All Things EARTH... part 2

[awhfy]

My Mom didn't like to travel, she was the original homebody, she disliked shopping too. My Dad loved everything about travel, everything was an adventure, the original window shopper. Boy, I miss both of them. Melody

 

 

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[aoknkentucky]

I get a little sad when I think of my mom and vacations even though she's still living. She's 81 and her health is declining, so I know she'll never try to travel at this point in her life. We took several trips when I was growing up, but I didn't realize until recently that she never considered those vacations. All excursions involved my father's love of horses and horse shows.

 

They were in the same class in school and took a trip to the St. Louis Zoo their Senior year. A few years ago DH and I took them on a 3-day trip through Kentucky that included a bed and breakfast overnight in Bardstown, a dinner train, The Stephen Foster Story, My Old KY Home and Cumberland Falls State Park. What I considered a simple long weekend, she has talked about since as the second vacation she ever took. She would have loved to travel, but my father never saw the need.

[aoknkentucky]

On a lighter note--

 

Laurie, could you please tell me how you manage to keep wrap dresses under wraps? Every time I've tried that style, I look down and realize that more of me is on display than I had planned. I've tried pinning and a little of everything else. I've come to the conclusion that I must be doing something wrong, or I'm purchasing too cheap, or something? HELP!

[Anita Latte]

Debbie...I have the EXACT same problem...and I have ultimately decided a couple of things that make RTW wrap dresses and my particular body type incompatible. Maybe you have some of the same issues? This is INCREDIBLY close to TMI, but oh well...

 

First of all, I don't think that my particular chest shape is that conducive to the wrap style. I have often affectionately called myself "ski slopes" as I have a very slant like shape from collar bone down...something a bra fitting website called "pear shaped" with a flatter top and a fuller bottom. My thoughts are that shape, without the proper undergarments tends to pull the sides of the dress out more than a fuller all around shape.

 

Also...having learned that I have larger than the typical dress form upper arm/shoulder area, which tends to pull on the fabric that crosses the chest in ANY sleeved garment...I think that is the double whammy for pulling apart the wrap dress.

 

To compensate for the arm issue, I have gone up in size, and that just makes the whole thing WORSE...as I'm sure you can imagine.

 

Also...for whatever reason, when I try on a size that should suit my circumference, the shoulders are usually way to tall or long on me. It's like I should have about 2-4 more inches of height between my shoulders and chest to properly wear the garment. That definitely works against me in the wrap dress dept.

 

It also doesn't help that I carry the majority of my extra weight in my tummy area...so that stretches out what COULD be something that would bring in the whole wrap...but with my waist down being a larger size than my waist up...and when I was my "fittest self" I was the exact opposite of Laurie...size 6 above and size 10 below...and so, in conclusion...I have determined that RTW wrap dresses need to be altered A LOT to stay put on me. And I haven't been inspired enough to sew one for myself to confirm my theory...but there it is.

 

Laurie...that dress is lovely on you. Absolutely lovely. I love the nude shoes too. I like the pendant necklace also...I can't really make out what the pendant is, but that is my preferred style of necklace. You usually wear more of a statement necklace and this is a nice change of pace on you.

[aoknkentucky]

Thanks, Anita. You hit the nail on the head--as always! On Laurie, it is perfect! Little 'ole me has had the flatter top with fuller bottom you described since childbirth. If it wasn't for metal underpinnings, I'd be flatter than a flitter. All the fashion experts say that the wrap-style dress should be one of the best for my body shape, so I naturally assumed that I was doing something wrong. Well, I guess it all depends on what best look you are trying to achieve. If I'm wanting a certain kind of attention, all I'd need is a short wrap-style dress a pair of fishnets and patent-leather go-go boots and I could blend in with the girls standing on the street corner. :D

[Anita Latte]

Well Ladies. We. Are. Moving. Again.

 

:D:D:D

 

We found out today that DS was accepted to the University of North Carolina School of the Arts! They have a high school program, so he will attend his junior and senior year there. He was accepted to the music composition program. We are super duper incredibly excited!! It'll be a new experience for sure...I think there are only 260 students in the high school program. Basically, DS will take his high school academic classes in the dedicated high school building and he will be taking music composition courses with the graduate and undergraduate students. Very, very exciting.

 

So, we'll be moving to Winston-Salem this summer! It all looks like a set of dominos all lined up beginning with DH getting the new job that will be the virtual job that he originally applied for. We move him out of his apt at the end of May. DS and I fly up there on the last day of school to help him pack and to play tourist in that area for some vacation time.

 

And yes, we will somehow see Margaret when we are up there. We just have to coordinate the best time...

 

Exciting stuff!!!!

[awhfy]

Anita! Excellent, superb news on all fronts! Congrats to DS on a superlative achievement & to DH on a job where you can be together. NC has much nicer summers than ATL too. Melody

 

 

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[cruzisme]

Anita, so happy for you all. Congratulations to your son-- what an accomplishment for someone so young and of course, very talented. And glad to hear DH is able to work in his field but at home.

Just so exciting for you!

[laurspag]

Wow, Anita! What great news. Everything seems to be falling right into place for you, and quickly too. You seem to adjust to moving around. I'm sure it must be very challenging.

 

Now don't start cheering for that that college basketball team. :-)

 

And get a picture of you and Margaret together.

 

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[Sailor_Sally]

Congratulations Anita & Happy Packing !

[aoknkentucky]

How super exciting, Anita! What an accomplishment for DS. I've not been to Winston-Salem, but what I do know of North Carolina is all good. I'm sure it will be wonderful to have your family back together again. Please definitely get pictures of you and Margaret and enjoy your time together.

 

You said once that you saved all the boxes everything came in to help when it came moving time. It's time to get all those boxes out of storage and begin the process again, right? Last day of school here is May 24 and if I remember correctly, your DS started his school year early too? You will be a very smiling, happy lady but one very busy lady, right? Sure wish I could be there to help. I love putting appliances back in their boxes and assembling the cardboard/styrofoam packaging around them, taking books from shelving and seeing how much I can puzzle-piece in the storage boxes; anything organizational--LOVE it!

[Anita Latte]

Thank you to everyone! It IS time to start packing...and I do keep all my boxes. I was very proud of the last pack. Because of my methodology, I pretty much double boxed everything. I had so many Zappos boxes and other similer smaller boxes...so I started packing the kitchen in those...and then I fit those into bigger boxes. I wrote on the outside of the littler boxes everything that was in the box and then I had an inventory system for the bigger boxes and my special "moving diary" that had lists of what all was in each box. And the thing is that I saved all those boxes, because I was so happy with how it all came out. So literally, I could get all the boxes out, find the boxes that moved (whatever) before and pack it in that box all nice and prelabeled AGAIN...and then put those boxes back into the bigger boxes AGAIN. So, as painful as it can be to move...I do have a system down to minimize the pain and instead just enjoy the process. Like you Debbie, I do actually enjoy fitting everything into a box...it's 3D puzzle after puzzle after puzzle.

 

And I do enjoy the weed out process. I hope that I will have enough time to deal with everything properly. A big step will be figuring out the new place and what might not be appropriate in the new place.

 

Meanwhile...I'm chaperoning the chorus trip to Chicago, we are moving DH out of his apartment up North (and doing a bit of tourist play all around the NJ/PA/NYC area), the men are going to a crazy metal festival in Charlotte, school ends May 24!, and somehow figuring out how we are going to even figure out what to move into...because it is the season for the listings to come up for everyone who is moving this summer! ACK!

 

It's a little stressful...but I am on strict orders from DH to not WORRY about it. To just ride the wave so to speak and go with the flow and let it all happen without stressing over it. Do. No stress.

 

Easier said than done, but I am making the effort. I spent most of today looking at rentals in the area. It seems like a nice area. I'm excited to get into a new place. I'm quite done with this area and it never felt like home to me. I always end up telling people that we just moved here and they ask how long we've been here and it's like...well, um...I guess, almost 5 years now...yes, everyone, believe it or not...that big move I made to Georgia from Houston was FIVE YEARS AGO. OMG.

 

Also. One of my good college friends went to the school DS is going to for her Master's degree in Set Design. And she still lives in NC. I found her husbands cell number on line...*gasp*...isn't that crazy? Still. We will talk later tonight to catch up. She will end up living about 1 hour or so away. So that's kind of a fun side benefit. And that will be a funny...guess what? My SON is going to UNCSA, just like you! (Sort of, close enough...)

 

Time to pick up said DS from school...

[MJC]

I have to back up a bit and say Laurie, home run girlfriend! Your blue ruffled dress, the necklace, the shoes... everything is perfect. You look amazing.

 

Anita! what exciting news! Big congrats to your son for getting into such a wonderful school. Big kudos to his parents for being willing to pick up and move so he could have this opportunity. How lovely to see a talented child get the opportunities he needs from such devoted parents. Such good timing, too, with DH being able to telecommute! Perfect!

 

I wish I had some packing expertise. I get really ensconced. We've been in our apartment for 20 years this June, and I have to move us out (partially) by the end of the month so we can begin our LONG AWAITED RENOVATION!! ::trumpets sounding:: Yes, we finally waded through contractor-land and found someone reliable to gut reno our two bathrooms, build a cove ceiling, rewire and light our living room, and replace all our damaged hardwood floors. Our bedroom and home office won't be touched, but with no shower or toilets we have decided to decamp to the lake for the duration. All we're waiting for is the condo to approve the plans. I am furiously posting things on Freecycle and trying to sell our giant entertainment center (that nobody wants, apparently). What little furniture we are keeping we'll be able to store in the back rooms. Aside from the box-within-boxes tip, super helpful I might add, any other tips?

 

I will have an hour and a half commute for about 5 weeks until school ends. It's going to be tough because I have to cross two bridges. I have to take a work wardrobe up there. I am dithering about what to do with our artwork. Should I wrap it in blankets and leave it here? put it in storage? try to move it up to the lake?

 

When Anita gets up here we can compare our beat up packing hands. :) I feel all my nails breaking already.

[Anita Latte]

We had major renovation work done on our house when I was in high school. The one take away that I have from that experience is DUST. DUST. And more, and more DUST. OMG. There is just no way that they can contain the dust. It will be everywhere! It will. If you are running any kind of centralized air system that will on help to circulate all the dust that WILL BE in the air. So you ABSOLUTELY have to do everything that you possibly can to protect everything that you possibly can from the dust that will permeate your place.

 

Artwork is tricky because dust could really hurt it. And it is temperature sensitive, so storage can be tricky. I don't know what your situation is at your lake house. If it were me...and I had the wall space to do it...I would probably take the artwork to the lake and hang it up on the walls at the lake house. Even if you had to have the artwork hung side by side and in a ridiculous arrangement in order for it to fit on the walls...hung artwork takes up so much less space than properly packed and stored artwork.

 

My specific tip for keeping inventory when packing. I have a double system for identifying boxes. I use a short letter abbreviation to identify the room/content coupled with a number. Pretty self explanatory, but I use KIT (kitchen), BATH, OFF (Office), GAR (Garage), BOOK, etc. Then I number them. So Kit 1, Kit 2, etc. In my diary, I label a page based on the size and possible maker of the box.

 

Each different sized box (Lowes Sm Box, Med box, EMCO Box, Lamp Boxes, Utility Boxes, Large Boxes, etc.) gets it's own page. Then I have the boxes listed by label (in the order packed) with the contents of the box there. So, on my U-Haul Small Box titled page, I may have Book 1, Book 2, Photo 1, Photo 2, Kit 15, Kit 16, Gar 7, Gar 8, etc. It can get to be a little troublesome flipping around to see how many KIT boxes I have packed already, but I figure that even if I have a duplicate label, so long as the box size is unique, I will be able to differentiate between the two duplicate labels. Some of the contents are listed in my own short hand, easily recognizable by me, if no one else, and that's how it can be so easy to find what I need to find when it's time to unpack.

 

I do have some boxes that I list as VIP, which contain things that I think need to be able to be found right away. Or things that are used so often that they are the among the last things packed and therefore need to be among the first things unpacked.

 

And those are my tips off the top of my head.

 

So excited that you are getting to do this renovation!! I find it incredible that you have lived in the same place for 20 years. OMG. I can't even imagine... I'm not sure that I could!!

 

I can't wait to compare our packing hands!!

[Sailor_Sally]

Margaret , Good luck on your renovation. I have only been through partial renovations and as Anita said the dust is awful .

[Joby]

Anita,

 

What exciting news. You're a pro at packing and moving, this will be no sweat for you! You've got this! And, what a great thing for your DS. Happy, happy, dance.........

 

We have only moved 2 times in 40 years. Hopefully, in the next 5 years we will go to some place that has nice year around weather and things to do :D I love the thought in my head but, when we moved to the house we're in 20+ years ago, I had panic attacks and didn't even realize what they were :o We were so excited to move to our "new" house too!!! It was a great move--only about 2 miles from our old house to a much larger, newer and nicer house and neighborhood. All positive things but, I didn't realize that you can have anxiety even when it's something good and positive that you're doing. Well, I found out that, yep, that too can bring it on. Sometimes change is so hard for me even though I love to travel and do/try new things. I need to have order and PLANS when I travel or do/try new things to lessen the anxiety I guess.

 

Anyway, so good to read all of the activity on the EARTH and FIRE threads. I don't really have anything related to EARTH or FIRE to post about. We're going to Cozumel for a week to dive this summer, going to visit our DS in NOLA and cruising with Debbie in February. That's our plans as of now :)

[awhfy]

Oh Anita, you have a good handle on moving. We moved 18 times in 22 years & have been in this house for 30 years (wow) this August. The biggest hint I can give you (on top of what you already do (which is very impressive) is to get a double roll of neon numbers. One number goes on the box & one matching number goes on the master list. On the master list put the description of what is in that box. We always put #1 (& write FIRST on the box) on the box that had coffee pot (& cups), tp, bedding (for each bed) & now I'd add chargers for electronics to that list. Anything else I can live without till I find it. Our final move had 874 boxes (could be why I'm really not that keen on moving). We were fortunate, the military moved us & never lost a box. Melody

 

 

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[MJC]

OMG you guys are scaring me. :)

 

Anita and Melody, wonderful tips, thank you. Inventory!! Numbers!! Neon -- not surprising who that came from :) !!

 

So, I am doing a mini move compared to what you guys have gone through. I don't have to pack my kitchen. I don't have to pack my office, except for some necessary papers and the computer, which is going with us. Unfortunately, because of the wiring and re-wiring we'll be doing, I have to empty our two biggest closets which are basically our indoor garage. Paint, ladder, luggage, cleaning stuff, vacuum, tools, etc.

 

I got out my biggest suitcase to pack my fine dresses in, then I realized it doesn't fit in our car. :o I am thinking I may UPS some stuff to myself. We have a little coupe and it has limited space.

 

Did I say how awesome Freecycle is? I have a pile of stuff going out the door at various times tomorrow and it's making me so happy! Someone will love having the things we have grown out of, but I don't have to schlepp it all to the charity shop. So satisfying.

 

Anita, at school I was thinking more about your son and what an excellent move this is for him. It will be good for him to be with the best and the brightest. I'm sure he will enjoy the challenge and really shine. I met some of my new students today and they had that excited/scared energy that is just so fun to see.

 

Kim, my doctor once told me that stress is stress to your body... whether it is happy feelings or anxious ones, biologically your body has the same response and can't tell the difference. Hmmm.

 

Overnight our trees opened. Green things! I am so glad that spring is finally here.

[laurspag]

Margaret, just a quick note here. Most contractors these days do wonders in controlling dust. That doesn't mean there won't be any, but it shouldn't be bad at all. Plus, if your building was built before the 70s, they will be extremely careful due to lead based paint possibilities. I'm so excited for you!

 

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[awhfy]

Margaret, I agree with Anita. I'd remove the art during the renovation; but I'd find a climate controlled storage unit to put it in

 

 

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[laurspag]

Art work can be a funny thing. You definitely don't want to deal with the dust. Artwork can hold up well to climate changes temporarily, but if you have always had it in a location with heat, A.C. and hu.idity control, I wouldn't mess with it now. We have heat, but no A.C. or dehumidifier. The paintings we have had held up well though.

 

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[awhfy]

I just found a marvelous bargain at Dressbarn. It's an earth green silky top with beading at cap sleeve & dropped hem & it was on 70% clearance. Under $10! Love a bargain. I'd get a picture but I just repacked my suitcase to put it in!

 

 

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[laurspag]

Melody, that sounds really nice! I need to check out Dressbarn soon.

 

I'm looking for excursion ideas for my September cruise. We have stops in Aruba, Curacao, St. Thomas and St. Kitts. I would like one day thstveould remind me of Nachi Cocum if possible!

 

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[awhfy]

Laurie, Aruba Eagle Beach is nice. St Kitts we go to the Marriott on a day pass (it's really nice). Curaçao, if you have time go to Cos Abao Beach, it's a drive tho, about 40 minutes in traffic. St Thomas take a ship tour to St Johns (you can do private but sometimes the water taxi isn't on time). Or just shop in St Thomas, great jewelry. Melody

 

 

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[MJC]

From St. Thomas we went to Honeymoon Beach on St. John's. So beautiful. :hearteyes: When we were there it wasn't developed at all. It's not going to be like Nachi but I think you can rent chairs etc.