Just want some sleep!

Knowing I had a week to live at the new rental home until my household goods were delivered, I tried to fit a twin mattress in my SUV. It was a no-go, so sent tht on with my shipment and bought a twin sized inflatable mattress. I already had the Coleman rechargable inflator, so I figured I'd sleep just fine with the air mattress and a memory foam mattress topper. So I roll into my rental place on Friday night and discover that you actually have to charge the re-chargeable inflator for 10 hours prior to use. Hmmm, I must have forgotten that part since it's been ages since I've been camping. I slept on the memory foam pad and the dog's bed was thicker than mine! Got it all worked out come morning...but lesson learned!

Reward Yourself

Yup, that's how I'm managing to pack up all my stuff for moving. I've been rewarding myself...if I come home and start working on my moving projects, I allow myself some Smirnoff as a reward. Tonite I've been working really hard, so I earned 3 Smirnoffs! Completed the entire garage, hauled junk to the dump and good stuff to the thrift store for donation. This past week I've worked through the better part of a 12-pack, so obviously I've gotten a lot accomplished! Moving day is Friday. If I keep moving this often, maybe I'll buy my own moving van, eh?

Progress

I rented a utility trailer from the military base for $40 (all weekend) to save some $$'s on my move. Loaded up the mega-lawn tractor, a bunch of heavy garage junk and most of my sunroom plants then headed south to hunt for rental property. After ditching my junk at my sister's, I made it to Augusta and finally found a house to rent. Since my sister thought I'd kill myself trying to unload the trailer alone, she volunteered to help out. Because of that, we made quick work of filling up the garage at the new place.
So, after a bit of a difficult start, things seem to be coming together. Movers pick up on Friday and deliver the following Saturday. So I'll just have a week of sleeping on a twin mattress on the floor. Hey, at least I'll have internet and cable TV right away! ("It's the little things in life.")
Now, just hoping the North Carolina house will sell quickly so I'm not enjoying rent and mortgage for months on end.

I need a drink!

[in my most sarcastic voice] Moving is so much fun!

After 6 days with the for sale sign out front, I finally have a lockbox on my front door...my realtor is not off to a hot start there. However, he did show my property tonight and two bonuses: (1) the wife is interested (that's 3/4 of the battle, eh?) and (2) they're approved to purchase without having to sell their current home. Keeping fingers crossed here!

On the other end, I've been waiting for days to hear from the rental property manager about a move-in date for this weekend (since the place is already empty). All this time, I thought they were trying to reach the owner to approve a move in date...and instead it's to approve my pets! Sheesh, if I knew there was a question on the pets, I'd have kept looking LAST weekend! I gave them 'till tomorrow to get approval and then the lease is off and I'll make yet another trip to house hunt for a rental. Like I can really afford to take time away from this packing up my junk to find a rental house.

Enough of my frustrations...at least my house showed very well. I learned well from my good realtors in Northern Virginia. Had the blinds open for light, multiple lights turned on, place is spotless and no clutter. Even left on some soft jazz music. Just wanted to share this photo with my sisters...dressed up my plain, boring headboard-less bed with two room dividers pulled out of the sunroom. Not bad for my shot at 'staging' a house for sale, eh? Ah well, it'll be empty soon enough.

Nomad Lifestyle

Yup, I'm moving yet again! I just stumbled into a great opportunity to transfer (within my same company) to a job in Augusta, Georgia. Of course, this means I get the "pleasure" of the whole moving experience again....selling my house, packing all my junk (how did I aquire soooo much more?), figuring out the least expensive method to get it all hauled to the new place, finding a new place, and on...and on.

I did get smart and do a little research on moving and moving companies, on http://www.movingscam.com/. I think this may have just prevented a disaster since I'd been considering one of the scammer companies already. This is one of those things where 'ya get what ya pay for', so I'm not gonna hit the cheapest bid.

Ketchup

Just catchin' up on my blog...got my Jimmy Buffet concert posted, and not a huge amount of stuff goin' on. But, here's my catch-up for my blog....

~ My front garden is no longer a 'weed garden', though it still needs work...it's a great improvement from when I moved in here.

~ Months ago the light fixture on my front porch shattered, and I finally managed to install a new (nicer) one today. Of course, since I'm not so handy, it took me about 40 minutes to do what a more talented person would complete in 15 minutes! I'm proud of myself just the same! Next...painting that front porch...ugh!

~ I've been doing a little GeoCaching lately. It's a kinda high-tech scavenger hunt game. Even took the Poodles with me a time or two, but they're really not great 'trail dogs'. Trixie, the little one, has to be carried about 20 minutes into the hike...and I have to pick burrs out of Bubble's fur afterwards.

~ Speaking of pups...I haven't seen either the Momma or Pappa dogs in over two weeks. But, I still leave food daily and it's getting eaten, so I suspect they're around, just staying cool in the woods and staying clear of the hectic construction going on right now in my neighborhood.

Buffet 2007!

Had to purchase my Jimmy Buffet tickets on PayPal some months ago for twice the price and only got lawn tickets. But, it was well worth it for the 12 hours of party time! Went with my friend, Leclii, and we had a great time even when it started to pour rain come concert time. We're already planning next year's concert!

Here are some "Changes in Attitude" photos...and, like all Buffet concerts, we made some new friends along the way!