There is a house, two doors to the north of us, that has been empty since we moved in here.
The word in the neighborhood is that the house has actually been empty for 15 years or so. A lady owns it, doesn't live there, but for some reason, refuses to sell it or fix it up and rent it. The neglect that this house has gone through shows.
There are broken windows, missing screen doors, a roof caving in, the grass doesn't get mowed more than two or three times a year. And that's only after enough complaints to the city from the neighbors when the grass gets knee high.
The house was posted about a year ago as "uninhabitable". No kidding. So, this is the eyesore of our neighborhood.
Well, finally, there is good news! The weekend before Thanksgiving, Ron told me he saw about four or five different people going into the house. Hmm, what could this be? Is this the city finally inspecting the house prior to demolition? No, it was even better.
Soon came the BFI dumpster! Oh YES! That can only mean good things! It was a huge dumpster, like the size of a semi truck. I came home from work and I could see the dumpster in place. I believe I even did a happy dance in my driveway!
We found out that somehow the house was indeed finally sold. I don't know what happened to facilitate this decision, but I'm not complaining. I believe the new owners just plan on owning it long enough to fix it up and then plan on reselling it.
I don't remember the exact day, but shortly after Thanksgiving a crew showed up. They started filling up that dumpster. I never realized that the house was still full of furniture. We saw couches and chairs sticking up out of the dumpster. They seemed to have spent a few days just on the emptying process.
It is just so exciting to see such a wonderful change in the neighborhood. The house now has new windows and a fresh dumpster to fill up. Makes me wanna get my cup of coffee, sit on the front porch, and become a real neighborhood busybody watching all the cool stuff happening in our world. I'll let you know how it turns out!
Wednesday, December 28, 2005
Saturday, December 24, 2005
Christmas Past
Tonight I was telling Ron what Christmas was like in our house when I was growing up.
Christmas Eve was THE night. Everyone would be over on Christmas Eve. Mom would go nuts making sure all the food would be ready and that the house would be clean. It was a frantic day for sure. But oh so worth it.
I told him stories of how the house would be full of people, and the table would be full of the good Slovak food. The fried perch, sweet rice, bubulki (both sauerkraut and poppy seed) and of course the lentil soup. Try explaining bubulki to someone who's never had it.
After dinner, time for dishes. As soon as the dishes were done, it was time to open presents! I swear I was never so happy to do dishes as I was on Christmas Eve! After presents, it seemed like it was time for Midnight Mass.
Tonight we were eating our Christmas Eve dinner, leftover Chinese food and leftover barbecue. Weird combination, but extremely tasty! Anyway, we're just finishing dinner when Ron kept asking me if the dishes were done yet. Why is he obsessing about the dang dishes? It's no one's "job" to do the dishes. I think we pretty much share in the dish doing responsibilities. So why does he keep asking me that?
Finally feeling like I've heard that enough, I finally ask him "why do you keep asking me that? If it bugs you, do the dishes!"
Of course, the joke was on me. Since telling him the story of my Christmas Past, he figured as soon as dishes were done we could open OUR presents! You never saw me move so fast, and Ron was right at my heels. The dishes were packed into the dishwasher, and the dishwasher was set to wash. Then we got to business.
Let me tell you, I musta been a very, very good girl! Santa treated me right!
May we all have a very Merry Christmas!
Christmas Eve was THE night. Everyone would be over on Christmas Eve. Mom would go nuts making sure all the food would be ready and that the house would be clean. It was a frantic day for sure. But oh so worth it.
I told him stories of how the house would be full of people, and the table would be full of the good Slovak food. The fried perch, sweet rice, bubulki (both sauerkraut and poppy seed) and of course the lentil soup. Try explaining bubulki to someone who's never had it.
After dinner, time for dishes. As soon as the dishes were done, it was time to open presents! I swear I was never so happy to do dishes as I was on Christmas Eve! After presents, it seemed like it was time for Midnight Mass.
Tonight we were eating our Christmas Eve dinner, leftover Chinese food and leftover barbecue. Weird combination, but extremely tasty! Anyway, we're just finishing dinner when Ron kept asking me if the dishes were done yet. Why is he obsessing about the dang dishes? It's no one's "job" to do the dishes. I think we pretty much share in the dish doing responsibilities. So why does he keep asking me that?
Finally feeling like I've heard that enough, I finally ask him "why do you keep asking me that? If it bugs you, do the dishes!"
Of course, the joke was on me. Since telling him the story of my Christmas Past, he figured as soon as dishes were done we could open OUR presents! You never saw me move so fast, and Ron was right at my heels. The dishes were packed into the dishwasher, and the dishwasher was set to wash. Then we got to business.
Let me tell you, I musta been a very, very good girl! Santa treated me right!
May we all have a very Merry Christmas!
Decking Our Halls
I didn't want anyone thinking we were a couple of scrooges. So, here is a picture of how we decked our halls.
And, I took Santa's advise to heart, and I've really tried to clean up my act this week. I tried to be the best me I can be.
C'mon Christmas! I think we're ready!
Friday, December 23, 2005
The Good Got Better
Someone once told me that if you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything. So, I've been quiet over here. It's not an easy time for a lot of people, me included. 'Nuff said.
On to a brighter note - Ron took me out to dinner tonight. It is Friday after all! You can almost bet that on Friday at least we go out to dinner. I like that - nice way to finish off the work week.
Tonight's first choice, Taqueria Mexico, was closed already for the Holiday. They don't reopen now until Tuesday. Go figure! Our second choice was a Chinese Restaurant that we really like. It's a sit down restaurant instead of a buffet and one of the things we like the most about it is that you can always get a seat. It's not that they are not busy, I just think over half of their business is take out for some reason.
They have a soup on the appetizer list that has been highly recommended to us, so tonight we thought we'd try it. It was something like shredded chicken and corn soup and it was soup for two. That's all the description there was for the soup. We got a nice little tureen and two bowls. As soon as Ron looked at it, he said it looks like there is egg drop in there. As most of you know, eating eggs makes me extremely ill. We called the waitress back over to verify. She checked with the cook and unfortunately, the answer was not what I wanted to hear. It did indeed have some egg in it. Ron told her I was allergic to eggs and how sick they made me. That was good for Ron though, because he said the soup was excellent and he ended up polishing off almost the whole thing!
For dinner I had ordered Pork Fried Rice. I know that has egg in it, but it's usually not a lot, and I sit and pick it out. I love fried rice, but I don't order it often because it is a pain in the butt to keep picking out pieces. But once in awhile, I'm willing to do just that. When the waitress heard I was allergic to egg, she went back and told the cook about it. Come to find out, my rice was almost done by now, and the cook started it all over again, this time without eggs!
Ok, call me silly, but in all my years, I never thought to ask for it without eggs. Duh! Our waitress thought I'd appreciate not having to pick all that out and boy was she right! My dinner was awesome!
And of course, Ron left a very nice tip. The service we received tonight absolutely made a good meal great.
On to a brighter note - Ron took me out to dinner tonight. It is Friday after all! You can almost bet that on Friday at least we go out to dinner. I like that - nice way to finish off the work week.
Tonight's first choice, Taqueria Mexico, was closed already for the Holiday. They don't reopen now until Tuesday. Go figure! Our second choice was a Chinese Restaurant that we really like. It's a sit down restaurant instead of a buffet and one of the things we like the most about it is that you can always get a seat. It's not that they are not busy, I just think over half of their business is take out for some reason.
They have a soup on the appetizer list that has been highly recommended to us, so tonight we thought we'd try it. It was something like shredded chicken and corn soup and it was soup for two. That's all the description there was for the soup. We got a nice little tureen and two bowls. As soon as Ron looked at it, he said it looks like there is egg drop in there. As most of you know, eating eggs makes me extremely ill. We called the waitress back over to verify. She checked with the cook and unfortunately, the answer was not what I wanted to hear. It did indeed have some egg in it. Ron told her I was allergic to eggs and how sick they made me. That was good for Ron though, because he said the soup was excellent and he ended up polishing off almost the whole thing!
For dinner I had ordered Pork Fried Rice. I know that has egg in it, but it's usually not a lot, and I sit and pick it out. I love fried rice, but I don't order it often because it is a pain in the butt to keep picking out pieces. But once in awhile, I'm willing to do just that. When the waitress heard I was allergic to egg, she went back and told the cook about it. Come to find out, my rice was almost done by now, and the cook started it all over again, this time without eggs!
Ok, call me silly, but in all my years, I never thought to ask for it without eggs. Duh! Our waitress thought I'd appreciate not having to pick all that out and boy was she right! My dinner was awesome!
And of course, Ron left a very nice tip. The service we received tonight absolutely made a good meal great.
Friday, December 16, 2005
A View From the Top
Taa Daa! I finally remembered to take my camera to work!
Yes, folks, this is the view from my office at the moment. Unfortunately, I didn't get the greatest picture, but it's should at least give you a feel. I am facing east and on the left you can even see the lake. Directly in front of the lake is a small airport. That isn't quite distinguishable in the pictures unfortunately. I tried to get one picture of a helicopter taking off this morning and it just didn't come out. Too bad.
The hard thing about a view like this is concentrating! Too much to look at. Especially on a clear day when you can even see the waves crashing. Yep, I could get used to this.
I tried to be brave and take a picture looking as straight down as I could. Unfortunately, the window glare played a big part in this picture. At least you can see the courtyard across the street I mentioned in yesterday's post. Too bad I didn't get a picture of that building. You can see part of the atrium in the picture, but this doesn't do it justice. Oh well, I'm still learning.
So, welcome to my world. Beats the heck out of the dirty, dusty, windowless basements I've been in or the unheated portable storage facilities. And they even pay me to be there!
Thursday, December 15, 2005
One Of Them Days
Yesterday, I had one of them days.
It wasn't a really bad day. I mean, it could have been much worse. But, there were a whole lotta little things that were just bad enough to be really irritating.
It started just after 6:00 a.m. as I headed out to work. I need to make sure I'm more awake before getting behind the wheel of my car. Right now, I am working right in the midst of downtown. That means I take the freeway straight from here to there. I started out on the right freeway. Suddenly, I guess my car had a mind of its own and before I knew what happened, I was fixin' to get on the turnpike. Bad, very bad.
Luckily, before I went through the booth to grab my ticket, I was able to do a U-turn and head back north to the freeway. Stupid, stupid, stupid. Ok, little brain fart, I can overcome.
A few minutes later, I am back on the freeway and headed for downtown. Next on the list comes the parking garage.
I find me a good parking spot in the parking garage. Now work with me here. I walk to the elevator, take elevator downstairs, exit garage, through building, outside into the cold, walk through the courtyard, passed a panhandler, across the street, into another panhandler, into my building . . . only to discover . . . I left my badge to get into the building in my car. Grrr. Again, nothing really bad, just really inconvenient.
So, past the panhandler, across the street, another panhandler, through the courtyard, into and through the building, into the parking garage, up the elevator, to my car. Got my badge. All was good with my world.
Let's skip ahead to lunchtime. This was one of the few days I didn't pack my lunch. That shouldn't have been a big deal. Eating downtown can be a little pricey, but there are a lot of places to eat within walking distance.
My boss and I usually have lunch together. He chose to forego the sandwich he brought for lunch opting for lunch out as well. We decided to head to the Galleria. The Galleria does have a couple of restaurants, but more importantly, it has a food court. Gotta love a food court! Something for everyone.
We bundled up against the cold and headed out. Once we walked into the Galleria, what do I see between me and the food court? Dogs. Lots and lots of dogs. Some were sort of penned inside of portable two-foot high fences. Some were on leashes, and I'm not all that sure that some weren't just running loose. Those of you that know me, know that dogs terrify me probably more than spiders do. To say that I wanted to cry and bolt out of there is an understatement. I started to shake and seriously my life past before my eyes. Here, they were having some sort of pet adoption thing happening at the Galleria. Had I known, I'd have skipped lunch.
So as to show as little weakness as possible to the boss so as not to give him ammunition to use against me at a later time, I took the long way around and got past the dogs. I still just wanted to hide and cry, but I made it by them. I grabbed a sandwich, and made sure I sat with my back to the pooches. I figured what I couldn't see couldn't kill me! It was all good until it was time to go. Again, some fancy footwork kept as much space and as many people between me and the dogs. I lived through the experience.
Now we move to my drive home. I got on the right freeway and headed home! Closer to home, the freeway goes from three lanes down to two lanes. It was in the two lane part, at the exit just before my exit. This is a very busy exit and entrance. There always seems to be a steady stream of cars entering the freeway here, so I like to try to get in the left lane to give traffic room to merge onto the freeway. Again, it's only two lanes here. Well, there seemed to be more cars than usual getting on here. I kept looking for a hole to move back into the right lane. I foolishly passed a couple of holes I could have made, looking at a big one up ahead. Just as I was reaching this hole, the car in front of me stepped on the brakes and slowed waaaay down. He chose to move over into my hole! The way he slowed down and the time he took moving over, the hole closed. No room for me and my Honda. Dang it! I get so angry when someone cuts me off, I can't do it knowingly to other people. So, since I waited too long, now I missed my exit.
I blurted out a few expletives at myself and kept going to the next exit and doubled back to the house.
Now, it's been kinda a bad day. Nothing terrible, but just really, really irritating. Ron, being the great guy he is, said he'd take me out to dinner since I had such a poopy day. WOO HOO! Things are looking up!
I decided I had a hankering for Ponderosa. And, being difficult, I wanted the Ponderosa in the next town. That one seems to be to be much nicer, cleaner, food is better and the service is tops! It's worth the extra 10 minutes to get there.
We pulled into Ponderosa and saw the sign. Santa Claus was at Ponderosa last night, and kids got a free picture with Santa! Hey, I may not technically be a kid, but I had enough kid in me. I didn't want to hurt the guy by sitting on his lap, but I did want to go over and say howdy!
Santa shook my hand and I said "hey Santa! I've been a very good girl this year, so I'm expecting good things from you!"
With the signature twinkle in his eye, he replied "Who are you kidding? Remember, I have a list and I've checked it twice. You have a week to clean up your act or nothing from Santa!"
HELLO???? Dissed by Santa??? Oh the horror!
The guy had me laughing, but c'mon. What a way to end my day. Dissed by Santa. And only a week to clean up my act? I better not even think of leaving the house and I may have a chance. Wish me luck!
It wasn't a really bad day. I mean, it could have been much worse. But, there were a whole lotta little things that were just bad enough to be really irritating.
It started just after 6:00 a.m. as I headed out to work. I need to make sure I'm more awake before getting behind the wheel of my car. Right now, I am working right in the midst of downtown. That means I take the freeway straight from here to there. I started out on the right freeway. Suddenly, I guess my car had a mind of its own and before I knew what happened, I was fixin' to get on the turnpike. Bad, very bad.
Luckily, before I went through the booth to grab my ticket, I was able to do a U-turn and head back north to the freeway. Stupid, stupid, stupid. Ok, little brain fart, I can overcome.
A few minutes later, I am back on the freeway and headed for downtown. Next on the list comes the parking garage.
I find me a good parking spot in the parking garage. Now work with me here. I walk to the elevator, take elevator downstairs, exit garage, through building, outside into the cold, walk through the courtyard, passed a panhandler, across the street, into another panhandler, into my building . . . only to discover . . . I left my badge to get into the building in my car. Grrr. Again, nothing really bad, just really inconvenient.
So, past the panhandler, across the street, another panhandler, through the courtyard, into and through the building, into the parking garage, up the elevator, to my car. Got my badge. All was good with my world.
Let's skip ahead to lunchtime. This was one of the few days I didn't pack my lunch. That shouldn't have been a big deal. Eating downtown can be a little pricey, but there are a lot of places to eat within walking distance.
My boss and I usually have lunch together. He chose to forego the sandwich he brought for lunch opting for lunch out as well. We decided to head to the Galleria. The Galleria does have a couple of restaurants, but more importantly, it has a food court. Gotta love a food court! Something for everyone.
We bundled up against the cold and headed out. Once we walked into the Galleria, what do I see between me and the food court? Dogs. Lots and lots of dogs. Some were sort of penned inside of portable two-foot high fences. Some were on leashes, and I'm not all that sure that some weren't just running loose. Those of you that know me, know that dogs terrify me probably more than spiders do. To say that I wanted to cry and bolt out of there is an understatement. I started to shake and seriously my life past before my eyes. Here, they were having some sort of pet adoption thing happening at the Galleria. Had I known, I'd have skipped lunch.
So as to show as little weakness as possible to the boss so as not to give him ammunition to use against me at a later time, I took the long way around and got past the dogs. I still just wanted to hide and cry, but I made it by them. I grabbed a sandwich, and made sure I sat with my back to the pooches. I figured what I couldn't see couldn't kill me! It was all good until it was time to go. Again, some fancy footwork kept as much space and as many people between me and the dogs. I lived through the experience.
Now we move to my drive home. I got on the right freeway and headed home! Closer to home, the freeway goes from three lanes down to two lanes. It was in the two lane part, at the exit just before my exit. This is a very busy exit and entrance. There always seems to be a steady stream of cars entering the freeway here, so I like to try to get in the left lane to give traffic room to merge onto the freeway. Again, it's only two lanes here. Well, there seemed to be more cars than usual getting on here. I kept looking for a hole to move back into the right lane. I foolishly passed a couple of holes I could have made, looking at a big one up ahead. Just as I was reaching this hole, the car in front of me stepped on the brakes and slowed waaaay down. He chose to move over into my hole! The way he slowed down and the time he took moving over, the hole closed. No room for me and my Honda. Dang it! I get so angry when someone cuts me off, I can't do it knowingly to other people. So, since I waited too long, now I missed my exit.
I blurted out a few expletives at myself and kept going to the next exit and doubled back to the house.
Now, it's been kinda a bad day. Nothing terrible, but just really, really irritating. Ron, being the great guy he is, said he'd take me out to dinner since I had such a poopy day. WOO HOO! Things are looking up!
I decided I had a hankering for Ponderosa. And, being difficult, I wanted the Ponderosa in the next town. That one seems to be to be much nicer, cleaner, food is better and the service is tops! It's worth the extra 10 minutes to get there.
We pulled into Ponderosa and saw the sign. Santa Claus was at Ponderosa last night, and kids got a free picture with Santa! Hey, I may not technically be a kid, but I had enough kid in me. I didn't want to hurt the guy by sitting on his lap, but I did want to go over and say howdy!
Santa shook my hand and I said "hey Santa! I've been a very good girl this year, so I'm expecting good things from you!"
With the signature twinkle in his eye, he replied "Who are you kidding? Remember, I have a list and I've checked it twice. You have a week to clean up your act or nothing from Santa!"
HELLO???? Dissed by Santa??? Oh the horror!
The guy had me laughing, but c'mon. What a way to end my day. Dissed by Santa. And only a week to clean up my act? I better not even think of leaving the house and I may have a chance. Wish me luck!
Tuesday, December 13, 2005
I Heart Shopping
Last night, Ron and I hit the roads to do some shopping.
First, you have to know, I hate shopping. I really do. In spite of the title of this post. Especially at Christmas time. You'd think some sort of Christian spirit would be with people. Isn't that what this whole time of year is supposed to be about?
Unfortunately, the only spirit filling people is the spirit of "Me First" and I think a little of "Kill or Be Killed". Since when did K-mart shopping become a kamikaze mission?
Our purpose for being out in the battle zone wasn't even really any Christmas shopping. We needed survival stuff. We were in serious need of some Ice Melt for the ice in the driveway, and vacuum bags. My vacuum bag was so full, it wouldn't accept one more spec of dust! Knowing me, y'all can probably pretty much guess where this story is going.
We came home with almost everything . . . except . . . the Ice Melt and the vacuum bags.
In our defense, we looked more than one place and could not find a vacuum bag size J for an upright Eureka vacuum. We could find a size J belt and a size J hepa filter but no dang bags. The Ice Melt however, was totally overlooked until we got home and we slipped in the driveway unloading the van. Go figure.
The only good that came out of last night was we just about completed our Christmas shopping. I did need to stop today for a few last items, but the bulk of it was done last night.
As a side note to the Christmas shopping, I did have one moment of desperation at K-Mart. I actually stopped a young Hispanic couple with a cart full of toys to ask them if they knew any four year old girls. Just before they screamed for security, I added the fact that we had to buy for a four year old girl and we knew pretty much nothing about what a four year old girl would want! With their fears calmed, they gave us some good ideas of things that would work. So as not to tempt anyone into telling Ron's great-niece what we ended up getting her, I'm not telling here what it was!
I have one more gift to get, something for Dad. I know what I'm getting, I just haven't gone to the Dad's Gift Store yet to pick it up. And, before you ask, I'm not telling what this is either! I don't want anyone telling him before hand! It's gonna be a surprise. I will tell you, I know he'll love it!
First, you have to know, I hate shopping. I really do. In spite of the title of this post. Especially at Christmas time. You'd think some sort of Christian spirit would be with people. Isn't that what this whole time of year is supposed to be about?
Unfortunately, the only spirit filling people is the spirit of "Me First" and I think a little of "Kill or Be Killed". Since when did K-mart shopping become a kamikaze mission?
Our purpose for being out in the battle zone wasn't even really any Christmas shopping. We needed survival stuff. We were in serious need of some Ice Melt for the ice in the driveway, and vacuum bags. My vacuum bag was so full, it wouldn't accept one more spec of dust! Knowing me, y'all can probably pretty much guess where this story is going.
We came home with almost everything . . . except . . . the Ice Melt and the vacuum bags.
In our defense, we looked more than one place and could not find a vacuum bag size J for an upright Eureka vacuum. We could find a size J belt and a size J hepa filter but no dang bags. The Ice Melt however, was totally overlooked until we got home and we slipped in the driveway unloading the van. Go figure.
The only good that came out of last night was we just about completed our Christmas shopping. I did need to stop today for a few last items, but the bulk of it was done last night.
As a side note to the Christmas shopping, I did have one moment of desperation at K-Mart. I actually stopped a young Hispanic couple with a cart full of toys to ask them if they knew any four year old girls. Just before they screamed for security, I added the fact that we had to buy for a four year old girl and we knew pretty much nothing about what a four year old girl would want! With their fears calmed, they gave us some good ideas of things that would work. So as not to tempt anyone into telling Ron's great-niece what we ended up getting her, I'm not telling here what it was!
I have one more gift to get, something for Dad. I know what I'm getting, I just haven't gone to the Dad's Gift Store yet to pick it up. And, before you ask, I'm not telling what this is either! I don't want anyone telling him before hand! It's gonna be a surprise. I will tell you, I know he'll love it!
Saturday, December 10, 2005
Women Are From Venus, Men Are From The Hardware Store
We had one heck of an exciting day at our house. Well, actually it started last night.
Ron and I after dinner headed to one of the chain hardware type stores. Our big plan for this weekend was to get some insulation blown into the attic floor. We are all about trying to save some cash this year with the heating bills. This is something we've talked about doing since we moved in. This project really moved up on our priority list!
Ron figured out how much insulation he thought we'd need, and we grabbed a few more bags, just in case. As long as you bought ten bags of insulation, the rental of the blower was free. We had 30 bags. Free rental right here!
One bag of insulation is about one foot square by two feet long. We filled up two flat bed carts with our 30 bags. On top of that is the blower, and add to that two huge garbage cans that held the 100' of hose. At this hardware store we have me, my car, Ron and his van. There was no way in heck we were fitting in all I just mentioned even into both of our vehicles. What do we do? We called our friend Larry! It's great to know someone with a truck!
Even though it was after 8:00 p.m., Larry said he'd come help us. He met us right away. We loaded up his truck, the guys tied it all down, and we had a convoy over to our house. After loading up two flat bed carts, then unloading them into the truck, I didn't relish the thought of unloading them again that night into the garage. We had Larry back up his truck right into the garage. Since he had the plow on front of the truck, we couldn't close the garage door. We had to cross our fingers and hope like heck no one was going to steal anything. I think we got lucky on that end!
Larry went home with my car and promised to be back at 8:00 a.m. to help Ron with this project. In return, he asked for breakfast. That worked for me! I had Mom's waffles and sausage links ready around 8:00 a.m. We all had breakfast and then the guys got to work.
The most amazing thing to me is what is in a guy's DNA that is not in most women. They just "know" stuff. They may not know why the sky is blue or why water is wet, but the important stuff, they just KNOW. The blower machine came with no instruction booklet. But yet the guys KNEW how to work it. Neither one of them had ever blown insulation before, but somehow they just KNEW what to do. That amazes me. I wouldn't have figured this out had my life depended on it.
Luckily my job was just to run tools up and down and to fix meals. There were serious meetings up in the attic then down in the driveway, but eventually the guys got their system down. A few hours later, it was DONE! I can't believe it!!!
Ron and Larry ran the blower back, took back seven extra bags of insulation, Ron put the attic windows back in (we had the hose coming in the attic window) and we were done.
Now, it may be my imagination, but I swear it is so much warmer up here. The first floor of the house was good about holding the heat or the air conditioning. This second floor was another story. For example, right here where I sit at my computer, I have a blanket on the back of the chair and a heating pad on my desk. On the really cold nights, I have the blanket around me and the heating pad on me somewhere. Socks aren't enough on my feet, some nights I have to put my shoes back on.
Tonight though...I took a long hot bath, and came to my chair. That was a couple of hours ago. I am still barefoot! The floor feels warmer, heck the entire room is warmer! And the temp outside is only 27 degrees.
I know I'm rambling, but I am just so excited! These guys worked really really hard today. They made a slight mess out of the house, but by golly, it's warm in here! This is the first winter night in the two years we've been here that I can say that! Is it just my imagination? Can it be true?? I am warm!!
Thanks to both Ron and Larry for the hard work today. I am truly grateful. You guys are awesome!
Ron and I after dinner headed to one of the chain hardware type stores. Our big plan for this weekend was to get some insulation blown into the attic floor. We are all about trying to save some cash this year with the heating bills. This is something we've talked about doing since we moved in. This project really moved up on our priority list!
Ron figured out how much insulation he thought we'd need, and we grabbed a few more bags, just in case. As long as you bought ten bags of insulation, the rental of the blower was free. We had 30 bags. Free rental right here!
One bag of insulation is about one foot square by two feet long. We filled up two flat bed carts with our 30 bags. On top of that is the blower, and add to that two huge garbage cans that held the 100' of hose. At this hardware store we have me, my car, Ron and his van. There was no way in heck we were fitting in all I just mentioned even into both of our vehicles. What do we do? We called our friend Larry! It's great to know someone with a truck!
Even though it was after 8:00 p.m., Larry said he'd come help us. He met us right away. We loaded up his truck, the guys tied it all down, and we had a convoy over to our house. After loading up two flat bed carts, then unloading them into the truck, I didn't relish the thought of unloading them again that night into the garage. We had Larry back up his truck right into the garage. Since he had the plow on front of the truck, we couldn't close the garage door. We had to cross our fingers and hope like heck no one was going to steal anything. I think we got lucky on that end!
Larry went home with my car and promised to be back at 8:00 a.m. to help Ron with this project. In return, he asked for breakfast. That worked for me! I had Mom's waffles and sausage links ready around 8:00 a.m. We all had breakfast and then the guys got to work.
The most amazing thing to me is what is in a guy's DNA that is not in most women. They just "know" stuff. They may not know why the sky is blue or why water is wet, but the important stuff, they just KNOW. The blower machine came with no instruction booklet. But yet the guys KNEW how to work it. Neither one of them had ever blown insulation before, but somehow they just KNEW what to do. That amazes me. I wouldn't have figured this out had my life depended on it.
Luckily my job was just to run tools up and down and to fix meals. There were serious meetings up in the attic then down in the driveway, but eventually the guys got their system down. A few hours later, it was DONE! I can't believe it!!!
Ron and Larry ran the blower back, took back seven extra bags of insulation, Ron put the attic windows back in (we had the hose coming in the attic window) and we were done.
Now, it may be my imagination, but I swear it is so much warmer up here. The first floor of the house was good about holding the heat or the air conditioning. This second floor was another story. For example, right here where I sit at my computer, I have a blanket on the back of the chair and a heating pad on my desk. On the really cold nights, I have the blanket around me and the heating pad on me somewhere. Socks aren't enough on my feet, some nights I have to put my shoes back on.
Tonight though...I took a long hot bath, and came to my chair. That was a couple of hours ago. I am still barefoot! The floor feels warmer, heck the entire room is warmer! And the temp outside is only 27 degrees.
I know I'm rambling, but I am just so excited! These guys worked really really hard today. They made a slight mess out of the house, but by golly, it's warm in here! This is the first winter night in the two years we've been here that I can say that! Is it just my imagination? Can it be true?? I am warm!!
Thanks to both Ron and Larry for the hard work today. I am truly grateful. You guys are awesome!
Thursday, December 08, 2005
Stuff
Ugh, I'm still sick.
My nose has stopped running like a faucet, now I'm just contending with a cough. But what a cough. I think I've even coughed up part of a lung. And, I think I might have a brain aneurysm. Yeah, that's it. I'm coughing that hard.
For the record, Rite Aid's Tussin CF is the bomb! $5.99 of liquid gold. Unfortunately (or fortunately) it gives me a little buzz, so it's no good for day time use. However, since starting on my CF, I've had very restful nights with no coughs. Amen.
I think Ron is finally on the mend as well. We're still a couple of hacking wheezing coughing fools, but less so every day! Can y'all get a visual yet?
Let's see what's happening since I last wrote:
I had to get a new driver's license! Unlike Texas who just slaps your old picture on a new piece of paper, Ohio makes you take your picture again. It was very wrong of me to go to the license bureau the day before my hair cut! In Texas, I'd never age. Here I look like poop! Stuffy nose, puffy eyes, she at least took the picture in between coughing fits. That's talent! The good thing is that I had my good coat on! So, if you don't look at my face it's all good!
Speaking of my good coat, Ron and I did a little early Christmas shopping. I wanted some nice black dress gloves to go with my good coat. Which, is black. I realized all of my gloves are blue. Go figure. You'd think it was my favorite color or something! Anyway, I wanted to be more color coordinated. We had a night of all about me.
It started at A.J. Wright. I saw nothing there that tickled my fancy. Down the plaza to PayLess Shoes! Hey, how can you NOT find something in there to tickle ya! Ok, I picked up two new pairs of shoes. C'mon...cut a girl some slack. It's been at least a year since I've bought a new shoe! So, now I have some new black dress shoes and a nice pair of brown loafers. A good shoe day, I must say. From PayLess to K-mart, the glove store. Yep, a good shopping night for me!
See why I haven't written lately? Here's the highlight of my life right now. PayLess Shoes and black gloves.
Ok, that's it for now. I need a dose of my CF.
My nose has stopped running like a faucet, now I'm just contending with a cough. But what a cough. I think I've even coughed up part of a lung. And, I think I might have a brain aneurysm. Yeah, that's it. I'm coughing that hard.
For the record, Rite Aid's Tussin CF is the bomb! $5.99 of liquid gold. Unfortunately (or fortunately) it gives me a little buzz, so it's no good for day time use. However, since starting on my CF, I've had very restful nights with no coughs. Amen.
I think Ron is finally on the mend as well. We're still a couple of hacking wheezing coughing fools, but less so every day! Can y'all get a visual yet?
Let's see what's happening since I last wrote:
I had to get a new driver's license! Unlike Texas who just slaps your old picture on a new piece of paper, Ohio makes you take your picture again. It was very wrong of me to go to the license bureau the day before my hair cut! In Texas, I'd never age. Here I look like poop! Stuffy nose, puffy eyes, she at least took the picture in between coughing fits. That's talent! The good thing is that I had my good coat on! So, if you don't look at my face it's all good!
Speaking of my good coat, Ron and I did a little early Christmas shopping. I wanted some nice black dress gloves to go with my good coat. Which, is black. I realized all of my gloves are blue. Go figure. You'd think it was my favorite color or something! Anyway, I wanted to be more color coordinated. We had a night of all about me.
It started at A.J. Wright. I saw nothing there that tickled my fancy. Down the plaza to PayLess Shoes! Hey, how can you NOT find something in there to tickle ya! Ok, I picked up two new pairs of shoes. C'mon...cut a girl some slack. It's been at least a year since I've bought a new shoe! So, now I have some new black dress shoes and a nice pair of brown loafers. A good shoe day, I must say. From PayLess to K-mart, the glove store. Yep, a good shopping night for me!
See why I haven't written lately? Here's the highlight of my life right now. PayLess Shoes and black gloves.
Ok, that's it for now. I need a dose of my CF.
Thursday, December 01, 2005
It's Been A Long Road
Anyone know what today is?
Four years ago today, I stepped foot into Ohio as a new resident. Four years ago, brother Michael brought me bag and baggage back to the north. We had to cross the Mississippi River three times to get here from Texas, but by golly, we got here. (Hey, I was navigating. I keep telling you I'm directionally challenged.
I thought I'd take this opportunity to take stock of myself and see what has happened to me in the last four years. Here's the good, the bad and the ugly, in no particular order.
In four years, I have:
Four years ago today, I stepped foot into Ohio as a new resident. Four years ago, brother Michael brought me bag and baggage back to the north. We had to cross the Mississippi River three times to get here from Texas, but by golly, we got here. (Hey, I was navigating. I keep telling you I'm directionally challenged.
I thought I'd take this opportunity to take stock of myself and see what has happened to me in the last four years. Here's the good, the bad and the ugly, in no particular order.
In four years, I have:
- Moved three times
- Bought my first house
- Had two surgeries
- Got lost numerous times
- Got found numerous times
- Learned I'm stronger than I give myself credit for
- Found a job, lost a job, found another job
- Traveled for work, something I swore I'd never do. I've been to Atlanta, Topeka, Chicago, Harrisburg, Columbus to name a few
- Found Ron (Dang lucky find, I might add!)
- Got to be here for the new additions to our family, my two great-nephews, plus here to hear that two more are on the way! (However, I still say that one of them is having a girl this time!)
- Bought a new car
- Heard and dealt with things that go bump in my night
- Got a new bad habit called Club Pogo
- Got another new bad habit called my DVR
- Learned how to mow the grass and how to plow the driveway
- Searched for inner peace
- Searched for my faith
- Found great new friends
- Held on to old and dear friends
Four years. So much has changed in four years. I really don't think I am the same person I was four years ago. I'm not sure if that's a good thing or a bad thing. I know I've grown. I think I've matured. I am definitely wiser about a lot of things than I was when I got here.
So, my friends, what now. Who knows? Will there be another house? Another move? Another car? Another job? I guess we'll have to go through it one day at a time. Keep checking back here for updates. I have a feeling that the next four years will be exciting!
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