OK...let's see how this plays out.

1. What is the ratio of sexy panties to granny panties currently in your possesion?

I have NO granny panties in my drawer. Got rid of them all after I met Scott. Every single pair I own (which is about 20) came from Victoria's Secret.

2. Pretend you won one of those "Make your dream come true" deals that Oprah is always giving away. What would you ask for?

I'd ask for the new house to paid for in full, along with a houseful of new furniture!

3. Describe your high school days in one word.

Weird

4.If you could shag any celebrity in the world who would be your top three picks?

1. George Clooney
2. Brad Pitt (even though the rumor is that he has a teenie weenie)
3. Antonio Banderas (YUM...have you seen that man's ass??)
   

5. If you had all the money in the world, more money than you could spend in four lifetimes, would you eat some?

No way...there's no telling where that's been!

6. Tag three people.

1. Wisshes (she's going to kill me).
2. TheFamilyMan (he's going to kill me, too)
3. Onderland (oh well, 3 for 3)
   

As New Orleans and Gulfport try to pull themselves together, there are battles being waged against it by the absolute scum of the earth - those low-lifes who feel free to plunder businesses and homes which miraculously survived the hurricane and subsequent flooding.

What is the logic behind breaking into a store and stealing 9 pairs of sneakers? What is it that causes a presumably civilized man to turn into an animal in the face of disaster? What line of thinking leads one to believe that they are somehow entitled to things that don't belong to them, just because the city is in shambles??

Am I just naive by believing that after a crisis, people should be concerned about others sharing their space, rather than how much money or how many things they can steal? Isn't that like kicking a man when he's down?

And the price-gougers should be drawn and quartered!

It truly saddens me when I see what this world has become.

In any event, if you want to help the flood victims, here are a couple of links:

American Red Cross

The Salvation Army

They don't need clothes or shoes or food or water...they need MONEY. If you have it...give...and give some more.

While this string of unfortunate luck is with us, I need to keep in mind that there are many blessings as well.

1. My daughter Kristi is 7 weeks from her due date.
2. My daughter Jennifer is getting married in 5 weeks.
3. We're buying a lake house!!
4. While I was in a car wreck, I wasn't badly hurt, and I'm still alive!
5. Despite cheating constantly on my diet, I've only gained back 3 lbs., which comes and goes.
6. I'm loved by many people, more than I deserve.

If I keep these thoughts in mind - I can get through anything!!

I was in my third accident since 08/03 today, and the second one just this year. This time an unlicensed, uninsured Hispanic National (isn't that totally PC of me?) tried to cut in front of someone else in the far right lane, reacted from almost hitting a car by overcompensating, and she came flying across the next two lanes of traffic, clipping my front end and pushing me into the retaining wall.

*sigh*

My front end is trashed, but the car is driveable. My left wrist hurts, my back hurts, my shoulder hurts, my head hurts.

The other driver was making noises like I was somehow to blame for her crossing the highway and hitting me, because I wasn't 100% sure whose face I saw in the window as she hit me (there were three adults in the car). Fortunately, I have the names and phone numbers of two witnesses who came running over to my car because they thought I was going to be pretty messed up when they got there...both terribly relieved that I wasn't cut up or broken.

The insurance company has been called, a statement given...and I just want to cry. Just yesterday morning, I finished paying off Scott's mom's car...and now we have to come up with $500 for my deductible...I'm just hoping this doesn't jeopardize the house :((

Last Friday morning, we buried Scott's grandmother, Lillie. It was a beautiful service at the church where she had been a member most of her life. After the church service, there was a short procession to the cemetary where, thank God, they did not lower the casket in front of us...that's where I lose it. The minister said a few words and a prayer, then everyone kind of milled around and talked for a little while, then it was back to the church for lunch. First time I've been to a funeral where they fed you, but the psychology behind it has to be that during that time of sharing a meal is where the healing begins.

After the funeral, we returned to the house, where family who had not met other family members (like me) got to know us a little. Then Scott's dad, Keith, said: "The best way I can think of to honor my mother....is to fish!" Scott, Keith, his wife Cathy, and I headed down to the pond, where we proceeded to catch 15 good-sized bass....and of those 15, I caught 6!! We ate them Saturday night for dinner and I swear I've never eaten better tasting fish ;)

During the last week when I was completely out of control on my eating, I put 6 lbs back on. Fortunately, most of it must have been water, because I've already lost 2.5 of it. Won't be doing THAT again!

Nothing new on the house yet. Carolyn, one of the attorneys I work for, has been going over the paperwork on it, making sure all the i's are dotted and t's are crossed...mental note: send her flowers. Scott and I have begun daydreaming about things we want to change in the house, and in what order. LOL...we've even begun picking out paint colors.

One of our biggest questions is...where are the birds going to live? The most logical spot for them may disappear if we knock out a wall we want gone. Hm...Our guests may have to share a room with them ;) (Never happen, trust me! We'll figure out something.)

That's it for now....Life in Texas...it's for the birds!

Woohooo! The interest rate was raised on my savings account to 3.30%! Sure, it's only a few cents here and there, but they add up!

If you're interested in opening an account, please email me and I'll send you a referral link - you'll get $25 FREE just for opening an account, and I'll get $10 FREE, because you did!

The problem with not posting daily is that you then have to do update posts, and something inevitably gets left out. I'm hoping I don't do that now.

Scott's grandmother passed away last night at 7 p.m. She was 86 years old and lived a long happy life. She's been ill for two years, and was ready to go. She died at home, surrounded by her children and grandchildren. She just went to sleep and didn't wake back up. She'll be terribly missed. We drove up to Oklahoma yesterday and got there about 1 p.m., so Scott was able to see her before she passed away.

We've been seeing Shannon regularly. Things are not smooth just yet, but hopefully the issues will get resolved soon. We love spending time with her, and she seems to enjoy being with us.

At our monthly karaoke party on Saturday night, our dear friend, Linda, handed me a card and said, "I have a gift for you. It's not much, but I wanted you to have it" and handed me an envelope. Inside the envelope was a card and five $100 bills! I immediately started crying and threw my arms around her. There was a split second battle in my head saying "protest, give it back to her, it's much too generous" with the other side of it being "she wouldn't give it if she couldn't afford it and didn't want to, and to protest would just be a waste of time". I just thanked her profusely. It will go immediately into the bank and then be transferred to the savings account. Linda, if you ever read this...thank you so very much.

So, progress on the house continues. We now have a title policy, we're building our savings account for the closing costs, and we're starting to do some serious daydreaming. The escrow company was supposed to send me some documents which I haven't received yet, but hopefully that doesn't indicate any problems.

My daughter Kristi got a contract on her house today - they have to be out by September 30. Her baby is due October 13. Wonder when I should book my flight for? ;)

As a reminder, if you'd like to open an online savings account, where you'll get a FREE $25 for signing up, please email me. I'll get $10 for referring you and boy, could I use the money! LOL

Also, the jewelry ad to the left of this page is also a money maker for me. If you purchase a piece of jewelry for only the small shipping and handling, I'll receive a small commission. I'm going to be adding a PayPal donation button until we get moved. If you'd like to help out in any small way, feel free. If not, hey, that's fine too! (We need $14,000....I'm not proud...lol)

Despite being a packrat, I've been fairly transient in my life. For example, when I was 20 or so, I applied to work for the IRS. Part of their application was the requirement that you list your addresses for the past 10 years. At that point in time, I had 14 different addresses...and only one of those was my mother's. I can't count how many times I moved between the age of 20 and the age of 39, in 1995. I've moved nine times since 1995 and I'm preparing to move again, making it 10 times in 10 years. I finally got collapsible boxes a few moves ago, so when I unpacked, they went into a closet somewhere, waiting for the next move.

I hate moving. I hate packing everything up, and taking it back down. I hate that things get broken during a move. So, the packrat in me goes through trauma with each move. And here I am again, having to sort through my books, and throwing more away. They aren't worth anything - old secretarial handbooks, for example, but I just hate having to do it.

I'm really hoping we stay in this house forever - but I know that won't happen. Part of our purpose in buying this place is to improve it, and resell it for much more than we paid for it in 5 years, or so.

Anybody else out there feel like this?

These "hates" are very short-term, however. I'll get over them soon enough, when they'll be replaced with the excitement of owning my first home, of living on a lake, learning a new town. I actually have fun getting lost in a new town...I look at it as an adventure, because you always learn about some place you might not normally have looked for. It'll be way cool, sitting on our dock at night, drinking a glass of wine, my fishing pole in the water, as I watch the sun's setting rays on the water. Every night after work will seem like a vacation, with all the stresses of the day behind me. We'll be able to open our bedroom window and listen to the water lapping on the shore.

Please God - don't let something stand in our way of owning this house.

Katie is the youngest of our "fids" (feathered kids). Another Quaker Parrot, she was born January 21, 2005, and is still learning how to do things, and trying find her place within our family.

Katie decided when we brought her home that she was the "top dog" and that hasn't changed much. She will knock anybody off their cage - except Ziggy. She's not very sure of him just yet, so she still approaches him with caution.

Katie is curious about everything, and like most birds, loves anything shiny. I forget about this when I come home from work and head to her cage without removing my necklace or earrings. I have to force her beak open to remove my pendant, so you'd think I'd learn to take them off before going to her cage!

As I mentioned in Ziggy's post, Katie has learned several of his words. She will rarely say them directly to us, rather, she will sit in her cage (irritated with me because I won't let her roam anymore) and let loose a string of words - all of them Ziggy's! Last night, I heard her say tickle-tickle, thank you, mommy, and ok. Like Ziggy, a lot of her words couldn't be understood. Speaking birds tend to work out their new words at volumes difficult to hear until they have it down pat - and then they save them to try out when you least expect...or least want, in some cases!

I've been working on my consistency with all the birds - trying to feed them at the same time, put them to sleep at the same time, and playing with them at the same time. One of the things that I needed to do consistently for Ziggy and Katie was to give every item its name, and describe my actions verbably - it's important because it helps them understand what's going on and what I'm doing. Since I started working on being more consistent with them, Katie's training has been going much better. Instead of throwing herself at her cage door, I will tell her "open the door", and she will sit and wait for me to do just that, and then will step-up on my finger quite prettily. She's getting it :)

I'm not sure how the birds are going to react to our move. They'll have a pretty area to hang out in, looking out the window towards the lake. Eventually, I'd like to have Scott build an aviary for them, so they'll all be housed together, but I have to see proof first that they'll all get along in one large cage. Could be interesting!

OK, so we're moving along with the premise that we actually have bought that house, and now we're starting to take mental notes around this house, trying to figure out what we want to get rid of, and where we're going to put the things we keep in the new place.

Scott and I are both packrats. We hate to throw things away. He told me once that he had no intention of moving the box of empty boxes that my ex had been trying to get me to throw away for years. I refused to give it up - you just never know when you're going to need a small empty box. Actually, the "box of boxes" isn't always the same boxes - I use the ones I have and refill when necessary. Now...he tells me that, and yet, for every piece of computer equipment that we bought for two years (which was considerable - we built everyone in his family new computers in that two years), he kept the box the piece came in! We finally had a bonfire this summer, where we emptied the closet he kept those boxes in and burned the damn things ;)

So, this is something we're obviously wrestling with. Both of us are going to have to get rid of a lot of the stuff that we've been hanging on to for years. I've been carting around my daughter's stuff that she left with me 4 years ago when she got married. Now she's getting it all back.

All the pictures, drawings, journals, report cards, honor roll certificates, track medals and ribbons from my three kids that I've been hanging on to "until they grew up" are now going to be distributed to them - and they can decide whether they want to keep the stuff or not. That's a weird feeling, I have to admit, to think that they've grown up enough to give it to them. Can anyone else relate to that?

I'm going to have to get rid of most of my books - another arrow in my heart, but we just don't have the room, and I've read them all anyway. I'm sure there's many I won't want to give up and that's fine, I'll find a place for them...someday.

I feel like I'm releasing my past - all part of a new life, I guess.

I asked Scott's step-mom yesterday (she's brokering our loan) for an estimate of what she thought our closing costs would be on the house.

$14,000 was her response.

I was stressing over the idea of coming up with $2,700, and now I'm looking at $14,000?

Anybody want to open an ING Direct Savings Account? It pays 3.15% interest, which is more than my bank pays. If so, let me know - you'll get a free $25, and I'll get a free $10.

Anybody want to join a 'Get Paid to Read' program? If you're diligent and can stand the constant onslaught of email and associated clicking, you can earn up to $1.00 per day. Let me know if you're interested and I'll give you the sign up link.

I can't believe how stressed out I am!

Work: Busier than ever, I'm on the go from the moment I hit the door until I leave, and I'm looking at overtime on Saturday :(

Home: Stressing hard over the new house. I'm just not sure we're going to be able to come up with the $2700 in closing costs, so I'm worrying about it constantly.

Pets: Ozzie has decided to start biting, which makes me want to hold her less, which makes her want to bite more...and around we go.

Weight: I'm thinking about quitting Nutrisystem, so I can contribute that money ($250ish per month) to the closing costs...fortunately, my weight is still going down.

So, no happy upbeat posts right now...hopefully soon.