Interesting Discovery

Spring is finally here and I couldn’t be happier. I broke out the short and sandals and painted my toenails. Yeah! We had a nice weekend outdoors. Got the dogs out and about, went for a motorcycle ride, and did a whole lot of work to our cars. Well, that means Karlo did all the work, while I mostly just stood around and complained that we were still in Hartford. But now the new hitch is on my car and I’m ready to tow something . . . Karlo put half of his new roof rack on the Golf and it even has a new bra. We have to make the car our own. Can’t just have a plain car. All it needs now is a bike or kayak on the roof and a greyhound decal on the window. I’m still trying to twist Karlo’s arm into letting me put a sticker on it.

On Saturday night we went to the Channel 3 Kids Camp Charity Auction. It’s a fun night – more fun when you actually win something – but we were sorry losers this year! oh well. I tried really hard to win dance lessons again, but no luck. (I’m sure Karlo is bummed.) Still fun to watch Scot Haney proclaim his gayness to the crowd.

Anyway, I came to a shocking realization Saturday night. Right before the live portion of the auction, they showed the crowd a video about the Kid’s Camp. When I saw all the clips of the camp and the trails that we used to walk on every week, I got really sad. I really loved that place in Andover and I’m really going to miss it  It was then that I discovered that I haven’t once thought about our old house. I haven’t once missed it. It seems that I really never turned back since we drove down the driveway for the last time. I was shocked to realize this. Especially me. I have a hard time letting go of everything. But every since we left, I have been completely focused on the new house . . . How many more days before we can move there? . . . . All the things that we need to buy for it . . . . All the fun research and shopping for those things. I guess this is a good thing. So far I have no regrets. I hope it stays that way!

100 more days . . . tomorrow starts the double digits!

My Brother Saved the Day

Well, we made it through approximately one week before we got stuck not having a truck. I knew this wouldn’t be easy!! And I’m still not sure if we are going to be able to remain truck-less.

We found a great deal on some furniture that we really liked. The only catch to getting the great deal was having to pick up the furniture on our own - right away. Yikes. We weren’t prepared for that. We had no truck and no place to put store it. But, where there’s a will there’s a way. Luckily for us, my brother and father came to our rescue. Angelo picked up Dad’s landscape trailer and delivered our new furniture to our new storage unit in Tolland. So now our belongs span 3 towns instead of 2. Wait, if you count the fact that Karlo’s motorcycle is in Wethersfield, I guess that means our stuff is spread out between 4 different towns. No wonder I can’t find anything when I need it!

Thanks Ang and Dad for helping us out last night!!!! And thanks Mother Nature for stopping the rain during our furniture transport.

105 more days until the move . . . but who's counting?

More Hair Stories

Luckily I have a hair success story to tell . . . after yesterday’s hair disaster story. This past weekend my niece, Nicole cut her hair. She has been waiting for several months for this big day. The reason she had to wait so long was because she was determined to donate her long hair to an organization called Locks of Love. Locks of Love uses this donated hair to make hair pieces for children suffering from diseases like cancer that cause them to lose their hair. I applaud Nicole for her both her patience in waiting to get her hair cut, and her generosity to want to help children in need.

And the best part . . . She looks ADORABLE!!

Here’s some pictures of before, during and after. Scary part is that she looks even more grown up now.

Life Lesson #254

Do not let your husband highlight your hair!

Yes, it’s true. I let Karlo highlight my hair last night. What was I thinking? Oh wait, I know what I was thinking . . . I was thinking that I’m starting to get old and my grays are coming in faster, making it impossible for me to go 4 months between my professional hair colorings. I dreaded this day forever and I’m just not sure what to do. How do you “touch up” highlighted hair? If anyone knows the answer to that, I’m all ears! I went to CVS three times and just stood in the hair color isle for 10 minutes trying to pick the appropriate color. Impossible. My hair is several different colors when it’s highlighted. What are the chances that I can cover the gray and make it look like it belongs with the rest of my hair?

So I gave up and bought a whole kit – the base color and the corresponding highlight color. How hard can it be? Well, the answer to that question is HARD!! I was trying to hold off with the professional color job until right before our vacation. And I refuse to pay $100 every 2 months to keep coloring and highlighting my hair to cover the grays. So I held my breath and let Karlo “paint” (as he calls it) my hair.


Maybe Karlo should have been the one reading the instructions!

Do I even need to go further with this story? Disaster. I look ridiculous. I couldn’t be upset with Karlo. He tried really hard. And now he says he knows how to do better next time. Apparently he didn’t grasp the concept of highlighting. There are no strands left uncolored on the top of my head. So basically, the back of my hair is dark brown and the top is . . . . well . . . . orange.

Does anybody have a nice hat selection I could borrow?

So please . . . if you see me within the next 2 months, do NOT comment on my hair. Yes, I know it’s bad. No, I didn’t intend to look like this. It’s only temporary. Amazingly enough I am going to give Karlo another chance in June to improve his hairdressing skills. And no, I’m not going to post any photos of my new doo.

Demo Day

Boy did we have fun on Saturday. Dad and Angelo got the necessary permits to demolish the little shack in Haddam. Plans are underway for the long anticipated new house. By the looks of the shack, you would think it would just blow over . . . but it was much tougher than it looked. It was a long day of hard work, but it was pretty fun. We had our share of problems, but what projects every go smoothly and problem free? First, we punctured one of the tires of the backhoe with a nail, then we broke one of the hoses that operates the hydraulic stabilizers. These things certainly didn’t make the day easy, but somehow we managed. The poor backhoe is in rough shape at this point, but luckily Dad has somebody coming to fix her up for next week. As it turns out, the dumpster wasn’t big enough anyway, so the backhoe and the humans get a rest before we finish up.

This was definitely a group effort and everyone in the family worked really hard. Well, except the dogs. They just lounged around and watched us. John ripped out the shower in the bathroom and assisted Karlo with taking most of the deck apart. He proved to be much stronger than his Dad gave him credit for. Nicole helped out with the dumpster duty, Penni carried boards of wood that I didn’t even think I could lift! I had my fun with a sledge hammer. For sure we could bring Karlo to any carnival and he would make that bell ring, earning me lots of teddy bears. He is pretty much a one man wrecking crew. Karlo is great at lots of things, but destruction has to be his favorite. Angelo had way too much fun with the backhoe and I couldn’t stop Dad from doing all sorts of things he shouldn’t have been doing. Let’s just say we all slept good Saturday night.





This one's my favorite pic:

And here's a video of the action:

Our Latest Addition

I forgot to mention last week that we sold our truck and replaced it with a much more fuel efficient VW Golf. Karlo and I have been tossing around all sorts of alternate vehicle ideas. We knew it was time to let go of the very thirsty Montero. It served us well and came in very handy during the move. But the fact that we are moving further away (from everything) and will need to drive many more miles, we thought it best to make the switch.

At first we were going to get a Toyota Yaris. We test drove one and even convinced our friend Lisa to buy one! The car was very cute and we liked it a lot. But the 2 doors and very short roof meant that I either needed to upgrade to a full size wagon or we needed an old beater truck in addition to the new Yaris. Did that make sense? Do we really need 3 vehicles . . . 2 motorcycles, 3 kayaks, 6 bikes . . . too much stuff!! So we went back to the drawing board and came up with this Golf as the all around best idea. 4 doors (big plus), tall cargo area for our tall dogs, longer roof line to accommodate a kayak or bikes and the best part . . . it’s a TDI diesel that gets 45 miles to the gallon and 500 miles per tank! Oh baby!!! We also got a hitch for my 2.5 liter (lots of power) all-wheel drive car so when we make our inevitable Home Depot runs, we can use our small utility trailer, rather than a truck. I’m very proud of Karlo for coming up with this grand (and very logical) plan.

So given all those positives, I didn’t complain too much having to spend last evening at the DMV. It really wasn’t that bad. I took my mp3 player, a magazine and a Sudoku game. I even got a phone call and got to chat for a while. Before I knew it, we were out of there (and sitting in traffic on 91) – that was the worst part. Every time Karlo and I leave the house these days and drive around the greater Hartford area, we get more and more ready to move to seclusion.

Just Shoot Me

You probably think that title refers to my inability to adjust to life in Hartford . . . but it doesn’t. So far, I’m doing OK. Last night Karlo and I put together the new desk that Dad sprung for. He desperately needed one and the excuse of buying it for me was perfect. Now I get to use it for 4 months and then after we move out, Dad gets a nice new desk. Works out great. So my rickety “card table office” has officially been upgraded to a real desk in the corner. Photos to follow (some day).

I titled this “just shoot me” because of my excitement over my latest purchase. I know nobody is going to believe this one . . . but I was excited about buying a vacuum cleaner. Can you even imagine??? Have I lost my mind?

Buying a vacuum was a big deal for me. I never really owned one. At my condo I used to get on my hands and knees and use a hand held contraption, one step up from a DustBuster. In Andover, I always had central vac so I’m really clueless when it comes to vacuums. Karlo and I went to Lowes (or was it Home Depot? That’s a whole ‘nother story to share some day) and we ‘test drove’ some. I was appalled at how heavy they were. Yes, I have skinny arms and yes, I’m spoiled with the central vac, but my goodness – do they have to be so heavy?
I recently saw a commercial for a Sears canister vacuum. Everything on the commercial sucked me right in. (pun intended). I loved it. They even showed a dog laying on the floor while the woman was vacuuming and explained how quiet it was. Another pet peeve of vacuuming. Why do they have to be so darn loud? So I went to Sears and looked. Now I loved it even more because it was red. But I really shouldn’t buy a vacuum based on color and I don’t know enough about them. So I went onto Consumers Reports' and don’t you know, my favorite pick turned out to be Consumer Reports favorite pick too. I got so excited, I ran out to Sears yesterday and bought it. I couldn’t wait! Of course Dad pointed out that it was stupid to buy it so soon when I have no place to put it until July. That’s how excited I was. I had to have it NOW. I know what you are thinking . . . Who is writing this? And what have they done to Paula? And just for the record, I cooked dinner every night since we moved to Hartford.