April 1, 2007
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Ready for company now
We’ve been here in our Alabama home now for almost a week. The bad news is: I picked up a head cold somewhere and my nose is constantly running. I’m beginning to feel like a cartoon with a nose that objects every time I pick up a tissue. I MUST buy some Puffs with lotion tomorrow. They really are gentle on the nose (laughing here)
I am finally getting some relief from pain. I hurt my back two days before we were leaving. The pills the emergency room doctor gave me (an anti-inflammatory one and a muscle relaxer) actually started working. And the pain pill my sister sent me helped there too. Thanks Sis. One a day gives me almost 8 hours of relief.
The beast was so happy that I was feeling better that he started carting in all the packed boxes we had and I unpacked and put things away. The one thing I really wanted to remember to bring (hangars), I forgot so I have a bunch of the Beast’s jeans sitting in a pile. They are the only things NOT put away. I’ll make a run to Dollar General tomorrow morning and buy some (sigh). Then I can finish organizing the closets.
We are getting company on Tuesday. The Beast’s brother and his wife will be showing up around dinner time. The menu will be spaggetti and garlic bread (Texas toast style) because it’s easy. I may even bake a cake because the two brothers are sweeteaters, unlike his wife and myself.
Our next door neighbor is a young gal who is a physical therapist at our local hospital. Last summer she was given a chocolate lab. Nice looking dog but we discovered he chews. She was leaving him out all day while she works but some of the neighbors complained because their garbage was getting strewn all over. She didn’t know about the chewing (he chewed our telephone lines outside as well as oursatellite lines). She built a type of pen for him alongside the deck out back of the house. It gives him shade when he needs it and protection from the worst weather. I feel kind of bad for him, though, because labs seem to need company.
She went to all the trouble and expense and guess what? The neighbors garbage wasn’t her dog’s fault at all. It is STILL being strewn all over (laughing like a lunatic). Must be some badass raccoons around here.
The weather has been perfect here all week. Cool enough at night to sleep well and warm enough during the day to do outdoor chores. The Beast and his John Deere have been busy doing the Weed & Feed thing.
We found out our yard is full of wild onions. I love the smell of fresh mown grass but all I could smell was onion. I thought my smeller was out of wack. I went and pulled up some of the *tops* that reminded me of my green onions and found out my smeller was working just fine. I just wonder now if the Weed & Feed will get rid of them or if I will have several years of pulling onion starts out of our lawn.
One of our neighbors here is a gentleman from the same exact area of Florida that we left. He bought his house a few months before we bought ours. He’s got it on the market now because he says it’s just TOO quiet here. He’s used to living in a mobile home park that had lots of activities going on (card games, bingo, craft classes, etc.) and he misses that. He’s not moving back to Port Charlotte but into an area near his daughter and grandkids. C’est la vie. There are lots of things you can do like that here also but they aren’t *in your back yard* so-to-speak. If you don’t have a hobby and are too lazy to get into the car and go meet people, I’m glad he’s got someplace that will make him happy in mind.
I woke up (it’s the middle of the night) feeling wide awake and thirsty. I got myself some juice and decided to bring my blog up to speed. I’d be sitting outside on the deck but it’s raining out. Not a hard rain but a nice gentle one. Our trees need it so I have no complaints there. The yard looks so much nicer since we got here and it got some attention. I swear the trees know the Beast is back because they all started blooming after we got here and they were watered. The magnolia trees surprised me because they didn’t have anything on them at all and the very next day it had both blossoms and leaves. Not big leaves but little ones all over the trees. You can almost see them grow.
Tomorrow is Sunday and we are making it OUR official day of rest. I only intend to get all the stuff that should be in our camper/trailer out of the cabinets in the house and ready to put back into the trailer. I measured our kitchen table area and discovered that we won’t be able to bring my rattan dining table and chairs from the old house. It’s too big so I am stuck for a while with the *temporary* set the Beast bought last summer. One nice thing, though, is the table cloth my sister made for me fits it beautifully. One day I WILL take a pic of it, Sis, honest!!!
The Beast doesn’t have to make up any projects for himself for a while. He’s going to have to put up a couple more shelves for me in my pantry closets (I have two) and another one in my linen closet. He’s also got to lower two in the master bedroom walk-in closet. I’d like to meet the guy who installed the top shelves in there. He must be 8 foot tall.
I showed the Beast that I would never be able to use it without having a small ladder and that is ridiculous.Have I ever mentioned I have a blanket/comforter fetish? I was told that a long time ago but didn’t believe it until this move. I know WHY though. As a kid, we lived in an apartment that didn’t have central heat. We actually got ice INSIDE our windows. I hated being cold and would often wake up because one of the sisters I shared a bed with would roll up in the covers and leave me out in the cold almost literally. I used to get up and check on all the little kids to make sure they were covered up. We just never seemed to have a lot of blankets. I buy a comforter at the drop of a hat. I counted how many I have here and was shocked to find out I own one down comforter, 8 regular comforters and six blankets. OMG, and I think we have something like 12 pillows! I’m all set for winter, that’s for sure. Oh, and I sent away for an electric blanket with dual controls (blushing). Did I mention I hate getting into a cold bed?
Well, it’s almost 5 a.m. here and I should lay down and try to get a little more rest. I can’t hear the Beast snoring any more so he’s not sleeping deeply because I’m not in bed with him.
Have a nice day everyone.
