Well, brought my little PixiePoo home with me.

Well, brought my little PixiePoo home with me.  The family in B'ham didn't pan out... they thought she was bigger and had gaps in their fencing that she could have gotten out of. I'm sure she's glad to be back here with Buster, anyway. 🙂 No worries - we have 3 more apps on that adorable little girl. Someone will take her home soon. ❤

Now I feel like talking about my car.

Yeah, but it's not such a happy story, unfortunately. 😕 I've had a lot of problems with being stranded lately.

When I went to visit my dad (at least a couple of months ago) my Subaru ran hot and crapped out on me. Luckily I had my old back-up Hyundai Excel, but I don't like driving it because the speedometer doesn't work. Well, my mom lent me a Hyundai that she had, but the gas meter didn't work and the car had trouble going up hills. It ended up stranding me a few times (even when I was sure there was gas in it) so I told them just to come and get it. They pumped up the tires on my Hyundai and jumped it off and I've been driving it ever since (but I have had to get it jumped a few times - luckily [well, out of necessity - thanks to me] Shaun has jumper cables and is usually nearby).

Not sure what's up with my Subaru... I know that before the long trek out to see dad that it did a fine job of getting me to work and back. It has an oil leak so I'm constantly pouring oil down it. I had that checked out and it's going to cost more money than I have at the moment to get it fixed, so... it's not getting fixed. Anyway, I think the Subaru doesn't do so well on longer trips. I'm hoping to get it back soon and just drive it to work and home. That would be nice. I guess both of my cars are kind of crappy, but between the two of them I'm usually covered.

Mom and Bobby bought me a Kia Sportage, I think. I had no idea they were going to do that - they just showed up at my house with it this past Valentine's Day. It was a nice gesture, but it's not in my name and I'm not driving it so it's not doing me a lot of good right now. It has been wrecked and it needs some work. I think the frame needs to be straightened out, and it needs a door, and a new rag top, and it's missing a seat belt. They're planning to fix it up for me - which is really sweet, but they're not made of money and with Bobby's health I just don't see it happening soon. It's not their responsibility to take care of me, anyway. I'm a grown-ass woman... not that I would turn the Kia down, by any means. I just don't expect them to do this sort of thing for me.

Anyway, Shaun has been looking at cars lately and it really makes me want something nice and shiny and trusty. I think I have fallen for the Honda Fit. I always thought if I got another car that it would be another Subaru, but that little thing has kind of won me over. It even has a dog compartment in the back. 😀 I doubt that in my lifetime I will ever be able to afford a new car, but I imagine that it would feel awesome to. I know - buy a used one and finance, but yeah... my credit is fucked right now and it's not like I could afford another monthly bill, anyway. It kind of bums me out to think that way, but I'm barely paying my bills. I'll be paying my mortgage for the next 25 years and it takes up almost half a month's pay. I'm paying the rest of the bills and feeding us on basically two paychecks and some change. It's not easy.

I'm at a point where I'm finally getting my house in good shape and I'm happy here. I love my job - my boss is awesome, the job is fun, and I'm always doing something different and learning new things. I'm making more money than I ever have so it's not like I've ever been in a better situation. I'm happier than I've been in probably about 10 years. I just feel stuck sometimes. I know that I have no idea what the future holds, but all I can see is me paying for my house for the next 25 years - which kind of translates to me struggling for the next 25 years. Wow. I sure hope I have that in me.

I don't know. I don't necessarily feel bad right now... just... trying to figure shit out. I don't want to be stuck driving sketchy cars my whole life. Being a tiny girl and stranded isn't really fun. Especially when I don't always have money to buy minutes for my cell. I just feel scared sometimes and like I don't really know what to do to change things. So... yeah. 😕

I feel like talking about my house.

So in the last couple of years I've done a lot to it. It NEEDED it. It's still not where I want it to be, but it's getting there. And I like it. 😀

One of the major things that I've re-done is the flooring. It was mostly carpeted when I moved in, but I've pulled that up in all but three rooms. I'm just not into carpet - not with all the traffic and animals I have. Thanks to the flood I got rid of the carpet in the dogs' room early on (probably first). It's concrete and I want to seal it with some of that stuff like you see in fancy garages so that it's sweep-able and mop-able. I have to go over it with a vacuum hose as it is right now and that's killer on my back as well as time-consuming. I feel like if I could go over it with a dust mop every other day or so that would be wonderful and easy and cut down on a lot of the dust in my house. Not to mention that it would be much easier to clean up doggie accidents.

In the bathroom Emma pulled up the flooring (a few years ago), but I replaced that soon after with black and white checkered vinyl tile. It really gave that room some character. 😊 In the living room and hall I pulled up that carpet and replaced the flooring. In the living room it's wood laminate and it looks nice. The hall is done in black marble vinyl tile and I like that. I've also pulled up the carpeting in my bedroom, but haven't put anything else down yet. Right now it's a really retro-looking (probably because it IS old) linoleum in there... It really doesn't "go" with anything, but I like it. I do know what I want to replace it with, but I don't have the money right now. I plan on finishing my bedroom and the dog floor when tax time rolls around again.

I have painted 3 rooms so far... the living room (green to offset the red wood floor - I think it's BEAUTIFUL), and the hall is now a light blue (I think it looks AWESOME with the black marble floor) and the game room (used to be Nick's room); the wall was striped paneling (really office-y), but now it's gray with a lot of stuff hung up in there to brighten it up. If you can't tell - my house now has some character aside from "old lady." 😁

Back in February I had the limbs from my pecan trees trimmed from above the house - those trees drop limbs like they're hot. 😳 Shortly after that when my roof was leaking a lot I got a new one. It's brown metal and it looks really nice. I'm sure that was good for it. Recently, Shaun and I (but mostly Shaun) put up a privacy fence between my house and the neighbors... they seemed to be having trouble distinguishing where their property ended and mine began. Might not have been a big deal if they weren't hanging out and littering all in my yard, but I don't like that. And yeah - cigarette butts and candy wrappers - though they are small, count. They count a lot, in fact, because they are small and numerous and hard to pick up.

Anyway, Shaun has helped me SO much and we've put a lot of work into this place. It's FINALLY starting to look and feel like MY HOUSE. It seems like the more time, money, and energy I put into this place the happier I feel to be here.

Plans for the future:

First and foremost:  DOG ROOM FLOOR. I will be SO HAPPY to have that done. The leaky planter is a work-in-progress... I hope to finish that soon. After that I'd like to do my bedroom floor and deal with my rotten closet. Then there are miscellaneous places that I need to re-do the trim, like the bathroom, hall, and game room. Not major, but will make things look nicer, for sure. After the railroad company finalizes the paperwork to let the county dig the ditch out back I will probably have some landscaping to do. I would also like to put up some kind of lamps or solar lights on my fence posts and repair the lighting in one other place.

I think a picnic table for the area with the privacy fence and a bench on my porch would be just awesome. Those are not really things I have to do to the house, but they would be cool things to have. And a hose reel. OMG, I want one of those.

Of course there are larger things I would like to do as well, but none of it is pressing. Really, I'd like to have a screen door and newer windows, but those are not really necessities at this point. I would also like to get rid of the rest of the carpeting, but I can live with it for now.

So yeah... home sweet home and stuff. 😊 Sometimes it's really hard to have a house to deal with, but other times it is really rewarding. And just so you know - I help Shaun at his place, too. So far he hasn't had to do anything too major, but I'll be there when / if he does. I have a feeling he'll be sending me into the attic to see about his insulation when the weather cools off. 😂 So much of what has been accomplished here is due to him. He's just got this encouraging, helpful attitude that makes me feel like everything will be ok. And so far, since he's been a part of my life, it has. 😁❤

"Dogs love their friends and bite their enemies...

"Dogs love their friends and bite their enemies, quite unlike people, who are incapable of pure love and always have to mix love and hate in their object-relations."

Shaun bought me a book today.

Shaun bought me a book today.  It makes me smile.  I will share little pieces of it with you.  😃

Pixie just got her spay stitches out and a microchip put in!

Pixie just got her spay stitches out and a microchip put in!  She'll be going home to Birmingham tomorrow!  Congratulations, little Pixie-Poo!  😃  (Yeah, I'm smiling, but I know that I will miss her.  That's just how it goes.  ❤)

If you're in / around Oxford and want to help the shelter...

If you're in / around Oxford and want to help the shelter they could really use some cat condo volunteers at PetSmart! It's easy and fun - just clean the condo and litter box, make sure the cats have food and water, and give them plenty of loving! Can be done anytime that PetSmart is open, so it's flexible! You get to meet a lot of wonderful cats!