Insurance work at The House is progressing slowly. Bids for additional remodeling work are trickling in incrementally. Relocation company advises that we will be in The Apartment until at least mid-December.
Those of you who know me know that "snail's pace" is not my customary speed. But I'm learning to adapt. Things are gonna happen when they are gonna happen. No use forcing the issue. What's the saying? "Never try to teach a pig to sing. It wastes your time and annoys the pig."
Only the pig in this scenario is a snail. And the snail's only gonna go as fast as the snail's gonna go.
So this weekend was pretty uneventful, and pretty slow. On Saturday, we paid a visit to our kitchen cabinet supplier and on the way home we stopped at The Wal-Mart to pick up socks for PJ, who seems to burn through socks at a ridiculous rate. (You have to call it THE Wal-Mart, just like you have to call Applebee's THE Applebee's and Waffle House THE Waffle House - this is Texas, after all.) Then I worked a few hours at the Junior League resale shop, while Parnell and the kids made a trip out to Irving to pick up a part for Parnell's car.
Funny story about Parnell's car: he had his AC belt replaced awhile back, and since then the belt has fallen off three times. (Okay, that part's not particularly funny.) On Friday, when I was also working at the JL resale shop (are you noticing a pattern?), he called and asked if I could meet him at Fort Worth Tire and Service at around 6 pm. They would be closed, but he was planning on leaving his car, and his key in the overnight lockbox, and after that he would need me to drive him home.
I beat him to Fort Worth Tire by a few minutes, The Fort Worth Tire guys were still there, kicking back on the front porch with a beer. An aside about Fort Worth Tire: Parnell's family has been patronizing them for eons. They know and like our family, a lot. So I don't know if everyone would have qualified for the special treatment that I received upon stepping out of my car and advising them that I wasn't in need of help, just waiting on my spouse: the owner nodded, pointed to the cooler and said, "Corona?" And I said, "Why not? I'm not planning on driving home."
And so it was that my spouse and children drove up to The Fort Worth Tire (I've decided that any business that offers free beer with service is sufficiently downhome Texas to qualify for a THE) and found me kicking back with a bunch of auto techs, swigging out of a longneck. I was in business attire, they were in overalls. And it was just perfect. THIS is why I love living in Fort Worth, people.
Initial prediction was that his compressor was out (that part REALLY wasn't funny), but while we were at the cabinet supplier's, we got the call that he only needed a tensioner rod (a bargain at $95) and that such a rod was waiting for Parnell at the front counter at Don Herring Mitsubishi, if he was inclined to pick it up and save himself a delivery charge. (Another reason why we like The Fort Worth Tire . . . .) He was so inclined. And he knew that I would be tied up at the resale shop for a couple of hours. I have to do fifty hours by the end of December, and I'm trying to knock out as many this month as I can, knowing that the end of November and beginning of December will (HOPEFULLY) involve a lot of packing and unpacking.
Also on the agenda for Saturday: proving to my family that we really are okay in The Apartment. It seems like folks have trouble accepting that we are fine living in 1,200 square feet, with neighbors on both sides and underneath. But here's the thing: the neighbors are quiet as church mice, and the 1,200 square feet lay out really well. Also, we haven't cluttered said square feet with a bunch of stuff, and what stuff we have was recently organized, so I can find EVERYTHING. This is an improvement over The House. Also, we have on-site maintenance. Very prompt and attentive maintenance. As in: in the first 23 days of occupancy, we received 8 service calls. (When we saw that on the repair form, we apologized profusely, but the maintenance guy advised us that they actually find us refreshing: unlike your average college kids, we bring repair items to their attention early, when they are still a cheap fix. The blessing/curse of being homeowners, I guess.) We have had our microwave replaced, and the flapper in the boys' toilet replaced, and our outside AC unit replaced. And when the outside AC unit conked out, they brought us two window units, one for each bedroom, to get us through the night, and they had replaced the outside unit by 9 am the next morning. If you are not a homeowner, let me enlighten you: magical elves do not bring you window units, free of cost, when your AC blows, and 24-hour turnaround on AC replacement is virtually unheard of.
So, long story short, we're kind of spoiled living in The Apartment.
But my family has seemed to have trouble conceptualizing this. We had not had them out here yet, on account of the steps up to the apartment being a bit steep, but we collectively decided that they could make the ascent at least one time, to assure themselves that the kids were alright, and to have some lasagna. The lasagna was good - will share the recipe later this week. And, as I expected, the 'rents were favorably impressed with our digs, and we all enjoyed a nice evening together, culminating with the boys conducting an epic light saber battle in the shadow of the T. Cullen Davis Mansion while we watched from the balcony. The cherry on the top of the evening: the little dog, who ADORES my grandmother, trotted down the steps after her and jumped into the car and into her lap. She felt the love, as did we all.
Then came Sunday, bringing with it some really bad air quality. Not sure what just bloomed, but it put the pollen count through the roof, and we all felt the effects this morning. Managed to make it to church, but barely: at various times while singing hymns, Parnell and I both found ourselves gasping for breath, which would have been laughable, if we had had enough lung capacity to actually laugh. So, long story short, we headed home after church - and never left. Took turns napping throughout the day. All of us. Pets included:
That's Barkley snuggled under the covers. Max doesn't need no stinkin' covers:
Max is REALLY loving The Apartment. This is Max surveying his domain from on top of the refrigerator:
From the refrigerator, it's a hop, skip and jump to the top of the kitchen cabinets:
Needless to say, we don't have these great vantage points available to us at The House. Yup, we're kinda, sorta spoiled here.
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