Monthly Archives: July 2007

I am having internet withdrawals. I have not had internet access at my immediate and ready disposal for two weeks now. And it is so frustrating! There are so many things I use the internet for! Of course there is the blogging and emailing. But being in a new city, I could really use having google maps available more frequently! I called yesterday to get service and waited on hold for several times for a while. Then the guy finally set us up and said he couldn’t send someone to install it until Thursday August 9th!!!! Grrrr! Thank goodness for public libraries because I have been making good use of the one near our house. Yes…our HOUSE! We own a house! How crazy insane is that!?! A couple of years ago, when I was graduating from college, the hubby and I first talked about buying a house and began in the easiest place, perusing on the internet to see what was out there and what a decent house in Waco would cost. But at the time, he was way more open to the idea whereas, I didn’t feel like I was old enough to buy a house! Then we moved to Dallas and I thought, well it would sure be nice to have a yard and not have to go back to an apartment after enjoying living in a house (rental) for a couple of years. But we couldn’t afford a house we liked there, and also it was (now obviously) part of God’s direction that we didn’t buy there. So by the time we looked this time, I was actually mentally ready for it. Of course, it doesn’t really feel any different. Kind of like how you don’t really feel any older on your birthday. I am sure the difference will hit when we have our first major thing to fix. Right now the fixes are minor. Like painting the kitchen, the old yucky showerhead in our bathroom and the lack of a garage door opener.

Here’s the short lowdown on what we have been doing. Last week, mom and I painted and cleaned. Then Friday we drove to DFW with my parents. We loaded on Saturday morning and then drove down in the giganto UHaul! Kudos to the hub for doing a great job of driving that thing. Why they rent trucks the size of an 18-wheeler to regular people with no CDL is a mystery to me. We went to church Sunday morning and unloaded in the afternoon. Yesterday I got to get some rooms in some semblence of order and today I had my first responsibility as employee of CFISD. I have three days of teacher professional development this week, and two days next week. So much for having time to unpack the house! But really, things are going well. I love the people we are meeting at church. There is a bunch of young staff members/spouses and they eat together a lot! We went to the young married class this week for the first time. I will be a “staff widow” most Sundays as the hub will have responsiblities at various times, but I am glad to have a place to settle and plug in! Today I met a few math teachers I will work with. And the area is great, minus the I-10 construction, with any store or shopping or food I could possibly want. So come on down to visit and we will put together the guest bed before you get here! I’ll post again when I can!

Well, we are in Houston now. Not moved in yet, that will happen at the end of the month. The hub has started his job and its going well. We have met so many great people at church. And there are still so many more to meet, its a big church! It is a relief not to have to find a church to attend, it is already kinda built in!

This past weekend was a familiy reunion for Cliff’s family and it was fun. I didn’t know many people there and he really didn’t either (other than the people in this picture-his immediate family) but everyone was really nice and there was yummy food! I got to see my two nieces who are very cute. Evelyn is 5 and full of energy. Adysen is 4 months old and she didn’t like being around lots of new people so she cried everytime I got near her for a while. But they stayed at our house Saturday night so we got to bond in a quieter and calmer environment.

The house is mostly boxed up and I am making many lists of what to do and what to take to Houston, etc. We went shopping for Cliff some nice new “work” clothes today. I like buying him stuff because usually when I am out somewhere and I want him to look at guy clothes with me he is not interested at all! We also found Buddy’s collar which he is going to have to wear at first during the “getting used to everything” phase. It has a bell on it, which I had forgotten, so he is getting used to jingling when he moves! He keeps tyring to find the sound. I am not doing so well on my cooking-to-clean-out-the-freezer menu. I know why I hadn’t cooked this stuff yet, it is not that good! So I have a feeling we will be doing all the cheap eat out tricks like buying kids meals and using the stuff in this coupon book I got as a school fundraiser for the next day or two. Did you know Subway has a “sub-of-the-day” that is $2.69ish? Today was turkey day.

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The cooler temperatures due to incessant rain have been nice. I have enjoyed watching it and listening to it too. We have been just hanging out since the camping trip, doing some packing. As I look at the empty shelves and the piles of boxes, it feels like we have a good deal already packed and almost two full weeks before we go to Houston. But in reality, the packing is always greatest at the end when you have to throw all the things you use into boxes. Buddy has been a very friendly lap kitty lately and we have let him sit on our laps on a blanket on the couch mainly because we feel bad about leaving him alone so much this summer and also his dog isn’t here to play with. I miss having Gracie around. I do not, however, miss the thought that I will never have to pick up her poop again, since we will have a back yard soon. I mean, I may have to sometime in the course of the rest of her life, but definitely not on a regular basis. Othwerise I have enjoyed this apartment. It is so pretty outside and spacious. Although tomorrow they may be ripping down our ceiling. Our AC has had some problems. It drips on the counter in our guest bathroom so they need to redo the duct work or something. It also may be responsible for blowing mildew on some of the stuff (mostly shoes-darn I might have to replace a few!) in our closet.

I really enjoy public libraries. Totally free entertainment, especially when it doesn’t have late fees! I checked out four books today and both the Anne of Green Gables and Anne of Avonlea movies today, as well as the Rick Steves Travels in Europe Turkey video, just for fun to see where we went. I really like the Rick Steves shows. I am excited about the fact that the PBS station in Houston plays those shows at 1 pm on Sundays so I will get to watch it again. I would really like to go all the places on his shows in Europe one day. Next time I travel, hopefully I can be less uptight and enjoy it more.

I have been trying to cook up everything in the freezer. So I made a meal list that I have done pretty good at sticking to. We have only eaten out for dinner once since I made the list last week. (Yummy queso and taco dinner from Taco C!) And we are barely spending anything on groceries. And the freezer is getting emptier. If anyone who reads this and lives fairly close would like to clean us out of our refrigerated condiments on about July 13th, you are welcome to! I am amazed at how much food we have in the apartment, yet if I had not made this list with the express purpose of using it up, I would have continued to go grocery shopping for whole meals because I either thought I didn’t have anything to cook or didn’t want what was in there. Now I just have to suck it up and cook it anyway even if it doesn’t sound good, just for the point of not having to throw it away when we move. For example, these frozen fish in lemon butter sauce things that I bought a while back… Yeah, we had those the other day and they were not good, but we just scarfed it down real fast without tasting it much and then ate the mac and cheese that went with it that was good. Hey, its fish, at least it was good for us.