Friday, March 25, 2011

Enjoying Life

So I haven't been on here for a while now.  It's really just been because of laziness or just forgetting to blog but I'm going to try to do this thing every day from now on, even it's just a sentence or two.  Anyway I've been enjoying the new house.  It's really peaceful here and it's wonderful to be able to sit outside on the side porch and look at the horses grazing in the fields across the street.  I had a housewarming party last Saturday and a few friends came over for that.  We had a cookout and the food was great as usual especially since I cooked it all. :)  Also some of us ate outside with the perfect weather and watched the horses.  I've found that this house is much easier to keep clean just because of the simple fact that there are hardwoods in all of the rooms and tile in the bathrooms and kitchen.  So no more vacuuming.  I find it amazing at how much dirt and dust accumulates over a week's time which is easy to clean up with the dry mop I got but I find myself thinking that when you vacuum, all of that dirt can't be picked up by your vacuum.  I just think it's nasty at what might be stuck in a person's carpet.  I mean I know these are random thoughts but there were times in my old house where I might smell something funky and I may have just cleaned the whole house but there was just something not right about the smell in the house.  Usually I would just light an incense to mask it but now I'm thinking that it was probably the carpets with all that built up dirt and dust and God knows what else.  Who knows. 

Anyway we are having the materials for the fence delivered tomorrow morning.  I probably should be sleep now seeing that they're supposed to get here before 7 am but you know me and my night owl habits.  But we are building a chain link fence for the dogs because they are just on chains now and I like for them to have a real place to play with each other and us.  But I just thank God because my grandfather actually paid for the materials which cost more than the labor.  Without him, we just wouldn't have been able to get a fence.  But my mom's friend is installing the fence on Monday and I'm so excited for my dogs because they'll be able to run and play and it'll be a little easier to take them in and out of the house.  The fence is going to cover the majority of the back yard with leaving a little space for other things that I might want to put out there.  But our front yard is really where I would want our guests , if we had a party, to hang out because they wouldn't have to worry about the dogs barking at them and they could look at the horses. 

I went to goodwill today with my mom and got some more things for the house.  I got, you guessed it, some more rubber duckies and a rubber duckie picture for my bathroom.  I also got this storm trooper from Star Wars helmet which you can wear and talk into and it'll make your voice sound like a storm trooper.  I also got a nice large round thermometer.  You know the kind that look like a clock but really have the temperature on there.  I'm putting that in my kitchen.  But I also thank God for my mom because she has helped us out financially during this time of my unemployment.  Speaking of unemployment, I had an interview yesterday.  It was for a bridal accessory e-commerce store.  I would be working in a very small call center taking orders for the company among other things.  It's through a temp agency but there is a possibility of being hired on based on performance.  I REALLY hope I get this job because lately it's just been one rejection e-mail after another.  I did have the second interview with Deluxe over the phone but just a few days ago, they sent me a rejection e-mail.  My husband actually was in the car with me when I did the interview and he thought I did great so I'm not sure what happened there.  Who knows.

On another note, if you've been reading my blog in the past you know that one of my best friends is having problems with his wife.  But to be honest, since they've gotten married, I'm closer to his wife than him, mainly because he hasn't matured past the point of a 5th grader in my opinion.  Well long story short, they are no longer living together.  They got into an argument and there was some physical abuse on both sides and he left the house.  She owned the house before they got married.  So now he's at his mom's house and his mom is babying him as usual and get this.  He has stopped talking to all of his friends.  Now he's been my friend for over 10 years and now because he doesn't want to hear the truth that he needs to change and he doesn't want to accept that I'm still going to hang out with his estranged wife, he just is going to cut me out of his life along with my husband who is is extremely close with him.  How can you just cut a 10 year friendship off?!  I mean I have to be honest here and say that I'm am 100% on his wife's side because she is like a sister to me and she stayed with him and dealt with way more stuff than I would if I were his wife.  And he changed his number.  Basically he's not the same person I knew 10 years ago.  He's being brainwashed by his mother but we all agree that she will even get tired of him one day.  His wife went over to his mom's house the other day and she said that his stuff was everywhere in the house because he doesn't clean up after himself.  He's a slob and he needs to grow up.  When she talked to him, he was very cold and cruel and basically said that she should be hearing from his lawyer soon to start the separation.  I mean the thing is is that he won't even talk to anyone about this.  It's a joke.  I mean his wife comes over and all he can say is that it's over.  I feel bad and good for her.  I feel bad because I know she loves him and divorce is always hard but I feel good because this is a long time coming.  He has emotional and physically abused her which I wanted to kill him over but I prayed instead for them.  He has cheated on her, (not all the way but pretty close), and she has always remained faithful to him. He has been a slob and a child in a man's body for the 5 years they were married and she has put up with it.  Her doctor actually told her that the stress in her marriage was causing her health problems.  Now is it just a coincidence that she is mysteriously losing weight and feeling better now that he's not in the house.  Nope, that's just her feeling free of him.  Anyway she hasn't received any papers from any lawyer yet but she's still not giving up hope.  She feels like God put them together and that unless he files a divorce, she's not going to.  I think she's going to get over that attitude quick if he keeps pulling stunts like he did the other day.  How about when she was at work, he came and tried the front door but the locks were changed and then remembered that had a key to the back door and went in the house, got some of his stuff, didn't call her at all, and left.  So she was upset because she hasn't heard from her husband in weeks and he just comes unannounced.  Not cool.  So that's when she went over to his mom's house the next day and he was very cold and would not even talk to her in full sentences.  He just kept saying "You know what you did" and she would just say, what about what you did?  Then he just said it's over, you'll be hearing from my lawyer soon.  I mean you have to understand that it's not like they sat down and decided to get a divorce.  He left one day after a stupid argument over money and moved to his mom's house and hasn't had a conversation with his wife until that day at the house.  So you can understand why she's upset. 

Anyway enough about my friends. I should be hearing back from the temp agency about the job interview soon.  I really hope I get this one because it's not a mega call center and it seems like somewhere I could be happy.  But if I don't get it, I'm going to ask them straight up, what did I do wrong.  I have been unemployed since July of last year and I've been to countless interviews, applied to probably over 1000 jobs, and I just can't seem to get a job.  I was offered a job at Avis Rent a Car but they were only going to pay me $8.90 an hour for working 2nd and sometimes 3rd shift.  So that was a no no.  I would have been miserable and would have never seen my husband.  But just pray for me because I really want this one.  Also we found out that we may be able to buy this house.  We have to check with the landlord but according to the neighbors, this house was for sale for a while with no offers and now they're renting it so I'm sure he'll be happy to find out that someone actually wants to buy the house.  I'm very excited about that because that will really motivate me to get my credit together so we can get a loan for this place.  I'll update everyone on that later.

On another note, my team the Carolina Tarheels just got another win in the tournament against Marquette so they will be advancing.  GO TARHEELS!!!  But the Celtics lost against the Charlotte bobcats so that sucks.  But I think they will be fine.  They made a lot of trades and I think they're still adjusting to the new players.  But I think I'm going to call it a night.  Thanks for listening and God Bless.

Sunday, March 13, 2011

28 Years Old!

So today is my birthday.  As you can tell by the title I'm 28 now.  I'm getting closer to that big 30 and I'm not sure how I feel about that.  I mean on one hand, I'm thankful that I made it here because after my best friend passing away last year at the age of 27, I cherish every day.  On the other hand, I am getting older but I'm ok with that, I really am.  Anyway today was a great day.  I didn't want anything big because since my birthday and my friend who passed away's birthday are close, it's just hard for me to be in a celebratory mood.  But after a minor breakdown and crying session yesterday about the fact that I made it here and my friend didn't make it to 28, I feel better.  So today I just relaxed for most of the day.  It started out with my mom calling me and then my dad and my stepmom, then my grandma in Rhode Island.  But when they called, I was still sleep.  Then I woke up and watched the Carolina Duke game and unfortunately Duke won.  Then my husband and I took a nap then woke up and went to Macaroni Grill in Greensboro and the food was great as usual.  Plus the waitress sang happy birthday in Italian with an operatic voice.  How great is that?!  Then we came home and watched some TV.  So it was perfect for this year's birthday.  Nice and calm and relaxing and with my wonderful husband. 

But if you're wondering why we were so tired today, it was because we've been unpacking for the past week.  If you've read my past blogs you know that last Friday, we started moving stuff to our new place and then on Saturday we moved the big stuff like the furniture, TV's, etc...  So we actually slept here starting on Saturday night.  But even after getting everything over here which was a huge task in itself, it has taken us (mostly me) a week to get everything unpacked and in its place here.  But what happened was that the only thing left to unpack and put up were the beds last night.  But it took my husband longer than expected to put the bed back together because when our friends dismantled the bed, they took EVERY screw out of the bed.  It's a canopy bed and instead of them just separating the 4 sides of the foundation of the bed, they took every metal clasp off and every piece that was screwed on.  So while he was putting the bed together, I was getting the guest bedroom together and doing some laundry but we got everything put together and in it's place.  But then I took my shower and got in the bed and looked at the time and it was 6:30 in the morning.  I had no idea that we had been up that late but I guess because we were determined to get everything done, we just didn't pay attention to it.  So that's why we didn't get up until after 1 pm today because we were exhausted.

This week has been a real struggle for me just because it's so nice to move into a nicer place in a nicer neigborhood but just little things like picking out an outfit when all your clothes are in boxes is just frustrating.  I do know now that the next time I move (which I hope will be a long time from now), I will unpack the bedroom first before anything else.  Up until last night, we were sleeping on just the boxspring and mattress on the floor and it wasn't that it was uncomfortable, it just didn't feel right.  Plus the frustration of having to wear the same pants over and over again because I just couldn't find any other pairs.  But the first day, I did the kitchen, which was the hardest room in my opinion.  Then the next few days, I worked on the living room and den which entailed me hooking up both TV's and both surround sound systems plus the game systems as well.  Then I worked on the bathrooms, and then the computer room which was the second hardest room because of the fact that it's a computer/cat/guinea pig/ebay business room and I have a lot of stuff in that room but it doesn't look cluttered at all.  Then last night we finished with the guest and our bedrooms.

But while all of this was going on, a few things happened to try to stop our progress.  For one, my husband's battery in his car died while we were making a trip back from the old house.  So long story short, he got a new battery.  Then after he got that installed, he found out it was the alternator so he had to get a new alternator.  Then he got that installed so all is well with his car again.  And we had a friend from church install it so it was way cheaper than a normal mechanic would have cost.  Also we had to put the dogs out on chains because we're waiting until the end of the month to get a fence installed in the back yard so they can run around.  So we didn't have dog houses for them when we moved because at the old house, they had a mud room that served as a giant dog house for both of them.  We were going to get 2 dog houses but not until the Friday that just passed.  But then a neighbor called the owner of the house and offered to give us this large shack to serve as a dog house for our larger dog because he said "there are nosy neighbors in our neighborhood that will not hesitate to call animal control if they see that a dog doesn't have shelter".  So I'm freaking out because I'm thinking, the dogs haven't even been in the house for a week and people are already noticing that they don't have a dog house.  Anwyay long story short, we got the shack for our large dog and bought a smaller one from Lowe's for our smaller dog which we were planning to do in the first place. 


But those are just a few of the bumps along the way that we experienced while moving.  So now I'm so happy that everything is put in it's place and I can just wake up in the morning and go back to my normal routine.  I'm going to start walking the dogs on a regular basis again so I can get a feel of the neighborhood.  And if you've read my past blogs you know that there are horses litterally across the street from this house.  So in our den, living room, and kitchen, you can always see them during the day.  It's wonderful.  Tomorrow I'm going out with my mom to do some shopping for the house.  I have to get some blinds for the den, and the guest bathroom, plus some steps for the side porch.  I'm also looking for a tablecloth and some cushions for my outdoor patio set so hopefully I'll find at least one of my items tomorrow.  Plus my mom hasn't seen the house finished so that should  be fun.  The animals are adjusting well to the house.  I thought the cats would miss the carpet, seeing that there are nothing but hardwoods here but they seem to love it here.  The dogs will be happier once we get the fence but for now they'll be fine.  Plus my grandfather has agreed to pay for the materials for the fence, which is just a blessing.

I honestly feel like I've been in a fog this whole week.  I literally have been waking up and going straight to unpacking until I was too hungry to go on and then eating and continuing until I was too tired to stay up, every day.  Oh and another bump was that this place has oil heat and the landlord told us that it would only cost $300 to fill up the tank but in reality it cost over $800 so we decided to go with heaters instead of wasting the money on oil just for a few weeks of chilly weather.  But before we got the heaters, it was FREEZING in here.  I mean it was to the point where I was considering sleeping at my mom's house because it was so bad.  But after we got the heaters and starting using the oven, it hasn't been bad anymore.  But that's pretty much been my week and my birthday.  Thanks for listening and God Bless.

Wednesday, March 2, 2011

Packing Packing and more Packing

So as you may have noticed I haven't been on here in a while.  That's because ever since my last announcement that we were approved to rent this beautiful home in the country, I've been preparing to move.  It's not just the packing.  It's calling all of the utility companies and getting services transferred and setting up new services because we're going to be outside the city limits.  Also showing my mom the house and getting an estimate on the fence we're going to put up eventually there.  There's just a week of non stop activities.  First I decided to only sell clothes and shoes on ebay.  I had been selling books, cd's and other media on half.com and amazon but I decided that the space the books took up (all 800 of them) didn't make up for the little money I was making off of them.  So I boxed up over 800 books and media and donated them to Goodwill which was a huge task it itself.  Then I took everything over my mom's house that I thought she would want but I no longer wanted.  Then I've been doing shopping for things that I will need in the new house like a dry mop because the house has no carpet and all hardwoods so my vacuums will no longer be needed.  It's just been crazy.  I just finished packing up the majority of my den and a large part of my kitchen and I need more boxes.  So tomorrow I'm going to have to go back to the ABC store and get more boxes.  For those of you who don't know what the ABC store is, in NC you can't just have a liquor store on every corner.  The only place that can sell liquor is the ABC store which is run by the state.  So every day when they get their new shipments in of liquor, they put their boxes out  for anyone to pick up and use.  So then I have free moving boxes.  But this is getting ridiculous because I must have already used 50 of them.  Oh well the price of moving. 

Anyway we're officially starting to move there on Friday so at least I have some real time to pack and get things sorted before having to move.  But I am sooooo excited about moving there.  It's not in the hood, in fact it's in the country so that'll be a nice change.  Also the amount of closet space in there is tripled compared to our current house.  So Saturday is the day that we are going to rent the UHAUL and move the big furniture.  The only down part of this week is that one of my best friends is probably going to be separated from her husband.  Now keep in mind that her husband is also one of my best friends and that I met her through him but I'm totally 100% on her side when it comes to all of the problems they've had and the whole separation thing.  It's been a long time coming for them to split but now because my friends are my husband's friends, we have to figure out a way for her and her husband to help us move but somehow not run into each other.  So we're literally going to have to schedule when they're going to help us move.  How crazy is that? 

I would write more but I'm just exhausted from packing and I'm not sure when the next time I will write because once Friday gets here, it's going to on getting all of our stuff over there.  But once I'm settled in, I will write again.  Thanks for listening and God Bless.