Saturday Scavenger Hunt - Letters

Again, I do not have access to a place where I can download photos, so here I present my favorite song when I was little: Big Bird singing the alphabet. I used to take my Fisher Price record player and play this song over and over. Maybe that's why I was a good speller in grammar school? Or was it the nuns beating me? :-)

I got it!!!!!

I will officially become a homeowner in July if all goes well. Keep wishing me luck please.

Counting my blessings and acts of kindness

As you know, I have a number of different stress elements in my life right now. Once in a while it gets to be too much, but I'm learning to count my blessings rather than wallow in the stress/negativity. Maybe I should make this a regular feature... we'll see. Don't want to commit!

1) Not only do I have friends who are willing to let me stay with them, but they refuse to accept money, and even to let me buy them things. (So I make dinners, buy food, dog sit, etc.)
2) Not only do my friends let me stay, but also the one 1.5 year old child knows me, knows my name, is happy to see me, and considers me a member of the family.
3) Not only do I have a realtor who knows what she's doing, she's also turning into a friend. She's willing to give up a $1,000 bonus if it means me getting the place. (I'll know today.)
4) My mom is having issues (not eating, not drinking enough), but thankfully my sister lives near her and we have a total of 6 of us to check on her every day and hopefully provide some support.
5) My bike tire may blow up as I'm leaving work and I feel stranded and lost and pissed because I won't get my climbing in (which is a mind clearing/meditation/social type thing as well as exercise), but I have a friend who despite a busy schedule will pick me up and bring me to my car so I can be on my way.
6) I may be getting a divorce but my husband and I will remain friends.
7) I may sometimes feel alone or sad, but I have blogging buddies who will cheer me up either with their comments or their posts on their own blogs.
8) And since 8 is my lucky number, I had to find an 8th! Gorgeous gorgeous weather.

Coolest car/person collision

Tera's comment on my last post made me remember the coolest car/person 'collision' I've ever seen. I used to have a friend that lived in Brooklyn, and I was driving one Friday night to go see him. There's one really crowded intersection right before you get on the bridge to go into Brooklyn. I was trying to merge into all the other traffic, and there was a light that either just turned green or was about to turn red. This one car decided either to stop suddenly or try and make it through the light. Well, a rollerblader was coming down the cross street and couldn't stop. He hit the car, rolled over the hood, landed on his blades, and skated off throwing a thumbs up behind him to show he was ok. Like it was all choreographed. Amazing.

I've been Googled, and Nut Jobs

OK, yesterday I received an email in my work account from a guy I knew in high school. We were very close friends then, and lost touch a while back. At least 10 years ago? But he googled me! Kind of cool, but also kind of scary. In any event, he was in town for the day and we had lunch today, and caught up. We were standing on opposite street corners on our cell phones trying to figure out where each other was, and finally I saw him before he saw me, and exclaimed 'you have a gut!'. I'm so not nice to my friends. Obviously he's used to it.

And then I thought I had a place to stay for a couple days, and the lady writes back and asks me to tack on 3 extra days, which was not at ALL clear in the ad. When I say I had only wanted the 5 days she stated in the ad, she said basically have a nice life. ACK! I hate it when people are 1) not clear in their communication 2) do not take the time to try and be clear and work things out and 3) drop you like a hot stone if you are confused. Whatever.

Speaking of which, I was driving along a road last night to get to my friend's, and a woman was jogging on the road when there was a perfectly good sidewalk right there. She got pissed because I apparently got too close to her. HELLO! There's a friggin sidewalk right there ready to be used. Running in the street does not entitle you to a 5 foot wide bubble of safety around you.

And finally, there were FOUR offers on the place I put an offer on this weekend. Sigh. My realtor harangued the other one until he hinted that I have a good offer, but they are likely still to come back and ask for 'best and final' which mine won't change very much. I offered almost my best and final, dammit. But supposedly there will be some resolution today because the realtor is being harassed by everyone. Obviously this is a good property.

So that's it from the cereal box here.

Belated Memorial Day Post

This song I heard right before I went flying, and it was in my head all weekend. Travelin' Soldier.

Cuckoo

So, I went to see the place I was going to sublet and it just depressed me. It smelled from the food the current person had cooked, it was bare and so few furnishings. I couldn't imagine being there for 3 weeks. Really not. So, I have a find a plan L.
The cocoa puffs reference is due to Churlita saying if she were me she'd be going cuckoo for cocoa puffs by now. I'm starting to feel that way today. Oommmmmm....

Whirlwind weekend

Hello all! Writing this tonight since tomorrow I want to rest. :-) I have the most whirlwind weekend in a long while. Saturday I arrived from AR, and promptly arranged with a bunch of people to pick up some free stuff I had arranged to get. This included one trade of rhubarb plants, which weren't really growing anyway, for heirloom tomato plants. yay! One is apparently like a zebra when it matures, one is deep purple, and the last was a mystery one. I only have two left, and I'll explain why in a moment.

So, I'm running around doing that, and have a BBQ to go to at a friend's place at 7:00. I had seen another place I wanted to look at, and my agent and I went to look. It's amazing, at the top end of my 'price point' as they say on HGTV, and I decided I needed to put an offer on it. More story on that later. Had my great BBQ dinner with good friends (one of whom's wife and I were talking about Robert Downey Jr. and drooling, and later in the kitchen he says to me, oh yes, I've been him a few times. I looked at him and said, huh? He tells me, well, you know, 12 years of marriage you gotta make it interesting somehow. - I thought that was damn funny.)

Anyway, I was supposed to have gone driving to volunteer at a climbing place and then climb, but thankfully my husband had left me a message saying he heard that there wouldn't be enough work to do, and they'd be climbing. There's no phone service there, so I assumed I was screwed since I didn't know where he and other friends would be climbing, and so I made other plans.

And what other plans! My friend who owns the plane said we should take a 2 day trip to a great climbing area. So, early Sunday morning, off we went! I took a photo from the plane as we were turning to land. Do you know where that is?? Squirrel knows. the Gunks! The trip there was smooth sailing, we made good time, my friend's sister picked us up and dropped us off at the rocks, and we were at the base of a climb by noon I believe. Such an amazing day! We climbed until dark in gorgeous weather.

And thankfully I checked with my realtor at one break, because she hadn't seen my email and wanted to know what I wanted to do. !!! Ack. And it turns out I had to get approved by the bank that owns the house, and so I had to fill out an application or something. I didn't know if I'd reach the guy, and I'm at the base of the climb andthen the top of the climb making phone calls. My 2nd lead of the day I got on this hard (for the second lead of the season) climb (Ken's crack), and had to hang. My phone started ringing and my friend was kind enough to let me get it - it is after all my future housing potentially. I felt like I was polluting the environment talking on my cell while hanging on a climb, but it had to be. It was damn funny. I finished the climb with much grunting and groaning and almost falling. My friend barely was able to follow it, so I felt good. :-)

Today we went out for breakfast and got into the sky. It was windier today, so MAN was I queasy. When we landed I was about ready to vomit, but I didn't thankfully. I yet again had to go pick up a free item, and then go sign all the paperwork for the offer. Oh, as well as say, I retract my offer on the place damn you for not responding to me and stringing me along. Ha, he was upset I was retracting the offer. Oh well. My realtor talked to the other one and really was pushing my offer in a nice way. She really 'approves' of it and wants me to get it. It needs work, but It's livable right now (once I pull up carpet and expose the wood floor!). Then she even fed me dinner!

I also found a three week sublet in June, which will help me retain my sanity, I hope. I was uncertain if I should do it since I'll be so house-poor if I get the place, but whatever, I'll get a second job if I have to. Sigh.

So, I am beat. Off to bed and sweet dreams. I feel optimistic since I've had a little bit of good luck... But, since the glass is half empty, I'll not rejoice just yet. :-)

A Number of photos to make up for photoless posts

I forgot that I should add them backwards. So, we have a bonus foot photo that was taken accidentally, 'smoke on the water', views of the house both internal and external. A kind of cheating scavenger hunt, but I'm so excited to have photos period that I needed to put them up. Also, eight photos because 8 is my lucky number.

Some quiet time

Everyone else is finally inside either asleep or going to bed. I've heard the rumbles and so checked weather.com and there's a good storm heading this way, so on the porch I stay. I love thunderstorms. And there's no tornado warnings so I needn't worry too much.

As I sit, bugs join me and sit on the screen, attracted to the white of the blogger page. A couple fireflies are hanging out on the screen just outside the porch. Not sure what they want to have sex with - those lights on the ceiling are pretty damn big!

The movement of the water is moving the dock at the place next door or down the river. It kind of sounds like the seals in San Francisco.

I may need to close the computer and turn off the lights and let the lightening work its magic.

The conversation at the moment

Is about penetration, spread and stickiness.

Can you believe that it's about developing a business? Is the language this way because it's men who started businesses in the past?

Painting a picture for Susan

The six of us are sitting on the porch, discussing the proposal. I am facing the river, which is green and cool, and running slowly right now as they aren't releasing extra water right now. I just saw a blue heron fly by over the river. I keep hearing the kingfishers marking their territory. Last night a hummingbird came up to the screen and wanted into the porch. The whole place has cathedral ceilings, and it's all wood framing and wood floors - the wood still weeps for having been cut and formed into a house.

There's an elevated walkway down to a raft on the river. Elevated because it floods here (as is the reason that the outlets in the basement are 5 feet off the floor). The walkway down to the raft moves according to the level of the water. Yesterday they release water and the raft was at least 3 feet higher than before.

This morning I went for a run, out the front door, by the airplane hanger (did I mention this house is on a runway?) and down the road. Saw a racoon who was either very tired or dying (he was rolled into a ball and when I talked to him he just lifted his head and looked at me), a blue heron in a swamp flying off, a deer in the woods pretending to be a statue. The sun peeked through a perfect hole in the clouds and said good morning. When I returned to the house, someone said they had seen armadillos - I've never seen one!

OK, now I need to work...

In Heber Springs

Hi everyone. Didja miss me? Oh, that's right, I haven't really been away. Oh, maybe for a couple hours. I'm in Heber Springs, AR, at a writing retreat, and these people just won't stop, despite the hour. What dedication...grrrrr... But we're in a glorious house on the Red River - perhaps I'll post photos later. The screened in porch is as big almost as my whole first floor of my old house. My brain has tuned out, but typing makes it seem like I'm participating. Gotta love that. I was participating and contributing, but then someone at dinner makes a comment that it's great that I'm here to takes notes. Grrr... to them. Jeez, I'm not just a note taker. Whatever. Trouble is, it gets late, and I get less patient and less tactful. Gotta keep my mouth shut!

I've been contemplating my living situation. I really can't do anything until I'm off the mortgage. I had put a bid on another place, and they just don't want to deal with me because I'm not off the mortgage. And the timing is a big black hole since it's owned by another bank, etc. So, I've given up hope that I'll be able to buy anything soon, and so I'm trying to figure out how to survive another couple months, since as of today I think I've been out of my house 2.5 months. Yep. I have the possibility of house/cat sitting the whole month of July (though in a semi-dicey neighborhood), and I was thinking of subletting someplace in June, but not sure I could get that, so I may spend multiple hundreds of dollars to have a week in an extended stay hotel so I really do have my own place, even if only for a week. My friends are generous and I am eternally grateful, but having no place to myself is grating on me. I figure the money will be well spent, since even just investigating the cost and the possibility made me feel better.

On a side note, if anyone has seen 27 dresses, the movie, can you let me know so I can email and ask a few questions? It was playing on the plane today and I didn't think I wanted to watch it, thus I did not pay the whopping $1 for the earphones. But I watched the whole thing without sound, which for the most part was fine, but I want to know just two bits from it which I didn't get. By the way, plug for continental airlines. I got a real live 'free' breakfast this morning - cereal and milk and banana! I was so shocked!

OK, it's now almost midnight my real time, so I"m going to sleep. We'll see how the day goes tomorrow - I may be blogging more!

To ponder whilst I'm away

I've been noting the comments - I actually have access here. This is a photo of M*z*t and the Sacred Cow of Old Rock. M*z*t is the blending of M*ses and R*b*t=M*z*t. Created in a fit of drunkenness one afternoon. He calls his followers to worship. Not that this makes any more sense to you. :-)

A Year

Hey guess what people?! May 21 is the one year anniversary of my blog, and I will be on the way to Arkansas, so I'm posting this today because I'm too lazy to learn how to pre-post or whatever you call it. I thank each and every one of you who have become a part of my life in the last year. I miss some people who've disappeared, and am so glad so many of you have stuck around and that the circle keeps getting wider.

I especially thank two bloggers - G, who first showed me his blog where I found many links and many laughs, and Susan, for being the first to jump over to the dark side (meaning, comment on my blog and stick with me). There are other special people/bloggers, and I was about to go on, but really it would take up pages since I have something to thank most of you for.

Those who have been with me from the beginning likely have seen the evolution. I've noted before on this site and it certainly is true that I move slowly in any new situation that I think will be overwhelming or dangerous. I considered blogging to be that in the beginning. Obviously I have jumped pretty much full force into it - yes there are still some things I keep back, but that's my nature. My best days are when I know I've made someone laugh. My worst days become fodder for the blog, and that's a good thing I've found.

So, thanks and we'll see what the next year brings.

Decadence

The definition of decadence for the day. A plain donut, sliced, toasted, with butter spread on it. Oh, how I love it. I started doing it as a kid, and every couple years I just have to have one. Yum.

Beer volunteering

I have a friend who really likes beer. She sent along this call for volunteers a few months ago for a hoity toity event with craft brewers and hoity toity food. Tickets were way expensive, but if you volunteered two shifts, you would get a pass to attend one of the three time slots. I signed up since she was going to be there. But, turned out she had to go out of town. At first I was grumpy, but then another person we know took her spot, so I figured it would be ok.

And it was pretty cool. Especially since they let the volunteers eat and drink while we were volunteering! Nothing like a buzz when you're there to volunteer! I ate and drank so much during my shifts I didn't want to stay for the one that was free. For the first time in my life, also, just standing hurt one of my knees. I had to ice it even. I'm getting old.

Best beer I tried - Dogfish Head's Palo Santo Marron [note: you should go to the link and view the video on it. the wood they made the casks out of is apparently really truly one of the strongest woods in the world]
Best chocolate - dark chocolate with rosemary in it. VERY interesting flavor
Best food - fish tacos. For some reason they seemed to be really popular :-) (when I first saw it on the menu I just about died laughing)

Saturday Hunt - Zephyr

I'm not sure I'll have access to a camera/upload, so here's a song for the Scavenger Hunt.



I tag Evil E, the one who rules them all.

Are you smarter than a chimp?

Ayumu is a 7-year-old chimpanzee... Can you beat Ayumu in this memory test?

Inoue and Matsuzawa from Kyoto University used the 'limited-hold memory task' to show that their chimps can out-perform college students

Take the test.

I lost the first time. The second time I tied.

Bike to Work Day

Today is bike to work day! There are many ways to participate, as I noted this morning. You can help a biker to work (someone going past me dropped their lock and didn't stop so I yelled to stop her). You can carry your bike to work (I saw someone carrying her bike down the sidewalk - that's taking the idea of not biking on the sidewalks to the extreme). And you can take your bike to work, as I did. (My bike is in my car. It's raining and I have to go straight from work to a volunteer event and don't want to leave my bike at work. I bike to work every other day, so I don't feel so bad. Though, I am getting a free t-shirt from one of our consulting companies because I said I'd bike to work. So don't tell...) Use those wheels, save the earth, and get some exercise! And please wear a helmet. Traumatic brain injury is no fun.

In my head

God grant me the serenity
to accept the things I cannot change
the courage to change the things I can
and the wisdom to know the difference.

I'm not a religious person per se, but this is a prayer/thought that is important to keep in mind at times like these.

And since there's so much devastation in the world right now, in China and Myanmar and Zimbabwe, here's another that I saw on a bumper sticker: God Bless the Whole World - No Exceptions.

An update on my situation: the first place I put an offer on countered with something way too high and I decided not to pursue it. I had another place I was interested in, and put an offer on that yesterday, but they are concerned about how long it will take my husband to assume our loan, and I don't blame them. It's kind of a black hole right now, and hard to get information from a big corporation. In the meantime, I go to the climbing gym to get some exercise and know almost noone. And I see my husband periodically - I even went out to dinner with him Sat. night - and though it's good, it's also sad in a way. There's much more going on also, and I just want someone, preferably a male, to hold me in his arms and tell me it's all going to be ok, but I don't have that. And so I have to depend on myself. I know I can, but I also feel that evil monster lurking around (depression). Back!!!

A Missed Birthday

Last Saturday was the birthday of spam. No, not the meat product that is loved in Hawaii, but rather that much loved filler of inboxes. According to the newspaper, 30 years ago the users of Arpanet, the US government-designed precursor to the Internet, logged onto their accounts to find what is considered the first piece of unsolicited commercial email ever sent. It was a pitch for a new computer. Of course, everyone was apoplectic.

Who knew you could laugh AND snort while crying?

Zephyr definition

Since some may be scratching their heads, here's the definition of zephyr for the scavenger hunt. If you play Scrabble, you'll be happy you learned this word. But if you play scrabble that much, likely you already know it. But are you as geeky as the woman I saw on HGTV who made a backyard patio into a scrabble board? (BTW, I think I've finally OD'd on HGTV. I can barely look at it now.)

Zephyr

1. The west wind.
A gentle breeze.
2. Any of various soft light fabrics, yarns, or garments.
3. Something that is airy, insubstantial, or passing.

Something's Afoot

Ok, ok, here's my foot, plus a bonus couple feet, to make a yard.

Saturday Scavenger Hunt - Pink

Yes, I know this is really brick red. BUT, this is a brick I found on the shore of whatever great lake hits Indiana. I was visiting a friend in Chicago a long while back, and we went walking along the shore of the lake. As you can see, it had been in the water a while - so long that it smoothed out all the edges. I took it, brought it home, and found out that it's great for sloughing off dead skin. So, periodically I used it, and anywhere I've used it, my skin turns PINK. I love it and hope to never lose it.

UPDATED: I was tagged AGAIN - thanks NotFainthearted whose blog I cannot comment on because I don't have an open ID and don't know how to get one. Anyway, I wanted to pick a word that started with a letter that hadn't been used, so here you go: zephyr.

TGIS

Or, Thank God It's Saturday.

Yesterday I learned that I have changed. It used to be that a certain amount of time had to elapse before I would react to a situation. This served me well when I volunteered in emergency services, since you have to keep your head on straight in the heat of the moment, and later you can fall apart. But yesterday I was crying as the experiences hit me, which I guess is good.

I arrived at the mediator, sat down (my husband was already there), and started crying. So we had to take a moment to let me gather myself. It just was a reality, sitting there. Honestly they weren't crocodile tears to gather sympathy from my husband! It obviously didn't work anyway, since I gave up a bunch of stuff just to be sure we'd get out of there. The agreement is being drafted.

Then, immediately thereafter I called my realtor because a fine detail had changed in our plans, and I wanted to be sure I could still put an offer on the place I had seen. Well, back and forth with her and the lender and I understood that I couldn't, so when I talked to my realtor, I just sat and cried. She, luckily, is a great woman and tried again with the 'everything will be ok' and 'if it's meant to be, it's meant to be' which was very nice of her.

Then, driving to the movie (I needed an escape) my husband calls to tell me he's moving forward on one of his parts, and I just started bawling again, because I'm so sick of living in other people's houses and I miss my cat and so on and so forth. He of course was very nice and offered any help he could give, but really, it just was an overwhelming day.

In the end, I put in an offer with a financial contingency. And went in to watch Iron Man on a Friday afternoon. Shorter movie review: it was really good! RDJr. review - man, he looks good. Whew.

Annywaay, I went out to dinner with a friend and started early with the tequila. Far too early. And achieved the drunkenness but stepped over that thin line, so tequila and I had an argument in the middle of the night and I lost. I would have been better in the morning if the damn cat I'm cat sitting didn't howl at the top of the stairs starting at 5 am. So, it took a long while to get going this morning. So long that it was afternoon! Oh well. I'm recuperated now, and off to look at more places, since the immediate reaction of the other agent was there's no way the bank will accept my offer. Oh well. We'll see on that one, but best to be prepared.

Djuju the Mean Black Cloud

I found this in a cookbook I was going to give to the thrift store. I have no idea why it was in there. It's a story I wrote in maybe 6th grade? Catholic school. It's hand written, and I wrote the letters on top of a ruler, so all the bottom of the letters are flattened out. I had to share.

Djuju the Mean Black Cloud
Dedication: this is for my teacher, Sister Mary Rose

Djuju was a very mean cloud high in the sky. This is very good since he is so mean. One day Djuju bumped into a small, sweet cloud named Sweetpie. [illustration: mean black cloud, word 'bump!', and small yellow smiling cloud.]

Djuju asked Sweetpie why she rammed into him. At first little Sweetpie was scared but then she got braver. She said, "I did not ram into you!" Djuju almost kicked Sweetpie but she got away in time. After that nobody went up high.

So after a long long time Djuju asked God if he could become younger and float down. God told Djuju that he would let him go down if he would do one kind thing. Djuju promised he would.

So God made Djuju a white rain cloud to see if he could handle it. So Djuju found a place where it hadn't rained for years and he gave them a long Spring shower.

After that Djuju made up with Sweetpie and he married her. They lived happily ever after with their children.


(Of course, being in 6th grade, little did I know that if he gave them a long shower, likely it caused mudslides and much death, but hey, at least his intentions were good. And you can see I learned brownnosing at an early age - dedicate it to the teacher and you get an A. Little did she know I likely got my inspiration for Djuju from her.)

This got a snort, but I may just desperately need a laugh!

Upside down, boy you turn me,

One thing my trainer tried with me last week was hanging me upside down. He was getting tired of me lying on the floor and throwing my legs to the side to crack my back, so he thought hanging me upside down would get the pressure off my spine and help. And it just so happens he has the handy dandy leg cuffs with hooks on them. The first time I did it I was still a little ill and so couldn't remain in that position for long. But I did have enough time to do some upside down stomach crunches - basically lifting my torso up as high as possible.

Although I hate being upside down, I liked how I felt afterwards so I asked to do it again this week. I lasted longer and managed two sets. This time I did bicep and tricep curls upside down. Which is so weird. And, I also was supposed to do upside down squats. Think about it - something you take for granted is gravity, and when you are working against gravity, your whole world is turned upside down, literally. It is really really difficult to do. But, because it's so strange, I really like it, so hopefully I'll do it more.

In all fairness

Both my husband and I are trying very hard to get through this difficult time. He's been great at adapting and dealing, and overall he really is a wonderful man. Just not the man for me. Someone asked me how I'd feel if I saw him with a woman at the gym, and knew he was dating someone. I'd actually be very excited for him. I doubt it would be the reverse, but that's the reality when one person wants the divorce and the other doesn't. We had more arguments last night, and they were money related, but I'm sure we'll work them out. We've both learned to back down and regroup to come back less angry. And we both care about the other, so it'll all work out somehow.

Of course, my mom just gave me a heart attack because she looked at the listing my realtor had sent me, and it was from when the current owner bought it in 2006, which I forgot, and my mom asked if I had gotten it because it said sold. I about had a heart attack and was ready to strangle my husband, but thankfully it's ok...for now at least...

Dream last night

I just remembered a piece of a dream I had. Very disturbing. I had put my contacts in, and they were HUGE. As I was putting them in I had no idea how I was getting them in my eyes. But then somehow half of them went into my mouth - while the other part was in my eyes so I could still see. But I was crying and crying and crying because I had no idea how to fix it. Very tiring dream.

Saturday Scavenger Hunt - Opportunity

I wonder at which door opportunity will knock in the future?






I took these photos when I went house hunting on Saturday. One of them is the one that I hope to make an offer on. Guess which? Sorry some are sideways - again, too little time to rotate.

Friday can't come soon enough

Friday is the day when my husband and I go to mediation to iron out the finalities of the separation agreement which becomes the basis for the divorce. I'm taking the day off, despite the fact that it'll be a 2 hour appointment, because I know it will be a difficult day.

Friday can't come soon enough because despite the fact that my realtor works with a lender who is trustworthy and who wouldn't write a loan that isn't viable, my husband doesn't know her thus doesn't trust her and thus wants me to wait until after our mediation session to put in an offer. Sure, it's been on the market a year and likely a few days more won't make a difference. But, it could also be the other way around. Sure, you can argue, well then it wasn't meant to be. But I hate that argument. Bullshit.

Friday can't come soon enough because I'm tired of his pig-headedness and conservatism. I'm tired of him and being connected at the hip with him. I'm tired of being friendly when I feel like ripping his head off. I'm happier alone. Even when I'm lonely. Because it's better to be lonely alone than when you are in the same house as someone. That's just pathetic.

Friday I'll be looking to go out and get drunk after signing the offer on the place, if it's still available. Anyone want to join?

HGTV

OK, I'm hooked. Now that I might actually own something on my own, I'm just watching marathon HGTV. Of course, it makes me rather ill to see what $200,000 can buy in some parts of the US. And, oh, heaven forbid that they have an annual property tax of $2,000. NOTHING.

I spent over 5 hours looking at places today. From townhouses that when you walk in and look left, there's a cockroach on the wall, to a nicely redone townhouse with a beautiful yard, but of course in the middle of nowhere and a tiny itsy bitsy kitchen (a deal breaker unless I could find a way to expand it - I cook dammit!) My realtor even bought me lunch - though I tried to buy her lunch since she's driving me all over the place.

Most embarassing but hilariously funny experience is stopping at one place, and it had running water and toilet paper, and I had to dump, so I did. But the toilet didn't flush! There was no water in the tank. So I tried filling it up, and it leaked out. So we went looking for a bucket, but no bucket. All there was was an empty liter soda bottle, and a glass in my realtor's car. Not enough water pressure to create a flush. So, I had to hold down the cap in the tank while my realtor filled it with water. Yum! But we were successful! Of course, during the time we were doing all this I was regaled with stories of one time when she had to just leave it there because there was just no way to flush. And one time when it was such a large dump they had to break it up to enable it to go down. OK, I'm disgusting myself just writing this! But also laughing. Obviously I have the perfect realtor. :-)

But, the first place I saw today I think I will actually put an offer on! I'm very excited but I'm trying not to get too excited, since the asking price is a bit over my budget. I will certainly give a lowball offer since it's been on the market almost a year! But I will need them to accept the lowball offer to make it happen. It's on a semi busy street and there's no parking around if people come visit, but it's close enough to bike to work. So, we shall see......

Scavenger hunt will have to wait until tomorrow - I can't download photos here.

Quote from my calendar

Friends are helpful not only because they will listen to us, but because they will laugh at us; Through them we learn a little objectivity, a little modesty, a little courtesy; We learn the rules of life and become better players of the game.

Will Durant

It's on the University of New Hampshire Institute for Disability calendar. This particular page is done by the Seacoast Child Development Clinic.

I agree with it, but am a little scared by the last bit. Because the rules of life are not always good rules, and playing the game better is a good thing, but it would be nice if there were no game. But, again, that's not real life.

An example of how I suck at finances

I don't know where my wallet is. I'm mildly concerned.

Why I wear skirts with elastic waistbands now

When I sneeze, I won't blow out a zipper.
Honestly, I did that when I lived in Germany. I became quite hefty eating cheese and bread all the time.
I just sneezed now, and the elastic took it all in, and let it out.

My version of Twittering

I'm falling asleep at my desk. Post McD's coma? Or just boredom?

McDonald's as comfort food

Who woulda thunk? But I am indeed enjoying my once a couple years indulgence in McDonald's. I could maybe make the 500 goal by treating my blog like it's Twitter...

I'm sorry, but this is SOOO great

With all these comic postings, you would think I'm trying to get up to post #500 by the date of my 1 year anniversary of the blog... (this was 390, and the anniversary is May 21).

Who says you can't go back?

My mom certainly doesn't think so. Since everyone was in RI for my uncle's funeral, my brothers took my mom to see our old house. The house she raised 6 kids in. And that's it up there. My mom managed to finagle her way into the house, which is great.

It's amazing what a difference it makes to have money to spend on making it nice! With six kids, that certainly wasn't the case. It used to be red, with grass wherever it was strong enough to survive six kids running around on. The right front room used to be our playroom - a complete mess but a wonderful idea for six kids. One of my brothers went flying through the glass once, leading to a trip to the hospital. My old bedroom is now a bathroom, in keeping with the national trend to have bathrooms you can live in. The kitchen is modernized and beautiful, much different than when we were growing up. Did anyone else have wall-to-wall carpet in their kitchen? The basement is the same though, and little do the current owners know that there are items/time capsules hidden in the walls. I remember well playing red light green light on the porch, running around in the downstairs, throwing water balloons out the upstairs windows to try and get my brothers, sitting on the stairs on Christmas day waiting for the photo to be taken so we could go look under the tree...

Apparently it's going to be up for sale, and the house next door just sold for an unbelievably low amount. I could almost afford to buy my childhood home! I wouldn't mind living in RI at all. Of course, I'd never get the salary I have now, and I wouldn't want to live in a 3 bedroom/huge bathroom house by myself. But the thought that I could afford my old home makes me feel like a grownup. I'll ponder today whether I like that feeling or not - I'm all alone at work and so can blast my music and take time to write blog posts like this. It's nice to think about the old home and all the wonderful memories associated with it.