the owl and the olive tree

Two more boxes unpacked! Well, three, but then I started to fill an empty box with things wot I want to keep but don't need immediate access to, like my diploma and graduation comment book and photographs and stuff. (I'm going to do my darndest to keep that to one filing-box size box, though, to keep down the number of storage boxes we have....) So the net number of boxes removed is two.

Progress, it is being made! Four or five days of this will take care of all the boxes we have. This makes me feel hopeful.

Also, I made slow-roast roast beef (a good way to cook a good-but-not-great cut of meat -- sear until brown on at least two sides, then put in a 225F oven until the internal temp reads 115 [for med-rare] or 120 [for medium or above], then turn off the oven without opening it and let the temperature coast to the final desired doneness), and bleu cheese mashed potatoes. We'll be eating lighter the rest of the week, but it was very tasty indeed.

I have also, thus far:

* Broken the towel bar in the bathroom. (I slipped on the tile floor and grabbed it for support, and it, uh, didn't like that.) We sort of got it back on, but now it's finicky. I think it will need replacing. Sigh.
* Set off the smoke alarm twice. Because that's apparently how I get used to a new oven/stove.
* Messed up the garage door. See, I have never had an automatic garage door, and so, when left to close it, I reached for the cord.... which is apparently the emergency release. We had to take the car back out and get on a stepladder to fix it, but fortunately it was easily fixed once that happened. So it is unbroken. Still, I feel dumb.

All things considered, though, the moving process has gone very smoothly! We even only broke two glasses, out of all our belongings, and that's a pretty good record.

Also, this weekend we saw Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. I thought it was pretty good -- obviously not perfect, but pretty good. Then again, I went into it wanting to like it, and it featured a character I love (I mean, even one besides Indy himself, and I had such a crush on Indiana Jones in my formative years), so I was forgiving. (It also played the 'don't bother nitpicking the plausibility' card early on, so I just stopped asking questions and enjoyed the ride.) Conclusion: not as good as my favorite (Last Crusade, for a great many reasons) but much better than my least favorite (Temple of Stereotypes Doom), and more a coda to the original trilogy than a true sequel, but still fun. I may post more on that later.

We have a house! Have they keys (well, key) and everything!

Yay!

Which means: now, move.

So, my To Do:

This weekend:
* Go through belongings. Remove anything that's trash, recyclable, or fit for Goodwill that I no longer need or want. (Note to self: You already went through all your books before moving to Seattle. Doing it again less than a year later will take more time than it's worth. Focus on sifting other things, like all the clothes you never wear.)
* Make trips to the recycling center, the trash disposal center, and Goodwill (or find someone to accompany jmpava on these trips to keep him company, while I clean and sort).
* Arrange with a moving company to move furniture and whatever items we can get boxed in time
* Change of address for everyone and their cousin, especially work.
* Figure out desired floorplan.
* Get a meter reading at the new place.

Early next week:
* Start boxing items, beginning with things we won't need this week (books, nonessential kitchen equipment, papers, video games that we are not actively playing, DVDs that we are not actively watching, clothes that we will not need in the next week or so, craft supplies, etc.)
* Trip to Ikea to get replacement desk (mine hurts my back, so it will be the printer table at the new place). Possibly also acquire more bookshelves (Pava is concerned that we don't have room for the ones we have; I think we have plenty of room; floorplan analysis will determine plan of action re: bookshelves.)
* Get utilities turned on.

...Yay!