Mind if I ramble?

Not much of importance has happened this week, just odds n’ ends.

Previous Owners (POs) Update: The silliness just gets sillier! PO calls me to ask if we were available for the movers to come and get the fridge today. HUH? Why do WE have to be there? He has been coming and going from the house since we moved in – why can’t he come in ONE LAST TIME and let the movers in himself (This is not as odd as it would seem - I have known the PO for almost 10 years. Also, he always calls beforehand and would never just walk in the house if we were there.) Anyway, at least the damned hot tub is gone from the backyard, although the movers for THAT left a 4 foot bare cord lying around. PO swears it is not live, but said he will come and cap it soon. Yeah, whatever. I’m just grateful I didn’t find a crispy kitty carcass in the yard. The only other thing left is the re-sealing of the deck. When we made the offer LAST APRIL, re-sealing the deck was on the list of things for the PO to do BEFORE we moved in that September. Sigh. I just keep reminding myself that in 5 years all this won’t matter and that we did manage to get a very nice house at a very nice discount.

Newest House Obsession: It seems, I must always have something to fixate upon regarding the house. First, it was buying the house, then it was moving in, then it was painting, then it was a kitchen table, then it was curtains and now it is a concrete slab. The slab was revealed after the hot tub was removed from it. While the slab is not entirely revolting, it is certainly not adding value to the landscaping. Until the damned thing has brick laid on it, I shall obsess over that. Of course, then I will move onto new living room furniture.

Sweater Status: I have seamed the neck and shoulders together! It wasn’t as painful as I had thought it would be and looks okay so far. However, I learned a lesson the hard way (is there any OTHER way?) while seaming the sleeve to the body. PIN THE ITEM TO THE SWEATER FIRST, DUMBA$$. Of course, halfway up, I realized things were going awry. The great thing about this seaming bit is that it is quite easy to pull the seam out and start over. So, I will just attempt the sleeves again this weekend. Once I have the sleeves attached to the body, the rest will be a piece of cake! I just seam the sleeves closed and then seam the sides of the sweater - those are very easy stitches. Overall, I have learned it is best to look at this whole seaming thing in parts instead of trying to tackle the whole thing at once. Would I do another sweater? I am still not sure – I’ll have to report back on how this one ends up. Meanwhile, I need to pray for one last chilly day before summer hits!

Books: – I am still reading A Suitable Boy – it’s a great read but will not be a fast one. It’s one of those epic novels surrounding 4 families and I am still getting through all of their backstories at this point. It’s also just over 1400 pages long – my goal at this point is to finish it by June. I think that is reasonable and still allows me to fit in other reads as well. It is a good read, though and I have always been fascinated by the Partition period of India and Pakistan anyway. However, to counter all the literary seriousness I have been consuming these past few months, I picked up Janet Evanovich’s Hard Eight. I’ll admit, I am not the biggest fan of Evanovich, her writing style resembles an exercise of “tongue in cheek puerility”, but right now, reading her stuff is a breath of fresh air after all the starvation, war, death, infanticide, and general heartbreak of late. I NEED to read about a goofy girl with big New Jersey hair who catches criminals and tries to keep her crazy grandma out of the line of fire.

Human Behavior 101: Things with my worthless manager are going quite well now. I am pasting a fake a$$ smile on my face, attempting to look happy while laboring for Big Al and making an effort to talk to her more. However, I realized something yesterday. HER CONDUCT HAS BEEN ENCOURAGED. She is an ineffective manager in the way she deals with things, but now I have reinforced this VERY behavior by acting the way she wanted me to in the first place. Sigh. If I wasn’t finalizing my Exit Strategy, I would be alarmed but thank goodness, a healthy case of Short-Timer’s Syndrome puts things in perspective.


Sick People: If your nose is running faster than Paris Hilton does from a real job, then for the love of all things mucus, STAY HOME. Quit breathing on me. I know who you are, I can find your address and I have access to Mapquest - if I get sick, I WILL exact my revenge.

Have a great weekend!