Monday, Tuesday and a smidge of Wednesday

I've had one of those weeks this week. As much as I can truly say that not much went on, I just know the minute I get to typing this, it's going to end up being one of those marathon entries that Im really known for writing. So grab a drink and get comfortable because I have no clue how long this bugger's gonna be. *previews it....hmmm may wanna go to the loo too while ya at it*

Monday hubby had a class to go to so he was up and out the door by noon or so. Shortly after he left, I got myself ready and took myself an actual walk. That's right. I physically left the property and got myself a good 100 yards or so away from it. Im really proud of myself to be honest. Especially on that day in particular (Tori, if you havent read the entry posted before this , please stop and head over there first). I broke a chain and plan on breaking a few more in the days to come. I turned in 3 applications and then went to get my hair cut. It's nice and short and comfy. In a few months, when I'm finally employed and have my own money I think I'll go and get my hair professionally colored for a change. It's gonna cost me a pretty penny but I'd like to see what happens when someone who knows what they're doing gets ahold of it. The stylist already said I'd look great as a redhead. LOL It's what I've been saying all my life. All I know is Im damn well not ready to let the metallic highlights take over. I kinda like looking a good decade younger than I really am. After my haircut...ohh I should get hubby to take a pic this week of it....I went to Tuesday Mornings and filled out an application on their kiosk. Im being picky about the hours Im wanting but not overly picky. I tell them that I can open to close any day of the week except Tuesdays and Wednesdays. Heh heh heh...gotta keep the schedule cleared up for American Idol ya know ;). It really isnt their business why anyhow. I really would rather have the days off because no matter what schedule hubby has he'll be off one of the two days and I really like having my hubbytime. I got home that day and speak of the devil...he was home early. Surprise! I wasnt home. LOL. He doesnt much like coming home to the empty house but whatcha gonna do? That doesnt exactly help me either because I'd rather be here for him too but then, I really DO need to get out of here on my own before I become too afraid to do for myself again. I cant have that happen....too many years of it already and a third of my life's been wasted.

This week was one of America's favorite weeks. It was a week of many tears and gnashing of teeth as well as amusement. The tears and gnashing coming from the procrastinators who waited until the last possible minute to file their taxes and then couldnt find all the stuff they needed to get them done. The amusement stemming from those who'd already filed...watching those that hadnt scramble around like chickens with their heads cut off. Usually we file ours in February and have the refund (we've always gotten a refund to date because we have an extra $20 or so taken out of our checks every week...if it aint seen, it aint spent) in hand and spent by March. This year was different because of our move. We had to wait for our mail to bounce around and catch up to us before we could do anything about it. When my W2 hadnt shown up by the end of January, I called WalMart straight away to ask about it and they'd kept it there so I could give them an updated address. Oh thank goodness no one assumed and just mailed it! When we finally filed we didnt have to pay the VA state taxes because we didnt move here until January so we wont owe on that until next year...Amen there. This year we will be getting back a little less than last year but it's understandable and Im fine by that. Next year we may get a whole lot less. Unfortunately, a good piece of the refund is already spent thanks to the truck.

Last week, hubby took the truck in for its inspection. It passed the emissions test just fine but failed safety wise so instead of the pretty VA sticker on the truck (which they plaster in the center bottom of the windshield and not to the lower left like most normal states do), we got a pink sticker with a failed marking. Seems the exhaust manifold (?) was cracked and the rear brakes were no good. Sheesh. Last thing we need is that kind of expenditure. The repair shop quoted us nearly $800 for the work but they'd have to see it to get a more accurate estimate. This price would include parts, labor and taxes which sounds good right? Well let me remind you this truck is 19 years old...

We got up a tad early on Tuesday. The alarm was set for 10ish or so. I had my clothes all laid out because I wanted to be dressed and out the door fast. Why? Because some company was coming by to flush out the water lines or something. It was the same company from that last batch of pictures I took for iggy. Anyhow, they got started right outside our townhouse around 9am. I fought to stay in bed until the alarm, however as I lay there the noise simply reminded me that I wasnt going to have any water when I eventually got up and I KNEW I was gonna need to make that morning trip. *sigh* The longer I lay there, the more the fact there wouldnt be any water to flush bounced around in my mind. You know how that is, the more you cant do something the more you actually need to...or at least that's what the brain thinks and when the brain thinks it...the body gets tricked into believing things are much more urgent than they really are. So I got up and got dressed. We were out of the house in 30 minutes time. I didnt have time to grab but one photo. It's in the camera, downstairs and Im much too tired and lazy right now to get it. Maybe in a day or so. There are a few other pictures I wanna grab while Im about tomorrow (or is it today already...*checks calendar*...Thursday...) better make that after my next sleep cycle (stop laughing Chicago...LOL).

First stop was to Denny's for breakfast and the use of the bathroom. The restaurant was crowded for a Tuesday morning. I suspect many of those people in there were neighbors of mine. It wouldnt surprise me. Breakfast was only ok. We had to send back hubby's grits because someone had *ewww* shed in it. It's either that or they mixed in Rogain and the grits was growing it all on it's own. I always thought it was "putting hair on your chest" NOT "putting hair on your grits". We made them just take the item off the tab as we didnt want to chance another bowl of it. It's not usual for that to happen in that restaurant though.

We went to Enterprise to rent a vehicle to get around in until the truck was fixed (the car's in rough shape too so we're just leaving her where she's at). The repair shop said it would only be a day or two at most depending on how easily things went together. The only vehicles that Enterprise had left were pick ups and SUVS. *shakes head* We ended up in a much newer model of the same damn truck...go figure. She was a beaut though and ran smoothly. I wasnt too fond of the seating though because it wasnt comfortable. It felt like I was sitting on a hard kitchen chair instead of a sofa. Plus it rode a little higher so getting in became problematic a little sooner than it should have. My poor knee and hip popped everytime I had to climb in. We went to WalMart and that's when I realized we were gonna have a small problem with this vehicle. There was no cover on the back like our truck whick meant limiting what we picked up at WalMart to what would fit behind the seats in the cab. *grumblez*

After our trip to WalMart, we went to the UPS Store and checked our mailbox. We'd kept the account after moving so we had a safe place for packages and my magazines to be delivered to. *bounces happily* I'd gone shopping a week ago on Amazon because I found the gift certificate that I'd misplaced while in the corporate housing. Instead of music this time (there were too damn many cds I wanted and many of them I bet I'll be able to get in WalMart for cheaper when they're released), I bought myself a PC game. I've been hanging in http://www.meez.com/ lately playing the Plant Tycoon game ALOT. I like it because I can play a game and multitask...ya know, write in my blog, play with my MySpace page, talk to people in MSN and ICQ....LOL. I figured if I was enjoying it so damn much I may as well just buy the game outright. After checking several of the stores in the area to no avail I figured those would be a good way to spend my $20 gift certificate. All said and done it ended up costing me less than $5 out of my own money. Gotta love that. Anyhow, my game had shown up....making me a very happy camper.

The next to last stop for the day was to the grocery store for the food for the week. Damn, you'd think we hadnt eaten all damn day with the way we shopped (and yes, we had a list). *shakes head* We loaded up the truckbed and went home. They were still working in the area when we arrived so I told hubby we were staying long enough to put away the food then we were headed back out. There wasnt any sense in sticking around if there wasnt any water. As I was putting away the last few bags, he went out to the mailbox and noticed them picking up and turning the water on. YAY!! We ended up going back out anyhow. LOL. I like to get out for the most part of the day because there arent many places I really can get myself to yet and to be honest, there are days I get pretty stir crazy. We headed back out and went to the Hollywood Video store. They had this awesome sale going on...alotta 2fer movies to reduce their backstock. Let's just say we spent entirely too much and move on. The last stop of the day was a trip to KFC to pick up an early supper to eat at home. Got home in time to see the spoilers for the week and check to see how the original would sound. While I was eating I wrote up a quick blog in MySpace on how I tought the show would go. I was really surprised the guys outshone the gals this week. I should have expected that it would happen because it's easier to directly compare the gals to Mariah than it is the guys.

I had a dr appointment on Wednesday but I think Im going to hold it off for the next entry because this one is plenty long enough as it is without getting into my details about the new dr, the office and the differences between this insurance and the last one we had. Wednesday also got us several calls from the repair shop. Seems more like more work was necessary because the bolts had all pretty much rusted and had to be drill out and something else was wrong too. The $800 quote? Ballooned up to a final cost of nearly $1300. *SIGH* Well the truck's fixed....it just managed to get a good chunk of the refund we're expecting back already spent.

I did manage to pick up another application while out on Monday and then found another that I could printout from online so I've got two more apps to take over to that strip mall in the next day or so. Depends on how Im feeling when I get up. The one is for Payless (the district manager never got back to me from my email so I picked up a hard copy), the clerk was happy to give me one but told me they werent hiring for the store at this time but they'd be glad to put one on file for me. How nice of her. Much nicer than that one Dollar Store. The other that I printed from online is for Marshalls. Of all the stores in the strip mall, that one and the grocery store (the one I hate shopping at so why would I wanna work there) are the only ones that it's even possible to get an overnight job with.

I think that's about it...except the dr appointment which I'll do in it's own entry.

Reposting of the Anniversary entry so Tori can read it

I got writing my next entry and realized some of what I was about to say wasnt gonna make any bloody sense to Tori who hasnt seen this entry at all. Tori, this was posted on 4/14/08. Above the entry had been 3 pictures. One was of a chain breaking, the next was a woman in an rushed state running for her plane with a ticket in one hand and a pilot bag (the suitcases with the wheels) in the other, and the last was a woman stretching her wings and flying.


Those 3 pictures pretty much say it all. Today is my anniversary, an anniversary of freedom. Something snapped, the chains broke, I ran and took flight for the first time in my life. It was the year 2003 and the day before the taxes were due. I left my little goodbyes...namely his tax stuff in my rocker, a factory standards computer with all info wiped clean off the harddrive, and a note where I thought for sure he'd find it right away. Who'd thunk it would be 3am the next day before he found that. Shoulda left the wedding ring right away, maybe he would have realized I was giving him the alternate finger and leaving instead of him thinking I was coming back. Over the last couple years, I hadnt given it a second thought. This year, however, things are different. I was asked by Chicagolady last night why after a couple years Im thinking of it again. Simply put...a blog entry and location. Ironic the location Im living in....he'd have loved it with all the battlefields and other historical places so close at hand. Here I am, in the last possible place I would have wanted to be (the story of our honeymoon comes to mind where if I wanted a week in the Poconos I had to spend a week touring these very battlefields...*ugh*), smack in Civil War country. Truly ironic. Worse yet Im reminded by my buddy iggy's blog that this is the time the Titanic sank. I wonder if the ex has ever made that connection yet. More than likely he has as that's the only way he can remember dates, by the historical significance of the day (the one birthday he DID remember was his niece's because she was born on Pearl Harbor Day...). Anyhow, Ive been feeling nostalgic as of late and reminded of things I'd much rather forget and realizing that it's time to break some chains for good.

cold weather, redecorating, apps, the kids and the 15th

Thank you to whomever sent me this cold weather. However, I'd like to register a complaint....when it arrived it was damaged as the temperature was all wrong. Somehow the weather warmed up to the point where it was too warm for snow yet nearly 20+ degrees cooler than it has been around here. It's actually a tad chilly unstairs now (the last couple days it's been running almost 80 in the second level of the townhouse). A little fair warning next time please with a delivery confirmation would be nice so I can track it and expect it the day it arrives. Thank you.

I've done some redecorating on the page again. I got tired of the banner up top and found that bridge while I was in Google looking up Manassas. While I was in there I figured I'd grab something to match as the background. That's when I came across the picture for Lower Doyles River Falls in Shenendoah National Park. One of these days I ought to take a trip and get my own picture of them.


I got some applications all filled out and ready to go. All I do is get them walked over to the strip mall. I think I'll do that tomorrow. Hubby's got to go in tomorrow afternoon and I really need to prove I can do this by myself....to myself. I've spent way too much of my life cooped up. Not necessarily afraid to go out by myself, but also not brave enough to exit the confines of the property (well except for the occassional trip to the mailbox) Im living on alone. Now that Im living within walking distance of many shops AND a bus route, it's time to get that little problem of mine fixed and pronto. Ya know, I think I'll see if I have enough cash on hand for a haircut too while Im out.


The kids are doing ok. Dharma's going up and down the stairs with no problem. She's become awefully lovey since we moved here and cannot stand to be on a level of the home without anyone with her. It's gotten quite cute actually because she's gotten talkative too. She never really meowed much while in Texas but every so often she'll "hollar" for me if she cant find me right away. All I have to do is imitate her miau and she'll come running. Katy has had a set back though. On her way up the stairs one evening, she took a misstep (or mis-leap?) and slipped backwards on the stairs...sliding about 1/3 the way down. Then her fanny hit a step just right and she ended up doing backwards summersaults for the most of the balance of the way down. We're lucky she didnt get hurt. Since then hubby doesnt allow her to take the steps by herself, actually...she wont even attempt them at all. I cant say I blame either of them. So we're back to carting her up and down the stairs. Well, hubby is, when Im home alone she's kept downstairs.



We got a note on our door the other day. Looks like they'll be working on something in my area on the 15th and it means they'll be shutting off the water that day until the modifications have been completed. I hope it's only a one day thing. Thankfully, hubby has the day off and we planned on being out and about during the day. Hmmm...means I better pack my camera, eh iggy?


Well, I'd better scoot. Chicago showed me how to convert my music files to a lower bit rate through MusicMatch so Im trying to get some of those done as well. I've got several files done but not a whole folder's worth yet so I think I wanna get a few more tunes done tonight before bedtime.

*HUGZ*
LS

Finally a decent picture

While were were out to supper Tuesday afternoon, I was able to get close enough to one of the trees that have the white flowers to get a decent picture. By decent picture, I mean one that isnt overly blurry and isnt tinted by the back window of our truck (see the background for this page). I dont believe it to be a dogwood as these blooms have 5 petals and not 4 which seem to be in every picture I see of a dogwood. It also doesnt seem to be a Bradford pear because every picture I see of it's blooms, they never have the pink in it....although the bloom seems to be shaped right. It does look alot like this one:
This picture wasnt taken by me, nor is it sitting on one of my photo sites. It's located at http://zoesknittingbag.typepad.co.uk/photos/uncategorized/2007/04/16/double_flowering_cherry_tree_our__2.jpg

Tuesday we had a nice day and I actually got the nerve to leave the house for a little bit all by myself (as you can see from iggy's blog). Almost made it to the parking lot before hubby got home. LOL. Well maybe I will make it out this weekend. Not even going to attempt it tomorrow because they're calling for storms tomorrow.

I know this is short but I've got some applications to fill out, a bus schedule to look at and I've been dawdling long enough. Besides, I think it's well past suppertime and I hear some french toast calling to me.

The kids playing

Ok, so...just one more. This one was taken while we were in the corporate housing. Hubby'd just brought Katy in for a walk and hadnt gotten her leash off yet and Dharma decided it was a nifty plaything. I figured, what the hell, give them BOTH a little exercise. Hubby was throwing a toy around for Katy and Dharma was having fun too!!

Some pix

Hey. Im not going to do a massive entry as I posted one earlier this morning. I am, however, going to share a few of the pictures I took while we were out today.

The white trees are starting to shed. While we were out we got close enough so I could get a shot of the blooms. Definitely not dogwoods.

I hope this one clicks up large for you. We were upon them before I even noticed them. I've never seen a flock on the ground....they're usually always going somewhere. First people I thought of were iggy and Enicka when I saw them though.

Ok. How'd you like to grow up with THAT as your last name???

Yep. She's making it down the stairs all by herself.

Oh and (turn down volume I didnt realize how loud I got...)

Where'd the day go?

Wow. Where'd the day go? I know I have a freaky sleep schedule, but damn! I was up by 4pm. Yeah I know that sounds late, but when you dont get to bed until 6am most nights (no matter how hard you try to get there early) 4pm rising time isnt really unreasonable (especially when your sleep is coming in 3-4 hr naps all night and not a solid through sleep). It just makes for a day that feels mighty short. Ive only been up 9 hours and it feels like Ive been awake forever. Then again, I've been pretty much on the go since my feet hit the rug too. I've found my vanity in the bathroom and got everything in there reorganized. Hubby's got the new towel bar up and is in the process of getting my handheld massaging shower head installed. He's taking the time to do some caulking too so it may be another day or two before it's actually up and I can use it. Man, I cant wait.

I went downstairs and got all the dishes put away. Not sure what it is with the husband of mine. I think maybe he got used to us having to do the dishes by hand because I swear he doesnt know how to check the dishwasher any longer. How hard is it to pop the door open and check to see if the dishes are clean or dirty? If the dishes are dirty within the dishwasher, then place the ones you just mussed up and put them in there...not the sink. We've got a bit of an existing bug problem as it is (we still need to call an exterminator), no need to leave the dirty dishes out to attract more ya know. Oh...and while you're at it...if they're clean in there, how hard is it to unload the washer? If the dishes are still a little damp, put them in the dish rack on the counter to finish drying....*sheesh*.

After I got the dishes done, I popped a couple Freshetta (sp?) pizzas in the oven for us. While they were cooking I started the laundry (got 3 loads done...just have to fold one of them before bed) and shampooed the last section of the downstairs rug. Thank goodness that's done. Now all I have to do is put that part of the living/diningroom back together, hook up the guests' computer and bail my table off....then it'll be liveable downstairs. WHOOT! I cant wait. When the carpet was done and one load of the laundry made it to the dryer and next into the washer, our pizzas were done. They were ok for frozen pizza. Personally, if Im going to eat frozen pizza, I'd rather have DiGiornno's but neither of us likes the same kind of pizza so we dont bother with the bigger pies (he loves the thin crust all meat pizzas while I like something with a bit more to it...a deep dish is good....meat, double cheese, peppers and mushrooms...yummy).

We got about half of the spare/storage/catchall room taken care of. There really isnt much I can do in there because alot of it's his junque (as opposed to junk which just gets thrown out) and all I'll end up doing is asking "where do you want this?" so I pretty much gave up on that fast. We have a trip to make to the dump again...or the storage rental we have to get rid of these extra boxes. He also told me he wanted to get some more Rubbermaid storage totes for some of that in there. Basically, he gave up on the room already. Although he could very easily take some of it out to the truck NOW and get it loaded up. *peeks behind me* Judging from where he's at (on his puter) I guess he's down for the night. I did manage to get a section of the carpet shampooed in there though and Im just waiting on it to dry so I can put kitty's new potty in there (now that her box is on the second floor, I've changed to those disposable ones as it's easier...wont need to take it down to clean and back up the stairs again). I've also taken the time to get most of the upstairs hallway steam cleaned. I cant do the whole landing because Dharma's potty is out there and a few other items that I have no place for right now. Ah well. Little at a time things are getting done.

I've got my resume all fixed up purdy and I have 20 copies printed up as well as my cover letter. This week I dropped an email via the Payless Shoe Store's website and it's supposedly going to the district manager's email for review. I've also done an online application for JoAnn's Fabric and Crafts. Neither have gotten back to me yet. While we're out later I think I'll have hubby swing by Catherine's so I can drop off this one that I have filled out and ready to go. I've been meaning to walk over this week and do it myself but I never seem to get up in enough time to deal with it. I guess I'd better start setting the alarm and forcing me to get my lazy ass out of bed at a "real" hour (as opposed to the "weird" schedule I normally have...now who was it that called my schedule that again??).

Goodness, Im telling you some people!! Everyone knows not to call me on Tuesdays and Wednesdays (and Thursday this week) because Im not likely to be the most pleasant person to talk to. Why? Because Im busy watching my program and taking notes for my MySpace blog(s) of course. So I get a call an hour to an hour and a half before my show on Wednesday. Ok, I got plenty of time right? It gets to be close to show time and I get quieter and quieter on the phone...a real good hint that I've got my mind elsewhere right now and it's probably a good idea to wrap up what you're saying. Ohhhh no. The caller keeps talking and Talking and TALKING.....(hence the comic sitting on my home page). I finally had to shush them and say..."wait a sec...Bo's talking". That'd be a good hint that maybe you've overstayed your call right? Nope. She didnt stop until after the program was over....a good 2 and a half hours PAST when she called in the first place. *shakes head* If we hadnt been friends for over 30 years I woulda hung up on her. If that wasnt bad enough...she called again not a half hour later to talk more. I'm pretty much talked out at this point. Worse yet...she called again around 11pm. It was a total of 4 and a half hours.....I dont even talk to my mommy that long. I told her if she really wanted to keep up with me she needs to go to my blog and read like almost everyone else does...LOL. Now granted, a good part of the conversation was asking me to come help her out in a few months but that can be summed up in 20 minutes or less. Once I say let me think about it...that's pretty much the end of the conversation. If Im sitting there trying to come up with ideas that are better....well that tells you that I dont think it's possible for me to go. If this had come up a year or so ago, I wouldnt have a problem...I would have just packed to go. But right now, I need to get a job and I cant be having something like that hanging over my head right now. Does that sound cold? I hope not because it's certainly not meant to be that way. The second call was basically to follow up on the first and the third...well it was to let me off the hook because her husband doesnt think it's feasible to do what she wants anyhow (something I'd suggested in the second call...). Man, she's lucky I love her to death!!

Thursday she called again....at least 4 times. I know she called once while I was on the stairs and couldnt get to the phone fast enough. Of course, a message wasnt left. Then she called twice more while I was on the phone with my NYBro (his conversation took only an hour) and I wasnt about to interrupt that call. He only calls once a month and like I'd told her the night before (when someone else was calling in while she had me on the phone...) I dont interrupt my calls. If Im on the phone with you and someone else calls in, I ignore the second call unless it's someone Im expecting (plumber, landlord, parents...whatev). I did call he back after and left her a message "Tag you're it". She called back a few minutes later and the phone hung up after one ring. *Shakes head*. She called again Friday (*sigh*) and we talked another 22 minutes. World record. Mostly it was an apology for being a "nuisance" and to brag about her job. That's fine....let her brag because she deserves it in this case because it was really good news. Then she bragged about her sister (blood) and how well she was doing (thank goodness it's about time). Someone called Saturday night while I was busy *scrolls the caller id* yep...was her again. She only called once and didnt leave a message. I guess it wasnt overly important. *shrugz*

Ohhh sorry about that long whine session. *takes this off that topic*

Later today when I get up from my sleep session, we'll be taking a load of stuff to the storage area. Hubby said if Im not awake yet that he'll go by himself and get me up when he comes home. I'll probably just get up and get ready even if it means only a 5 hour nap for me. Maybe I can get him to take me to IHOPs ( or Denny's for breakfast...that'd be nice). I know he's planning a trip to Walmart too so maybe I better plan on getting up anyhow because I have a couple things I need to pick up.

Monday we've got to get the yard done. The backyard definitely needs a mowing. I think while he's working on that I'll shampoo what I can of the office. It's definitely smelling alot less like pets up here now which is good especially since we havent been here long enough for our own "furbabies" to have left this odor. We also have to get our taxes done on Monday. I told hubby that they need to be done before I find a job because you know they're going to need both of us there for me to sign the paperwork. Tuesday he has a class of some sort to attend but said something about being able to reschedule if need be. Ohh and good news. Hubby's back on days starting in May. Hot dayum.

inspired by a picture

I got some pictures today from my good friend iggy and one of the pictures in his flikr account brought to mind a poem I had to learn in highschool. I actually had to learn it twice, in fact. One was for the American Writers part of my Humanities class and one for my choir. Choir? Yep choir as it had been put to music and we performed it in one of our concerts.










The Road Not Taken
by Robert Frost

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;
Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,
And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.
I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I --
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.

trees, kids, and other schtuff

Here is a picture of those trees I mentioned in one of the previous entries. It was taken as we were driving in an older section of town. What you're seeing is pretty much the way most of this area looks like. You have 2-3 main roads (5-6 lane wide roads) and the rest look alot like this or residential. Residential areas seem to be alot of townhouses...at least in my area. It's no surprise as homes are rather pricey in this neck of the woods. Even the townhouses can run upwards to the $200K + range. Needless to say, I do not forsee us owning property here at all and Im really hoping that something comes through in the next couple years farther south (NC). Oh how that bothers me to say because farther south means less likely to get the snow I've been screaming for.


In the picture to the right you see more of those trees...truly they're everywhere. In this picture we are sitting at the intersection of one of the main drags and the road leading into where our townhouse is. On the other side of the interestion sits the mall I was talking about sometime before. If I was in really decent shape and the road wasnt so damn busy it could be an easy walking distance but to be honest, I wouldnt want to cross that road on foot. Anyhow, the purpose of these two pictures was to give you a good look at the trees. With my luck, I'll be allergic to them. It seems like any place I move there is a flowering tree that likes the aggravate the bejeezus out of my poor sinuses. In fact, the last few days have been hell even though Im taking my meds like I should. My SCSis told me that it's likely that they're Bradford Pear Trees and by the look of the pictures it's very highly possible she's right. From what Im reading it could also be the Cleveland Pear Trees or a hybrid of the two (the cross pollination has strengthened the Bradford tree and made it a sturdier tree). In any case, I may end up hating watching these flower as much as I do a magnolia or crepe myrtle. Worse yet, these flower the earliest of all the flowering trees in the area. *sigh*
As you can see by the next photo, the "kids" are finally getting used to things around here. Katy gets down the stairs well all by herself but because of her height can't manage getting back up alone. It does NOT help that the steps are only 8 inches deep and she's closer to 12-14 inches long so there really isnt enough room for her. Top things off I think the steps are about 6-8 inches in height but her legs Im guessing are only 4-6 inches long. The poor gal, gets a running start and manages 2-5 steps and ends up bopping her nose on the step's edge. Good news though! The end of last week, Dharma managed to come all the way down on her own. Hot dayum no more putting food upstairs for her. I still keep a bowl of water up for the "kids" but no food. The red bed in the picture is supposed to be Dharma's and she did well using it for a long time but she's decided she likes her sister's pillow and blanket better. This picture is odd as Katy doesnt allow her near her pillow and the only time Dharma manages to get in it is when Katy's downstairs. The other day though....I saw them together like this and it was too sweet to not grab a shot of them together.


Here are better shots of those pix hanging in my hallway. I really need to redo the outline on the purple so it matches the pink one. The picture to the left has the pink done in the colors it was meant to be done in. As you can see the burgandy came off looking blah. I was just looking online and it looks like the company that produced these no longer makes them and has decided to concentrate on just the paints and accessories and not on the lits anymore. This means Im going to have to search online in EBay, Amazon and other sites to see if it can be found. Thankfully it's a nice big bold pattern so worse comes to worse I'll just trace it out and use carbon paper to lay the print down on a new canvas. With any luck it wont be too difficult.

Not much else going on here I guess. Got my id on Tuesday....Monday was a trip to the social security office to finally get my last name changed on my card so I dont have problems later after I get another job. This week we're hoping for a trip to the dr but Im thinking we have to wait for some paperwork from the insurance to arrive in the mail first. We also need to get our taxes done yet. We're late getting them done. Usually we have them done by the end of February..... *shrugz*

Just other little pix n such

Again we have a picture of the hallway, this time looking from the livingroom to the front door. The half bath is the first door on the right this time and the doorway past the pictures is the kitchen. The last door way (if it can be seen in the pic) on the right is the front closet is where I keep that cart I mentioned in the first entry. On the left, the double doors hide the furnace and the door past that is what hubby has lovingly dubbed "Harry's Closet". Most people will understand that reference...if you dont feel free to ask. Im sure if I dont get in fast enough to ask Tori , Chicago or one of the others will be glad to answer you. The new thermostat can be seen in this picture too...to the left there. The boxes of furniture in the hallway.... well the blue and green box needs to be built still. It's a small computer cart so we have a place to set up the laptop downstairs (or maybe one of the spare computers). The smaller box next to it is a media shelving unit that has been built since this picture was taken. The white shelves on the left used to hold my crafts but some of it broke and it doesnt work well where I need it to so it'll stay in the hall for now. It's a good place for his cowboy boots and maybe one of the small tool kits.

Hubby managed to get one of the older bookcases put together (after scavanging off other ones) and now I have a place for my board games. It may not stay there though as I have a hunch that we'll need that spot for something else. The base on the doll on the left is busted a little and one of the posts that go into her feet to hold her in place broke. It was just a matter of time as those are full-body porcelains and so are quite heavy for the bases that I was given. The piece in the center was made by his gramma (?) and is nothing more than potpourri and string lights in a jar with a doily over the top. One of these days Im gonna actually plug it in and see if I really like it. Those and one other set of dolls are more than likely the only ones I'll put up for now. I've got 3 other boxes of them and I need to see how much more space we have for decor. I have my stereo up but Im not certain how to hook the speakers up. They dont have plug in speakers like most stereos do. Im gonna see if I can get hubby to show me how sometime this week. Im in no hurry though as there isnt enough space down there yet and most importantly there's no computer down there so who wants to be down there when I can be up here in my office talking to my friends? You can see the one bookcase to the left of the stereo hasnt been unwrapped yet. Why? Because it's damaged beyond reason and cant be used. We're going to disassemble it and throw it away once we can get back to it again!
To the right here shows part of my wedding display and you can see I got my tunes up and ready to be put in my stereo (if I ever manage to get the stereo hooked up). That's a new shelving unit. It wasnt bought because the old one got damaged but simply because I'd run out of room so we bought a larger one and are using the smaller one elsewhere in the livingroom. I think Ive only bought 2 new cds since I got here. Not much sense in buying more when there really isnt anything out that Im wanting right now (with the exception of my Amazon wishlist) and Im not streaming...so why bother? I may just go through what I got and get rid of a few....see which ones will make good second hand store fodder.

Although not much has really been gotten together in the livingroom yet (there's ALOT of books and dvds n such), I did manage to find the perfect wall for my wedding pix. It's just the perfect size. The patterned thing to the bottom right is the futon. Not very comfortable for us short people but it'll work while we're here. You can see more chaos beyond in the dining area....I'll be so glad when everything is sorted. We've both gotten tired of it so there are days when we dont do much with the place. Oh...before Im asked....that empty frame at the top is for my brother and sister's picture if I can ever get one from them. While taking the wedding pix we completely forgot to get one of them and us (she didnt want anyone handling her pricey camera and he was taking video.....hey...I've never seen that video...hmmm).

On the to do list for the leasing company, I'd told them the door bell didnt work either. I know there is one because the main part of the unit is over the front door (you can see it in some of the earlier pix I think) and there is a button (which also needs replacing). They havent dont jack diddly with it yet so we installed a knocker that we bought from Habitat for Humanity.I dunno if you will able to enlarge the picture any but it's a lion's head with the knocker portion in it's mouth. The knocker is crooked though. Hubby thinks that's why they ended up with a few of them at HFH...because they werent perfect. Who needs perfect so long as the bugger works!

I think Im going to close for now as Im tired and should have been in bed a couple hours back. There are 3 entries and Im sure Ive missed something along the way. I still have carpets to clean upstairs but cant until the downstairs is sorted and done because Im not having the steamer brought up just to bring it down in a day's time to finish the diningroom. Besides, there's still a box in the office that hasnt been dealt with and it aint mine so I aint doing it (I dunno where he wants that stuff anyhow). Ive got more pix I took of these trees that started flowering in my area this last week. Oh great...and Im prolly allergic to them too. It happens no matter where I live...New Orleans it was the magnolia trees....everywhere....and they made me sicker than a pack of dogs. In Texas? It was that friggin crepe myrtle....damn was everywhere like a friggin weed. Here? There's a beautiful tree with white dainty flowers.....and my allergies got worse this week ...about the time they bloomed. Ohhh and we made a trip to get legal here in Virginia this last week. I dont think I've ever taken a worse state id pic:

Hallway and Downstairs bath

Ignore the date and time stamps. I have a bad habit of forgetting to put the date and time in when I change out the batteries.


Here's a pic looking from the front foyer down to the livingroom. As you can see there's a helluva lot of chaos going on in the livingroom still at this point. Oh look...I caught Katy sitting there looking at her daddy too.... The pictures you see to the left are ones that I did myself. They were put up to hide the ding in the wall where the movers shattered the thermostat. I really need to put one more up there so I'll be looking for another one of those kits. They dont sell them in the stores anymore so I'll have to go to the company's website and see if they still make those particular kits. Last I knew they still made them but not in those colors anymore. I may have to get one in blue, assuming I can get them at all. If not, I'll see if I can get 3 of another style to do and then place those in the office or the hallway upstairs.
You can see the stairs in this first pic. Im getting better at going up them and as long as Im not making too many trips, my joints dont hurt as much as they did the first week. I still cant carry much up them but at least I can get my fat ass up there without much difficulty. Coming down is still a bit of a problem though. Each step is only 8" wide so even my shoes extend over the edge a little. I have taken to going down them sideways and my knees grind horrible as I do so.

That doorway to the left is the half bath downstairs. It still needs a bunch of work. There was hardware missing on the toilet seat (which I do believe hubby has fixed already) and the vanity was missing a door knob (which I took care of). Excuse the mess on the vanity though. We're still having a slight problem in there. We'd had someone in to give the landlady an estimate for fixing the boarding under the vanity and the cupboard under the kitchen sink because I'd noticed some water damage in both areas. Well a few days after the dude was through with an estimate, we developed a helluva leak under the bathroom sink. We peeked underneath figuring it may be a pipe or something easy to fix and ut-oh...it wasnt. So I called the leasing office to let them know the sink was leaking and no it wasnt a pipe that was an easy enough fix for hubby to do. They ended up sending in a plumber to see if he could fix it. He looked underneath and said that no it wasnt a pipe (oh really?) and that the sink itself was rusted through (gee...like I said the SINK was leaking *sigh*). He'd send in an estimate to the leasing office and it would be at least the following week before anything could get done. Well this week....we got to Friday and we still hadnt gotten a call about this thing. Im really getting tired of having to wash my hands in the kitchen when I should have a perfectly servicable sink in my bathroom dammit. The landlady said that she'd faxed the estimates over to the property owner and she was just waiting on them to make a decision. She also said it was possible the property owner would want to send over her son to see if he could beat the estimates that were given. I dont care...just get it fixed. For all I care the property owner could send the son and he could go to the local Habitat for Humanity store and pick up the nice white vanity I saw there and use that so long as it gets done. Far's Im concerned it doesnt need to be new...just servicable and nice looking and not rusted through like this one is. Ah well. I let them know that coming this next week I was going out job hunting and I'll need a minimum of 2 days notice before they send anyone here to do any kind of work. Period. Other additions we made were the toilet paper holder (not pictured) and the round towel ring next to the sink as it had neither. They were cheap fixes. That yellow framed picture you see has a penguin in a bubble bath and under it says "Peace and Quiet". It was one of the items that was in the box of momentos from my gramma's house. It doesnt match anything in my main bathroom as I have a beach theme going in there so it never got put up in the house in Texas. However, here I have another little place to put it so I think Im going to add any additional decor as a suppliment to that picture. Maybe some black, white and yellow towels for that room....or orange...eww. no not orange. *shrugs*

Kitchen update

As you can see...my kitchen is basically put together. If you've seen pictures of the one I had in Texas, you'll notice it's a tad smaller. However, there's a place for everything. It doesnt look like it from the picture as my bananas arent up on their tree and the bread isnt on top of the frige where it belongs. I still need to figure where to put the potholders too. What you dont see in this picture is the water pitcher I bought a couple days ago at the secondhand store (for $2.99). Right now it's right by the knife block and holds all the cooking utensils that I use most often. We'd originally gone to the secondhand store for end tables but didnt find any we liked so we ended up picking up the pitcher and a wooden kitchen chair ($10) so I have someplace to sit outside (I refuse to sit in those cheap-assed plastic chairs that hubby has out there).

The picture to the right has the best shot I can get of the valances I was mentioning in one of my other entries. They cost us $7 a valance and there are 4 of them up there. Not exactly what I was looking for, but they'll do just fine. The blinds need a good cleaning and I'll do that early next week during a nice day. Temps have been kinda spotty here lately. You never know what we'll get. Definitely not good enough, in my opinion, to be outside working with the water hose. I'd love to just get them replaced but the one in the center is a custom made so I gotta see how much it's going to be to get one to fit. I wish they'd used standard measurements....would be so much easier.

The kitchen gets a little chaotic on laundry day as the washer is in there on the right, next to the door. In reference to the picture the black item on the right is the dishwasher. To its right is the sink and to the right of that (off the picture) is the washer. I ended up buying a little cart for all my cleaning supplies as this place seems to have too many cupboard space where I dont need it and not enough where I do. The cart fits very nicely in my coat closet near the front door and is on casters so I can drag it wherever I need it on the first floor (I keep a separate bucket upstairs for the cleaning supplies needed up there). I feel like a hotel maid everytime I pull it out but at least it helps me get done what I need to. You'll notice that there are some shelves over the washer. As much as I'd love to put at least my laundry supplies up there, the shelves arent tall enough to fit the standard size bottle. Hence, the cart. The shelves dont look like they were there when the townhouse was built so Im guessing that the first washing unit in that spot had been a stacked washer/dryer. When the dude had come in for the furnace I'd mentioned how silly it was to have to go out in the shed in the backyard just to dry my clothes. At this point, I'd be happy to have a stacked unit because the full size dryer is a pain in the ass as I cant hear the buzzer on it and tend to forget I have stuff out there. The furnace dude said that I wouldnt want it that way in the summer. My best guess is that it gets really humid here in the summer....more humid than Texas. *shrugz* I guess we'll find out soon enough huh?

mmmmmmmmmmm chocolate!!!

MyHotComments

Why did the chicken cross the road?

The answer?

Hey Alice and Iggy....looks like they're headed your way..... ~grinz~

It's getting there, but damn Im tired of screwing and pounding

So last Saturday, we did nothing at all in regards to the TH. Both of us were beat and my legs were acting up. Not sure what's wrong with them but I'm keeping an eye on them to see if there's any changes for the worse on them. I suspect it's mostly because we've been eating out ALOT (which means much more salt than I normally would consume) and Ive been on my feet for hours at a shot. Im hoping by staying off them for a bit they'll get better. It's next to impossible though with a staircase to navigate on a daily basis. Anyhow, all of us really needed a rest so that's what we did (yeah the dog climbed behind hubby like that and just got that comfy all on her own).

Sunday...I'm blanking on. The camera date on the pix says we spent time in the TH though. I'm sure we hit WalMart for supplies but I cant be for certain whether it was before we went or after. More than likely it was after. I know we've practically been living there lately. Time was definitely spent in the TH though with me attempting to put together the kitchen (which was almost set to go until a couple of days ago..now I got loose ends all over my counters again). I'm sure Sunday was an 8 hour day here as well. I started putting the curtains up but discovered one of the packages of curtain rods for the bedroom was missing the brackets. It may have been that evening we went to Wally World for like the ba-zillionth time...this time for a new set of double rods (kept the first set as the rods themselves can be used separately on single brackets for in the spare room and the office). I have absolutely no idea why they called for a dual bar in there. There is only one pocket on the curtains and the valance is attached. You try and put a dual rod in there and the curtain wont wrap around the window and keep the light out. I did manange to organize quite a bit in the room (until we brought the stuff over from the apartment) and at least we had a nice place to sleep...and the bathroom was looking ok and even the office where hubby spent most of the day was coming together. At least the office was to the point where the Comcast installer could come in and do some work (remember the last entry said we rescheduled because he was running late and we really didnt have the place put together enough anyhow).

At least the most important rooms in my house were nearly set...well until Tuesday when we brought the rest of the stuff over and the other additional things we wanted that we got at Wally World. Now the sections pictured look a tad chaotic again. Just a tad though, not as bad as the storage room . The livingroom looks just as bad because many of our bookcases got ruined in the move. Granted they weren't the best quality but you do expect professionals to do a better job than they did. We're still finding hidden damages as well so it wasnt just the loaders and unloaders....it was packers as well. Needless to say I dont plan on using ANY of these companies again. Thankfully we have 9 months to file a claim, plenty of time to get everything at least checked out even if they dont get unpacked totally.

Monday. Comcast day-part deux. We got up at 6am so we could get some breakfast and go to WalMart for the curtain rods I needed and a few other things. While there I decided to get another valance for the kitchen window. I had 3 for the 3 windows but with as narrow as the side 2 are, it would have looked funky if there wasnt as much gathering at the top of the valances in the middle as the side windows. It took me about 30 minutes to put the second curtain up in the bedroom and about another hour or better to get the valances up. Why so long? Because Im terrified of using hubby's power tools so all building I do is done manually. I start a little hole with a nail and hammer, then I put each screw in by hand (hence the title of my blog....mmm hmm I KNEW what you were thinking...you pig!). It takes a while and I manage to work up a good sweat, but I get the satisfaction of doing it all by myself. Those window shades are really jacked bad and need to be cleaned off but that can wait for warmer weather. I'd love to replace them but that middle window is a bitch. The 2 on the sides are 23" and easy to find but that mashoogana one in the middle is 41". The 39" blinds are too small and the next size up is a 42". I could always get the 42" but then it means putting the brackets on the out side of the window frame and although I dont mind that, it's difficult with this window so we're gonna hit the blinds stores around the corner and see if they have one in the size we need. Oh...I managed to get my wedding corner set back up too. I was gonna set it up in the small foyer but I was afraid the door would get slammed on accident and something would fall and break so I relocated it to the dining area. The grey to the left is my stereo and where the plaque is on the right? Well underneath is where my music shelves are now.

By 930am or so I asked hubby if they were supposed to automatically reschedule us for installation of the cable or were we supposed to call? It must have been a good question because he called to make damn sure we were on the schedule and yes we were. By 1130am or so, there wasnt anyone at the TH yet. Hmmm last week's schedule was somewhere between 9-12 and when we rescheduled they were supposed to put us in the same time spot. I remember hubby saying to make it same time next week but make it Monday instead of Tuesday. So he calls again to find out where the hell the guy is because we've been at the TH since 830am and have other running that needs to be done. Oh yeah, we're on the schedule but we're *just now* told that it was for 12-3pm. It would have been nice to know this when hubby called the first time idiots! He told them to just get someone there as soon as possible. I know he was just waiting for another reschedule because he was gonna tell them sure but the installation damn well better be free. Shit...we coulda slept in some, something we both desparately need at this point. Hubby decided he needed to get the heck out of the TH for a bit so he left me there and headed back to the apartment to walk the pooch. Not 10-15 minutes after leaving the TH, the cable dude showed up. *shakes head*. I called hubby and handed my cell to the cable man and they talked a bit so all were on the same page (I dont trust my memory to be able to relay instructions....go figure I can remember stories from way back when but something told to me just a few days ago...nope, nadda chance). With his directions, the cable guy went to work getting things set up and I sat in the dinigroom and put together my new shelving unit for my music. I really could have used my old one as it wasnt overly wrecked but it was really too small for my needs now. I've got one now that mu music collection can grow into and right now it still has room for all my classical and other instrumental cds (Yanni, Lao Tizer, etc) as well. I'll have to get a pic of it later as Im too tired to be taking that staircase right now. In fact as soon as Im done here, Im headed to bed....a little early for a change.

We stayed at the apartment Monday night and got the rest of our stuff moved to the TH the next day. I was all hooked up and ready to go for Idol that night. WHOOT. We're still finding problems here. I had to have a repair guy in just the other day to get an estimate for the landlady on replacing the boards under my kitchen sink and the sink in the half bath. It looks like they'd had some water damage and failed to tell the leasing office. No damn surprise. Just yesterday a leak that was in the making erupted in the half bath so I had to tell the leasing office to add it to the list. Sad as we'd hoped (hubby, myself and the leasing office) it wouldnt need to be repaired too soon. AH well.

The kids are adjusting to the new digs ok...sorta. So long as they dont have to take the staircase for anything they're fine. It's funny, really. The dog has pretty much got the hang of going down the stairs....it's coming up that's the problem. Her legs are just too short and she has not enough muscle in the hind ones to get her fat butt up the stairs. She does try though. The cat's another matter. She's like me and doesnt like the stairs period. Im hoping she gets the hang of them soon. She's terrified of going down (I've got scratches on my thigh where she caught me with her hindlegs to prove it) and going up was a problem at first as well. As of today, she still squeals everytime we start to take her down (she really tries hard to carve us up too) so what we've started doing is leaving her at the halfway point so coming down doesnt look too scary as it isnt so high up and going up isnt a major struggle. Well she doesnt even attempt going down, just turns tail and makes her way up the stairs and gives me the stink eye when she arrives at the top. After the first night I ended up resorting to bringin up a bowl of water for both and the cat's dish of food so she wouldnt starve. I reckon she'd been without food or water for nearly 24 hrs at that point because her food downstairs wasnt disturbed which means she never left the second level all night. I figure the dog can and will make the trip downstairs a few times during the day and can eat and drink down there. The cat, on the other hand, is just too freaked to do so. The dog's used to stairs because there's a flight of them at the in-law's place and she's been there before. The cat has never seen a stair in her life. All 4 yrs of her life she's been in a house with no stairs and the only ones she's ever seen were through the cage door as she was being transported. I think this is my fault to be honest. Instead of releasing her downstairs and letting her explore on her own, I brought her straight up stairs and released her where her litter was going to be. I never even imagined that my cat would get traumatized by a set of stairs.

Hmmm. Now that I see it how they see it, I can see why it's scary. This pic of the stairs was clicked at about their head level looking down. No wonder neither likes it. I know I aint fond of it and my head sits a HELL of alot higher.

What else? Hmmm I know Im forgetting something yet for the life of me I cant remember what it was. I guess that means I better close this and get my butt to bed.

EXHAUSTED !

Good heavens am I tired! The only reason Im still awake at this hour is because I caught no fewer than 3 accidental naps this evening. Well, at least I didnt purposefully lie down to go to sleep...I just kinda crashed in the chair here by the computer. I havent really had much time the last couple days to keep up with everything...Im lucky if I managed to read the blogs Im normally visiting... just was too tired to drop a comment for each one. I havent even managed to read the online "edjumakationalz" for nearly a week! I guess I know what Im doing later when I get up.

Tuesday was another very early morning for us. This is getting rough considering our bodies are attempting to stay on the night-time schedule that hubby's work demands. A couple weeks after we get moved in and mostly unpacked, Im going to need to put myself on daytime hours anyhow but it's really rough jumping back and forth now. Tuesday was supposed to be a cable installation day (internet, tv and telephone) so we had to be there by 9am. Not too bad as it allowed us to sleep an extra 30 minutes or so. They were supposed to show up anywhere from 9-Noon. Key words are supposed to. We actually arrived there around 905am. A little late but not so terribly late. It got to be around 11am or so and I got antsy. I'd done about all I could at that point without a trip to WalMart for other supplies and I told hubby that maybe he'd better call and find out if we'd missed them as I didnt feel like waiting around all day if they'd already been there. He called (1130am and much nagging from the irritable wife) and they hadnt been by yet. Shortly after getting off the phone with Comcast, the installation person called (about 1145am) and said he was running about an hour late, did we still want him to show up or would we rather reschedule? Ok...I can wait...I guess. Hubby looked around and said that it might be better to reschedule as there wasnt a whole lot of room to move and he really wanted time to at least get the one desk assembled so a computer was ready upstairs (original plan was to just test the connection with the laptop). We worked another hour or so and went to lunch, then to the apartment (I had towels in the dryer and the dog needed to be walked) and then back to the townhouse for a couple hours.

Wednesday hubby got up Im guessing around 7am and headed back to the townhouse to work for a bit. I had decided the night before that it would be better if I got some sleep before I ripped someone's head off. Top things all off, my legs were acting like they'd pulled 10 hour shifts at Wally World in season PLUS with the fact we've been eating out alot for breakfast, they were terribly swollen and not looking too good. The last time they looked they way they did, I'd had a horrible case of cellulitis on the one leg (it got so infected that the leg had turned hot pink from the knee down...all the way around...and was hot to the touch) . However, since neither leg had been cut and I couldnt see where I could have developed an infection (neither leg was overly hot, just a tad warmer than usual and the skin felt tight...swollen)...I hoped that a day with my legs propped up and low salt items would help. He came back to the apartment around 2 or 3pm and we went out for some minor groceries. We didnt want to put a big trip worth of groceries in here just to have to move them in a few days. When we got back he called the landlady to find out when the furnace would be fixed and she said she was just calling the repairpeople now. He took the dog out after and while he was out the company that would be repairing the furnace called to set an appointment.

Thursday I was up by 630am because I wanted to check a couple websites before hubby came home to take me to the TH. The appointment for the furnace repair was sometime between 10-11am so it gave me a couple hours to work in the kitchen before they showed up. Around 1015am or so, my cell phone chirped at me...I'd missed a call. WTH? The phone had never rung. So I checked the message and it had come in at 9am!! *sigh* It was the repair guy wondering if I was available at the TH yet to please give a call when I got the message. I called him back and told him that I was there, had been there since 8am or so. When he arrived he took one look at the thermostat (that the movers shattered getting my futon down the hall) and agreed that yes, it was indeed broken (smart ass). He decided when he replaced it that he'd put it in the livingroom instead. This would keep it out of the way and not put it in an overly drafty area. It's a brand new digital one and he's got it hooked up in such a way where we wont need to worry about getting batteries for the bugger. WHOOT. Once he got that fixed he went out to the shed to deal with the problem that he'd been called out for originally. The furnace would kick it's breaker off after 5 minutes or less. Needless to say, it was rather chilly in the TH. Come find out they had 60 amp furnace paired with a 50 amp breaker. Not much of a difference and totally do-able for a while. However, the breaker could handle it only so long before it went on strike. I dont know if it was a furnace replacement or a breaker replacement that resulted in this. Whichever it was, it was a damn dumb move. Worse yet the breaker box was made by a company that's out of business now and the breaker we needed is so damn rare that there are only 19 in the ENTIRE east coast. I told the repairman, "so in otherwords, customer #20 is screwed" and he said yep.

While he was there, I found some other problems with the TH but nothing that makes it unsuitable for living in. The landlady showed up later with a replacement smoke alarm and I went over the additional problems that I'd found while cleaning and getting things set up. I think the property management company is getting a little tired of the constant problems but this is a 1976 building and things are liable to go wrong from time to time. I suspect the people that were in there before didnt give a damn and were simply grateful for a roof over their heads. Just not grateful enough to keep things in proper working order. Once everything is taken care of, it has potential of being a nice little place....even if Im not quite feeling it yet. Im not sure what it is yet, it's possible that it's because we're in a rental situation again....could be because the homes are in such close quarters....could be because I KNOW this is only temporary. It actually could be quite a few different things.

Hubby came to pick me up around 415pm or so and brought me back to the apartment. I got my other blog written Thursday afternoon (well part one was done Wednesday night because I knew I would have time for all of it in one sitting on Thursday). At 730pm, I turned the tv to the Fox station in my area...at this point merely for noise and not neccessarily for the Seinfeld episode that I knew would be on. I just wanted some noise while I finished up some stuff online before AI. Not to say I was tired, but the next thing I knew I had missed 20 minutes of AI....the group number (no great loss there as they've really been the pits this year), Blake's number (which I was kinda looking forward to) and the first 3 guys being sent to the safe stools. Damn. I was just in time to see the first batch of girls go through. I wrote the short Thursday evening blurbit about the show and then I cant remember much after that. I think I fell asleep at least twice missing 2-3 Law and Orders in the process. Ah well. Im tired now but Im not sure Im tired enough for bed yet thanks to those unexpected naps. I may just force myself to go in anyhow. Dont have much to do until Saturday afternoon except clean up here and get some zzzs so I think I'll go do just that.

damn Im so tired

My poor body feels like I've run a 10 hour shift at WallyWorld during holiday season. I'd much rather be in bed but to be honest, I dont have the energy to get out of this chair.... *shrugz*. Well that and the fact I have a couple pix I wanted to post.

While on the way to the townhouse to wait for the delivery of our household goods, we popped into a gas station so hubby could pick up some sodas. I was really surprised by what I saw in the parking lot....Payphones! You rarely see them anywhere anymore because most people carry cell phones. *looks at them thru iggy's eyes* Oh WAIT!! They're alien communication devices so they can be like E.T. and phone home....

The following pictures arent for the faint of heart. Knowing how Alice feels about such sights, someone please blindfold her.... ~grinz~

Boxes , boxes, everywhere boxes!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (the above is the "storage room" so it's not gonna get any better, if anything worse)

Just a couple of rooms (immediately above is the "office") filled with the chaos that I need to face the next week or so. I cant wait til we're done.....

Ok, someone unblindfold Alice...

Tomorrow we have Comcast coming in around 9am to hook up the phone and internet. This means another day to start early and Lord knows how long we'll be there getting things set up. Top things all off the furnace keeps kicking it's breaker off so the landlady needs to get a repairperson out to fix. If they show up tomorrow, we may stay there overnight and just start getting used to being there. If not we'll have a couple more days in the apartment we're in. With any luck we'll be in the townhouse fully by next week at the latest.

For the "patient" ones LOL

http://s4.photobucket.com/albums/y103/ladystyx1969/Townhome%20Va%202008/

Now, if you dont mind too terribly...it's been a long day and I must get up in less than 5 hours if I want time to go to breakfast (IHOPS!) before the movers show up. As such, Im taking my tired ass to bed.

Oh iggy darlin....in case you didnt check your email first, I thought of you last night while we were on our way back to the apartment....I hope they meet to your approval.

Just a quick entry

Friday's walk thru went ok. There's a bunch of things that need fixing (some little, some not so but nothing that would prevent us from moving in right away) and the landlady got them all jotted down as we went through the townhouse. As she was writing them up, she was taking photos of the existing damages. I asked if the previous people had a pet (there were a few suspicious stains that can be removed and several I wont be able to deal with) and she said that not as far as she knew but you never know what they may have snuck in but the carpets had been cleaned professionally (to the tune of $250) but Im not seeing it. She offered to provide a receipt as proof but just because she paid for it, doesnt necessarily mean they did a good job. I'll be taking a steam cleaner to those carpets as soon as we get the machine out of the truck on Monday. In any case, the ones I know wont come out with the cleaners, she took pictures of (a couple were DEFINITELY bleach stains and a couple that Im not sure what they were). The ones I can deal with will get treated with some peroxide and a white cloth and then the whole room will get a steam cleaning with an anti-allergen solution. The place has new locks on it and the land lady is going to have the post office come out and re-key the mail box as well (Im guessing the previous peeps didnt leave any of the keys...*shakes head*).

Later today, we'll be heading out to the townhome and taking measurements for the windows. All except the kitchen already have mini-blinds. I can see where they HAD them up at one point, but they're no longer there. My biggest worry is that I wont be able to find blinds that small. If you recall from the picture I posted before, there are 3 small windows that make up the bay in the kitchen. While we're at it, I want to get measurements for at least the bedroom windows so we can get room darkening drapes for in there. It'll need to be an early to bed night for us because hubby wants us to be up by 6am on Monday so we can go to breakfast before heading to the townhouse to wait for the movers. *makes note to pack some postit notes for labelling doors*. With any luck, we'll be fully moved in by Monday night or Tuesday at the latest...moved it but not necessarily completely set up. Ah well. I'll be taking some pix tomorrow before everything gets put in but I cant guarantee that I'll get them posted. I'll do my best though. It's a day off for hubby and he'll want time on the laptop...plus we'll have some things to do around here to get the apartment ready for the walk thru here.