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The last few days it seems that I’ve been spending a lot of time in my room desperately trying to catch up on emails, blogs, and other computer related endeavors as well as unpacking and setting up a personal space in someone else’s home. And all I can say is thank goodness for Pandora. I’ve been stationed into The Weepies & Laura Marling for the perfect aural environment.
My new accommodation includes a view of a golf course and a very nice little patio nook. I like going to the large sliding glass door in the mornings and just watching… everything. I forget how green it is in Southeast Texas, year round. I also forgot just how many bugs and critters that come with living below the mason-dixon line. Yuck. (I can do w/o that cultural experience thank-you-very-much.) I guess we’re all trying to (re)familiarize ourselves with our new surroundings as the kitties are making their own adjustments too. Dutch saw his first squirrel and Manchester is trying to figure out what to do about being at eye level with neighborhood cats that come up onto the porch. I didn’t realize just how insulated those two little kitties have been in our 2nd floor home. And that’s made me think: maybe I too have been a little too insulated in my life…
7 states, 2 cars, 2 kittys, 22 hours and we made it. we’ve been here 4 days and b is already in the middle of a bathroom remodel and i’ve finally just gotten my bags unpacked for a bit. the weather is just lovely and we spent the afternoon on the lake yesterday. 75 degrees in november. i think i could turn into a snow-bird after all. 10 years of shoveling snow may just have given me my fix… at least for this year. we are still, however, looking towards our move to bean-town in the coming year.
i can’t believe that it’s thanksgiving this week already. my days and weeks (and month) have been all turned around upside down. after the usual feast on thursday i plan to spend some much desired time with my mom and sis. and maybe, just maybe i’ll fit in a little holiday crafting. my type a personality is going to have to go on vacation until i can figure out what sort of routine i’ll have for the next several months. postings my be more infrequent, maybe they’ll be twice a day. i don’t know. but i still like coming here to this space, may space with all of you!
it’s finally here. we will leave michigan tomorrow to an unknown destination. well, that’s not exactly true, but i like the way it sounds! we’ll be heading to the motherland for an unknown period of time…and that is exactly true. it’s time. many things are lining up for us to make this transition, and most importantly, we want to be there. with my dad gone, the family heart strings are tugging pretty tightly.
there are so many unknowns like: will our building ever sell? can i really get a job? are we really going to be able to go to school in the fall? what happens when/if we change our course?
those are just the tip of the iceberg. i have so many more fears, desires, questions i need to process. i’m looking forward to sharing some of that uncanny childhood of mine with my husband. sure we’ve been for visits before, but i don’t know that he really knows what it is to be texas. i’m looking forward to the rediscovery myself.
so here’s to new adventures…
…and blogging from TEXAS!
…
We don’t need a lot of money.
We’ll be sleeping on the beach,
keeping oceans within reach.
(Whatever private oceans we can conjure up for free.)
I will stumble there with you
and you’ll be laughing close with me,
trying not to make a scene
etcetera. Whatever. I guess all I really mean
is we’re gonna be alright.
Yeah, we’re gonna be alright.
You can close your eyes tonight,
’cause we’re gonna be alright.
So come on now,
I can almost see
that place
on a distant shore.
And courage is a weapon we must use
to find some life you can’t refuse.
…
is we’re gonna be alright.
Yeah, we’re gonna be alright.
You can close your eyes tonight,
’cause we’re gonna be alright.
All that I can see is your eyes.
Close your eyes.
…
linford detweiler
over the rhine
etcetera whatever
good dog bad dog
:: sweet summer days in september ::
:: goofing around with husband ::
:: sunsets over the water ::
:: scent of fresh towels ::
:: sound of laughter ::
:: tan feet ::
We said good-bye to summer today. And we did it with perfect weather: 80 and sunny. The lake was a buzz with people taking their final runs on skis, wake-boards, and tubes. Others were pulling out the docks and boat lifts. I’m always surprised at how many people see Labor Day as something of an end. I guess because where I’m from it’ll be hot until January, Labor Day has always been just a nice long weekend right after school started. But here in Michigan, it is the impetus of the changing seasons. Although we will still have sunny, warm days, something is different. Folks are preparing for their impending hibernation and subsequent absence from unscheduled community activity. Maybe that’s why Labor Day is special; it is the last time for neighborhood bar-b-q’s, impromptu card games, bonfires in swimsuits, lounging on the boat, and staying out past dark. It is, in essence, the last hurrah.
it’s been too pretty to be inside. finally summer. i can’t seem to find my washer and dryer or the vacuum and mop (or my computer!). the lure of the most lovely weather has kept me from anything indoors. productive…probably not. enjoyable…absolutely!
it was lovely.
When I leave Texas, I always go home with way more than what I started, but this may have been my best score yet. My visit could not have been better.
the new pete yorn album. it dropped yesterday and made it’s way into my itunes immediately. we LOVE pete. it’s pretty insane. if we had to choose just one artist to bring to a desert island it would be pete. and seeing him in concert is great. i feel like he is the essence of *cool*, real-james-dean-cool.
and i love that he is not associated with just one period in my life, but so many {major break-ups, a marriage, a move, job changes} and that he just feels like home when i listen to him. it’s just home. where ever that is.
:: Love the cover ::
see for yourself
today is our 5 year anniversary. hooray!
we ran into some friends the other day that knew it was our anniversary this week. they then asked how long we had been married. brad quickly retorted, “long enough to finally get some respect.”
so here’s to being a repectable married couple.
I rarely use this forum to express deep, personal emotion. I try to keep things light and focused on things that have made me smile or cleverness discovered. But today it’s different. Today I need all the positive thoughts and energy of the universe to head our way.
We have to sell our home.
It’s to a point that this has to happen. We’ve been through the circus that is the real estate market and agents. I’m so angry… so bloody angry. At the economy, at incompetent people, preconceived notions and f*ing stereotypes. Believe me I know that our property is a bit unorthodox (for this area), but my god people, it’s not like we’ve re-invented the wheel here. And I’m so angry that just because of things beyond our control we have to sacrifice our price tag. It’s just plain unfair. I know there are plenty of people way worse off than us, but we had so many plans… and now we have needs… not just wants.
I feel as if our home doesn’t sell (and soon) then nothing will work out. I’m usually quite a hopeful person, but this is too much. If I hear one more person make a negative comment about our situation I’m going to scream.
I see nothing but positives about our home. Seriously. Some people think 1100 sq ft of living space is too small…fine. Some think that the idea of not having a yard is a down side… fine. But the unwillingness to see how living above a commercial space (and having that person pay you rent… that yes, goes towards your mortgage) has HUGE advantages that seriously outweighs the perceived disadvantages drives me insane.
I’m so sad. I’m SO sad! I love my home. We built it to sell. I don’t understand why there isn’t a realtor out there who doesn’t know how to sell a mixed-use property!?! It’s these freaking real estate agents that are setting the bloody prices… for entire communities. And they screw them. You would think that since realtors are having such a hard time selling property right now that it would make them work that much harder. But you would be wrong.
And so now I feel stuck. Not knowing how to do this ourselves. (And clearly the realtor thing is not working out.) And every freaking website we go to doesn’t have a “box” for us to check. It’s either commercial step to the left, residential step to the right. And each excludes potential buyers. This place is perfect for someone who is looking for an investment property and they can cash-flow the entire purchase by renting the top and bottom. It’s perfect for someone looking to have commercial space and then pay their mortgage by renting the apartment or vice versa. I also think it’s a nice location. No… it’s not the uber-hip town just to our west, but it’s perfect for someone (or couple) who splits their time between the lake-shore and the city.
I don’t know what to do.
Again this goes under internet love. Here is a gal who is selling all she owns. You can read her story here. I think it would be tough to see each item in my life in an individual photo. It might actually help me set priorities and also adhere to the 1st principle of living green: REDUCE.
(Thanks to Swissmiss for finding this.)
First (and most importantly) it is 65 degrees and sunny and I’m headed outside in two seconds!
Second, I just purchased a fabulous 1960’s mint condition typewriter! Yeah!!! I love the clickety-click of the keys, the bang of the bell and definitely my most favorite sound is that of ripping the paper through the roller as it ripples all the way out!
Happy Friday!
i hate going to the gym. no, i loathe going to the gym. there’s something about the entire process of being in a crowded, smelly room full of strangers trying not to be seen while doing things to your body that make you look completely uncoordinated. we get on these machines that have you run, climb, or cycle in place. where’s the sanity in that? i don’t usually like people that go to ‘gyms’ either. (probably because these people see it as another social outlet) i haven’t been to an official gym since grad school… until now.
a new gym just opened around the corner from my house. and seeing is how there is snow everywhere and it’s been just painfully cold lately, i won’t go walk outside. yes, i should be cross country skiing or snow-shoeing, but i seem to be losing my motivation for that. it’s just so bloody cold. it also seems that my motivation needs to be green…as in greenbacks. and if i pay to go torture myself it’s more likely that i will go or that i can at least guilt myself into it. so i figured why not try it for one month. this gym — and i use that word liberally — is running a special called ‘afternoon delight’ (like such a fallacious title would suck people like me in). if you’re willing to workout between 1pm & 4pm it’s only $20 for the entire month. not a bad deal. i also don’t mind that this is their lowest time of attendance and therefore i have to put up with fewer ‘gym people’. most of the folks that go during the ‘afternoon delight’ are the old ladies avoiding afternoon tea with the girls. i guess i’ll manage for a month…but we’ll see if i can make it a week.
part of the whole gym thing is knowing that spring is just around the corner and I will yet again be exposing myself to the world in ways i should not. it’s bad enough that i’m pasty white (not the pretty-model-from-ireland-way, but rather that of one-dark-haired girl-who-has-not-seen-the-sun-in-months-sort-of-way) but to be flabby and pasty white is just humiliating. i wouldn’t even be bothering with it except that my current swimsuit finally needs to be retired and this has forced me to face the fact that i will have to purchase another one. i have had the same one-piece swimsuit since 2003, originally purchased from the only provider of non-athletic/old-lady one-piece swimsuits and call-girls outfits. the underwire is popping out, the bottom has thinned a bit and maybe the elasticity is not what is should be. if i’m going to have to don one of these vile contraptions, it might as well look like something other than a swimsuit, but not quite a moo-moo. i don’t think i’ll ever be fully comfortable in a swimsuit again, but hopefully i’ll at least not scare small children this year. while at a trip to mecca the other day I saw this little gem. praise jesus for target because they actually have nice one-piece swimsuits this year…well nice-er than in the past. this just might be the one for the next 6 years of my life…that is if i keep working out!
with family in from texas, we had to show them how to have fun in the snow. shopping, snowmobiling, frozen-chicken bowling…the usual.
…the same week that the heat gets turned off a co-worker tells you, “hey, be sure to cash your pay check as soon as you get it. Mine bounced last week!”
(Seriously…quit today!)
I love new beginnings. Hope. A chance for a clean slate. Something new. And the start of 2009 is definitely something new and unfamiliar.
I’m no longer working for someone else. After a series of events, I finally found it necessary for me to end my time with my previous company. And I’ve never been happier. In the weeks following my resignation I’ve reflected on the whole experience and I know beyond a shadow of doubt that I have made the right decision.
That place was crazy. I worked for a married couple, who to say the least, had a few problems. It wasn’t that they fought at work or anything, but they have deep-rooted bitterness towards one another that manifested itself in unique ways. But when push came to shove, they were the ones that had to sleep together at night and therefore you could never point out that the other had done something wrong or said something differently. I guess I knew going into it that it was a potentially hazardous situation, but I can’t believe that things got as bad as they did. I, being the new kid, was the easy target. But I also pushed back more than the other employees and I wouldn’t take as much crap. (At least from my perspective.)
The heart of the problem was that I had two bosses. And one of them liked me and the other didn’t. It was a strange experience to not be an invaluable asset to the company I was working for. I’ve always been such a hard worker and contributor to my place of employment. Included in my work ethic are a few principles like: leave your personal shit at home & smile and be pleasant to your co-workers. I thought these things would be understood, but not when you’re working for the Godfather.
The husband-boss loved me…the wife-boss on the other hand…well, she makes Cruella DeVille seem friendly. Seriously, Meryl Streep (in The Devil Wears Prada) ain’t got nothing on this lady. If she wasn’t commenting on how I looked, she was trying to make me feel like an idiot and micromanage everything from my business letter writing to client relationships. She was really just a big bully. I always felt so bad for her assistant too because she really did get the worst of it…until she realized that I was fresh meat. I really think I drove her personally nuts, everything about me. I also think she has a bad spirit. My co-workers tried to tell me that she was an o.k. person outside of work and that she could be compassionate, but I guess I never saw it. Even the one day she took me to lunch (during my first week) she was trying to manipulate the hell out of me and I realized it, all the while talking bad about the gal that had been working for her for the last 6 years! I mean really, my boss talking bad about another co-worker. Really?!
I guess I wanted to continue to give her the benefit of the doubt. I tried justifying her actions every way possible. “It’s the fourth quarter and everyone’s tense.” “She’s just really busy.” “She’s …” Well, she’s just a bad person. And really, she’s a terrible office manager all together. Things got so bad that the heat got shut off because either A. she forgot to pay the bill or B. because she didn’t have the money to pay the bill. Even one of my co-workers checks bounced.
Despite all of that I feel like the stinker is that I liked what I did and most of my co-workers. It was fun and interesting and something different everyday. But I’m too old to be treated like an idiot. Unlike most of my other former co-workers, that was not my first job and I know better. So, I ended it. And boy did she cut her nose off to spite her face. I never even got to see or talk to my actual boss, her husband. As soon as I told her that I had made my decision, she sent me packing. And I’m so glad that I did.
Now my days are spent doing exactly what I want to be doing. I had a momentary freak out there for a little bit, but you know, God provides. Just when I started to hyperventilate about the fact that I have quit my job in the toughest economic times since the great depression, we got a phone call that a friend’s basement had flooded and they wanted to hire B to fix it. Hallelujah! And he’s starting an attic remodel in two weeks! And now I’m free to do what I want…and that is to be in control of my time. I value my time more than anything else. And now I am free to write, craft, clean, search, relax and do just what it is that I want to do.
Ahhh, Peace.
It’s been a big year…the biggest in fact.
1. January – we put our house on the market (it didn’t sell)
2. March – I was approached by a customer to change careers
3. May – I interviewed for aforementioned job.
4. June – Celebrated my 4th wedding anniversary
5. July – I turned 30!! (finally). I testified in a murder trial. I quit my job (of 3 years). I got offered (officially) a new job. I went to England on pilgrimage. I met the Archbishop of Canterbury.
6. August – Started the new gig.
7. September – Rode on a 6 million dollar sailboat
8. October – Experienced the worst day of work in my vocational history
9. November – Went to China: walked The Great Wall, saw the Terra Cotta Soldiers, visited Olympic Park
10. December – my Mamaw died. And finally I quit my new job. Found contentment.
What in the world does 2009 hold…?
What a week. We pulled off a successful surprise by flying in to see my family undetected. There was a substantial amount of fibbing going on for the last two weeks and it was all worth it. It was so wonderful to see my family, but it was not wonderful to be in 78 degrees with 91% humidity! Yuck.
There are lots of changes around here. I now have a lot more time on my hands and a to-do list that’s growing.
So sad to see her go :: Glad she is finally at Peace
1919 – 2008
Getting cozy never felt so good.
Wow. Two weeks in China was amazing. What an interesting and conflicted culture. I look forward to re-reading my journal in a few days, especially as I go through my pictures. I took in all the sights of Beijing (The Summer Palace, Forbidden City, Tiananmen Square & The Great Wall) and I also traveled to Xi’an to see the Terra-Cotta Soldiers. Many days were spent at the Pearl Market and Silk Street bargaining myself to death. I was fortunate to meet several locals that showed me different types of the city: 5-star and no-star.
As I enter Thanksgiving week back home in America, I am thankful for the entire experience and the way in which my world is a bit smaller and more personal.
Here are just a few shots…more to come.
