Sneak Peek

Here's a little taste of what I've been doing while Scout has been in the field...

Our bedroom, before:



And during:


I'm almost done with the floors and the walls, so pictures should follow shortly. I can't wait to show you the finished product!

Sometimes I Wonder About People

The most interesting conversation I had a few days ago:

Customer (drops a bag of crap at my register) and says: I wanna pawn shop.

Me: I'm sorry?

Customer: I wanna pawn shop.

Me: I'm sorry. I don't understand. Would you like to get a loan on your stuff or sell it?

Customer: I WAN-NA PAWN SHOP.

Me (thinking, well, lady, I wasn't standing in line the day they handed out pawn shops, so you're what I like to call SOL): Ummm.

Customer (calls her daughter over, who supposedly speaks a clearer version of English): I work for KISD and she no can understand me. Tell her I wanna pawn shop.

Daughter (looking just as clueless as I must have): Ummm.

And here's one from yesterday:

Customer: Do you sell satin sheets?

Me: I'm sorry?

Customer: Satin sheets.

Me: Umm. No ma'am. Have you tried WalMart?

Who tries to buy satin sheets at a pawn shop? People are so freakin' weird.

I wish I could remember all the stories from work...Sometimes there are just too many to store in my brain.

And this morning I dreamt that Toby Keith came in for a $200 loan on a ring.

Have a good weekend, everyone. I'll be at work.

1976 Called...

...and wanted its satellite back.

Taking down the 18 foot satellite has been one of the less daunting tasks in our new adventure as homeowners. However, as I was ripping up baseboards the yesterday (to prepare for putting in those wood floors I've been talking about), I inadvertently started peeling away layers of rotted wall. We also discovered a crack in the foundation of our dining room while ripping up carpet. As if remodeling isn't aggravating enough - now we have to fix structural damages! Well, actually, remodeling is quite fun. But all the unexpected stuff sucks.

As Promised

Daisy when we got her:




And fast forward to today:


As you can tell, she can sleep in any position. And she's growing like a weed.

Delicious Thoughts

Man, I love this girl. The way she describes delicious thoughts is exactly how I feel when I have a day or two off from work.

F***ing Credit Cards

I'm so pissed off right now. But that's nothing new, right?

I have one credit card to pay off. ONE. And it's the one I've been procrastinating on because it has a fairly substantial balance (I would love to actually give the exact amount, but I'm working on becoming more mysterious. We'll see how that works out).

Anyway, this particular credit card is one of the really stupid financial decisions Scout and I made a couple of years ago. "Yeah, let's go on vacation and put it all on a credit card." Super idea.

Well, I went to make a payment of about 1/3 of the balance a couple of weeks ago, and the piece of shit company that I pay my bill online through (www.mycheckfree.com) screwed up the payment. I ended up on the phone with Bank of America for four days trying to straighten up the mess that I DIDN'T MAKE (including explaining the fact that there was more than enough money in the account to cover the payment).

So tonight I'm going through the bills I have to mail out tomorrow (including the Bank of America credit card that I USED to pay online), and I notice that not only is there a $39.00 "returned check" fee, but I'm being charged 24.24% interest on $224.44 of my balance, which is listed as a cash advance. I have never used my credit card for a cash advance, and I have never paid 24% on anything. But because this stupid online company fucked up, I'm paying a hefty amount in penalties and interest.

So I call Bank of America (and punch in 78 different pieces of information, and then wait on the line for ten minutes), and the lady answers the phone and (seriously) says, "How can I provide you with excellent service?" So I tell her the story and she connects me to an office that isn't open. So I call back, punch in the same 78 pieces of information, wait on the line, and the second person I talk to says I have to call back tomorrow. So much for excellent service.

So now I'm wide awake, trying to find a credit card that I can transfer the balance to without paying $800,000 in "transfer fees." I cannot wait to be out of this mess we got ourselves into (which, surprisingly enough, is not the most irritating mess we've gotten into lately. More on that later).

But there is good news: I will be knitting for the next 48 hours.

Potpourri

Today's a mixture of things that have been on my mind lately.

It's a rainy day here in Texas, and I'm trying to catch up on all the things I'm too busy (or too lazy) to do on the days I work. There are things still strewn about my house from moving (by the way: where did I get 46 candle holders, and where the hell do I put them?), the wretched carpets have been ripped up (which means we are living on concrete until we buckle down and put the wood floors in), and I have eight skeins of yarn begging me to knit them into socks.

At any rate, any day off from work is a good day. I've realized lately that I have a love-hate relationship with my job. More on that later.

And surprisingly, I weigh less now than I did when I got married. And the great thing is, I have no clue how it happened. I am 40 pounds lighter than my highest weight, and I've lost 26 pounds since I started Weight Watchers. My mouth literally drops every time I get on the scale.

Finally, I was given a direct order from SSG Scout to look for a new job today. He's seeing the change that my current job is having on me, and he doesn't like it. I can't say that I like who I am right now either, but I have learned a lot. I either feel cranky or completely worn out after a day of pawn broking. The problem is, I have no freakin' clue what I want to do. And part of me really wants to stay where I'm at (not only because there are good things about it, but because I'm sick of starting over. I do that enough being married to someone who has to move every three years).

Well, I'm off to follow my orders and organize my closet. Wish me luck.