Monday, July 29, 2019

Apartment Living

We walked through Ace Hardware at Princeton Shopping Center on Saturday and I thought of all the items we no longer need.   Weed killer, fertilizer, paint, tools, and even the deer-rabbit pellets I saw one man purchasing at the cash register.  We are not sorry to have given up home ownership.

On the other hand, today we made a major shopping trip to Walmart, Bed Bath and Beyond, Macy's and Pier 1.  We bought cheap pillows for the shams that go with the comforters that came yesterday.  We bought rugs and hand towels for the bathroom and kitchen.   We bought pot holders even though I am sure I packed some which we cannot find.  Amazon Prime sent us an alarm clock-I think I left ours at the Airbnb in South Bend.

So far it has been very quiet here at Barclay Square except for the constant whir of air conditioners.  Ours goes non-stop during the day set at 76 but registering 79 right now at 7 pm.  We are not sure if we have neighbors below us and next to us.  If so, we don't hear them.

There are 220 units here at Barclay Square.  There are many young families and non-English speakers.  We hear a variety of languages in the swimming pool or  on cell phone conversations.

Our daily routine is a walk to the 1900 Building, the club house, where we get our mail sometime after 4 pm.  I have been doing some exercising in the pool late in the day.  And I have used the club house's beautiful grand piano playing a little Bach and Scarlatti.  I try not to be shy about realizing that the sounds do carry through the building.

Another part of our routine is a walk to the recyclng bins and trash compactor. After spending thousands of dollars to move, we drew the line at another $125 for debris removal of all the paper, bubble wrap, and boxes that we have been emptying.  So we break down the boxes and put a few in the bins each day.  Happily, a family responded to a notice I put in the club house and took several large dish boxes and all our bubble wrap.


 Using a truck-size trash compactor is a new experience.  You put in the code, the door opens, you throw in your trash, close the door, and that's it.  I am glad our apartment is not next to the noise as it eats up our trash.

We may be able to park in the garage very soon as we empty more and more boxes.  For now many of Jim's books are still boxed up or sitting on the floor until we can get the Sauder bookcases we have ordered from Skillman's Furniture--Old and New.   Making decisions about where to hang paintings is not easy but will be done one of these days as well.  We don't want to get too accustomed to paintings stacked against the walls and books lined up against the walls.

We have made progress--some each day.   And we are satisfied with that for now.





Tuesday, July 23, 2019

It's Becoming Home

Where are the pots
and pans?
Found--with the
book boxes!
Every day we unpack a few more boxes and make a few more purchases.  Today I found the vegetable prints for the kitchen.  I filled my mother's WWII vintage "hope chest" with photos and memorabilia and stuff--without much order but at least they are not in boxes any more.  We bought more cleaning supplies and basic food like pasta and rice and flour at McCaffrey's, our new go-to grocery store.   I ordered some dryer balls from Amazon and a quilt set for the queen sized bed from Bed Bath and Beyond.

One of these days we will not have to unpack any more boxes and purchase any more necessities.  Maybe then I'll get into more of a routine of exercise and reading and cooking meals.  But for now most of my energy has gone into getting settled.  Jim, however, has had joy in using his work computer again and getting into his projects more easily.

Every day the apartment looks more lived in.  We haven't hung anything on the walls yet but some books and photo frames are out and in place.

The best features of the apartment are its windows including two bay windows which bring in a lot of light.  Another great feature is the walk-in closet. Less desirable features are the bathroom and kitchen cupboards which are deep and high and do not make for easy storage.  I miss my kitchen and bathroom on Deerfield Loop which had the features I chose over the years.

With a second floor apartment and 95 degree days, the A/C just couldn't keep up.  We would set it at 72 and it would get to be 80 by suppertime.  It would cool off by the morning again.  However, that was an unusual heat wave and we hope that was the worst of it.  Ceiling fans helped a lot.

The best part of being here is that our goal of seeing our children and grandchildren more has really come true.   Since I last wrote, we had supper with Jeff and Susan twice.  We went to Jasper's performance of Guys and Dolls, an hour and a half ride away at rush hour and only 53 minutes on the way home.

 And we had all 15 of us here on Sunday afternoon for our "housewarming" party.  It was 99 degrees outside and we raised the temperature to 83 inside with all of us here.  A swim for many of us felt great.  I looked over the pool at everyone and felt like the "fruitful vine" from our wedding tape and I was so thankful.   Jim and Jeff picked up Olive Garden takeout, I made sangria and  we had a Friendly's ice cream cake.  Michael brought us a housewarming gift of a bottle of wine he was given on his Philadelphia Jazz Orchestra tour of Italy.  Laura and Michael brought Prosecco which we didn't notice and will save until later.  Susan brought us a peace lily on a stand--a gift that should last!


I had asked the younger ones to find the movers' green stickers on all the furniture and they jumped to the task with much enthusiasm putting them on a card I gave them.  R asked if they could take the card home with them!  And today they found another one on the piano that was moved from our garage to their house in Gladwyne.

We have plenty of boxes to unpack.  We need more bedding, a file cabinet, and more lighting.  The walls are very white and blank and sterile.  However, 508 Barclay Square is beginning to feel like home.

Friday, July 12, 2019

Another Week in New Jersey (and New York)

Saturday--Getting a Princeton Library card was a big step for me in belonging here.  However, because our apartment is just over the line from Mercer County and in Middlesex County, I had to pay the senior rate of $75.  It will be worth every bit of that!

I braved Route One by myself and did a bit of recreational shopping.  Nordstrom Rack was a mess but I did buy a comfortable top.  Sadly, my arthritic hip suddenly hit me with pain and I cut the shopping trip short--only to find myself heading south to Trenton on Route One instead of north to Homewood Suites.  It took a few miles but I got turned around.  I blame the jug turns and the construction and the overwhelming Saturday afternoon traffic!

Sunday we worshiped at Nassau Presbyterian Church and happened to end up in the pew with our good friends the Moorheads.  I was glad to be there but I found myself missing the warmth and fellowship and music of our church--and I will need to stop calling it "our church" in South Bend.  Jeff and Susan had us over for a supper of grilled chicken and baked potatoes.

Monday was a day of accomplishments in getting doctors' appointments for new patient physicals, re-routing pension and social security checks, changing addresses, and for Jim, still more conference calls with TIAA and our ND Private Member Group with Michael Schultz, one of our advisers. We spent most of the morning on the phone or online.

In the evening we had a lovely dessert and visit with Martha Himmelfarb and her husband Steven Weiss.  Jim knows Martha from their professional interests and she is the one who arranged library privileges for him at Princeton.  Steven is an artist and had some fine work displayed in their 1880 home--a block off Nassau Street.

Tuesday we purchased beds and paraphernalia from Princeton Mattress Shop where I think we got overwhelmed by the owner; however it did save us from any more shopping!  We arranged for xfinity hookups and then treated the Moorheads to dinner at On the Border courtesy of gift certificates from my Bible study friends in South Bend.

Wednesday Jim golfed nine holes at Meadows at Middlesex which I assume was a big step in making him feel more at home.  We were able to see our apartment for the first time and it looked lovely and spacious.  I fixed chicken stir-fry for Jeff and Susan and James at their house.  The sad part of a good day was that we hit one of the omnipresent deer when two of them bounded into the road from the Delaware Raritan Canal into the woods.  We hit a fawn and it went limping off.  We were sick about it but Susan comforted us by saying that they are called Jersey Rats around here.

On the A train

Thursday we took New Jersey Transit to NY Penn Station and the A Line to Brooklyn where we stayed in a Hilton for $3.50 thanks to all those Hilton credit card points!  We treated Dan and Alex to dinner at Rucola's for Dan's 35th birthday.  The restaurant definitely had what Alex called Brooklyn Vibe--it was noisy, crowded and expensive and Jim and I had to be twice the age of most of its patrons.  We had umbrellas but got very wet anyway as we walked the half mile back to our hotel.  We shared a bottle of wine there where we could hear each other talk!  At the beginning of the trip I wondered if we still had the energy to handle Uber, trains, subways, hotels, crowds, etc.  But we did it and enjoyed it!

We're back at Homewood Suites now.  Tomorrow we get the keys to our apartment and next Wednesday we hope to have our furniture as well and then our time of transition will be over!

Fulton Street Ad


"Unparalleled Parking" 

Friday, July 5, 2019

Five Days In New Jersey

When we finally had a chance to greet our very busy 15 year old grandson Michael after his jazz concert, he said, "Welcome to New Jersey!"  It was a thoughtful thing for him to say and the truth is we have felt welcomed.

On Monday, our first night here, Jeff fixed shish-ka-bobs on the grill and they were delicious. The next morning we spent an hour at PNC with Carmen who helped us sign up for credit cards and get the routing straight on our accounts  Then on to McCaffrey's for groceries where Jackie, the cashier, told us she lived at Barclay Square.  So we have met a neighbor.  Plus, unknown to us, Tuesdays are 5% off for senior citizens.

The drawers come open
all by themselves!
Monday and Tuesday nights hotel noises bothered my sleep.  Tuesday was the worst with snoring sounds coming from the next room and then loud conversation  at 4:30 am!  I'm not good with noise and I was tired of temporary homes!

Wednesday evening we had dinner at a pleasant Italian restaurant housed in a building from 1689 but to our surprise it was BYOB; lemonade with meatballs just didn't seem right.  We will have to watch out for that NJ and Pennsylvania surprise.  However, Michael's jazz concert at the Chesterfield Green was wonderful.  It was a trial run for their 12 day tour of Switzerland and northern Italy.

We left for Ocean Grove around 1:00 on Thursday, the 4th of July.  The  little ones were excited to see us and there were lots of "Grandma, .....this or that" all afternoon.  Beach time was with thousands of others on the 4th.  Supper was hot dogs and hamburgers with a fine experiment of Mexican corn.


 After supper, Jasper said he wanted to talk.  He was eager to hear more about Grandpa Vander Molen and his WWII experiences--a curiousity instilled by all the D-Day celebrations.   Jim remembered that Grandpa worked with  General Van Vliet; Michael was impressed when he did a bit of research on him on his phone.

Fireworks at Asbury Park were dramatic and easily seen from our front yard.


As always two years ago in the same third floor cupola room, we slept soundly in spite of the heat and close conditions.

Except for Ruth the kids were not awake early so we had to wait a bit for our traditional bakery trip.  There was more beach time later in the morning and after lunch, we headed back to Princeton.

Our supper was not a disaster but it was not good.  The burners do not get hot enough even to make a grilled cheese sandwich.   Either there is something wrong with the burners or I need to give up on trying to cook anything here. I tried not to think about the lobster tails Michael was grilling at the beach!

 We will see how the next week and a half develop.  We are going to be happy to use our own things in our own place.

Tuesday, July 2, 2019

The Long Goodbye

I don't think I have read Raymond Chandler's book The Long Goodbye but I keep thinking of that title as a good one for our life this last month.

I have had  breakfast or lunch or coffee with five different friends this month.  I need my women friends and I hope I find new ones.

 We have taken friends out for dinner twice and others have taken us out five times.  That meant two trips to Villa Macri, one each to Carmela's, The Emporium, Cafe Navarre, LaSalle Grille, and a new restaurant for us--Jesus Tequila Bar and Grill.

We met cousins for lunch at Russ's in Wyoming, Michigan where 14 of us gathered from Northern Michigan, Ontario, and the greater Grand Rapids area.  We had coffee and dinner with Jim's sisters and their spouses on that same day.

Our church friends hosted a wonderful open house at the Baxter-Banga residence where we shared many memories and hugs.



For Jim and me, that was a lot of sociability in one month! And a lot of good eating!

This week begins a new kind of sociability.  We had dinner at Jeff and Susan's last night.  Tomorrow we hope to go to an outdoor jazz concert to hear grandson Michael play and then on the 4th we will join Laura and Michael and their family in Ocean Grove.  Dan and Alex plan to come too--and maybe even the Princeton VKs.  We hoped to see our family more and this week we are doing just that! And that is the joy of this move.