Days fly by and it is now 6 days until we move. Of course, we made great progress yesterday, so today Brian decided to sabotage the track to a on-schedule finish that we were on. Stu and I tore out all the carpets yesterday -- it was liberating! Imagine carpet that has been in there for decades -- literally! You could have grown a garden in the dirt that was under the carpet in the study/library area! It was unbelievable. The good part is that under the carpet and the subsequent dirt, is old lino -- not the old, old asphaltic based stuff, but old enough to be pre-vinyl. It is not old buggy decaying wood decking as predicted by Brian, so that is a relief. Brian, by the way, spent the entire day yesterday, filling in a hole in the kitchen that he uncovered when he tore out the cabinets. The floor and wall between the porch and the kitchen were rotted away to the extent that you could see the dirt floor of the crawlspace through the exposed floor boards -- there must have been a leak in the pipes under the kitchen sink, and it was rotted to nothing. Not to mention the 2!! rats nests UNDER the kitchen cabinets. Now those set me back a few notches in my anticipation of the move, or should I say, my lack of anticipation grows stronger with the discovery of each rats nest! I am not a fan of all the spiders, but the rats really make me squirm. . . I don't know if I can co-exist peacefully with rats. . .I know I managed to live, albeit, a bit squeemishly, with mice, when I was living out on the "Rolling J Ranch" all those years ago, but I thought those days were gone. At 47 I was thinking things were supposed to start to settle down and one could begin to coast for a while, but apparently, that is not in my game plan. . . I have to accept that unconventional means just that, and the expectations of what to expect go out the window -- you can't have it both ways baby! Anyway, I am rambling, mostly because I am dead tired! I mean DEAD TIRED!! I would love to blog the night away, but I only have the energy for a brief spurt of a blurb, not really enough for a full-blown blog -- I wish I did, I have a lot to say.

One thing I know is that whatever I do, it is in the best interest of my attitude to NOT, at any cost, go into the workshop. That really sent me into a tailspin this morning. I mean, it is so hard to just accept that we have to move out into this hovel because "we" are flat-broke, when Brian has tens of thousands of dollars of "stuff", mostly purchased at Second Use in that workshop. Well, it is not confined to the shop anymore, it has overflowed into the store, both the main floor and even upstairs. . . He admitted that he likely has over $100,000. worth of "stuff", inventory, whatever you want to call it, in storage. It is hard to even know where to start with a list. He has 3(!) wood-burning stoves, an entire oak staircase, 2 or 3 (!) (again with the !) cast iron bath-tubs, countless old cabinets and windows and doors, and a heartland gas range and a 6-burner Thermador gas range, not to mention the commercial Viking range and hood that he got out of the old Routt Memorial Hospital. . . I could go on and on, but you must get the picture. He has a sub-zero refridgerator (that he didn't mention to me that he bought because he knew I would go ballistic after the 3 month sub-zero debacle we went through with our Orchard kitchen) and get this, he has the old refridgerator from Orchard that he wanted us to use in the new house, but it turns out it isn't working, so now, instead of using the sub-zero, he is looking for ANOTHER refridgerator!! To buy!! Second-hand, of course!! My blood boils just thinking of it. Which is why, you see, I can not go into that shop, or my attitude plummets and I have a hard time keeping the peace -- it is all I can do not to go into a full-blown rant. . .

Where was I?? Oh yeah, the sabotage. Brian decided that the old brick chimney in the corner of the kitchen just HAD to come down, not only did it have to come down, but the bricks needed to be salvaged, so Stu spent the entire day on that, and he got about a third of it taken down. Great! At that rate, we will be moving into a house with a huge hole where the chimney was and easy access for all the rats in the area to come right in, not to mention no new floors. . .one of my only requests. . .how can I be surprised? At least Brian was "kind" enough to drive me to the drive-thru' bank on the way to the job-site this morning so I could take out $400.00 to pay Stu! I tell ya, Brian is such a great guy!! Then tonight, he pulled a stunt that I haven't seen since high school -- he didn't have money for gas for his truck, so we had to go pick up the new to us washing machine and dryer in my car. . . When I couldn't contain my sarcasm at that move, he said he didn't have time to go to the bank to get the money before we had to be at the pick-up place, but still, that is pretty lame. . . So I paid for that too -- the new washer/dryer. It was only $100. -- from a real nice woman -- her email was "tinky louise", so you knew she would be a character! Then we pulled up to a BRIGHT ORANGE house -- a really great deep orange, and she had a (I was going to say fat, but I think chubby is more appropriate) white bull-dog who was a real character named Jelly Biscuit! He was so lovey and attention demanding -- I'm sure the guys would have loved him! Anyway, we did get a deal and I know this woman would have been someone who I would have liked to get to know -- she is pretty cool, but she is moving to Virginia to care for her ailing parents, so I don't know whose shoes I'd rather be in right now. . . I find myself doing that a lot these days. . . comparing shoes. . . and it's not very often I wonder. . . usually it is not my own. . . but another thing I am not, is a care-giver!

Anyway, the rollercoaster ride continues, the (fading fast) romantic side of me loves the property out there and knows this is kind of a cool thing to be doing, aside from the circumstances that are necessitating it. But the tired, complacent side of me really wonders what it is going to be like living in a rat-infested, spider laden house that needs propping up at the least, a new roof, all new windows, unless you want to put plastic over the existing ones like the tenants did. . . etc, etc. . . I like romance, but I think the typical aging process is overtaking me, and the comforts of heat, and security and cleanliness are becoming priorities. . . I'm not saying I need to live in a new mobile home in a gated trailer park, but. . . what?? I doesn't matter. I have a LOT more to expand with on this topic, or should I say expound? but Brian just told me I have to go to bed! WE have to get up EARLY he says. WE have to go pick up some garage doors and a gas fireplace he found on Craigslist in the am. -- in Puyallup -- be there at 9. Then on to the Island for a full day. So it will have to wait. I must do as I'm told. Besides, I know I have a lot to say, but right now, it is gone from my mind. . . hopefully it is temporary and I'll remember it tomorrow. But I know that doesn't always happen. Which is why the blog is good. You can just write it, then it is there, and not subject to memory. Always tenuous, the memory. Esp. with the amount of crap I've been breathing in these days. At least that's my latest excuse. It's always something with me. At least that's what I'm told.