Big Ol' House

Well, we survived the move without killing one another. A miracle, really, considering I am detail-oriented and like to be organized and Steve is all-or-nothing, get it done and get it done now.

I packed boxes carefully for two or three weeks before the move. I also gave away a lot of stuff and sold a few things so that we didn't move stuff we didn't need. He packed nothing until the day of the move. His methods were the exact opposite of mine: throw (yes, I do mean throw) whatever will fit in boxes, tape 'em up & throw 'em on the truck. Labeling the box's contents is a "waste of time," according to Steve.

I resigned myself to the fact that my yelling and complaining about him breaking stuff and us not being able to find necessities once we got to the other house wouldn't change anything, but that wasn't good enough for him. I was determined to pack and label everything I could that I knew we'd want to find quickly. Stuff like toilet paper, daily medications and towels. Every time he saw me packing a box with any kind of care or taking out a marker to label it, he'd scream at me. I don't know where the hell it came from...before the move he was normal (for Steve). During the move he turned into Mr. Hyde or Mommie Dearest - no, both!

But we made it here and it's really a nice place. Only one thing was broken, and that was because Steve's back gave out and he dropped a box. The furniture was a different story. It was scratched, chipped and dinged everywhere - almost every piece. Thank God for Old English to hide the scratches, but you really can't easily repair veneer and that's what some of the damage was. At least the Old English makes the torn-off parts darker and not as noticeable.

We actually had enough money left after closing (which never happens) to buy a patio table, chairs, umbrella and grill from Home Depot. We had a really nice cookout the weekend after the move, and we had plenty of room (if not furniture) for everyone. Janet came, and Amanda came and organized my 100+ cookbook collection and a host of other kitchen stuff. She also made some kick-ass Margaritas for everyone. Steve's sister Rena (pronounced "RenAY") and brother-in-law Matthew came over, and Steve somehow managed to get Matthew to handle all the grilling. I'm looking forward to many more weekends like that.

Hopefully everyone can get out here for a visit, though I know it'd be quite a haul for most of you. We're looking forward to being able to furnish the two spare rooms we have so y'all can stay over and be comfy, but even now it'd be way better than the old house. Heck, we got three bathrooms - what more do you need?

Mr. Mom & Other Stuff

Gary is now playing Mr. Mom. Since we were paying excess of $860 a month, and with him being off work for various medical reasons it just made sense. I love being able to just roll out of bed, get dressed and go. They never tell you about chasing a naked toddler around the house at 5:30 in the morning in the baby books. Too bad he's only looking at this as a temporary solution. Oh well, I'll enjoy it while it lasts.
My Hawaii trip is business trip is not going to happen. I will be going to Arkansas in August instead. Grrrrr! I have nothing against Arkansas, but there is just no comparison to Hawaii. No palm trees, no beach, no ocean.
On a lighter note, Cat stock had a 2 for 1 split last week. Woo Hoo! I may not have to eat Skippy dog food after all when I retire.

Homeless

We closed on the sale of the house today. The seller of the one we're buying couldn't get a payoff amount on her loan because it had been sold and was floating around somewhere on its way to the new mortgage company. She won't let us move in until it closes even though she has already moved out. We have to be out of here by Tuesday, we've already taken time off of work to move and we only have help over the weekend. But who cares?

Happy Birthday, Lisa!

On this day in 1789, Parisian revolutionaries and mutinous troops stormed and dismantled the Bastille, a royal fortress that had come to symbolize the tyranny of the Bourbon monarchs. This was the beginning of the French Revolution, a decade of political turmoil and terror in which King Louis XVI was overthrown and tens of thousands of people, including the king and his wife Marie Antoinette, were executed.

Speaking of queens, do you know who was the first queen to have her own Web site? Marie Internet! Ha ha ha ha ha!

Hope your birthday is happy, Lisa, and that Gary and the kids let YOU eat cake!

For the challenged cook (or the just plain challenged)...

This is a recipe I found from an old cook book published in the 40's:

Toast
Cut the bread in 1/2 inch slices. Brown evenly on both sides in a toaster, broiling oven, or oven.

Now if this seems intended for the simple minded, what about the warning labels on our food these days? I mean the really asinine ones. We all know what brought on the "Caution: Hot" warnings labels on our fast food coffee cups - the McDonald's lady who tried to drive with a cup of hot coffee in her crotch. Now my Kroger peanut butter was a caution label stating that it contains peanuts. In 2002, the single serving packs of planters peanuts even had a warning label on their package stating "Caution: Contains Peanuts". Well, Duh! I say we should leave the most obvious warning labels off the food and instead of suing the manufacturer of the offending product, think of it as a modern way for Mother Nature to cull the herds. Anyone that is stupid enough to do things like drive around with a hot beverage in their wazoo or eat peanut butter knowing they are allergic to peanuts should not be allowed to reproduce.
But if you think the warning on Pop Tarts not to toast pop tarts unattended is ridiculous - it's really not. I knew someone who banned frosted Pop Tarts from his house after one of them his son was toasting caught on fire and incinerated his toaster. I don't think I would have seen that one coming.

P.S. - Thanks for the cook book sis. There is some really cool recipes in here. Now time to experiment on the family. Bwahahaha!

What Happened to My Princess?

A few years ago when I found out I was going to have a baby girl I was ecstatic. Visions of little pink dresses, baby dolls and tea parties danced through my head. Now, at 2 1/2 years old Lea Anna still loves pink dresses and dolls. She also loves digging in the dirt in her little pink dresses, and her baby dolls have suffered multiple traumas from being hurled to the ground along with other forms of general abuse. Burps are funny and farts are even more hilarious to her. Bugs are cool. Rocks and sticks are even cooler. I still have my little princess but she is the roughest, toughest, meanest thing I ever encountered. Oh yea, and she knows several synonyms for poop. "Turd" is her current favorite.

Three-Day Weekend

Steve usually only gets Sundays off, but his boss decided to close the shop for the entire weekend. Woo-hoo! I envision spending part of the weekend packing, and part actually doing something fun together. His plans no doubt involve very little packing but he actually might be persuaded to do something fun. Thing is, his idea of "doing something fun together" would probably be sitting on the couch beside me watching the NASCAR race on TV, but he knows darn well I think NASCAR has got to be the dumbest "sport" there is and that I really don't enjoy wasting the weekend in front of the boob tube, either.

The State of Georgia, for the first time in a long time, is allowing the sale of what they're calling "sparklers." What I'm seeing for sale looks like most any fireworks I've seen before, just maybe not the kind that fly through the air, so I guess their definition of "sparkler" is pretty loose. Sara the Greyhound is a scaredy-girl when it comes to loud, booming things so we'll have to turn the radio or TV up loud while all that is going on so she can't hear it. We're not sure about Brando the Afghan - we didn't have him this time last year.

Hope everyone enjoys Independence Day and doesn't do anything dumb with fireworks...like we used to do when we were kids!