More to whine about

My dishwasher died.

Soon I'm going to inherit a chunk of money. I'm using part of it to buy cars (used cars) for the girls and me. I want to invest some of it and the rest I'll put into the house and supplement my income until I finish school and can get a better job. When I say that I want to put it into the house I'm talking about fixing some issues like an ancient sprinkler system, spent landscaping, gutters, tree removal and poor yard drainage. I do not want to replace what's already working. That means that shit has to KEEP WORKING. I knew the water heater was a goner. I was prepared for that (mostly). Yesterday as the HVAC was humming along I thought, jeez, I hope that thing lasts a good, long time. But I think that system is fairly new. It should be ok for a while. So, ok, a dishwasher isn't a huge expense. I didn't like my dishwasher anyway.

Oh noooooo!!!

Wrigley's has discontinued cinnamon flavored Extra sugar-free gum!!! All other brands of cinnamon gum are CRAP! Whatever shall I do? I'm jonesing!

This happens all the time. It seems that the surest way for something to be taken off the market is for me to like it. They took away my cheese. They took away my favorite deodorant. Bartles and James took away their Tropical flavor and then brought it back but it ain't the same! They changed it!

What a cruel, cruel world.

Grill, baby, grill!

I bought a new Weber today. I haven't had a barbeque in over a year. I've been missing the flavor of singed meat. Tonight I grilled up some marinated London broil (an experiment), some chicken thighs and some salmon. Paige is doing Atkins and I'm trying to get back on my diet so it's good to have some cooked meats on hand so it's easy and quick to throw a meal together. We're set for the week.

Lindsay and Kyle are coming this weekend. Gonna do some ribs.

Happy Birthday, Kyle!!!

Sorry to get this on so late. Give yourself a wedgie and say it's from me!

Thanks for being the perfect guy for my girl.

Progress

I grouted another section this afternoon. I think this one turned out better. I kept it small this time. Charlie wanted to help. She's so funny. When I was doing the tiling she kept stealing tiles. Sometimes I'd be in another room and I'd hear a plate of tiles being turned over. I don't know why she found them so fascinating. I keep finding bits of tile and broken dishes all over the house.

Tonight I worked out in the garage. I now have a BIG pile of stuff to take to the thrift store. I'm really trying to make sure that more goes out than comes in. Every time I go out to the garage I look around and see if there's anything I can delete. Having so much crap is a big energy suck.

My digital camera has fritzed out on me. I'm going to buy a new one and start taking pictures of some of the big ticket items I want to get rid of. They'll either go on eBay or Craig's List. I still have all of Jim's music equipment. It's just gotta go. I found some Hammond parts that I'm going to ship off to the Hammond repair guy. I've sent him a lot of stuff like parts and manuals. I wouldn't want to try to sell it, I just want it out of here. There's also a bunch of stuff that Lindsay and Kyle maybe could use. The next time they're here we'll get that figured out.

I want to go through the Christmas bins and see what can be pared down. Halloween, too. I think I can be more ruthless with myself if I go through all that stuff mid-season. Halloween is still out of control. I'm pretty much done with it anyway. Last year I got almost no trick-or-treaters. They just don't want to come up the hill and no one up here decorates or gives out candy. I was the only one. And I'm NOT going to do the traveling Halloween show anymore. Way too much work.

I've been feeling a bit off the last few days. Emotionally, I mean. I'm kind of aimless and I keep feeling like whatever I'm doing isn't what I should be doing. Sometimes I like having the house to myself, but the rest of the time I really hate living alone. Paige is here only half the time and she never sleeps at home. I'm here alone every night. Nope. Don't like it.

Most of the time that doesn't bother me. Not much, anyway. It's just lately I've been in a funk about it. I guess I'm still adjusting. Maybe that's why I'm focused on getting rid of things.

And I'll be soooo glad when this semester is over. Tomorrow I really need to work on my last speech.

I don't wanna.

Alright, already!

Ok, new post! Sheesh.

Um, what's new? My mosaic project is almost done. I have a few more places to fill in with tiles and then I'll grout it. I'm very pleased with how it's turning out. It looks like a big, colorful necklace on the wall.

Today I'm going to Fullerton to look at a Scion xB. We'll see how that goes. I haven't walked into a car dealership in 15 years. I need to get into tough negotiator mode. Ugh!

I have one more speech to give. It's the persuasive speech. I'm going to talk about the importance of preparing for middle age so you can deal with your parents' old age. I have to find 8 references and only 2 of them can be from the internet. This class requires way too much work. I'll be very glad when it's over.

The demonstration speech went well. I gave a basic ukulele lesson. I had everyone sing The Lion Sleeps Tonight.

I brushed Bozzie yesterday. I pulled enough hair off of him to knit a sweater. Man, that dog has gotten hairy in the last couple years. He's like a Samoyed now. Or a polar bear. He's getting his annual shave soon.

That's about it. I'm still working 2 days a week. I'm sick of school, although the Pilates class is doing me a lot of good. I'll be glad when the car buying/selling project is done. After I'm done with the hallway I'm starting on the bathroom. The wallpaper in there is proving to be more stubborn than the paper in the hall. It's time to resort to chemicals. I've already purchased the paint. It's orange! Kind of like orange sherbet with a hint of tangerine. Some of you are recoiling in horror. Stay with me, it's going to be cute.

I need breakfast and the cat needs her antibiotics.