Cardboard And Bubble Wrap

Moving...it's become a dreaded word. Oh, don't get me wrong...I'm super excited about the move and all it represents for me, but gosh darn it...I'm so sick of packing and dusting and packing.

It's official...I have way too much crap. Hey...that should have been the title of this post. LOL. At least I'm still laughing at the boxes and not ranting and raving at them. I'm sure that will come when I manage to haul my butt to bed in a few minutes and stub my toe. I have several boxes lined up around the perimeter of my bedroom and they are just sitting there waiting for packing tape.

Anyway, while things are slowly coming together, I just wanted to pass along a few updates. I probably won't have time to post much for the next week or so. I thought about asking for another guest poster, but everyone seems to be busy these days. And the last time...well I wasn't ready for the blog world to know about my fixation with Pee Wee Herman. So, my blog will sit untouched. Feel free to come back several times and touch it. It likes being touched.

Okay where was I...oh yes. Updates:

Jake: He looks so much better. I guess we didn't realize how sick he was because once he got started on antibiotics he has become a bundle of energy. He goes back tomorrow morning for his check up. His eye still looks deformed but we're already so in love with him that even if he was completely blind we'd still want him! He's going to be making the trip with us for the move. He's still too little to stay alone. Anyway, here is to hoping he doesn't get car sick :)

Packing: Did I mention that I hate it? How come boxes only come in squares???

Ummm well I guess there wasn't a lot to update about. Well, consider yourselves lucky...as someone pointed out the other day I have a habit of NOT "making a long story short".

Y'all take care while I'm away!

Garage Selling

Garage sales. Is there any other form of torture that is witnessed by so many (or in our case on Saturday...so few) people? Okay...the next time I say I'm going to have a garage sale or I even hint at possibly toying with the idea of having a garage sale someone...anyone please slap me silly and direct me to read this post!

When I moved home from college last year, my mom had to find a place for all her stuff that had taken over my room. A lot went to storage and then a lot went to a garage sale pile. Well, when I was packing up for that move I had a lot of stuff for storage and then some garage sale stuff. At Christmas, my mom decided that we had an abundance of stuff so again....more stuff for the garage sale pile. That was growing daily it seemed so we talked about having a garage sale in the spring. Those of you that live in Texas or any place down south know that Spring is only about 15 minutes long so our window of opportunity was small. Unfortunately, my great grandmother had a massive heart attack and the ensuing craziness of that prevented us from having a garage sale.

After much discussion (where in the end I convinced my mom that a garage sale was a good idea) a date was set, an ad bought, and all that was left was to wag out that pile of crap and price it. Setting a date...easy. Buying an ad...costly but relatively easy. Dragging out crap...dirty and hot and not so easy. Pricing...confusing. You want the stuff to sell but you also want to make a profit...it's a fine line people! Setting it up...not too bad. Instead of doing it in the middle of the day on Thursday we did it late that night. And I mean 9pm kind of late. Anyway, the stuff was out and covered and we were going to be ready Friday morning.

Let me stop here....why do people come to a garage sale earlier than what the ad says? Are they hoping they'll be the first to pick through our junk? Is there some "first in line!" prize out there that I don't know about? The ad clearly said 8am. We had people driving by and attempting to stop at 7:15am. One guy even had the nerve to ask..."Are you going to get this show on the road anytime soon?" So, fine...we bowed to the masses (or at least that guy) and opened up. We had several shoppers Friday, but by noon we were hot, sweaty, and ready to come in for lunch. I taped up closed until tomorrow signs and we came in. The only sad thing was that we had to repeat the whole process again the next morning. And there came the rub. While we had a decent showing for a Friday I was really expecting the people to pour in on Saturday. They didn't. And about 11:30am we discovered why....every third Saturday of the month the little historical town outside of my town has it's citywide flea market. Everyone was there! So, while we had traffic coming through we didn't sale a lot. I was kinda disappointed. Here I'd worked my bum off trying to get everything together, priced, put out, and the showing was small.

At least we made enough money to pay for the gas to get me moved, I had a little bowling money, and a friend's sister came and hauled away the remains. And I learned two important lessons...don't have garage sales when it's triple digits outside and well....don't have garage sales!

Bubba Jake

We have a new addition to the family!

Jake

Sunday night our neighbor knocked on the door and let us know that we had a baby kitten crying in our backyard. He thought he might be hurt so I went out to investigate. This tiny furr ball was wondering around the backyard crying. He was covered in stickers and his eyes were matted with leaves and goo. We brought him in and it was pretty much love at first sight...first pitiful sight. After a little warm washcloth bath, a quick call to a friend that knows about babies, a little warm milk, and a bunch of warm towels Jake was ready for bed. He settled amazingly well. He slept in my room so I could get up if he needed anymore syringe feedings, but he did well. He slept through the night...probably worn out from his adventure of getting lost from his mama.

Our next big thing was finding a name for this little guy. My mom wanted to name him Bubba. I was horrified! I hate that name...I always think of rednecks that call their brothers and sisters Bubba and Sissy. So, she came up with Jake and we all thought it fit. So now we have little Jake. He's still adjusting to life in our home. His eyes aren't all the way open so he stumbles around like a little lush. It's totally cute to watch! He's been allowed to explore the livingroom, but we have a ton of places where he could crawl into and we'd lose him. He is tiny! So, we have to watch him pretty close. He's finally found one corner where he likes to hide.

This is a lot different from the time when we brought Morty and Dex home. They were already 12 weeks old and we think Jake is less than ten days because his eyes aren't completely open yet. It's been an experience but we're loving it!

Also, if anyone has any tips for introducing a new kitten into a household with another older cat please share! Dex sniffs around at Jake and then smacks him around with his paw. We're having to watch them extra closely. Thankfully, Dex hasn't attacked but he sure watches him closely. We just want it to be a smooth transition because Jake is part of the family now!

Home Sweet Home I

This is the left side of the front of the house. Aren't all the plants pretty?

This is the other end of the house (plus a little more past the tree) and a good picture of my front deck. Excuse the car...it was in the way of my picture taking.

This is the front yard view from the porch. Again...there is the car...lol. It is very green down in there but the green is in the back. The front is kind of mostly dirt.

Home Sweet Home II

This is the back side of the house. I stood right in front of the trees and looked back at the house. That's my back door and my little bush...yeah...it's all mine!
This is my backyard. I stood on the back steps to take this picture. That house belongs to my neighbor.

Prisons And Pregnancy Tests

How many people read the title of a post? Do you read the title or do you just skip to the meat of the post? And for those of you that do read the title do you ever stop and think about it? I mean do you ever start reading and think "What the heck could this post be about?" I know that some are really self explanatory and then some are puzzling but what about the ones that just seem...well like Prisons And Pregnancy Tests? Whatever could I mean? Maybe I'm pregnant and it's going to be like a prison sentence. Or perhaps I met a guy in prison and now we're expecting a baby. Here...you come up with your own. I'll wait.

(Hey...quit reading and start wondering...that's what this time is for!)

Okay, I'll spill. First, and most importantly, I am NOT pregnant. Secondly, and a little less important, I am NOT going to prison. There...your hearts can slow again...especially your's, mom.

Well, if you didn't know, I'm moving. I got a teaching job and it's about six hours away. This past weekend my parents and I went down to find me a place to live because like I mentioned this place isn't exactly close by. I won't bore you with trip details (and count your lucky stars) because how interesting can I make a six hour car trip where I'm confined to the backseat? Not very.

Now, on to the prison and pregnancy part of this post. When I first went down for my interview I couldn't help commenting on the number of bill boards and clinics that posed the questions "Alone and Pregnant?" "Need Confidential Pregancy Results?" "Free Pregnancy Tests Available" These signs and clinics were just about on every corner. The prison part comes in because this place is the home of Old Sparky and there are just about as many prisons as there are offers to tell me if I'm pregnant or not. Kinda makes you wonder where exactly I'm fixing to put down some roots...

Well, the more I drove around the town the more I realized that if I ever find myself in a situation where I need to know if I'm on my way to Mommyville then I'm in the right place. And you thought corners were just for ladies of the night or being mean and nasty.

Okay...I think I've probably ran this prison and pregnancy part into the ground. Moving on to the really great news. I have a place to live. It won't be in my car, though at first this was a distinct possibility. For those of you few that are reading, if you've ever been a landlord or lady let me just say that I mean no offense. Just remember this is coming from someone who will admit to being slightly (though just slightly) spoiled.

We headed down with a very short list of places to look at for rent. This is partly because after the hurricanes came through there were a lot of refugees that moved here. Also, the local university is remodeling two dorms so kids and displaced people are all over the place. There were only two apartments that even had openings. One was okay. There was no washer and dryer, but it would do in a pinch. And then there was one that resembled the no tell motel. Yeah...I didn't even get out of the car on that one. And then there were the duplexes. I went into the first one (with an open mind...I'm not completely shallow) and discovered that the walls were still plywood. I asked if it was being remodeled and the lady told me no. They were going for the "natural" look. I told her thank you and left. I could go on but you get the point. Anyone that has had to look for that first apartment or rental knows what I'm talking about. One person's cute is another person's tacky.

Finally, after much crying (yes I teared up...) and wondering if I'd qualify for a home loan my mom said we should look at this last mobile home. I know...I said mobile home. Promise not to think too low of me, but all I could think (and with the way my luck was running it was a reasonable thought) was trash. Mobile home parks are usually reserved for trash. Trashy people and trashy yards and well I'll stop. I'm sure I've royally offended enough people. Anyway, that's what I thought. But much to my surprise, this place was small (only three rentals) and everything was very well maintained. It wasn't as horrible as I'd imagined. Come to find out, the home had just been refurbished on the inside. I'm talking new floors, fresh carpet, fresh paint, clean. And considering it was the last thing on the list I was inclined to be more open to the possibilities that this might be home.

Thankfully, when we met with the lady that owned the property she was sweet and very picky. We were a perfect fit because I'd been darned picky all along. To make a long story short, I signed my name and I won't be homeless when I move at the end of the month. I'll post a picture in the next few days.

I still think that this move and starting a new job scares me, but I'm excited about all the changes that are coming my way. And the town is just beautiful and the people are very friendly. I just wish the move was over with and I was settled. And I'm sure there will be plenty of more blog worthy events to come!