* tap tap *

Is this thing on?

* tap tap *

It's just me, checking in again, albeit way late ...

It's cold in McKinney, there's ice on my car, my garage is full, my storage unit is full, my daughter sold her car and she's driving Rick's now.  He's carless and hating it.  We spent the evening at WalMart last night (whee) and I came home with a new trash can.  Again, whee.  We're headed to a basketball game tonight and I'm looking forward to eating the peanuts.  I'm carb-free now ... so I'm hoping I can have the peanuts. 

Liz has a new job at a book publishing firm and she's just been promoted to a publicist.  Ted Danson's ex-wife is one of her clients and that seems to be all she can talk about ... Casey Danson this and Casey Danson that ...

And I'm in the process of buying a new car.  My lease is up in April and I want to have another car all ready to go.  Like now.  I can't seem to stay off of car-buying websites.  Jeep. 

Low carb, SUV, Cirque D'Soleil, Sunroof ... those are the only words in my vocabulary anymore.

Maybe summer.  That word figures in there pretty often, too.

Jeep.

October 3rd and counting

Elizabeth is home from Hawaii, possibly for good.  Ben is coming home (to what will be his new home) on the 30th of October.  We have finally vacated our beautiful apartment in Frisco and moved into our horribly hoarder-ish house in McKinney.  There are boxes everywhere and no matter how many I unpack each night ... more boxes appear each day.  I wake up and there are six more boxes blocking my view of the backyard.  Only the dog is happy.  He gets to sit/sleep/lounge on the couch at will.  We can't find his bed.

Elizabeth's best friend is getting married on Saturday and tonight is her wedding shower. 

Every night this week and next and next and next ... are all booked.  And then, of course, there's a wedding coming.  Hers.

How are the wedding plans coming along, you ask?  Well, we have a dress.  And a venue.  And that is darn close to all we have.  This move has been the death of us ... and nothing else has gotten done.

So here I sit.  "I Love Lucy" is on in the background and there's a water bottle in my hand.  And a laptop in front of me.  So much to do and ... absolutely no desire to do it. 

Remind me not to move again.  Ever.  Not even off of this couch.

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sailing, sailing ... flooding, flooding ...

So, we did go to Hawaii.  We were fortunate enough to set sail on my daughter's ship, The Pride of America, and get to see her in action at some of her work events.

We also met her "intended", Ben Adams.  Lovely man.  Lovely couple.  We will be proud to have him join our little family.

While in Hawaii, we heard the most beautiful words in the world; "You have an offer on your house" from our real estate agent.  You don't know how much I wanted to hear those words.  I nearly cried.

Being in Hawaii though, I realized that I would no longer be able to hide scuff marks or cracks in the walls nor water damage.  I became stressed, worrying about hiding things and making the house sellable, but what could I do?  We had an offer.  And those words sat above any concerns that I had for the house.

We accepted the offer from the kind folks who wanted our house ... and we were still in Hawaii when the inspection happened.  Yeah, I really was forced to lay down my paintbrush and stop the madness.  I did it willingly.

We witnessed our future son in law ask for our daughter's hand in marriage.

We returned to Texas to begin packing up our big ol' house ... and start the closing process.  And find a new place to live.

AND THIS IS WHERE THE CRAZINESS BEGAN.

We packed and we packed and we packed.  And Rick got sicker and sicker and sicker.  And the Texas weather got hotter and hotter and hotter.  And Elizabeth and Ben (the intended) jetted off to Scotland and England ... and watched their luggage not follow them.  They spent two weeks with us in Frisco all the while waiting on their luggage to catch up to them. 

And wouldn't you know it?  The ring that Ben had planned to propose with was IN the suitcase that hadn't found them yet. 

Hundreds of phone calls to the airline and I finally jumped in and alerted the media.  Yep, I did.

WFAA's Monica Hernandez came to our little (big) house on Creek Point and filmed a story about a guy who wanted to propose to a little Texas gal ... but didn't have his luggage (and all of his worldly belongings) and didn't have the ring.

One phone call from WFAA and dang!  The airline found the luggage!  In Baltimore, of all places.  Go figure.

More packing, more closing junk on the house .... and finally the luggage arrived.  WFAA arrived, too.  They came back to film the actual proposal ... which was pretty darn cute!  We all hauled off to The Shops At Legacy and watched Ben propose ... and watched the news station film it.

AND .... right before we were slated to close on our Creek Point house ... we had a flood inside.  Of course we did.  OF COURSE WE DID! 

Got that all cleaned up and we were all set to close on the house ... WHEN RICK GOT SICK!  Ambulances and everything. 

Sigh.

Just when you think you've got it all under control ... the escrow folks would not close until Rick could sign, OUTSIDE of THE HOSPITAL, which he couldn't do.  Why?  Because Rick's little bout of a bladder infection began to spread ALL THROUGH HIS BODY ... enough that his bloodstream was infected and he had to be put in isolation.  NO ONE would go through the trouble to gown up and go in for Rick to sign the closing papers.  Not even the HOSPITAL NOTARY.  Like, seriously?

So, we waited.  And we extended our closing date.  And we searched for an apartment.  And we found ourselves NOT getting into any of the apartments that we wanted to ... sad tale after sad tale.  We were about to be homeless.  And you know what?  I didn't care.  I knew we'd be fine. 

So, Elizabeth was now engaged, Rick began to improve by leaps and bounds (turns out he was also a bit toxic and had to get some of those awful pain meds out of this body) and dang if ELIZABETH didn't turn around and get sick.  OF COURSE SHE DID.

We were still packing and packing and packing ... and getting further and further behind it seemed.

We finally had to call out for help ... which we did get, in the way of four women who stepped up and helped us.  Note: Women.  Yep.  Women for the win!

So, to summarize, we finally did close on our house once Rick was out of isolation.  We nearly emptied our Creek Point house (a wayward desk and a few garage items had to stay behind, sadly) and moved into an apartment complex overlooking a baseball park in Frisco.  We have belongings in two different PODS and a storage unit AND WITH OUR MOVING COMPANY.  Yeah, don't tell me about having too much stuff.  That's all I hear from my dear, darling daughter.

107 degrees, 108 degrees, 109 degrees.  The temperature kept a'climbin'.  Life got hotter and busier and crazier ... but we were out of that house. 

And ... on July 31st, I returned to work.  Suddenly my summer break was over and you know what?  I'm totally ready.  That was the wildest summer ever and I'm happy to see it go.

Rick is home in the apartment with me.  Buddy and Jeannie are there, too.  And Elizabeth is recovered and prepping to return to her ship for one final contract ... and to her beloved, Ben.

Anyone doubt me when I say that we had a flood on day one?  Yeah, didn't think so.

And there's a wedding in the works (November 30th) and that's what's on our minds now.  Floods don't bother me now ...   HOWEVER, if the wedding goes off as planned, well, it'll be the hottest day of the year and yet, it'll rain.  We won't be ready on time and the dress will be delivered to Kansas.  And the whole place will flood.  I just know it.

'Cuz we're Kahles.

but before we can go ...

"Excuse me, Ma'am.  We can replace this blown air conditioner for a mere $9000.  Shall we go ahead."

Yep, it got a might hot in our house two days ago.  And the puddle on the floor beneath one of the a/c returns got a might big.  I had the choice of calling a plumber or an a/c repairman for help.  Opted for the a/c man ... and whaddya know!  I was right!  I only had to pay an a/c man this time.

$9000 later, we have a new, working unit.  Of course, we are $9000 poorer now.  Heck we're just flat-out poor.

Rick explained to the repairman that we are poor ... and that we are headed off to Hawaii on Saturday.  That nice man gave us a discount of $1000.  Thank you, Rick.  Next time keep your big mouth shut about heading to Hawaii.

$9000 ... according to EVERYONE I KNOW or have ever met ... is WAY over-priced for an a/c.  AND we didn't really get a new one.  Just a bunch of new parts. 

Ugh.

I am going to Hawaii to rest, recover, relax and FORGET about life in the states.

In case I don't have very good reception on the ship (that's my daughter's excuse for why she doesn't text/call/email very often) I will see you all when I return on the 27th.  My daughter will be 27 then, engaged, embarking on a new life ... and I'll still be poor.  POORER, in fact, just thinking about a wedding.

~ Aloha ~

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anyone seen the flashlight?

So this happened.  About three houses down from where I live ... this happened.  And it happened four times.  Four LOUD bangs, pops and ka-booms!

Four times my power went off.  The fourth time, it stayed off.  

All of the neighbors came out of their homes (of course, everyone was curious) and it really was a pleasant evening, chatting with everyone, meeting new neighbors, asking if anyone wanted to buy my house ...  yes, I actually threw that comment in a couple of times.

Seriously, it was pleasant.  I've always liked catastrophes, though.

Most of the neighbors got their power back on within the hour.

MOST of the neighbors.

I, however, live on the street where the explosion happened.  I was without power for nigh on seven hours.

I was told to go find my candles and flashlights while we still had some daylight.  So I did that.  None of the flashlights had batteries and I only found two candles and no candle holders.  I was not worried, I had a phone.  Of course, the phone was nearly without power.  Okay, THEN I worried.  

Sitting in the dark was ... quiet.  Rick was napping (he never knew what hit him) and the dog and I had literally nothing to do after we'd exhausted all of the fun of searching for candles and flashlights.  And the house just got darker.

Eventually, Kyndra, our upstairs tenant came home and I finally had somebody to play with.  I like Kyndra cuz she had a working phone.  With a light on it.  And she had a deck of cards.  We were ready to have some fun now!

There we sat, at my kitchen table ... looking something like this:

It was a pretty fun card game ... IF you could actually see the cards.

You probably wouldn't believe me if I said I won.  I wouldn't believe me, either, though.

Kyndra's phone flashlight was fading ... and she suddenly discovered a way to make the phone shine a bit brighter.  She placed it under the dome of a cake plate that I had sitting on the kitchen table.

Voila!

The room lit up!

Well, not really, but it did make for some pretty interesting light pictures on the ceiling.

The lights finally came back on at ....

1:30 AM

when the whole house suddenly lit up very brightly.  Yeah, it's hard to turn all the house lights off when you have no idea which lights were actually on when the explosion happened.

I awoke to this the next morning, still sitting on my kitchen table.

I have no idea what card game we were playing ... 

but I did win.  

No really, I was winning.

.

desperation

Fearing that my house will never sell, I done went and lowered the price again.  We are now $25,000 lower than when we first started this game.  This silly, silly game.

That's $25,000 that I will not have to buy a new car (I wasn't in the market anyway), $25,000 that I won't have to spend in Hawaii (and yes, I could find a way to spend that in Hawaii) and $25,000 that I won't have to spend online at Zulily.  Shut up.

Hey, maybe I could retire!  Oh wait, I'm not actually getting that $25,000 ...

But, it's all good.  Because our house, the one that's being built, is done and ready to inhabit.  See?  All the walls are up and it's beckoning us in.

It just looks so inviting ...

I can see the front door.  Right there.  Riiight through there.

Good thing there's no rain in sight.

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checkin' it all out ...

Since we were forced to give up our half-built house because our main living domain hadn't sold yet, I was forced to select a different house, one that hadn't even broken ground yet.  But all was well, because I actually like THIS house better than THAT house.  THAT house was darn cute, it was ... but THIS house is darn fancy, it is.  And I prefer fancy.

Thought you'd like to see the house that we'll be moving into, now that it's finished ...

This is the site that we were stuck with chose for our final house building project.  

Pretty normal.  No views.  And actually we had no choice.  If we wanted THIS house, it went HERE.

*

And THIS is the finished product.  All ready for us to move in to.  This was just two weeks later.  That building team works fast!

We took the 'open air' option so we could enjoy those warm summer days ... and pretend we were at the beach.

*

We paid extra for guest bathroom.  Feel free to stop by and use it.  Our door's always open! 

The guys below are working on MY room.  I picked the corner spot ... so I'd be closer to the restroom.  And any guests that stop by.

This is the room Rick picked.  No bathroom in site.  He says he doesn't need one. 

Good thing Rick doesn't need a bathroom, too.  Our neighbors behind us have too good of a view of his room.  And his bathroom, if he had one.

We ordered a fancy address sign for our front yard.  I wish I could design like that ...

So there you have it.  Our new house.  There may be a few other finishing touches added over the next six months but for now, it's just perfect.  We couldn't be happier.  Even if the house DID have a roof.

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because i'm crazy ...

I just decided that I won't have enough granite in my upcoming new house.

I will have it in all but one bathroom, and of course, it will be in the kitchen.  But I began to feel that the dining room and the family room would feel left out ... so I just signed away to have granite put there, too.

Hey, it's only money.    Sure hope my house sells.

And because I'm crazy, I decided to have a garage sale this weekend.  It's supposed to rain.  Strike that, it's supposed to STORM! 

And because I'm crazy, I just signed up to be a hippo in a game at my school.



Never mind that my back is out currently.  Never mind that I'm risking it to go back out during this game (assuming it ever comes back in.)  And never mind that I'm NOT 21 anymore.  Nor 31, 41 or even 51.  Never mind that I'm crazy.

By the way, those fools on the floor grabbing balls?  Those are the hippos.  The very thing I signed up to be.

Sure hope my house sells.

But speaking of really, really crazy ... I reorganized my garage last night.  (Gee, I wonder why my back is out!)  Stuff I'm keeping over here ... stuff for said garage sale over there ... and stuff that I'm hiding from Rick goes under here.

Know what Rick said when he noticed?  "Hey, I like what you've done with the garage!"  Um, all I did was push stuff to one side, push the other stuff to the other side and remove a car.  Pushing that car out was a killer. 

There's now room for us to play "Hungry Hippos" in our very own garage.  Wanna play?  Yeah, me neither.  What if I put some granite in there?

.

gettin' ready

Our little rondevous cruise is over a month away.  In fact, it's 5 weeks away.  It's also 38 days away.  It's also not close enough to begin packing for.  And yet, that's what Rick is doing.  Packing.

I'm packing, too, but not for the trip.  I'm packing for a move down the road.  Up the road?  Either way, I'm packing up everything I see.  Rick is packing up everything he sees, too, but he ain't helping me switch houses.  He's readying himself for a vacay.

We're both ready for a vacay.

Rick has been through a not-so-fun surgery and I've been through wall painting, spackling, packing, planting, cleaning, patching, band-aiding and hiding.  I haven't been hiding, but I've been hiding cracks.  I've hidden the dog a few times, too.  The cat pretty much stays hidden all the time, so no worries there.

I've also driven through every drive-thru in Frisco that gives out treats for dogs.  Yes, we head out with our dog every time the house is being shown.  The dog does NOT love it, until we get to Andy's and get him ice cream.  Our local ice cream shop gives out ice cream to traveling pups.  Starbucks givcs out puppucinos and if I could remember the other three places I've learned about, we'd head there as well.  For now it has to be puppucinos and ice cream.

They have finally broken ground on our new house (our THIRD new house ... no, I don't own three new houses ... I just can't seem to hold on to one) and here's a peek at what we're getting.





Apparently we're getting a swimming pool in the front yard.

Oh goody.  More things to patch and repair.



I don't see a bathroom.  Do you suppose we just use that box-thingy?



Here's a better shot of where we're going to be living.

Glad summer's coming.  The spring hailstorms will be killer ...

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.

Warning: Graphic Images Warning: Graphic Images Warning: Grrrrrr.....

Sometimes I just don't have the strength to ................... and other times I just don't have the strength to ......................   You may fill in those blanks for me cuz I just don't have any strength left.

Yawn.

Wait, I'm typing.  That's a good sign.

So ... here's the latest.

Our being-built house began to get ready just a little too quickly.  Suddenly we had a date for closing and we hadn't even put our current house on the market.  I brought in a friend to help me de-clutter the current house ... and the job was so big that we filled up a giant pod (still sitting on my driveway) with clutter still being found everywhere, around the house.

Know what ISN'T CLUTTER?  TV remotes.  My packer packed and packed and packed.  She packed up everything.  She packed up remotes.  Yes, we are TVless.  And yes, we are sad.

But the house finally began to take shape and look purt near ready to put on the market, which it now is.

However, we still couldn't slow down the progress of the house we were having built.  So, we cancelled that one, and bought us a new one.  This is now HOUSE #3 that we have attempted to build.  I've chosen tile and flooring and bricks and carpet and cabinet colors and drawers and who knows what else for TWO HOUSES so far ... and this Friday, I'll go at it again.  Whee.  Picking all those colors and textures and styles and carpet just isn't the fun that it sounds like.  In fact, it's a four hour long experience of realizing that you can't afford what you want and you can afford everything you don't like.  Harumph.

So, the house is for sale, the new house is selected and right in the middle of it all .... Rick does this:

The boy done got the surgery that he has wanted for so long.

This is good.  Except we have our current house on the market and getting Rick and the dog out of the house for the showings is also not the fun that you'd think it would be!

Wanna know what else?

Those pictures you see above?  They upset someone.  They caused someone to say that I had no right to post them.

Know what else?

I don't care!

Ya know that address of my new, soon to be built house?  Said person ain't gonna get my address.

And that makes all of this worth it!

Hello new house, goodbye old house.  Hello surgery and new back and goodbye person who got squeemish!

Life is fun.

Graphic photos are funner.

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bang, bang .... my baby shot me down

The reference to Cher's song actually does not apply here.  My baby didn't shoot me down.  But the roofers did.  Down, dead.  And I was ready to shoot all of THEM at 6 AM this morning.

 So ... the roof is going up; the buckled wall has been repaired; and all is right with the world.

Oh wait.  We still haven't had the surgery.

Okay ... once we get the surgery taken care of, all will be right with the world.

Oh wait.  We still have to find a house to live in.

Okay ... once we decide on which house to buy, all will be ...

Oh wait.  Gotta sell our house first.

So ... the roof is going up; the buckled wall ...

NOTHING IS RIGHT WITH THE WORLD!

Except Spring Break starts in approximately THREE hours.

Ahhhhh, all is right with the world.

;)

some things are just so simple ...

Some things are so simple, they're funny.  And some things are so ridiculously simple that you just stand and marvel at them.

This, however, is not one of those things.

Surgery for Rick has been in the works since NOVEMBER.  That's November of last year.  He was scheduled for a spine stimulator trial in November that didn't actually happen until JANUARY 30TH.  Two days later and it would've been February.  Good grief.

So, after the trial, and after we were told he qualified, we were told that he would receive the "real" surgery, the "real" stimulator within two weeks ... four weeks at the VERY MOST.  Um, it's been THIRTY-SEVEN DAYS now and surgery is scheduled for tomorrow. 

HOWEVER ...

We're only a "GO" if  Doctor A will sign off on the procedure, which she won't do until she receives a copy of the cardiac clearance that was faxed to the surgeon.  The cardiologist sent the clearance to the surgeon, skipping Doctor A.  In the meantime, the hospital needs the chest XRAY that Doctor A is in possession of ... but won't send until she has the cardiac clearance.

So ... our family room wall is being repaired right this moment; the floor-buckling people are at my house right now fixing the floor-buckles; our roof is being replaced on Friday and I have packers coming tonight to help me load up the POD that's sitting in my driveway.  It's easier to plan a house move ... than to schedule Rick's surgery.

He's smiling here.  He won't be, though, once I tell him the good news ...

                 

This about sums up my life right now ...

This does, too ...

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ABC ... as simple as 1,2,3

1. Leaking roof         check
2. Buckling wall       check
3. Blown transmission         check
4. House for sale at the worst possible time     check
5. $25,000 deductible for insurance claim       check
6. Trying to declutter a very cluttered home    check
7. Five foggy windows and one broken one    check
8. Brand new wood floor that's already buckling      check
9. New home being built WAAAY too fast               check

But none of this matters.  Nope, none.  Cuz' ...

WE'VE GOT A SURGERY DATE!

This handsome young man is getting ready to go under the knife again and we are ecstatic!  Not many people would understand why we're so happy ... but he needs this surgery SO MUCH.

Ye Haw!    Almost pain-free, Rick!

SEVEN more days, Rick ...

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okay, not funny, God.

So ... remember this check?

And remember how excited I was that our deductible for our house claim was $2500?  And how fortunate I felt to have received the money that would cover our repairs ... on the exact day that we needed repairs?

Um ...

Um ...

Today I learned that our deductible is actually $25,000.  Twenty-five THOUSAND dollars.  Not $2500.  Not hundred.  But thousand.

I'm not laughing.

*

Be right back ...  gotta go rob a bank.

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me and noah

Because we are about to move into a new home ... we are just about ready to list my house for sale.  Well, we were anyway.

And because we were just about ready to list my house for sale ... the world began to flood.  My world  began to flood anyway.  Noah's got nothing on me.  My house has become a virtual ARK.

Except not exactly that cute.  Maybe more like this:

Maybe MORE LIKE THIS:

That's about all that's worth keeping in my house.

Wait.  Maybe more like this:

Yep.  For sure like this.  My house sprung a leak and the water poured in for a full day ... and then suddenly stopped.  The rain didn't stop, but the leak did.  Where all the water went is a good guess.  Okay, I know where it is ... it's in the wall.

I am sickened by my house every time I walk by that wall.  Or any wall.  Every wall is trying to get back at me for trying to sell the house.

GET ME OUT OF THIS HOUSE!

But there is a bright side to all of it.

We were involved in a class action lawsuit for one of the meds that Rick takes.  Apparently we were WAY overcharged and somebody figured that out.  And, out of the blue, a check for over $2400 appeared in our mailbox.

I wanted to jet off to Hawaii STAT but God had other plans for us.  To get our damaged wall fixed, we will need to pay our deductible.  Guess what our deductible is?  Yep, $2500.

God is amazing.

He knew that we would need some money for all of this mess ... and here it came.

I have no words.

I have no house, either.  Mine is about to float down the river.  But I've got the peace of knowing that I don't have to come up with $2500 to pay my deductible.

Yay house!  Go house!

Seriously, GO house.  Just go away.

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