holiday break

so i'm new working in a school environment thing, so i didn't know i was going to get the week between christmas & new year off.  when i figured it out, we tried to plan to go somewhere but it was too late, too expensive to reserve anything during that time.

B & Z went up to ghetto house for a couple of days when i was still working.  well, not the house itself, but up to visit R.  during the week off Z & I were sick with a cold; we tried taking it easy thinking that would nip it in the bud.  Z did eventually get better, i didn't.  i also didn't make it to the budz annual christmas party, which was such a bummer.

for new years we went to our neighbor's condo in oceanside.  i really, (ok, REALLY) was thinking of backing out, but decided i needed to quite being such a stick in the mud & do SOMETHING.  i was glad i went, that we went.  we went to the condo's game room & not that there was much, but there was a foozeball table (i'm the worst foozeball player in the world, weakest wrists ever!) & a pool table (yeah, i suck at that too).

Z had a good time playing foozeball though as he was better than me & you know that's all that matters.  pool was really fun though, i probably haven't played (more than a game or two at least) since B & I met.  however, i used to play often with the guys from work & some other friends.  funny thing is B also used to play quite a bit before we met as well.  Z hadn't played & he got in a few good shots & at one point B said i broke a few laws of physics when i got 2 balls in with 1 shot.  i think i broke more than that....

so now we need a full size pool table ;-p

when we came home S was here waiting for us; we stayed up & rang in the west coast new year.  i don't remember what we did the rest of the weekend.  oh, i know at some point we worked in the yard & we built L-dog a fab house.

i need to blog more, i can't remember shit.

Thanksgiving 2011

no, my mom & i are still not speaking.....just thought i should clear that up.  i went back & forth, part of me felt i should call her, but last time that didn't really solve the problem [obviously bc she's doing it again] so i decided, that i will let her call.
she started the game, she can end it.
i know bad.

she sent Z a card for halloween & another one for thanksgiving.  so i know she didn't have any plans of coming over.  funny thing is, all this time i haven't been missing her, i've actually been thinking about how she failed me as a parent.  how i was robbed of being a child & forced to be an adult bc she didn't know what to do with me.  how she annihilated my sense of self worth & would put me down.
um, that's not where i was going with this so let's move on please....

lalala, so yes, thanksgiving was not what we had expected.  B's family plans got thrown out the window & i'm not even going to get into that one....at one point we were seriously considering going back to the desert for the holiday to spend with B's bff R & the family of redheads who were also kind & considerate enough to invite us over as well.

thank you lord, we have friends, bc the family stuff ain't working.

B's bff R, girlfriend & momma came to town bringing desserts.  we prepped turkey, stuffing & spinach dip, then all of us headed over to the neighbors who prepared side dishes.  guess what?  you know why she didn't have family over?  bc she's having family issues too!  we all had our little part which ended up a feast & nobody was overwhelmed, it was a really good feeling.

this year's thanksgiving was all about friends, the people who hang out with you bc they like you not bc they have to.

i lost my funny

normally even if i'm not posting i've got a few ideas puttering around in my head, forming, taking shape, evolving into something but lately that hasn't been the case. & although i never guaranteed only funnies around here, this place has been pretty sad for some time.

when we lived in the desert i wanted to come home so badly & here we are & life has been so rough the past few years. not that i'm not thankful to be home, i am thankful, so, SO thankful i can not even begin to tell you bc i can't imagine how i would have handled the past year from up there.

[well, minus some of my mother's antics, those probably wouldn't have happened.]

nana's gone & i miss her terribly. after the camping trip & going to chicago once we were home & laundry was going my next thought was i needed to go visit her. whenever i see a piece of clothing in purple i wonder if it's something nana would like. & when my hair turns orange, i think about how she's not here to tell me i need to fix that shit....

tomorrow is Z's appt, it was the first available appt, over a month later. in a way i think it's best though; school is out & although the nana factor is there i feel normal & can talk to people again. i talked with Z & explained to him what the dr appt is about, he doesn't want to go or to talk about his behavior.

ghetto house updates

you know how on your taxes it asks for your occupation? i'm thinking of changing my title to slumlord. i wonder what they do with that info?

anyways, i got an email from wife-tenant the other day letting us know the garbage disposal wasn't working & that the sink was draining slowly. i contacted a plumber, he said he would make contact & get back with me before doing anything. we assumed most likely the garbage disposal was kaput, but of course there was an off chance the tenant had caused it.

the next call i got was from the plumber that all was taken care of & the tenant had paid, although they were surprised. he was positive foreign matter blocked the blades, tripped the switch so it longer functioned & then the sludge built up causing the slow drain.

then a day or 2 day later B got a call from husband-tenant. an urgent call that summer was on it's way & they had no cooling options. i thought the window unit was in, but B told me they had him remove it bc of the draft. this was thursday morning & had an open schedule so h-tenant said he would check on scheduling & get back with us.

we assumed, beings he initiated the call, in a flurry, that the call back would be soon. or in a few hours, but thursday came & went. we packed up ready to hit the road & waited.....ok, we got camping stuff together (next post) & jammed everything in the car.

friday morning we said screw it & headed for big bear. we even took the north route, thinking there was a remote chance the tenant would call last minute. but nope. it wasn't until after 5pm he finally called back saying sat wasn't good for them, but how about sun?

due to RUSH, then wait, wait, wait, wait for that reply......B told him we had plans & wouldn't be able to make it up there for a few weeks. surprisingly h-tenant asked if B thought he could hook up the cooler. B walked him through it all over the phone, told him to call back if he had any problems & he said he would give it a try in the morning.

he did call, but he got it! so yeah, they have cool air & we didn't have to go.
but we still will have to make a trip up there soon before it gets much hotter, but hopefully not so last minute.

Z the mad scientist

[if you're want kids, or are considering having kids you shouldn't read this. if you have kids, or know you don't want kids, share in my glory]

this actually happened a few months ago, it's just taken awhile for me to get the nads to share it...

when we moved to the desert, Z had just turned 3 & was still in the early stages of putting sentences together. in case you've never lived in desert, unless it's freezing out, the cockroach population exceeds the human population. so in the mornings at ghetto house, Z would get up, come get me out of bed, then walk me around the house to show me all the dead roaches. we're classy, we sprayed, so at least they were dead.

"bug, bug, bug" he would say & point them out so i could put the evil in the trash. [i loathe roaches]

so, Z has this thing that he likes to make "bug killer", although we no longer live in the desert & don't have the roach problem [it's spiders now remember?] he still finds great enjoyment in creating it. it's completely innocuous; handsoap, shampoo, water, leaves, grass, dirt, maybe a cigarette butt, air freshner, etc. it's something he likes putting together & putting on ants or whatever's crawling around the yard.

however, we've always told him his creations are not allowed inside the house.
a simple rule right?

one day i go into his room & it stinks, i mean really, really stinks BAD. i went & opened the window, took his hamper outside to air out & took all his dirty clothes to the garage. when i went back later it still reeked like you wouldn't believe & i couldn't figure out what the heck was making it smell so awful.

i started looking around & i promise you, ALL DAY LONG you will never, ever, ever, ever, EVER guess what i found.
he's 8 remember....

i'm pretty sure you can guess from the aforemention stuffs that it was a batch of bug killer....however, this batch had a new ingredient. actually it was 2 new ingredients, can you guess now?

well, to start off slow, he'd peed in a cup, well, it was a baby food jar, so now i think you can guess what the 2nd ingredient was.

yes, it was poo.
in the baby food jar.
then there was a big log on the floor next to it under his dresser.

now THAT was awesome to find.

new years

a few days after christmas we were out shooting rockets, besides the little science kits, that was Z's favorite part of the holiday.

right in time for new years holiday we were contacted by the tenant again. about the fridge, again. this time he said it wasn't cooling properly, that they food was going bad & he'd gotten a thermometer to check it, & yeah. so we had to go rush fridge shopping again, figure out when & how to get it there & when & how to get the one there back here.

we were done with the place where we had gotten the 2 fridges & knew we were getting something new. we'd hoped to just contact the home depot & have it delivered but you know nothing is ever simple, they only did curbside delivery & our tenant is SO NOT mr. handy at all.

so it came down to getting the fridge & spending new years in the desert. i can't complain, it went well, we were with R & family, but it was not at all what we planned. not what R planned either, it was more of a hey, we're coming up tonight & can we stay with you? great friends aren't we?

it was a nice visit though we ended up staying 2 nights & hanging out. the boys played wow, the kids played whatever, danced & looked for ghosts & the women cooked & watched movies.

more ghetto house chaos

we had already been going back & forth about fridge #2; they said it was leaking, internally, not water but a fluid, but then it stopped, that it was going into a drip pan in the freezer & it was probably 'normal'. we told them to disconnect the water line but never got a response & from 200 miles away we decided to just let it be.

a few days after thanksgiving we get another call from the tenant - yah, this is great! this call was to let us know the water line to one of the toilets was leaking, so we told them to turn it on only when needed & friend R would go over & take a look at it. before R even made it over to check out the line they called again bc there was no electricity in the living room.

GAH!

so then there are a few million phone calls between B, R, the tenants, me & the electrical/plumbing service company bc I scheduled service but then the guys decide to look at it first & i just want everything fixed & i was stuck in the middle of it.

R was able to fix the toilet that night - YAHHHHH!!!!

the electrical stuff was afu'd & R waved the white flag suggesting we contact the service company. i was completely thrilled one problem was solved, the only thing was when i called the service company back & left a message no one returned my call. then i called the tenant & he wouldn't call me back either, so then of course i fly off into left field worried that maybe the house burnt down in an electrical fire.

hey.....i wonder what the insurance payout would have been on that?

turns out the tenant went out of town for a long weekend & late monday afternoon i got a call from the service place it was all fixed up & the bill was less than $100 - SWEET! i was worried the whole house was going to have to be re-wired or some other craziness. of course i didn't get the electrician's breakdown so i wrote down whatever the heck he said, repeated it to B, who tried to explain it to me but whatev's, it works, it's up to code, we are done!

ghetto house update

oh, yeah, i see i didn't write a thing about ghetto house in october....it was SO much fun i did my best to block it all out.

holy crap i hate being a landlord! oh my you have no idea how many phone calls i had to go through with people & yah, i'm not good with the phone, even with people i like a whole lot, even love, i'm just weird & awkward like that. it's not you, it's me, really.

we finally got someone to fill out the rental app somewhat complete, but then i couldn't verify any of his info; lived with inlaws & wife had no recent work history & i wasn't able to get through to his employer, so no dice.

then a gazillion more phone calls. yeah!

one more rental app came in, complete. all looked good, we did a credit check & although it took a few weeks to check all their stuff out we signed them up.

when i sent them the lease i wrote again to verify they knew the house did not include fridge [remember the story that didn't happen? ah, still makes me laugh & gag all at the same time...], but if they needed one we could talk about it. the discussion happened 2 days before move in & it went like this "you'll have a refrigerator for us right?".

dang, thanks for all that notice, it's not like we're right there or have a spare one sitting around. [ok, we actually do have a fridge in the garage, it's our old, old one, before the dead one. the non-freezer part freezes everything so it only holds drinks, so it's not like someone could use it for food.] so i spent a day going all over town looking for a decent fridge that wasn't too expensive.

i found one, B delivered & got a signed lease & i think a week later we got a call that it had some sort of alarm that went off. they could turn it off, but it would go off again. damn! so i went back to the place where i got the fridge & we got another one & a week later we swapped out fridges. fun huh?

we finally got to met the husband & wife, so that was good. they're from LA, but he's working on base now & they have a brand new baby, so she's going to be a stay at home mom. she doesn't seem to pleased with town, not that i can blame her, but i told her i was actually envious of her chance to stay home with her newborn.

a few days later we get a phone call that fridge #2 was leaking internally & they weren't sure if it's water or where it's going, so we told them to keep an eye on it & turn off the water line.

GAH!

people are stupid

so i've spent the past few weeks figuring out how to be an active landlord now that ghetto house is about to be vacant. did you know there's all kinds of tenant protective laws but there isn't shit for the landlord...what can i ask, what can't i ask, can i get a credit report, how do we transfer information beings we're 200 miles away?

we didn't do anything with the moving out tenant, he'd been our neighbor for a year & we knew he was a bank manager, so we handed him the keys, signed a 2 year lease & hoped for the best. all but that 2 year thing worked out, which is funny as he actually wanted a 3 year lease.

i listed the house in the local freebie sheet & we got quite a few phone calls, some good some please lose my number. one woman sounded really promising, her & her teenage son moved to town bc of his special education needs while the husband lived wherever to run their own business. i sent the rental application to them & in response received "will provide confidential information at the appropriate time" & an application that was pretty much useless.

um, i don't get it, the point of an application is the applicant provides information, the originator verifies the information, seems simple right? so i sent them an email back & said i couldn't begin the verification process bc hello there's nothing to verify dumbass!!! they needed to complete the application. i also asked for husband's pay stubs/a w-2/accountant/bookkeeper/tax preparer's number/something/anything to verify their only source of income. i told them they didn't need to supply bank account/credit card/loan numbers, just names, balances & monthly payment & if all went well, after verifying a credit report we would need their DL & SS #s, this is all normal stuff.

i didn't hear back from them. i got a headache from this. what do people expect, i'm handing over keys to a house that we completely renovated!

the only other person that's shown quite an interest in the house is section 8 with 5 kids & a big f-ing dog. she's my stalker. i should have stopped her when i got the first call & she asked if the house was section 8, but i was so surprised & wasn't sure about legalities of it i didn't want to just say "no i don't want you & your 5 screaming kids & your big ole dog in my little, clean house!" so when she gave me the number to call & get info on section 8, i did just that.

i left a vm, they didn't call back. section 8 stalker did though. so i called section 8 again & talked with someone. i had to listen to a 15 min spiel about the glories of providing low-income housing options. yeah, that's not what i'm here for, i'm here to get someone else to pay my mortgage on a house i can't afford to sell, call me selfish if it makes you feel better....

i did find out the house has to go through a somewhat lengthy inspection process - SCORE! (to make sure you're not a slumlord, all about protecting the tenant i tell you!), but she also told me we don't have to rent to anyone we don't want to; that ultimately we decide who lives in our house (cue angels singing!). she also told me if you have a section 8 tenant & they can fall off the program yet still be on your lease - wtf? can you imagine the battle getting those people out of your house?

section 8 stalker of course called again & argued with me about the process; no, first we sign a lease THEN you have the house inspected. she also asked me about the credit report, why do i need one bc she doesn't have any evictions or anything like that. so i explained i needed to see payment history etc. & that's when she asks me if payday loan places count as credit history....honey, you & i ain't signing no lease for nuffin!

house for rent

holy crap, B got a message the other day from our TWOyearsignedleasebutonly14monthshavepassed tenant that he wanted to talk & that the house was fine.

B called him & yeah, he's being transferred & has to break the lease....awesome. he said he wasn't sure when or where he was going, but may need to be out in 3 weeks.

then a few days later we received the rent check with a note [he never, ever writes anything] stating "per our previous conversation the house will be cleaned & vacated by 10/1"....more awesomeness.

so now, bc you know, life doesn't seem to have enough moving parts, we need to get him out & get someone else in.

the 4th of july

while most people spend their 4th of july going to the beach, we went to the desert...rebels, i know! i guess all those dreams i've been having were somewhat right, minus the trailer parts.

we needed to go check on ghetto house, one of B's old co-worker's was having a BBQ, RW was back from Taiwan & the predicted high was only 102 - practically a written invitation from mother nature. so we went.

i wanted to leave early, but i should know better by now & we didn't get out of here until around 2pm. we showed up just in time for the BBQ (same one from last year) & surprised everyone. well, RW had a feeling we would be there & a quite a few other people from B's old office were there. it was nice to see the gang a year later.

it didn't get dark enough for the fireworks show until almost 9pm so the kids lite fireworks in the backyard bc they just couldn't wait any longer. the show was nice, we parked out in a dirt lot & listened to mexican music. no, it wasn't our music, but someone close to us had it on....

D kept on commenting how she couldn't believe we were listening to that instead of the national anthem or something. i told her it reminded me of being a kid, i just needed some drunk family members around, some shouting & burnt BBQ...& lots of beer cans of course....ah, childhood memories...
i'm glad Z's won't be like that.

after the show we visited another group of friends & then we went over to RW's house to hang out in the backyard. before we knew it all the kiddos past out except Z, he was wide awake loving it. he stayed up the entire time watching cartoons - after 2AM.

when we figured out he wasn't going to go to sleep & how late it was, we all decided to hit the hay. we stayed on base again, but a new spot (beings we're retired we were not welcome at the nice place).

the next morning we stopped by ghetto house. renter wasn't home, so we just checked out the yard, wasn't bad. we know he keeps the house cleaner than i do, so that's not a concern. (hey, at least i can admit it, i have 2 filthy boys...)

i owe you this one

i've lost the battle with the virus; the laptop will be terminated & hopefully will rise from the dead soon.

that along with my dad's issues & mom's surgery (she's good, i need to write about that too) life's been WAY TOO BUSY!

so here's a little story from a few years ago that i thought i had mentioned before, but i couldn't find anything to backlink it to.

back when we were living in ghetto house we had a party one night. i don't remember the occasion, but a few of B's coworkers came by & we sat out in the back yard & ate & drank. a couple of the friends are lesbians, not that there's anything wrong with that, but it is pertinent to the scene.

early on, one of the women told me i was really pretty. i thanked her & didn't really think much of it, it was a nice compliment.

then as the evening went on she was saying to B "can i borrow her?"
it was funny, sweet.
hahaha
right?

shift to end of the night & only a few people are left & we're huddled in little group. i don't remember if i was talking to her or if she just walked up out of the blue but the next thing i knew was her hand was on my boob.

& she wasn't letting go.

it wasn't a honk.
it wasn't a quick feel.
not a caress.
not a joke.
total sincerity.

the woman had latched on for dear life.
to my left boob.

i was in shock.
first of all, my boobs have never, EVER been, well, you know, an attraction. next, there was a hand on my boob & it wasn't B's! it wasn't even another man's hand!

i couldn't do or say anything, so i just stood there completely silent in shock with a woman attached to my boob. so i looked over at B & he looked at me & i'm sure my face said something bc he looked down to see why i was paralyzed & yelled out:
"hey everybody LOOK"

& then i died.
but first i removed the hand.
then i proceeded to verbally annihilate B for not defending poor lil me! from a woman who is even smaller than i am. [a detail B thought i should mention - whatever!]

death by star wars

i don't think i've blogged about it but for xmas B's ma & pa gave us a wii. it's some dandy. wish we would have had it when we lived in hell the desert, would have made it much, MUCH more tolerable. i like playing the sports, tennis took some getting used to but it's good exercise. one day i got a lil carried away & whacked the wii box [it should have known to run] oopsie!

one feature i'm not exactly sure if i like or not is you can test your skills & keep track. i thought that was pretty neat, so although i hadn't really practiced much, i thought "bring it on". i did some tennis, hitting a baseball & bowling....& [get this] my age was 44.

wtf?
no, i repeat WTF wii?
[ok, maybe that's when i whacked it....whatever....i was alone so no one will ever no for sure now will they?]
anyways, that wasn't what i was supposed to talk about...

Z's favorite game is still lego star wars [remember?]& he's TOTALLY & COMPLETELY ready to join the legion of all those ridiculous neat star wars losers aficionados. [ahem]

it's still one of the first couple of phrases out of his mouth first thing in the morning & at bedtime; he even manages to fit them into dinner comments "i like this rice bc it reminds me of darth maul" [or whatever his name is, he's "bad scary dude" to me].

so B said something the other day about getting the movies beings Z has joined the star wars cult is so into it. first we went to walmart & they had 3 single movies [we were hoping to get a package] then we went to glorious target & they had the package of 3 so got that too.

at home we made dinner while Z got the first movie ready. i made sure to tell him not to open the other package of movies bc we were going to return them, then B said we weren't & i was confused. i didn't know that although we had 6 [count them, six] movies, they were all different, that there are 6 [s!i!x!] movies in the star wars story!!!

this is going to be torture.

trip to ghetto house

tuesday was supposed to be the baking day, but on monday night we got a call from the renter that the heater wasn't working. we had him try a few things, but no dice, so tues am we got up & headed north. when we left in july we knew there were a few things to wrap up, so the heater just made us stop delaying the trip.

the yard had just been mowed [we've been told he lets the grass go, like really GO] but the inside of the house was immaculate. honestly, i would eat off this guy's floor [something i would not do when i lived there! haha, well, it is all new flooring, so that does make some of the difference.] the house is decorated really nicely too [i'm jealous....& thinking of asking him to come decorate this house]. all in all we aren't going to complain about ugly yard when the inside is being kept up so nicely.
example: a soft blue sofa & a brown chair that has matching blue striping, the fabric from the chair is also used for drapery in the dining room.

we worked on a few things on the house & Rob came over to help. it was so great to see him, he seems to be doing pretty well there although he complained about how boring the job was. they took the motor out of the heater & determined that was the problem so we went to a couple of places to find a replacement. although it's a track home, so all of the nearby houses initially had the same heater, it's not a part they keep in stock so it had to be special ordered. we went back to the house & did a little more work then headed over to R's for a little bit.

we stayed there about 2 hours then got on the road, i hate driving that stretch at night so i was anxious to get going. there's about a 20 mile section where there's no passing, which is fantastic when you're stuck behind a car that is going between 40-50 mph that brakes whenever a car comes in the opposite direction. or there's a little hill. or a dip. or a curve in the road. or fornoreasonwhatsoever!!!! it was insane, but to make it all the more enjoyable i had a semi in the backseat with Z. awesome....

i don't know what the deal was with the car in front of me & i certainly didn't get wtf the semi was doing riding my tail. i was surprised B wasn't telling me to just pass the car; i guess he's learned that i have this uncanny ability to make cops manifest out of thin air when i do stuff like that so it's just better that i don't do it. we made it home safely though.

calculating.....& possible pocket-protectors in our future

the other day Z was given a little positive reinforcement slip for doing well in PE. he told me they'd given out the slips before, but for some reason this time, a slip was given to 1 boy & 1 girl & they each got to pick out a prize. Z picked out a calculator.

are you off the floor yet?

yeah, i know...what?

if it helps explain things, it's blue & at the top has a locking mechanism...er...um...latch-like-connector-thingie & he got it so he can learn times. he's anxious to learn his times tables because all those smart girls from 1st grade last year that knew a couple of factors & that really got to Z. he must learn them. [finally my competitive nature is appearing! & as long as he's not punching or kissing them, i'm not complaining....]

today, Z walked around all day long sporting his calculator, finding different spots on his clothing to attach it. i'm kinda surprised he didn't hang it on his ear, maybe tomorrow. at one point B started to explain how cool pocket protectors were....hello, the award was for PE, honey....

monday we have our 1st parent/teacher conference. yeah, i'm a bit nervous. the reading lab has helped Z tremendously & the other day he moved up another [yeah, that makes 2] level in math! but that doesn't change some of the behavior issues he's shown, although significantly better than last year, still working on it.

vw disco & trapped like a rat

we got the vw when i was 12 months pregnant. ok, i was only in my 8th month, but i was huge & everywhere i went people would ask me if i was ok because they knew i was about to explode. while i can't say i love the car, it's been reliable & i'm quite pleased it made it through 4 years in the desert, something we weren't sure would happen.

just a few months before we moved the vw decided to occasionally no longer recognize when the driver's side door was closed. the vw is too stupid smart for it's own good & when it thinks the door is ajar there's a red light on the dash, an audible alarm, a delayed ringing alarm & flashing lights. oh & there's an actual screen where the car talks & it says "the door is open dumbass", only i'm not the dumbass the car is, the door is closed, but it won't listen to me...

to drown out the myriad of alarms i just turn the music up louder. as for the lights, well for a minute i considered changing out each of the interior bulbs to a different color so i could have a cool flashing light show in the car, but decided against it & shut them off completely.

this weekend B decided he would take apart the door to fix the switch. um, that was harder than anticipated, there's the exterior panel, an interior panel, he removed the glass, then he took off the window upper/downer (that didn't need to come off) & finally he got to the door opener/closer switchy (are you keeping up? i'm using highly technical terms here). the circuit board inside the door opener/closer switchy is what we were after but it was fine, so we're f'ed hosed sol at a loss as to what to do next.

so the vw is in pieces in the garage & that means if i'm going to drive i have to take the truck. Z & I did go to the library yesterday, parking was a disaster in an empty parking lot so even though we needed to make a costco trip i was so not going to go & attempt to park that truck. at costco. on sunday. in the afternoon. in a ridiculously small parking lot to start out with. when i got home & told B why i didn't go his solution was "you could have gone to the other costco". see, i kid you not!

this morning i took Z to school in the truck & ran my errands. i was at costco before it even opened. i still parked fairly far away from the front door, in a good spot no one around me anywhere & i could pull right through when i left. (seriously, lots of planning needed!) so i go get the essentials (milk, bread, coffee cheesecake. what? who put that there?) then left. the parking lot had filled up in just a few minutes. yikes! cars on either side of me! & behind me! ah, still open in front so i could pull through!

i throw everything in the backseat, climb in, start the truck, put it in D & guess what? yup, a suburban comes screeching in right in front of me. f, thanks lady i change over to R & back & forth & back & forth & OMG how many times am i going to have to do this? i only have a few inches of space! so finally i think i'm at my last go round & i can pull forward & not hit the car next to me, inch by inch forward, slow, slow, slow & the bitch suburban lady says "you got it". i should have just pinned her!

self inflicted

it's fall, that means i'm due for a self inflicted wound (as in more than just a little one, that's...daily). so i looked through my archive was disappointed that i haven't documented the history. i'm really surprised about that because i KNOW i thought about writing about it....

alright, the history has to start somewhere, so here goes:
i don't remember if it was our 1st or 2nd year in the desert, i'm thinking it was the first when B was gone to maryland for 6 or so weeks & i didn't really know anyone. whenever B is gone, the house is on lockdown; i make sure all the window locks are fastened, door locks are in place as soon as we're home & sticks are in sliding glass doors. then before i go to bed i go around & make sure everything is STILL like that because i'm a little ocd about such things.

so i was in the kitchen, at the slider, in the dark & i bent down to make sure the stick was in place. (one wouldn't think such a dangerous action right? but this is me) there's a table near the space i was at & well, i bumped into it. okay, it was more than a bump, i just about knocked myself out. let's put it this way, i was glad i wasn't wearing my glasses because i might have broken them i hit the table so hard.

i went to the bathroom, tried not to panic as i rinsed the blood off my eyebrow, telling myself, lots of blood vessels there, it doesn't mean there's a large cut. i had a gash about 1/2-3/4 of an inch in my eyebrow. i debated on going to the hospital to get a couple of stitches, but Z was asleep & i didn't want to wake him & have to take him with me, so i decided to just leave it. my bangs covered it for the most part, but i looked like frankenstein if you knew where to look.
several years later, i still have the scar.

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i didn't think much of the episode until the follow sept/oct i again injured myself in a way that took at least a month to recover from. this time it wasn't as eventful, i was in the garage getting something & stepped around the lawnmower. somehow or another my little toe managed to get stuck on something somewhere; it hurt some, but was really surprised that i had a purple foot for several weeks.

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3 days ago, we're still moving things around & i was on the search for the iron (for Z's cape). i was pretty sure it was in the hall closet, so i was moving things around on the bottom part & remembered i had an empty shelf on the top part so both doors were open, move, shuffle, move, stand, sit, etc. yeah, i found the iron & got some stuff better organized.

when i was done i stood up.
(sounds innocent enough, no? again, this is me)
i forgot the top door was open & when i stood up do you think i made impact or missed?

yeah, hit. hard.
i actually fell back onto the floor, hot & nauseous. i laid there for a few minutes, mad at myself, then i felt the bump on my head grow. i got an ice pack & sat on the sofa hoping it wouldn't get worse. i was concerned if it did i should probably go have it looked at; but if that was the case, i certainly shouldn't drive, B was at school & he didn't take his phone so i couldn't call him. i sat there for about an hour, chilling my head & gathering my wits (luckily there's only a few).

when B came home i told him about the progress on the cape & he said "that's it?" excuse me, i had to take a little break to fix my head!

summer's almost over

time really has flown, B starts school on monday then Z starts the following week.
doesn't seem all that long ago that we were back in hell i mean, the sticks.

there's a few boxes in the computer room & garage that still need to be unpacked & there are a ton of empty boxes on the side of the house. at one point there was a box in our bedroom labeled "mbed-games & clothes"
WHAT?
should that read "games & costumes"?
when my mom came to visit i made sure to turn that box around....
when i finally got a chance to open it, really curious about what i was going to find...B's silly board games....nope, not sexy-time games, i'm talking on the order of RISK.

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we've been working on the yard a lot. when we bought the house we loved all the greenery, not realizing how much work it required [& made a vow to never again buy a corner lot house. fyi ghetto house is also a corner lot, shit happens]. after 4 years of simple maintenance we have tons of work to get it back to looking good. the landscaper we hired did a great job of keeping it in line, but everything is BIG, way BIG or um, dead....

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before we moved, i put Z's shot record in a very safe place [read never to be found again], so when we went to sign him up for school i had his entire medical record but not the little yellow card. [fyi, little yellow card is official, ENTIRE medical record is useless] while at the office B tried calling old school & the lady was a mess (she didn't even know her own fax # - LOST!!!). so lady at new school gave us a waiver, hopefully i'll find the record before the school year ends, i'm sure that will be sooner than old school will get their act together.

time sure does go quickly!

Tues June 30th - B went to work, I continued prepping the house & putting stuff aside that we didn't want the movers to pack [ie, my chonies oh, & clothes too].

Weds July 1st - movers show up a little after 8, pack all our stuff up but leave our beds for one last night.

Thurs July 2nd - everything we own except a few boxes [& my chonies] go on the moving truck, the house is EMPTY. we didn't even think of bringing the air mattress up from SD house, but luckily R let us borrow his.

Fri July 3rd - a blur

Sat July 4th - took a break & went over to R's in the afternoon to hit the pool, then went to a BBQ. we ate like ranch-hands after living out of a ice chest for 2 weeks. went over to another friend's house to light up our leftover fireworks from the previous year. um, yeah, fireworks were confiscated again. but this time they weren't ours, they had some really good stuff!

Sun July 5th - another blur

Mon July 6th - worked our asses off like you would not believe. we handed over the keys to the new tenant about 10pm then had a 3 hour drive ahead of us. we stayed in close contact the entire drive knowing we were both completely exhausted. we arrived a little after 1am. there was a box from cox (communications) at the front door & i started reciting dr suess's box with a gox story & giggling, delirium had set in.

Tues July 7th - movers arrived shortly after 7am to unload all our stuff. by noon the truck was empty & quite a bit had been unpacked. the house was a mess & there was no point in having them continue to unpack when everything needed to be washed or wiped down so we let them go.

warp speed

this is the week when all hell breaks loose...good times are coming...i can feel it!

carpet is being installed in SD house today, hopefully the neighbor was able to let them in.

ghetto house is getting all cleaned up. the master bath countertop was grouted yesterday & today the sink & faucet will go in. kitchen cabinet doors & drawers were painted yesterday & will go back up today or tomorrow. a bit of minor touch up needs to happen in Z's room & other than a few little things, we are just about done with all the stinkin improvements.

YEAH!!!!

oh, i am working on the schedule for getting the carpet install here, too, but we aren't doing that, we just have to approve of the finished work.

today & tomorrow (while B goes to work & has a few last minute medical things taken care of) we set aside our stuff that we don't want the movers to pack. something i didn't get to do last time beings our move was completely f-ed up, although B did all the right things our schedule was lost.

so posting will be light & we don't even have internet service set up at the new house...if i'm desperate i'll make posts from the crackberry.