sLeePy PoSSuM gOAt ROasT jAMborEE

With everything that's happened in the past couple of days, I just wanted to be thankful for the little things.

I'm thankful that when I go outside, I don't see everything that I know and love completely destroyed by a force of nature greater than anything I could have ever imagined. I'm thankful that I don't see devastation everywhere I look.

I'm thankful that when I turn on my faucet, clean, drinkable water comes out. In fact, it's so plentiful that I use it to water my plants outside.

I'm thankful that when I tinkle or poo, and push down on the handle, I hear a reassuring "flush" as it all washes away.

I'm thankful that I'm not crammed into a large gaming facility without air conditioning, without working toilets, with a stench that can only be described as "indescribable."

I'm thankful that I still have everything that's dear to me: photos. Jewelry. Family heirlooms. Cats. Husband. Family.

I'm thankful that I can walk outside without fear of seeing a dead body float by, or worry about contracting some disease because the water I'm wading through is hazardous.

I'm thankful that I can put gasoline in my vehicle, even if it is over $3/gallon--because I have a car. I have money. I have a gas station nearby.

I'm thankful that I have the luxury of watching the horror unfold on my comfy sofa, with my faux fur blanket around me, and a belly full of chips & salsa.

I'm thankful for my Charmin Ultra to wipe away my tears as I hear about more people dying because they needed water, food, health care; to wipe away the tears as I hear of more looting, more deaths--not because of the reasons mentioned before, but because the looters have moved beyond food and water, and have turned to guns--and have then turned on their fellow man.

I'm thankful that tonight my husband will come home, crawl in bed next to me, wrap his arms around me, stroke my hair and tell me everything will be okay. Somehow. Someway. But it will be okay.

Sorry, "Sweet Mo" but I think I was wrong. For some reason, I thought if Dan & Janet's blog didn't allow anonymous users, you could just click on "other" and it would force you to put in a name. I didn't realize that by not allowing anonymous users at all it took away that option.

So, I think it's a good idea to go ahead & click on "Other" and type your name (that way you don't have to type, "Sweet Mo says..." because it'll list the comment as being from you), but not sure how to get around Dan & Janet's blog posting sitchuashun.

Sorry. Mea culpa. I guess I done typed before I done thunk.

 

See, Patrick thought it would be tres cool to have a blog site where we can all post & contribute, but so far it seems that he & I are the only ones posting & contributing...and to more to our own blogs than to the SPGR Jamboree. So this latest post is in the hopes of keeping Patrick's noble dream alive.

This is a great waterfall that we hiked past a couple weekends ago; I just thought it was pretty, and wanted to share it with all y'all.

Main Street, Greenville 

In the land of Cheerwine and honey... 

Since I don't want to type everything twice, go to my blog for more info...

http://chauntelle.blogspot.com/

I talked to P-Cat this morning (while waiting for the heater repairman...more on that, later); he was pretty much in Asheville. Yesterday they said that they'd need him to be in Asheville, NC, for about a week & a half...doing what, I'm still not exactly sure, but he was glad to know that--at least for now--he wasn't going to have to be doing any buying (which is what he thought he'd be doing in Greer--and Rachel, Greer is about 20 minutes, maybe less, from Greenville--it's between Greenville & Spartanburg. It's an easy trip between the three cities.).

So, we're still not sure if he'll be staying in Greenville & commuting (which, although the 1 + hour commute would suck, it would be nice for him to be able to leave all his stuff in the hotel room & not have to pack it up...again!), or if IDG would rather have him stay in Asheville. We're still not sure about where he'll be when I come up (we move over the 4th of July weekend), but we know that this is just a small bump in the road.

And to ease everyone's fears & worries--yes, it is a pain, and yes, we do wish that everything was all nice & neat and laid out so that we knew exactly where he was going & when...but that's just not how it's supposed to be. So we're being flexible. We may grouse about it, and get a little cross (yes, I have been a "denty head" [as Patrick calls me when my brow begins to furrow] during some of our conversations about where he's being sent)...but all in all--this is an adventure. We're so happy for this opportunity. We just remember that we're not moving to Greenville because of IDG; IDG just happened to fall into place as we were wanting to leave, so they're not the reason we're moving, just a way to pay the bills. So we're okay--really. We picked up & moved across the State five years ago, not really sure where we'd end up (and at times wondering if Patrick was going to ever be gainfully employed!), and look what happened--we bought a house for heaven's sake! So we're flexible, we roll with the punches, we're good to go.

So don't nun-y'all worry your purty little heads about us....we'll keep you posted as news comes in, and make sure you know where you can call & write us!!!

Now on the heater...we need to get our electric heater fixed. I called one guy, and he seemed to think that it wouldn't be a big deal, except our heater is an American Standard...and as he's not an authorized dealer, he can't get parts for it. So he gave me the name of a guy in Henderson who's good & who does work with American Standard products, so hopefully that'll be good-to-go. Also, I bought a new stove hood...and since it didn't look like the previous builders dropped a line down, to keep from having the electricians go into the attic, drop a line & do all that for lots of $$$, I'm just going to install a new hood (just 4 screws...hopefully it'll be easy....) and just splice a much shorter cord (the one on our hood now is about 50' long...when the plug is only a couple of feet away!), and drill some unobtrusive holes in the side & bottom of the cabinet & tack down the cord so that it's a bit neater. Maybe the next building inspector will be like ours & not say anything about it...

As far as other house stuff: I've replaced the remaining light switches, and replaced the electrical outlets in the computer room & 1/2 of the ones in the spare bedroom. I still have 2 in the spare bedroom to fix, and the living room & master bedroom. I really get a kick out of doing this sort of stuff. I think I have a sickness...Lowe's-itis or something. I'm not sure if there's a cure....

Well, I just heard from P-Cat...seems that the Orientation Department at the Belmont, NC HQ weren't ready for him...in fact, they didn't know that he was coming. Slight gap in the communication chain, I think.

But, he did tell me that he did sit with some people, and started his learnin'. He also signed a lot of paperwork, and did confirm that yes, indeed, he was hired. I guess it would have been a pisser if that hadn't been communicated to whomever it needed to be communicated to.

So, at last update, he was about to get on the Interstate, and head to Greenville...where he would get with the trainer person that wasn't supposed to have Patrick until later this week.

We're not sure where he'll be sleeping, either. They were going to reserve the Extended Stay Hotel for Patrick (and later on, me & the kitties) after the Belmont stay...so hopefully the Extended Stay place isn't too booked up & they can have a room for him NOW.

*SIGH*

It's nice to know that the State isn't the only agency that screws things up. I just hate that Patrick is having to drive back & forth so much, and not sure of so many things : who to meet, what will he be doing, where will he sleep...where is he going to set up the X-Box so that he can continue to fight for his rewards in Crimson Skies....