  We move in on Monday!  So, we’re happy that we’ll be getting out of the RV very soon.

We drove over this morning.  We dropped off a deposit and signed a commitment letter.  We sign the lease on Monday!  We also arranged with our movers to have our things brought over on Monday.

Next we were supposed to go pick up the PT Cruiser, which was being delivered to the sales office this afternoon.  Unfortunately, they said it wouldn’t be available until Friday, which was no big deal for us.  So, we’re still driving around the Kia Rio rental, which is fine.

We came back to the RV and Eric and I had a long, long talk.  He's been depressed about the mountain biking situation.  He isn't thrilled with San Diego.  I told him it wasn’t too late to change our minds.  I wanted to make sure he wanted to stay, to make the jump from the RV to a real apartment.  I told him that, if he wanted to, I was ready to get back in the RV and start traveling again, to find a better place to live.  I don’t have my heart set on San Diego.  I just wanted to get away from the winter cold.

We talked for a long time.  We agreed that the RV situation is becoming part of the problem and we think things will be better when we’re in a normal space again.  It’s just been too long.  We need to get out of the RV.

So, we're going for the apartment.  Our stuff is being delivered on Monday.  It will be stressful to go through all our stuff, and have to sort and unpack, but it will also be comforting to have a lot of our familiar things again.  Eric will have his massage chair, all his record albums, and his stereo equipment.  I know I’ll be happy to have all my clothes and accessories.  I’ve been wearing some of the same clothes each week for 14 weeks!  I did purchase some new things in different places, but not much.  I don’t know how much of my old stuff I’ll even fit into, but I’m working on that, too!

So, we’ll be buying a car on Friday and moving in on Monday.  We’re making the commitment to stay, but we’re keeping our options open.  Eric says we should give it a year, and I agree, but I’m really hoping that he finds happiness here on his bicycle very soon.

I think the combination of things is getting him down – the lack of riding, feeling out of shape (due to the lack of riding), and the uneasiness of being in a new place.  I really feel for him, because I know how much his riding means to him, but I honestly believe that getting into a normal routine will help him.

If it doesn’t, if he’s really not happy in San Diego, I told him we could go anywhere he wants, as long as it doesn’t snow.  That leaves lots of places, right?  I just want him to be happy and – believe it or not – I honestly believe I could be happy anywhere, as long as it’s not a tiny town out in the middle of nowhere (which I don’t think Eric would like either).  So, we have a deal: We try it here.  We see what happens.  We stick together (we’re a team). 

So, after our long talk, we got back in the car to go bed shopping.  After all, if we’re moving in on Monday, we’re going to need a bed on Monday night!  We had already tried the TEMPUR-PEDIC mattress, which didn’t thrill us.  We liked the SEALY POSTURPEDIC “TRUE FORM MEMORY FOAM,” which is SEALY’S version of the same thing, but it was still expensive -- $1,699 for a Queen.  We saw a commercial on TV for a furniture store called JEROME’S FURNITURE, which is California’s largest furniture company.  They advertised a PRIMOPEDIC, which is their version of the same type of mattress.  Theirs was hundreds of dollars less and their store was right nearby, so we headed over there to check it out.

Of course, they were closing early, because it’s the day before Thanksgiving, and as we were walking towards the entrance, people were leaving and they said, “Oh, they’re closing in five minutes.”

Isn't this comfy-looking?

We decided to go inside anyway, and practically ran to the mattress department (on the second floor of this REALLY beautiful store).  No one stopped us, or said anything about closing, but as we were lying on all the mattresses, trying them out, they made the “Closing in 5 minutes” announcement.  We tried the PRIMOPEDIC ULTIMATE, which has the pillow-top.  It’s an all-foam mattress with 5 inches of space-age memory foam, low motion transfer, a cleanable stretch cover and the same warranty as the Tempur-Pedic!  It felt exactly the same as the SEARS version, which was $1,699.

This one was a much better deal.  After adding the Premium Mattress Protector (which guarantees a healthy, anti-allergy sleep zone, which is breathable, waterproof and stain proof), the bed frame, delivery, and tax, it was still more than $150 less than the SEALY!  We both thought it felt SO good.  I love the bed in the RV, so I’m happy to know that our new mattress will be super-comfy, too!

We came downstairs and asked who we should talk to about buying a mattress.  The guy was SO nice.  He told us, “I just told the people before you that they were the last sale of the day, but I guess I was wrong!”  In 15 minutes we were out of there and the mattress will be delivered sometime on Monday!

Everything was falling into place.  We decided to go to the CORVETTE DINER, which is – by now – our favorite restaurant in San Diego.  It’s just so much fun to be there and their food is really good, too.  Doesn’t everyone like straws thrown at them?  I knew Eric was feeling okay if he wanted to go there.  You only go there if you want to have fun.

We sat in a booth and started with two egg creams.  They’re SO good.  I had the Grilled Veggie Sandwich and Eric had a Turkey Burger.  Both came with French fries.  There were a lot of families with lots of kids sitting near us.  They were so cute.  Eric and I really enjoy other people’s kids.  Anyone who knows us knows we love kids, so it’s strange that we never wanted our own.  I don’t know why that is, but we both felt exactly the same way.  We just love looking at (and loving) everybody else’s kids! 

We were lucky, because we have so many beautiful nieces and nephews and were always surrounded by children – those of our friends and family.  We still enjoy our relationships with them, even though they’re all grown up now.  We’re even a Great Aunt and Uncle, which makes us feel really old!

Anyway, we had a great meal and then came back to the RV.  It was a big day for us.  Lots of decisions made and I pray that we made the right ones.  It seems like the right thing to do, right now – settling down, starting our lives here.  There doesn’t seem to be anything else to do.  It’s actually kind of exciting, because the future is wide open.  We could end up anywhere.  But I’m sure Eric doesn’t think it’s exciting at all.  He’s just worried and nervous and anxious.  He needs me to show him that it’s all going to be okay – that together we can get through anything.  And I need him – for everything.

I was very excited when I woke up this morning, because I knew I was getting my new PT Cruiser today!  We were waiting for a call from ENTERPRISE, letting us know our car had arrived.  In the meantime, we wanted to run some errands, so we went out in the KIA RIO.  The first stop we made was at JAVANICAN, the little coffee shop on Grand Avenue in Pacific Beach.  We saw our new friend, Durae.  She is SO sweet.  She actually came out from behind the counter to give me a hug – just from talking to us once before!  There was another lovely girl working there, too (we didn’t catch her name).

Eric got a breakfast burrito and I got a salad.  Their food is so fresh, organic and natural, you feel healthier just eating there!  Durae told us about the Swap Meet, which is a great place to get furnishings for our apartment.  She also told us about BIG LOTS, which is also a great place to get stuff like towels, bedding, etc.  We’re going shopping tomorrow and now we know exactly where to go!

After brunch, we went to CVS to pick up a few necessities.  Then, we went back to the RV to wait for “the call.”  They called at 2:00pm and I told them I’d call the insurance company, get everything set up, and see them at 4:00pm.  I spoke to our insurance company, gave them ALL the information and asked them to fax the insurance cards and other information to ENTERPRISE. 

The insurance company was closing at 3:00pm, and we weren’t picking up the car until 4:00pm, so I told them to PLEASE make sure they faxed the information before they closed and Steven assured me that he would.

We got to ENTERPRISE and Mark took me around to the back to check out the car.  I was told it was “purple,” which I assumed was the same color I had in New York (which was actually more of a burgundy or eggplant).  It wasn’t the same at ALL.  It’s more lavender or very light purple.  I LOVE it!  I was so happy and I knew Eric would be happy, too, because he didn’t like how the white primer underneath showed, when you got a tiny chip from a rock hitting the car (I had a million on the PT in New York from riding on the L.I.E.).  The lighter the color, the less it will show.

This 2007 Chrysler PT Cruiser Touring Sport 4 Door Wagon has lots of options that my 2001 didn’t have, including a digital compass, mileage per gallon calculator, and a console with two storage compartments that doubles as an arm-rest!  I am going to take pictures tomorrow (if I can get my camera to cooperate), so I hope to show it to everyone on the blog!  In the meantime, these are pictures I got off the internet, so you can see the color (which they call “Opal” online) and the cute gray interior.  The dashboard isn’t red like in the picture – it’s the same light purple color!

After Eric and I took it for a test drive (I drove!), we came back to the office and Eric started cleaning the windows and dashboard (who is surprised by this?) while I went inside to do the paperwork with John.  The first thing I found out is that he never received the insurance info from the insurance company.  This led to a lot of phone calls and on-line investigations, but we finally were able to resolve the problem.  Next, we had to discuss what type of extended warrantee I wanted.  This involved a lot of complicated math that completely overwhelmed me, but I think I made the right decision (an additional 36,000 miles or 5 years -- whichever comes first).

Finally, it was time to sign all the paperwork.  I swear, I never signed my name so many times (well, maybe that’s not true – after all, we did just sell a house!).  Anyway, it seemed like a LOT of paper and a lot of signatures!

So, while I was doing all this writing of checks, signing of papers, calling insurance companies, etc., I realized that I didn’t have my keys with me.  Eric and I each have a complete set of keys to the RV.  When we both go to take a shower at the same time (which we did this morning) we both take our keys, so that whoever gets back first can get back inside.  Unfortunately, Eric and I met outside (we had perfect timing!).  He let me back in the RV, so I did not realize I didn’t put my keys back in my purse.

I panicked, but there was nothing I could do.  I was pretty sure I had left them in the bathroom, but I had to wait until we were done before I could head back to the campground to try to find them.

We finally got out of there, and drove off into the sunset in our new PT Cruiser!  I drove as fast as I could back to the campground and rushed into the office to ask if anyone had turned in a set of keys.  No one had.  I then asked the guards at the gate if anyone had turned in a set of keys.  No one had.  I was REALLY panicking now.  I rushed into the ladies’ room and checked the shower, where I thought I had left the keys, and all the counters in the bathroom, to see if someone had found them and left them there for me.  They were nowhere to be found.

I got back in the car and was ready to cry.  I was so upset.  It wasn't just the keys, which would be a huge inconvenience.  It was also a key ring I had on there that had a heart-shaped medallion hanging from it.  My sister-in-law, Robin, gave it to me about 24 years ago.  It said:

                      I ♥ ERIC

I have had it all these years and the thought of losing that made me so sad.  I always say that I never lose ANYTHING.  I’m really super-responsible and very careful about stuff, so I was so mad at myself.  Eric said not to be upset and said he was sure they were in the RV, in the little green plastic basket where I keep all my bathroom stuff – the shampoo, conditioner, soap, etc.  So, we rushed back to the RV, I ran to check and he was right – they were there!  I was SO happy and relieved.  I TOLD you I never lose anything!

We left the RV to go out to dinner.  We decided to head to our favorite sushi place (on Garnet – where else?) – HAIKU SUSHI.  We love their food so much.

It was only about 7:00pm and it was not yet very crowded.  We sat at a table not far from the sushi bar and the two sushi chefs started talking to us.  There was a girl sitting at the sushi bar by herself and we all started talking.  One chef, Jin, is SO funny.  He was telling us about the dreams he was having while napping before his Thanksgiving dinner.  We talked about a restaurant in France where you eat in total darkness.  Some people say it enhances the experience, because your senses are heightened and you really enjoy the food.  Others say it is not fun at all, because you can’t tell what you are eating and it’s messy and scary to put something in your mouth when you don’t even know what it is.

I said I didn’t think I’d enjoy it, because I’m really into presentation.  Sushi is one of those foods that is presented in such an artistic way that it makes the entire experience more enjoyable.  I said I like to look at my food while I’m eating it.  Jin said he likes to look at himself while he’s eating, but he doesn’t always have a mirror around!  He’s very cute and funny.

We had a delicious meal (as usual).  Their sushi is the best.  We were saying how sorry we are that our friends and family aren't here, so we could take them to HAIKU SUSHI, because a lot of them love sushi as much as we do.  I know they'd all enjoy it a lot.

Tonight, we started with seaweed salad, shumai and edamame and then had two rolls: a Volcano and a Special Haiku Roll.  I can’t remember all the ingredients in these rolls, but they were both fabulous.

We decided not to get our usual Fried Green Tea Ice Cream and went to 7/11, so we could play California Lotto (for the first time) and get some Ben & Jerry’s “Lighten Up” frozen yogurt.

We headed back to the RV, had dessert and watched DON’T FORGET THE LYRICS, which Eric and I both really enjoy!  We love seeing if we can remember the lyrics to popular songs and are sometimes surprised when we thought we knew them, but were wrong!  It’s a fun show.

Tomorrow, we’re going shopping (or should I say I’m going shopping, while Eric waxes the PT Cruiser in the parking lot).  I want to go to BIG LOTS to buy new sheets for our beautiful new bed.  I also want to hit the Swap Meet to find a small dresser for our bedroom.  We need a place to put the TV!  Going shopping for our new apartment – it’s very exciting!

Eric woke up with another neck ache, which is becoming a weekly problem.  At least this time he didn’t have a headache, too.  We both realize it’s stress and nerves.  My allergies have been pretty bad, mostly in the mornings, and I haven’t had much of an appetite at all.  That is REALLY unusual for me, because I’m usually a really good eater (which is what caused me to gain at least 10 pounds in 14 weeks).  I know that my lack of appetite is stress-related, too.  Everyone handles stress in a different way.  I lose my appetite and sneeze.  Eric gets a headache or a stiff neck.

We were supposed to go shopping this afternoon.  Actually, I was going shopping and Eric was going to wax the PT in the parking lot.  I told him he should stay in the RV and relax, because I had no problem going out in the PT by myself.  I had good directions to the swap meet and the stores I wanted to go to, and I knew if he went with me he’d just feel worse.

Before I left, I gave him a nice neck massage with his PO SUM ON Peppermint Oil.  He really feels better after I do that.  Then, I heated up the cherry stone pillow that our friend and massage therapist, Rosemary, gave to us before we left NY.  It’s such a great gift, because we’ve used it in the freezer, to help a headache, and in the microwave, for his stiff neck.  I heated it up and left him laying there, smelling sweetly of peppermint, while he rested his neck on the cherry stone pillow and watched DIRTY JOBS with MIKE ROWE.  Have you ever watched that show (on the Discovery Channel)?  It's really fun.

I went out to BRUGGER’S BAGELS to get us breakfast and brought it back to the RV.  I left him eating his bagel and I went to the SPORTS ARENA SWAP MEET.  It was really easy to find.   I couldn’t believe admission was only $1.00!  I wandered around there for about a half hour, looking for sheet sets and a dresser on which to put our TV in the bedroom, but couldn’t find either. 

There was a lot to distract me, but I walked with blinders and didn’t waste time looking at anything else.  My only purchase was a $3.00 visor, because the sun was SO strong that, even with my sunglasses, I had to walk with my hand held out over my eyes, shading the sun.  It was 75 degrees today and it was hot walking around the flea market.  In NY they always called it a flea market, but here they call it a swap meet.  I wonder what the difference is.

Next, I went over to BIG LOTS.  I had never been there before.  I was looking for deep pocket Queen-size sheet sets and the table for the TV, but – again – no luck with either.  I DID get some cereal and bottled water, so the trip wasn’t a total waste.

While I was on line at BIG LOTS I spoke to a woman who told me that there was a TARGET nearby, where I would definitely find sheet sets.  I drove over there and was able to find exactly what I was looking for.  I was determined NOT to buy flowered sheets, because Eric and I had flowered sheets for YEARS in Whitestone and I want to try to decorate differently than I did in NY.  I didn't see much besides solids and flowers, but then I hit the jackpot.

Eureka!  I got two sets of Queen DAMASK STRIPE sheet sets.  Each comes with a flat sheet, fitted sheet and FOUR pillowcases, which is very unusual.  One set is a chocolate brown, which I thought would go well with the light brown carpeting we have in the apartment (in every room).  The other is a powdery blue.  I figured I would mix and match, and the brown and blue look SO pretty together.

I also got us two Memory Foam Supreme Contour Pillows from SERTA, because when we tried them at the first mattress store they seemed very comfy!  My last purchase was a bunch of AA batteries, for the camera.  Unfortunately, when I tried the camera, it didn’t work at ALL.  I put the new batteries in the camera, thinking they were the answer, and it still doesn’t work.  The camera is dead.  RIP Olympus Camedia Camera C-4000 ZOOM!  I had five good years with this camera, but it’s over.  Boo hoo!  So, I took a picture of the PT with my cell phone, and it actually came out pretty good!

Here's a picture of my pretty PT.  My friend, Katie, says I have to name her.  Eric says we should name her Opal, since that's the color name.  So, I guess she's Opal!

After I left TARGET very happy, because my most important purchase had been made, I decided to hit a few more stores to see if I could find a piece of furniture for the TV.  I had seen a SALVATION ARMY store and a PIER 1 IMPORTS in the same shopping center.  I LOVE Pier 1 and our friends, Elaine and Brian, gave us a gift certificate, which I cannot wait to use.  I went in there to look at the furniture.  I was distracted by all the other beautiful things they have in there, but I focused on finding something for the TV.  They had some beautiful pieces, which would work perfectly, but I don’t want to spend a couple of hundred dollars on something like that. 

I went into the SALVATION ARMY THRIFT SHOP and they had some beat up furniture.  I had never been in a Salvation Army shop before, and I was a little disappointed.  They had a desk that might have worked, and I’m not really particular about what type of piece it is, as long as it’s about 36” high and at least 22” deep.  This desk was a mess, but I figured it would be really cheap and we could fix it up.  It was $59!  I would never even have a piece like that in my shop, because it was in such bad condition and, if I did, it would have been outside with a $5 price tag!  I know it's for charity, but still -- $59?!

Next, I tried another thrift shop (I can’t remember the name).  They actually had some decent pieces of furniture, but none of it worked for me.  I walked around with my handy measuring tape, but didn’t find any pieces the right size.  There’s one more place I want to try, closer to town, and I’m hoping I can find something tomorrow.

I was exhausted from running from store to store.  I was thirsty, and sweaty.  I needed something cold and sweet.  I decided to get a STARBUCKS, before heading back to the campground.  I had spoken to Eric a few times and he was feeling much better.  Sometimes, you just need to rest and relax!

Eric and I were wondering about the cable situation, so I called Brett, the manager of our building.  When I asked him what kind of cable they had in the complex he said the sweetest words my ears could hear -- "TIME WARNER CABLE!"  I told him that was what we had in New York and we LOVE it.  We were SO happy!  I quickly went to their website and was able to make an appointment for Tuesday morning.  So, by Tuesday afternoon, we should have cable TV in our new apartment! 

After I made the appointment, Eric was ready to go out to dinner.  We went to a new place (for us) – PACIFIC BEACH BAR AND GRILL on Garnet Avenue (where else?).  We got there while HAPPY HOUR was still going on, so Eric had a Bloody Mary (which was great -- real spicy) and we ordered two appetizers – Stuffed Mushrooms and Crab dip.  I had a Tostado Salad, which had lots of greens, avocado, shredded cheese, and cucumber with a cilantro dressing in a big tostado shell.  Eric had diced grilled chicken with veggies in a pita with French fries.  The food was really good and the place was a lot of fun.  There were TV screens everywhere showing football, basketball and hockey.  It was a real sports place, but there was loud music playing, too. 

At one point in the evening, I said to Eric, “You know what’s really sad?”  “What?”  he asked.  Then, before I could say anything, he looked around and said, “That we’re the oldest people in the place?”   “YES!”  I said.  He guessed it.  I had been looking at all the kids in the restaurant.  Some were at the bar, some playing pool, some sitting and eating.  I don’t think they were just 21.  In fact, they looked to be over 25, but I don’t think anyone except the bartender was over 30!  Eric commented that we could be their parents!  It made us feel REALLY old!  But that’s what Pacific Beach (better known as PB) is all about.

After dinner we came back to the campground and I washed the two sets of sheets, so they would be ready for our new bed.  I can’t believe tomorrow will be our last day in the RV.  In a way, I will miss it, because it has been home for so long now.  At the same time, I think it is contributing to the stress Eric’s been feeling, and I think the move to the apartment is going to be great for both of us.

Eric and I heard there are more fires in Malibu.  We can’t believe it.  At this time, 35 more houses – many mansions – have been destroyed.  It’s so depressing.  This is another thing about California (besides the mountain biking situation) that REALLY bothers Eric.  He says New York is one place where there are no disasters like hurricanes, wild fires, mud slides, earthquakes, tornadoes, monsoons, cyclones or tsunamis.  New York occasionally has blizzards, but even those are not that bad.  They usually don’t need people to evacuate, or kill anybody.

He says that Southern California is a “tinder box” ready to go up in flames at any moment.  The fact that it never rains certainly doesn’t help.  The worst thing is that if it DOES rain a lot, there will definitely be a lot of mudslides, because there are no trees or shrubs left to hold back the mud, since they all burned in the fires!  It’s scary.  Of course, being located where we are, we are not worried about fire or mud affecting us, but it’s not fun to know it’s happening in areas nearby.

Tomorrow we are finally going on that bicycle ride Eric has been promising for the last few days.  I know it’s not going to be easy for either of us.  He’s not feeling great, and is not really into it at all.  He's just doing it for me.  I’m ready and willing, but may not be very able, as I haven’t exercised in about 4 months!  Wish us luck!

This morning, as I took my shower in the campground at 6:00am, I thought to myself, “This is the last time.  The last time.”  I was so happy that we would be moving into the apartment today.  I could not wait.  I was filled with anticipation.  What would our boxes look like?  Would they all be there?  Would the moving men show up on time?  What about our bed?  Would that arrive safely?  On time?  Would it be everything we hoped (dreamed) it would be?

We left the campground at 7:00am.  I went to get us bagels, and Eric drove the RV to the apartment.  We ate our bagels together in the RV and then rang the bell of the manager, a young man named Brett.  He took us up to the apartment and proceeded to give us his “spiel,” with lots and lots of papers to sign, warnings about asbestos and lead paint, and drowning in the pool (since there’s no lifeguard on duty).  Actually, there IS no asbestos or lead, but they have to warn you, in case it turns out they’re wrong about that.  It’s a little crazy, but California is extremely litigious, so they have to have everything in writing.

While we were still signing the lease, the bed arrived!  They set it up in our new master bedroom and left.  It looks great!

Once the paperwork was all signed, we got our keys, and Brett gave us a little welcome package – a $20 gift certificate to TARGET (where I had just been on Saturday) and a $10 gift certificate for STARBUCKS (did he read my mind?).  I thought that was so sweet!

After he left, we made a bunch of trips back and forth to the RV, bringing in all the stuff we had been using and wearing for the last 15 weeks.  It was more than you think.  As we brought it up, I put it in the appropriate room.  I’ll tell you one thing about this place – there’s lots of storage.  There are seven drawers and 24 cabinets in the kitchen alone!  There’s a large, mirrored sliding door closet in the master bedroom, a small 2-door closet in the other bedroom and a linen closet, too.  In the hallway, leading to the bedrooms and bathroom, there are four large cabinets (big enough to put a stand-up vacuum and other tall stuff), with small cabinets above that for storing rarely-used items.  The bathroom even has lots of drawers and cabinets.

Since we’ve been living in one tiny room with lots of cabinet space for 14 weeks, we were REALLY able to put everything away easily, because there’s so much more space.  I knew that this place would feel like a mansion.  It really does!

At 10:30am the moving men arrived.  There were two nice guys – Jason and Johnny.  They pulled the truck into the parking lot and proceeded to bring all the boxes upstairs.  It was a long walk from the truck to the one flight of outdoor stairs, and then we’re right at the top of the landing.  For heavier items, they brought a dolly, but they still had to carry everything up the stairs.  They were working REALLY hard and we felt bad for them.  They would put everything right inside the front door and then Eric would take over.

I had a “master list” on my computer, with my box numbers and a list of what was in each box.  The moving company puts their own labels with numbers on it, so he would first tell me their number, and I would mark it off on their chart.  Then, he would tell me my number, and I would tell him what was in the box, so we could decide where to put it, and I would mark it off on MY chart.  The stuff we’re not going to open for a while went into the second bedroom and up against the wall in the living room.  The clothing and furniture for the master bedroom went in there; the bathroom stuff in the bathroom, etc.  It was very organized!

It was WONDERFUL to see my vanity again.  How I’ve missed it!  It was such a luxury to have it all these years and get to sit there every morning to put my make-up on.  I also got to enjoy the beautiful lamps that belonged to my grandmother, Rose, which are my prized possession.  I can’t wait to see them again!

Since Eric was helping so much, we got done really fast and – since we were paying them by the hour – it really helped us a lot, but I felt bad, because he was lifting some really heavy boxes!

At the end, there was just one discrepancy.  According to their list, all the boxes had been delivered, but according to my list, there was one missing.  It turns out it was my error – made in NY when I numbered the boxes.  I accidentally gave a box two numbers, but only wrote one number on it.  We figured it out, because the contents of the box were exactly the same on two descriptions.  It’s a good thing I was so detailed, or we would have thought they lost a box, or spent another hour recounting, etc.

They were out of here by 2:00pm.  We went back to unpacking the RV and made a bunch more trips.   By now, it’s practically empty of things we need to bring into the apartment.  Eric said it probably weighs about 3,000 pounds less (but I think he’s exaggerating!).

I took some pictures with my cell phone of the outside and a few of the rooms, so you can see a little of what it looks like.  I’ll take more, once we get rid of a few of the boxes.

The view from right outside our door:

When Eric came back from his last trip to the RV, he heard me in the bedroom saying, “Oh, yeah.  That’s good.  Oh, baby!”  He said, “What are you doing?”  I said, “I’m laying on our new, comfy bed!”  I had made up the bed with the dust-mite allergy proof mattress protector, and our new chocolate brown sheets.  I had put the pillowcases on our new memory foam pillows and laid out the flat sheets.  I was ready for a nap, and so was Eric!

Looking to the right:

We fell asleep very quickly, as we had really had a long day and it was only about 3:00pm!  I woke up once, because I kept hearing a strange noise.  I finally figured out that it was someone practicing the drums!  Can you believe it?  Just my luck, there’s a drummer in the complex.  Actually, they have a rule here about quiet time between 10:00pm and 8:00am, so I guess he was being respectful, because it was the middle of the afternoon!

Looking left!

Eric kept sleeping, but I got up to walk around the apartment.  It was now 5:30pm and dark outside.  I figured out where the dining room light is and did some work on the computer.

Looking straight down, over my railing.  Notice the Birds of Paradise?

Eric got up a little after 6:00pm and we decided to walk to a restaurant that is on the same block as our complex.  It’s called LA DOLCE VITA and I noticed it once when Eric and I were just driving around last time we were here in October.  It’s so strange, because we actually passed our complex once.  We decided to leave Pacific Beach and got onto I-5 South and got off at Clairemont Drive.  We drove right past our building and had lunch at the Hometown Buffet, right before we went to SeaWorld.  The shopping center where that restaurant is located is walking distance from our apartment!  Out of all the places in San Diego, we were already at “our” shopping center!  I thought that was a big coincidence!

Another view to the right:

Anyway, we walked over to LA DOLCE VITA TRATTORIA.   We got a lovely greeting from two handsome Italian gentlemen, as soon as we walked in the door.  We were shown to a booth and looked at the menus. 

Right away they brought us a basket of fresh baked hot breads, including garlic bread, with a sundried tomato dipping sauce.  It was SO good.  Eric ordered the Chicken Dolce Vita, which is sautéed with mushrooms, garlic, artichoke hearts in a gorgonzola cream sauce, served with linguini.  I ordered the Penne alla Vodka.  If I would have read the description, I would have seen that it has prosciutto in it, along with fresh tomato sauce, scallions and cream, flambéed with Vodka.  I don’t really eat meat, but it DID add a lovely flavor and the pieces were so tiny!

 Every entrée comes with salad bar and soup.  Their salad bar was so nice.  They had anchovies, which I LOVE, along with all the vegetables you can imagine in a salad.  Their soup tonight was tomato, and Eric and I both agreed it was more of a tomato bisque.  Lovely!

By the time they brought the entrées, we were stuffed from all the salad, soup and bread!  We only ate half our meal and brought the rest home (lunch tomorrow!).  We shared a piece of tiramisu and walked back to the apartment.

Tomorrow, after the cable guy is done, we will go food shopping and all this eating out will come to an end.  Eric and I have promised that we are going to be better about eating out so much.  It really was pretty much a necessity in the RV, because the fridge was so “iffy” and we wasted some money buying groceries that we had to throw out, because it had stopped working.  Now that we have a working fridge, and a lovely kitchen, we will be making our meals at home.  I’m not much of a cook, but Eric seems to enjoy it!

Our cute little kitchen:

After we got back, we unpacked for about three hours, until we were exhausted.  We didn’t even make a dent, but we managed to find some stuff that we wanted to get to right away, including the remote for the TV (so the cable guy can program the box), and the DVD player (so he can hook it all up for us).

The view from the Master Bedroom window:

Eric is now sleeping and I’m standing in the kitchen typing.  One of the first things we have to get is a table and chairs, so I can set up my computer, and we have a place to eat. 

The view from the second bedroon window:

We’re both happy with the apartment.  It’s really clean.  The carpets were just steam cleaned, so they are in excellent condition.  The apartment was freshly painted and the kitchen and bathroom are spotless with beautiful tiled floors and countertops.  The manager is so nice and he obviously runs a tight ship, because the complex is pristine.

Our sunny little bathroom:

We haven’t formally met any of our neighbors yet, but I’ve noticed there’s a big mix in the complex.  We saw a young woman with a boy about 4; an old lady, an old man, and there’s a nice young woman who lives right next to us and two guys who live underneath us.  I’m sure we’ll get to meet them all eventually.

We DID get to meet the “pool guy” this morning.  Eric noticed a dog with the guy who maintains the pool (and you know how he LOVES dogs!).  He started talking to the dog from outside our apartment and the guy asked us if we were moving in.  He was very nice and asked us where we were from.  He said he noticed we were New Yorkers, because he heard us talking.  He said he was originally from Rockaway Beach, but moved here 30 years ago.  We had a nice conversation and he wished us luck here.

I already feel like we accomplished a lot, and I know we will do a lot more in the next few days, because Eric and I are on a roll.  It’s just unbelievable how much stuff we brought from New York.  After living with so little in the RV for so long, it just seems crazy to have all this stuff, but we brought it all, so we might as well unpack it and see what we’re going to do with it!

I couldn’t fall asleeep last night, even though our bed is super-comfy.  I absolutely love it.  It’s weird, because when you get up, you see a big dent in the bed, but by the time you get back (from the bathroom, or wherever) it’s gone!  It’s a magical bed!

Anyway, I was cold last night.  I turned on the heat (yes, even in San Diego, it’s cold enough at night to turn on the heat!), but even after I warmed up I still couldn’t fall asleep.  I guess I had a lot on my mind, and was thinking about all we had accomplished, but all we still had to do.  I was making lists in my head.

When I finally fell asleep, I slept well and woke up after 9:00am, but Eric was still sleeping, so I just lay there, thinking about the apartment.  I really like it a lot.  We got up around 10:00am and started right away to organize things, so everything would be ready when the cable guy came.  We moved two big boxes into the master bedroom and put the TV on top, because we don’t yet have a TV stand.  That’s at the top of my list, but I haven’t yet been able to find what I wanted.  It’s a good thing, too, because it turns out that the way the room is set up, and the way we arranged the furniture, we’re going to have to have the TV on a cart with wheels, so we can push it against the wall during the day, and roll it out at night to watch.  Sometimes things happen for a reason!  If I had purchased a piece already, we would have had to use it somewhere else.

The cable guy came after noon and told us he couldn’t run a wire to the bedroom, because it was an apartment building and he needed permission.  I MUST have my TV in the bedroom – and Eric needs his TV in the living room, so I went over to the manager’s apartment (which is about 100 feet from my door) and told him what was happening.

He told me that there was no reason why they couldn’t run the wire.  He even brought a letter (I don’t know how he printed it in 3 minutes) saying we had permission to run a wire anywhere we needed it. 

So, the guy leaves to make a call and comes back and tells us that they will come back to run the wire, but they can’t come until December 3rd.  In the meantime, he will put the cable box and DVR in the living room and then, when they come to run the other wire, they will put another cable box in the bedroom and move the DVR (since Eric says he doesn’t need the DVR, just cable, in the living room).  So, we had to move the boxes we had set up, but the guy helped Eric move the TV from the bedroom into the living room.  He set up the cable and left.  It’s SO nice to have all the channels, and have great reception.

For 15 weeks we watched VERY little TV and, when we DID have cable, we usually got between 8-10 channels and the reception was horrible.  Once in a while we got a lot of channels and great reception, but there were other times when we got only one or two channels.  I missed my TV a LOT.  Anyone who knows me knows I love my TV.  I missed DANCING WITH THE STARS and UGLY BETTY and BOSTON LEGAL and HEROES and PRISON BREAK and BROTHERS AND SISTERS and KITCHEN NIGHTMARES and all the sitcoms, too!  Let’s not even get into daytime TV.  I haven’t watched DR. PHIL or OPRAH for months!  I guess I’ll get to catch up on everything during the holidays, when they repeat everything, and during the summer, when the shows are on hiatus. 

So, after the cable guy left, Eric went to work opening boxes, unpacking and cutting up boxes, so we can recycle the cardboard, while I went food shopping.  First, I went to STARBUCKS, and I tried a new drink – instead of my usual Iced Raspberry Mocha Latte, I got an Iced Mint Mocha Latte, which is new for the holidays.  It tasted EXACTLY like an Andes Candy.  You know those little mints they give you at restaurants, after dinner?  If you could liquefy that, put it over ice and drink it – that’s what it would taste like!  YUMMY!

Next, I went to the UPS Store since someone had told me they sell stamps.  Unfortunately, they don’t sell post card stamps, so I still have to get to the post office.

Next, I went to “KEILS FOOD STORE,” which I thought was a strange name, because I always thought it was a supermarket, or a grocery store.  Then, I thought about it.  When I got home, I told Eric I didn’t know how, but I had missed the aisle with the tissues, the aisle with the dish-washing detergent, and the aisle with the Windex.  Now, I’m wondering if they have those aisles.  Maybe they just sell food – although I DID see shampoos and conditioners, and soaps.  Now, I’m confused!  I’m going back tomorrow to see what the story is.  If I have to go to another store, just to buy my sundries, then I’m just going all the way to RALPH’S, because they sell everything!

It was weird shopping, because I had to buy EVERYTHING.  Our fridge was empty, except for bottled water.  I bought ketchup, mayonnaise, peanut butter, and lots of other basics.  I also bought lots of fruit and veggies and healthy snacks, like hummus and salsa and low-fat cheese.  When I got home, we had a snack of a green apple and some hummus with organic chips.  Delicious!

We kept working, and working, and working.  In just two days we managed to unpack about 40 boxes, but there are still about 90 more!  There are some that we may not open, because we really don’t need the stuff inside.  For instance, Eric brought seven boxes of records, which are REALLY heavy, but he says he doesn’t even think he’ll set up the stereo or CD player, since we have a boom box that has a radio and CD player, so we can just use that.  We always knew our stay here was temporary, because we planned to buy a co-op or condo, but now it seems it’s temporary, because we may not stay in San Diego.

Eric is still very down on San Diego.  The second round of fires in Malibu hasn’t helped matters.  People keep telling us that it’s just what life in Southern California is like and you get used to it, but I don’t think he ever will.  I guess if you move to San Francisco and there’s an earthquake (even a small one), it must freak you out; same with a hurricane in Florida.  People in Florida just deal with it.  I know my parents have been dealing with it since they moved there 13 years ago.  They went without electricity for a week once – and they’re in their late 70s!

Anyway, I keep assuring him that if he doesn’t like it here, we don’t have to stay here.  As my sister, Lenae, said, “There are a million places to be happy.”  That meant a lot to me, and it’s true.  So, we’re weighing our options.  In the meantime, we know we’ll be here for six months, so we’re trying to set the apartment up so that it’s livable.

The bedroom already looks great, because the bed is made up with the blue/brown combination, which is really pretty.  I also set up the night tables and the lamps that I brought from NY and I set up my vanity today, which has my grandmother's lamps on it.  Eric just has to attach the triple mirror, which he has promised to do tomorrow.  I’ll take pictures when it’s all done.

We worked straight until 9:00pm when I watched the finale of DANCING WITH THE STARS.  I am happy to report that Helio won – and he was my favorite when the show first started over the summer.  I didn’t get to see all his performances, but I loved him, and his partner, Julianne, is amazing.  It was a very exciting show and I’m so glad I got to see it!

Tomorrow, my big plans for the day are to do a LOT of laundry (we used a lot of towels, rags, and drop cloths while unpacking and cleaning), get post card stamps, and go back to KEILS to see if they have tissues, Windex and dishwashing detergent!  I also need to find a TV cart on wheels and some kind of shoe storage (maybe just those wire racks that hold a lot of shoes), because I have so many pairs and I used to have great storage in my big closet in NY (boo hoo, I miss my big closet).  This closet just has a pole across and one shelf above, like a basic closet, which means I have to put all my shoes on the floor on the bottom.  That wouldn’t be so bad, but I also have a million purses and pocketbooks, so there’s really no room for it all.  I have to get organized, or get rid of a bunch of stuff!

I’m sure by the end of the week the place will be looking good and we can relax a little.  I can’t wait.  This is hard work!

I woke up at 9:30am this morning.  That seems to be a typical time for me to wake up.  It’s weird, because my mom always says I’m her clone (she calls me her “cloney”) and SHE tells me SHE wakes up at 9:30am!  It’s just one more thing in a list of HUNDREDS of things that we have in common.  We are so much alike.

So, I woke up and immediately started doing things around the apartment.  Eric was still sleeping, but now I don’t have to lie there quietly, or turn on the TV really low, so I don’t wake him.  I simply got up and went into the kitchen, answered emails, and then turned on the TV and watched THE VIEW.

At 11:00am, I went into the bedroom.  Eric wasn’t really sleeping, but he wasn’t feeling well again (another headache/neckache), so he was still resting.  He came out and was just laying around on the floor, not feeling very well, so I didn’t think I should bother him to come shopping with me.

I took a shower, got dressed and headed out.  First, I went back to KEILS and found out they DO sell dish washing detergent, Windex, toilet paper and tissues.  I had just missed the aisle, because it was behind the wine section (which I’m not used to seeing in a supermarket).  I got all the items I had missed yesterday and then headed to the post office for stamps.

I got my stamps and then headed to Pacific Beach to go to another SALVATION ARMY THRIFT store.  I was very disappointed with the one near the Swap Meet, but this one is really nice.  They had a lot of different entertainment centers to choose from and I was able to find one that should fit our TV perfectly, which will go in the living room.  I also found a white wood shoe rack (which looks like a quilt rack, but with a lot more white bars going across.  The shoes sit on three shelves and it holds about 20 pairs.

The last purchase I made there was a rolling TV or microwave cart, which we will use in the master bedroom.  We were going to buy a big TV for the living room and use the 27 inch in the master bedroom, but now we decided to use the 27 inch in the living room and buy a smaller 20 inch for the bedroom (it’s really all I need).  The three items are in excellent condition (especially after Eric and I worked on them) and they cost just $109!

The people working at the Salvation Army were REALLY weird.  First, I asked this young man for help.   His name was Eric, and I told him that was my husband’s name.  I told him I wanted to buy one of the entertainment centers, and wanted to know if it could be taken apart, because then I would have been able to fit it in the PT.  He was standing in the middle of an aisle when I spoke to him, and he said he would let me know, by taking a look at it.  He said to me, “You walk that way, and I’ll walk this way,” pointing for me to walk one way down the aisle, and he would walk the other way.  I was SO confused.  Did he not want to walk with me?  Did he think he was taking a short-cut, and would beat me there, or did he want me to get there first, so I could show him which one?  I still don’t know, but I did as he said.

I then asked him to help me with the TVs, as I wanted to make sure that the one I purchased would be "cable ready."  I showed him the TV I was interested in, but some had remotes taped to the top and some didn't.  I said, "Is this cable ready and does this one have a remote, or are they always taped to the top?"  He said, "All I know about this TV is that it was donated by someone and it came into this Salvation Army Thrift Shop located at 4606 Mission Bay Drive, Pacific Beach, California."  I could just stare.  No words would come.  I decided to wait until Eric was with me to buy the TV.

The woman at the register was another winner.  First of all, she had the biggest helmet of hair I have ever seen in my life.  I wish I could have taken a picture with my cell phone, but I guess that would be rude.  Anyway, she had NO idea what she was doing and if there wasn’t another woman showing her what to do, every step of the way, I doubt anything would get done.  I know she wasn’t new there, because she kept calling to people by name as if she knew them all her life, and was barking out orders to guys to pick something up or carry something out, but she was SO slow that there was a line of about 8 people ahead of me – at the Salvation Army!

I finally got out of there and a lovely man who was just shopping there helped me bring the two items I could put in the PT.  I brought back all my purchases and Eric seemed to feel much better after taking an Excedrin Migraine.  He had done a lot more organizing, and the living room was practically empty!

I went back out to go to the 99 cent store (which is about 2 blocks away), but first I called my friend, Susan, who had called while I was out.  We talked for about a half hour.  It was so great to talk to her, and catch up on everything.  I really miss her, and all my friends back in NY.

After our call, I got a trash can for the bedroom and bathroom and an ironing board.  I wanted to buy a kitchen trash can, too, but they didn’t have any.  When I got home, Eric was cutting up more cardboard, after emptying out some more boxes.

He is SO creative, because he decided we were going to make furniture out of the boxes – both empty and full.  First, he used two big empty boxes to make end tables to hold a pair of lamps on either side of the living room.  Then, he lined up a bunch of full boxes, which were all the same size, along the wall in the dining room, which made a buffet.  We also used three boxes (two small and one long, flat one) to make a coffee table.  We covered all these pieces with fabric, so you can’t really tell what’s underneath!

One of the "end tables" Eric and I fashioned from cardboard boxes and fabric.  I still want to hot glue the top piece to the base, so it looks nicer:

He also fashioned a desk for me, in the corner of the living room, using six big heavy boxes that contain his record collection, so they're really sturdy.  He’s not planning on opening them, since he says he can just listen to his CDs.  He put two stacked on either side of where my seat will go, and two in the front to form the shape of a desk. Tomorrow, he’s going to have a board cut to the right size to put on top of the six boxes and I’ll be all set to work at the computer while I’m in the living room with Eric, watching TV or listening to music!

Here's the other side, and you can see a little of Eric's massage chair, which is fully assembled and working hard again.  There's nothing like it, except maybe a REAL massage!

It’s now midnight and we’ve been working since I got home at 6:00pm.  We only stopped so I could make us a light dinner of KRAFT macaroni and cheese, plus a salad for me and a turkey/Swiss wrap for Eric.  We also each had a WEIGHT WATCHERS Vanilla Ice Cream Sandwich (2 points).

This picture came out a little blurry (sorry!).  Can you tell there's three boxes underneath that tablecloth?

It was really fun, working together.  Eric cut all the pieces of cardboard, and cut all the boxes down, and then we upholstered the boxes together with big pieces of fabric I had brought from NY (from the shop) and some packing tape.  So, we have two end tables, a coffee table, a desk and a buffet, that cost nothing at all and they look really colorful and cute!  As Eric said, “Who needs furniture?”

Tomorrow, we are going to see if we can get the entertainment center home ourselves (in the RV) or pay someone from the Salvation Army to do it for us.  We’re also going to buy the smaller TV for the master bedroom.  It doesn’t pay to buy a flat-screen TV (which we had planned to do), if we’re not sure whether or not we’re staying.

Another piece of furniture we’ll need is a couch, which I already found and will order tomorrow.  It’s a simple sleeper sofa with no arms that folds down flat to form a full-size bed (for guests!).  It’s a nice brown, which matches our carpet, and it won’t show dirt (I’m so practical!).  The last piece of furniture we will need is a small dining room set or kitchen set, so we can eat at a table.  I promise, when it’s all done, I will put lots of photographs on the blog.  In the meantime, I hope you enjoy these of the end tables and coffee table we made tonight!

We woke up around 10:30am.  Eric had another headache, and my allergies were bad, so the two of us were a mess.  I took a Drixoral, which always makes me drowsy. 

I was hoping we would be able to get the entertainment center for the living room delivered today, but that’s happening tomorrow morning, so we just did things around the apartment for a couple of hours.  We had some breakfast, cleaned up a little, unpacked a little, I made some phone calls and worked on the computer.   Then we both decided to lie down.

Eric had taken another Excedrin Migraine and I was really drowsy from the Drixoral, so we took a nap.  We woke up a little after 4:00pm.  I had a ton of laundry to do, so we went to the laundry room for the first time.  There are four front-loading washing machines that cost $1.25 each and four dryers that are either $1.00 or $.75 each.  I did three loads and worked around the apartment in-between.

After laundry, I made us a big salad with lots of great stuff in it.  We love salads!  It’s nice to have a big kitchen (bigger than the one in my house!) to work in and lots of counter space, a cutting board that slides out and even a garbage disposal.  I’ve never had a garbage disposal in any apartment or house I ever lived in, so I don’t even really know what they’re for.

First of all, there’s a bulletin board in the laundry room and I saw a notice about abusing the disposal.  They say don’t put “stringy” veggies in there, like celery.  No egg shells.  No tomato skins.  So, I ask you – people out there with a garbage disposal – what are they good for?  What CAN you put in there?  If you’re making a salad and you have to sort out the celery and tomato refuse from the rest of the veggie refuse, is it really convenient?  If it was making compost that you could put in your garden, I could understand it.  But what is it for?

Garbage disposals always scare me, because you always see them in horror movies, where someone puts their hand in there at the wrong time.  Or, it’s a comedy and some old guy’s teeth go down there (SEINFELD), or someone drops an engagement ring down there.  It always seemed to me like it would either chop off your hand, or ruin something you didn’t want disposed of!  So, I’m still asking – why?  Please – someone explain it!

Eric and I didn’t build anymore furniture today, but this morning I moved my computer to my “desk,” even though we didn’t get the board for the top yet.  It’s much more comfortable than standing on the hard tile floor in the kitchen, working on the counter (which I have done since we moved in on Monday!). 

We were busy all evening cleaning up and unpacking some more, since we’re both feeling a little better.  My allergies are definitely at their worst in the morning.

I DID order our couch today.  I went to a cute store in Pacific Beach the other day called UNDERGROUND FURNITURE, and had seen a really cute sleeper sofa, which folds down into a bed (like a futon, instead of opening up – like the Castro Convertibles used to do).  It was over $500, but I knew I could find it cheaper online – and I did!  First, I found it at OVERSTOCK.COM, which had it for $399, plus only $2.95 shipping/handling.  It was a Queen size (which is 3 inches longer and six inches wider than Full).  The problem is, it only came in beige, which I just don’t like.  It’s not practical.  One little thing gets on it, and it looks terrible.  Why can’t they make it in darker colors?

Then, I found SLEEPERSOFA.COM, which had a comparable sleeper sofa for only $379, including tax, shipping and handling!  It’s very simple, but will definitely to the job.  It's a nice brown, which is a great color for us, since we have a light brown rug, and it folds out to a full size bed.  I would have gotten Queen, if they had it, but they didn’t and the OVERSTOCK.COM is just a few inches wider and longer.  I think the only person who will know the difference is our friend, Jimmy, because he’s 6’ 4”, and he’ll be the first to try it out, since he’s visiting us here for my birthday!  His feet may be hanging over the edge, but Eric says he can sleep diagonally!

Eric and I slept comfortably in the RV for 15 weeks and that was only a full-size bed, so I figure most couples would be able to do it, too.  Maybe they’d be a little tighter than usual (especially if they’re used to a King!), but we’ve proven it can be done!  Eric and I actually started married life with a full size bed.  We had it from 1984 to 1991, when we redid the bathroom and master bedroom in the house.  We decided to get a new bed, and decided to upgrade to a Queen!  It was more roomy, but we were always comfy in the full, too!

Now, we just have to keep our fingers crossed that it gets here in time for Jimmy, because they said it could take up to 2 weeks, and he’s coming on the 15th!

The place is definitely shaping up.  There’s still a lot of boxes around (especially in the second bedroom), but we’re opening a few every day and trying to find room to store everything in them.  There’s so much I want to do.  I need to get organized and figure out some stuff we can get rid of.  We definitely have too much stuff.  Living in the RV so simply for so long made us realize that we don’t need a lot of the junk we had.  Better to simplify, to pare down, and to minimize, so our next move will be even easier!

As Albert Hammond wrote in 1972:

Seems it never rains in southern California
Seems I've often heard that kind of talk before
It never rains in California, but girl, don't they warn ya?
It pours, man, it pours

Here’s a funny story:  We unpacked our alarm clock last night and I went to set it up in the bedroom.  I was doing a lot of unpacking and organizing, so I didn't look too closely, but I noticed right away that the batteries were low, so I replaced them with fresh batteries.  I set it for 8:00am today, because we were supposed to meet John, a moving guy, at The Salvation Army store at 10:00am to help us bring the entertainment center to the apartment.

The alarm went off, and I just pressed “snooze.”  It went off again 10 minutes later and, again, I snoozed.  The third time, I was kind of waking up and I looked around.  It was totally dark.  I was trying to figure out why it would be so dark at 8:20am, and then I realized that I had never changed the time on the clock.  So, when it went off at 8:00am (NY time) it was really 5:00am (California time).  I felt SO stupid!  I fixed the time and then set it for 8:00am again.  When the alarm went off at 8:00am I snoozed it a couple of times again and then my cell phone rang.  It was John, the mover, telling me he was canceling, because it was raining out.

I looked out the window and couldn’t believe my eyes.  It was POURING!  This is the first time it’s rained in SUCH a long time.  I don’t think we’ve really seen rain in months!  So, I told Eric and then we went back to sleep.  I was just happy I hadn’t already gone in the shower before John called!

We woke up at 11:00am.  I know, I can’t believe it myself.  We have gotten SO bad, sleeping later and later.  When we go back to work, we’re in for a rude awakening!

When we got up, we took showers and left the apartment pretty quickly.  We wanted to go to HOME DEPOT to get some wood for the top of my desk, the top of our coffee table and for some shelves.

We decided to go to HOMETOWN BUFFET for lunch (sorry, Jimmy!).  We were there the first time we visited San Diego and just happened upon it while driving around town.  I mentioned what a coincidence it is that it ended up being two blocks away from where we now live!  Anyway, I figured if we were going to have an “all you can eat” meal, it would be best if it was lunch, because we could “work it off” running errands all afternoon.

The place was packed, just like last time.  We tried not to each too much, but wanted to try all the different dishes they have.  We left satisfied, but not stuffed.

Our first stop was HOME DEPOT, where we got the boards cut.  We also bought brackets and screws to make shelves.  Then, we went to TARGET, because our landlord had given us a $20 TARGET gift certificate and I wanted to see if I could get a tall trash can for the kitchen.  I was able to find a nice one, and also got another shelf system for the closet floor, to put more shoes on.  I have an obscene amount of shoes (like 50 pairs) and about the same amount of purses, so they’re EVERYWHERE.

Our last stop was STAPLES, where I was able to find a desk chair for only $20!  I was so happy, because it’s so much more comfortable to use a real desk chair than a regular chair.

It was an exhausting afternoon.  It had been raining on and off all day long, and it's no fun running around in the rain, but when we got back it wasn’t raining at all and we unloaded everything from the car.  Eric started working on the boards, putting together my desk and the coffee table, and I opened the small shelf unit for the closet, to put it together.  Of course, one shelf was missing!  And it wasn’t like the box was opened.  It was completely factory-sealed.  It just didn’t have one of the shelves in there!  I was hoppin’ mad.  I left right away and drove back (about 6 miles) to TARGET and exchanged it for another one.  The whole exchange took less than 5 minutes, but the traffic to and from was bad, mostly because of the weather, but also because it was now 5:00pm.

When I got back, Eric had the desk and coffee table done.  The coffee table was really pretty much finished already, but Eric thought that putting a board on top would stabilize it, and it does look better.  After putting a board on the desk made of six boxes, we upholstered it with fabric, too.  I then put my desk accessories, lap top and printer on it.  I’m ready to work!

Lastly, Eric put together my desk chair and the shelf unit and everything worked out great.  It started pouring again.  Really pouring.  It’s so weird, because the rain was such big news all afternoon.  They said there were more than 200 accidents on the roads, because of the rain.  I know things slow down in NY too, because of the rain, but people so rarely see rain that they don’t know how to drive in it, and it’s really dangerous!

Not only is there big news because of all the car accidents, but the rain is also causing a lot of mud slides and flooding.  It’s horrible, because instead of a little rain 10 days in a row, it’s just one day of complete downpours for hours at a time, so the rain just runs off everything and floods all the streets.  It’s supposed to rain again tomorrow, too, so who knows what else will happen.

Eric was saying what a mess this place is.  First the fires, now the flooding and mud slides.  It does seem like a lot of bad things are happening since we got here, right?  Think we’re bad luck for California?

I made us dinner -- something I hadn't made in a long time -- a dish I used to make for Eric a lot back in NY.  I call it Chicken Gorgonzola, except I didn't have all the ingredients I usually need, so I kind of winged it.  Eric said it still tasted great.  I usually make it with gorgonzola cheese, bread crumbs, garlic and parmesan cheese, but I didn't have bread crumbs (I forgot to buy them).  Since I don't eat chicken, I made another big salad for myself.

Our friends, Geri and Larry, returned home safely from their Amazonian Adventure.  Geri called to let us know and told us a few stories about the many places they explored and the people they met.  What a different world it was than what we are used to.  I can’t wait to see pictures, because Geri’s a fabulous photographer!

Tomorrow we are hoping the rain stops enough so that we can finally get the entertainment center delivered.  We are really in an unpacking mode right now, trying to get the place to look good and feel comfortable.  I’m going to PIER 1 IMPORTS tomorrow to try to use the gift certificate that our friends, Brian and Elaine, gave us.  I want to buy a chair for the living room and they have such beautiful furniture!  More shopping – I can’t wait!

I purchased the entertainment center on Wednesday, 11/28.  The folks at The Salvation Army had given me a phone number of a guy named John who is not associated with The Salvation Army, but who delivers furniture for people who have no other way to get it home.  I called him immediately on Wednesday and we made plans to do it that afternoon.  He called me later and said he couldn’t do it that day and would do it on Thursday.  Then, he called me on Thursday to say he couldn’t do it that day, but would do it Friday.  I already told the story of how he called Friday to cancel, because it was raining.  So, I called him this morning to see when he could do it today.  He never called back.

Eric had the genius idea that we could get it into the RV.  I knew it wouldn’t fit, but there’s no use arguing with him, so we drove the RV down to Pacific Beach.  First, we stopped at BRUEGGER’S BAGELS to get a bite of lunch.  While we were standing on line, our friends – Susan and Andrew – called to let us know they were at one of our favorite restaurants – HOUSTON’S – having one of our favorite meals – their veggie burger.  It was so good to hear from them and it made me so nostalgic for New York!

We ate our bagels which, while not nearly as delicious as a veggie burger at Houston’s, was really, really good. I like to get a muenster cheese bagel (toasted) with bacon scallion cream cheese.  There's really no bacon in there, but more like a bacon flavoring, which is a smoked flavor.  Eric likes the jalapeno cheddar bagels with plain cream cheese (he's a purist!).  Then we headed over to THE SALVATION ARMY THRIFT STORE to pick up the entertainment center.  There was a young man who got it onto a hand cart and tried to help Eric load it into the back of the RV.  Another guy, who was actually picking up a piece of furniture himself, came to assist us.  It only took about 2 minutes to see it wasn’t going to work – no way, no how.

So, I went inside and told them that we couldn’t fit it in our RV and the guy who they had recommended to us was not returning our calls.  They gave me another number of a father/son team (Chuck and Quinn).  I called and spoke to Chuck, and he was at the store 20 minutes later with his power-lifting son, Quinn.  He was a very muscular guy (the kind of guy you know works out at the gym 2 hours each day).  He was also wearing a t-shirt that said something about "Power Lifting" on the back, so I knew that he and his father would be able to do it with little or no assistance from Eric (which made me happy, since I didn’t want him to hurt his back).

They got that thing on their tiny pick-up truck in no time and followed us in the RV back to our apartment.  They got it out of the truck on their hand truck and got it upstairs in no time at all.  As soon as it was in the apartment, I left to run some errands and Eric got busy.  By the time I got back, about a half hour later, he had transferred the TV, DVD player and cable box onto the wall unit, moved it into place and took away the boxes that previously held the TV.  I was impressed!  It really looks good and it has a shelf for the DVD player, the cable box and then three shelves on the side with a glass door, for stereo equipment.

We didn’t have much time after that, so we both took a quick shower and got dressed to go to dinner with our new friends, Bonnie, Michael and their 9-year-old daughter, Nicole.  Bonnie is our realtor, and helped us out a lot in finding an apartment.  She is also one of my cousin Audrey’s best friends, which is how we made the connection.

Bonnie and I have been emailing and talking on the phone since May or June, but we finally met tonight.  We met them at 5:30pm at THE CHEESECAKE FACTORY in the FASHION VALLEY MALL. 

The place was packed when we got there.  Eric dropped me off and went to get a spot, while I went inside to look for them and to put our names in.  They gave me one of those things that lights up and flickers when your table is ready and I went outside to wait for Eric.  When Eric arrived, we went to stand inside.

We were looking at everyone who came in, and I was wondering if I would recognize Bonnie from her picture, which is in her emails, since she is a realtor.  We saw a man, woman and young girl come in and Eric said, “I think that’s them.”  They went right up to the hostess and put their names in.  We went right up behind them and looked right at them and then I said to Eric that I didn’t think they were looking for anyone.  The woman took her cell phone out of her pocketbook and Eric said, “Let’s see if your phone rings!”  Then, the man turned to Eric and said, “Are you Eric?”  Eric was right!  I don’t know how he knew, but he said he recognized Bonnie from meeting her Mom (at the NYPD (New York Pizza Department) restaurant).  There’s definitely a resemblance!

We soon sat down and we ordered a sampling of appetizers to start, which was four huge plates filled with eight different things.  These are the eight appetizers we had a sampling of:
1. CHICKEN POT STICKERS -- Oriental Dumplings Pan-Fried in the Classic Tradition.  Served with Our Soy Dipping Sauce;
2. BUFFALO BLASTS® -- Chicken Breast, Cheese and Our Spicy Buffalo Sauce all Stuffed in a Spiced Wrapper and Fried until Crisp. Served with Celery Sticks and Blue Cheese Dressing;
3. AVOCADO EGGROLLS  -- Chunks of Fresh Avocado, Sun-Dried Tomato, Red Onion and Cilantro Deep Fried in a Crisp Chinese Wrapper.  Served with a Tamarind-Cashew Dipping Sauce.
4. FRIED CALAMARI -- Served with Garlic Dip and Cocktail Sauce;
5. TEX MEX EGGROLLS  -- Spicy Chicken, Corn, Black Beans, Peppers, Onions and Melted Cheese. Served with Avocado Cream and Salsa;
6. HOT SPINACH AND CHEESE DIP -- Spinach, Artichoke Hearts, Shallots, Garlic and a Mixture of Cheeses Served Bubbly Hot with Tortilla Chips and Salsa;
7. VIETNAMESE SHRIMP SUMMER ROLLS -- Delicate Rice Paper Rolled Around Asparagus, Shiitake Mushrooms, Carrots, Rice Noodles, Green Onion, Cilantro and Shrimp.  Served Chilled and not Fried; and
8. QUESADILLA -- Grilled Flour Tortilla Filled with Melted Cheese, Green Onions and Chiles.  Garnished with Guacamole, Salsa and Sour Cream.

Eric and Michael have a lot in common, since they were both Steamfitters in New York.  They both also have a great love of classic rock.  There was no lull in the conversation as we they discussed music, work, and the fact that we both moved from New York to San Diego!

Bonnie and Michael told us the story of how they came from New York to San Diego, ten years ago.  They traveled across the country, too, but went in a car and camped out a lot.  They traveled for seven weeks and also saw a lot of the United States, including white water rafting on the Colorado River!  It’s really the only way to go from one coast to another.  You get to see the country while accomplishing a move!  We highly recommend it!

After all those appetizers, you can imagine that we were hardly hungry for our entrees, but we had ordered them, so we ate what we could and all took home leftovers!  I had the HERB CRUSTED FILET OF SALMON (Fresh Salmon with a Delicious Lemon Sauce, Asparagus and Mashed Potatoes).  Eric had the SPICY CASHEW CHICKEN (A Very Spicy Mandarin-Style Dish with Green Onions and Roasted Cashews, served over Rice).

Bonnie had SEARED TUNA TATAKI SALAD (Pacific Albacore Tuna Lightly Seared and Served Rare with Avocado, Tomato and Mixed Greens Tossed with Wasabi Vinaigrette).  Michael had PASTA BOLOGNESE (A Rich Meat Sauce Slowly Simmered with Porcini Mushrooms, Wine, Garlic and Herbs) and Nicole had a hamburger with French fries.

Everything was really good.  I loved my salmon, it was cooked perfectly and the asparagus and mashed potatoes were perfect, but I wanted to leave room for dessert!  We decided to share two pieces of their fabulous cheesecake -- ADAM'S PEANUT BUTTER CUP FUDGE RIPPLE (Creamy Cheesecake Swirled with Caramel, Peanut Butter, Butterfingers® and Reeses Peanut Butter Cups®) and DUTCH APPLE CARAMEL STREUSEL (Our Original Cheesecake, Baked Apples, Caramel and Brown Sugar Cinnamon Walnut Streusel).  WOW!  They were both unbelievably rich and delicious.  We left stuffed, but happy!

We will be seeing Bonnie, Michael and Nicole again soon, because Audrey is visiting from Vegas during the holidays and they are going to bring her over to the apartment, so they can all see our new place!  We’re really looking forward to seeing them all again.  It was a fun night.

When we got home we just relaxed and watched TV – in our new entertainment center.  It really fits the wall perfectly and we’re very happy with how it looks.  I will take pictures as soon as we get it all set up!

Because it took us so long to get the entertainment center home, I never had a chance to go to PIER 1 IMPORTS, so I may go tomorrow or Monday.  There’s not much more we need, except a TV for the master bedroom (I already have the TV stand) and a dinette set for the dining room.  I would like to find another chair for the living room, so I can’t wait to check out Pier 1 IMPORTS!

Eric felt like hanging out today and watching football, so I left the house before noon to go shopping by myself.  My main goal was to buy a cheap TV, because the cable guy is coming tomorrow morning to run the wire and hook up the cable in the bedroom and I wanted to have a TV for him to hook up!  We looked at TVs at The Salvation Army, but Eric said it wasn’t a good idea to buy an old TV, because they might not work well, and they’re all final sale, so it just wasn’t worth it, even though they were cheap.

We brought a 27” regular tube TV from NY when we moved and we were planning to use that in the bedroom and buy a nice flat-screen TV in San Diego for the living room.  Now that we’re not sure if we’re staying in San Diego, we don’t want to invest in an expensive TV and then have to ship it across the country.  So, we’re keeping the 27” in the living room (in our new entertainment center) and I went online and found the cheapest regular tube TV that was larger than 20”.  It was at BEST BUY and I found a store located in the MISSION VALLEY MALL.

That was my first stop.  I already knew exactly which TV I wanted, so it took all of 5 minutes to get someone to put it on a cart, roll it to the cashier, pay for it and go get my car. 

A young man put it in the back of the PT and I was on my way!  I purchased a DYNEX 24” TV, which Eric and I thought would be big enough to be able to enjoy watching, but not big enough to take up the whole bedroom.  We already have the rolling TV cart to put it on, so we should be all set tomorrow!

 

My next stop was PIER 1 IMPORTS, which was in the same shopping center, to see if I could find a chair or a dinette set.  We really need someplace to eat, so finding a table and chairs was next on my list.  They had some gorgeous pieces, but they were more than I wanted to spend, even with the very generous gift certificate I have from our friends, Brian and Elaine.  I looked at everything they had and made some mental notes, but left there without buying anything.

The shopping center also had a STAPLES and I needed to buy an ink cartridge for my printer, so that was my next stop.  The funny thing is, this “outdoor mall” is HUGE and has a parking lot for every major store, so even though I never left the mall area, I had to keep moving my car.  I parked by BEST BUYS to get the TV, then moved the car to PIER 1 IMPORTS, in case I bought furniture, then moved it again for STAPLES, and then again to go to a few more furniture stores.  Each time I parked I use “the club” since I’m paranoid about having my new baby, Opal, stolen --especially with a TV in the back!

I hit THOMASVILLE -- too expensive; MACY’S (the regular store, and their HOME STORE) – also too expensive; SAKS OFF 5th (their outlet store).  I thought it should be called "WAY off Fifth", since we’re on the other side of the country!  Meanwhile, they don’t even sell furniture!

At one point, I had to walk through an “outdoor” section of the mall, with stores on either side and kiosks in the middle selling cell phones, massages, jewelry, and other items.  I was so tempted to go clothes shopping, but I just kept walking.  I was on a mission!

I did go to STARBUCKS and then I finally left the shopping center and went back to PACIFIC BEACH, because there was a furniture store I hadn’t yet visited.  GARNET FURNITURE has some really great, modern pieces.  The gentleman there was very nice and showed me a small wood rectangular table with four chairs that could be purchased for $260.  It really was a great deal, but it wasn’t something that thrilled me, and it seemed like too much, since we didn’t want to keep and ship whatever we bought.

I was actually hoping to find something used, in a shop like I used to have, but there don’t seem to be any of those around here, and I just don’t have the time or energy to drive miles and miles to find a great vintage shop.  I really would have loved to find a cute 50s kitchen set, or a nice, clean dining room set.  The only places I found so far are the two SALVATION ARMY THRIFT SHOPS and they both didn’t have anything I liked at a good price.  I think they’re prices are a little outrageous.  I was lucky to find the entertainment center for only $50!

One thing I saw at GARNET FURNITURE that took me by surprise was the giant shoe chair, just like the one I had in the shop.  I had seen one in a vintage boutique in Santa Barbara, but here they were for sale.  They weren’t leopard, like the one I had, but he had two different ones in nice animal print patterns.  They brought back memories!

After I left PACIFIC BEACH, I headed back towards home, but decided to go down Balboa Avenue to see if I could find more furniture stores.  I saw a TARGET and decided to look at their furniture again.  They had some very nice pieces, but they were also at least $250, and were really nothing special.  I was just hoping to find something to use on a temporary basis – something that would serve our purpose but wouldn’t cost a lot or be big and bulky to ship, if we did decide to keep it.

All of a sudden, I saw a square folding card table in black metal with a black vinyl top.  They also had nice black metal folding chairs with a brown and black upholstered back and seat.  The table was only $19.99 and the chairs were also only $19.99 each, so the whole set cost $100 plus tax.  I was thrilled.  It was enough to seat four comfortably, was just the right size for the dinette, and it didn’t cost too much.  Yureka!  Success at last!

I got home and Eric helped me carry the four chairs and table upstairs and then he carried the TV upstairs.  I felt so bad, because it was really heavy and, of course, the box is so much bigger, because of all the packing materials.  He wouldn’t let me help, so I just let him do it himself.

He set up the table and chairs for me and I immediately reheated my leftovers from THE CHEESECAKE FACTORY last night.  It was super comfy and I was so happy I found it!  My leftovers were delicious and I enjoyed them even more on my new “dinette set!”

Now that we’ve ordered the sleeper sofa, I don’t really need another chair in the living room, because that will seat 2 or 3, and we have Eric’s massage chair.  I also have my desk set up in the living room (the one Eric made of 6 boxes with a board on top) and I purchased my desk chair at STAPLES, so I can sit and work and watch TV.

We’re really all set now and I don’t think we need to buy any more furniture.  We already have enough lamps, art work and accessories, so now it’s just a matter of getting everything set up nicely.  Eric is going to be hanging shelves, so we can add storage space to the apartment.  He feels it will be great if I can unpack a lot of my collectibles and have them in the dining room and living room, so we can enjoy them.  It will also help to get rid of a lot of boxes, and then – when and if we move again – we’ll just repack them.

It’s hard to furnish an apartment when you’re not sure how long you’re going to be staying, but I think we’re doing okay.  We wanted to decorate on a shoestring, and we’ve managed to buy (or make) a “dinette set,” a desk and chair, two end tables, a coffee table, an entertainment center, a TV and a TV cart for less than $500!

Soon, we’ll start hanging some artwork, putting out decorative items and really dressing up the place!  That’s my favorite part.  I can’t wait!

We are on a roll!  I cannot believe how much we accomplished today!  First of all, Eric had finished putting up the four shelves in the dinette area, but I had to wait overnight for them to be dry enough to put things on them.  First thing this morning, we hung up the four fruit prints.  We were going to put two on that wall, and two on the wall in the kitchen, but I had another idea after the shelves were hung, as you can see from the pictures!  I LOVE it!

Sorry the pictures are so blurry.  I'm using my cell phone, and it's just not as good as a real camera!  Eric's going to buy me a new one for my birthday!

We then hung these two candle sconces I had from the shop.  They’re made from two art nouveau door escutcheons, an item of door furniture. It is an architectural item that surrounds a keyhole or lock cylinder. Escutcheons are mainly decorative: they draw the eye to the keyhole.   These are very decorative in that swirly, art nouveau way.  They’re mounted on a slender wooden board and the key to the escutcheon is mounted on top of the board.  In the center of the escutcheon is a candleholder.  They’re really fabulous, because some clever person put them together.  Why they never sold I’ll never know, but I got them at a very good price (just like the four fruit watercolors) when the shop was closing.

After everything was hung, I spent the next four or five hours watching a MONK MARATHON (one of my favorite TV shows) and unpacking box after box of collectibles.  I sorted through tons of stuff and put out a bunch of Betty Boop, some kitchen collectibles, and a few pairs of candlesticks.  I’m very happy with the results.  I emptied a few boxes, got organized, and decorated the apartment – all at the same time!

Eric was keeping busy, too.  He put up four more shelves in the bedroom, and I put a bunch of my purses, pocketbooks and handbags on display.  Don't ask me what the difference is between a purse, a pocketbook and a handbag, but I've got 'em all! 

They look great, I can see them all easily, and it cleared out my closet a lot.  I was so happy today.  I feel like we accomplished SO much and the place is really shaping up!

Neither one of us had left the house all day, so we decided to go out for sushi.  We went to “our place” – HAIKU RESTAURANT.  Their sushi is first rate!  I keep asking Eric if he’d like to try another place, since there are at least 4 or 5 sushi restaurants in Pacific Beach, but he’s extremely loyal.  When he likes something, he sticks with it.  I guess that’s a good quality for a husband!

We had a delicious dinner of edamame, shumai, a volcano roll (which comes with a tiny bowl with a flambé on top (I guess the volcano is erupting!).  We also had a Spicy, Crunchy Shrimp Roll, which is our favorite.  It’s got so much stuff in it, I can’t even tell you what it is, except it’s SO good!

After we got back in the car, I saw that I had missed a call from our friends, Geri and Larry.  I called back and spoke to Geri.  They have a box of stuff that got left behind when our stuff was shipped.  The remote to our CD player, a vintage garbage pail (I was using it until the end and forgot to give it to them to pack!) and a few other things.  They’re going to ship it to us.  They’re such good friends.  They offered to store a lot of our stuff when we were moving, because we weren’t sure whether to take it or not.  We ended up taking most of it, selling some and giving away some.  I just didn’t want to bother them with that!

When we got home, we immediately went back to work.  We both unpacked a few more boxes, and I organized my closet while I watched a FABULOUS show on TV called MOVIES ROCK.  They played all the best songs from famous movies and contemporary artists like Beyoncé, Carrie Underwood, Elton John, Tony Bennett, Usher, and Fergie performed.  I really enjoyed it.  Usher recreated SINGING IN THE RAIN, which was filmed on a set, instead of performed live at the show.  It was really fantastic.  It was an exact recreation of the original.  Of course, he’s no Gene Kelly, but he still did a great job!

Jennifer Hudson sang THERE’S A PLACE FOR US from WEST SIDE STORY and really brought down the house.  That was a highlight for me.  That girl can sing!

We finally stopped around midnight.  Tomorrow we are heading to HOME DEPOT again.  Eric is going to hang three more shelves in the master bedroom (all one foot off the ceiling).  I want to put the rest of my purses and pocketbooks, and some of my favorite tins on them. 

He’s going to hang a bunch of shelves in the second bedroom, too.  That room is becoming his “work room.”  He made a work table out of boxes with cardboard on top to create a smooth surface.  Now, he has a place to work, and wants to unpack all his tools and lay them out on the shelves.  He’s a shelving maniac!

Tomorrow is the 29th Annual Holiday Parade in Pacific Beach.  There will be a tribute to California firefighters from 12-4 on Garnet Avenue.  There will also be Arts and Crafts vendors at “Santa’s Village” on Cass Street.  I’m trying to convince Eric to go.  He wants to work on the shelves, but I think it will be fun.  He says I should just go by myself, which isn’t a bad idea, because then I can hit all the vendors without dragging him around.  The only problem is – it’s supposed to rain all weekend.  We’ll see what happens.  If it’s raining, we’ll just get a lot more accomplished in the apartment!

I woke up at 9:00am and Eric was up right after me.  He jumped in the shower, and I thought I’d go in right after him, so I could accompany him to HOME DEPOT.  He had other ideas.  He said I should stay home and relax while he went, and then when he got back I could go to the Holiday Parade.  I insisted that I go with him, but he got his way.  I watched some TV, did a little cleaning and organizing and then jumped in the shower, so I would be ready when he got back.

I am already having a problem with my DVR in the bedroom.  I programmed it to tape a new episode of MONK last night, but it didn’t tape.  It had the show listed, but said “unable to record show.”  I had NO idea what that meant, so I called this morning to try to find out.  The guy who answered had no idea why it happened, but tried to explain that it might have been the company that provides the computer service, or something like that.  He said, “maybe their server was down.”

I asked him if anyone else had called, complaining that they programmed something and it didn’t record.  He said they had not.  I asked him if it was a server problem how I could be the only one of the thousands of people in San Diego who are using Time Warner Cable who had this problem.  I now assumed there was a problem with my box.  He started to ask me questions about how I programmed it, if I was trying to record more programs than the box is able to record (two at a time) and I told him, “Listen, I had DVR in New York for over a year.  I am VERY familiar with the system and know every aspect of it’s use.  I am also one of the biggest couch potatoes in America, and watch more TV than most people, so BELIEVE ME, I know how to program the DVR!"  At this point he suggested that they send someone to look at it, so someone from TWC is coming (for the fourth time) on Monday between 12:30pm and 2:30pm.  We’ll see where THAT goes.

Eric returned a little after noon.  He had purchased 16 shelves and 32 brackets, plus all the hardware to go with it.  He was ready to start sanding, and I was ready to go to the parade!  I drove down to Pacific Beach (which is a 5 minute drive).  Garnet Street was closed after a certain point, so I went down to Grand, which runs parallel.  I was really looking for Cass Street, because that’s where the vendors were going to be and I was a lot more interested in the vendors than in the marchers.

Here come the Cub Scouts!

I got a great spot (and it wasn’t easy – there were SO many people driving around trying to find a spot).  The parade started at noon and by now it was 12:30pm, so I didn’t miss much.  I got to Cass and Garnet and there was a pretty nice crowd.  I actually was standing right where the action was, because there was a guy on a platform with a microphone and he was announcing the groups as they marched by.  There were cub scouts, girl scouts, dance troups, marching bands, firemen in fire trucks (who were being honored) and lots of people advertising their businesses, which kind of annoyed me.  The guy would actually go up to the people and ask them to say something, and then he’d tell you to visit this or that business.

A classic car advertising some business or other!

The best part was the four people on horseback who represented some ranch or something.  I am not much of a parade person, so I only stood there for about 10 minutes and then crossed to the other side of Garnet to visit the vendors.  I was disappointed by how few vendors there were, and even more disappointed by what they were selling.

My favorite parade moment.  Wish I had a carrot!

There were less than 20 vendors in all: two different businesses selling replacement windows, one selling subscriptions to the Union Tribune, one selling aromatherapy products, trying to get you to have a party at your house to sell the stuff.  I told them I wouldn’t be very good for a party, since I just moved here and I told them, “You’re the only friends I have here!”  They laughed and then tried to get me to buy a crème to make my skin look more youthful.  I know I’m going to be 50 next week, but I was insulted!  Obviously, I didn’t buy anything!

There was one booth selling jewelry carved out of coconut shell and mother of pearl.  They were really beautiful, but the entire earring was the mother of pearl or coconut shell, and the part that goes through your ear was pretty thick – too thick for my ear holes.  I took a look at the people selling and they were young people with lots of piercings who like the big hole look.  Not for me.
There was another young woman selling jewelry she made herself.  She would take pieces of colored glass, melt it down in a kiln into a kind of lump that looked like a stone, and then drill a hole and attach it to a finding and hang it on a black silk rope.  They were quite beautiful, but much too modern for me.

I saw a booth selling framed photos, another that had t-shirts that said, “Pacific Beach 92109” and other variations on that theme.  I guess it’s close to 90210, so they thought it was clever.  Maybe it was.

There was a woman selling pocketbooks made from different fabulous fabrics.  I purchased one exactly like it in New Orleans.  It has a roses and skull designs (very goth).  I love that purse and always get compliments on it.  We talked for a long while.  I told her that I had a purse from the same manufacturer and that I purchased it in New Orleans.  I started talking about our trip, and then she told me how she and her husband (who was also there) traveled across Europe for six months living mostly in the back of a van!  They said they were invited to stay in a chateau in the South of France, a cabin in the woods of Germany, and had more adventures than most people have in a lifetime.

They live in Ocean Beach and said it was the best neighborhood in San Diego.  Eric and I haven’t been there yet, but it is the place where all the antique shops are in San Diego, so I know I’d like it.  They also said it’s where the older hippies live, which we'd like, too.  I think we need to check it out.

There was a young woman selling wrap-around skirts that had two layers of fabric and could be worn in a multitude of ways, including as a blouse or dress, depending on whether you bought the short, medium or long version.  The patterns were nice and the fabrics were flowy, but it wasn’t for me.

There was one vendor selling dog clothes and accessories; another selling some kind of rubber sandals and sun visors, and another advertising some kind of bar and grill.

I finally found something that really interested me.  It is called AROMA JEMS™.  It’s an all natural, biodegradable, non-toxic, environmentally friendly product – the only green alternative car freshener, air freshener and bath salt!  There is no smoke, no toxic fumes, no fires.  They explain that people spend a fortune on candles, which contain paraffin, which is a heavy hydrocarbon which comes from crude oil (yuck!).

Eric and I very rarely burn candles, because I have “fire paranoia” so it seemed like a great alternative.  They had every scent you can imagine, from bayberry to ocean breeze.  They all smelled great, but I settled on a fruit mixture that had several fruity scents together – like pineapple, coconut and mango.  There are a lot of ways you can use them – you can put them on top of a potpourri burner, if you like, or just place in an open bowl.  You can put them in your drawers, gym locker, or use them in the bathtub as a bath salt.

The reason I like it is that it’s not very strong – you really have to get close.  I don’t like strong scents, because it bothers my asthma.  As I always say, “It gives me the asthma!”  So, this works for me, because it’s very subtle.  A bag of about 20 pieces (which look like colored rock candy) was $7.00 and they last from 3-12 months.  You can buy colors to go with your décor, or buy the scents you enjoy.  It’s great stuff!

After my one $7.00 purchase, I walked around the corner to watch the parade a bit more, and then went into a boutique I had driven past and wanted to check out.  It’s called WISH.

They had some really cute clothes and their prices were so reasonable.  I tried on two dresses and two blouses and ended up buying an adorable dress that cost only $27, including tax!  They have a card like I had in PEPPY’S DREAM, where you get a hole punch every time you spend more than $20 and after 10 purchases you get a $20 gift certificate.  That’s exactly the same system I had!  It encourages repeat business!

They had a guest book, which asked for your name, date of birth and email address.  While I was filling it out (and putting in 12/16/57), I noticed that the name above me was born in 1981.  I’m old.  Very, very old and I really shouldn’t be allowed in stores like that anymore, except to buy gifts for my nieces and nephews.  Where do you go to shop when you get old?  Someone please tell me!

After I left the boutique, I walked back to my car and drove to the SALVATION ARMY where Eric and I had purchased the entertainment center.  I wanted to check out a headboard/footboard I had seen.  It’s a natural rattan/wicker style.  It only came in on November 25th, so they weren’t willing to come down much in price and it was a little more than I wanted to spend, so I’m going to keep my eyes on it.

The main reason I want it is that our bed is up against the window and those gosh-darn verticals are a pain in the you-know-what.  The verticals are about four feet long and, when I’m laying in bed, with my head on the pillows, they hit my head all the time.  It’s very annoying.  Did I ever mention that I hate vertical blinds?  I think they should be banned, but that’s just my opinion.  It’s just my luck that the four big windows in this apartment all have the verticals with the cornice above.  Hate ‘em.

I left the Salvation Army and headed back to Clairemont.  I went to KEILS to do some food shopping.  I bought everything I need to make a “big salad” for dinner tonight.  I also got Eric more turkey and swiss, and more chicken cutlets.  I don’t know if I mentioned before that they don’t sell chicken cutlets at KEILS, just big boneless chicken breasts.

The butcher was putting meat out, so I asked him why they don’t have cutlets and he said they don’t sell that, but that he would take the breasts in the back and slice them thin for me.  Such service!  I was so happy, because I usually ask Eric to do it and it’s a messy job.  Eric says that’s probably why they don’t sell them, because it’s a big job to cut them all up.  They always had it at Waldbaum’s!

When I got back, there was Eric on the balcony sanding the shelves.  He worked all afternoon sanding each side and all the edges on SIXTEEN shelves.  What a job.  They are so smooth and beautiful.  He uses an electric sander and wears goggles and a mask.  It’s a dirty job and I felt so bad.  When he saw me coming with all the grocery bags, he smiled down at me.  Even though he had the mask on, I could tell he was smiling, because it went all the way to his eyes.  Know what I mean?  It made me so happy.  It was the smile I used to see so much more of and I was so glad to see it again.  He's definitely been feeling better lately.  I'm so grateful.

After putting all the groceries away and making Eric a little snack, I decided to do an organizing job in the bedroom, while he was still busy working outside.  I watched a marathon of PROJECT RUNWAY (do you notice I like marathons?) and went through all my costume jewelry.  I actually was afraid to pack and ship my collection, so I put every single piece in a giant tin that’s the size of a picnic basket, with two handles, and had it with us the entire trip.  I needed to put everything away, so I went through it and organized everything.  Earrings together, bracelets together, necklaces together, pins together.  It was really fun to go through all the pieces I have, looking at it all again.  I only brought a few simple pieces with me to wear on our RV adventure, because I didn’t dress up at all, so there really was no need.  I can’t wait to start wearing all my pieces again!

After I finished, Eric came in from outside.  He was covered in dust from all the sanding.  He changed his clothes and went into the bedroom to watch basketball and put some more brackets up (for more shelves).  I came into the living room to continue my marathon and make the “big salad.”  When it was ready, we both stopped to eat.  Then, he continued working and I cleaned up.

Now, he’s watching ULTIMATE FIGHTING (oy!) and I’m blogging.  He actually talked about going mountain biking tomorrow, which filled me with joy, but it’s supposed to rain, so I don’t think he’ll get the chance.  I told him if he expects to ride in South Carolina, he should ride while he’s here, so he’s in good shape, and I guess it sunk in.  The fact that he’s even considering riding makes me so happy.  I just hope he will follow through.  Keep your fingers crossed!

This morning the bell rang and, when I answered it, there were two packages waiting outside the door.  I looked down over the balcony and saw the mailman walking away.  I called to him, and told him that I had ordered tickets to a show and was told by the box office that they had been returned, and the envelope marked that the apartment was “vacant.”

I explained to the mailman that I had gotten a lot of mail in the last week, but there were two important things I was waiting for, which I had not yet received. One was the tickets; the other was our insurance paperwork – for the RV and the PT.

He told me that our names weren’t inside the mailbox, and we hadn’t notified the post office that we had moved in, so our move wasn’t “official.”  I’m so oblivious, because every time I opened the mail box I failed to notice that the names of the two previous occupants were still there.  I told him I couldn’t understand why I was getting ANY mail, since I hadn’t notified the post office.  I just thought if people started mailing stuff to you, they would deliver it!  I quickly typed up a label with our names on it and put it into the mailbox while he was still there.

Part of the problem is that there are a lot of different mail delivery people on the route, and not just one person, so it’s very confusing.  At least he knows we’re here,  It would have been nice if the building manager had put our names inside the mailbox, or at least told us to do it.

I’m happy to report that my insurance information was in the mail today.  It had been returned to the post office, but then they must have seen that I was getting other mail, so they redelivered it.

The mailman told me that I had to go online and change our address at the USPS website, and now that I did it, we shouldn’t have any problems anymore.  I did that when we moved from the house, but we changed our address to our friends, Geri and Larry’s, because we knew we were going to be traveling for a few months and didn’t know what to do with our mail.  They’ve been collecting and shipping it to us ever since (great friends that they are!).

I was hoping we could leave the address as theirs, since we’re not sure if we’re staying here or not, and – even if we do stay – we would eventually be buying something and moving again anyway.  It just seemed SO complicated to start changing our address again, but I went online and made it “official.”

The complicated thing is, some things still have our address in Whitestone, some have Geri and Larry’s, and some now have our San Diego address.  I don’t know how much of a problem having three addresses can cause, but I can just imagine!  I have to start working on that.  I’m sure by the time everyone starts getting it right, we’ll be moving again.  Sounds like fun, right?

The good news is I got packages today, and a bunch of cards, so at least they’re delivering the mail!  Our friends, Andrea and Mark, sent us a gift card to PIER 1 IMPORTS.  I’m glad I didn’t get to use the one from Brian and Elaine yet, because now I can REALLY go crazy!!!!  I really appreciate their generosity.  We got a lot of holiday cards and some “good luck in your new home” cards, which really made us happy.  It’s so nice to know people are thinking of us, we are eternally grateful for our lovely friends and family!

So, the cable guy came for the fourth time today.  (It’s been four different guys – no repeats).  This guy was really nice, but – believe it or not – the machine started working!  I spent about 20 minutes on the phone last night with a technician, trying to fix it, and it didn’t seem to work, but I guess it did, because today it was recording everything!  He couldn’t figure it out either (and I was able to show him the error messages I was receiving), so he just told me if it acted up again to call again.  I’m not looking forward to that, but I’m hoping it’s all fixed now (and I did it myself!).

Neither Eric nor I left the house at all today.  Eric installed all the shelves – the rest of the ones in the master bedroom (there are now 8 – three on each side of the bed and 2 above the mirrored closet) and the ones in the 2nd bedroom, which will be for his tools and stuff.  They look GREAT! 

He worked on that all day long.  We were both in the apartment, but I hardly saw him!  I was working in the master bedroom and living room, and he was pretty much in the 2nd bedroom all day!

I was putting stuff up on the new shelves and opening lots of boxes of artwork.  I was SO thrilled that absolutely none of my collectibles were broken when I unpacked box after box last week, but when I opened the first box of artwork, the frame was broken and the glass was cracked on the largest piece of art I shipped.  I’m grateful that the artwork wasn’t damaged at all, but the framing was $300 about 10 years ago, so I know it’s an expensive frame to replace.

I called the moving company and they said they’d send me a claim form.  I don’t know what the next step is, but I took pictures of the damage and will try to open every other box before I send in the claim form.

I opened all the boxes of artwork (about 6) and everything else was fine.  We repacked a few of them, because I can’t possibly hang them all up here, and I just kept the ones I like best, or which mean the most.

This is a picture of my grandmother's mirror as it looked hanging in our living room in Whitestone.  In the mirror you can see the Marilyn litho, which was damaged in transit.

We opened the box containing the giant mirror that hung in the living room (which belonged to my grandmother).  The mirror is framed with mirror, which is surrounded by thin gold molding, and then has a black frame around that, with gold Asian figures painted on it.  The mirrored “frame” around the big mirror had fallen off in two places but, luckily, hadn’t broken.  It just needs to be reglued.  We packed it back up, because we’re definitely not hanging that up here.  It’s huge and heavy and is a major project (even though it would look fabulous above our new couch!).

My friend, Susan, called me this afternoon.  We talked for over an hour.  She is SO funny and really had me laughing, which I really needed.  She is actually very stressed and nervous, because her mother is ill and is having surgery on Thursday, so everyone say a prayer for her sweet Mom’s speedy recovery.  Thanks!

Late in the afternoon I started a new at-home typing job.  I have an old friend, who lives in LA, and I used to type things for him years ago.  I haven’t heard from him in 3-4 years and last week he emailed to ask if I had the time to type some stuff up for him.  His timing couldn’t have been better!  I am charging him by the page, and it’s not hard at all.  I love to type, and can sit with Eric and watch TV while I do it.  I don’t have to absorb anything I’m typing.  I just need to make sure I get it all right.  I’m typing from books, but not complete pages – just sections that he has highlighted.  I have three books to work on, which will probably take me a few weeks.
The last project I did for him, which was about 10 years ago, I typed an entire book.  It was actually easier, because I just went from page to page, instead of having to search for the highlighted pages, which causes me to start and stop a lot.  I still type over 100 words per minute, so I finish a page in about 10 minutes.  It’s not going to make us rich, but at least I’ll have some cash coming in until I get a regular job!

I stopped long enough to throw a frozen pizza in the oven and that was our dinner.  It was really good – deep dish.  We both didn’t eat much today – cereal for breakfast and just a snack-style lunch.  I gave Eric a bunch of grapes, a cut up pear (from our friends’ gift basket), some cubes of cheese and some chips.  He loved it!  I had some of the same.

I’m going to go to a temp agency this week to sign up and see if they can find me some real work.  I temped for years when I was younger, and always enjoyed it.  A lot of times it would lead to an offer, so it’s a great way to “test the waters” before taking a full-time job.

I thought you'd like to see a pictures of my buddies, Alf and Gossamer, whom I spoke of yesterday:

Tomorrow I have a bunch of errands to run, so I’m glad I’ll get to spend some time outside, enjoying the weather.  After all, that’s really what it’s all about here, isn’t it?

Don’t know why, but I woke up at 7:00am.  I never know why I wake up, because I’m such a light sleeper that it could be someone slamming the outer gate closed on their door, or a siren, a bird chirping, or just the guy downstairs hacking (yes, he still does that).  Maybe I had a dream and it was finished and I just woke up.  I never know.  I turned over and tried to go back to sleep, but I really had to go to the bathroom, so I got up and figured I’d go back to sleep right away.

Of course, that didn’t happen.  I made some calls and watched TV until it was 9:00am and time to call Eric.  After I hung up with Eric I watched TV a little longer and then DID go back to sleep.

When I woke up, it was almost noon!  I haven’t done that in a long time, but it felt really good.  I worked on the computer and then spoke to Jimmy.  He told me to watch “RuPaul’s Drag Race,” which Artie had also talked about.  I had started recording them, but only saw one episode, which I really liked.  I made my breakfast (cardboard cereal with chocolate soy milk) and watched two episodes in a row while packing during every commercial.

One challenge was creating a MAC VIVA GLAM commercial.  I love MAC cosmetics and the VIVA GLAM advertisements are always fierce.  Great divas such as Pamela Anderson, Fergie, Christina Aguilera and Blondie have done the ads.  Each girl had 10 minutes to film her ad.

The next episode had the girls divided into two groups.  They each had to lip sync to a DESTINY’S CHILD song.  It’s very entertaining – and you know how I love my reality!

I got a lot of organizing done in the bedroom.  I’m going through a lot of clothing, deciding what to take back and what to sell at the garage sale.  As I go through drawers I find things I haven’t worn the entire time I’m here in San Diego, so why should I bother bringing them back to NY with me?  Really?  You know what they always say about cleaning out your closets – if you haven’t worn it in a year – dump it!

This will definitely pare down my closet and make it easier for me to set up when I get back to NY.  I’ll have more to sell (or donate) at the garage sale, too.

I worked at a steady pace all day, only stopping for lunch (tuna and mac & cheese) and to occasionally check in on the computer.  I knew Elsa was picking me up at around 6:00pm to go to HAIKU for sushi (yum!) and I was really looking forward to it!

I spoke to Eric a few times.  I asked him if he wanted me to keep the cookie jars we have – Superman, Gossamer and Bugs Bunny – and he said definitely.  I also have a few Boop cookie jars, but I'll never give them up!  Eric plans to put shelves up in the kitchen or dining area of our new apartment (wherever that may be!) so we can display all our favorite collectibles.  He’s SO excited about it, which makes ME even MORE excited than I already am!!!

I finally got dressed for dinner with Elsa at 5:00pm and she picked me up at 6:00pm.  We went to Pacific Beach to HAIKU, my favorite Sushi place in San Diego.  We stuffed ourselves and both took home food.  We definitely ordered too much, and then because I mentioned it was Elsa’s birthday, they brought us TWO free desserts – a fried green tea ice cream with whipped cream and chocolate sauce (which Eric always loved) and fresh fruit in a martini glass.  They’re SO sweet there!  I wanted to say goodbye, but I just couldn't bring myself to do it.  I have to go back again before I leave S.D.

We started with a spicy crunchy shrimp roll and a COMA, which is a deep-fried jalapeno with cream cheese and spicy tuna.  Then we had a lobster roll with crab meat and a spicy salmon roll, so we had shrimp, tuna, lobster, salmon and crab.  All so good!

We did a lot of catching up, since I haven’t seen Elsa in a few weeks.  She said things at work are SO slow.  She’s in HR and they’re not hiring at ALL, so her work is very slow.  She told me of the changes they’re making at the firm, trying to save money, but they haven’t started to lay anyone off yet – and they hope they never will.  It’s a great firm, which used to have tons of perks, but now they’re taking away some of the perks.  It’s not surprising, because they’re doing everything they can to cut corners without eliminating staff.

She also told me about the changes she and her husband Stephen are making to their backyard.  They’ve been working on it for months and I can’t wait to see the final result, because it sounds absolutely fabulous.  The great thing about having a house in San Diego is that you get to use your backyard 12 months of the year.  There’s really no time that it’s too cold to sit out during the day, and at night if you have a fire pit (which they do) and a heated Jacuzzi (which they do) you can enjoy it at night, too.  They’re so lucky!

When I got home I watched LIE TO ME – my favorite new drama – followed by AMERICAN IDOL.  I was happy that Jasmine went home.  She’s VERY young and really has a great voice, but she’s too green.  I felt bad when Jorge went home, because I thought he was so sweet – and very talented – but he was a little too corny and old-fashioned for the American crowd.  The good news is, I’m sure he’ll go back to Puerto Rico and be a big star there now.  He’s adorable.

Finally, I watched AMERICA’S NEXT TOP MODEL.  Cycle 12 is proving to be VERY interesting.  In tonight’s episode, the girls got their makeovers, which always produces tears from at least one or two.  I’ve never understood why women (and I guess some men) get so freaked out about haircuts.  Don’t they know it ALWAYS grows back?  A haircut is one of the LEAST permanent changes you can make to yourself!

Did you know that they’re already casting for Cycle 13 and they’re looking for girls 5’-7” and UNDER?  The other day, when I was at KOBEY’S, I was looking at belts and there was this little teenaged girl there.  I mean she was little.  She looked about the same height as me, but she must have weighed 90 pounds – and you could tell it was natural.  Her measurements looked like they were 30-20-30.  I mean tiny!  I told her that ANTM is looking for little girls for cycle 13 and she got SO excited.  If I see her on the show next season I’ll scream!

Tomorrow I have a few more details to work out regarding my move, and then in the afternoon I’m driving to the office in Del Ray to pick up wardrobe boxes from one of the girls in HR.  I’ll probably get to see all the HR girls, which will be fun.  Then, I’m off to my regular Thursday appointment, after which I’ll be meeting Rosemary around the corner at BJ’s for dinner.  Rosemary is a good friend and I enjoy her company.

I have been thinking a lot about leaving San Diego.  I have made some good friends – Elsa, Rosemary, Tifney, and some friends – Marti (whom I met through Jimmy) and Stacie and the other girls from HR and around the firm, but there’s no one who I have bonded with like my girls in NY.  The only girl I’m really sorry to leave is my cousin, Ilene, who has been so good to me while I’ve been on the West Coast.  We have so much in common, and have so much fun together.  I really wish I could have made more trips to L.A., but it’s always hard to get away.

I’ve thought a lot about how much I love the weather here – and that I do.  I was so lucky to get to spend this winter here in San Diego.  This really is paradise and I still would recommend it to anyone who hates the cold.  San Diego is a great city with so much to offer.  I was able to find a great crafting community (the CRAFT MAFIA), fabulous antiquing (OCEAN BEACH), wonderful restaurants (too many to name), great theatre (LA JOLLA PLAYHOUSE and SAN DIEGO MUSICAL THEATRE, amongst others), great concerts (COX ARENA, HUMPHREYS and PETCO PARK), fun neighborhoods (SOUTH PARK, PACIFIC BEACH and HILLCREST are three of my favorites) and amazing sightseeing (the zoo, the aquarium, and Coronado Island, just to name a few).

I will come back to San Diego as often as I can, but also look forward to visiting San Francisco (to see our Jimmy) and Los Angeles, to see our cousins and Joe and Miguel.  I’m not through with California, by any means, I’m just going back to where my heart really lies – I’m going to Eric.

I know for a fact that if I told Eric I couldn’t come back to New York he would come back here.  But I CAN go back to New York, and I think I’ll have a much easier time making it there than he would have making it here.  That’s what love and commitment is all about – it’s about doing what’s best for BOTH of you, compromising to stay together, clinging to each other through everything.  It has to be mutual.  You have to feel that your efforts are being met by the other person -- that they're trying as hard as you.

Eric is really working hard in New York and he’s doing great.  I can’t believe that in just four weeks I will be joining him and starting our new life together.  I know it won’t be perfect, and that there will be a lot of work ahead of us, and adjusting to all the change won’t be easy, but we will do it – together.

Remember the other day I told you that I had a big crush on Peter Ishkhans, the star of the reality show PETER PERFECT?  Well, when I was researching his website, to get that lovely picture of him for my blog, I saw that you could send him an email, so I did.  I cannot believe I got a response from him, which I thought I’d share with you all.  I’m so starstruck and I truly wish I could meet this man before I leave California.  It’s my last chance!

Message: Dear Peter, if I wasn't a happily married 51-year-old woman, I would drive straight to Beverly Hills and get down on one knee and ask you for your hand.  You are the cutest, sweetest,  dearest man and I love watching every episode of your show.  You really care about the people you help and your enthusiasm is unmatched.  You always have great ideas for change and the way you stress image is so important.  I'm sure you've helped so many business owners just by watching your show.  I can't wait to see more!

hi. that makes me feel good
love peter

How cute is that?  I never dreamed he would take the time to respond!

So, I did more packing today and I wanted to get my bicycle packed.  Eric wanted to pack up my bicycle before he left in September, but I told him I wanted to ride the bicycle and I’m glad he didn’t pack it, because I actually did ride it!  I know I won’t be riding in the next 3 weeks, so I decided to get that done today.  I took off the front tire (I’m getting good at that), but then Eric told me that I’d also have to take the handlebars off, as well as the seat, in order for it to fit in the box.

It was all too complicated for me, so I brought the bicycle to the shop I’ve been using.  Unfortunately, they didn’t have a box, so I told the guy that tomorrow I’d bring the one I was going to use, which Eric had left for just that purpose.

They’re charging me $50, which I thought was ridiculous, but Eric said that’s how much they’d charge at Jerry’s shop and it’s the right price.  He said it’s pretty complicated to take the bike apart and pack it well, so that it survives shipment.  The good news is that it’s not going on a plane, but will simply go along with all my other stuff on the truck to New York.

After that, I went to VONS, a liquor store, a pool supply store and ALBERTSONS looking for boxes.  No luck.  It seems that people break apart the boxes as they unpack whatever’s in them, so they’re all ripped up.

Next, I decided to go to SUBWAY for a $5 foot long, which I planned to eat for dinner (since it was already after 4:00pm).  When I walked into the store there were about 4 people in there already.  The girl behind the counter looked at me and said, “We have no bread.”  All I could say was, “Heh?”  That made her laugh and she explained that they were SO busy (because of the $5 foot long sale) that they actually ran out of bread, which they bake fresh in the store.  She told me if I came back in 15 minutes I could have my sandwich on freshly-baked bread, which sounded REALLY good to me!

I walked down the strip to the liquor store in the same shopping center (which is where RITE-AID and KEIL’S is also located).  I was able to get 5 small boxes, which were flattened, so they were easy to carry.  It was only about 10 minutes later that I went back in.  The bread was still baking (you could actually see it in the oven), but I told them that I wanted to be sure if there was a crowd that I got one from the next batch.

Fortunately, there was no one else in the shop, so I guess they either left or got a pita or wrap (which they had ready).  One of the guys behind the counter went outside with a sandwich and ate at the outdoor table, so I guess he was on a break.  The other guy went outside and washed the windows with window cleaner and a rag, so I was alone in the shop with the girl.  We started talking.  I asked her if the $5 sale was a big pain, because obviously they get paid the same amount if they have 50 or 500 customers.  She said it had been SO busy, but that she really didn’t mind, except that running out of bread was pretty bad.

I told her I completely understood how it could happen and I was looking forward to my sandwich on freshly-baked bread.  When it was ready, I got tuna with swiss, lettuce, avocado, tomato, and a little oil and vinegar.  When she rang me up she said, “You’ve been so nice and patient, and I feel bad that you had to come back, so I’m giving you 40% off.”  I wasn’t even sure what she had said, so I just said, “Thanks!”

The total came to $2 and change, and she asked me if I wanted chips or a drink.  I told her I’d get chips and then the total was still less than $3.  I don’t know how much she charged me for the chips, but I gave her $4 and told her to keep the change, so I tipped her a little more than a dollar.  She thanked me profusely and then handed me a cup.  I said, “I didn’t pay for a drink.”  She said, “Do you want one?”  I guess she was going to give me a free drink, too, but I had my Starbucks iced decaf non-fat mocha in the car, so I declined, but thanked HER profusely.  She just said that people like me make her job so much better.  She said that some people freak out when things like this happen.  It just doesn’t make sense, because obviously they’re not doing it on purpose.  Things just happen!  That’s life!

It really made my day that I not only got my foot long and a bag of chips for $4, but that someone was so nice to me, just for being nice to them.  I never go to Subway, but I think I’m going to go next Saturday, just to get another $5 foot long and see my new friend again!

When I got back I put my foot long in the fridge and got back to packing.  I packed a tall box with shoes in shoe boxes, which are the shoes I wear a lot and they’ll go into the apartment and not into storage.

Then, I took more pictures, picture hooks, and shelves off the wall.  The apartment is starting to look very barren, as far as decorating is concerned, but very cluttered as far as floor space is concerned.  I’ll have to take a picture, so you can see!

I got my unemployment check and, for the second week in a row, there has been extra money in there, which they explain is a “federal stimulus payment.”  I have no idea what exactly that means, but – hey – it’s making me very happy!

I was supposed to go to dinner and a movie with Rosemary tonight, so I decided to put off the arts and crafts show at the Del Mar Fairgrounds until tomorrow.  Unfortunately, in the afternoon before I went out Rosemary called to change it to tomorrow, so now if I DO go to the craft show, it will be in the morning, and then we’re having an early dinner and seeing SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE at 4:50pm in the Clairemont Town Square.  Joe gave me two free passes, so it won’t cost us anything.  That’s always nice!

At about 7:00pm I had half of my foot long.  I toasted in in the toaster oven and it was DE-LICIOUS!  Tonight I just watched a lot of decorating shows while I organized and packed.  I usually stop around 9:00pm, because I don’t want to make too much noise.  I’m going to try to get to bed at a decent hour (ha!), so I can wake up early tomorrow, go to the craft show and be back before 3:00pm when Rosemary is picking me up.  She’s also bringing me more boxes, which is great because I’m really going to need them!

I woke up at 9:00am to call Eric, but then I fell back to sleep and had the WEIRDEST dreams.  I woke up again around 11:00am and by the time I had breakfast and showered, it was after noon!

I started two loads of laundry and drove to Starbucks.  I also picked up my dry cleaning (one black cardigan) and went to KEIL’S for the first time in almost a month!  I just wanted to pick up some veggies to make a big salad.  Haven’t had one of those in a while!  I also bought some Chocolate-Caramel non-dairy creamer, so I can use up the rest of the decaf Starbucks coffee I have in the apartment.

I did a LOT of packing today.  I feel like I really accomplished a LOT.  I took the two round glass-top tables with fabric we used as night tables and washed the fabric rounds in the laundry, because I’m going to sell the tables at the garage sale.  We’ve used them for a LONG time, but we didn’t need extra storage since we had a HUGE closet in our master bedroom in Whitestone. 

Now, since we’ll be living in smaller quarters with less luxurious storage options, it will be important to have more storage, and night tables with drawers are a great way to accomplish that.  So, I can use my folding snack tables until I find something back in NY.

I vacuumed the entire bedroom, once I got the round tables out, and then I put a folding snack tray on just my side.  Conrad is on another snack tray, and I have one snack tray in the living room as an end table, with one lamp on it by my desk.  The bedroom is getting emptier and emptier!  There aren't many clothes left in the closet, the vanity's all packed up, except for my everyday makeup and the two lamps, the art is off the walls, as well as my pin and earring boards, and most of the shelves are down, too.

Next I packed a few big boxes.  They always tell you to pack the small boxes with heavy stuff and the bigger boxes with lighter stuff, but what happens when you have big heavy stuff that will only fit in a big box?  Well, I packed three big moving boxes and the movers are going to hate me, because they weigh a ton!

I watched a lot of decorating shows today and worked during each of the commercials.  There’s nothing on tonight, since MONK and GHOST WHISPERER are both on hiatus (boo hoo), so I caught up on shows I had recorded and not yet watched.  I watched HEROES.  It was really good, even though my two favorite characters – Sylar and Claire – weren’t in this episode at all!

I am going to bed early tonight (or at least I’m going to try), because I’m picking up Marti at 8:30am tomorrow (which is VERY early for me – especially on a Saturday) and we’re going to see Judy, the Beauty, on Duty at THE BIG KITCHEN.  I know Marti’s going to love it and I can’t wait to have my grilled cheese with tuna – for the last time (another boo hoo).

Then, in the afternoon, Elsa is coming to pick up the planters I have outside on the balcony.  I knew I wasn’t taking them back to NY, and she and her husband just redid their whole backyard.  I think they’re really pretty and will add a lot to their décor.  I’m going to follow her back to her house (a few miles away), so I can see all the work they’ve done and help her put out the planters.  Elsa has been very kind to me, and a good friend since I met her over a year ago.  I feel it’s the least I can do to thank her for her friendship.

Those are the only plans I have for the entire weekend, but I DO want to get a lot more packing done.  I will be “out and about” a lot next week and in Los Angeles for 3 days next weekend, and I’d like to have the bulk of the packing done before I leave for L.A.  I should be able to do it all, except for the things I’ll need right up until the last day.  I can’t wait.  I’m just glad I’ll have Eric to help me unpack it all when it gets to NY!

It’s true!  I never even got dressed yesterday.  My allergies were bothering me so much last night that I took two NYQUILs when I went to sleep.  I slept really well, through the night, and after I woke up at 9:00am to call Eric I went back to sleep and didn’t wake up until after 11:00am!  I felt kind of groggy, but as I started to work around the apartment, it wore off.

It was much cooler today, overcast, and a really nice breeze was blowing through the open door and windows.  I got a LOT done – packing until I had no more packing tape!  I’ll have to go back to STAPLES tomorrow to get me some more!

In the meantime, since I had no more packing tape, I started organizing the spare bedroom.  I moved around the boxes that have been sitting there since the day we moved in (they contain chandeliers, mannequins, lamps, and tons of knick-knacks I haven’t touched since I got here!).

On one side of the room I have all the stuff I’m taking to the garage sale next weekend, and I got that a little more organized, too.  I was watching a marathon of AMERICA’S NEXT TOP MODEL all day, and I was thrilled to realize there were actually a few episodes in this cycle that I had never seen.  I really love that show.  I love seeing a girl transformed by make-up and creating art with her body.  At the same time, it’s also interesting to see the most beautiful girl you can imagine take terrible pictures.

There’s really an art to it.  You can’t just be beautiful and create great photos.  It’s not the photographer’s fault – or expertise – either.  It’s really all about the model.  She has to give the photographer something to work with.  It seems like such a glamorous career, but when you see how they have to do a shoot right after a long plane ride, or pose in the ocean when the water is 50 degrees, it doesn’t seem quite as glamorous.  It’s hard work, and if they’re paid $10,000 for the day, they very often deserve it!

I didn’t take a nap, so at about 9:00am I was exhausted and my eyes were closing.  I decided to go to sleep and hope for the best.  Well, the best I could do at that hour was three hours.  I was up at midnight and there was nothin’ I could do about it!  I worked on the computer and watched more TV and fell back to sleep around 3:00am.  I tell you, this sleep cycle thing has got to right itself when I get back to NY, or I’ll be driving Eric crazy!

After staying home all day yesterday, I finally left the apartment this afternoon, but only because I ran out of packing tape and couldn’t do any more packing without it!  I didn’t get a very good night’s sleep last night, so after I hung up with Eric at 9:00am I went back to sleep for a while.  I finally woke up again around 11:00am, had breakfast, worked on the computer, and got ready to go out.

I drove through Starbucks (how I missed it yesterday!) and then drove to PACIFIC BEACH.  I first stopped at the SALVATION ARMY.   I wanted to find out how to get them to pick up a piece of furniture I want to donate.  It’s the entertainment center I actually bought from them last year.  I tried to sell it by putting a poster up in the laundry room, but I figure if I can get them to come pick it up, I might as well just give it away, rather than putting an ad on CRAIG’S LIST.  I have found from experience that a lot of people from Craig's List say they’re coming, but don’t show up, and I’d rather not deal with that.

After I got the information from the Salvation Army, I went to STAPLES and bought six more rolls of packing tape.  I’ve now spent about $50 on packing tape!  It’s a good thing I had all the tissue and paper from our last move, and got a lot of boxes from different people.  So, the packing tape is my only expense – so far!

When I got back I spent the rest of the afternoon packing until Rosemary picked me up for dinner at 6:15pm.  We went to IMPERIAL MANDARIN, our favorite Chinese Restaurant on Convoy.  We had our usual – we shared fried wontons and she had Kung Pao Chicken, while I had the Kung Pao Shrimp.

Rosemary told me about a group she went to with another girl from work where there’s a medium who helps you connect with your angels.  I thought this was very interesting as I am very interested in angels and believe they are all around us, helping us and guiding us.  I believe that our angels are all the people we love who have passed.  They continue to love us and support us on the other side.  We had a long discussion about our different views on this and other similar subjects.  Rosemary is the one I went with to see Charlotte, the psychic, and she and I are both very interested in this type of thing.

Rosemary also told me that she and her sister, Lisa, whom I have met several times and is also really sweet, would like to come visit us in NY in the spring of 2010.  I was so excited about that.  The thought of having a San Diego friend visit in NY made me very happy.

We thoroughly enjoyed our meal and each took home enough leftovers for lunch tomorrow.  Delicious AND good company!  It was a lot of fun.

After dinner we drove just a few blocks to TARGET, so Rosemary could pick up a few items.  Then, she dropped me off back at home.  I’ll see her again Wednesday, at the HR luncheon.

When I got in I started blogging, and then watched DANCING WITH THE STARS and MEDIUM.  I really had the urge to do more packing, but it just makes too much noise and isn’t fair to my neighbors.

Tomorrow I have to make another trip to the post office.  I tried for the second time to register my change of address online.  The first time it didn’t work and I went to the post office.  They told me that it was because Eric had just gotten the keys and it might not be in the system yet.  I waited 4 days and tried again today.  I’m going to try again tomorrow, but if it doesn’t work I’m going back there with the hand-written form filled out.  Sometimes the old way is still the best way!

Do you believe I've been able to keep this up for 600 days?  Sometimes it seems like yesterday that we left NY and I started blogging.  Sometimes it seems like 6,000 days!

Anyway, the first thing I did this morning, after I spoke to my darling, Eric, that is, was to go on the computer and start changing our address to our new PO Box.  I was able to do it in certain cases, but in other cases (credit card and bank) they won’t let you use a PO Box, so I just used our friends’ address, which we had used before when we were traveling in the RV.  Since I haven’t had a chance to tell them yet, and I know they read my blog – hey, guys – you may get mail for us again!!!!!  Sorry about that!  The truth is, the banks and credit card companies send me everything via email anyway.  They just need a real billing address.

Next, I went to usps.com to try to change my address online, so my mail would start getting forwarded.  Of course, I wasn’t able to.   I had originally tried last Wednesday, 3/25, and when I wasn’t able to do it I went to the post office.  They told me that it probably wasn’t in the system yet and to wait a few days.  I figured waiting until this morning was long enough, but of course it STILL wouldn’t let me.  It was saying that they were unable to process my request because one of the addresses was a business address.

So, back to the post office I went!  I told the woman there what happened.  She told me that a lot of people have problems doing it online.  I had taken the form that needs to be filled out the last time I was there, so had just filled it out at home and brought it with me.  She took it, but told me that it takes up to 10 days for it to be processed, because it gets sent to the main office in Los Angeles.

I told her “I’m moving in ten days!”  Now, I’m really worried, because I wouldn’t want the post office to continue delivering my mail after I leave.  The good news is I asked for the mail to be stopped on 4/8, and I’m not really leaving until 4/10, so I will see if I get mail on Thursday or Friday.  If I do, I’ll have a chance to go to the post office and get the problem resolved.  She also gave me the number of the post office here and told me to call next week and ask for a supervisor, to see if the request had been put through.  Just another in a long line of things to take care of before I go.

After I got back from the post office (and Starbucks!), I started packing.  I got a lot done today, and I can actually see the light at the end of the tunnel.  Today I actually started pulling boxes out of closets that are already packed from our last move, just to be sure they are taped closed, and to make sure I have the right information on the box, including the box number and whether it’s going into storage or to the apartment.

I worked until it was time to go to yoga.  It was a great class and I really needed it.  My stress level is definitely very high right now and the serenity yoga is just what the doctor ordered!

When I got back from class, I made myself some tuna (unfortunately I have no bread, crackers, wraps, or anything else to put the tuna on, so I just had it with some cucumber.  Hey, don’t feel too bad for me, it was pretty good!  I watched a little bit of AMERICAN IDOL, then changed over to the elimination on DANCING WITH THE STARS.  I was happy with the results.  Next, I watched THE BIGGEST LOSER.  Not so happy with that elimination, but it IS a game, and they’re all really playing it now!

I’m very excited about tomorrow, because I’m going back to the office for the luncheon HR is having in my honor.  It’s so sweet.  All 10 girls will be there, and it should be a lot of fun.  I might walk around a little afterwards, to say more goodbyes, if I can get someone to go with me.  They have a rule about a non-employee walking around the office by themselves, so I have to have a “babysitter.”  I’d like to say goodbye, although I probably could come back one day next week.  I really won’t have that much to do, because I’ll probably be all finished packing!!!!

I’m also supposed to go back to Karaoke with Marti tomorrow night, but I’m kind of afraid to go.  The last two times I went I felt lousy for a day or two afterwards, because of the cigarette smoke.  It really bothers me.  It gives me “the asthma.” 

I already told Marti that we should go in separate cars, because I don’t want to stay long, but I’m wondering if I should even go at all.  I have such a big day on Thursday, and I’m leaving for the weekend on Friday and I’d hate to deliberately cause my allergies to be worse than they already are.  I really, really hate cigarette smoke and I think that in the two times I’ve been to this bar I’ve breathed in more cigarette smoke than I have in the last 10 years!

Well, I guess I’ll figure it all out tomorrow, depending on the kind of day I have, and how badly I want to sing.  The KJ invited us tomorrow because they’re filming singers for their website or something and she wanted us to sing.  I know Marti’s really excited about it, and I hate to disappoint her, so maybe I’ll go for an hour and then just get the heck out of there!

I woke up at 8:58am and laughed when I looked at the clock.  I took two sleeping pills last night (Tylenol PM) to be sure I fell asleep at a decent hour, and it was before 1:00am, so I thought that was a pretty good night’s sleep!  After I hung up with Eric, I got up, had breakfast, showered, dressed and got ready to put Conrad in his little travel cage for the first time, so I could bring him across the street to the vet.

It was easier than I thought and he didn’t seem to mind being in there too much.  I drove across the street, because it was faster and easier than walking all the way there with him bouncing next to me.  They checked him in, examined him (as much as you can examine a parakeet) and then clipped his wings and his nails while I waited outside.  It was over in less than a half hour and cost me just over $100.  Combining that with the price of his “ticket” and you know how much I love this bird!!!!  I could probably buy some kind of cockatiel or parrot for $250, but I am SO devoted to Conrad!

When I brought him home he jumped right back into his cage and started eating his treat, so I knew he was okay.  An hour later he let me pet him like nothing had happened, so I guess he’s not mad at me, and no worse for wear!

After that, I headed to Starbucks, but not my usual drive-through in Clairemont.  I went to the one in Hillcrest, so I could buy some coffee for me and John and it would still be hot when I delivered it to him.  He really appreciated it!  He touched up my color and then gave me ANOTHER haircut, because the back and sides were still a little too long.  I think it’s absolutely PERFECT now, and I want to take some pictures, so I can bring it to Emily back in New Hyde Park, and she’ll be able to recreate this for me.

It is so hard when you find a stylist and colorist who does your hair perfectly.  John is that guy.  He is SO talented, and he’s also a lot of fun and FULL of interesting facts and information, with stories to last a lifetime.  He’s done a lot of traveling, and had many great adventures!

When I got back from my touch-up I just had time to take a shower and get dressed before it was time for my 5:15pm appointment in La Jolla.  We had a great talk and I gave her a thank-you card, because this may be my last face-to-face with her.  I told the shipping company they could pick up my car starting anytime on the 9th or after, so they may come on Thursday and, if they do, we’ll just do a phone session, which is fine with me (and her).

When I got back, I touched up my make-up, changed my shoes, and got ready for my “date” with John.  He took me to a place called VAGABOND KITCHEN in South Park, which is just a few blocks away from THE BIG KITCHEN.  I’ve been wanting to go there for a long time, and many people have recommended it, but Eric and I just never had a chance before he left.   I’m so glad I got a chance to experience it before I leave!

I wore my red floral dress with a black cardigan, black purse, and my purple satin ankle-strap shoes, which I SO adore.  They just make any outfit special!  He picked me up at 7:00pm in his black convertible with the big white stripe down the hood.  I’m so bad with cars, I don’t know what kind of convertible it was, but it is a real sports car and I felt like a million bucks in it (even though it was 7:00pm and the top was up!).

We drove to South Park and got a spot right in front of the restaurant.  It is absolutely beautiful.  There are quotes painted on the dark green walls, in different languages, and lots of Moroccan-style lamps and furniture.  The artwork was very interesting, too.

We sat at a table for two with a banquette on one side (where John sat) and a high-backed seat on the other.  John got a Vodka Gimlet and I got a Cosmopolitan.  We shared a salad with goat cheese and an appetizer of deep-fried “beignet” with cheese and seafood inside.  Both were delicious.

For our main course, John got salmon, which came in a bowl with a white sauce and new potatoes and other vegetables.  I got the Moules Frites, which is something I adored at Waterzooi, the Belgian Bistro we enjoyed in Garden City.  I was just telling Eric that I can’t wait to go back there with our friends who first brought us there and here I was having mussels that were just as delicious.  They were in a white, creamy sauce with onions and garlic.  John and I shared the fries, too.

We were so stuffed we didn’t have any dessert or coffee.  We got back into John’s car and he gave me a nice tour of some neighborhoods in San Diego.  We drove through South Park, then North Park, and then some neighborhoods that I wasn’t familiar with, including University Heights, which is where he lives.  He rents a beautiful Mission style house on a gorgeous block in a neighborhood that has houses right on the edge of a cliff.  I could NEVER live in a house on the edge of a cliff.  I’d just worry all the time that the house was going to fall right off the edge!  His house is on the other side of the street, so it’s much less expensive, and doesn’t have as good a view, but I’d certainly feel safer on that side of the street!

He showed me where he used to work in a salon in Old Town (where I’ve been many times), which was above a Mexican restaurant.  We drove around until we reached Clairemont and then he dropped me off at home.

I have SO much to do tonight and tomorrow morning.  I have to pack for the weekend, do a load of laundry, and pack the car with all the stuff I’m selling, all before I go to my allergy focus group at noon.  They’re paying me $100 to discuss allergy medicines for an hour and a half – and they’re serving lunch!  Then, from there, I’ll be driving to Los Angeles.

Tomorrow night I’ll be attending a performance of BEAUTY AND THE BEAST with Ilene and her family, which is starring the daughter of one of Ilene’s good friends.  I met the whole family at Evan’s Bar Mitzvah, so it will be fun to attend -- and I love Beauty and the Beast!

Saturday is the garage sale and we’ll be up at the crack of dawn preparing for a long day of selling, selling, selling!

Sunday, I hope to have brunch with Joe and Miguel, and then drive to Costa Mesa to see Marlene and Buddy for the last time before I leave California.  I do not plan to blog until I get back to San Diego, so there will be no entries for Friday, Saturday or Sunday posted until Monday.  Try not to miss me too much!

I cannot believe I will be back in New York in 5 more days.  It seems impossible, but it’s true!  When you look around my apartment, it’s easy to believe.  There are boxes everywhere except the bedroom.  The bedroom is actually very zen-like, because there’s nothing on the walls – no shelves, no pictures, no boards of rhinestone pins.  The closet is practically empty and the room is pretty much stripped bare, except for the essentials.  I’m using a snack tray as a night table and Conrad’s on another snack tray.  I removed the mirrors and lamps and all the accessories from my vanity.

The bathroom is pretty empty, except for what I’ll need in the next 4 days.  The kitchen is pretty empty, including the fridge!  The dining room and living room are the “disaster areas,” as well as the second bedroom.  The good news is that I can relax and watch TV with Conrad and it’s not stressful or cramped, just relaxing and cozy.

Anyway, I woke up this morning at around 7:30am.  My nose was running so much that I couldn’t fall back to sleep, even though I was totally exhausted.  My head was stuffed and I felt awful.  I called Eric.  He got laid off from his job yesterday, and is now searching for another job.  I felt bad, because I know he really wants to be working, and I know it’s important for him to work, but I was kind of happy, because – selfishly – I thought it would be great to have him around when I get back!

He was surprised to hear from me so early.  After we hung up, I tried to fall back to sleep, but I felt so sick that I couldn’t.  I just laid in bed, dozing on and off, and answering the phone when it rang, and then finally got out of bed at around noon.

The insurance company called to say that the car was at the body shop, it had been appraised and the initial appraisal of damage was just over $4,000.  They still have to look at more stuff inside the car, so this was just preliminary.  I had said it would be $5,000, and my cousin’s husband, Kyle, said $3,500, so it was right inbetween!

So far, the process has been painless.  I got a call from the guy at the body shop and I told him that there was no rush and I wanted them to do a great job on “my baby.”  He assured me that they would and I told him when it was finished it would be picked up by the shipper and shipped to me in NY.  He said that was fine and it would be ready in a few weeks.

Next, I got a call from ENTERPRISE, asking me when I was returning the car.  I thought that was strange, but then the guy told me they had sold the car I was renting!  I feel sorry for whomever bought it, because it’s so economical and there are no frills in this car at all.  You have to roll down the windows manually and there's not even a mirror on the driver's visor.  Talk about no frills!  I told him I would be returning it in San Diego on Thursday and he said that was fine.  Now, I feel even more nervous driving it around, as I wouldn’t want anything to happen to it right before it sold.

I spent a few hours packing and then decided to work on a big project I had been putting off for – literally – over a year!  When Eric and I moved to the apartment, we opened up the box holding the giant mirror that hung in our living room and found that some of the mirrored strips that surround the main mirror had fallen off.  Thankfully, they had not broken, but they remained standing in a corner of the living room, with the mirror still in its box in the spare bedroom, for over a year.  I bought mirror adhesive, opened the box, reglued the two strips of mirror onto the frame, and now it just has to be re-packed.

At around 3:00pm, I walked over to the shopping center with my cart.  First, I stopped at the TIME WARNER office, which just opened about a month ago.  I told them I was moving and was going to bring my DVR box and remote over.  I just wanted to confirm exactly what I had to do, and I have to figure out whether to bring it over Thursday afternoon, or wait until Friday and do it while the movers are here.  I hate to not have TV on Thursday night (you know what an addict I am), but I also hate to leave it to the last minute.

Next, I walked to the mail box and then, on my way back, I stopped at SUBWAY for another $5 foot long Tuna with lettuce, tomato and swiss cheese – toasted!  Then, I went to RITE AID to get a travel size Listerine and hair conditioner, because I didn’t have enough to get me through the week.  I also bought plastic wrap, because I’m going to use it to wrap up some standing file drawers I have on wheels.  This way, I can keep the drawers filled and just wrap them so the drawers can’t open.  Then, I can put the packing tape on top of the saran wrap and not ruin the drawers.  It seems like a good idea.  I’ll see how it works tomorrow!

I also bought a case of water so I would have plenty of cold water for the workers on Friday.  I will also offer to buy them lunch – there’s McDonalds, Carl’s Jr., Mountain Mike’s Pizza, Subway, Mexican, and Chinese right across the street, as well as KEIL’S, where they can get deli sandwiches, so I’ll probably give them money and let them go across the street and get whatever they want!

Since I wasn’t going to STARBUCKS today (I wasn't up for the walk over, and I never got in the car), I decided to stop at a coffee place that’s right next door to RITE AID.  It’s called THE SAME OLD GRIND, which is a clever name, but that’s about all it has going for it!

I had gone there once when we first moved in, but the coffee was so weak and watery that I never went back.  The first thing that happened when I walked in was the guy told me their espresso machine was broken.  Nice.  I told him I’d just take an iced decaf coffee with mocha.  It only cost me $2.10, but it was so watery that I threw it out after a few sips.  I’m just spoiled by the best and that’s all there is to it.

When I got back, I had half of my sandwich and watched some TV, and then packed some more.  I had every intention of going to yoga tonight, although I’m not going to deny that I was a little nervous about driving to South Park in the rental, especially since I found out it’s being sold.  I took a nap at around 5:00pm, and when the alarm went off waking me to go to yoga, I just couldn’t get out of bed.  I decided to stay home and miss my last class.  It made me sad, because I DID want to say goodbye to my instructor, and a few of the other people who were there every week, but I felt better just staying close to home and working around the apartment.

I packed on and off all night long while I watched AMERICAN IDOL, DANCING WITH THE STARS and THE BIGGEST LOSER.  There’s really so little left to pack.  There are certain things I need until the very last day, and everything else is pretty much done, except for the things that I’m specifically leaving for the packers on Friday.  When I got hungry, I had the second half of my sandwich (just as good as the first half!).\

I have been worried that the packers might not finish in time on Friay, even though they’re supposed to come between 9:00am and 10:00am.  I have to leave for the airport by 8:30pm, because my flight is at 10:15pm, but now I’m pretty confident that as long as they show up on time, they’ll be finished in just a few hours.  I have most of the boxes stacked neatly against one wall in the living room.  There are a few in the back room and a few in the closets in the hallway.  There isn’t much furniture – my bed, my vanity, the couch, the chest/coffee table, and the folding table and four folding chairs.

I figure there may be moves where people have two or three bedroom sets, a dining room set, a living room set, etc., etc.  So, this shouldn’t be too bad.  At least I’m hoping it won’t!  There is a set of stairs which is a big pain, so that adds to the complication of the move, but I figure they’re used to that.

Tomorrow I’m getting my last massage from Leah at the LOTUS SANCTUARY.  She’s become almost a friend, because I’ve gotten 4 or 5 massages since I moved here, and she’s the sweetest person.  I really wanted to say goodbye, and I figured this was a great time to get a massage, since I’ve been working really hard, and I’m really stressed.  It’s a wonderful thing to look forward to.  I love a massage!

I woke up at 8:00am and immediately called Eric.  I always feel better after I hear his voice.  I talked to him for a few minutes and then went back to sleep for a while.  When I got up again I had breakfast and took my allergy pill, because – once again – my nose was really running.
I got a call from my masseuse in the late morning, asking if I could come at 3:00pm, instead of 2:00pm.  No problem.

I worked on the computer, made some calls, packed, organized, cleaned, and then drove to Hillcrest for the last time.  I had a wonderful massage.  Leah is really fabulous.  It was so relaxing, and so therapeutic.  I hated for it to end, but it was over before I knew it!

I drove right back to the apartment, even though I did feel like driving around.  I wanted to go to Pacific Beach, for the last time.  I resisted, and just drove home.  I did have a lot I wanted to accomplish this afternoon, so I figured I’d better get back to work.

I had bought two rolls of plastic wrap and I wrapped two vintage suitcases containing display pieces (for jewelry).  It actually worked out great.  After they were covered with the saran wrap I could use the packing tape to wrap them securely.  This way there wouldn’t be any sticky tape directly on the suitcase, but they couldn’t be opened and they wouldn’t get dirty.

I proceeded to wrap two of my free-standing sets of drawers on wheels.  I have 6 separate sets of drawers.  I have them all filled, and will then wrap them all, so they will stay securely closed and will stay clean while being transported.  These are the drawers that I first used to get organized in my craft room in the house in Whitestone.  Then, when I opened the shop, I moved them all there.  When I closed the shop, I brought them home and we shipped them all to San Diego.  I have since used three of them as dressers in the bedroom and three of them as desk organizers in the living room, behind the desk Eric built me.

That desk was made of wood and we had upholstered it with green fabric and then covered the top with purple velvet with glass bead trim.  It always looked really pretty.  Between me and Eric, we really made a lot of furniture out of wood, boxes and fabric.  He's so handy and I do the designing and it cost nothing and looks great!  I took off the velvet with the glass bead trim that covered the top of the desk, shook it out on the balcony and folded it to ship.  I took the green fabric off (it had been stapled on) and put it in the wash.  I will be able to use it to pack, if I need to wrap something delicate!

I am now sitting at a bare wooden frame of a desk.  The apartment is less and less like home and more and more like a storage unit that I’m living in.  I have a few small boxes of chocolate soy milk, a few sugar-free 60 calorie chocolate puddings, and some condiments left in the fridge.
The kitchen cabinets are empty, except for all the breakables I have stored in there for the packers on Friday.

I got a call this morning from the guy who will be driving the truck.  He interviewed me about the move.  I told him there’s a flight of stairs here, but just a few in New York, and it’s not a doorman building or anything, so they’ll be able to unload me whenever they get there.  In some fancy buildings they have all kinds of rules about when you can move in or out and about use of the elevators, etc.  Thank goodness Eric’s building is a very simple one and he lives on the first floor!

I told him that most of the stuff is going into storage, and some of the stuff is going to the apartment.  I also told him that I have every box marked “STORAGE” or “APT.” so it will be very easy for them.  He said they’d pack all the stuff for the apartment first, and then put the storage stuff in the front, so they’ll unpack at the storage facility first, and then bring the rest to the apartment.

He told me he’d probably have my stuff in New York by next Saturday and said something about dropping off someone else’s stuff in Kentucky first.  Anyway, he seemed very efficient and he was very nice.  It’s good to know they’re all getting everything organized and ready.  I talked to the guy in charge of my move and told him that I just wanted to be sure everyone knew that I was flying out that night and needed to leave the apartment by 6:00pm.  He said there would be no problem with that.

The truth is, my flight is not until 10:15pm, but Rosemary offered to drive me to the airport and I told her I’d take her out to dinner first, so I’d like her to pick me up by 6:00pm.  I figure the worst case scenario will be that I can’t go to dinner and Rosemary will drop me off right at the airport.  As long as I make my flight, I don’t really care about the rest.

I worked the rest of the afternoon and into the evening, packing, cleaning, and packing some more.  You might ask, “How much stuff does this girl have?”  Well, let me tell you that I already have about 90 boxes and there will probably be more.  I just have a lot of stuff.  That’s all there is to it!

Tomorrow I have to return the car in the afternoon.  I may take a last drive around San Diego, to some of my favorite spots, since I have more than a half a tank of gas and I don’t have to have more than 1/8th of tank when I return it.  I’ll just take a drive through some of the neighborhoods in the afternoon and wind up on Balboa at ENTERPRISE.  They’ll drop me back off at home.

When I went to STARBUCKS this afternoon (after my massage) I told the girl at the window that this might be my last trip, as I might not get a chance tomorrow.  She told me she was trying to think up a trophy to give me, because I was one of their favorite customers.  She’s so sweet.  I told her I’d really try to come by tomorrow.

I feel a little sad, when I think about leaving, because I have enjoyed San Diego a lot, but I know I have so much to look forward to back in New York.  I can’t believe I’ll be with Eric again, after six months apart.  Sometimes I still can’t believe that we have been apart for this long.  In 26 years we were never apart for more than a week and now it has been almost seven months since he left, and four months since we were last together.

It will be a sweet reunion, and I’ve told everybody that I’m going to spend the first couple of days alone with Eric.  We need to reconnect and get to know each other again.  I want to be alone with him, spend some quality time with him, and then after I have a chance to settle down a bit, I can’t wait to see all my friends and family.  I’ve missed you all so much!

I woke up at 8:00am again this morning.  I felt a lot better than I have the last two days.  I spoke to Eric and started my day.  I knew I had a lot to get done today.  I continued packing, cleaning, and did a load of laundry.

When I passed his apartment, I mentioned to the building manager that he had never done the final inspection, so he came over to do that.  He mentioned how clean and spotless the place was, even though it was cluttered with boxes and packing materials.  I told him that I didn’t even really need to do a deep cleaning, because I always keep up with it, and since I had company in the last couple of months, I was very much on top of things.

He said that I could save about $100 by cleaning the apartment myself, instead of them bringing in a cleaning service.  He said he thought the apartment was clean enough, but there was a list of items that needed to be cleaned and he went back to his apartment, printed it out, and brought it over.

After he left, I took a look at it and then promptly called him.  I told him that I was leaving TOMORROW, and wouldn’t have time to, “dust the ceilings, wash the baseboards, remove wax from the kitchen floor (I’ve never waxed the floor, so I’m assuming there is none), and wash the windows – inside and out.  I told him I’m clean, but I haven’t gone THAT far and I’m certainly not doing it today and I’m leaving tomorrow!  I don’t think ANY tenant washes the baseboards before they move out, do they?

Anyway, I COULD complain, because it was his responsibility to do the final inspection and perhaps if he HAD told me all the things that needed to be done, maybe I would have at least tried (but I doubt it – I’ve been pretty busy).  I guess I’ll just leave it alone and let them deduct the $100 from my security.  Meanwhile, the thing that got me the most on the list was the note: Do NOT fill in holes in walls.  I went around and spackled ALL the holes except for a few that I couldn’t reach.  What’s up with THAT?  I thought I was doing a great thing.  I guess people do a bad job (hope I didn’t!), so they’d rather not have you do it at all.

I got a call from the body shop in El Monte, CA.  The guy is SO nice.  He told me the final tally on my damage was $5,200, so I was pretty darn close.  It's amazing how such a small accident can add up to so much, but -- again -- it was just the way I hit the Yukon.  Anyway, I'm sure they're going to either raise our rates or drop us, because in two months I've managed to become their worst customer!

At about 3:00pm I went out to return the rental.  First, I drove through STARBUCKS and said goodbye to my “crew.”  One of the girls had told me that she was trying to think of a “trophy” to give me, and they gave me a venti cup with cute stuff written all over it.  I packed it and will display it proudly!  They also gave me my final drink free, but I gave them a $3.00 tip, so it just about evened out!

After that, I went across the street and drove through DEL TACO for the second and last time, because I was starving.  I got a spicy jack cheese quesadilla and then drove to the post office.  I had asked to have my mail stopped on the 8th, so of course I had mail delivered yesterday AND today.  I called the post office yesterday and they told me my forwarding request had not yet gone through (so efficient!), but they would have my mail held at the post office until the forwarding started.

When I went in today the woman was SO annoyed with the mail carrier, because she checked into it and said that a HOLD was already requested for my mail and she couldn’t understand why it was delivered today.  There was only one piece -- coupons from COSTCO, so it was no big deal, but I still don't want anything delivered.  I’ll still be here tomorrow when the mail is delivered and if I have any I have to call the supervisor.  It’s ridiculous, because I can’t ask the building manager to forward my mail to me if they keep delivering it, and I don’t want to miss anything important.  The post office here has just not been up to par, I can tell you that!

Next I drove to Pacific Beach and went down by the water.  PB was the first area that Eric I enjoyed when we came to San Diego, because the two RV campgrounds that we stayed at were both located there.  We loved all the great little restaurants, and the cool shops on Garnet and Grand.

I reminisced about our life here in San Diego.  I will never forget the time here and will cherish the memories.  This has been such a difficult year for us both, and I think it was the hardest of our lives, but for me it was worth it.  I am so grateful that I got to live here, and especially that I got to spend two winters here.  This was another dream fulfilled, and I feel very lucky.

After looking for the last time at the Pacific Ocean I drove back to Clairemont and drove through some of the canyons, so I could see those views for the last time, too.  Then, I went down to Mission Bay.  Finally, I drove to ENTERPRISE and returned the car.

The young man who drove me home was so adorable.  I told him that the reason I was moving back to NY was that Eric couldn’t find a job and didn’t like it here and got depressed.  I told him that he was now back in NY and had been working steadily and was much happier.

He started telling me that when he graduated college last year he started looking for a job and he was really frustrated and he started to doubt himself, and he got very down, and was unhappy.  He finally got the job with Enterprise and said, for now, he was very happy there.  He said that he could see how hard it would be for someone who just moved here, and couldn’t find work and he felt bad.

When I got back I just did more stuff around the apartment and then decided to walk over to KEIL’S for the last time with my little cart and buy some food so I could have a little goodbye party for myself tonight.

I got a six-piece sushi, some fancy potato chips, an Arizona Iced Tea, some cheese, and a tiny single portion of Hagen Dazs DULCE DE LECHE.  When I told Eric he laughed, because I told him I was having my own little party.  I really enjoyed it, too!

I watched two episodes of PRETTY WICKED, a new reality TV show that is very much like TRUE BEAUTY.  They got together about 10 vapid, spoiled, bratty, princesses who think the world revolves around them.  Just like TRUE BEAUTY, they also thought it was some kind of beauty contest, but it turns out that the winner (who will receive $50,000) has to show the most change in personality and actually become a human being.  It’s pretty amusing!

I watched HELL’S KITCHEN, and then started watching some other shows I had previously recorded.  I knew I was going to return the DVR tomorrow afternoon, so this was my last chance to watch whatever I could.

As I was watching TV I started packing.  When I went into my closet I realized that I never packed my skirts.  I think the story was that I wanted to weed through them first and get rid of a bunch that I never wear, but instead I just filled up a bin with all of them and packed it with the rest of the stuff.  I would have brought some of the skirts to the garage sale and sold them with the rest of the clothes, but I just plain forgot.  They were on the other side of the closet, which is closed most of the time (there are sliding mirrored doors), so I didn’t see them!

I started packing my two suitcases.  The small pink carry-on will have all my important stuff – Betty (my GPS), my camera, all my important papers, and anything else I want to keep close at hand.

All my make-up, toiletries and clothing will go in the bigger bag I’ll be checking.  I have my black winter coat, which I’m hoping I won’t really need, but I didn’t pack it, so I guess I’ll drag it back to NY.  So, I’ll be carrying my big suitcase (which is on wheels), my pink carry-on (also on wheels), my purse, my coat, and Conrad in his little cage.  I have a long strap for my purse so I won’t have to worry about carrying that, and I can drape my coat on my carry-on.  I will check the big bag immediately and will just need to carry my purse over my shoulder, Conrad and the pink carry-on to the plane.  Poor Conrad.  I’m anticipating that he will get tossed around a little as I’m carrying him around, but what can you do?

Here's a little story I've been meaning to tell: Do you remember the part in the classic book TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD where Boo Radley keeps leaving little presents for the kids in a hole in a tree trunk?  If you don’t remember, or you never read that book (or saw that movie) – get it out of the library or rent the movie today.  It’s one of the best books in the world (one of my all-time favorites) and the movie is, too!

Anyway, I’ve become the Boo Radley of Clairemont Drive.  Last year I blogged about Tess, who is the young girl (about 12) who lives next door to me.  She lives with her mom, whose name I can’t even remember.  She’s not very friendly.  Tess, on the other hand, was a little angel.  The only time we ever really talked was when we swam in the pool together.  She was so sweet and so friendly and I just fell in love with her.  I thought I’d get to have a friendship with this sweet young girl and thought about how great it would be to teach her decoupage, or talk to her about collecting.

Unfortunately, her mom was so cold that I never felt comfortable forging a friendship, and I never did.  Now, I’m leaving, and it still makes me sad, because every time I see her she is so friendly and sweet and her face lights up.  Her mom says hello, too, but she hardly makes eye contact.

They have a table on the balcony in front of their door with lots of pots of plants on it.  I saw that someone (I assumed it was Tess) was collecting white stones – smooth stones, like you’d find at the beach.  There were also some seashells.  One day, as I walked by, I stopped and took the stones, which were just lined up, and arranged them with the shells in a decorative arrangement on the table.  I don’t know why, but I was just feeling mischievous.

The next day, the shells were back the way they were before.  I arranged them again, this time in a different way.  They stayed that way for a few days, and then were back the way they were.  Two days ago I was packing and came upon a little candy dispenser that looked like a can of soda.  It had been one of the toys Ilene gave to the kids at Evan’s Bar Mitzvah, and I loved it so much, because I’ve always loved anything that is a tiny version of something big.  I decided it wasn’t something I had to bring back to NY, and I thought it would be fun to leave it on the table for Tess.

As I walked by to run some errands, I just left it there.  The next day, when I went out, it was gone.  I decided to continue leaving gifts.  I had no idea if she knew where they were coming from, but I kind of figured she knew.  Yesterday I left a Tasmanian Devil PEZ dispenser that Eric and I had purchased at the Pez Museum in Northern California.  I knew he couldn’t care less and would never miss it (I did keep my Yosemite Sam dispenser!!!!).

Next, I left a little purple purse made from an Asian inspired fabric.  Yesterday, I left a small black plastic Cocker Spaniel that my friend, Carole, gave me years ago.  I don’t think Carole would mind!

I figure when the gifts stop she’ll figure out it was me.  Every day when I walk by I see that the gift I left is gone, so she must be keeping them and I’m sure she’s enjoying them, too.  I don’t know why I do these things.  It just makes life more interesting, don’t you think?

I don’t know if I’ll get a chance to blog tomorrow night.  I may have time after the movers leave, and I’ll be sitting on the floor in an empty apartment.  If I don’t, I will fill you in on my move as soon as I can.  Wish me luck!

I set the alarm for 8:00am, but I hit snooze a few times, so it served me right that I was sitting on the toilet, still unshowered, when the doorbell rang.  I answered as quickly as I was able (in my pajamas) and told the two guys standing there that they were early (they were due at 9:00am) and I hadn’t yet showered.  They apologized, said they’d wait in the truck and one guy gave me his cell phone number to call when I was ready.

I jumped in the shower, got dressed, called them, and the next five hours were a blur.  I told the guys that there was a case of water in the fridge and to help themselves and that when it was time for lunch there were a bunch of places across the street to eat – and it would be my treat.
They informed me that they intended to be finished before lunch.  Well, they weren’t far off.  It was just a little after 1:00pm!

They had me in such a tizzy, because I was thinking I’d have HOURS to get everything packed that I had left until the last minute – like clothes, lamps, my printer, etc., etc.  We were all movin’ fast and gettin’ things done.  There was Chuck, who was sent just to pack – he packed up all the mirrors, artwork and breakable ceramics and glass.

Then there was the adorable, handsome, and very sweet Jason, who was the “kid.”  He did all the heavy lifting and must have gone up and down the stairs 40 times with his hand truck.

The boss was Jack – also the driver.  He himself will be driving the truck all the way to New York, so I’ll be seeing him at the other end.  He was really efficient and did a great job.  I highly recommend Mayflower for any moves, because this is our third and they’ve done well for us, so far!

Conrad was freaking out in the bedroom, because there was so much noise and Chuck was packing all the mirrors and art on my bed, so I took him and brought him into the living room, which wasn’t much better, but at least he could see me while I worked at my desk.

It was a whirlwind of activity for 4 hours, and then I was alone in an empty apartment with Conrad, my two suitcases and a few empty boxes.

The first thing I did was bring the DVR and remote back to TIME WARNER across the street.  That took about 5 minutes.  On my way back, I stopped into the McDonalds on the corner that I have passed HUNDREDS of times and never entered.  They had a big poster for their McCafe coffees and I decided to try one.  Unfortunately, they don’t make decaf.  Did you ever?  So, I came home empty-handed.

Next, I rang the bell of my building manager and borrowed his pliers, so I could take apart Conrad’s cage.  He was NOT happy about being in the little cage and I feel SO bad, because he’s going to be in there for a LONG, LONG time before he gets back into his regular cage.  At least I saw him eating and drinking, which is always a good sign.

I managed to get the cage apart, but it was a challenge getting all the parts and pieces into my suitcase with all the other stuff I have in there – clothes, shoes, toiletries, etc.  My small carry-on just has my pillow, some clothes, my make-up and will hold my laptop, too.

I took out the garbage and brought all the recycling down to the dumpsters, so the apartment was clean and empty.

The DISABLED AMERICAN VETERANS were supposed to come and pick up the entertainment center by 5:00pm.  It’s now 4:24pm and no sign of them.  If they don’t pick it up, Bret will take care of it, so it’s no big deal.  I tried to sell it on CRAIG'S LIST, but no one bit, so then I listed it free under FREE STUFF on CRAIG'S LIST, and still no response!

Rosemary is coming to get me in ½ hour and I am taking her out to eat, since she treated me to HAIKU on Monday.  I thought it was the least I could do, since she offered to take me to the airport, and she lives about 25 minutes north of here.  It’s quite a trip for her, and then the airport is even further south, so I really appreciate it.  She’s a good friend!

So, the next entry on this blog will be from the Big Apple.  I am so excited.  I just want to be there already.  I can’t wait to see Eric!