Saturday Morning

One of the things that I really love about our new home is Saturday mornings.

To clarify, allow me to describe my morning so far:

I slept in until 8am (which when you get up at 4:30 during the week, is quite late indeed). Honey had made coffee, so all I had to do was go fetch it from the kitchen and bring in the morning paper from the front stoop. Then I brought both paper and coffee back to bed, where I sat for an hour or so with Honey, drinking coffee, reading the paper and watching cartoons.

When I was done with the paper, I made my side of the bed, got dressed, and came out to the corner of the living room that serves as my office, opening doors and windows on the way. The weather is so beautiful today: sunny and mild with just enough breeze to keep the air fresh. I turned on my computer, and poured another cup of coffee while I started checking email.

I thought about turning on the TV to watch the crafty shows that the DVR had recorded during the week. But I realized that the neighborhood is quiet this morning, and I like it. I have birds singing on three sides, and somewhere a woodpecker is at work on a tree. Honey is still in bed, alternating between watching cartoons and sleeping to them.

Although there are things that I should do today - dishes, the household books, and sometime today I have to walk up to the store (I love that I can walk to the store here!) - there is nothing that absolutely requires my attention right now. So I've been able to use this morning as a little vacation, if you will. Taking time for myself, doing nothing more important than check my mail and read other people's blogs.

I love it here!

Life goes on...

Okay, so we're all moved - at least, we got everything we wanted out of the old place; some of it's in the house, some of it's in the backyard, and some of it's in storage, so there's still a lot of sorting and organizing to do - but progress is happening.

On Monday, our friend Dee's latest ex gave her the boot. Now Dee's like a sister to us, so of course we took her in. So now we have a roommate and a dog - the first dog our cats have ever met; I don't think the know what she is. Joey thinks she's some kind of really big cat who talks funny, but he's let her know that he's the boss around her, and she accepts it. The other cats are slowly getting used to her, though they're not getting too close just yet.

Meanwhile, Dee is helping us out here. Not only is she pitching in for the rent, she's helping us get this place organized. The corner of the living room that was going to be my studio is now her bedroom area, but she helped get furniture arranged so that the other corner is my office, so that's okay. I just need to move the modem and router hooked up over there (right now they're on the coffee table), and unpack and organize the other key elements elements of office-ness.

I'll get onto that later today, because I'm looking forward to using my computer (a laptop, thank goodness) on a desk again. But right now, I'm just kicking back. It's my birthday, and Dee's was on Monday (what a time for her to have the day from Hell!), so later on I'll bake us a cake, and then Dee's gonna spring for pizza for dinner.

I'm so tired, though. I've been working 11-hour days, to make enough do get off the dreaded payday advance treadmill and work things out with the landlord. Fortunately, he's been willing to work with us to get things on track.

What Kind of Soul Are You?

You Are a Dreaming Soul

Your vivid emotions and imagination takes you away from this world So much so that you tend to live in your head most of the time You have great dreams and ambitions that could be the envy of all... But for you, following through with your dreams is a bit difficult You are charming, endearing, and people tend to love you. Forgiving and tolerant, you see the world through rose colored glasses. Underneath it all, you have a ton of passion that you hide from others. Always hopeful, you tend to expect positive outcomes in your life. Souls you are most compatible with: Newborn Soul, Prophet Soul, and Traveler Soul

What Kind of Soul Are You?

New Home

Whee! We have our new place! It's a nice little cottage on a quiet street, in walking distance of just about everything. We don't have everything moved yet, nor put away what we have moved, but we'll get there. One reason for the latter is that the landlord needs to come in (sometime this weekend) to finish painting; until he does, we can't put anything against the walls. I don't want to start putting things on shelves and desks until they are where they need to be.

Anyway, I'm just checking a little mail for the first time in days, and then I have to get back to unpacking the things that do have a place to go, like the kitchen.

Oh, the kitchen! It's smaller than our last one, but much better laid out, with lots more cabinets. And for the first time in decades, we have a gas stove and oven, with a huge broiler! Yay! And we have lots of sunny windows, and a yard, and...and... The cats like it, too!

On with the day...

The House-Hunt Scramble

So our friend D and I spent most of yesterday and today running around half the county. looking at places and taking down numbers for more. I put in two applications today, and should hear from at least one of them tomorrow. Cross your fingers for us!

I also left lots of messages at places whose offices were closed, and should get some call-backs on those tomorrow as well.

I am so wound up tonight I can hardly think, but pretty soon I need to have some supper and then start cleaning up and packing some things. We have a guy lined up to do most of the packing and hauling for us - a friend of D's - we just have to tell him when. If one of today's places works out, we'll be able to move in right away, so we'll hire a truck to haul it all from here to there. If not, then we'll hire a pod to stash everything in until we do have a new place. Obviously, we're hoping for the former - just to be done with it. If it's the latter, then we'll probably have to board the cats and take a cheap hotel room while we keep looking.

House-Hunt Scramble, or "How Much is That Window for my Kitty?"

We haven't had any further contact from the friend who was going to connect us to that RV.

Of course, as soon as I wrote that, she called. She'll be here in less than an hour.

Meanwhile, we continue to check other options. Wish us luck!

Well, folks, we lost

Honey looked the case up online, and found that the decision left the judge's hands yesterday - in favor of the plaintiffs, naturally. So we expect to see the sheriff any day now.

There is still some hope, however.

1. We get a free consultation with a lawyer.
   
1. (Yeah I realize now that I should have done that two months ago, but I thought it would all be pretty straightforward and I could handle it myself. 20/20 hindsight. I'm so used to there being no help available for me that I've gotten into the habit of assuming that I both must and can take care of everything myself.)
2. Anyway, we'll be talking with him this afternoon to see if he can do anything to help us, even if it's only to get us a stay - to buy us some time before we absolutely have to be out of here.
2. A friend of ours is connecting us with a guy who'll give us a down-at-the-heels RV. I hear it isn't much, but it could be home for awhile until we can get settled into something better. The guy will even deliver it; we just need to find a place to park it.

Anybody know where we can rent a space (with water, power, and if possible, sewage) to park an old RV and live in it?