Site Changes

I have added a few new link on my side nav. Stop over and take a look at them. They are some good sites with interesting people.


Getting Single... details a woman's journey through her marriage and divorce. It is also a podcast. You really have to go back and read it from the beginning to get a true sense of the story of her life. Check it out....


Not a Player, Rather a Predator. Roxy is a girl on the Easy coast who is completing her medical school residency. Always entertaining.


The Wife - Mrs. Chako's Side of the Story. The Wife is married to Dr. Chako who is a poker playing doctor in Iraq. The Wife is very funny and always a hoot.

ZOBMONDO!!

Would you rather...

As a brazen teenager showing off on class camping trip, drink a thimbleful of snake venom

----OR----

eat the tail off a dead scorpion?

First off, I'm glad that our camping trips don't have stunts like this. Second, I have to go with eating the tail. I would have a better chance at survival.

Demolition Phase 1

Bathroom demolition is under way. My dad ripped out the old medicine cabinet on Friday and temporarily hung a light on the way for me to be able to see. What a difference that made. I went from 30 watts to 75 in short order. I can now see if the shower and can see the spots that I missed shaving on my legs.

Here is where the old medicine cabinet was. I had the mirrored doors from the old one in there so I could see when getting ready for the day.

Here is the rest of the vanity and toilet. Notice the lovely yellow color and ugly floor tiles. Gotta love 1958 decorator colors.

Saturday was spent running errands.... after shoveling almost 5 inches of fluffy snow. Gotta love living only 3 blocks from the lake. I had to pick out paint for the walls, a register cover, and a vanity top/sink. It took me almost 6 hours but I can say that I am done buying stuff. Or at least I hope so.

I was supposed to go play poker at a friend from work's house on Saturday nite but by time I got home I was tired and wanted nothing more than to lay on the couch and spend some snuggle time with the boys. I am bummed that I missed the first week of the poker series tho. He is running a home tourney that will run for like 10 weeks. It will pay off the top 3 spots each week and you get points based on your finish each week. After 10 weeks the top 10 will play off with the top 3 taking home cash and the winner getting a buy in to a Potawatomi tourney. Not too bad of a deal. I will have to wait to see how the person who sat in for me on Saturday did. I am really looking forward to playing in live games more often. M is a good shit and hilarious when he gets drunk.

My dad came over today and put the medicine cabinet and the new light fixture in. I have even more wonderful light in the bathroom. He had to patch the drywall and got the first coat of mud on. My job is to do the rest over the next few days. I started sanding the door frames down. Who was the crazy person who thought it would be a good idea to have metal door jambs. That explains why everything is painted.














I did take the new vanity and vanity top out of the box and set them up in the spare room. I set the faucet on top and it looks so cool. All nice and shiny and clean.I can't wait to see the completed room. It will be nice to have one room done in the house

Zobmondo!!

Would you rather....

Be held in high esteem by one and only one person who you truly respect

OR----

by 10,000 people that you don't respect?

I have to go with the one and only person that I respect.

Another busy week coming up . Good thing the weather is supposed to turn around for the good finally. Peace Out!!!

Sick and Tired

I am finally getting over a cold. It has been coming on now for the past couple of weeks but decided to rear its ugly head late last week. It doesn't help when everyone else around you is sick as well. I ended up missing two days of work. I got off easy as a few people at work were out more than a week.

The boys and I are adjusting to our home. Boomer has finally stopped barking every time the furnace kicks in. Which is a good thing at 3 am. Rufus still misses soon to be ex hubby and wants to sit on my lap all the time. He is good to cuddle with as he snuggles up and nice and small.

Went on Saturday with my dad to pick out bathroom stuff. I got a vanity and medicine cabinet. My dad was nice enough to pay for it as an early birthday present for me. That was so nice of him. I did not expect that at all. I ordered the faucets, towel bar, lighting fixture last nite. Today, I stopped at the tile shop and ordered my flooring for the bathroom. It is a Mojave travertine marble. It is really pretty. Have to give some big kudos to A's son. He gave me a nice price on the installation and I got a very nice discount on the tile. All to do now is get a vanity top. All I know is that I want a counter and sink 1 piece thing. Then I don't have to worry about ever caulking it. I plan on taking some before and after shots. I'll post them in the coming weeks.

I did finally get all the ice off of the driveway. No more skating rink. My dad helped me chop it all off on Sunday. There is one section that still has a pile of frozen snow on it but I can now get into the garage easily enough. Now if I only had power in the garage I could use the door opened instead of having to open it manually each time. If I could only get an electrician to call me back to come and fix it.....

Well, that's all for now.

Talk to you all later.

This and That

So a little over a week has passed since I moved into my new house. I am getting settled and starting to feel more comfortable in the new digs. I still have to get more dressers. I am used to having much more closet space and really only had my underwear, bras and socks in a dresser. I now need to find homes for the rest of my clothes. I would like to get them out of the buckets I have them in now. Maybe this next weekend, I will take a trip to the furniture store to get a couple of dressers.

When I bought the house it came with a one year home warranty. Basically it covers anything that can go wrong with the house for the first year. I used it on Friday. I called to have the furnace cleaned and checked out. It seemed like it was running alot but wanted to have someone take a look at it. They came out on Friday. He opened it up and started it up. Took one time for it to turn on and he could tell that the induction motor was bad. That was the train like sound that it was making. I was lucky that these guys were authorized to do warranty work for me and called the company up. 15 minutes later I had them authorized to replace the motor and a limit switch. It cost me a $60 deductible. The bill would have been $583. Good deal on my part.

The dogs are getting used to the place. Rufus, I think really misses soon-to-be-ex-hubby. He has kinda moped around here and has been really clingy the last couple of days. Not like him at all. All three dogs seem like their digestive systems are messed up a bit. Everyone has had the runs and made messes in the house. Thank goodness for carpet cleaners.

My boss is coming into town tomorrow. We are to get our reviews. Should be interesting. I know that I got a 5.8% raise and a smaller bonus than last year. I have a post that I started several weeks ago about how she threw us under the bus on a project. I should go back and clean it up and post it. I have said this before.... she is a nice person and treats us fairly well but is not a very good manager. Oh well.... at least I will get a few good meals outta it.

ZOBMONDO!!

Would you rather....

As a man, find out that your fly was open all day

----OR----

that your shirt tail was out, you missed a belt loop, and your pants leg was stuck inside the top of your sock?

Have to go with the open fly. Hey who knows what kinda good stuff you may be able to see?!?!

Getting Settled

The last couple of days have been hectic and tiring.

On Thursday, hubby moved out of our house. All went well and the weather held out and snowed later in the day after the movers were done and gone.

Friday, dawned sunny and cold. We closed on our old house. It is just a 23 year old kid who bought it. Mom and dad are forking over quite a bit of cash to him. Must be nice to be 23 and own a 225,000 home. oh well.... We ended up waiting about an hour for the funds to be disbursed so that I could take the money and go and close on my new house. Meanwhile, mom is at the old house supervising the movers. Dad is at the new house ripping up the carpet in master bedroom. The floors underneath are red oak and look ok. They need some cleaning and all but for the most part are ok.

The movers I think were really wondering how I was going to fit all this stuff into this little house. I know I am.

By the end of the day I was tired and cranky. At one point I had 25 boxes in the kitchen and no idea where to put the shit. Most of it went down in the basement for now. I will go thru it little by little and get it sorted out.

Today, A and K came over to help me unpack some stuff and organize. The jury is still out on how to arrange the furniture in the living room. With one wall having two windows and the other wall broken up by a closet it make my options limited. A and K did a good job of helping me stay on track and finding new homes for things. I really appreciate your help, guys. THANKS!!!

I finally got my internet and tv hooked up this morning as well. I am lost without internet and tv....Now I have to get my dvr all set up and I am ready to go..

It is really nice to be in a place that is all my own. I look forward to my new life.

My ass is dead tired and I am heading off to bed in a few minutes. I will try to get some pictures posted in the next few days. Just have to remember which bucket my camera is in.

Have a good weekend all... Talk to ya later.

A Reason Not to Work Out

Just say Ouch!!

Baby, It's Cold Outside!

The weather in Wisconsin has been crazy this year. We get snow, then cold, then it warms up and we get rain and the snow melts, then it gets cold again and then it snows... or it just freakin' keeps snowing. I am getting tired of shoveling almost every day. Luckily, it was warm enough out earlier today to melt some of the driveway off. I was able to get the end of it cleaned up so it is not a skating rink. Then we got another 1-2 inches that had to be shoveled off tonight so that I did not have to shovel when it was 0 out tomorrow. It was light enough that it only took like 15 minutes.

I drove by my new house today and seen that roof is not finished and the driveway is a mess. The old shingles and crap is now buried under a foot of snow. The people who are doing the snow removal, could only do a path to the front door and back to the garage. All I can say is that it had better be cleaned up by Friday when I move. I am not shoveling or snow blowing that so I can move in. I'm pissed that the roofer did not have a dumpster (like his quote said) to get rid of the mess. At least then it would be contained.

Packing is going well. All I have left is really food, some dishes that I am still using, clothes and a few knick knacks. We made another run to the dump to get rid of more stuff. The fire pit had a rust hole in the bottom of it so that went.

I had an old love seat that I gave to my sister. Hubby and I take it over there this morning and when we get there, her landlord is there. My guess is that he was kicking her out. When we walked in the place it was a disaster. It turned my stomach. Food and crap like a dirty diapers on the floor. There were like 7 razor blades laying in the living room alone. Thanks goodness, the youngest two kids have no idea that the razors are used for her crack habit. Now I know why my oldest niece lives with my parents. I would be embarrassed as hell to bring anyone over into that house. If I were her landlord, I would have told her that she has three days to get the place clean or get out. She still has her Christmas tree up. She said that until the kids put away the presents that are under it she can't take it down. Not sure why she can't take the clothes and games and put them away. She is the parent. You can't expect a 5 and 6 year old to keep a house up when she can't. Oh well.... someday it will all come crashing down around here. I just hope that the kids don't have to pay the price.

ZOBMONDO!!

Would you rather....

Eat a newly born baby rodent

----OR----

a small sack of crawling caterpillars?

They both are really nasty but I have to go with the baby rodent. It is one thing and then you are done.

Stay warm!!

Good Guesses

You all had good guesses but all wrong. The answer was...... use a snow blower. We got a bunch of snow on Friday and soon to be ex-hubby wasn't going to be home until late so if I wanted to leave the driveway I had to get the snow off the driveway.

I had to call hubby to tell me how to start it and once I got it started it went well. It was moving a bit fast and did not know that the self propelling feature was controllable. My arms, chest and back were soooo sore the next morning from trying to slow the damn thing down. Oh well... I now know.

We got another blast (ok, more like a dumping) of snow today. I am very lucky that I can work from home if the weather is bad. The drive in would not have been too bad but the drive home would have been miserable. Today was kind of a wasted work day. Had a few meetings and got some packing done. But not a whole lot of real productive work.

I am getting tired of the snow. It seems like it is snowing every few days. Just enough to be a pain in the butt. Does Mother Nature not realize that I am moving in 9 short days and would like to not have to trudge thru snow to do so. I just keep thinking that I only have 4 more days of work and then am off for a week... just wish it was some place nice and warm.

Co-worker, L, just came back from a cruise. He is all nice and tan. He and his partner went on a gay cruise. I love hearing the stories. They guys are crazy. And the pictures.... all I can say is that is is a good thing that the boat has a photo shop on board. Not sure if some of the pics would have not been printed at a regular place.

Well, not much else to say for now.

ZOBMONDO!!

Would you rather....

Clip a homeless stranger's disgusting toenails

----OR----

clip your own toenails and eat the clippings?

Both options turn my tummy but would have to go with doing my own. At least I know where my funk came from.

Trying Something New

What did I do today that I have never done before??

A beer to the first person who guesses correctly.

Hint.... I will probably do it again in the future although hopefully not often....

Things That Make You Go Uhhh... Yeah....

I was reading a blog of my next door neighbor earlier this evening. She is a very nice person but not the sharpest pencil in the box. Here is the first line from yesterday's post.

"It is 35 below wind shield factor and -4 degrees outside today"

My first thought was what the hell is the wind shield factor?? and what is 35 below that factor?? Is that the factor of when your wind shield will break?? something else??

Now me, being the anal person that I am, would have written the sentence this way "It is -4 degrees outside today with a wind chill of -35 degrees".

I may not be a good writer but I know proper grammar. I try to always read thru my posts before publishing them to make sure that they make sense.

The last week has been busy. I am getting things packed up and tossing things out. Nothing like moving to get you to go thru stuff. I hope to get alot of the stuff packed up this weekend.

The roof is almost finished on my new house. I stopped over on Tuesday to check it out. It looks nice. I hope that they got all the debris cleaned up before the wind kicked in or the neighbors will not be very happy with the shingles and crap all over the place. Other than that things are progressing right along with the selling of our old house, my new house and the divorce.

ZOBMONDO

Would you rather....

Run over your daughter's new puppy

----OR----

forget her birthday for two consecutive years??

I'm going with forgetting the birthday. I'm too much of a dog lover to run over the dog.

Let's Blow the Roof Off of This Joint

I got me a new roof, folks. The sellers are going to pay for a new roof as well as fixing the radon issue. I go tomorrow to pick out the shingles and gutters. What fun!! I am just glad that this is all over. The last couple of weeks have been very stressful for me and I am normally a person who handles stress pretty well, or so I think anyway. It is a relief to know that I have a place to live and to call my own. The dogs, bird and I will settle into our new life in our new home in less than a month.

I will find out in the next few days if we can get into the new place a bit early so my dad can rip the carpet up in a couple of the bedrooms before I move in. That will be easier to do if we are not moving stuff in at the same time.

Sunday is the big game. What game you may ask?? If you are listening to the local media, there is nothing else going on in the world except this game. The only good thing with the Packer coverage is that we don't have to listen to the political coverage. Not sure which is worse right now. I think it is important that people get to know who they will vote for but it is crazy. I wish that the candidates would have mandatory campaign spending limits. It would even the playing field.

American Idol has started. I love to dvr it and watch later. I can get thru a 2 hour show in about an hour once you knock out all the commercials. There were a couple of people who were really good. Should be another fun season.

ZOBMONDO!!

Would you rather....

Have to walk on five-foot stilts for the rest of your life

----OR----

always have to ride a unicycle to get around?

Have to go with the unicycle. Just think of all the great exercise you would get.

A Roof Over My Head

The inspection on my new house was last Saturday. All went well except for one big thing. The roof. It probably should have been replaced at least a year ago. There were shingles that had no gravel on them anymore.

So, we are going back to the seller to have them pay for a new roof. We are talking a complete tear off on both the house and garage. They are balking at it a bit. It will probably cost 5 grand to replace. That is coin that I can't really afford at this time. We are now at the point of getting a few estimates to see what the cost will be and try to negotiate. To top it off the radon test came back at 6.9. EPA guidelines say that anything over 4.0 needs to be fixed. It will cost the seller another grand to remediate that. My realtor talked to the other realtor and learned that the sellers are frustrated. Don't blame them. The house has been on the market for over 8 months and they now have to shell out some cash to get more stuff done.

I think that it was not a good sign when my realtor sent me link to a few new houses to look at. Bad thing is that none of them appealed to me.

At this point I am back to waiting again. This sucks. I can't sleep, which for me is very unusual. It doesn't help when hubby's work calls at 11:45 pm and wakes me up cuz he doesn't answer his cell phone. I tossed and turned the rest of the night. My ass is draggin but I want to stay up until about 10 or so, so that I can hopefully be tired enough to sleep.

ZOBMONDO!!

Would you rather....

Not eat for three days

----OR----

not sleep for three days?

I have to go with the eating. I can stand to lose a few pounds. I'm already not sleeping very well.

Go, Pack, Go

By now, most everyone knows that the Packers beat Seattle and are now heading for the NFC Championship game. Since the Giants beat Dallas, the game will be played at Lambeau Field.

The Dallas/Giants game was a good one. I wanted the Giants to win because I think that the Packers will have an easier time them. The Packers never play well against the Cowboys, especially in Dallas.

The game was a fun time. Everyone was at Big Momma's. The bar was crowded but not too crazy. It was fun seeing everyone. We don't get together enough during the winter months. Afterwards, went to K&J's for Pizza and Eddie Murphy's Delirious. The best part is the Goonie Goo Goo bit...

Eddie Murphy: [as his drunk father] Your wife's a Bigfoot, isn't she, Gus? Your wife is a Bigfoot, isn't she? That's why the bitch's moustache is so motherfuckin' thick... 'cause you shaved the bitch down and taught her to speak. I know a motherfuckin' Bigfoot when I see one! Don't bring a Bigfoot into my home, Gus! With my children? The bitch can't talk! She can't walk a flight of steps! She's not trained well, Gus! She can *not* walk steps! I'll bet she climbs the fuck outta trees, though, don't she, Gus? Doesn't she? DOESN'T SHE? But you got to not bring her around here - fuck her! And your motherfuckin' children? They're Bigfeet, too. They're half-Bigfoot, Gus, 'cause the motherfuckers is 6 years old and have Afros 17 inches long. They're little hairy motherfuckers, just like their mother. Look at the motherfuckers! You know how I found out they was Bigfoot - when I realized your wife was a Bigfoot when I took your kids fishing last week. I put the motherfuckers in the boat, Gus, and I took the worm and I put it on the hooks. And they both sat there, and they put their poles down in the motherfuckin' boat, and slammed their faces in the water for 2 minutes! And I think, "What the fuck are these kids doin'?" Then they start moving their heads like this

[quickly shakes head back and forth]

and the motherfuckers come up with fish! I jumped back and said, "Can you believe this motherfuckin' shit?" Then the kid took the fish out his mouth and looked at his brother and said, "Goonie-Goo-Goo." What the fuck is going on here? Normal kids don't do shit like that, Gus. But I'm gonna tell you something, motherfucker. You can take your motherfuckin' hairy fat-ass wife moustache bitch out the fuck, you can go upstairs and get the motherfuckin' dog and scoop up the shit and take Eddie and get these mothafuckin' long Angela Davis afro-wearin' motherfuckin' kids of yours and put them in the motherfucking "Goonie-Goo-Goo"-mobile and get the fuck out! And if my wife don't like that, she can get the fuck out, too!

[Eddie mimes his shoe-throwing noise] You missed me, bitch!

Good Night Detroit!

I Don't Get It

I went out to the USPS website to change my address and found that to do it online costs me $1.00. WHY??? I can fill out the info online, print it and stick it in the mailbox tomorrow and it will cost me nothing.

Does this seem a bit odd to any one else???

It's Official

I got the call about 30 minutes ago. I got the house. I am now the proud almost owner of a cute 3 bedroom, 1 bath brick ranch in St. Francis.

Here is a pic of the front of the house. If you want to see more go to the post from the other day. The link is on there.

Things went smooth. They countered this morning at 142,000. We came back and said ok, we will take that but pay most of the closing costs. That is about 2500 so, it works out well. Now more of my money can go towards the down payment.

I close on both houses on Feb 15th. We will be moving that day as well. Now, I have to call and line up the movers. We are going to try to work it out so that they can pack all the stuff up and then drop hubby's off at his new place and then send the rest on to my house. All I know is that it is worth it to have them haul my elliptical up and down stairs. That thing weighs a ton!!

Not alot that I want to do right away. 1. Rip the carpet out of the bedrooms. There are hardwood floors under the carpet. Hopefully, they are in good shape. 2. Paint the kitchen. I like pink (remember, I ride a pink bike) but not really my thing in the kitchen. When we painted here this summer, we have a bunch of paint left over and I can use that. It is an off white color which is fine for now.

Dad was all excited. He now has a project to work on for the rest of winter. I should just put a bed in one of the rooms and have him move in. Save him money on gas.

Have to meet with the attorney on Thursday. We have to draw up papers that releases hubby from any legal or financial responsibility for my new home. Lots of stuff to do. It will be a busy month. I can see me burning alot of vacation time up in the next month.

Well, time for bed. I have not slept well the past few nights. I think I will sleep much better knowing I now have a place to live.

Good Night everyone!!

The Wait Begins

So, the offer was submitted this morning. Now comes the waiting.... The seller's have until end of day on 1/8 to either accept, reject or counter offer.

Think good thoughts!

House Hunting - Day 3

Sunday, Sunday, Sunday. Back at the house hunting. Today's trip only consisted of two locations. Both is St. Francis.

House 1 - nice location on a dead end cul-de-sac. The house was well maintained and had been owned by some dead old people. The kitchen and bath were recently updated and had nice fixtures. Windows were fairly new. Living room was small. Entire house had hard wood floors. It had only been on the market like 10 days and my realtor must have known the other realtor and said that he did not think that they would some down much if any in price. It was at the very top limit of my budget.

House 2 - nice location across from a park. As we drove up, I knew that this would not work. There was no driveway or garage. You parked on the street. YUCK!! The property was on an alley but there was a 20-25 foot drop from the edge of the lawn to the alley. That's not working for me. We did not even go in.

My realtor is a great guy. He is friends with my co-worker L. So after we looked at the houses, we stopped at a little bakery for lunch. We bought some hot ham and rolls and ate and chatted. He does alot of real estate for the Bucks. We are eating lunch and he gets a call from a rookie player who shall remain nameless at this time. He cut the tire on his Range Rover and needed to get a new one. Except that no place around here could get one in for like a week. He bought the vehicle in Chicago. Last week, when it was in the shop for something else, he had my realtor's truck. Rookie called realtor and said that the truck kept stalling out on him. First thing realtor asks is if there is gas in it. He says yes, he just filled it up. It then dawns on him that he put gasoline in. Not diesel fuel which is what it runs on. Realtor needs a new engine. Rookie said that he would buy him a new truck. This is like the 4th or 5th thing that has happened to him and vehicles in the last 4 months. I told realtor that I would be rookie's driver. He laughed and said that he has already recommended that he get a car service.

In the end, I decided to put an offer in on the house in St. Francis. Realtor thought that since it has been on the market for so long, we should be able to get a deal on it. We are offer of 135,000 to see if they bite. He figures that they will then counter with 140 or less which is perfect for me. I am waiting for Realtor to email over the paperwork so I can sign it and away we go.

I'll keep you all updated on the progress. Keep you fingers crossed.

House Hunting - Day 2

Today, dad and I went out with my realtor and looked at more houses. We went to look at 4 new ones and back to the one I liked last week.

Started out in Cudahy, This one was a foreclosure. It was a dump. You could tell that it had been empty for over a year now. Needed a new driveway, had no gutters. The only nice thing was that it had nice refinished hardwood floors.

House 2 - was back to the one in St. Francis that I liked. When we went out last week to look at it, it was with my realtor's associate and my realtor wanted to look at it so he could see it for himself. I still liked the house. I know someone who lives across the street so that would be nice as well.

House 3 - It was in a nice location on a dead end road behind Zablocki park. Long driveway. As we walked up the driveway, you could see that the garage was crooked. Quite a bit. As we walked in, you could see that the rest of the house was off as well. The fridge was tilted about an inch or so. It looked like the house was a small cottage at one time and they added on to it. This was a definite no as well.

House 4 - Was a few blocks away. As we drove up, we noticed that it was the smallest house on the block. The garage was tiny. I don't think that my truck would have even fit in there. The owners were at the house. As we walked in, there was an odd odor. Kinda gross. The house was crammed with stuff. For those of you who know me, I hate clutter, especially when it looks like a dump. This was what the house looked like. Do you think if you wanted someone to buy your house, that maybe you would run a vacuum through quick. Not these folks. Besides the fact that there was no basement this was a no as well.

House 5 - It was on Honey Creek Dr. Nice area, but very close to the freeway. You could hear the traffic and it was loud. The house was very well maintained but small. Two of the bedrooms were like 9x9. Way to small for me.

One thing I have learned was that there is a reason that alot of the homes do not have pictures of the interior on the web. They are dumps and there is not much you can do, even with Photoshop, to make it look better. I just have a hard time believing that people live in this kind of crap. They are all fairly decent neighborhoods. Not like I'm looking in the inner city somewhere.

So, I think I have decided to put an offer in on the St. Francis house. My realtor is going to look at the comps in the area and see what a reasonable offer is. I think we have the fact that it has been on the market since last May going for us. They may be willing to deal. I am hoping that all works out. Keep your fingers crossed.

ZOBMONDO!!

Would you rather....

Have a see-through nose

----OR----

entirely white eyeballs?

Well, since I have a cold going on, the see-through nose would be quite gross at this time. But it could be fun to gross people out. hmmmm... what are your thoughts??

Reflections of the Past Year

The past year has seen many changes in my life. At this point I am not sure if they are good or bad but they are changes none the less.

The biggest one has been my marriage falling apart. I always thought that if we had made it 10 years or so that it would last forever. We would grow old together. Little did I know that I would be traded in for a 23 year old. I had to put up with alot of stuff for over a year before I told any one that there were problems. All I have to say on that is that I hope you are happy with the decisions you made.

My divorce will be final on April 8th. This will be one of the most difficult things that I will ever have to do. But this as well, will be a good thing, in the long run. I will learn how to be myself again and not have to rely on another person for my happiness. I will make my own happiness. it will be scary at times but I will get thru it (can you say thank god for therapists!)

Work has been a struggle as well. I have taken on more responsibility and become more of a leader on my team. I can say with pride that I have accomplished alot and grown along the way. I have learned things and done things that I did not know I could do. That is a good thing. The sad part of the work thing was that earlier in December, the person that I considered my mentor left. That was extremely difficult. I am hoping that once she gets established in her position that she thinks of me and asks me to join her there. She is heading up a new department at a local hospital. This area will be implementing a Change Mgmt process for the entire organization. Meaning that whenever, the IT dept does something in the bank it is documented and done in a control manner. This would be something that I would like to do and sorta do now.

The world has lost many good people as well. My cousin, who at the age of 43 succumbed to cancer. E's mom, who I did not know, but she did a good job of raising E. (except for teaching him how to fart, hehe). Pat, who lead a good life and had a kind word for everyone. We will miss you all.Tonight, I will head over to P&K's home. They are hosting the annual New Year's Eve celebration. I have the polish sausage in the oven now. It smells yummy. There will be the white elephant gift exchange. Be scared people, I am moving soon and am cleaning out closets. That is always a hoot. I will spend the evening with great friends and have a good time. I also have to clear out the fridge in the basement so I will have a mix of various alcoholic drinks in my cooler.

As I look forward to the new year, I will be soon moving to a new home. Not sure where yet, but for the first time in 20 years, I will be living on my own. It will be the place where I can put down some roots and begin my new life.

Goodbye 2007. No offense but you have been a crappy year for me. Hello 2008. I hope that you bring me and my friends and family all that we hope for.

House Hunting - Day 1

Today, I took my dad and we went out looking for a new house for me. We seen 5 houses. 2 with some possibilities and the other three were no way in hells.

House 1 - Started out in a nice neighborhood on 21st and Plainfield. Not too far from St. Roman's and E's house. It was an estate sale. The sellers were the original owners and had done nothing to the house in the lst 30 years. It needed to have some foundation work done but the seller was paying for that. It had good structure and a nice layout but was very dated. Green sculpted carpet in the living room. Kitchen counter was off white subway tile that was 40 years old. I could live there but would spend quite a bit bringing it back into the modern era.

House 2 - was a foreclosure on Waterford. Just around the corner from Big Momma's. I walked in and basically said no way. We were not there more than 5 min tops. It would take ALOT of work and money. Too bad as it looked cute from the outside.

House 3 - was on Burrell just north of the airport. Cute from outside as well. Walked in and noticed that the crown molding was about 1/2 inch from the ceiling. Also had a odd layout upstairs. Tiny bathroom. Needed more work than I wanted to do. Did have nice built in china cabinet and hard wood floors

House 4 - In Cudahy. That right there is strike 1. It was a couple blocks from Ladish east of Packard. This was a foreclosure. Walked in and thought not bad. Nice living room. Had a fireplace. Kitchen was large and sunny and had lots of counter and cabinet space. Then we went upstairs. YUCK. There is no way in hell that my bedroom furniture would fit up there. Basement was odd as well. It was like they divided it off into a bunch of tiny rooms. I think that they were bedrooms. Did have a nice fenced backyard and 3 car garage... it was on a alley. Strike 2.

By this time, I was a bit discouraged. Was I not going to be able to find something in decent shape in my price range? I don't want to have to put alot of money in to in just to make it livable.

Then came house 5 - In St. Francis. Looked cute from the outside. A plus was that someone had shoveled the walk. This was also an estate sale. Only one owner. When we walked in, I liked it already. The carpet was nice enough that we took our shoes off. Living rooms was nice size. Had old people drapes in it but was painted a sunny yellow and had lots of natural light. Kitchen was smaller but in decent shape. It was pink in color but that can change easily enough. Continued on thru the rest of the bedrooms. They were smaller but could easily knock the wall out between two of them and make a nice master suite. Bathroom was ok. Has yellow sink, toilet and tub but the shower area was in good repair and not moldy or gross looking. Went downstairs to the basement. Here is where we sold dad. He was already planning on how to finish it off. It was a nice 10 course basement. Very clean. I really liked this house. Under the carpeting was oak hardwood floors. I think that would be the first thing to do. With three dogs carpet does not make a good fit. Here is the link to the realtor's website... you can look at the pictures from here. They show the house pretty well. This house would be move in ready condition. Even better is that they have already come down in price about 17,000. Wonder if I can get them down another 10 or so.... my realtor seemed to think so as this house has been on the market for more than 60 days already and it appears that it was on the market earlier this summer as well.

Well, enough about that for now.

ZOBMONDO!!

Would you rather....

Date someone who talks to loudly

----OR----

someone who looks like they are constantly staring?

I have to go with the talking loudly. The staring thing would be too creepy.