Moving status update

Wow what craziness the past couple of weeks has brought me!! In the end, all good things but it's always interesting to look back and see how it all worked out. I just kept thinking, "This time next week, this will be past me!" I haven't had time for anything, not even finding a new car insurance rate, seriously...when you move, you should check into how the rate might change with your new location.

Anyway, moving sucks. I am just amazed and appalled at how much 'stuff' I have accumulated! I do not get rid of things as much as I should, for sure! Right now I'm in my first of two temporary places, working my way to the goal of renting a house from a client at my office. I've been waiting about a year and very much looking forward to it.

At the moment I am in terrible back/hip pain. I think it has everything to do with my bed, again. I know this is not a new storyline but in moving my bed and getting it set up again, I believe I did not get the right side of the top mattress up. I was *this* close last night to calling my mom and having her drive me to the ER for pain relief and some muscle relaxers. I ended up taking 2 advil and putting ice on it and stripping the bed and flipping the mattress over. I slept well considering and woke up feeling better. Today sitting in my chair at work, I'm in pain. It's difficult to stand/walk. I called a new chiropractor. Found out I have some chiropractic coverage on my insurance!! 26 visits per calender year, $50 each for co-pay but that's not so bad. Calling back soon to make an appointment. Just as soon as I balance my $ and see where I am. I'm behind, haven't made my car pmt yet this month but I'll get there.

So things are everywhere, some at the house I'm staying in now, in the living room, bedroom, basement and the garage as well as the storage unit. One might say, "Oh, that's just you all over!" It's true... I'll post again later to update you on my storage unit woes. For now, I'm enjoying the quiet of my suburbian oasis and making arrangements for the next move in March to my 2nd temporary place. I met with her last night to discuss the logistics and price. She's really doing it to help me so this will work out great, keep praying for me!!!

Weekend move update

Friday morning I was up and packing at 8 am. Working to complete the craft room was my goal for the daytime because I had a couple of friends scheduled to come in the evening and completing the bedroom was the goal for the evening. I really wanted to get the rest of my clothes and cold foods moved over to the new place at night's end. Of course, there began to filter in mentions of snow overnight. On my way down the driveway at the new place, I fell on the ice. Landed very hard on my rear end. I immediately began to cry, probably out of fear that I was hurt. Once I took a few breaths, I realized, "Why am I crying? I'm not actually hurt!" Probably just a rush of emotions. I've been having alot of those lately. I have a few phobias: falling on ice or anywhere else for that matter, management jobs because I hate making other people's schedules and big rocks under water. I know, I'm weird. At any rate, I'll probably be very sore after this slip and fall.

Things never go as planned, as I'm sure you've learned in life. Unplanned things happen, you have to learn to take things in stride. Friday night, put quite simply, I was exhausted. Physically and mentally. The Mexican restaurant below my apartment had no notions of my fret and partied like it was Cinco De Mayo. Around 2:30 am, I finally fell asleep out of sheer exhaustion and I have no real idea of how long they were noise downstairs.

Saturday morning there was just too much snow to go through with the move. I couldn't live with myself if someone got hurt trying to help me! So, I called it off for that day. Saturday night, things were oddly quiet downstairs and I found myself relieved that I might actually get some rest. This was not to be. I think perhaps they were partying next door and around 1:30 or 2 am, they decided to bring it back over to the kitchen and restaurant below me. It was like living above Tijuana on Cinco De Mayo! Around 3:45 am I called the police. After about 15 minutes of continued disruptive noise, I decided to go to the front of the apartment and watch out the window for an officer to come. About 45 minutes later, I decided to call back, you know, make sure they had the correct address or something. The dispatcher looked it up in the computer and said, an officer responded within 5 minutes of my original call! I told him there had been no change in the noise and he put it back in the system. About 10 minutes later, I saw an officer come and finally they all began to leave. 5:15 am, and it was finally quiet so I could go to sleep. I'm soooo ready to be out of there!

Sunday I went to church and then had lunch with my brother and a couple of friends from his church. I spent the rest of the afternoon stripping my bed and packing the bedding. I gathered the remaining essentials from the bathroom, shower curtain included and paced my car to the gills. On my way over to the new place, albeit temporary, I felt for the first time in this whole process, a sense of happiness. A glimpse of joy and relief. Sitting at a red light, I finally felt like I could enjoy this move! So much of the hardest part is behind me, packing and sorting and deciding...I can now focus on the best parts of why I'm moving in the first place! A better life, peace at night and safety. The last few weeks, I have not felt safe at my apartment. Perhaps that's why I haven't been resting. Between that and the mice, it's been less than desireable for a while now.

After shoveling the walkway and putting out salt, unloading the car and getting everything ready in the bedroom to receive the bed, I went to the kitchen and warmed up some leftovers. I pulled a daybed that was left in the dining room over to the kitchen counter and sat in peace to enjoy my first meal in the new place. Sigh...peace. I have no idea what is going on with the super bowl, don't much care. I didn't even know who won until I got on Facebook earlier today! My brother came over after the game to move my bed to the new place and after getting it carried in and all made up, I enjoyed several hours of uninterrupted sleep! Peace.

Monday morning brings a very sore body. This move and the icey fall are starting to take affect on this body but I can see light at the end of the tunnel and it's wonderful! :)

TV technology, I can't tell HD from 3D!

A couple of weeks back, I was saddened by the loss of my bedroom tv. The sound was fine but the picture went down to a single line across the screen and that will never do! Being the resourceful single lady that I am, I used my office chair to load the living room tv and roll it into the bedroom. I'm just not strong enough to carry it by myself. I was smart to take plenty of measurements first, good thing too because there was very little room in the bedroom armoir and that would have been an ugly scene!

Now that I will be moving soon, I will wait to purchase another tv but frankly, I have no idea what means what in tvs these days! DPI and HD and 3D and Plasma and all the other options. Heck, now you can even use these new tvs as computer monitors! Take the Sony VAIO for instance, sounds like a tv but also sounds like a computer! I wish I could just say, ok, here's some money just give me whatever will fit right here and poof! The perfect tv would appear. Decisions, decisions...glad I have some time before I need to worry about it :)

2011 is off to a busy start!

No time to sit down & kick back with a good friend and some cohiba cigars, it's time to get packin'!!

Looks like 2011 is off to a busy start for me. I need to pack this month for a move at the beginning of February and also will be out of town for 5 days. Couple that with working full time and 60 hours at my second job, I only pray I can get it all done in time. Sometimes it sucks to be single, no one to help! Of course, I'd just have more junk to move then LOL

Negotiations have started with my current landlord regarding a partial final month of rent in exchange for my washer and dryer. He said he would let me know on Wed. Just pray he agrees, that will get me $250 closer to moving costs!! So much to do & no time for it. I foresee alot of sleep deprived work days ahead. Keep me in your prayers....better yet, why not swing by and help me pack? :)

Un-Silent Night

For the past 4 nights, I have had a hard time falling asleep. Even after successfully falling asleep, I've been unable to stay asleep. It's just not like me, at all. Once or twice a year, I experience a bit of insomnia like this. I can sometimes relate it to stress or other factors but lately I can't pin it down.

Last night was no exception. I cleaned for about 3 hours before turning off the tv and trying to fall asleep. I was *almost* there when I became suddenly annoyed by an unidentified repetitive noise coming from the kitchen. It was like that nagging sound you get in your head when you are trying to remember to pick up ink cartridges after forgetting to do it for the 100th time. So I quickly hopped out of bed to investigate. I have no idea what's going on inside of it to make that gurgling noise but after taking a little aggression out on it by bumping and thumping it, the sound did not relent. In the end, I had to shut my bedroom door and luckily, was later able to fall asleep. Finally.

For the next 2 nights, I am house/dog/teenager sitting for a friend and will be completely out of my element. I hear Mr. Boots, a beautiful brindle colored Boxer, will be my bedmate (something I am NOT used to having) but hopefully that won't affect my ability to fall asleep and stay asleep. I'll keep you updated.

Laundry List...

Literally. I have a laundry list of things to do tonight after working over to make up for time I am short this week UGH! Let's see if I can name everything on my mind that I'd love to accomplish tonight: Het-hum....(tap-tap-tap)

Dishes
Sort laundry
Take out trash
Carry laundry downstairs
Re-wash load already in washer (from last week!)
Clear out junk mail
Do more laundry
Make dinner
Dishes, again
Research phentermine diet pills
Paint the cat

Who am I kidding? I don't have any paint! Oh bother, looks like I'm working til 8 pm tonight to make up for being so late this morning...guess I won't be getting much on that list done tonight!! Do they sell anti-procrastination pills??

Tis the week of near misses

Tuesday evening brought another round of excitement to my week. This time it was no deer in my headlights, it was a near fire in my microwave! Long story short, I'd never used this particular rice cooker before and took a friend's advice on how long to set my microwave for. Of course, I didn't realize her microwave has sensors and auto shut off. So I put the rice and water in the microwave, set it for an hour and then put my ear buds in so I could listen to my MP3 player while preparing the rest of the meal.

Once I smelled the burning, it was too late! The microwave had enough smoke inside to set off my smoke detectors and the entire building is hard wired because of the restaurant downstairs. So mine went off and theirs went off. I was able to fan mine with a towel and get it to shut off but what I didn't know was there was actually smoke downstairs in the restaurant and they didn't know where it was coming from so they called 911! 3 firetrucks and the fire chief showed up...all over some burned rice! I was so totally embarrassed. I chose brown rice since I am concerned about getting enough vitamins for women these days and thought brown rice (even though it cooks longer) would be better nutritionally than white minute rice. I am still of the same belief but I will change my preparation! LOL

This picture was taken with my cell from my living room window. I'm so glad everything was ok. Upon further inspection after the rice cooker had time to cool, I discovered it actually had been on fire inside of it. Scary!!!

August 1st, 2010. Time to get busy!

Well, it's August 1st and this is the month I have planned to "clean and pack." Hrmpfh.

There is a list as long as my arm of dirty jobs that need to be done. I really need to get it together and ditch the procrastinator who dominates inside of me or else I'll never move! I have got to make a list of everything that needs to be done and then literally put it on my calender. Even down to organizing my wrinkle creams or hair accessories! I think it's time to DOWNSIZE everything I own by 50%. I'm not kidding. I should find the time soon, our church is having a rummage sale and what a great opportunity to get unwanted items out of the way. I just don't want to take anything to the new place that I don't have to. If it's one thing I've learned, new places have new personalities and there's a certain percent of the items I'm currently using now that won't work in the new space so the old-old items need to be gone-gone. Anyone care to help? Give me a call, I'll be at it all month!!! Gosh, it's 8pm on day 1 and I haven't done a thing! I already feel like I am behind.

Early morning dreamin'

I hate mornings. Ya gotta get up and do it all over again. I avoid this at all costs. It's no secret that I've been chronically late to work for the past.....well, every day. Shame on me! But to me, it's almost like torture to get up and get started. I simply love and need that twilight time in the morning, it's my favorite time of day! Just rolling around in bed in and out of sleep....early morning dreaming!

That being said, on occasion I do have to get up EXTRA early. On those days, I pop right out of bed and get to it! I seem to get so much done and actually enjoy the peaceful hours in the early morning time. So what's wrong with me then? It's like I dropped my rfid blocking wallet and someone stole my identity! There's the Becca that can't seem to get out of bed to make it to work on time and then there's this other Becca who loves the earliest hours in the morning! Maybe I'm just schizophrenic to have such opposing opinions of the same thing. Maybe I should just go to bed at a decent hour at night and get up earlier to try it out for a while. I think it would give me a better perspective :)

Eeek, it's been hot out!

Summer has just about arrived here in St. Louis. The mornings and nights are cooler (only by a bit) but the heat in the daytime can be relentless!!! I'm almost to the point right now that I cringe when I think about being outside during that hot muggy midday sun. Unless it's to go swimming in a nice cold and inviting pool or river! I remember as a kid, I could play outside all day and I never really noticed the heat as much as I do now. I mean, I lose my breath so easily, I almost need one of those Evergo oxygen concentrators just to keep from passing out!!!

My landlord finally installed a new A/C in my living room over the holiday weekend. It's a good thing too, the temps were up to 88 or higher in there on some days! Of course, we still had our smaller A/Cs in the bedrooms so atleast we could sleep. I just can't sleep when I'm hot. The new A/C is programmable, has a sleep setting and a timer...even came with a remote! I wish they'd have kept the book for me though, who the heck knows how to take full advantage of the settings if you don't know what they all do!? Oh well, maybe I can find the instruction manual online!

With moving comes new furniture needs.

Well, that's 1 thing for sure, if I move I may need new furniture! Right now I don't even have a kitchen table and chairs. My sofa and love seat and chair are still nice. Although, I slept on my leather sofa for a while and now it's not that great to sit on.

I bought leather furniture because I had 2 cats and their hair wouldn't be a problem...and it wasn't. But I don't have my furry babies anymore and I can enjoy whatever kind of furniture I want! Maybe I'll start looking at contemporary sofas, I like some sectionals I've seen in the mail ads. Although I don't enjoy it when the pieces begin to separate on you while you are getting up or down, perhaps there is a way to lock them together? We'll see. I don't even know where I'm moving to yet but I am leaning more towards a place with some amenities. :) Never had those before!!!

Moving again?

I've been contemplating the idea of moving for a while now. Every time I can't find a parking space or smell burnt tacos in my living room...it's brought back to mind. Of course, I believe if I do move, that will mean higher rent.

I'm just not sure if I want to commit to that or not right now. Higher rent means I will be able to afford less toys, and I love my toys (can I get an Amen!?). For instance, my next cell phone *will* be an iPhone and of course, you can't get an iPhone without plenty of iPhone accessories and so on and so forth. I have a deadline of June 30th due to the fact that my landlord only sent me a 6 month lease so I'm feeling the pressure to search for new places or just resolve to stay put and deal with my surroundings. I don't fancy the thought of another cold & drafty winter where my heating bills are like $300 a month though. Hmmm...

Blog neglect

This blog is suffering from some SERIOUS neglect. I'm surprised the blog-police haven't been around to arrest me yet!

Sometimes, life gets in the way and before you know it, it's been a week since you've done something you normally do everyday! Many things have gone by the wayside the past few weeks, not just my blog. Things around the house like dishes and straightening up...which all comes before the actual cleaning of anything. It's that busy time of year at my main job right now, tax season!

Soon though, things will begin to move back to a normal pace and I may even be looking for a new place to live. So I won't be as concerned with straightening up as I will with boxing things up! :) Hopefully that will mean I am moving on up. I have a few ideas in mind but for now, I am praying about the situation and waiting on the Lord. It's a big decision to move and it hits me about every 5 or so years. So hopefully wherever I end up this next time, I will be able to stay for a while. Then I will need to start considering some new careers because I won't want to keep working 2 jobs just to keep my head above water, like I do now. If I'm working 2 jobs, it will be to get ahead!! So we'll see. In the meantime, I have several blog posts stewing in my mind so stay tuned!!

I've never been offered so many husbands in one day before!

Today I was offered 3 husbands. That's right, you heard me....3 husbands!

This morning I was having a meeting in my apartment with the building owner and the owner of the businesses on the first floor below all 3 apartments, about some maintenance issues. There is now going to be a yoga place where there was previously nothing, another Mexican restaurant where there had already been 2 failed Mexican restaurants below me and in the middle, there will be a bakery where the medical equipment store used to be. I didn't know I would be having said meeting in my apartment today or I would have taken some time last night to straighten things up and get ready for it! The place is in a bit of disarray since I have dug around through things to get items to sell at the yard sale.

Anyway, in mentioning my yard sale, the business owner eye balls a screwdriver of mine laying on the table and offers to buy it from me...as this happened, the building owner, Hector, saw my tool box laying there and offered to buy that from me! I said, "No, no...I need these tools! Since I don't have a husband, I have to fix things myself!"

Both of their eyes got really big and ginormous smiles came and the business owner said, "I have two guys downstairs and they both need to get married! The one cooks real good (making a motion with his fingers to his mouth)" Then Hector says, "Well, if you don't mind Mexicans, the man who runs the bakery, he need to be married too!! You want me to introduce you??"

We all had a good laugh..but on some level, I think they were serious! LOL I could have my pick of the 3 amigos!!!

Count me in...

I've been thinking about alot of random things lately. One particular thought that lingers is how lazy we are these days with all our modern inventions. I remember hearing my grandma talk about making soap. Yeah, making it into bars to wash their clothes and persons. What???

We are so lazy now, we not only have liquid soap with a pump dispenser on top, oh no! We now have pumps that give off foaming soap suds! Are we really so lazy it's too much effort for us to rub our hands together to lather up the soap, we need a pump to dispense it out that way? What's next? A diet pill for cats?

Eh, why not? Besides, with Bath and Body works, the foam dispensers come in such wonderful flavors! LOL My fave for the kitchen is Coconut Lime Verbena, just in case anyone wants to pick one up for me as a gift sometime. Or Dancing Waters is great for my bathroom! :) (Pssst, they are on sale right now, too!)

Proactiv, you owe me a pillowcase!!!

Let's have a talk about beauty and health care for a minute. I promise, no talk about such colorful topics as colon cleanse or wart remover!

I had been happy for years with my Bio Matte Oil Free skin care products from Arbonne. I loved it! It really kept my face looking good as long as I used it regularly. I couldn't believe the difference in my skin and overall look in just the first week alone! Well, like all good products that you find work great for you, the line was discontinued by Arbonne and the next generation line was nothing I even cared to use on my face. The feel was wrong the smell was wrong and the lotion didn't have any SPF in it. Bleh.

So the search has continued for years of me trying to find a good system that I like and works well for my combination skin. I've tried various Avon products that were only 'Ok'. They had a moisturizer that would irritate my eyes. So I'm still looking.

Last week, I realized my mom had purchased the Proactiv system to try and had never used it. So I finally got around to trying it last night before bed. I used Step #1, the cleanser followed by Step #2, the toner and then after a time of air drying, I went on to Step #3, the repairing lotion. My face felt pretty good when I went to bed, I must admit! And the fragrance itsn't too bothersome.

The problem came when I woke up today and saw that the pillow case to my brand new sheet set is all bleached out where my face had been all night!!!!!!!! What is up with that? Should I be worried about my clothes during the day if I have this on my face? And if it can do that to a green pillowcase, what is it doing to my skin??? Ugh, Proativ, you owe me a pillowcase!!! I miss my Bio Matte from Arbonne! Waaaaaaah!

Late night drama in the city

Tonight at approximately 1:03 am, I was jolted out of bed by the loud sounds of a car accident in front of my apartment. The weather is cool tonight but I have the windows open anyway. So I grab my phone and dial 911 before I even have time to throw on some clothes. I was already in bed, mind you!

So, I ran to the front living room windows and look out. I had to tell the dispatcher on the phone that I heard a terrible crash but now that I'm looking I could only see some debris in the street, I couldn't see any cars! Then out the door and into the street. By this time, other neighbors began to emerge and my attention was directed to about 2 blocks down the street where you could see a white car stopped in the street. As it turns out, this guy had hit the car parked on the street in front of my parking lot and from the vantage point of my apartment, you couldn't see the damage to the car. It's totaled on the other side.

He then proceeded down the street until his right front tire broke off to the right and the car stopped about a foot short of hitting a second car. The other neighbors and myself walked down the street and greeted a young man who was walking around the car. He was almost laughing. I asked him if this was his car and he said, "Yeah, this is my car. I just need to move it over there and park it." I asked him if he was driving and he was like, "Yeah I was...I just need to move it over here."

WOW! Drunk or high much?

Later we saw the drunk/high (maybe both) driver in the back of one of the squad cars. Congratulations dummy, you've won a free night's stay....in jail....YESSSSSSS!!! The unfortunate owner of the totaled car never did come out. One of the officers ran the plates on it and it was registered to an address for across the street but he couldn't gain entrance into the building to notify them of the accident situation. They are gonna be ticked off in the morning!!!

It could have been worse

This past weekend was full of hope to get some much over due projects going around my place. I was tossing around thoughts of getting my oil changed, shopping for wholesale clothes, house cleaning...you know, nothing spectacular but things that were needing some attention.

Saturday morning came and I decided to do the necessary cleaning on my list that requires the use of those annoying yellow cleaning gloves, like changing the cat box and such, before I took my shower and went out to run errands. That would give me an extra opportunity to try and get that latex smell off my hands and wrists. I digress. So I am vacuuming around the cat box and I can tell the electricity is doing a little dance. Nothing major, then I notice the burning smell. "Great! My vacuum is about to burn out and I'll have to sell a kidney to buy another one."

Simultaneously, part of the electricity went out and the smoke detector started screeching! I looked up at the smoke detector and there was smoke coming out of the circuit breaker box hidden behind a wooden trap door in the hallway! Now I notice the smell was not just burned, it was the distinct smell of fire! So I proceeded to begin crying and franticly looking for my phone. I dialed 911. I was so scared, I could hardly talk! The firemen came and checked everything out. Too bad one wasn't Kirk Cameron like in Fireproof! Just joking...

There was no actual fire but it did burn out one of the breakers in that box and it had to wait until Monday to be repaired. Apparently, there were 30 watt glass fuses (yes, I said glass fuses. I know, old school) in one of the circuits in the basement and that allowed things to overheat before tripping the breaker. They aren't supposed to be more than 20 watts. So be sure and check yours to make sure you don't have 30's either!

So, needless to say, I didn't get much done what with having all that going on...Oh well! Atleast there wasn't a real fire!

Big important plans for the night...

Are you ready? Are you sitting down? My big important plans for the night are.... >insert drum roll sound effect<

Laundry!!!
>ta daaaaaa<

That's right, you heard it straight from me. Feel privileged to be told first cause it's kind of a big deal. My poor laundry hamper is buried somewhere beneath a mound of clothes in my bedroom and I'm running out of long pants to wear!

The good news is, my toe is feeling surprisingly better than I had expected so it shouldn't be a problem to go up and down the stairs tonight as far as that goes. I will have to unwrap it for the first time tonight so I hope all goes well there. Eek.

Surprise of a bad kind

True story: When I was about 19 years old, I was working part time with odd hours. I came home one day during the middle of the day, while everyone else in the family was at work. When I put my key into the lock of the front door, the door pushed in a bit and I knew instantly that something was wrong. I stepped back and noticed dark foot prints on the door that hadn't been there before. I was afraid.

I knew my neighbor, Don, was a retired police officer and so I ran next door to his house. We called 911, then he grabbed his revolver and we went back to my house. I did have to unlock the front door but as soon as it was open, you knew there was trouble. Everything was ransacked or gone from it's place, I was crying and shaking. My 2 cats were inside but unharmed, to my relief. Don went from room to room making sure no one was still in the house.

When he came to the basement, the door had been broken into and was standing open. Apparently, whoever it was had tried kicking in the front door and was unable to get in that way, also making alot of noise trying. So they proceeded around to the back of the house and found an easier way in. My neighbor Don was convinced that they were most likely *still* in the house when I first arrived home and probably ran out when they heard me at the door! Perhaps if I would have gone ahead and turned that key, things could have turned out so much different.

This was the last straw. This was not the first time our home had been broken into, so my mother decided to get some home security from ADT. We have since had an active account with them and their services have come in handy many times. I firmly believe that if we would have had ADT at the time this event occurred, the alarm would have sounded when they kicked the front door almost completely open and the crime would have ended there.

If you haven't already considered ADT, take a moment to investigate the many security options and services they offer for the safety of your home and family. From your teenage daughter to your senior parents, they provide not only home protection but peace of mind, too. Can you really put a price on crime determent?