Monday, March 28, 2022

It Feels Like

In the years that my in-laws lived in Olive Branch, Mississippi, we visited them numerous times throughout the year.  Usually for Christmas but sometimes for Easter, which floats between March and April for no good reason.  We also made some other off-holiday visits now and again.  

The point I'm trying to make is that while we couldn't speak to the temperature of Mississippi in the day-to-day experience, we had a decent sampling of what the climate would feel like most months, give or take.  

My FIL says that the seasons here are about six weeks earlier or behind what we are used to back home.  That seems to gel.  While spring here is much warmer than in Chicago, which got some more snow over the weekend but will be 80 on Thursday, it still is chilly.  My weather app tells me that the "Feels Like" temperature is often colder than the indicated temperature because of wind chill. 

This is a very long way of going about saying that while it's good running weather (could I still run), it is just a little too cold to hang out outside without a jacket or sweater.  There are a variety of things I need to do outside but by the time it warms up enough to deal with them, it's time to get the kids from school.  I expect that will change in April and May.  And in June it will be too hot to be outside much past 11 am, I suspect.

Those Blue things still need to go


So we got the kids these loft beds for their room.  We also moved the spare TV into it and now the room is 7-year-old Heaven.  They now spend more time in their room than any other room in the house.  To be fair, they always spent time there on their tablets, but now they have even more options.  



We also got ourselves a piece of furniture.  We struggled to find an appropriate sectional and finally settled upon one from Costco.  Throw in a nice rug and now the room feels more like ours.  We still need to put up some artwork and I'd love to get rid of the leather sofa the in-laws gave us.  We could even move the Entertainment Center there.  For Father's Day, I'm going to invest in a new TV.



Our next project will hopefully be redoing the fireplace.  We need to replace the gas logs and we really should replace that door from the 80s.  I'm not crazy about the mantle, the surround, or the brick.  The problem is there really isn't anyone around here that seems to do this kind of work and it might be just a bit much for DIY.

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Thursday, March 24, 2022

Organizing, cleaning, and cleansing

After a few false starts, I finally got the attached garage clean enough to install the overhead hanging racks I purchased back in December.  I tried to install them myself but found quickly that it is a two-person job and it is best if the other person is someone who is very good at installing things in a straight line.  Even so, my handyman, Mark made a goof or two (quickly resolved) that vindicated me that this isn't the easiest thing to do.



The thing about these racks is you can either put a lot of light stuff or a few heavy items on them. Each rack can hold 500 lbs.  Optimally, you want to put things you don't need to get to very often, like the Christmas tree.  I could put a couple more things on these shelves, but for the most part, that's about all I can do for now.  There are some plastic crates that need to go away, some stuff for goodwill, and a Farm Table that no one in the family needs but we are not allowed to get rid of for sentimental reasons.  


Update from the future:  I managed to find the invoice for this purchase I thought I would put it here for posterity.  


Product

Quantity

Price

4' x 6' Overhead Garage Storage Rack - Hammertone, 24"-45"

2

$359.98

Subtotal:

$359.98

Discount:

-$36.00

Shipping:

Free shipping

Payment method:

Credit Card

Total:

$323.98



I've been working on clearing a lot of the clutter as well.  I have this box called Memory Vault.  it contains a crapload of stuff from my early Emo years.  I wish I had the good sense to just chuck it but I have to look through it first.  I've already thrown out my Jr High memorabilia.  that wasn't a good time for me and most of the people I knew then had no redeeming values.  I also chucked most of my Alpha Phi Omega service fraternity stuff.



Now I'm in the process of scanning a lot of documents that I haven't looked at in years so they can live, unread, in electronic format.



Take this photo.  I'm connected to about 20 of these people on Facebook (not including the ones I deliberately defriended over politics) but only interact with 3-4 per year.  I didn't do a stellar job of staying in touch in the pre-internet days, but keeping in touch is a two-way street and they certainly didn't do much either.  And that's okay.  Not every friendship or relationship is meant to last an eternity.  I just wish I had realized that sooner.  


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