Thursday, July 24, 2008

I haven't blogged in a while.

Surprise!

Like you, my faithful friends and readers who check everyday don't already know that.

So let's catch you all up to speed.

We sold the house! In three weeks. For a pretty damn good price. We move into what has been affectionately dubbed "The Roadhouse" on August 4th. If you are ever trying to sell your house in a buyers market, get a GOOD agent, and have her get you a stager. Mine even paid for it! Funny story about my real estate agent, we were talking about out our Maine property and turns out she skis Sunday River. Her kids are in the same program as mine. We probably passed each other in the Riverhouse all winter long. So I am looking forward to buying her a fine margarita apres ski this coming season.

Now that I have a closing date that once upon a time seemed very nebulous, I've been on a buying frenzy. These are my new dishes. I love them; they can go from freezer to oven, to microwave and dishwasher safe, and they are sturdy. And... I found them cheaper online and saved over $1000. It's like I got all my serve ware for free. Love. It.

Decorating is going to be a blast. I can't wait. I hope all the stuff that isn't going to make it for moving day doesn't take too much longer to arrive. I'll post more stuff and pics once we're in.
^*^*^*^*^*^
We actually took a little down-time last week, and went sailing with the kids. The plan was to take the boat out Friday evening, sail to one of the Boston Harbor Islands, grill some dinner on the cute little hibachi that hangs from the boat, and moor for the night. The next morning we were going to explore George's Island, and the venerable old Ft. Warren. Well, we got a little bit of a later start than we'd planned. We started motoring out since it was late, but there was so much wind I really wanted to sail. So we got them up and made good time out of the inner harbor. And then the wind died.

(For those of you who don't remember or don't live in New England, last week was that time where it was hot and humid and there was a chance of thunderstorms.)

I said, half jokingly, "Wow, look at the water it's like glass. There is nothing for wind. This isn't the calm before the storm is it?" (Unfortunately, hubby didn't hear me say that, or he would have taken me seriously he said later) No sooner had we decided to just take the sails down and motor the rest of the way, the wind shifted and gusted from the south. That's when he knew a storm was coming. (Because, you know, we learn about this stuff in sailing class.)

"So I was right when I said it was the calm before the storm, wow!" I said.
"When did you say that?"
"Just before."

So we struggled to haul in the main sail and lash it down while we cranked up the engine in hoped of beating the storm to our destination, still a good 20-30 minutes away. We calmly instructed kids to get their life jackets on, even below deck. I had to make sure there was one handy. Skipper had his on. This was kind of cool, really. The waves were churning up and slapping the boat while we pushed out around Long Island. But it was also getting dark. And we had no idea where the mooring balls where at George's because we'd never done this before.

I was navigator, and hubby had the helm. Biggest one came up to see some lightening in the distance and help us with flashlights. We motored in slowly, and with the glasses finally spotted what looked like a mooring field. Although one looked like a lobster pot buoy, we couldn't tell. Then, I had to take the helm, keep my sites on the ball and head straight to it slowly, while hubby and Biggest One tried to hook it with this big long thing.

Nailed it.

So there we were safe and sound. We tried to get the grill hooked on the rail of the boat, when the skies opened...
And we piled into the cabin below . It's fairly nice, and pretty roomy, considering there were five of us. It's a good thing I bought Italian bread and cold cuts, plus some chicken salad. We filled our bellies, made our beds, and listened to the Red Sox game as the boat rocked us gently to sleep.

Until the wine and beer wore off, anyway. I woke up at some point to some AM talk radio guy talking about oil prices and I had to go pee. Then when I tried to go back to sleep every slap of a wave, every gong of the nearby buoy, was not lulling anymore. When the planes started taking off from Logan I knew I was a goner. I was also worried, (because I knew hubby was worried) that we could potentially run aground with the low tide because we came in so urgently not knowing the times and the depth of the mooring field.

I have to tell you though, waking up to this peaceful scene---just a few boats, clear sky, birds along the rocky shore of the island all in front of me, as I drank a cup of french pressed coffee, was worth it.

The rest of the trip was worth it too, but this post is long enough, so I'll write that next time. Tomorrow I need to pick out accent tiles for the fireplace, and finalize window treatments.

4 comments:

dw said...

That is so great that you sold your house!!! I'm excited to see your decorating (the dishes are a great start, btw). I'm closing Wednesday and don't really have a clue about decorating. I've picked up a few new things for the condo, but I won't be moving in for a little while because a) I have family coming the middle of August and they'd never fit in the condo (4-6 adults and 2-3 kids--they're still trying to figure out who all is coming); b)I'm going to be buying some new furniture from Crate and Barrel and would really like the opinion of family before I do that. And I still haven't figured out what kind of bookcases I want (I've looked at the nice espresso cheap ones from Target and at the Billy bookcases from Ikea); c) I don't have any set time to be out of this house; d) I still have way too much crap! All this stuff cannot come to the new place! Best of luck with your new house! I'm sure it'll be a work in progress for a while, but I am also sure you'll have a blast making it into a home you totally love.

Anonymous said...

Congratulations and welcome home!
(I think my mom had those plates when I was growing up -- at least the coffee cup design is very familiar. I'm pretty certain that she didn't pay what you paid, though).

When you walk into your new home and get everything settled, take pictures. You KNOW it will never look that good again. (at least, that's my theory). On the other hand, my lack of prowess as a housecleaner is legendary in some parts of LI, so I may be jaded.

May your new home always be a place of peace, love and joy for you.
LA

Bee said...

Congrats on your new casa! =D

Anonymous said...

I miss sailing. Reading that brought back memories of growing up, taking the family boat from Marblehead down into Boston to explore all the islands. I can remember grilling on the rails of the boat, sleeping in the bow, learning how to properly sail a boat, etc.

Congrats on selling the house. You lucked out, then again the place is in a desirable area of town. Wish I could have caught up with you guys last week in Boston for a drink, I had to speak at a Magazine Publishers of America teleconference so I didn't have much spare time during my 3 days home.