Tidbits

Well, I'm finally all settled in.

My mom has been here for more than a week, so I haven't had time to update. Let's just say I love my mom, but I'm glad she lives an hour away.

The house is lovely and it feels so good to be on my own. I am thrilled every time I get a piece of mail with my name on it, even if it's a bill. There is something very exciting about being independent. Except for being broke.

I have taken on the task of not only writing three articles a month for the Liberty County Outlook magazine, but I will also be selling advertising for it. Everyone tells me I should be great at this. We'll see. Having an actual income would be nice right about now.

Not only am I starting a new job, I'm having surgery on Wednesday to repair a pelvic hernia. Apparently, giving birth to five kids - three of whom weighed over ten pounds - can break down muscle tissue, resulting in a hernia. I'm trying to get as many things taken care of as I can while I still have health insurance. The one-hundred-percent-after-deductible coverage was almost worth staying married for. Almost.

I miss Nathan, as usual. He's in the top of my closet. Zach is coming over tomorrow night to stay with me for a few days while I recover. And he's bringing my new grandson, Nate, a four-month old Labrador mix puppy he rescued from an animal shelter. Words cannot express how much I'm looking forward to having a four-month old puppy in my new house while I recover from surgery. Yippee.

Katie turned thirteen last week. I see her in the car when I'm taking the kids to school and picking them up. I'm pretty sure she still lives here.

Top Ten Things I Learned From My Move

1.  I have a lot of stuff.

2.  My stuff is a dust magnet.

3.  Who my real friends are. (Certain parties are excluded from this because I didn't want to bother you.)

4.  Refrigerators attract dog hair and convert it into something unspeakably horrible.

5.  Spray painting without wearing gloves will take the skin off your fingertips.

6.  Nail polish remover does not remove spray paint.

7.  Nail polish remover on skinned fingertips hurts like hell.

8.  Cats don't like to be relocated.

9.  Neither do I.

10. Someone who is still your friend after helping you move is a friend indeed. 

 

A quick synopsis

Here's the update:

I'm tired.

I spent most of the day Friday at the new house cleaning blinds and windows and lining kitchen cabinets while the gas guy and the Dish Network guy did their things.  No big deal, but a lot of work

Saturday is when things went horribly wrong.  I had planned on moving the small things on that day while I caught up on laundry.  Until my brother-in-law and his friend showed up to move the big stuff, including the washer and dryer, and I hadn't even begun 
to empty the refrigerator! 

The rest of the weekend is a blur.  I'm tired.  I still haven't finished at the old house and I finally did get my interview done late Sunday, so I have to have my story finished by tonight (thank you Trish for extending my deadline!).

My new home is coming together beautifully, although it has roaches.  And I'm tired.  

I only feel like crying about thirty times a day, but I don't have time right now.

Ramblin' Prose

Two days to go.

I think I'll change the subject.

I watched "Stranger Than Fiction" again today, and it reminded me of how much I absolutely love the written word and the play of language. The movie stars Will Farrell as a very fastidious IRS agent who realizes he's a character in a novel. The dialogue in the movie is very well written and original. I just love it. It's a great story that's surprising and fun.

Remembering how much I love words today led me to think about other people and things I love. God, my kids, my friends and family, relaxing on a rainy day, sleeping in on Saturdays, etc. It was very therapeutic.

Later on, I was mulling over my job situation and God and faith. I realized that through all of the years of my faith, I've never gone hungry or been thrown out onto the street or done without. I've had times of great faith - times when I stood by my trust in God and He came through for me in ways no one could have ever have predicted. I've had times of terrible doubt and fear and worry, and He still came through the same way.

Guess what the common denominator is?

So, I'm relaxing about some stuff and seeing where that takes me for a change.

And I'm packing boxes.

I saw a quote the other day by Martin Luther King. He said, "Faith is taking the first step, even when you don't see the whole staircase."

Amen.

Not for the faint of heart

I have discovered the procrastinator's secret to getting things done: Find something you don't want to do more than the thing you've been putting off. Then you can do what you've been putting off as a means to avoid doing the thing you don't want to do more, the result being that you actually accomplish something while still being a successful procrastinator.

Kids, don't try this at home.

I've been making fantastic progress with my writing while not dealing with this whole packing issue. It's been great - I'm coming dangerously close to finishing something, but getting ready for the move is not it!

No one actually showed up on Saturday, so my whole trick-slave-labor idea didn't work. It looks like I AM actually going to have to start packing at some point.

I wonder who's going to be on Ellen today?

When the going gets tough

I'm supposed to move myself and 3 kids worth of stuff one week from tomorrow, I haven't packed a thing except shoes I never wear, I still don't have a job, all I want to do is sleep, and I can't keep up with the laundry. So what do I do? Throw a party of course.

Today I posted my first ever My Space bulletin inviting everyone on my list to come over this Saturday to swim and enjoy our last weekend here.

What can I say? I work better under pressure. And I'm a little crazy - crazy like a fox!

Don't tell anybody, but I'm going to hand out empty boxes at the door. Nobody can leave until their box is filled, categorized, and labeled.

Let's hope I only ever use my power for good.

Optimists need not apply

Things have been going so smoothly, I became complacent. I needed a divorce and poof - I'm getting a divorce. I needed a house and poof - a house dropped into my lap (figuratively speaking, of course.) I needed a job and poof - the one I was sure I was going to get fell through bigger than a load of bricks through a toilet paper canopy.

Hmmm.

Okay. Now the faint flutterings of panic are beginning to gather in my belly.

Yes, I know. Everything happens for a reason. When one door shuts, another one opens. It's always darkest just before the dawn. Weebles wobble but they don't fall down. When life hands you lemons, return them for limes and make margaritas. Blah, blah. blah.

But that doesn't put Flaming Hot Cheetos on the table, now does it?