Monday
Packing with Danielle and Mark is funny.they unpack everything as we go along. Then they sneak food into the basement.
New house New Friends
So I decided that I might need to find some new friends. Not that I'm unwilling to drive two to four hours to visit people I already know since I have to go that far anyway to find a place to shop, but some people seem to think it is too far.
Finding friends is an intensely painful experience. It's like a job interview except you never have the promise of getting paid. I hate getting to know people and then realizing they don't really like you. Which is why I like hanging out with people for specific reasons- like "these are Andy and Nadell, we all like to play games." I guess most of our friends like to play games. I thought of an ongoing potential friend interview process that I should start instituting. With a series of questionnaire that can be filled out online- maybe in the comment section of my blog- I can screen people for their interests and figure out if we should try to schedule something.
My other least favorite thing is scheduling something with other people. Calling someone to schedule a hang out is almost as bad as ordering pizza.
First 10 questions.
1. Do you like playing games? Describe.
2. Describe your political feelings. What do the words "right wing nut job" mean to you? What about "liberali"?
3. Are you sarcastic?
4. What does the word "worldliness" mean to you. Essay answers are accepted.
5. How religious do you think you are? Why?
6. Describe how a two year old child should act.
7. Do you have any food/pet allergies?
8. What do you like to eat when hanging out with other people?
9. How do you feel about Wal Mart?
10. How late is too late for starting a hang out on a weekend? Weekday?
These questions are important. It is difficult finding couple friends because you have to like both of them and even more difficult when children are involved because then you have to like their kids and your kids have to like their kids.
Sometimes I almost understand people who don't seem to hang out with anyone.
Except then there is no one to play board games with, and Danielle probably shouldn't see some of the movies I want to see.
The Box
When we moved here someone told us it would be shocking to get out of the box of Provo. I was baffled since we hadn't told them where we came from. Plus I think they were from Idaho. I only think of this now because of the boxes all over my house. We are moving this weekend, if I don't quit before then. Of course then maybe I will have something to post- pictures of our new place and the projects Danielle and I come up with.
Some people say that moving is really hard on children. So far for Danielle it is mostly about blankets and the new wire bin that she carries with her everywhere. When my aunt Sara came to visit and help pack up boxes Danielle just yelled at her for thinking about packaging up her room. So we avoided her room and toys would mysteriously disappear if she ever visited friends.
The other day though she saw me packing up an unopened pony present. I bought it on clearance at Target and am planning to save it for some holiday later on. She ordered "open" but I told her we were saving it for the new house. She asked "new house" (which didn't really sound like new house) and I explained that we were moving to a new house and we had to put everything we wanted to keep in boxes.
Two minutes later the box with the ponies was full of all her favorite toys and all her blankets. Then with her.
I fished the blankets out since she would need those for sleeping and loaded the box full.
So Danielle has a new favorite hobby- it is called hiding in the box. She likes to hide balls and toys and food and wipes and even herself in the box. Saying that moving is hard on kids might also mean that kids are hard on moving- you can't hide things in the box anymore if it is taped up. And Danielle wants to tape the boxes and help label them but I can't say that she is really helpful. She is one of the best work destroyers I know.
Maybe I only say that because we don't have any mommy sized boxes though.
Money Saving Tips
When we first moved into our current townhome I wanted window coverings. There weren't ANY. Not even cheap mini blinds. Then again if you don't spring for ceiling lights window coverings probably aren't a huge priority. I didn't really want the neighbors to be able to see me at night so we bought some nice yellow drapes on sale.
Then we painted the wall brown and had to start over again. We ended up with silk ivory colored drapes and it is only now that I realized there was another option.
John and my uncle Mark disappeared for 20 short minutes to Lowes and then reappeared with "cordless" mini blinds. You just take the strip off the top and attach them to the window- the folded paper naturally comes down to cover your window in a day or two. Then the cordless feature can truly be appreciated, with just two little clips you can raise those mini blinds to just about any height (but putting them all the way up can compromise the stickiness and render them useless so use caution). Total cost? less than 5 dollars each.
My sliding glass door was a little bit trickier- but with the help of some Hallmark wrapping paper our window was usable and a little bit of happiness. Plus now Austin doesn't look out the window and bark at the neighbors.
Although I am in love with my new window coverings, I will leave them as a gift for my landlord. After all, the best part about finding something fantastic is sharing it. If you think you can't afford window coverings- think again. And you can always change the wrapping paper for birthdays.
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