2003-05-08 - 12:05 p.m.

just a very quick post to let you know:

I did it! The store is moved and opened!

I'm back online, gotta millions things to do, proper post tomorrow.

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2003-05-04 - 2:16 p.m.

Where, oh where do I start????

The painting is all done, the new store is almost ready to be moved into. My folks are coming by later t help with minor electrical and phone connections, then tomorrow is moving day! I'm totally exhausted already. My body is achy, my brain is pudding, but I gotta push ahead, gotta keep going til Thursday....

One hassle I did not need this week (well, I didn't need it at all, but especially not this week) is the saga of the fence.... We need to fence in our yard, so the dog can play without escaping. We discussed it with the neighbours on both sides and pickes something that made everyone happy. We didn't discuss it with the people behing us. We don't know them. We've never seen them in 2 years of being there. What we did do is get a copy of out land deed, plus we got another surveyor to come and indicate our property line. We were happy to find out that the bushes in the back were 100% on our property, and therefor, we didn't need the back neighbours permission to cut them down and put a fence, as long as we put in on our side of the line.

Well yesterday morning, we are just about to leave for synaguoge, the shrubs have been cut for 3 days already and the man comes to take out the roots. Well, not so firendly back-neighbour shows up and calls the cops and demands that the work stop right away..... Ver, very long story short: we had to pay the tree guy but he couldn't do the work, and now we have to go to the city, figure out if we can continue and deal with one crazy-ass neighbour! His wife kept taking pictures of my hubby talking to her husband. The bushes are gone, there is nothing to take pics of, just people talking! Can you imagine the judge:

Judge: -Any evidence to present?

Her: -Well, judge, here is a picture of my husband talking to her husband. And here is another one, and one more.

Judge: -And this is evidence of what exactely?

Her: -Well, that they talked.

Let me tell you, that is NOT a way to start your weekend!

Now let me try to entertain you a little... Here is the set up: I'm standing on a ladder outside the store, painting a 6 foot sign that says the name of the store. There is already one on the building with the same name. Here is the most common thing I heard while painting said sign:

"I don't understand. Why are they opening a second store in the same building?"

PEOPLE! We are moving! There are giant signs in the windows of both store that spell, in giant colored letters: "We Are Moving!". I know you can read, you're reading the sign I'm painting! Why can't you read the other signs. Honestly, I should just go along and tell them: "Yes, we have no business sense what-so-ever and are opening a second store in the same building!"

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2003-05-01 - 3:12 p.m.

Day One of the Great Move:

We didn't get off to a very good start. The previous tenant had agreed to meet me at 10:00 am so I could start painting and she would finish moving out.

The landlord let me in at 10:20 when there was no sign of her. Imagine my shock when I walked in and she still had most of her stock in there! She hadn't even started moving! She showed up eventually and moved things to the middle of the store so I could start painting around it. There was a lot of tension in the air....

I've got about half the store painted. I had to stop because hubby had to go home and meet with the contractor for our basement reno, so I had to take over shopkeeper duties for a few hours. Also, I couldn't paint anymore because there is still too much stuff in the store to paint around... I hope she's done by the end of the day, I can't imagine another day like this tomorrow.... I do have to say, the paint job looks spectacular. The colors just jump right off the walls and liven up the place. I can't wait to see it with all our stock.

Appeal to America People, who voted for Josh???? That boy should have gone home last night.... who voted to keep him in?

As for the Bachelor, I totally called Crazy Christina's departure... When she said "Make me Mrs. Firestone" in her video postcard, I couldn't help but screem, even though it was 1:00 in the morning (stress induced insomnia).

My parents are dropping by the store tonight to help us unload the new old stove and put it into the store.... While I much appreciate their help (they always help out), there visit is causing me some stress..... My mother is very very critical. She has an opinion about everything.... Hopefully she keeps it to herself today, I'm too tired to deal with it.

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2003-04-30 - 4:58 p.m.

I just wrote an entire entry about the up-coming move of our store... then I read it. And deleted it. Trust me people, it was nothing but rambling....

I am feeling much stress today. The upcoming store move is formost on my mind. Along with our basement renovation, fencing in our yard, in-vitro fertilization and summer vacation plans. It's all too much.

Honestly, all I can think about without getting a headache is who will get booted of AI2 (Josh) and who will the Bachelor drop (crazy Christina and ???) That's right, reality TV is the only thing that will get me through this crazy week. What is wrong with my life?????

(PS: I will do my best to pop in here everyday, but you might not hear from me if the move is too much.... don't worry, I'll be back soon to tell you all about it!)

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2003-04-29 - 11:29 a.m.

What a lovely weekend we had!

We spent the weekend at the Pawhouse B&B in Rutland, Vermont. If you have a dog and like to travel, you simply MUST visit Mitch and Jen! Mortimer had a blast! Their B&B is great, and their dog facilities are better than first class!

We used our time in Vermont to do a little outlet shopping (JCrew and Nine West... what pretty pink shoes I am wearing today!) and a little antiquing. Actually, there is nothing little about the antique we bought...

I kid you not. We crossed the border with this stove in the back of the truck, along with a new rod iron dog bed from Orvis, a bunch of retro books and games and my above mentioned purchases!!!! The picture is not of our actual stove, but one just like it I found on the net. Seem it's from the 30's (I had guessed post war because of the electricity) and not quite in mint condition, but close to mint and usable. It even had the owner's manual! A fully restored one on the net is 3200$!!! Boy, we got an unbelievable deal!!!!

It's not the first time we buy huge stuff on trips, we once showed up at a friend's with a retro kitchen table and 4 chairs in the back of the car (We don't bring pillows when we stay over, we bring our dinette set!!!!), but crossing the border with a vintage stove, that takes the cake! (ha! ha! we could have baked a cake!!!!) We used to be limited by the size of our car, but now that we have this small SUV, well, you'd be amazed at what we'll buy!!!! Gone is the excuse: "it's really nice, but how would we get it home????"

Travelling with the dog was fun. He cried a little the first hour in the car. He just couldn't get confortable on the back seat. Crossing the border for the first time, I was worried he would bark at the border guard. But he was great and we went right through (after a check of our trunk). After stopping for lunch (it was raining, so we ate in the car to keep him company), I reclined the back seats and spread out his dog bed. Well, let me tell you! The dog likes to travel in first class. He zonked right out!

We left him in his pen at the B&B to have a really nice dinner, then went back to our room and tried to get him settled in. At first, he was really hyper, wanting to smell every inch of our room and begging to go back out every 10 minutes. We didn't get much sleep, he asked to be walked twice. But day two was much better. He had an agility training session for the first time ever and did super well! He slept better the second night, having a better understanding of what was going on and feeling more comfortable there. He loved his walk in the woods and made friends with all the other dogs there.

On the way home, he slept the entire drive! He did have to share his first class accomodations with the newly aquired stove, but his bed was still there, so he was satisfied. We stopped in Middelbury for a picnic lunch by the falls and visited a really cool funky store: Four Dogs and a Wish. They have similar stuff to our store, and we chatted with the owner for a little while. Very nice lady. Mortimer had his first vanilla ice cream of the season.

All in all, a lovely time was had by all. Now we have to get someone to help us unload the stove into the new store...... Any volunteers????

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