The Haddin Family

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Home Improvements

2008-05-19T07:46:00.000-07:00

We've been improving the office! Finally the icky carpet is gone and we replaced it with fabulous bamboo flooring! It was a horrific task to get it down - the glue smells and is really really sticky!, but the hard work paid off.

Here are before and after pictures

Next - we tackle the pool room!

Name Change

2007-08-12T17:59:00.000-07:00

Monty is now Mojo... at least for the moment. :)

More pictures

Meet Monty!

2007-07-18T13:30:00.000-07:00

We have a new kitty! His name, for now, is Monty which is short for Montessori because he's been hanging around Sarah & Cloosty's school. I think he's a stray - he wouldn't let anyone near him for a few days - and doesn't have a collar. Even if he does have an owner, they shouldn't let such a little baby kitty outside all the time.

He's the sweetest little thing - love to give kitty kisses (rubs his face on yours), makes little tiny biscuits and purrs like you wouldn't believe. The other cats aren't too sure of him yet, but he tries to rub on them - they aren't too hip with that. Awww, he's sooo cute!

Here are some pictures.

New Stuff

2006-11-14T07:56:00.000-08:00

Ahhh, after 8 years, I finally have really real dining room furniture. Well, most of it anyway. We're waiting for one piece on order and another piece, the hutch, was broken when we unpacked it. Grrr! We're going to take that back today and exchange it. The store manager said we could check it before leaving to see if it's okay.

I also bought new table linens and place settings. Here are some pictures of those:

Place setting
Another angle
On the new buffet

Magic Garbage Fairy

2006-07-03T12:24:00.000-07:00

You may remember a while back I mentioned something about the magic garbage fairy who returns the trash can to the house after the garbage is picked up. For the longest time I've thought it was the garbagemen taking the time to actually roll the can down the driveway and up to the house. However, I've learned what is really happening.

Today I was home for half the day (the morning) with the Rooster because his school is closed for an extra day for the 4th. He was upstairs napping soundly so I decided to sit in the porch swing on the deck and read a while. I guess I'd been out there about an hour when I heard the trash can being rolled down the driveway. Now, the trash was picked up about 2 hours earlier, so I didn't think it was an errant Arrow worker who had been lost on the route and was determined to finish the job while making his way back to the office. Then who could it be?

I couldn't quite see the driveway from my position, so I leeeeaaaaannned over the rail of the deck and saw our east-across-the-street neighbor, Mr. Housch (that's pronounced like "push," btw, and he'll demonstrate it for you, too) bringing our can back to the house. He obviously does it for our north-across-the-street neighbor, too (they have a short driveway as well).

I thought to myself, "Well I'll be damned. We have a busy-bodied, neat-freaky, bored old man who likes to help out his neighbors. That or he's scoping out the joints to see what loot he can grab. Nah."

Hehe. Like I said, I really like our new hood.

Heat hog

2006-02-10T06:11:00.000-08:00

Wintson is a smart cat. He's found a new spot to sleep now that it's finally cold - under the end table in the living room, right next to the heat vent.

No wonder it's been cold in there!

Poor kitty

2006-02-07T09:49:00.000-08:00

There's a dead cat on the side of the road in Homewood. It's been there for a couple of weeks now, the poor thing. It never had a chance being there on the down side of the hill. Nowhere to run or hide with cars whizzing past at 50+ mph.

And with the weird weather we've had lately, it hasn't been able to decompose. Sorry that's gross, but it's true.

I finally remembered to call Streets & Sanitation today - I've been meaning to do that for days now. They're going to pick it up soon.

Strange how we will ignore dead opossums, squirrels, birds, raccoons, etc. But if there's a dog or cat... it's the pet factor.

*sniffle*

The box... she is gone!

2006-01-27T06:53:00.000-08:00

Hooray! We finally got EVERYTHING out of the portable storage unit sitting in the driveway and they came and took it away (only took us 2+ months)! It's weird not having it there - the driveway is so big now! But now we can park all three vehicles there without having to move one so another can get out! That's so nice. :)

Dingety dangit!

2006-01-27T06:51:00.000-08:00

So, now Daddy and I have the dreaded Pink Eye! Ugh! But I think that *I* really have it like Sarah did and Daddy's is more like the Rooster's symptoms.

Darnit all!

Things I would like to learn

2006-01-23T13:13:00.000-08:00

Yeah, this is becoming more of a blog about me than about the whole Family, but I figure that since I am in control here, I can do what I want. ;)

So here are some things I'd like to learn to do as hobbies:

1) Pottery/throw clay - I've watched a few "Throwing Clay" shows on the DIY channel and think it would be very relaxing.

2) Stained glass - My dad took a few classes and liked it. Says it's very messy - you really need to have a work area separate from the house to keep the tiny bits of glass away from the living spaces and people.

3) Framing - not for building, but for art. Might save lots of $.

4) Locksmithing - again, tiny pieces of things in an organized environment. I'm so weird. Dad is a locksmith. And it would save time & money if we ever needed a locksmith's services.

5) Piano tuning/repair - It's $85 to get a piano tuned these days (yikes!) so I might as well do it myself. There was a class offered at UAH many moons ago - shoulda taken it.

Now the only problem is finding the TIME do to any of these. *sigh* Maybe in about 10 years.

Jobs

2006-01-12T07:09:00.000-08:00

If I weren't a librarian....

Here are some occupations I know I wouldn't choose (in no particular order):

1. Dog/cat food taster - I can sum this up in one word... ewww.
2. Mortician or Coroner - can't deal with touching dead people.
3. Taxidermist - again, that dead factor.
4. Crime scene cleaner - it would give me nightmares.
5. Slaughter House worker/poultry processor - do you really need an explanation?
6. Anatomy Lab Instructor - (Sorry Les) again, that dead factor. Creepy, creepy.
7. Plumber - not after what I've seen what they have to do.
8. U.S. President - way too much stress.
9. Prison guard/warden - do you really need an explanation?
10. Sweatshop worker - I like to sew, but let's be realistic.

Here are some occupations I would choose (in no particular order):

1. Pharmacist - sorting and counting little things... call me weird... or autsitic.
2. Mythbuster - Adam & Jamie are so cool.
3. Video game tester - dude!
4. Math teacher - okay, I'm busted. I love math.
5. Accountant - again, that math thing.
6. Meteorologist - weather fascinates me.
7. Professional Cribbage Player - get paid for it? Hell yeah!
8. Craft Store Owner - I'd sell cool stuff.
9. Personal Shopper - have money, will spend.
10. Librarian - hey, it's inevitable. ;)

Slackers, part deux

2006-01-10T06:09:00.000-08:00

You may remember my rant about slackers. At the end of that post I mentioned that we were having our new pool table installed. Included with the table were bar stools, spectator chairs, a cue rack, a pub table and a wall table. The installation guys showed up with the gear on schedule, set up the table (a real beauty) and left us to put the other items together.

Pete and I set about assembling the stools first. When we ordered them we had the choice of fabrics for the seats: a billiard themed cloth fabric or pseudo black leather. We chose the leather. The instructions for the furniture, we believe, were written by someone in Taiwan, translated into Russion, then translated into Chinese, then German and then English. They made no sense, so much so that we didn't realize that one of the pieces was broken - we thought it came that way! We figured it out after opening the box for the other stool. Duh! Okay, so now we have a broken stool and a perfect stool.

Well, let's move onto the spectator chairs. Again, the instructions were no help. We managed to put the frame together and I opened the box for the cushion. Oh look! It's covered in the BILLIARD-THEMED FABRIC! Grrr! I opened the other one - DOH! WTF?! It was the fabric cloth, too!

Then Pete noticed that the installation guys had messed up the rails on the table. Apparently the screws that attach the pockets were too long and punched holes through the wood. AND, they forgot to bring the pub table. &%#$^&#$!

The next day Pete called Recreational Factory Warehouse to inform them of their mistakes.

RFW: Oh, we're sorry sir. We'll have to reorder the rails, cushions and stool.
Pete: We didn't get the pub table either.
RFW: Pub table? That wasn't part of the package.
Pete: Um, yes it was. It was advertised that way.
RFW: No it wasn't. You're wrong and we're not giving you one.

FU@KERS!

This all happened November 16 or 17. They finally showed up with our stuff YESTERDAY! Lessee... that's almost TWO MONTHS YOU BASTICHES! They were supposed to be at the house at 6:30. They didn't show up until almost 8:30... PM. They replaced the rails, brought us new cushions and a stool (Pete checked to see if they were okay before they left) and we still didn't get a pub table (a$$holes!).

Am I bitter? Maybe just a little... maybe.

My brain is leaking

2005-12-20T06:54:00.000-08:00

There are times that I can feel the intelligence leaking from my brain. I know it has something to do with having kids - I just know it - they are the sponges, the leeches that suck up that which has seeped from your head!

I don't know if I can have an itellectual conversation with grown-ups anymore. Am I up to date on politics? Nope. How about what's going on in Iraq? Nah. Did I hear about the break-through in science? Nada. But I can tell you what's happened on Fairly Odd Parents this week.

I got a new laptop. I can't even remember half of what the hardware does or the computer lingo anymore. I'm so out of the loop. If I ask Pete what he's been doing at work, he'll tell me - in Visual Basic speak - and I can feel the drool hanging from my mouth as I stare at him with a vacant expression. "Uhhhh." I have no idea!

I'm not saying I haven't been intellectually challenged. Having two kids is mentally draining, thus the leakage. But I'm working my brain in a different way - trying to anticipate Sarah's next clumsy move, what Christopher might want, helping Sarah with a certain task, or testing my reflexes by catching something that has been knocked over or dropped.

I just don't have time or energy these days to keep abreast of current events. Sure, I have some time at work to look at the news or what have you, but little time to formulate an opinion or thought about said event that might be used in a conversation with adults. I'm thinking about other things instead - family things - like what's for dinner, what groceries do we need, etc. Maybe as the kids get older I can get back into the loop. But for now, please excuse my lack of intellect.

The softest kitty cat in the world

2005-12-06T11:42:00.000-08:00

Stinker left us this morning at approximately 10:45 a.m. Letting her go was one of the hardest things we've had to do. But her quality of life had been diminishing and we couldn't let her suffer anymore. I'd like to reminisce about her life with us.

I found Stinker under the table of the Humane Society's tent, stashed in a cat carrier, during Doo Dah Day in 1992. She was a tiny kitten with a runny nose. I somehow knew that I was the one for her - the one person who would take care of her no matter what. I also knew that Pete would object. But with assurances from Leslie that Pete would accept her, I adopted this little black and white kitty and took her immediately to the vet. I remember that Alan informed Pete of my acquisition, who, in turn, told me that I better not bring her over to the apartment. I ignored that.

Pete tried to convince me that I (we) didn't need another cat and that I had to take her back to the Humane Society. I refused, knowing that she would not be adopted and more than likely put down. If he didn't want her, he would have to take her back. He picked her up and left the room. But he didn't leave the apartment. Instead, he played with her for a while, fell in love, and that was that - we now had a kitten.

I was overjoyed! She was the cutest little thing. But what were we going to name her? We went through several ideas - some suggestions were "lunch" or "breakfast" (which were taken from Scout's nicknames), to "Orca" because of the color pattern of her fur. We ended up settling on "Q" from both James Bond and Star Trek. However, that didn't last long. Stinker was notorious for jumping in your lap, setting off a silent one, and running away before you noticed. Alas, she became known as the little stinker and then just Stinker.

At the time, Gavin had his two dogs, Bilbo and Frodo. The three of them got along famously. They would chase each other around, first the dogs chasing her then she would chase them. One day, Pete left a can of cat food open for her while he went to work. She ate most of it in one sitting! When I found her it looked like she had swallowed a softball. She could barely touch the floor with her little legs because her stomach was so full!

When we moved in together, I brought Scout to live with us. She was living with me at my parents' when I had adopted Stinker, so they hadn't met until we took both of them up to Mentone one weekend. At first they were rivals for attention, but soon enough, Scout established herself as the queen and all was well. They had fun chasing one another, grooming each other, and got along generaly well.

When she broke her leg she was trying to sniff at some catnip on the balcony of our apartment. There she was sniffing along and decided to flop on her side to roll around in a catnip high. When she did, she flopped right over the side of the balcony, fell one story onto a tiled courtyard, and was immediately chased by a neighbor's dogs up a screen door. I was a work when I got the call. She had a pin inserted into her leg, stayed at the vet overnight and was extremely happy to see us the next day - she lept into my arms! She wore the cast for 4-6 weeks, hobbling around the apartment.

Stinker was a big talker - to the point of being nicknamed the "most annoying cat in the world." As soon as you walked in the door, she would tell you about her day. Sometimes it would take a couple of hours for her to relate everything. If she couldn't find you in the house, she would meow until you called her. When she found you she would meow differently as if to say, "Oh there you are! I'm so glad to see you! Let me tell you about my day."

If you whistled certain songs (the theme to M*A*S*H, for example) she would sing along with you.

She was also the "loudest purring kitty cat in the world" sometimes, out-purring Scout. If she was getting some excellent petting, you could hear her two rooms away!

She was very peculiar about eating. For example, she would not touch the food in her bowl until Scout had begun eating. That's because Scout would push her out of the way and growl if she got there first. I had to separate their bowls - Scout's on one side of the room, Stinker's on the other.

She liked menthol, peppermints, things like that. If you had Flexall 454 on you, she'd lick it off. Got an Altoid? She'd want one, too. How about some medicated Chapstick? Or better yet, Vicks Vapo-rub.

Her favorite toy was a toucan from K-Mart. It had rabbit fur on it and would make a warbling sound when you shook it. She would go nuts when she heard it! It was attached to a stretchy string which was tied to a plastic ring so you could hang it on something. We put it on a nail one time and she grabbed it, stretched it taut and chewed right through the string! Then she'd carry it off and skin it. No matter how many times we re-attached it to the string, she would chew it off and run away with it.

She wasn't a big fan of sleeping on the bed with us unless it was very cold. But she loved to sit in your lap. She was also a great biscuit maker.

When we got Spike, they were bosom buddies. They would have "head lickin' time" which is when they would groom each other, licking each other on the head. We would call it "stinky head time," too because of the stinky cat breath. ;)

But the best thing of all is that she had bunny fur. She was the "softest kitty cat in the world," if not the universe. And the white fur was softer than the black. Oh, she never got any petting... no siree. She wasn't spoiled rotten, or loved, or anything. ;)

She was definitely her daddy's baby. She loved Pete more than anything. She prefered to be in his lap, always wanted his attention, and slept on his side of the bed when she did get up there.

Just this year is when she began to get really sick. All her life she's had problems with her sinuses - remember, she was a kitty with a runny nose when I found her. But this problem would not go away. It was finally determined that she had a tumor in her sinuses and we could not afford to have the chemotherapy treatments done. So we decided to make her as comfortable as we could. I wish it could have been forever, but the sickness got the best of us, and in the end, she was blind and couldn't smell. It was very difficult for her to rely solely on hearing. Plus, she couldn't feel anything on the left side of her face - even the whiskers had stopped growing on that side. Eating and relieving herself were chores, and she would cry for us most of the evening because she couldn't find us. When she did, we'd pet her for a long time and she was happy, becoming the "loudest purring kitty cat in the world," again. She had ceased being the "softest kitty cat in the world" weeks ago due to the illness, but she will always be that for me.

She will be buried next to Atticus.

Goodbye Stinker. We will miss you terribly.

Stinker "Q" Haddin
1992-2005

Animal sightings

2005-11-28T08:55:00.000-08:00

We have a lizard living in the basement. It's just your typical little green chameleon you might see in your garden, but this one has decided it really likes our basement - namely Pete's workshop. I hope it's eating all the tasty camel crickets in there. What's funny about this lizard is that it'll let you get right up to it without skittering away. And I'm talking CLOSE - at least a hair's breath away from touching it. Pete took a picture, but we don't have all the computers up and running yet. As soon as we do, I'll post it.

Another interesting animal we've seen lately, although this one is not living in our house, was running down the side of the interstate. We were coming home from my parents' house, tootling along somewhat close to the speed limit, when the traffic in front of us slowed down. Was it an accident? Could it be yet another granny driver going 45 MPH (that was about 30 miles before this incident, oy vey!), or just one of those freaky step-on-the-brake chain reactions?

Well, we came up to the origination point of the slow-down and didn't see anything that would have caused it. But then I saw something out of the corner of my eye and turned to look - and saw a very large bird running along the side of the interstate! At first I thought it was a turkey (I just glanced at it), "Oh look, a turkey!" But then Pete looked and said, "That is definitely NOT a turkey."

Running - and I mean, going about 20-30 MPH - down I-59 was an EMU!

Yes, an EMU!

Poor bird. I'm sure it was scared out it's little walnut-size mind. And I'm hoping that some Bubba in his truck didn't pull over and try to shoot it for sport. Instead, I hope that a trucker alerted the State Troopers, who called someone to catch it and take it to a safe place.

So much depends upon...

2005-11-22T09:08:00.000-08:00

... a battery charger.

Okay, so it's not quite William Carlos Williams' poem, "The Red Wheelbarrow," one of my favorite poems, btw. But just as the farm's success rests soley on the wheelbarrow, the organization of our new house counts on Pete finding the battery charger for his drill.

Why? He found the drill - hooray! But its battery is dead. And without that drill I can't hang up the paper towel holder, put the new locks on the downstairs windows, mount the TV in the kitchen, make the drawer pulls in the kitchen actually FIT in the drawer faces, install the decorative wine racks and the plate rack in the dining room, hang Sarah's curtains properly, put door stops behind ALL the doors (that need one), and so much more!

And ya know that the disorganized mess is quietly DRIVING ME NUTS!

Ahem.

Pete is doing his best to find it - really. He just needs to find it faster. ;)

The new 'hood

2005-11-15T08:03:00.000-08:00

I'm beginning to like our new neighborhood. We have great neighbors, we haven't heard one gunshot (!), it's so peaceful and quiet, and something magical happens on Mondays and Thursdays that never ever would happen at the old house.

What? The trash collectors actually put the trash container back. And I don't mean at the end of the driveway, which is where we place it for them to empty. Nope. Someone actually takes the time to roll it down the driveway and place it neatly up against the house where we keep it until trash day! How excellent is that?

Would the Birmingham trash collectors ever do that? Hell no! They pick 'em up, dump out the trash and then throw, THROW, the cans in the yard or down the driveway. We've even found the lids hanging in the rose bush at the top of the yard! I've had to get out of the car and move them so I could pull the car into the carport! The lazy bastiches! They can't even take the time to set them upright on the curb.

Another cool thing: The recycling bin is the size of a large garbage can, not like those dinky boxes B'ham supplies you with.

Oh, and you don't have to bag your leaves either. Instead, they have a vacuum truck that comes around and sucks up all the leaves in the gutters. Super cool!

Hoover definitely knows how to put their tax dollars to work. Brimingham needs to learn a few things from them.

Putting the lack in "slackers"

2005-11-14T12:06:00.000-08:00

I haven't checked the OED, but I imagine that the word "slacker" is derived from "lack of service."

And doesn't that same "lack of service" just piss you off? It does me and I experienced a lot of it this weekend! Sit back and let me tell you about it.

It actually began last weekend, the day we moved in now that I think about it. The serviceman for Direct TV came over to install our service. This guy looked like he was straight out of some B-pirate movie - short, stout, shaven head, tatoos and funky teeth. Okay, he didn't have a pirate accent (Arrrrr!). Anyway, I think he had a BA in BS, too. Pete showed him where we wanted the boxes hooked up (our deal was for 4 boxes), and he noticed that we only have 3 TVs (only 3... man, that's weird.). So he proceeds to spew that we would have to downgrade to 3 boxes since we only had 3 TVs. WTF?! That was BS #1.

BS #2: We wanted a hook-up in the kitchen, but he said he couldn't drill in to the wall because it was a fire break and only a licensed electrician could do that;
BS#3: He would need a 40' ladder to mount the dish on the chimney and they weren't allowed to get on 40' ladders without another man being there;
BS#4: The dish had to go on the chimney because that tree over there might get in the way in about 10 years.
BS#5: We were the first house in about 2 months where he wasn't able to do a hook-up immediately.

Yeah buddy, shovel me some more. It ain't deep enough yet.

This past weekend, Friday to tell the truth, the pool table company was scheduled to move the pool table. They showed up at the old house, 3 guys mind you, took a look at the table, the 5 steps up to the driveway and said that they would need 8 guys to move it (on piece of slate, about 600 lbs) and that it would be $200 more than they originally quoted. Pete told him to take a leap.

We were also waiting for the ADT sales guy to come pick up a canceled check to set up automatic withdrawls... and waited and waited.....

Saturday, the ADT install guy was supposedly scheduled to come install our new system. We waited... and waited... and waited. I called ADT, they said they would page him to call us. Never did. I called this morning. Apparently, the sales guy set it up for the 26th. He told us the 12th. Nice that no one TOLD US THIS! And the sales guy never did get the canceled check. Oh well, we aren't going to pay for it yet anyhow cause we ain't got no system anyway! Dorks!

But there are good things that happened with service:

Saturday, another Direct TV dude showed up, alone, with a 30' ladder, mounted the dish on the eave, hooked up 4 places (even in the kitchen without drilling through that supposed "fire break wall" and didn't need 4 TVs to do that) and was done in a couple of hours. Both Pete and I told him about the BS man. He just shook his head like it wasn't the first time BS man has pulled something like that. Grrrr!

And, the best thing... we sold the old pool table to our buyer's son and bought a whole new pool table! Pete went to Recreational Factory Warehouse, found a good deal on a package (pool table, cue stand, 2 stools, 2 chairs, a pub table, sticks, balls, etc.) and they're delivering it tomorrow! Wheeee! I'm sure those friends Pete called about moving the old one are all going to sigh in relief when they find that they don't have to move it. :D

Cats & the new house

2005-11-10T08:01:00.000-08:00

Sometimes you forget how your pets are going to adjust to a new house. I didn't think anything of it for the inside cats - well, except for maybe Stinker since she's not doing very well physically. But Scout and Spike, no problem. Scout is her usual laid-back self. Spike has been hiding in closets. Typical.

Winston, on the other hand, I was worried about. Because he's an outside cat I wasn't too sure how well he would adjust to being in a new house/neighborhood/area. And we weren't sure if he'd try to make his way back to the old house. You never know, eh? The first night, we kept him inside to get used to the house - get to know the new smell, layout, etc. Pete figured it was okay to let him out the next morning. As soon as the door opened, Winston looked both ways (a lesson learned from last year's dog attack) and took off. We didn't see him until late that night. He was limping again (guess he hurt it again jumping off something) and didn't want to go back out for 2 days! I bet he was super tired after exploring and marking his new territory.

But here's what I imagine the cats are thinking:

Stinker: Oh wow, a new house. Can I go outside? Wait! I want to go with you! Here's how my day has been. I slept a lot, and ate, and drank some water, and used the kitty box, and my head hurts, will you pet me, pet me some more, and again, oh I like that, please pet me some more.....

Scout: Hey, as long as I have food, water, a place to poop and someone to pet me, I don't care where I live.

Spike: I think I'll stay on the top shelf of this closet until the kids go to bed. Then I'll hide under the bed.

Winston: Umm, where are we? I don't want to go back outside! I'm going to sleep on this couch for a while. Oh, pet me, too. And I need some food. Wait! I need to go outside! Hey! Let me back in! Are you crazy letting me outisde?!

Whew!

2005-11-08T06:09:00.000-08:00

We're moved in!

The movers showed up at 7:30 a.m. Saturday morning and started attacking what we thought would be a piddly amount on furniture. Boy, were we wrong! The furniture, washer/dryer, fridge, freezer, and some boxes filled - FILLED - up their 30' truck! I sure am glad we rented that pseudo-PODS, otherwise they would have had to come back the next day!

We stashed the cats in the bathroom, I managed to keep Sarah out of their way, and Pete loaded up his truck and made 2 trips. Once the movers had everything loaded, they went to eat lunch while we headed over to the new house.

We've hired this moving company before and they never cease to amaze me at what they can do. They made it look easy when it came to the huge TV and the refrigerators. Granted, they had to take off a few doors to get them in the house and arranged the way we wanted them, but they did it. They also hooked up the water line on the fridge, hooked up the washer/dryer and replaced the doors when finished.

I directed the placement of items while Pete chatted with the ADT guy. Sarah ran around in the back yard for a long time (missing her nap). The lady across the street brought us a pot of chili and Pete's dad brought up some BBQ. It just started sprinkling as the movers were finishing up - perfect timing!

After ten hours, the movers placed the last piece of furniture in the new house, collected the ransom, and high-tailed it outta there.

I then went to get the cats. I put Stinker in the carrier, loaded up the car with some things (we still have a ton of little things to move), threw Scout and Spike in the car and Winston ran off. All the way to the new house, Spike stood on Sarah's car seat, his front paws propped on the back of my seat and yowled right in my ear!

Everyone seems to be adjusting well. I arranged the kids' rooms to look as much like their old rooms as possible. And after seeing how much crap we really have, Pete and I have decided that we're never moving again. Of course, we said that the last time we moved.

Now, where to put the bookshelves....

Boy, that was easy.

2005-11-03T06:32:00.000-08:00

Yesterday, our buyer did the final walk through. She had requested that we fix a few things like the damage to the front door (someone tried to break in last year - in fact a year ago today), etc. Our realtor called us last night with the remarks. One was "Repairs to front door unacceptable."

WHAT?!?!

Pete spent 2 days working on that - and he doesn't skimp corners. Well, most of the time anyway. He replaced the broken piece of the jamb with a very nice piece of oak, touched up and painted the gouges in the door, and we painted the entire jamb. WTF? So Jan, our agent, said she had gotten a voice mail from the buyer's agent who didn't explain what "unacceptable" meant. Humph.

"Well I'm just going to go next door and ask Janie," he said. Janie, who rents the house next door, is our buyer. He discovered that her car wasn't in the drive so he started working on the door again. The phone rang. It was Janie. She was coming over.

She happily explained what she wanted fixed on the door plus a couple of other things. Then we talked about stuff we had planned to do had we stayed there, she talked about what she wanted to do (mainly to the kitchen), asked if her son could buy the pool table (no) and so forth.

It was MUCH easier than having to call our agent to call the other agent to call our agent back then call us back to tell us what needed to be done. And after going through all those ears and mouths, who knows if it would come out correctly? So we really should have done this in the first place.

And Pete was able to sleep. :)

Did you know...

2005-11-02T09:28:00.000-08:00

... that if you have a pool table and are moving, that you will more than likely have to hire a pool table company to move it to the new house?

Yep. Since they are "specialty items" and are very heavy and somewhat tricky, regular moving companies generally don't like to move them. Hell, I don't blame them.

Our pool table is an old 1950's (I think) coin operated table with a solid piece of slate. Pete cleaned it off last night and for the first time in 4 years, I actually got to look at the beautiful felt top! We ooohed and ahhed for a few minutes and were almost tempted to play a game, but there's still a bunch of stuff surrounding so it would have been difficult. But damn! It's gonna look pretty frickin' good in the new house! And there's no way in HELL that Pedro's gonna store wood on it from now on, by gawd! Hehe ;) Need to get new spots/dots/pips/markers put in, but other than that, it's a beauty! Can't wait!

Will it ever end?

2005-10-31T07:49:00.000-08:00

5 more days until moving day! And we still have lots of packing to do! Yikes!

Boxes - that's what I need. Lots and lots of boxes.

Things we've gotten done since the last post: New water heater, fixed the front door, installed a fence at the bottom of the car port, replaced some broken siding on the front of house (can you believe that they don't make that blue siding anymore? Unbelievable!), put the moudling back down in the lower bathrom, tacked the paneling back up in the weight room.

Pete mentioned that we should have just lowered the price so we wouldn't have had to make all these repairs ourselves. I'm thinking he's right. Bleh.

We've packed up all the books (amazingly enough) and I started on the kitchen last night.

Things I need to do: Get water and gas transfered, schedule the pool table to be moved by professional pool table movers (yes, they have those), etc.

Buying a house is a big pain. Selling a house.... a HUGE pain.

Cleaning out

2005-10-17T07:40:00.000-07:00

Well, we got rid of the weight machine today. Pete put an ad in the paper and actually got more than a few calls about it. I was very surprised. The man who purchased it came to get it yesterday. That's one less thing we have to take with us - whew!

We have another huge garbage pile out front. I knew we had a bunch of crap in the basement, but it seems neverending. Good grief.

Things we moved to the portable unit: boxes and boxes of books, two bookshelves - one still loaded with VHS tapes. Pete's "brilliant" idea: tack some plywood on the front and haul it up to the unit. Easy, right? Not! That sucker was H-E-A-V-Y! "Aw, we can carry it, no problem." Yeah, right. There was no way I was going to make it up the stairs with that thing. So I had the excellent idea of getting the hand truck. Duh! Much easier!

I painted the patch behind the big bookcase that was in Christopher's room, we emptied the attic, I packed some breakables, Pete cleaned up the debris from the back yard, and he fixed a leaky pipe. We still have a few more "repairs" to do and a lot of packing to get done.