Stood Up Again.

No gray, rainy day. It's raining now but it's almost 7, so that doesn't count as a lovely rainy day. No Knitted Kimono. Hot, blazing sun, and Girlchild's phone bill in the mail. This means Monday should be a good packages day, because in addition to the book that ought to show up, please, please, I am expecting an order from Glenbrook Farms. Lucinda used to run this business out of Live Oak, FL, but has relocated to Kentucky. Yet another former Floridian. I'm a little bummed because I miss that overnight delivery perk from being in the same state, but waiting a few days for the White Chocolate Toffee Rooibos Tea is worth it. Damn, that stuff is good - add some sweetener and milk or half and half, even fat free h&h, and you have dessert. I ordered some catnip and some soaps, too. The old boys haven't had a catnip mouse in a long time, and I have some felted and ready for stuffing.

So I didn't have a lovely gray rainy day that I'm craving more than chocolate right now. I did, however, run a lot of errands, do a lot of laundry, bag another bag of clothes for Goodwill and make even more room in my closet. And I went nuts and ordered those new Spacebags storage chest thingies As Seen On TV, because I have winter blankets, throws and coats that are needed 3 months a year max, but when they're needed, they're needed, so I can't get rid of them, and I'd love to be able to smoosh them into a box and stick them in the corner of the closet for the other 9 months. Because in staging a house for sale, making the closets look Spacious and Vast is so important. I still have the puffy down jacket I bought for a NY trip when Girl was in 6th grade, and I still break it out for dawn patrol dog walking in January, when the wind blows, but the rest of the time it is taking up closet real estate when it would be quite fine smooshed into a box.

I single-handedly moved the elliptical trainer out of the bedroom into the little room formerly known as the office, and there it will stay until Girl can give me a hand moving that heavy damn thing to the garage. I think it will be sold to a lucky buyer, it won't fit in a 1 br. apartment, and honestly, while it's good as a backup exercise option, since I went back to the gym I became spoiled all over again by the Rolls Royce quality elliptical machines at the gym.

It looks like Girlchild will be moving out soon, her high school friend M is back in the area and is looking for a house to rent, and the plan is that M and her BF and BF's Brother and Girl will all rent a house together. M has a lab mix puppy, so Dudley will have a companion, and the house they have in mind is roomy enough for all and well laid out for dogs, fenced backyard and all.

Murphy will be devastated and will need much attention. But in a way, it will be good, because when I am down to an only dog I can walk him again, and he can spend time with me in the yard as I fill in all the holes his adopted brother dug and try to make it look presentable, and in 48 hours it will be Dudley Who? I already talked to Boy about the possibility of bringing Murphy with me to Asheville in October, and Boy says it's fine, and Asheville is a very dog-friendly town so he'll be welcome at outdoor tables at restaurants, etc. We can have an adventure together. S thinks she wants a dog, so this will be a good test for the cat's dog tolerance. (I'll bring Murphy's crate in case the cat is not dog tolerant. He's a big, mostly outdoor cat, but I don't want to displace him if it's cold at night and he wants in.) If it all comes together, listing the house in November is looking good.

Girl started classes again this week, she's taking the prereqs she didn't have to take as a social sciences major, (like real math and real science), in preparation for the intensive one year BSN program. She's still working her heavy workload, too, and if they rent the house they're considering, she'll be quite far from her job. Something has to give here, and I'm thinking it will be the job. She may end up waiting tables again over near the university, because between the hours she's putting in and the much longer drive, I'll be scared for her falling asleep behind the wheel one night. And, sadly, she'd make better money waiting tables three or four nights a week than she is busting her ass over 40 hours every week caring for the developmentally disabled. Worrying Mom hopes she'll quit the job and go back to waiting tables near her new home until she starts the nursing program, when she will have no time to work at all.

Oh shit. It's pouring really hard now and the skylight is leaking. Add the roofer to the list of people to call on Monday. Roofer, irrigation guy, painters, yeah, this homeownership thing is a great investment.