I'm Back!

Ok, I am back, and will make a valiant effort to get back into the blogging daily habit! I have really missed this.

So, in the new house, which I LOVE, by the way, we have the floor replaced and the laundry machinery moved in finally... next is to finish the bathroom! Due to the extent of the flooding, we had to rip out the vanity, toilet, cupboard and floor completely. We are still working on getting all the sticky crap off the floor from where the old peel n' stick tile was left under the pergo floor!

I have a job interview set for Monday morning, YAY! Keep your fingers crossed for me! It is with a non-profit agency in Garland, and is considerably more money than I was able to earn in Ohio, so that would be lovely.

Let me know how things are for everyone out there... I promise to catch up on my reading as soon as possible!

Not a deserter, I promise!

Hey all out there in the blogosphere... I know you think I have disappeared off the planet, but NO! I am here in fry an egg on the sidewalk hot Texas! But, alas, I am having issues with my pc. It maintains its cool for about five minutes, then overheats and shuts itself off.
So... Hopefully I can snag some time on W.H.'s pc tomorrow evening and create a real post and catch up on reading those that I hold dear.
Don't give up on me!
LG

If it weren't for bad luck, I'd have none at all!

My family is cursed. Somewhere throughout history, my family did something so heinous as to require all members of future generations to have the worst luck possible. I AM a jinx. I even warned W.H. when we first started dating!
"I have to warn you that bad shit happens to me, and if you hook up with me, bad shit will happen to you too!" I was serious. I don't think he believed me...THEN. He believes me now.
Anyway, WHY am I sharing this with you now, you ask?
Monday we closed on our house. It had not funded yet (Texas closing rules are a bit strange, but you don't get the keys when you close, you have to wait until the funds have posted to get keys)
But, closing on a new house is a good luck thing, right?
But wait! There's more!
I drove out to the house to meet the seller so he could give me a set of keys that he had forgotten to take to closing, and decided to do a walk-thru of the house.
So, we went in and chatted a bit in the living room and the kitchen. Then seller left.
I walked into the master bedroom to check out the closet because I knew it was kind of small, and I wanted to figure out where to put things.
I stepped into the closet and.....
"splash"
HUH? What the hell??
I took another step.
"splish"
The entire carpet in the closet was SOAKED!
So I wandered around trying to figure things out and this is what I discovered:
The laundry hook-ups in the utility room were leaking and therefore the utility room, hallway, main bathroom and hall closet and part of the living room were all wet. Very wet.
SO.
Since the house had not funded yet, the leak and damage are all the responsibility of the seller to repair, which is a good thing because it is going to cost about $3,000!

As I said...
Shit happens to me. Wanna be my friend? HaHaHa

I've Been Tagged!

Tagged

........by Elisa

Rules:

1. Link the person(s) who tagged you
2. Mention the rules on your blog
3. Tell about 6 unspectacular quirks of yours…
4. Tag 6 following bloggers by linking them…
5. Leave a comment on each of the tagged blogger’s blogs letting them know they’ve been tagged.

Okie-dokie, 6 quirky things about me........

1. I hate for my various foods to touch each other on my plate. Food just should not mingle unless it is gravy on something. Otherwise, no fraternizing food!
   
2. I cannot fall asleep at night unless I have read first. I can't just lay down and go to sleep; I have to read after I lay down, before I can fall asleep.
3. I have to have almost complete silence and darkness to sleep. Always have, and Cannot stand to sleep in a room with any light at all. Also, I sleep better if the room is cold.
   
4. I get really upset with my kids when they do stupid small things, but when they are REALLY in trouble, I stay calm. I don't really get it, but I keep my cool for the big things.
   
5. Spicy foods make my nose run, and some non-spicy foods as well. My family loves to tease me because Ketchup makes my nose run!
   
6. I sing like I'm a rockstar in the car, but would nevah evah sing in public. It sounds like cats fighting when I sing.

I tag: Hammer
Undomesticated
Stepping over the Junk
Bad Dogs n Such
I know I am supposed to tag 6, so if you are not on the list, please tag yourself for me, just leave me a comment and let me know... I have to run!

On Quitting Smoking

I am a smoker. I admit it. Yes, I know, I am evil and must be destroyed...well, at least hidden away somewhere that my foulness cannot infect the environs of the pure and holy. (can you see my eyes rolling?) I promise to explain the eye-rolling sarcasm so as not to offend any of my non-smoking readers.

Anyway... I started smoking at age 11. YES! 11. My older brother T dared me to try one, he was 13 at the time. Of course, as the only girl, i had to be as tough as the guys or face torment and torture or getting the shit beat out of me... so, I tried it.

Took to it right off. Never coughed, choked, didn't turn green or get sick...just sucked in that sweet, sweet nicotine and felt the wonderful rush. I managed to steal cigarettes from my parents for more than four years before being caught. Dad smoked Pall Mall non-filters and paid less attention to how many he had in a pack, and since he was usually drunk, he was easy to snag from. Mom smoked Benson & Hedges 100's. Lady-like cigarettes.

Once I got to junior high school I could sneak off campus with my new friends (the burn-outs) who left campus every day to go smoke a couple blocks away. Then I would use my lunch money to buy a pack of Marlboro's. I quit hanging with that group when I realized that I was starting to be known as a "burn-out" too... and since they also smoked dope during lunch, that was a no-no to me. But, I kept on smoking.

Fast forward to today. I am now 40 years old and have smoked for one-third of my life. Because I am ADDICTED.
Yes friends and neighbors, I am a nicotine junkie.

I have tried many times and many ways over the years to quit.
I have tried the patch, the pill, the filter, the step-down cigarettes. Nothing has worked for the long term. My longest non-smoking time was two years.
Just know though, that the second I was told I was pregnant, I put the smokes down during my entire pregnancy, then smoked outside after the baby was born. Smoking was MY choice, not the baby's.

However, our story does have a semi-happy ending...
I am now in Day 7 with NO CIGARETTES!

Yes! Seven entire days with no smoking... and I have not killed anyone, either! Haven't even been particularly bitchy... and I owe it all to this stuff:
Stonewall Hard Snuff...comes in three flavors, Cappuccino, wintergreen and regular. Very yummy stuff, no yucky spitting or other chew-like habits, and lets you wean yourself off tobacco without bitchiness, murder or mayhem.
I absolutely recommend this stuff if you wanna keep the nicotine but get rid if yucky smokes.
I am actually only using it when the craving gets really really bad... because I want to get rid of the addiction as well as the smoking... but a friend uses them in place of cigarettes.

On a side note: Do'ya think I could have perhaps found a MORE stressful time in my life to quit smoking???

Anyway...I need another cup of coffee...

It's Hot

The first thing anyone needs to know about Texas... It's daggone hot! and Humid! My poor anti-frizz shampoo doesn't stand a chance against the Texas humidity.
But,
Texas is lovely. The people in Texas, for the most part, are very nice, friendly and welcoming folk. I think we will be very happy here.
Oh... have I mentioned the bugs? Lots of bugs. LARGE bugs. When they say "everything's bigger in Texas"... they mean it. Even the bugs. Ick.
The trip down here was fairly uneventful...very long, but not bad since the dogs were tranqu'ed and slept much of the way.
Not sure W.H.'s kidneys will function well for some time after bouncing his way from Ohio to Texas in that big moving truck though. But, it's all good.
Guess that's all for now... talk to ya soon.

WE HAVE A HOUSE!!!

YES, friends and neighbors! We put an offer on yet another house the day before yesterday, and it was accepted! WOOO HOOOO!!!! Booty Shake!
So, hopefully, within the next two weeks we will be moving into our new home in Northeast Texas!
Thanks for the welcome all! I really hope to get back to regular blogging very soon,
and promise to catch up with everyone in my own personal blogosphere as soon as possible!
Be well and happy 4th!
Have you hugged a soldier today?

We have arrived...homeless, but in Texas!

Yes boys and girls, we have arrived in Texas!
We are currently homeless, staying with my in-laws for now, hopefully able to move into our own place within two weeks.
YES... two weeks.
Have I ever mentioned that the home buying process is a pain in the butt?
Anyway, I will post more about the trip later. For now, Just wanted to say "Hey Y'all" and hope everyone out there in the blogosphere is having a grand time.
Happy 4th everyone!
Make sure to thank a soldier on Friday!