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OK, I am embarrassed at how long it’s been since I found the energy to post.  Those who know me know that I never go long without some major changes.  After all, isn’t that the only constant in life?
Last November I sold the house. It was much more of a commitment than I had the skills or money to keep up with. A 50 year old house can be a charmer, but it can also be a giant, glaring pit of despair and a money magnet.  That’s what I got in my house, affectionately known as “The Money Pit.”  So, I sold it to a flipper, got what I needed and he made all the updates and renovations I’d wanted to make with out the crews or resources and resold it 90 days later for 40 grand more than he paid for it.  Good for him!
After much downsizing and some major heart-rending decisions to leave some stuff, Cinder, Hermione Freckletoes and I moved into a two bedroom apartment in north Arlington.  We back up to River Legacy Park and the view off the deck is incredible!  I’ve seen coyotes, racoons, and all kinds of wildlife! It’s amazing to have nature right out the back door right here in the city.
Still moving stuff around a year later and realizing there is more downsizing that can, and should, happen.  Just signed the second lease and plan to stay for at least 18 more months.  May move to a one-bedroom some time during this lease period.
Update on favorites:
Music: Lady Antebellum, Jason Aldean (yes, country is creeping back into my playlist….thank you Ron!), Cake, Mary Lambert
Reading: Divergent trilogy
TV: Sons of Anarchy (Dang it, almost over!), Doctor Who, The Walking Dead, Frontline, Nova
Knitting: Christmas presents…don’t be peeking!

See, I am determined to be better about this. Small steps, friends, small steps.

I have returned from the land of really big painpills and have survived to tell the stories!  Last you heard I was headed for surgery on my left wrist. I did some googling and tried to watch some Youtube videos, but just couldn't watch without running short of breath and getting queasy. So, here's what I had and the translation for the rest of us who don't speak medical-ese: I had an open reduction (they cut the underside of my wrist open and rebroke my wrist) internal fixation (put in a titanium plate and 9 pins) on the left distal radius (the long bone of my left arm, under the thumb). OK it means a really big long scar down the inside of my wrist. I wonder how many times someone will actually ask if I did it myself?

The Royal Mother spent the night before and stayed with me through the surgery till about lunchtime

Drunken painting

Saturday. We decided that I somehow end up with really attractive doctors, or maybe all doctors are attractive, but I'm not really buying that one.  Both the orthopedist and the anesthesiologist were verrrry nice looking, professional men. Hey, they had my life and wrist in their hands, you think I'm going to bad-mouth them?  They gave me some incredible pain medication, but actually having all the pieces back in the correct places seemed to provide the most pain relief. I'm pretty sure there was a nerve pinched in there somewhere. Mr. Wonderful (the guy who actually sat in the ER with me the night I broke the wrist) took over for lunch and the afternoon, then my sister came for the rest of the weekend.  By Monday, I was ambulatory, but still enjoying the amazing naps provided by the pain medication.  I'd take a pill about every six hours, and would wake up after four hours, go pee, grab something to eat, take another dose, watch an hour of tv, and by then my chin would be on my chest and it would be time to shuffle back to the bedroom.

10 days after surgery.

Went back to Dr on Monday, and he changed the dressing. I was surprised at how little bruising there was and really not much swelling. During that first week I did go to a "drunken painting" class with Nora, but I was the cheapest date there. One glass of wine was all I could handle, but my painting turned out well enough that I've used it to decorate the front bath...yes, the "company" bathroom! What are the odds that not much drinking would result in a good painting. Hmmmm.

10 days after surgery, the splint and pressure bandages came off and the new, pink cast went on.  Stitches came out and the surgical site looks really good! No swelling, no bruising and really pink and healthy looking! Chose hot pink cast again, at suggestion of a male friend who stated it was like me, bold yet feminine. Bwahahahhahaha, he said that even AFTER he saw me fall on my face. And I haven't taken any more pain meds since the last dr visit.

Muddy Cinder

Here I am 16 days out and finally feel like I got my energy back! Actually cleaned house and did laundry this weekend. Took care of kitchen and bathroom floors, stripped the bed and washed sheets.
Broke the studio down and deep-cleaned, moved some things around and hooked up the Cricut mini that I got for Christmas (thank you royal sister!) and made the first project. Have rinsed the dog off TWICE since she insists on making mud puddles every time she goes out.

Soundtracks for the weekend: India.Arie's "Songversation," Jobn Legend, Robin Thicke, Daft Punk and listening to The Cuckoo's Calling by Robert Galbraith, really it's JK Rowling writing under a pseudonym. An adult novel, no Hogwart's stuff at all.


I'm ready to get started on all those other household projects I've had on my list to be done this summer. Cast comes off August 15 and I've got my shopping list for Home Depot
already written.  Have to replace the closet doors I took off in disgust a year ago. I just don't keep a neat enough house to have all my business available for everyone to see. Need to finish painting the ceiling and the floor in the front bedroom. Going to sand those floors and then decide if I want to paint or stain them darker and then refinish. Input anyone? Paint and seal or stain a darker color and refinish? Let's hear it, ok?

Have a good week all, next Sunday I leave for 6 days in Scottsdale at the NACADA Summer Learning Institute. Hope to have some fun, good pictures to post while there.

Bad Blogger, No cookie!

Life kind of took a hard left turn since I last blogged!

I'm breaking it down by life topics, in the hopes that I will determine if there really was a learning moment in this. I'm not sure that I could remember everything in a linear fashion, either!  This will ensure that everyone who needs to know does and will catch up those who haven't known what was going on.
  
Household stuff - The house has given me some trials, but I've learned, grown and now am stronger for what I've learned. Bought and began installation of a ceramic cooktop in the kitchen when I discovered the wiring coming out of the wall didn't match the wiring that came out of the cooktop and putting in a new breaker scared me a little.  So I called an electrician, who inspected and found that not only did I have a breaker box that was declared dangerous and illegal several years ago, the former owner had decided to "piggy back" one breaker box off another creating a very hazardous situation. And expensive....very expensive. Like hiccups, heartburn, "I'm going to throw up" expensive. So, I did what anyone else would do, I went into debt up to my very eyeballs and now I live in an electrically safe and sound house.


Changed the light fixture and redecorated the dining area. Added a new light fixture in the bedroom and finished painting that room. When I removed the ugly beige carpet in the master bedroom I found beautiful parquet flooring. Yes, there are damaged areas near the bathroom, but there's enough good parquet in the closets to replace the damaged areas. The question I'm still trying to answer is do I repair/refurbish and keep the parquet or just take it out throughout the house and replace it with wood plank flooring?

In addition to the cooktop, I bought a brand new refrigerator! Yes, that's a big first for me.  It's shiny and clean and mine, all mine! The wall oven will be the next big appliance purchase. I had a houseful for Christmas 2011 and was about to put the roaster full of dressing in the oven when I discovered the oven was about 6" more shallow than the roasting pan.  This 1960 oven will not even hold a full size cookie sheet...really??

 
Relationship stuff - Mr. Man was a good "mean time" relationship, but he wasn't worth a long-term investment. In the nicest possible terms, he had more issues than I was willing to deal with and I also wasn't willing to support him and his habits, the least of which was cigarettes. So I broke it off sometime in the early winter of 2012-2013 and have been much better for it. I can only hope and wish the same for him.

Maggie Mae

Animal stuff -  Let's see, last I wrote, I had Trina, the cutest little chihuahua mix I've ever seen. I was afraid that her ears would catch the wind one day and she would fly.  We added Hermione Freckle-toes to the mix while I was living in the apartment.  The students who ran the engineering summer camps brought her into my life.

Then January 2012, I saw a border collie on the adoption list for the local animal shelter. I met her and she was mine and I was hers. She was named Maggie Mae and although she was a senior dog, we fell in love with each other. When the vet, Dr. Gina, met Maggie, I learned that Maggie was much older than the shelter thought and she was loaded with heartworms.  She was old enough and frail enough that heartworm treatment wasn't an option, her teeth were worn down to the gum-line, and we just decided that I would love her for her as long as I could and keep her comfortable. She had a very good life here in the Typo household and she went to the Rainbow bridge late spring 2012.

Cinder Lou

After having Ms. Maggie around, I realized that I must have another Border Collie.  This breed matches my lifestyle and their intelligence and communication skills are just wonderful to have.  So, I searched and investigated breeders. Yes, I know about rescue dogs, that's all I've had for almost 20 years.  However, this time I went into this knowing how to find a reputable breeder and did.  I contracted for a puppy that was born April 2, 2012 and her name is Cinder Lou. Cinder is a tri-merle (meaning she's white, gray, and a liver-type color) and has one blue eye and one brown eye! My little Cinder is now 15 months old, 37 lbs and I call her my velcro dog because she and I have bonded so well. Her energy level is manageable, she has a Varsity ball that she plays with in the backyard to exercise her herding instinct, she keeps the squirrel population in line and tries to herd Hermione.


Health, wealth and travel stuff - Yes, this is an unusual grouping, but those of you who know m

Elbow should NOT look like that!

e, know there's a good story tying them all together.  Spent a week in Cozumel this spring at a wonderful, small all-inclusive hotel on the beach! It was going to be a week lying around in the sun, not thinking about anything important, especially not work stuff.  This was the first week in April. Flight down and transit to hotel was easy-peasy-lemon-squeezy.  Hotel knew I was arriving, handed me the key to my room, where I unloaded the bags, and took a short nap.  It was then, officially, 5:00 somewhere which meant it was margarita-time on the beach.  Met my BFF on the beach, pulled up my lounge chair and enjoyed my first two drinks over about two hours.  Got my third drink, plugged in my headphones to listen to Jimmy Buffet and took a walk in the surf, where I promptly tripped, fell and dislocated my elbow. Lessons learned: foreign doctors/clinics want cash on the spot ($1200), morphine does not even touch the pain of having an elbow reset, Mexican pharmacies just need to know what drug you've been prescribed - you get to pick the strength and number of pills. X-rays to remind me of my week in Mexico? Priceless.

Almost 5 weeks later, I was out on a date (yay me!) and the clouds burst and dumped rain by the bucket. In an attempt to save my date from being fully drenched,  I decided to make a run for the front of the restaurant; I tripped on a parking lot bumper, and fell full-length on my outstretched hand and broke my left wrist.  We did stay for dinner, at my insistence, and went to the ER for dessert. I broke my distal radius (yup, the long bone on the inside of your left forearm).

Got into see ortho a week later and he casted me for four weeks. Ran x-rays at the end of the four weeks and the bone had not set properly. So now? Now, I'm scheduled to go in for surgery day after tomorrow (July 6) to have the bone re-broken, plated and pinned into place. Which means a cast for much of the remainder of summer.

School Stuff - Last year, when I thought life was getting boring, I decided to apply to a master's degree program in higher education. I was accepted on probation , which meant I had to take 12 hours and earn no less than a B in each course. Since Spring 2012, I've gone year round (until this  summer, the summer of injury) and completed 15 hours towards an M.Ed. in Educational Leadership and Policy Studies with Higher Education emphasis.  This program doesn't require a thesis, but does require a practicum and project.  I've decided that I'm going to look at some techniques to improve the grades of engineering students on probation.  To that end, I'm going to an intensive NACADA Summer Institute in several weeks to put together the plan of action for proposing and completing that project.

So. that's the doings in the Land of Typos. What's up in your world???

Learning to roll with the punches and enjoying the smaller things in life.

Oh the things that happen when you least expect them! I have a shiney new heating and air conditioning system! Completely new from the outside unit to the inside unit...and shiney, too.  During the first week in August (of course AFTER paying all the monthly bills) I noticed that although the AC was blowing, the air was not very cold and it got warmer as the day went on.  The tech took one look inside and said, "oh my, it's frozen all the way to the inside unit." He then said that although we had already gone 24 hours with out air conditioning, they wouldn't be able to do an install until the next day. We knew we'd made it one night, what's one more? Weeellllll, when the blower is turned off, one more night can be the very definition of hell on earth.  The inside of the house was 99 degrees with the windows open and all the fans running.  I was able to sleep fitfully, only by sleeping on top of the bed linens and covering my body with wet washcloths and allowing the fan to blow across the wet fabric.  Yes, it was a long night.

But the next day? The installation crew was amazing! They were kind, friendly, had an understanding of how very frayed my nerves were with no sleep and they worked to get that sucker installed in one day. And the difference has been wonderful! Do you know the fan unit will actually turn off when the interior reaches the preset temperature? I don't think the poor fan on the old unit had cut off since I moved in.

The down side is that I had to pay a lot of money when I least expected it. The up side is that now the most expensive single item in the house has gone bad, I know it won't happen again for about 20 years.  The new unit, being much more energy efficient, should pay for itself each month with the reduction in electricity bill.

Last night I was raking the yard and I realized the a/c fan was off and it was really quiet in the neighborhood. I heard the funniest little pitty-pat and took a few minutes to realize that I could actually HEAR the squirrels running down the telephone lines behind the house.  This is a stunning realization for someone who has spent the better part of the last 10-15 years living on either a highway or an extremely busy 6-lane street.  I stood there a minute, with one hand on my hip and the other holding the rake, until the realization of little pink feet crossed my mind when I started laughing loudly. No worries, the neighbors are pretty sure I'm already crazy, this was just verification for them.

Ch ch ch ch changes!

Aha! It's only been about two months, so I guess I'm doing better on the blogging thing.  There have been a lot of changes since I wrote last. I no longer live in an apartment, and the house I now own is no longer a "grandma house" with nicotine-stained walls.

I have cleaned and evicted the crowds of spiders, squirrels, rodents, and ants that had taken up residence in the house since there were no people to drive them away.  Everything smells fresh and clean and waddya know? It IS clean!

The move has been completed and the furniture is (mostly) arranged in proper rooms.  The cats have claimed their respective places and the dog would like to stay in the backyard forEVER.  My mom finished her move about the time I got my stuff put away and she sent a garage-load of new stuff to me, so now I'm redecorating and rearranging furniture again. I know the house is a project that will never be completed, but I kind of hoped I'd get a small break after moving in. Mr. Man and I busted our you-know-whats over the 4th of July weekend to paint the kitchen and master bedroom.

Then we started on the yard. The back yard was covered in leaf litter and lawnmower mulch and required a lot of raking to clean it up. Since we've had this huge heat wave and drought, I'm not watering the grass/weeds. I've already staked out a location for the raised-bed vegetable garden for next spring. Wouldn't you know that the only place with enough sunshine to grow veggies would also be the only place I have really pretty grass?  Since the grass costs water and doesn't produce anything of value, other than oxygen, it will be replaced with veggies and good nutrition!

There are too many shrubs in the front yard, so as soon as the outside temps go lower than Hades-level, I will begin landscaping out front. I know many will be disappointed, but the wishing well fell apart when we moved it and it's now gone to meet its maker.  I'm going to yank out the 20 chinaberry bush palisade that lines the driveway and front walk. It's all too linear and closed off and not welcoming. I want to add color and flowers and a little more native landscaping that it a little more drought-resistant.

So, you all can see that my work is cut out for me.  Wanna help?  Pictures coming soon.

It's MINE...IT REALLY IS MINE!!

It's mine, mine, mine!! I closed on the house "contingent upon funding of closing costs," which means I have to take the title company a certified check for a lot of money tomorrow and then I will have the keys.

I come from a long, honored, proud line of women-worriers. Yes, that is WOrriers and not warriors. We are known for waiting for the other shoe to drop, the sky to fall, the storm that comes with a silver lining. This line of women can be seen from far away by the deep worry line between their eyebrows. I am still worried, 20 years after graduating from college, that someone made a mistake and credits were awarded incorrectly and they will yank my diploma from me. 

What this all means is that I have not been able to celebrate making one of the biggest steps that any adult can make because I'm worried that it will the financing will fall through, that the house will burn down (quick! Knock on wood!!) or 20 years from now I will have termites. Seriously?  The writing down of it all makes it seem so much sillier than it is in my head and is allowing me to process this enough that I will be able to celebrate tomorrow after dropping off that cashier's check and picking up the paint on the way to the bottle of champagne in my new house!!

....maybe I need to write more often? 

Happenings in the Land of Typos

Busy couple of weeks for the Typo household.  Starting after the Epic Houseviewing Weekend, the social life ramped up again.  The next week I was going to make a pass through my top two choices,  the one with the Chambers stove and the first house I looked at. Friday morning, the day we were going to do the walk-through, I found out the one with the cool stove was already in contract, which narrowed the field considerably. I took Mr. Man to view the single choice in the morning and the Queen Mother in the afternoon. At the afternoon viewing, I signed an offer contract and made an initial offer on the house.

That night I realized that Mother and I were leaving on a cruise the next morning and I had been so wrapped up in house stuff that I hadn't packed. Friday evening was dinner with Mr. Man and Mom (they liked each other) and then the mad, marathon suitcase-packing night.  Mom and I got up Saturday morning, left the keys with the dog sitter and headed south to meet the ship. We were about an hour from the house when I got a text message from my real estate agent that the owner's had made a counter offer, which I immediately accepted. 

The Queen Mother and I continued toward our cruise with the Queen's childhood best friend and her family. The real estate deal required some stops to sign and fax documents and then we hit the ship....ahhhh, umbrella drinks and attractive men to serve them, sun, ocean, great food...vacation!!!

We went to Cozumel, Grand Cayman and Jamaica. Shopping, food, beverages (lots and lots of them) were wonderful. The ocean was beautiful and calm and the sun caressed our skin. Nope! I did not get sunburned, but I did get to lay out quite a bit. Thanks to technology for SPF 50, my red hair and fair skin did not get crispy. The spa on the ship was relaxing, the wait staff was attentive and we had fun all the way around! During the cruise I was still signing and transmitting documents for the real estate deal, but by Thursday it was all official and my earnest money check was deposited by the title company.
 
Yesterday Mr. Man and I spent the afternoon with the home inspector. I know it's been a long, long time since I bought a house, but I really don't remember the inspection taking 3 hours. I'm not complaining, mind you, just very conscious and grateful for the thoroughness and professionalism of this inspection. The inspector told us the house was in the best shape he'd seen for one it's age. While he worked, I walked the floors, visualizing colors and furniture placement. I also got a better idea of the work that would need to go into the house before I could fully move in.  I've planned the closing and moving dates so that I will have a month in both places at the same time for cleaning and painting.

Anyone bored and looking for something to do around May 30 feel free to give me a call! I promise there will be pictures with the next post!!

Househunting

Sunday I looked at 9, count them, nine houses in person. You really don't think that walking through empty houses can be exhausting, but I'm here to tell you I was worn out by the end of the three hour session.  I got verification of some amenities that I now consider essential (garage, three bedrooms, two baths) and got a better feel for the houses and neighborhoods right here in River City.  I narrowed the list down to two houses, plus one I've had my eye on for a couple of months.  They are all houses from the late 50's-early 60's and all will require some cosmetic work and painting, but I'm up for that. I just love the established neighborhoods with great big trees.

1950 era Chambers Range

I've heard of Chambers ranges, but one of the houses actually has one and I am now stupid in love with them!  They are the coolest looking vintage stoves I've ever seen.  They were advertised as the stove that cooked with the gas off, meaning you would preheat the oven and it would hold the heat so well for so long that you could turn the gas off a portion of the way through the cooking cycle. There is a grill/broiler on the stove top and the back right burner is actually a cooking well, for slow cooking.

The house that currently sits atop my favorites list has a Chambers range, a fully landscaped back yard with Japanese maples and assorted blooming flowers. It also still has room in the flower beds for an herb garden.  It's less than 15 minutes from work!

I have looked at enough houses that my brain is full and I need to process everything I've seen.The original house I fell for will be back on the market by then and hopefully I can make a comparison.  I'm going to take the next couple of weeks to process and make a decision.

Moving forward!!

Wow, this month has gone really quickly! And it's been a month of good things happening,

This morning I got notice from my apartments that my lease ends 30 days sooner than I thought. This means I have to step up the house search and make a decision by the end of April. So, I've started the loan prequalification process and I have also been looking at houses online. I hope to update you all soon with an invitation to my housewarming!


Mr. Man and I have been perking along and getting to know each other better. Just last night I met his youngest child and we all went to the bookstore and then to eat. He is the most open, verbally precocious, classically beautiful child I've ever met. Now, it might have a little something to do with him looking like Mr. Man, but I'm not admitting to that. Little Guy has dubbed his father as "Super Daddy Underpants;" yes, he is 6. But he's inspired me to try to find a Super Daddy Underpants costume or to create a t-shirt dedicated to this superhero.

Trinity Hall

My friend Cameron came in from Albuquerque for St. Paddy's Day weekend. Cam brought "Tiki Girl" who we treated like Flat Stanley. On Thursday Tiki Girl went everywhere we went and we all had a blast!  We picked Cam up a the airport and then had lunch at Trinity Hall Pub, corned beef and cabbage for the girls and shepherd's pie for Mr. Man, and listened to some great Irish music. From there we went shopping for a while then back to Willhoite's so Mr. Man could take care of some personal business. Cam, Tiki Girl and I played pool and got to know some of the locals. We went home, changed clothes and went out to Sue Ellen's and JR's a pair of bars in Dallas. Had a good night, Mr. Man and I agreed that we were falling for each other and made devoted vows of love for what we have right now. I think gin might have been involved on my part, hence the memory is not so clear.

Willhoite's

On Friday poor Cam woke up to an ear infection. We spent the morning trying to determine if she would have insurance coverage here and if she did, where could she go for treatment. Then we spent the afternoon at the urgent care center. I am so very grateful for urgent care centers, they move so much faster than the emergency room. She got prescriptions and we grabbed dinner while we waited on the pharmacy, then grabbed a couple of movies on the way home for the evening.

Dallas Farmer's Market

Saturday, after sleeping in, we took in the Dallas Farmer's Market and its associated yumminess. Mangoes, tomatoes, and pineapples that were so very perfectly ripe and sweet. We stopped at Kurry King spice market and stocked up on Indian spices. On our way home we took Tiki girl to visit at "Ripley's Believe It or Not!"

Ripley's Believe It or Not!

Once we got home, Cam made homemade chicken curry, jasmine rice, fruit salad with real whipped cream and we watched "The Fighter." I think Christian Bale deserved the Oscar. He became Dickie and that included all Dickie's faults and twitches...good movie.

OK, I'm off to look at more houses online. Anyone got any favorite tips for hunting?

Annual roll call for the Queen's Doctors

This is the time of year when I have to make all the annual doctor visits. There's a doctor most all parts of my body and I've seen the doctor that governs the lady-bits. He referred me for a mammogram, which was done yesterday. I survived the annual boob-squish, but saw some white stuff on the films, which means that although I've had these cyst-y things for years, I will probably be called back in for confirmation mammograms and sonograms.  As Mom said, "no one died from a mammogram, but quite a few have died from NOT having one," so I will continue to offer myself to the Radiology gods for squishing and probing.

Next step is the annual sonogram of the thyroid to make sure it's not growing any larger. Although if a larger thyroid means that I now have an excuse for my current weight, I'm all for larger thyroids. Usually that means bigger, worse problems and I don't know anyone who's looking for more problems. After the thyroid, then I will have to take care of the teeth and the eyes. I have the Isbell teeth and have NEVER had a cavity, so I'm not worried on the dental front. I feel like I front-loaded the dental solutions by having to have so much orthodontic work and teeth pulled when I was a kid.  Eyes are going to be a problem, I've noticed that my arms are much too short and I'm having problems reading street signs. That's STREET SIGNS, not highway signs, so you shouldn't have to evacuate the streets in my honor.

Here's hoping your health in in good order and mine stays that way!!