The Many Faces of Freedom

We all have our own individual definitions of freedom and freedom comes in many forms.

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It’s A Trucking Problem

Photo courtesy of Google Images

Last week I posted about some fabulous new furniture we’ve acquired here at the Baer House Inn. Well folks, all of this buying and selling does not happen with the help of magic fairies who come in and transform your house overnight. Oh, how I wish it did.

Everything we’ve acquire recently is old and therefore heavy. Not just heavy, but unusually heavy. A dining room table that weighs about 800 pounds. A huntboard that disassembles into 4 pieces, each pedestal weighing about 200 pounds; the top, one solid piece of finely crafted hardwood, weighing about 400 pounds and the fence about 200 pounds.

Photo courtesy Google Images

This is the good stuff people, the solid, built to last, good stuff.

So, we bought this amazing 450 year old table and chairs at an on-line auction. No problem. Yay us. But wait – we have to pick the stuff up. An 800 pound table with 8 leaves and 14 solidly build, solid walnut chairs.

We have a 2013 Subaru Impreza sedan. How’s this going to work? Lots of trips? Hardly. Meridian is two and a half hours from Vicksburg on a good day with no traffic. Hmmmm.

And did I mention we purchased this out-of-this-world huntboard that came off of a ship – an honest-to-goodness sailing ship on the high seas? It was built in the 1750’s. From solid hard wood. With pegs and carved out tongue and groove construction. And heavy sold metal hinges. (It’s a wonder those ships didn’t sink.)

Did I mention that we have a 2013 Subaru Impreza sedan? How’s this going to work? Luggage rack? I don’t think so.

Photo courtesy Google Images.

You see – it’s a trucking problem. We don’t have a truck. We used to have a truck, but we sold it because gasoline in California was over $5.00 a gallon at one point and we drove that truck alot. It was over $100 to fill that beast up and we filled up at least once a week or more. We couldn’t afford the truck. Well guess what? Now we need that truck. And, even more ironically, gasoline here is under $2.00 a gallon. And, to add insult to injury, everything we need to haul is relatively close to our house so we’d probably only need to fill up once a month if that.

Photo courtesy Google Images.

Oh Mr. Murphy – damn you and your stupid “laws.” Guess we’ll be getting a truck soon. Subaru, it’s been nice knowing you.

What ironies have befallen you lately dear readers? Do you find yourself needing something you’ve gotten rid of? How often do you use a truck?

Word of the Day: Filial

Fun fact about me: I actually like driving trucks, although parking can be a challenge.

Original post by Jansen Schmidt, September 2015. Photos courtesy Google Images.

 

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Should It Stay Or Should It Go?

Photo courtesy Google Images

Moving is never fun, what with the packing and cleaning, deciding what stays and what goes. It becomes even more complicated when you have to consider that taking stuff means more expense (extra boxes, added weight in the truck, etc.), but leaving stuff means severing an emotional attachment to something. Downsizing or decluttering is good for the body and the soul, but getting rid of stuff can be painful, too. I have things in my drawers and cupboards that I rarely use but I’m keeping simply because they were my mother’s things. Should I pack those things? It seems silly, but they represent a small part of my past, a part of my mother that I can cling to. Is the sentimentality worth it?

Hmmm, what to do, what to do?

Because we are moving into a much larger home than what we have now, we should have room for every single thing. But, that big house we’re moving into is also already furnished. We don’t need our furniture, but some of my furniture is unique; one-of-a-kind items handmade specifically for us. I can’t give that away, nor do I want to. I love some of my furniture. My sofa is super comfortable. My dining room furniture can never be replaced (with the exact same items) and nobody will appreciate it like I do.

Photo courtesy P. Rickrode

Hmmm, what to do, what to do?

And then there’s the closets. For 30 years I’ve worked in a professional environment; two-piece suits, pantyhose, heels, etc. I have lots of really nice professional clothes with matching shoes and accessories. I love my clothes. Will I ever wear them again? Probably not. I paid a lot of money for those clothes and shoes and accessories. Will I ever need them again? Probably not. Is it painful to part with my massive shoe collection? Heck yeah. Should I pack them all and try to find a place to store them at my new home? I don’t know. I have some really cool shoes. I love my shoes. Am I going to wear heels at the inn? Maybe once in a while. But, I love my shoes.

Photo courtesy Google Images

Hmmmm, what to do, what to do?

Finally, there’s the books. This one is a no-brainer. All 99+ boxes of books go into that truck (hey, I’m not the one loading the truck). No sorting, no downsizing, no emotional meltdown for having to part with even a single book. You want to know why? My new house has an honest to goodness, full-fledged LIBRARY!!!!! I can acquire even more books!

Photo courtesy Google Images

Life is good.

Do you find it hard to part with certain things? Do you hold on to things for sentimental reasons? If you had to pack your entire house and move, would you keep every single thing? What advice do you have for me about packing and moving across country? Come on, let me hear it.

Word of the Day: Sabayon

Fun fact about me: I’ve moved about 7 times in my life.

Original post by Jansen Schmidt, June 2015. Photos courtesy Google Images and Patricia Rickrode.

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The Fork In The Road

Photo courtesy Google Images

The road less traveled. The high road. The long and winding road. There are all kinds of roads that we must all travel in our lives. Sometimes we cruise on along, smooth sailing with nary a bump or a curve. Other times we chug up steep hills, or brake down endlessly long inclines, or creep around hairpin turns. No matter the situation, we keep moving. Sometimes we charge ahead full speed, other times we slow down and enjoy the drive. But we always keep moving.

As children we move along these roads hitched to our parents or care-givers, following where they go. As we get older, we are allowed to drive ourselves and make our own decisions with regard to where we will go, which roads we take, and how quickly we move along. But move along we do. Always moving.

Photo courtesy Google Images

Along the highways of life are forks, splits, junctions, places where we must make decisions about our destinations and destiny. Exhilaration courses through us as we weigh the pros and cons of which path to continue down. Sometimes the choice seems easy, especially if we’re not inclined to exert the energy necessary to climb, then we descend.

Photo courtesy Google Images

Sometimes the choice is made for us and we must deal with whatever awaits around the bend. Sometimes pleasant surprises await us, other times, perhaps not. It makes no difference what we encounter so long as we keep moving. We can go around the obstacle, we can climb over the obstacle, we can try to move the obstacle, but we keep doing something to get us farther down the path. Every destination, the end of every path, has a new opportunity waiting.

Photo courtesy Google Images

Not too long ago I came to a fork in my road. I weighed my options and made my decision. I would take the high road, the steep narrow one that would ultimately test my endurance, but certainly offered an abundance of rewards at the end. I prepared for my journey and planned my course, determined to set out fully prepared to conquer whatever awaited me along the path. But then I hit a roadblock. A big one. One that seems insurmountable at times. I’m spinning my wheels. Should I turn around and try the other road? That seems silly since I’ve come so far down this one already and I’m super excited about where I’ll end up. But maybe there are no obstacles on the other road. Both roads lead somewhere. Both roads offer unexplored opportunities waiting to be discovered.

So here I sit, not moving. Not going forward or backward, just staring at the obstacle in the road. I’m stumped. I’ve tried various ways to triumph over the roadblock, but I have been unsuccessful.

Photo courtesy Google Images

I’m not one to give up, but when is it time to concede and either forge a new path or turn around and try another way? I don’t know. I’m still sitting here pondering.

Image courtesy Google Images

What do you do readers when things don’t go quite as planned? When you made a decision only to find it may not have been the best decision? How do you get around roadblocks?

Word of the Day:  Quassia

Fun Fact About Me:  I play a mean tambourine.

Original post by Jansen Schmidt, June 2015. Photos courtesy Google Images.

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Post 4th of July Meltdown

Photo courtesy Google Images

As you Californians know, it’s been HOT!

My husband and I bought our current home almost exactly one year ago today. The house is old, quirky, and needs some upgrading. One of the things that needs upgrading, is the air conditioning. Well, not upgrading exactly, installing. That’s right, we have no air conditioning. It’s been well over 100 degrees for several days in a row. Talk about a melt down.

Photo courtesy Google Images

Normally the heat doesn’t bother me so much, especially since I work in a nice air conditioned office building most days from nine to five and to get there I drive a new car with an awesome cooling system. But, given the recent holiday, I was lucky enough to have four days off in a row. That’s right, four whole days to WRITE! I was overjoyed. Until I actually sat down in my sweltering home office and turned on my laptop.

After four very long days of writing in a sweat box, I am proud to say that I got about 12,000 new words on my WIP (work in progress) and managed to get this blog thrown together to boot. Since I didn’t have a lot of creativity left by Sunday evening, I decided to take a more light-hearted approach to this latest post.

I needed a good laugh at the end of this miserable binge writing session and this is what I found. It’s kind of long, but it’s really funny. I dare you not to laugh. Enjoy!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=TZhw_bOkzQc

Tell me, what do/did you do to beat the heat? Did you do anything unusual or exciting for the 4th? Inquiring minds want to know. P.S. WordPress has found it “necessary” to include an ad video at the end of this post. Sorry for that inconvenience.

Word of the day:  Cacomistle

Fun fact about me: One of my favorite breakfast foods is an egg McMuffin

Original post by Jansen Schmidt (July 2013). Photos courtesy Google Images. Video courtesy YouTube (Ellen DeGeneres show).

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I Never Knew That About You

June is gone and I missed it. Well except for week one. I definitely didn’t miss that part of the month. Week one I was on vacation, which was totally groovy. As many of you know I visited the Western Caribbean with my sweetie (in some circles known as the cabana boy) and had an awesome time.

Upon arrival back in the good old U. S. of A. it was nothing but hard labor for the rest of the month. The Hubs and I have been house shopping and finally found a place that we can call home again. Not that we’ve been homeless mind you, but rather a place to call OUR home. We’ve been living in someone else’s house.

Here’s the history in a nutshell: 

Several years go we moved into my parents’ house to help care for my mother who was suffering from a long bout with her second form of cancer. Following her death, we stayed around to help my dad come to terms with living without his companion of 50 years. We have never felt completely at home in Dad’s house. He eventually healed (as much as a person can heal after that) and is moving forward.

And so, it is time for all of us to move on to a new chapter in our lives. Dad sold his house; we bought our own house; he’s buying a smaller house close to where we are going to be living.

As always when one moves an entire house full of furniture, clothing, dishes, appliances, knick-knacks, lawn and garden tools, etc., quite a bit of work goes into packing and physically transporting the stuff from one place to another. A logical person and one with a larger budget than we have, would hire professional folks to do this. We are apparently not logical and we’re cheap because we packed and moved ourselves. With the exception of my oversized grand piano that not only requires professional movers but an entire room all to itself upon arrival at its new home.

Tuesday, June 26, 2012 – moving day. Funny the things you learn about people that you thought you knew but apparently don’t know quite as well as you thought you did. Most of my “friends,” I’ve discovered, have bad backs, bum knees, arthritic hands, swollen ankles, and various other ailments that preclude them from lifting, bending, climbing stairs, or pretty much any form of labor intensive work. Who knew? They all appear to be healthy when we enjoy dinner together, or a movie, or a theater show. They themselves have moved and some are very involved in various sports activities, but apparently the sports they are involved in are not as taxing as moving boxes and furniture. (Shut up Patricia, not your business.)

In any event we did manage to convince a few, apparently still healthy and strong, people to help us make the move and things went smoothly. They even brought their own truck! Bonus!! It’s times likes these when you do discover who your true friends are.  Now, let the unpacking begin!

And as a bonus to this month’s blog, I’m responding to Ms. Serena Dracis’s  kindness in awarding me the Kreativ Blogger Award. Thank you Serena!(http://serenadracis.wordpress.com/2012/06/17/weird-weekend-kreativ-blogging-in-the-zombie-apocalypse/)

The “rules” for spreading the blogging love are as follows: You must thank your nominator and link back to his/her page, tell your readers seven things about yourself, then nominate seven other bloggers. 

Thing #1 – I have a phobia of having my head under water. (I’m working on getting over it. Louise Biel will be so proud!)

Thing #2 – I’ve worn glasses (and/or contacts) since I was 8 years old.

Thing #3 – I’m afraid I have a lot of my father’s tendencies and not necessarily in a good way.

Thing #4 – I know I have a lot of my mother’s tendencies; some of those are no so good either.

Thing #5 – If you wrong me, I will hold a grudge.

Thing #6 – I love baby anythings!

Thing #7 – I love being the center of attention.

I can’t think of 7 nominees who haven’t already received this award and spread the blog love so I’m only going to nominate 1 and she is – Keli Gwyn!

Word of the Day:  Hornswoggle

Fun fact about me: Well I just gave you 7 fun facts, do you need more?

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