Boxes and Crazy Clouds

The movers arrived Sunday morning at 8:00a.m. during a steady rain that kept up all morning. It was an exciting and exhausting day- and we wouldn’t have made it through without the help of our good friends, Dale and Debbie, who are moving experts. Dale arrived with a toolkit, Debbie with an exacto knife in her pocket.  And where were the Andersons’ exacto knives?  Packed in moving boxes of course!  We haven’t moved for 26 years- we’re out of practice.

Here’s a progress report at the end of Day 2:

The office is up and running! Our desks and supplies are organized (roughly), and the computers are hooked up and waiting for cable internet (currently getting by with our mobile wifi).

The master bedroom is arranged (Debbie made the bed!), but our closet is still a disaster (most of our clothes are not unpacked). Our bathroom is organized if not decorated.  The other two bedrooms are full of boxes.

The garage is a work in progress; a lot has been accomplished.

The kitchen is fully functional- although it was a comedy of errors as I taught myself how to cook with a gas stove today! We had our first sitdown dinner tonight (thank goodness for Trader Joe’s frozen goodies), although we still have to sit surrounded by boxes.

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We’ve hardly made a dent in the unpacking, but there is no deadline, right?

We had monsoon rains accompanied by thunder and lightning in the late afternoon and evening. I took this shot from our back patio after the rain, but while thunder was booming.  I continue to be fascinated with Arizona skies!

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Big Sky- and Good News!

We’re discovering that Montana isn’t the only Big Sky Country; Arizona is too!  There are ever-changing cloud formations in the Arizona skies.  I think this was the first night since we’ve been here that there hasn’t been lightning, thunder, and a little rain. So we headed to the mall near sunset so I could capture one of Prescott’s beautiful sunset skies.

Here is my husband waiting patiently in the car as we waited for the sun to set. Even the eastern skies eventually got a pinkish hue tonight. I edited this one in Perfect Effects 4 to give it an almost HDR look.

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And here is sunset over the mountains. To me it almost looks like a bay with islands.

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Now for the good news: tomorrow we check out of our hotel and start moving into our new house!!!

The moving truck doesn’t arrive until Sunday, but we will sleep in a bed that will be delivered tomorrow for one of the guest rooms.  We are beyond excited!

 

 

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Blooming

Last week’s visit to Benicia’s Community Garden yielded some nice flower photos- here’s one of my faves, edited with 3 layers of Kim Klassen’s 1301 texture.  I used all three of the “tweaked” textures I created for Sunday’s post.

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Hanging Around

Hanging around– a lame play on words referring to the Flickr topic, hanging, and our current status of hanging around waiting to move into the new house (one more week!).

I do enjoy the hotel elevators.

17Aug2013-4397They are either incredibly busy (breakfast, happy hour) or pretty empty (middle of the day, evening). There is great people watching here!

And here is HANGING.

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Beyond Beyond Day 28- Texture Tweaking

I’m catching up in my Beyond Beyond class too (although I am skipping around).  The challenge was to take a favorite texture and edit it 3 ways to make 4 different versions.  I used Lightroom 5, rather than Adobe Camera Raw, because it is my comfort zone and the method is almost the same.

Here is Kim Klassen’s 1301 texture (a favorite because of the creases), which I edited to change tones and to emphasize the creases in each one. The upper left square is the original.

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Another idea suggested was to choose 4 different textures and simultaneously edit them the same way.  Again I used Lightroom 5- with the AutoSync feature.  Easy Peasy! I chose the cora, sybil, anna, and daisy from the Downton collection and made each grittier by increasing clarity and contrast, adding grain, deepening shadows etc. Fun!

downton gritty

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Garden Gate

Just off the main drag in busy La Jolla I spotted this quiet scene, such a contrast to the busy surroundings. I have started to catch up on some of the challenges in my Flickr group, which I have mostly ignored for months now with the craziness of my packing and moving adventures.  This photo is in response to the topic, QUIET.

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I am so looking forward to having a home again, although it won’t have this sweet entrance.

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SoCal

We’ve been hanging out in Southern California while waiting to move into our Arizona house.  Here’s a view of palm trees in lovely La Jolla, where we’ve been staying while visiting with our son, who lives in San Diego.

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Giant

This sunflower is gigantic! I have visited it three times where it grows in the Benicia Community Garden. None of my photos have managed to convey its size, so I am contenting myself with showing details- no macro lens needed here!

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Textured with Kim Klassen’s 1301 texture for Texture Tuesday.

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Fondue Fantasy

We made the drive to Rocklin last night to finally visit Famous Mo’s at night.  My friend and college roommate Carol, along with her friend, Jesse, own Famous Mo’s Coffeehouse and Theater, which is a coffee and lunch place in the daytime and a theater showcasing musical acts several nights a week.  Last night we had a great time listening to “yacht rock”- the soft rock and funky sounds of the seventies sung by Fondue Fantasy, who style themselves as a bunch of over-privileged, too cool for school, Harvard guys with names like Chadsworth and Winston (and, mysteriously, Kanye. . .).  They were witty and entertaining, and the music was great!

Fondue Fantasy

I kind of wished I was HER- but not really- I would have DIED!

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They brought down the house with Rosanna!  Here they are leading us in the chorus.

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Meet you all the way– Rosanna- yeah!

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In Between

We moved out!

We went from this. . .

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to this. . .

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to this.

moving

I don’t think I have ever worked so hard physically as I have the last few months- and especially the last week. We either gave away, sold, or packed twenty-six years of accumulated possessions from my parents, us, and our children.  I mentioned on Facebook a week or so ago that I dreamed I was running a marathon (if you know me, you know this would be a nightmare!).  Well, last night I dreamed I was gliding around on a Segway!

There is a HUGE sense of relief at having completed this arduous task.  Our backs are unstiffening, and our joints are no longer screaming as we make our last good-byes.

And so now we are in between houses and living in hotels. There is a bit of a feeling that I should be packing or cleaning something, but it’s OK. And we are looking forward to the next part of the adventure- MOVING IN!

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Back in First Grade

This is just an iPhone photo, and I didn’t even take it- but it’s not just a photo.  This is a photo of me with Anne, Barbara and Kathryn, who have been my teaching partners, BFFs and family for a good part of my life in Benicia.  We’ve not only experienced all the daily ups and downs of teaching together, but we’ve also had some great fun, supported each other through some tough times, and laughed and cried together more times than we can count.

Bye, girls! I’ll miss you! Remember- there are guest rooms!

firstgrade

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Don’t worry. . .

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As I was putting this little stone (a gift from Tra!) into my purse to make sure it goes with me to Arizona, I kept hearing “Don’t worry, be happy” playing in my head. Good words to remember as we make this huge change in our lives!

We are mostly packed.

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We (assisted by some nice young men) have packed 137 boxes so far- and there are at least 50 which were professionally packed (mostly china).  We’ve lived in this house for over 26 years and have accumulated a lot of STUFF  (listen to George Carlin’s STUFF routine on YouTube!) over the years. I cannot imagine ever doing this again; our bodies are aching at the end of each day.

We are taking the afternoon off to say good-bye to some of our friends (sniff, sniff. . .).  Then we start packing our suitcases.

But where is my phone? I hope I haven’t packed it. . . (seriously!)

 

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Saying good-bye

Although it seems to us that we have been getting ready to move forever (especially to me- the declutterer), our friends are commenting that it is happening all too fast.  Now that we are getting packed up and starting to say good-bye, time is speeding up for us too. We will be closing escrow in less than two weeks- and will be out of our house in a little over a week. We have said good-bye to many, many possessions, and now we are starting to say good-bye to friends.

Last night we attended a fantastic party at the magnificent Sappho’s home with many of our friends from Unity of Walnut Creek.  We were surprised and overwhelmed when we were gifted with gorgeous hand-blown margarita glasses brimming with beautiful notes of love, good wishes, and promises to visit (all written on cactus decorated paper).  Thank you, Sappho and Unity- we will miss you so much!

How can we leave all the beautiful friendships we have made over the last forty plus years in the Bay Area??? I keep telling myself that we are at a stage in our lives when we are free to travel and that we will be meeting up with friends at various beautiful vacation spots over the years. And we hope to have lots of visitors to our new home in Arizona!  Hear that, everyone???

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