Fun Birthday

Sunday was my birthday. I had a load of things I needed to pick up from my house in NC, so that's what I spent the entire day Sunday doing.

Oh, someone above must have been looking out for me....I borrowed this storage rack from my brother-in-law, the kind that attaches to the receiving hitch, needed the extra space for all my junk. I tied down a big rubbermaid tub of cleaning supplies, aerosol cans and such, and beside that is the propane tank for my grill. What I didn't know was that my exhaust comes straight out the back and was busy heating up that tub of flammable & explosive items. When I got home and tried to get the tub off of the rack...I couldn't. The bottom was melted onto the rack!! I pulled the top off and started pulling stuff out...everything was HOT! Plastic bottles had started to warp, one had a hole and was dripping all onto the garage floor. I finally manged to empty the tub and pulled it loose. Now I'll need to scrape the melted plastic off of it before returning it, but at least I didn't create a fireball on the back of my truck!

My birthday wasn't all bad...my brother-in-law did cook me up a nice steak dinner to enjoy at the end of my rough day.

Redneck Pics!

Well, I couldn't believe it, but it seems my sister, Debi, wasn't the first to come up with the Potty as a Flower Pot idea! I did a Google search on "Redneck Pics" and found enough to keep me laughing through morning coffee! Try it if you're in need of a little laughter!

Redneck Rodents & Gardening?

Yup, Georgia has these funny lookin' critters! Saw one as roadkill on the road leading to my house. Just thought it odd.

Now this photo is even more odd! Remember my sister, Debi, with the redneck toilet-as-a-pot and the Pink Barbie House (check out my previous posts). Well, her hubby decided to put up some Redneck Garden Edging around the young fig tree. Yup, those are the strips of rubber tire left on the road when someone has a flat! I'll give my sister some credit though, she made the guys take it off!

More Real Estate Fun

So I think I have things worked out...the new realtor called me. She works together with her daughter, so there are two people on a team working to sell my house. If one's busy or out of town, the other takes care of business. I think this'll work better...and they'll continue the remaining 60 days of the existing contract. And, she recommended something I'd been thinking of doing...having the house appraised. It'll cost me some bucks out of pocket, but it'll make sure I'm pricing it correctly for the market. Probably won't have any news 'till next week on the pricing, but at least I feel like I'm making progress and someone (besides me) is working to sell my house!

The Joys of Home Selling

Can ya read the sarcasm in my title? I enjoyed a 4-hour weekend trip to North Carolina to pack up the rest of my 'stuff' and do some more home selling prep. In addition, I had a wonderful chat with my not-so-helpful realtor, and we have both agreed that I need a different agent. Awaiting a new contract on the fax right now, along with a new agent. Sheesh, I was doing all the work, follow-up and marketing of my home...and HE was going to get the commission? Don't think so.

I did manage to get everything packed up, and all that wouldn't fit in my SUV for the return home was stacked neatly in the garage. I patched the nail holes and did touch-up painting, and followed up with some general cleaning. It's looks 'move-in ready'...now, just need someone to buy it!

After all this work, and another 4-hour drive, I'm bruised and exhausted. I'm sure my efforts will pay off in the long run, I'm just hoping for a shorter long run.

New Roommate?

My new rental home seemed overrun with spiders, little tiny brown things that I keep killing every day.

I'd seen a large web in the garage when I first moved in, but hadn't bothered to clean it up yet. Like I don't have enough things to do with packing and unpacking, eh?

Yesterday my garage roommate made an appearance and I snapped a photo of her. Quite large black widow spider! My brother-in-law put her out of my misery. I think I'll fog the garage...and the house...maybe the back yard even?

Barbie's House!

My sister, Debi, has a beautiful old Victorian home she purchased a few years ago and has been fixing up a bit each year. This year she's putting in new windows & painting the exterior red. She's just completed the primer in time for the window installation. Those of you handy at painting know that the primer contains some of the final color...you mix a dark red with white primer and you get...PINK! Debi says you can hear the 18-wheelers downshifting to get a look when they pass by.


Recently she went to a farmer who was selling sweet corn by the bushel. You didn't have to pick it yourself, just place your order and come back later to pickup. So Debi gave the woman her order, and in trying to figure out how long to tell her to come back....the woman asked how far Debi lived. Debi gave her the name of the house (yup, the house has a name...though I don't recall it) and the woman said, "Yes, the Barbie House! My daughter loves your house!". And, looking at it...it does resemble something that would be sold for a Barbie doll. Debi then quickly explained that it really wasn't going to stay pink, it was just the primer color. (If you look real close, you can see the lower floor, under the porch, has already been painted the dark red color.)

This is the same sister with the redneck toilet-flowerpot on the back porch...see my post titled "Redneck Decor?" from June 3rd. Yes...this flowerpot is STILL on her back porch! I think she's trying to get her husband to notice it needs to be hauled off!

When ya gotta go....

A couple of weeks ago I bid farewell to my buddies at the Ground Intelligence Support Center at Ft Bragg. I'd only been working there a year and a half, and I told 'em I'd enjoy a lunch out to say goodbye...but nothing fancy. Most of those folks work there for decades, not mere months....so I was a real short-termer in that group.

Those crazy folks know that I'm very involved with my dogs and dog rescue, so it was really heartwarming that my farewell card (check out their sense of humor below) included a dog....and a nice donation to my favorite rescue group (DAR&E) as well! DAR&E now includes GISA on their list of Sponsors!

A great group of folks to work with, I'll certainly miss the folks there! I'll also miss the gerbil bowl of chocolates....the excitement of getting a great parking spot....and the "calendar"!