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Yonder - I Found It!Moments in Life
11/21/2007 AMAZINGHello all. Yes, I know... it's been ages since my last blog, and I've made so many promises to try to get "regular" again, and here I am, sadly a pathetic blogger ignoring all her friends AGAIN. I'm sorry, but truly, when you hear all that's been happening, you'll understand, I'm sure. My biggest problem is WHERE TO START.
Ok. Here goes. Promised other stories were: (1) puppy news, (2) car news, (3) My Aunt Merce moving here news, (4) my cousin Pio moving here... and THAT's a story!, (5) new stuff with B and his job, (6) updates on mom, (7) updates on my friend from Columbus, GA and whatever else might have happened. Really, if I write all that's happened since June, the last time I blogged... I'll be here forever.
In the words of Enigo Montoya in "The Princess Bride", "Let me a-splain... no no, that's a too much... let me sum-up":
Puppy news: Elvis is now HUGE... probably around 70 lbs or so. He's absolutely beautiful, although a bit lacking in the brain department. B has COMPLETELY adopted him, finally... it was a process. Now, however, B and Elvis are best buddies. Elvis lives for B to come home from work and play with him. He jumps all over him, waits for him to sit in his lounge chair and climbs on top of him... literally ON top of B's lap, like a baby, and reaches up to lick his face. He gets treats and new bones almost daily, and they wrestle on the floor, play football and frisbee outside, and where B goes, Elvis follows. Other than B's rather volatile, though loving relationship with Simon the cat, I think this is the first time B has allowed himself to love an animal... ever... in all of his life. I think this is a good thing. People who can find it within themselves to love something small and generally more helpless than themselves seem to be more human to me... more down to earth.
Car news: Well now, this one has changed a couple of times. I know I put pictures of my "bought at auction" Mercedes in one of my blogs... or talked about it or something..so, since then... let's see, B traded his 89 Chevy pickup 4x4 for a 95 Ford pickup 4x4 which is prettier, runs a bit better, and is stick shift rather than automatic. He's got a car payment (to his boss) now, but no interest, and he can afford it, so it's cool. Also, since then we sold (well, barely sold) the Mercedes to B's uncle (who's wanted it since we got it... it's his favorite vehicle) and we took that money, and the money I got from a fender bender, and we put it toward a Yukon that B's boss was selling, so that's MY new vehicle. I like it a lot... it's a 96, and runs very well, and as I will explain a little later, it's a better vehicle for me now.
Aunt Merce Moving here: Ok, now that was also a bit of a process. First, she's visited and "lived" here (for a few months at a time) several times over the last 5 years or so, even working with me here at the bonding company, part time, on one of those occasions... but she had to quit and tend to her mom (my Abuela) until her death. My aunt has planned to move here all along, but never followed through for one reason or another. Now, however, she is HERE.
She came and moved into the office, working for the bonding company again part time, while looking for a place to buy and move into here... I think it was some time in June... around the 15th. We looked daily.... driving all over the northern part of Georgia, checking listings on the computer several times a day and in every site we could find, and even stopping to check for sale by owner houses. Finally, after seeing so many different neighborhoods she was convinced that the first one she'd fallen in love with was her favorite. However, that area is full of very expensive houses and there was NO WAY she could afford to buy there. Until... we came across a CONDO for sale in the middle of it all. She hadn't considered Condo's before, but this one was just at the top of the "affordability" scale for her, in her favorite area, and even better, completely (and I mean completely... new tile floors down and carpet up, new paint, new cabinets and countertops, NEW) re-modeled.
After a bit of negotiation, and almost giving up completely a couple of times, she now owns her own Condo, and is very happy. She moved into it around the first of October, and within a week my cousin Pio flew in from Puerto Rico to live with her while he looked for a job and a house for his mom (my Aunt), and his sister, (my cousin).
My Cousin Pio moving here: Well, after being here less than a week, Pio hated it. He said he was used to movement, lots of people and action, and it's just too quiet here. Now, we'd all been told by him that what he wanted was a "quiet country life with a small house on a little bit of land" for him and his girlfriend and son to live in... he was tired of all the hustle and bustle of the city, and all the legal problems he'd been having for years. However, I guess he just wasn't ready. So, he flew to Las Vegas and stayed with my dad while he found a temporary job to work at while he waited for another job he'd been "offered" by a friend of his to come through. It never did, and Pio grew disgusted with Vegas again, and flew out here once more to check it out.
Since then, my other aunt, Pio's mother, has flown out here and found the house of her dreams, with enough rooms in it for her son and his family, and her daughter to live with her. It has enough land around it so as to be semi-private and allow Pio to build a shop if he wants and her to have porches and decks expanded all over the place, yet is smack dab in the middle of lots of growth, and shopping and sub-divisions, which is exactly what they all wanted. So, now they're all here. Permanently... they say for the rest of their lives... we'll see. I think there's nomad in my family... we've all moved from one side of the country to the other... several times.
New Stuff with B and his job: Wow, this is a really BIG one. Job-wise, he's basically moved to the top... or, as high as he can go within the company he's working with. He's just under the owners, a father and son team that have been running this business for 26 years, and who have expressed that in all that time they've never had anyone they could trust to run it as well as they do themselves... until now, with B. They've raised him from $8/hr which he started at 2 years ago, to the over $12/hr he's making now. He also works between 50 and 60 hours a week, which gives him a nice amount of overtime, and he manages more often now, rather than getting his hands dirty doing the work. He's trained several people, and trained them WELL, so that they are more reliable for the company, and he's liked by all the workers because he's made it important to get those who deserve it raises and perks. The customers all love him because schedules are being kept and the work is being done correctly.
On a personal front, his dad is still alive, though now completely bed-ridden. He has good and bad days, continues to refuse to see a doctor because he believes that God has done more for him than any doctor could have, keeping him alive four years longer, so far, than the doctors said he had left with his colon cancer. He keeps B hopping with daily calls requesting one thing or another for dinner, or please bring me a pack of cigs or whatever else he can think of... mostly food because that's his only enjoyment left in life. B is happy to do it, though it's frustrating and interrupts something every day. He knows there's going to be a time, not too distant in the future, when he won't have his dad around any more. Plus, there were so many years... mostly all his life, when B was such an out of control alcoholic and druggie that he had no contact with his family... well, no pleasant contact anyway. I think he's making up for lost time/relationships.
Updates on Mom: Well, mom is still living in Seattle with my brother Chris and his wife and two kids. She's watching the kids while their parents are working, three days a week... ostensibly in exchange for room and board... though she uses her money to buy groceries all the time, and she does a LOT more than just watch the kids. It's her own choice... I don't think they've actually asked her to do these things, but she does laundry and dishes and picks up and vacuums... all but the bathrooms I think, and that's only because her knees and wrists can't take it with her osteoporosis.
She's been out there about a year and a half now, and my brother is finally getting done with the basement studio he promised her before she ever moved. She bought this special toilet that chews up all the matter because it's flushing and going up rather than down, with her own money... which bugs me because she makes around $600 per month to live on and my brother and his wife make VERY good money, and more than that, by her watching their kids they are saving about $10k a year in child care.
I think it was a bit difficult at first, especially for mom, adjusting to living in another woman's home, and wanting to be careful not to embarass or make my brother uncomfortable in any way, but they all seem to have adjusted. I know once mom has her own space... if it will EVER get done so she can move down there, that she will feel more like herself and be able to be more independant again. She's committed to spending another couple of years there... until Torin is in school, and the kids adore her, constantly asking when Gran'ma is coming back whenever she goes anywhere to visit her other kids.
I really miss her though, and now... well, there are things in my life now that make me want her around even more than before... I'll explain later. I thought that having my Aunt here would kindof make up for the hole left when mom left... I didn't have anyone to do things with anymore... B is limited in his interests and doesn't make the effort to do things I like to do... like mom used to. I thought I'd have my Aunt to do things with after she moved here, but it's a very strained situation with her because of the violence she witnessed with B and me a year and a half ago when she was visiting and had to "rescue" me from him. She hasn't forgotten or forgiven, and no matter what changes B has made, and continues to make, she can't seem to let it go. Anyway, that's another story.
The last promised update was on my friend from Columbus, GA. Her business is progressing along extremely well, and I believe they're going into production of the test models in the spring. She's continued losing weight and is looking and feeling extremely fabulous, and makes me ashamed of how little I do to be healthy, compared to her. She's moved out of the disfunctional home of her parents and has her own apartment now, which she loves... and I've yet to see, but I will... hopefully sometime in the spring... I can't do much travelling right now, but she comes and visits me occasionally, whenever she has business in Atlanta, and we go to dinner and catch up. She's about to be a grandmother again as her daughter is pregnant and due any time. She'll be spending the holidays in Colorado with her kids and other members of her family this year, and I think it's wonderful! She's in college, taking classes to get her psychology degree, and is loving that too. I can't begin to express how proud I am of her and how much her friendship and example, and her faith in God, has meant to me.
Ok, now, there is a LOT of new stuff too... things that are AMAZING and unbelievable (until you've lived them as I have), and just plain WONDERFUL that I have to share with you all.... but I have to wait on that because this blog is already too long. I probably won't get to do it until next week... or rather, over the weekend when I'm spending lots of time at work again, but I WILL get back here and update more.
I want to get around to a few spaces and see how everyone is doing. Take care, and know that even if I'm not actually writing, I am thinking of you all, and wondering how you are. I'll write again soon. God bless.
6/11/2007 Too Much To Blog AboutHello all! I have certainly missed visiting everyone, and now I've been gone so long that I hardly know where to begin.
I hope everyone is having a wonderful summer... ours is way too hot here already. The worst part about that is the grass we've been trying to grow. With watering bans on and the weather so hot and no rain... it all adds up to baby grass that can't survive, and older grass that is brown and withering. Our brambles don't seem to have suffered at all though! They're just thriving and growing wherever they can... B keeps poisoning them, but I think he's just killing the tops because it seems for each one he kills two more spring up brand new. UGGGGH! I'm afraid it's rather a losing battle, and poor B is just wasting his time, but I have to admire his determination.
Yes, we are IN the house now. After zillions of delays, we ended up being able to get into the house about a week after mom got here. She opted to stay in the house before there was electric on, rather than stay over at my girlfriends house. I don't blame her much... she wanted to be relaxed and comfortable and staying at my girlfriends house would have entailed listening to her "problems"... of which she always has many, and entertaining her daughter, who is always full of questions and needs to be the center of attention... if she's not, she gets "sick"... mostly the fault of the mama though because she completely gives in to that... even encourages it. Though mom likes them both, and knows them almost as long as I do, she needed this trip to be relaxing.
My moms visit was wonderful. It was so nice having her around again... having someone who's positive all the time, who compliments me and builds me up all the time. I got so used to that for so long that I suppose I was spoiled. We did everything together - she spent time with me at work, and we talked a lot... I really miss that.
You know, I've realized lately that most of my life has been really priviledged. Yeah, I've had the childhood abuse and the alcoholic parents and the completely co-dependent life... I've made terrible choices in relationships, and I've left myself open time and time again to be used and taken advantage of. The thing is though, I was happy most of the time. I found joy in all the good stuff and poo poohed the bad... I didn't let the bad stuff rule my life. I stayed away from the negative news and papers, knowing the ugliness existed, but not feeling like I needed to steep myself in it... what was the point?
I've always been the type of person to do anything I could to help people... my family first, and then anyone who needed it... whoever I saw that looked sad, I'd smile and talk to them... if they pushed me away then I left them alone, but most of the time people respond to kindness and interest in them, and just having someone to listen, to give them a positive outlook on life makes a huge difference. I've always believed that if more people took interest... not to be nosy or push their views on another... but a genuine interest in that other person who crosses their path... if more people put forth just the tiniest effort to listen to another human being, this world would be 100 times better than it is now.
Well, enough philosophizing. I was saying I believe I've been rather priviledged in my life. I think it's because I refused to delve into the negative of this world and concentrated only on the good and the happy... my heart was always full and my head was not filled with sad things. I was always called a "dreamer"... well, yeah, I suppose I have been. Believing in the good rather than the evil of people... believing in the positive outcome of any situation if you put positive energy into it, rather than dwelling on what "could go wrong"... believing in love, real, forever lasting, both parties giving to the other, both parties caring enough about the other to put them first... as the Bible says, to treat one's spouse as you would treat yourself... even better.
My family didn't do anything to burst my happy bubble... neither of my first two husbands did either (I now realize after looking back)... they protected me from the ugly of the world... they humored me in my beliefs. The reason I know this now, is that my current husband doesn't do that. B is a realist.. .he has almost no immagination whatsoever, and because his life has always been hard, he has a hard outlook on life. He fills his head with shows like "Cops" and "Dog the Bounty Hunter" and all kinds of news and other "reality" tv shows... it's almost all he watches besides sports... sports of any kind. I've always watched shows that were family oriented... sit-coms and romantic comedies, sci-fi or fantasy... happy things. I've never liked war movies or scary movies... things that end sadly.
I'm realizing all this, and I'm working on removing the negativity again. If B wants to fill his head with it all, then more power to him... I don't think he can ever be as happy as I will though. I'm not watching that stuff with him anymore... even if it means I spend less time with him... I'll go into another room and watch something positive, or get on the computer, or do some crafts or something. I LOVED my mentality before... I was happy in my separation from the ugly... and I am happiest when I can believe that the little bit I can do to help whoever I may come into contact with actually makes a difference somehow. I know it does, because sometimes, years later, someone will stop me and tell me what a difference I've made for them... how my helping them made a real impact. I think that's a wonderful thing, and I want to continue to be that way... no matter what the odds are... if I try with 100 people and only one smiles back... it doesn't matter... perhaps someone will remember me saying hello to them and smiling in the grocery store line, and they'll smile later in the day rather than frown. That's enough.
Heavens! How did I get on this track? Back to updating.
Mom helped B and I move all our stuff into the house... thank goodness I'd packed really well... hardly anything was broken. I lost my huge Thanksgiving platter with the grapes and vines designes, and the giant bowl that matched it, but other than that I think everything made it... oh, one of my Christmas wine glasses broke too... but I still have 11 good ones, so I think I'm ok.
Most of the stuff is put away into closets and cabinets now... I'll have to take pictures of it and show everyone... it really is a nice house, despite the things the "builder" didn't do properly. We notice things all the time, and we basically have to shrug it off... otherwise we would walk around unhappy all the time, and B is so happy it's hard to do that.
B does things around the property nearly every day. He works, and he comes home and works in the yard, or does laundry, or sometimes sits and watches his programs. I just got him a big lounge chair for fathers day, and he's in love with it... even had me put a cover over it so it "wouldn't get dirty from the animals"... he didn't think of that before, with regard to my couches... hmmmm. I'm kidding, I think it's cool that he's so into the house and the improvement of it .... whatever he can do himself.
Our porches ARE unlevel, but not as much as they look... actually it's the house that's not level either, so the two combine to make a really sad looking result that looks WAY off level to the naked eye... part of it IS optical illusion (as David suggested)... however, B has put lattice around the bottom of the porches and pretty stones all along the bottom at the ground, which makes them look nicer. He's tended the lawn as best as he can... has hired a couple of guys to come around when they have time and help him clear out the brambles and underbrush beneath the trees along the front and edges of the property (well the cleared part anyway).
Things are coming along very nicely... I'm still convinced that because this house was put on "created" land... they took down part of the hill on one side and built up the ground from the steep slant to a level place for the house and back yard, but they didn't leave it AT ALL to weather and settle... so I'm sure that at some time, if not this year then next, we'll end up VERY unlevel, or with a sink hole somewhere... somehow this land is going to settle and I'm a bit worried about it when it does... B says we'll worry about that when it happens... uh... ok (when we feel a big WHOOSH and then are tossed from our beds one dark night and all of a sudden we feel a huge THUD along with the sound of crunching house, he'll HAVE to address it then - he'll have to figure out a way to get the house back up the hill... if there's any flat place left to put it on).
I'm going to go now and put more stuff away... I actually have 8 hours off today (Imagine that!), so I'm trying to make the best of it. I'll do my best to get back and update some more. There's still (1) puppy news, (2) car news, (3) My Aunt Merce moving here news, (4) my cousin Pio moving here... and THAT's a story!, (5) new stuff with B and his job, (6) updates on mom, (7) updates on my friend from Columbus, GA... and of course all kinds of silly stuff that I somehow seem to find important enough to write about.
Thank you all for continuing to check on me and for showing interest in what's going on in my life... I promise I'll try to get round to visit you all very soon. I've attached some pictures of the inside and outside of the house before it was ready for us to move in... early stages after delivery. I'll try to take some more now that I have furniture in there and the foundation is solid and pictures are on the walls.
5/3/2007 Super Quick UpdateI have absolutely no time right now to write as I'd like to... it's already 2 am and I have to be up early... but here's a mini- update:
On the house: The block work is done, and finally stuccoed, and they actually did a pretty good job... left the place a shambles though. I asked them to leave me the left over sand, which they did, but they spread it all over the place... now how am I supposed to use THAT? Also, they left their huge bag of empty cement bags... thanks guys!
The decking people... ummm... very nice people, but not too good at what they do. The put the kick plates on the steps as an afterthought, so they come out past the steps... not really attractive. The porch in front is not level... I mean, It's visibly, to the naked and untrained eye, NOT level. The cement used to anchor the 4x4's to the ground (because the porches are not allowed to be attached to the house to prevent them moving... some weird code here) was piled around the 4x4's... so we have cement cow patties with the 4x4's plunked into the middle of them. NOT attractive, and now it's almost impossible to put some kind of facing on the porch to hide the underneath... at least, not that would look good.
The eaves... well, we're being told they need to order new pieces that will "match up properly" in order to fix that... ummm, they've known about this for well over a month now... I don't think the pieces are coming from China... well, even if they were, they'd be here by now if they'd done their job correctly.
As the company putting this all together is completely innept, they did nothing to get the electrical put on... other than put the meter box and the wire head on the side of the house. This means that it's going to be ANOTHER two to two and a half weeks before the electric is on. The special electrical engineer for the county had to go assess the situation and has decided we need to have a pole put in... the ones all along the road are not close enough he says. So, we're scheduled... I've been trying to get this taken care of for over a month but no one would listen to me... the house company did not want to do their jobs, so now we're stuck... AGAIN.
Mom is here, and she's sleeping over at the house, as planned... only without electric. I'd bought a roll away bed for her to sleep on while she's here already, and I had it over there already too... she didn't want to stay over at my girlfriends' house... she knows her too, actually used to sit for her daughter, but my friend is one to talk you ear off and mostly about her problems, and mom wants a rest... not a gab session or sob session.
OK... I'm fading here... got to go. I'll try to get back here soon. Luv ya'll! (Now if that isn't redneck I don't know what is!) 4/23/2007 Marshall Tucker BandOn Friday night the Marshall Tucker Band played a concert here at the local center and it was to benefit the Homes for Humanity. I thought that was really great of them. B has always liked them, and so have I (though I didn't know it until B told me what songs they sing... didn't know the name, although I should have), and he bought tickets for us and another couple a few weeks ago. I'd been looking forward to it... just to get out together, and having the other couple with us, well, that was a perk.
It's been a long time since B and I went anywhere with other people... since he stopped drinking actually. Except for our trip out to Texas to visit his daughter and grandchildren... we went out with her and her husband one evening, and it was wonderful! B not drinking makes my social experience a lot better... though I still am tied up in wanting him to have a good time... a DIFFERENT kind of good time now that he's not drinking anymore... he really doesn't know how... I don't think he's ever socialized without it before.
We all went to Chilli's for dinner first and had very nice conversation. The food was good, as usual... it's one of B's favorite places to eat out, but it's usually a little more expensive than we can afford... except once in a while. Being as we go out a lot to eat, especially since we've been living in the office waiting on the house, we have to go to inexpensive places most of the time. They have these southwestern egg rolls (not really egg rolls at all as they're wrapped in flour tortillas, but they're tucked at both ends like an egg roll, and cut on a bias to serve them)... he just loves them... and of course that's what he had.
Afterward we all went to the concert. There was a warm up band that had "Mid-Life Crisis" lettered on their bass drum, so I assume that was their name, and they sang a song by the name of "Quarter-Life Crisis" which was actually very good. All their songs were good. The singer had a good voice and could actually carry a tune without synthesizers or any electronic manipulation of his voice at all... and the instrumentalists were right on. We were impressed.
Then Marshall Tucker came on. They were VERY LOUD... I think if the music had been turned down just a tad the voices would have been better, but they put on a good show. Not all the performers were from the original band (duh, as if they would be after so many years), and the lead guitarist was also an amazing vocalist... B said he sounded a lot like Marshall Tucker (I'm assuming that's the actual name of the main guy) used to sound. MT said himself that there were "some songs he just couldn't sing like he used to" and deferred to the guitarist to sing a couple of the songs where they just had to belt out the words.
The flutist / piano player / saxophone player WAS from the original band, and he was FANTASTIC. His flute just sang... he even trilled it... made me think of the flutist from The Moody Blues... I've been a couple of times to see them with my mom... we love them. I sat forward in my seat when he played... his notes were so clear and his music was so moving... made the whole concert worthwhile as far as I'm concerned.
B was quiet and still most of the concert... except for the songs that must have some inner meaning for him. He smiled a lot at their performance, and he tapped his booted foot, but there were a couple of songs that really lit him up. Not that he got up to dance or anything, but his body language was happy... his face was involved... emotion was actually visible to me. I swear I saw a tear or two when that song Can't You See? (What that woman's been doin' to me?) came on... I asked him about it later but he denied it... maybe it's something out of his past. I'm just glad he let himself get into it and feel it. Of course, the whole crowd really got into that song.
There is a site, www.marshalltucker.com that has all their concert dates for their 2007 tour, a place to buy cd's and promotional stuff, and a lot of information about the band, if anyone's interested... I found it very informative and sweet.
We got a t-shirt for B (I believe there should always be something to remember an event by) and I kept the ticket stubs and broshure (for my scrap-booking)... once I have my craft room set up in the house I'm going to actually put everything I've been saving for years for scrap-booking INTO one... or rather... I'll probably need about 10 by now.
I've joined a gym here... finally. I really need to work out... more for my energy level than anything... well, maybe more for my need to be out and among the human race rather than spending my life just working and waiting for B to get home from work and spend time with me. I need a life.
The gym I joined is really great. There's a work out room just for women, and they have a LOT of really great machines in there... new ones that work different parts of the body. I like that because I don't have to be out and among the other patrons... most of whom are not quite so... jiggly... as I am right now. I'll be able to get started this way and not feel self conscious. They also have a pool, which I'll have lots of fun swimming in, and a jacuzzi, steam room and sauna which I will have lots of fun relaxing in. I told B that I need this... I want to develop some kind of routine. If I can do that I think I can stick to it and make some progress.
I have my first "training session" with the buff body builder trainer guy on Wednesday at 11 am. I think I'll do the water arobics class first at 9 am and relax a bit... then see him and get pained at 11... he seems like a really nice guy who's eager to help me... of course, he's in totally great shape which will make me self-conscious, but I have to get over that if I'm going to get anywhere with this.
Once we're in the house... oh I hope that's VERY soon... tentative is final inspection for Friday of next week, but I'm not holding my breath... then I'll get back into the really healthy eating... having a full sized refrigerator helps when you have to have a place to put fresh veggies and salad stuff. I have to say I'm looking forward to it all. I'm tired of being tired. I'm fed up with always feeling run down and achy. Yuck! It's time to do something about it. (hear that? I'm really trying to build this up... convincing myself I can do it... I've never followed through before, but perhaps now... I'm alone so much of the time now... perhaps I'll do it... if for no other reason than to be around people).
Well, gotta go... time to feed the dogs... and cook for B too. Let you know how it all goes. 4/17/2007 Lots O' StuffSpring was here... but it went away. I don't know about this weather...one day it's in the upper 70's, and the next we're having 50 degree weather. Dressing appropriately is a definite problem, which normally wouldn't bother me much but I'm still a little bit congested from that awful nasty cold/flu/whatever it was that I had for almost two whole weeks, so I'm trying to make sure it doesn't come back. Yesterday was lovely... a little windy, and then in the evening it decided to get cold and rainy. This morning it's freezing outside and the wind is very strong... my dogs are spoiled and don't like to go out in this kind of weather so I have to be especially vigilant with them to make sure (especially with Elvis our puppy) they go out when they need to rather than just finding a spot indoors for their "business".
Our house is just... waiting. We've not had anyone there all week (Today is Sunday). The company that built the house was supposed to go and finish up all the "punch out" inside... replace carpet, fix trim and door jams, etc. No one showed up. We've called the company that sold us the place... Palm Harbor (I don't advise anyone dealing with them... since my B bought the house through them we've heard many horror stories of their... antics... from several of their own sub-contractors), and they claim to be "on top of it" and that they're scheduling our home to be finished, but it's not being done.
We are at the exact same place as we were two weeks ago... nothing new has been done...well, they cleaned the stains on the ceiling with bleach and replaced a couple of light fixtures. That's it. Definitely frustrating and NOT what they keep promising.
It's even more frustrating now because. YAY!!! Mom is coming to visit! I'm so glad! I'm really looking forward to seeing her! I've planned all kinds of stuff for us to do together while she's here. We're going to the second of the three exhibits of the Louve (works brought over from Europe on an exchange thing) being held at the High Museum of Art in Atlanta, and I'm going to see if we can go to the Aquarium down there too... but on different days because it takes an entire day at the Museum, and another one at the Aquarium, to see them properly.
I spoke to her about us going on a day trip somewhere and staying overnight... just she and I (B says he doesn't mind, and he doesn't like to do the things mom and I like anyway). We're thinking about going to Gatlinburg... she'll love the mountains up there and it's where B and I got married... I'd like her to see it as she's never been there before. There's plenty to do there also... another aquarium, a Ripley's believe it or not, putt putt golf, a train up the mountain (or is it a tram?)... lots of roads to explore and lots of really yummy food too. She said she'd love to go and is looking forward to it.
On our way back, probably on Saturday night, I'll drop her off at her friend's house in Blairsville and she'll stay with her until Monday morning. Then her friend will bring her down and we will meet in Helen and spend the day up there going to pottery houses and antique shops and galleries. Mom and I love that kind of thing.
Other things we could do, although I don't know if we'll have time or not, is go to the Botanical Gardens, or Six Flags (more for me than mom... she's not sure she can handle that anymore... I wouldn't know why not, but she says she's older now and not sure her body can take that), there may be a play going on at the theatre at Brenau or at the Gainesville College... I'm going to call about that... or see if there's a concert or something either at the Georgia Mountain Center or the Gwinnett Civic Center. I'm so excited!
B and I went over to the land again today (Tuesday) to spread more grass seed and hay... we did it a couple of weeks ago, but we didn't spread enough and so we only have sporadic grass growing... I think the birds and local chickens which wander the neighborhood got a good bit of it. We did have some gale force winds for a couple of days which blew a lot of it away... though I can't see where it | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Invite as friend
