Ack! Who Turned Off The Heat?

The weather has been cold, but not too bad - 30 and 40's for the most part. Yesterday it took a huge tumble into the low teens so everyone was complaining. And yes, everyone knows its going to happen, but we harbor this secret hope that this year it will stay cold but not freezing. The renter called when I got home last night, she had come home from work to no water. Well. That was not fun, David was on the phone for most of the evening, couldn't find a plumber, he can't really drive at night - the renter knew a plumber but she also was using a blow dryer on the pipes and they were indeed frozen. She finally got them moving, a big relief for us but we were a a little a disconcerted, we'd lived in that house for a year and had never had a problem. So David will be heading over there this morning before work and will wrap the pipes in heat tape. Everyone we talk to seems to just be waiting for the end of the year, lately it's been one stress after another - but I think around the holidays it always feels like that. I don't think that things tend to "happen" at the holidays but I they're just more noticeable. The holidays are supposed to be nonstop fun and photo opportunities so when life goes on and the pipes freeze, the bills come - it's a betrayal, not fair! Speaking of bills, David had a ventless gas heater installed yesterday as we got our first real electric bill - almost $600 for one month and it wasn't even cold. This house is all electric and he'd planned on having the furnace installed during the summer but the gas heater will help until then - they're also good if the electricity gets knocked out as we discovered in the Lake Ariel house. And my car. My car now has 208,000 miles and is starting to show it . When you get that high in mileage, it's a catch 22 because you can't really trade it in, you'll get nothing - but I don't want to put any more money in it. We're hoping it lasts til spring, the idea of car shopping this time of year? A little breezy I think!

The End Of The Year Is Coming Fast

I'm lifting my head and getting out of the house - when I can. It's been hard lately, the holidays are not easy as that is when everyone wants to be off and everyone in the hospital wants to be home - but after the New Year we'll be back to status quo. And of course there's that extra money - I ordered from Knit Picks this morning - whoo hoo, but I'm worth it! It's a new venture and there are bumps here and there - but we're moving ahead. David and I headed out to Bethlehem, Janet and Diane gave me a gift certificate for Wegmans - I know! I know! It's a supermarket but we LOVE Wegmans the way people love Versace - there's the cheese bar, the Foods Of Many Nations - where else can you shop for groceries and pass the sushi chefs?? After that we headed out to Barnes and Noble, I haven't been to a Barnes and Noble since we left WV. I browsed and found a book I'd been dying to read on clearance , we also found the mall - it was a relaxing fun day for once. The weather is beautiful today, in the 40's and sunny, the rain got rid of the snow and the ice. I was a little worried there - rain at this time of year is much worse than the snow if the temperatures drop, I'll take snow over ice any day of the week. I started a new project, yet another shawl, I'm sort of stuck on them for the moment but I think the next project will be a sweater. I'm making it out of that mercurnized cotton yarn from Chili, the green is a little bright but this time of year, I'll take the bright spots where I can get them.

Hanging At The Cat Pee House.

A friend of ours had a local carver make this for us. When you buy a house from Remax or do business with them they give you a sign with a little carved bear. Because we did business and are now the proud owners of The Cat Pee House AND our friend is also our RE agent, we got a special sign and a cat instead of a bear. Vincent perceives it as a bit uppity but he's a cat and his opinion is not sought after. I've been having a hard time at work, which I'm sure everyone is aware of. If you're not then you can review my Whining and Carrying On section in facebook. Things are starting to look a little brighter, over the weekend I spoke with Kim( Queen of Moral Support and Trouble Shooting) first and Stephen second - Stephen deals with this stuff all the time so his opinion carries a bit more weight than Vincent's. He has a rather unique view and he said a few things, one in particular that stays with me daily - I won't be repeating it here but it certainly made me think and I view things in a completely different way now. All the stress isn't gone, but most of it I realize is simply due to the holidays and like everything related in the medical profession, the holidays are too long, too short staffed and the hospitals are frantically trying to discharge their patients to our already understaffed agencies. It's hard to say no - you know when you do someone isn't going home for Christmas. But it will all be over with in a week or so and then I have a Master Plan - I love master plans, don't you? The fun thing is you can have a Master Plan and then a back up plan - and then there's Plan B in case that doesn't pan out! David and I will be doing nothing for the holidays as far as I know, we'll celebrate later on after things quiet down. We spoke to Jackson, he's in WV visiting Becky and Adam will hopefully be up to see us in the beginning of January - then a few months of winter and BLAM it will be spring.

The Hostess Strikes Again

Pearl's greatest joy in life - well, aside from sneaky eating all the cat food - is Hostessing. From the moment guests arrive til it comes time for them to leave while fending off the Hostess - she puts her heart and soul into making sure everyone is properly cared for. She sits, snuggles, hops and nudges - it's quite fortunate she's rather cute and no one seems to mind. We enjoyed showing off the Cat Pee House and discovered the source of the Appearing and Disappearing Ooky Smell (the downstairs toilet needs a new wax ring). The weather wasn't great but we got a Christmas tree and did a little shopping, out to dinner was fun. They had a hard time getting home which stunk - it had started to rain as they left and from Reports From Connie, proceeded to get worse. The four hour ride became a nine hour one, sort of like what happened to Gilligan but not as exciting and no deserted island at the end. I called and tried hard not to call again - Mom finally called after 9 pm, tired and glad to be home. Off to work today, a Shining Example Of Why Welfare Is So Attractive Sometimes - I think the only people that didn't yell at me were god and John Wayne and that's only because one I strongly suspect doesn't exist and the other, well, he's dead. It was a forced march all day, one thing after another, on and on - one issue chasing the tail of another. Throughout it advice from the home office, some wanted, some not, as I get more independent I get more of an opinion. It may not be right, but it's mine. The other back and forth thing is I am not a big phone person. I am a big emailer and texter and do it all day, every day. I can do all three at once - I'm good. My office is constant with it, so I end up emailing the main office and then calling to let them know I emailed (because my staff emails, mine is up all day). Oh well, Rome wasn't built in a day

Evangeline's House

When I was growing up there was a small red house two doors down with a real live white picket fence. It was inherited from her father - Evangeline used it as a summer house at first. She was the wildest thing I'd ever seen, in her 40's, she dated young long haired men exclusively. She drove a baby blue Cadillac - took us to the beach in it sometimes too. She'd let the young men drive and she'd wear this one piece bathing suit with fringe all over it - I thought it was super fancy. Then she came less and less - the house became host to a variety of misfits, looking for a place in this world I think. First it was the two guys in their 20's - the early disco boys that we spent the summer spying on, every night it was a different girl, a party. Next it was Phil - I was 11,12? He was working on the house in exchange for rent and every afternoon he would meet me out by the fence and talk to me about his future. His little girl my age moving out to the clean air. It didn't occur to me until much later on in life that the reason he spoke to me was because no one else would - it was the early 70's and racial equality hadn't hit Hampton Bays, they drove him out. I saw him the day he left, broken and discouraged. Next came Diane Henry and the loudest mom in town - single mother with three kids. My clearest memory of her is her standing by the fence bellowing Diane had better come home RIGHT NOW or she'd turn her every way but loose as soon as she got a hold of her. It probably shouldn't - but it still makes me laugh - that's one of the best threats I've ever heard. The last was Tommy, my life line, my light. He was about 20 or so, I was 14 - one of the kindest gentlest souls, what hippies were supposed to be, but rarely were. He was one of the first people that I reached out to - what a rare gift it is in life to find someone who is willing to listen, no matter what. He knew how much I needed to talk, to tell everything I was never allowed. If I walked by the front and down the side of the house he would meet me in the woods - and I would talk, that was it. And on those afternoons I told him everything, my life, my pain, the terrible things Uncle Joe had done, my fear I would never be anything or be allowed to be an adult. That man embodied the unconditional and I think he gave me hope that someday things would be alright. Maybe not great, but I would find my way - he often told me I was worth something - and sometimes I believed him. The last time I saw him he'd been beaten so badly he couldn't open his eyes. His jaw was swollen, I'm sure his ribs were shattered. A few good boys in town decided they would rather he leave, so when he was able to, he did. I asked him if I could go too, but he gently told me he could barely care for himself, the world was no place for me. I mourned him for a long time, I couldn't talk about him because I wasn't supposed to talk to him in the first place, but I'll always be grateful for his time and his ability to care for someone he didn't even know. After he left, that was it, the house became overgrown with weeds, there was the terrible summer that Evangeline had tried her hand at animal rescue and the ASPCA had to rescue the dogs from their rescuer. It now houses a real family, but for me it will always contain the ghosts of my past.

It finally snowed yesterday - not a huge amount but enough to get the party started. David has a gift card rebate from Sears and was vacillating between a snow blower and a chainsaw. I'm voting for the snow blower. We went to the Bayada Christmas party in Pittston, that's a bit of a hike but we had a really good time. They hired an Elvis impostor and although that's not my cup of tea (ok!ok! I HATE Elvis, I think he's a moron. There I said it, I feel better) he was pretty true to his god. It was sort of funny, the party was a combination for the two offices and the East Stroudsburg office filled exactly one table. Hopefully we will be bigger next year. Everyone now knows I'm a vegetarian, although why anyone finds that interesting is beyond me - it's not a great accomplishment by any stretch of the imagination nor is it fun at times. And just for the record - after almost 20 years I still cannot bring myself to do it - I'm sure a large part of my aversion to meat is more psychological than anything else. Every time I consider it all I can see is tendons and bones, arteries and fat riddled muscle coated with clotted blood, cold and rotting corpses. And yes, if you disguised it well and I didn't know it was there I would eat it I suppose - but the same could be said of any substance - if you disguised cockroaches well enough people would eat them too. Or African Cave Spiders. I actually saw a clip once of people eating them on a reality show - no, you most likely couldn't pay me enough especially since they were not only live, but their twitching legs sticking out of some one's mouth is something I would have preferred not to have seen. Where was I? Anyhoo, in other news we finally got the other house rented so that's a relief. It won't save the farm but it will pay the taxes - the house is still for sale and the renter has first right of refusal in case we do sell it. I'm hoping I'm off for real today, we need to do some Christmas shopping and get cards out, and I need a little snow therapy!

I Would Like To Be A Little Stupid. But Just A Little.

Now, when I say I'd like to be a little stupid - I do mean just a little. I'd like to retain enough smarts to dress myself and get invited to parties, knit of course but that goes without saying. And maybe hold a job, but one where I wore an apron and didn't hold too much responsibility - Michael's would be OK because if I was just sweeping or something I could keep a not too bright eye on the yarn department. And you get to wear red I think. That would be fun. I wouldn't have to worry that I am responsible for other people getting to keep their jobs or things getting done, being everything for everyone. But I am where I am and we have hit the point of either self destruction or flying high - I tend to do both so often these days it's like being stuck on the Cyclone and no one releasing the safety bar. Being a manager is fun, I get to wear spanky clothes and high heels, I have peers instead of co-workers, figuring out how things can get moving is interesting. I do conferences and stay in hotels for free, I can order off swanky menus and not worry about it - but there are long endless hours, trying to do the impossible - and being sent back in to do it again. The hard part is slowly realizing you are not every one's friend and you have to be unpopular sometimes no matter how hard you try. Or when you aren't as smart as you need to be right now - and when someone else is smarter. It's trying, I was wishing for WV all the way home tonight, it's funny how things are so much shinier and brighter when they're far away - but even though my job was hard there, the pressure didn't get like this. But by the time I got home I was, alright. David had french toast and a big roaring fire, some of the things my paychecks go towards - and I did promise Bayada when I started that I would commit to this job - they took me on with a wing and a prayer, so I suppose I should continue to fly. Either my wings will melt like Icarus or I'll soar, time will tell.

The Fine Art Of Decay

Rotting is not necessarily a bad thing. People tend to think it is - if you think of rot you might mention zombies, the Dearly Departed of course, tomatoes past September, things that smell. But here - and a lot of other places decay is just a part of your day. It's such a vast open area you can't possibly begin to think of cleaning it. Leaves lie where they land, dead things gently repose back into the earth, trees fall and soon turn bright green with moss and mold. You can spend hours in my yard and around examining the slow decay - every next thing as interesting as the last. Because after the flesh is gone, there's no smell of course, just ivory brittle bones. The trees turn to gross shapes, no longer resembling their former selves, patterns of moss scattering across new barkless forms. So much of it resembles sculptures, free form and flowing, how much of it don't we see? Parts of the surrounding areas here look like scenes out of a gothic fairy tale, the twisted looming trees, layers of leaves and loam, dank leaves and branches swallowed in the bogs, swollen lifeless things beneath the surface. It's amusing how many people fear death or try to put it off, without realizing just because you don't know what it is - doesn't mean it's bad. Here is something I walk through every day without giving it a second thought, surrounded by the dead on my way to work. Hey! Enjoy the rest of your weekend!

Happy Thanksgiving!

I most likely would have had more fun if I didn't have to work all the time - but I do so on I go. Kim and Grace got here after having the joy of sitting in traffic - we had all forgotten that this is a get away for most of NY and NJ, especially during the winter so they had a few delays. I made the traditional Thanksgiving dinner, turkey and all - and a vegetarian version of the stuffing that got cooked by itself - I may not eat the corpse, but I certainly enjoy the trimmings!! Pearl the Hostess worked over time, even checking on the guests in the middle of the night in case they wanted something (like, to pet the dog perhaps.....) - both Kim and Grace love dogs - and Pearl loves a guest so it was a perfect match. I was back to work yesterday so they went around to the local flea market and Lowes of course, we have a copper chandelier to match the copper back splash - pictures to follow. I also had to see a patient who lives near my favorite LYS, how convenient so I picked up some more yarn. I'll eventually have it all, but I'm doing it one skein at a time. I finished one sock and have started on the other while I ponder my next project. After I got home from work we went out to dinner - we live down the road from a platoon of restaurants so it's easy to go out, we just haven't had the time lately. Kim and Grace left this morning, the weather is starting to get chilly but the sun is out and it's perfect traveling weather. The house in Lake Ariel continues to sit, we go back and forth as to what we're going to do with it. David extended the RE for a couple of months, right now we just don't have the time and hadn't considered what we would do if someone wanted to see it - it's an hour away from here and soon no one will be in the position to be running over there on a moments notice. We too are dragging a bit at renting it - the problem with that is you have to rent it for a year and once it's rented it becomes much less marketable for selling. We'll figure it out.

Ghosts Of Christmas Present

I've never put the Halloween ghosts away, I don't know why but I just like them too much. So I decided that instead of packing them away I would just change them up a bit, like those geese people have on their front porches. You know, the ones that you can buy Easter outfits, St Patricks, etc - why not ghosts? So I went to AC Moores and bought Santa hats and bows - I think they came out pretty good, don't you? David and I left out early this morning to buy most of the Thanksgiving dinner stuff, I'm glad we got there before ten - when we left the lines were snaking back, kids crying,etc. We went to the new Giant on 611 - it's a bit out of the way but it's new so it's fun to shop there. Pearl was a bit spiteful today and got into the grapes - she flung them all over the house stinking dog. We also had a group of turkeys come up the drive, they're way bigger than you think they are, especially since unlike their freezer dept contemporaries they still have their heads and feathers. Pearl didn't like them much but had great fun chasing them up the trees. They can fly a bit, but they're not very good at it. We have the guest room almost prepared - strangely enough the lower level wasn't as bad with the cat pee, it was mainly in the carpet so with that gone so is the smell. We're leaving the lower end til spring but really, the paneling down here is real wood, not plastic and I think with a bit of polish it just might be keep able. It just goes with the stone wall and the dark dark trim - maybe because I was raised in the 70s (which is when this house was decorated) is why it feels so comforting and homey down here. David has my ellipse set up down here so I can finally exercise, but I have to tell you, I weighed myself for the first time in 3 weeks - and I've lost 4 pounds! I'm down to 142 which I suppose is OK, my GP told me my weight should ideally be between 145 and 148 given my height and body type (he also wrote it down, circled it and showed it to me twice since at that point I believe he felt my diet was going a little too well.....) life is strange. We're having David's brother and his wife Grace for the holidays, they will be the first official guests of the Cat Pee House - and yes, the Hostess is laying in wait.

I Can Find My Own Way Home.

I drove home last night without the GPS - I really haven't needed it for the past couple of days but it's a back up sort of thing for me. The morning isn't a problem but at night it's full dark by the time I leave so I just put it on. This weekend I'm taking at least half a day - and doing nothing. We've been so busy lately, it seems like we never stop moving, the 2 AM Girl was in fine form all week, some nights starting early with me. But for the past two nights she's found other things to do and I actually got a full night's sleep which has made life a bit easier. I'm a very bad insomniac and it just leaves me unable to deal with anything. We've had all sorts of issues at work, nothing out of the ordinary but when you're tired all time it suddenly seems unmanageable. We're slowly unpacking, every time you move it seems like you own a mountain of stuff, where are you going to put it all? But over time your belongings either drift into their space or go to charity - we've learned not to give it away too fast because a little further down the road you end up needing it. Hopefully this weekend we can get out and look around, there's so much more here we haven't seen because we've been so busy. We have time though. Adam is trying to get leave for the first week in January which would be super, I hear from Jackson occasionally but he's involved in his high sea adventures - I'm glad he's loving his life. I'll post pictures tomorrow, David finished the back splash and it looks amazing! Over the winter he'll be starting work on the other floor, for now it will have to stay stuck in the 70's

The Short Road Home

At this point I live to go to bed - we are so busy! I'm getting used to the much shorter drive to work, I leave at 7:30 and I'm home before 6 which is a treat - staying late isn't as anxiety producing since I know home is now only 20 minutes away. The deer continue to be pesty creatures, no wonder people are so interested in shooting them. You should see the stupid things, alway peering at you with those big wet eyes, I'm sure they smell. When you go outside they dork about the bushes like you're not supposed to see them THEN they come bursting out like you were doing something and run willy nilly like a bunch of morons - I mean why are they in my yard in the first place?? If they're so afraid they should stay the hell in the woods and quit bothering me. Ha - you've discovered my true nature - I'm a vegetarian because I hate animals. David is planning on starting in on the tile this weekend, he cleaned the stonefire place today and got all that black soot off the front of it. We continue to unpack, it takes so long to find a place for everything. I'm hoping David puts the shelves up in the living room so I can unpack my books soon - I hate having them packed away again.

Things You Should Know Before You Visit

The baseboard heater in the wee little bathroom works. BUT after about 5 minutes the smell of Hot Pee starts wafting through the air, it is not the most pleasant of amenities.

We have discovered our hot water heater is on a timer - and we don't know how to turn it off. It looks like a big clock looming over the heater and every night at 7 pm it turns off the hot water and refuses to turn it back on until about 5 or 6 am. David I think can bypass it temporarily but can't get it to just cut it out. Bastards.

This place is lousy with deer. They spend all of their freaking spare time skulking around my yard, spying over the fence and hiding in the bushes. I have no idea what their agenda is. They have a forest, they need to play in it.

The cats can be amazingly pesty if you make them stay in the house all the time so the bears won't eat them.

Just when you think you've put everything away, another bin appears. And just when you get it all put away - you can't remember where you put it. It is like a wave of flotsom ebbing and flowing at all times.

You should never throw away the remote that comes with the TV, even if you get satallite TV because you never know when you might move and get cable. We've found 5 remotes and only ONE of them actually works something. The other ones just sort of blink fruitlessly and pretend to do stuff.

You should try to store all your cans in one place because when you move you'll discover so many cans of green beans you'll begin to doubt your sanity.

If You Want To Know About Your House......

..... ask the neighbors. Our neighbor Pat was over today to say hello and was able to shed some light on the origins of the Cat Pee House. It was never rented - instead it had been built by a couple as their retirement home. Pat knew of them, but didn't really know them. We knew they were amateur animal rescuers from the people that work at the community house, but they had said they only had dogs. According to Pat they actually had around 7 inside cats. When he met them they were very elderly and and soon after the husband passed away. The wife had difficulty maintaining the home, the well eventually dried up and she was down to using a small kerosene heater for heat with no running water, Pat said she was living rough when she finally ended up losing the house. The new well was put in by Fannie Mae and despite that, the house sat empty for almost two years. It's sad how that happens still, even with a country with so much money. So that is the story of the Cat Pee House. We're still moving along, the phone will be in tomorrow hopefully, our cell phones get a very stinky signal out here in the boondocks and as soon as we have time to breath we have to get a new company as Sprint doesn't have any towers in this area. We've spoken to them already and as soon as we get our first utility bill we can end our contract without any penalties. We have cable and Internet and a bed now, last night was awful. We slept on the floor on the guest room mattress which is a full size, not a problem unless you have a house full of stressed out pets that want to sleep with you. I woke up around midnight with Vincent pinning my feet to the bed so I gave him a little push not realizing how deeply asleep he was - he rolled off the bed and hit the floor with a very loud KLUNK - he was fine ( a bit embarrassed I think) but we must've laughed for half an hour. Good think for him the mattress was on the floor. We made another trip back to the house today and then I think one more time for the rest of the stuff and we're in like Flynn for the winter.

Home Sweet Home

I had a little trouble getting started today - the task of moving is overwhelming at best. The good thing is we're not moving far this time, the bad this is we're not moving far so I'm not taking any time off. But once we got up and packing, you just keep doing it - we made two trips today so the only things left are the living room furniture, most of the exercise equipment and General Flotsam. Pearl rides in the truck of course quite often so moving her was not a problem, the cats are a different story. Vincent goes along with what every you want, he may protest but he'll do it. Claw is a tough customer most days so David manned the door and I ran out with her howling and spitting and flung her in the car with David quickly shutting the door behind her. I jumped in and proceeded to drive 40 miles with The Howling Feline who only stopped once and that was so she could poop NEXT TO the litter box. Curse her little black heart. I have to say the aroma and the howling made the trip a bit endless, but we're here. We'll most likely spend the rest of the winter rearranging and rearranging again, we have to get rid of the art deco bedroom set and purchase a day bed at some point because the second guest room isn't that big but for now things are good. It'll be easier not having to make the 40 mile trek there and back daily and if Claw gets out of hand I can now simply rub her down with gravy and feed her to the bears. Of course over the next few weeks we'll be wondering about how we accumulated so much stuff and why, although David wonders about the yarn and why we have so much of it daily. Vincent is sitting next to me right now purring up a storm, they'll be in for the winter of course, it would break my heart to lose him. I don't worry about Claw, like a bad penny she ALWAYS turns up.

Well.

There are no pictures of the conference because I didn't get a chance to take any. I took my camera, but I drove there in the dark, ran around all day and then drove back in the dark. The conference itself was fun and I really did learn a lot, especially during the feedback session - I even spoke in public! That's a big thing for me because every time I speak in public I worry my face will turn red - and it does because I'm so worried about it. I don't know why, maybe it's clown related, maybe not. Anyhow, the big problem is I sit there listening to other people talk and wish desperately I could do that, all these great things I could say - and I don't. So I made myself do it, spoke for about 5 minutes and did not die. I think my face did turn a bit red, I could feel it getting warm but then it stopped so to me, that was a bit of a milestone. The food was wonderful, they just feed you all day and I got to meet people from all the offices. I met people from Vermont, Cape Cod, Hyannis, and other people I hadn't seen in awhile. This weekend David and I are making a major effort to move. It's been pretty difficult because this is the first time we've moved that we haven't had time to simply move. I usually have a couple of weeks off and the house even if it needs work it's usually livable - this has been an entirely different can of worms. So, I suppose if I'm moving I should get out of bed and maybe even get dressed. Hmm. What do you think Vincent? A few more minutes in bed? Alright, just for you.

Road Trip

I'm sitting in my hotel room in Mt Laurel NJ, I have a day long conference. I do enjoy them, it's a good chance to meet people from the other offices, you learn tons of stuff and of course it's a change of pace. The thing I don't like is I have to leave right after work so I end up sitting in every traffic jam on earth. Mt Laurel is just outside of Philly and I left work a little before 5 pm so it took a good almost 3 hours to go about 95 miles which pretty much sucked. I get a bit overwrought at times since we all know my general level of patience is maybe a .05 or lower and it being dark and unfamiliar certainly doesn't add to enjoyment of it all. Driving through a city and not being sure of where you are can be a little scary - I drove by myself this time because it would've taken too long to drive back to Pittston to carpool. Ellen and Laurie didn't get here until 9 pm so we had a late dinner and didn't get back to our rooms til 11 pm. So here I sit, waiting for it to be time to go, right after I'm heading back home and then this weekend we will be moving into the Cat Pee House, David is completely stressed out at this point but he'll calm down once we are in there. The driving back and forth is killing him, it's an eighty mile round trip and that doesn't include all the trips to Lowes, Home Depot, etc. I have to say this is the biggest project we've ever undertaken - not sure if he'd do it again.

I Wish I Had Gotten Out Of My Own Way.

Today was a long day, I was alone in the office and the phone rang nonstop until I turned it off at 3 and flipped it over to the home office as I was getting a little whiny. I also had a fairly interesting look going, I'm not sure if I even want to talk about this. Years ago I would despair with my younger son Jackson - he was a literary of bizarre accidents. He stepped off a bulk head and fell 8 feet playing blindman's bluff by himself, there was the throwing knife incident which required a huge amount of sewing, gouged under the eye by a miniature french bulldog ( I remember the poor owner who walked him home half in tears and me just sighing, since Jackson thought he looked super cool) on and on. He gets this from me. Yesterday Pearl brought her dumb stick to me once again. I went to throw it hard - and far - sigh. It got caught in my sleeve, swung around and the little pointy thing sticky out of the side pounded into my forehead. I can't remember anything bleeding so much, it just poured and poured. Despite my putting ice on it there is an interesting swelling right above my left eye with a nice cut. Hmm. So for today I followed the Clinton Method - Don't ask, don't tell - I took the 5th because quite honestly, the truth is a little to stupid too tell in this instance. And rather hilariously,even though I could see everyone could see it, no one was brave enough to ask.

I Can't Get Out Of My Own Way

This has been a horribly stressful week - both David and I have been running and going nowhere fast. Work was bad, but I know a lot of that was because we're in the middle of moving, one of the nurses went on vacation, and I remain sick. It's hard to get better when you are constantly on the move, but right now there's nothing to be done for it. I had to work half the day yesterday - I also had to draw blood which I haven't done for almost a year. To add to the fun the place we get our phlebotomy equipment has a safety feature on the butterfly. When you hit the button the needle shoots into the cuff rendering it safe - and useless. I managed to hit the stupid button on four of them before I ran out of supplies and had to run out to my car for more - thank goodness I had the foresight to pack extra! ARRGH. I was glad the involved party was sweet and patient, if it had been a crabby patient I would've lost it. I thought I would have to drive to a far hospital but the family knew where all the local labs were so I was able to drop it off in town and then go to one of my favorite LYS. The yarn I made the shawl out of they still had - and still 20% off so I bought it in a burgundy - $33 for 3 skeins and that was on sale!! Given the fact a visit on the weekend is $35 that would make my total intake for 3 hours was 2 dollars, not bad for a day's work. I wanted to buy more as I don't think they're getting anymore after this - it's hand dyed from Chili so I had to buy enough to totally complete a project as if you run out, too bad. So If bought the other two colors I would've had to spend $99 and there are just some things you cannot get by the Yarn Hater. And he doesn't care if it was hand dyed by Fairies and Gnomes at that price. Today David and I went to the Cat Pee House, David has started painting and it looks great. The downstairs is still Dark and Dismal and the ship on a mirror it turns out is glued quite firmly to the wall. Well, didn't we plan for posterity! But we are going to start moving in by the end of the week - we have a stove, water, heat, cable, Internet, phone will be in a week or so - David is going to get the floor down in the kitchen and dining room, put up some shelves and call it a day for now.

Saturday

The week is sort of over - but I'm working tomorrow and playing catch up on Sunday so I'm at the point of one day just rolling into another. Thanksgiving is racing fast - David is in charge of that. Kim and Grace will be coming to spend it with us so that will be nice - Pearl of course will be hostessing her head off and we will be in the Cat Pee house by then, despite some delays and miscalculations. As much as we think it's taking forever, it's really not - we just think it should have been done yesterday, David looking at that mammoth task and saying, Hmm, about two weeks I think. The Internet and the cable are in, phone is next week along with the furniture, water filter is functioning as is the dishwasher, its getting there. It will be livable, over the winter finishable. House is not rented yet, but we have a little time - we're being picky. Well, I'm being pickier since we're still selling it - David gets on the phone with Harry and I'm yelling. No pets! No smokers! No kids (David was wondering if they could use the bathroom), but we're between a rock and a hard place. I don't want to leave it sitting empty but we still need to sell it so it needs to stay nice. Work has been very stressful right now, we're at the point of fish or cut bait, it's been a hard sell in that area. And of course being sick all week just makes it harder, I'm tired and short of breath all the time, I just want to sleep. I do feel better and I get better ever day but I'm tired of being sick.

Day 567 - I am Still Sick.

The flu is one of the stinkiest things to get - at least if you get one of those 24 hour jobs you get sick - and then you're done. Finished. After a fun filled weekend running fevers and hacking, then my head stuffed up. Then it drained - if you could sell snot I would be a millionaire. THEN it went into my chest and now I'm losing my voice. I guess I've gotten a lot of bang for my buck. Work has been busy, but interesting. I got my associate back part time and am getting another one, I'm scouting for a full time RN, always looking for therapists, having a mock audit in December, conference in Mt Laurel NJ next week, Disneyland - courtesy of Bayada!! - in March, staff meetings are now once a week, running running. We got more presents from Bayada today for another billing record - now I have to get the staff under control. Oh, and I started the heel on the sock which I LOVE the color which is either Hot Peppers or Chili Peppers - I can't remember which la la la. The temps are starting to get sneaky cold - I go to work in a sweater and freeze my way home until the heat comes on - Vincent goes out long enough in the morning to see if there's anything worth killing and then spends the rest of his day snoring away on the bench with the little afghan on it. The Cat Pee House is coming right along, David had a hard and not so productive day today - he's getting down to the details and you know how that goes -it's always the little things that will get you.