Trees, trees, trees and bushes

So I ordered some stuff from Directgardening.com

We have 3/4 acre of yard and hardly anything in it.

I needed to fill it up.

Directgardening.com had a 1 cent sale.

This is what I ordered:

(2) Lily of the Valley Trees

(6) Red Painted Daisy

(6) Rose of Sharons

(3) Shasta Daisy

(4) Old Fashioned Lilac Bushes

(2) Redbud Trees

(2) Flowering Quince Bushes

(3) Peacock orchids

(2) Spirea Bushes

(6) Flowering Shamrock

(3) Ranunculus

(3) Triplet Lily

(2) Weeping Willow

Beautiful, aren't they?  I was so excited when I ordered everything.

Then the order showed up in the mail!

 And this is what I actually received and planted:

(20) of these now stick up out of my yard in random spots

(24) of these

 So now there's a bunch of random sticks poking up out of the ground all over my yard and two trenches around the driveway light and mailbox. 

I sure hope everything grows into the beautiful tree/bush/flower that the pictures showed me.

Threes

They say bad things happen in threes.

Found out on June 7th that someone I grew up with committed suicide at Eastwood Park.

On June 9th, received a call that my nephew was killed in a head-on collision.

On June 11th found out that another friend's husband died of a massive heart attack.

Please let this be the "Three".

Too much loss, too much sadness.

Bob Griffith - 48 yrs old

Brandin Helton - 24 yrs old

Michael "Mo" Cross - 53yrs old

Mom

The move is done.  Her house is empty of all the things she had acquired over a period of 46 years.  I grew up in that house as did my sisters.  It was very hard leaving.  I kinda rushed mom out the door and into the car and left the house for Rob to close up.  I just couldn't slow down to give myself any time to think about it or the "ugly cry" would have gotten the best of me.  It's still hard to think about.  My first child spent her first 2 years in that house.  So many memories...

Boxes, boxes and more boxes

I have been unpacking boxes for 3 1/2 weeks now.  

I was getting a little excited that I could finally see the end of the tunnel of boxes. (There are only 6 left in the garage and 8 upstairs in JC's room)

Then I remembered, we are going to Dayton to move mom here with us.

She has boxes.

A LOT OF BOXES.

It will take a serious amount of cash to make me move again.

 

The Rapture

May 21st is, according to the Mayan Calendar, the day of the "Rapture".

I have a few big concerns here:

One, the bible clearly states that no one, not even the Son knows when this will occur.  Soooo, how did the Mayans know?

Two, it's always "tomorrow" somewhere.  I want to know what time zone this is actually for.

Three, I truly believe that the Mayans just couldn't fatham the world still being around this long and just stopped making the calendar.

I sure hope Saturday is not the end, I am far from ready to meet my maker and would appreciate some more time to prepare.

Moved

We are officially "in".

We have been sleeping in the new house since Saturday.

The weirdest thing happened Sunday.  Rob and I were in the kitchen, he was fixing himself some lunch and I mentioned to him "You know, it's really weird but this place already feels like home."  His eyes got really big and said, "That is weird!  I feel the exact same way!"

I know we both miss our youngest son and the weather in Louisiana like crazy, but somewhere deep inside us, we know that Ohio is home and it's good to be home.

Moving

Let me see, hmmm, if I count correctly, this is the TENTH time I have moved.  It does not get any easier.

I have come to some realizations:

  1.  I have a crapload of stuff
  2.  I LOVE my crapload of stuff
  3.  I HATE moving my crapload of stuff
  4.  I don't want to do this again unless a crapload of money is involved. 
  5.  My body and mind are at polar opposite ends of the age spectrum.
  6.  I need to become friends with a chiropractor, PRONTO 
  7.  I am glad for once, that my deadbeat son doesn't work and is here to help move the crapload of stuff.
  8.  Stairs will make you a stronger person, regardless of how slow you go up or down them, it's the shear amount of how many times you go up and down that counts.
  9.  My back and legs do not like me.
10.  I can't wait till I have all my crap and my mom's crap moved and put away.

Thanks for listening to my whiney rant. :)

Home owners

We are officially homeowners of 2 homes.

We are now in debt upwards of $300,000 between the two houses and the new car.

What in the world were we thinking?!?!?

Homeownership=YAY

Moving=BOO

I definitely feel every one of my 48 years and we've only taken two small loads to the house~~UGH!

I predict that in 2 weeks, I will be near paralyzed.

But it's all good, we will get moved in and then get mom moved here.

Yay~~lots of moving, can't wait.

Anyone that reads this post has an open invitation to come help :)

Car, House, Job

So here's the latest update:

Car Update:  We decided yesterday after I got home from work that it would be a great time to go look at some used cars, after all, it was storming and everything.  So off we go.  The first lot we went to had 95% foreign (my husband is a die-hard "buy American" kinda-guy) so we left there and went on to another lot that was somewhat bigger and had more of a selection.  Well, there was this sitting there, just begging us to take him home:

So after filling out some paperwork, we I drove him home :) I *heart* my husband












House Update:  FINALLY, after 50 days, we finally have a close date and time.  We will close Thursday, April 28, 2011 at 2:30pm.  If it wasn't for the due-diligence of our realtor, I do believe we would have probably backed out of the purchase.  Thank you Mike Narducci :)

Job Update:  So, I'm not sure you all know just how bad I disliked my job, but I did, it was horrible.  I was looking for something else.

I received a call from an employment agency that I had signed up with over 4 months ago.  They told me they had the perfect position for me.  It was with a GRANITE FABRICATOR/DEALER!  To say the least,  I. WAS. OVERJOYED!!  They set up a phone interview with me for the following morning (Wednesday before Good Friday).  I called the owner and talked with her for about 15 minutes and in that time had set up a face-to-face interview for the following Saturday (Jackie & Vincent were here for Easter but they didn't mind).  I contacted the employment agency and gave them the update.  The Employment agency called me back later that day and said that the lady I had spoke with wanted to make sure I didn't get lost going because the road name had changed not to long ago.  I assured her that I had a GPS and would call if I had any trouble.  I then asked Carrie (from the agency) if the company was interviewing anyone else....she said NO, that I was it and it seemed to her that the face-to-face was just a formality.  I was again, overjoyed!

In the meantime, my boss at the job I currently was at kept wanting me to do some in-depth training to take over the accounts receivables and finally on Friday, I broke down and gave my 2 weeks notice...I KNOW, I KNOW...way premature, but, I was convinced that the Saturday interview was just a formality.

I went to the interview Saturday, it was at 8:30am.  I showed up about 15 minutes early.  I talked at length with Mr.Graven (owner) and their manager (can not remember his name).  After about an hour, Mr. Graven left and I did a tour of their fab shop and granite yard with the manager.  Let me tell you, I felt right at home out there with all that equipment and stone.

Mrs. Graven (owner) came and I talked with her for about 30 minutes.  At the very end of the conversation, she asked if I had any questions and I jokingly said only one, when you would you like for me to start, to which she replied "Well we have one more interview on Monday at 4pm, I'm sure the agency didn't tell you because it's not through an agency, but we will call Tuesday or Wednesday and let you know."

My. Heart. Dropped.  What oh what have I done???  I already quit my job!!!  EEK!!

I still have high hopes that I will get this job.  Just please, say a small prayer for me?  I sure would appreciate it :)

Oh yea, one more thing...apparently they didn't want me to work out my notice, today was my last day as of 11am this morning......just in time to start packing and move

Easter

Today is Easter.

A time to give thanks for all things new.
I have thanked God for all of my blessings.
As hard as it is, I even thank him for the things he's not given.

I know that all things are done in His time.
This does not, however, make waiting any easier.

I pray that He gives my daughter the gift of life.
I wish it was now.
I know it will be when He decides is the best time.

I pray that my daughter does not get too discouraged.
I pray that she does not lose faith.

My son-in-law is going overseas for 6 months.
Just maybe, he is supposed to be here for the incredible 9 month journey and that is why God has delayed parenthood.

I'm not real sure why but one thing I do know, Jackie will most definitely be blessed with children and when she is, she will be a spectacular mom.

And I'll probably be the best grandma ever :)

Still waiting.....

So, we are still waiting for a closing date.

I have come to the conclusion that Satan has put his spawns to work at the lending institutions that we are having to deal with.

I believe that the "Spawns of Satan" that are at Wells Fargo work in the underwriting department and they are "Evilbitches".  Their cousins, "Evilbastards", work in the purged documents dept at GMAC.

It is their direct orders to make any person trying to obtain a home mortgage, a pure living hell.

Thankfully, I love Jesus, our Savior, and trust in Him so completely, that I will not lose hope or give up!

Just sayin'

Waiting......

So, we are still working on getting a closing date.

IT. IS. DRIVING. ME. CRAZY!

We are getting closer though.

All we are waiting on is Rob's relocation money to be deposited into our account.

THEN, we will have to make a trip to Dayton so I can go to WPCU and get a printout of our bank account showing the deposit and each page has to be signed, stamped and dated by the person that did the printout.

According to the lady in the relocation dept at GM, the funds should be deposited on April 8th, hopefully, she's right.

I would really like to close by April 15th.

Yesterday, Rob had to call a place called "The Worknumber" to get a "salary key" that I could give to the loan processor at Wells Fargo so he could verify Rob's employment & income.  Rob spent 5 minutes on the call.  He almost had a complete meltdown.

I firmly believe that if left to Rob to do everything that is needed to purchase a home, he would rent for life :)

All I know is that I am ready to get settled into a permanent home so I can finally unpack my stuff.  It will be like Christmas and I can not wait!

Aaack!!!!

OHMYGAWDTHEYACCEPTEDOUROFFER!!!

Now comes the harrowing, nerve-wrecking process of financing.  I have sent in a whole crapload, (yes, you read that correctly, C.R.A.P.L.O.A.D.) of paperwork and documentation proving that Rob works where we say he works, makes the money that we say he makes, and owes what we say he owes.

I did however, ask our firstborn if she would be available in the event that the mortgage company wanted our firstborn :)

She declined, but on the bright side, Rob is getting financing on his own and his firstborn is Jules, sooooo...no problem!!

The mortgage co. is shooting for a 3/31/11 closing date!

OHMYGAWDTHISCOULDREALLYHAPPEN!!!

Trying desperately to settle in....

So the house in the last post ended up having major roof issues, so we are not getting that one, we found another in the same neighborhood that we really like and it's in much better shape.  Still needs updating but the major "money" items have been taken care of already. 

Roof new in 2002, vinyl siding 2003, furnace 2007 (lower level heated with radiant heat). All appliances stay (including washer & dryer). Beautiful living room with fireplace opens to balcony deck (recently replaced) overlooking deep and park like backyard. Family room in lower level to is a walk-out with fireplace and sliders opening to rear patio and 3 full baths.

Should hear something in the next 48 hrs.

Keep your fingers crossed :)

Trying to settle in

So we put an offer on a house....it's a really great deal as long as the roof checks out ok.

 I am working part-time at Railworks-they build/repair/maintain railroad tracks.  It's not a hard job but the working environment leaves a lot to be desired.  I am still actively looking for fulltime employment.  I know eventually, I will get the job I am supposed to have...I'm just not sure how long I'll have to wait.

I knew that it was going to be hard adjusting to this move, but to tell the truth, I didn't know it was going to be this hard.

I have made a total of 0 friends since moving here.  I know I should "get out there and make some" but I'm not 20yrs old.  I'm not really into going to bars to meet people, I don't really care for the people I work with, I really just miss my friends in Louisiana.  As hard as the move there was, at least I had Cathy there and eventually, Paula & Scott and I had a great job with great people at B&B.

My mom has been here with me since December 1st.  I am really grateful although I know it's not been a real picnic for her...I've been...hmm, not a very fun person to be with but she's been a real trooper and has stuck it out.  She knows how miserable I have actually been.

It looks like JC will only be visiting us for at the most, 3 weeks.  He's applied for A-HEC (A-Hec provides students with the chance to explore health careers firsthand. Students learn how to apply the information learned in high school classes to the health care industry. Participants have the opportunity to develop relationships with health care industry mentors and professionals.  Students earn their CPR certification and first aid training Students earn one half unit of general elective credit at all Louisiana high schools while providing more than 100 hours of volunteer community service to their community.) which is the end of May-beginning of June. He's also working at Old Navy and is going to Big Stuf in Panama Beach, Fla June 20-24th.  So that doesn't leave him very much time to come here.  I HATE HAVING TO BE A SELFLESS PARENT!! IT SUCKS! but I love him and want what is best for him, dammit.


I hope that it gets better, surely it will, right?

Jackie should be pregnant in the next 6 months and hopefully I will get to be a part of that life experience with her, so that will be great.  I can not wait to witness my baby girl being a mom...she is natural-born for motherhood and I know how fun it is going to be for her & Vincent.

So that's what's been going on with me, just some self-pity and trying to adjust to this move :)

2011 Goals

Goals for 2011...

1.   Get a job
2.   Buy a car
3.   Buy a house
4.   Get mom's house sold and her moved
5.   Try to be more health-conscious
6.   Try to not be so emotionally sensitive
7.   Be a better parent
8.   Be a better wife
9.   Be a better friend
10. Find a church (still watching services online)