Damn This Wind

We have been having a horrible windstorm (70 mph gusts) since around 10:00 yesterday morning. The highway has been shut down since 11:00 am because the dirt blowing around is so thick that you cant see 5 feet in front of you. Since the highway is shut down, there are semi trucks and RVs parked on every street on both sides. It is close to impossible to drive down the main roads. All us locals are having to use the back roads. It sucks. And it gets worse.

Well, as I was going to bed last night, I happened to look out the kitchen window into the back yard. Our trampoline had flown around the laundry room, over a 4-foot fence, over a 15-foot crab apple tree, over another 4-foot fence, and into our neighbors side yard. It was sitting on its side against their house. I stood there for a few seconds in shock. After I composed myself, I made Hubbs get off his ass to come look.

After he saw that I wasn't kidding, he called our neighbors to come out and look too. They were amazed that nothing was busted and their DirecTv satellite was still intact. Between the 4 of us, we got the trampoline off its side (it is straddling the fence, half on our side and half on their side) and secured by tie-ing it to the fence and are going to deal with getting it back where it is supposed to go as soon as the wind dies down.

Ugh. I would have never thought that the wind would get so bad that our trampoline would go flying through the air. I would bet that it weighs 200+ pounds. We are SO lucky that no one was outside when it happened and that nothing was damaged. I am going to order trampoline anchors this morning so it doesn't happen again.

At least we get to go pick up our new car today?

New Car

Well, we bought a new car today.

We went to see an Impala and ended up with a bright red Dodge Charger.

The Impala was what we had decided on but then we found out the Charger was only $1k more. That was the end of the Impala.

I FINALLY have a fun car again.

I am SO not sad to see the HHR go bye bye. The car place is giving us the payoff amount ($7k) so we wont have to roll anything into the new loan.

Even better? We don't need a co-signer. Hubbs and I brought our credit scores up enough to qualify on our own with a decent interest rate. AND we are going to pay it off early. Right now we have $8k in credit card debt (down from $40k+ a few years ago) . Since Hubbs is working again, these will (hopefully) all be paid off in 4 months. Then we are going to start making higher payments on the car to get it paid off in 2 years, maybe less.

Stressing Out

Bobblehead is having dental surgery in a few hours, so here I am, at the butt crack of dawn and I am stressed out. He is only 2 and already has 3 cavities. We brush every morning and every night before bed and they still have cavities. Monk Man's teeth are worse.

Our pediatric dentist says that they just have soft teeth but I still feel like shit about it. My stupid mommy guilt makes me feel like there should have been something I could do to prevent it.

So he has his appointment at 9 but we have to be there early at 7:30 for paperwork and other stuff. That means I have to leave town at 6:30 to get there on time. The procedure is scheduled for 2 hours and then observation for however long it takes for him to wake up. Then that horrible hour drive home.

And somehow I have to figure out a time to go to the town on the other side of us to get Monk Man's birth certificate today too. Kindergarten sign ups are Wednesday and he needs an actual birth certificate. We only have a certificate of live birth and they won't accept that. I don't get it at all. It was good enough to get on State assistance but not good enough to get into school. Stupid but whatever.

Ugh. This is going to be one long ass day. Keep us in your thoughts today!

Small Appliances

How do you all store your small appliances?

I have a hall closet that I am trying to organize. It is my project for the rest of the week and weekend. Eventually I would like to be able to put our extra sheets and blankets in it instead of them being stacked a mile high on my dresser. My problem is that the hall closet is full of the small appliances that I don't have room for on the kitchen counter.

This is what all is in the closet: Belgian Waffle Iron, George Foreman Grill, hand mixer, small crockpot, electric can opener, electric griddle, a bunch of cookie cutters, a double boiler, a toaster, a Fry Daddy, Iced Tea Maker, another deep fryer, toaster oven, an electric cheese grater thing, bread machine, large crockpot, stand mixer and a spare coffee maker.

We use about half that stuff at least once a week, about 1/4 of the stuff once or twice a month and the other 1/4 just once in a while.

All of my kitchen cabinets are full of stuff we use (almost) every day. The cabinet above my stove has my glass baking dishes. Next to that are the plates and bowls. In the corner top are my "good" dishes and cups. In the corner bottom are my pots and pans. In the top cabinet next to that are my cookbooks. Above my sink is cereal and assorted breakfast stuff. Under my sink are dog treats, dish soap, baggies, trash bags, chips and canning jars. Top 2 cabinets next to the sink are my Tupperware type stuff, round in one, square in another. The last 2 top cabinets have liquor in them. The bottom last cabinet has mixing bowls and the long BBQ grill utensils like tongs and flippers.

I guess I *could* put some of the things on the kitchen counter, like the toaster, the can opener and maybe the George Foreman grill. I just hate how cluttered it looks and how it takes up the counter space. It is bad enough with the microwave and the good coffee pot there right now.

I would LOVE to be able to put in an island to store it all in but then I wouldn't have room for the kitchen table. Is there any way that an island could be used as a dining space? I honestly have no idea because I am not really in to that kind of stuff.

Help!!!! Links to whatever you suggest are very much appreciated. I am off to Google some things.

28

Happy Birthday to ME!

It's 9:30 P.M.

and I should be getting ready for bed.

But what am I doing? Listening to Billy Idol and painting my kitchen.

Well, painting with primer and not the whole kitchen, just where the stove is going tomorrow.

The old stove got taken out and I almost threw up when I saw what kind of yuck I was dealing with. There was so much gross under the stove it was embarrassing. I was hunkered down with my teeny broom and dustpan sweeping up the dog food when I noticed the mouse poop. Barf. We haven't fed the dogs in the kitchen in over a year so I have convinced myself that the poo was from then. The floor got bleached and then I scrubbed it with 409 and a toothbrush. My floors are now cleaner than they were when the tile was installed.

And the walls. OMG the walls were just as nasty. The areas I can reach are clean but behind the stove is another story. It was so bad that after scrubbing with 1)Vinegar, 2) 409 and then 3) a Mr Clean Magic Eraser, it still looked horrible. Some spots I had scrubbed the paint off and other spots were stained.

So I decided to primer it. It should be dry now.

Off to put a 2nd coat on the walls and find a mouse trap. Just. In. Case.

I Broke It

So...............I broke my oven.

*snort*

Ok, everybody show me your surprised face!

The last time I used it, I baked a cake. When I tried to use it Thursday night, it wouldn't work. The pilot light comes on but the gas can't get to the flame.

Friday night, I kept turning the knob and listening for the gas to hiss but nothing. Plus I kicked it a couple of times, just in case kicking something that was broken would magically make it work again.

Saturday was crazy busy with T-ball opening day crap so I didn't even think about the oven.

Sunday I was craving Baked Mac & Cheese so I broke down and called my dad. He came by, got his old ass on the floor, opened up the little oven thing on the bottom and said......"The gas isn't getting to your pilot light."

No shit dad! That is what I told you over the phone. LoL

He says that it would cost more to fix it than to buy a new stove since there isn't anyone here in town that we know of that fixes appliances.

Today, my parents met me at the furniture store and I picked out a new stove. I told the store owner to put it on Hubbs' account but my parents insisted on paying for it.

My old stove was at least 7 years old but probably closer to 15. We got it used from a family friends estate sale. It was plain and hillbilly. There were only 3 knobs on it when we got it, 2 burners and the oven knob. We ended up losing 1 of the burner knobs years ago. Plus the back two burners didn't work. It was defiantly time for something new.

My new stove has a self cleaning oven, a timer and a clock, plus a simmer burner. The self cleaning oven and the simmer burner are tied as to which feature I am most excited about. Oh, and it is white! Not off white and black like the old one or avocado green like what was in there when we moved in.

How lame am I to be SO excited over such a simple stove? I really can't wait for it to be installed tomorrow because I am TIRED of the microwave and the crockpot.

The bad thing is that as soon as the old stove is moved out tonight, I get to start scrubbing the walls and floors to get all the yuck off. I had other plans for tonight: sitting on my ass in front of the T.V. But at least it is something that I can cross off my spring cleaning list.

Back To Work

Hubbs left yesterday morning to chase his job. Luckily he got into a depot that is only the next state over instead of all they way across the country. He has to do 14 unpaid training trips but after that, he will be getting paid the big bucks again.

Hooray! The boys miss him terribly already but I keep telling them that Hubbs will be able to come home every 5-7 days. And even better? It looks like he will be able to work there for as long as he wants to. I guess it is a huge train yard and the pay isn't all that great so nobody really wants to work it if they can hold anywhere else. But not so great pay is much better than unemployment.

Busy Busy!

Has it been a crazy ass week for anyone else?

I am so overwhelmed but VERY happy it is Friday again.

Monday: Typical Monday, busy as hell. People dropping off cars, picking up cars, renting cars, towing cars, ugh. Plus all the phone calls with all the stupid questions that go along with the car business. I was lucky to get half of my lunch break. I was running around all day. The wind was awful. I am talking about 30-40 mph winds. ADOT shut down the highways.

Tuesday: Got to work for 30 minutes before I get a call from my mother. Bobblehead is barfing all over the bathroom again. I need to come get him. Awww, do I have to? I would much rather be at work than at home cleaning up puke. Hubbs had to go to the "Big City" an hour away so he could get a physical. He is thisclose to getting back to work. I am SO happy. He promised to go there and hurry back so I could get back to work. Well, that didn't exactly happen. He got home around 4:15 so it was pointless to go back to the shop. Shithead.
Monk Man had his first T-ball practice Tuesday afternoon. There was no way I was going to miss that. So I dropped Bobblehead back off at my moms house and took Monk Man to practice. It was downright freezing. Monk Man found out the hard way that you can't pay attention to where the balls are if you are dancing around the outfield. He got hit in the cheek with a baseball.

Wednesday: Bobblehead is better so I get to go back to work. Yay! Both bosses are gone so of course it is busy as hell again. It is almost an exact repeat of Monday. Bleh. I think spring is finally here. It is nice and warm outside again.

Thursday: The morning was non stop craziness. I finally escape for lunch and found a stack of estimates to enter into the computer waiting for me when I got back. I re-entered so many estimates that my eyes burned the whole afternoon. The (only) good thing I can think about it is that business is FINALLY starting to pick up again. My bosses have been soooo stressed about business lately.

Friday: Friday must be my lucky day. I had another stack of estimates waiting for me when I got to work this morning but the parts arrived just at the right times to give me a break from the computer when I needed one. Right before I get to go to lunch, the boss calls me into his office. Aw crap. As it turns out, he has noticed how much I have been doing lately, how I have been busting my ass to make things run smoothly for everybody, how business is finally picking up, how I have the parts here when they are needed.....etc.
I GOT A RAISE!!!!!
I went from $8.25/hour to $10.00/hour. I couldn't be happier. It is a little sad to admit this but, this is the most I have ever been paid per hour. With the exception of when I was a waitress and make a ton of cash because, well, cash doesn't count.
AND, I found out what my mom got me for my birthday. I turn 28 in a couple of weeks and she has been on my ass about what I wanted. I honestly couldn't think of anything. I told her that we needed a new mattress. LoL Anyway she called me this morning and asked if I would be happy with a new camera instead. Of course I would be! It is this one. A Samsung S860, 8.1 mega pixel digital camera. I have a shitty Kodak Easy Share but as I have complained about before, it eats batteries like crazy and I have been thinking about saving up for a nice one.
So yay for Fridays!