Cell Phone's Vacation
My cell phone went on a vacation without me. I figured it was just somewhere dead in the house and when we were finished with painting the crap room blue I'd find it. Nope. It went to Kentucky. I think it had too much fun. Now it's back, but it won't take a charge:(
Poor cute little green cell phone.
I will get you a new battery today.
I. Am. So. Mad. I. Could. Scream.
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR
RRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR
RRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGGGGGG
GGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGG
GGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH
HHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH
HHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!
And just to complete my little whineasode from last time:
Cut to the morning of December 19th. It's 6:15 in the a.m. Meg stumbles down the narrow and perilous stairs, wearing her (very cute and favorite) sock monkey slippers.
Sound effect: SLOSH.
Meg: ARGGH!
David (sleepily and sure his wife is stressing about something in Lansing): Wha...?
Meg: (incoherent and possibly profane mumbling)
David: What?
Eventually Dave rolled out of bed and came downstairs to find me desperately sopping up water from the bathroom floor, the hallway, the spare bedroom and the dining room. He helped. The toilet had started to run backward during the night due to our interesting plumbing issues. This resulted in gallons of clean (well, it looked like clean) water running out of it all over the wood floors. At least we don't have carpets and the floor vents emptied lots of it into the basement where it completely soaked the English 10B curriculum, the Drama pull box and the wrapping paper. Eh, it makes for good motivation to throw things out.
Now if the %$#!%^@W^& @*^@#^&@* @*^#@&^% mortgage company (currently known as WTF rather than WF around our house) and former tenants would just move out of our lives....Hey, at least the new owners have the keys.
Surface & Dive
You know how sometimes you go to bed, cuddle down under the covers and just know it will all look better in the morning? I’m
soooooo not there tonight.
Truthfully, it’s been kinda a rough year. The job is good, the husband is great, but the rest of it…meh.
Last night was worse than it has been though. Our water heater crapped out last Saturday. It was leaking gallons of water everywhere in the basement (blessing: it’s situated away from most of the valuable stuff and drained into the only working floor drain) but was still making enough tepid water so we could do quickish showers (though hair washing has been done in the sink with cold). So we’d turn it off and wait for the next time we HAD to use it or just go shower at the neighbors. Let me state for the record: cold showers during the holiday season do not stir up a festive spirit.
Today we finally got a new hot water heater installed. Yay!
I just tried to take my first hot shower in nearly a week. The water only trickled out. Boo.
It turns out when they replaced the water main out in the street a few weeks ago, the nice clean line increased everyone’s water pressure. Apparently the savvy homeowners who know about the effects of new lines on old houses got themselves down to their water shut off valves and twisted them until ordinary water pressure was restored. Us? Well, we thought it was weird we could suddenly exfoliate in the shower without even trying, but just went along our merry ways with extra-shiny skin.
Side note: hyphenate adjectives that describe adjectives when they are placed before a noun (e.g. extra-shiny skin low-flow shower head).
Return to regularly scheduled programing:
This extra pressure is probably what lead to the demise of our poor water heater’s tank. That, or perhaps the fact that it was installed in the same year Claus von Bulow was found guilty of attempting to murder his wife.
So this morning found us showering at the gym. I think I’ll do it again tomorrow. The fix-it guy (another hyphen, thank you), will be back with a regulator that will allow normal water pressure in our pipes again in the afternoon and then we can be done with that particular brand of silliness. Thank goodness I have a hubby who can work from home now and then.
Past that, we have an offer on the house. Yay! But the mortgage company has changed the numbers we have to work with to get rid of it. Boo.
Tax guy says it’s an ok deal. Real estate agent says it isn’t. Dad thinks it’s ok. CFO at work thinks it’s crap. Financial counselor from church is not ready to make a recommendation, but seems to be leaning toward it’s livable, but very bad for a very long while. The deficit we’d still be liable for is a dreamender when added to our other debts. No starting the adoption process in 2009. No going part time to care for a baby. No trading up for a car that has under 120K miles on it and doesn’t need monthly trips to the shop. And our credit will still go up in smoke.
BUT, we’d be free of that house….and it’s only money.
The final thing that’s been on my mind is Grandpa. He’s continuing to slide. It’s tough to talk to him on the phone and have him forget who I am every few sentences. I’m usually one of my aunts to him. Bums me out.
The communication moratorium has been lifted (we went to court with the tenants, nothing happened, we get to go back January 28th), but I’m kind of a Debbie Downer at the moment and having a hard time getting started talking to friends again since we’ve been blowing through all 1500 of our minutes trying to sort out the house. And then:
A girl fell to her death at our church last night.(www.crossroads.net)
The "Taliband" gang was busted in our neighborhood a few weeks ago.
And our deaf neighbor had his house broken into last Friday. Who does that?
Um, God? Could you please recheck your plan on this stuff? ‘Cause it seems kinda, um, well,
crappy, to be part of some universal purpose.
But really, all is not doom and gloom. We get to see David’s family in a few days, both have somewhat secure jobs, have just completed Financial Peace University (and loved the group we went through it with). We have our health and each other (I love, love, love the patient, encouraging, gentle man I’m married to.). It really doesn’t matter that that nice couple we were starting to really connect with turned out to be swingers. We’ll still love them, just at a bit more of a distance emotionally.
So that’s the first update in a long time. It’s not as hearts and flowers as I’d have liked, but it is what it is (and I hate that phrase and use it anyway). Eh, tomorrow I dive right back in. This too shall pass.
Tension & Silence
A huge weight has been lifted this weekend. Our renters are finally out of the house. On advice of counsel we've been silent on this one to anyone living in MI since early May and trying desperately not to pull anyone into the muck with us but I'm not sure we can avoid it. I just can't seem not to talk about it because it's always there in my mind. Cat's wedding is going to be tough.
There's about to be a court battle royale over the terms of the lease and the condition of the house and it is going to be
uggggggly. I pray a lot these days. Had I only known a year ago...
After the horror of the house this weekend, we did slip off to the lake and jump through waves until we were exhausted then went back to The Darkhorse for romantic pizza & beer at the same table we sat at for our first date. That was nice and relieved some of the ever-thickening tension that's crept in.
My goal is for this to be done by Pete & Jenny's anniversary. But who knows?
Quote of the Day:
Husband: "Not ship-ships. Spaceships. (rolls eyes) Obviously."
I think I handle transitions pretty well. I don't freak (much). I tend to be proactive. I do a reasonable job of keeping my mouth shut when things are going less than swimmingly until they're on an upturn or someone can actually do something besides listen to me complain.
I've decided marriage has made me lazy. I can always come home to my best friend. I've also got the still kinda new duties of wifedom upon me. These two together quite effectively circumvent my (until now) rather effective method of meeting people by just tossing myself headlong into community activities until something clicks.
So this is the conversation over the last year between me & God.
Me: Can I have a girlfriend now?
God: Wait
Me (while trying to volunteer at the local church association that won't let me volunteer because I live int hte community. D.U.M.B.): Can I have a girlfriend here?
God: Nope. Wait.
Me (while returning a vase to Macy's, meeting a cool gal and being offered her number for dinner sometime): This one?
God: Um, no.
Me: So I should just....
God: Yup. Wait.
Me (while trying to join BSF): Maybe here?
God: I'm thinkin' not.
Me (while trying out the various bible studies at church): C'mon, it's church dang it!
God: Ok, try it, but I'm just sayin'...
Me: That sucked.
God: Yup. Wait.
Me: ARGH!!!!!
God: Ok, I don't think you're getting this. W-A-I-T. You've got Facebook and a husband.
Me: Ok. Can I at leas ttake the pottery class?
God: How about in November?
Me: sigh. Ok.
Um... I was Up Late! and forgot to actually post this...
I've been considering calling all of you because, hey, I just don't do the phone thing much (and it's past 1am. We are not college students anymore people). I'm always happy when I do, but overall I find the phone to be a great way to connect with people but I hate leaving voice mails (I turn into a babbling idiot) and, like tonight, I usually think about calling at completely inappropriate times.
So I signed up for Facebook tonight. I think I might have done it in the past, but I've forgotten whatever it was I used as an account. I hope it's more fun when I have confirmed some friends (since it's a cyberspace thing does that make facebook friends just virtual friends?)
My other activity this week has been painting the kitchen. EIGHT coats of fire engine red paint later the top half is done. I did 5 coats in December, then lost heart and gave up for a few months. Now all of my K side aunts + two cousins are coming for dinner in two weeks....needless to say, they are the source for my inspiration.
Also, it's amazing how much better life gets when you stop taking the crazy pills. Heck, I've been openly cheerful around the office while everyone else's head was exploding.
I'm also on my fifth attempt at knitting a scarf thing for Amy. She gave me much desired knitting needles for my birthday and I've been trying to do a simple stitch scarf since April. Heck, I even had tutoring from the incredible Tori while I was out in CA. I'm still dropping stitches and having the thing unravel. I think the fact I've been attempting to learn in whopping 10-15 minutes increments is not helping. But I'm getting enough fun out of it to keep at it. Her birthday is in early July...if you had a birthday in early July would you A) want a scarf? B) Want a badly knitted scarf?
