Whining About the Compact Life

Weekends these days are coming in two parts: The entertaining or social portion, and the getting ready to move into smaller quarters portion. Our plans for the week are similarly bifurcated. What do we want to to, and what do we need to accomplish. Some days it seems that the volume of things in the garage preparing for the epic garage sale is beginning to outstrip the amount of things still in the house. The sobering fact is that we will actually be achieving that balance very soon or we will not be making it in time.

Sami and I went for her annual Birthday Lunch at Red Lobster. She enjoyed crab legs as she does every year, and I got a bowl of clam chowder and the delicious Cheddar Bay Biscuits. I seldom indulge in seafood when I am farther than a few miles from the coast, but this is her favorite restaurant so every year we go. This year I think she is s
showing signs of actual maturity, so an afternoon spent together lunching, shopping, and running all kinds of errands was quite pleasant.

For dinner Shana and I hit Ingrid's Kitchen with some friends for dinner and some vocal jazz music. Good company and great fun. Looking over the menu I was inexplicably drawn to Braunsweiger which was a mainstay of my childhood, but which I have not tasted for years. It was delicious (if admittedly unattractive) and as satisfying as I remember. Ingrid's has changed over the years I have been patronizing it from a little bakery to deli, to a full service restaurant. You can still get the wonderful baked goods and the deli sandwiches but these days also enjoy a tea dance, a cocktail, or a Sunday brunch buffet. Something for everyone, sometimes all at the same time.

This weekend I have been tearing up my "man cave/craft room/office" in earnest. The closet is almost empty, and all the important documents unlikely to be needed immediately are packed up. It's kind of shocking to realize just how much stuff I have been keeping in this room. I guess I should be proud of my ability to keep so much stuff instantly accessible in such a small space. It's been really hard to decide on a small number of knitting books, patterns, and yarn to keep with me while everything is in storage for a few months, and easier than I expected for Shana and I to divest ourselves of about half of our CDs. My Kindle will make all the difference for me, as I can have a large number of books with me at all times. It almost but not quite makes up for being separated from the sight of my books for a while. Six weeks to go before we leave, so it's not too soon to be packing, especially as I realize how much time it is taking to thin out the stuff.

For fans of The Amazing Roxanne: she now has her own page on Dogbook, available from my Facebook. I know some people just can't get enough of her - now they might get too much!