Just keepin’ on keepin’ on… July 31, 2008

I’ve been busy – sometimes. Lazy a bunch, too. Too many days there is too much stuff going on I can’t do a damned thing about, left in a situation where I have to choose between standing my ground when I know I’m right and have done nothing wrong, or making my husband’s life easier by compromising my own standards and allowing myself to unfairly be shouldered with the entire burden of blame (which I would forever regret) and I’ve been losing sleep, but heck, I’m keeping it together the best I can, so I sure can’t complain!

I did manage to get Peanut’s room finished, paint-wise. We still have to fix the hole in the wall, but we at least have the materials here to do it with, so hopefully this weekend it will get done. When I get up a lot of ambition, I’ll start on the master bedroom. I have to sand and prime before I can get down to the serious painting, and that takes enough time in and of itself. The walls I have no problem with – what’s going to be tricky is the “cathedral” ceiling…. I have kept up on my housework for the most part, if nothing else, and have done some more unpacking, though not as much as I thought I’d have accomplished at this point in the summer. I have a little more impetus now, though, since my brother and sister-in-law are going to be buying a house, which means they need boxes. I unpacked several over last weekend (mostly dvds… we have a LOT of those), and will try to get some more done this weekend.

Other than that stuff, not a whole lot going on. The girls and I have just been hanging out, watching television (my new addiction “Clean House” on the Style Network) and a few movies, and playing at Webkinz World. Peanut has been sick the last couple of days, with a high temp of 103.7 yesterday, and 103.8 today. We don’t have a local doc yet (can change tomorrow – beginning of the month – but it won’t be active immediately), and I drove all the way to Pontiac today to do help sort some donations at my old workplace, but couldn’t get her into our doc there. If her temp is still that high again tomorrow, I’ll have to figure out someplace to take her to get a script for an antibiotic. The nice thing about Peanut is that even when she is feeling absolutely miserable, she stays in a good mood, with few exceptions, and the moments she gets upset are very brief.

Guess that’s all for now. Hope everything is going well in your neck of the woods, wherever that may be!

Feeling better. July 10, 2008

In spite of not getting much sleep last night. :p One of our cats was unhappy with a kitty that came up on the porch. Not only did it do that, it had the nerve to “talk” to our cat, in rather a friendly manner, I thought, but Annie apparently disagreed. I haven’t ever heard her hiss and spit and yell as much as she did then! I got up to look for the other cat when Annie left the window, thinking it might have gone back around to the deck (it’s a little cat that hangs around the yard often). Looked out the kitchen window and realized that the sliding glass door between the breakfast room and the deck was wide open! Princess had taken her friends on a tour, and forgot to close it, I guess. We don’t use that door much yet, so I didn’t even think to check it when I locked up for the night. Then, I realized that Boom wasn’t around, and was afraid he’d run away. He tries to go outside all the time. Hubby and I were both worried about him. We looked around outside and upstairs and such, but couldn’t find him. Finally, I checked the basement, and there he was. Thank goodness! He must have gone down with the girls when they were on their tour. I don’t like him hanging out down there, but I much prefer that to him getting outside!

As a follow-up to my last post, I talked to Eldest daughter for an hour yesterday. She was feeling better, too. She was most upset that she was missing Princess’s birthday, and had been frustrated because she’d tried so hard to get here – had everything arranged, but couldn’t get that all-important ride to the airport. Anyway, we’ve been looking at flights, and she is going to try to come in the end of the month for a couple of weeks. Whenever she can come, we’ll be happy to see her.

Oh – speaking of Princess’s birthday… looks like it really is going to be an all-weekend event now. One of the two friends she invited for the Saturday overnight decided she wanted to come on Friday, to stay for the weekend. She’s a sweet girl (is Princess’s best friend), and I didn’t mind. Her mom said okay, too, so that’s fine. Then, the other girl that was invited found out that she was coming on Friday, and asked if she could come then, too! Yikes! I couldn’t tell her no, when I’d told the other yes, so there you have it. I need to find some special earplugs that block high-frequency sounds, so I don’t go deaf from all the giggling and squealing that is bound to happen, lol. The upside is that we’ll be able to take them to a matinee showing of the new 3-D Journey to the Center of the Earth instead of having to take in an evening show (though I do realize that even a matinee show for four people including snacks is a rather expensive proposition!). Then we’ll do the Sunday cookout for everyone else. Busy, busy, busy!

We’ve gotten a little bit more yard work done. My brother brought a small trailer over yesterday, and we hauled two loads of wood/brush to his house, then sat around the fire visiting for a while. I think my sister-in-law is going to come over for a little while today, so we can go to a greenhouse up around the corner. We stopped in yesterday, but it was cash only, and neither of us had that, so we want to go back. They have a good sale going on – hanging baskets for $4, as well as flats of some flowers. I’m going to get a flat or two of impatiens, a few hanging baskets, and this giant, beautiful pot of dragon wing begonias which will look beautiful next to the sidewalk by the front porch. (And I do mean giant! It’s nearly 4 feet tall.) That will pretty up the front yard right quick, and relatively inexpensively before the weekend. Other than that, I’m going to work on bagging grass clippings and such today, and then go shopping for supplies for the weekend this evening. So, to quote Eldest d, “It’s all good.”

I have to say, aside from the fact that I love my house, I am extremely glad we were able to move back to this area. It’s so nice to be able to be close to my family, to be able to visit without worrying about a long drive home. Now, as my SIL said yesterday, we just have to get my middle brother back in the area!

Urgh. July 9, 2008

I’ve been feeling all antsy and anxious all evening. There wasn’t anything I wanted to do, except maybe read, but I can’t get to any of my books at the moment, and Peanut was playing on the computer. I ended up going in the other room to watch tv by myself – not really what I wanted, either, but it was better than being bored to death by the extras on some dvd that hubby was watching.

Princess is spending the night at her friend’s house tonight. Said friend is spending the weekend with us, for Princess’s birthday. We’re having the family and a couple of friends over on Sunday to celebrate Princess’s 11th. It will be the first gathering we have at the new house. Some people will comment on how slowly we’re getting things done, but as one of my friends said when I talked to her yesterday, we’re the ones who live here, and we’ve got lots of time to finish our projects up! Even with lots of stuff undone, we have nothing to be ashamed of when people come over. Everything might not be unpacked, and there is stuff out that eventually will have a place, but what little bit of clutter there is is at least neat! And with all the yard work we got done last weekend, we’ll be able to eat out on the deck and have the kids play outside (weather-permitting, of course), which is a really good thing.

Eldest daughter was hoping to come in for a two week visit, including Princess’s birthday, but her mother pulled the selfish bitch act she’s been famous for for all the years I’ve known her, and refused to drive her to the airport. Son-in-law can’t take her to the airport due to his work schedule. I’m disappointed, but hoping we can reschedule. She was so upset she couldn’t even call herself to let us know she wouldn’t be here on Thursday after all, she had to have her hubby call. No one is upset with her, and I want to make sure she knows that, so I’ll call her tomorrow. I was a little terse with son-in-law on the phone, because she told her dad earlier today that her hubby was giving her a difficult time about coming, too, because he didn’t want her to be gone for 2 weeks. No, he’d rather she sit in a hotel room by herself all day, day in and day out, while he works. Oh, wait – that’s right, since he’s working with his stepfather-in-law, that means Eldest d. can hang out with her lovely mother all day! Lucky her. * rolls eyes *

I sound bitter, I know. I’ve been dealing with that woman in one way or another for 15 years, and I have no respect for people who do anything they can to make things difficult for their ex, while not paying any attention to (and not caring about) the damage they’re doing the kids in the process. One would think that after the better part of two decades and both parties being remarried, she’d have moved on and grown up a bit, but no. Not her. The kids are adults now, and she still keeps it up.

I guess that’s enough griping for now. It isn’t accomplishing anything. I just have too many things on my mind, and it is too easy to let things get to me.

Every time… July 5, 2008

… I watch Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, when Harry conjures the Patronus from across the lake to save Sirius and himself… I get chills. Every time. Doesn’t matter how many times I’ve seen the movie (which is a fair few), that scene gets me, on so many levels. *sigh*

Anyway, looks like it has been a while since I’ve been here again. I’ve thought about stopping by, but… just haven’t. I’ve been busy, yes (and those muscles I rediscovered today working in the yard are already protesting the thought of working out there again tomorrow!), but not so busy I couldn’t pop in. I just let myself get distracted. I’ve been enjoying not having to go to work. I don’t miss that place much. The people, yes, but not the job itself. The girls and I have been spending some time together every day, and I’ve been letting them take over my computer a bit so they can go online. We have a new shared interest – Webkinz. I’ll freely admit that in the evenings when I get online, I spend too much time playing at that website!

Lots of stuff going on, some stuff I want to post about, if I ever take the time to make myself. Some things I just need to work out on my own. I’m sure you know how that goes.

Now, it’s late, so I’d best head to bed. Have another busy day ahead of me tomorrow! ttfn.