Random Pics & Adventures in Lawnmowing

Overall it's been a decent week.  Had my car professionally washed and waxed, and now it's all happily shiny and new looking.   Had some work done on the house and now it's all fixed.  There were only a few things left over from the inspection that the sellers didn't want to address.  Nothing big, but some things were kinda important and now they're all done!  Happy house.

And a happy me when I got a rose bush as a housewarming present from a previous neighbor... so sweet!

We had fixins for s'mores at work and had to take a break to make some today.

Yesterday evening I was out mowing my front yard and drew some attention.  See, this is my swirly whirligig lawnmower...

A couple of neighbors came over to look at it, exclaimed that they didn't know they even made those anymore and asked how it worked, haha.  One guy's mower was broken and he asked if he could borrow mine.  The other neighbor informed me after he left that he's a drug dealer and a thief!  That's just awesome.  He seemed very nice though and did return the lawnmower.  He didn't offer to sell me anything and didn't seem to be scoping out my house, so I guess that's a plus.  I am a little more nervous at night now when my roommate is gone 4-5 nights a week.  Nothing's happened these past three weeks though, so I'm pretty sure I'm fine.

Anyways, yesterday I mowed a lot of lawnage.  This is my back yard and I kinda like the fact that it takes all of five minutes to do...

Well, it turns out the previous owners used to split the responsibility with the next-door neighbors of mowing the common area between our two houses.  I initially wasn't going to mow it because I don't use it at all, but then I noticed everyone in the neighborhood mowing different common parts.  So, after five to ten minutes on my front and back lawns, I spent forty minutes picking up pine cones and mowing this...

Yeah, it goes back a ways on the left there.  And I did it all with my swirly whirligig!  Yay!  Not the yard I signed up for, but I'm keeping the peace with the neighbors and I got some extra exercise.  It's gonna suck when it gets really hot though.

My Day Off

I miss my old doctor.  I went to see a new gyno yesterday for the yearly fun stuff.  It still absolutely amazes me how I let a total stranger stick her fingers and other things up in places that I'm terrified to let a new man go.  I'm not sure I like her either.  I told her how endo was found all up in there this time last year and to please keep an eye out for it.  She immediately spit out that a biopsy can't always tell you if it's endo and sometimes the only way to find out is when the uterus is completely removed and sent off for testing.  Really lady?!  Anyways, I got an RX for new birth control that's supposed to help with all the pain and spotting.

I really don't want to go back on the pill.  It's like another big ol slap in the face that my marriage is over and I won't be trying for a family anytime soon.  After each unsuccessful date I keep getting more and more insecure.  I really want to ask the husband what it was that changed for him so I can figure some things out with me.  He kept saying that he wasn't really sure and apologized for not having better answers, but I think he was just scared to hurt my feelings.  I wish he had talked to me.  I wish he felt he could.  I wish I had gotten on antidepressants a really long time ago.  On the other hand though, he didn't stick around when things were "for worse", so why do I keep wanting him?  Why can't I just let him go and move on?

I was a third wheel last night.  I'd forgotten just how much I hate being a third wheel.  The roomie and I had a sushi date, but she invited her boyfriend along.  At first I had absolutely no problem with that.  He's a good guy.  Then I remembered what it's like to be a freakin tag along.  I sat in the back seat while they flirted and he tried to discover the location of her newest tattoo.  A creepy old man kept trying to catch my eye at dinner, quite unsuccessfully.  Why do I always attract the creepy old men?  At least the sushi was good.

♪ I like to move it, move it... ♫

Went to the beach today.  Applied very generous amounts of sunscreen multiple times and still burned.  Oh, how it hurts... ugh.  Not very interesting, I know, but just wanted to throw that out there.

Much more importantly, I found a roommate this week!!  She's freakin awesome and I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship.  I hope so anyway... I'll be living with her for at least the next year.  She was the second of only two people to respond to my ad for a roommate.  The first was a guy who said, "i'm a little older than u wanted but i don't c why that matters."  I replied with, "I've always found it kind of awkward to live with someone when there's a big age difference.  If you don't mind me asking, how old are you?"  To which he said, "i look 35 but act 40."  Thanks.  That really clarifies things.  So, yeah, very happy to have found a nice girl my age who I think will be a blast to live with.

Now we're working on finding a house.  We're second in line for the perfect one... 3 bed/2 bath with a big fenced yard, allows pets and is on the lower end of our price range!  Just hoping the people ahead of us who are house hunting this weekend decide to go with another one they see.  Even if we don't get it though, there's an absolute ton of good rentals around here, so I'm sure we'll find something.

My parents have been super nice about absolutely everything, but it's time to go.  When you've been out on your own for almost ten years and are used to doing things your own way, it's hard to move back home and be "under their roof" again.  It's been interesting, but I'm ready to be a grown-up again.  I'm ready to drink a glass of wine in my living room again too, instead of quietly in my room after they've retired for the evening.

Yo Taco

I got home last night and it was a nice trip. So nice I wanted to escape reality for a bit longer and stayed an extra couple of days. The first half of the trip started early with me driving east into the bright sunrise. I sang very loudly and very badly, and it was very therapeutic. The Charlotte friends were awesome and we stayed up way too late. The parents were happy to see me and cooked my favorite childhood dishes. I ate brownies every single day.

Purdy table

I went furniture shopping with my mom, who is looking for an uber-modern couch. We didn’t find one she liked, but I fell in love with this table. It’s fantastic and tall like me and could be used as more food prep space when the counter is fully occupied. It can even hold some wine. Pair it with a beautiful collection of tall chairs I found and it’s the ultimate set. Adding it to the “One Day” list. When we arrived in the mattress department, the salesman who had been lurking behind us made it onto my “Creepy Old Man” list. His sales pitch involved asking me to lay down on one of the beds so he could put something under my back to see if I felt it. That obviously didn’t happen and we promptly left that section. I wonder if that’s ever worked for him. Mom and I also went to a store that goes crazy at Christmastime. They set up at least a couple dozen themed displays starting every September, and it’s always been tradition for us to check it out together. Didn’t think it would happen this year, so it was extra nice.


The goodbye was a tearful one, as I probably won’t see them again until next spring or summer. I headed back to Charlotte and saw an awesome truck on the way. Well, the truck itself wasn’t special, but what it said on the back made me laugh. It was a Toyota Tacoma, but some of the letters were gone and it read “Yo Taco”. I was amused and instantly hungry for Mexican food. Coincidently, that’s what we had for dinner, so go me.

My kind of traffic

The next day I shopped at Kohl’s and Bojangles' before leaving town. Kohl's is the only place I can find clothes I like and actually fit right, and there’s not one where I currently reside. The stop at Bojangles' was for steak biscuits as requested by the guys... we don't have one of those where we are now either. So four shirts (three for me [I only had like two that actually fit me beforehand] and one for the husband) and six steak biscuits in the cooler later, I started the long trek home. Luckily I missed Atlanta at lunchtime, but I did hit Birmingham at dinnertime in the rain with crappy windshield wipers. After that there was barely anyone on the road the rest of the way home. At one point the GPS decided to take me down a route she never has before. I was pretty much in the middle of nowhere, but I saw the most gorgeous sunset that made the detour totally worth it.

Somewhere in Alabama

I arrived home to a nearly empty house. Both the guys were at work, but luckily the dog and the cat were at the door to greet me. The husband got home an hour or so later, followed by the roommate. I found out they watched True Blood without me and I was pissed. Haha. It’s a household ritual that we always watch it together, even if it’s days later because schedules are off. I guess they just couldn't wait to see the season finale. Oh well.


After nearly thirty hours total time of driving and bad singing, I think I'm starting to feel more at peace with our decision to put TTC on hold. I'm still very sad about it all, but I don't cry anymore when a song that mentions a baby comes on the radio. I guess that's something.

I found out this morning that I have my first official blog follower, and that made my day. So welcome follower, and thank you for bringing a smile to my face!

This Little Piggy...

When I was around 22 or so I had toe surgery. I was not blessed with all perfect toes and wanted to have one straightened out. So when it came time the doctor injected my toe with a numbing agent. I’ve gotten better with needles over the years, but I certainly wasn’t too keen on them back then. Even so, I thought I did pretty good… I just looked away so I didn’t have to watch. I didn’t freak out or anything. I didn’t even flinch. I simply turned my head. After seeing this the doctor asked me if I had any children. I replied that I did not. He then said one of the most audacious things I’ve ever heard come out of a doctor’s mouth:

“You probably shouldn’t if you can’t handle the pain from one little toe.”

I did a double take! Did he really just say that?!? I was shocked and unfortunately all I could do was stare at him in disbelief. If he hadn’t had a knife in his hand about to operate on my toe I would have given him a few words to ponder. That toe is still crooked.

He ranked right up there with the doctor who had me hold my arms out while he pushed down on them and asked questions as a lie-detector test. I've always had the least amount of upper body strength of just about anyone... I always failed in gym class when it came time for push-ups, pull-ups or to climb that damn rope. So when this doctor was on his fifteenth question and my arms were about to fall off, he determined that I was lying about eating too much sugar and that's what had been causing all of my adolescent headaches. My back and eyes had nothing to do with it...

On a different note, I did end up jinxing myself with the previous post. Wouldn’t you know the very next day I woke up with some spotting. How rude! Then I thought, hey, it could be implantation! It did go away for a couple of days, but it’s back now and brought its friend, cramping. I’m not giving up hope though! I’m telling myself for now that it’s due to the little bit of pachingo cyst still up there. Yep, that’s what it is. ;) I guess we’ll find out in a few days!