The Bitch Stirs

I don't know what else to call it/her/that side. ShadowSelf, maybe? Heh, wouldn't that be interesting - I need to go and do some more reading on the shadowself.

Anyhow. I'm - murrph. I don't know. I think I'm sick of people. *lol* It's so 'high and mighty' and hoity-toity, but - gods! It's just - *sigh* - personal perceptions are always different, ain't they? And emotions are never logical. And maybe if I freaked/flipped out more, I would be a better rounded person.

But bloody hell, does it ever get on ones nerves!

I want a cigarette - and we all know that means I'm stretched a wee bit thinner than I should be - patience/tolerance-wise.

We are looking into re-financing the house, to try and take advantage of the lower interest rates - working with the fellow who did the first loan, and we might be able to drop a whole point, which would be utterly fabulous!

I still haven't done our budget. I think - I think maybe I'll at least start pulling stuff tonight - I ran our credit reports today, so that will be a place to start - I think I have pretty impressive credit - and THANKFULLY the little 'lates' on the HD card (the whores, shifting bloody payment dates!) aren't showing up, as that would ding me, quite nicely. DH's credit is - thin. Both figuratively and literally - all three of his reports is barely as thick as one of mine. Something semi-scary I realized - MOST of the debt we have is in my name. I haven't yet determined if that's wise - of course, most of our debt is also wrapped up in the house, so - I don't know. And if the re-fi goes well, DH will be on the mortgage too, so - that should be - okay, I guess.

The amount of revolving credit we have scares the shit out of me though - we have WAY too much of that - WAY too much. Okay, true, true, that includes a lawnmower, a treadmill, a dishwasher, new countertops, and two vacations - but STILL. It's a good chunk more than I am comfy with - we are definitely past our '9 month payoff' level - we've exceeded our personal credit level.

Speaking of which - we had a 'discussion' last night. DH had Forbes, and had it open to the 2008 blahblahskippy BMW, and said 'See, this is why I wanted to get this magazine, so that I will know what's out there to want' - basically. I - well, I had issues with that statement, asking him why he wanted an 60K car, and he said he didn't really want the car, he wanted the lifestyle the car represented. I then replied that the 'true' millionaires don't drive cars like that, and what that car really represents is a high disregard for the actual value of money - bloody 80 grand on a depreciating asset! WTF?
Anyhow, he got all stuffy and accused me of refusing to acknowledge goals that I don't agree with - whereas my intentions were to clarify exactly what sort of 'lifestyle' the car represented. To me, the 'lifestyle' that would allow you to have 60K even semi-liquid is NOT the 'lifestyle' of the average person who actually drives that car.

But then, maybe that more reflects our love of credit than anything else.

Home, home again.....

Made it home, safely, no dents, no despair.

I wished I wasn't driving so much - I would have liked to journal a bit, and to take more pictures, and etc. But, me driving was ever so much LESS stressful than having DH drive (have I mentioned he's totalled 3 cars in seven years, two of them mine? Yeah. I'm enourmously paranoid about him driving my car) so I sucked it up, and enjoyed the ride.

The time with the family wasn't too bad - they seem to be mellowing out some. I spent most of the day nose deep in a book, though, so that made it better, as it always has, since I was a wee one.

Back at work, and oh dear, what a dreary day this has been. It's a suckerpunch to the stomach to be reminded how much I don't CARE - esp. after spending so much time - active and engaged in LIFE - to be back here, and feeling like it's just all shit on a wall, again. *sigh* It's - work, though, and I've signed up for it, so I'll shove on through it.

BFP's seem to be abounding around me - I'm so happy for them, but I'm having a much harder time with those who are further along, oddly enough. I still sigh over the belly pictures, but there's a bit of a gutcheck now - it's not quite jealousy, more like regret/longing. It's sadmaking, is what it is.
However! My period was a mere 5 days this go around, and I'm feeling - normal? Upbeat? Horny, dare I say? And I'm wondering if this 'formula' I'm on is getting things settled. I'm almost scared to start working out, and throwing another potential wrench into things, but I still am.

Hrm, yes. I'm going - tonight, I suppose, though I might drag my feet (rephrase, I will drag my feet) til the weekend - I need to get some stuff for the gym.
1) Heater
2) Timer
3) Plug Converter/power strip
4) Cleaning Supplies
5) Gym Shoes
And I think that's about it - so that I can start working out, regularily. My thought is to wake up and actually get out of bed when I temp (6:15am), meditate for about 15-20 minutes, then go and work out for an hour - that's why I want the timer, so I can have the heater come on before I go to workout, and it'll be nice and warm. That'll take me to 7:15, which is about when I normally start getting ready for my day. I'll skip Sat/Sun, and those will be my 'treat' days of being able to sleep in.

I realized that I have a very warped self image. It's one of the things that makes keeping myself motivated to keep exercising so hard - I really, rarely see just HOW fat I am. I'm yuge. 260 pounds on a 5'4 frame is obviously huge, but I don't feel it, and I rarely see it - even when I'm standing in front of the mirror. *sigh* But then, there are times when I see it so CLEARLY - the lumps and bumps and bulges and folds and I wonder, briefly, how DH can possibly be attracted to alla THIS. Then, I look at him, and realize how much love smoothes over the minor (and major) imperfections - turning them into something not ugly, but simply He. So, I'm assuming that's the same thing he sees, but I'd certainly be more - certain - if I wasn't QUITE so fucking fat.

And I spent close to a grand on that Treadmill - I'd be damned if I don't use it.

Cuz I love ya'll - but don't have your addy

You are cordially invited
to
Kendra & Corey's Housewarming!

Location: The Black House
Finally!!! The house has been (mostly) painted, the boxes have been (mostly) unpacked, the yard has been (mostly) tamed, and we are FINALLY ready to party!!!
When: Saturday, October 21, 5:00pm
RSVP: Through notes, or drop me an email

Please join us in warming up our house right before it starts to get cold! Little people are WELCOME - bring portable outside toys if you have them!

ETA: I was seriously considering setting up a webcam in one of the main rooms for everyone who would love to be here but can't make it - but I'm not sure how the guests would feel about it - how would ya'll feel (assuming you were here?)

Procrastination's Price...

...is about 1600.00.

That's how much it's going to cost to get my car fixed (okay, really, to install a whole new brake system, and two new tires, and new oil, and summerizing, and new windshield wipers, and a new air filter, and some other shit I'm sure I'm forgettng - but that's fixing, right??) Edited: And by a whole new brake system, I mean I was terrified driving this morning, and seriously considered staying home TODAY because my car was NOT safe to drive - it was fine yesterday, interestingly enough - but I got halfway to Sears/work and the brakes just STOPPED working. I had to use the emergency brake, low speed, prayers and cursing in order to get to the shop. And I figure anything I might save in shopping around, I'd loose in having to stay home from work, as well as tow fees. Now see, if I had done this shit 3 months ago when I KNEW I needed new brakes, I wouldn't be getting reamed like this. But - *taps hand* I've learned my lesson now, right? Right?
And oh yeah - the main reason it costs so much? Cuz I wanted a pocket rocket, and therefore have to pay for freaking DEALER parts - no cheapo parts here. *sigh* The entire rear of my car is *thinks* exclusively Subaru. I know there's a better word for it, but I don't know how to spell it, and really don't feel like looking it up.

I've been half nauseated all day. I mean - holy SHIT that is a lot of money. And interestingly enough, I think I'm sick over the cost because I'm putting it on plastic. The use of credit (unexpected, unplanned use - not like the delightful shopping spree we had at Home Depot yesterday) actually makes me feel ILL. That's a good sign, I think. It's interesting - we actually have a 'regular' card, but I really didn't want to use it, and put the car on the Sears card - laregely because their assraping interest rates will encourage me to pay it off in a few months.

I'm seriously considering taking off from work tomorrow, as I really don't feel like coming to work at 4:30am so that C can be at work by 5am, nor do I feel like waking up and driving him to work at 4:30am so that I can have a car for the rest of the day. Bloody hell.

Um, in slightly more cheerful news - all of our paint colors are GORGEOUS. We watched them as they opened the cans after shaking to dab the color on the lid - and they were GORGEOUS. Just - glowing jewel colors, and cool fresh blues, and dirtly rich browns - just farking GORGEOUS. So we have painting stuff for - days to come.

I want to have the 'official' housewarming in Oct, so that the house will look - well, nice. I would like to have the bookcases built, and actually have everything unpacked, and at least have the downstairs all pretty. Hubby wants to have it in June, because he thinks waiting until Oct kinda defeats the purpose of a housewarming (which in his mind is to get gifts - my idea of a housewarming is to show OFF your house to friends and family - not to troll for gifts - but then, we had the same issue around our wedding reception). *shrugs* I really don't want MY friends to come over til the house is decent looking, but he can have his friends over anytime he wants - *sigh* I don't know. I just want the walls painted and the shelving up - maybe we can do that by the end of June, but I doubt it - esp considering he's just started a new job, and he's going to be working unholy hours, and - just in general - I think the end of June is rushing it. And considering we don't have central air, I'm not inviting NOBODY(s) to kick it inside our house in July/August (I'm not that cruel) so that takes us to September.......maybe September.

Umm.... haven't worked on unstucking the stuck windows yet - I really think I would like to stay home tomorrow. I can get SO much more done when he's not at home.

Also! I took the pictures of the odd growths last night, and realized that really - there aren't that many! I planned on posting them today, but work has actually kinda kept me occupied, so that'll have to wait til tomorrow.
So - hmmmm, I wonder if he priced out lawn services yesterday? Probably not - so I could do that tomorrow too - if I stayed home. I REALLY need a good set of gardening tools - the ones I have now are so - blech - that they BEND in the dirt, and our dirt really isn't THAT hard once it's wet. So - we shall see.

Yeah, I'm going to work from home tomorrow. Where's my boss?

Ooooohh - Green stufff!!

So - this weekend was a quiet weekend, relatively.

Started out with a visit from the Sears folxs to get a free estimate for our windows. The windows finally got counted too - a total of 24 windows in the house. Is that a lot? Average? Low? It feels - normal - for the size of our house (2300sqft). Anyhow, Sears figured that it would be about 15,640.00. Um, if you are frantically rereading that number to be sure you didn't add a zero - that's right. Fifteen THOUSAND, Six hundred and Forty dollars. Um, that's over a tenth of the freaking VALUE of the house - and that's AFTER like three or four different discounts/coupons. Um, how bout, no??
And then, I'm not even going to COMMENT on the fact that the salesman was OBVIOUSLY slushed, nor am I going to comment on the fact that Sears only sells ONE type of window, and that ONE type of window runs ABOUT 800 PER WINDOW. *faints* Crack cocaine, I tell you. There ain't enough argon/low gain coating/fusion welding in the WORLD to make spending 800 PER WINDOW reasonable - I mean, if our house was WORTH 250K - maybe. If it was worth 500K, okay - I could see it - but 98K? Shhhhit. I thinks NOT. Esp since the windows are just plain old vinyl windows from SEARS. If they were Anderson or Pella Windows - okay, maybe - but SEARS??
So yes, we will be getting estimates from other, smaller companies. Questions to ask: Who are your installers/contractors, and what sort of work guarentee would we have? What penalties are there for overruns in schedule due to contractors? What is the warrenty on the windows? What gas is the double frame filled with? What is the SEER/EER rating for the window? How is it contructed - welded, stapled, glued, spit & a prayer? Who's the manufacturer of the window? *thinks* Hmm... think that's about it.

Otherwise, the weekend was peaceful. We made some KICKASS enchiladas last night - C smoked the pork on the grill, then made some pico, and made some enchilada sauce out of some stuff he pulled out of the cabinent - oh my god, orgasmic they were.

I got a accidental bug up me ass, and ripped down 90% of the wallpaper in the living room. See, right, what had happened was I was looking for a place to tuck a stick of incense (as we haven't unpacked everything yet - and oddly enough, it's not bugging me all that much) and I saw this little 'bubbly' area next to the window moulding. So, I went and tugged on this area, and literally - the whole STRIP of wallpaper came off. It looks like it was 'stickon' wallpaper, and only the edges were actually glued to the wall. In a matter of about 20 minutes, I had stripped the whole room (except for some up high sections above the doors and the like that I couldn't reach) down to the drywall. They had actually put the wallpaper on TOP of the drywall (bare drywall, no primer - thank god it didn't really stick!) so now the living room looks - half built. *LOL* I think it might get painted before the library does now.

Anyhow, now that we are making a good bit of progress on the inside of the house, my mind is starting to turn to the outside. Well, and the length of grass and other growing things that is appearing outside - if I get home tonight before the sun goes down, I think I'll snap some pictures of the - odd growths - that are out there. So - with that in mind, this is my 'dream' listing of every fruit/veggie/herb I can think of that I would want to grow. I haven't even STARTED thinking about decorative stuff yet.

Mint (Chocolate)	Garlic	Strawberry
Mint (Peppermint)	Onions	Blueberry
Thyme(s)	Mushrooms	Fig
Sage(s)	Tomatoes	Apricot
Oregano(s)	Kale	Pear
Parsely(s)	Lettuce(s)	Grapes
Cilantro(s)	Spinach	Plums
Basil(s)	Habaneros	Cherry
Chives	Sweet Peppers	Peaches
Lemongrass	Asparagus	Pawpaw
Catnip	Artichokes	Watermelon
Dill(s)	Cabbage
Fennel	Brocolli
Lavender	Cucumbers
Rosemary	Cauliflower
Tarragon	Edamame
Chamomille	Peas
Lambs Quarters	Squash(s)
Chickweed	Eggplant
Echinacea	Okra
Ginger	Corn
Ginseng	Amaranth
Horseradish	Collards
Mustard	Greens
Wasabi	Brussel Sprouts
Stevia	Rhubarb

I'm still sure that I'm missing some stuff - some of the more 'unusual' herbs and plants that I've heard of in my travels around the web, as well as almost ALL of the medicinal herbs and plants. This is my wish list of stuff, as I doubt I'll be able to plant (or afford!) all of this stuff in the first year (or two). If anything, I want to start with the fruit trees, as they will be the most expensive, and then just work up to having everything else. I'm also pretty sure that I'm missing some fruits, but thinking over what we usually eat - I can't think of any that I'm missing that we can actually GROW. Hmmm - I wonder if we can grow limes and lemons in Memphis? It most likely gets too cold during the winter - and I'm not even THINKING about building a greehouse right off. Though, I do want to keep every single storm window that we have on the house to use as glass for the greenhouse/cold boxes that we DO eventually build.

Ahhh, fun, fun, fun.

Me & The Hubster are meeting at Home Depot tonight to pick out/up paint and primer and the like so that we can start painting/priming stuff - I also want to look at garden tools, as the ones I have now are CRAP, and if we are going to hire someone to tackle the yard (which seems to be the consensous we've reached) I'm going to need to transplant some of the more interesting plants.

Busy, Busy, Busy. But soooo much fun.

Whoohooo!!

Baby, can I TELL you how long this week has felt?? And how HAPPY I am that not only is tomorrow FRIDAY, it's also the start of a long weekend??

Let's do general updates, shall we??

Home: Doing good - got some elephant ears from the sister of a coworker, need to find someplace to put them. I understand that they spread (which always makes me giddy anytime someone says that -all that land, I NEED spreading things!!). Haven't touched the library since last weekend, plan on finishing the wallpaper this weekend. I think C is off, so it should be a quickie.
Got my books from bookscloseouts.com (more deadly than eBay if you love books) (I got 250 worth of books for 70 bucks - including shipping) and drooled over them for a while. Forgot about the Egypt book I got (The Mind of Egypt by Jan Assman) (hush! he's a well known Egyptologist!) which is a VERY dense, very intense look into how the Egyptians actually - ticked. What made them work. Is a DELIGHTFUL read (but VERY dense) - and I realized that a good bit of my problem is that I don't know HOW to study - I've literally never had to study for ANYTHING in my life. Ever. I was always one of those chicks who just rubbed the book lightly across my forehead and got a B. *shrugs* So - how exactly is this 'studying' thing done?
Anyhow - most of the books were good soild reference books - mostly on gardening and plant identification. Can I tell you - I was - quivering with excitement over the plant identification ones - just QUIVERING! And in the back - pictures!! With proper names for various leaf shapes, petal formations, and the like. Not saying that the whole BOOK isn't full of pictures (gorgeous, full color ones) but it's nice to actually know what the heck a bipartriate leaf is rather than squinting at itty bitty pictures of a leaf on a tree and trying to guess. The indexes aren't QUITE as cross-referenced and as detailed as I would like it to be - but oh!! Rapturous joy! I think this weekend will also involve me wandering around the outside of the house with a huge book in each hand, a pen behind my ear, a notebook clenched between my teeth, and many muttered curses.

Work: Arrrrgggghhhhhhhhh. *thumps head on desk repeatedly* but.... the new building is really nice. I need one of those above the desk mirrors though, because I HATE having my back to the room. Makes me paranoid and stuff. Two more years. That's all - jsut TWO MORE YEARS.
I realize one of the reasons that this job drives me so batty is because I don't feel - natural here in the least. I mean - maybe it's the people, maybe it's me, but - I feel VERY standoffish - just in general. I totally don't feel like I can be my slightly nutty, throughly opinionated, authentic self here. And I hate the fact that I suspect it's 'spreading' into the rest of my life. I really make a DAILY effort to shake this place off the second I slide into my car to go home at night - I do this for one reason, and as long as I put in my fair 8 hours here, the rest of my life is MINE.

Weight: *shhh* I weighed myself a few days ago, and had dropped two pounds. *snorts* I'm not getting my hopes up in the LEAST though, because I expect to weigh myself Sunday (that's the official checkin day), and find out that I've gained six pounds, as my period started today. (amazement and frank talk about womanbits to follow)
The wildest thing is though (which I was kinda aware of, but JUST confirmed today) is that I can TELL the INSTANT my period starts (assuming I'm awake) because I can FEEL the mucus plug just suddenly 'let go'. It's almost like a spasm, then suddenly my whole lower abdomen just feels heavy and FULL. It really FEELS like my uterus just filled up. It's rather cool, really - and I can tell that's when I first 'start' because I actually don't start really bleeding until 4-6 hours later - that pop is just the point where the pressure of the flow overwhelms my cervix. Gah. I really need to start charting - no, we aren't trying for kids NOW - but I suspect that in about a year or so we will, and I'm vaugely suspicious about my 'ovulation' and whether my girl bits work the way they are supposed to. I'm thinking about getting one of those ferny thingys (Where did you get yours from Anna??) and testing myself when I think I've ovulated, and see how on point I am.  Calendar wise, it's usually right on (or a little LATE in my mind), and general 'moodiness' wise it's right (as I tend to get horny as a.....goat) which lasts for about 48 hours, precisely. It would be nice if that IS when I'm ovulating - makes it much easier to time things.
In other weight/preparation news, I realllllly need to get a good multivitamin. I hate pills, can't swallow them, prefer liquid or chewables (or really, having a proper diet so that I don't NEED the bloody things - but, HAH! that's not gonna happen instantly). *pouts* I no LIKEY pills. hmm... something else to add to my growing list of things that I need to do....

Um. I think that's it for now.

Wonderful Weekend....

Soo... let's see - this weekend was QUITE productive - and I ended up with only two 'ouchies' which is remarkable for me - and only one produced blood!

Started out in the yard on Saturday - dug up a bunch of money grass (monKey grass, monKey grass - but hey, if it brings money, I'se happy with that!!!) by the front porch so that I could plant the herbs MsBella gave us (cuz I'm not even going to TRY your new name, missy!) and by yesterday they already looked better. *grins* We're cilantro freaks, so I had to firmly instruct C to NOT take the last little bit so that I would actually have something to plant.
And can I say, a birth ball is the PERFECT garden bench?? I was just close enough to the ground, and it let me scooch all over the place.
Ummm - I also ripped up all the carpet, the nasty decomposing padding, the scary tack rails, and the padding staples from the floor in the library. The backs of my thighs are rather vigorously commenting on my activities, but I'm telling them to suck it up!
I've got pictures, but haven't uploaded them to Flickr yet. I'll edit later with piccies.

Edited: Okay - couldn't get any good piccies of the herbs - they so small and green, and the room pictures with all the ick gone looks about the same as the first picture of the room I took so - no picces.

And - and! In some absolutely KICKING news - C got a new job!! He's officially the new Exec Sous Chef of the Hilton Memphis. Eeee!! He's making - oh man, almost 1.5 times more than he was at the Crescent Club, and he starts on the 5th. Doesn't that TOTALLY rock?? I'm so excited for him - and for our budget. I've done the calculations, and even including house repair costs, we should be TOTALLY out of debt by May. Isn't that just - *shakes head* I'm so happy/excited/gleeful it's scary.

We're moving at work, to a much nicer building, so the team room is kinda empty, and it's getting COLDER, dammit. I really hate working in the cold. I've got a bigass sweater, but I think I packed it. *slaps forehead* Durrrr.

I *heart* Freecycle. Really I do - I gave away a buttload of stuff, and am trying to give away the monkey grass I dug up. I just scooped up a bunch of old school/country living magazines, and I'm sure I'll get entertainment/pictures/good ideas/compost material out of them - one way or another, they are going to be used.

I'm back on the road to losing weight. I'm actually *gasp* going to try the EASY way, and limit calories (wine, wine, how I love thee, but why must you have so many calories??) and exercise. Stunning, right? *laughs at self* Anyhow, I'm FitDay'ing it, and eating whatever the hell I want to eat - I just have to stop eating after a certain point. It's the cheap version of WeightWatchers, yes? I'm planning on six week blocks, where I try to lose ten pounds every six weeks.

I've been doing well with my lists, and my studying, and such. I really need to get a whiteboard calendar, so that I can keep track of stuf without having to log into OD.

Umm, what else, what else?? I unpacked my compost this weekend too, since it was getting anty (eeww!) because of being too dry, so I dumped it in the area that the garden is going to be, and put somemore dirt on top, and then some plastic bags so that it can bake nicely. There was actually STILL earthworms in it, looking all plump and happy, so I'm thrilled with that. Also, in general, we've got some GOOD dirt. It gets a little claylike abut 8 inches down, but after a couple of seasons of mulching and compost it should be just LOVELY.

Can you transplant bushes?? We have a bunch of bushes that I LIKE (and don't ask me what they are, I haven't gotten my plant ID books yet) but I'd like to have someplace ELSE. I suppose the worst that could happen is I dig them up, and replant them, and they keel over and die. I'm assuming that should be done in the early spring ANYHOW, just before they start 'waking up' for the season again, so I've got a while to think about it/research it.

I got a hit from my doula webpage from a lady who just moved here, isn't pregnant yet, but had her first baby with a doula, and wanted to get in touch with a doula. She also wanted a list of natural birth friendly doctors - I asked A for a list, but she hasn't gotten back to me yet, and I'm trying to think of where else I could find the list. Ohh!! There was a really cool doula type chick at DotM - I need to find her email and ask her! She was - ah! she was apprenticing with one of the local midwives, and so I'm SURE they have a list of 'good' doctors...

Hm, hm, hmmmm what else?

Quick Update

So - I came home, and promptly pulled up the carpet. I did remember to take a picture of the empty room - WITH carpet though. Interestingly enough, without the carpet, the room looks bigger.

Here - take a look and see if y ou agree.....




So - doesn't it look bigger?? I'm thinking that the contrast of the light walls and the dark floor makes it feel - roomier.
Also - the floor is actually in pretty good condition.....but - there is a gap between the baseboards and the edge of the floor.....I guess we will have to install new baseboards to 'hem' the gap. And - we'll need to install thresholds too....

This is gonna be SOOO purty!!!!

Progress, progress....

So - quite proud of meself - I did what I needed to do yesterday (cleaned out the library, picked colors, studied) and I got to bed at a semi-decent hour. Now - I wanna show ya'll the colors, but Glidden's website is freaking Flashbased, and it's being a wonker as far as the color swatches go - but I'm going to try. And! I can't even buy samples of the paint. *makes face* Anyhow! The main color is Harvest Flame, and the accent color is Rapture. And it's going to be going in this room....

Purty, yes?? I decided to scrap the blue idea after seeing how the blue that is already in there LOOKED on the walls - this room only has the one narrow window, it's on the north side of the house, and there is a HUGE tree right outside the window that keeps it pretty shady. So - I wanted to bring the sun into the room. I need to take a picture of the empty room tonight so that I can keep track of the whole process. I think I'm going to rip up the carpet tonight.

 

---

 

In Oh-my-God-My-Ass-Is-HUGE news, I've come to the groaning realization - no, I've always realized it, but dammit. *sigh* I realllly need to lose weight. I know that working around the house will do jack shit, and so in the mindset of the current 'scheduling' that I'm doing in a last ditch attempt to organize my life and make better use of my time, I'm going to schedule in exercise. I - don't like working out when C is home, so that leaves Tues-Sat. I've given Wed & Thur to studying, so - that leaves Tues, Fri & Saturday to work out. I've got all the equipment - the only other thing I really would like to have is one of those stretchy band thingys....hell, I've even got an 'exercise' ball. As I was moving stuff last night, I had the computer blasting my RunGirl(v1) music mix - 2 hours of heartracing, assshaking, booty bumping music. I acutally worked up a wee bit of a sweat humping those boxes around (and occasionally pausing to do the bootyshake) - but more importantly, I can turn it up loud enough so that I can hear it in the exericse room - thus sparing me having to figure out a way to connect the iPod to the speakers in there (ie, buying some more electronic equipment). Ummm... what else?

Here's something 'fun' to do - can you tell the difference between a Geek and a Serial Killer?? Try it out here - leave me a note at let me know your score. I got 8/10 right.

HandyDandy

So, like I said I would, I've been focusing on the library. I went to Home Depot yesterday and scooped up - hundreds of paint chips. I mean - seriously, I grabbed one of the little thingys for every. single. color. Plus a buncha color books, and - this CD thingy that you can use to 'test' out the colors of paint in a room. I also scooped up a couple of plastic putty scrapers as I figured that they would be less likely to gouge hunks out of the wall than a metal one. I tested the wallpaper in one corner last night, and it peels off pretty easily. Besides for a reformed scabpicker like myself, it's - WONDERFUL *pickpickPullllllrip!* Hehehehe.

I've been thinking about colors too. So far, the two rooms that we've settled on colors for (the game room and the family room) have both been based on paintings/art. The game room is going to be red, black and chrome - inspired by a Scarface poster my husband has, and loves. *shakes head* The family room is going to be themed off of a matching pair of beach pictures that I got in the Dominican Republic - golds and browns and bronzes and rusts - which also nicely matches our furniture set.

The library is on the north side of the house, so it probably should be - warm colors.  I was thinking of a turquoise/royal blue/gold theme in there - but I'm thinking that maybe a rich reddish violet or maroon would be better to warm up the room a bit. Also, the paint color under the wallpaper is a pale blue - and it looks - funny. Also!! Why - oh why - is the paint textured on the wall? I'll have to see what it looks like once the wallpaper is totally stripped - but if I want to get rid of the texture, what would we have to do? Sand the walls? Sheeesh.

There's beige wall to wall in there, but it's on top of wood like in the main section of the house - so that is TOTALLY getting ripped up. At first, C wanted to keep the carpet (in case we wanted to read an the floor - which would most likely almost never happen) but last night he said he didn't care, so - it's getting ripped up. I don't know what state it's in, but - *sighs* I'm assuming it's going to need to be refinished and all that jazz - ooohh!! With the dark color of the wood, we'll definitely need something light on the walls to brighten it up. Maybe do the gold as the primary color, and use the turquiose as accents (on the walls) and drop the royal blue all together, and then the accents in the room could be mainly turquiose.

Also!! I've been rummaging around looking for cool bookcases (plywood/NOT particle board) and considering building our own once I saw the outrageous prices people wanted for bare freaking wood - and I found this on this ULTRA cool website.

And based on the directions, it sounds not only REALLY straightforward to build, but also something that I could get precut wherever I get the wood from. Also - it's light! It's not super heavy and blocky looking (as most of the other handmade/unfinished wood bookshelves did) and if we painted those the same color as the walls - the books would almost look like they were floating against the wall. :)  I was also considering getting some of the edge molding stuff and finishing off the edges of the shelves so that it looks a little - classier, I suppose. So, I'm happy with that!!

Tonight, I'm going to go home and do some studying (hopefully I'll be able to have some outside time before it starts pouring rain) and then move everything that is in the libray to either the dining room or the exercise room so that I can have unobsturcted access to all the walls.

Hmm.... what should we do first - paint the walls, or finish the floor?? If we have to sand the walls, we should do that at the same time that we sand the floor. Hmmhmmhmm.... I'll have to ponder that for a while - as soon as I look up refinishing a floor, and stripping textured paint off the wall.

 

---

 

 In other non-library related news, today is the Third Wednesday of the month....and the thrift store up the street from me sells EVERYTHING for 50% off on the 3rd Wednesday of the month. *swoons* I walked out of there with like 4 books (all about home repair/do it yourselfishness), a buncha magazines (landscape/decorating ideas) about 15 wooden picture frames that we plan on painting to coordinate with the rooms, and but black and white pictures in. None of them had glass, but at 23 cents each, I figured that I could figure out some sort of thin cuttable plastic that I can fit to each frame for WAYYY under a dollar each - as our original plan was to go to the dollar store and get them. Soo - Sqqquueeee!! And, I got a big picture frame for a poster of C's of the last day of some Cincinati staduim that he got signed by some baseball dude - he has two, but I could only find one frame, so we'll have to figure something else out for the other one. I also got another pyrex loaf pan for 3 bucks, and......I think that's it. *sighs* Soooo pleased with myself I am.

Piccies (of parts the many)

So, after the yahooPhotos! debacle, I'm trying Flickr instead. They've got an upload tool, the netnanny doesn't block (photobucket must have some NAUGHTY piccies) and the url LOOKS static rather than dynamic. I never figured out how to use the photobucket thingy anyhow.

Sooooooooooooooooooooo.............................................

Let's do the damn ting, ya??

---

So - this is the road to our house - I just wanted to show ya'll how RURAL this road looks. Thank heavens Memphis doesn't get that much snow.

Now - turning into our driveway which is on the left of the road. The house is set about 150 ft back from the road - so you can see the lovely open area in the front that is surrounded by trees. I'm thinking about seeding that area with tall flowers - wildflowers and sunflowers and the like. The driveway is gravel - C keeps mentioning blacktopping it, but I like the gravel - it's more natural and flows better. The blacktop would be a big black divider in the middle of the yard. Eech.

This is another picture - straight across the open area. You can see our neighbors (they are getting a new roof, I think) down through the back. I think our land stops right at that lightpole. That's a Tulip tree in the middle of the yard - apparently, they are supposed to be REALLY pretty when they bloom.

Here's a good shot of the front of the house - that front door that is hidden behind the tree there will most likely almost NEVER be used. There's a nice little foyer in there though - we'll have to make some use of that. I'd like to start pointing out the pink accents that are scattered throughout the house now - The roses in front of the house? Pink. The steps? Pink. The shutters? Pink.

And here's the south side of the house - that door there is the one that we use the most often, being right next to the carport and all. Those steps back there go to the deck, which is almost the same height as the carport roof, so you can't see it very well. That's the deck C wants to tear down, and while I LOVE how high up it is - and very private - perfect for suntanning! - I want to make that area right there a garden, extending away from the house. The garage is behind that, and behind the garage is a pole barn.

And this is the north side of the house. Our land goes about to the line of bushes to the right, I think. The baywindow & airconditioner that you can see on this side of the house is in the bonus room upstairs - we'll see that from the inside later.

This is behind that first row of bushes coming out from the house - that's a FIG tree right there in the middle!! I love the way that they made various little 'private' nooks and crannies with the bushes. It's very cool. You can see the garage windows in the back, and the pokeyoutty bit from the house is the family room and game room.

This is a good view of the 'polebarn' as I like to call it. I think if it gets cleaned up and leveled a bit, it'll be a nice outdoor workshop. Kindly ignore the loads of junk and so forth that are scattered about - they are remains from the previous folx, and well.... I wonder how much it costs to rent a dumpster?

Giovanni was chasing after me (and himself, and everything else) while I was outside taking pictures. Is there ANYTHING cuter than a full grown, enourmously fat cat, kittenrunning through the grass?? Nope, didn't think so. I missed that picture (dang it!) but got a fuzzy closeup of the furball - who LOVES the house.

Okay! Here's a full view of the back of the house - I'm standing about in the middle of our back'yard' - once again, ignore the lumps of wood and the like. Sheesh, I would be bitter if the man wasn't an Elder.

The back of the yard - I think I'm standing right to the side of the polebarn.

And this is the open area on the south side of the house. I'm seeing fruit trees and other wonderful growing things over here. The garden is going to come out right in front of that line of bushes. You can see the edge of the railing to the deck in this picture. The dead tree leaning on the polebarn is apparently black walnut - we are SOOOO selling that!

Finally, back around to the front of the house - see where the deck is? That's going to be where the main garden goes - I THINK there is dirt between the slab of the carport and the slab of the garage. Our friend the grill (which, if I recall aright, was used before the oven!) and the main door of the house.
That enourmous plant there (concealing my open car door) is something called 'poke salad', and I hear it makes good eating - BUT! - I've also been told to only pick the baby leaves, and to dump the water three times before eating because it's toxic. Um, no, I think I'll stick with the dandelions.

Standing in the same spot, this is a shot to the front of the house showing the neighbors across the street. What's the rule for moving into a new neighborhood - is it cool for me to just swing by and say hi and meet the folks, or should I wait for them to approach me?

G finally got tired of chasing me around the yard, and settled down into his favorite chill spot under the steps to the deck. Dammit, I KNOW he's going to lay in the garden, the little bugger.

Okay - so now that we've been all around the inside, please do, come in!! I took these pictures Saturday, I think - so forgive the boxes. ;)

Standing inside that door, this is the family room. 14 points to anyone who can tell what I was watching on TV. By the by, these pictures were taken the same DAY as the outside pictures, but a shower and a wee snack came between. Looking through the door to the back, that room is the game room. The door with the towel on it is the door to the downstairs bathroom.

Turning to the right, you'll see a big ole door, and looking through the door, there's the kitchen. On the other side of the kitchen is the formal living room....we'll go there later. Those double closet doors conceal the laundry room (with the leaky washing machine facuets that I PRAY my hubby fixed BEFORE he washed clothes). And hey! There is our newly installed Brinks panel on the wall too - I've already set it off twice opening the main door and forgetting to deactivate the alarm.

Okay, now we are going to walk into the kitchen, and look to the right. Here we see the lovely bay window and built in corner shelves that were painted a hideous green. Ya know, I'd actually prefer the pink.

Looking to the left from here, you see the rest of the kitchen. The stove and the gap for the fridge is offscreen to the right, and you can see 1/3 of our temporary fridge (the white styrafoam cooler) on the floor. The door with the towel rack on it that you can see through the door of the kitchen is the OTHER bathroom door. Same bathroom, two doors.

Walking through the door opposite the one we walked into the kitchen through, we are in the formal living room (or, the room with the fireplace). Please ignore the PINK drapes. You can also see the corner of the fireplace surround on the lower right hand corner of the picture - ALSO pink. That door there is the never used front door. The window is this pretty cracked glass mosaic.

If we make a left in this room, we end up in the 'formal' dining room. It's really just the dining room, because there is no other dining room - though we will most likely do most of our eating at the kitchen table (no, don't go back and look, there's no table in the kitchen YET). This picture is to try to show off more of the pink fireplace, and the rockin ass mirror over the fireplace. Isn't the pink border around the room just LOVELY? And despite the wallpaper in the living room LOOKING pink - it's (shockingly enough) actually not - it's a funny shade of brown. Probably pinkish brown.

This is another picture of the dining room - I wanted ya'll to see the matching chandelier and wall scones. Purty, ain't they?? The previous owners were also very short, as almost every light in the house demands that you either be under 5'5, or that you walk around it. The open door to you left goes into a little - vestibule type area - and the corner of brown to the lower right is the bottom step to go upstairs.

See - steps!! We aren't going upstairs just yet though. (More Pink)

Hook a left, and go through the open door in the dining room, and we are in the vestibule area. (More Pink) Directly ahead is the bathroom, to the right is the library, and to the left is the kitchen. The little cupboard on the right is going to be the linen closet.

Making a right, we are in the library. And yes, every single ONE of those boxes holds books. Well, okay - there are a couple of boxes of magazines in there too - but mostly books. And yes, the wallpaper in there has pink flowers.

If you step into the library and make another right, you are in the exercise/spare/ironing board room. I was considering using the space under the stairs as a storm shelter, but the only one who could fit in there comfortably is G.

Okay, walking out of this room and the library, we are back in the vestibule looking into the kitchen. You can see the other 2/3 of our temporary fridges in the form of blue coolers, and a 3/4 empty bottle of tequilla. UUUmmmmm..... Tequiilllllaaaaaa....... *sighs at the pink*

Okay! Making a right from the vestibule, we are in the bathroom. It's an odd little room, but it's bigger than it looks. Shower to the right, sink to the left. The sink has a cool three sided mirror thingy on it that rocks socks. Through the open door in the back, you can see the window to the game room.

Now, if we walk into the game room, we can see the bootleg computer set up in the corner (cuz I'm addicted, yo!)

Off to the right, there is this funny closet typethingy - known as either the file closet because of the huge old school 543 pound file cabinet in it, or G's closet, due to the presence of food and litter box. There's actually a skylight in there, as the back section doesn't have electric, I don't think.

Okay - back into the game room, we look out of the door (the one that doesn't lead to a bathroom or a closet) and voila! We are back in the family room!

Okay, now it's time to go upstairs. I cut through the bathroom, cut through the vestibule, cut through the dining room, and head upstairs. There are two cool windows in the stairwell - one to the side, and one at the top of the steps.

Now, we are in the bonus room. I'd like to note that all of the clothes belong to the male half of the inhabitants of the house - and not the male with fur, either.

If you look to your right, you'll see the bay window and A/C unit we saw from outside. That unit is our only source of cool area, but luckily, it has BEEN pretty cool for the last few days. I've actually considered turning the heat on. Brrr.

Now, the bedroom. That closet door in the back contains yet another closet, and that closet holds the water heater. And hey - another cool ass window! The 'master bathroom' door is tucked in the corner closest to the front of the picture on the same side as the closet.

This bathroom will be our first major rip out walls, taking names and debt on renovation. It's supposed to be the master bathroom, and dammit, I want a roman tub!! We'll have to sacrifce some of the closet in the bonus room, but hey - it's worth it. The current tub is an old school claw foot tub - currently occupied by our waterbed mattress - *sighs* - because hubby thought that our discussion about getting a new frame meant that we should LEAVE our old frame. Yeah. Men.

There's a cool window in here to, as well as more pink love. Can I share a horror with ya'll - the ceiling? of this bathroom? Covered in the SAME wallpaper. The CEILING ya'll!! Can I get a break?

---

So - thus concludes the house pictures. I'd now like to show ya'll some pictures that demonstrate the amazing transformation that is part and parcel of becoming a homeowner and moving within the same week. Now - to let ya'll know - when I'm stressed, I pick apart my locs. And every May - without fail - I do something radical to my hair.

So.

Before moving - looking like who did what, and Why, dear gods, WHY????!!??

After the move - looking like gravy that belongs on a biscuit (okay, I'm picking up WAAAYYY too many southernisms)

Rowr!

a) No, I actually didn't cut any off - as I picked apart my locs, I realized that MOST of the length was old shed, dead hair - which I suspect is why my locs lost all their luster.
b) It's red. RED. I was blond for a second, as that is the only way I can ever really get RED hair - but year, it's - RED. I need to shampoo it this weekend and see if it needs an extra batch of dye. My hair is strong, stuborrn, and very chemical resistant.

---

Just for Egocentric -

I invite all ya'll back downstairs, where we can stand around the boxes and the debris, and pass around two pitchers - one with sweet Tea, and one with Long Island Iced Tea - *grins* Take ya pick!!!

And, I'm done!

Cuz I know ya'll want to be skrippers too!

See what your stripper name will be, and share it with your friends:

A. Follow the instructions to find your new name.

1. Use the third letter of your first name to determine your new first name:
a = Fantasia
b = Chesty
c = Starr
d = Diamond
e = Montana
f = Angel
g = Sugar
h = Mimi
i = Lola
j =Kitty
k = Roxie
l = Dallas
m = Princess
n = Heidi
o = Bambi
p = Bunny
q = Brandy
r = Sugar
s = Candy
t = Raquelle
u = Sapphire
v = Cinnamon
w = Blaze
x = Trixie
y = Isis
z = Jade

2. Use the second letter of your last name to determine the first half of your new last name:
a = Leather
b = Dream
c = Sunny
d = Deep
e = Heaven
f = Tight
g = Shimmer
h = Velvet
i = Lusty
j = Harley
k = Passion
l = Dazzle
m = Dixon
n = Spank
o = Glitter
p = Razor
q = Meadow
r = Glitz
s = Sparkle
t = Sweet
u = Silver
v = Tickle
w = Cherry
x = Hard
y = Night
z = Amber

3. Use the third letter of your last name to determine the second half of your new last name:
a = hooter
b = horn
c = tower
d = fire
e = thighs
f = hips
g = side
h = jugs
i = shock
j = cocker
k = brook
l = tush
m = sizzle
n = ridge
o = kiss
p = bomb
q = cream
r = thong
s = heat
t = whip
u = cheeks
v = rock
w = hiney
x = button
y = lick
z = juice

 

---

 

In house related news - I shockingly enough managed to fit the ENTIRE remaining contents of the apartment into my car - including, I'd like to add, a MONDO sized bag of compost. Only one, dangit, but I'm happy.

I'm taking a quick direction finding break before I go to Sears and order the other fridge, and I HAVE to find a Sally Beauty - a sister needs some dye and some shampoo!! And we need a new shower curtain, and a new shower curtain rod... and..... I think that'll be in, and I'll finally be in for the night.

Ya know, at one point, I was actually considering WORKING today? What sort of crack was I on?

Pictures!! I didn't realize that the camera I'm using (Thanks again Ms. Bella!!) takes double A batteries, and I was rather puzzled as to why I couldn't charge it. *makes DUhhhhh face* So - I'll pick up some batteries too, and pictures should be coming!

Okay - leyt me go before I get TOO comfy.

Ciao, Bellas!!

5:58 (yes, that's AM)

One last update before I unplug the cable modem and pack it - always the last thing to be packed, and the first thing to be unpacked.

Yes, I've been awake all this time - C went to sleep about 20 minutes ago - but, we are DONE. We actually ran OUT of boxes, which was a bit of a shocker, but I'm skecptical about C's effieciency in packing the kitchen, so who knows.

I'm hot, and dusty, and smell a little funny, but oh my GOD - we are done. Anything that isn't taken tomorrow (like my precious compost!!) can be retrieved on Friday.

Um, I'm about to grab a quick nap.

ciao!  

6:39pm

Ya know, I like this time of day title bit, I might stick with it.

So, I'm back!  The Giovanni is wandering around the house, occasionally flopping down to test the floors. I know he's still uncomfy though, cuz he stays in whatever room I'm in, and he's SOO not the lovey dovey kind. He's been eying the front door, but I give him a week before he really starts thinking about traisping outside.

Umm - got everything from the house (mostly). I didn't touch anything in the kitchen except some stuff for sandwiches (we can have those at least) and swiped the bottle of champange that has been patiently waiting for our first night in the house. The smaller cooler made it's way here via the Movers (Two Men and a Truck - yes, that is actually the name of the business, and yes it was a two man team, and they snuck in a 50 gas surcharge (which I totally understand, but would have appreciated a heads up) and they were GOOD. And relatively fast, considering it was only the two of them) so right now the champange and some sliced meat and a 12 pack of beer are on ice. It'll have to do for tonight - dammit, I REALLY didn't want to spend 1300 on a freaking FRIDGE. *sigh* See - this is one of the downsides of being married to a chef. We COULD get a nice, 300 buck fridge, but noooooooo..........................eh, he'll just have to feed me well.

*sigh* I really wanna flop down on the couch and watch some lovely, mindless TV - but dammit, I don't know where the remotes are! Hubby packed them, and I'm sooo not calling him at work to ask. I'll just have to do it the - *GASP* old fashioned way.

*nods* I want to take a shower soooo badly, but don't quite have the energy to clean the tub. Bugger. *nods* A nap is definitely in order.

Right after I finish my beer.

Oh yeah - my stripper (I'm in love wit a stripper.....she rockin and rollin....) name (via the ever so lovely Ms. Bella - the herbs are in 'temp' spots outside getting used to the house!) is.........

Heidi Dazzlehooter.

It really should be Heidi Dazzlinghooters, cuz hey - then that would SO be me.

2:53pm

So.
It's done - mostly. We still have to go back to the apartment and collect some little stuff that never got FULLY packed, and clean a bit. We are leaving behind the waterbed frame - so, we will be sleeping on the futon for a while. Umph. We need to put the frame out for pickup if we want our deposit back. The little bastard. Oh! Speaking of little bastards, I have to go and get the cat. *LOL* Almsot forgot about him - I KNEW something was missing at the house though.

And - oh my god! They are totally OUT of the fridge we wanted, so they CANCELLED our order. Dammit, I should have suspected something when it took them so long to get back to us.

Anyhow! Cable is installed (thus, me being online).  Brinks Security is installed - I keep teasing the motion detector in the room I'm in. Movers are gone, and paid.

Um.

It's - overwhelming, really. I sit, and look around, and a list as long as my ARM just puddles up in my head as I think about all that I/we want/need to do in here. Painting is just the beginning.

And damn skippy, I'm bringing my compost along! I worked for almost 6 months on that stuff (we aren't going to talk about my grass clipping/leaves swiping sprees I went on around our neighborhood) and it's ALMOST done. I've got one trashbag full (oh! must buy some heavy duty trashbags!) and I plan on packing every lucious, dark brown, garden loving OUNCE of it.

Oh! I have a computer now, so I can charge up the camera so I can take some piccies!! Pictures are GOOOD, yes?

Okay - not going to get distracted - and besides, I'm STARVING.

Ciao ya'll!!

10:42pm

C got half of the kitchen done before he went to work - YAY!!! And he's going to do the other half tonight.
I went to tBH after work, and turned on the fans and the air conditioner.
About half of my 13 item list for the upstairs is done, and I haven't started the downstairs, but I'm down here now, so that I should be able to whip through.
I'm considering packing the car with most of the 'hand carry' stuff tonight, since I will be the one at the house waiting for the installation guys (must take book and notebook and pen with me - and CAMERA, dammit!). I'm glad he decided to stay here - I really didn't feel like dealing with the movers.

Umm....I think that's it for now. Let's see how long I'm awake tonight.

*deep, slow, breaths*

I don't think there are words to express PRECISELY how little I want to be at work today.
And what POSSESED me to tell the movers to be at the apartment at 8am?
And why is my husband JUST starting packing the kitchen? I swear to GOD, I'm not touching it. I've packed the rest of the HOUSE (except for his clothes) and - *shakes head* not gon be able ta do it.
And I left the camera HOME again (though, best buy has this ROCKING M'Fing sale for a 5megapixel for like  - 90 bucks. I want, I want! - maybe I'll get it over lunch) and I am going to the house this afternoon to do a last walkthrough before the movers show up.
I STILL haven't heard from Sears about scheduling a delivery, so who KNOWS when we will get our fridge (maybe that'll give us time to rip off the bottom of the cabinets).
Thank god - my cat is back, and he's settled into being trapped in the house - He's always the last thing we move - we usually lock him into the smallest room of the house (Damn, I'm going to ahve to empty the closet so that we can put him in their since we'll be using the bathroom downstairs)
The apartment is SOO farking dirty. Oh my god, it's gross. I HAVE to set up a 'cleaning' schedule of some sort for the house - stuff just get's AWAY from me.
I drove ALL the way to work with the partial rent check that I was supposed to leave in the box this morning, and I could KICK myself. I left a very apologetic email to our landlord, but he'll get over it.
Did I mention that I woke up at 8:45 this morning, which is about 45 minutes after I'm usually AT work?

*sips coffee slowly* Yes, I know, caffiene is most likely the last thing that I need, but it usually winds me down rather than winds me further up.
And I just looked at the Best Buy camera, and WOW is it ugly. *makes face* That's one tweak of mine around electronics - I won't buy an ugly electronic. *shrugs* It's gotta make me wanna touch it and love it and do all sorts of fun things with it.
Yes, I judge a computer by it's casing.

*deep breath*

Okay. So.

*thumps head on desk*

And Furthermore......[

Hmmm... let's see, what's shaking in me life?

The movers are coming Thursday, as is the cable guy (gotta get the internet, ya know!), and hoepfully (if the bastids from Sears ever CALL me) so will the fridge, but I'm thinking we might have to go a couple of days fridge free. Luckily, we have two HUGE ice coolers, and a pratically bare fridge, so that should work out well. I'm going to do a DITL on Thursday, even though the 'official' DITL day was yesterday. Pffht. *laughs*

Um, what else?

I've realized something over the last few - weeks, I suppose. I'm sure ya'll have seen the prose bit about waiting for X to happen before you do Y? I've realized, that without even being aware of it, I've been waiting to get a house before I do a lot of things that I want to do. Now, okay, honestly, 80% of those things REQUIRE a house, but - still. I'd like to think of myself as more proactive than that.

The illegal immigration thing - amuses me, to put it frankly - peoples reactions to it, more so than the actual situation. Illegal immigrants are the latest wave of slave labor, people who are willing to work grueling conditions, 12 hour days, for chump change. Yes, I am fully aware they are a burden on the social services, but - at the same time, they are saving us money every time we go to the grocery store, the nursery, a hotel, the casinos, and hundreds of other places that have 'dead-end', menial, nasty jobs that most Americans look down on. 
They own one car for 8 people, and they live stacked in 2 bedroom apartments with three families - not becuase they WANT to, but because the wages they are paid are FAR below living wages. If the corporations were forced to actually pay a LIVING wage (cuz minimum wage can't keep anyone over the age of 18 above the poverty line) Americans would be more willing to take those nasty, brutish, backbreaking jobs, and the illegal immigrants wouldn't come here anymore because they wouldn't have work. Of course, forcing the corporations to pay living wages also means that their bottom line increases, and you KNOW they are going to pass those increases on to us, the customer, and then we are all screwed.
What's the cure? I don't know..... but I don't think there really IS a problem. Personally, I think this whole issue 'popped' up to distract the country from the fact that Iran is eying Israel, the US is killing hundreds of civilians and tens of soliders weekly in Iraq, Peak Oil is approaching, and this hurricane season is going to be ungodly.
But really - what does all that matter? We've got to get rid of those poor brown folx who do the work we are too good to do.

The Boy and I are having constant conversations about what we want to do with the house, what to buy, what colors to paint, all sorts of wonderful stuff. We only own one TV now, and he's somehow talked me into potentially having three - which really, drives me batty. *sighs* I - like TV, but I despise it at the same time, and having multiple TV's - it just - doesn't feel right. But the Boy has no issue with it, so - bleh, not going to fight that battle.
I want to invest in a couple of white boards so that we can kee track of all the brilliant ideas we have and be able to easily prioritze them. Our goal is to get as much as possbile for free or for cheap, and then paint/sand/stain/decorate the stuff to fit into our house. Outlets and Freecycle, here I come!

Edited: Ah - stuff from the previous entry. Nope, didn't go to the house, haven't cleaned, I'm going to force C to help me do that this weekend after we move and before we unpack. Yayy!! Fat boy (or Kunta Cat'e as we have started calling him) returned *thinks* Saturday night, I think it was, and is THROUGHLY pissed that we won't let him outside anymore - I think tBH is worth it, and I think he'll think so to.

Closing Time

Closing time
Open all the doors and let you out into the world
Closing time
Turn all of the lights on over every boy and every girl
Closing time
One last call for alcohol so finish your whiskey or beer
Closing time
You don't have to go home but you can't stay here

I know who I want to take me home
I know who I want to take me home
I know who I want to take me home

Closing time
Time for you to go out to the places you will be from
Closing time
This room won't be open till your brothers or your sisters come
So gather up your jackets, move it to the exits
I hope you have found a friend
Closing time
Every new beginning comes from some other beginning's end

I know who I want to take me home
I know who I want to take me home
I know who I want to take me home
Take me home

- Semisonic

The last lines of that song have been running through my head all day - 'Closing time/Every new beginning comes from some other beginnings's end'

So yes, we closed. Gah - It's been a LONGGGGG arse day.... let's run through it, shall we??

8:20am - eyes pop open. Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!! It's Closing Day!! Hop up, shower, dress, check email, no email from Paige giving me directions - I know what the closing costs are from Mike, and Yahoo! gives me directions, so it don't really matter.
8:45 - wake up husband and tell him I'm going to the bank for the certified check.
9:05 - at bank, lady asks if I'm buyin a house, I say yes, she congratulates me and comments that I'm the THIRD person that morning to come in for a closing check. Apparently, a LOT of people close on the last day of the month.
9:20 - back at home, C is dressed, we discuss one car or two, decide on two - just in case things run long - head out. Stop to get some gas and water - cuz ya know, we don't keep the little bottles around.
10:00 - at the attorneys' office - everyones cheerful.
10:15 - Paige arrives, we are starting to sign stuff, I'm - oddly - quiet, I guess is the right word. It's not a weight on me - but it's - huge. A House? Holy shit. I've always wanted one - but the moment of achieving that which is desired is never QUITE as magical as we would like it to be, is it? In fact, it's usually (at least for me) a little sad. Maybe because I've reached the end of a road, and even though I'm glad to be moving on, I'mma miss that path, just a little bit.
11:00 - We're done! Paige gives me the key & a hug, Me & C take a picture, C heads out.
11:20 - For some reason, I'm still at the attorney's office - running mah mouth.
11:30 - Finally leave, lay the folder of closing documents on the hood of the car as I call my mom to tell her that we are officially home owners.
11:45 - While kiki'ing with my mom, realize that I LEFT the folder on the car, and being five blocks away from the lawyers office, this ain't good. Turn around, and see papers just blowing ALL OVER THE STREET.
12:00 - Park car, and proceed to walk up and down Stage Rd gathering the loan/closing papers. *groan*
12:40 - go BACK to the lawyers office, admit my utter dillheadishness, get another copy of the paperwork.
1:00 - arrive at the house - OUR house. Heh. Mr W (the former owner) is there cleaning stuff up - he gives me the rest of the keys, and a few last pointers before his wife calls and tells him to come on so she can deliver a cake.
1:35 - figure out which key belongs to which lock and which ones need to be duplicated, call Ms. Bella to confirm that we are still meeting for the boxes and camera.
2:00 - make a sudden decision and go to Meineke to see if they can tell me what's wrong with my brakes and how much it will cost to fix it.
2:10 - find out that my wheel lock has gone missing AGAIN (this is the third damn time) and head off to Home Depot to get a copy of the key made, and to pick up a plant for a thank you gift to Ms. Bella - her recommendation of Paige most likely saved my sanity, AND a couple thousand. You ROCK.
2:25 - become the proud owner of a Home Depot credit card with a relatively staggering limit.
2:45 - realize that I am STARVING, as I haven't eaten all day, and pull into Sonic for a wee snack.
3:00 - Meet Ms Bella, exchange baskets and plants - she & her hubby gave us a LOVELY collection of herbs - the perfect thing to start the herb garden!
3:30 - Swing by liqour store to pick up some celebratory champange.
4:00 - FINALLY back home, proceed to collapse in a giggling, drained, heap.
4:30 - Finish comparing the 'lost' papers to the new copy, realize that the WORST possible page to have missed (the front page of the loan application, that has the kind of info on it an identity thief would CREAM to get their hands on - shit, the only thing that WASN'T on there was my mothers maiden name) is missing. Desparately hope that it was one of the pages I saw go down the sewer drain.
4:45 - Call the credit unions and put a fraud alert on my account. Wonder dismally if the Home Depot card will ever arrive, much less work.
6:30 - stop stubbornly ignoring the packing that still needs to be done, and pull myself up to pack some more.
7:15 - finish the downstairs closet, glare at the kitchen, pour a glass of wine.

AAAAAAhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!

It's been a reaaallllllyyyy long day. And - we're homeowners. But - ya know, it hasn't really sank in that - we have a new HOUSE. And - it's like - not an apartment. You should have seen me giggling madly over the fact that as I filled out the Home Depot application, I could now mark that I OWN and not that I rent. Holy Shinoli.

It's almost 8 now, and - the steps to upstairs are almost completely blocked with boxes and other stuff that I need to take upstairs to pack, but oh my gods, I'm so dang TIRED. And then, I planned on going to tBH and cleaning tomorrow. Shhhhhhhhhhessssha!!

So. Yes. We have Keys. We are Owners.

*grins giddily*

Oh, like - Wow. *grins* I'd be going to the house tomorrow ANYWAY to take pictues. Heh. So I just need to force myself to take lots of cleaning supplies - I think there is a DollarTree up there, as I realized that I don't own a 'real' mop, nor a bucket, and I be damned if I Swiffer that WHOLE place. Sheeeee.

But right now, I think I wanna let my brain rot, have another glass of wine, and mentally ponder whether my cat will come home before we move. *sigh* I'm leaving one cat behind here (and don't think I didn't consider unearthing Nikki - but - *wrinkles nose* ew. I think I'll just take the ivy I planted on his grave instead), and I don't want to leave two.

G'night ya'll.

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Sea of Calm

I'm about as content as a cat with a bowl fulla fresh milk. I feel all - settled and - cozy.

I seriously, seriously, seriously, MUST invest in a new camera - it's just RIDICULOUS how fabulously photogenic our house is! I went by yesterday (partial stalkage, partially making sure a branch didn't fall off during the storm Tuesday, or a tornado didn't touch down and take tBH to Oz) and just - wandered around. I keep forgetting the fact that C has only been in the house ONCE, so when we are talking about what we wanna do to it, he doesn't have nearly the crystal clear mental image of tBH that I do. Anyhow!! So - I was outside (as we don't have keys yet, obviously) just kinda wandering around. I spotted some stuff in the backyard (like a huge tin tub!) that I would REALLY like to keep - seriously, they can leave any danngone thing they want there. But (I keep loosing my train of thought) as I was wandering around - I mean, the place is GORGEOUS. Seriously - and I've always loved nature photography, but actually making time to go to a park was always like - eeeeehhhhh. So. Must get new camera.

But! contentment. Closing is tomorrow (and I refuse to freak, or even worry about the fact that the lender hasn't gotten back to me about the appraisal - it's over the selling price, and that's really all that matters!) and I'm taking both tommorow and Monday off. Most of the downstairs is packed - I refuse to pack the kitchen, considering that I'll most likely end up packing the rest of the house - because ya know, I'm anal like that and I've SEEN what Hubsterman calls 'packing' - and it's more like - toss some shit in a box and tape it closed. *shudder* Except, of course, for the kitchen, where everything is damn near alphabetized by the time he's done packing. *shakes head* Anyhow! The upstairs is really just books, clothes, and toiletries - I think I'll start attacking the horror that is our UnderSink tonight.
I've been stalking the facilities manager here - he told me he has like 15 boxes on a dock in another building, and I want! I want badly! They are the boxes that the reams of paper come in, and I figure 15 MIGHT hold all our books. *sighs* Okay, who am I kidding, we'll most likely need 30. I've got about 5 or 6 at home, and the nice housekeeping manager has been giving me the boxes the cups come in, so - we shall see. This weekend is going to be an orgy of packing and cleaning - mainly cleaning tBH, because I'm not cleaning the apartment until it's empty.

And BLUURRGH!! Our landlord is sticking to the lease, the blimy mop! He's 'agreed' to accept 600 bucks (assuming we will be out on the 5th) and return our deposit (assuming we haven't put any holes in the walls). So, ASSUMING he gives us back the full deposit - we'll end up only being out 350, instead of the 450 that we offered him (which, in my mind, is brightly backasswards, but hey! whatever's clever) so, I am damn well GOING to be out of this house on the 5th, even if we ain't got no fridge. Speaking of which, we are going to have to shop for that tomorrow as well.

Edited: Housewarming!!! We want to have some time to paint, and meebe buy some furniture, and DEFINITELY get a condenser, so we are thinking that the housewarming will be in October sometime...We're planning on making it a REAL par-tay!! :_)

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Work is - *shrugs*. I'm so glad it pays the bills though.