Is It Over Yet?

Oh God, please forgive my aggravation and irritable mood for the last few days. At this point I would almost cheerfully strangle my landlady. First, the maintainance man is still not finished with what ever he is doing. He still has some painting, floor tile replacing, window blind and screen replacing. We are planning to move the furniture Friday. I hopw he will be out of the way then.

I have been about to blow a gasket for the last two days. My landlady told me that the water was handled by a water district called Emerald Forrest Utility District and she gave me a number to call. She told me to tell them the address and that it is in the Tallowwood area. So I call, no you need to call this number, no you need to call this number and so on. Call her back, no you are giving the address wrong, it has to be 9703 D and then the street. That's not right, even I know that. First it is the street address then the unit number. But the really frustrating part was how many times I calles all these numbers who kept telling me they didn't handle the water there. Scream time!! Then I got an idea to call a realtor who had a for sale sign on the building next door. When I asked if they could help me find what water district the property is in, they looked at the tax records and agreed that it is Emerald Forrest, but it is in the Woodedge Village area. Bingo! When you get the right information, you solve the question quickly! All this time the landlady had been giving me the wrong info! How dumb is that!

I still have a lot of packing to do. We've decided that my dining set, especially the very large china cabinet will be to hard to get into the house. It would just be a really tight squeeze since the front door opens right into the stairs and we don't think there in enough room to turn the cabinet. So along with one bedroom set we will have to put the dining set in storage. We decided to use a drop leaf table that my parents had when I was a kid instead. I refinished it couple of years ago. I'll also have to put my kitchen island in storage since the kitchen is too small.

I hope my sons in law eat their wheaties since they will be doing all the hard work Friday. Jimmy and I are just about worn out.

Annie and Traci will be fixing Thanksgiving dinner for us. Thank you girls! Amanda will not be able to make it. Pat will come for a little while. I still need him to get the washer and dryer out of Amanda's storage building. I'm assuming he will have an excuse that he won't be able to help Friday. Amanda had asked him to get Jimmy's ladder out of the storage and then put the stuff she left her in it but he has done absolutely nothing to help anyone! Shame on him! Grrr!!

The phone should be switched over sometime today so, I won't be online at some point today. I'm not sure when we will get the computer hooked back up after we move.

I hope everyone has a safe and happy Thanksgiving.

Hurry Up and Wait

Man,just when I thought we would have progress, it stops. Couldn't meet the realtor yesterday, Have to wait until Friday. But at least we won't have to pay for half of November, we'll just pay for December. But Jimmy was disappointed that he would have to wait to see the townhouse.

Now comes the second most favorite thing about moving. I have to call the phone company, cable , electric, and water and gas. The first favorite (if anyone could call it that) is moving.

Should be interesting.

Pins and Needles

I have to meet the realtor at 1:00 today. I'm not having much luck concentrating today.Too many questions going through my mind. If Jimmy can get away from the job to meet us. What if when he sees it he doesn't like it? Will we get all our stuff moved and will it fit. We are losing a bedroom, so we are planning to put one bed and dresser in storage and we may have to put a couple of chairs and tables in there too. Annie and Jason and Traci and Bobby will all be here at Thanksgiving to help us move that weekend. They (thank God) are bringing the food. Thanksgiving dinner is the last thing on my mind. I'm worried that we won't be able to get the electricity, gas, cable and phone transferred smoothly. I have a mental picture of not having things up and running. A day without his online poker game is not a good thing for Jimmy. Then there will be all the extra people and what to do with them. Five kids, four under the age of six. Two dogs, one laid back, the other crazy. And that very loud parrot. I want everything to be ok, right now I'm anxious. Now where did I put the vodka?

Can We Say We Told You So NOW?

Amanda called me yesterday to ask me if it was possible to put a restraining order on someone who lives with you. Uh, don't think so... The last couple of times I have talked to her much of the conversation is about her cousin 'Trisha. There is more and more bad blood brewing between the two of them. Jimmy warned Amanda what she would be getting herself into if she moved back to Edna. He is very familiar with this little town since he lived there for ten years. It's trashy. That's putting it mildly. That is one of the reasons he left. We tried to tell Amanda that she would not be happy there. She had improved her life when she moved to Houston. We were proud of her accomplishments. Her mother told her when she left that she'd never make it in Houston, but Amanda did!

Now we wonder if Amanda decieved us in her reason to move back to Edna. At the time she decided to move she was worried about her mother and her sister. Amanda was afraid that if her sister was put in a "home" because of her mental retardation problems, her mother would not be able to handle the stress. They spent a good deal of time researching homes. But, now her sister is back in special ed and going to school every day. A far cry from the problems of the summer. Was all of this need to move a ruse? We wonder.

So Amanda moved back and is now sharing a house with her cousins Joey and 'Trisha. The house is owned by Joey's mother. Joey and 'Trisha are siblings. As far as I am concerned neither of them is a prize. He has kids from his wife and his girlfriend. His wife had a baby by her boyfriend. And she also does drugs,etc. Real high moral fiber those two have. CPS has been called several times. In short, they act like "white trash". Then there is 'Trisha who, bluntly is the whore of the county. Sleeping around is one of her favorite things to do. Then she whines that no one will help her. Great family, huh.

'Trish and Amanda who were once very close. Now thery barely speak. Amanda says that she hates her. Since they all live in the same house, tensions are high all the time. Apparently 'Trisha got mad and hit Amanda in the head. A fight could have insued, but since there were four kids in the room Amanda did not hit back. I don't think this situation will improve until someone leaves. It could get dangerous. So why doesn't Amanda move in with her mother? Or why doen't she move closer to where she works? She says she can't afford it.

I don't know what will happen. The aunt who owns the house(and is the mother of Joey and 'Trisha) says Joey and Amanda should do what they think best. How? How do they get rid of 'Trisha? Personally we think Amanda needs to get out of that mess before it spirals out of control. There is a part of me that thinks she likes that trashy lifestyle. What's that saying if you sleep with dogs, don't be surprized if you wake up with fleas. We tried to warn her...

How Much Stuff is in the Garage?

The realtor called Friday. We are going to sign lease Wed. I wonder if we will be paying for half the month or will be pay for Dec? Will we be able to start moving things in? Then I have to transfer all the utilities. Looks like we will have some gas, since there are gas meters outside. That's always a clue.

Jimmy decided to start cleaning out the garage where we had a lot of his tools, etc for work. Plus we had our Dickens village stuff and other Christmas stuff. We moved about 5 loads of stuff to the storage building. Nothing from the house. Just stuff from the garage. How come men don't ever want to take time to look through the boxes that haven't been opened for years? To me it makes more sense to make sure what is in the boxes is still necessary. Why make things easier by taking a little time to decide if some thing is really necessary or if some things could be put in one box instead of three? Must be a guy thing. When I suggested he go through his stuff, he said he'd rather just move it and think about it later. Right. Ever notice that later never comes? Hopefully we will have the garage clean this week.I sure hope we will have enough room in the storage building.

I'm a little nervous because Jimmy hasn't seen the inside of the townhouse. I hope he will be happy with it. I've told him that it's not exactly what I would want, but the price is good. I can tolerate it for a year or so. After all many years ago I had to live in a single wide trailer with three little kids. I used to refer that to living in a shoebox.

Then we have to clean out the other storage building. That is full, and I mean full of plumbing stuff. Every thing from pipe, to copper to sink and bathroom fixtures and other bits and pieces are crammed in there. He always saved all that stuff. 1. Might need it later. 2 Save Steve money. Yeah right! The business warehouse is full of stuff that could be reused or thrown away. Unfortunately some things seem to walk away. Other things just sit there. Jimmy had a generator stolen, yet Steve has about $20,000 worth of windows that were ordered for a job but were not used cause they didnt fit. This one reason why Jimmy won't put any of his tools and equipment there.
But what really bites is how wasteful the company is in so many other things. Jimmy has a lot of PVC pipe and stuff that he will probably (hopefully) just throw away. Seems the company always orders new stuff and throw away the stuff that is not used. So how come my garage has a bunch of stuff in it? Seems to be more cost effective to keep some things. After all why order 10 feet of pipe and throw away 6 of it? That is why there is so much stuff that we now have to get rid of. Actually I will be glad to get all of that crap out of our stuff. We have enough junk as it is.

We found boxes of tools he hasn't used, but he might need later. He has so many caps I think they are breeding. We had gallon water jugs, some for the fish we used to have, some we had been saving for a hurricane. There is a box of old magazines. Will he throw them out? Will he look at them again? Probably not. I found two big boxes of VCR tapes. Heavy, heavy. Most of this is stuff we taped to watch later then never watched. Why do we still have this? Then I found a box of cassett tapes that probably aren't any good. Toss them? Guess who won't. This is all in addition to all the DVDs we have boxed up in the house. I won't even mention all the old record albums we have. Any idea how heavy 200 record albums are?

We are going to take the boxes of Dickens Village out today. I don't think we will have the room to put the whole thing up this year. Plus I may not have the time. And then there is one of the bedroom closets which is crammed full of Christmas motion characters, china and other decorations. That doesn't even include the tree and the ornaments and stuff that I have been using. I don't use the motion stuff anymore, but for some reason we can't get rid of it. Don't even ask why.

Oh well, I guess we are making progress. Pray for me. I am just inches away from going insane. It will be a short trip.

The Iceman(Dog) Cometh(Runeth), With Apologies to Eugene O'Neill

Don't you just love the weird things our pets do. Daisy drives me nuts sometimes. So what else is new? Every time I go to the garage to get the broom or put trash in the trash can she starts racing around. Sometimes I wonder what she would do if she got hold of the trashbag before I got it to the garage. I'd really rather not think about that mess. She also has decided to chase a bucket of ice.

Jimmy takes his lunch to work in a cooler. I put drinks, lunch and snacks and cool them with ice. So when he comes home I take out the drinks and what ever he didn't finish and put it all back in the fridge. Then I strain the water and remaining ice into a strainer. Then I put the leftover ice in a plastic bucket and put it in the freezer. Hey, I'm part Scott, I reuse. Anyway, I never really paid attention to Daisy's bouncing around. But, then I realized she thought it was great fun to chase the ice bucket. Of course she chases the broom and vacuum cleaner too, but I thought chasing the ice bucket was a little much. So, I started the race. Around and around she went. It quickly melted into who is chasing who and what would happen when someone caught it. Exercise anyone?

So the iceman, I mean dog ran and ran. She had fun, I guess. Says something for the mood I've been in, right? Am I amused or annoyed? I just think of how like small children pets are. Some times it takes so little to amuse them. Of course Lady was watching from her chair. In her "royal" manner, she just stared in obvious boredom. Oh well, maybe we should all have an alter ego so we wouldn't look so foolish. Who me?

Snailing Along

I know it has only been a little more than a week since I talked to Norma, the lady with the townhouse. I know she told me she would call me when it is ready. I know she said it would take about a week to get it ready. So why do I feel that things are moving at a snail's pace? It is now November 9th and on the 1st she said it would take about a week to get it ready. So... Just how long does it take to paint, lay carpet and clean one townhouse? I guess I'm just antsy. I want to be sure that we can make good use of the available help we will get. Plus I hate to have a last minute rush to finish things. When we moved here the last couple of days were exhausting and that was having things boxed up and a moving company doing all the hard work. Realizing that we probably will not have the room to put all our furniture in there, we need to get an idea of what to do. Where will be put our freezer? Currently it is in the garage, before that it was on the covered pation at our other place. I know that we will have to put at least one bed and dresser in storage.

I can't help but feel that things are just crawling along. This makes me nervous. Will I get everything done? It would sure help if I knew just when it would be ready. Right now, I feel like a movie in s-l-o-w m-o-t-i-o-n. Hey, all you snails out there! Wanna race?

We Have A Mandate! Or Do We?

Ah, yes, the political process is done and all is right with the world. The Democrats have taken control of the House and may take the Senate too. Nancy Pelosi is dancing in glee. After trying to watch NCIS, Dancing with the Stars, and House in between the endless scrolling or breaking in with election results, it is over. Yes I was trying to watch all three shows. Finally the people have spoken, almost. Vote counting is still going on because of a couple of Senate races which are too close to call. Not including them election season is over. Or so I thought. Then I hear one of the political pundits say that the race for President is now on! Two more years of vote for me, ugh.

So will there be any difference in the next two years in this do nothing group of self absorbed "do gooders". Only time will tell. Texas relected Rick Perry to be the longest serving governor in history. He won without a majority because the Democrat and Independant candidates took a bunch of votes away, but not enough to win. Then there is a funny twist for the Tom DeLay seat. Shelly Sekula Gibbs won the special election to continue the seat but did not win the regular election. She will replace Tom DeLay for two months. Go figure.

But we have a mandate! After all Britney Spears dumped Kevin Federline. If that is not a mandate, what is? Ha!

Ok, ok, I'll go back to reality now. Does Diane Sawyer have to inhale so loudly?

Limbo Moves

Well, today is November 7th. No word yet about when the townhouse will be ready. Not a word from our current landlord either. I can't help be feel like we are in limbo. We still need to pack stuff,but... We have been talking for several months about cleaning out our storage building, nothing done yet. It has a lot of plumbing stuff in it and some of our other stuff. Jimmy was going to take a lot of the plumbing stuff to the office warehouse, but... Since the one we are using now is across town, we've decided that we should get one which is right down the street from the townhouse. I really don't want to pay for two storage buildings, but... Over the weekend we thought we'd go ahead and get one at the place near the townhouse. We thought we start moving some of Jimmy's plumbing stuff from the garage. Well, we cleaned out some trash, but haven't done anything else. Yesterday Jimmy came home from work thinking we would get the new storage building going, but... Maybe we will do it today.

We can't move anything to the house yet, obviously. Every time I look around the house, I cringe because there seems to be so much to move. I think once we get started it will be better,but... Amanda will be coming up next weekend to help move stuff. I hope we have some place to put stuff by then. Then she says she is going to take the last four days of her vacation on the last four days of the month to help. Annie and Jason will probably be here in a couple of weeks. They are moving this weekend. I need to transfer the utilities, but...

I really feel in limbo. I'd like to get something going, but... I'm begining to hear that old song "Limbo Rock".

Window Dressing?

I glanced out the window as the mailman was delivering our mail yesterday. It was then I noticed our neighbor whose car is always parked in front of this house. Apparently he had decided to clean out the back seat of his car. There is nothing spectacular about this. But his attire made me think twice about bending over a car seat. This guy is built a little like a football lineman, broad shoulders, big rear. Ok, let's just say he is a pound short of fat.He had on a white t-shirt and those nylon long shorts. What grabbed my attention was that these shorts had some kind of logo on the back. It was something like a circle or oval with three letters in the middle. The letter in the middle was larger than the ones on either side. Ok, so what. He opened the car's back door and bent over. Target practice anyone? When he bent over the logo on the shorts was directly centered mid-butt. The large middle letter was the perfect bull's eye. I don't think Chippendale's will be calling him any time soon. I realize that we all have the right to privacy at home. But when someone stands at the sidewalk all bets are off. And I used to wonder why my mother never went outside in her housecoat. Wonder what the mailman thought of his view? Maybe I should get a P.O.Box? Reminds me of the day at our other house when I went outside to get the mail and found myself saying hello to my neighbor as she raked leaves in her thong bikini. Maybe I should invest in a blindfold.

This and That

And just how long is a fence supposed to last? Ha! That wonderful new fence is already looking shabby. Some of the boards are already bowing badly. Gaps between the boards are getting bigger and bigger. I can almost put my hand between them. In some spots the fence is so far off the ground Daisy can almost get under it. Sigh...

I called the realtor yesterday. She told me the townhouse should be ready in about a week. Oh fun. I mailed our current landlord this month's rent with a letter telling him we would be moving out. Any minute I expect a call from him. I really don't want to have to talk to him.

Moving on- is the election over yet? I'm soo tired of all the ads. My viewpoint is, if you are a politician, I don't trust you!

The Astros should have some more money to try to get more power. They did not pick up the option on Jeff Bagwell. It is a little sad. Jeff wanted to play but his shoulder wouldn't allow him to do so. Drayton McClain desided to take the insurance claim instead. So Bagwell will just fade away until he is eligible for the Hall of Fame. I think it would have been better if he admitted he couldn't play and work a deal with the Stros so that he could have a "farewell" tour. They could have put him in for one inning just so the fans in the different parks could say goodbye. Too bad, they could not work things out.

David Carr finally got benched! At least maybe the Texans will learn that no player is untouchable. Carr probably didn't know what to do with himself. The backup QB almost brought the team back. A little more time he might have won the game. This Sunday the Texans will probably be back in playing form-losing! Doesn't matter which Manning they play...

Now I am wondering if it would be better to go ahead and rent the storage building down the street from the townhouse which would mean paying for two or try to clean out the one across town first? We really can't afford to pay for two. What to do, what to do?? Oh well.

Need Money? She Can Work.

Because of our current money woes we have to make some lifestyle changes. We have to move to a cheaper place. We are also thinking of things to cut other expenses like maybe cutting minutes on our cells since we have way more minutes than we actually use. We may look at bundling our cable, phone and internet bills. We are also thinking of changing electric providers since Reliant is the highest in the area. I'm also thinking of going back to work, yuck. I worked at a motel in 2000. I was bored to death since it was 3-11 shift. I quit after about 6 months. Later I looked for a job like I used to do working in doctors offices or hospitals. After dozens of resumes sent I only got a few interviews. But because I'm not a "young thing" any more, I got no offers. I'd rather not work anyway, but... So now, I'm thinking of trying to get a parttime job or a call center job so I can work from home. If I have to work, I rather work from home for about 30 hours a week instead of going out. Since the pay would be equal or better from home, I'd rather stay at home. I just don't know if I would like to stay on the phone that long. But, sometimes you gotta bite the bullet.

All of this brings me to this point. My son and his girlfriend are living in a tiny trailer at the end of her brother's driveway. This thing is so small you can stand at the front and spit out the back. Pat says he is always broke. He's been separated from his wife for two years and still has made no effort to get the divorce going. No money. He still owes Jimmy $700. He is supporting his girlfriend Heather and her son. Her mother pays some of Heather's bills. Apparently her ex-husband doesn't pay child support regularly. The IRS caught up with him, getting Heather $3000. I hear they paid some bills, took a vacation and bought some stuff with it. Yet, Pat still complains of not having any money. So, how come Heather doesn't offer to help? After all, she is not working. She's worked before. Childcare is not an issue. I don't understand. Pat told her she didnt have to work. Huh? If money is such an issue, what is the deal. When Amanda lived here she got Heather at least two jobs. Both of these jobs, Heather walked away from. Guess she didnt like the jobs.

So why doesn't Heather get a job to help Pat? Do they plan to live in that tiny dump forever? Is she going to continue to sponge off her parents? I don't get it. Pat doesn't make that much money. These days a lot of couples have to work to make ends meet. I love not working, but I am going to have to try to bring in some extra money. What is her problem? Heather certainly stands a better chance at getting a job than I do.

Hello Pat? Wake up, tell Heather to help you out. If you are that broke and you work all those hours, maybe it's time she got off her butt. She's not getting any thiner sitting on the couch! If you want to improve your life you need to work together.

I Think I'll Take a Break

In my zeal to get a head start on moving, I've packed boxes of DVDs,CDs,games and such.I've got almost all of my mother's milkglass china packed. I would rather have anything of mine break, just not that stuff. I've also gotten an idea of china and crystal,etc that I never use that I plan to take to the local "I sold it on eBay" store. After all, I have hauled this stuff around for more than 30 years. A lot of the stuff was wedding presents from my first marriage. Gee, the china lasted longer than the marriage! I never use it and I am tired of moving it over and over. I also have some silver plates and trays, and stuff. Some of it came as golf trophies that my parents won over the years they played. I'll never used it. I even found some collectible tea cups and stuff that my great aunt sent me as a kid. Maybe they will have some value? Hey, I've seen the stuff on the Antiques Road Show. Maybe... Plus I've got book sets of everything from the story of civilization to art. No one in my family is interested in any of this stuff. There is no point in giving any of this to my children so I'd rather someone get it because they will use it. I made a mistake years ago when I gave my eldest daughter a "Peter Rabbit" Royal Doulton special edition cereal bowl and mug that my grandmother gave me when I gave birth to her. She left it in a storage building when she and her first husband divorced. So much for family heirlooms.

So, now with boxes all over the place, I need to take a step back. As my husband said, we need to be able to get some of the smaller chairs and furniture out. Can't have too many boxes in the way. When we get word that the townhouse is ready, we are going to try to take some of the stuff that we can handle by ourselves out first. That will hopefully make it easier when my daughter and son in law come to help us move the big stuff. Our big couch is really heavy because it is a sleeper sofa. Then there is my china cabinet which is one really large piece. It is huge and heavy, with glass doors, drawers and shelves. I cringe at the thought of moving it. The glass doors scare me as well as the fact it is on feet. In other words it is a monster to move.

Time to take a break before I stress myself out. The townhouse won't be ready for a couple of weeks. I'd love to be able to just pick everything up and go, but I can't get ahead of myself. After all I still have to tell my son that he will have to get our washer and dryer out of Amanda's storage building. I can just hear the whimpering now. But Mom, they are all the way in the back... Yeah, time for another cup of coffee.

Boxes and Boxes...of Pictures

As I roam through closets and drawers, I keep finding pictures. I think they have been breeding in the dark recesses of the boxes. A year or so ago I went through the thousands of pictures we have all over the house. I needed to cull out a lot of them. Let's face it 15 pictures of the dog under the tree is a little much. And of course there are a lot of pictures of the kids when they were little. There are pictures of flowers, birds, the Christmas tree and presents. I've got kids in every stage of dress, school pictures, Santa pictures and on and on. I've got pictures of class projects that the kids "worked" on, and just what grade did I get on it? I've got pictures of flower gardens and vegetable gardens from start to finish. Birthday cakes and presents, including Traci's first boy-girl birthday party. I could blackmail some kids with pictures of that Halloween party where one of the girls came dressed (or well covered)only to change into less. I've got concert pictures and rodeo pictures. Is Barry Manilow's nose really that big? Was Gretchen Wilson really here for the party and how come we weren't invited? There are pictures of the Christmas tree going up and decorated. There are pictures of our Dickens Village from start to finish in every place we have lived.

When I last went through all (I thought)the pictures I made a collection of pictures of all of the family. These were framed and hung on the wall which we have referred to as the "Wall of Shame". From when the kids were little to the kids with their kids and memories of all the other family members who are no longer with us. I have a lot of respect for the guys who have to decide what pictures will go into a magazine, now. That is a lot of work trying to get a good family grouping.

I thought I had gone through all the boxes. And yet the more I dig, the more I find. I thought I went through that box. I don't remember this box of pictures. Seems like every where I look I find another box. That doesn't even include all the framed pictures that are in drawers or other boxes. And I won't even discuss all the pictures that Amanda had in many,many, many frames under her bed.

Maybe I should just stop looking for a while. Are pictures like rabbits? How does one box of pictures become four boxes? Enough all ready. I quit!

Moving On-slowly

Well, we put a deposit on a cheaper place to live. We'll be moving from a large house with a yard and two car garage to a two bedroom townhouse with no yard and no garage.It will be quite a change from having a living/dining room, den, 3 bedrooms and an office. It's not what I really wanted. I at least wanted one garage. But since we dont have money to spare, it will have to do. The price is right. Cheap! We can pay the rent out of a little more than one paycheck instead of two plus checks. We looked at apartments and townhouses. It is amazing the prices for tiny apartments! Some complexes had townhouses in them. But to get enough square feet it costs a lot!Plus you have to pay extra for a garage! Then there is the crime element. Seems that every day there is news of crime in these complexes. Our new place will have less of that. There are three buildings of four townhouses each set right at the front of a very nice residential neighborhood. The building we will be in just got a new roof and our unit will be repainted and have new carpet.

So, I've been packing and tossing out things. The last time we moved, we hired a moving company. That was nice, but since we can't afford a moving company this time, we have to do it ourselves.Thankfully, my daughter and son in law who live in Brownwood have said they will help us. Funny, how the child who lives the farthest away will help us and the son who lives here in Houston is too busy. Little does he know he is going to have to get our washer and dryer out of Amanda's storage building. Gee, I wonder how long that will take. I'm still waiting for Amanda to come get the rest of her stuff. She's always too busy too. She only lives an hour away, hum...

I really dread having to do all this. Every time I think I am accomplishing something, I discover more to do. Do we really have all this stuff? Where am I going to put all this? I really do appreciate your help, Annie. Bless you.

The Toilet Paper Queen Strikes Again!

Daisy has a thing for toilet paper! I've learned to not put a roll on the toilet paper hanger any more. I have to put it on the back of the toilet tank. Most of the time this works, although she has grabbed it off there once, and pulled and shredded it all over or bathroom. I first discovered her trick one day when I accidentally didn't close the downstairs bathroom door good. She pushed the door open and pulled the paper off the roll and shredded it all over the floor. Then she did it in our bathroom. That's when I took the toiletpaper off the holder and put it on the back of the toilet. As I said, that didn't work too well, either. So since I usually put her in our bathroom when we know we are going to be gone for a while, I have to move the paper. I just have to remember to put it back before using the toilet!

Now I have had to make sure the downstairs and hall bathroom doors stay completely shut so she won't push the door open. Imagine my surprise while I was cleaning the tub in the hall bath. As I scrubbed down the walls and tub, I didn't see Daisy sneek in. I turned around to see her pulling the paper into the hall. I yelled at her to stop. I wonder if she would have pulled it all the way down the stairs? Talk about bold moves! Daisy has no fear... Too bad I didn't have a video camera going as she pulled the paper out of the bathroom and into the hall. She could have been on America's Funniest Videos!

What Do You Mean Thanksgiving?

Jimmy and I are not in very good moods lately. Since Steve cut Jimmy's pay(and lying about the supposed agreement) we can barely pay our bills. We're still looking for a cheaper place to live. I need to find some parttime work to make up the difference in the loss of Jimmy's income. I've been stressing over what to do. We need a cheaper place to live, we need extra money. Who will help us move? We can't depend on family to help us move, so we will have to hire someone. Do I try to get a job while we are still here or wait till we get settled? If I get a job now, how will I have time to pack up everything. Remember I have no help. Jimmy said he'd help but he is tired when he gets home from work. Plus he has been saying he was going to clean out his closet for 4 months. We need to clean up our storage building so we can have room to put our things that won't fit where we will be living. Depressing thoughts and daunting tasks keep filling my mind. When they appear, I find myself getting angry at Steve yet again. Bosses who lie really make me mad! And this guy is a multi-millionaire...

So in the middle of my irritation and stress, I get an e-mail. What are your plans for Thanksgiving? We want to see you. Thanksgiving! You must be kidding! I will not have the room for extra people and no money for food. Right now we are reaching the end of stuff in the freezer. All the stuff that you buy and then decide that you really dont want to eat that now, you'll fix it later. Later is now! The way things are going right now, we are having to buy cheap tv dinners. Don't think we'll be buying a turkey any time soon. Let's see turkey or electricity, which one do I choose? Thanksgiving is not high on my priority list these days. Putting a roof over my head and trying to find enough money to pay the bills it. Jimmy needs a new tire on his truck, don't think a turkey will roll very well at highway speed.

Ever Seen A Fence That Runs Up Hill?

Ah, yes, the smell of new wood permeats the air as I walk Daisy around the yard. It's been raining here. This morning many areas of Houston have flooded or the roadways around town are impassable due to high water.

I noticed that part of our fresh, new fence seems to be running up hill. Huh? Some of the boards are leaning. This gives the impression that it is running up hill. And the guy worked so hard to make sure the boards were all the same height! Of course making them all look the same height means that they have gaps at ground level. With all the rain, the ground where he dug the holes for the posts is sinking. This added to the many holes dug by the dog that used to live next door dug makes a wavy looking bottom. Some of this is only an inch or two deep, other areas are a lot more. On top of that, they dug up some of my bulbs and just left them on the ground.

Oh well. Right now I am just hoping to find some place else to live. And the soon the better. The old saying about too much month left at the end of the money is alarming getting nearer. I wonder if the Big Guy upstairs can help us in our quest? Not getting much interest here.

Fence Finals

Well, the fence is finally up. I'm glad I didn't have to pay for it. The only good thing I can find about it is that the dog that used to live next door won't be digging under or climbing over it. For the amount of time it took to do this little project, it's not very good. There are gaps under it where the ground is uneven. The boards are not all standing straight. They seem to lean in various directions. On top of this, they knocked over or pulled out some of my elephant ears and other plants. There is dirt all over the yard where he dug the post holes. Actually, now the dirt is mud, since it rained. But, for what it is worth (not much) it is up.

You must be kidding!

I really thought that the moron who is putting up the new fence would not show up yesterday. After all, it was going to rain. But, no...He showed up around 11:30 in the morning armed with 2x4's, a saw and a nailgun. You'd think this guy would notice the dark, angry skys. Oh no, he starts sawing on the boards and nailing them to the tops of the posts he had put in Sunday. Then Mother Nature let him know who is the boss! Thunder, lightning, heavy rain, high wind. That'll learn ya! He grabs his tools and flees. Imagine that. Why did he even attempt to "work" anyway. Severe weather warnings and radar pictures of the impending storms were all over the news. It was so dark, it seemed like night. Still this idiot attempts his task. I guess when the trellis and some planters flipped over in the rain and wind, he decided to run. Serves him right.

This could get interesting. With a lot of luck and God's blessing, we might move to a different house before he finishes. Only time will tell. Wonder if he will show up today??