It’s settling in time @ “Denver, 80210”!

The last posting seems ages ago so here’s an update for you. It’s settling in time @ “Denver, 80210”!! As of yesterday, we have moved into our new address. We’re on Downing Street and our friend John pointed out that it sounds British & Classy. When he found that our zip code was Denver, 80210, he thought maybe it was like a TV show. But, that show was “Beverly Hills, 90210”. Hopefully we’ll not be as intriguing and full of drama as Beverly Hills, 90210.

Yesterday the loading/unloading crew was awesome. Chris is the owner of Clockwork Moving. He and one of his employees helped unload our household into storage on June 1. They did such a fabulous job that we hired them again. Chris and Diego, another strong employee, whose nickname is Hercules, met us at the storage unit at 7:30 a.m. They loaded two 17′ trucks, followed us to our Denver home, and unloaded everything. They were done by 2 p.m. Everything seems to fit….mostly. We may be creative with some of our furniture as it may take on a different use here. Boxes and Rubbermaid tubs are stacked in the basement office and will be joined by umpteen more of our archive boxes that are still resting in Steve’s Mom’s basement. The guest room has the queen-sized mattress. Sadly the box springs won’t fit down the basement stairway, so the box springs will be stored in the garage. Guess we’ll opt for a European bed style that we found popular during our travels and create a platform on which to rest the mattress. The other big bonus is ample room in the garage for the van, bikes, & storage that won’t be ill-affected by heat or cold.

Last night we slept in the house in our own bed. This is a big deal for us. Due to the circumstances of the summer, we have slept in 30 different beds since May 28. Yes, it was great to recline on our mattress after 2.5 months away from it. And, we showered in our own showers after experiencing 30 different bathing scenarios: showers and/or baths.

We sold our Toro lawn mower in Batavia vowing to not have to mow grass at our next place. Well, that was the wrong move as we do have a lawn to mow. We need a lawn mower and we need it NOW!! In an effort to lessen our carbon footprint, Steve has found a “like-new” electric lawn mower on Craiglist and at this very moment is en route to retrieve it.  We also sold all of our bookcases, dining room table, and chairs. No book boxes will be opened until we have a bookcase in which to house the books. Our patio table set or trusty Samsonite card table will have to suffice as dining tables until we can do some thrift store shopping. We’ll try the reuse method if we can and try to locate something gently used for any furniture that we purchase. If that fails, then we’ll head to Costco or Target. There isn’t an IKEA here until Fall 2011.

Our cell phone service is weak so Steve just signed us up for a land line and internet service. Hopefully by next Tuesday we’ll be up and running in that regard. TV will wait as we sold both TVs. For now my mini-speaker set for my iPod will provide music. Perhaps the internet will actually give us the TV shows and news that we want to hear/watch. The Denver Post arrived on our doorstep this morning. It is good to have a paper newspaper again. Time to be up-to-date on Denver politics, news, and sports.

While we’ve be in Denver and were waiting for the move, we took advantage of some free days to enjoy family. Steve and I went to Canon City, CO and met my sister, Sue, my brother-in-law, Tom, and niece & nephew, Shauny and Jovonte. We enjoyed dinner one night and breakfast the next morning with them. The kids are at the stage where they are growing like weeds. It’s always fun to hear the latest on what they are up to between their interests, sports, music, etc. Sue, Tom, and the kids were in the beginning days of a whirlwind vacation that took them from Iowa to the Grand Canyon, Las Vegas, and back home in about 8-9 days’ time. I haven’t asked Shauny and Jovonte what they thought of all of those miles in the car together!! Steve and I toured the Royal Gorge while we were in Canon City. As a young teen I visited the Gorge with my family. I ended up being a “fraidy-cat” back then after my first few steps onto the bridge. This time I am happy to admit that I conquered my fears. Not only did I walk across the wooden planks with spaces large enough to see the canyon floor 1200 feet below, Steve & I also took the aerial tram across the canyon and rode the incline railway. Perhaps all of our trips to the Rockies over the years, skiing, and hiking, helped tame my fears.

Last week we drove to Santa Fe, NM to spend a couple of nights and one full day with Steve’s sister, Shelly, his sister-in-law Pat, and their two daughters, Emma & Lucy. We had a lovely tour of Pecos National Historical Park thanks to Pat, who is now a ranger there. It was a beautiful sunny day. Santa Fe has enjoyed abundant rainfall this summer, so ironically there is quite a bit of green vegetation there. I have been to Santa Fe in 2000 and 2005. On both of those visits, Santa Fe had a more desert-like feel. Our second evening there was beautiful with stars in between clouds, lightning flashing across the sky deep into the weather front, and the delightful scent of Pinon & juniper. In the wee hours of the morning, I heard a lone coyote barking in the distance. We enjoyed spending time with Emma and Lucy too. We haven’t seen them for 1 1/2 years, so it was great to catch up with them and learn more about their interests: art, music, and poetry.

Until later folks, stay happy, stay cool, and stay in touch!

Love,

Diane (& Steve)