I've been tagged!

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)
   

Kick a man when he's down

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.

Blessings

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!!

What a day *sigh*

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 :((

Passages and new beginnings

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!

Interest is up!

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!

Update 8/15/05

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)

Feelings

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

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!

Wanna come help me pack? :)

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.

$14,000

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.

Life on the edge

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.

Emotional rollercoaster

It's been a really difficult week. After putting an offer on the lake house, and it being accepted, the seller tells us that he had another buyer willing to pay full price. We had to wait to see if the seller would accept that offer, and we finally got the call saying it was ours. Then, we get the news that we probably can't get 100% financing, and Scott's dad started sounding iffy about whether he was going to help with the down payment.

Finally, by yesterday, we got the contract signed, so at least the home is off the market. We put our $5,000 into escrow - and I immediately started having a major anxiety attack, complete with chest pains, heartburn, headache, etc. Last night, after seeing all of this, Scott ran us a nice hot bubble bath and broke open a bottle of champagne that we had received for our wedding a year ago and which we were holding for a celebration.

Financing still isn't in place, but at the very least, we'll be able to get an 80/20 loan and Scott's dad did confirm verbally that he'll give us whatever we need. We've got the house on a 90 day escrow and we'll close on Scott's favorite holiday - Halloween!

If the sellers find their new home and close escrow in 30 days, they'll let us know and we can turn in notice here where we rent, and move into the new home, paying them rent until our escrow closes.

What was nice was going to get the contract from the sellers yesterday and finding out that the guy that was willing to pay full price HAD come up with the money, but they chose us - because they had already given their word, and because they thought we would love the house more. They're right :)

In the course of all of this, I had gotten down to 178.8 lbs...and now I'm back up to 181.5....grrrr!!

Home Sweet Home

Scott and his dad (Keith) looked at the mobile we were interested in and Keith wasn't impressed. He basically implied to us that if we wanted to buy a mobile home, we couldn't expect much help from him, but if we were interested in a real home, lots of help was to be had.

While they were out running around looking at properties, they found a great house, ON THE LAKE!! I was resistent when Scott told me about it on the phone, but we went and looked at it Friday night and it's wonderful! It's 4 bedrooms, 1 bath, with two big storage sheds in the back that look like little houses, and we'll probably use them as guest rooms. We'll lose one bedroom early on, as we'll knock the wall out between it and the master bedroom, so we'll have one huge master. It has a wet dock and boat house, so when we get our boat, we're set to go!

It's smaller than I wanted and I'll have to get rid of a lot of stuff, but it has lots of room for development. It is 1.5 acres, with .5 acre running behind the guy next door…who desperately wants to buy it. We’ll sell it to him and use that money to build onto the house. It was listed for $145k. We made an initial offer of $130k, but he wouldn't let it go for under $140k....so we accepted it!

It's an hour from my office to the house, so that's a drawback, but it's not a bad drive...I did it Friday night. It's an extra 15 miles beyond what I drive now, but I can handle it.

What's cool is being right ON the water!! Scott and I have always said we wanted to live on the water, and now we will!

We couldn't be more excited and I cried when the word came down that the offer was accepted. Of course, now the hard part comes - making it through escrow and moving...yuck!

Not sure what possessed me

As I've mentioned before, I'm a newlywed. Scott and I just celebrated our first anniversary July 11. As a newlywed, even though I'm 49, I do feel compelled to grant my husband's desires...and the man loves for me to wear lingerie.

So, since I've been losing weight, I try to pick up something new here and there, that he likes.

The other night, I met him and his work buddies after hours for an adult beverage...or two....or three. It was over a long enough period of time that I was "happy", but not drunk. So when Scott suggested we go over to the nearest "adult toy" store, I was game. Giggly, but game.

We look over the selection, and I found a couple that I kinda liked, but he found one he really liked. I looked at it dubiously, since it was a "One Size Fits All", and I know that those don't fit me. But what the hell, I'm giggly and wanting to satisfy my spouse. We buy it.

A couple of days later, it occurs to me that we had bought it and the bag was still in Scott's van. I send him out for it and he brings it in, very smiley. I took the bag into the bedroom and started to put the outfit on over my head, when it becomes very apparent that I could drop another 40 lbs and never be able to wear this thing...the...uh...cups on it are like a size A and I'm a C, and there's no pretending my way through it...it does not fit.

What do I do with it now? The adult toy shop isn't going to take it back. I guess there's always ebay, but do they allow adult content??

Mental note to self: Quit buying "One Size Fits All". It's a lie, and they will never fit you, no matter how thin you get.

Guard your flashlights carefully!

Scott and I are fairly normal people, other than the karaoke obsession. We're conservative in our politics, Christian in our beliefs, we like to have fun but know when it's time to be serious. All of our friends are good people, 35 years old and up. We're all grown-ups.

As you know, you can pick your friends, but you can't pick your family....or who your family marries, or who their friends are.

Scott's sister's husband has a friend named Steven. Steven is kinda out there and not the kinda guy that we like having around us anyway, so Steven has been to our house - once - with Scott's brother in law. While he was here, the flashlight off my desk mysteriously disappeared. It was a nice flashlight...small and powerful enough for looking for things under my desk, and I used it frequently. So the morning after Steven is here, I notice my flashlight is missing. Scott said Steven had been sitting at my computer after I went to bed. Well, I'll be damned. Scott doesn't much care for Steven, so it was nothing to him when I said I didn't want Steven back in my house if he was going to steal things. No problem.

So tonight, Scott's talking to his mom on the phone (he's such a good boy), and in the course of the conversation, she tells him that Steven was at her house and while he was there, her flashlight disappeared....and in the course of mentioning this to her daughter, Scott's sister, it turns out that Steven had stolen HER flashlight as well!

WTF?

So this guy has a flashlight fetish? Is there some sexual overtone to a flashlight fetish? Allowing for a very liberal moment that a flashlight fetish is somehow ok, is there something weird that he's stolen the flashlights of all the women in Scott's immediate family?

Scott says he's gonna go find Steven and kick his ass, saying all the while "what kind of low life steals a woman's flashlight? You like leaving them defenseless and in the dark? You get off on the fact that you have their flashlight? You scum....we're going to your house and picking up every fucking flashlight you've got....see how you like it!"

I admit that my mind extrapolated the sexual fetish thing for a moment, wondering what sexual gratification he was using them for. As my sphincter tightened up, I just decided I wasn't going there!!

So, if there is a sexual gratification for Steven in stealing women's flashlights, are there others out there with this fetish? Is there some supersecret female flashlight fetish club somewhere?

With Google at my fingertips, I'm sure I could research this and find out, but I think there are just some things I'd rather not know.

All I can say is guard your flashlights carefully, you never know!

I must be living right :)

Scott and I went to look at this manufactured home yesterday and fell in LOVE. This thing is 2,560 s.f., 3 bedrooms, 2 baths, 2 separate family rooms, MASSIVE freaking kitchen, huge laundryroom right off the master bath (what a logical place to put it! where is most of the laundry YOU do put away?), fireplace and 2 car garage. It sits on 1 acre.

We would take it on a lease to own until our credit is cleaned up enough to get an FHA loan (we figure 6 months to a year, although we have up to three). In the meantime, we give the owner $5,000 down, which gets applied to the purchase price when we get our financing. We didn't quite have $5,000 (ok, so we only had $1,000), so we decided to cash in our most liquid asset, and I listed our motorcycle on ebay today. Less than 5 hours later, someone bought it for $4,199 - the Buy It Now price! We now have our down payment!!

Scott's dad (the real estate mogul) is going to come down this week from Oklahoma to take a look at it for us, and to go over the deal with the guy. If he approves, we should be in our new home by September 1. If he doesn't, we'll continue to look, but I really, really love this home. I am SO excited!!

Frustrated beyond belief

When I was on Nutrisystem in 2000, I got down to 178 lbs and everyone started telling me how great I looked, and many said I didn't need to lose any more weight, so I quit. I shouldn't have, I was still overweight, but being as curvy as I am, it looked good.

I'm there again. I'm at 180-181 (depending on what day it is) and can't seem to get below it. I've been fighting the 180s since May 18. Two freaking months and I haven't broken below 180. I'm frustrated and discouraged. I know it's because my husband is absolutely thrilled with me right now, and has been making comments like "you look great right now, if you don't lose another pound, I'll be happy". I'm wearing the clothes I bought 5 years ago and hearing all the time, "You look great!", so mentally, I'm exactly where I was in 2000.

The problem is - I don't want to stop right now. I don't want to weigh 180. I want to keep going, but I keep sabotaging my diet. It's like after 6 months of being on NS, I want to eat real food. I don't do it at home (much), but we've been going out to dinner more and I don't fight it at all. I try to make good choices, but I'm at this point where ANY meal off of NS will put a pound on me.

While a pound isn't that much, it's that pound that puts me back at 181 and then I have to fight for a WEEK to get it off...and this has been happening now for a month. Struggle to get to 180, one meal out and back to 181 - fight for a week to get to 180 and then another meal out...yada yada yada. It's SO frustrating!!!

Today, we're driving up to Oklahoma to the WinStar Casino and all I can think is "great, another day off program" and worry about what it will do to my weight. I'm just not having fun anymore :(

Another blog to check out

I found this blogger today. It is called An Audience of One. Another wonderful writer with good stuff to say!

Ziggy

Since this blog features my birds, I'll share some bird stories :)

Ziggy is a 13 year old Quaker Parrot. Quakers are a small parrot, green and grey in color. They're about the size of a cockatiel in length, but much more solid and beefy. They can develop fairly extensive vocabularies. Ziggy came to us second-hand just after Christmas last year. He's the bird on the very far left of the bird graphic at the top of this page.

Ziggy says: Mommy (much like an angry 3 year old child, if you can imagine that), get the lead out, sue the bastards (hey, he used to belong to a lawyer), Jonah (one of his former owner's kids), pet the birdie, bye-bye, thank you. He laughs like a little girl, he "crunches" (like chips), he gurgles (like water), he says meow just like the cat, yaba-daba-do, ok, he squeals like the fridge door opening, he makes kissing sounds, coughs, hiccups, and makes several other sounds that we haven't been able to figure out. When he's pissed, you know it, because he chews you out, even if you can't understand the words.

Ziggy also likes to sing karaoke. No, really, he does. He sits on Scott's shoulder and "sings" while Scott does - if it's a song he's heard Scott do a lot, he'll even hit it on key occasionally. He sings the song by Suzanne Vega called Tom's Diner and sings it frequently. He whistles the theme song to the Odd Couple, if you remember that.

Most of the time, he's only loyal to one of us at a time. If it's Scott's day, I can't get anywhere near him, and vice versa. He spends more time with me, because while Scott plays with him, but I nuzzle him and stroke him, which he loves.

When we bought our newest bird, another Quaker named Katie, part of the thought process was we wanted a bird that we could teach our own phrases to, rather than having it repeated phrases someone else had taught them.

Imagine my dismay when I suddenly heard Ziggy's phrases coming from Katie! He's taught her several of the noises he makes, but as yet, she's not saying any actual words. If she pops off with "sue the bastards", I'm going to cry!

Ziggy is out of his cage 24/7, unless we're going to be gone overnight. Katie is a roamer and so she's pretty much grounded to her cage at the moment, until she learns that she needs to stay on her cage. The past few days, Ziggy has been trying to break her out of her cage, which is cute to watch, but he wants nothing to do with her once she is out. Not quite sure what that's about.

Ziggy is an absolute joy to have in our lives and I hope he lives out his full life span of 25-35 years :)