Cat Settling In? Maybe a little...

The rarely seen cat! No matter if you've been to our place once or a hundred times, you have probably never met this cat. That's because she's nuts and hides most of the time.

The cat is slowly just starting to settle a little bit, maybe. We have been able to move the litter box from the living room, to just inside the kitchen, and now next to the stairs. Farther and farther away from her preferred safe spot, under the bed. She still doesn't come out too much and when she is out will sometimes walk right past you calmly or spook at the slightest thing. Almost like normal, for her, gdam wacko cat. And no, she is not jumpy because of any past abuse or trauma, she's just naturally a paranoid schizophrenic feline. That's my theory, anyway.

My wife just told me she saw the cat on the landing (down 3 steps from the kitchen, then downstairs to the right). Earlier today we pinned up sheets on either side of the stairs in the basement to hopefully make her feel more secure in going down there. The goal is to get that litter box to the bottom of the stairs. Sooner than later would be nice.

Street Skeleton

I've had this for quite a while. I liked it.

Happy Memorial Day

Thankfully, there is one day left in this weekend. Happy Memorial Day!

This morning we cleaned out the old apartment, there was almost a full load still to bring back to the house. We had just enough room left to stop at our familiar grocery chain store (sounds like Mopp's) to get meat and some odds and ends. Yesterday afternoon we tried the closest grocery store (sounds like 'Woodlands'), one of those warehouse type places, and we hated it. We pretty much stuck to our staples list, and when it got down to a few items we said to heck with it. We did find the meat department, but there was little there. I suspect they may have 2 or 3 meat departments, just judging by the size of the store and the meat department we did see. I think, as much as I can complain about the store chain that we are used to shopping at, we may stick with them and drive the little bit extra.

Yesterday morning we did some needed shopping. Some storage shelves for the basement, trash cans, and smaller things. I really like the shelves we got for the basement. I was able to make one into quite the little workbench area, mostly for the household needs. The place is quite a bit more organized than the photos I posted the other day. Not much more of that forthcoming, you'll have to come see it for yourself. Hell, if you're reading this, you know how to contact me - comment!

Yesterday, just after lunch, the guys delivered our washer and dryer. Idiots, both, though one tried to please. They should come better equipped and I let them know it.

Tonight we relaxed a bit and grilled out brats. I noticed that the need to relax has been a common theme in my recent posts. That may continue until we get our gdam psycho cat to chill with the new place. You do know that cats usually get their "crazies" in the evening and at night. Even all night somtimes, I'm finding out. Trying to get her to use the litterbox in the basement is a big issue now as well. I wish she was a normal cat, not this paranoid schizophrenic longhair pain in the rump.

Enough for now. Sorry for the back and forth timeline of this post, I typed as I remembered. Put it this way, today is the middle day of a three day weekend and I slept in until only 6:00am. I am still tired, my legs still ache, and I still have a shortlist a mile long. Tonight it is time to stop, though, and enjoy a few JD and pepsi's and ... relax....

Edit: Oh, and I mowed my first lawn today in over 20 years, I believe.

We're Here! Setting up house...

Well, we are finally here. It has been a very long day, but of course well worth it. We had people coming and going and installing and removing... I will post a sneak preview here. These were taken just an hour or so ago. All in all, the place is shaping up!

Now, a little rest. We have to work tomorrow and will be spending at least some of the weekend at the apartment finishing up. Fun, fun. Bye now... reesssst.

Moving time

I'm glad we are moving over time, a week and maybe a bit more when all is said and done.

Saturday was a work day at the new house. Removing carpet is exactly what I expected it to be, one big pain in the everything. But we had some good help! Mom and her SO showed up in time for staple pulling, probably the toughest part. Mom has to stop trying to do it with her fingers, though. Without their help we would have stopped and finished on Sunday. We have been using Murphy's oil soap to clean it and treat the wood a bit, and it has been working very well. We agreed that while not perfect, they were in better shape than we expected.

Sunday we took a load over to the house then went shopping. I finally had to get a lawn mower and weed whacker, now I'm expected to use them. We also got a washer, dryer and water softener (delivery and hookup pending). Hello 12 months no interest!

And today was another load. The third in as many days. We should leave some boxes for the movers, though. And there will probably be a few things left here after the movers are done that we can take our time to move. Including cleaning stuff and the vacuum, just to make the token effort - we'll wanna be HOME.

Closing Day... yesterday

As promised, here are a few more pics:

Yes, we did close on the house yesterday afternoon. I shoulda wore my leather and pretended I was a rock star signing autographs. I signed my name about 500 times, it seems.

There may not be much posting in the next week or so. We will be busy moving stuff and packing when we're not working. Then, on Thursday, the movers will get all the big and heavy stuff and we will be officially moved in!

House Eve

Tomorrow is the closing. The search/buying process is almost over! Let the moving and redecorating process begin! (Then can I relax a little?)

Well, I had to take this morning off to be sure everything was set with the house insurance. Got to work by 11, but somehow quitting time still couldn't come soon enough. We also had the final walk-through with the realtor. We got there early, and ran into the seller. Very nice guy. It was his deceased mother's house. He answered any question I had and volunteered info as well. We also noticed all the plants that had come in since we had been there last! They need trimming or reigning in in some places but we really couldn't have asked for more.

Last weekend we went down and saw my Mother, along with Sis and her kids. My wife had a busy weekend with a friend and her mom as well. I love the kids! I wish they wouldn't tire me out so g'dam much, though. I slept almost the entire way as my lovely wife drove me home and let me rest!

Insurance Fun

Harrumph! Two days until closing and a snafu with the house insurance. Not exactly helping my mood. Should all be fixed by later tonight, so no biggie. It just ticks me off.

I know I'm overdue for a proper post. Mostly busy or tired (or both) this week. Maybe an update later tonight.

Let's try polling...

Okay, here are your choices, a poll has been added on the right. Voting should be as easy as clicking. This is just another little expiriment for me as well. I'm still learning this blogger thing, slowly but surely, kinda.

Update: Poll closed.

A - 0

B - 0

C - 0

D - 3 correct

Favre as a Viking?

Well, I wouldn't be surprised. I belong to the camp that is okay that we traded him last year. I had had enough of his yearly waffling by then. Now he's turned it into a second career. Will I still support him as a Hall of Fame Packer? Yes, however much he wants to humiliate himself now that he's gone. I plan to enjoy watching the sideshow.

Happy Cinco De Mayo

So Mexico beat the French - who hasn't? Just kidding. I know it was a proud moment for Mexico, but from what I understand, it is a relatively minor holiday in Mexico. I call it Tuesday.

Here's a quick history, not a long read.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cinco_de_Mayo

Also scroll down to the United States part. It seems to have taken on new meaning here. And I say, well, why the hell not?

Lazy, Lazy Sunday

It's been awhile since we had this lazy of a weekend. We think of it as 'resting up'. Just watched some games, caught up on computer stuff that I do, and napped.

By tomorrow night it should all be official, financing going through and all. Then I may post some pics of the house. Maybe. It's less than 2 weeks until closing now.

We had to have some repairs in the apartment this past week. There was a water problem in the bathroom that I was hoping would hold until we left, but it just got too bad to ignore any longer. I hate having the maintenance people come in when we're not here. They did a half-ass job as usual, but we don't care. Heck, I don't think we'll even clean when we leave, we'll just abandon this hellhole with just a token effort. The security deposit was maybe a half months rent and we don't plan on getting anything back from it anyway. We've been here 7 years so it needs everything- paint, carpet (since it was cheap carpet anyway, but they'll probably just shampoo it and rent it out to some sucker), and everything else (like cabinets) was so damn old when we moved in.

Sigh, the shorter our time left here, the more we hate this place. A natural feeling, I guess. But by the end of the month we'll be gone from here and giddy in our own house!

Sugary sweet

I found this interesting. How much sugary goodness (or bad-ness) is in that drink or snack you have right now? This link is kind of an eye opener. I used to need a mountain dew every morning. Now I rarely drink soda unless it has whiskey in it, and then always caffeine-free unless I'm out somewhere. I never really thought about the sugar, though. I always hated the taste (aftertaste, actually) of diet sodas. I wonder if whiskey would make it bearable.


http://www.sugarstacks.com/