Calgon, take me away!

 

     With the MIL’s house almost ready for painting, I had hoped my stress levels would drop knowing we might be able to put it on the market soon. 

     Then we got the county tax, city tax, and school real estate tax bills for the house.  EEEEEKS!!!!  I can’t believe how high they are when compared to ours.  Double taxes, double utilities, double maintenance, this completely sucks.  Moreover, we haven’t received the estimate for the roof repairs yet and we still have to pay for the funeral.

     Excessive stress doesn’t help when it comes to writing.  I find myself getting easily distracted all the time.  Even reading, which for me is a passion, is difficult.  All I can do is wait it out and hope for the best.

Movie day

 

     G and I finally went to see the last Harry Potter movie.  We had a good time.  There were only a few other people in the theater with us.  That’s why we wait so long to go to these.  We both hate crowded theaters.  Naturally, I forgot to bring my denim shirt to cover my arms and didn’t wear sneakers and socks.  I froze and my feet felt like blocks of ice when we left.  G wore sandals but had the sense to bring a sweater.  Only her feet froze.

     We’d both read all the books and with the time constraints of a movie we think they did it well.

     The Smurf movie and ‘Aliens and Cowboys’ were doing a brisk business on their first day of release.  We were so glad not to be in those theaters since they were loaded with children-type people.

I will stop giggling later

 

     I had my laugh for the night at around two-thirty in the morning.  Some idiot was racing his not-so-quiet motorcycle up and down the street.  He forgot one thing…Roads, which have been dry for a long time and are suddenly wet, are slippery.  He made a u-turn in front of my yard, the motorcycle went one way, and he went another.  I saw him land on his feet as the motorcycle jumped out from under him and landed on its side.

     I couldn’t stop laughing and I had to rush Patty inside before I collapsed.  Then, while trying to keep a straight face, I went out the front door and asked Mr. Keneival if he was okay.  He was.  I went back inside and giggled like a fool for a while. 

     If he’d been injured, I would’ve called for aid.  As it was, he was more embarrassed knowing someone had seen the incident than anything else.

     I wish I had it on video—it was priceless.

A few more steps and we are out of the tunnel!

 

     G and I filled my van again.  This time we had two stops to make with all the stuff.  The first one was to a local rehab hospital to donate the MIL’s wheelchair, walkers, and other items.  They were delighted to see us come in with the load. 

     Our second stop was at Goodwill to empty out the rest of the items from the back of my van.  This time we left them 15 boxes and 14 household items.  Last time they got 25 boxes and a dozen household items.

     The house is almost empty now much to our relief.  We have one more trip to Goodwill to make on Sunday where we’ll drop off the sewing machine in the cabinet and some other things we couldn’t fit in the van this time.

     After that, the only thing left for me to do is to get some help to load and bring home the armoire and dresser.  Then I can call the painters for an estimate.  Our roofer checked the roofs and he’s working up an estimate now.  We are two steps closer to finishing this. 

If it isn’t one thing…

 

     As wonderful as having the much-needed rain arrive was, we had a problem.  Our roof leaked again.  Yesterday I caught our roofer outside and told him.  (His business is two doors down from us.) He did an actual double take.  He was shocked.  Three minutes later, he had his helper on the roof looking for the leak. 

     They think they found it.  It seems that when the next-door neighbors had their new roof put on years ago the idiot that did it nailed their shingles through our slates.  He didn’t nail them to the roof divider.  Thus, we have a leak. 

     Our roofer thinks they have solved that problem now.  The next problem is we really need to replace the flat roof.  He says there are two roofs on there and that they both should be removed and a new one installed.  I told him when we sell the MIL’s house, we‘d have him do it.  It’d be nice to be certain of no leakage in the next twenty years.

     The other day he inspected the MIL’s roof.  The news wasn’t great.  He confirmed that we’d have to replace the garage roof.  Oh.  What fun.

Rain glorious rain

 

     We finally got some rain, a great deal of rain.  The flash flood warnings were out in force.  I didn’t have to water my garden or potted plants.  In fact, I had to tip some water out of a couple of pots.  Am I complaining?  Not a bit. 

     Our brown lawn is already greening up, the trees that were looking droopy now look blissful, and the gardens have perked up tremendously.  The birds are excited because now that the ground is moist again the worms are closer to the surface.

     The air is cooler and it was nice to go outside and not feel as though I was suffocating.  Even DH is feeling more chipper.  The pups spent the day chasing each other around the house.

Bringing you up to date

 

     Yesterday we didn’t go over to the MIL’s house as we’d planned to because Neither G nor I felt up to working in this heat.  We hope the break in the weather we’re supposed to get will make it easier to work on Wednesday.

     We still have many small items to pack and remove along with books to take to recycling.  Don’t worry I removed all the good books.  There weren’t many, the MIL wasn’t big on reading anything.  The books left are an assortment of ‘miracle cure’ books and piles of ‘How to’ books she left in boxes in the cellar where they got wet and moldy. 

     Sunday, was a good day to stay home and catch up on some housework.  It was too hot to work outside so a few neglected indoor chores took precedence.

You know it’s too hot when…

Yes, I’m going to complain about the heat

 

     The last time I remember being in 103-degree weather, I was in Texas.  Have I ever mentioned how much I dislike Texas?  We hit a record of 103 degrees yesterday.  Sorry, my southern friends, but some of us weren’t designed to tolerate temperatures over 90-degrees.  Please, be kind enough to take your heat back and let us enjoy our normal summer weather.

      Just taking the dogs out a several times so they could relieve themselves was more than enough.  The five minutes it took to water my potted plants about killed me.

     I’m not fond of cold, snow, and ice but I put up with it for our cooler summers.  I like being able to go outside all summer.  I hate staying inside in the AC.  I’m no Southern Belle I’m a damned Yankee.

I have hit a milestone

 

     This is my 1000^th post!  When I began this blog, I never thought I’d keep posting daily for a long as I have.  I’ve only missed posting on days I was too sick to get out of bed or when I was away at my writer’s conference.

     I never thought I’d have return readers or, much less, a small following, but I do.  To you my dear readers I say thank you for without you I wouldn’t have made it to this milestone.

     You encourage me to keep writing even when I feel crappy.  Writing on this blog has become a way to keep my hand in while my brain is out of gear on my mysteries. 

     I hope when we sell the house and things are back to a semblance of normal around here I will have no more problems with my books and can finish them in short order.

     I promise you, if you hang in here with me during this rocky time, I will get them done.

Progress is made

 

     Yesterday G and I piled boxes of unsold items into my van to take to Goodwill.  We crammed it full from floor to ceiling in the back without a rear seat there.  Then we loaded the back seats and floor.  We had the women at GW scrambling as we unloaded.  They hauled a huge bin and many armloads into the place.

     There’s at least one more load just like that left.  I guess we’ll do that one next Wednesday.

     Sunday I hope to load the dresser I’m keeping into my van, I do believe it will fit.  After that, I’ll have to recruit some help to bring the Armoire home.

     We’re almost ready for the painters!

      DH stopped over while we were there but he couldn’t do much.  This horrible heat did him in before he got in the door.

A clean desk brings discovery

 

     I should clean off my desk more often.  I had no idea I had two of Donald Maass’s ‘Writing the Breakout Novel’ workbooks.  Maybe this is a cosmic hint?  Can you guess what is going into a basket for the 2012 Pennwriters conference?  (That is unless you want it, Dave.)

     I know my muse isn’t happy with me.  Heck, I’m not happy with me.  I can’t seem to concentrate when I sit down at the computer to write. 

     DH says it’s because I have too much on my mind.  He feels bad that I’m doing all the work at his mother’s house along with everything at home.  Hey, if I don’t, no one else will.  He certainly can’t do it. 

     Once we finish over there and get the darned place sold, things should settle down here and I’ll get my concentration back.

     G and I are going over today to begin packing the leftover sale stuff up for Goodwill.