WE'RE HOOOOOOOME!!!!!

Well we made it back in one, uninjured piece.  FIL isn't doing too well.  He was admitted to the hospital Tuesday morning, so we stayed an extra day.  We drove all day Thursday and OMG I'm about as tired as I could ever imagine.

We went to the beach on Monday, with both kids.  Let me tell you.....do you remember the movie 'Summer Rental' with John Candy? We were that family.  We had the dog and the kids and the uneven sand.  It was pretty funny, but we got to our spot and set up camp for about 3 hours.  It started storming so we had to leave, but I got a few shells, a sunburn and the kids had a BLAST! LT doesn't like the water, but BT had an absolute blast playing in the waves.

I got a ton of cool stuff from The DH's grandmother's house.  Some old old old costume jewlery and some old old old kitchenware....and my CHINA CABINET!! YAY!!!! I've got the cabinet up in the dining room now and it's SOOOOOO perfect, she saved me about $1500! THANKYOUJEEZUS! (or should that be THANKYOUNANA!!?)

FIL doesn't have a ton of energy, hell he doesn't have any energy.  They're trying to get him back to feeling a little better, but to do that he has to eat and drink and he doesn't want to do either. He did, however, keep telling us that he wanted to come to Atlanta to visit with us. He apologized to me for 'ruining' my 'vacation'...I explained that we came to see him, so it wasn't really a vacation.  Then I told him if he wanted to repay me he had to get his strength back and come visit us.  He says we have a deal.  I'm cleaning my house, we better have a deal.

Well, I'm a little buzzed (we only had beer in the house to drink when we got back so damnit I had a couple) and I'm hungry and TIRED!!! So, I'm off to eat, then clean up the mess we made getting back.  Hope everyone is having a great week and I'll be back soon.  I just need some SLEEP!!!!!

Well, I don't have much to talk about.  The sis and I got into a fight on IM last night.  Gawd, talk about the technology age...family feuds over the internet.  We made up though. 

Funny how my sister and I can totally curse one another out, scream yell, even resort to physical violence, then be joking 10 minutes later.  Granted, we werent bitch-slapping each other over the internet, but we were pretty pissed.  All is better now, We took a smoke break and then came back and made up.  We're cool like that.

I don't talk about my sister much. Mainly, because she reads this and I'd either; A) Give her a big head because I think she's so cool sometimes, or B) Piss her off because I'd be bitching about something stupid she and I did or said or something.  So I just avoid that whole area of my life. 

But last night I realized, this is my blog and as much as I love my sister, if she doesn't like it here she can go fuck herself. She should get that, if she's even reading anymore.

So, the pilgrimage begins tomorrow.  I am hoping to get one day at the beach while we're down there.  I hate going to FL and not seeing beach or ocean or little cute birds.  Plus I now have a kick ass camera and I need to take beach pictures with it.

I'm pretty relaxed about the trip.  The stress will begin when we actually get there and have to see FIL.  I don't know what he's going to look like or what type of shape he'll be in, and I don't want the kids to ask hard questions...they will, BT ALWAYS asks the tough ones..he'll be a journalist.

Not to mention this is the first trip down there since The DH's Grandfather died...so that's going to be weird for BT, he's going to ask where 'Great Papa' is...and I hope he doesn't do it in front of his 'Great Nana'....gawd.....death is such tricky subject...I wish people handled it better.

Hey, I do get a China cabinet...that'll be cool!  But leaving is going to suck, I'm not sure how The DH is going to handle all this.  He's taking things from his Grandmother's because his Grandfather died and his GM is moving in with his sister.  His dad is dying and he might have to take custody of his ill aunt.  Man, it's like I'm looking at all this from the outside of the kitchen window.  It's getting pretty surreal, I feel so dettached from it all and I don't know why.  Probably because since I've known The DH I've been told his Grandfather was going to die any day, his Grandmother would follow him just a few weeks later, then his Mother would go.  But I never heard anything about his Dad, so that one has me boggled. I'm a little more connected there with his Dad.  I really like my FIL, he's an AWESOME man and he and I get along well.  He's about the only part of my in-laws that I like.  So this really fucking sucks.

Well, I have to pack, clean and clean some more.  Take Care all!  I'll write more after we get back and I'll have to upload an entire album of the trip!

HAVE A GREAT WEEKEND AND FIRST HALF OF THE WEEK!!

HOUSES, HOUSES, and MORE HOUSES!

Well we looked at #4...as soon as we pulled into the driveway I said "nope, don't want it." and then we looked inside and...NOPE! didn't want it.  The construction wasn't the best, but some guy named Ed built it, he also "Cuts women's hair and stuff, ya know?" As told to us by the VERY COUNTRY/SOUTHERN teenage son that was in the house.  Not that I don't like country/southern people...I hope to live among the countriest/southernist of them all...but just to get a feel for how that moment sounded...

We then went and had lunch and the realtor gave me some listings when we first arrived at her office, before going to see the house.  And The Mom and I poured over them while at the diner.  We found one that we both really wanted to go see, so I called the realtor back and asked her if we could go look at one more house.  One turned into two more...Here's a run down of each house, then a link to their pictures...

House #1- This was the one that I REALLY wanted to see, but the land was in poor shape and there were houses all around..no thanks. PICTURES

House #2- BRAND SPANKIN' NEW! And really pretty.  The rooms are a little small, but we figured we could ask the builder to knock down the wall between the family room and the formal living room and just have one big family room.  The bedrooms however, are HUGE..that was a nice plus.  It's on 15 acres a BIG rectangular 15 acres actually.  And 99% of that is wooded...it was nice to walk around taking pictures listening to well over 40 different bird calls..just AWESOME!! Nature EVERYWHERE!! AND NO PEOPLE!!!! PICTURES

House #3- HAUNTED.  I swear it was.  The rooms were HUGE and ok.  It needs a complete renovation though.  When I walked through the closet to take a picture of the attic (that we thought could be turned into a playroom, for the boys).  As soon as I got to the door I got an uneasy feeling.  I opened the door and got the feeling of "Get the fuck out, don't buy this." I mumbled "don't worry, I'm not buying just taking a picture, I'll leave now." Heard a knock above my head in the door frame. Closed the door, heard another knock.  Then walked downstairs..quickly.  It was also a little disconcerning that the previous owners left some things still in the house, like in the basement an entire closet was full of Christmas wrapping.  I think they knew it was haunted and they got the fuck out, QUICKLY!   PICTURES

So all in all, House #2 is on the top of our list, as it stands now.  We have 3 more in that area we want to look at and I have 3 in another area (with our 2nd realtor, yes we're covering a huge area and need 2 realtors) that we'll look at when we get back from FL.  I'm tired and want to just sleep for about 3 days..wake me when we're in FL.

Got the computer...it ROCKS!!! Everything is so fast. I installed a few graphics programs last night and I turned around, said something to The DH and when I looked back at the computer it was done.  He actually had to tell me, once, "Uh it's done." We were quite impressed with the speed of my big blue 'puter.

I am going today to look at house #4.  Please think good thoughts for me, that the rooms are large and we'll like it as much (ok, more) than we do now...oh, and we'll be able to buy it soon, if we do like it!

I'm off to go 'hiking' around 7 acres and if everything works out as well as it should, I'll soon be mucking around a creek, that's on my property!

The new Computer

Isn't he PRETTY?!?!?!?! It's a he, I've decided..cars are girls, computers are boys, SO THERE!

Wanna hear about my week? Too, bad...I'm telling you anyway..

TODAY- Go to The Dad's and take pictures of the boat (we're eBaying an old boat, The Dad is sort of taken aback with the whole internet auction thing).

Also Today- I'M GETTIN MY COMPUTER!!! I'M GETTIN MY COMPUTER!!!! YAY MEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!! So the next time I type to all I'll be on a kick ass awesome PC, thankyouverymuch!

Tomorrow- I am going to look at House #4 with The Mom.  That should take all day, it's about 1.5hrs from where we live currently.

Thursday- My birdbath from Amazon.com will be delivered. Man, was that ever a kick ass deal....I got a wrought iron birdbath (with a pump!) and a windchime for $39....just the birdbath is suppose to be $100, but I got a DEAL on Fri.  Ten I checked Saturday and the 'deal' had gone up $20...so I guess that the Turtlemama knows when she finds a good deal, oh yes sir!

Friday- My windchime is suppose to be delivered. YAY!!

Saturday- Leave for FL. which I'm dreading.  It's like a pilgrimage to see FIL one last time, it's all really fucking weird.  He's only 50, it's not like he's an old old man.  I've gone to see old old men who were dying, and tell them goobye and all that.  But a 50 yr old...dude, that's just fucked up.

I will take my laptop with me to FL (I thought about taking the new PC but it's a desktop/tower and man that would be heavy to tote around, ya know?) I'm not sure if I'll get a chance to update while I'm down there or not.  We'll be back on Weds.  And it'll be good to finally get home...I depise driving, I mean I HATE it...especially the interstate and especially long trips.  Not to mention we have to drive through a state forest, and there are NO COPS (or anyone else for that matter) EVER on that stretch of highway.  Everytime I drive it I think of some horror movie.  Like the car is gonna break down and a bubba with an agenda is going to stop and kill us all or something.  I'm not paranoid, really!

I'll be back tomorrow on the new PC and I'll let everyone know how it's doing! YAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Now off to The Dad's for some picture taking fun, of a 1974 boat...yay.

EYE CANDY!!!!(MY kind of eye candy, sexy men pictures need not apply lol)

A Hibiscus from my mom's....click it...it's pretty cool.

More House Talk.....

Ya know, I'll probably loose a gazillion subscribers talking about house shit, but oh well, it's my blog, and really, I'm just flattering myself by saying that I have a gazillion subscribers to loose!

Anyway, here are a few pictures of the inside of house 4.  Most of them suck, so I only posted these...I'll get better ones when we go to look at it.  We might be going this week, but I'll know more about that later.

This one is my favorite because of the stone archway.  This is looking at the dining room from the kitchen...isn't it AWESOME?!?!

This is the front porch, I think...or something! LOL

Part of the yard...gawd I love that fence!!

Part of the pool.

'The chiminey' as BT calls it (he wants to make sure Santa can still get to us! lol)

B-E-A-U-T-I-F-U-L!!!! I am really hoping that the rooms are fairly large.  I keep thinking, "Ok, whoever is in charge of really good stuff in the universe, PLEASE make the rooms BIG, PLEASE!!!"

Right now, the house is very 'country garden/redneck country' and I will make it a kind of modern nature-lover's eclectic mix o' shit.  It'll be BEAUTIFUL!!

Man, he was all pissy, his hood is up and he's glaring at me.

Turtlemama in Need

Yes, that would mean that I am in need of something, nahhh not a labotomy, really, they just make me feel icky...yeah, I've had a few...never works.

ANYWAY...what I need are some positive vibes, or maybe a naked pagan dance around an old tree or something, I dunno....I just need positive energy to flow my way.

I emailed the realtor of the 4th house that I posted the other day..it's here, if you don't remember.  And she sent me TONS o' Pics...it's really a cute house!  And it has a greenhouse, a second building that used to be the owner's retail nursery, a pond, and 7 acres. Don't forget the IN-GROUND POOL!!!! yay!  The rooms, however, look a little small, but it could just be that there was a realtor taking the pictures.  The inside is all varnished wood and stone, and I don't mean that stupid dinky crap that they put in new homes now, I'm talking BIG HUGE HONKIN pieces of stone, stone archways and stone walls, it looks like it could be the inside of a castle...it's absolutely fucking AWESOME!!

The DH and myself have found about 5 houses that we really like, enough to actually want to go look at them.  The problem is the house we're currently in, it has to sell first.  We might be selling it...I don't want to get into details about it, cause I don't want to jinx anything, but that's why we need positive vibes.  We both like the 4th house, but I just found another one with an in-ground pool and a 5-stall horsebarn complete with tack room & loft!!! How cool!!! But, I think it's on a main highway..YUCK!  If/when we go to look at these house, I'll take decent shots and post them for you all You people can help us choose a house, won't that be fun? You have a say in someone's life, and you've never really 'met' them! wheeeeeeeee!

So, if anyone out there could just light a candle for us, or dance around an old tree, no need to be naked unless you just REALLY want to.  Or just send a little positive "BE ABLE TO BUY THE HOUSE!" vibe, that would be wonderful!  Thanks!
We now return you to your regularly scheduled weekend blog review.....

OH! I got my final grades.  Art History-A, Conceptual Design-B..I knew about the B, I just was wishing he'd make it an A and be nice, but he didn't, the bastard. That means my 4.0 is now a 3.75..grrrrrrr

I also got some GREAT pictures of our house finches, I know, I know, you're sooo sick of me and my bird talk...but I'm finally getting good pictures, and seriously, birds are FACINATING to watch!  They squabble and play and help and protect one another...it's really pretty cool....

So, I thought that I had one male house finch and like 3 females, his 'Harem'...I have TWO males and 2 females, there might be a third female, but I'm not entirely sure.  So I've named them, Lucy & Ricky and Fred & Ethel...they are my house finches, yestheyare.

Lucy & Ethel

Click on this one, the female is looking at me and the male is looking at her like, "What WOMAN?!"

That's a female flying to one of my other feeders.

Finches, finches everywhere and not a one to eat!

Ethel's gettin' a little pissy with Fred

"Gawddammit! I told you at the other feeder, LEAVE ME THE FUCK ALONE!"

CRUNCH!

Have a happy Friday and a GREAT weekend!! Less bird pictures and more computer talk next week (IT SHIPPED TODAY!!)

Yesterday's entry was full of grammatical errors, and for that I apologize, it was written about 3 mins after I woke up...the coffee had just started brewing and I was half asleep, not sure what the hell I was thinking typing an entry that soon but I did...anyway...

I finally got a picture (albeit a bad one) of the male house finch..you can sort of see his head at least, his body looks like the female in yesterday's entry...click the picture it's much better bigger.

See he's red, in the sunlight he has hints of purple/maroon.

So, I was searching around realtor.com yesterday looking for houses in the area we live in now, just on at least 1 ac and with a pool.  I found a few but they're still in subdivisions.  So then I think "Heck I'll buy a HUGE house in a subdivision with a pool, YEAH!  So what if I don't have a bazillion acres, I just need at least one acre...let's go look at 'em." And I did....then I started looking at the little line that says "HOA FEES: XXX.XX" and realized that most of them wanted me to pay $400+ a year to live there.  Now, let's sit down and go through this whole HOA (Home Owner's Association) thing with a fine toothed common-sense/reality comb, shall we?

1. You pay some person, that you don't really know, a nice little chunk of change annually or monthly.

2. You have to follow the rules that this person (oh yeah, they're on a committee, so you have like a dozen people that you don't really know..yay!) sets.

3. You're paying for the upkeep, supposedly, of the community pool and tennis courts and possible clubhouse, if they have one, whether you use it or not, you pay for it. (hey, wait! that sounds like the education/school tax that I pay every year..hmmmm)

4.  These people that you don't know a thing about (and gawd forbid you'd actually ask them something so personal as "How did you vote last election? I mean I don't want to give my money to some stranger who has some weird political views, they may make crazy rules or something.") tell you how to live in your house, how your yard should look ,where you can park your cars, what color you can paint your house, etc.

5.  If you fail to follow these rules that the strange people set forth, you get fined and you could even have these people take your house.

Now, call me crazy but that all just seems a little too fucked up for me.  So no thanks HOA dude, I'll keep my $500.

Then, I saw the other day how subdivisions (now they're called 'communities' or 'developments') are being run by BIG CORPORATIONS!!!! How fucked up is THAT? 

 "Look, you can live in this BIG NICE over-priced house and pay a big, nice over-priced mortgage payment, then pay us so much money a year or a month and we'll tell you how to live in your big, nice over-priced house! WON'T THAT BE FUN!?!?! And best of all, We'll get your nosey, gossipy elderly neighbors, or the most annoying soccer moms we can find, to 'run' our development and then you'll have to do what they tell you to!  And they get to set the rules, you don't need a say in it though, because really you're already so busy with your life, let US think for you..you'll be glad we did!"

Yep, I sobered up and went back to looking out in the country for a home with or without a pool, I'll skip the pool just to have the peace of mind that no stupid gossipy nosey soccer moms will be ringing my doorbell telling me I owe them my $500 annual dues or they'll evict me from the house I pay my mortgage on.

Tell me why, again, people actually WANT to live in dictatorship subdivisions???? Can we seriously not think for ourselves? Are we that 'busy' and wrapped up in our own stupid selfishness that we can't even figure out big business is RUNNING our lives???

*Hops off her soapbox and runs for the hills, IN THE COUNTRY!!*

WHERE'S MY FARM!?!?!?!?!?!

PICTURES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Dude, isn't he cute?!

That's a TITmouse, hehehehehe

A house Finch, the males have a pretty reddish purple head, but he doesn't come around as much as his harem.

Fuck off!

Couple of catbirds without the fuck off look.

Hehehehehehe he crawled on his belly all the way around the feeder with big, puffy cheeks.

A blackbeery archway, I just thought it looked cool.

A sick or disformed cowbird.

Click on this for the full sized one, if you want wallpaper or to print it or something.

I'm going to start working on organizing my picture albums, I'll probably do a seasonal album in nature...that way my winter trees and spring flowers aren't all bunched together.  Then again I might start a photolog...I dunno yet.  I'll let you know and when I figure it out!

Happy Hump Day!