Unpacking …. BLECK!!!!

 

 

We are alive!!! Buried alive in boxes, that is….. LOL

 

I have a little rant coming up….

 

The movers…. ARGH!!!! They managed to ruin 3 of my book shelves, break The Hubby’s desk and lose one of The Hubby’s DVD shelves…. AND we can’t do a thing about it because they were all made of pressboard. Nice…. ARGH!!!!!!

 

Not only that BUT they were REALLY late, like a whole DAY late. I started getting those Funny Farm feelings again….

When the movers finally got here they were really nice and seemed very horrified that so many of my shelves were destroyed… They blamed it on other guys. I guess it could have been. At least 3 different sets of people handled our belongings. SIGH….

Then the company tried to charge The Hubby’s boss too much. When The Hubby signed the papers on moving day, there were no charges listed, just a documentation of our stuff. Then miraculously the charges showed up afterward. We have the original set of papers to prove this. Just CRAZY!!!!

Some advice, if you are hiring movers go with a BIG company. One that has been in business for many, many, many years. Stay away from the small, recently in business guys. I usually don’t say that. I am all about small businesses but I think this is one of those times when you just have to go with the established, good reputation guys.

 

SIGH…. I need new shelves. I think The Hubby is going to commandeer one of book shelves. SIGH…..

 

On the bright side (you always need to find one), we are loving the house and the city. There are definitely some rooms that need painted (the kitchen is neon green) and I am itching to get started on that but I need some order in the house first! Wish me luck!

 

 

 

 

Packing, Packing and More Packing

 

It’s been a week since my last post. I have been packing and packing and packing….. ARGH!!!! Anyone want to come help me with this????  I am sooooo worn out and I still have TONS of packing to do!!!! The master bedroom is almost done. My sewing room is almost done. The books are about 1/2 way done. We are getting there but now we are out of boxes. I had a feeling that I should have kept all the boxes from the last move. I did have some still in the garage, thank goodness!  We are  going to have to find the U-Haul place and BUY boxes now, the stores around here just don’t keep them.

 

We took a break on Monday and went to the beach for the last time. That’s about the only part I am sad about! LOL I am going to miss being this close to the beach!! But at least I will have the mountains to make up for that. I really ought to move to mountains that are BY the beach! LOL

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

They made 2 castles with a moat between them. Actually, Cailey says hers was an evil tower and Colin’s was the good castle. LOL

 

 

Joshua managed to get away without a picture on this day, but I got The Hubby, Deanna, Cailey and Colin!

I want to go back to the beach. Where are the packing fairies??? They can come and finish it up for me, right????

 

 

 

We Are Moving…. AGAIN!!!!

 

Yep. You read that correctly. We are moving, AGAIN!!!! But I can say that I am much happier about this move than I was the previous one. We are moving to the MOUNTAINS!!! YIPPPEEE!!! The Hubby is happy because we will be back in Tennessee. I am happy because we will be in the MOUNTAINS. Not to mention 3 hours closer to Jacob! We will only be 4 hours from my dad and my mother-in-law!

This time provides a different challenge, though. The job is set BUT we have no house!! We will be staying in a hotel until we can find a place. Now, I have been there and done that…. When we moved from Tennessee to Virginia (almost 7 years ago) we also had to stay in a hotel. OH MY GOSH!! 4 kids (this was before Colin was born) in 2 rooms (adjoining) for a month… I was going starkers by the end of it. The company there gave us 2 months to find a place… Yeah, there was NO WAY I was staying in a hotel with 4 kids for 2 months… The same goes today!! LOL

Not only will we have 4 kids in 2 rooms but 1 puppy, 3 cats and 10 kittens. Yes, you read that correctly. Pray for me, people! I’m obviously going to need it!!! LOL

A lot of people are shocked that we are moving again so soon. Well, if you check out the About Me button at the top, you will see that moving is NOTHING new to me! LOL I went to 11 different schools (not counting bouncing back and forth between the same schools)! I have lived in 6 different states! And I cannot possibly tell you how many times I have moved or how many houses I have lived in. LOL Yeah, I think I might have a bit of Gypsy in me.

There’s a story that my dad’s family tells about how my grandpa came home one day to find the rest of the family had moved while he was work. Apparently a house that my grandma had been wanting came open that day. She didn’t wait around and moved everyone while grandpa was at work! LOL My grandparents had 9 children…. No clue how many were at home at that time. LOL

Now the WHY of the move. This job here was not what we were lead to believe it would be… The Hubby has had one issue after another there.  The working hours were different than was he was told (they said 4/10s and he has been working 5 to 6/10s). His job description changed… He wasn’t able to do the job he was hired for due to the hiring of a new manager than really had no experience with a millwork. :/ It’s just been a nightmare for him to see what needs to be done but not be able to do it because of poor management.

Anyway, WISH US LUCK!!!

 

 

 

Resolutions

I don’t normally make resolutions. I think they are a set up for failure from the word go. LOL That sounds very defeatist doesn’t it? But I think it’s true…. That being said, this year I am making a resolution. I think it will come as no surprise to learn that I realllllly did not want to make this big move from VA to GA. SIGH… I loved it there. Then add to that the fact that Jacob decided to stay behind and you have one very sad me. I have been in a very deep funk lately and it’s time for that to change.

This year I am making one resolution: to suck it up and deal. LOL I need to get over myself and move on with life no matter what it throws at me.

This is my new philosophy -

 

 

 

 

 

 

15 Day Blogger Challenge – Getting to Know the Blogger – Days 4 & 5

I decided to combine a couple of days here and there. I *think* my Dad and step-mother are coming to visit next week and I won’t have much time to reallllllly get in deep with the topics.

So for today’s questions I have :

 

4. What type of student were you in school?

5. Who were your closest friends as a teenager?

 

Oh, boy… that first one…. Umm… OK…. LOL Well, in K-4th I was MUCH more interested in socializing. I got into SOOOOO much trouble for talking. Big surprise, huh?? LOL And like I said before, my cousin Amy was in all the same classes as I was in those grades as long as we were in the same school. I can remember actually throwing a fit once when I came back from Indiana and was put in a different class. That did NOT go well and the principal gave in and moved me to Amy’s class. I can remember having to “stand on the wall” for recess many, many, MANY times for talking. “Standing on the wall” meant that you stood with your back to the schoolyard and facing the wall and heard everyone else having fun during recess. It was the WORST punishment. I can remember after having a few days in a row of standing on the wall and coming home to say, “Well, if you’ve seen one wall, you’ve seen them all.”

5th – 7th was a bit different. I ended up in a lot of advanced classes and did very well. Then I moved back to WV in 8th and all the advanced classes were full. I remember I had to take typing. OH MY GOSH! I was horrible!!!! And the teacher was sooooo mean!! I think that was the first time I had ever made a D.

In 9th grade I went into Honors classes. And then I bombed…. You see, I had discovered SKIPPING CLASS!!!!  Yep…. I was a truant! As long as I showed up to class I did pretty well. LOL But at this point I HATED school. AND I would much rather socialize….. LOL

So glad my kids don’t read my blog…… LOL

And now I homeschool.

 

Now, on to the friends question. My 3 biggest partners in crime were Tina, Traci and Nikki. Oh, my goodness, we got up to some T-R-O-U-B-L-E. LOL

I practically lived at Traci’s house for a while and I literally lived at Tina’s. Tina’s mom, Momma Linda, threw my 16th Birthday party for me. I will never forget that. It was a blast!

I remember the first big dance of high school, the Snowball Dance. I was soooo nervous that I didn’t eat a bite all day. Then my date stood me up. He was such a jerk. BUT I had a killer dress so I went along as a third wheel with Traci and her date. And before the night was over I ended up with my first ever concussion. We went to the ladies’ room to smoke and I felt a little dizzy and sick to my stomach. Before I could call out to Tra to wait, I had passed out, hitting my head on the cinder block wall and again on the concrete floor. I scared Tra to death! She thought I was dead because my eyes were still open. She ran off to get the principal and by the time they got back I was already trying to stand up and figure out what the heck happened. The school called my mom and off to the ER I went.

Concerts and parties and hanging out at the mall (sometimes with day glow hair) and dances and trips to Camden Park. OH!! And the skating rink and dancing at River’s End! Good, good times.

I miss my friends.

 

I have to take a little break from the challenge here and tell you what happened to me yesterday. Oh, boy!!! I was finishing up 2 days of working on a certain bookshelf when the whole thing fell on top of me! I was sitting in the floor in front of the shelf and took some books off to switch them out with a different set, when the whole thing leaned forward and landed smack on my whole body! I have 2 knots on my head, a purple bruise under one eye and several other bruises and scratches. The shelf is 5 ft tall and 6 ft long. I had it packed tight with the kids’ science and history books and it was nailed to wall!!!! SIGH…. But if it had to happen I am glad that it happened to me and not one of the kids. All that work down the toilet. I took the rest of yesterday off from unpacking and I will probably do the same today. The dizziness and the aches and pains remain. AND I am in the middle of a HUGE fibro flare. SIGH…. Praying, praying, praying that it will go away soon!!!!! I still have so much to do!!! I feel like I will never get this house in order!

 

Don’t forget to check out some of the amazing bloggers that are taking part in this challenge! And stop by and give a little love to A Little Unhinged!!!!!

1. nick powers  11. Ginny @ Just Jist  2. Erica Bodker  12. Alittle Bit of This&That and Couponing  3. Alvina Castro  13. The Glamorous Life of a French Housewife  4. Ms. Morgan  14. Tami @ Thrift Shop Commando  5. Stacy Sews and Schools  15. My Morning Cup of Coffee  6. Laura Shimmerofpink  16. Trooppetrie  7. The Insomniac’s Dream  17. Life According to Lenetta  8. erica- bassgiraffe  18. The Sadder But Wiser Girl  9. Hanging Off The Wire  19. Yolanda Renee  10. Brooke Blogs

 

15 Day Blogger Challenge – Getting to Know the Blogger – Day 2

15 Day Blogger Challenge – Getting to Know the Blogger – Day 2

2. Where did you grow up? Small town or Big City?

I think it’s safe to say that I grew up all over the place! LOL MOST of my childhood was spent in the small town of Oak Hill, WV. My paternal grandparents had a house in the country and I spent a lot of time there, but like me, they moved around a lot.

I went to 11 different schools growing up and that doesn’t count bouncing back and forth between the same schools. I even went to a private school for a while.

My first school was in Oak Hill. I went to East End Elementary. It was the same school that my mother went to.  (I even had the same 2nd grade teacher she had!)

I went to 2 schools in Elkhart, IN but I have no idea what their names were. In between those 2 schools I went back to East End.

Then I went to an elementary school in Beckley, WV. I think it was Central Elementary?? And then right back to East End……

After that I went to Collins Middle School in Oak Hill.

Then it was on to Hampton, Virginia to Robert E. Lee Elementary.

After that was Margaret Allen Elementary in Nashville, TN.

Then back to Hampton, Virginia to Mary Atkins Christian School.

Then BACK to Nashville to Two Rivers Junior High.

After that I went back to Oak Hill and back to Collins Middle…. LOL Keeping up???

Then on to Oak Hill High School.

I left there and went BACK to Nashville to Glencliff High School.

After that I went BACK to Oak Hill School.

Yep. That’s 11 different schools!

The first house I can remember was in Fayetteville, WV. We stayed there until my parents split up either right before or right after I turned 5. I can’t remember exactly how old I was, just that I hadn’t started school yet. I know we were living with my Grandma when I started school.

I moved around a lot as a kid and my Mother and I lived with my Grandmother quite often. She was our refuge. We always ended up back at her house.

I used to think that it would be nice to spend my life in ONE place, but now I don’t think so. I like the adventure of new places and new things. Maybe there is a bit of gypsy in me somewhere….  None of it is scary for me since it is the way I grew up. New faces and new places. I remember all the old places and faces, though. So many have left their mark on my heart in ways they could never imagine. It is easier these days to keep up with friends in other places. I have friends and family all over the place. I wish it would have been this easy back when I was a kid! LOL

I lived with my paternal grandparents for a while growing up. I stayed with them in VA and in TN. I leaned so much on them and my maternal grandmother. They were what counted as my stability.

I guess West Virginia will always be my “home place”, though. I miss those mountains so much. It’s been about 13 yrs since I went back.  My kids have never been. Well, I take that back. Jacob was 1 when my Mother passed away and we went to Oak Hill for her funereal.  The other time we went we left the older 3 kids with a sitter, not having the younger 2 at the time. I remember as we crossed into WV from VA “Country Roads” came over the radio. It was perfect.

 

I hope that works.

My Mother used to tell me how she would ride her bike to watch the men build the bridge.

I have I painting of the grist mill from Babcock State Park hanging on my wall right now.

Don’t forget to check out the other bloggers taking part in the challenge!!!

And a huge THANK YOU to A Little Unhinged for putting it all together.

1.	nick powers	6.	Laura Shimmerofpink	11.	Ginny @ Just Jist
2.	Erica Bodker	7.	The Insomniac’s Dream	12.	Alittle Bit of This&That and Couponing
3.	Alvina Castro	8.	erica- bassgiraffe	13.	The Glamorous Life of a French Housewife
4.	Ms. Morgan	9.	Hanging Off The Wire
5.	Stacy Sews and Schools	10.	Brooke Blogs

I’m Still Alive!! ;)

SHEW! My goodness! What a week!! I have been super busy trying to get the house sorted. I have come to the conclusion that we have too much stuff…. Especially toys… LOL

I have 2 rooms left to finish, the toy room and my sewing studio/library. Right now that room is so full of boxes and shelves that you can barely move through it…..  Hopefully I can change some of that today.

I have a few more pictures to share. Let me see if I can find them. LOL

 

 

 

 

This will be my sewing studio/library. Right now it looks like this -

 

 

I am thinking about painting my desk a navy blue. Well, that is IF the paint made it this far… LOL

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

My walk-in closet. It is now completely full…. LOL

 

 

 

 

 

Well, gotta run!!! TOOOOOO much to do today!!! Anyone want to come and help???? LOL

 

Y’all Aren’t Gonna Believe THIS!!!

OMGOSH!!!! OH MY GOODNESS!!!!

Well, we are moved. We are now Georgians. The moving company loaded us yesterday and delivered TODAY!!!!

So, we left Virginia around 5 pm and drove as far as Florence, SC last night. I go to plug my laptop up in the hotel room and BLEW A FUSE!!!! No power in the hotel room. SIGH… We call down to the front desk and they say to come up and get another room. As I was backing out to go to the front desk, BAM! I hit a big ole bush…. SIGH… No damage to the vehicle or the bush. SHEW!!!!!

So, we get into the new room and we let the cats out of the big box they were travelling in. They went INSANE!!!!!

This morning it takes 5 of us to try to get the cats back into the box and NONE of us were unscathed! I think I might still be bleeding!!

Anyway, we are driving down the interstate and all of a sudden Cloud figures out how to get out of the box! Then Bonnie and Pammy shoot out. We were then doing 80 on 95 with 3 cats loose in the van. SIGH……

OOOH!! And we passed a GIANT shoe driving down the road! I swear!! A GIANT SHOE!!! I made sure I wasn’t the only one that actually saw it.

We are in another hotel tonight. Even though all our stuff was delivered today we have no utilities…. I will be taking care of all of that in the morning.

I have some GREAT pics of the house to show y’all!!

 

 

See the palm trees that I circled?? We have 4 of them in the yard!!

Colin is checking out the pea gravel in the driveway.

 

 

 

 

My other 2 palm trees!!!

 

 

 

The wood underneath that circled part is cedar! It smells soooo good!!!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

These are just a few of the pics that I took today. I will post some more tomorrow.

SOOOO tired and I still have SOOO much to do!!!

 

Praise the Lord for getting us safely to Georgia!!!!!

 

~~*~~HAPPY HALLOWEEN~~*~~

 

Halloween is one of my favorite holidays!!! I LOOOOOVE IT!! I love the weather! The leaves falling from the trees! The hot chocolate! The costumes! And the candy… LOL

BUT my two little ones are sick!!!! WAH!!! Cailey and Colin both have nasty colds. First no Halloween party at church because of the Frankenstorm and now no trick or treating!! They are so disappointed! But we are going to try to make it up to them a little. They are wearing their costumes all day and vegging out in front of the TV with Halloween cartoons. After The Hubby gets home from work we are going to go out and buy them some candy. At least this way they will be sure to get their favorites!

I can’t believe, with having 5 kids, that this will be the first time this has happened. The older 3 always got sick right after Halloween.

Here are some pics of Cailey and Colin in their mommy made costumes!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here are the Halloween Rice Krispies Treats and Cailey and Colin made last night.

I think there are only 3 left! LOL

 

AND I am the very proud nominee of the The Sisterhood of the World Bloggers Award!!!! WOOOO HOOOO!!! Given to me by Shelly Bean at Follow Me Home. You should check out her blog, it is AWWWWWWESOME!!!!!!

 

THANK YOU SOOOOO MUCH, Shelly!!!

AND since I have so much going on around here I have been given a reprieve from jumping through the usual award hoops! LOL

Here is my to-do list for today -

Sorting through Jacob’s room. (He moved out the other day and left me HUGE mess!!!)

Running donations to the thrift store.

Taking care of 2 sick little ones.

Packers arrive between 8 and 9 in the morning.

Laundry, laundry and more laundry.

And all the other crap that I do everyday….

 

Heaven help me!!! LOL I’m already tired and I haven’t even started on any of this yet! I need a nap just thinking about it all!!!!

 

Fairy, Frankenstorm and Farewells

Yes, yes… I know… Today’s title is very much like yesterday’s! LOL BUT the post is very different.

I finished Cailey’s costume yesterday! YAY!!!!! She LOVES it!!!!! BUT because of the Frankenstorm the Halloween party was rescheduled. Now, ordinarily that would not be such a big deal BUT since we are moving at the end of the week, we won’t be able to go. Cailey was SO upset. SO, Momma Hope (she sort of adopted our family and I LOVE HER SOOOOO MUCH!!!!) is going to take Cailey and Colin trick or treating to all the church members’ houses so she can show off her costume. LOL That made it better.

I was lucky enough to be invited to lunch Friday with Momma Hope, Grandmomma Verna and Marie. These are 3 very special ladies. I already mentioned that Momma Hope sort of adopted my family into her heart and Grandmomma Verna is her mother. You will never meet anyone as kind and generous and loving as those 2 special ladies. Marie is taking over Bags of Hope and Love for me here. She is SUCH a blessing!! I am so thankful for her!! We had a very nice lunch with lots of chatting. LOL I am so thankful that I got to go before we moved.

Today at church I said my final farewells to a very special group of people. God blessed me so much when He had Momma Hope stop at my door and invite me to her church. My life will be forever changed just from knowing those special people.

Pastor David passed around a church directory and had everyone sign it. SUCH a special going away gift. I will always be able to look at it and remember each and every one of them.

I cried and cried and cried. I know God has a purpose for us. I know that we are moving to Georgia for a reason. I may not know that reason for a while but I know there is one. Like a friend said today, it may only be to support our family better but that is a reason!

I have pictures of Cailey’s fairy princess costume!!!! I am sooooo very very sorry that I forgot to take the pictures for a tutorial. I’m not sure that I would have done a very good job with the tutorial anyway….. I was flying by the seat of my pants on that costume!!! LOL

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

She LOVES her costume!!! YAY!!!!!

Deanna was disappointed about the Halloween party, too. I was going to make her a long black skirt today. Last night was did a trial run with the Dios de los Muertos make up. It looked REALLLY good. She wouldn’t let me take any pictures, though. :/ I’m thinking she might want to dress up on Halloween. She will be helping Grandmomma Verna hand out candy while Momma Hope and I take the little ones trick or treating.

I was going to finish Colin’s dino costume today. All it needs are eyes, teeth and nostrils… But since the party was cancelled, we spent the day flood proofing the sunroom. Well, not really flood proofing…. more like cleaning and making sure all the books were above the flood level. SIGH… PLEASE PRAY that our bottom floor doesn’t flood again!!!!!

We had a little silliness going on last night. Check out these pics!!!

 

 

Clown Cailey!

 

 

Clown Colin!

 

 

 

Hubby the Clown!!! I still can’t believe Colin talked him into this!!! Sorry the pic is blurry but I only got one shot….. LOL

 

 

Joshua the Clown!!!

 

Deanna put the wig on for a split second but wouldn’t let me take a picture… LOL I was hoping Jacob would show up today so we could get one of him. Where is that boy???? He TOLD me he was coming today!!!! He better not make me call all his friends…

 

They are saying that the worst of the Frankenstorm will be tomorrow night into Tuesday. Pray for us!!! The Hubby is still planning on going into work and that means I will be getting up at stupid:30 in the morning to drive him through the Frankenstorm. Yay….. :/

I will start going through closets tomorrow in preparation for the move. Fun…. LOL And toys boxes will need to be thinned out… Pray for me on that one. Colin will NOT be happy!!!!

 

HUGS and PRAYERS for all of those in the path of the freaky storm!!! Just remember that God is in control. We can depend upon HIS strength!!! He will take care of you!