New Journeys, challenges and sadness

I have started a new journey of getting myself healthier.  I guess you could say this has been inspired by a couple things.  One being I sit all day and am tired of hurting from it, so I have decided to do something about that.  I got a stability ball to sit on at work and go between that and my chair.  It seems to help.  The second one being I am tired of being tired all the time and don’t like the way I look anymore.  I used to be so active, I don’t know what happened.  So I have decided to fix that as well.  The third one is the inspiration I have gotten from my sister.  She’s been going to her trainer for almost a year now and looks fantastic.  Every time I see her she looks even better.  So these three things combined have kicked my ass into gear to hire a trainer and get my shit together again.  I have been changing my eating habits and can’t say I no longer eat crap, but it’s a lot less frequent.  Instead of going for the chocolate donuts at night, I go for the sweet baby carrots instead. 

I made this decision 3 weeks ago and have to say it’s the best decision I have made yet.  I didn’t feel guilty about hiring my trainer since I no longer have credit card payments and don’t have a car payment.  So I looked at it as paying off one of my old credit cards.  And I love my trainer, he’s funny and very encouraging.  When I do certain exercises on my own I can hear him in my head “suck it in and butt butt butt”

Challenges
The new roommate is leading to some discouraging challenges.  I like him, he’s a nice enough guy.  Narcissistic, but nice.  Craig and I had two weeks together in our new home.  I was excited that Ryan got a new room he could decorate how he wanted and we had a whole house to ourselves.  Just us with the occasional Ryan.  Life was going to be great.  Yeah, not so much.  I mean life is still great with Craig, just have the roommate who screwed up his life living with us now.  It’s been a little over a month now and he still has no clue what he’s going to do.  He thinks he is just going to hang out here until he and the wife figure out their relationship.  In the beginning I was like “okay then we will put his ass to work”  and now it’s like “oh look he’s home, there goes my quiet night with Craig.” 

I don’t know if Craig has spoken with him about how long he thinks he will be here or what he plans on doing, but I’m thinking if he’s going to be hanging out here, then he’s going to be paying a portion of all bills as it’s not fair to Craig and I to pay for everything while he gets the free ride.  He does the occasional cooking and grocery shopping, that ‘s it.   Have no idea how much bills would have gone up because we haven’t been able to judge that. I do know that I am dreading the water bill that is coming up.

Sadness
Two weeks ago my beloved sweet little girl Bluka went missing.  At first it was both of my furbabies, but I got Fabio back due to being persistant with the neighbor who’s garage he was locked in.  How she could not hear him meowing or said she didn’t, but I was pushy with her and she finally let me in so I could get him out and bring him home.   I was so happy to have one back and the search began for the second.  I walked the neighborhood so much that first Saturday and Sunday calling her name but nothing.  Did the same thing that first week, put up flyers that she was missing, stalked the lost pet websites and still nothing.  Week 2 came and went, Craig took down the flyers and all I can do is hold out hope that she will come home and wherever she may be that she is warm, has food and water and is being loved.  I get mad at myself thinking I shouldn’t have let her out that Thursday night and she would still be home.  Fabio is bored and he keeps checking the house for her. I tell him every time he goes outside to not come home without her.  I did get him microchipped so if he does he get lost again I have a better chance of finding him.  I miss my sweet little spastic girl.

It's list season

I love this time of year.  Everybody releases their “Best/Worst of” for the year.  Everything from video games, movies, music, technology; you name it, they probably have a list for it.  I have already started going through the top albums and songs for the year from Rolling Stone, Pitchfork, Flavorwire, Yahoo Music and NPR.  There are so many more lists out there, but these are my favorite ones.  This gives me a chance to go over what I missed in the music world.  Don’t get me wrong, there are a ton of lists out there, but after a while they all start to have the same artists just in different rankings.  I get excited when I do see one of my purchases on a list.  I like to think that I made the extra yummy music choice when this does happen.  Yes, I said yummy music.

After I get all moved in and settled in my new home I will be spending time scouring my favorite sites again for new/old artists and the wish list will continue to grow.  I will be reviewing these new lists in the process as well.  I cannot wait to continue to my love of all music and to have back my long day at work just want to listen to some Crooners, musical Saturdays, hot bubble baths with Frankie and some candles, iPod update fests where I spend quite a bit of time combing through what I have, wiping my iPod clean and reloading it.  Feeling like I’ve rekindled an old love interest when I hear a cd that I haven’t heard in a long time.  And will post my own lists of my favorite top ten songs/albums/artists I think should be heard.  My calendar will once again be filled with new releases and my presence at a different Dimple store will be a regular occurrence.  It’s good to be back.  And Thank You music industry people for your lists.  They are greatly appreciated!

Leap of Fatih

 

Earlier this year I sold my house and moved in with my fiancé.  I’m a country girl, was raised in the country and would have loved to stay there.  But I moved to the suburbs and became a flatlander.  Unsure of how things would play out, I took that leap of faith to move forward with our relationship.  We had no problems adjusting to each other.  I had the problem adjusting to suburb life.  It’s loud, bright with street lights, no frogs to listen to, hardly any trees (mostly concrete jungle), crowded and the houses are pretty much piled on top of each other.

So the search began for a new place to call home.  80 houses were looked at in one form or another (internet, drive by or actual viewing).  I finally found a place to call home.  It’s across the street from creek bed, there are frogs to listen to, its a nice corner lot so I don’t feel claustrophobic as there is a nice sideyard to give space between the homes.  The backyard is a little small from what I am used to, but the creek makes up for it.  Escrow is scheduled to close in December so Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.  Have a new home, next year the wedding plans start.

Jersey Boys

 

 

Craig surprised me with an early birthday present to go see Jersey Boys live on stage.  It’s the story of Frankie Valli and the 4 Seasons.  They were inducted into the Rock-n-Roll Hall of Fame back in 1990 and then one of the original members passed away not to long after.  I am a sucker for music back from the 50’s, 60’s and 70’s.  They stood out due to the uniqueness of Frankie’s voice.  I learned a lot about the band and the origination of certain songs.  I loved every minute of it and would go see it again in a heartbeat. I will get the program and the ticket framed and it will go up on the wall.

Found 'em

 

 

I have my music wish list that I keep and have been slowly checking off cd’s when I find them. Most of them are out of print and take time finding.  But patience has paid off as I finally found 3 of them. 

Shirley Ellis, Devil Doll and The Pierces.  I have been looking for Shirley Ellis for 2 years.  She was finally found and has been added to my collection.  If you remember the Name Game song then you have heard Shirley Ellis.  She deserves a lot more credit for her career than just than one song.  She has an amazing voice and is talented beyond The Name Game song.   Devil Doll and The Pierces were discovered by listening to Pandora.   Devil Doll has a sultry smokey bluesy voice.  She’s  country/rockabilly and it was love at first listen.  Of course, her music was out of print as well.  But patience is a virtue and I finally found her on Amoeba records website and it was mine.  Now to find her other one.  The Pierces was discovered from Pandora as well.  Like Devil Doll it was love at first listen.  Upon some research they too were out of print, but I finally found them.  It didn’t take me as long to find Devil Doll and The Pierces like it did Shirley Ellis.  But it did take awhile.  I still bring out my list once in awhile to see what I can find.   I know one day I will have them all, but then again my list does keep growing.  In the meantime, I have very happy ears.

Debt Free Baby

Debt is that nasty 4 letter word that we all hate.  It’s so easy to use and get sucked up in, after all, spending money is fun.  Paying it back though is a complete bitch and takes forever.  I, like millions of others, had a blast getting into it.  But getting out of it brought a lot of tears, anger and frustrations.  A few of the happiest days of my life were making those pay off phone calls.  Like my student loan, my car payment and a couple credit cards.  I figured that since I didn’t have those payments anymore that I would just keep going the way I had been going and just deal with it later.   That was a mistake.  I got tired of living paycheck to paycheck, not being able to put anything into savings because it was going towards credit card payments.  When I was able to put a little something into savings, it got sucked right back out due to a smaller than usual paycheck and not having enough to cover my bills.

Although I always made sure that my cats and bills were taken care of, I would figure out how to put gas in my car and feed me somehow.  Lots of sleepless nights, tears and that sinking feeling in your stomach when you see how little you have left until you get paid again.  Well, I am excited to say, this will happen no more.  I have finally been able to pay off all of my debts and the only bills I have now are my monthly expenses like electric, garbage, water…you know the usual stuff.  I have vowed to myself that I will only use my credit cards for emergency only, will build back up my savings account because I can now and never ever again will I live paycheck to paycheck. 

I feel liberated, like I want to go out and celebrate with a shopping spree.  But will not as I already have everything that I need (it’s just in storage right now).  I will no longer stress about how I am going to be able to pay the unexpected vet bill or car repair.   It’s surreal to know that I don’t have to worry about certain things anymore.  My paychecks are mine to keep and turn over to Mr. Bill.  I plan on saving as much as I can as I do have a house to buy and a honeymoon to take.  I can finally take real vacations, go back to my spur of the moment road trips.  I cannot wait for those, they are long overdue.

Catching Up

So I decided to sell my house so Craig and I could move on with our lives.  It was not an easy decision as I love where I live and it’s my first house.  But it’s just a house so it’s no biggie.  I will miss my back yard and the beautiful Manzanita bush, the horses, the cooler weather and a little bit cleaner air.  The smell of the pine and oak trees, less traffic…ah let’s face it I am really going to miss home and the country.   Where I am living now to me is city and it’s quite the adjustment.  It’s crowded, full of rude people, noisy and it’s not home.   This is all brand new to me as I have never dwelled with a boyfriend, but we are adjusting just fine.  I do feel like I’m invading his space, but he says otherwise.  He does acknowledge the huge sacrifices that have been made and makes sure I know he’s aware of it.  We are going to have a great life together.

The Selling Process and Moving
This is a process that I am so very glad it’s over with.   I was not keen on the idea of having complete strangers have full access to my house looking through everything while I was not home.  A couple of the realtors left my house unlocked, didn’t call to let me know they were showing my house like they were supposed to and one even locked my cats out of the house.  The only one who was completely respectful and left the house the way they entered it was Jim who originally sold me the house.  Jim was awesome, I really liked him. 

The house was only on the market for 2 ½ weeks before we got an offer. Which was great because I knew it wouldn’t take that long, but didn’t think it would be that quick either.  The gal was moving up from the Bay Area (transplant) and was paying cash.  So the whole process was rather quick.  She wanted a 21 day Escrow, but tried to shorten it a few times.  I told my realtor that it was just not possible; we were going to stick to the 21 days.  That was short enough it was getting really stressful. The home inspection was my breaking point and where Craig took over since I was done.  The inspector came back with things the things that needed to be fixed and the buyer came back with her list of things that she wanted me to fix. For example:  replacing the door hinges to actual gate hinges (uh…door hinges are not welded to brackets), re-label the breaker box, replace the gutters because they were rusted and in certain spots rusted through, replace the screens, repair certain parts of the firewall in the garage from past repairs that I did not do, along with a bunch of other items.  So we agreed to fix the hole in the gutter and replace the small spots of the fire wall (I hope she likes purple sheetrock).  OH and re-label the breaker box.

A storage unit was acquired and the packing mess began.  I went through at least one to two rooms a night and when a closet was emptied, it got a sticky.  When a room was done, it got a sticky too.  The house was fully of bright yellow stickies that said either Empty or Done.  They laughed at me, but a few thought it was a great idea.  All addresses were changed, utilities shut off and things shipped back.  Boxes were sorted Storage/Craig’s and small loads were taken before the big move day.  Craig cleaned out a bedroom for me and the furry children, the stage was set.  I took the furry children down before the big move day and that was a stressful ride for them.  Fabio hates his carrier as he gets so nervous he potties.  Bluka hates it too, but seems to tolerate it more than Fabio does.  This was the longest car ride of our lives.  Fabio clawed at the door so much he bloodied two of his claws and Bluka was meow crying pretty much the whole ride.  I felt so bad for both of them.  Finally get to Craig’s and I brought them both in the bathroom for a wet butt check.  Bluka was fine; Fabio got a bath which added to his unhappiness even more.  Once he was dried off he ran under the bed with Bluka.  
Moving day was interesting and hectic as moving days usually are.  Not only are we moving crap out of the house, but we are doing repairs in the process.   We started at 8:30am and everything was done and out by Noon.  First stop was the storage unit, then off to the new home.  My last night in my house was hard.  I sat outside for a few hours and enjoyed my backyard, my last commute up and down the hill was slow and I soaked it all in.  The cats enjoyed their last day and night of freedom to go in and out.  Bluka enjoyed lying in her favorite spot on the flowers while Fabio lay on the sidewalk with a very content look on his little face.  Now they are confined to the boring indoors getting used to their new surroundings and people.

New Life

Never ever in my life did I think I would be in the place where I am at.  I had always kept hope that this would all happen, but was okay if it never did.  I had my crazy cat lady plan to fall back on.  This is still surreal and none of it has fully sunk in yet.   I don’t yet know if I am fully ready for  this next phase in my life, but I am going to give it my best and if all else fails, I know that I am not afraid to be alone and can handle anything that life throws at me. So now starts the next phase in our life.  We find out how much we qualify for and start looking for a new place to call home.  I feel like I’m in transition as my life is in storage and I hate this part.  But I know it’s only temporary and everything is going to work out as it should.  But the way I look at all of this I’m getting another house J