A Big Day

Today was sort of a big day. First of all, it's my father's birthday . . . HAPPY BIRTHDAY DAD!!! It was also our closing on our new house. I think I should feel more excited than I do right now. The closing was 2 hours of extreme chaos. It was so confusing and stressful. The sellers real estate agent either quit or got fired since we signed the sales contract. So they had no agent representing them and all sorts of disputes against the agency. Then there was us . . . we show up with a check $4,500 short of the amount we should have brought. Uuuuugh. Somebody somewhere screwed up. I guess it was the mortgage guy that made the mistake, but my attorney should have caught it before closing time. And speaking of closing time, the banks were already closed so how the heck was I going to get the money to them? OK, I won't bore you with the details, but it was a long, confusing, and not very exciting ordeal. At one point before we walked out the door, I turned to Karlo and said "holy cow, we own the house!" Karlo's response was "this feels just like when we got married." And by that he meant so much stress and chaos we couldn't enjoy our special day.

Oh well, it's not really all that exciting until we actually move. Today was just about the details, the very scary financials and rental agreements, and all the yucky stuff. Our mortgage guy stopped by the closing and gave us a bottle of champagne that I refuse to open until we are IN THE HOUSE. We may bring it over and share it with Rick & Nancy (the sellers and our new buddies).

The closing took so long that we totally missed my brother's family coming over to take Dad out for dinner. What a bummer. Sorry Dad! But we will celebrate the belated birthday tomorrow so Dad will actually get two birthdays without aging an extra year!

The Power of Advertising

I admit it . . . I love advertising. Karlo is the exact opposite. He insists on muting the television during all the commercials. I truly enjoy a good commercial and I love print ads. I guess it's the marketing/graphic designer in me. I just get impressed when I see a good ad. And I must say, I think the Serta sheep are great. They totally won my heart and as a result, I HAD to have a Serta mattress. I mean if you're forced to buy a new mattress, why NOT get the one with the cute mascot. (I also need to switch my car insurance to Geico.)

So that's what I did today. We went to Sleepy's and laid on a dozen different mattresses until I finally settled on a Serta. I tried really hard to get them to throw in a stuffed sheep, but no luck. As a consolation price, I took my picture with their big stuffed sheep. I love him and I want him!!!!

A Rare Task

Here's something that I never thought I would have to do . . .

I'm trying to come up with the name for our new subdivision. Doesn't that sound strange? Karlo and I are going to cut some land out of our large parcel in Eastford and try to sell off a couple of lots. This means that we have to get a "sub division" approval and it has have an official name. What a goof. So our real estate agent wants to start to market this land and needs the name that we will go with. I've been trying to come up with cute names all day. Here's a list of what I have so far. I'm open to votes . . .

And some things to know . . . If you will wonder what the heck "Kozey" is, that is the name of our street. And the lots will border the Yale Forest (7,000 acres of public land). So here are the choices so far:

Yale Woodlands

Yalewood Acres

Yale Overlook

Kozey Acres Estates

Kozey Forest

Kozey Timbers

Kozey Woodlands

Forest Edge

Forest Edge Estates

What do you think? Karlo picked Kozey Timberlands, but our friend Lisa vetoed it immediately, telling Karlo that is sounded like comfy shoes!

Ice Cream Party

I just got back from an "ice cream party." Did you know that there was an ice cream flavor named "ice cream party?" Well, there is and boy is it yummy. Tina whipped up a batch of delicious ice cream cones and we made a party out of it. What fun! OK, so living in Hartford has some advantages . . . closer to more of our friends :-)

Thanks T, G, A and little T for a fun night!

PS - I look like a chipmunk below because I stuffed the cone into my mouth before the photo.

Happy Birthday Bentley

My little buddy turned 9 today! How horrifying. Where did all these years go? I hate the thought of him getting older and coming closer to the end of his life. He will always be a puppy to me and he's been spunkier than ever lately. I think he takes after his "Daddy."

We treated the hounds to a nice walk after work today. The photo above is the birthday boy before the walk. The tongue is always shorter before the walk than after!

When we got home we tried to treat Bentley to a "treat" . . . but the poor guy had to share with Peanut.



Did somebody say "treat" again?

And while I'm on the subject of my dogs . . . I love that topic . . . We took them to a doggie park yesterday so that they could play with their cousin Bruno. What a waste of time that was. Our dogs have positively no doggie social skills. They are complete greyhound snobs and just don't get the whole "play" thing. A huge fenced in doggie paradise with several other dogs running around as happy as can be . . . and there's our pathetic hounds standing 3 feet away from us. Just standing there watching the world happen around them. Bentley was trying to figure out where to lay down, while Peanut ventured out going from one human to the next, looking for a pat on the head.

There was her chance to show off as the fastest dog in town and she never even broke into a trot. sigh! Bentley had one fleeting moment where he showed some interest in a cute poodle (don't tell Molly) but the poodle apparently was not worth the effort of walking more than 15 feet. Oh well, her loss, right Bents?

My Nephew the Musician

Check out my nephew John. He’s taking after his father and his grandfather with his musical talents. John plays in both the school marching band and the jazz band and get this . . . he plays two different instruments: the trumpet and the bass. Oh and actually he also plays the guitar too (not in the band, but at home). He takes lessons for the bass and the trumpet, but he taught himself how to play the guitar. Now if that doesn’t sound like his grandfather, I don’t know what does.

On Sunday we went to a special band dinner where we got to see the jazz band perform. John went back and fourth between playing the trumpet and the bass. And the coolest part about the photo above of him playing the bass . . . That is the same bass that I used to play when I was his age. Imagine that? John has his own nice bass at home, but of course he thinks Grandpa’s “retro” bass is cooler. Yes, the bass that I used to play is now retro. Sigh. I wonder if I could still remember any of those Police tunes that I used to bust out. I wish I still played an instrument. My nephew (and niece too – she plays the piano) are inspiring me to learn again. I should take advantage of living with Dad and get some free lessons while I can!

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.

Weekend Plans

Thank heavens that we have something to do this weekend. Last weekend was dreadful with nothing to do. Well, that doesn't include Friday night. Lisa and Luke invited us over for dinner and that was a real treat. The dogs got to run around with Molly and the humans got to catch up on what felt like months of not seeing each other. I teased Lisa because we normally talk (via email) several times a day, every day. Then all of a sudden, after we officially moved out of Andover, nearly a week went by and I didn't hear from her. I thought for sure that she disowned me because we 'moved away.'

So this Saturday will be our big demolition day in Haddam. My father and brother got all the necessary paperwork to allow us to 'remove' the existing cottage on Dad's land. The boys (Dad, Angelo, John and Karlo) have big plans to drive the backhoe straight through the house. This should be an interesting day for sure. I'll be sure to bring my camera so I can share some pictures of this event.

Then on Saturday night we are heading to Tammy's for dinner :-) Tammy and I were discussing this dinner yesterday. She's asking me lots of questions about my food and drink preferences. You guys don't understand that we are so thrilled to be invited to dinner that we would literally eat ANYTHING and be soooooo grateful for both the dinner and the company. Tammy joked that she will probably screw up making her favorite dish. That's when I shared my story with her and now I'll share it with you too . . .

I told Tammy that the last time I invited friends over for dinner I made Turkey Chili. You ready for this? I forgot to add the chili powder!! Can you imagine chili with no chili powder? Well, Luke & Lisa can. I'm such an idiot. They still claim that it "tasted fine" but I'm still an idiot.

Public Apology

I came to my computer to send my sister-in-law, Penni, an email to say I was sorry for forgetting her birthday yesterday. Her birthday was ON Easter and I totally spaced out. I had to ask Dad today what the date was and when he said the 9th . . . I thought "Good Lord, yesterday was Penni's birthday!" And since my stupid computer is not letting me send emails at the moment, I thought it would be better to publicly say I'm sorry and let the rest of the reading audience know that yesterday was Penni's birthday. No idea how old she is now . . . I think 29 :-) Same as me!!!

The Highlight of My Easter

The eggs are just the props to showcase that heavenly Italian cupcake! Penni just told me the name and I'm still not sure what it is. Something like "Casada." These cupcakes have been a Romano Easter tradition for many generations. My grandmother used to pump out (probably) hundreds of these things every year. I know it took my brother a few years just to scientifically reduce Grandma's recipe down from feeding a small army to a reasonable amount. I think the original recipe started off something like . . . 3 pounds of sugar, 5 pounds of ricotta . . . you get the picture.

So my wonderful brother has carried on the tradition. He learned how to make them from our grandmother. (Not sure where I was during all this baking, but thank God he learned.) To my sheer delight, my brother's family came over yesterday morning with the beloved cupcakes in their hands. What a treat. They only come once a year, but are so worth the wait. I'm wondering if any of my fellow Italian buddies know what they are. I'm thinking they are a Sicilian item because our grandparents were from Sicily and the only other people that Penni found that make the same things are also from Sicily. Little pieces of heaven.

And the not so pretty eggs were done by me! Certainly not my best Easter effort, but they still taste good.

Happy belated Easter to all.

While I've Been Working Hard & Stressing

Tammy and her family have been living large in Florida, visiting Disney. Unfortunately, Pluto ate her son Brendan!

Just kidding, here he is having a ball. I'm soooooo ready for a vacation. And actually, now that I think about it . . . I bet Tammy is too! Disney with a kid doesn't exactly sound like a relaxing trip :-)

Who Let the Dogs Out?

Did you sing that title? My father can not be trusted!!! We are very lucky that we still have two dogs . . . Seems our hounds have been getting braver and braver in Hartford. At first they just ran to the back of the yard, did their thing and came right back. But we noticed that with each day and each trip outside, they started to venture off further and further. Bentley decided it was much nicer to poop in the neighbor’s yard and would take off on a mission, not listening to Karlo yelling at him. Very unlike our perfectly behaved pooch. See what living in the city can do to ya?

So based on this bad behavior, I left Dad a note yesterday asking him to NOT let the dogs out!!! We already bought a fence the night before and yesterday we planned to come right home and set up the fence. After which time, Dad could let the dogs out to his heart’s content. But did Dad listen to my request?? Of course not. He not only let them out once, but he let them out twice. And he managed to lose one dog each time.

First Peanut took off on him (which is exactly what I would expect to happen). So Dad had to get in his car and go find her. Next, it was Bentley that decided to go sightseeing. Poor Dad was walking up and down the street looking for him, when some guy gave him a tip that there was a tall skinny dog wandering around a block away. So Dad jumped in his car again and took off after Bentley. He looked all over and couldn’t find him . . . so he went home and there was Bentley in the backyard.

All this drama and all this stress and I knew nothing about – which is probably a good thing. I would have had a nervous breakdown at work yesterday. And on top of everything else, Peanut threw up on the carpet after her adventures eating grass outside. My goodness . . . my father’s day would have been much easier if he didn’t let the dogs out!

Can’t Wait to Go to Sleep

My head is spinning and I’m so tired. I don’t know if it’s the jet lag, the complete exhaustion, or the really comfy IKEA sofa that we are now sleeping on, but I just can not get up in the morning. Seems like we have been going a million miles an hour for the past month. I have to admit, coming to work this morning (to the 300 unread emails and dozen projects piled up) strangely seemed relaxing compared to the rest of my life. Karlo even commented that he’s looking forward to going to work, getting a coffee, and SITTING DOWN. It’s been a month since the poor guy sat down for more than an hour (not including the plane ride). He stood in the machine shop for 12 hour days for a few weeks. Then he stood all day when he was teaching his class. Then he stood all day at the trade show. And at home, well sitting was out of the question there. So . . . it’s good to be back at work!

Yesterday was a blur. We had to go out to Eastford to meet our professional pool table installers in the morning. Took them hours to set up our table, but it was a nice visit with the owner of the house. He walked us around and told us just about everything you could imagine about every little detail of the house. My head is so full. I even got a lesson on working the fancy stove. Maybe it will inspire me to cook. Those high end appliances are such a waste on me!

When the installers were done we had to return our Comcast rentals and then we tried to get new cell phones. That is a long disaster of a story that I will spare you, but I’m left in limbo with Razor that’s been inactivated and an expensive PDA phone that doesn’t work. Great. More things to deal with.

Then it was off to the closing. I got to meet the people taking over MY house. It was hard, but the good news is that I really liked them. They are a young couple from Boston, just starting out, and I’m sure they will be very happy there. I finally met and love my attorney. I didn’t think that was possible. Karlo has a very strong aversion to lawyers (sorry Reg, nothing personal) and I have tried to convince him that not ALL lawyers are evil. I picked this guy because his last name is Romano. How could I go wrong? Love him!

So now we are temporarily rich!!! I have this large check sitting on my desk and I have to figure out what to do with it until the next closing (at which time we will be poor).

The dogs are doing better than expected. Grandpa is making me nervous by helping out. He let them both out yesterday with no leashes. I can’t even believe we still have two dogs. Karlo is setting up a temporary fence tonight so hopefully we won’t lose any hounds.

The Move Is Done

We made it back from LA and it couldn't happen soon enough. I have upgraded my feelings toward LA from hate to despise. Sort of like the security levels issued by Homeland Security. My previous feelings toward LA were an Orange Level, but they are now officially a Red Level. Red because that must be the color of Hell.

But anyway, enough about that place. On to bigger and better things. We got home Friday afternoon and jumped right back into packing up the house. We managed to take another small load and my motorcycle (thanks to Lisa saving the day with the battery charger) to Eastford. Karlo drove it over there for me because it was too cold for me to drive myself. It takes a big man to drive a lavender colored motorcycle!

This was the first time that we were at the house without the owners being home. It was Friday that we finally felt like that place was really going to be OURS. We stood outside and looked around at the property. We took in the quietness and just soaked in the fact that we do love it there. It was the polar opposite of LA and nothing could be better than that! I'm started to get excited . . .

Then Saturday came and the chaos started. The movers arrived at 9 AM and I was completed stressed until the truck was completed loaded. I was stressed because I was convinced that everything wouldn't fit. But luckily just about everything did, and with another trip with our own truck it will finally be a done deal.

Here's me on move day.

I was just pretending to cry that day. The real tears came today. I was doing fine all day. We were so busy getting the final things out of the house and CLEANING. My God, that took forever. And the whole while I'm thinking "How stupid to buy a bigger house - more cleaning to do." Anyway, we were going a million miles a minute and I didn't have time to think. It wasn't until we were all set to go . . . we had the dogs in the back of the truck and Karlo says to Bentley "This is it Bents. We're never coming back here again." That was it. I lost it. I ran into the house all alone, stood there and cried my eyes out. I really didn't think that I would, but I did. It was very emotional and hard to say goodbye.

Now we are getting settled in at Dads. Obviously I got my computer all set up and online. Lord knows where most of my clothes are, but who cares. As long as I have my computer and internet, I'm all good. The dogs are so scared and confused I'm not sure what to do with them. They won't eat and they are mostly just pacing around. Poor dogs. I feel so bad for them. But on a brighter note, I was able to find Fox on Dad's TV with no cable. Now I'm really all good. I got internet AND American Idol. Maybe this won't be so bad after all.