Solitary Confinement

Ah yes, the thing we are most tired of and yet cannot stop talking about - Oregon is under confinement(you can call it what you like, that's what it is). I mean technically you won't go to prison but if you're seen consorting you'll get your ass talked about on Cowlitz County Bulletin Board. My favorite was people raging about those That Refuse To Stop Touching Each Other and one woman posted "I saw a group of people playing GOLF and I just wanted to yell at them Go home you filthy animals!". I am praying that if Nancy makes her way here before moving back to KingCharlesWorld I can take her to a golf course because I will yell that at her all day. Hell, she doesn't even need to be on a golf course. Sitting here and thinking about it  I might just yell that randomly. Kim and Stephen did come over last week before the Giant Lock Up, it was fun. We had a nice lunch - I made Vegetarian Pizza from my own recipe and then I formally presented her with a Used Mixer. 

David and I went to an estate sale a few weeks ago on the last day(not on purpose, but that's a whole other story), I bought some nice cut glass wine and beer glasses, we got a cement garden bench for $12, a few odds and ends. You do have to be careful, as I've said before it's not a bargain if you can't use it - but that's sometimes hard to remember when you see an inflatable fishing boat with a motor - even if you don't fish. Anyhoo, I spotted a large Cusinart Mixer in a plastic bin pushed under a table and pulled it out. It looked almost brand new, had all the blades and even a splatter guard for the 5.5 quart bowl. It was marked $50 (new they are $275), but you know me. David called to the person running the sale who called back since it was the last day - everything was 50% off!!And she showed us a place to plug it in to make sure it worked. But I don't need one, do I? I have a Kitchen aid with all the attachments, hmm. BUT....... when you flip houses you keep a running list in your head and Kim had said a few months ago she would love to have a heavy mixer but the price.......sold of course. 

David is not affected by all of this since he works by himself, my office is closed to the public and we are essentially working from home. All of my appointments have been cancelled, no dentist, no eye doctor. Fortunately I had my eye appointment a few weeks prior and the pressure in both are still very good. They did most of the testing then, there were just a couple they were going to do on a separate appointment, no big. The weather is off and on rain, but I've managed to get some yard work done, I've cleaned and sorted, swept, mopped and waxed the floors. Hopefully we will be done by Easter, I was really looking foward to seeing the girls

No Rest For The Wicked.

So. Last night. We have someone building a house past ours, from what the neighbors have told us they have teenagers. They started breaking ground last week so there's a portapotty there now too -  they lived here prior but the house burned down and they are re-building. The trucks are going to be a bit of  traffic but it's not forever. Around 11 pm last night we were jolted out of bed by gunfire and not one or two shots fired. About half an hour of it, the dogs of course went crazy, David flipped on the lights - arrgh!! Then the music started and so forth, I'm pretty sure it was thier kids. And honestly, the music and the laughter was pretty faint, it was not that big of a deal( I think the addition of the portapotty has made it an excellent party place for now). But I was up now, wasn't I? One thing I'm not good at is insomnia, it makes me dramatic and maudlin, once I get woken out of a deep sleep it's hard for me to go back to sleep.

11:30pm - up and to the bathroom, peeked out the window to see if anyone was within shoe throwing range. 

11:40 - reading a book, trying to shove Rueben off my pillow as we are apparently sharing it since he's up too. Glaring does no good as it just inspires big sneakykisses.

11;45pm - back to the bathroom for water since I'm now thirsty. 

Midnight - upstairs to the guest room since my flipping around, sighing, getting up to get a drink of water, reading, and wrestling with Rueben is disturbing others. 

12:15am - Bob has spotted me and hops up on the bed marching around and purring, headbumping and purring hard since I'm now forced to pet her.

12:40am - reading again, then downstairs to the bathroom since I drank all that  water. Bob follows me down the stairs and then up, I shove her under the covers to make her stop pestering me. 

1am - the dogs have just realized I'm upstairs and come clattering up, making sure they walk all over the hardwood with thier clicky nails. The guest room bed is very high and it's not easy for them to jump up on it, I'm besieged with tiny, staring dog eyes as they try to figure out how to get up. Molly is thinking about howling at me. I suggest they go back downstairs. 

1:15am - Rueben and Molly return, Rueben is taller and able to launch himself sucessfully onto the bed causing Bob to flee and me to curl into a fetal position - who needs two kidneys anyhow? He and Molly get into it since she can't get on the bed and I'm not getting up to help her. She finally gives it up and leaves in a huff. Rueben gives me a facewashing despite protest, flips over on his back, head on my shoulder and commences snoring in a victorious sort of way. 

1:17am - back to reading. At some point I do manage to fall asleep.

4:30am - Molly finally decides enough is enough and comes flying on the bed in Not Conducive To Sleep sort of a  way, but she does avoid landing directly on me so that is a bonus. 

5:45am - I actuallys sleep but I'm done, I trudge downstairs with all my roommates dancing around since you know, I'm up and all. 

 After a massive amount of coffee and I did get some sleep I'm a little off but ok. David said he did hear a pick up truck come roaring down and then back -after the shooting stopped so hopefully that was one of the parents making them stop. And hopefully this will not be a recurring problem - I don't have any issues with target practice but I do have a problem with them doing it in the middle of the night. 

Eight Months In.

So. We've  been here 8 months, 2/3rds of a year. We went through Summer, Fall, almost done with Winter and will be coming up on Spring soon. Winter was not as bad as everyone liked to think it was, I was regaled with tales of Snow, Ice and General Mayhem but...... we got a total of one inch. One. Inch. and it was actually total mayhem on that day, you would have thought we were on the brink of Armaggedon but then it melted the next morning and it was back to business. It's a little odd here because it never quite gets to the wintery bit of it, David has mowed the lawn all winter. Not a lot, but he did have to mow a few times in January and February, the daffodills bloomed in the beginning of Febrary too. We just got a lot of rain. Even that you get used to, the dogs sort of ignore it unless it's pouring and it usually isn't. 

We've had a large group of mallards move into the sluice behind the house which is an issue for Rueben. He's terrified of water and yet would like to flush the bananas out of them. So he spends a lot of time on the back deck pointing them in a serious manner. They got annoyed with him the other day and started quacking at him which made him point at them hard. I made him come in the house when I couldn't take it anymore. I'm still on hunt for sealions, the smelt have calmed down so they are not in the river anymore, but I can head out to Astoria if I need to visit with them. David continues to work on the Astoria house, he has the septic guy coming out to fix the tank and had the shingles delivered the other day, he's taken down walls as the house is going to be reconfigured. They had a fire years ago which took out the upper floor and when they rebuilt they made it a one story - the floor plan is awkward at best and wastes space so David has been busy moving bathrooms and bedrooms. The front door is back where it should be, it looks better already. 

My job.....is going. They lowered the age from senior citizen to 18, I know it's adults but there's a huge difference in the problems of a 70 year old as opposed to a 30 year old. It also means I'm dealing with drug addiction, alchoholism,neurological disorders (think MS, CP, etc....) I'm getting quite the education. But I still enjoy my job and very much enjoy not driving as much. In PA I averaged about 8 to 900 miles a week, here if I go over 250 it's a rare thing. Plus my job is less than 20 miles from my house, what a relief not to have 3 hours of driving to and from work!! Things are really settling down, even though David has put a hold on working on our house it's far enough along that it's not an issue. Everything works, well except the dishwasher and the shower but other than that systems are go!