Grouchy Mom

Guess I haven't learned that lesson yet

    Believe it or not, our intended closing date for the house has come and gone, and we did not close.  There was no closing whatsoever.  We are still not closed, and we are praying fervently and frantically that we will be able to close by the 31st of this month.   I am reluctantly forced to conclude that I haven't yet learned my lesson about patience.  This stinks.  :-/

    Of course, there's always plenty going on to keep us busy while we wait!   We've been to see "The Avengers" twice now, and hubby is greatly amused by how Faith and I react to it each time.  I'm a comic book fan from waaaaay back - not obsessive, but definitely interested - and this movie was absolutely fantastic.  I love the characters' development and interactions, the touches of humor, all of it.   Mark Ruffalo is my all-time favorite Bruce Banner/Hulk, even edging out Bill Bixby and Lou Ferrigno.  His combination of self-deprecating charm and weary resignation to his situation make the character so relatable.   Robert Downey Jr. is always and forever going to be Tony Stark/Iron Man - who else has that mixture  of snark and charm?  Chris Hemsworth is a fabulous Thor,  with great growth in the character.  Chris Evans plays Captain Steve Rogers perfectly - a bit disillusioned, still trying to adjust to this new world he's found himself in, but also still dedicated to doing what's right.   Jeremy Renner as Hawkeye could have used a lot more screen time - great character and there's a lot of backstory there that would be interesting to know.  Ditto Scarlett Johannson as Black Widow - you get hints of her history, but just enough to tantalize.  And Tom Hiddleston as Loki?  Oh. My. Gosh.   Seriously, he's trying to bring down the planet, and all you want to do is hug the poor guy and tell him it's okay.   I LOVED this movie, and we will be buying the DVD the day it's released, guaranteed.

    Another little something that I've found to keep myself occupied has been Zumba classes.  Yep, I said Zumba.  I can only imagine how hard the instructor laughs on her way home, but God bless her, she keeps a straight face in class.  I was worried about the speed of the class, but I've been able to keep up pretty well.  There is no style or grace about my keeping up, granted, but at least I'm moving, and it's fun!   I'm trying to go two or three times a week right now, as life permits.  If nothing else it's good exercise for me and comic relief for everyone around me.  :-)

    So I'm dreaming about the Avengers and dancing through Zumba while waiting for my house.  What are you doing?

An unpleasant first

    This past Friday I got rear-ended.  It was a first, and not a happy one.  Thankfully everyone is okay and there was no major damage done to my car, but it was a bit of a shock nonetheless.  Here's the story....

    Friday before last a lovely white cat showed up at our door and declared his firm intention of being our new best friend forever, amen.  Faith was obviously thrilled  (crazy cat lady in training, that's my girl) and the rest of us were actually quite taken with him as well.  This is one of the most mellow cats I've ever seen.....ever.  No matter what was going on around him, he just purred like an outboard motor.   One of his more endearing tricks was to stand in Faith's lap, wrap his front paws around her neck in a "hug", and touch his nose to her chin very gently.   No-one in the neighborhood was missing a cat, and he had obviously been on his own for a bit.  Soooo, as you can imagine, we decided that he could stay.   Tuesday we took him to the vet.

    That's where things went south.   Our extremely sweet kitty was also extremely positive for FIV  (feline AIDS).  This meant that he had to be an indoors-only cat.  Unfortunately, our landlord allows dogs but not cats, and Seth (youngest son) is allergic to cats as well.  Barn cats he's okay with, house cats not so much.   We couldn't keep the kitty, and Faith was devastated.   The vet, who I think may deserve a halo, offered to keep him at the office for a few days so we could try to find a home for him.  We weren't having much luck until I shared the story with our realtor Jaye, who is also a Bible study friend.  Bless her heart, she said she'd take him in at least for a while, so we could keep looking for a forever home for him.   I let our vet know, and she took care of his shots, neutering, etc.   Which leads us to Friday!

    Friday afternoon Faith, Seth and I went and picked up the cat from the vet's office.   Husband had driven the van to Charlotte that day with several coworkers for some sort of corporate blah blah blah, so I was driving my little Volkswagon Beetle.  Now, mind you, the Bug is flame orange.  Not at all hard to see.  So imagine my thoughts when I glanced into the rearview mirror as we were waiting at a stoplight and saw a Jeep Grand Cherokee coming up behind us with (obviously) no intention of stopping.  I just had time to think "oh crap" and he hit us. 

    Thank God, it was rush hour on a street with a 35 mph speed limit, so traffic was backed up and he wasn't going very fast.  Still, it was quite a jolt.  Seth had just opened a bottle of pop, which spurted all over the inside of the car.  We all yelled.  And the cat?  The cat just laid there.  He was curled up in the back seat with Faith, and he literally never twitched.   Anyway, the young man driving the Jeep was horrified and apologetic, and I took the opportunity to remind him to PAY ATTENTION!!  (I'm a mom, what did you expect?)   Once all the legal niceties had been observed we went on our way to drop off the kitty, then went on home. 

    As of today, we're all still a little stiff from the impact but otherwise okay.  The car will need a new bumper and a little TLC, but it's perfectly drivable.   And I am so grateful that it wasn't worse.....if we'd been driving Luke's little Mazda Miata, that kid would probably still be picking pieces of it out of his Jeep's grill.  I am, however, seriously contemplating having a large neon display mounted on the back end of the Bug - something along the lines of "BRAKE!!!"  

Waiting is not my favorite thing

    If I didn't know better, I'd think God was trying to teach me patience, because He is certainly giving me every opportunity to practice that particular virtue.  Actually, I don't  know better, and that's probably exactly what He's doing. 

    I don't like it.

    The house situation is coming along, slow but steady.  As of this very moment, it looks like we might even make our desired closing date, which will be fantastic.  But oy, the waiting!  The waiting, and the "oh-that's-not-what-I-thought- it-was-gonna-be", and the "this-has-never-happened-before", and some more waiting, and then some mild panic with a teeny dose of "gotta-run-run-run-NOW", and then....yep....more waiting.   As a public service, if anyone is tempted to buy a Fannie Mae HomePath Renovation property, brace yourselves.  Straightforward it is not.  We are comforting ourselves with the notion that it will all be worth it in the end, while trying not to think about just how far off that end may be. 

    If I'm honest, I guess it really hasn't taken that much longer than the normal process of buying a house, but that wouldn't make for very interesting blogging, now would it?  (heehee)  Really we're just so eager to get in there and start making the place home that any delay seems like too much.   I've been carrying around paint chips and flooring samples in my purse for weeks, and the people at Lowe's probably think we're some strange new breed of stalkers.  ("See those people?  They're in here every week,  and all the woman does is pet the refrigerators.  It's weird!")   The ideas are bubbling and I want to let 'em rip!

    We have had some lovely things happen while waiting.  The house is set up for a wall oven/cooktop arrangement  (which I prefer), but there are currently no appliances in it.  I was really trying to resign myself to a standard range, since they are soooooo much cheaper, when Husband found a fantastic 30" wall oven on Craig's List - along with a dishwasher and microwave!  All working, and all three for - get this - $100.  Really!   The owners decided they wanted to upgrade to stainless, so they removed their perfectly good white appliances and sold them to us.  I like white, especially for what I'm planning for this kitchen, so how perfect was that?   That means more of our appliance budget can now be shifted to a cooktop and that big ol' bottom-mount fridge that I've been lusting after. 

    The house is on three acres, which is obviously a little too much to push-mow  (heat stroke, anyone?), but we sold our riding mower when we left Michigan.  Surprise, surprise - Husband's company has a "test model" program that allows a limited number of employees to take a riding mower home for their personal use, as long as they agree to document hours used, any problems, etc.  So we have an enormous zero-turn radius mower now that has Jon and the boys positively drooling.  I foresee fights over who gets to mow the yard for the first few months.....

    So we keep waiting for a little bit longer, and before we know it we'll be painting and patching and mowing and baking and generally making ourselves a new nest here.  As much as I dislike having to wait, this will be worth it. 

Something's coming

        First off, I am a baaaaad blogger!   It seems strange to me that I can't (don't) blog more, when I so love to talk.  Go figure.  Anyway, sorry for the long dry spell!

        I believe I mentioned being "house-sick" in my last post, meaning that I miss having a house of my own to play with and fix up.  Well, it would seem that my longing to paint and mend and so on may be fulfilled in the near future.  We actually found a house that we can afford, with some land, and it's not a total dump!  Woohoo!  It's a foreclosed property, which means some different hoops to jump through, and it definitely needs a good bit of TLC.   But oh, it's so quiet....three acres of grass and trees and aaaahhhhh!  Plus a workshop for Jon and I to share, another outbuilding for storage (and barn kitties), and an in-ground pool.   

        Am I excited?  Yes I am!  Am I slightly terrified?  Yes, I am!!  First of all, the type of loan we have to get (yes, have to get) for this house specifies that an appraiser has to go over the house and tell us what he/she thinks needs to be done to make it "livable".   Then those things have to be done by a licensed contractor.   The loan includes a certain percentage beyond the purchase price for the fixes.  However, if the to-do list runs over that amount, we either have to eat it up front, or choose to withdraw our offer.   It's difficult because everything that we've seen so far (and we've had multiple inspections already) is very fixable with some common sense and elbow grease.  We know what we're doing with home repair, we've done it all before, but whatever the appraiser calls out has to be done by contractor.   So we're a bit worried about what the appraiser is going to think "must" be done. 

        Second, even though there's nothing terrifyingly huge that needs fixed, there is a LOT of little stuff that is going to be fairly time-consuming.  The previous owners really did some incredibly bizarre  (read: mind-bogglingly stupid) things around this house, and it's going to be a lot of work to get everything put right again.

        Still, everything so far seems to be looking good for us, so we're plugging along.  In some ways it will be almost like starting from scratch, because every room needs work.  All new paint, new floors, you name it.....but the kitchen is huge and open and full of light, and there's a lovely stone fireplace in the living room with a carved mantel, and the front of the house is lined in the most gorgeous azaleas you've ever seen.    I really think it's going to be worth the work.  So, friendly readers, please cross your fingers for us!   This may be just what we need to really be "home" here. 

House-sick?

        After my last post, the feedback I got was all along the lines of "write whatever you want".  I'm vastly relieved by this, as I had a secret fear that one of you would challenge me to skydive or barefoot waterski or some other not-on-your-life activity.   Blathering on about nothing much is a lot easier.  :-)

        January and February were pretty quiet here, so let me give you some back story.   About the first of the year I began having a lot of back pain - different than anything I've had before, both in the type of pain and the intensity.   I couldn't even drive without whimpering, which is very disconcerting to the children.   After playing the martyr for a bit, I finally buckled and went to the chiropractor, thinking I'd just tweaked my sacroiliac worse than usual.   A couple weeks of treatment went by without any improvement, though, so the doc sent me for an MRI.   Much to my joy, I discovered I had two severely herniated discs, some pretty major inflammation in the vertebra between them, and a good start on arthritis in my lower spine.  

    (heehee - I just realized I said "back story" and then started talking about my back...pun-intentional!)

        Anyway, I began decompression therapy, which is a fancy way of saying I get strapped down on this big machine and it streeeeeeetches me.  The idea is that it relieves the pressure on the discs while gently straightening the spine.   I was doubtful at first, but in so much pain I was willing to give it a shot.  Now I am a convert!   It is amazing how much it's helped.   After the first session I was able to get into my van without pain, for the first time in weeks.   I need to do exercises to work on my core strength, but my sessions on "the rack" have been life-savers.    Who knew a medieval torture instrument could be altered to do such good?  :-)

        Apart from my back issues, it's pretty much been life as usual.  I'm still having some - ah - attitude issues,  shall we say, with living in South Carolina.   They've improved, but some days I still just want to get in the car and head north to stay.   We're slowly starting to meet more people and make some friends, which has helped a lot.  However, one thing I just realized earlier today is a large part of my discontent;  we don't have our own house.   Oh, sure, we're living in a house by ourselves, but it's not ours.   I don't have the right to paint the walls or pull up carpet or anything like that.   And I like to do that stuff, you know?  Colorful paint jobs  and I have a long-standing love affair, and this house is almost uniformly beige.  The kitchen, powder room and master bath are an odd rust-brown, and the other bath is yellow.  Everything else is some shade of blech.   If we'd bought this house, I guarantee you that at the very least the downstairs would be painted by now, and probably all the bedrooms too.   I am dying to whip out the paintbrushes and rollers and just go to town.    I think I'm house-sick,  instead of homesick.   I miss having my own house to play with and decorate.    Funny that it took me this long to realize that, but then again, I've never said I was a quick study. 

        So, since we aren't in a position to buy a house right now - anyone need any painting done?  :-)

     

Not exciting

        I am in a quandary here, folks.  I have a blog (duh).  I have a life (also duh).  My blog is supposed to be about my life, more or less.  However, I would very much like for my blog to be fun and interesting to read and maybe even (occasionally) throught-provoking, and that's where the problem comes along.  See, my life - which is what provides the material for this blog - is not exciting.   I mean,  really  not exciting.   

        Now, generally speaking, I am okay with not having an exciting life, because in my experience people who lead exciting lives generally have lots of stress and angst and such, and frequently die young because of all the excitiement.   In this instance, though, I am choosing to interpret "exciting" as "really interesting for other people to read about", and folks, I ain't.   There's just no way around it.  

        I've actually been thinking about this quite a bit recently,  and I figure I have two very obvious options.  One, close down the blog, because really, what's the point?  Not exciting, remember?   Or two, find a way to make my life exciting and interesting for other people to read about, without becoming a skydiver or whatever.   Naturally I would prefer option two, because that would be more fun for me too.  But how? 

         Since I am somewhat lacking in  inspiration at the moment, I'd like some ideas.  If anyone has any brilliant ideas for me to try, send 'em on!   (This is a family show, so keep it clean, folks!)    I'm waiting!

Seth is how old?

        Yesterday my youngest child celebrated his 16th birthday.   It seems very strange to me, that my baby is now this old.   He's grown from a chubby, grinning toddler with a head full of black curls to a handsome young man with so much to offer.  I am very proud of Seth, and (God willing) someday he is going to be a fantastic husband and father.   

        I've said many times that I don't consider myself the type of parent who will be lost when the kids leave home, and I stand by that statement.   I will admit that it's going to be weird, though.   In the last year or so, they've been going their own ways more and more, which has given me just a little taste of what the "empty nest" may feel like.   Most of the time I'm fine, but now and then the strangeness of it catches up to me.   In my head I don't feel that different from how I felt 20 years ago,  but my children  (and my body!) are pointed reminders that time has passed.

         All that aside, it gives Jon and I tremendous satisfaction to see our kids growing into adulthood.  They're all smart, loving, talented people, and I'm glad God gave us the chance to raise them.  And Seth?  Buddy, you got some swagger!! 

Eenie, meenie, miney....

        Mo!  Which way do I go?  I don't know!   The pain of indecisiveness is gnawing at me once again.    Oh, nothing of any great importance, but you'd think it was the end of the world the way I'm carrying on.   Simply put, my mom gave me two gift cards for Christmas - one to JCPenney and one to KnitPicks - and I cannot for the life of me figure out what I want to get. 

        The JCPenney card isn't as hard to figure out as the KnitPicks one, actually.  I'm pretty sure I want to get  new shoes, so I just need to go try some on and decide which ones I like best.    KnitPicks is giving me fits, though.  See, as I've said before, I am a slooooooooooooow knitter.   I am also a very distractible knitter.   Those two facts mean that I rarely finish any major projects.    However, for some unknown reason, I have a little voice in my head telling me that I want to knit a sweater.   A wool sweater.   A nice, bulky, warm wool sweater.  This in defiance of the fact that I live in the land of (almost) eternal summer, and have yet to pull anything heavier than a denim jacket out of my closet this winter.    It should also be noted that I am currently still trying to finish two different pairs of socks, both of which I started more than two years ago.   Yet the voice in my head is quite insistent that I want to knit a sweater. 

        Part of me wants to just give in.  Pick a color, order the yarn, start knitting a sweater.   Another part of me is squeaking  "No, no, no!  Not practical!  Get something practical!"   For example, I have a ball winder  ($.50 at a garage sale! )  but no swift, which would definitely be useful.   I can always use more knitting needles.  There are all sorts of goodies available - all I have to do is choose.  But can I?   Noooooo, I can't!  

        Why is this so hard?  It's not as if there is a right or wrong here.  The gift card is mine to use as I wish.   So why am I being so incredibly indecisive?  I think it's the "gift" part of it that's causing me problems.   When someone gives me a gift, I want to make the best possible use of it.   I don't want to waste someone else's money or effort.   So even though I know that Mom absolutely does not care what I get with that card - as far as she's concerned I could make silk and alpaca toilet-bowl covers - I care.   And that makes it tricky.

        So what do I do?  To be honest, I probably will end up getting wool for a sweater.  I know  in my heart that's what I really want, and if I get something else I'll not be satisfied.   A sweater is always useful, and even if I live in the south for the rest of my days, I know I'll still visit up north.   (deep breath)  Aaaahhh.....I think I just made a decision!  Yay!  

        Now what pattern do I want to use?   Oh noooooooooooo......here I go again!

Night shift

        Since the week before Christmas, poor Jon has been working third shift.  Due to a whole bunch of stuff that I really can't understand, much less explain, hubby has been spending his nights in an unheated warehouse, trying to figure out where 40-bazillion tractor parts are hiding.  This is not fun.

        When Jon told me that this was going to be the state of affairs for a while, I wasn't exactly thrilled, but I figured we'd survive.  And we are surviving, but honestly, all you people who do this month after month, year after year?   You are AMAZING.  This is just sucking the life out of us.  I'm guessing that we're probably just disorganized, undisciplined wimps, but wow is it hard to develop and maintain any kind of family routine right now!   My honey is exhausted.  I'm not always sure what day it is.  The kids are never sure if Dad's sleeping or at work.  It's just a mess.

        Now, theoretically, this should all be over by the end of January.   Short-term thing, no worries, blah blah blah.  So why am I feeling just a little - hmmm - suspicious right now?  Possibly because I've seen how these "short-term things"  can sooooo easily become long-term pains.   It's always easy to get sucked into these issues, but it's rarely easy to get out.   I'm not holding my breath that this time will be any different.   I hope so, but....you know. 

        So we're starting 2012 with a new experience - not necessarily one we wanted, but such is life.  Hopefully we learn a little something from this, beyond the fact that neither of us is happy when sleep-deprived.  :-)  

Just ramblin'....

        Some days I find myself wondering about all sorts of different things - things that aren't necessarily important or even relevant to my life at that moment, but still make me go "Hmmm!"   So today, I am going to share some of these things with you all.  Aren't you thrilled?   (Please, pretend to be thrilled. )

        I cannot tell you how many times since we've moved to South Carolina that I have watched people slow down at a green light - or even stop - only to then cruise through the red light,  usually with several other cars following them.   Is this just a SC thing, or a southern thing, or what?  I've seen plenty of people run red lights or stop signs before, but I've never seen so many people slow down or stop for green lights.  Surely this whole part of the country doesn't suffer from red/green color blindness. 

        We have four dogs, and despite the fact that they are all different ages, sizes, and breeds, they're all black.  We didn't plan to have all black dogs, but that's what happened.  I want to get an Irish Setter just to shake things up.  Jon says no. 

        I'm not an organized person at all.  I misplace things constantly and our house is in a constant state of cluttered chaos.   Yet for some reason, I am completely fascinated with magazines and books that deal with organization, getting rid of clutter and so forth.    I buy them, read them, exclaim over the clever ideas.....and leave them in the corner.  There's something wrong with that.

        Along the same lines, I have dozens - dozens - of knitting books and magazines.  To date, I have completed exactly two (2) projects from any of them.   The other day I bought another magazine. The logic behind this purchase?  Nada.  Zip, zilch, zero.  I saw, I liked, I bought, the end.   Why do I keep doing this?   It's as if some little voice in the back of my mind is whispering  "If you buy enough books/magazines, you WILL eventually knit something from them!"   Like the sheer volume of available patterns will overwhelm me and I'll become a knitting machine.   Yeah, I see that happening.

        (A side note - it is considerably harder to type with one of the small black dogs on my lap.  Warm, though.)

        I am always looking for another purse or pair of shoes.  It's a sickness.  The sad thing is, I don't really like carrying a purse, and a lot of the shoes I like are things I could/would never wear.  They're too high, too pointy, too whatever.   Yet I still look - wistfully, longingly, stupidly.    I got a purse for Christmas that is super cute, but I still put my keys and cell phone in my pocket when I go out. 

        These are some of the things that I wonder about from time to time.  I'm beginning to realize that I am  a bundle of contradictions, and that's just how it is.  I guess as long as I recognize and acknowledge my oddities, and can function around them, it's okay.  Right?