The Cat Pee House Is Ours!

What a busy week! And it's only Wednesday! I have been cheerfully eating my weight in crap and that has got to stop. Aside from the weight gain which is sure to happen I feel vaguely nauseous, tired and short tempered all the time and I'm pretty sure it's because I've been eating nothing but fat and sugar for a week. Liz ended up leaving a little early on Sunday - we had some lookers which screwed up the day a bit, not too bad though. David and I spent the afternoon doing the weekly shopping and then I left a little early Monday morning because I knew it would be a busy day. It was a very long day - the day you close on a house is nerve wracking whether you're there or not - David told me yesterday that actually there had been a huge screw up with the deed and there was a flurry of phone calls and running about so we did have the usual Eleventh Hour - but thankfully I didn't know about it until after it happened. The closing after that went smoothly and we became home owners right on schedule. I left work at 4 pm and drove to Pittston, then got in Laurie's car and we drove to State College. We had signed up for a coding seminar months ago and of course it fell on the same day we were closing - there is nothing like working 12 hours and driving for 2 mores when you're stressed out and sleep deprived The trip was fun, Laurie and I get along very well so we had a good time and actually learned stuff! We got stuck in traffic on the way there which was miserable but made good time on the way back which was not. David is busy, Harry is working on his house too and they are both going green. The good thing about the green is you can save a lot of money - David has been shopping at Green Demolition - they recover kitchens and stuff from demolitions and foreclosures and refurbish it, and then resell at a low price. David and Harry are going half on some other stuff so we should be able to rehab this house under budget. David already has the kitchen gutted and has taken down the wall that's saturated with cat pee - it was a total loss and he said there was no way to save it. We will most likely rent this place for the winter which is ok, if it works out it could be another source of income - and who would say no to that?

BushKill Falls

Liz arrived yesterday morning - she got jammed up in NYC around the Throgs Neck. I could sympathize because I too have spent a bit of Jamming Time in front of the Throgs Neck. That would be where David threatened to put me out of the truck if I didn't stop kicking his dashboard and sighing. Anyhoo after bolstering her up with a little coffee off we went to the falls. We had some Good Humor Ice Cream for breakfast and and quite enjoyed the no vitamins and minerals of it all. Now, when we went with Ray I did the short tour of only one or two falls - this time Liz and I did the full tour which includes I think all 7 of the falls. It's also about two or three hours of hiking some pretty rough terrain, a lot of the paths are actually washouts filled with rocks and tree roots, it's constant up and down. Needless to say we got our ten dollars worth. After that we did a few little stores and stuff, we did stop at the outlets but it was so late in the afternoon it just wasn't fun because it gets so crowded. I also gave her the Grand Tour of the Cat Pee House, she didn't like the kitchen at all but could see what we see - the potential of that house is amazing. We also stopped at the Country Kettle and got some Licorice All Sorts and ate that on the way home. The 3 of us went out to the Chinese buffet (after a bottle of wine) and then home to watch TV. I broke out a loaf of sourdough bread this morning and we sat around eating french toast, drinking coffee and yakking up a storm. The RE called and we had a couple of unexpected lookie-loos so David went Driving with Miss Pants and Liz and I hit the local farm stands. We bought bags and bags of apples (the apples around here are stellar and I can eat bushels of them) - the place we frequent has these huge apple bins and you just take your basket and get what ever you want. We also got cider doughnuts too. Did you notice I'm eating like I'm in a contest? It's stress eating of course and I'm wallowing in it as I have a lot of excuses this week. We close on the Cat Pee house tomorrow, I have work and then it's straight from one office to the next and then up to State College for an all day conference then back to Pittson to pick up my car, back home and then back to work the next day. We have other things running in the background, jockeying for position on the current Hit Parade of Issues, I just keep eating and knitting - like bad tuna, it will pass.

Holding Our Breath - Quite Literally

One of the first things David will do when we officially own the Cat Pee House is rip down the half wall between the kitchen and the dining room as that seems to a major source of the Cat Pee Ambiance that permeates the house. David seems to think when he pulls that wall the floor underneath that will have to go too. A lot of the carpeting went with the dumpster - the remaining will also be going into the next dumpster as that is saturated with a surprising melody of cat pee, mold and mildew and who knows what else. I've had new nurses go into similar homes and ask me - how can people live like that - and the answer is, after a while you just don't see it anymore. You really don't, the smell fades and you just learn to step around the piles of old clothes and magazines, it becomes a part of your day. David and sometimes worry since our house is up for sale and we ask each other "Can you smell that?" "Does the couch smell like the dog?" but I don't think it does. We clean the litter pans everyday and vacuum like elves plus the invention of the Glade De-Stinkers have made great leaps in the housekeeping departments. We have had some more lookers but we've decided 3 more weeks and then it gets rented at least for the winter - not only would it be a financial drain but I don't want the house sitting empty and us having to drive back here constantly checking on it. I'm waiting for Liz, she's coming to visit and we're heading out to Bushkill Falls for the day. We might even stop by the yarn store if she behaves! David is not going, I think he and Harry have some sort of expedition plotted today, I don't ask and they don't tell. Do you see my pictures of the shawl? It's coming along even better than I thought it would and I love that yarn. I bought 3 skeins of it as it was the last of that lot and I didn't want to run out. I hope I have enough left over to start another project. But I also will be busy - hopefully!!- starting to pack after Monday!

Work And Knitting

Yesterday I finally rounded up (most) of the staff for my bi-monthly meeting - it's harder to do than you think it is, even when you tell them repeatedly when and where and they mark it on their calendars AND they are getting paid for it. But I was a little taken aback by the fact there were only two empty seats in the conference room and that's only because two couldn't make it. We stuttered and started for awhile but this afternoon Mike and I finally got ALL the charts in the drawer and before he left he mentioned the top drawer is almost full - and it is! AND I got another present last week - I got a Vera Bradley Miller bag which is uber-expensive and very pretty. It will of course be housing the next knitting project, well, the one after that because I think I'll be doing another pair of socks. Socks are fun to knit because they're fast, easy and everyone likes them. I actually have a tiny sock bag so I don't have to haul around the bigger ones. At the moment I'm quite stuck on my Lantern Moon black straw bag - it's the perfect size for totting it about and it's actually hosted the last couple of projects. I have bags in every shape and size, One that's big enough to hold an afghan in progress and then of course the suede Options ones I LOVE - they have a place for everything! I have one that's solely devoted to keeping all my sock needles straight and all the stuff that goes with it. One of the addictive things about knitting isn't just the yarn, it's all the fofaru that goes along with it. The stitch markers, yarn cutters, size gauge, row counters, measuring tapes - all in a host of mind boggling shapes and sizes. I have tape measures in the shape of flowers, sheep, leaves, round square, cloth, knitted. I feel like ordering something if you'll excuse me.............

Six More Days For Everything To Wrong

Six days - doesn't sound like a lot of time, does it? But it is, it is plenty of hours and minutes left for the whole thing to either implode or explode, for Oops And Sorry About That - the last time around we were at the zero hour when we found the deal would not go through. It's not huge of course, it's not like we have no where to live or this place is sold - the way things are looking this place will most likely end up being rented which isn't a bad thing. We've never done a rental so we'll get a chance to see how that works out. David is meeting the carpet guy over there for measurements and estimates today, he also has to figure out how to get the rest of the orange shag rug out - they GLUED it to the floor so it's been slow going. The dumpster is gone and after next week we'll need another one delivered. In the midst of all this David has started doing contracting again and has a project that needs to be squeezed in between all of this goings on. Our weekend with Ray was fun, we did a little exploring and of course eating out. The only thing I don't like about that is the scale on Monday - why does it come off so slowly and return so quickly?? Work is a slippery slope most days, we're still getting the place re-organized and getting everyone doing the same thing, never ends. The weather is horribly rainy looking today but warmer - I have to get my winter clothes down. I've been putting it off, I cannot believe summer was over so quickly! and I need to see what I have and what I don't.

Saturday. It Happens.

Well, I made it to the bank again this morning, this time to get the Power Of Attorney signed over to David so he can be me for the closing. I was myself for the last closing, but I think the one before that the attorney was me and Harry our friend the RE agent has also gotten the chance to be me a couple of times I believe. I also did my weekly weigh in this morning, I'm still 143 and will take that for now - at least I'm not gaining it. Pearl went to Dog Jail today at 9, Ray arrived at 9:30 and I took off around 10 to do errands and get my temporary crown. The manager was off at the dentist and they have a new girl who did the numbers and took a check for $71 - I asked her if she was sure about that and she was. The dentist came out and was not sure about that and since my insurance has not pre-authed yet needed the full amount and I get most of it back later so the next check was for over $700. THEN they started some other nonsense and I told them both there would be only ONE more check if any so they'd better be careful. I've had crowns done before so I know how much they cost but this was just getting silly and I was not planning on standing there all day while they made phone calls and calculations - I mean I have to come back for the crown itself so there's little danger of my not ponying up. We finally got down to business and I have my temporary. After I got back and David had sprung Pearl from the Big House we headed out to the Mexican restaurant for cerveza and fajitas. After the bookstore and then grocery shopping and quite naturally we forgot at least 3 things. But Ray enjoyed it as he likes the traditional outing to Wegmans where he can find his hard to find items. Not sure what we're doing tomorrow, something fun I should think.

How It's Going.

Well, my co-worker remains at the home office,today they couldn't send me anyone so I was running the show solo. It's actually not that bad except for the phone as there are Four Lines, One Human and I do occasionally make a quick jaunt to the Powder Room. I've discovered any attempt at visiting the Ladies Room causes some secret sensor to be tripped and all four lines will start ringing at once. I will have my rotation of co-workers again next week and it is a pleasant thing - they enjoy the change of scenery (people volunteer to come out east) and I of course get company. Speaking of company Ray is coming out tomorrow which is getting a bit complicated They can amuse themselves while I go to my dental appointment BUT the RE called and there are 2 appointments to show the house. This is a problem as I am NOT tarting around with Miss Pants in a truck for 3 hours . So we called Dog Prison and she will be there for most of the day rattling her tin cup on the bars and sharpening her shiv that she made out of dental floss and a plastic spork (it's a spoon! It's a Fork! Its a Spork!). That way we can have time to do stuff. I got off of work an hour early because I went in an hour early so I could get to the bank to sign my life away. David had accidentally sent in a very old pay stub and when he sent a current one the bank no longer had any issues and ponied up the full amount. So we have one more week to go and we will be floating around on a little Cat Pee Cloud, gloating over all the Free Frogs we will be getting! The shawl continues well, I was a bit put out having to frog the whole business but I'm glad I did as the do over looks 100% better. I hope the Cat Pee House works out because I'll be able to join the knitting group up there, the lady at the shop invites me every time she sees me and it makes me a bit sad that I can't go - well, I guess I could but I travel so much at this point every activity is just another hour out of my life. My diet is my diet, I've lost and gained the same pounds for the past two weeks, but I'm OK with that. I DO prefer to have my cake - and eat it too!