New Year's Eve

So tomorrow starts a new year, which means that I, like everyone else, am feeling a bit reflective as I gaze across the swiftly dying embers of 2009.

The year started inauspiciously for me, what with the death of my beloved grandfather at the end of last December and M's philandering, but I determined that it was going to be a good year for me... and it was. M and I got back on track and I still believe he is being faithful (knowing that i can check his iPhone records at any moment encourages his honesty). He got me that lovely ring for Valentine's day... although he didn't know he was getting it for me until I had picked it out and required his credit card to pay for it. He lost the job he hated in downtown Dallas and it took a while to find another one. We scraped by, barely, with the help of friends and family until he found another job in April or May.

Of course the big change this year brought was the house. On July 8th I became a homeowner. It's a lot of work trying to make a place like this livable, but it has restored a lot of confidence in me. I'm learning that I can do a lot more things that I give myself credit for.

In November M started a different job, one he actually likes, which is nice. And he gets to work from home on Wednesday, which we both love.

We had my family's Christmas here at my house last week and it was a huge success... or would have been if there weren't concern over the road conditions. It was a white Christmas, only the second one I can recall here in North Texas. It was nice, though, having my family in my home. it felt good. I'm hoping others agree and will want to do it again next year.

And how could I forget that I got 2 new kittens? Vex turned out to be the sweet one while Probie... well, she's a handful. But they are adorable and I love them both very much.

Resolutions? Not really. I'd like to take better care of myself and of M...I'd like to get the house fixed up better...generally be more positive and a force for good in the world. I'd like to be happy and to inspire happiness in others.

So goodbye, 2009. You were good for me in so many ways, but, alas, we must now part. And hello 2010. I look forward to getting to know you and all of the joys you will bring. As for the sorrows that are also inevitable, I'm hoping we can keep those to a minimum. Blessings all around!

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.