Starting out in the Mouse House

I thought about writing emails about the adventures of becoming a California girl. But then I thought if I could blog it, then you would have the choice to read or not and I would learn to blog! So here goes.... It is sunny and warm in the mouse house each morning - 78 degrees with all the windows that have screens (and some that don't) open. I even turned on the attic fan to cool the place down yesterday afternoon when it got to be 85. It did start to cool things down, but I had to hang on to the poor cat so she wouldn't be sucked up into the attic. Mark had to turn it off the minute he got home - TOO MUCH NOISE!! I had just turned off the hearing aids and was fine. So after I bleached the bathroom and dug wads of hair out of the drain so that I wouldn't be standing in water up to my knees while showering, I was able to get dressed and get going...... until I realized that I was out of underwear ( I did pack in rather a hurry) and the load of undies in the washer wasn't done. So I checked the very high-tech European washer which very kindly tells you that it will be another 2.6 hrs before you can even HOPE to get your clothes out only to find a puddle in front of the washer. When I gingerly stepped in it, it was slimy -not wet. Hmmmm...... laundry soap! It seems that if you pull the soap drawer out TOOOO far, the soap doesn't go INTO the washer but dribbles down the interior and onto the floor. So my undies hadn't even been washed in soap. NOT ok for a Virgo!! So another 2.6 hours with soap this time. I added more undies to the list of things to get when out and about. Then I had to call Mark to find where he had stored the maps. Got those... and the list.... and the measurements for new window coverings.... and ready to go! I decided to try to find Wal Mart. Now I know some of you will ask - WHY BOTHER??? But I was on a mission to find Schweppes Diet Ginger Ale and Eight O'Clock coffee. Wal Mart in ME carries both. I found the store and even figured out how to get into the parking lot (not an easy thing to do with 5 lanes of traffic in each direction!). No coffee or g'ale. Then on to Target in a totally different part of town. Well, I can just hop on the 101 and take it to the 880 and then I'll be there......OMG!!! I am sounding like a California girl!!!! And it only took 10 minutes even with traffic!!! So I wander through Target looking for roller shades (I passed up the ones in Wal Mart thinking I would opt for the more expensive and obviously better ones at Target). Target doesn't carry roller shades and I don't think I can brave all those freeway numbers again especially as it is now after 3pm and the traffic is getting worse. So I will just have to sneak around in the house in my pjs in the dark for another night. (The roller shades were for the front windows because you can see into the bedroom and back hall from the front of the house and I am a paranoid person!). The last stop was the grocery store. I am on a hunting expedition to find a chain-type grocery that ISN'T Safeway. Today's test was PW Market. A bit tricky to find and VERY tricky to get to. Not only are there 5 lanes of traffic in each direction, but out in this part of town, they add dividers filled with bushes and trees (upscales the neighborhood) so you can't even see how you might possibly get in. The store was ok - better than Safeway. But food is expensive out here - bananas $.79/lb. We are trying to keep the supplies of back-up stuff down. So no more jumbo packages of toilet paper or extra large sizes in artichoke hearts. It felt good to get home - even if the house was hot. But then I tried to fix dinner and couldn't get the stove to light and couldn't find any matches to manually light the gas burners (kitchen matches are now on the list). So I just decided to sit down, eat some hummus and drink bad ginger ale (virgin - no Jack Daniels) and wait for Mark. Of course, he just turned on the burner, waited for 4 minutes and the thing lit. I just didn't have the patience to WAIT for it to light (nor the courage. I didn't want to blow up in CA on my first full day!) I was getting pretty tired and so was happy to huddle in front of Mark's computer to watch Top Chef on his 17" screen - Thank God the TV arrives on Monday with the rest of my underwear! Oh, and Mark and I are going to be Thing 1 and Thing 2 for Halloween when we answer the door. He wanted to wear a scary mask. But if all our Trick-or-Treaters are little, I didn't want to get the reputation of being the neighborhood ax murderers our first year. I will sign off and crawl through the 12.5" of space between the wall and my side of the bed.....