Friday, December 18, 2009

Girls Rock

Being a single parent and Navy wife is, to me, a boot camp I just don't ever want to go through again. I'm not dissing it, but I am so glad for it to be OVER.

There is a popular saying amongst military wives, and it goes something like:

"As soon as your spouse leaves? The whole house falls apart. Appliances break and vehicles fall apart."

I've heard it modified for the submarine wives in that, "When they pull up the anchor, all things breakable tune in to that sound and break."

I can vouch for this. It's happened to me a few times. A few times too many for my liking.

Now, my husband isn't out to sea (Thank You, Lord!), but he's not here. He's been 300 miles away during the week since the end of September.

I've taken the Tahoe in to the dealership THREE TIMES (for regular maintenance and such) and done all running around concerning family members.

The other night, I guess God had to get one more thing in.

My washing machine quit working. Are you kidding me? I had mountains of laundry and no one had clean jeans for the next day.

Are you kidding me? I even looked up and asked the Big Guy this...but didn't really expect an answer back.

I was just done, Internets. I was beyond huffy and put out with the whole shabang. I just did NOT have time to mess with this. Sure, we got the warranty and such, but I did not have time to call for repairs, for the repairman to take his sweet time...like A WEEK....to get it fixed. Just DANGIT.

I got my trusty little stool and I sat down in front of that washing machine to study that bad boy. Surely, there was something I could do to make that hunk of metal start washing my clothes again. Surely.

I got the book out that I made sure I saved when we bought the washer. There was a troubleshooting section. How about that? I started reading and mentally crossing off what I knew for a fact wasn't the issue. Then I saw it...the section that might be my issue. A clogged water line. Hmmmmm......

Well, I decided to see what that was all about. I have a front loading washer so I was all bunked over the top of it trying to get to the back. The younger ones were already in bed, but that Paige? Was laughing so hard at my big butt up in the air, she could hardly stand up. Little did I know she had a squirt bottle and was wetting my butt. Teenagers. I sent her on her merry way because I had work to do.

I got the water line off and lo and behold, it was clogged with sand. Gotta love living so close to the coast. It looked like beach sand to me. I put that sucker back on and tried a cycle. No go. Argh. I took the line off again and there was another clot (for lack of a better term) of sand. I had to clean that line four times before I got water in that machine!!!

But, guess what? It's working. A few skinned knuckles later and two broken nails, and I had a machine washing some clothes.

Whew.

Now, I know why guys drop by the bar and drink a beer. There's something really cool about fixing something that wasn't working. If I had had a cigar and a beer? I probably would have had to go outside and bask in my accomplishment. I'm just saying.

I'm still feeling ten feet tall and bulletproof over the whole deal a few days later. Men may read this and scoff at me because it was a simple fix. Kiss my butt. I analyzed the problem, used REAL tools, and got that bad boy fixed. All by myself.

While I'm somewhat grateful over the life lessons I've had to learn in the past ten years with being a single parent and Navy wife.....can I just say I'm graduated and not have to do any of that anymore?

Friday, December 04, 2009

Sit a Spell

Well, hey there! Come on in and sit a spell while I catch you up on what's been happening at The Edge. There's coffee in the pot, creamer in the fridge, and toaster strudels if you're hungry. Make yourself at home.

Where to start?

Oh, I know.

We got a house!!!

We got us a BIG house. That's not bragging, either. That's me sitting here with my eyes wide open wondering how in the heck I'm going to keep that bad boy clean. All I can say is God was all over this. Shoot, He's been all over the whole entire deal as far as I'm concerned.

The kids and I have been to the Augusta (Georgia) area a couple of times to house hunt with The Man. Now, one thing you need to understand about my husband. That man has been all over the blessed world and he just adapts to where ever he is. Nothing really fazes him and he goes with the flow. Paige was my co-pilot as we drove to meet him the first weekend. Did you know Augusta is a hilly place??? Lawd. I know there are those of you who live near or in the mountains and you're laughing and thinking, "Sister? You ain't SEEN a hill yet!" I've been to the mountains, thank you very much. You have to realize that this girl has lived near the East Coast all my entire life. What I personally didn't realize is this is apparently the Flat Lands..with lots of trees. Imagine my huffiness when we finally reached our destination and I confronted that husband of mine about why on earth didn't he tell me about the HILLS?!?! Yes, he had a confused look on his face and couldn't understand my angst.

Can I pause a minute to say, "Thank you, Lord, for a GPS navigation system." ? If I hadn't had that bad boy leading me.....my kids and I would be wandering back streets starving by now. The first time we arrived at night. Paige and I were thrilled and then a little scared. Of the hills, man. My learning driver gasped and fretted as we followed Mr. Tom's directions to our destination. She asked me in a panic, "How will I tell my friends how to get to our house? Go over six hills and take a left????" It was a new experience to be sure and it wasn't until the next week that I realized that HOLY SMOKES! I have to learn how to drive in that place and soon!

I have to admit that house hunting got old quick. You look at so many in such a short time and they all start running together. Curse you, HGTV, for making it look so simple and all 30 minutes long. We didn't find "The House" on my first trip and I was just disgusted. The Man persevered and kept looking after work until he found a few he liked. It was time to head that way again. We headed out the Sunday before Thanksgiving to spend a day or two with him before we all headed to SC for Thanksgiving (separate post with cute pictures on that subject). I thought I had found a house that I really really liked. To where I dramatically leaned against the stairs in true Scarlett fashion and declared, "I LOVE THIS HOUSE!"

Then we saw it. It was fabulous. It was in our price range. It was The House. I walked and looked and walked and looked. I just knew there was no way we could do this amazing house. (that was before money was discussed.) I kept looking at my husband and giving him the How-dare-you-show-me-this-when-I-know-we-can't-afford-it look. We played it cool since the broker was there. Our amazing realtor got the low-down for us as we waited outside and discussed what was sitting before us.

We headed back to the hotel to discuss this and just decided to put on some floaties and jump right in. Monday after work, we took the kids with us and went to talk business. The kids were beyond thrilled and after I gave the camera to The Boy and he learned how to video? We had no problems out of them.

Our offer was accepted and a bidding war with another family was avoided (whew!). We walked away anxious and excited and ready for the builder (this is new construction!) to accept the contract.

We haven't looked back.

We headed to South Carolina for Thanksgiving and that Wednesday we got word that the builder signed! What a moment.

Yesterday, we got word that all things financial are a go. The only thing we're waiting on now is the appraisal to go through. Closing is set for December 21st. DECEMBER 21ST, INTERNETS!

Hold on whilst I panic for a moment, please.

We are moving. Into a house. Before the end of the month. I am just giddy, scared, excited, and dreading the packing, unpacking part. At least the Navy will move us and I won't have to pack up on my own like I did before we moved down here.

Want to hear something funny? My husband has already called the power company about putting the power in our names on the 21st (the builder has it now). He intends to sign papers and sleep there that night because he got himself an aerobed on Black Friday. The Man is serious, Internets. I have asked this question to a few friends and they all got it right the first time. What else would a man take care of...that would have high priority?

Yep.

He's got the cable and internet lined up, too. I told Neighbor Debbie he'll have a bed, laptop, and a roll of toilet paper. We might not see him again!

I am busy here getting school stuff taken care of for the kids. The Boy has been to Dr. M a few extra times so we can get him as straight as we can before leaving. I'm going to miss Dr. M. We have a good thing going concerning my son and I hope I can find someone in the new town that really works with me to insure the well being of The Boy.

I have moments where I am very overwhelmed with what has to be done and I'm not so sure I will be able to get it all taken care of on time. We all know I will...but I still worry and I don't care how big of a nerve pill you take, those things can only help so much.

I think one of the hardest things is not decorating for Christmas. Oh, how I love to decorate for Christmas. I have some fabulous decorations (because I am old and have had time to collect) that I always look forward to putting up. We tried to explain to The Boy why we're not able to put a tree up, but I don't think he gets it. I'm an inch away from going to W-mart to get a small pre-lit tree and some balls to put up for him. Something that will only take a few minutes to take down.

My husband is just a wonderful man, Internets. I am a simple girl. Sure, I like nice things and I have a couple of nice things, but I truly am not a materialistic person. I made the comment a couple of times that I'm not sure I'm good enough to live in a house this nice. I'm not putting myself down, it's just that I've dreamed and figured that's all it would be...just nice dreams. My husband has worked his butt off for twenty years in service to this country and because he chose a good rate (or it chose him?), he's able to find a good job in this economy we got going on right now. I am blessed that he loves his family as much as he does and wants to provide for us the best he can. I can't wait to hang all his Navy stuff up on the walls so that others will know what he's done. I thank God for the mate He has provided for me every day.

Yes, I do have pictures, but I hope you'll be patient and let me put my stamp on this home before putting some up. I only took a few so I would have something to look at to remind me this is a dream that's becoming a reality (as long as the appraisal goes well!).

Don't forget you have to let me be sad that I'm leaving this wonderful place that has been our home for three and half years. I will miss it so much and the people that have become so special to me. One good thing about a military family, though. They'll go visit! I hope and pray they will come visit me so we can continue to share our lives.

Look for the Thanksgiving post. I got a few cute pictures I want to share with you and I know you'll like them, too. Now, I'm off to start my mountains of laundry and wait for my husband to get here for the weekend.