Why'd she suddenly disappear?
@BearArtistLady (5382)
United States
January 13, 2021 10:46am CST
I'm sure someone has wondered where I went, what hole I fell into or if the police arrested me for selling joints (my joints are little wooden discs with a hole in the middle so the arms, legs, and heads on my teddy bears will move). Nope, It's just been the trials and tribulations of moving. I remember when I was much younger moving took a day, maybe two depending on how much junk I had. Now it's headed for three weeks!!!
I am awe struck at how much crap I have collected!!! I have two more trips to the storage unit ahead of me and I can surrender it. At least I hope it's only two more trips...I'm going to rent a U-Haul van today to finish the move. It's bad when you open a container and wonder where that stuff came from and who broke into your unit and put it in there.
As many of you know I signed the lease for the apartment a few days before Christmas. I had Christmas dinner in the apartment...well it was delivered there and I took it back to my motel room. I officially moved into the apartment the day after Christmas.
That posed it's own problem, I didn't have a bed. It's been a while since I've bought a bed...boy those things are darned expensive!!!! I have had futons, platform beds and other beds suggested. I am using a futon bed right now, man that sucker is uncomfortable. There are two buttons in just the right place, one jabs me in the hips and the butt and the other jabs me in the shoulders. But it's better than sleeping on the floor. Later this month I plan on getting a human type bed. I have a deal going with the store owner that involves a vintage cream colored mink bear and a bed.
The rest of the furniture comes in as I find it. I haunt the thrift shops and the antique store I have a booth space in for a dresser. I don't need too much more than that...when it comes to things like dishes etc, I find something I like and it usually ends up in the booth.
One word of warning I have for people that move themselves. Get the feel of the turf before you move the heavy stuff. I'm not particularly graceful, and I look like a pig wearing ice skates trying out for the Olympics when I fall. I usually fall butt side up! I unloaded a office chair from my car and it and I did a wonderful ice dance in the parking lot, ending with the chair standing and my laying face down on the asphalt.
I then found an upholstered stuffed rocking chair for $20 at the thrift shop (SCORE!!!!!) and luckily it fit in the back of my car. I unloaded it by myself (big mistake) and I got it out and once again I did a fantastic ice dance and managed to fall on my left hip, face skyward, looking like a complete idiot. I swore lustily (I've tried to curb my swearing so you know it hurt) and started dragging the chair the 50 yards to the elevator (I live on the third floor). I was doing pretty good until we got to the entry to the elevator.
I was busily pulling and didn't realize that the rockers were facing down where I was pulling. I was bent over pulling my hardest and suddenly the chair stopped and I didn't. (Pig on ice again) My knees came up to my chest and over I went onto the small of my back. I lay on the cement, hurting like crazy, thinking that I finally managed to paralyze myself. The thought was so crazy that all I could do is laugh. I couldn't even call for help. Finally after about fifteen minutes of laying there I decided to try my legs....wonders of wonders they worked. I somehow managed to stand up and pull the chair into the elevator and get the thing into the house.
While I still miss Bill terribly, I have to admit that each day in the apartment is a new adventure. Between finishing the move, having the battery on the car go dead unexpectedly (that's another story), working the shop with a sore back (No I didn't go to the doctor. He would have had it xrayed and told me that nothing was wrong.) and figuring things out on the run it's been a wild time!!!
Since I've had complaints that my posts are too long (YES, I know this one is waaayyy too long) I'll close for now. Happy New Year
5 people like this
6 responses
@wolfgirl569 (94571)
• Marion, Ohio
14 Jan 21
Never too long. I love reading them. Hope your back feels better real soon. I have often moved large furniture by myself and have done a few of those you described.
On the bed ideas I will give you one. We bought an air bed over a year ago and have not looked back. You can get them now that are a normal height when they are aired up. Plus you can adjust the firmness according to how you feel. I sometimes let air out of ours after hubby gets up. I love sinking down in it. Just if you do get one I do have a heated blanket under me during the winter. The air can feel cold just like an unheated water bed. But a heated blanket is enough to fix that.
Glad to hear from you again. Hope the move gets finished soon.
1 person likes this
@wolfgirl569 (94571)
• Marion, Ohio
14 Jan 21
@BearArtistLady I have kittens in the bed every day with this one. They climb the side of it to get in. I was worried about that at first also. But an adult cat has even tried to use it to sharpen claws. I got on her but no problem with it. The dogs, (dobermans) have jumped in it also and it took that. They are too big to sleep with us, especially as I have 3 of them. But they go in with me when I am doing laundry and other things in there.
I used to do that for hubby too. Here lately he has been doing it. The bed is warm when I get in. I think he is trying to make up for liking a firmer mattress.
Hope you get it done. Be careful. Try to stay upright.
1 person likes this
@BearArtistLady (5382)
• United States
14 Jan 21
@wolfgirl569 I'm going to go down (I'm in apt 208 on the 3rd floor...think on that one. That's one reason why I took the apt, it's so crazy! LOL) and get the stuff out of the car and pick up at least one load today. I may push it and pick up two loads which might close down the storage unit. I also have a load to go to my booth space at the shop. I am doing so great with my hurting so badly and still keeping so busy. I'm still trying to find a pair of cushioned shoes that my body doesn't hurt so badly after a full day of walking in them.
Petey is making up for keeping me up last night, he's across my lap and right arm while I'm typing this...sound asleep. Boy I love that idiot!!!! I hate having to roust him to get up and get dressed and finish my chores and then empty the car and get going on moving. But once the move is finished I can finish sorting and then get busy with the bears too. And I don't have to worry about falling on my butt either. The wonderful thing about sorting is it's like Christmas every day!!! I found Christmas themed shirts, warm fuzzy socks to wear around the apartment, jewelry, and more stuff for the donations for the thrift shops.
Yesterday I stopped at the various car lots to see if any of them had a Subaru Legacy like I lost in the fire. One had a PT Cruiser like I have and I looked inside and discovered that there were arm rests in it. The Cruiser was the same year and model so I checked mine and there were arm rests in it!!! I had to laugh at myself....I am so dimwitted that I had to go to a car lot to discover that I have arm rests in my car!!! And I'm allowed to live by myself???? Are they sure I'm safe????????? 
1 person likes this
@BearArtistLady (5382)
• United States
14 Jan 21
I gave serious thought to an air bed, it was sooo tempting. There was only one drawback, it was in the form of 8 feet and 32 claws. I could see me snuggled down in an air bed, all nice and comfortable, sleeping a wonderful sleep of an exhausted mover and suddenly waking up to find myself sleeping on the hard floor and four eyes staring at me wondering what happened to the bed.
Petey reminds me of Tarzan, racing through the house, giving his Tarzan yell and flinging himself onto the bed with all claws exposed. I have had the wounds from his escapades of playing Tarzancat, king of the jungle.
Jonesy doesn't jump up on furniture. I think that the family that had her and abused her so badly did something to her hind quarters and back that makes it extremely painful for her to try to jump. She will try climbing but she won't jump up. She jumps down, but nine times out of ten she falls on her hind quarters. I want to scoop her up and snuggle her and make the hurt go away but she won't stand for it. When I stayed in the motel I found out about that problem and it is too far along to try to repair it surgically. I will say that since we moved into the apartment she is much more secure and a much more outgoing cat and a real sweetheart. Before she showed how much she had been abused, from cowering when I moved a bed pillow to running and hiding when I opened a box. (She must have been put in a box for hours at a time the way she reacted to open empty boxes in the room.)
I did try air beds at the various mattress sales rooms and was tempted, but the furry kids come first and I won't part with them for all the money in the world. They both are showing so much more personality since we moved into the apartment. I've got pictures of Petey sleeping in the tackle box I bought for the sewing supplies I have. He's just darling in it. I just need to figure out how to send the picture from my cell phone to the computer so I can post it on the lot.
Your talking about the heated bed reminds me of the winters with Bill. I would sneak off about 7 p.m. and turn on the electric blanket and preheat the bed for when we headed for bed at 10:30 p.m.. I spoiled him so bad!!!!
I figure the move will finish on Saturday at the latest. I was going to rent a U-Haul van for the day but after looking at what I have left to move I won't waste the money. It will be two or three more loads in my PT Cruiser. Then I can kick back and get back to doing bears.
2 people like this
@arunima25 (85238)
• Bangalore, India
13 Jan 21
Happy new year.
Your shifting had all the ordeal and your complaints are justified
Hope you get your human type furniture and bed soon to make you feel like a human
Hope you get your human type furniture and bed soon to make you feel like a human@BearArtistLady (5382)
• United States
14 Jan 21
Actually I look at all my falls as hilarious. I've never been very graceful. I have always been very envious of the gals that are slender and graceful and beautiful. I'm one of those that sticks out like a sore thumb because I am like a bag full of assorted sized door knobs, I'm not very pretty, and I can't walk and chew gum at the same time. The one thing I did learn to do is laugh at myself. In high school I had to take gymnastics...it was a disaster. I did the "rings". One stunt was you bring your legs up, hook your feet in the rings above your hands and turn yourself inside out while hanging onto the rings...kind of like a doughnut. I did it perfectly until the teacher called everyone's attention to it. My hands and feet let go at the same time and I landed on the floor with a thud.
She then insisted I go on the balance beam. I'm terrified of heights. I told her so but she insisted that if I didn't go on the beam she would flunk me. I tried the mount she had programmed into the routine but just couldn't do it. She finally told me to climb up on the beam. I got up there, took one step and froze in terror. I was stuck there for 50 minutes. She finally had to get the men's gym coach to come get me down. He came strutting out, grabbed me around the legs, and lifted me up. I went nuts and clawed his bald head so bad it looked like hamburger.
I'm just not graceful, and I fortunately can laugh at it and can share the fun. I thank you for your hopes about my furniture. I found a couch I fell in love with, but it's velvet and the cat hair would be thick like crazy the first hour it was in the house. I'm looking forward to a bed and a dresser. They'll come along when the time is right. Thank you though for the hopes, it helps me feel so much better, and I hope you can see the fun in my lack of grace.
1 person likes this
@arunima25 (85238)
• Bangalore, India
20 Jan 21
@BearArtistLady Reading your response brought a smile on my face. I am happy to meet you here. I really admire people who can laugh at themselves. It's something very brave and not all of us can do.
I hope that your furniture hunt ends soon and you find all that you want and what your cats would also like.Take care
1 person likes this
@arunima25 (85238)
• Bangalore, India
24 Jan 21
@BearArtistLady I loved reading thisYou have made a good progress there with your furniture hunt
. So kind and thoughtful of your friend. Not only you got the furniture,he saved your time and fuel to go and pick up. And you are fortunate to have those cats there. You have those precious ones with you and you are right your pets can mend many broken feelings.
You have made a good progress there with your furniture hunt. So kind and thoughtful of your friend. Not only you got the furniture,he saved your time and fuel to go and pick up. And you are fortunate to have those cats there. You have those precious ones with you and you are right your pets can mend many broken feelings.
@JudyEv (325086)
• Rockingham, Australia
14 Jan 21
I'm so pleased to hear you have an apartment. Moving is never fun.
@JudyEv (325086)
• Rockingham, Australia
14 Jan 21
@BearArtistLady I'm sure you will feel a lot better mentally when you have scaled down your belongings.
@BearArtistLady (5382)
• United States
14 Jan 21
The moving part isn't ever fun, but what is really less fun is going through the stuff and wondering what you were thinking when you bought it!!! I about decided that I should have been committed. I've donated a car load of stuff already and have two more loads ready to go. I guess besides the wonderfulness of getting the apartment is the plus of sifting through all the stuff and eliminating a LOT of the stuff and getting the load down the the necessities and the things I need for the bear business.
1 person likes this
@paigea (35610)
• Canada
14 Jan 21
I would ignore comments about long posts.
I fell on the ice the other day. I was walking on my skates across icy, uneven ground because I wanted to change my skates in the car and not outside. Luckily for me I was wearing my helmet because my head sure smacked the ground.
A young woman wanted to help me, but I needed to lie there for a moment. . Until Hubby changed his skates and got my boots from the car.
Lesson learned, I will change by the rink
You are finding great deals. I hope you get to put your feet up for a while once you're moved.
Log onto myLot on your phone, upload the picture. Post the discussion. Then open up the discussion on your computer to type the message. I never transfer pictures to my computer if I am uploading them to a site.
because my head sure smacked the ground.
A young woman wanted to help me, but I needed to lie there for a moment. . Until Hubby changed his skates and got my boots from the car.
Lesson learned, I will change by the rink
You are finding great deals. I hope you get to put your feet up for a while once you're moved.
Log onto myLot on your phone, upload the picture. Post the discussion. Then open up the discussion on your computer to type the message. I never transfer pictures to my computer if I am uploading them to a site.@paigea (35610)
• Canada
15 Jan 21
@BearArtistLady Yikes. I have never had a fall that bad. Some great colourful bruises, but that's it.
@BearArtistLady (5382)
• United States
15 Jan 21
Be thankful that you weren't actually in a ballet class. Being in a ballet class kind of implies that you are graceful and won't take the horrendous falls that one takes on the ice. It reminds me of the one I took on the ice when I was flying home from Montana.
My daughter was 6 years old and we were walking somewhere, I had just stepped down to the last step and the sidewalk in front of the house we were living in. I stepped on a patch of black ice and away I went on the biggest ice skating speed test I'd done yet. Of course I hit a patch of cement that didn't have ice on it and fell on my left leg and tore it up something fierce. I ended up in the emergency room on a gurney and my daughter was being entertained by a group of nurses and other ER personnel.
Fortunately I didn't break the darned thing, but I tore the knee up badly. I ended up in a cast, which wasn't exactly the most convenient thing to be in when you were going to be air born for quite a few hours (and flying with a cat too). The airlines had to change my reservations from a mid plane seat to a seat just behind first class so I had room to elevate my leg. They also, fortunately, had a soft cushion that could be placed under my leg to elevate it. The only problem was that the tranquilizer that I had for the cat didn't work that well and she yelled from Helena Montana to San Jose California and the only time she shut up was when we landed at scheduled stops. She was put in first class because she wouldn't fit under my seat in coach...so first class wasn't too happy with me and the loud mouthed cat.... and it took almost three months before I could walk on that leg without it hurting like crazy. But I didn't hurt my head...I'm sure there were a lot of people on the flight that wished that I had so that my loud mouthed cat wasn't on the flight. (ROTFL)
One more time, good night, I'll talk to you tomorrow.
1 person likes this
@Namelesss (3368)
• United States
13 Jan 21
Gee woman, are you sure you were moving? Seems you might have been trying out for the Olympics.
Glad to see you survived and made your way back here.
@BearArtistLady (5382)
• United States
14 Jan 21
Funny you should say that. As I laid there staring at the ceiling pondering if I managed to finally paralyze myself, I wondered if I was trying out for the Olympics. Unfortunately they don't have a "Ultimate clumsiness" category. I would have swept the categories hands down!!! I've done things like slammed my index finger in the car door and dropped a folding chair on my nose. The chair is fine. I'm being very careful about what I buy and if it's too big I see if it can be delivered.
I'm being very careful about what I buy and if it's too big I see if it can be delivered.
@BearArtistLady (5382)
• United States
14 Jan 21
Bill passed away June 8th of last year. I miss him dearly, he was so special. But as I have said many times I was able to tell him one last time that I loved him, and I also feel that he is in a better place and out of pain. The arthritis in his knees was getting worse and worse, also he wasn't being totally honest with me, but the heart problem was getting worse too. He has gone to a place where he is no longer held back by the pain.
@thislittlepennyearns (58082)
• Defuniak Springs, Florida
14 Jan 21
@BearArtistLady i didn't even know he was sick. I'm sorry for your loss.
@thislittlepennyearns (58082)
• Defuniak Springs, Florida
14 Jan 21
@BearArtistLady Thank you so much. If I can be of assistance with the memorial. I have a cricut and can make just about anything. Lol
