Fine Dining

This is the closest "eating establishment" to our new home (about 4 miles north). It shares a parking lot with McDonalds and is attached to a gas station. That should've clued me in, but yesterday I was filling up the car and decided to go in to check the place out.

Swishy would be excited to know that the place has free Wifi, and there were even a couple of people sitting in booths with laptops. The place had the honest, greasy smell of a KFC or Popeyes.

Then I went to the counter and looked at the menu.

Chicken Livers and Gizzards? No thanks. I'll just have a Diet Coke. Unfortunately, the gal at the counter wasn't very excited that I snapped a picture of the menu and only purchased a drink. Like I'm going to send it to the competition! I didn't think she noticed the camera as there was a long line at the register.

Tangle

On September 3rd, while we were still homeless and staying at the Hampton Inn, I took the girls and our cat, Cricket, to visit the new house for our walkthrough and to let the piano movers in.

I had hoped to let Cricket get some much needed fresh air while the maid cleaned our room, but as soon as we got out of the car, a black kitten was crying in the bushes. He ran out to greet us, and was rubbing our legs, just begging for love. He had flea bites all over his ears and looked very hungry.

Fred said, "I see you've met Dammit. I saw him just after the workers stepped through the attic floor and fell through the garage ceiling (He'd already fixed the ceiling, but we need to paint it.), so the name seemed appropriate." Fred thought someone had dumped the cat here, and as much as he didn't want a pet, he felt sorry for it and fed it. Once you feed a cat, well, it's not going to leave.

We moved in and the kitten stuck around. After a flea/tick treatment, I let the girls play with him. We named him Tangle, after the way he always manages to get underfoot (with my cast, it was nearly impossible to walk without kicking him). He's a sweet cat--unfortunately Cricket still hates him. She's become an inside cat; she pretty much refuses to go outside with him around, and hisses whenever she sees him.

Our girls absolutely love Tangle. He's the most tolerant cat I've ever seen. He lets them maul him and haul him around, and he always comes back for more. He even walks with them to the bus stop.

James isn't keen on our new pet (neither is Cricket--first time those two have agreed on anything), but like it or not, we have a new family member!

Pictures: 1- First day of school, when Tangle was still "that stray kitten." 2- Ready for a bike ride. 3- On the back deck.

Back to Blogging

After a month away from my blog, I suppose I should get back to blogging, or I'll get so far behind I'll never catch up.

This move was more difficult than I expected it to be. Note to self--next time we are hiring movers! After 8 years in our old house, I just didn't realize how much STUFF we (more realistically, I) had accumulated. We rented a 24-foot truck (the largest truck available) and it didn't begin to hold everything. Most frustrating--we loaded it and misjudged the amount of room needed for our mattress. It had to stay in our neighbor's garage for two weeks until James rented another truck to retrieve the rest of our stuff from storage. We slept on an airmattress during that time.

For the most part, we're no longer living out of boxes, but there are still plenty of boxes of things I need to find homes for. Our living room furniture so far consists of our piano, coffee table, and rug. We've ordered a sofa and loveseat, which will hopefully arrive in a month or so.

The girls are all in school and having a great time. The best part of this is that it gives me a few hours of alone time to work on projects. Now I just need to carve out time to blog as well.