moving

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Dogs and Moving

October 14, 2011 by Mayde | Leave a comment

Since we’ve moved, the question I’ve been asked most often is:

“How are the dogs doing in your new place?”

Dogs at Home

Answer: Quite fine, thank you.

When we first got there, they weren’t really sure what was going on. We’re talking about two dogs who’ve never been off-leash, except at home and at the dog park. During the first couple of weeks, we’d let them out, and they’d sit by the front door until we let them back in. It was only when we let them play with my in-laws’ dogs (a 2-year-old pitbull and a 15-year-old German Shepherd) that they’d actually go off and run around in the woods. There were, however, a couple of problems with this:

  1. My in-laws’ German Shepherd is old and cranky and doesn’t like to be around our dogs, since they’re still young and playful.
  2. On the 3rd or 4th day we were in the new house, we got a phone call from our neighbor about the dogs being on their property. Oops!

So for the time being, we put our dogs on a run outside when it’s time for them to go potty, and we have to keep them separated from the old, cranky German Shepherd. When Dan and I are at work during the day, our dogs tend to stay upstairs in our bedroom, where they’re around familiar smells. When we come home at night, they do more roaming around the house and are slowly getting acclimated to the new environment.

Our dogs are definitely creatures of habit, so now that we have a routine for them, they seem to be settling in and enjoying themselves. At least, until winter comes.

Have you ever gone through a major move with pets? How did they handle it? Let me know in the comments.

Want to read a really funny story about dogs and moving? I suggest you visit HyperboleAndAHalf.com. 

Operation Get Out of Brooklyn

August 3, 2011 by Mayde | Leave a comment

Operation Get Out of Brooklyn: Complete

Operation Move Into New House: Well… we’re working on it.

Unlike most young couples who move into a new, empty house after their first year of marriage, we’re moving into a home already occupied by two other people. This requires us to be flexible, and to fit ourselves in among all of the pre-existing stuff. In order to make room for our stuff, we have to move things out before we can move things in. This means that, after a full week in our new home, most of our stuff is still sitting in boxes in whatever space we can find around the house.

We have made some progress, though. We cleared out the master bedroom, moved our bed in, hung up our clothes, set up my home office, gave the master bathroom a good cleaning, and washed about 40 loads of laundry. (You have no idea how nice it is to have our own washer and dryer again, after using public laundromats for 6 years!)

Of course, there’s still a lot of work to be done. Our to-do list for the house is five pages long and I have a mental list going that’s probably even longer. But unfortunately, a lot of our DIY projects will have to wait at least a few more weeks. We’re still in the process of buying the house, Dan’s still figuring out his job situation, we only have two cars between three people, and most of our limited funds are tied up in escrow. Until we close, there’s not much we can do, but in a way, that’s a good thing.

It gives us time to kick back and relax, and hopefully enjoy this upcoming weekend.

Packing, Potter, and A Perfect Circle

July 16, 2011 by Mayde | Leave a comment

This week has been a crazy one, and now I’m spending the weekend trying to recuperate after all the madness.

We leave New York in less than 9 days, so, as you can imagine, our apartment is in complete disarray. There are boxes everywhere, some packed, others still waiting for contents. All our furniture is in various stages of being dismantled. The dogs are usually cowering in the corner because they don’t know what’s going on, and even if they did want to run around, they wouldn’t have any room to do so. We have piles of things we’re trying to sell, and we’re constantly posting things on craigslist. I spend my lunch hour every day on the phone with mortgage consultants and real estate lawyers, and we’re frantically trying to arrange things so our move-out day goes as smoothly as possible. Throughout all this, we’ve learned that moving from one apartment to another within the same borough is not the same as moving from an apartment into a house and getting a mortgage. This is an entirely new experience for us.

The hallway in our apartment right now.
Can you tell I’m getting most of our boxes from my office?

Wednesday night, we went to see A Perfect Circle perform at the Hammerstein Ballroom in Manhattan. Dan and I are huge fans, but we were slightly disappointed in the show. Too many cover songs, not enough original material. For the most part, we had a good time and we’re looking forward to hearing new music by the band in the near future.

Lighters up!

After the Show

Thursday night, we went to the midnight showing of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2. I actually wanted to do a separate blog post about this, but don’t think I’ll have time in the next week, so I’m including it here. As with all of the previous Harry Potter midnight premieres, the crowds were out of control, people were dressed up in costumes, and we had to buy our tickets a week in advance if we had any hope of getting in. But something was different this time around. This time, there was a bittersweet, almost somber atmosphere amid the crowd.

This movie marked the end of an era, the end of 13 years of the Harry Potter phenomenon. Was it good? Absolutely. Did I cry? You betcha. Did the story diverge from the novel? In a few minor ways. Was it worth $14 and several hours spent waiting in line? Without a doubt. Did it provide closure to the millions of fans around the world? Yes, and that’s all that matters.

Have you seen the new Harry Potter movie? If so, what did you think? Have you been to any good concerts lately? Have any moving tips for us? Let me know by leaving a comment!

Fireworks and the NYC Skyline

July 9, 2011 by Mayde | Leave a comment

When I leave New York at the end of this month, one of the things I’ll miss the most is the New York City skyline. It’s so iconic and inspiring, and no matter how cliché it may sound, it’s what drew me to the city in the first place. As far as I’m concerned, no other city can compare to the grandeur that is New York.

Dan and I wanted to really appreciate the skyline one last time before we left, so we decided to take the train to New Jersey on the Fourth of July to watch the Macy’s fireworks over the Hudson River.

Isn’t New York beautiful? It almost makes me not want to leave, but then I think about all the things we have to look forward to upstate, and I know we’re making the right decision.

What did you do for Independence Day? If you were near New York City, did you watch the Macy’s fireworks? Do you have any Fourth of July traditions? Let me know by leaving a comment!

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