27 May – As I was falling asleep last night I was thinking of the houses I have purchased and moved into. There are three that stand out – not because they were bright, shiny and new or spectacular or anything like that. Each of them seemed to welcome me the very first time I walked in – just to look as I was house hunting. Each hugged me and said “this is home for you”.
The first two lived up to that so I hope the last one does. Now to tell about these three houses.

The first was the “green house” and also my first haunted house – you heard me – ghosts, spirits, whatever you want to call her, I had one. Either that or my three sons had mass dreams about talking to “the lady in white” for three years. Two of them were 2 and 3 so they were not old enough to make it up. The younger one called her the other mother. The house was about 65-75 years old and had been moved to its location which was said to be a cemetery.

But that is digressing – as I first walked into that house, I felt it wrap itself around me and I knew it was supposed to be mine. And even though I went through some bad things there – divorce among other things, it was always warm and welcoming and I always felt safe there.
Believe me that is not true of every house I have ever looked at while house shopping.

While shopping for the “green house” my realtor took me to look at another house in town rather than the sort of rural area of the green house. I had picked the realtor up and my mom met us at the house with my younger sons. The realtor opened the door and we walked into the foyer. (It was a very old house and built when they had foyers and the like.) My mom turned and took the boys and went back outside. We went a few steps further into the living area of the house and I turned to the realtor and said “That’s enough; I don’t need to see anymore; I could not live here.” I took her home and drove to my moms – I walked into the house and before I said a word, she said, “You can’t live in that house, Robin.” She was right – it reeked of evil. I have never felt such a bad feeling in a building before or since, but I could never have lived there.

My second special house was one I was not even slated to see. My realtor, Johnny, had taken me to see the house across the street and as we were leaving I notice the for sale sign. I asked him why we were not looking at it and he said it was not in my price range; it was only $79,000. I asked him to humor me and we went into the house – as soon as I walked in I knew I was home. That was my house in Texas and it is the only house I ever cried at leaving; when I moved to NV I truly hated to sell it. However, God is very good and ---

My third special house is the one I am currently getting settled into. We looked at houses galore – I have talked earlier about some of the disasters we looked at. Tricia worked hard to find more houses for me and as soon as I saw the name of the street I knew it was for me. I had walked on that street in a country far away from where I live – but for safety’s sake I am not going to give that name. I thought to myself how neat it would be to live on a street named that – although I seem to be the only one in the community who knows the significance. I guess they do not teach geography in schools these days. Then we looked at house and finally got to this one, and even though it had some problems, I knew it was my house. It just fits me. I thank God for finding it for me – for directing Tricia’s eyes to it on the list. Next year I will get the yard started and before I am done, the house will glow inside and out.

26 May – Well – I thought that getting sick once a year was enough – and then this flu hit – it was not horrible, but it sure came at a bad time. I wanted to have all the unpacking done before this weekend – well that is not going to happen. Almost four days of being down – down – down with that bug. It is going around, and I was sure to get it – I just wanted to postpone it for a year or two.

While I was sick and “resting” (as the fur kids barked to let me know I needed to be playing with them not resting) I remembered one thing I had forgotten to tell you all – and it was the best in the house so far! Like a lot of people, I like to put stuff up on top of my cabinets – it is nice and decorative in the kitchen.

I am terrified of heights – let me repeat that – TERRIFIED! So I got up on my ladder and carefully got up on my counter to put the first item up – and as I peaked over the top of the cabinets, I almost dropped my vase. I have never seen such filth! I know cleaning the tops of cabinets is not a huge daily priority in everyone’s lives – but really! I do not think the tops of those cabinets had ever been cleaned – in the entire thirteen year life of this house. In fact there were still sunflower seed hulls – probably from the workers who built the cabinets.
Still terrified of heights – I got up on the cabinets – sometimes on my tippy toes stretching to the back of the cabinets – standing on my new stove at times – and after half a bottle of Spic & Span, most of the bottle of some sort of “goo off” stuff – that works on small spots only, two dobie scrubbers, an entire box of SOS pads, two huge, huge rolls of paper towels, and most of my fingertips and six pairs of disposable gloves, it is clean enough for my stuff. In other words, CLEAN. The entire time I was worried that I was going to step backwards off the kitchen counter - by the time I was done I was ready for rest again.

So I got a couple of two by fours, had them cut in two foot pieces, and made platforms and at least what I have unpacked is up and decorating my kitchen.

And where were my little furry helpers during all this. Yes, I mean Angel and Maxi. Well, of course, they were helping! First they tried climbing up the ladder – when I discouraged that, Angel got up on the little breakfast nook table and barked encouragement – or something – at me. Maxi just looked mournful – she wanted to play and mom was up too high to play.

I knew I had made a mistake when I put my cookbook shelves actually in the kitchen – today I found a little cookbook – once called Bubba Cooking, or something like that – Angel ate the title – scattered all over the backyard. I am not sure Maxi is totally innocent in all of this. She seemed to be laughing as I picked up little pages all over the yard.

I am going to have a sort of lattice fence built across my open space between the dining room and family room – to keep Angel from jumping on the ledge and breaking stuff. She can FLY across that room – and I would really prefer that my chairs not need to be so close that anyone sitting in them, touches the knees of anyone else sitting in them. If I am playing kneesy with someone, I want it to be by choice, not forced intimacy. I’d like my guests to have the same feeling of safety. Ok they are pretty quiet out there – I had best post this and go see what they are doing. Or maybe see what they are doing and then post this. Until later – have a blessed day and hug your fur kids – they bring happiness even when they are being ornery.

23 May – morning. Thought I would get this all caught up before I began my day. NO! I am not all unpacked and settled in although it is getting there – slowly. But a quick catchup for the rest of last week.

On Wednesday I spent the day waiting for the Goodwill truck to come and get the furniture and some other things I did not move from the apartment. I had actually intended it go to the women’s shelter, but they could not get a truck out in time. That is ok – mixed among all the things I told the packers to NOT pack are plenty of things for the shelter – the ladies will have all sorts of good things to use to start their new homes.

Wednesday afternoon was just unpacking more stuff. Having the garage arranged helps a lot. At least it is no longer so overwhelming and I can see that it will get unpacked – this year even.
Thursday and Friday unpacked and got some pictures on the wall. Today (Monday) I am going to concentrate on that rather than unpacking – once they are up off the floor, it will be easier to get around and put stuff away. Tomorrow is arrange the den/office so I can actually use it as a den/office instead of junk/storage for pictures.

These movers – they packed so many unnecessary things – but they did not take the files from my filing cabinet – the one I had asked Dana to pack a few days before. I do not even know how they lifted it and carried it downstairs – it is solid wood and with all that paper – WOW. They placed it so far back on the wall I have had to run an extension cord so I can plug in my shredder and my printer.

Remember, I told you how the movers assured me they were good packers – obviously their British English does not define good the way we do.

I opened one box – oh my gosh – I almost cried at what I saw. My mom had an antique, crystal bowl with flowers and now I have it – the flowers of course are not antique and not real! It was sitting on a bookcase in the second bedroom – the bedroom Rob, my boarder, uses. There were no books left in the bookcases, because we had packed all those. The movers threw some heavy stuff in the bottom of a big box, took the flowers out of the bowl for some reason known only to them – I will never guess what it is – if any of you figure it out please let me know – they threw the flowers into the box – then threw more HEAVY stuff on top of them. Before closing the box they threw – ok, I will give them the benefit of the doubt, they put the crystal bowl on top. How it did not break I do not know – a higher power than I was protecting it. It probably has no real monetary value, but it was my Mom’s!

When I opened the box and saw the empty crystal bowl with not so much as a piece of paper around it, I was upset enough. Then as I waded down through the jumble of stuff – some of which was trash by the time it got to my house, I saw the flowers, squashed to about an inch thick. I cried! I got them out and fluffed them up and they are coming back – although there are some holes in the back which I will have to keep hidden. Most of the rest of the stuff in that particular box had been left unpacked because it was going to the shelter. So it is repacked, in much better packing shape, waiting for me to finish unpacking so I can call the truck to come and get it.

Then I opened another box, marked kitchen. It was mostly empty – except along the bottom, neatly lined up, was all the glassware from the top shelf of my glass cupboard – and no – nothing, even my missing crystal wine glass, was wrapped. Not so much as a shred of paper. I have pictures, but I forgot to check the settings on the camera and they did not come out well enough to post.

I sent an email to the movers – they refused it. I sent another one, with no pictures. They refused it again. So next I will mail a letter to the BBB and send them a copy. The pictures are good enough for that.

Then came Friday. Nothing exciting during the day – just more unpacking and getting settled in. Still have not found the rest of my clothes – I am not sure where they packed them. That goodness, I had already carried my hanging stuff over here – well actually Joe and Rob carried it over while I tried – notice I said – tried to keep track of the movers. Obviously I did not do a very good job.

My grandson came over as he does on the weekends when his dad is here – he said he did not feel well, felt like he might vomit. I told him to go to the bathroom. His dad told him to go to the bathroom. He said again, he might vomit and again we told him to go to the bathroom. About that time, vomit he did – RED Gatorade mixed with whatever he has been eating. All over my light tan carpet!

Once Dylan was settled into the shower, Joe did his best to get it out – but red does not come out. I called Stanley Steamer and they came out on Sat, but they just shook their head – they cleaned it, and some of it faded, but it is still pinkish – not even a pretty pinkish. I have one more idea and if that does not work, I guess it is an area rug until I can afford to replace it. Down the line I planned on replacing most of the carpet with wood anyway, but not at this time!
Now it is Monday and I think I am recovered from the 48 hour bug I had all weekend – fever even, which is not usual for me. I did not even make it to church yesterday – another unusual – but I ached in places I did not even know I had. I still am not sure I really have them, or that someone else’s body was trying to take over mine. The fever broke a little after midnight, and although I am pretty weak feeling, (maybe lack of food for the better part of two days has something to do with that) I am up and ready to get started on my day. Well – maybe I will just take a little nap first! See you all later.

Changing Addresses Can be so much fun

18 May – 48 years ago today I graduated from high school. I celebrated by deciding to get my car re-registered. Normally I could have registered online – BUT – I moved so I had to go into DMV. OH NO!

The line for registration was not long, but when I got to a clerk she told me I could not register the car until I changed my address on my driver’s license. Now those lines were a different story. First there was the line to get to the forms needed to get the new license. That line snaked around, and around inside and then tumbled outside – in the freezing wind. It actually was not so cold but with the wind – it was downright chilly in short sleeves. Finally we were inside and filling out the forms as we snaked around the esses that made up the line – and finally we saw a person. She looked at the form, looked at my license, stamped something on it and told me to go get my photo taken. They have one photo machine – so THAT line just ran out the door and around the building down into the parking lot. It took almost 40 minutes to get to the front of that one – and after the picture was taken they gave me back the forms with a number. “Wait until your number is called” she said. Wait! I had been waiting all morning and I had an appointment at noon. But off to another line I went. That one was a little better though because it had chairs and we just waited, ---- and waited, ---- and waited for our numbers to be called. Finally, I was sent to what turned out to be the final desk – she was even able to register my car for me so at least I did not have to get back into that line, which by that time snaked out into the parking lot. Altogether it only took three hours! ONLY! It has been known to take lots more – but I was actually there as soon as they opened. Along with a bunch of other people who had the same idea.

After getting that out of the way I ran again - had to exchange a curtain for the kitchen, picked up the wrong package and then I had to return some shorts to Walmart. They were knit and just too clingy for my tastes.

Got home and my friend Nancy visited to see the house – that was nice and relaxing. Joe put up the curtain rods and curtains in the kitchen and draperies in the dining room. That is much better since getting up and wandering into the kitchen in the middle of the night for a drink is a plausible action. I would rather not give the neighbors a show.

After Nancy left, I decided to rearrange the garage so I had an idea of what I really had left to unpack. I moved all the Christmas stuff to where I want it to stay and sorted out boxes to see what was left. Looks like most of what is left will actually go to Safenest – or into the trash. Speaking of which – I am not sure why those movers grabbed and packed some of that stuff. It was obviously NOT good stuff. My trash guy is going to be flabbergasted Thursday. Enough for today though – I am tired and going to check my Facebook and then have a glass of wine and veg until bedtime.

17 May – Started the day by running again – ran to WM to try for curtains and curtain rods for the kitchen – also needed shorts and capris – or as we called them when I first wore them – pedal pushers! It is getting hot in LV and jeans are just not going to make it.

Ran to Anna’s Closet to try for those curtains – it was closed to went over to Maria Callendars for pie and coffee – yes for breakfast – just because I CAN! Started chatting with a neat lady from Texas and we had a nice long chat – long past time for me to get back to work but it was fun and relaxing and I enjoyed it. Ran back to Anna’s Closet – and found the PERFECT kitchen curtains – and curtain rods – so now all I have to do is get them up.

Ran to COSTCO to stock up the freezer and FINALLY found a DVD player to replace the one Angel ate – well she really did not eat the entire DVD player – just the important parts like cords, etc. It was not a really expensive one and it would have cost more to get the cord replaced – and my VCR was getting on in years; it may have been one of the first on the market; so I replaced them both with one DVD/VCR player/recorder.

Ran home – put all that away – unpacked the rest of the china and crystal and a couple more boxes and now am taking a short break. So far the only thing broken is one wine glass and the crystal salt shaker I dropped on the tile floor! CRASH! Salt and shreds of crystal were everywhere. I think I got it all up but I want to clean it again – and again – and again. Almost had a real mess though when the devil dog – you know the one I call Angel – jumped on the shelf of the cabinet where I had put the china cups as I was unwrapping them and counting. Cups flew everywhere, but luckily – especially luckily for Angel – none broken. She would have been in major time-out!

My bedroom is mostly done – still have pictures to hang and most of my clothes to find – but that is the closet so it does not really count as bedroom – right? Well – just took this picture and realized I also have books to put away – and the tops of both dressers to straighten – as soon as the stuff on top gets hung up. They make good storage places for pictures to be hung. But it is getting there – and at least I have curtains up and it is pretty peaceful for sleeping.

A lazy day in the moving game

16 May – lazy day today – just played with the fur babies. They are so funny and soft – and loving. They look at me with those big eyes and I just cannot resist. They are trying so hard to get my granddaughter’s cat – and if that cat claws my new leather couch again – they might just get it – because I might just toss her over the gate.

Picture is of Angel and Maxi wrapped in a towel - my granddaughter was playing with them - Not quite sure why Maxi looks so little in this picture - she is a little smaller than Angel but she holds her own. Just let Angel try to take the toy or bone she wants.

I keep Angel and Maxi in the family room – partially because while I was in the hospital they got a little spoiled and they “forgot” some of their house training – so I am retraining. That is actually going well because they like being outside so much – but the family room is all tile – so they do not need the carpet for a bit.

The cat is only here because she belongs to my granddaughter – I am allergic to cats – and sucking down allergy meds like crazy. And the cat seems to know this – she tries every way she can to get into my bedroom. It is a race every time I open the door to see which one wins. I want one allergy free room in the house!

Coming home from church today – noticed some odd things on the highway. Speed limit is 65 and most go between 70-75 – (me among the most) but there are those who get into the middle lane and go a safe 50! Then there are those who must get to the exit one car length ahead – even though it means passing and cutting over from the “fast” lane. Then there are those shiny new DEFECTIVE cars which have no turn signals – so everyone around them has to guess what they plan to day. Oh is that one coming onto the highway or maybe just going from exit to exit – it is fun to make us wonder isn’t it? Then there were the three who were daydreaming along – all in either the fast lane or the middle lane and ALL OF A SUDDEN woke up to realize their exit was RIGHT HERE! They made it but there were red lights decorating the cars around them and brakes screeched.

Well – enough for today. Tomorrow it is back to the old grind. Going to get drapery rods for the dining area – already have drapes. Still looking for kitchen and family room window coverings – but the chance that I will be wandering into either of those rooms sans clothing is pretty slim – so the neighbor’s eyes are safe.



Til later – moving is such fun! Only a gazillion boxes to go, pictures to hang, curtains to hang, curtains to hem and then I get to begin on the yard! The yard which at the moment is in a sort of desert landscape – rocky and barren!

13 May - Continued – ended up with some bug that is going around and “rested” for the better part of the 10th – got the letter signed though – and got some groceries. We were down to the bare basics – make that the bare shelves. The new refrigerator does not get here until the 14th and I am trying to not have to move a lot of stuff from one to the other – that only makes sense to me but no cream for coffee was carrying it a bit far. Well no milk might have been a little far to carry it too.

Let me tell you about the insurance thing – something to maybe even watch out for although I will give my loan officer the benefit of the doubt. My loan officer showed me a quote from an insurance company which I had never heard of – this was early in the loan process and I suggested he hold up as I was intending to stay with my insurance company – State Farm. LO said “But they are more expensive.” I said, “But I have heard of them and I know how well they respond to claims. And they have agents everywhere – not a faxed estimate from somewhere in CA.”

So I thought it was settled – I would have SF as my insurance company. A few days before we closed, I called my SF agent, Nate, to ask why I did not have a policy yet. He was very surprised to hear that I had insurance since he had not written anything. Come to find out – a clerical mistake was made at the bank and I had insurance with this strange company no one had ever heard of – well no one except the loan officers in Nevada and California which are the only two states the company is licensed in. Oh well – this was the day before closing so there was no way I was going to rock the boat. Nate and I decided to just leave it until after closing and then he would write me a policy and I could cancel the other insurance.

Getting a policy from Nate was easy. Getting the other policy canceled and a refund – not so easy. First the woman who answered the phone was probably the nastiest human I have ever talked to on a phone – just plain mean sounding. Scary! Demanded that to get a refund I would have to send a certified copy of the back and front of the payment check. Since the payment was made from closing funds that was something I had no access to. Then demanded a copy of my policy from State Farm – why I don’t know but they could not cancel unless they saw that. Finally I threw myself on the loan officer’s mercy. He was somewhat insulted but I managed to calm his ruffled feathers – and he faxed the letter and the copy of my insurance binder. So hopefully, in about ten days, I should have a check from the insurance company. I am NOT holding my breath however.

14 May – today I had to get blood drawn. You know, I did not realize that turning 65 meant I had to give more blood than I have every few months. Oh well – it sure beats the alternative and I guess I am glad my doctors are making themselves – and more importantly me – aware of any health issues so I can control them. I have lots of stuff to do – AFTER I get all these boxes unpacked.

After the blood draw – I THOUGHT I was going to unpack, but I had to fill out all the rebate forms for my new appliances. WOW! They really do not want to give that money away. I have to have all sorts of proofs – proof that I purchased the “right” appliances, proof that they were delivered and installed, proof that the old stuff was taken away and will never be used again. That last part is a given since I am pretty sure the appliances in this house date back to the 60’s. I do not even remember my mom having a range with grids like those. The house does not date back that far, but I think the previous owners found the oldest appliances they could to put in for the sale. Oh well, my shiny new appliances arrive tomorrow.

I can hardly wait! I did not realize how much I relied on my dishwasher, microwave and washer. With my son and granddaughter here – we use a mountain of dishes and a mountain of towels. The washer is going to be very busy tomorrow night!!!

Now, my granddaughter and I are going to roll up the rug I have down in the family room – with two dogs bringing in small bushes and trees – a rug is just not practical. Besides I have to keep moving the chairs further and further from the bookcases to keep the dogs from getting into the living room and the new furniture. While I was sick they forgot some of their house training and I want to retrain them before they have the run of the house – but they do have the run of the family room and the yard – and they are in seventh heaven!

Angel – my very misnamed dog – will start to bark and when I yell and tell her to stop – she does this little quiet “woof” --- “woof” --- “woof”. Reminds me of when I was a child – my mom would tell my sister and me that she did not want to hear another peep out of us as we were supposed to be going to bed. You know we had to say “peep” veeerrrrrrryyyyy quietly!!!
Rug moved to garage – family room back straitened up – trees and bushes swept up for now – dogs ecstatic.

Not much more unpacking for a few hours – have to leave to go to TNT – our Thursday night Bible study and fun night with the children at church. It is like having about thirty grandchildren for a couple of hours and then getting to send them home! I do crafts with them. Tonight we are ending until summer programs start – and we are making “A Cup of Hope”. One of the children suggested it – and it will be so easy. They decorate paper cups, use yarn to make a hanger and take their cup of hope or joy home for the summer. It should be a fun and quick activity – very good since they are practicing for their spring musical and we only have about 15 minutes of the evening for craft. The rest will be practice, meal and more practice.

Oh, before I end for the day – the garage door sage. Had to have a new garage door installed – that was expensive enough, but the opener s would not work – even the pad inside the garage would not work. And I could not remember the secret code. As I backed out of the driveway to make another Lowes run the day of the big garage door fix, the technician yelled at me to give him a secret code – I yelled one back and asked him to write it down until I could get it memorized. (I used different codes for everything – it really irritates my son!!! Hmmm-do you think that is why I do it? Nah! Just 35 years of security training on the job.) Well – he did not write it down – and I could not remember it. It is very secret.

Since the openers did not work, I called for help and they sent out a technician – he moved some stuff around, installed a new touchpad and said it was ok. It wasn’t! The remotes still worked only when they wanted to. So today I called for a technician – again – this is getting expensive. In the meantime, my son’s had rearranged some wires – I did not know this and paid this technician for another call to prove that I was nuts. The remotes were working fine. I did have him reset the number on the keypad though – to one I know and can remember! Hopefully that little tale of moving is over for good. Now to get all the boxes out of the garage so I can get the car into the garage. As it gets hotter and hotter every day here in Nevada, it would be nice to get back into the car and be able to breathe.

My granddaughter is unpacking books, bless her heart!!!! She told me to advertise the rug on craigslist – I think of myself as computer literate, but I cannot figure out craigslist – I tried this morning for about thirty minutes to post an ad to GIVE AWAY all my packing boxes to anyone here in the area who needs them – all they would have to do is pick them up. Well I could not figure it out – as Scarlett used to say – It will have to wait until tomorrow. Well she said something like that anyway. And if you do not know who Scarlett is, you are not old enough to be reading this.

Actually I would get more done if it were not for all the running I do - – run to WALMART, run to Lowes, run and get curtains because the solar screens do NOT block out visions at night – visions I would rather no one had – LOL. Run to get rugs for the bathroom so I do not slip and fall and break my neck – run to get something to eat because I am too tired to cook.

15 May – well yesterday was exciting – got my new appliances. They make my kitchen look like a Real kitchen – the installers kinked the hose to the ice maker – but Joe got it unkinked and we have cold water and will soon have ice. Ran to the post office to make sure rebate forms postmarked on time - after making copies of 16 gazillions pages of paper - and running to Home Depot to get a copy of my sales slip. Page three had disappearred. Had to go get groceries this morning – I did not want to move groceries so I tried to get down to the bare necessities – and I gave a bunch to the food bank – but I did a better job of getting down to bare necessities than I planned – I was down to Old Mother Hubbard’s cupboard. Today I am making chicken and noodles – homemade – and I think I will pick up some corn on the cob when I go to the grocery to get Dylan’s chicken that I forgot. I love my new appliances – my washer and dryer are bright red and the kitchen is all black appliance with white tile counters and floors – looks great.

Got a few boxes unpacked today – mirror is hung in den – which is also guest room and at moment granddaughter’s room. I can remember back in the good old days – when I was younger – much younger – I would work all day and come home at night and unpack until midnight – usually had the house all settled within a week – maybe week and a weekend. Now – I will be lucky to have it done by Memorial Day – and my granddaughter has helped me a lot. Of course I have had to move around the kitchen a bit, but there is no way another “woman” can arrange a kitchen – just cannot be done. She has done pretty well though – only had a few things to move around. Still have not found my measuring cups though – oh well my calibrated measuring hand works pretty well – for solids. Not so well for liquids – they leak right out.

Found page 3 - granddaughter's cat had moved it - behind the file cabinet! I may wring that cat's neck yet. I am allergic to cats - but how do you tell a granddaughter she has to take her cat to the shelter - so the cat is here and I am taking allergy pills. LOL.

Chapter 3 will be coming up soon.