he can sit like that for a very, very long time.

the kitchen is unpacked and we think we figured out the livingroom/diningroom layout…we just have to find the right wall color. it is so nice to see boxes disappearing. it was even greater to watch the pink carpet (pictured above) disappear.

when we woke up this morning, we realized it was thanksgiving…we also realized that we had no groceries and it would probably be difficult to order take-out on thanksgiving evening. so, we decided, “let’s run out to the grocery store this morning and get some food. every grocery store is open for at least a few hours to accomodate last-minute pie and stuffing cooking emergencies.” boy, were we wrong. apparently all of western massachusetts shuts down for all of thanksgiving day. even big stores like wal-mart were closed.

luckily i remembered atkins farms country market. they were open for just a few hours. so we (along with the rest of western mass) quickly headed there.

another hitch in our food-getting plan was that we have no access to fire in our kitchen. it is going to be a month before we can use our stove, which leaves us with only an oven and microwave as cooking options. this wouldn’t be too big a deal if we were in a grocery store with lots of food options, but we weren’t. and, finally, most of our pantry items are still in boxes in new jersey so we lacked things that one takes for granted when cooking such as foil, salt and pepper, spices, etc.

here is what we finally settled upon (notice the boxes upon boxes still unpacked in the background):

salad with newly bought dressing, microwaved stuffing, baked potatoes baked in a springform pan rather than foil, mac and cheese made by the fine people at atkins market.  thanksgiving dinner was saved after all.  yummy and creative.

this year we are thankful for each person who has been supportive of our move north.  thank you!

every single box showed up today. the movers were great and carried lots of heavy stuff. this was the first time i didn’t have to help carry everything we own during a move. it was a wonderful thing. now begins the task of digging through boxes, finding new places for some stuff and wondering why we even paid to move some other stuff.

following up on yesterday’s lessons learned, sometimes there is paint that doesn’t work (despite primer and three color attempts):

and then there is paint that does work (horray!):

now, i am off to enjoy my bed.  here’s hoping i don’t get vertigo after sleeping on the floor for a month.

oh, interweb…how i missed you so. thank you, cable guy, for reconnecting us with the world. i felt so out of touch.

today i painted our bedroom for 10 hours…i can’t really explain why it took so long. i spent 1 hour cleaning (hair and dust in the radiators, ick) and around 1 hour eating, playing with the pups, etc. but those 2 hours were in addition to the 10 hours. there was a ton of cutting in, that was the bulk of the time. it doesn’t really matter how long it took, i guess, because it looks so nice. but, geez my hands are sore.

in other news, we were wondering when the neighborhood trash day is, so tom stopped by the local public works department to ask. as it turns out, there is no trash collection. that’s right, we have to take our trash to the dump!!! i didn’t even know that people still did that. this will be an adventure indeed.

one day until internet service in our house.

two nights until we can sleep in a real bed.

painting the basement didn’t go so well today.

actually, the priming went well and most of the dark panelling is covered and ready for color.  it is the color that didn’t go so well.  we were sure, super sure, that the paint we bought would be perfect.  after half a wall we knew it wasn’t.  just in case, we finished the first wall…and then we were sure, super sure, it was wrong.

i have no idea what color is going to work down there.  i have photos of the process, but there are computer technical difficulties tonight.  and anyway, it would probably be boring - like watching paint.