New Kitties :)

Vex is the black one, Probie is the white one... watching them play frequently brings to mind Spy vs. Spy. I do love the latest additions to our little family!

Holidays

We had M's boys for Thanksgiving and it went surprisingly smoothly. We went to Darren & Martha's house with a fruit salad, some caramel pecan cupcakes (not as good as they sound) and a delicious pumpkin pecan caramel cheesecake (as good as it sounds).
It has been decided that my family will come to my house (gulp!) Christmas Eve for dinner and the opening of presents. I'm excited about it as it's my first time to host my family anywhere and several of them haven't seen my house, but I'm also nervous. Can I make the house presentable in time? Everyone will bring food, so I don't have to do much cooking, but it's still a bit more pressure than I'm used to. It has made me get off my duff and try to finish unpacking and whatnot, though.
And I've finally started making the house our home instead of just our house. I'm hanging pictures and art and awards and actually decorating the place instead of just using it as a place to store my stuff. I'm looking forward to doing the Christmas tree and all, but that will have to wait until after the boys have left next time (the 13th, so the tree will go up on the 14th). I made a shiny wreath with a few things from the dollar store (oh, how I could wax rapturous about the dollar store!) and I love it! It faintly jingles every time the door is opened and I love it!

I bought a Christmas dress from HolyClothing.com. I absolutely adore their clothes. Here's a picture of the dress:
Isn't it gorgeous? I'm knitting a hat and maybe some armwarmers to wear with it because it is COLD in my house. It's not so bad back here in the bedroom/den area, but the rest of the house is very, very cold. We had our first freeze of the season last night and it's still only 27* out there. Brr. I do love it, though. I would so much prefer to be cold than hot, but in Texas that's not usually how it works out.
I should probably go get some more unpacking done, but it's hard to be motivated when my fingers are numb in the rooms I need to be working in. But I'll make a pot of coffee and turn on the oven, maybe take the little portable heater with me. it will all be good. You'll see.

OH... I can't believe I almost forgot... M and I did a lot of work on a guy's website. I mean, I spent weeks trying to get the Flash presentation and the logo exactly like he wanted it. And this guy, man, he is just never satisfied. So this was weeks ago, and we've been waiting for the check, which we were told basically, was "in the mail". Bullshit. No check. So the guy finally talks to M about yet more changes he wants made and says he's having some financial difficulties and will be paying us when he can. WTF? I'm all for yanking down the website, but M says no, that wouldn't be the right thing to do. We were counting on that check to get us through the holidays and now knowing that we won't see it until much later than expected (if at all) has me livid.

And there's a monster (or something equally terrifying, at least judging from the noise it makes) living in my attic. I don't know what to do. I'm hoping I can get M to take care of this one unpleasant thing, but it doesn't look like he's going to. Why is it I have to do all the crap jobs?

Sometimes it all just falls apart, doesn't it?
M called me just moments after he left for work this morning, saying his bank account was overdrawn and he couldn't pay for the gas he'd just gotten. My account is basically empty, too, but I (mostly) know where that money went. As for his, well, it's the same damn thing it's been every other time this has happened. I know I've mentioned M's 2 little boys, the ones who stay with us one weekend a month, but I don't know if I've mentioned his other kids. His oldest is also a boy, but he's 18 or 19 now. he lives in MA with his mother (or did so growing up) and M has a smallish relationship with him. Hasn't seen him in years, but has spoken to him on the phone a few times since we've been together. Then there is the girl. She was the result of a one night stand many years ago and M has never even met her. That is by her mother's request. Yet he has been paying child support to Massachusetts for the past 17ish years for her. The problem is, every few months Texas decides they need to get involved. They then proceed to empty out his bank account and charge him ungodly amounts of money for child support that has already been paid. He agreed to pay for this child (don't get me started on him having to pay for a child he was never allowed to even see) and I have no problem with that, but goddamnit, Texas and Massachusetts need to figure this crap out. This has happened four or so times since we've been together... we have bills that are overdue and utilities that will be cut off if this doesn't get sorted out ASAP.

In other news, I've finished 8 of the chemo caps for Carolee, so I'm halfway through with that. Unless I decide to go for a full 20... or 24... I do love making hats. Although I think I might take a small break from them and finish her lap blanket and maybe make some slippers for myself. The weather has turned chilly (Yay!) and my poor little tootsies get cold.

The house is coming together. I got my kitchen curtains up and LOVE them. No pictures of them yet, but here are a few before & after pics of some things I've been working on. Ignore the mess and just see the improvements, please.

ETA: I can't get my "before" and "after" captions to stay where I put them, so I'm just getting rid of them. It should be evident, after all, which is the before and which is the after, right? VERY frustrated with Blogger right now.)

Here is the boys' bedroom BEFORE:


And here are a couple of AFTER shots:



Living room:



Kitchen:


Just a couple more rooms to show you...

Bathroom:



Finally, Master bedroom before:

























(Btw, I HATE the way Blogger deals with inserting images. If I start posting pictures more frequently I may need to find another blog home.)


And Master bedroom after (it looks so much better with the bed made, but I am lazy.) :

houses and cats and knitting

It still shocks me sometimes when I realize that this is MY house. Mine. In all its ramshackle glory. Okay, so it's not falling apart, but it still needs a lot of work. And it's cold in here, but that's all right. I can deal with the cold.

We got a new cat yesterday and Cat, my lovely older cat, is none too pleased by the addition. But she is a cutie. I finally talked M into letting me get one and someone had posted one recently on freecycle, so now she's ours.

Not a lot of time to write, must go pay bills, but thought I'd mention the new kitten. Oh, and the knitting... I've been making hats for Carolee, my stepsister with breast cancer. (Her surgery went very well, btw, thank you for your well wishes.) This week, though, I'm being selfish. I bought the cutest brown and pink paisley top, but it's sleeveless and I need some sort of wrap to wear with it so I'm making myself a shrug and hope to have it ready to wear when we take the boys to the county fair this weekend. We shall see...

I'll try to get some pictures of the house fixes we've made so far and the knitting I've been doing and of course of the new furbaby, but I make no guarantees.

Mostly, things are going well. M and I are very happy, although his commute is making him kind of crazy.

My stepsister

Many years ago, back in my late teen years my mother married a man. That was over 20 years ago (barely) and they are still rather happily married. They met at church and I knew his daughters, who were roughly the same age as me. The younger of the daughters, Carolee, was funny and beautiful and kind and while we were never particularly close, I have no memories of her being anything other than sweet.

Carolee is about a year younger than I am, married with children and living in the area we grew up in... and that I just moved back to. I haven't seen her in about 20 years or so. She has been a thoughtful stepdaughter to my mother over the years and is apparently still as sweet as I remember her being.

Last week, Carolee was diagnosed with breast cancer. It's an aggressive strain that has already spread to her lymph nodes. Her surgery is tomorrow morning. I don't know how to help, but I can knit, so I am knitting for her. So far I have nearly finished a shawl... after that will be a lapghan and a bag to carry both pieces in. I've heard that such things are comforting and good to have for chemo treatments. I am just hoping that she has a full and speedy recovery with as little pain as possible.

My heart goes out to you Carolee. Though we aren't close, I still think of you as family and I would be honored to help you in any way you might need during your recovery. Please just be okay.

In the house

So we're in the house now and our stuff is in the house and things have settled a bit into something that vaguely resembles a routine. I don't function well without a routine, so it's good. M has to leave for work at about 7:00 every morning and doesn't get home until 7 in the evening, so the commute is taking a real toll on him. And, as always, money is still very tight. And the house needs so very much work...
We've painted the living room, the kitchen, the master bedroom and the primary bath. And I am thisclose to having the kitchen all organized (ha! we'll see how long that lasts). I even made some chocolate chip cookies last week (of course from scratch. That's the only way I'll do it any more) and they turned out wonderfully.
I am not a tidy person. It wouldn't be at all a distortion of the truth if one were to refer to me even as a slob... in fact, many have done so. But, OH MY GOD, the sheer volume of disgusting filth that the previous occupants of this house left behind is staggering. I'm not talking about a patina of dust or even a layer of dirt, no, I mean serious, what-the-hell-is-it-that-I'm-on-my-hands-and-knees-scrubbing-off-this-floor kind of nastiness. And gum. WTF? Who has dried up spat-out gum stuck to their kitchen floor? Ew. Needless to say, as much as cleaning it up grossed me out leaving it there would have been far, far worse.
So I spend my days cleaning, mostly. It's my house, so I don't really mind so much. And it's nice after all the stress of moving to be able to be leisurely about putting things away. I want to do it right, and we have the space, so I'm trying to make sure to find a permanent home for each item before unpacking it. It's gonna take a very long time to unpack, but I don't mind.

I'll try to get some pictures soon of the new paint and some before and afters of the cleaning.

New House, closing day after tomorrow!

A little over a week ago my wonderful realtor (Beverly Stein of Jenel McGrath realty if anyone is househunting in the Sherman, TX area) let me know that the deal on the duplex might not go through. Apparently the bank that foreclosed owned the second lien and the bank that owned the first lien went under and... I don't know or understand all the specifics. But Bev said that chances are we wouldn't be able to close on that house in the foreseeable future. BUT she had another house in Denison that she wanted us to take a look at. So we did.

It's 1610 square feet and close to downtown. The garage was converted into a master suite and it is freaking HUGE, probably about 450 square feet. It's very oddly laid out but I think it will be perfect for our needs. There is a space in the front that we'll be using for the boys; for now it will have their computers and toys in the first section of the room and their bed in the back. That's just off the living room. Then there's the kitchen. Wow, it is so mch bigger than any kitchen I've ever had before. It was redone not too long ago and has the most wonderful cabinetry and an island. Best of all, they are letting us buy the side by side refrigerator and the gas stove for $150. Oh, and there's even a built in dishwasher, so I am thrilled about that!

Off the kitchen is what will soon be my studio. That is the room I'll probably have the most fun decorating. The utility room is attached to it and the first of the 3 bathrooms is there as well as the washer and dryer hookups. I think it will be a really good space for my crafting needs. Then there is the other bathroom (the only one that works at the moment) and an undefined space. Then there is the master suite. There is another bathroom with a ton of room to make it a wonderfully relaxing spa-like retreat.

The bedroom will need some work, but I think eventually it can be a really lovely place for us. There is a wood burning fireplace and a sliding glass door that leads to the backyard.

I am so looking forward to getting all the measurements so I can play around with my decorating software (Sierra Home Architect... I highly recommend it!) and figure out the plcement for furniture and the colors for paint and all of that stuff. Closing is the day after tomorrow and I couldn't be more excited about it. I'll take pictures and try to post them on Thursday or Friday.

I hope that things are going well for you. This whole odyssey has restored my faith in a number of ways and I feel incredibly blessed to have this opportunity.