Confessions of a One-Track Mind

I would fail! at being a Winchester. I went out and dug up the old post for the missing mailbox. It isn't like excavating a grave, it was maybe a foot and a half deep. Took me all of twenty-five minutes, not exactly a marathon.

And that was all I could do. I got the old post out of there and staggered back into the house, feeling like I'd been hit by a truck. And it's not unduly warm out---only about 70F.

But hey---it's out. Tomorrow, I'll put the new one in, fill the bottom of the hole with cement powder in lieu of dirt, soak the ground and let hydrodynamics do the rest. Then, god willing, I'll start getting mail again. I hate to think of what this interruption may have screwed up: subscriptions, utility bills, food stamp paperwork, whatever....

I haven't had these jeans on in a while. They're the elastic-waist ones that was my go-to pair for ages. They still fit around the waist, but they're tremendous through the seat and thighs. Definitely not something I'd wear out and about.

Speaking of fit, I wore black to church on Sunday. Favorite black pants and a drapey tunic top from TJ Maxx. AI complimented me on my weight loss, although really, it's only about 5 pounds since New Years. Just a reminder that black is slimming.

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There is a fence, finally. At least one of the little fuck nuggets has climbed it, but at least I can count on it stopping the ones who used it as a bike path. And, as J has pointed out, it adds to the value of my property, and at some point when I have a stable income, it will come in handy if I have a dog. So, yay.

In other happy news, I've taken care of the living room curtain issue. Went to WalMart after church and ferreted around their clearance aisle and managed to score two sets of striped tab top curtains for $33 and change. After weeks of rooting around on eBay and looking at swatches and whatnot, I figure it's a decent enough price, I don't have to incur shipping, and won't have to spend hours and hours sewing. I may even see if I can find one more set for the sliding glass doors, since I don't really think they're going anywhere any time soon.

( More home improvement babble here )

J hasn't been able to get us tickets for State Fair yet, but last night, we watched Part 2 of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, which I hadn't seen, tho of course I've read the books. It was okay; my favorite part was Neville, but my canon and La Rowling's diverge on that, among other points. As we all know, I ship Neville/Draco (and I want to hook Luna up with Charlie Bucket of Willy Wonka fame).

We're having atypical February cold snap, which made me very happy this morning. Not only did I get to wear the divine size 24 dress (on which I had several compliments), I got to top it with my glorious retro cape-coat and "fur" pillbox hat. Said coat is black wool, has cape-style sleeves, with black "fur" trim at the collar and sleeves. Coat and hat combined always make me feel like a Glamourous Russian Spy.

Tonight is Supper Club, and although I *could* go, I've chosen not to, so as to help offset the price of the curtains. It's nice to be able to say that, and it NOT be because I can't even afford a bowl of soup, as it was a couple months ago!

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Things are finally moving, after a series of persistant phone calls from yours truly.

Made several calls yesterday and today to the Permit Office---since when is it my job to light a fire under their asses? And no, I don't particularly care that they're short-handed today, because a) They should've had this in their hot little hands a week and a half ago and b) They should've had it done a week ago.

Showed my teeth to the fence people this morning...couldn't get through to them yesterday afternoon after talking to Permits, then today...first I tried my regular phone and got their machine, which I hate---it doesn't allow one to leave a message---then tried on the iPhone a minute later and they picked right up. Think they're screening calls and trying to dodge me, but I made it clear that I wasn't happy about having to do their jobs for them, was tired of the delays, and if there wasn't action by tomorrow, I'd be in Friday morning for a refund of my deposit.

Undoubtedly, I haven't made any friends there, but welcome to I Don't Give a Fuck. The fence company has had my signed contract for two weeks, which should have been more than enough time to get all that nonsense done. The only reason I wasn't nagging them last week was because I was house-sitting, so again, they've had ample time. It's not my fault that their salesman doesn't know what he's doing!

Meanwhile, I have to cope with the Idjit Neighbors. Every time someone goes thundering past my window, I stress. This has been going on for months and getting worse and worse. At first, they dashed through as fast as they could. Now, they're strolling past, yakking, laughing, bitching, whatever. And I'm choking back the urge to scream at them to FUCK OFF, this is private property. (The adults ignore me, the kids laugh at me, it only makes me look impotent.) This goes on daily at all hours. Hence the fence.

Meh. Anyway, because I've been trying to follow up on all this, I haven't been out of the house since I got back on Sunday. I'm getting ready to make a mail run, connect with PJ, who's going to bring a few things I forgot there to the church this evening, and pick up a couple things at the store. I'm craving hot dogs, and trying to resist because of the sodium.

Friday, God willing and the Creek don't rise, Mb and I are going to go locate and explore the local Habitat for Humanity ReStore on Friday.

And lfinally, ast night's Justified-inspired ficlet is doing nicely. Better than the SoA/SPN story that preceeded it, that's for sure.

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No, I don't have a fence yet. Just because I set a date for the installation TWO WEEKS AGO is certainly no reason to think it would actually happen as scheduled.

According to Them, they're waiting for the official permit. They were supposed to call me this afternoon and let me know what the status was on that. Notice use of "supposed do". Didn't. Nope. Not a peep. That was AFTER I called them this morning to find out WTF was going on, because they don't have the courtesy to keep me in the loop.

Possibly they are going to come 'round and ring my bell at the crack of 8 tomorrow. I am not holding my breath, but damn it, I *do* have other things planned that don't involve sitting around the house waiting for them to get off their collective asses and get to work. But why should I expect them to tell me anything? I'm just the homeowner!

I'm about ready to go down there and demand the return of my deposit. If, that is, I don't lose my good words and just start swearing in a very unladylike fashion.

More as it happens.

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Got a call from PJ literally two minutes after turning my alarm off. (8:02 AM) Alarming news: They were off the boat, on the road, and expected to be home by noon. Going by what I know of cruises, I hadn't even expected them to be off the frackin' boat before 11.

That blew my plan of going calmly to church and coming back to the house to pack right out of the water. And unfortunately, I *couldn't* skip church, because PJ had printed out the programs for this week and entrusted them to me to deliver.

Had a very Ogden Nash morning: "When in danger or in doubt, run in circles, scream and shout"... Add to that hospitality---I'd made a special trip to the price club on Saturday so I could do something nice: I planned tortellini salad with genoa salami, stuffed mushrooms, ruggala and grapes for dessert. Alas, packing took all my cooking time; I delivered the desserts---stressed spelled backward!---and dashed into WalMart on the way there.

Got to church and discovered that I was WRONG, that someone else was down for hospitality, although I think the fresh fried chicken was an improvement over cole slaw and cookies. (I have always thought cole slaw is a terrible thing to do to defenseless cabbage; if an atrocity is going to be committed on that veg, I much prefer sauerkraut.)

I went back afterward; the C's were back. I snagged my fridge stuff and departed. I'll have to got ahold of them, as I forgot my Tracfone charger and a loaf of bread, plus I need to let them know I have a package of fabric swatches coming. Honestly, when you place an order for something on Saturday, you except it to be shipped Monday, don't you? Certainly before Wednesday. Sheesh.

( In good news---yes, there is some! )

Supposedly my fence gets installed tomorrow. Fingers crossed!

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As I mentioned, a couple weeks ago, Mb and I visited the ASPCA thrift store. While we were there, I fell in love with a dresser. The only thing that stopped me was the charge for delivery, which would've doubled the cost of the piece. Now, I'm second-guessing myself, halfway wishing I'd gotten the darned thing, and contemplating revisiting it when I head up there to get my glasses...hopefully, next week sometime. And if it's not there, well, I can think of several other, closer thrift stores that might have something similar. I'm going to keep telling myself that it isn't that specific dresser that matters, it's the concept.

Here's what I'm thinking: ( Cut because I ramble at length. )

Tl;dr: Fluffy wants to rearrange things and commit acts of home improvement.

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I've got a dandy little headache, probably brought on by the fuck-uped-ness of my sleep schedule. Didn't sleep well Friday night, took a prolonged afternoon nap yesterday which had me up til 5AM, then got rung up 15 minutes before my alarm was due to go off.

Caller was JasontheLawnGuy, offering to come by and do some yard clearing (because the fence guys want an arseload of money to do anything but install). I said yes, because the fence guy is coming out tomorrow with a contract.

This whole fence business is making me crazy with the amount of time it's taking. The phone tag for getting multiple estimates has been insane. It's never as simple as call with numbers and get an estimate. No. It's not even as simple as call and get an appointment.

No, it's call, give contact info to someone who will pass it along to the salesperson, who will theoretically call back in the next few days---I've got at least one company I never did hear back from---make an appointment; so then they come out, explain why it's not as simple as taking out the old fence and putting in a new one---and then they'll "get back to you" with an estimate, and maybe they will and maybe they won't.

Holy run-on sentences, Batman.

What with gates and clearing and everything, it's running about twice what my proposed budget was. Jesus wept. And I haven't even started on fixing the roof, replacing the garage door or painting the house.

JasontheLawnGuy just left, and the only thing stopping me from taking another nap is the sure and certain knowledge that I wouldn't be able to sleep through the Sunday Afternoon Follies from next door.

One upside to come out of the fence clearing, aside from the removal of brush was the discovery of a grimy but still-cute rubber duck. It's been scrubbed to stage of less grottiness and is now residing with its bretheren and sisteren in my hall bathroom.

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They're threatening an overnight freeze and frosty temps this weekend. With that in mind, I washed my hair this evening, because I know I won't want to if it gets uber-cold.

I know what I'll wear on Sunday if it IS cold: the grey and black ensemble I wore to court. (It was a wee bit warm for it that day, but if it's in the 50s or so, it'll be fine.) Dress is cotton jersey, faux-wrap style, dark grey with black border print. It has a silky (polyester) overshirt, lighter grey with a black border print. They're not a set, but they go together well, rather like my zebra "suit".

Happily, I found my wide black belt, the one that's infinitely adjustable. I like to wear that to cinch my cranberry chenille sweater with black pants. I'm just sorry that my favorite black pants are getting a little faded---and roomy, but still wearable.

I was thinking about the living room curtain situation...I might have a solution, IF I dig around in the middle room. I seem to remember getting a lot of industrial-grade muslin---GK knew a photog who got it by the mile to use for backdrops---it was something like ten feet wide. Trouble is, I don't remember how much I got, or where, exactly, it is.

Person of Interst was excellent last night. I'm turing over ideas for fic. Haven't actually written anything yet, but at least the wheels are turning....

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I had to leave the laptop over at J's so she could deal with a virus that was keeping me off the internet. Smart friends are a good thing to have! All's well now!

The fence business is becoming annoying; the individuals who've come out to estimate are either dumb or unhelpful. Either they're claiming they can't measure because the yard needs mowed first, or they're telling me I need a survey, a site plan and a permit, or their estimates are twice my budget. Grr. Still very much a situation in progress.

In happier news, I have pillows! Thanks to thru_the_blinds and my trusty Target gift card, I now have FOUR new pillows: One firm, one extra firm and two feather. Lovely! Also a Sunbeam electric kettle, some page protectors and a bag of Ghirardelli Dark Chocolate Caramel with Sea Salt. Much squee!

I ran into Hancock Fabrics and actually for once came out with ONLY the item I went in there for, namely, a square of hot pink felt---I already had suitable thread. I have a vintage hot pink Nicole Miller bag that I'm very fond of, but the lining's seams were unravelling. I managed to sew one of them up---hopefully it will stay---but the other side was worse, and I needed something to patch it with. I considered ribbon, but it occurred to me that I wouldn't have to worry about hemming felt and wouldn't be restricted to a specific width.. It worked a treat. Fixed! So it should be good for a few more years, and I have leftover felt if anything else comes apart.

Speaking of sewing, I need some new living room curtains. The ones I have are ten years old---GK gave them to me before her move to MA, and they're staring to get pinholes from sunlight, in addition to being decidedly dusty. I need something that will unify an assortment of patterns. I have a mostly cranberry loveseat with matching ottoman, a wicker chair and ottoman with a striped pattern that includes cranberry, olive, goldenrod and rust, and now the new area rug (which isn't down yet) that's mostly light gold, with rust, slate blue and black.

I'm thinking goldenrod/soft gold for the curtains, especially since when I paint, eventually, I want a light golden yellow n three walls and something in an olive/Wedgewood green for the long accent wall. (I wouldn't rule old something with a stripe.) To complicate matters, I also think it would be nice to replace the drapes on the sliding glass doors at the same time. Either I need a lot (4-6) of sheets bought on clearance, or a really cheap bolt of something....

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Oh happy day! Tomorrow I have a couple companies coming out to give fence estimates (and another one on Wednesday). I can hardly wait, as the level of tresspass is completely unacceptable. I'm tired of people stomping through my yard at all hours of the day and night and ignoring my requests to leave. I'm tired of their drama. I'm flat-out Over It.

Apparently, a six-foot fence is okay, but barbed wire is not allowed. Pity. I'm still taking the "Hook a car battery up to it to electrify the fence" idea under consideration. Failing that, punji sticks....

Also getting the yard mowed again, this time by Mb's neighbor, who is also bidding on the fence job.

In good news, Target is FINALLY having their white sale. Soon I will have pillows!

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One of the things I inherited from Kat was a side table that's currently being used as my coffee table. It's nothing special, but it has nice lines and is more suitable for the space I have. Somebody, at some point, painted the ersatz wood-grain top green.

Between the time it was painted and the time I got it, it got scratched up so that the ersatz wood-grain showed through in unsightly streaks. The chewed-up looking top bothered me. I have nothing against a genuinely aged piece, but this just looked BAD. I masked the surface with a runner, but was unsatisfied with that solution.

Therefore, while I was at WalMart today, I invested in a bottle of craft paint (hunter green) and this evening during Justified, I spread a couple of big plastic trash bags under the table and gave the top a quick going-over.

Now, I know craft paint isn't really intended for that sort of job, and it's liable to get just as messed up in the long run. But it's the large size bottle of paint ($2.49), so I have plenty for touch ups, and I already had a suitable paint brush (a souvenir of my ceramics hobby), so it's a small enough investment, and it really does look a lot better, even with just one coat. I'll give it another light coat tomorrow for good measure.

Little by little, it's getting better!
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I don't usually watch the original CSI, but I saw the previews and tuned in for this week's ep...about hoarding. You know me, I did a talk on it for church, I *had* to see it. (Despite the fact that I've kind of gone off the reality shows on the subject.)

Given the nature of the show, I don't think I'm spoiling anything by saying there were bodies in the house. Shades of the Collyer brothers, although it was probably prompted by the news story a couple of months ago about Billie Jean James, an elderly woman who disappeared from her home. She had dementia, and her husband thought she'd wandered off.

Without her there to stop him, her husband brought in a cleaning crew, and after several weeks, they found the woman's body among the rubbish. As someone said in comments on the article, "In the middle of the summer? In the southwest? Can you imagine how much the place had to have stunk for no one to notice a decomposing body?" Either that, or the A/C was set to "meat locker".

Me, well, I got a couple boxes of stuff out for the church rummage sale---I coulda-woulda-shoulda gotten rid of more, but it's still progress, right?

Another thing I've occupied myself with is thinning out the stacks of 'zines occupying my bathrooms. A while back, I started a notebook with plans for the house...and more recently, I picked up a package of page protecters and have been going through said 'zines and gleaning pix of things that really resonate for me.

Number one on my hit parade is 30s-40s-50s kitchenware/housewares in general. A lot of baby blues and pinks, linens printed with almost cartoonish fruits and flowers, massed collectables (like Fiestaware or milk glass). I aspire to Fiestaware colors in general, with white, ala shabby chic. Just wait---I'm going to hit WalMart for spray paint and they'll think I'm tagging, but really, it's just four folding chairs, the dining table, the coffee table, a wrought-iron side table, etc.

I also have a "thing" for cozy little dining nooks. Given how small my dining room is, it definitely qualifies, and is one of the motives behind the folding chair plan. I'm very fond of shutters, although split rattan blinds would do in a pinch. Occasionally, my taste veers toward exotic---persian carpets, painted tiles, tansu chests....

There's also an offshoot that leans toward mid-century modern, but the minimalism necessary to showcase those elegant lines doesn't really jibe with my over-all ecclectic miscellany. Bark cloth for the win, though!


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Today has been around 90F. Nevertheless, I have sustained efforts in my office and am pleased to report that I am now able to open two of the three windows in here, which renders it a fair bit less juicy. (I can stand most heat as long as there's good air movement.)

I have two bags of cans assembled for recycling thus far---I can probably get two more going from the rest of the house---which will assist the exchequer nicely.

Now if I can find a home for several hundred books, ditch another hundred 'zines, and a whole bunch of miscellaneous, it'll be a nice little office---at least until I can get the middle room excavated....

Cheerleading and fruit smoothies much appreciated....

Spring has definitely sprung. Was out front weeding the hydrangeas a little bit ago and noticed that the confederate jasmine has ONE open flower and a zillion tiny green buds waiting to unfurl. (I give it not later than Monday before they start to pop in profusion.)

For the first few days, the air will be perfumed with the lush, almost vanilla scent of blossoms. Then it'll spend a week cloying, and then it'll be rank---between the fresh blossoms and the old dying ones, it's more like nasty scented rubbers. (Someone gave me a package of so-called scented condoms once, and asked later what they smelled like. "Latex," I answered succintly.)

At the moment, though, there's still the anticipation of how good it'll smell for that first sweet week. The hydrangeas aren't doing anything spectacular yet---it's been six weeks!---but they're still alive. I browsed the clearance plant corner at WalMart and picked up $1.50 worth of impatiens, which I massed in a planter on the front wall.

I need to transplant the biggest jade plant I interited from Kat. I used to have quite the collection of succulents, and I know that it needs a container with drainage, which its current vessel doesn't have. Two branches calved from it when I brought it home; I have them in pots, and they seem to be taking hold satisfactorily.

The "gardening" takes me all of ten minutes a day. Otherwise, I'm not accomplishing a damned thing. I'm trying to write, but there's no joy to it. Meh. I'm a mess.

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* Come on, let's have a sing-along! "Spring is here, spring is here---"
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A little while ago, the doorbell rang.* I wasn't expecting anyone, and after some kid tried to sell me a discount card yesterday, I was a little wary, but hooray, it was a father-and-son team who offered to mow my front yard for $5. Front and back for $10, I asked. YES.

It's being mowed even as I type, and that's one less thing to stress me out. Because this is the first time it's been cut since last fall, we're heading into the rainy season, and I just plain can't afford $25 for mowing. This is clearly the Universe patting me on the back---maybe for giving away my nail file yesterday---and I'm really relieved.

It's all good.

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And a big ol' tag for timing, because if they'd rung the bell ten seconds later, I would've been in flagrante in the loo at the far end of the house,

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First let me share with you an inside joke. Back in the day, when he was still local and we hung out, my buddy Doc had a comeback to anything along the lines of, "I had a thought..."---he'd respond with, "Lonely little fucker, wasn't it?"

Well, while I was off at the C's, I had a thought. And the loneliest part was not being able to check on it while I was there.

To set the stage, in my living room, there are two entertainment units. How that came about was, I bought the first one (faux oak), brought it home, and boom! Within a matter of months, my TV died.

Thankfully, H.W.S.N.B.N.'s mama gave me another one. Old, but it *did* have a remote...the trouble was, it proved to be a half-inch wider than the opening in the f'oak unit. So I got the black unit, which is much bigger than the f'oak unit in every way. They've been staring across the living room at each other for about a decade now; I've been meaning to get rid of the f'oak and move the black one to the other side of the room, but now....

I inherited Kat's TV...which I'd planned to put in my bedroom...and then the light dawned. This evening, I fetched out my tape measure and checked the dimensions of the TV and the opening in the f'oak unit, and by golly, IT FITS.

Now, "all" I need to do is, clear out the f'oak unit, install the TV and electronics and get the other unit out of there...at which point, I can start thinking about bringing the credenza in from the garage and sundry other projects that have been awaiting the egress of ONE of those units. I have likened the process, more than once, to a sliding tile puzzle---can't do Y before X, or Z until A happens---and I feel like I just got a glimpse of how it's all supposed to fit together. Wow.

Figuring out how I'm going to do it---because there's a lot of shifting and lifting that's beyond me---I haven't gotten quite that far yet. I suspect at least part of it will involve bribing BC with stuff he can sell on Craigslist---just as long as the damn stuff GOES.

This is very exciting!
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It's all getting to me. Last week it was laundry, laundry, laundry, this week it was moving furniture...and shifting it some more, and shoving that elsewhere, and so on. And it seems like it looks worse than when I began! My dining area in particular looks like a bomb hit. The entry to the kitchen in blocked by a chair stacked with boxes. The table---which I swear was bare except for a flower arrangement a couple weeks ago---has been buried with clothes and mail, and the rest of it---IDEK.

The living room...next week's focus is going to be substituting a smaller coffee table than the current one. (I think I'm going to repurpose the old one here in the office.) I've got to make enough room for the ottoman that goes with the new sofa---right now, I have it standing on one end---there's no other way to get it in there. At some point, I MUST recover them---they're too fugly for words---honestly, patchwork with a fishing motif?! Oh HELL no.

Today I had a hard time getting myself in gear. The one incoming piece of furniture that hadn't been placed was a shelf unit that folds flat (like a stepladder). My original plan was to bring it into my bedroom, but I found a better place for it AND took care of a long-standing problem in the process.

There's a bend in my hallway with a little nook. As I was dragging the rack toward my room, I stood it up against the wall for a moment, and a lightbulb went off. It fits perfectly in the space, and forced me to deal with the pile of boxes that have been stuffed in there for ages.

I found tons of relics while looking through them, including a few that I've worried about: My dad's service pins from Gulf Oil (10, 15, 20, 25 and 30 years. Those were the days!). I knew they were in an inch-square pillbox, and was 99% certain it was in one of those boxes, but the other 1% occasionally tormented me.

Most of my discoveries are sentimental items like that...Dad's cufflinks, Mom's brooches, a poodle pin that was a 5th birthday gift...what do you do with family "heirlooms" when you're the last of the family?

Some of it is just plain crap, of course, and I'm boxing it up to thrift-away. The rack, like the cabinet in the dining area, isn't filled/being utilized fully yet. However, the bottom shelf has been designated for the 'zines I'm keeping---a few of the pricier craft 'zines like Belle Armoire and the late, great Mary Engelbreit's Home Companion. As with so much around here, it's a work in progress.

But Sunday, I swear, is going to be a day of rest. After church, which includes the annual meeting and election of officers, Mb and I are going shopping. (I just hope that no one hijacks the meeting this year, please, Mother/Father God....)
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I'm still reeling from yesterday. Walking out into the living room this morning felt like crawling out of a fallout shelter to see how much of the world was left.

The big white pantry cabinet occupied the space where my sofa used to be. I say "occupied", past tense, because during TNT's SPN doubleheader, I painstakingly cleared a path and shoved it across the room and into the dining area. (And then cleared off the ottoman, because with the sofa gone and the other two chairs buried in stuff, it was the only seating option left.) Caught my breath, got back to it.

The upside is, that cabinet is ginormous---inside, I mean. I've been moving kitchenware into it, and it's not even half full. Wow. This is going to make such a difference in the kitchen! I'll be able to shift things around to where I can find it and get to it easily. No more killing my back trying to get to my Corningware and cast iron.

I've also set up my new trash pail in the kitchen, moved a lamp into my room, gone through a box and a half, and now---I think I'll have something to eat. My energy is lagging....

ETA: Have emptied all four boxes...go me. Mind you, my dining room looks like chaos has thrown up in there...and my living room isn't far behind. But...small victories....
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