Movin on up

IF the fat lady sings this time, then one week from today we'll close on the sale of this house. You know, so we could go to North Carolina. Except ... Tomcat just took a new job here and so we're going to stay in the Dallas area for at least another year. The company has an office in NC, so maybe later he can work out a transfer.

In the meantime, we decided to move to an apartment, and wait to buy another house until we're actually in NC. We found an apartment within walking distance to Tom's office. It's been over 20 years since I've lived in an apartment, and boy have things changed. This will be like living in a luxury hotel. Exercise gym, internet cafe with free coffee and danishes every morning and brunch once a month, wi-fi garden, massage therapist, business center with fax and photocopier, etc., parking garage, and that's not even talking about the apartment itself!

So, here's the problem: what to wear? I mean, we're coming from the East Dallas, lower Greenville Avenue area, where we pride ourselves on being laid back. Unlike upper Greenville, we don't have a dress code.

I need a whole new wardrobe, just for walking the dog. No more jeans, T-shirt, and grubby sneakers. Hell, Scruffybutt needs a whole new wardrobe, too. Lookit this pink sweater on her, old and frayed in places and pulled out of shape. This will not do.


Plus, we're both going to have to go to the groomers more often.

Bonus pic:


Here's Scruffybutt on the bed with our two cats, Katy and Shadow. We can only have two pets at the apartment, so fortunately, Katy's previous owner can take her back now that she's living in an apartment that allows pets.

Which leaves us with a dog, a cat, and a lovebird. I'm trying to find a home for the lovebird. Her name is Lisa, and she's the last of four. Here's a pic of her in the aviary Tomcat built for her, which is made out of wood and plexiglass. It's huge - 6' x 6' x 2'. The aviary goes with her if anyone wants it, or we have a regular bird cage for her to live in. No dress code.

So last night we're contemplating the positive aspects of (possibly) moving out of a hundred-year-old house into a (temporary) apartment:

He: Central heat and air.

She: Dishwasher.

He: Garbage disposer.

She: I love it when you talk like that.

Real Estate Dramedy, Reprise

As both of my regular readers know, I inherited a 100-year-old house from Max, my ex-husband, when he passed away four years ago. "Maxwell House" was chopped into a five-plex, probably after WWII when there was a housing shortage. Tomcat and I operated it as a rental property for a while (you may remember the stories about some of the tenants, like the Extreme Party Girls and the Cat Lady.) Then we put it on the market, thinking we would sell it and move to North Carolina so we could at least be in the same state as family.

Hahahahaaaaaaaaa. Well, it didn't sell. Long story short, over the space of a year, we signed contracts with five different investors but each one backed out at the last minute. Then I had a bervous nerkdown, we took the house off the market, gave notice to the tenants, and after having some work done on the place, we moved into Maxwell House. That was about a year and a half ago.

Now we're going to try this again. The place is now included in a new historic district, which may or may not be a plus, depending on who the prospective buyers are. It's certainly in better condition on the interior than it was when we first put it on the market. However, the market? Well, it's a little soft, as our realtor says. (Thank you, Bu$hCo, for trashing the economy even worse than your daddy did. Geez, I miss the Clinton years!)

Anyway, wish us luck on this venture again. We are going to get to North Carolina this time. Really. We are.

Reality check

I got a catalog from Mary Maxim Needlework and Crafts, touting Over 400 New Items! plus 21 Pages of Exciting Christmas Crafts! There was a time when this would have set my lil ole heart to pitt-a-patting, but today? Not so much. No, it isn't because I'm now an atheist and therefore the Christmas holiday hasn't the same meaning it once did. I still "do" the holidays. It's just that my interests are changing. No, no - that's not it, either. It's that ... I've had to narrow my interests down to what can actually be accomplished in Real Life. (Oh, and that reminds me of a great cartoon I recently StumbledUpon. This will only be funny if you've spent any time in VR... But I digress.)

I used to have a craft room full of stuff, with hundreds of projects tabbed and indexed in hanging files. I used to have boxes of patterns for clothes and drapes and Christmas projects. I used to have tons of fabric and yarn. I used to spend summers crafting everything from afghans to ornaments, from decoupaged footstools to clocks.

Then, several things happened. One, I started writing, and that took up a lot of my crafting time. Actually, now it's like everything takes up my writing time.

Another thing was a bit of arthritis in my hands, so I had to give up thread crochet - no more lacy bookmarks for friends at Christmas. Then I had to give up all but Q-hook crochet - that's the huge hook that can be held comfortably, but you can only make afghans with it, and after a while, meh.

Here's the thing. I'm getting older. Not old, mind you, because that doesn't happen to us Boomers. No, it doesn't. Stop laughing - it does not happen to us! See, I'm getting older ('course, not as old as Hoss), so I'm more aware of the fact that chances are, I'll never get around to doing those hundreds of craft projects. I didn't come to this realization just now - that was a year ago when we were going to sell Maxwell House and make our alleged move to North Carolina - hah!

It was back then when I realized that instead of packing all those nicely-indexed projects and craft supplies, I should face reality and only keep the things that I (1) enjoy doing the most (and can still do), and (2) that I might actually get around to finishing.

That left ... needlepoint.

And writing.

I and my creative muses will be perfectly happy concentrating on those two things. See, when you're young, you believe you really can do it all because you're not thinking about practical things like time. And maybe some of you overachievers (like my in-laws) out there actually do get it all done. I applaud you as I mutter under my breath.

So, the Mary Maxim catalog goes into the recycling pile, and until the day that I do the same, I'll be here happily writing and needlepointing (hmm, there might even be a way to do those at the same time...)

OMG, if anyone ever sends you an invitation to IMVU, do not, I repeat, do not accept (UNLESS I was the one who sent you the invitation, then please DO accept because that way I'll earn credits, and the more credits I have, the more STUFF I can get, so accept!!! because right now I have my eye on a really nice Roman Villa.)

Evil Lavender Dawn sent me an invitation and I ... accepted ... and now I will never get anything done ever again because I'll be playing around with this stuff! She is evil! I was having enough trouble just keeping up with emails and blogging, but now ... oh man, I'm in big trouble. First I had to choose how my avatar looked, then what she'd wear, and then what her house looks like, only I need more credits for that, plus then Lavender (did I mention she's evil?) and I had to try out the 3D chatroom, which is amazing! and then all the things you can do and the sounds you can make and omg, just be forewarned that this is a complete waste of time and you'll love it/hate it just as much I do.

Carry on.

Okay, I'm Learning Chinese

"Women's town" to put men in their place

BEIJING (Reuters) - Chinese tourism authorities are seeking investment to build a novel concept attraction -- the world's first "women's town," where men get punished for disobedience, an official said Thursday.

The 2.3-square-km Longshuihu village in the Shuangqiao district of Chongqing municipality, also known as "women's town," was based on the local traditional concept of "women rule and men obey," a tourism official told Reuters.

"Traditional women dominate and men have to be obedient in the areas of Sichuan province and Chongqing, and now we are using it as an idea to attract tourists and boost tourism," the official, surname Li, said by telephone."

Tourism, hell - give me a condo!