What a wonderful day! I have to admit I did absolutely nothing today, maybe even less than nothing. First, I slept 2 hours longer than my normal waking time (ahhhh), then I helped Matt put together our new patio furniture. Okay, so maybe I was a little bit productive. I also installed the bracket for our flag. I've always wanted to have a flag on my house. I wanted one when we lived in the ghetto, but I was pretty sure it wouldn't stay there very long. The rest of the day was spent doing something I have missed terribly--reading for the fun of it. Granted, it was Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, but it had nothing to do with anything I can apply in my daily life so I thoroughly enjoyed it. I also spent about an hour or more playing with Carter, the 3-year-old who lives behind us. He had a very cool plastic swimming pool and slide and loved showing me how it worked.
Matt took off early for his gig in CR, which I found out after he left would be choreographed to fireworks in the area. Unfortunately for me, I decided sitting on the back porch a little longer was a good idea. I enjoy being able to sit outside without hearing vulgarities and thumping. Tammy and Brad even invited me down to the park with them to watch the fireworks, but I declined because of sweet Sydne and her fear of things that go "boom."
I only made it back in the house at 10 'til 9, turned on CBS and realized they were televising the whole concert. Man! But, I got to see the last piece, Stars and Stripes Forever. It's one of my favorite marches, but the piccolo solo (or should I say piccolos solo--there were 5) was horribly out of tune...horribly. I am going to blame that on the heat and timing. After all, pitch changes dramatically in varying temperatures and over time, so let's hope they tried to adjust the pitch, but went in the wrong direction. The best part occurred closer to the beginning of the piece, when a camera came into focus right on the Tbone section, with my sweet honey's face in the middle of the screen. It was awesome to see him playing, which made me feel guilty I'd miss the earlier pieces. Almost immediately the phone rang; it was Ken asking me if I was watching. He and Lisa had just turned it on about the same time I had and they wanted to make sure I didn't miss it. We preceded to laugh together and then hopped off the phone to enjoy the rest of the piece and watch fervently in hopes of seeing him play again. Alas, it did not happen, but I'm glad I got that shot.
Tomorrow is back to the grind, but I get to play with the kiddos again. I am determined to get my paper in better form, too. Afterall, the plan was to have it our before Memorial Day. Yes, I realize that was over a month ago, but that's what happens when you keep adding analyses of the data. Have I mentioned research rules?
Showing posts with label movin' on up. Show all posts
Showing posts with label movin' on up. Show all posts
Wednesday, July 4, 2007
Sunday, July 1, 2007
I've got a peaceful, easy feeling...
Yesterday morning, I starting loving the new neighborhood even more. We woke up, looked out the bedroom window and there, walking down the street, was a doe. She was just walking very nonchalantly on the other side of the street. Of course, once Sydne saw her, she started growling and ran downstairs, which resulted in the pretty little deer jogging back in the direction from which she came.
If that wasn't cool enough, a few hours later, I looked out our back window and, sitting at the edge of my neighbor's driveway, was a beautiful redheaded hawk. Of course, the robins and chickadees weren't as happy to see them as I was, though it was fun to watch them dive-bomb him to chase him off. Of course, my compulsion to take a picture resulted in the hawk taking off to the light post across the street. He stayed there a little longer then decided to head west, with a trail of birds attacking him as he flew. Apparently, robins can be bullies.
If that wasn't cool enough, a few hours later, I looked out our back window and, sitting at the edge of my neighbor's driveway, was a beautiful redheaded hawk. Of course, the robins and chickadees weren't as happy to see them as I was, though it was fun to watch them dive-bomb him to chase him off. Of course, my compulsion to take a picture resulted in the hawk taking off to the light post across the street. He stayed there a little longer then decided to head west, with a trail of birds attacking him as he flew. Apparently, robins can be bullies.
Thursday, June 28, 2007
Ahhhhhhhh
That's the sound of freedom, folks. Freedom from evil, crooked landlords who believe they have the right to do what they want; landlords who don't hold up their end of the bargain but fully expect their tenants to do theirs.
Tomorrow is a happy day. First, it's Friday. Second, it is the day before the birthday of one of our ladies at work, one of our wonderful ladies at work, which means lots of yummy treats will descend upon her. I just ordered a dozen of the most delicious muffins to take in. I feel bad for not cooking, but I just got home (and it's 9:35 pm) after getting the couch out of the ghetto. That ended up being more of a feat than I ever thought it would. Funny how the phrase "taking the door off the hinges" means something entirely different to Matt than it does to me. In my mind, it means taking the pins out of the hinges; to Matt it means unscrewing the hinges from the frame of the door. Guess which one takes longer... :) It was a bonus because Meganne's Matt and E-flat came to help. Meganne's Matt helped me rehang the door and E-flat helped get the ole' couch out of the basement.
I have to admit that E-flat is a loyal friend. He's the type of person that drops whatever he's doing to lend his truck, muscles and insights into moving furniture. His only flaw is that he can be a "hellicopter friend." (a phrase I got from Molly) That means, he tends to hover frequently. In our case, he calls to see if Matt will play Texas Hold'em, Risk, Basketball, and other obscure games. At times, it's super-fun, but most times he calls on days where we want to lay low and hang out together. So Matt's off to hang out with E-flat and the gang; his payment for the assistance in moving. I have several acts of contrition to do for Meganne's Matt. Word to the wise, it's not a good idea to swear in front of a pastor (current or future), especially in German, when he's Lutheran. Ooops, double-oops, and triple-oops.
I'm betting I'll sleep well tonight. :)
-peace, love and health
Tomorrow is a happy day. First, it's Friday. Second, it is the day before the birthday of one of our ladies at work, one of our wonderful ladies at work, which means lots of yummy treats will descend upon her. I just ordered a dozen of the most delicious muffins to take in. I feel bad for not cooking, but I just got home (and it's 9:35 pm) after getting the couch out of the ghetto. That ended up being more of a feat than I ever thought it would. Funny how the phrase "taking the door off the hinges" means something entirely different to Matt than it does to me. In my mind, it means taking the pins out of the hinges; to Matt it means unscrewing the hinges from the frame of the door. Guess which one takes longer... :) It was a bonus because Meganne's Matt and E-flat came to help. Meganne's Matt helped me rehang the door and E-flat helped get the ole' couch out of the basement.
I have to admit that E-flat is a loyal friend. He's the type of person that drops whatever he's doing to lend his truck, muscles and insights into moving furniture. His only flaw is that he can be a "hellicopter friend." (a phrase I got from Molly) That means, he tends to hover frequently. In our case, he calls to see if Matt will play Texas Hold'em, Risk, Basketball, and other obscure games. At times, it's super-fun, but most times he calls on days where we want to lay low and hang out together. So Matt's off to hang out with E-flat and the gang; his payment for the assistance in moving. I have several acts of contrition to do for Meganne's Matt. Word to the wise, it's not a good idea to swear in front of a pastor (current or future), especially in German, when he's Lutheran. Ooops, double-oops, and triple-oops.
I'm betting I'll sleep well tonight. :)
-peace, love and health
Saturday, June 23, 2007
It's been a hard day's night...
and I've been working like a dog...
Today I spent over 5 hours cleaning and it wasn't even the new place; it was the ghetto. We received a ridiculously detailed list to clean from the Landlords which includes washing the windows inside and out. Um, there are screens on the windows and no way to remove them to wash the outside. Plus, I'm pretty sure that has never happened. Still, I did a lot of work. We vacuumed every room, edges of the room, baseboards, registers and then there was the kitchen. I rinsed out the cabinets, cleaned the top of the stove, cleaned under the lid of the stove including the underside of the lid. The oven was my biggest challenge (and only injury--I burned my pinky) as there was something crusted on the bottom that I scrubbed off. Then I cleaned the refrigerator, which now looks like brand new. I finished by getting on my hands and knees and scrubbing the floor with a brush about six inches long and 2-1/2 inches wide. Needless to say, I didn't get it all done, but you can tell where I stopped. So tomorrow I envision myself cleaning the rest of the kitchen floor and completing some of the requests (Who ever asks tenants to wash/wipe down doors?) It looks like the rest of the night will consist of a long shower, curling up with a blanket and Ibuprofen, lots of it. Bet I sleep well tonight.
peace and love
Today I spent over 5 hours cleaning and it wasn't even the new place; it was the ghetto. We received a ridiculously detailed list to clean from the Landlords which includes washing the windows inside and out. Um, there are screens on the windows and no way to remove them to wash the outside. Plus, I'm pretty sure that has never happened. Still, I did a lot of work. We vacuumed every room, edges of the room, baseboards, registers and then there was the kitchen. I rinsed out the cabinets, cleaned the top of the stove, cleaned under the lid of the stove including the underside of the lid. The oven was my biggest challenge (and only injury--I burned my pinky) as there was something crusted on the bottom that I scrubbed off. Then I cleaned the refrigerator, which now looks like brand new. I finished by getting on my hands and knees and scrubbing the floor with a brush about six inches long and 2-1/2 inches wide. Needless to say, I didn't get it all done, but you can tell where I stopped. So tomorrow I envision myself cleaning the rest of the kitchen floor and completing some of the requests (Who ever asks tenants to wash/wipe down doors?) It looks like the rest of the night will consist of a long shower, curling up with a blanket and Ibuprofen, lots of it. Bet I sleep well tonight.
peace and love
Sunday, June 10, 2007
-insert Cheshire grin here-
What a week it has been! I have been through the emotional roller coaster of packing, waiting to close on my house (making sure the money goes through), closing on my house, and moving. What happy, happy times (with the exception of the aforementioned waiting for $$--and even then it was short-lived).
Most of last week is a blur, waiting for Thursday and Friday to come. Thursday was a fun time, especially the, oh, 45-minutes where we weren't sure the money would be there in time for the closing. But once it was, it was a happy time. Friday I was so excited to move that I woke up at 6, got ready and left my house at 7, stopped at a great coffee/pastry shop on the way to work bought muffins to take to the hallway of wonderful women I work with, or who tolerate me (I worked a half day). I was pretty distractable most of the morning while I waited for noon to arrive. Then I kidnapped Alex (for his muscles), bought him lunch and made him help us load the truck along with Trombonium and Lothar's wonderful girlfriend, Suzanne. We got all of the big stuff out of the ghetto-house and into the wonder-house by 3:30. We spent the evening drinking beer and feeding grilled food to our movers. We also met our backdoor neighbor, whose name I never got. So until I get a chance to get his name, I've been calling him backdoor-man (I'm so creative). Anyway BD-man seems innocent enough. He has three boys, the youngest I believe to be about 20 months or so. He was talking to Matt when I walked out, but made it a point to mention the fact that there are a lot of children in this neighborhood; new baby across the street, little one next to that one, pregnant woman next to that one. He tried to do a little backpeddling, but was still pretty adamant that we need to conform to the neighborhood standard. It was "interesting" to say the least.
Saturday morning, I hopped up to get the day going and getting the ghetto-place more empty. Lisa and Ken showed up around 10:20 to help me move the things that won't fit in the GPrix. They are a God-send, an absolute Godsend. We spent about 4 hours moving various boxes, lamps, shelves, cabinets so now I have almost nothing left in the ghetto place---except I realized a few hours ago that I have no shoes for work tomorrow. Give you one guess where I'll be going around 7-ish tomorrow morning. But I digress...I got a chance to show Ken and Lisa around the place. I think they were pretty impressed. While we were in the back yard, BD-man was playing with his littlest one and I waved in a neighborly fashion, to which he responded "You need to get one of these." Yeah, I can just run to Target and get myself a kid so that I'll fit the neighborhood norm. All he had to do was have an orgasm. I'd have to get fat, push the kid out, breastfeed and all the other fun things that come with having a baby.
BUT I AM NOT COMPLAINING. VERY NOT COMPLAINING!! The biggest worry I have around here...well, I don't have one. All the kids race around here on their scooters. It's awesome.
Oh, and we met our next door neighbors tonight; Clint and Nicole and their 2 kids, Adison (18 months) and Joe (8 months-adopted). They are both too cute (the kids), but I have a soft place in my heart for Joe. I'm betting it's the dimples; deep, cavernous dimples. Clint and Nicole are really nice too. He's a high school Chem teacher, but has a horrible, monotone voice (poor chem class). Maybe that's the nerves of meeting the new neighbors, but I think it should become commonplace. There are a lot of houses for sale and people moving in & out. Saturday, people moved into the house across the street. It is sooooooo nice to sit and watch TV without worrying about my house shaking or crazy crap going on outside.
It's nice to sit and watch the Tony's on TV...even if I am secretly looking for Dad & Jo. They're there. Yes, they went to the Derby, now they're at the Tony's. I'm glad, though, Dad needs the breaks. He's been working too hard for too many years. And sometimes Disney just isn't enough.
Happy days, sweet dreams!
-peace and love
Most of last week is a blur, waiting for Thursday and Friday to come. Thursday was a fun time, especially the, oh, 45-minutes where we weren't sure the money would be there in time for the closing. But once it was, it was a happy time. Friday I was so excited to move that I woke up at 6, got ready and left my house at 7, stopped at a great coffee/pastry shop on the way to work bought muffins to take to the hallway of wonderful women I work with, or who tolerate me (I worked a half day). I was pretty distractable most of the morning while I waited for noon to arrive. Then I kidnapped Alex (for his muscles), bought him lunch and made him help us load the truck along with Trombonium and Lothar's wonderful girlfriend, Suzanne. We got all of the big stuff out of the ghetto-house and into the wonder-house by 3:30. We spent the evening drinking beer and feeding grilled food to our movers. We also met our backdoor neighbor, whose name I never got. So until I get a chance to get his name, I've been calling him backdoor-man (I'm so creative). Anyway BD-man seems innocent enough. He has three boys, the youngest I believe to be about 20 months or so. He was talking to Matt when I walked out, but made it a point to mention the fact that there are a lot of children in this neighborhood; new baby across the street, little one next to that one, pregnant woman next to that one. He tried to do a little backpeddling, but was still pretty adamant that we need to conform to the neighborhood standard. It was "interesting" to say the least.
Saturday morning, I hopped up to get the day going and getting the ghetto-place more empty. Lisa and Ken showed up around 10:20 to help me move the things that won't fit in the GPrix. They are a God-send, an absolute Godsend. We spent about 4 hours moving various boxes, lamps, shelves, cabinets so now I have almost nothing left in the ghetto place---except I realized a few hours ago that I have no shoes for work tomorrow. Give you one guess where I'll be going around 7-ish tomorrow morning. But I digress...I got a chance to show Ken and Lisa around the place. I think they were pretty impressed. While we were in the back yard, BD-man was playing with his littlest one and I waved in a neighborly fashion, to which he responded "You need to get one of these." Yeah, I can just run to Target and get myself a kid so that I'll fit the neighborhood norm. All he had to do was have an orgasm. I'd have to get fat, push the kid out, breastfeed and all the other fun things that come with having a baby.
BUT I AM NOT COMPLAINING. VERY NOT COMPLAINING!! The biggest worry I have around here...well, I don't have one. All the kids race around here on their scooters. It's awesome.
Oh, and we met our next door neighbors tonight; Clint and Nicole and their 2 kids, Adison (18 months) and Joe (8 months-adopted). They are both too cute (the kids), but I have a soft place in my heart for Joe. I'm betting it's the dimples; deep, cavernous dimples. Clint and Nicole are really nice too. He's a high school Chem teacher, but has a horrible, monotone voice (poor chem class). Maybe that's the nerves of meeting the new neighbors, but I think it should become commonplace. There are a lot of houses for sale and people moving in & out. Saturday, people moved into the house across the street. It is sooooooo nice to sit and watch TV without worrying about my house shaking or crazy crap going on outside.
It's nice to sit and watch the Tony's on TV...even if I am secretly looking for Dad & Jo. They're there. Yes, they went to the Derby, now they're at the Tony's. I'm glad, though, Dad needs the breaks. He's been working too hard for too many years. And sometimes Disney just isn't enough.
Happy days, sweet dreams!
-peace and love
Sunday, June 3, 2007
up to my eyes in....boxes
I have had a great weekend. There wasn't one particular thing that made it great; it was just a good combination of things. Friday night, we got to go downtown for dinner with some friends. They were setting up the tents for Art Fest so I didn't get to see any work, but the buzz of people around and the music in the air was awesome. (The bottle of wine didn't hurt, either). Saturday was spent mostly packing boxes, happily packing boxes, and hanging out with friends from work. That basically consisted of going to their house, setting up for the cookout, watching all the testosterone leave to pick up the new kiddos' playhouse and running inside when it started *pouring*. About 45-minutes to an hour later, the men returned and were thoroughly saturated (I think we could have wrung them out, not just their clothes). Still, I had fun hanging with Linda and grilling. That was one way I felt like I was being productive. Today, packing, packing and more packing. I've gone through 4 rolls of bubble wrap and filled many a box with fragile items as well as books. I haven't even reached the "damnit" box yet, which makes me very happy because I was sure I would already be there by now. Still have a long way to go, which proves I have too much crap, but that's the fun of moving. As George Carlin said (to paraphrase), you buy a house, fill it with junk so you buy a bigger house to fill with more junk. I look forward to that possibility.
Wednesday, May 30, 2007
ah, the countdown..so sweet
The hood is in full bloom today; one of those days where you hope for rain. It started with Little Miss Ho-ho. I think she lives across the street, but can't be sure because she seems to "travel" around the neighborhood. Little Miss Ho-ho is the nickname my former neighbors gave her and it, to speak Southern-ly, ain't got nothin' to do with Christmas. She appeared to be quite upset with someone because I could hear her screaming into her cell phone through my windows and over the television. Plus, her emphasis was not lost when her breasts tried to jump out of the gold lamay, bikini top with cotton stomach shirt she was wearing. She was soon joined by people I believe also live in her place and a car where another woman got out to start the screaming-match. Once that ended, Little Miss Ho-ho and her friend walked down the block and back, apparently still perturbed. I could still hear their conversation when they returned some 30 minutes later. Now there's just the random mini-van with men hanging out. That I can live with, especialy since my house and windows aren't vibrating. Yet, I'm still looking forward to the exodus, counting down the days, packing the boxes with glee...for now, that is, while Katie screams in the yard next door.
Thursday, May 17, 2007
counting down
20 days to go...the fact that I can count the number of days on each of my fingers and toes, without repeating, makes me sooooo very happy. Especially knowing I'll be gone for half that amount of time for 2-bits wedding. Deep down inside I'm sure I'll miss the greetings from people walking in front of my house yelling "whaddup my nigga*" followed by cursing to the house 2 doors down (*I am quoting verbatim, not using an ugly n-word. I did grow up in the South and know the power of such words when used in a different way). Currently, I am able to hear several teenage males yelling/laughing/cursing in that driveway through closed windows, over the sounds of the television and my fingers clicking on a keyboard (this group hasn't earned a nickname...yet). Thinking of all of this, I don't think I'll miss it, except the nicknames and the stories people often don't believe to be true. I won't miss feeling the need to check the police blotter regularly. I might even forget how to do it. Now that will be a happy day. In other news, catboy has worked several days this week sans scary car. I wonder if it was damaged or his employers finally figured out that it was a freaky vehicle and provided him with an alternative.
On the rampage front, Matt did officially apologize this morning. Yes, two days after the fact, but he takes a while to "digest" everything and think through it completely. He's such a wonderful man (99.25% of the time) that when he messes up (that .75%) it tends to be something that flies all over me.
I would like to ask anyone who reads this to please pray for Kennis. She is not doing well and her disease may have progressed and is now possibly causing seizures and paralysis. Her family is so strong, but this is one more battle I didn't want them to have to fight.
-peace, love, health
On the rampage front, Matt did officially apologize this morning. Yes, two days after the fact, but he takes a while to "digest" everything and think through it completely. He's such a wonderful man (99.25% of the time) that when he messes up (that .75%) it tends to be something that flies all over me.
I would like to ask anyone who reads this to please pray for Kennis. She is not doing well and her disease may have progressed and is now possibly causing seizures and paralysis. Her family is so strong, but this is one more battle I didn't want them to have to fight.
-peace, love, health
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