I'll Keep The Bed Warm For You, Have Fun At Work!

Well, got through my first day of orientation at Moses Taylor General Hospital, it was twice as exciting as I thought it would be. Not. In between exciting lectures on Fire Safety and Benefits Information they give you a little history on the place. Moses Taylor was an investor of Lacawana Iron Works  - he gave $227,000 in  March 1887 to build a hospital  for his employees. He never go to see it completed or even started for that matter because he croaked in May 1887. Guess you really can't take it with you. And that was the highlight of my whole day. I get a whole week or so of orientation and then have to orientated on the floor DURING THE DAY for 4 to 6 weeks. Between orientating at WVUH, then Monongelia General Hospital and now this one, I'll be the most orientated nurse in the universe. Ray ix-nayed home to New Jersey this morning .I thought he'd stay until Tuesday but David said he had some stuff to do at home. I think we'll be seeing more of  him since we  live so close now and he's going to be in Hampton Bays when David goes back for a visit in the fall. Jackson starts school tomorrow, he's twice as excited as I was at orientation. Not.

Greetings From Lake Wallenpaupack!

Our friend Ray arrived  this morning - good thing I waited out on the front deck for him so  I could scream RAY! OVER HERE!! because David had given him directions. The only good thing about directions from David is you'll get the scenic tour. We're so glad to see him and as he said, when it's good friends it always feels like you just saw each other last week. We decided to go out for a late lunch early supper and found a nice restaurant that not only had good food, but was able to produce a fairly passable Stoli on the rocks with a twist of lemon. We took the scenic route home with David and Ray laughing about some areas we passed - Ray came up with David to look at houses when we bought here and they had a few adventures with getting lost and local dives. We stopped at Lake Wallenpaupack which is more like a bay than a lake. We also went to Hawley (the next 3 pictures) which is yet another old scenic town with some touristy things and loads of antiques. Ray will be staying til Tuesday I think - I go back to work on Monday but he and David have tons of catching up to do. The other thing that showed up today is in the 8th picture - that is NOT Mr. Lee (the 7ht picture is). We're pretty sure that little cat is a throw-away - he's thin, hungry and very affectionate. There's a large summer population so this would be the time of year for that sort of thing. I don't know how people can feed, care for and love an animal and then just leave it behind. We're giving it a couple of days, but Jackson's been thinking of names and I'm sure we'll be intergrating it into the house hold. Sigh. I guess we'll figure it out. We're going to be doing more sight seeing tomorrow, Ray's hoping to take some pictures of all the old barns around here if he can get David to stop the car!

And We Now Return To Our Originally Scheduled Programing..

Yep, Real Life has reared it's ugly head once again. I accepted the job at Moses Taylor and will be starting Monday morning, 8 am sharp and in uniform. A white one no less. But I can wear my print jackets so it's not a total loss. I took Jackson to Western Wayne High School this morning and he's all enrolled. He likes it better than he thought he would and although he won't be able to take German, he signed up for Mechanical Engineering and can take weight lifting for gym. The counseler that signed him up took us for the 50 cent tour and showed him where his home room is, gave him a map of the building (I thought that was nice) and answered all his questions - he had plenty. He starts on Tuesday, the day after I start my job so for us, the summer is over. After we went to Honesdale (#2 picture). It's a small town about 15 miles from here, really old with some touristy stuff thrown in. There's a nice vegetarian store complete with yuppie vegetarians. They're trying to look "natural" but actually look like "big dork-o-las" - all I can say is I rather be shot at sunrise than appear in public wearing a straw hat and hurachi sandals. On the way, there's a buffalo farm where you can buy buffalo meat and ice cream. Not too sure I would want to buy my ice cream there - bet  the flavors are interesting! Our friend Ray is coming out to visit us for the first time this weekend and I'm pretty excited, I haven't seen him in almost a year! Jackson has to clean (#3)and va-moose from the guest room for the weekend but he's ok with that because he gets to sleep in the loft. David'll have his room done in a couple of weeks and then the bedrooms  will be straightened out. David continues to work on the house, you can see the difference in just a couple of weeks from pictures # 4 & 5. . He'll be looking for work  in a couple of months - we're in good shape financially  and we really need someone to be here for Jackson. David's also planning on returning to LI around mid-Sept to finish up there and see his parents. I guess I'd better enjoy the weekend since as of Monday, I'll once again be a poor working slob.

Frankly My Deer, I Don't Give A Yam

David and Jackson decided to feed the deer grapes one night and then David fed them some old plums I was going to throw out. The deer have now decided that we are thier closest and deerest friends. I prefer feeding the stray cats because if you don't have anything they can't stomp you to death (has anyone seen When Animals Attack?). So now they show up on a regular basis to see what we got good. David's continuing to work on the house without permission from the Gestapo - he had the Hideout Handbook out this morning but I think it's a bit late for that. In the event they throw us into Condo jail maybe someone can sneak a file in with our lattes and biscotti. Jackson started with his new orthodontist on Monday who's going to try and get some of our money back from the one in WV. We paid for the entire treatment upfront - we'll never do that again. We're also in the process of getting the money out of escrow from the house in WV that we had to leave because of the septic system. It passed 2 weeks ago and nothing. It's great how fast they take it but giving it back always involves forms and paperwork. I think the only paperwork involved when they took it was the signature on the check. Jackson and I finally hiked around the lake yesterday, it's a 3 mile walk but a fun one. There are all sorts of liitle parks and streams to see and since they're very strict about dogs being leashed no more being chased by pits and rottweilers. Those were the two reasons I had stopped walking in Hampton Bays - although bolting home will take the weight off of you, it just kind of ruins the relaxing part. I did my drug screen yesterday so am awaiting the results. I also had to sign a paper stating I wouldn't sell drugs on the hospital premises. For some reason I don't think I would get away with it just by stating no one told me not to sell illegal drugs in the parking lot, but I guess policy is policy.

All Things Considered, I'd Rather Be In Scranton

I think it's W.C. Fields tombstone that claims he would rather be in Pittsburgh, but I'm nowhere near Pittsburgh and having seen it once, well,  there are many places I would rather be than that. Scranton is one of them. Jackson and I went  today when the traffic was lighter to get a good look around . We parked and walked for a bit, did a tiny bit in the mall and of course I took pictures. The buildings are old - we saw a cornerstone from 1930 on one. But they're beautifully maintained as you can see from the pictures I posted. It's pretty clean, but we didn't go too far today. Although it's a small city I was told at the hospital there are some bad sections and we all know how I can find the only place I should not be. We decided to get back in the car and drive around, but the road we took went out to 81 so I started heading back. I took Jackson up to see his new school and he liked it, it's small, the high school has 700 kids 9th through 12th. We did pass by a few cow pastures but I'm still not brave enough, plus I had Mr.Wise Guy riding shot gun making cow comments. Such a Smartie Pants. David's been painting all day, his new color is Something Grey and it looks great on the trim with the reddish color we have going. We're trying to decide if we should go with another color or just repaint the color it is. We had cake and coffee over at the neighbor's house last night which was very sweet of them. They're in thier 70's I think and are snowbirds - it seems there's a population here that does 6 months here and 6 in Florida. Nice if you can afford it. I can't. As you can see, another exciting day in our lives.

Jack IS the Beanstalk!

Jackson and my mother arrived Tuesday and passed muster with the Gate Gestapo, barely. I wish my mother wasn't so shifty looking, there wasn't much I could do but try to distract the Condo cops from looking too closely(haha).  Jackson now wears a size 13 shoe and we haven't officially measured him but I think he's closing in on 6'2" - and he's only 14. I had him stand next to David whos' 6'1" but he kept stretching and then David did it back so it's hard to tell. He managed to visit almost everyone at home and had a good vacation.  David decided it would be a fine and friendly thing to play with the plumbing while my mom was here and then the phone went out for most of the day so she got to rough it in the gated community. The deer were more than willing to entertain - we had almost a dozen roaming around our backyard one night. We had a good time, we went to the malls and out to eat, Mom said she and the crew would be back in the fall. The shopping here is GREAT - if you hunt around you can get some super deals. My references finally came through and  I got hired by Moses Taylor Hospital to work on the cardiac floor starting Aug. 30th, pending my passing the drug screen. So I guess no heroin and crack BBQ's at the main lodge this weekend! David put in a window today, it was a special order window from home depot that someone returned -original cost $650. It was marked down to $395 but I suggested to David to find the manager and quibble - he got it for $350 (triple Anderson windows) and as you can see, it fits perfectly! I don't know about you but I love a bargain. And as far as the wedding saga goes, it is coming to an end. I'm tired. The way things are starting to go, I'm glad not to be going.

Mr. Lee, The Focal Point

David left for WV yesterday to retrieve our stuff. He gave me a bit of guff about going - he's made so many trips back and forth he's had quite enough. But I just want it done and over with.  He stayed overnight and will be home today. Jackson's also coming back today with  Mom. I called the Condo-cops because this is a gated community and you've got  to alert the gate. First I had to pinpoint the exact day, who was being let in (I neglected to mention they're both a little squirrelly looking) then they wanted a PIN number (?) which I got a lecture on not having one because they had to make sure "it really was that property". I almost said "Who else would let them in?" but any humor is suspect with those people. We then did my PIN NUMBER OVER THE PHONE, how secure is that I ask you? I could have been some stranger letting Connie in and then there's no telling what kind of mischief she could get into. So I'm squared away with The Hideout's Finest. I went to the gym here yesterday for the first time, it's small but the equipment's very top of the line AND you can watch HGTV while treadmilling it. I found the clubhouse without driving around on Chestnut Hill Drive in a circle 25 times so I'm getting more acclimated. The deer here are so numerous but you never see them lying in the road, I guess they're so used to the cars they don't bolt out. David was sort of nervous about them because of the incident last year with his truck. He'd only had his new truck for a month and was going over to bring Christmas cookies to his parents when a buck came out of nowhere and took out the entire side of his truck. Needless to say we didn't like deer for a very LONG time. The damage to the truck was repaired, but David continued to be affected by Post Deer Trauma Syndrome. Given the fact there are about 6 billion deer here you can't keep that kind of hatred up for long so he's pretty much gotten over it.

I'm Never Sure If I Should Call The Fire Dept Or Pull Up A Chair

But it WAS the Fire Dept making all that smoke so there was no point in calling them. We went to the craft fair in town yesterday and they were warming up the BBQ which was about 25 feet long and the guys were using mops to put the sauce on. Since we're in the heart of Arts And Crafts country you can load up with every concievable kind of seasonal or ruffled item for next to nothing. Today it's overcast again but yesterday was really nice. The 2nd picture is Lake Ariel taken from across the clubhouse (#3) which is where we ate breakfast this morning. It was very cheap and really good. Most of the eateries around here are cheap, for a big lunch you can get away with less than $14 for two, including coffee and dessert. The next two pictures are of the golf course and the last is the road to Scranton. Even the highways around here are quite impressive, scenery wise. When we out to breakfast this morning we passed a little altercation that involved the condo-police as our friend Jim refers to them. This gated community has it's own security but I'm not sure what they would do to you if they caught you out doing something against The Rules. Maybe they would put you in Condo-Jail which is probably a one bedroom sublet with no central air. I, however, have read the rather extensive handbook they give you and am trying to walk the straight and narrow. Well, not really but I'm trying to LOOK like I am, hence the reason I take the Pooper Squad out early so no one catches me. That's us - Poop And Run!

How I Like My Men - On Thier Knees And Cleaning

We're finally seeing the proverbial light at the end of the tunnel, about 90% of the boxes are unpacked and objects have found homes, I found the last box of kitchen stuff, all 3 sets of doors are in. We had yet another heat guy come and he will be doing the new system. He's charging $4400 ($2000 less than Mr. Estimate and his friend Senor CrabbyPants.) It's more than I wanted to pay, but the price also includes central air and a dehumidifier which we are definately going to need. I've heard from the hospital I was not too crazy about and nothing from the one I was. Par for the course. David's put off his return trip to WV until Monday, the rains were so heavy last night and this morning with flash flooding warning all over we figured he'd been better off waiting til Monday. We discovered the reason for all the mold and rot next to the fireplace under the paneling David had pulled off to put in the doors in. He'd  sheet rocked after replacing the damaged area that  we scrubbed with bleach and let air dry, but when the rains were at thier heaviest we noticed the sheet rock was getting wet. When I looked out the door it turned out the gutter was clogged and the effect was the same as someone  holding a fire hose at full blast shooting into the chimney chase. So inbetween deluges David went out and mucked out the gutter, problem solved. We're currently trying to figure out how to keep some of the hunting lodge appeal while brightening and updating. This house and the one in WV had gold chain lamps, the dark wood, etc. I don't know why we're so attracted to 70's style houses, we always end up having to redo it.. Who knows, maybe deep down, I still want to be Marsha. (Marsha Marsha Marsha!)

Just Horsing Around!

I don't know if I mentioned it, but behind our house is a horse pasture! We hadn't seen any until a couple of days ago and now they appear during the day, about 6 of them. If you go to the fence they come trotting right over, but I haven't attempted to touch one due to the fact I'm still traumatized by The Cow Attack I suffered in WV. We'd gone to a yard sale out in the country and the person had cows that were standing by the fence looking all Docile and Non Threatening. David assured me cows don't bite so I went up and touched my first cow! Then I gave it a little friendly Vegetarian pat on the head. Well. The cow that had been looking at me with those big brown Cow Eyes stuck it's head through the fence and grabbed my sweater! I grabbed it too (since I was in it ) and the cow yanked harder! I yelled for David but he was all agog about the yardsale (I think they had tools) and kept walking toward the garage while I was in a life and death struggle with the crazed sweater pulling cow that was trying to pull me through the fence so it could show me to it's other cow friends (LOOK I CAUGHT A VEGETARIAN YUMMY).  It finally let go and of course my poor sweater was all stretched out on one side and was completly covered in Deadly Cow Slobber. I went to the yard sale and yelled at David in front of the owner of the Psycho cows and you won't believe this. They laughed! The owner laughed so hard I thought she would fall off her chair which I didn't think was appropriate, especially since her cow tried to commit a Murder. So I'm going to proceed cautiously with the horses. In other news, David's installed 2 new french doors in our living room which look very super cool.

If You've Got It, Flaunt It!

Silly cat. I went on my first formal interview today (as opposed to where I just drop in out of nowhere). Hospital was nice, job was on a tele-floor, 100% tuition reimbursement, pay was $18.50 (going rate around here folks!), benefits start the day after I do. I went to the other hospital down the road as a drop in, did an interview anyhow despite my many attempts to just fill out an application and high tail it to the mall. I got nailed with the "applicant survey" - I actually finished it early but the human resources person managed to get the nursing recruiter there by somewhat heroic measures -it's not that I'm a great nurse by any stretch of the imagination, but with nurses getting more scarce they'll just about tackle you in the parking garage just to add you to their roster. Anyhow, hospital is nice, got offered a job on the surgical onc, $20 an hour, but benefits start after 4 months BUT they'll give you a signon bonus that will cover some sort of COBRA like thing. That sucks actually. It's like getting money for your birthday and then buying groceries with it. By the time I got done with the pseudo-interview it was 3:30 and I was a bit of a crabby pants, in no mood for going to the Our Lady Of  End Of Summer Clearance so I went home. I'm getting better direction wise, once I was out of Scranton proper I drove all the way home without using the GPS once. I try to use if only if I really need to or I've got to be somewhere on time. You can get very dependent on it quickly but like I said yesterday, it makes it easier to explore the surrounding area without driving around for hours trying to get home.

More Pictures Of The Estate

Better pictures of the house, the 4th one's the new doors David installed downstairs. He's putting two more sets of them on the main floor and moving the picture window to the wall by the dining room table to let more light in. In the spring he'll be putting in skylights which should brighten things up a bit. He wants to whitewash the paneling because it's so dark but I'm enjoying the campy lodge atmosphere right now. David spoke to another heating guy, this one also wanted to charge him $6500. David told him he could get a heating unit for less, guy said he marked up 35%. David said  it was not $6500. Guy said 2 workers at $90 an hour for the day. David quickie did the math and pointed out it was still way below $6500.  Guy said Well, that's what I charge. David said he'd do it himself and thanked him for his time. Right after he hung up the phone rang. It was heating guy again - he just wanted  to tell him he didn't like working in the Hideout anyhow because it was full of guys from NY and NJ that thought they knew it all. Good Bye.! We've got someone coming today from Sears I think. We'll get one in, but not at that price!

Not As Nice As WV, But Runs A Close Second

 David and I drove around quite a bit today, the nice thing about having a GPS is you're not scared about getting hopelessly lost and it makes you a Brave Neighbor. The 1st picture is the handicapped parking space which I found very funny, there's no bathroom or ramp or anything, it's not even closer to the sidewalk. Just this big handicap spot literally in the middle of nowhere. The 2nd is my newest obsession, christmas tree hats! One is going to Nicky, Kate's little boy. 3rd is Pooh dog who got into the white paint so David's been calling him Spot all week. I've been taking them on morning walks but we're having some technical difficulties with Copper - aka Sir Poopalot. The way he poops every 25 feet you'd think he would just deflate and disappear before we got back to the house. Sometimes I wish he would disappear since it's a bit embarrassing to be walking The Crouching Dog.  AND I had to pull them off the tempting Exploded Possum Snack someone left on the side of the road. The last picture is of those nifty windmills - there's a ridgeline that goes on forever with them - if you do View Larger it's easier to see them. Seeing them for real is very impressive. We of course went to Lowes today and David got new doors for the downstairs since the ones here were shot. Jackson's still in Hampton Bays, we might be having a problem with some relatives AGAIN. I'm considering just taking a break from everyone as I can't take much more of this. It's amazing how many times you can be punished for something you didn't do in the first place.

What Cha Got Good?

The loft's a big hit with the animals, it's great for spying and looking directly down into eveyone's dinner plate to see if it's worth coming down and begging. In other  news, I've discovered one of the best ways to learn the history of your house is not to talk to the RE or do a title search, but to ask the neighbors. the phone guys said it was empty for awhile and  according to the next door neighbor it was rented at one point to "a bunch of animals" that screamed and fought all the time and owned SIX small dogs which would account for the fact David kept smelling dog urine. After he ripped up the rugs on the 1st and 2nd floor, including all the padding the smell went away. Hmm. Yucko. We made another trip to Lowes, we've got lots of closets with no shelves so there's stuff piled on the closet floor. We went to the local restaurant for a late lunch today and sat across from the worst behaved child I've ever seen. He was so loud no one could talk until he left and his mother was one of those that just sat there acting like it was ok and occasionally giving that smarmy smile those people give, as if we're all supposed to think it's cute or something. If he was my kid he either would have been spending some time out in the car (there were 3 adults) or I would've brought my taser. As she was leaving she was laughing and saying "I'll bet the people in the restaurant will be glad to see us go!" I was good and did not shout "YOU'VE GOT THAT RIGHT SISTER" after her. But I wanted to. I've got to say, there were about a dozen other kids in there today and none of them even came close to that little monster. The tempeture's in the 60's today, I can't believe it's still August!

How Are You My Deer?!!

Ok,enough with the deer already. I've stopped counting. That's a picture of them standing in the field behind our stone fence. What they're doing is staring at The Two Stupid Dogs who are sniffing the ground TRACKING DEER. The canine Wonder Twins didn't even see them standing 12 feet away, they're hopeless. The rest of the pictures are of Scranton where I drove this morning to scope out the hospitals. I found the parking garage for the one I'm interviewing at on Tues, I liked Mercy down the block so I'm calling them on Monday. I did an informal drop in on CMC but will be putting them on the back burner for now I think. Since I've got a few weeks I'd like to see all of them. David and I went to Dickson City this afternoon for more Home Depot stuff. We went to a farm stand on the way home and bought some mumms that I've planted on the deck, far away from nibbling deer. There are some brave souls around here that do have bushes and so forth, but then they put that ugly deer fencing around it so you can't see what it is they've got planted. What's the point? We also had a family of turkey in the yard this morning complete with babies. David's currently playing with the plumbing and is working out a few bugaboos. The temp today was in the 60's!! The heating guy will be here this weekend to give an estimate, which is a good thing. I've got a sneaking suspicion fall comes a bit early here!!

If All Else Fails, Show A Picture Of The Cat

Slow day, Carpet guy came and did the 1st floor bedroom which will be Jackson's temporary digs until David has the Dungeon ready for him. Saw 6 deer this morning, they're getting  annoying already. I have to go chase them out of the yard before I take the dogs out because they make them go  bonkers. Phone guy came and phone's done. I've got an interview scheduled at Robert Moses Hospital in Scranton on Tuesday, but I'm going there tomorrow to scope out the lay of the land and look at the other hospitals. I'm not planning on going back to work til the beginning of Sept so I've got a little time to decide. David and I drove around to the various parks and recreational centers in the community, there are two large pools and beaches on the side of the lake. I don't think I'll be swimming in the lake, reminds me a bit too much of Sear Bellows Pond (WHO WANTS SOME IMPETAIGO!) They've got an Arts And Crafts center and you can buy cheesy ceramics anytime you want to paint and decorate. There were about a dozen very intense 10 year olds there when I visited ,all painting funky frogs and Art Deco Ladies With Hats. Could make quite a focal point. David's been busy, I'm trying to keep him focused on one thing at a time instead of 97 different projects. David will be making one last run to WV to get the half a load we left behind and then that's it for that.

Back in Business!!

We arrived here Sat - the second we got out of the car the rain starting pouring and then the electric went out. Thank goodness we had help to unpack! The cable and telephone were on (yipee!)and we did much better than the previous move. There's a great(cheap) restaurant down the road so we don't starve when we get done late. Since we've been here it's been run unpack run unpack.  The cats and dogs have adjusted great - David had a moment this morning in the yard while using the leaf blower. He saw a little black cat next door and thought it was neat they had a cat that looked just like Mr. Lee. Then he realized it WAS Mr. Lee. Just great. The telephone is out today, Verizon said they can't get here til tomorrow. I've posted pictures of the house, the first one is of one of the many deer that roam the area. Yesterday I saw a total of 7 and have seen 2 already this morning. The rest are various pictures to give everyone an idea of what the house looks like - keep in mind we're still in the process of unpacking which most of the time feels like we're trying to fit square pegs into round holes. Nothing seems to fit anywhere, there aren't enough shelves or closets,etc.We've been busy exploring the surrounding area and have visited one farm stand. They grow blueberries around here but I will not go to any stands that have the U-Pik thing going on. Like I'm going to pay someone to treat me like a migrant worker!!