I started listening to Manheim Steamroller last night - always my indicator that the Christmas spirit is upon me :)
Since the stress of the house purchase has passed, and Scott assures me that he'll handle the move and that we will have a Christmas tree for our first Christmas in our new home, I decided to jump back on the Nutrisystem band wagon starting yesterday. I've had two 100% days in a row, and was down 1.4 lbs this morning...woohoo!
Our dog, Jonah, has been with us 31 days now, and he's gained 10 lbs! He was thin when we got him and needed filling out, so this is a good thing. He's such a good dog, although he freaked me out tonight by barking very loudly at his reflection in the sliding glass door tonight...lol. Makes me think he'll be a good watchdog though :)
I haven't started Christmas shopping yet - thank God I don't have too many people to buy for! I should be able to start this coming weekend, and we'll have Shannon, so I'll get her to help me. Having her around every other weekend sure has been nice...and well worth the hassles we went through to get this thing with her mother straightened out!
Three websites for you to check out, in light of the holidays. They're coupon sites...hope you find one you can use!
http://www.currentcodes.com/
http://www.couponcabin.com/
http://www.dealhunting.com/
Tuesday, November 29, 2005
Sunday, November 27, 2005
22 days and counting
Well, in 22 days, we'll be able to start moving into our house!
The bitter taste left over from the closing has started to subside as our excitement begins to build. We went furniture shopping on Friday - I've wanted new furniture for quite awhile and since we aren't going to be smoking in the new house, I didn't want to take smoke-smelling furniture into it. We found a set at Rooms to Go, consisting of a sofa and what they call a "chair and a half". Both pieces are recliners, which Scott and I both wanted. They will be delivered to the house on the 20th. Of course, we paid more than I wanted to, but that's fine - hopefully, it'll be the last set of furniture we buy for 10 years or so.
Our conversations are now peppered with ideas and plans. Since our ultimate goal is to build a new house on that land, we've been looking at floor plans and we've decided to go with a log cabin look - and this is the design we really want. This is 2-3 years away though.
I think I'll spend today packing some more stuff. Most of it's already in storage, but there's quite a bit more that could be packed up now as we're getting closer!
The bitter taste left over from the closing has started to subside as our excitement begins to build. We went furniture shopping on Friday - I've wanted new furniture for quite awhile and since we aren't going to be smoking in the new house, I didn't want to take smoke-smelling furniture into it. We found a set at Rooms to Go, consisting of a sofa and what they call a "chair and a half". Both pieces are recliners, which Scott and I both wanted. They will be delivered to the house on the 20th. Of course, we paid more than I wanted to, but that's fine - hopefully, it'll be the last set of furniture we buy for 10 years or so.
Our conversations are now peppered with ideas and plans. Since our ultimate goal is to build a new house on that land, we've been looking at floor plans and we've decided to go with a log cabin look - and this is the design we really want. This is 2-3 years away though.
I think I'll spend today packing some more stuff. Most of it's already in storage, but there's quite a bit more that could be packed up now as we're getting closer!
Saturday, November 19, 2005
Pictures of the house
Sue, just for you and anyone else who may want to look :)
http://photobucket.com/albums/b127/honey4evr/Our%20House/
For password, use helen
http://photobucket.com/albums/b127/honey4evr/Our%20House/
For password, use helen
Homeowners....at last
The closing was painful, very stressful, broke us completely financially (I'll be bouncing checks until Thursday), but it's over. We'll move in starting the evening of December 18.
The lender kept putting off getting the loan docs to the title company - they were supposed to be there Tuesday, then Wednesday, then Thursday, and still were not there until noon on Friday.
The seller tried to put off signing until Monday, which meant they would occupy our house until 12/21...and I just lost it. I called my father in law, who has been dealing with the seller, and raged at him. My mom is supposed to be here from California on 12/20...where the hell was I going to put her? My daughter and grandchildren are coming in from Ohio on 12/14....they'll have to stay at a hotel or with her father. It's going to cost $31 a day to board the dog and cat, while we're staying with the birds at the home of my ex-mother in law, or a friend, since we have to be out of this house on 12/10. Father in law finally called the seller and lit into him...so they showed up at closing and signed.
When we got in there to sign, the title company informed us that they needed another $2100 by certified check - and there was no branch of our bank in that town - no way to get the money. I lost it again. The title company finally, after 30 minutes of us trying to find a bank who would let us cash a check (HA!) decided that we could wire them the money on Monday morning.
I truly don't think I could have taken another delay or another problem...I'd have been fitted for a straight jacket if there had been.
Thank God it's all over....and I swear, I will never go through this again. Next house we buy will be EMPTY.
The lender kept putting off getting the loan docs to the title company - they were supposed to be there Tuesday, then Wednesday, then Thursday, and still were not there until noon on Friday.
The seller tried to put off signing until Monday, which meant they would occupy our house until 12/21...and I just lost it. I called my father in law, who has been dealing with the seller, and raged at him. My mom is supposed to be here from California on 12/20...where the hell was I going to put her? My daughter and grandchildren are coming in from Ohio on 12/14....they'll have to stay at a hotel or with her father. It's going to cost $31 a day to board the dog and cat, while we're staying with the birds at the home of my ex-mother in law, or a friend, since we have to be out of this house on 12/10. Father in law finally called the seller and lit into him...so they showed up at closing and signed.
When we got in there to sign, the title company informed us that they needed another $2100 by certified check - and there was no branch of our bank in that town - no way to get the money. I lost it again. The title company finally, after 30 minutes of us trying to find a bank who would let us cash a check (HA!) decided that we could wire them the money on Monday morning.
I truly don't think I could have taken another delay or another problem...I'd have been fitted for a straight jacket if there had been.
Thank God it's all over....and I swear, I will never go through this again. Next house we buy will be EMPTY.
Thursday, November 10, 2005
The closing
*sigh*
We didn't close. Our landlady must have decided she didn't want us to move or something, because she intentionally sat on the paperwork she needed to fill out and send back to the lender...hence, loan documents didn't issue today.
We took our certified check for the anticipated closing costs to the title company and signed another extension to "on or before November 18th", terrified all the while that the seller wouldn't agree to it.
We found out a little while ago that he did agree to it, but that he now wants a firm 30 days to move, but he will absolutely be out on that 30th day. Fine...not a problem. We had gone up just last night and gave the landlady a check that paid us to up 12/10. Everyone now believes we'll sign loan docs on Tuesday morning, so we'll have to give them another 3 days of rent, and not have a week to clean the way we had planned.
What I'd really like to do is choke the life out of my landlady, but of course, I can't do that. She told our loan broker that she didn't have the lease in front of her and couldn't verify how long we lived here...we moved in in September of 2003....2.2 years ago, and she only needed to verify 12 months. If she hates us, it would have made more sense to fill that paper out as fast as possible and send it to the lender by fax right away so we'd be gone. If she likes us and wants us to stay, she has a strange way of showing it. And, btw, she's a residential real estate agent for Coldwell Banker, so it's not like she didn't know how badly we needed this....and I had called her twice about it anyway....once while she apparently had the document sitting on her desk and she told me she hadn't heard from the lender. Purely evil.
We're going to go rent a storage unit in the town we're moving to, and we're going to start loading up Scott's work van with the boxes we've had packed for 2 months, and move them out there. I figure if we've done without it this long, it can stay in storage until we settle in and I'll bring a few boxes home at a time. That'll thin out the clutter around here (2/3rds of the house is in boxes scattered around my house) and we can start cleaning. Benefit: Things that were a priority to keep 2 months ago, may not be as important to keep in another 2 months.
Other than the landlady thing, I'm calmer and it's going to be ok. The landlady thing hurts to the quick...this is not some corporation...this is a woman that lives 500 yards from me and waves to me every day. We feel utterly and totally betrayed.
Friday, November 04, 2005
It wasn't supposed to be this hard!!
I haven't been posting and probably needed to, if for no other reason than the therapy benefits.
Last Friday, we bought a dog from the SPCA! His name is Jonah and he's a Labrador mix, probably with Weimaraner. He is without a doubt the best dog I've ever owned. He's 7 months old, weighs 40 lbs, and is calm and gentle.
We were supposed to close on our house on October 31, but we received word that our appraiser had been unable to get out to the house - couldn't hook up with the sellers, so the closing got extended until November 10. I called the sellers yesterday to let them know that our insurance agent needed to come and inspect the house and, in the course of that conversation, discovered that while they have every intention of closing on 11/10, they have NO intention of being out of the house by then, nor do they intend to pay rent to us for staying there. Contractually, of course, they can't do that; however, they let it be known that if we intended to force the issue, they would simply walk away...with our $5,000 escrow.
Needless to say, this has Scott and I completely and totally stressed out. I lost 3 lbs overnight simply because I couldn't eat and from crying (I cry when I'm stressed - and when we fight, which is occurring because of the stress). We reminded each other this morning that we love each other and this is just a house and there are more houses out there, and even if we have to wait a year to find one, we'll be just fine. It still sucks.
I'm picking Shannon up tonight after work and taking her to our house for our very first entire weekend visit! Scott and I are very excited about this, so it is a bright spot in an otherwise miserable week.
Last Friday, we bought a dog from the SPCA! His name is Jonah and he's a Labrador mix, probably with Weimaraner. He is without a doubt the best dog I've ever owned. He's 7 months old, weighs 40 lbs, and is calm and gentle.
We were supposed to close on our house on October 31, but we received word that our appraiser had been unable to get out to the house - couldn't hook up with the sellers, so the closing got extended until November 10. I called the sellers yesterday to let them know that our insurance agent needed to come and inspect the house and, in the course of that conversation, discovered that while they have every intention of closing on 11/10, they have NO intention of being out of the house by then, nor do they intend to pay rent to us for staying there. Contractually, of course, they can't do that; however, they let it be known that if we intended to force the issue, they would simply walk away...with our $5,000 escrow.
Needless to say, this has Scott and I completely and totally stressed out. I lost 3 lbs overnight simply because I couldn't eat and from crying (I cry when I'm stressed - and when we fight, which is occurring because of the stress). We reminded each other this morning that we love each other and this is just a house and there are more houses out there, and even if we have to wait a year to find one, we'll be just fine. It still sucks.
I'm picking Shannon up tonight after work and taking her to our house for our very first entire weekend visit! Scott and I are very excited about this, so it is a bright spot in an otherwise miserable week.
Thursday, October 20, 2005
Valium, anyone?
OK, so daughter #1 had her baby, daughter #2 got married, and the visitation issues with my step-daughter have been resolved to our satisfaction. The only remaining issue for October is closing on the house. The loan app has been signed, but not yet approved. We have all the money we will need if we get the 100% loan, but if it's only a 90-95% loan, we're going to have to go to Scott's dad...which we really do NOT want to do! If it's a 95% loan, we'll only need $2000, but I still don't want to go to him!
I'm a little worried about how the birds are going to take this - moving them could cause some issues like more night-frights (which Ozzie gets more frequently than I like) and it could also cause some feather plucking. Nobody does that now and I hope they're secure enough about us that the move doesn't make them start!
So yeah, a little stressed, but nothing that 10 mg of Valium couldn't help! ;)
Sunday, October 16, 2005
She'll carry on
On October 13, at 10:00 a.m., my newest grandchild, Kathryn Lynn was born. She weighed in at 8 lbs., 10 oz. and was 21 inches long. My daughter was in labor for only 7 hours, and only pushed for 12 minutes, and after only 3 good pushes, presented our little beauty.
After packing to come home yesterday, I sat holding Kathryn. As I gazed at her, I realized I wanted to live long enough to see the young woman she is destined to become.
My nickname for my grandmother was the "Ice Queen". She was a very hard woman who, upon being told by my mother "I love you", responded with "God bless you". Love wasn't apparently part of her make-up. Needless to say, being raised by the Ice Queen, my mother wasn't exactly the most loving parent around, and she did try, but unconditional love was not something I experienced.
I know the mistakes I've made with my children, but thankfully, they received enough good from me that they have become very loving and generous adults. I can't wait to see Kathryn (and her big brother Alex, and their cousin Alyssa) grow into adults who were loved unconditionally. My daughters are such better mothers than I was, so I apparently did something right!
I doubt seriously that I'll live long enough to see Kathryn become a mother, but I was totally in awe as I sat looking at that sweet baby face, and realized that at some time in the distant future, she will tell her children stories about her grandmother (me). I pray that the stories Kathryn shares with her children about me will include lots of humor and tons of love!
After packing to come home yesterday, I sat holding Kathryn. As I gazed at her, I realized I wanted to live long enough to see the young woman she is destined to become.
My nickname for my grandmother was the "Ice Queen". She was a very hard woman who, upon being told by my mother "I love you", responded with "God bless you". Love wasn't apparently part of her make-up. Needless to say, being raised by the Ice Queen, my mother wasn't exactly the most loving parent around, and she did try, but unconditional love was not something I experienced.
I know the mistakes I've made with my children, but thankfully, they received enough good from me that they have become very loving and generous adults. I can't wait to see Kathryn (and her big brother Alex, and their cousin Alyssa) grow into adults who were loved unconditionally. My daughters are such better mothers than I was, so I apparently did something right!
I doubt seriously that I'll live long enough to see Kathryn become a mother, but I was totally in awe as I sat looking at that sweet baby face, and realized that at some time in the distant future, she will tell her children stories about her grandmother (me). I pray that the stories Kathryn shares with her children about me will include lots of humor and tons of love!
Tuesday, October 04, 2005
The Food Whore
I stumbled across a blogger today that has kept me giggling for hours. It's called The Food Whore. The author is a chef and caterer, and the blogger details her "tricks" (jobs). It's a great read, but don't visit for the first time when you're short on time...you'll want to stay for hours!
I must warn you that she's fond of expletives, so if that bothers you, I guess you'll need to miss this one.
I must warn you that she's fond of expletives, so if that bothers you, I guess you'll need to miss this one.
Sunday, October 02, 2005
Weekend update
Friday Night: My step-daughter Jennifer had her wedding rehearsal. It was a long evening, but a lot of fun. It was great to see old friends and family.
Saturday: The wedding was absolutely beautiful, although most of the people there had been there the night before! My son-in-law's family is very nice, and we had a great time.
Scott's holds my family up as a beacon of how a divorced family should be. In attendance was my ex-husband's first wife and her current boyfriend, me and Scott, my ex and his Significant Other, my ex's father and step-mother, and mother and step-father...you almost needed a scorecard to keep up! We all get along well and we even took the first wife and her boyfriend to the bus station and airport (they came separately). It's pretty cool that we all managed to make this work...I think it's very good for the kids, even though they're grown. I think it teaches them a valuable lesson for "just in case" their own marriages fail, and what they need to do to make it good for their own kids.
So, a happy weekend all around!
Saturday: The wedding was absolutely beautiful, although most of the people there had been there the night before! My son-in-law's family is very nice, and we had a great time.
Scott's holds my family up as a beacon of how a divorced family should be. In attendance was my ex-husband's first wife and her current boyfriend, me and Scott, my ex and his Significant Other, my ex's father and step-mother, and mother and step-father...you almost needed a scorecard to keep up! We all get along well and we even took the first wife and her boyfriend to the bus station and airport (they came separately). It's pretty cool that we all managed to make this work...I think it's very good for the kids, even though they're grown. I think it teaches them a valuable lesson for "just in case" their own marriages fail, and what they need to do to make it good for their own kids.
So, a happy weekend all around!
Tuesday, September 27, 2005
I love my TIVO!
OK...so it's not really a Tivo. It's a DVR from Direcway, but it works very much like a Tivo. I set it up to record tv shows that I want to see but can't watch at the time they're on.
For instance, I love the show "House, M.D." It is in its second season and it's an absolutely awesome show...catch it if you can. It's on tonight as a matter of fact! But because we're supposed to have company tonight, I won't be able to watch it...so Tivo to the rescue!
Now I'll share a secret with you....don't tell anyone else...*looking around*...
I am a junkie...a soap opera junkie. I love General Hospital and One Life to Live and have them both set up on the Tivo to record every day. Granted, sometimes I'm running 6 weeks behind, but then I let Scott know it's time for a marathon weekend and he lets me veg in front of the tv all weekend.
I love technology and this little device is one of the best ones ever designed, in my book!
For instance, I love the show "House, M.D." It is in its second season and it's an absolutely awesome show...catch it if you can. It's on tonight as a matter of fact! But because we're supposed to have company tonight, I won't be able to watch it...so Tivo to the rescue!
Now I'll share a secret with you....don't tell anyone else...*looking around*...
I am a junkie...a soap opera junkie. I love General Hospital and One Life to Live and have them both set up on the Tivo to record every day. Granted, sometimes I'm running 6 weeks behind, but then I let Scott know it's time for a marathon weekend and he lets me veg in front of the tv all weekend.
I love technology and this little device is one of the best ones ever designed, in my book!
Saturday, September 24, 2005
Rita fades away
Well, other than some wind gusts of nearly 50 mph, we didn't see hide nor hair of Rita! From all the data I had at my disposal (which was considerable), the storm was headed in our direction and missed us by about 5 miles, then moved north and east.
It never once occurred to me to check and see if the new house was getting any rain! DUH! But we're sure hoping it did...the lake was really low when we were out there last Sunday.
Anyway, glad that's over!!
By the way, if you'd like to take a look at the lake house, you can go here. If it asks for a password, use helen.
It never once occurred to me to check and see if the new house was getting any rain! DUH! But we're sure hoping it did...the lake was really low when we were out there last Sunday.
Anyway, glad that's over!!
By the way, if you'd like to take a look at the lake house, you can go here. If it asks for a password, use helen.
Weather update
Well, we've seen no rain yet, but our winds are currently 14-22 mph, with gusts of 38. Weatherbug advises me that we're formally under a flood watch. The sky starting to get darker. We'll stay online until it becomes unsafe to do so, or we lose our satellite connection - whichever occurs first.
Since I started typing this, our winds are now 18-22 consistently...I guess it's coming!
Scott's outside, doing some last minute nailing down and clearing. Some of the trees are bending pretty good...I'm hoping none come down, because it'll either be a car or the house that they hit! (And I just got my car back last Monday from the accident...argh!)
Friday, September 23, 2005
Riding the storm out
We live outside of Dallas...about 40 minutes southeast, and we're about 90 minutes west (and slightly north) of Tyler. We're definitely going to get some "weather" this weekend - it just remains to be seen what that weather will entail. For sure, some rain.
We get hit pretty hard out here in the country when there's a good storm over Dallas, so my worry is possibly flooding. We're in a mobile home, in a valley, and for some unknown reason, all of the neighborhood's culverts drain under our driveway and into our yard (hey, we're just renting, so please don't think we planned this crap). We're the standard 4 feet off the ground, so it would take a lot of water for us to get officially flooded, and I don't think we'll get that much. But, it wouldn't take much rain for us to get to 5-10" deep...NOT fun.
We have discussed what we would take if we decide we need to bug out - obviously the birds and Misty, some clothes, food and water, both computers and two drawers out of our filing cabinets, because they hold very important papers, and, if possible, the karaoke equipment. We figure we could be out the door in an hour or less.
I'm guessing we'll probably lose our satellite internet and our satellite TV, since both dishes point to the southern sky.
Scott's on call this weekend. I'm hoping he doesn't get any calls, but several of the company's accounts are condos, apartments and hotels...not much hope he won't. I'm just hoping everyone else is off the roads he's driving.
We get hit pretty hard out here in the country when there's a good storm over Dallas, so my worry is possibly flooding. We're in a mobile home, in a valley, and for some unknown reason, all of the neighborhood's culverts drain under our driveway and into our yard (hey, we're just renting, so please don't think we planned this crap). We're the standard 4 feet off the ground, so it would take a lot of water for us to get officially flooded, and I don't think we'll get that much. But, it wouldn't take much rain for us to get to 5-10" deep...NOT fun.
We have discussed what we would take if we decide we need to bug out - obviously the birds and Misty, some clothes, food and water, both computers and two drawers out of our filing cabinets, because they hold very important papers, and, if possible, the karaoke equipment. We figure we could be out the door in an hour or less.
I'm guessing we'll probably lose our satellite internet and our satellite TV, since both dishes point to the southern sky.
Scott's on call this weekend. I'm hoping he doesn't get any calls, but several of the company's accounts are condos, apartments and hotels...not much hope he won't. I'm just hoping everyone else is off the roads he's driving.
Wednesday, September 21, 2005
Countdown
I noticed tonight that next week (Sept. 27), this blogger will be a year old. I’m not sure that I’m accomplishing anything with my blogging, but since I never had a clearly defined goal for it, I guess it’s just become a place to hold some thoughts and memories. Since I’m worried that I’ll end up with Alzheimer’s, someone please lead me to the computer, pull up my blog, and make me read.
Sometimes I read blogs that make an impact on the internet community. There are those who digest the news and state their opinion on it – and I find those interesting, but doing something like that just isn’t me.
There are those who aren’t afraid to put out every aspect of their childhood (or adult) traumas for the world to see. My own childhood (and adult) traumas were pretty significant and I don’t mind talking about them, but I don’t think I could put them here on Life in Texas…because I have a lot of people visiting these days that I’m not prepared to share these stories with. No offense if that statement strikes a chord with you – there are very few people that I can share them with. Maybe, someday, I should start a second blogger just to deal with those traumas.
*sigh*
Eh…enough of that for tonight.
Sometimes I read blogs that make an impact on the internet community. There are those who digest the news and state their opinion on it – and I find those interesting, but doing something like that just isn’t me.
There are those who aren’t afraid to put out every aspect of their childhood (or adult) traumas for the world to see. My own childhood (and adult) traumas were pretty significant and I don’t mind talking about them, but I don’t think I could put them here on Life in Texas…because I have a lot of people visiting these days that I’m not prepared to share these stories with. No offense if that statement strikes a chord with you – there are very few people that I can share them with. Maybe, someday, I should start a second blogger just to deal with those traumas.
*sigh*
Eh…enough of that for tonight.
Sunday, September 18, 2005
About Ozzie...
OK, so tonight we’re testing out Blogger for Word. Supposedly, you can publish right from Word, so we’ll see.
I’ve decided to write about Ozzie tonight since she’s been the most persistent of the birds lately.
Ozzie is a Senegal Parrot, sex undetermined at this time, but we call her a “her”. I truly suspect that she’s a he, but we won’t do her DNA test until after the first of the year. She will be 2 years old in March.
We picked Ozzie out when we got to our breeder’s house to pick up Lucy, who we had already committed to buy. Ozzie was in her own cage next to Lucy. I leaned down to say hi to her and she kissed me – and it was love at first sight for both of us. ;)
As far as the noise level goes, Ozzie is the quietest of all the birds. She frequently does “contact calls” when I’m out of the room, wanting to know where I am at all times, but her “voice” is pretty quiet. She doesn’t talk, other than “Hi Sammy”, which she has picked up from the Sammy the cockatiel (who also says “Hi Sammy”…and nothing else). She has, however, starting imitating sounds around the house like the microwave beep and the refrigerator door squeal, Sammy’s chirping sounds, and she makes kissing sounds…all of which have only appeared in the past 2-3 months.
Ozzie LOVES her mommy! She doesn’t want to have much to do with Scott and only quietly tolerates him holding her or feeding her. But where I’m concerned…I’m the bee’s knees! As mentioned above, she whistles contact calls to me all the time I’m out of the room. Her favorite place to be is on me or on my desk chair while I’m working. On a daily basis (and several times a day), she quietly manages to get off the cage she shares with Lucy, and walks across the floor to my desk. If Scott sees her before I do, he’ll do the shark-getting-ready-to-attack theme from Jaws and I’ll know she’s coming my way. But more often than not, I’ll hear a peep (or worse, feel a touch on my foot…she’s gone flying more than once!!) and look down to find her under my chair, looking up at me and waiting for me to pick her up and put her on my chair.
Last night, Ozzie managed to get from her cage to Sammy’s cage. She figured out how to open his door (NOT an easy trick!) and was sitting inside his cage…she’s a pretty smart little girl ;)
Ozzie is definitely the most picky of all the birds, as far as food. She has no interest in pasta, chips, crackers or bread, and she despises fresh fruit and vegetables. She wants only her seed mix, peanuts, and the occasional pistachio.
If you’ve ever thought you’d like a parrot, a Senegal is a good place to start. They can be bought for $250-$300, and are a medium sized bird – larger than a cockatiel, but smaller than a cockatoo. There are some Senegals who are very good talkers, and some who never talk, and I don’t think there’s any way of determining who will or won’t. If you can live with the fact they may never talk, they’re very sweet companions, and I wouldn’t hesitate to get another Senegal.
I’ve decided to write about Ozzie tonight since she’s been the most persistent of the birds lately.
Ozzie is a Senegal Parrot, sex undetermined at this time, but we call her a “her”. I truly suspect that she’s a he, but we won’t do her DNA test until after the first of the year. She will be 2 years old in March.
We picked Ozzie out when we got to our breeder’s house to pick up Lucy, who we had already committed to buy. Ozzie was in her own cage next to Lucy. I leaned down to say hi to her and she kissed me – and it was love at first sight for both of us. ;)
As far as the noise level goes, Ozzie is the quietest of all the birds. She frequently does “contact calls” when I’m out of the room, wanting to know where I am at all times, but her “voice” is pretty quiet. She doesn’t talk, other than “Hi Sammy”, which she has picked up from the Sammy the cockatiel (who also says “Hi Sammy”…and nothing else). She has, however, starting imitating sounds around the house like the microwave beep and the refrigerator door squeal, Sammy’s chirping sounds, and she makes kissing sounds…all of which have only appeared in the past 2-3 months.
Ozzie LOVES her mommy! She doesn’t want to have much to do with Scott and only quietly tolerates him holding her or feeding her. But where I’m concerned…I’m the bee’s knees! As mentioned above, she whistles contact calls to me all the time I’m out of the room. Her favorite place to be is on me or on my desk chair while I’m working. On a daily basis (and several times a day), she quietly manages to get off the cage she shares with Lucy, and walks across the floor to my desk. If Scott sees her before I do, he’ll do the shark-getting-ready-to-attack theme from Jaws and I’ll know she’s coming my way. But more often than not, I’ll hear a peep (or worse, feel a touch on my foot…she’s gone flying more than once!!) and look down to find her under my chair, looking up at me and waiting for me to pick her up and put her on my chair.
Last night, Ozzie managed to get from her cage to Sammy’s cage. She figured out how to open his door (NOT an easy trick!) and was sitting inside his cage…she’s a pretty smart little girl ;)
Ozzie is definitely the most picky of all the birds, as far as food. She has no interest in pasta, chips, crackers or bread, and she despises fresh fruit and vegetables. She wants only her seed mix, peanuts, and the occasional pistachio.
If you’ve ever thought you’d like a parrot, a Senegal is a good place to start. They can be bought for $250-$300, and are a medium sized bird – larger than a cockatiel, but smaller than a cockatoo. There are some Senegals who are very good talkers, and some who never talk, and I don’t think there’s any way of determining who will or won’t. If you can live with the fact they may never talk, they’re very sweet companions, and I wouldn’t hesitate to get another Senegal.
Tuesday, September 13, 2005
Opinionistas
I read constantly. Words are food for my brain and it's always hungry for more. My list of blogs on the left side of this page continues to grow and I've found a new one. Opinionistas is the blogger of a female Manhattan associate attorney who writes about her ongoing struggles working for a large NY megafirm...it could even be the NY office of the firm I work for, who knows? I've been reading her for a couple of months now, and with each read, renew my thanks that I evaluated my life years ago and decided that, despite the encouragement of family and friends (who no doubt looked forward to free legal advice), working as an attorney was not my cup of tea.
Anyway, those of you who may be legal minded in some form or another may enjoy her blog and therefore, I pass it along to you.
Anyway, those of you who may be legal minded in some form or another may enjoy her blog and therefore, I pass it along to you.
Monday, September 12, 2005
Changes
I mentioned several months ago that one of my bosses (the male) and I had had a falling out. At the instigation of several of my work friends, I finally, last month, made the first move, being open and friendly with him, and he responded in kind, so things have gotten much better. But at the same time, it always felt like the other shoe was getting ready to drop, and I've tried to block it out of my mind because I have enough to worry about right now.
When I arrived at work this morning, I opened my Outlook and there was an email from one of our human resources people, informing me that I had been reassigned. I would keep my two female attorneys and pick up a new associate that just started today, also female (not that it really matters...or, hm, maybe it does), and the male attorney would be paired with someone else.
This made for an utterly wonderful day. I like this boss as a person, but our work styles are so vastly different that it was very frustrating for me to work for him. He's one of those that you ask "what time is it?" and he proceeds to give you a two hour dissertation on how man realized that some method of keeping time was needed, followed by how watches are made, before finally telling you it's 3:15. But then, if I needed instructions on how to do a project for him, he couldn't give me more than 5 words on the topic. I think I'll be a much happier employee now :)
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Judging from my stats, I'm starting to get a few more visitors these days! That's kind of exciting for me. I know this blog isn't a hotbed of information, and most of what I blog about is probably pretty boring. But I do appreciate everyone who spends time here visiting. Feel free to leave comments!
When I arrived at work this morning, I opened my Outlook and there was an email from one of our human resources people, informing me that I had been reassigned. I would keep my two female attorneys and pick up a new associate that just started today, also female (not that it really matters...or, hm, maybe it does), and the male attorney would be paired with someone else.
This made for an utterly wonderful day. I like this boss as a person, but our work styles are so vastly different that it was very frustrating for me to work for him. He's one of those that you ask "what time is it?" and he proceeds to give you a two hour dissertation on how man realized that some method of keeping time was needed, followed by how watches are made, before finally telling you it's 3:15. But then, if I needed instructions on how to do a project for him, he couldn't give me more than 5 words on the topic. I think I'll be a much happier employee now :)
~~~~~~~~~
Judging from my stats, I'm starting to get a few more visitors these days! That's kind of exciting for me. I know this blog isn't a hotbed of information, and most of what I blog about is probably pretty boring. But I do appreciate everyone who spends time here visiting. Feel free to leave comments!
Sunday, September 11, 2005
Another successful karaoke party!
It's a little scary sometimes, inviting people from different places to come to a karaoke party. You're never sure whether the blending of personalities will work to create a fun time or not. We also are never entirely sure how many people are actually going to show up.
But it worked well. We ended up with a good group of people, and Scott and I cooked up the fish that we caught Mother's Day and the weekend of Scott's grandmother's funeral.
I think everyone had a decent enough time ;)
Was able to put $325 into the savings account this week. That was a good feeling, and now brings us up to $1,000 in savings. Now I only need another $7,000-13,000 for the closing costs...LOL. I wish I didn't have to put out $500 for my deductible on my car next week...I want to bank it!!
But it worked well. We ended up with a good group of people, and Scott and I cooked up the fish that we caught Mother's Day and the weekend of Scott's grandmother's funeral.
I think everyone had a decent enough time ;)
Was able to put $325 into the savings account this week. That was a good feeling, and now brings us up to $1,000 in savings. Now I only need another $7,000-13,000 for the closing costs...LOL. I wish I didn't have to put out $500 for my deductible on my car next week...I want to bank it!!
Friday, September 09, 2005
Some good news
After brawling with Verizon for several days, they have agreed to reduce a $262 bill by $150. This occurred after Scott's cell phone was stolen and we didn't know it for 3 weeks. (Yeah, he used it a lot! LOL) Every little bit helps!
The man we're using to clean up our credit is definitely getting some good results. There were about 10-15 duplicate accounts on our credit records, and they've been eliminated...I'm dying to see our current credit scores, but I've been advised to wait a month to see them. Time is flying by...I'm still terrified we won't be able to get enough done to get a decent interest rate on our home loan! Only 6 weeks till escrow closes!!
The man we're using to clean up our credit is definitely getting some good results. There were about 10-15 duplicate accounts on our credit records, and they've been eliminated...I'm dying to see our current credit scores, but I've been advised to wait a month to see them. Time is flying by...I'm still terrified we won't be able to get enough done to get a decent interest rate on our home loan! Only 6 weeks till escrow closes!!
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