Painter at Work, Look out!

Finally, the kitchen is no longer yellow! Unfortunately the yellow still seems to show through, that and the color doesn't match the living room as planned, but it still looks _much_ better! Now the floors need to be dealt with (ahem, a subject I shall not go into for my poor BFF's sake!) before I can paint the kids' room.

Yay! Going to have a kids' room! Poor Bekah still doesn't get it though. We were playing with graph paper as I tried to decide how to arrange beds and such in the rooms and my little helper kept putting Mama and Daddy's bed next to hers. Cute. So I cut out the bedrooms and placed them next to each other on the floor as they are in the Shack. I explained that our bed would be in a different room and Bekah and VJ will get their very own room *without* Mama and Daddy. Blank stare. It's a work in progress.

Speaking of progress... Yay again kitchen! So I'd taken the day off to paint all the nooks and crannies of the textured wall (ick! pain-in-the-butt!) and I was taking a break for lunch. We had granola bars, chips, water, and soda... and- ooh Chinese food! Okay, so when I'm alone and working and I'm in a good mood (I had been jamming out with iTunes all the while - a sight gladly not seen!) I can eat almost anything. Leftover Chinese with no microwave? Whatever! No forks? Fine! So I'm sitting with my back to the door at a Mickey Mouse Club table, yes on the little Mickey Mouse Club chair, eating cold Chinese noodles out of the box with a plastic spoon when the oil guy knock on the door. Classy baby, oh yeah! We did get a discount on the bill though as long as we pay within 15 days instead of 30. Jesse assures me this is not a sympathy discount, but one never knows.

So I made to home-ownership! Really we made it. I couldn't have done Any of this without my BFF to whom I have of late been the tension calmer. Really I don't know what we'd do if we both flew off the deep end at the same time. Best we take turns! I must be in good mojo lately though because when we got home the kids paid him no heed and jumped all over me. Weird. They still cry for him in their sleep though. Sometimes they cry other things. I swear I just heard VJ say, "Fahhh Kooo" but one can't be too sure. After all, where would he Ever have heard such a thing?!

The Dowry: prequel to The Move

{For those who have followed my most recent facebook post, the shifting of the dowry happened between 2:30pm and 3:45pm this afternoon during 'great.'}

Somewhere around January 2006 my loved ones threw me a bridal shower, complete with a pre-show of my mother running back and forth with a bouquet of flowers for me as no one knew through which door we'd be coming. It was beautiful, fun, and hilarious even as Jesse took his brunch to the 'present area' refusing to not eat while opening presents. Well, four and a half years later those many fabulous items remain all packed up... in the attic of my parents house. Not exactly the original intent.

Now as the elated new owners of the Love Shack, we were finally able to move what I have longingly called the Dowry out from the filth-encrusted, bug-carcass covered, musty, dusty attic. Nothing against my parents of course but... it's an attic... and I'm not kidding about the dead bugs. (ewwww...)

It was interesting seeing things come down. Hunched over and working the quads, I slid everything, box-by-box, over to the opening and lowered things to Jesse. At times I paused to say things like, "We *have* one of those?!" or "I forgot all about that!" but mainly to marvel at the limited cabinet space in the Shack and how many 'things' we now  had to put in them. Wine glasses. Yup! Going from one attic to another basically! Turkey fryer... oh, how we love thee... Crap! Oil's leaking... not good! Ooh! Delicate box! Light box. Heavy box. Awkward box. Um, all towels box... toss it down! Amazingly, and mostly thanks to my wonderful BFF who can really... ahem, he's good at arranging items in storage areas of travel... we fit everything in the trailer for travel!

Yes folks, our Dowry has officially moved from ma & pa's attic to our new little Shack! Okay, well, it's still in the trailer which is in the driveway, BUT we haven't finished (and by we I mean him) the floors. Those will be done Friday, after we charge for some more polyurethane. I must say we're only just now going to the fake money. Proud of us!

So... PROPS to my BFF for getting the job done and props to my brother-in-law for his immense help and props to our parents (all four) for  helping to watch the kids at times and big thanks to all who have been asking to help even though we haven't exactly accepted yet. I should address that, by the way.

As everything is happening here and there and we have an order of operation but no set timeline, we haven't been able to give dates of moving or exact times/ways to help. All I can say for certain is that we're working on things this weekend and I _may_ be painting Tuesday and Wednesday. The only big things to be 'moved' are our beds and one couch, maybe a small recliner, oh and a TV. The rest is fairly small and lots of boxes of stupid-little-things and clothes. That move will happen once every major project (outlets, lights, floors, painting) is done and those things are most Jesse-do-it things. I can't even help with those, except the painting. I might ask for help on that, but we'll see when it really ends up happening.

Bear with us! *sigh*

Angels & Demons

aka: Toddlers!

Okay, I love my babies! Nothing can EVER change that. There are, however, plenty of times my lack of patience, temperament, or need for moving on with life during time-sucking temper tantrums can alter the appearance of my immeasurable love for my darling... little... cherubs... Ahem. Yes, nothing but love for those little guys. One second I'm melting over the way my two-year-old laughs in her sleep, then I cringe at his sudden nightmare wail. Or I may be trying to muffle the sound of her sweet little voice at 5am with the blankets to my ears when she says, "Mama, I haz go potty!" A little while later I rouse again to his giggles as my one-year-old's awake in his crib. One simply never knows what to expect next.

True a parent must be able to adapt on the fly, something I'm still really working on. Bekah wears Easy-Ups at night and one night didn't want the one I had out. "I want Pincess Dohr, not 'at Dohr!" I simply explained that this Dora was Princess Dora wearing her riding pants because she was going to ride Calico (a friend's horse we've ridden). Instant success! "Mama, I no want wear 'at shir... I want wear Dohr shir!" Seeing a theme here? "Bekah, these teacups are Dora's teacups for her hot chocolate." Success again!

One day, this will all come back to bite me. She'll be a teenager and I'll be the fool... though aren't I already? I taught her to say "Trick or Treat!" for Halloween. When I wanted to show her new feat off to my mother-in-law, I said, "Bekah, what will you say when someone opens the door?" *sigh* "Chocolate!" <giggles> "Tick-o-Teet!" I'm sure once VJ learns candy comes from strangers (bite your tongues!) he'll be all over this holiday.

And so I've gone on bragging about how fah-reeking cute I think my kids are without getting too into the latter half of the title. I'll not get gruesome about it as I'm in a good mood and need to think about trekking back and forth to the Y for swim lessons in the morning. *stupid hour-apart classes, wet bathing suit twice, ick* I'll just say breakfast can be an hour long ordeal of who wants what, or more like who doesn't want what, plus he can't get fed fast enough while she won't eat unless I threaten to throw her food 'down the big hole.' Screaming in only tolerable for so long while my husband and father are trying to sleep after working an overnight and it's not quite 'play outside' weather. Even when it is, it's hard corralling them with no fence. Did I mention the Shack has a lovely fenced-in yard!!! Eeeeeeeeeeee!!!

Soon enough we'll be able to spread our things around our own kitchen, let the kids play a little more freely, and not worry as much about whose things (which we can't relocate because they don't belong to us) they're touching. Time-outs don't always work. Even the mean kitty routine is wearing off... Oh, let me explain. She's watched Cinderella, or Cinnalella, and doesn't like the 'mean kitty' so we talk about not acting like a mean kitty. When she wants to hit/push/pinch/pull/tackle/etc her brother anyway she says, "Mama, I a mean kitty now!" Later, "Mama, I no want be a mean kitty!" Poor VJ... but then, payback's coming! He is about her size now after all!

Love Shack

So as I come home from a wonderful wedding, where played a necessary wedding song, 'Love Shack', I must exclaim a few exciting updates for our little Love Shack.

My BFF has been working (as he's a general contractor among other things) on our new humble abode whenever he's not dispatching, stuck with two lit'uns, or sleeping... the latter of which is rare. Our basic Honey-Do list has been to switch the electrical from fuses to breakers, refinish the hardwood floors (they are small but it's a job!), paint a bit, add closet organizers, and hook up the new washer and dryer. We've already changed the locks and gotten the new W/D into the house and Jess sanded the floors. With all his hard work he's just about half-lived there already. He excitedly told my parents that he'd made his first purchase for the house the other day: toilet paper! Today, we got our first pack of mail and it was... you guessed it: mostly junk! Actually it was mostly oil companies looking for business, but still exciting to see our names with the new address.

We have much work to be done even after we do move in (hopefully in a couple weeks). The kitchen is, well, you could roll down it. We plan to break up the concrete steps in the back and build a small deck. We also want to *eventually* go up a floor. It's a two bedroom ranch-type house. Technically it's a full basement but tiny (built in 1922). We'll see how financing goes...

In the meantime, we're in the transitional period where my October paychecks become non-existent (much like they've always felt but more so) to pay the mortgage. I won't cry, shake, or panic... I've been advised not to as things always "work out somehow." I am _clinging_ to that notion. Hey, it may be a shack, but it's MY little shack and I love it!

Techno Addict

Yes, it's entirely true. I am addicted to technology. Have you seen me? My BFF might describe me as brown haired and slumped over. My common quote might be, "One sec, lemme finish this thought." Alas, there is no thought that ever completes itself in my mind. Hypographia I say!

Regardless, I write tonight on the most recent outposts of my addiction. I was recently introduced to yet another wonderful iPhone App, Words with Friends. It's basically scrabble for the iPhone. I got it, set up my account (2-3 seconds), and invited Jesse to play. Two and a half days later we're still playing. Okay it's two games later too, but it's fun. I love playing with letters and arranging words and... ahem, I am a writer. This should be obvious. So maybe Jess got a little jaded by my kicking his butt, although he came back a bit last game. Anyway he suggested I add Chess with Friends. I assume it's because he wanted to beat me at a game. So far so good... for me surprisingly. Chess isn't my forte.

Look at that! I've rambled on about two stinking games. Goes to show it's all that's occupied me for the last couple days. Why is the world (Yes, I skipped from me to the whole friggin' world, deal...) so obsessed with technology. I don't mean the broad spectrum from better cars or faster communication. I mean specifically the things that draw our eyes, occupy our every waking hour, drench our minds with information so that we can barely retain it all. Facebook, Twitter, blogs, texting... You name it. We're addicted as a society. Yes I'm dragging you into this. Okay, there's plenty of people who aren't into it as much. (psst, they're mostly of the previous generations...) What person under the age of 40 doesn't text. Extreme few that I know. Who still doesn't have a Facebook account? Not many. And really, we sit around sometimes and complain there's nothing to do. We go online, on our phones or laptops or desktops and we update our status to something along the lines of (Ooh Lemony Snickets flashback!) "Bored. At work. Working until..." Really, have we such an attachment that we can't think without having to share it or laugh to ourselves and not tell the world? Could we possibly put the keyboards away for just a couple days and...

Hey! What was that crazy talk?! It's after midnight now and I need to check FB and hit the hay. Honestly! I writer talking about putting away the keyboard. Sheesh! According to the web these episodes should remain infrequent and subside with continued reading of others' posts. I have to go stalk a few people and update my status. Plus I have a chess game to finish.

Step 1: Pick up the Damn Pen

Well, here goes. Why not start out with the best advice I've ever gotten as a writer. Pick up the pen and move it along the paper, making words preferably, until X amount of time has passed. Well... proverbially speaking, er, typing of course. One cannot make a statement by clamming up... Okay, yeah, I can hear the retorts there as well. Here's the thing: I've got a lot to say and not much order to put it in. To reiterate: I have much on my mind and nowhere to set it down. I'm heavy-headed, overwhelmed, over-thought, under-expressed... I'm hypographiac and loving it!!! Um, I mean hating it... hence the blog.

Many chapters down, few finished, fewer still (as  in none) complete. Will I ever publish? Quick frankly I don't give a damn, but I'll get what needs releasing out of my head if it kills me... or it may. Yes, it's true. I really don't care if I publish. Swear against me all you want random woman from ReaderCon who thinks I'll publish in a year. Phaw! It's my twisted, maniacal, under-developed, overly-detailed, completely insanely complex world(s) and I'll do as I please with it... them... whatever! Mwahahahaha!

*poor Jesse*

In the Meantime, enjoy these rants and random bits of banter I shall post on the web for my writing and your reading enjoyment. After all, if there's anything I can kill, it's time.

;)