clean sweep

i finished cleaning my apartment and set the keys inside a cupboard, shut off the lights, and left. closing a door on living in st. paul, for now, and i'm getting more settled in hugo. the drive doesn't seem so bad anymore, but i have been gassing up a whole lot more than i used to. i am going to try to use a bike for short runs to town and to white bear, at least when i can.

my sister and her new hubby are in town, they rented a truck up in forest lake to take back a lot of her memorabilia, and some furniture. however....

apparently folks have been stealing catalytic converters to sell for drug money. seriously. so the first truck they tried to rent, they had to REPLACE THE CONVERTER while they waited. and when david drove it, the transmission was wonkified. a guy came out to look at it, and said, you're gonna need a new truck. so we are still waiting, (after being on hold for what seemed like days) to find out if they can get another truck on the busiest moving weekend of the year, or if they're going to have to delay their trip back.


raja is going with them. i'm so happy she's going to be getting the love and attention of my sister again, raj has gotten used to the other cats but she's always trying to escape!

betsy and i have been going through all these boxes in the garage, divvying up ancient family linens, dishes, etc. we poured through 3-4 boxes of our childhood clothes and had some great laughs. discarded a lot of things. and i got some great fabric for use in upcoming projects. betsy is 7 years older than me, and my cousins are another 2-3 years older than her, so some of the hand-me-downs were first worn in the late 60's/early 70's so you can imagine the fantastic patterns (including many rainbows, accurate and not so much), styles, and materials we're coming across. my sister's favorite phrase was 'that's horrifying'.

dinner last night was salmon my brother caught in alaska (not so local, but better than farmed salmon!) , and potatoes, tomatoes (with basil and mozzarella), corn, and salad from my parents' own garden. everyone was so impressed by the delish grub, and i am SO happy they've been reading animal, vegetable, miracle! if you haven't read it, it will change your life.