The first weekend in our home was spent more outside of it, than in. We started the weekend bright and early Saturday with a mildly successful yard sale, the profits of which paid for our meals for the entire weekend. When the stream of yard sale trollers came to a slow we loaded the truck and headed to one of two Phoenix "Transfer Stations". We managed to visit both stations during the weekend and both were equally impressive. (Below are a few pics from our travels to and from the Transfer Stations: sweet retro sign, sharp church and odd building)

I'm no dump novice but these transfer stations proved to be a whole new refuse experience. On approaching both sites I noticed, despite being about a foot from the gate, I hadn't smelled the garbage. Not until you're inside the actual transfer station is there an odor, and even then its quite manageable. After driving through the initial gates and weaving about an impressive mini highway system we arrived at the actual transfer station building. Now, just because its a transfer station doesn't mean it has to be ugly or bland, no, no, Phoenix does it right. These lovely structures are complete with extremely high ceilings, tons of clearly numbered bays and even windows along the roof line. Its not often that I'm impressed with with what my tax dollars pay for but as for the transfer stations, hats off to you City of Phoenix.

In addition to our dump trips we met with a contracted IKEA kitchen designer who helped us plan out our kitchen layout as well as a general contractor who not only provided great ideas and insight on our many projects, but also contact information for plumbers and drywall repairmen who will help us do our home remodel right. Hooray for doing things up to code. We also made time to swing by a few of our favorite "retro" shops and came across an awesome cat. His name is Puchinni (sp) and he is an Odd Eyed Oriental with a purr that would put a classic mustang to shame.

On a sentimental note, throughout the cleanup and demo of our home we've discovered random personal items of past residents. Random change, stickers all over the place, and a chain of plastic phallic beads, have been among our treasures, but the best of all was found on Sunday when we further broke down the kitchen cabinets for disposal. Pink wedding napkins. I'm not sure if "Dawn and Ron" were residents or friends of our home, but their very 80's napkins declare they were married on July 1, 1989. Here's wishing you many happy years Dawn and Ron, that is if you're still married...