Use the Deep Conditioner

It's 8am on a Saturday morning and I'm laying in bed with my iced coffee and lap top while watching Full House. (It's the one where DJ wins tickets to the Beach Boys concert.) I blame DirecTv for the fact that I'm watching this crap on television. There's just too many channels. (We HAD to get DirecTv because our subdivision isn't set up for cable. But I have to admit, I sort of love it.)

The house is great and wonderful and it's OURS. But it is soooo not finished yet in terms of furniture and decorations. There's so much to buy and do. I'm actually being pretty good about it though. I'm trying to get just a few things at a time instead of just going balls out and completely depleting our checking account in the process. And my new favorite store? Tuesday Morning. I had never been into a TM until a few weeks ago. It has changed my life.

I finally got a haircut this week. I got about 4-5 inches chopped off. That shit was OUT OF CONTROL. It was so stringy and yuck. I got to the salon and the guy told the shampoo girl, "Um, use the deep conditioner and leave it on for at least 5 minutes."

I woke up a 6am this morning but went back to sleep until 730. In that hour and a half I had the strangest dream ever. And I think that while I was dreaming I was trying to convince myself that it was a dream and it wasn't real, but I couldn't wake up. Don't you hate it when that happens?!

So today I'm going to be organizing and decorating. I also see a trip to Hobby Lobby in my future.

Updates on Life

-We closed on the house last Thursday and we move in next Thursday! I went to Abita during lunch yesterday to set up the water/gas/garbage collection for the house. Get this - all of those services are run through the Town of Abita. So I had to go to Town Hall to pay the deposit (checks only, no credit cards) and fill out the forms, etc. There's this tiny little office with a slot in a door where you drop off your utility payments every month. The lady in the office informed me that they just became able to set up automatic debits for your monthly bill, but there is no website. Small town living - here we come. I dig it.

-I got a raise and promotion at work! It's so nice to know that all of my hard work has paid off. And tomorrow is "jean day" at work. I cannot even begin to tell you how much I love jean days at work. It makes the week so much better. Tomorrow is also "Fair Day" in St Tammany because there is a fair (the kind with livestock shows) that takes place in Covington this weekend. The parade for fair day runs right in front of my office tomorrow and it is a treat for the eyes and ears. It consists of dancing crews and pageant girls and people throwing beads out of the back of pick-up trucks. It puts Mardi Gras parades to shame. Who needs Bacchus when you've got Destiny, Chastity and their stage moms waving at you from a Mustang convertible?

-My mom got married again two weeks ago (this is #4). She called me Friday and said, "Can you be at the Columns at 1130 tomorrow morning for my wedding?" She wore a black dress and asked my brother if he thought that would be okay. He goes, "Well, Mom, I think the cat's about outta' the bag, so there's no need to wear white." Her new hubbs is a history professor at SLU. He's a SUPER nice guy, no kids, been married once. I am VERY happy about this one, I think it's a good deal.

-I want to paint our dining room table. Not sure what color yet, but this caught my eye.



I don't know if I'm brave enough to paint it black, but I like this look. All of my NOLA food-themed kitchen art has red and black in it, so this may work.

The in-laws were kind enough to by us blinds for the house, so I can wait on curtains and stuff for a little bit. But I do have a feeling that I will be putting Sarah's genius drop-cloth idea to use.

So this weekend will consist of me, boxes, and numerous trips to Abita to bring my shoes and clothes to the new house.

Annelle and Sammy

We close on the house September 23rd and are so excited! But more importantly, all of our kitchen appliances are Frigidaire. Do you know what this means? It means I get to quote one of my favorite lines from Steel Magnolias on a regular basis. This is how it's going to go....."Stephen Neal Mahoney, what is this in my Frigidaire?"

House

So I think we're going to make an offer on this 3 bedroom/2 bath when Neal gets home next week. Here are some pics....







Here is the deal: This is a brand new little loop/small subdivision in Abita Springs. There are only 3 homes built in the loop so far. Two more lots are under contract. If the house above is still available next week, I think we're going to make an offer. If it's not available, we are going to build one that is similar. The homes are all New Orleans-style cookie cutter houses, but they're super cute. If we build our own, we have to pick out all the colors, etc which I don't really want to do. I would rather just buy the one that is already built b/c I'm perfectly OK with the one that is available.

So the homes are on lots that are going to be pretty close together, and I know that we could get a little more land or a bigger lot size or whatever if we looked in other areas like Folsom or Covington or Mandeville. But I've looked at houses in our price range in those areas and they are all BLAH. I seriously haven't seen one other house that I was interested in. And I just really like Abita. It's sort of this hippy dippy, laid back, unique little town. Their public schools have small class sizes and are better than the ones in Covington and Mandeville. The town is small, located on the Tammany Trace (the bike/walking path) and is only about 7 miles away from where we live now. There are all these cute little events and fairs and concerts in the town pavilion area and I just love it. LOVE IT.

I am going to miss our rent house and the 1/2 acre of land that we're on, but I will NOT miss the enormous electric bills that we have to pay all summer b/c the house is so old and full of cracks and windows. I will not miss having to walk outside to get to my laundry room. I will not miss the fact that every time our power goes out we can't flush the toilet because our water comes from an electricity-operated water well. And I will not miss the gecko that I found in my bedroom last night and which I'm pretty sure is still hiding somewhere in my closet.

Side note about the gecko situation; here's my convo on the phone last night with Neal:
N: How was your day?
C: It was fine, but there's a gecko in the bedroom and I don't know where he went.
N: He probably went back outside, don't worry about it.
C: No, I know he's still in here. He's hiding, just waiting for me to go to sleep.
N: Oh yeah? Then what's he going to do to you? Are you worried he's going to try to sell you some insurance?

The thought of having a brand new house is sooooo exciting. I have actually never ever lived in a brand new home so it may come as a shock to live in a house where everything actually works?! So I guess we'll see how this all plays out next week!

First-Time Homebuyers!

I met with a mortgage banker yesterday, and we were pre-approved to buy a home! It's real now, can you believe it? Holla!

Just a side note - I want to buy and wear a pair of clogs.....is that bad?

It's Not A Tumor

Just talked to the doc's office and my test results came back clean and normal! Yay! So I guess I just need to stay hydrated, not overdo it, and stay away from walmart.

Two More Tests

I met with the neuro this morning. He says that it sounds like the fainting/seizure episode was caused by dehydration and low blood sugar, but before they can say that and clear me so that I can drive again, I need two more tests. I have an EEG tomorrow and an MRI Tuesday. If those come back clean, I should be cleared. I'll let ya'll know how it goes......