Random Thoughts

I went to the dump today (thanks for the truck, Denise) and luckily nothing went flying out of the back of the truck on the way. As I approached the dump I saw this sign, which made me laugh.



Nate may be stalking the birds in his backyard, but I am stalking one of the fish in my aquarium. Large Marge is the big striped fish at the bottom of the tank toward the left.

Several times each day as I walk past the door to the guest room I glance in and find Large Marge lying flat on her back inside the jaguar skull pictured below. Apparantly the fish knows that it's behavior is "fishy" and feels sheepish about being caught because the minute I set foot in the room it darts out of the skull and hides in the tree. Yesterday Marge was lying on her back in the skull and one of my little algae eaters was lying next to her. The algae eater was not at all concerned about my approach and did not dart away.

And yes, the glass is covered with algae that I can't scrape off, and my algae eaters are too lazy to do their job.

Are You Freaking Kidding Me?

I went into school this morning to feed my fish and I found a message on my school phone informing me that my assistant Annie has decided not to return to DHS this fall. She claimed that she wished she could have talked to me directly, but she couldn't find my phone number. Umm, are you freaking kidding me? Did she check her cell phone? I watched her enter my phone number into her cell phone last fall, and she has called me on that number several times. Oh, and since her brother did work on my bathroom he has my phone number as well!

So now I am left scrambling to fill her position less than 3 weeks before school starts. We can't even officially open the job until she has turned in a letter of resignation to human resources, and when I tried to call her this morning she wasn't answering. It's always nice to find out that a person who you thought was a friend really isn't.

It's Official

I noticed people next door this evening so I dragged Tick out for a walk in order to give me an excuse to meet them (Tick is still panting heavily from her walk around the block). The property owner, whom I had never met, was very nice. She informed me that they would be fixing up the house both inside and out in order to get it ready to rent. I am thrilled that they plan to do some work on the outside. Hopefully they will rip out the huge shrub that completely blocks the front window. Yes, this is what passes for excitement in my life.

Don't Even Think About It!

Mom suggested that perhaps 2 Chicks and a Trailer should be helping Cadance and family move. I agree with Ang that mayhem would probably ensue if we ever got these two groups together. They appear to be all moved out but they did leave a few items behind in the carport. That looks like the chair that was once in my pine tree, and of course, one of the stolen shopping carts. This is the kind of high-class neighborhood that I live in! There was a strange car parked in the driveway earlier today, so maybe somebody will be moving in soon. Keep your fingers crossed that whoever moves in will be decent neighbors.

The Happiest Day of My Life!

My next door neighbors are definitely moving, which makes this the best day of my life. They were loading bedroom furniture into a truck yesterday and I could see through their door that the living room was empty. Julie, the mother, and Lindsay, the teenage daughter, have been okay. They aren't particularly friendly, but they don't cause any trouble, either. Sixteen year old Hayden is a different matter. Ava got confused with his name and she calls him Cadance, which Stephanie and I enjoy, so we call him that as well. Cadance is a skater-punk hoodlum who is constantly vandalizing the neighborhood, screaming obscenities at his mother, and just generally hanging out on his driveway with his friends and doing stupid things.

One of my first encounters with Cadance's mischeif was when we returned from Mexico two or three years ago and found that various items had been thrown into my big pine tree in my front yard. Those items included a Styrofoam airplane, a Nerf football, several lengths of pipe, 2 brooms, three rakes, and a lawn chair. All of these were stuck in my tree. He and his friends have stolen several shopping carts and they get in and race down the road or down single guy's driveway. They like to golf around the neighborhood and there are constantly divots in my front yard as well as golf balls, rocks, and horse chestnuts that occasionally go flying across my front yard. My garage window was broken a few months ago and I'm pretty sure golfing was to blame. Another neighbor called the police about the golfing a couple of months ago and since then they have been using whiffle balls. I called the police about a year ago when I saw them blowing up cans of Tag body spray by setting them out in the street and dousing them with gasoline.

Needless to say I am not going to miss Cadance. I do wonder what they are going to do with the house as they have not yet put it up for sale or rent. Cross your fingers for me that good neighbors move in.

Taking Another One For The Team

Ang and Nate need to get back here pretty quick because I feel like I have taken more than my fair share for the team lately. Today I took Steph in for a small medical "procedure". Let's just say that the girl does not come out of anesthesia well. When they told her that she would not be able to drive home afterwards she was seriously considering walking the distance of about 1 mile back to her house. That would not have happened. She was barely conscious as I semi-carried her out to the car. Watching her try to get out of the car was really funny, and I should have been recording it. It was obvious that she had absolutely no idea how to take the seat belt off, and how to swing her legs out of the car. She wouldn't have made it across the parking lot, let alone down three flights of stairs without someone to help her. When I last saw her she was fully conscious and seemed to be doing all right, although she was still very tired. Get well soon, my friend, and be on the lookout for another great get-well card!

New Windows and Den

I had most of my new windows installed on Friday. They ordered clear glass instead of obscured glass for the bathroom, and they forgot to order one window, so they will have to come back and install those later. The rest of the windows have now been replaced. My house had three different types of windows. There were vinyl windows in the front, aluminum windows on the south side, and single paned wooden windows in the back. Now all of the windows are energy efficient vinyl, and I am eager to see if that makes a difference in my heating and cooling bills. They certainly look much nicer, and I am thrilled to have windows that open in my kitchen. The old windows were painted shut. The bottom window is the new style.

Today's project was painting my den. Those of you who have spent time in my home will probably not notice much of a difference in this photo. I didn't take a before photo because the paint that I was using was basically the same color as the old paint. The only difference is that now there are not a bunch of holes, cracks, and chipped or peeling paint. I like the yellow and I was too cheap to want to replace the drapes so I decided to keep that color.