Ahhhhhh Fridays!!

Today was a good day. I can't say I accomplished too much, but I sure had a good day. I slept in until about 9ish and didn't get around to making coffee or breakfast until about 11ish. I spent the day cleaning off my DVR. I had about 2 weeks of Craig Ferguson to watch and a couple other things. I deleted a bunch of other stuff because I found I didn't really care if I watched them or not. I shut my electricity off in Ada (finally) and spent some time reading. I also got my curtain rod completely up in my bedroom with the tiebacks installed too for both windows. It's awesome. So then I got my bathroom situated and sorted out. That lasted most of the day because I took my time. Geez I have a lot of crap. I kind of hoard stuff. I have to stop that. I think some things I'll sell on eBay because there is no way I can use 6 liters of shampoo within a year...right???? I have full bottles in my shower...like 2-3 different kinds, not to mention regular sized ones too. wow. I have a sickness. :-)

Then I finally unloaded my trunk that was full of those rubbermaid tubs. For now they are sitting in my garage. In fact, when I was doing that, I realized I hadn't gone anywhere all day today. How nice is that!! :-)

I don't think I've done anything else today. I guess I did accomplish quite a bit. I wanted to get my spare bedroom gone through, but I think that's a bigger project for a span of two or more days. I can do that next week on monday and tuesday. I think I have a workshop to go to on Wednesday and thursday I have a Lia Sophia party to go to all the way in Hillsboro ND (by Grand Forks) and then it's off to Perham for a day and a half to visit and go to my cousin's baby shower (who is due September 5th or something like that!!! OMG, remember when I thought it was November???? WAYYYYYY off). Then it's to Ada for my party, then home for a bit before training in the cities. The week after that I have some workshops in town too. Wow. My summer vacation is dwindling FAST!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

So tomorrow my friend Cindy from high school is coming up for a visit. She lives in Brainerd which is like an hour and a half south of here. It will be fun to hang out with her!! I hope she can deal with all the boxes all over the spare bedroom! It's insane.

I guess I should be getting to bed. It is SOOOOOOOO buggy in my house tonight because its raining. Living on the lake is awesome, but by God, it's buggy!!!!! Wow. You can always tell when it's gonna rain cuz the screens are just TEEMING with swarms of little bugs, and then any light source is plastered with them. Right now my laptop screen is hosting about 8 of the little buggers. They are incredibly harmless and just a nuisance, but still....a nuisance. Tomorrow I'll wake up and see little bitty dead bugs all over the kitchen counters, bathroom counter, and any other surface. If people aren't used to it, it could be quite unsettling I'm sure! I'll take this over the fine mist of black dirt in Ada any day.

No More Keeping Two Residences!!

Today I had a LONG day! I got up at 5am and was on the road by 6am to get to Fargo. I had to drop off my key and associate discount card at JCPenney's (I had forgotten that) and during the night last night I busted my cpap mask AGAIN. I am ALWAYS breaking that kind of mask but it is the only kind that doesn't irritate my skin. Well, good thing I was going that way today because I was able to pick up a new one. My original plan was just to go to Ada today to finish cleaning out the apartment, "check out" and pack my car full of some of the things left in Jami and Shaun's garage. The JCP thing and the Cpap thing just meant that I had to leave 3-4 hours earlier so I was sure to get all the Ada stuff done on time.

As of 7:15pm today I no longer have a residence in Ada. I gave my keys back and never ever have to go to that town again unless I want to visit my friends (which, of course, I will now and then!!). Checkout took SOOOOO long! I was really itching to get back onto the road so I could get home at a decent time, but oh well. It's not that late, but since I'm not yet that familiar with the roads up here, night driving is kinda freaky. Tonight it was CRAZY after it got dark because of course it started to rain a little and it was foggy as well. The roads are so curvy and hilly it's like playing Night Driver from Atari. Remember that arcade game??? They used to have that arcade game at the pizza place in Perham way back when. I can't remember what the place was called, but in junior high I spent quite a lot of money playing that game. Came in handy tonight, if I do say so myself! :-)

I loved it though. For years I've been wishing to live somewhere that has roads that are "fun" to drive -where they aren't straight for miles and you can't see the next town 15 miles away. Well, I have certainly gotten my wish!!! Holy cow. It was lovely though!!

I am so glad to have my vacuum here now! I have everything but my christmas stuff here now. That stuff is still at Jami and Shaun's because it wouldn't all fit into my car. I sure crammed a whole lot of stuff in there. I think I'm ruining my struts or suspension or something with all the moving hauling I've done!!! Thank god it's mostly over now. I've found I can fit a heck of a lot into my trunk. Today I fit four 18 gallon rubbermaid totes in my trunk. That's a lot of stuff!!

Tomorrow I have to sort out and clean up all that I've brought back. I also am anxious to vacuum. Then I have to go meet with my director at 2pm to start planning our fall workshop and apparently he has a project for me to work on already. Wow, no rest for the wicked I guess! Then after 6 I'm meeting up with my cousin's husband who's in town. Tom's great and I'm glad I found out he was in town. They are expecting their first kid in November (I think it's November) and it's neat listening to him talk about ultrasounds. If you knew the guy, you'd get a kick out of it too. We're going to get rootbeer floats. But DON'T tell Jodi (his wife) -I don't think he's "allowed that kind of food right now. So, I don't think Jodi reads this blog....but if you are Jodi...SORRY! I'll make sure he gets a DIET rootbeer float like me with 1/2 the usual icecream. I can't eat all that stuff anymore either, so I'll keep him in line. :-) It sure will be good though! I know the PERFECT A&W to take him to! I stumbled upon it getting gas one day.

I was VERY happy to see all my boxes gone from my curb when I got home tonight! That means the recycling people picked them up as promised! Tomorrow is garbage day so I have to get up early and get the garbage out there. I don't have my garbage tote/can thingy yet, so I don't want to put bags out on the curb to attract critters overnight. That wouldn't be very neighborly of me. :-)

Another Pleasant Valley Sunday

Wow, today was a very good day. I accomplished quite a bit. First off, I went to church at 10:30. Then I went to Home Depot to look for some screws to use in place of the "screws" that come with curtain rods. I find the quality of the metal with those are very bad and the heads get stripped easily. So, I spent quite a bit of time in Home Depot picking out screws, looking around, and picking out some solar lights for the front. By then it was after 1:00, so when I got home I decided to mow my lawn. The mower started right off and I mowed the lawn and it looks quite beautiful. I posted a mobile pic on my Facebook profile of the driveway section.

After that I put up my curtain rod in the dining room and started cleaning out and decorating that room. I also did a bunch of random decorating here and there: put in my solar lights (which, by the way, are half lit tonight because I have a feeling only half of them will get adequate sun during the day to charge!!!), installed a cute hanging iron welcome sign outside my front door, installed a thermometer outside my kitchen window so I can see how cold it is each morning, hung a few pictures here and there, and unpacked/washed up my bar glasses (wine, martini, and champagne glasses). Then I finished with the dining room. Oh yea, in between that, I went to Walmart and picked up more curtains because the sheers I bought yesterday didn't quite cover the diningroom window, so I got two more panels. I must say, it is gorgeous now. Later on I'll post pictures. Right now, I'd rather get more of the rest of the stuff unpacked and find homes for everything.

So, Today's been an eventful but nice day. Tomorrow I have pretty much the same thing on my agenda: get my house put together. I have to go to the bank to set up my billpay feature with Wells Fargo and I have to call the city to inquire about garbage pick up. I should also run to Coleraine to my office to check in with the secretary to see if I've got information on my workshop in August yet. Oh yea, I also have some direct deposit forms to fill out as well.

Check This Out, Especially if You're Looking for Cool Wedding Ideas!

I found this video clip on the Fargo Forum's website. It's great and even if the style of music isn't your taste, you've got to appreciate the humor, fun, and awesomeness of this wedding processional!


Things are coming together at my new place. I've got kitchen rugs now and some curtains for the dining room. My plan tomorrow is to check out the church in town in the morning, pick up some hardware (screws, nails & stuff like that) at Home Depot, install some curtain rods, put up curtains, mow my lawn, and get some decorating done -pictures hanged, "junk" sorted out and put in its place. Wish me luck! I'm gonna need it. :-)

Not So Great...

So today wasn't so great. I expected more gift shoppiness but maybe we just didn't hit the right spots. We did go to a really nice coffee shop and had wonderful gelato there. I'm not sure what's on the agenda for tomorrow. One of these days I've got to mow my lawn. As soon as I want to I either flood the mower and then it rains when I decide to go back to do it. Oh well!!!

Visiting the Shops

Today my friend Jami and her daughter Aly are in Grand Rapids for the weekend. Jami's husband Shaun will be joining us tonight after he comes from Ada after getting off from work. He's going to a car show in town on Saturday (and I think us girls are going too...). But today us girls are going downtown to explore the Old Central School Shoppes and other little fun shops downtown. Hopefully Aly will "let us" and not be too crabby! She's generally a VERY good 7month old, very chatty and pleasant.

Caribou Has the Best Cold Pressed Coffee!

I'm in Fargo today because I had a doctor appointment and am getting a massage in T-minus 55mn. Boy oh boy do I need one!!!! I am all bruised and battered from moving. The nurse almost went through the big "do you feel safe at home" schpeel with me when she saw my arms! I told her I've been moving and haven't been taking care with the stuff I'm lifting. As long as the item is ok and the walls/doorways aren't damaged, I can endure bruises and various contusions. I can heal. A wall cannot-unless I fix it and who has time to do that!?! LOL

I'm once again sitting in a Caribou Coffee in Fargo, checking up on the internet stuff I can't do from my blackberry and enjoying some VERY FINE coffee. Indeed. This stuff is the best. I found out they use their Fireside blend to make their cold-pressed coffee. The barista graciously shared the ratio: 1/2lb fireside blend to 1 gallon of water. Holy lotsa grounds Batman! No wonder it's so tasty!! I'm incredibly thrilled that my new town has a Caribou. I love hanging out at them too. The decor is awesome and their coffee is awesomer. I think I've lamented about this before! :-) One present you would NEVER go wrong with me: a Caribou Coffee gift certificate!!

I'm staying in Ada with my friend Jami for a couple days while I finish cleaning out my apartment. Maybe, if the cleaning fairies are kind to me, I'll be finished tomorrow and can hand in my keys so I don't have to come back. My director called me today and asked when I would be in Grand Rapids full time because we have some planning to do for the upcoming fall inservices. I'd really like to be "free" of the Ada junk before I do that so I can have my full attention on my new job. I think I've said THAT before too!

My doctor this morning put me on a new drug that, combined with Wellbutrin, is supposed to be magical for appetite suppressing without the "stimulus" effect that a traditional appetite suppressant has. It's an anticonvulsant. Which is weird, right? But a few studies have been coming out showing that it's an amazing drug for weight loss/management AND pain management. In fact, it's starting to be prescribed for fibra mialgia patients now too because the other FM drugs cause weight gain and sometimes depression. So, I'll be excited to try that. I've lost about 60lbs to date since January 29th of this year and my doctor is hell bent to help me lose 40 more to make a 100lb loss. I don't think I've been that thin since 8th grade! The good thing is right now, I'm no longer "obese" -I'm just overweight. Which hasn't happened since I was probably 19!! My head has finally caught up with my weight loss and I feel more empowered to keep losing now. Before I was feeling like, "Whoa, slow down!!! Who ARE you???" and now I'm ok and ready for the next 40lbs. Albeit, this round will be much slower, that's ok with me...Weight loss is SUCH a head game. And I want my head to be in the "lasting weight loss/maintenance" mode...not obsessed with pound after pound so I'm looking for continued lifestyle change, not just "dieting". That's why I'm staying away from Weight Watchers for a LONGGGGGG while. I still don't like them because I think they persevere on weight numbers and points of food. At least for me, Weight Watchers has done very little with the head game and medical reasoning behind weight loss. That's what's made me more successful than my Optifast group counterparts too. Everything clicked for me.

Anyway, it's almost time to balance my checkbook and be on my way to my massage appointment. I made the appointment for an hour and a half. Hopefully they can navigate around all my bruises! yikes!!! I should go tanning too...but I'm too lazy to stand in the coffin oven for 12 mn! Hahaha. I'll just save my skin and I forgot my sunscreen anyway for my face, so forget that. After I'm done there, it's back to Ada to clean out my huge hall closet I've put off in my apartment. I know it's mostly garbage but maybe I'll find some old treasures. :-) Ta ta for now!!

Kitchen Design a la Moving....

Tonight I finished unpacking and sorting out my kitchen. I might still have a few things here and there in other boxes, but for the most part, it's sorted out and everything is in its place. It's very nice to have a kitchen large enough to fit all my stuff. I have about 3 times as much cupboard space, and 4 times as much counter space as the kitchen in my old apartment, which was a galley style kitchen. I think there would be more room on a boat or airplane kitchen than there is in that kitchen!! :-)

WHEWWWW...the big move is done.

I haven't posted in a week and a day because I've been without internet service sans Blackberry -and I haven't taken the time to figure out how to navigate this site via my Blackberry.

My friends Jami and Shaun helped me move today. Yesterday we packed up everything that could fit into a 5x8 U-Haul trailer and Ford Explorer (Shaun's parents'...thanks Danny & Kathy!!!!!). Shaun's little brother Cody helped (he was a box moving machine!) and Jami & Shaun's friend CJ (well, Ok, my friend too I guess!!!) helped as well until his wife beckoned him home. We packed up everything within 45 minutes! It went so super smoothly. Then Roxi came over and she, Jami, Connie (Jami's mom) and I had "card night". We used to have card night A LOT before, but in the past year it's been VERY spotty. We usually play Canasta (our version, that is!) but last night we played Apples to Apples since that is my favorite game! We then played two hands of Canasta until it was time for bed!

This morning Jami and her 7month old daughter Aly rode with me in the car and Shaun drove the Explorer pulling the U-Haul trailer. Shaun and I emptied unpacked the "transporters" while Jami took care of Aly. Shaun also permanently fixed my washing machine drain pipe so now I can do laundry!! :-) WOO HOOO!!!

Now I have boxes all over and crap all over. Now that I have some of this stuff here, I'm thinking I should have gotten rid of it all. Oh well!! My back has hurt very much this afternoon, so I decided to take it easy a bit and relax for a little while. It's been nice to catch up on internet stuff I couldn't do well on my blackberry. That thing is awesome though!!! :-)

We didn't fit everything in the trailer, my car, and the explorer, so I still have some stuff in Ada yet. I also have to clean my apartment. So on Tuesday I have some appointments in Fargo and I'll be going to Ada to stay at Jami's on Monday until maybe Wednesday? I'm not sure. I need to really get that place cleaned out and it will take an entire day, I'm quite sure of it!! -if not more. Holy cow. I just wish I was done with all of this! Next time I move, I'm splurging on professional movers and they can do everything!!

So, here I am in Grand Rapids. I like this town and I feel at home here so far. I'd like to feel like I am COMPLETELY moved though so I can start concentrating on my new job. I have some reading and researching to do to prepare.

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The Quiet, It Unnerves Me...

I moved my tv and my stereo to Grand Rapids already. When I got home tonight from visiting a friend, it was like I had been robbed: the apartment was all in disarray and there was a big empty spot where the tv, vcr, and dvd player used to be! Not to mention the bookshelf I had my stereo on was empty too. How sad! But I do still have my scanner! woo hoo!!!!

This week is the last week of "really" living here. I'm packing up EVERYTHING and moving it all on Saturday. Then it's cleaning time! Fun, fun. I think I have enough boxes for everything. I'm glad I'm not taking my entertainment center, my couch, and a couple other pieces of furniture I'm giving away. What a pain in the butt.

There are car races in Ada tonight. Usually the races are on Thursday nights but apparently, there is some kind of "6pack" or something???? I don't get it. That world is completely foreign to me...still, after living here 10 years. I'm always saying "what does that mean?" when people talk about the races and everything. I'm sure I drive them nuts...I ask SOOOO many questions!!! I can hear the racetrack from my apartment on the northeast side of town...the track is on the southwest side of town...so when the wind is just right, I hear the cars as if it were 2-3 blocks away. It's a sound that has either bothered me or has soothed me. Tonight it's soothing and a bit melancholy. I went to the demo derby this year for the fair and it was kinda lame I thought -but what do I know!?! Cars and racing and stuff like that are a really big deal to many people in this area and entire families dedicate their lives to it -literally. I still think most of the races are boring -especially the "enduro" ones because they go around and around and around forever and just make a whole lot of noise. It's kind of like scalloped corn: I don't like it, but I'm still very curious about it and will try it now and then because maybe I will like it THIS time (and it does smell good) and ultimately remember why I don't like it. Then the next time it's around, I'll forget the reason why and try it again. So the cycle continues. Scalloped corn is weird. Ever had it?? I NEVER did until I lived up here. It's like a casserole with corn, creamed corn, eggs, and saltine crackers. I don't know what makes it "scalloped"...maybe the creamed corn??

In fact, I used to call it "corn crap" when I used to work for Norman County East. They had it like once a week and I would say, "oh, this corn crap again??". That REALLY pissed off some of the lunch ladies!! Oh well! For a going away present when I quit there, the lunch workers gave me their recipe for "corn crap" a.k.a. scalloped corn...the recipe feeds 200 people. HAHA!!!

So, although I don't have the tv or radio to provide noise, I have my windows open on this nice evening and can listen to the whine, roar, and hum of race cars -while thinking of trying scalloped corn again just one more time to see if I like it yet.

:-)

The ads, they are everywhere!!!

Hey everyone! Thanks for clicking my ads!! Keep it up! I really appreciate it!

Almost time for the big move

Well, for the last day I've been in my new place in Grand Rapids. I came up on Wednesday because I had to be here for my direct tv install and I got some more unpacking and organizing done. I also was able to carve out time to open a new bank account. Hooray for Wells Fargo...now I can do my banking almost anywhere and not have to pay extra fees at ATM's since it's pretty likely that I can find a wells fargo atm almost anywhere.

So my satellite was hooked up yesterday. That was great but it ended up costing me $75 extra for them to put it on a post instead of screwing it into the side of my house or the roof. Whatever. I was pretty happy with everything else...except for one thing...so last night I was watching tv and I started to notice the cable and phone cords the guy used. I was going to move my tv/stand over about a foot and I found I can't!!! The guy gave me NO slack at all with the cable line. Also, he tacked the cords along the floor, but ended that a foot from the corner. WOw, I didn't know Direct TV were so cheap with their cable cords!!! I think that this is ridiculous and if I were paying more attention while he was installing it (he was very quick at it too), I could have stopped him and asked him to give me about 2 ft or so of slack so I could move the thing to another corner in the room if I had wanted to. Oh well. I may just call them up and ask them to send someone out to fix it because I'm not happy with it. Anyone have Direct TV and know if they would be nice about this?? It's fine how it is, but it just BUGS me. And I don't like things that bug me. :-)

So today I'm slow going -just enjoying the morning and coffee...except now it's the afternoon. I think I'm going to stay here tonight too. I want to go through the boxes of my stuff from the school year. I've got all my other boxes all unpacked that I've brought except those and I should really get that room more organized before all my stuff gets moved next week. My friends in Ada are helping me move next Saturday and after that the only thing I will have left at my Ada place are some cleaning supplies and a whole lot of cleaning to do!

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Liquid Money

It's amazing how fast money can be spent. My horoscope for Tuesday said that I would be getting a windfall of money. Well, they were half right. I did get paid, but it was not unexpected and it was not a "windfall". I DID spend quite a bit of money on Tuesday, however. About $2000 worth. Geesh. Moving sucks! :-) I need a different bucket...cuz there's a hole in my money bucket...dear Liza, dear Liza.

Today I'm at a Caribou in Fargo. I like Caribou. Can you tell?? I really like their coffee. Much more than Starbucks, as a matter of fact. I also think that the decor in Caribou's are much more relaxing and pleasing than Starbuck's decor. I'm killing time between a split shift at JCP today. I was done at 11:15 and don't have to be back until 5:30, so I have LOTS of time to kill. Lots of time to keep that money bucket dripping (or gushing, really). I should be set for now...except I should pickup a garden hose and caddy thingy for it. I'm looking forward to washing my own car once in a while now!! That will be great! I've missed that, living in apartments. I'd like to get it professionally detailed...but that will have to wait since I bought an entertainment center instead of that. HAHA. Priorities, you know. And really, I can clean my own car -especially now. Fabulous.

I haven't looked at my study stuff -and I won't for another week or weeks yet. Those professors did not believe me when I said, "I'm not even looking at this again for a couple more weeks". The proof will be in the pudding...or lack of "pudding" as it will be. HAHA.

So....I'm not sure who actually reads this blog...or if it even makes sense, but then again, I guess I don't really care! :D My blackberry's doing well...just thought you'd like to know. HA! I'm still trying to figure out how to personalize stuff -like ringtones, etc. I also have to input my address book from my old phone to this one. What a pain. It's a different carrier and everything, so it's totally a manual job. *sigh* that's what I get!! Oh well. I'll save TONS of money in the long run. For my phone, internet, satellite TV, and cell phone combined I will pay only about $40 more a month than I did before -and that was WITHOUT long distance on my home phone line and with only a voice plan and 500 texts a month on my cell plan. If I had in Ada what I've been set up for in Grand Rapids, I'd be paying about $80-$120 more a month. Bundling is awesome.

Well, now my coffee is gone, and my tummy's rumbling, so I should go eat the apple I have in my car and do some shopping. I promised my mom I'd pick up a lamp for her at JCP since I still have my discount and they are on sale right now. Plus, I should really get that garden hose so I have it this weekend. My neighbor offered to water my plants for me when I'm gone (that would suck if all my new outside plants DIED cuz I wasn't there to water them!!) so I think it would be good to make it easy on her! :-)