We’ve finally made it – all the big boxes are unpacked and disposed of. Â It’s a thrilling sensation to be done and to be kind of almost all moved in at our new and smaller apartment. Â All the work of getting shelving installed has been so satisfying too, as items are finding their real home and our home becomes livable too for us, as that is actually a thing we’ve been making ourselves deal with. Â It’s interesting how much you choose to deal with when it’s something you can’t ignore, like boxes all stacked in your dining room area or piles of clothes and linens in your bedroom or an office overrun with crap…you make it all work regardless and get used to it. Â But when you get things organized and reclaim that space, it is like, woah, that’s nice.
Yesterday was a productive day too, but I think I felt a little emotional about it as well. Â There was the realization I had that Phase 1 of Moving is done and now it’s time to get settled in and make the place ours, and then start actually enjoying the apartment and amenities. Â But then it was also realizing that we’re not done yet – just that the boxes are gone. Â I actually just got my TV mount for the wall today, we have more shelving coming in for the wine glasses and bar area, and then there will be picture hangings and such. Â It’s fun and great to have all this happen, but soooo exhausting.
In random tangents, both Larry & I are so glad to have some of our favorite Spring TV back:  Mad Men and Game of Thrones.  Mad Men‘s final season is airing and it’s been good but also sad because this is the LAST SEASON.  NOOOOO……!!!  It’s not clear where it’s headed, but one thing that does seem kind of apparent is that Don Draper is and will continue to be the same broken and flawed man he was from Season 1.  Game of Thrones is exciting this year as we’re finally at that expected divide when the TV show caught up to the books…and now the show is able to write its own interpretation of what happens next.  George R. R. Martin has given the showrunners an outline of what he has intended the overall story to encompass for the ending, but the details are likely changing regardless.  There are promises that characters will die even book readers will find surprising.  So, those shows are ongoing while Larry & I also are enjoying the third season of House of Cards on Netflix, although that has been slow-going for a few reasons, including my initial PwC travels and then moving.  But we didn’t let all that stop us from binge-watching Netflix’s other new series, The Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, which is fucking awesome and funny as hell.
Alright, this was just a word-vomit post for today, but I need to keep trying to get back in the swing of posting and so here we are. Â I have some more pics to share too, including a bigger batch from yesterday when Mom and Helen came over to visit.
April 9, 2015 – PwC All Hands in Santa Monica!
Last week there was an All Hands meeting for the group here in SoCal and it was held out on the Westside, kinda near my old stomping grounds. Â The traffic was ridiculous, as expected, but not nearly as bad as it could have been. Â Even though it felt like a longer ride, it was only an hour or so back to my home in Glendale…although that was with me leaving at 7pm. Â I had looked earlier at 5pm and the trip was easily 1.5 hours. Â Eff that. Â I did enjoy being back on the beach though, but that’s just not enough for me to say I miss the Santa Monica area, as I don’t.
April 11, 2015 – Final Stretch….
I have to say this is kind of misleading titling, as while it was a final stretch of boxes and installations, like I rambled about above, there’s still a lot of work. Â But at least we’ve gotten so much crap off the floors!
April 12, 2015 – Mom and Helen, Some Grilling, and More Home Improvement!
Helen came up to visit mom so they came over to see how we were doing in the getting settled effort. Â Mom wasn’t impressed but I reminded her, gently, that it actually was MUCH better than when she saw it and it was a goddamn warzone. Â We took them on a tour of the amenities as we hadn’t shown my mom that her last time here as there was work to be done then! Â These pics are from the roof deck of the building we live in, not of our own private area. Â Our grilling adventures for dinner later that evening were a bit educational – the grills provided around the complex are very nice, but they’re huge. Â So we’ve realized that a large grill takes much more to heat up. Â The El Pollo Loco chicken recipe requires indirect heat, so to do that in a big grill, you need to use more burners. Â Lesson learned, hopefully.
