7, 6, 5, 4, 3..........

more nights to go, and it won't be over soon enough!!! The RV has fire ants now!!! I've been awakened the past two nights by getting bitten by the nasty little buggers!!! Thing is, out of our whole family, I'm the most tasty I guess....and the one who has the worst reactions to them too!!! They swell up really big on me and itch for weeks! (I had a couple in my pajama pants last night!!! UGH!) I used to get hives from them, or have my whole foot/hand/whatever swell up really bad, so at least it's not like that any more!!!

So yeah, the electricity for our new place should be on by now. They're going to pressure wash the outside, do the yardwork super good, and have someone come in and clean the inside super good too. We'll be in on Friday night with furniture to follow at a later date. LOL (Probably another week for that, but we'll manage....at least there won't be fire ants!!!) We did find out that the sofa they're leaving for us is a sleeper sofa, so that's good. Also, we have the sleeping bags, and they're also leaving a recliner....it shouldn't be too uncomfortable of a week. (Better than Elisabeth and one parent sleeping on the "bed" that is the sofa in the RV.)

We met with a pastor and his family last night for dinner. He just recently moved to the area and is working on a church plant, but doesn't want it to be "cookie cutter contemporary". It sounds pretty good, and we're interested in learning more and getting to know him and his family. His oldest daughter (of 4) is in Kindergarten, and Elisabeth got along really well with her and the second oldest. We haven't figured out what we're going to do "church-wise" yet, so we're looking at all of the options. It will be nice to get settled into our home and be able to have a regular schedule (not driving so far and stuff), and then we can start being better at family time and things like we used to do.

I've got to quit typing so I can go scratch these incessantly itching ant bites!!! UGH!

8 more nights........and life to go.....

the van died last night on Jerry on the way home from work. We're thinking it might be dead for good this time, but don't know yet. A hose sprung a leak and it severly overheated....lost power....sitting on the "off ramp" during rush hour....yeah, good times, good times!!! It makes a terrible noise in the engine when you try to start it now too. So we'll see. We need this like we need hemmorhoids, ya know?!? LOL

My friend made it to MI and got to see her dad, then he passed away last night. I'm so glad she at least got there "in time" to see him one last time. Keep praying for her though, she's had a rougher year than we have (yes, it IS possible)!

I've started tutoring a student that I tutored last year, so that's good....she's a sweetie, and it's a little bit more cash in the piggy bank.

Well, that's it for now. I have a teacher conference I'm dreading tomorrow afternoon, hopefully my point will be made and the teacher won't be condescending (as she's been so far). So yeah.....life just goes on, but I'm still wondering if it gets better or not!?! But, we will have a home in 8 more days, so that's a good thing!

Pray for the Rita victims...my cousin Krissy lives in Galveston and her parents live in Pearland, a suburb of Houston. Hopefully they evacuated. She's supposed to move to Florida next year, I wonder if she'll rethink it if this one's bad for them.

9............more nights....

and it can't come too soon!!! Between the fire ant bite I got on my big toe yesterday morning, and the dead laptop (that Jerry wants to sell to some guy whose ad was in the paper) falling on my foot this morning.....yeah, my right foot is in poor condition today! (Nice bruise from the corner of the laptop hitting on the bone, and my toe is BIG and bright red! Isn't that "special"?!?)

In other news...Nick's getting ready to join the school's band, and play Jerry's old saxophone....which will cost $120 to recondition (not replacing pads either). Practices start tomorrow...I guess the ol' sax will have to do "as is" for now!!!.....Elisabeth is reading rather well now, and doesn't even fight me when reading for homework!!! (Yay for my little kindergartener!!!) She's also starting to talk to some of my "friends" at work, when she'd normally hide her face by burying it in my back! LOL

And on another note...please pray for my friend Kay, she's a single parent and had a rough year already, but now her dad's in the hospital in Michigan and they're afraid he won't be around much longer. She's probably boarding her plane to go up there right now, and is really having a hard time. She was afraid he wouldn't even make it until this evening, in time for her to get to see him again. BOY!!! I can't wait for 2006, it's GOT to be better year than this one's been!

So yeah, 9 more nights...."sigh"!!!

Counting down.... 10....

more nights until we can sleep in our own home!

It's been crazy, but we're still happy to be here, that's for sure!!! Just can't wait to get settled so our kids can really be settled and focus on what they need to. (School, friends, being happier and less whiney....)

Okay, not too talkative today, but still counting down!!!

Finally...

seeing the light at the end of the tunnel!!!

We will have a place to live in 17 days!!! We looked at the place on Monday evening, and I applied and put a deposit on it yesterday. We could've gotten in this Friday...had we had a little more cashflow, but thanks to no paychecks followed by only 1/2 paychecks...yeah, it'll have to wait until we both get full paychecks to get everything taken care of. (Remember, we still have to rent a moving truck too...)

Anyway, this place is on 1 acre on a quiet street (in a quiet neighborhood). The kids will have their own rooms once again, and the master bedroom closet and pantry are big...so life is good!

Just gotta stay sane for about 2 more weeks and we'll be good to go.

Anyone want to help move "stuff" on October 1st?!?

Shakin' Off the Dust...

thought I had, but by rechecking that LJ, I'm definitely not, am I? LOL (Thanks for the obvious advice Snuffy, I needed it!--BTW, being in the same "town" could be awesome!!!)

We skipped church this morning. We're not quite up to attending our old church yet (pride....ya know), if ever. (We loved it there, but it being big, there were already tons of volunteers...) We've been going to a church that meets at my school for the past 3 weeks. We checked it out one Sunday last Spring, before we "moved away". It's a pretty good church, with lots of potential, just not sure if it's where we're supposed to be. That will be the main focus once we get moved and settled.

Speaking of which...we went and saw the apartment, not too bad, but still not liking the highway off the back yard (or the '70's cabinets in the kitchen---UGH!). The lady REALLY seems to like us, and if we'd said we wanted it, it'd be ours as soon as the tennants get out. But, right in the middle of seeing that place, my cell phone rang and it was the realtor overseeing the rental of the double-wide! LOL I let it ring and then called him back. The DW is in our price range, so we're going to meet him tomorrow (today?--Monday) to take a look at the inside. If we like, we'll apply. It's got some work to make it look good (for example, grass that's grown all summer w/o being cut), but the yard is nice and big. If we put up a little pen for Rocky, we'll be good to go. Hopefully I'll have "news" by the time I put the kiddos to bed.

On another note....HURRICANE KATRINA...
First, it happened on my birthday...I'm just very grateful they didn't name it "Hurricane Kathleen"! I've always wanted my name to be a storm, but I think I'm over that one now! On our little road trip on Saturday, we listened to the latest RelientK CD, and heard the song "High of 75" and I got goosebumps so badly that even my scalp had them. Wanna know why? Last year at Rock the Universe Jerry said they dedicated that song to all of the Florida hurricane victims. (Of which said hurricanes, we sat through three of them...only to be missed by Ivan.) BTW---RTU was this weekend, along with Night of Joy, and it's the first year we haven't participated in it (RTU)...but that won't happen again! (Snuffy, if you end up down here, there's a free YP thing at Universal in March or April, we'll be there with ya man!!!)

So, here are those lyrics...(especially check out the chorus in bold, that's where I got the creepy goosebumps...realizing how lucky so many people are...just to be alive! My life seems very blessed, even with all of the mess...So I'll try to complain a whole lot less--yeah, rhyming, doncha love it?)

HIGH OF 75

We were talking together
I said, “What’s up with this weather?”
Don't know whether or not
How sad I just got
Was on my own volition
Or if I’m just missing the sun

And tomorrow I know
Will be rainy at best
And the forecast I know
Is that I’ll be depressed
But I’ll wait outside
Hoping that I’ll catch sight of the sun

Because on and off
The clouds have fought for control over the sky
And lately the weather has been so bi-polar
And consequently so have I

But now I’m
Sunny with a high of 75
Since you took my heavy heart and made it light
And it's funny how you find you enjoy your life
When you’re happy to be alive

And the temperature is freezing
And then after dark
There’s a cold front
Sweeping in over my heart
And we might break up
If I don’t wake up to the sun

But I Still Haven't Found...

what I'm looking for!

We looked at a house on Monday (Labor Day) and it could've worked for us....if it weren't for the $550 annual pet fee and the fact that THE STUPID PLACE WAS INFESTED WITH MOLD!!! Yeah, that's right, mold! Nick ended up having chest pains and was wheezing that night. Took him to the doctor on Tuesday and now he's on an inhaler...would've been on the nebulizer, but yeah, it's in storage in "Dead"Land! Oh snap! We were just there yesterday---dumb me! (Man, I totally wasn't thinking about that! Too many "bad" feelings while I was there, so I wasn't thinking.)

Okay, so why do I keep torturing myself? There's a certain whiney thingy that I keep thinking about, and it just pisses me off, so why do I still think about it? The thing is whacked, and absolutely NOT from the real world... Okay, shutting up now. LOL It's actually quite funny, but hey!

Anyway, there's an apartment we could have if we want it...BUT (isn't there always a "but"?) it's right off a busy highway (meaning our back yard goes to the highway). There's a dinky house we'll find out about on Monday (whether it's even available or not). There's a house WAY out of the way for our jobs...we're talking 45 minute drive for Jerry AT THE LEAST! Then there's a nice, clean double-wide on a nice, quiet street only a couple of miles from our school with a nice, big yard...it'd be perfect for us! I haven't talked to the realtor yet, but we're really hoping this one is affordable for us...it's just down the street from our "dream property"...so the neighborhood would be great for us!!! I don't know if the realtor will check his voicemail over the weekend or not, but pray we can get this one...it's 3 bedrooms AND it has what looks to be a porch that was enclosed to look like part of the house which would be a perfect "family room" for the computer, game system, a sewing corner, etc. I WANT THIS PLACE FOR MY HOME!!! Okay, I'm finished ranting now....maybe.

Oh yes, I MUST share a picture of my kiddos. It was actually taken with my camera phone back in August the day before we left the "Land of the Dead"...some great friends were helping us put some stuff in storage and the kids were playing in the back of their truck. This is my all-time favorite picture of my kids...because they actually LOOK sweet...and LOOK as if they get along (but don't be fooled!)...here ya go!



On another note...I was just taking the time to reflect on my past blogs (since the beginning of my "blogdom") and realized that since this summer was basically a focus of my energy on trying to help with "damage control"...I didn't even post about my son, Nick, acquiring a broken kneecap...and I even took a picture. (It's dark/yellowy, but it's still pretty decent.) During VBS/Youth Week, the youth would volunteer to help with VBS and then stay for YW activities held in the afternoons. Nick and Elisabeth went to most of them, except the canoe trip. One noonish day, while waiting for the "time to leave" for the YW trip to the beach, the kids all decided to play Wall Ball---Nick included. (He actually got along well with most of the youth, even though he was a year younger than "youth group age".) As he went to pick up the ball (coming right toward him)a couple of youth went for it as well... the guys collided with each other, and one of them landed on Nick's back. As this happened, Nick's knee got drilled into the gym floor. He proceded to come tell me that he bruised his knee (but wasn't crying) and then went on his merry way. We went to the beach, waited out a storm, and then went swimming/wave jumping in the wicked waves caused from the storm. (That was actually a great trip, we found a welch shell--kind of like a conch shell--that was pretty big for being washed up.) Nick played in the waves, passed football, etc. Then, when we returned to the church early (thanks to another storm) he showed me his knee... it was swollen up, and purple. We put ice on it, swelling went down.....whew, thought that would be it. Then, he walked to Jerry's office and it ballooned out even bigger than before...so off to the ER we went. He chipped the kneecap, and they gave him a brace and crutches...so goes the summer of being immobile! He was in the brace for about 3 weeks, maybe 4. Anyway, here's a picture for you...

House hunting stinks...

the place was a dump...UGH!!! Basically, to get an affordable place around here, you're going to live in the "ghetto" areas of our suburbia/small town/ruralness---not because of ethnicity, but just the trashy areas, where people don't care what their yards look like, or what their homes look like. UGH!!!

If I could just win $150,000 in the lottery (yeah, right!!!), I'd buy our little dreamplace we found! We were driving around the other day and found a 1 1/4 acre lot with a 3 bedroom mobile home on it. It has some really nice (and big) pine trees on the lot, which is part of the reason I like it. The MH is far enough back on the property that we could still live there and build a home on the front part "someday". There's a little chicken coop in the back corner, and a nice storage shed too. There's plenty of room for a good-sized house and a pool toward the front, and plenty of room to spare. For the price of land in the area, it's not a bad deal at all. Plenty of room for the kids and the dog, and room to expand in the future. (Anyone got an extra wad of cash lying around out there?!? hehe)

So, we're still at square one when it comes to finding a place to live. That's been the only hitch with our re-relocation! Everything else fell right into place...so maybe that winning lotto ticket will just fall into my hand as I'm walking through the parking lot later today....ya think?!? I'm not really stressing over it, and know God's in control, I just hate seeing my family in limbo "still"...as we've kind of been for awhile. It just seems the terms of "Limbo" change every so often, but that's just "life" too, right?

Hopefully I'll have some news to post about an "abode" soon. Then I can start talking about something else!!! LOL

Woohoo 4 day weekend!!

Maybe the blog "problem" is just depending on which computer you're on?!?

So Jerry called on his way to work, and said to get my rearend down to look at a place...so I'm on my way in a little bit. If it's a good one (or even reasonably decent), the rent's a really good rate. (Then I can start thinking about funding my completion of my Bachelor's degree!)

After we go by there (and I call the guy, if it's a decent place), I'm dragging the kids to MOSI for the day.

Things are going really well here. We are totally at peace with everything that's transpired over the past several months. Youth ministry is not "over" for us, there's just not a NEED to do it full-time. Both of us plan to get certified to teach, and then work on a volunteer or part-time basis with "church" youth. Actually, that will be cool because then we'll have the summers off together, and all of the school breaks. (It looks like that dream's a couple of years down the road, but it's a plan anyway.)

Okay, so I'm going to head out with the kids. It's looking like it'll be a fun day. Maybe we'll do pizza for supper tonight, haven't done that in awhile! I need to do some "blog ring surfing", so I can see how everyone's doing. Hopefully our friends in the LA, MS, AL areas are all okay.

What's up with my blog page?

The last post had the title at the right spot, and the text was waaaaaaaaay down low. Hopefully this will help fix it.

Oh yeah, tomorrow starts a 4 day weekend for the kids and me!!! Jerry will have 3 of those with us too, so we're hoping for some good family time (of not house-hunting). And, maybe we'll have a place to live by the end of the weekend too. We'll see.

I think everyone in our family needs a haircut, so that's probably going to be on the list of "to do's"...along with a long overdue manicure for me (or pedicure? I'm not sure which one yet.). I did splurge and spend some money on make-up (unlike I've done for almost a year now) last night, call it my belated b'day gift to me!!! (It was Monday.)