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| Week One: |
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Unlike the Summer, when we spend our
time outside at the pool, or hiking, or going places, in the Winter,
we end up doing more indoor activities - where it's warm!
Which means that we've been doing puzzles again. DO usually has a
Kincaid puzzle set out at her house that we all work on. At my
house, since we did all the 3D puzzles last Winter, we've started
doing some of the other puzzles that I have. |
| Jim sits back after finishing a second
Escher puzzle. (MC Escher is the guy that draws those
impossible 3D pictures) Now it's time to start another puzzle, since
it looks like Winter and snow will be moving in on us this weekend
as December starts. |
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Of course, on the net you
can find everything. Below are pictures (of the puzzles we recently
did) along with someone's Lego version of the Escher drawings. Boy,
some people do have too much time on their hands; but isn't that
cool. I wish I still had all the Legos that my brothers and I had
when we were kids.
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| A view of my living room
(that's Aries on the couch) after finishing a puzzle |
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It's going to be a quite Christmas
here in Canton this year. Most of my friends are having financial
problems, as am I, so it doesn't look like there will be any gifts
wrapped up under the tree (probably since I'm not putting up a tree
this year
anyway
 ); but since
Jim's love, DO's cookies, the kidz and all
my friends don't need any
wrapping, who could ask for better presents than that?!?!
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| I won't be going home to Charlotte
this year either. My family has offered to get me a plane ticket,
but with my financial situation like it is, I'm kind of leery about
leaving town. I've been juggling things, keeping the roof over my head, the
utilities on, and the doggies fed and I'm afraid if I leave town all
those balls might fall out of the air. Maybe things will be better
when March rolls around and I'll see about that trip.
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BIG NEWS!
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Just when the season was looking pretty dreary, I have some very interesting and incredibly good news to tell you all.
The kidz and I will be moving soon - over to Jim's house!
 We've been thinking about this for quite some time and now it's time. In some ways, this was an easy decision to make, and many
may wonder why we didn't do this earlier. On the other hand, we've had
legitimate reasons for staying in separate houses, and there are still some hills to struggle over to make this work out.
A long rime ago, Randy and I signed into a land contract for this house fully believing that we'd never live long enough to fulfill the contract. It didn't matter to us. We had recently been burglarized and were desperate to move anywhere and the price here was right. For $298 a month, we got this little bungalow, with it's tiny yard (another property I've lived on with no trees), a block away from a convenience store and just over the hill from our good friend Joyce.
Now, things are much different and unimagined from that purchase. Randy was here only a few months over a year before he passed away, living me alone for nearly another 12 years. On my own, I've struggled to keep the house and
utilities going. Sometimes, with the help of roommates, things have been good; but other times, I've been here in the dark, the cold, without water, and sometimes even without cable.
Not to mention the memories of Randy, Apple, Electra, LBB, Eightball, Hershey, Triumph, and Sheagra that linger here in pictures, knick-knacks, and food bowls that remind me of a happier time.
Up until now, I was trying to stay here and continue paying for the house since the contract would be fulfilled, and this house mine, in another eight years. Even though Jim and I had "formalized" our relationship, we had both been single and in our own homes for so long, it seemed logical to continue with
separate houses. Jim has shared my house (and his) so much that it's once again
filled with happy thoughts and new memories.
But, as you all should know from reading my log, things have changed over the
past year, and my financial situation has taken the brunt of it.
With my disability check cut (for another 2 yrs. and some odd months), and no car to visit clients, things have gotten pretty bad. Two months ago, I had to use my house payment to keep my electric from being disconnected. I've considered trying to find a job, but it's because I worked before that I'm in this financial bind, so that doesn't seem to be the logical thing to do right now. Of course, the landlord hasn't been too happy about my situation either, and left a notice on my door, the other day, stating that he'll begin eviction proceedings if I don't pay within three days.
 I did just receive my disability check on Friday (only $450) and will be able to pay the
past month of November, but then I will be late for, and unable to pay for, the December payment. At this point, with things as they are, there is no way for me to ever be able to catch back up - much less continue paying the electric and heat (gas) through the upcoming Winter months.
Was it serendipity, dumb luck, or the connection that Jim and I share, that prompted him to mention (the very evening I received that notice) that
having me move into his house was a
possibility that he would really like and consider? It was our connection, of course.
Twice in my life, I've been blessed to have a partner that was truly in sync with me, so that odd
occurrences like this are what I expect in my relationships. I thought about the situation all night and
broached the subject with Jim the next day. Since we had already discussed through this issue, we both thought that my
current situation was the "push" we needed to finally make this commitment to one another by actually living together.
My preliminary move date is set for Jan. 7th, starting off the new year in a
new home. I still have to go tomorrow (12/4) and pay the past due amount to my
landlord, and explain that I can no longer afford my home and will be moving.
They've been really nice to me over the years and I don't know how my meeting
will go; but I'm hoping it'll be okay. I'll be sure to update you soon about how the chat with my landlord goes.
As soon as I get that taken care of, the real work begins. I have a houseful
of stuff to sort through, throw away and pack up.
 We'll have to rent a truck for the move, that we're planning for one of Jim's days off. Before that
though, Gabby and Joxer are going to ride over with Jim and I to visit their new
house.
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| Tsunami keeps a close eye on the dogs
in "HIS" house. I'm looking a bit more human with a new haircut. (it
hadn't been cut since before Summer!) |
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| Gabby and Joxer seem
pleased with their new home.
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One thing both Joxer and I
will miss because of moving, will be the playground. I have this
rule: if the toy/bike/toy lies in my yard for three days, it becomes
mine. I've got three broken bikes and a good half a dozen balls for
Joxer over the years (even a bowling ball one time). We picked a
basketball up in the street a few days ago and Joxer thoroughly
enjoys it. He had chewed up the football that he played with in the
pool and was in need of something new. (A leather football will last
up to 6 months with Joxer. Regular dog toys are usually ripped to
tiny pieces within moments. He really loves his toys a bit too much
sometimes)
Click the pictures on the right, with the video icon, for some
movies! |
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MORE BIG NEWS!
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| Jim is once again employed!
Starting tomorrow (the same day as I talk with my landlord about the
move) Jim will begin a new job with National Cash Advance. Because
he will be working at the Alliance, Ohio location, Jim will still be
driving about 20 minutes to get to work. However, driving out Route
62 (the direction from my house to Carolynn's) is a lot nicer, and
has a lot less traffic than his old route up I-77 to Akron. WOW!
A new job for Jim and a new home for me and the kids to start the
new year! |
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Update 1: |
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| Moving Update: 12/5 |
I'm feeling much better about the move, not that I was
unhappy with the idea before. I was just concerned and
worried about it. I spoke with my landlord's office manager
(who's collected my payments all these years) and she
understood my situation. They are sad to see me leave, but
understand that things are just bad for me right now. I told
them that my final day would be Jan. 7th. On that Sunday, I
will have received my Jan. check, so I'll be able to rent a
U-Haul truck for a day to move the big furniture (which is a
cheaper rate for a Sunday
).
Because it'll be Sunday, I'll also have Jim's and Mike
Poland's help since they will both be off that day. Until
then I'm going to pack up things and borrow DO's car one day
a week to move a couple of car-loads of stuff (and I've got
a lot of stuff after nearly 13 years here
).
I've already packed up quite a bit of the stuff upstairs and
have taken several loads over to the new house, so I'm in
the process now.
I have now talked with all of my moms about this too. I
phoned my Mom, and talked with her for a while. I chatted
with Carolynn online one night about the situation. Then I
spoke with DO in person, after she returned from Alliance
from helping her mom out for a couple of days after a
surgery. Of course, I got all the right motherly advice too.
They were concerned, worried, happy, glad, a little sad and,
most of all, just happy that I was happy.
Boy my life is crazy isn't it? One day I'm complaining about
my money, car and life problems. The next day, I'm thinking
how lucky I am. Twelve great dogs, two wonderful boyfriends
and three loving moms. That sure makes all the problems
bearable.
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| Of course, I've already
started taking pictures of the move. As I go along, I plan to show
you pictures of the rooms before I get them packed up and then
pictures of them empty. As you can see, the second bedroom upstairs
looks a mess but things are going in boxes. |
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|
Jim tried growing a moustache for me
again. But once again, it got to itchy for him, so it's gone again.
I kissed him before and after he shaved. The kisses were just as
good
,
but the first one prickled.
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Snow Alert
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| We finally got our first
real snow of the season. We did have one other day when there was
just a bare dusting of snow on the lawn. It wasn't even enough to
show up in a picture. Now though, we've gotten about an inch of
snow. Once again, I sure am glad that I'm not in Cleveland anymore.
There's already nearly a foot of snow up there, just 60 miles north
of here. |
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| the pampas grass and
bamboo look nice even in Winter |
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| I don't think Joxer is
going to be wanting to play in the pool right now.
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Lookie! MouseOver the
picture below and see me hamming it up
in front of my new home.
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(the window on the far right is going to be the computer room,
where my webcam will be broadcasting from in just a few weeks) |
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MouseOver for a CloseUp
of me, bundled up for 18 degrees!
Since I don't have to be moved out of my old house yet, I think I'll
put off moving anymore until it warms up into the 40's this weekend.
Or maybe until the first of the week since we're starting Christmas
cookies at DO's this weekend.
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Week Two: |
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| If it's nearly time for Christmas, then
it's time to start making the Christmas cookies at DO's house. This
weekend we started (and finished up) the first batch of cut-out
cookies. MMM These are mine and Joxer's favorite Christmas cookies.
Of course, this is only the FIRST batch of Christmas goodies; but we
got a good start on the baking!
|
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Angie G., Joyce, Mike
Poland, and Linda all showed up to help.
(Although Linda refused to show her smiling face to the camera
 ) |
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| There was enough help for
cookie decorating this year, that we expanded operations into the
puzzle room, where Jim and I helped Kerry and Kayle work on icing
the cookies. |
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| I have to interrupt the Christmas fun
with just a little bit of disturbing news. During this last month,
Jim and I have noticed that Gabby (who is 10) is starting to show
some of her age. Over the summer, Gabby had probably starting
developing glaucoma in one of her eyes. Of course, she has taken
this in stride as she has with her other problem (being 3-legged)
and still loves going on a ride anywhere with her two daddies.
However, in the last month, I've begun to see the signs that her
eyesight is getting worse. She's not blind yet; but she has begun to
bump into things every once in a while. I've been watching out for
her and make sure that enough lights are turned on at night to help
her see around the house. |
| Moving Update: 12/10 |
| An early Christmas present
from Cliff really helped solve one of the problems of my move - what
to do with the Taurus? As you know, it's been dead out in the back
drive for a long, long time now.
My friend, Mike Poland, has been
more than willing to try to work on my car, but he needed it down in
his garage, and there was no way my poor old car was ever going to
make it 20 minutes down the highway to Mike's place. I knew I
couldn't just leave the car out back when I moved and it won't fit
into the U-Haul I plan to rent, so I had one of two options - tow it to
Jim's house, or tow it to Mike's house. The problem with either
option, of course, was a money issue. It looked like I was going to
have to wait till the first of next month to rent the truck and have
the car towed.
|
However, Cliff had a great gift for me.
 He and DO are both members of Triple-A,
and at the beginning of next
year, Cliff with get a new AAA card which gives him three free tows.
So far though, on this year's card, he's only had to use one of his tows.
This close to the end of the year, he's not expecting his car to be
out too much and in need of a tow, so he offered to have my car
towed to where ever I wanted.
Before the tow truck came, Jim changed the front flat tire for me.
When the tow truck arrived, I realized that the other front tire was
flat too - along with the spare that Jim had just put on.
Fortunately it wasn't a problem and my car left. Next time I see it,
I hope I can get new tags for it and start driving again!
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Between trips over to Jim's
house, with the car loaded up with stuff I packed up this week, we
said goodbye to the Taurus and grabbed a light lunch. We didn't want
to eat too much since our friend Mary Kirkman was having us over for
her famous homemade beef stew. (Now, I've got to come up with a
reason for her to cook her equally famous homemade chicken nuggets.
)
We brought blackberries (that we picked this summer), angel food
cake, and cool whip for a nice dessert. After dinner, Mary had us
open up the Christmas gifts she got for us - Jim got some much
needed black dress socks, and I got a new mask to hang up when I
create my new display over at Jim's house (our house - I have to get
used to saying that soon!
). |
| (I'll have
to show you a picture of the new mask next year. I already packed it
up, with the other masks, to be taken over to the new house.) |
| Just before we has our
first round of snow, I made sure to get out and remove what I could
from my yard. I sure can't remove the cement pool; but I had outside
lights ringing the pool that could be pulled up. I wasn't going to
try to take any of my plants; but the irises had grown roots over
the wires to the lights. When I had to dig up the plants to get the
wire out of the ground, I make sure to dig up a 10 gal. bucket's
worth of irises to replant at Jim's next Spring. |
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Update 2: |
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| Moving Update: 12/13-16 |
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Since the snow has melted and it's been
nearly 50 degrees this week, I decided to go ahead and take some
more stuff from my yard in the move. Even though I just put the
brick border around my flowers this past summer, those bricks sure
would be nice to use over at the new house. So, while I waited for
Carolynn to come over for one last visit to the house, I pulled out
all the bricks and stacked them up to get loaded up for the move. |
| Of course, it wasn't just
the bricks out back but also the ones around the flowers out front
too. |
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| This has been a busy week
for moving. Along with all that yard stuff, we've been moving all
the stuff I have boxed up. With a day and a half off from work, Jim
was able to help me move several car loads of boxes. I even spent some time in Jim's garage,
where we've been storing my items, and got them sorted by room.
Believe it or not, I've even gone through quite a few of
those boxes and put away some of my belongings into OUR house.
After each car load
shuttled over, we've returned with empty cartons, which I refill
with my remaining stuff. Little by little, I've been bringing out
cartons from the spare bedroom, and now it's officially EMPTY. |
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| Those are all old, dead
and cannibalized computers, so they are just trash. The mattress (on
the right) should get moved soon. It and a pallet of boxes in the
basement belong to my friend Mary, who will be over soon to remove
the items that have been stored in my basement for nearly four
years. |
| Unfortunately, I haven't
moved all the stuff from upstairs OUT of the house yet. Ever night
I've been bringing down the boxes and "refilling" my foyer. That
makes it much easier to tote the stuff out the car.
|
BEFORE
CURRENTLY
 |
| It's only when I'm leaving
the house that the one room that has never been featured on my
website finally makes it. This upstairs room is my bed room. After
we first moved in to 14th, Randy and I painted and decorated all the
rooms. Unfortunately we never got around to painting upstairs before
he passed away; but we had discussed how to paint this bedroom,
since it has some slanted ceiling. |
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| The walls are sky blue, the slanted
sections are too; but with sponged midnight blue and the ceiling was
entirely midnight blue. We ate through four boxes of Lucky Charms to
get enough glow-in-the-dark stickers to decorate the ceiling with
all those stars. The inverted light would charge up the stars every
night before I went to sleep. |
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Even though the couches are still in
the living, it looks bare with no pictures on the wall. I've
scrubbed up the couches and put some plastic over them so that the
dogs wouldn't lie on them while they were wet. |
As you can see, so far the
move has been going really well. Although I wish the move would go a
little faster, at this rate no one is getting hurt. Sure, each night
I've been pretty tired and achy; but I've been hanging in there and
don't have any permanent damage.
Thank goodness I'm not doing this during a sick spell. Actually, I
should make a comment here, that I've been unusually well the last
few months. It's easily been over a month since the last time I
barfed!
Who knows, if things keep on going this well, I might even get moved
over to Jim's before we move the big furniture in the rental truck.
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Week Three: |
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| The cookie factory is still going
full-tilt up at DO's house.
Jim and I helped out with cooking and icing the orange cookies.
However, we weren't there to help with the Chocolate Buried Cherry
cookies because we were just too busy. Read on to find out what busy
project kept us off cookie duty this weekend. |
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| Two years ago on Dec. 18,
while Jim and I were visiting my family in NC for Christmas, I told
Jim how much I loved him and that I was finally ready to call him my
"boyfriend".
We have been friends for so long; but I had been too scared of my
illness to commit to him. I finally let go of my doubts and knew
that I wanted to be with him. Now as we came upon our two year
anniversary, we are finally living together!
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| Yeppers! You read that
right. We're now living together.
Just as I was fussing about being
achy but wishing the moving would move along faster, two more
Christmas presents arrived to answer that wish. First, my
GrandMother sent quite a nice monetary gift (enough to cover
the costs of renting a U-Haul AND still get myself a present). Then this past weekend, our friend Mike P.
showed up with a pickup truck and said that he was moving me so we wouldn't even have to rent the
truck.
. Suddenly, the move shifted to high gear and Jim,
Mike and I got nearly everything over to the new house. The dryer,
some odds-and-ends, along with a couple dog crates will have to wait
till next weekend. Although we pushed as hard a we could, we ran out
of daylight and had to call it quits for the day. By Christmas
weekend, we should be able to go back over to my old house and get
the last things before I lock the doors for the last time. |
| Just in case there were
still any doubts about me leaving my house, two incidents within the
last week assured me that I made the right decision. Although this
only happened one other time in the 12 yrs. I was at 14th St., twice
this last week, gunshots rang out through the neighborhood.
Sounds like I made the right decision to get out of there
before something bad happened. |
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Last View of the Old Home
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Since I already showed you the second upstairs bedroom fairly empty,
and then recently showed you the first-ever pictures of my own
bedroom online; it's time now to show you my EMPTY bedroom. No
clothes hanging up, no curtains, no waterbed - just the marks in the
carpet left behind. |
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Downstairs, the bathroom didn't take too much time to clear out
since I really couldn't take the tub or sink
. It did take some
time though to clear out the dining room that I used as my computer
room. Although I love having three monitors hooked to my computer,
those things sure are heavy and a pain to move carefully. |
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Even though the gas and power are still on, I can't live here now.
There's no refrigerator and that means NO food. Just like Old Mother
Hubbard, all my cupboards are bare; but Jim's cupboards are stuffed
to overflowing!
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Now even the Foyer, where I had been stacking everything for easier
access out the door, is completely empty. Those walls sure look bare
without all the masks.
(However, you'll be able to see the masks soon, as I plan to put
them up on the wall that you'll be able to see when you view my
webcam.
) |
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| These few items, along
with the dryer, dog crates, and some odds-and-ends in the basement,
are all that is left for one finally load. |
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|
Of course, now the new
house is in quiet a bit of disarray. Poor Jim! There's barely enough
room to walk through the garage, much less park his car in there.
Every day though, the pile is beginning to decrease, as I unpack,
clean, sort and put away all of my stuff.
We fenced in a section of the yard by the patio for the doggies. So
far they seem to be doing okay. It's been quiet an experience for
them as they stayed in the ever-emptying 14th St. house before being
moved over to the filled-to-the-brim 48th St. house. They're still
not too certain about what's going on, and have been underfoot too
much while I've been trying to unpack. The whole experience
was almost too much for little Aries. The first night in the new
house, right after we finally got something to eat, Aries had
another big seizure. I was pretty scared for a while, as he seemed
to pull out of the seizure before starting to seize again. Within a
few minutes he was doing better, thank goodness. |
| As this busy week ends, I still have a
chore to do - bring some order to the kitchen so Jim and I can make
baklava and Jezebel sauce for the Christmas Eve party at DO's.
|
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| I haven't been able to
update my regular Holiday pages because of the move; but I'll be
sure to take plenty of pictures on Christmas Day to post for you.
Jim and I, the doggies and the kitties all hope you have a very
wonderful Christmas. I know we will as we spend our first Christmas
at HOME!
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Update 3: |
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| 12/21/06 |
Just when you thought it was safe for me
to start celebrating Christmas, problems strike! I mean, I had had
no money, no way to keep the house, no car, and no way to move. Then
several Christmas presents later and things were looking up - a
Christmas check from my GrandMother covered moving expenses; a
friend got my broken car towed; another friend is going to repair my
car; and friends got me moved early. Not only did I have the money
now to pay my friends for helping with the move; but since they were
cheaper (not that my friends are cheap!
)
but I could still have a little money to buy three important
presents - for Jim, DO and Carolynn. Even though things had taken a
great turn for the better, actually after all these days, to be
honest, I was wearing down. Not to belabor the point, but I am 44
and have AIDS, and all the work involved in moving has just
exhausted me. I've already gotten the living room into fair shape,
along with the bedroom, and I am making great progress in the
computer room. I had even knocked the amount of stuff in the garage
down by at least a third! I was all ready for a quiet day to start
arranging the kitchen and then have a nice night with Jim cooking
baklava and making Jezebel Sauce for the holiday parties.
Stopping by my old house last night for a mail run started to change
my perspective. On the front door was a note from the landlord
telling me to call him, so he could arrange let an appraiser in to
the house to inspect. When I called the next morning he was
surprised. He thought that I had already moved out and just left the
rest of my belongings in the house. Matter of fact, he had even had
the locks changed!
A call to DO, and she came over to let me borrow her car to go to
the landlord's office to get a key so I could get back into my own
house! The discussion with the landlord went well. It seemed to just
be a matter of lack of communication (although I think he jumped the
gun a bit. It's not Jan. 7th yet is it? That's when I said I'd be
out.) He and I chit-chatted for nearly 20 minutes about the house
and neighborhood and left on good terms.
Since I had a car, and the landlord seemed "twitchy", I decided to
make a trip or two to try to remove everything but the air
conditioner and dryer (both TOO heavy for me to move and one TOO big
for the car trunk.
(We really need that dryer too. My washer is broke and so is Jim's
dryer, so we've been washing at his house and drying at my house for
several months. It'd be nice to have them side by side now,
especially since we haven't been at the other house long enough time
periods to do any drying for the last week. And I've got dirty
clothes piling up from doing all this moving and cleaning.) As I
arranged some of the last things in the basement (Richard and Angie,
and Mary, have some stuff stored down there too), I realized that my
table saw was missing! (actually it was Randy's table saw) Rushing
about the house, I looked to see if anything else was missing.
Unfortunately, my lawn mower was gone too! It looks like, for the
third time in Canton, that I'm moving because I was burglarized.
Once again I contacted the landlord. At the office earlier in the
morning, the manager had been equally distressed with me that the
locks had been changed, now she told me to directly call the
landlord (Mike Kell) and tell him about the missing items. Even
though we had chatted those twenty minutes, suddenly now, he
remembered to tell me that when his workmen had come over to change
the locks they had discovered the back door broken open. I guess
whoever had broken in had also brought in the garbage that I had put
out to the street for collection that morning.
I'll never be able to prove it, but my conjecture is that those
workmen broke into the backdoor themselves (cause they didn't go in
through the front door to change the locks) and "liberated" my
belongings. They also ransacked all the boxes of stuff that were
stored down in the basement. Mary's stuff was scattered all about.
It was quite shocking! The landlord gave me a story about how
trustworthy his crew is, but I have my doubts. Supposedly none of
his people will be entering the house again until I return this key
and give the landlord clearance. I've been contacting my friends and
we're all trying to get a way to get the dryer out of the house
ASAP, as it's the only thing of much value left and I can't trust
the house will be safe since either robbers or that work crew broke
into my home.
Up until now, I was handling this move rather well although it's
been stressful on me, Jim, the dogs, the cats, and my friends. We've
all muddled through and things have actually been working out better
than planned until this last incident. Another friend, Sean, rode
with me from DO's to help me try to remove what I could from the
house. I feel bad that by this time, all the events had become too
much for me. While Sean took down my ceiling pans, I was huddled up
in a corner of the empty living room sobbing and crying and having a
nice little breakdown.
Being burglarized (by thugs or work men) again, brought up all those
past memories of my life with Randy. We sure went through some bad
times, and none of them were ever our fault. I have been stressed a
lot planning this move and trying to make it work out right. I
thought I did everything right (contacted the landlord early enough;
lined up friends and money to make the move; arranged to stay long
enough to get my check); but here I was, robbed again, this
time without Randy, sitting and crying in the very spot in the house
where he breathed his last breaths.
Don't feel bad if you're crying too right now. This situation is
just damned unbelievable and sad. I never really ever want to go
into that house again now; but I will if transportation can be
arranged for the dryer. If not, the leftover Christmas money will go
towards a new dryer. I can't afford to care anymore, it's driving me
crazy. Until then, I'll just go to a laundry mat.
Unfortunately, I will still have to go by the house every day for my
mail until my change of address goes into effect after the first of
year. Thank goodness I have this new home with Jim, because that
place sure isn't "home" to me any longer. Burglars and the landlord
has seen to that.
As I wipe away the tears, press forward, and try to wish you Happy
Holidays again, I would like to add a last comment about my darling
Jim. Poor guy! At least he's known me long enough to understand that
this kind of weird crap happens to me sometimes. He's really been
good too about being invaded my me, my stuff and the dogs. I bet he
wasn't really expecting all this kind of drama. Thankfully, he loves
me, listens to me, sympathizes with me, and is there for me if and
when I need him. Even with my problems, I'm the luckiest guy because
of that.
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Once more, let me and Jim, the doggies and the kitties all wish
you have a very wonderful Christmas. I know we will as we spend our
first Christmas at HOME!
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Week Four: |
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Don't forget to check out the Holiday
pages!
Even though I've been in the middle of a big move, I've still had
time for working as slave labor in DO's kitchen
,
along with a Christmas Eve party
and
Christmas Day at Carolynn's. |
 |
| The doggies and I (and Jim
and the kitties) are starting to adjust to our new house. I finally
took a day off from my labors, on Christmas Eve Day, and spent some
time with Jim and my babies. The kitties even joined us all in the
living room for a while. |
 |
 |
Aries is actually doing pretty well
since that seizure the first night. Sure, Tsunami swiped his nose
with a claw; but Aries backed off and gave the cat some room. He's
been quite a different dog here; much less growl-y and much more
love-y. |
| Joxer is fine where ever he is as long
as he has some toys to play with. |
 |
 |
That's my happy Zeus. |
Gabby napping while the
boys act up for the pictures. |
 |
| It's good to be home. |
 |
| Slowly but surely things
are coming together mixing my life and furniture together with Jim
in his house. Of course, one of the first things to get put in place
was my "mission control" bank of computers. There is still a ton of
paperwork and electronics to put away yet; but my computers are up
and running. Heck, I've even got the webcams back online (http://reigningpages.com/cams)
Only now "Yard Cam" is "Living Room Cam" and soon "Back Yard Cam"
will be "Driveway Cam". With a little luck, I might even squeeze out
a "Back Yard Cam" yet.
Of course, in the Summer, that'll probably turn into "Pool Cam".
|
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Half of Jim's old bedroom has been transformed
into our new computer center;
while the other half has been the display room for my collection of
masks. |
 |
| MouseOver to see how many more masks I
was able to hang in just a day |
|
 |
| The living room is coming together
nicely |
Of course, these are all
just preliminary pictures. Maybe this time, I'll
get a pictures of my bedroom online sooner than 12 years.
I've
already made a good attempt to unpack and put away things in the kitchen, back room, and
bedroom. The garage is finally getting emptier and I can see the
walls. I don't have many more boxes to open, and only a few pieces
of furniture to bring in yet. Everything is finally starting to
settle into place and it's beginning to feel a little bit like home
to you.
Next year , I'll give you the grand tour of the house.
I've already been taking pictures (I'm thinking about videos too!)
and started to work on a 3D version of all the interior. The
pictures will probably be in next month's update; while the movies
and 3D version will take a little longer to put together.
Even the dogz and catz are getting along okay. I was using a couple
of baby-gates to block the dogz into the living room; but Nami kept
slinking in to be with us, so the gates are only used now when we
leave the house. Being a Siamese, Nami doesn't take much flack from
my guys. I've only heard a couple of cat hisses and one doggie yip
in the last week.
Jim never saw much of Baba (she's very shy); but I've been seeing
her quite a bit as she dashes from upstairs to downstairs a few
times each day. I'm working on cleaning up the dog crates I used to
use with the old pack, but had stored in my old basement. I plan to
crate the dogs when we go places now, to give the kitties run of
house without any doggie interference.
Jim and I set up the fence from the old house to get the dogz a
secure place to go outside, until we decide how much of the backyard
to enclose this Spring. The section of yard that we used is beside
the patio and is just as big as my entire old backyard.
We removed a section of screen from the patio, so that they can go
through the patio and out into their area. Of course, I have been
taking breaks from my unpacking to take the kidz out into the "big
yard", which they thoroughly enjoy! |
Oh, you're probably wondering what's
going on with my issues of my old house. My friend Mike P came
through for us again. With his truck, we got my dryer and the last
of my things over to the new house. So now I am basically finished
with the 14th St. house. I still have to stop over every few days to
check on my mail (the change of address doesn't go into effect until
Jan 7th, since that is when I thought I'd be moving out).
I've tried to get Richard and Angie, and Mary over to the house to
see if they wanted to salvage any of their belongings in the
basement; but they just don't seem too interested. Both Angie and
Mary didn't show or call until 8 hrs. later on the days that we had
scheduled to get together and go into the old house. Since
Christmas, neither has bothered to arrange another day or time,
which has quite frustrated me. Here I was all concerned that they
could get their belongings (before I moved or before the break-in)
since their stuff was in my care; yet it seems all my worrying was
in vain (and like I didn't have enough to worry about with the
incident with the landlord and the robbery!). Hopefully when they
read this, they will give me a call and let me know what they want
to do before I am done with the old house. All I can say is that
they better hurry! As soon as my check arrives in that mailbox at
the first of Jan., I'll be turning in the key and will be DONE with
that house. |
2006 in Review
|
| Below is a quick summary of the events
of this past year. |
| JAN |
| We started the year building 3D
puzzles that were Christmas gifts. I announced the
upcoming birth of Ella and our summer event Pooltag. |
|
| FEB |
| Cliff was hospitalized with a heart
attack and found to have diabetes; while Dennis too
was hospitalized with heart problems. |
|
| MAR |
| So many birthdays in March, and on
mine, I turned 44. DO had both her knees
successfully operated on and replaced. |
|
| APR |
| We lost a friend, Sharyn, and
gained a friend, Ella. My blood work continued to
improve; but Aries had another seizure. I had a campaign to save reigningpages.com |
|
| MAY |
| reigningpages.com was saved, while
Spring came to Ohio bringing plenty of flowers to my
yard and we opened up the pool at Jim's house. |
|
| JUN |
| Starting Summer, we had plenty of
flowers and a lot of pool time. A vandal threw a
rock through one of my windows. |
|
| JUL |
| The busiest part of Summer was
filled with pool time and flowers. We took a trip to
Cedar Point with a whole gang of friends. At the end
of the month, we celebrated Jim's 50th bday with
Pooltag! |
|
| AUG |
| The street outside my house was
paved. The Hall of Fame Festival brought the blimp
and fireworks to town. Jim and I took a kayaking
trip. I began to think about moving. |
|
| SEPT |
| The last of the Summer fun ended
and the pool was closed. My blood work was better
than ever! |
|
| OCT |
| Jim and I experienced some wild
nature by visiting the Akron Zoo. My mom sent an
unexpected gift of a box of masks. Aries ran away
from Jim's; but was returned to me the next day. We
also had our annual Hallo-weenie Roast at DO's. |
|
| NOV |
| We only had a trace of snow since
the weather was unusually warm. We enjoyed one of
those warm days with a walk in the park with the
dogs. |
|
| DEC |
| A little bit of snow reminded us
that Winter was coming soon, as we worked on more
puzzles. Of course, this was the month for baking
Christmas cookies. The biggest news of the year was
that by our 2nd anniversary, many friends pitched in to move me from 14th
St. into Jim's house; then on the first night there, Aries had a seizure. |
|
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Before the year closes out, I wanted
to say Thank You to all my friends and family.
Thanks for caring about me, Jim, the dogz, and the catz enough to be
interested in what's happening in our lives. Each month, I hope I've
entertained you some with pictures, movies, and stories of my crazy
life. Of course, I have to say a special Thank You to those
who contributed to saving my domain (reigningpages.com), so that I
would have this forum to tell you about all the events of my life
and to show you all my pictures.
Jim and I wish you ALL a very Happy New Year,
and I hope to "see" each of you again next year as my "story"
continues - in a new house with the dogz, the catz, and my love Jim.
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