House Hunting We Will Go
We have begun the official search. We are one week in and I am spent. I think we'll just keep the house we have and celebrate the equity fading away.
One house we want. It's a 2 1/2 bath, 4 bedroom, 2 story with a screened porch, separate laundry room and alarm system. It's a great price, needs a little work and it's in the neighborhood we want, but the dude hasn't called us back. We're ready to make an offer and write that fat check you hate to write. The second house was GREAT, but a little out of our price range and the people in that neighborhood were snooty. Third house already has a contract.
Pray we get house #1. It's a bitchin place. I WANT HOUSE #1! Wahh!
Jeff and I are ready for a long weekend. We're going to Sanibel. Cancer dog and wheezing cat (Larry has lung damage as a result from a lung infection he had when he was rescued from the dumpster. As a result, he'll wheeze. No need to worry, though) will stay at home under the careful watch of my sister. We need a break. Between work, illness, house hunting, family obligations and all the daily life crap that falls between we need some white sand and Corona. Plus, I will show my love where I grew up and where I went to school.
Well, I need to do laundry, pack and get the house picked up and the boys ready.
I will post when we return!
Cavanaugh
Cavanaugh went to the vet today for follow up from his stint there two weeks ago. His blood work was not very good. Cavanaugh has cancer.
The doctor and I agreed not to seek treatment, but to bring Cavanaugh home to live out the rest of his days, weeks or however long he has with me, Jeff and Larry. Cav is to old and probably not survive through all the tests and procedures he would face. Right now his days are pretty good, but when his days start to get worse and he can't be himself anymore, we'll have to say goodbye.
I've had this dog more than half of my life. I really don't thing I've ever been this sad.
How Great My Family Is
On Sunday evenings, Jeff and I will have dinner at his parents house. We will have a few laughs, engage in conversation and I always leave knowing something else I didn't know about the family I married in to.
Now, to refresh your memory, Jeff's parents, sister and brother-in-law are bigtrucktoolprojectmaniacs. They love trucks, tools, fixing, building and anything that landscaping. What Mr. Stanford told me Sunday evening, I almost cried.
It all started when Jeff and I talked about house hunting for a bigger house. Mr. Stanford gave us this advice: Make sure you have a big comfort toilet. All newer homes, like ours (circa 1998) have small, narrow toilets. Mr. Stanford then went in on the extreme on how he makes sure he has a big comfort toilet.
Jeff's parents have a small vacation home in the mountains that is currently or sale. Last year they moved in to a new mountain home in which they will retire in once they sell the old vacation home and the house in Orlando. Mr. Stanford did not like the toilets in the new house. To fix this problem, he detached the hated bowl and drove it down to the house that's for sale and switched it with his big comfort toilet. And let me tell you, he is proud of its record time of just over an hour. Drove the big comfort toilet to the new house and installed it.
The church we go to has a parsonage that Mr. Stanford takes care of. When he was over there one afternoon, he noticed that the toilet was getting pretty old and needed to be replaced. Mr. Stanford planned a trip and drove ten hours to the mountain home where he (for some reason) had an extra toilet and carted it through four states to its new home.
He pressure washed our house because he had a new pressure washer and wanted to try it out, in the middle of a Fathers Day dinner, he flipped over out table to fix the squeak (only after he proved to the rest of the family that in his truck, he had better tools) and even after his return home from the hospital, the neighbors busted him adjusting the sprinkler heads when he was supposed to be resting. If there is any tool, fix it idea or whatever, Mr. Stanford has it, knows it or will do it. He even built my sister a better closet in the new house she just built because he thought the one she had was a waste of space.
I was raised to call the yellow pages. Thank goodness Jeff is on my side with that.
I married in to a family of toilet traffickers.
What Did She Say?
Friday night, Jeff and I were out for a lovely dinner at a fancy schmancy restaurant in DT Orlando. We were celebrating a Science Center event with a handful of others and it's sponsor. This place is where you would see Bogart and Hepburn dine in their day.
Jeff and I and one other couple were the youngest there (and every year we have been doing this). The age gap goes from about 40 to 70. So the four of us ( another couple Jeff works with) were at one end of the table chatting it up until something caught my eye.
A young couple, maybe about 20 (they were drinking tea and water) were sitting by a window overlooking Lake Eola. The guy seemed nervous and tense, the girl looked like she was in Heaven. There were a dozen long stem roses between them and they were deep in conversation.
When my vodka collins and shrimp cocktail arrived, I suggested that they had been dating for about a year and he was going to propose. Everyone at my end of the table chimed in their thoughts. Then came my salad and I noticed that there was no talking or anything going on at all. When my Tornados Oscar was served, the dude was in tears.
We ate, and discussed what could of happened. When our waiter came to serve the desserts, the couple was leaving. The guy was holding the roses, the girl was about ten feet ahead. Our friend asked our waiter to find out what had happened (yes, we are that nosy). When he returned his exact words were, "He proposed, she said No". Ouch.
Well, now the whole table was in on the "She Said No!" discussion. How painful. What a long drive home for those two.
She said no! How sad for the guy. I wonder if she was a bit**, he was to immature, or just why she turned him down.
For the rest of the evening, the empty table looked sad. Jeff asked the waiter if he could blow out the candle for the sad guys honor. I feel kind of sorry for they guy. He dropped at least $300.00 on dinner, $100.00 on the roses and who knows how much for the ring. He will always be marked as a rejected proposal man and no matter who he proposes to again, she will always be #2. He may as well move to Montana and get it over with.
Poor dude.
Also, just so you know, Mr. Stanford came home after 10 days, and Cavanaugh is home and on a new diet. Cavanaugh is still in poor health, but doing better than he was. We are just happy to have him back.
What a Week I'm Having!
Hello! Long time no read! Let my fill you in on the cluster f**k of a week I have had.
Jeff's dad has been very ill the past few weeks with pneumonia. His doctor advised him to go to the hospital, but the Stanfords are all about home remedy. Mother's Day, Mr. Stanford was so sick, we finally kidnapped him and against his wishes, checked him in.
The situation grew worse. He was in CCU, then was sent to emergency surgery. In simple terms, the doctor made three very large incisions, went under his ribs to his lungs and inserted three tubes in ( about a quarter size wide) to pump out the goo. With a question of cancer being present. Good news, no cancer and he's recovering, bad news is he's still there.
During this, Cavanaugh was deathly ill. This has nothing to do with his anger pee. Also on Mother's Day, Jeff and I noticed he was very weak and had no appetite. Monday, Cav went to the vet where blood tests showed kidney infection, liver infection and a possibility of cancer. Cavanaugh was in for four days with IV's, multiple tests and whatever. Good news is, he's home and on a new diet. Bad new is, even though he is feeling better, he is still very sick and the vet hasn't ruled out cancer. To test for cancer would be very painful for Cav and he would have to see a specialist. Our vet told us, if it was cancer, we would know and he wouldn't treat it. I agree. Cav is almost 16. To make a long story short, Cav is very sick and probably doesn't have very long time with us.
So, Jeff and I have been going to work at 8:00, getting off around 5:00, going straight to the vet to visit Cav and talk with the vet, then straight to the hospital until about 10:00 to visit Mr. Stanford. Also, for two days I had all day meetings in Deland, about a 1 hour drive each way. When we get home, we comfort Larry who was insane while the dog was gone, eat something for dinner around 11:30 and then pass out.
Weekends have been devoted to the dog, seeing Mr. Stanford and helping my sister landscape her new home. It is now 10:30 at night. I have about six loads of laundry to finish and I need to clean up the house a bit. We haven't been home, so there's not much to do.
The next week will look about the same. Jeff has a lot of board meetings and media stuff with work that will keep him late, we need to visit his dad and help out his mom, take care of the dog, I have a work "team building" Wednesday night, trainer on Thursday and another work thing Friday evening.
This was just to fill you in on where I have been and where I will be. I'm ready for a keg of beer and some ice cream.
Say a little prayer for Jeff's dad and Cavanaugh.
Wahh!
1. This customer at the bank gave me a cold. I feel like crap.
2. Jeff and I saw a movie this weekend. We were the oldest people there.
3. My dog will only make pee pee in the house.
4. The cat still chews on our hands and feet (he wasn't weaned).
5. My US magazine is late.
6. I gained 5 pounds (unemployment weight I can't seem to shed).
I know others have reel problems going on, I just feel like venting.
It's funny. For the last six months Jeff and I have had some serious issues with unemployment (both of us), sick family, totaling a car and now we are considering selling our house (2 more of our neighbors are selling, next door has sold and they warned us of the people moving in. We're outta here.) and no complaining. We are very much "roll with the flow" kind of people. It's the little things that get to me.
Thank you for reading. You may post now about what a big baby I am.
My throat hurts.
