Just in case anyone cares to know, I’ll be offline and unavailable for a couple of days or so. We’re moving the furniture today, which means the computer desk will go, and the phone isn’t hooked up at the farmhouse yet.
ttfn, y’all.
Moving… slowly… August 26, 2007
We didn’t get much of anything for the move accomplished yesterday. We made two (both vehicles each time) trips to pick up some things that were being donated to my workplace. We benefit from that, in that we get a free couch and loveseat (not my style, really, but as we need them, and have no money, beggars can’t be choosers, and they’ll be fine for now). Those haven’t gone out to the farmhouse yet – we left them at work for the time being, because the farmhouse stinks so bad yet I don’t want any fabric-covered furniture or clothing there. When hubby gets home from church, we’re going to take over the (empty) cedar chest, the wooden rocking chairs, the vanity, and a couple of fans. We’re going to take the plastic off all the windows, and see what we can open up, to try to air the place out. It just reeks. Three guys have lived there for two years, with everything shut up, chain smoking. On top of that, the dog was in the house all the time, shedding terribly. It’s disgusting. We also found a “present” for us in our bedroom, as the last night the dog was there, no one was there to let him out. Lovely. *rolls eyes*
After that, it will be back home, to continue packing, etc. We’ve got a long way to go, as far as moving things goes. Much of it will have to be done the last couple of days, once we get some cleaning done over there, and the stink out of the air as much as we can.
Oh – getting back to yesterday. After we made the pickup trips, we came home and had lunch – leftovers from the nice meal I’d made the night before – probably the last of the real big cooking I’ll do in this house, aside from the pot of homemade spaghetti sauce I have going at the moment with fresh tomatoes from the garden. (Friday night I made turkey breast, homemade smashed potatoes, corn on the cob, and something akin to ratatouille with tomatoes, summer squash, green peppers and zucchini.)
After lunch, we headed to the hospital to see our new niece/cousin. She was born some time after 8pm Friday night, via an emergency c-section. 7 pounds, 13 ounces, and 21 inches long. She is, of course, absolutely beautiful. Tiny and perfect, with a thick thatch of hair – she looks like she’s been to her mommy’s salon already. She’s got dark brown hair, tipped with blonde highlights! We didn’t get home from the hospital until early evening, and by then, we were all pretty much exhausted, and I was frustrated and upset by the whole move thing (I was at a place where I couldn’t figure out what to do next, my brain just couldn’t wrap around it anymore), so not much got accomplished, not even dinner. We used our last free pizza coupon, and were going to watch a movie, but by 10pm, hubby and I could barely keep our eyes open. We gave it up shortly thereafter and went to bed. Sad, sad, sad.
The other thing that happened Friday is that my hometown got hit by a tornado. It hit literally across the street from the park my brother lives in, then moved south to the historic downtown. Much of that area was destroyed, with damage in between. The town has been shut down. No one other than residents are supposed to go in or out. There are lots of trees and power lines down. My folks, fortunately, live just south of town, so they can come and go, but are without power, as is the rest of the area. I talked to my mom last night. The latest they’d been told, it would be at least Monday for the power to be back on downtown, and in outlying areas, it could be five to seven days. They’re trying to get their freezer emptied out so they didn’t lose all of the meat. I never heard back from her, so I’m guessing my baby brother ended up having enough room at his place. They’re on a well there, too, so dad has been hauling water in big drums, so there is enough for the animals as well as them.
The tornado is part of why I didn’t get much rest Friday night. My parents had left the hospital at 8:30pm (normally about a 45 minute drive home for them), and by 11pm, were still not home. My baby brother called me to see if I’d heard from them. I hadn’t. Neither were answering their cell phones, and because the power was out, their home phone wasn’t working. We waited another half hour, and when they still didn’t answer, he told me he was going to the house to check on them. They weren’t there when he got there. He finally got mom to answer her phone – they were still 30 minutes away, the drive had been awful. At least they were safe, and once I knew that, I was able to get a bit of rest.
ANYway, I really need to get to work. I know this post rambles and skips around from place to place, but I don’t feel like taking the time to edit. Sorry.
A break from thinking about moving… August 24, 2007
… while we await the appearance of our new favorite niece! My brother called me at 6:30 this morning to tell me that sil’s water had broken. She was going to call her doc, then I imagine they likely went to the hospital. So – it’s just a matter of time now!! 
Ok – so, back to the other stuff. We took a trip out to the farmhouse last night. It was blue skies on the way out. Halfway through unloading, a huge thunderstorm hit. Now, I don’t make a habit out of watching storms, but usually, when I have, the lightning involved seems to be only in one area/direction. Last night, it was hitting all around us. It was wild to watch, some straight down, some going sideways across the sky, in any direction we looked. Scared the girls, though. It didn’t let up until we were almost home… and when we got home, we discovered we had no power. Thank goodness we had the gas stove, so I could still fix dinner. We ate our tacos by the light of an oil lamp (all of the candles have been packed and moved), and a couple of little dollar store lanterns we’d gotten for the girls a while back. Hubby and Princess camped out in the living room to sleep, because it was a bit cooler there. Not enough room for all of us, so Peanut and I slept in the bedroom. She was sweating, poor baby. The power came back on sometime this morning – hubby thinks maybe around 4am, so we had a couple of hours of having the fan, anyway.
taco night August 23, 2007
I’m making something easy for dinner tonight. I even have fresh veggies from the garden to go with (hubby and I usually make taco salad). We’re going to make one trip to the farmhouse tonight, both vehicles loaded. And I’m going to do my level best not to let the place get to me tonight like it did last night. No point – what’s done is done, we’ve just got to make the best of it, and no one says we have to stay there in the long run. Maybe in a couple of years we’ll be able to afford to get something better. As long as I’ve got a patch for my garden, and the kids have some room to play, that’s all we need. I don’t want to be a farmgirl if it means I have to live in a money pit forever and ever! Anyway, one day hubby might inherit his family’s 40 acres, who knows!
Enough of that for now. Something nice happened at work today. We got a big donation of food and kitchen stuff, whoo-hoo! Canned goods, including 5 1/2 cases of tuna, and some things for the freezer, along with some salad fixings, aluminum foil sheets (which I haven’t been able to order in a long time because they’re too expensive), potatoes, shredded cheese, and lots of organic milk. It was good timing, because I spent the balance of our food budget for the month on groceries this week, and wasn’t sure what we were going to do for next week… now I don’t have to worry *quite* as much. This is the second time that has happened – I know somewhere, someone is looking out for us.
Oh – in other news, I had a call from the new maintenance guy on my way home – the last one didn’t want to do the water heater job, so the landlord called someone else in. He stopped by yesterday morning to “have a look” and is planning to return Monday morning to replace the thing. When he told me that, I just started laughing. Looks like we’ll have hot water to clean with, after all. I looked at some of the links some friends left me, and you’re all right – we do have legal grounds. Hubby and I talked it over last night, and instead of reporting him now with a week to go, we’re going to try to use it as leverage to make sure we get our security deposit back.
I’m very tired – I didn’t sleep much, have been up since 5 this morning, and did a lot of physical work at work today, taking care of all the donations. I have to keep some energy, at least enough to make tonight’s trip to the farmhouse. Anyway, that’s that for now. I’ll be back at some point to update.
Nine days August 22, 2007
… until we complete that leap out of the frying pan, and land fully in the fire.
Hot water? August 21, 2007
Not yet. Hubby called the landlord after he got home last night, because the fix-it guy hadn’t shown up yet. We never heard back from landlord (gee, big surprise, I know), but just before 8pm, there came a knocking on our back door. Yep, Mr. Fix-it. He didn’t bring anything to check out the water heater with, just went to look at it, and said landlord told him the element was likely bad. True that, however, I think the thermostat is also bad (as the reset button doesn’t work, so the high limit is likely blown, but hey, what do I know?). Anyway, he called and found a replacement element, but due to the time, was unable to get it last night. He said he’d be here this morning – around noon. I said he needed to be here before that. So, supposedly in another half hour, I should be expecting him. We’ll see. Anyway, once he drains the tank and replaces that, I’m betting we still won’t have hot water, due to that thermostat. Again, we’ll see. In the meantime, I called boss, told her I’d be late to work. Too bad when the business got sold, we lost all of our vacation and personal time.
I guess I’ll try to do some more packing this morning, though I didn’t sleep well last night and I’m pretty tired. Has to get done, though, tired or not.
Edited to add: Of course the guy never showed today.
*sticks out tongue* August 20, 2007
Okay, I’m getting tired of packing now! :p
I’m not making progress as quickly as I’d hoped today. Oh, I’m getting work done, I just thought (hoped?) I’d be farther along by now. I’m hampered a bit by lack of smallish boxes – can’t/won’t pack hardcover books into large boxes! 
I’m trying to pack things that can go over right away, not things we’re still going to need for the rest of our time here. I got the china cabinet emptied out, the mantle cleared off, and am working on the entertainment center. If I can get that done, I’ll start on the two bookshelves in the living room, depending on what boxes I have.
anyway, guess I’ll get back to it…. I’ll be back again after while, I’m sure!
Oh, boy! August 20, 2007
Landlord called last night, left a voicemail saying, “I’m sending the guy who’s been working on the painting over tomorrow afternoon to look at the hot water heater. Want to get you guys hot water as fast as we can!”
Um, sure, like I’m really going to believe that load of crap, when we’ve been without for a MONTH?? Whatever you say. *rolls eyes*
He wanted me to leave the house unlocked, or leave a key somewhere. Oh, I don’t think so. I’m not going to stay at work long today – I’m going to make sure I’m home before noon (he said the guy would be here in the afternoon). I’m not letting anyone in here without one of us home, with most of our stuff still here.
Anyway, mil came for dinner last night, and took the girls home with her until tomorrow, so after I get home today, I can use the child-free time to work on packing. We’re down to 11 days now, and I’ve not gotten anything done. Part of it is because my depression has been really debilitating lately, and part of it is because there wasn’t much point going hog-wild until the previous tenant was finally out. He’s supposed to be out today (no choice – his phone is being changed over, and since he’s on an electronic tether….). That leaves just the dog to worry about. Once I know for sure that thing is gone, we can start taking more stuff over there. It is cold, miserable and rainy here again today (has been raining all weekend, though has only been cold the last two days). Of course by the weekend, when we’ll really be needing to move, it is going to be back up in the 90’s – with possible rain. Lol! That sure is the way it goes.
the short version August 15, 2007
remember a while back – about a year ago, actually – when I was being whiny and overly dramatic about not being able to move into a farmhouse I really really wanted?
Heh. Let me tell you (to quote part of a Daughtry song) – “Be careful what you wish for, ’cause you just might get it all.”
We’re moving to said farmhouse. We’ll be out of here by the end of this month. We’ve known for just over a week now that we’d be moving, so it was short notice.
I’m another year older, and a little wiser now – and boy, have we let ourselves in for it. Our options were extremely limited – as in, stay here and deal with an a-hole of a landlord (still no hot water… but he did have his people come powerwash the house two days ago so it can be painted. Needs to look better so he can rent it out, dontcha know), or move by the end of the month when our lease is up, and moving to the farmhouse didn’t involve having to save money for a security deposit, etc., so financially, it was about the only choice we had.
There you have it. Why the rest of my August will be jam-packed with work (and I’ve not even gotten into why the months following that will be busy! *eek*).
Now, we just need to get the brakes fixed on my car so I have a vehicle to drive again, we could really get to it. :p
Yay! It’s Thursday! August 9, 2007
Hubby is coming home tonight. Good thing he doesn’t normally have to travel for business. It worked out okay – he ended up with a whole suite to himself, because the person he was supposed to room with decided to bring his girlfriend along, so they got their own room. He told me last night that he’s been learning a lot, but he’ll be glad to get home. They’ve got them booked solid with training until 6 tonight, then they get 45 minutes to check out of the hotel and eat before they need to head to the airport.
It turns out that I actually don’t have to drive to the airport so late tonight, either (his flight isn’t due to land until 10pm – and it’s a NWA flight, so I think that says it all!). I guess that one of the other people he went out with actually lives in the next town west of us, so she’s going to drop him off on her way home. That helps us out – I don’t have to go down there, and can save the gas and parking money – and her husband is happy that she won’t be leaving the airport so late at night alone. I just have to try to stay up until he gets home, because he didn’t take his house keys with him. I already told him that I’d stay in the living room, so if I doze off, I’ll hear him knocking. I will be very surprised if he is home much before midnight. With any luck, maybe there’ll be someone around cyberland to keep me company for a while. I think I’m still going to send the girls home with my mom for the night, then I can spend a couple of hours doing a bit of work around here. There is always so much to do, and when I’m by myself, I can get quite a bit done (though I admit, sometimes I’m at a loss as to where to start or what to do next!).
ANYway, that’s all for now. I need to get Peanut up and going so we can get to work.
