Appreciation and Happiness

I would first like to express my appreciation for all of the comments! I will be posting pictures of the neighborhood at some point, and responding to my comments :).

We are not on a regular schedule just yet. We've had repairmen with us almost since the day we've moved in. Apparently our new home was struck by lightening the day we closed on it. All three heating and a/c units went out, along with something called the mother-board, some circuits, etc, etc. Basically everything is being replaced. They're finally done with the heating and air stuff. Now they're replacing all of our light sockets... ALL of them. ::sigh:: Luckily our insurance is taking care of it. The guys have also done some of my major landscaping... I'm thankful for that! I'll do the flowers myself, but I'm holding out until mid-April due to the crazy Texas weather.

These guys do everything. The wife was calling them The Three Stooges, and they said they actually call themselves that too. I'm not sure that's a good thing, but they do get the job done, and they do it right! It's funny... we were looking for a handyman... We now have 3! I'm not sure what it will feel like with the guys gone. This afternoon they even brought their fishing rods so they could fish before they went home. The wife and I sat on the patio, holding the furry babies, and watching the guys fish. It's a strange life we live here on the lake. ;)

Last weekend was very difficult. We had to say goodbye to Calvin, our little old man furry-baby. It was terrible. We had the animal hospice scheduled for Friday evening, but poor little Calvin started going down-hill fast late Thursday evening. By 5 am he was in a constant seizure. We were lucky enough to find a great vet down the road that took Calvin in as soon as he opened. He quickly put our baby out of his misery.

I know now that I should have taken the wife's suggestion seriously. Putting Calvin down with Thomas would have been better for him. It just didn't see that he was ready.

Tomorrow the girls will visit the same vet for their shots. Then the boy and I have tennis, the repairmen will be back, and later in the day, we are having our real-estate agent over for wine.... 1. To show our appreciation for getting us in the house, and 2. To discuss what on earth we need to do to get our other home sold.

All in all I am seriously hoping for a relaxing weekend... seriously! :)

My life in a bubble

Last night I said I no longer wanted anything... that was drastic. I'm going to recant that. There are things I want... 

1. I want to be able to turn on the television without hearing about the horrible crimes Joe Blow committed against his neighbor or family. 

2. I want to trust in my Government... 

3. I want to be able to send my kids to a public school and know they are getting what they need in order to be responsible, productive members of society.

4. I want to know that my choice to be a teacher was not the biggest mistake of my life... or worse the biggest mistake of my kids' teachers' lives. This goes back to trusting in my Government... 

5. I want my furry babies to live as long as I do.

6. I want to know that the boy who went missing on our lake at the beginning of his spring break has been found safe and sound. 

7. I want to know that the innocents who suffer on earth, are finally able to feel love and safety when they pass on.

6. I want to know that the world isn't falling apart. 

I could go on... but I won't. Here is my problem. All I've wanted to do since I was a young kid, is help... people, animals, etc. etc. All I've wanted was to make a difference. I was going to join the military right out of high school, but couldn't because I had severe asthma. I wanted to join the Peace Corp, but ended up getting married at 21, and just never did. So I volunteered, joined organizations, I ran, cooked,  sorted foods, and went door to door for different political agendas. 

Last Saturday, I decided I was done... I will no longer turn the news on. I will no longer pull up CNN. I am choosing to live in a bubble. It's actually very nice here... I can watch the sailboats drift by and wonder if these people are also living in a bubble. It makes me feel better to think I'm not the only one choosing ignorance. I can listen to the jet skis bounce across the waves and know that there are fun things going on. I can come on here and read about each of your lives... I can go to the store in my new, small town and come home not knowing one thing is wrong outside of this little bubble.

I don't know... I know it sounds nuts, but I now get anxious when I read about yet another natural disaster. I worry about the people involved. I go to bed thinking about it, have bad dreams, then wake the next day wondering what has transpired during those already sleepless hours. I know it sounds selfish, and this is just how I felt when we were heading to the funeral of my friend's son. I finally told the wife on our way to the funeral, that I was trying very hard not to be selfish, but that I was so scared I would have a panic attack. My stomach had been a mess the whole day... I wasn't trying to turn it into a me thing, and I certainly didn't want to draw attention to myself during this poor boy's funeral. 

Just know I'm not trying to be selfish by choosing my bubble, and I'm sure I'll pop it eventually. I just need it right now... at least for these next few days. 

We'll be saying goodbye to our furry baby boy tomorrow night. I have the pet hospice coming out at 7:30. Tonight has been rough for him. We both hope he passes on without the hospice. It's so hard to make this type of decision, even when you know it's right. 

Calvin AKA The Calvinator

A long day

Today: 

We attended the funeral of a 24 year old man-child. I call him that because though you're considered an adult at 18, I don't think we quite reach that point until we're well into our late 20's and early 30's. 

We made the decision to put our little old man dog down. He's going downhill fast and it's hard to watch. That will happen Friday evening, if not before.

Today has been long... I'm tired, I'm drained... earlier I was excited and wanted things... a golf cart, a baby... now, not so much. 

Crazy, busy, busy, crazy... BUT

Two weeks in our new home... YES, TWO weeks already! Honestly, it feels longer. So much has happened... so many things to blog!

I'll start here...
We've been in our home for two weeks. We've entertained our closest friends thus far and are planning a party for the end of April. A neighbor has lent us a golf-cart to take for a test drive because "If you live in Chandlers, you NEED  golf cart." Now, I'm thinking my rear-end is going to grow about ten times larger due to riding around in a golf cart rather than riding around on my bike, or even running and walking... things I once did for exercise, but currently have no motivation for. It is the cutest little black and red golf cart... I love it! It would be so fun to have it around for me and, well, the kids too! I would share!

I would love to have a golf cart... like most people there are many things I would love to have. This week, in the wake of a terrible situation, one of those wants has resurfaced.

A friend of ours son committed suicide last week. He was young, just a baby really. Only 24, with a girlfriend, and a beautiful 2 year old. It seemed to everyone, as if he was finally getting his life in order, but maybe it was only surface. I guess inside he was really struggling. He had to be, because one argument, one disagreement wouldn't have been the cause of his inability to deal with life.

Through all of this, we heard through the grapevine that his girlfriend is pregnant with a second child and would possibly want to adopt it out. It is simply a rumor at this point, but of course it made my want of another child resurface. The wife is right of course, it would be terribly difficult to adopt the grand-baby of a friend. We would be pretty selfish with the baby and have very strong ideas of how we were going to raise this child. The problem is, it would be terribly difficult for us to adopt otherwise. Other people have very strong ideas about children being raised by gay/lesbian parents. I can just see how an interview would go....

How would you... etc etc....???

The perfect answers would be on the tip of our tongues, but lets just answer honestly here:

 Me: I would want to buy it everything... only the best, from frilly dresses with bloomers and big fat bows if it's a girl, to all organic foods, and an awesome bassinet that plays the i-pod ;)

The Wife: No bows, I'll deal with frillies, and all organic foods?? We don't even get that, and we are healthy without it.

Me: We have to start the baby out right...

Person doing the interview: Where would the baby sleep?

Wife: In our room... Me: Only until 6 weeks then in one of the upstairs bedrooms.... Wife: That's too far away... Me: We would have a baby monitor... a video... we would completely childproof the upstairs to keep the baby safe once he or she is crawling out of the crib! Wife: What??? Crawling out? Ugh... the baby will get the master bedroom and we'll sleep upstairs.

Person doing interview: When the baby is sick?

Us: We would both be up caring for it, one of us wanting to make a trip to the ER... the other one being the voice of reason. That could go either way as far as which one will be pushing for the ER.

Person doing the interview: You both seem to disagree on what you want for the baby... how would this be healthy?

Me: These aren't things that are unusual in any type of parenting situation. We would want only the best for the baby... good health, happiness, education, and beyond... between the two of us, this baby would lead a well balanced, happy, life, with our biggest goal being not to spoil the child so rotten that he or she ends up being the pariah of social functions.

These are things that go through my head. I would love to have another baby... we have our dream home, we could still travel... hmmmm.... We'll just have to see! In the mean time, we have teenagers and furry babies that keep us quite busy!!

Oh my Geeeee, we MADE it!

I should be putting a resume together for a friend, but wanted to blog first. It has been so long, and I've missed it. Plus it makes me feel as if I am back on routine, which, for an OCD person such as myself, is VERY important!

Since my last blog, we've been crazy-busy with the move. I took a week off, and can honestly tell you it was exhausting, but very worth it as far as the house and view. 

I've been feeling a little concerned about living in a smaller town, and such a close-knit, gossipy neighborhood. This feeling about the town in general, didn't set in until my first visit to the grocery store. You cannot walk down an aisle without getting stuck behind someone standing in the middle of it, looking totally clueless. They then notice they are blocking you, slowly begin moving, and don't even apologize. We came from Dallas... people do not stand clueless in an aisle and then NOT apologize when they realize they're blocking you. The cashier was making horrible faces at my Indian food purchases, and a little girl looked at the boy and said "THAT'S a boy?!?" He has skater-boy long hair. I just looked at him and whispered "Can we say Rockwalllll?" This was said in my best Texan accent, of course. 

We did meet one of our next door neighbors the day of move-in. The wife met her first, and when I went searching for the wife, I got to meet her. She didn't beat around the bush... she came right out and asked us if we were a couple. I like that... she was straight forward. She then said it's okay, and that the neighbors directly next to her would be okay with that too. Hey, it was her way of making peace. I'm good with that. I wasn't good with the woman who kept driving by in her little red golf cart, staring, with no smile at all. The next time I see her, I'll be stepping right in front of her. Everyone in this neighborhood has a golf cart, and you see them driving all over the place in them. We decided we would get our own golf cart, paint it rainbow colors, name it Cha-Ching, and have a personalized plate that says RCH LESBOS. ;o) Just kidding, but the temptation is there. I think they actually expect it. 

Regardless of all of that, I'm very happy in our new home. It's beautiful, and we're very lucky! Here are some pictures taken before we got our furniture in!

The kitchen :)

The bathroom!

The beautiful living room!

Last but most important: The beautiful view :)