Hero Pose

I haven't taken a major exam in years. I was originally scheduled to take the CRRN in June (Certified Rehabilitaion Registered Nurse) but due to multiple personal explosions I realized the chances of my passing were about the same as a Unicorn showing up at my house with a bag of money. The problem is it's only given twice a year - June and December so it was a very hard decision for me as I'd been studying nonstop and delaying it six months.....but as I reviewed my notes I found I could not retain any of it, my mind just went pelting in 900 different directions. And since my job is paying for it let me tell you, there is an extrodinary amount of pressure. Because EVERYONE knows you're taking it, all your supervisors, a whole department knows. And there has been only one person that failed. One.  I did not wish to be the second one to fail. 

I waited.

I scheduled for the last day possible in December as we had planned to travel to Washington state earlier in the month. I could have done it prior to our vacation but if I didn't pass what a sad hamster I would have been for our trip! Eek. I'd been studying all along but when I got back I ramped it up, Christmas found me with a review book and a list of cranial nerves. I was scheduled to take it on 12/27 at 8am in Pittsburgh so I left work a little early the day before. I had rented a hotel room about 5 miles from the test site as it's about an hour and a half drive with no traffic from my house - with traffic it's about 3 days, give or take. I located the test site, drove to my hotel and settled in to continue studying. The hotel is very close to CHP which I had not realized, but it explained why my room had a full kitchen in it. That was fun by the way even though I had not planned on cooking. 

I arrived at the test site a little early to go over my notes one last time. Since with all the fun technology people have gotten very creative with cheating, taking these tests is not an easy task. You sign in, everyone goes in a group to the room, you sign in again. When you're called you sign in again, show ID, get your picture taken, all of your belongings are taken and locked up. You are warned against talking, looking at other people, staying in your cubical, if you need to go to the bathroom there is only one allowed, you're on video monitors at all times. You're not even allowed to bring your own pencil! The test was 175 questions - certification tests to me are the most difficult. You only have to taken one, but they require you to know an ocean full of information for a thimble full of answers including Homogeneous hemiagnosia - why yes, I did panic a little, thank you for asking. At the end you hit the submit test button, I took a deep breath and made myself do it -  I could have gone over the anwers til the end of time but I know if I review them more than once I'll start changing them. And then change them again. and again. I sat there while it calculated thinking about  rescheduling to take it again in June, paying another testing fee.........

I passed. 

It prints out a sheet stating this fact and I kept thinking it should print out a Tee Shirt that says I DID TOO PASS, the relief! Followed by the elation! All that studying paid off.  I called my mentor from the parking lot and she picked up on the first ring. Then I texted my directors, then.... I went home. Because I was beyond fried. I did go to the graveyard nearby for a victory lap and then home. I am so glad that's done, 

and I am very, very proud of myself. 

Nonstop Action

The twins are two now - it's amazing how much they change from visit to visit. They talk, they run, want to help out - they never stop. Staying with toddlers is a bit like having a somewhat naughty octopus follow you around all the time.  Every time you pick something up twenty fingers need to see, they slide around your plate, slink under doors that are closed since you're obviously doing something amazing. When they want down or refuse to do what is asked they squid away and slide to the floor in liquid form. But two is such a fun age, they giggle and shriek, thank yous are solemn. When they fall (frequently) they shout OK! in those hilarious baby voices

They dress like lunatics. 

When we got to visit we spend a great deal of time babysitting - we get up with the girls so their parents can sleep in. We sent Brandi and Jackson out a couple of times for the day so they could have some time to shop, eat a meal, just sit. We spent time together, we went to the beach a couple of times between the rain drops - it's that time of the year there, we made one attempt at out to dinner but with kids it's a crap shoot at best. We lasted about long enough for the food to hit the table, then one decided she wished to go trick or treating, the other one was on board with that and they both ended up in the lobby while Papa paid the tab and Dada boxed up the food to take home. I'm glad to see though that Brandi and Jackson don't have an issue with that, Brandi said sometimes you can make it through the whole meal, other times not so much.

But I'd rather pack it up and go than subject an entire restaurant to two unhappy screaming kids. I don't get when parents do that - are you really having any fun? And what kind of point are you making to a toddler? Ugh. But it was so much fun to spend time with all of them, it goes so fast!

All In A Day

It's been hard with Jackson and Brandi living so far - but one of the things that compensates for it is I've probably seen Kim and Stephen more in the past 3 years than I have in the past 35 years. Kim and I have known each other since elementary school and have been best friends since high school. She got married and moved to Virginia when we graduated, they move to Vermont. We moved to West Virginia. Billrica for them, the Poconos for us. Oregon - Pennsylvania. We've been bouncing all over but we've never lost contact. Phone calls, letters, texts, Facebook, we rarely go more than a week without some contact even if it's just  a sentence or a call on my way home from work. 

All of our visits here they've missed just one. I cannot tell you how much I appreciate their taking the time to drive the 5 hours up to Whidbey Island to spend a couple of days with us twice a year. I know they'd love for us to come see Thieu home but they also understand how limited our time is with the girls and thier parents so they make the trek up to us. This time around they stayed in Coupeville, a small touristy waterfront town about 20 minutes from here. They did the AirBNB and were pretty pleased with it, $79 off season got them a lovely townhouse overlooking the water. They came over yesterday morning and we had a brunch with everyone. Delilah and Chloe were in their glory, all these adults paying attention to them plus all the bacon you could eat to boot. The girls are getting old enough that they remember people and were happily going from lap to lap.

After we went back to Coupeville just to walk around the village - I'm sure in the summer it's overrun with visitors! Lots of little gift and art stores, I bought a couple of things. There's a yarn and gift shop and I got a skein of hand dyed sock yarn, the owner told us the merchant community is very upset with the mayor who is allowing the street construction during the holiday shopping season. She said it's hard enough to stay afloat during the off season and now there's no parking and no through fair. After we finished shopping we headed back to Oak Harbor - you do NOT want to eat in Coupeville, it's super expensive! We had looked at one which appeared to be a local bar and grill so I pulled it up on Yelp. The reviews described it as a "local dive" and the lunch prices were about $20 a meal for what appeared to be standard bar fare. Yikes! The day was spent catching up, we literally talked all day about everything, it was wonderful. This morning we saw them for breakfast before hugging them tightly goodbye, I'm sad we really only get one day, but what a day we get. 

So Far So Good

The trip here was good - not sure if it was just a good flight or we're getting used to this routine. The only bump in the road was my phone - I had set my alarm for 1:30am to make sure we had time - isn't that crazy for a 6 am flight? But we have to get up and dressed, it's about an hour to the airport, drop off the  car at Globe Parking (that is the only place we park!) then arrive two hours prior to the flight so 1:30am it is. Right before I went to bed I checked my phone and went to respond to a text - it was stuck in No Service, Emergency calls only mode. ARRGH! It's done this before so that meant scouring the internet to remember how to get it out. The last time this happened I just took the battery out but this phone has a non removable battery of course. After about 45 minutes I gave it up, I needed to get to sleep and nothing was working. At first I couldn't sleep because it stressed me out so badly - but David has a phone and it was not the end of the world so I gave it up and feel asleep.

The Phone Fairies fixed it. 

We dropped the car off at Globe Parking and yes this is shout out to them - they get your luggage out of the car for you, completely fast and efficient, they even have oil change, car cleaning services for while you're gone, drive you to the airport and drop you off at your gate. When we get home they pick up and in the winter your car is warmed up and waiting for you - plus they're much cheaper than parking at the airport, can't beat that, can you?

The only great thing about having to get there two hours is it gives you tons of time to drink coffee. The first flight was short but fun, the plane was only half full, David and I were sitting in separate aisles - I was going to ask him to sit with me but he was already deep in his book so we both enjoyed a full row of seats. The next flight was full and very long, almost 5 hours. But I had my knitting, David had his Robert B. Parker books to keep him entertained, it was relaxing. We arrived with about an hour before the shuttle came - we don't rent a car because most of the time we're with the family and we are welcome to borrow a vehicle. It's a two hour plus ride even with the shuttle, but it's a very pleasant one. The ferry ride is the best, the lake we cross is huge and breathtaking,and of course there's coffee. The drop off is about 20 minutes from Jackson and Brandi's house, the girls were napping when we got here but it gave us time to get settled in and to see Jackson and Brandi. The best part now  is they both remember us - we video chat with them quite often too. But they came running in yelling Nana and Papa to give big hugs and kisses, worth every mile we had to fly. We're seeing Kim and Stephen tomorrow, they're driving up from Oregon and we'll spend the day with them, family and best friends - you can't ask for more,

can you?

We're Still Having Fun And You're Still The One

Do you realized we've had Molly for over six years? It doesn't seem possible that Team Molly&Reuben are about eight. I've said this a million times but we've never had a pair of dogs so wonderfully, perfectly matched to each other - he's the cream in her coffee, she's the baked in his beans. She was the dog we didn't intend to get, we weren't looking for - my Pearl had passed away so suddenly and we weren't even sure we wanted another dog. Reuben was suddenly a quiet dog, the bounce was gone out of his step. He was still our loveable Boo, but there was sadness about him now. We knew he missed his best friend Pearl so much - so did we.

Then about 2 months after Pearl passed the breeder we got Reuben from posted a picture of the last of 8 dogs rescued from a very, very bad situation. The second we saw that picture we were contacting Matt and Ruth, then Justin and Stephanie, then the Miami Valley Rescue, and then, she was here. It was fun for about ......10 seconds. It got fun again, but it took about 6 months. Rescue dogs, unlike those little videos on Facebook do not fall in love with you right away - Molly had gone from bad, to good (6 months in a foster home) to the Great Unknown. She tried to eat our cat. She had no interest in listening to us - who the hell were we anyhow? But.... she loved 

Reuben. A Lot. 

David said months later that there were times those first few weeks he was sure we'd made a mistake, that this would not work. But she learned how to live in our house, we learned that when she asks to go out, she needs to go out. And if you don't get up there will be a nice little gift for you in the center of the staircase. She learned to listen - I had one charming incident where some poor man had to sit for about 5 minutes in the road while I chased her around his pickup truck, Reuben trotting behind enjoying this new game ( actually the man was laughing his butt off). But through all of this Molly and Reuben have been tighter than Bonnie and Clyde, where one goes the other goes, a biscuit for one, a biscuit for both. 

I wish more people would consider a rescue dog - she was a lot of work but at the end of the day she has been worth it. And Reuben would tell you she's the best thing that ever walked through his door, every day he wakes up to a best friend to spend time with - and get in trouble with- and maybe, bother the cat with. We are very particular to Vizslas and it's ok to like a certain breed, it's also ok to buy them from breeders if they are responsible ones. The people we got Reuben from - and Pearl - love the breed and have only  one or two litters a year, their dogs live in the house, not out in a pen - they have good lives. And even better the breeder is part of a rescue, which for us turned out to be a very, very good thing.

Drill and Fill

So I had a dentist appointment today for a cleaning and to replace a filling that had come lose in the back.  He took a look at it and used that horrid little metal hook that twangs sometimes when it gets caught on (me)something. Well the dentist said I'm not going to bother using novacaine and proceded to start drilling I just opened my mouth- at this point there's not much on the tooth that's real, if anything. It's a crown with a root canal to boot, the type of tooth that pays for vacations. But as always I just grateful I have teeth to call my own, crooked and a little discolored they may be. It's been a long road with me and my teeth, hasn't it?

I have genetically bad teeth - one dentist told me I have what's called "soft teeth" with little natural enamel, despite my brushing religiously, even in elementary school when my friends were tryng to see how long they could go before a parent noticing, flossing, waterpiks, I've had a staggering amount of cavities and dental work. My first dentist - who shall go unnamed - terrified me. He drilled my babyteeth, then they came out and he drilled the adult teeth - it was insanely painful for me despite the novacaine he said he used, the needles almost as painful as the drilling. However, please keep in mind this is my recollection and one that was compounded by fear. 

I hated him.

Then I became an adult and I did try a few other dentists but my fear usually overcame any common sense and eventually, I just stopped going. This was a bad decision on my part but it was the one I made. I didn't go to a dentist for almost 4 years and during that time my teeth did not take a vacation. I told myself I couldn't afford it, but you know, if you need to you can, can't you? My teeth got worse. David couldn't convince me to go, people would make comments and I would ignore it thinking it wasn't so bad. It was. Then I started college as an adult and I was getting very self concious about it, I stopped smiling. I developed toothaches. And then one day the throbbing would not stop no matter what I did - a friend of my sister's told me to go to Dr. Cuba. I did because I was out of options and Dr. Cuba pulled the tooth, there was no saving it. He told me could fix this but I needed to come back. 

I didn't.

By then the pain started again and I called and told the secretary I needed an appointment to have all my teeth pulled, I was done. I heard her repeat that to Dr. Cuba and then heard him yell YOU TELL HER TO QUIT FOOLING AROUND AND GET IN HERE OR DON'T BOTHER COMING BACK". So.....I did. He knew how phobic I had become and he promised if I kept my appointments he would not hurt me - I kept my word and he kept his. My first appointments were rough, they were 2 hour blocks with breaks, if he saw me so much as flinch he stopped and gave me more novacaine - there were days when I walked out of his office you could have hit me in the face with a shovel and I would have kept walking. He pulled a few more teeth in the back and then continued drilling - he filled over 50 cavities, I stopped counting after awhile. It was a hard thing to do for me, but I got over my fear realizing it didn't have to hurt  - Dr. Cuba told me to always do what I had to, you can pull teeth but you can't put them back. And mine are not perfect by a long stretch - but they ARE mine. 

Loser

After you've been married for awhile you tend to get used to each other faults- doesn't mean it won't drive you crazy, but you get used to it. You casually throw out death threats while drinking your coffee, you can say "I'm going to kill you in a minute" just as easily as you say "I love you". I'm sure David has a laundry list of what I do that he can't stand, but after 35+ years the good still outweighs the bad with both of us. 

David decided to go hunting last week late in the afternoon, put Reuben's little vest and collar on him and loaded his excited butt into the van. He came back and got his stuff, then discovered his vest was missing - I was trying to do something at the table when he asked if I'd seen it. No, I hadn't. Was I sure and he went on to give such a detailed description that if the vest had committed a crime the FBI would have caught it right away just based on the exact likeness he'd conjured up. No, I hadn't seen it. He went upstairs and rummaged around like there was a herd of elephants assisting him, then clomped down to the basement to repeat the process. As he passed he asked me again -

I will kill you. Now. 

Reuben meanwhile (oh, did you forget about him? Bad you!)was in the van losing his shit since he'd been waiting for over 10 minutes and was now freaking out. David trotted BACK UP THE STAIRS  to rummage again - No I haven't! - and then back down to the cellar, then out to the porch - I had gotten nothing done except plot his demise - David thought this was pretty harsh but it was the only way I could figure out how to escape this hell. He was on his way out to look in his van and to make sure Reuben hadn't started to eat the upholstery in a random act of revenge. I got up and opened the basement door and there, hanging on a nail right by the door was the hunting vest. I knew this due to the magnificent description I had gotten. At this point David had started looking in my car (???) so I pitched it down to him, nonchalantly threw another I should kill you after it and sent him on his way. I'm sure we'll be repeating this again soon. 

Puttng A Face On It.

Ah, the wall - Trump has asked for 5 billion to build it, his blind followers I'm sure are supporting it. Good theory - keeping "them" out, but my question is, who are they? It's easy to lump a group together when they are not a part of your day, I've often said being a racist is easy unless the person you're being racist against is standing right in front of you - funny how things change once it goes from "they" to "you". I was listening to NPR and they were interviewing that woman with the two girls photographed running from tear gas, one by the hand and the other carried. Damn Illegal, right? Did you know what made her walk all those hundreds of miles to a country that does not want her? With such a slim chance of getting in? That she came with her 5 children, all this way - was it bad parenting? Wanting a free ride?

Where she's from is overrun with gangs and cartels, her daughter has gotten older and the gang members are starting to sexually harrass her - she cannot fight them. At best her daughter faces being forced to be one of thier girlfriends - at worst, gang rape for resisting. Ask yourself - wouldn't you run too and take your chances for the safety of your child? But then they interviewed someone else and I wish I could remember her name. But surprisingly she didn't think the caravan should be let into the country and I agree wholely, there is not another nation in the world that would allow that and we would be foolish to do so. The speaker went on to talk about a social project that was done in a city in Honduras where they took the model from a gang infested town here and used it there.

They opened a center for the kids to go, family therapy was free, they made it possilbe for people to testify safely against the gang members to the extreme of a witness being carried into the courtroom in closed box using a voice distorter for a sucessful conviction. In two years they decreased murder in this town by 63%, gang members were routinely being convicted - it worked. And maybe that's the answer - as far as cost wouldn't it be easier and more cost effective to help them fix their country so they can live there, rather then us have to support them? I loved this answer, it would not be easy but in the long run it would benefit our nation too, not to mention the best scenario financially. And before you say not my problem - did you know the flow of heroin has tripled and meth quadrupled in the past few years from south of the border? It is our problem. 

Smoke and Mirrors

An old proverb says that a journey starts with a single step, but I'll bet that person probably has never joined a gym - it's not the single step that will hold you up. There is a learning curve - not the gym - but fitting it in. Since I"m doing this before work most days it took a bit of configuring to figure out how I would do it since I'll have to take my morning shower and get dressed there.. The gym I joined has  2 private showers which was one of the big pluses, I hated shared showers in high school and hate them as an adult. Then I have to bring all my own supplies plus a towel, office clothes, blow dryer, shoes, etc... and it all needs to fit into one bag. I did a dry run on the weekend so I could time the drive, packed my bag and off I went. The whole thing looked better on paper.

Oh, and did I mention there's a sign that asks all gym members to limit their time to 15 minutes? Hmm! The first go around I went over the time limit a bit but that was partially because I forgot to bring soap which is considered an Important Part of any shower. FYI - shampoo will do in a pinch. But all in all it was not too bad and I thought I had it. But like I said - it was a practice run. This morning I got there early early and worked out for over an hour, it felt so good to really break a sweat! As I finished up I saw the shower was open so in I went. First of all just because you stop moving doesn't mean you stop sweating. And when you sweat you're clothes stick to you. Have you ever tried to take a wet, tight sports bra off? It takes on a life of its own, the more you pull the more it rolls and sticks. It was sort of like that scene in Alien when the guy is trying to pull the face hugger off before it sticks it's probe down the guy's throat - but not quite as exciting.

In the shower, that went well, thank you for asking - I had soap and everything this time but the clock is ticking. Pulling clothes on while you're still a bit wet is the reverse of yanking off a wet sports bra and of course everything rolls up like a window shade, clock is ticking. My hair, which is getting long refused to behave and looked like it had been styled by a deranged monkey but I figured I would straighten it out in the car and put my make up on there too. But all in all I looked (somewhat) decent today and as time goes on I'll figure it out. It  also might be time for that haircut I've been putting off. 

Run Around You.

So, as we all know I've been having tons of problems with my weight. I don't know if it's my age, going through menopause, my sedentary job - but at the end of the day none of that matters. I've been on multiple diets, exercise, yada yada yada - would work for awhile, then stop, then I get discouraged, stop exercising, start eating too much again, wash, rinse repeat. The end result is I now weigh more than I ever had in my entire life. How much do I weigh? I'll let you know later. 

I decided I would join a gym - I worked out for years prior to this job and always kept my weight down - and I could have the time if I wanted to.  The biggest problems I had to overcome is time and distance because nothing is close here. I did a mapquest first to see what's around and ruled out a variety for too far, too expense (Fitcross was almost $200 a month but included towels. For $200 a month there had better be someone to dry my hair!). One looked like an assembly of everyone's old basement equipment, on and on. So I narrowed down my search to 3 gyms, 2 of which were near my office, those I visited first. One was way too small, I walked through the first room....and was out of it. But it was cheap and no contract.The second was Glittery and Swanky - it was in a huge black glass building and it was huge! Pilates, Zumba, juice bar, gym staff. The price was reasonable and it was right around the corner. But no, it was way too big.

The 3rd one....was just right. I like the idea of classes but don't have that kind of time, but this gym does offer some if I want it. The equipment is just the way I like it, half machines and half free weights, clean. You get a fob so you can go anytime you want so I can go before work. I took a week to think about it and then joined the 3rd one. I was not crazy about having to commit for a year, but the trade off is this gym is a chain and after the first month you can go to any facility which really works for me as there is one here in Waynesburg and one up by my office. I've gone about 4 times and feel better already. Hopefully this will be the answer I've been looking for.

Walk

Today was the perfect day to go walking, sunshiny, cool but not cold, little breezy. We went to the game lands we haven't been to yet, parked first on the stream side. Because it's been raining so much where you can step over the stream was too wide for me. David jumped over but I saw all that slippy mud and was nope, not today. I am a klutz on the best of days, this was not a good activity for me. So, we headed to the other side of the game lands that has no stream. Nope on this one too - acres of dried cornstalks which doe NOT make a relaxing anything with Reuben. Reuben runs around like he's on a game show and David hollers at him like he is not. 

Back in the van and down the road. There's a little park I pass all the time with a hiking trail so out we got - score! Beautiful little pond and wide grassy path. It went much farther than I thought it would, uphill we went. Reuben still ran like a crazy thing but we could see him (most of the time)  and they were just having the best time. The trail continued uphill, we havent' been walking in a very long time so I'm sure I'll feel it tomorrow, but it was such a lovely day.

And then Molly found a poo. And not just a run of the mill rabbit or deer - David said it was most likely a bear poo. It was huge and nasty - Molly manged to cover her entire back, all her collars, down her sides. At that point there was nothing we could do so we made it to the top with Crazy Reuben and Stink-O-La, what a view! You could see for miles, more than worth the walk. The ride home was interesting to say the least. Molly refused to stay in the back of the van so we rode home with the windows rolled down. The smell! was a combination of low tide, a poorly run pig farm with light notes of month old road kill wafting gently, I was surprised there was not a little black cloud hovering over her

Fortunately she's washable this was not the first time she's done this and it most likely is not the last. I guess you just have to take the good with the bad!

Closed.

So, we closed on the flip house on Monday - it went well and smooth, no 11th hour surprises. They did the walk through at 8am - of course the skies opened up that day but other than that, nothing. I had the day off so no stress there and when we were done it was a weight off my shoulders and David's

We deposited the check at a local bank and as we  headed home, David said to me 

"Well, I guess I can tell you now."

Let me tell you -we've been married for about 35 years and every time he says that I want to stick a fork in his eyeball and twirl it - you have no idea. So I rose to the bait - tell me what? - and he did. Apparently the guy next door, the one with the batshit crazy mother in law that had his shed on our property along with having his telephone pole placed in the center of our backyard  

https://julia-yarnsandtalltails.blogspot.com/2018/04/good-fences-make-good-neighbors-unless.html 

 had taken David to court to sue him for $11,000!  ARRGH. He came out with a lawyer but nothing else. He was suing for replacing the rotting shed with a one car garage, wanted us to pay for his electric hookup and loss of rental income stating that David was driving away potential renters.

David pointed out the lack of electricity was more the cause of no renters to the broken down trailer than him, he had pictures of the shed, a witness, emails from West Penn etc.... The lawyer kept objecting when he spoke so when it was the lawyer's turn David starting objecting to everything he said - the lawyer rather crossly told David since he wasn't a lawyer he couldn't object - so David told the judge he objected to that. Sigh. David doesn't think he'll get anything but stranger things have happened - if it does come to that we can contest it. However, on we go - David is 2/3 of the way to finishing the upstairs, we have the new siding ordered, etc..  onward, ever onward. 

Under Construction

After a year - or so - of living here David has restarted our house. We moved here rather unexpectedly, not that we hadn't meant to buy it, but we certainly had not planned on moving into it so fast. And looking back, we hadn't intended to buy it in the first place. When we buy flips we rarely pay more than 25,000 and before you get all excited about cheap houses, we ALWAYS get exactly what we paid for - holes in the wall, sagging ceiling, free cat pee. When we were shown this place it was well above our usual budget, but there was something about it so we forged ahead. The game plan had been David would fix it up and then we'd decide what to do with it, it pushed our budget right to the edge and then.......

Our neighbor at our previous house sold his home for a really high price. Hmm. So we planted our For Sale sign with the idea it might sell in four, five, months and it sold in less than one.  I frantically packed while working full time, David was over here double-timing it as he'd started the gutting process since he thought he'd have a lot more time. He got a couple of rooms livable - when people asked about my new house I'd just respond "well, I have a toilet and internet" - and that was true. We had no kitchen, the bathroom looked like something out of a 70's horror movie complete with old fixtures and peeling wallpaper. Squirrels danced in the attic, the wind blew in through the ceiling. David finished most of the first floor and closed in the falling apart covered porches, and stopped. 

Because we do not live on air - we bought the house in Mapletown and work commenced on that. It ended up being a lot more labor intensive than he'd originally planned and he lived up to the nickname I've given him - Mr. Pickypants. David's houses sell quickly because of this trait, he nitpicks and micromanages, I've seen him rip out whole sections because it didn't look right to him. The downside is it takes him longer to finish houses, the upside is they tend to fly off the market, so it works out. But he's done and the closing is tomorrow, his attention is back on our house. He's flying through the upstairs but oh, the mess! Dust everywhere - plasterdust, sawdust, dust dust dust. Construction waste, piles of old shingles and 2 x 4's litter my backyard. 

Everything is boxed and piled, it's so much harder than when you aren't living in it. 

But it's starting to come together and yesterday, standing upstairs I could see what it will look like. I don't think we'll move upstairs, we discussed it and right now the idea of hauling all the furniture and our stuff upstairs is overwhelming. We're probably not going to stay here, but who knows? At some point we'll have to stop moving, it does get tiresome never unpacking completely, looking at every new piece of furniture for pack ability instead of function, not feeling settled. Someday, we'll put roots down, someday. But not yet.

Faith Is Best When Given Away

I had to work today, but on the way home I took the backroads - the leaves are lovely and you never know what you might see. As I neared home and at a stop, across the road was a truck with it's emergency lights. The young man on his phone was upset, talking into a cell phone and obviously lost. He had a crew cap, tattoos all over, I was by myself.  But I've been in that situation myself so I rolled my window down and asked if he needed help. He came over to my car, he'd just moved here and didn't realize his gas gauge was broken - two kids in the car, out of gas, emergency service on speaker phone asking him again and again where are you?

I used my GPS to locate the address, was that ridge or run? Castle?, no Castile I spelled for her. She found it and then announced it would be a $100 service plus surcharge, and then the gas..... due when they came - we both looked at each other in astonishment, especially since they weren't coming from that far. I told him to hang up the phone and then I called home - David said he'd be waiting with a gas can. Half an hour later David was pouring enough gas in his tank to get him safely to a gas station or home, I could see him smiling and shaking his head no. The guy came over to my car and tried to hand me money - I told him no too - then I said what I've said before - the next time you see someone who needs help, remember how nice we were to you and help them out, that's all we need today. 

We've all had that unexpected kindness -  the 3 people at the store letting us ahead because they remember how hard it is to shop with kids, someone hands you the dollar you're short at Starbucks - I've had that happen and I remember not only being grateful, but reminded that we all need to help each other out. There are times when your faith is restored in humanity but like today, sometimes YOU have to be the one restoring someone else's faith. Rather hilariously while David was filling the tank this guy's new pastor drove by and rolled down his window to see if he needed help - 

LOL! No thank you man of God, the atheists have it covered!

I hope if that young man ever sees someone in trouble he'll think of us and do for someone else what we did for him today - I knew by the look of relief on his face and smile as he thanked us he'll remember, just like I've never forgotten that kind woman who sent her son down to fix my tire when I broke down on a very rural road with no cell service. So in the immortal words of Ghandi:  

Be the change that you wish to see in the world

Assembly Required

We bought Ikea furniture for the bedroom last year and there was one nightstand that we didn't put together. It's been sitting in the back of the closet and honestly, it annoys me. So today I figured I'd do it. Step One was battling the cat who likes to sleep on an old pillow in the closet. I took Bob out and put her on the bed so I could get to it, every time I turned around she was back. I finally piled the pieces on her pillow and dragged the pillow out. Next was finding the directions.......which were No Where. Of course. Thank goodness for You Tube! 

Just an FYI- you ever buy Ikea every single product they make has a YouTube Video (actually, that's pretty much true of everything these days, isn't it? If you want to know how to Dismember An Ex I sure there's a video of it, but I digress). I started off with The Ikea Hunk and then ended up with a Plain Jane version which was the manual pages, then they would do a Twirling Of The Bits, then demonstrate. So I separated the bits, then had to find the tools which was the hardest part. Since the house is underconstruction they are EVERYWHERE

Some less accessible than others - for the hammer and the drill there was some precarious stepping across joists and then back again. Then down to the basement to rummage about the floor for pliers. SO I had everything together and started. Ikea is one of those things, once you get the hang of it it's not as hard as it looks, it's just getting the hang of it. I love Youtube because you can stop, go back, etc....

I have  an embarrassingly huge tablet - it's a Samsung with a 19 inch screen (my favorite toy of all time I might add!) so I had that set up on the bed so I could see it.

Molly refused to get off the bed invoking the She Was There First Rule, I told her to get off but she squeezed herself in between the parts and hunkered down. So  I spent part of the time feeling around under her for the parts, not helping!

I was pretty proud of myself, it started to look like a real piece of furniture! I did have a couple of stops, I put the feet on the wrong end and then had to take them out. One of the things with Ikea is they are not meant to come apart so I had to carefully pry it out without breaking anything. But the video I had on was really clear which I loved. 

Drawers were next and by the time I hit this part I was an Old Pro

And then - Ta Da! Finished product. It was not as hard as I thought it was going to be and I glad it's done, despite the antics of Molly and Bob.