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paintin_fool

Hey Anj...

paintin_fool
16 years ago

I did finally figure out how to get to the conversations side - yeah me!!!-LOL

My friend still hasn't had her surgery, they haven't been able to get her blood levels up where they want them, but it's scheduled for tomorrow - so still hoping and praying for the best. Thankfully, most of her 6 kids have been able to get back home to be there with her. That was one of my biggest concerns, because they've all moved away and she had really come to depend on myself and another friend... and then I went and moved away... Her oldest daughter just moved to TN a couple of months ago and when I talked to her the other day said she is going to be moving back now - so I feel a little better.

Sorry I haven't been back to chat - been looking for a job and trying to get everything caught up here at the house just in case anyone does call me to come to work - although I've about given up hope on getting the housework caught up!! DH is off today, so little does he know that he's about to be roped into some rearranging and reorganizing!! I did at least gave him the morning off and let him sleep in...

BTW, I read the other post where you talked about being homesick - just wanted to let you know that I'm right there with ya - although I know it's been quite a bit longer for you. I didn't really think I would be homesick for MS, but am really starting to miss my family and friends. We're hoping to get over there at least for a weekend next month, so hopefully that'll help.

Well, better go round up hubby before he gets engrossed in a movie - the poor guy is never gonna know what hit him!! LOL

Comments (10)

  • anjabee
    16 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Glad you found it. It took me forever to figure out there were more sides to each forum. Some forums get upset if you post where you aren't supposed to, but everyone over here is pretty relaxed with it. We more just don't want anyone to miss out on seeing the pics.

    That's great that your friends kids are rallying around her when she needs them. And good that one will be moving back to be near her. My parents live with me so I don't think we can get much closer if they need help. ha

    Are you a mover of furniture maniac like I am? I have never met anyone who moves their furniture around more than I do. ha I can't clean without moving stuff around. I am going nuts wanting to move my bedroom furniture around. The bad thing is I was born with a defective back that gives me a bunch of trouble so I have to recover from one moving experience before I start on another and I just moved my DD's room around last week.

    I'm on the organization train too, trying to get everything ready for school to start in a few weeks. Did you get things worked out at your kids school? Are they excited to go or nervous? Just remind them that everyone wants to know the new kids so they are bound to make a lot of new friends fast!! ha

    So you are gonna have to go to work after all, huh? Well, that kinda sucks, but it will give you a good chance to make some friends too. What are you looking to do? I hope you find somewhere good so you can enjoy being there even if you don't really want to work.

    I am extremely homesick. Not just for the people and the town that I grew up with, but for the South in general. There is just that atmosphere, ya know. The people here are nice and everything, but just not my down home kinda people. And there is just no comparison to the forest with the desert. We hit the Louisiana side of Texas and we have our windows rolled down just breathing in the air. We haven't financially been able to go back every year, but we will most likely get to go back this coming spring. Can't wait! Hope you get to go back for your visit.
    I just got back here and forgot I left this window open since way earlier today. Hope it will let me post it. I got two phone calls from back home (coincidence!) and forgot to come back. Their ears must have been burning from me talking about home. ha I'd better try this and see if it will let it go. Sorry to keep ya hangin. ha ~Anj

  • paintin_fool
    Original Author
    16 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    I'm really glad that my friend's children have been able to be there with her. I suppose part of my guilt also hinges on what I'm feeling about moving away from DH's parents too. At present, they're still able to do for themselves, but I know it's just a matter of time as both of them are in declining health. I'm just afraid that something will happen before we are financially able to move back. DH has two older brothers, but unfortunately he is the only one who has ever been there for his parents. The oldest brother lives right there, but he's more of a hinderance than a help. He was in a bad car wreck several years ago and sustained head trauma that just intensified his more unbearable personality traits. Personally, I think it has just given him an excuse to be even more of a jerk than he already was! The other lives up around PA, but his wife hates the south. In the 12 years DH and I have been together, I have never met my SIL face to face. From what I gather, it's mainly the bugs that she hates down here - although I can't say I much blame her there... I could do without some of them myself.

    As for the furniture moving... I am NOT the maniac that my sister is!!! Now SHE could give you a run for your money!!! She pretty much rearranges on a weekly basis, if not daily. Although, she's 9 years older than me and I think she's slacked up somewhat in recent years. I know I have actually been to her house twice in one month and the furniture was actually still in the same place! Living with her was the worst...you didn't DARE try to walk through the house in the dark without turning on the light - I swear I think she moved furniture in her sleep!! As for me - I'm pretty much content to leave things where they are until it's no longer functional, then I start moving them around. That's what happened yesterday. The house we're renting here is large and there's quite a bit of room, but I don't have the vertical built-in shelving and storage that I had in my old home. Plus, there's a "Florida" room between the kitchen and garage that in March seemed like the perfect crafting room...it's big and both the east and west walls are nothing but windows - so lots of light, etc.. What I failed to realize at the time was that there is no A/C out there and with the 90 and 100° temps we've been having... it's absolutely unbearable. So it makes for great storage, but I'm having to do all my painting and sewing in the dining room. To make things worse, I have learned (from watching far too many decorating and organizing shows) that I am a 'visual' person, i.e. I have to have everything that I'm working on where I can see it. Over the summer it wasn't so bad that my dining room table stayed covered with stuff since we rarely eat at it, but now that the kids are in school, they have to have a place to do home work. So I needed DH to help me move a couple of shelves and a cabinet around so I could bring in a folding table to put against one wall and keep most of my stuff out of the way. I will be so glad when we eventually have a house where I can have all this stuff in one room, not have to move it around and can actually just close the door when I'm done for the day.

    I wish I could get more organized, but it's so difficult right now. As I said we're renting this house temporarily, until we figure out if this is going to work out. Plus we need to get some bills paid off and would have to sell our place in MS before we could buy here. So I haven't even completely unpacked here... although DH would probably disagree with that - LOL. DD's room is probably the worst, she has so many toys and over there I had just finished building floor to ceiling shelves on one wall in her room, another big cubby type shelving unit, a tall narrow shelf for all her books and even re-did her closet to make the space work more efficiently. All I could bring with us was the cubby shelves (which just holds bins for all the little toys) and the tall book shelf, so all the stuffed animals and dolls and larger toys have no home. Since we're renting, I don't want to put anymore holes in the walls trying to put up shelving. Our lease will be up here at the end of September and we will most likely try to find someplace a little less expensive and a little farther out of town (DH is a country boy to the core), so I'm just kinda having to suffer through for the time being.

    As for the kids and school, I told my sis the other night that I don't think I have ever seen 2 kids more excited about starting school. Thankfully, all 3 of mine have always loved going to school - although by Wednesday they were already complaining about the homework. I think we may have turned a corner this year...DS usually gets so excited that he ends up sick on the first day and this year he made it through without me having to go and get him. Poor little guy, even when he would get sick and they'd call me, he'd argue with me and want to stay at school, but unfortunately, once you puke at school...they pretty much insist that you go home.LOL

    Looks like I am gonna have to go to work. Right now I'm looking for just about anything. I learned from living in a small town for 17 years that expecting to find an office job right off the bat is pretty much out of the question. Most of the small businesses are family owned and when you're new in town, the chances of getting hired somewhere are little and none. So I'm trying some of the stores around here - I even put in an app at $ Tree, which is probably a big mistake if I ever got hired there... I'd never bring home a paycheck!LOL I really just need anything to bring in a little extra, regular income, even if it's just part-time. The manager at the grocery store looked at me kinda funny when I turned in an app there. With some of my experience and work history, I don't think he could understand why I was applying for a cashier job. I actually enjoy working with the public, besides you never know who you may meet or what contacts you may make. I really want to focus on my crafting and painting and build that up one day, whether it be an on-line business or an actual store/shop...right now I just need to supplement that income and I don't want the stress and headache of some of my former jobs. I don't mind physical hard work, I just can't deal with anymore mental stress right now. That's half the reason that my crafting is suffering and lagging right now is because I can't be creative when I'm so strung out. Plus, as you said, I do need to meet some other people here. The only ones I know are the other couple that moved from MS to work over here and they both work there at the plant with DH, so even if we get together all they talk about is work.

    I really hope everything works out so we can get home next month. Even if I go to work and can't go, DH and the kids really need to get home to see his parents. I had been fussing at him to call them since he hadn't talked to them in over 2 weeks, but he absolutely HATES to talk on the phone. I guess he finally got homesick enough and called them Tuesday night.

    Well, I've rambled long enough...I need to make some phone calls and check on my friend before her surgery today. I've been trying to wait to call since it's an hour earlier there - I don't want to wake anyone up.
    Lynn

  • anjabee
    16 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Hey Lynn~
    I'm kinda laughing right now about your DH. Mine is the same way. He has to talk on the phone all day at work so when he gets home he won't call. I have to call his parents and talk to them (which I do regularly) and then hand the phone to him. We haven't talked to his g-ma in a long time so we need to call her too. I've been on his case to fly down by himself to visit, but he doesn't like to go without us. I think I finally convinced him to go after the kids get into school. He was going to go in Oct, but now SIL called yesterday and said they may be coming out to visit us then.

    Hope things go well with your friend today.

    I don't blame you for trying to find a no stress job. That's what I'm gonna go for when my 3 yr old goes to school. Or if I can I may go to school to learn how to do website design or something I can do from home. I was Director of Communications for my last company. Stress. After I had my first kid I quit, but they asked me to come back part time nights to do Data Entry for them. I really enjoyed that a lot. I've done a little bit of Data Entry for DH's work on the side here and there. I was a cashier a long time ago at a lumber co. I really liked it except for the standing for long periods and my boss was a jerk. ha Hope you find somewhere fun. And I hear you about the $1 store. I try to stay away from there for that reason, but I'm not as firm with myself on the Thrift stores. I'm addicted. ha

    My dining room is my craft room too. We have a big bar in our kitchen that we eat at and the kids do their homework there too so we only use the dining room for holidays. It was open from my living room, but I got some fabric panels and put them up as a divider so I can leave my projects out now without it looking junky in there. ha We bought a house with a mother-in-law apartment when DH and I were first married and my parents moved in with us. It was nice for a long time, but after having 4 kids we are definitely in need of more room and it looks like my parents are installed for good so we are looking at adding on eventually. I would love to have my own craft room! Shoot, I'd love to have my own laundry room. We share one right now. ha

    So your kids already started school. My kids really enjoy school too thankfully. We are trying to crunch in a few more activities before ours start in 2 more weeks. We were supposed to go camping tonight, but I think that may fall thru now? Might just set up the tent in the back yard. ha We are going crawfishing tomorrow. Yes, crawfishing in Utah!! ha The only thing is you can't transport them live so we have to set up our cooker at the resevoir and cook them there. We usually do about 3-4 cookers full every year. We can't get the crawfish boil here so we have to get DH's family to ship it to us from LA. You can smell it pretty far around the lake and we always have the rangers and other people coming over to check out what we are cooking. ha Utahans usually just boil them plain and dip them in butter. Ick. Do ya'll eat em? I have a fantabulous crawfish chowder recipe if you do.

    I guess I'd better get my shower. I slept in this morning since DH took off today. We are supposed to be meeting a friend for lunch and then figure out exactly what we are doing this weekend.

    Have a good day and let me know when your friend is out of surgery. Keep good thoughts going her way. :) ~Anj

  • paintin_fool
    Original Author
    16 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Hi Anj,
    Well, my friend made it through surgery with flying colors. Her DD called me last night to let me know. Now comes the really difficult part...recovery. Thanks so much for all the good thoughts and wishes!!

    I hope whatever you ended up doing this weekend that your having a good time. :) DH and I have been talking about a camping trip, but as of yet haven't been able to. Even if we could get away, there's no way we could go right now with as hot as it's been here. That is one thing I do miss (besides the mountains) about living out west or in eastern WA deserts, the dry air. I swear 110° in Yakima or Pheonix was no where near as miserable as 85° here in the south with the humidity. Granted you had to be careful not to get dehydrated, but at least you didn't feel like your face was melting off.

    That does sound really strange that you'd be going mudbuggin' out there!!LOL I've never developed a taste for them myself - can't get past the smell - but DH LOVES them. I'd love to get your chowder recipe...I'm sure he'd be thrilled if I made it for him. There's several things that I'll make for him, but unfortunately I just can't eat. My stomach just can't handle alot of spicy foods or even just certain combinations of foods. Although there are times when I just can't resist and I end up paying the price...but hey, you only live once, right?

    I guess I need to get back on the projects I was working on last night - ended up staying up until 2am. I have the dining room table covered again and need to finish them up. I'm working on some Halloween displays and have been trying to figure out how to make a fabric cauldron. Once sewed up, you paint it and grubby it up to make it look old and primitive. There's a lady on ebay that's selling a pattern, but she keeps auctioning it and it goes for more than I can afford to pay. Plus her design has a closed top and I want mine to be open so I can put something in it, so I have a couple of prototypes I'm working on. It sure seemed simple in theory.... I even roped DH into helping me try to figure it out last night. He's so good about stuff like that - he'll even stitch things together as long as he can do it while sitting in front of the TV!-LOL- I already have several pumpkins made and I want to get a couple of witch hats and shoes done today since the painting and grubbying process takes a couple of days.

    Let me know how your weekend turned out!

    Lynn

  • anjabee
    16 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Ok I'm gonna try this once again! ha I had a big looooong post typed up and somehow deleted the darn thing yesterday! URG! So here we go again. I can't remember what I wrote so I'll just have to start from scratch. ha

    Our weekend was great. We decided not to camp, but went crawfishing allllll day long. Cooked about 5 pots of crawfish. The camp hosts were from Texas and they came over and ate some with us and visited for a while. Very nice people and we had a good time with them.

    DH was poking holes in potatoes to cook in with the crawfish and stuck the fork into his hand between his pointer finger and thumb. Yesterday that thing was all swollen up and infected so we soaked it in epsom salts and then today he had to go to the dr and get an infection shot. Has to get another shot tomorrow and if it's not better they'll have to cut it open and drain it. It looks bad. :P

    I have my niece and nephew today-Wed so took them and my kids to a little indoor fun place today and then dr appt for DD's checkup this afternoon. Cooked crawfish chowder tonight. I'll try to get that recipe typed up for you tomorrow.

    It's been pretty hot here, 102 today, but it's been hotter. I'm still trying to enjoy it as much as possible though cause I sure hate the cold winters here. And snow is not my friend. ha But it does keep the bugs down. Roaches I will never miss. Gives me the shivers. And thankfully I've never seen any here. We do have earwigs gallore though. Look on the bright side....with the humidity at least you aren't aging as fast! It keeps your skin nice and supple. This dry weather makes you feel like a big lizard. I can't apply the lotion fast and furious enough to keep ahead of it!

    Your projects sound really cute. I've been trying to picture how they'll come out. Will you put wire around the rim of the cauldrons to hold them open at the top? Good job having DH help with the sewing! ha I can barely sew on a button! I do cross-stitch though so I guess thats a form of sewing. ha

    Well, good news that your friend made it thru and we'll keep thinking good thoughts that she'll make a full and quick recovery.

    It's getting late and the kids are just going to bed. I've got to get up early and hit it again. We are either going to a petting farm at a little old timey village or the aquarium with the kids tomorrow. Whew. Trying to cram a bunch in a the end of summer. ha I really wanted to take the kids to a local semi-pro baseball game before the season is over as well. Better hurry up! ha You have a great day if I don't get to check in here until tomorrow night! ~Anj
    Heard anything on a job??

  • paintin_fool
    Original Author
    16 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    I know - doesn't it drive ya crazy when you completely lose something you've spent forever typing?!!! I've done it several times trying to type up descriptions for ebay listings...DRIVES ME NUTS!!! I'll go to continue to the next page, lose the connection or something and all that work would just be gone - POOF!. I finally learned to either type it up in a wordpad document and save it, that way I could just copy & paste it - or at least just highlight and copy before 'submitting' or continuing to the next page. Anyway...

    Your DH's injury sounds painful!! I hope it heals up quickly. Potoatoes can be dangerous... I was poking some with a filet knife a couple years ago to cook in the microwave and almost took the tip of my thumb off. I just have finally gotten complete feeling back in it. Needless to say, I don't use a knife anymore and even with a fork, I don't hold them in my hand - they stay on the counter.

    Sounds like you're keeping busy! You must be a VERY brave woman to deal with that many children at once. I think I'd be losing my mind.LOL It's probably a good thing that I had mine so far apart in age - otherwise I'd most likely be in an institution by now! My SIL had all 4 of her children within a year of each other and I still don't know how she made it to this day. Now she has 6 grandchildren - all under the age of 7 - and more on the way.

    The grocery store did call and I've got to go there later this morning - so hopefully that will work out. They seem to be willing to work with me as far as working around DH's schedule - so that's great. Of course, now that I'll be working, I have a lady who's wanting me to make a bunch of these prim fabric leaves that I had listed last week. There not difficult, just time consuming, but I should still be able to get them made. I'll add a link so you can see what they look like. I did figure out how to add photos to the post, but I'm linking them through my Auctiva account and they're all so large that they overwhelm it. I'll have to figure out how to re-size when I get the time. I've gotten the cauldron and witch hat done, and the shoes almost complete. I'll try to get pics later today and get a link on here so you can see them. The cauldron is just stuffed firmly and then painted to stiffen it. The hat I did wrap some wire around so I could keep it bent over though.

    Guess I'd better get off here and start getting ready to go. I'll try to get the pics on here later today.
    Lynn

  • anjabee
    16 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Just wanted to jump on real quick before I head out and wish you good luck on the job!

    The link is perfect and those leaves look real, girl!!! Very cool.

    I'll check in later. ~Anj

  • anjabee
    16 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    I'm back earlier than I thought I'd be. DM had a dr appt she forgot about and DD started getting fever and chills from the shots she got yesterday so we came home right after the aquarium visit. It was pretty cool, but not worth the money we spent to get in IMO. I did get to pet a sting ray and it stuck it's head up out of the water to get a better look at me. That was pretty neat.

    So you also have had a serious potato poking injury. ha I'll have to be more careful with that dangerous veggie. ha It's only funny cause it hasn't happened to me yet, right? He said it was feeling better this morning so hopefully the shot helped.

    I didn't ever think I could handle ANY children until I had mine! I used to break out in hives when I'd babysit other peoples kids. But mine all get along pretty good most of the time so they don't get on my nerves too bad. My niece and nephew are real quiet and I hardly know they are around so they aren't much trouble. It's just keeping up with them when we are out somewhere, but we use the buddy system and they do good staying together that way for me. Now my DH comes from a family of 9 kids! I don't know how my MIL did that!

    I really like your leaves. You are really talented. Can't wait to see your other stuff. I bet you'd do well if you could open your own boutique.

    I guess I gotta get up from here and get some housework done while we are home for a few hours. Mount Washmore is in danger of avalanching on me so I'd better get the washer going as well. Let me know how your job interview went. :) ~Anj

  • paintin_fool
    Original Author
    16 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    I'll have to make this quick, but just wanted to let you know how the job interview (if you could call it that!) went. I pretty much went in and she gave me paperwork to start filling out. I guess the interview was when I talked to the manager for 2 minutes the other day! Anyway, I worked for a few hours yesterday and looks like I'll be part-time for now - which is good since I have so many projects I need to finish up.

    Didn't have time to get the pics yesterday - maybe this afternoon, if I can get the other leaves finished when I get home from work.

    The aquarium visit sounds neat - hope DD is feeling better. I'm hoping that we can take the kids to the aquarium in Atlanta sometime soon. I've heard it's really great.

    Better go get ready for work - chat later,
    Lynn

  • anjabee
    16 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Congrats on the job Lynn!! Yea, that did sound pretty easy. ha I hope that part-time will be enough to get ya'll by for a while and I hope you'll enjoy the hours you have to be there. A grocery store should be a good place to meet a lot of people. Have a great first day! ~Anj

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