Thursday, May 26, 2011

live from new york....

yup.  we've been here a week now.  it's been a hell of a week, too.  we've done nothing but unpack, eat take out or fast food, and build furniture.

and shop for furniture.  we still don't have a living room, but it should be delivered tomorrow.

my office is just about set up.  i'm writing this on my new ikea desk.  it's pretty big.  i might take photos at some point.

the cats handled the move very well.  HOWEVER jake apparently scratched his cornea and it's ulcerated and nasty and disgusting and he can't see out of it.  we were here four days before i was able to introduce jake to our long-time new york vet.  and i took taylor to the vet the monday before we left florida.  ridiculous.

really ridiculous.

anyway, jake has a follow up tomorrow.  we hope he will not permanently lose vision in that eye.  the same thing happened to one of my friend's cats and he seems fine now.  so i'm really hoping.

so i moved into this house sight unseen.  awesome husband and my brother (and sisterfromanothermister) had seen this place but not me.  it was surprising and pleasing aside from the kitchen which is WOEFULLY lacking in cabinet space.  and had no pantry.  we rectified that by buying a free standing pantry (at ikea, mais oui) and it fits TONS OF SHIT.  we've spent more money on shit at ikea than i'd like to admit.

and we still don't have lights in most rooms.  like NONE of the rooms have overhead lighting so we need lamps everywhere. 

but the cats are superhappy.  taylor is more active than i've seen him in years.  i don't know if he's superhappy to be back with our brother or what, but he bounds up and down the hallway chasing after jake or samantha.  it's very cute.  except they all think that the carpets are for scratching, so we really really really really need to get a scratching post.

i already went back to work on tuesday, and awesome husband starts his new job on june 1st.  we found out he'll be making more money than we originally thought, and we're REALLY happy about that lol.  it will be a 3:30-11:30 shift and he'll be a shop foreman.  so instead of just doing the mechanic-y things, he has to help all the other peeps in the shop.  and that late shift is made up of a lot of younger guys.  his manager said if he can whip those guys into shape in 60 days, he could be looking at even more money.  it's a really really great opportunity - very exciting.

and i have a new position with my company, which is a pain in the ass to describe but i'm happy with it.  for now.

so hopefully some other people will have moves that end up as good as mine has.  good times, people, good times. 

and i've already had some greek food in the past week.  delicious.  and happy.

Wednesday, May 18, 2011

ashland, va

hi.

i'm in ashland, va.  in a days inn.  with awesome husband and four cats.  all of whom are traumatized to some level.

there is also a SWEET ASS jacuzzi tub.  that doesn't work. 

hmph.

on the plus side, the gal at the desk said she wouldn't charge the $10 per cat 'pet fee'.  and the guy that was trying to check in before i got there left behind a coupon.  so a room that i originally thought would cost me a benjamin cost me $52.

so we drove like 750ish miles today from 7am to 7:40pm.  stopped for gas three times, coffee once, bathrooms twice, and food twice.

there's so much more.  like photos of our 10 linear feet of space on the truck MAXED OUT and all the shit we ended up leaving behind because i can't estimate space worth shit.  i mean, even the room in the car.  i underestimated that.  A LOT.  and we've had this car for like well over 5 years.  and moved to florida with it twice (once for us, once for mom).  so you'd think i'd have like figure it out by now.

nope.

on the plus side, no one can see the shit i have stashed in my car, like computers and televisions and shit like that.  so hopefully no one will break in and try to steal anything. 

my mom's in there too.  yup.  so i guess she's like, guarding it.

Monday, May 16, 2011

still trying to move

seriously.  it's like ridiculous.  now our buyers want five more days to close.  we've already got a truck on the way tomorrow to be loaded.  we're leaving wednesday morning.  i've had the utilities turned on at the new place in new york and have scheduled disconnects here in the FLA.

we sold a bunch of shit on saturday at a garage sale.  what we didn't sell, we called a guy from craigslist that said he'd pick anything up. 

he didn't take our couch and chair that have cat damage.  fucking cats.  like i care.  i hate that couch.  i can't wait to buy new stuff in new york.

and we bought new bedroom furniture that's still in the boxes.  a GROWN UP bedroom set.  with a dresser that has a mirror!  and nightstands that match!  OH EM GEE!

so there is some food in the fridge.  i made my bestie take a bunch of it when she came over saturday night because, hello, we can't take all those lean cuisines with us.

the only room that's kind of normal still is my office because i'm working still.  well, until 5pm today.  then i'm off for like a week. 

i'm not planning on being very active.  i know, i know.  you'll all miss me terribly.  but the next time i blog, it may well be from new york.  or from a rest stop where i'm eating fast food and trying not to kill the cats.

we'll see.

until then, keep your unit on you.

Tuesday, May 10, 2011

good news and why i hate most things.

unless you've been following me on the twitter (@stephgas people, get on that please) you are probably unaware that shit's been coming up roses this week.

after a crappy mother's day spent fucking hating most things and crying at a commercial about quitting smoking, monday was a refreshing change. 

seriously, this commercial is horrifying.  and i kept seeing it on mother's day.  and it kept. on. playing.  and awesome husband usually makes fun of me when i get all emotional and cry at commercials (usually publix's holiday commercials. dicks) even HE didn't crack a smile after this one.


this commercial is one of the WORST THINGS i've ever seen in my life.  apparently it's been around for some time and has even been written about by other people - about how fucking wrong it is. 

now, i'm a former smoker.  my mother died five months and five days before mother's day.  this was my first mother's day without her.  she died from lung cancer that had spread throughout much of her body.

and i had to keep seeing this fucking commercial.

the vodka helped, to be honest.  awesome husband drank rum and coke all day mother's day in honor of mom - that was what she drank.

so after multiple crying jags, a few vodka cranberries, and some cartoons, i went to bed and dreamed about two-ton 21 (one of my hermit crabs) breaking through the screen and escaping.  and coming after me.  yes, seriously.  i have no idea.

monday morning awesome husband and i woke up earlyish (8.  we had nowhere to be).  i have to work, he has to pack.  at this point, we still have NO definitive answers for housing or job situations.  we were supposed to hear back monday.  just after 9am, awesome husband's cell rings - and it's the realtor.  we have the house!  the most perfect house for us.  it used to be a mother-daughter, a high ranch.  the second kitchen in the lower apartment is now a big laundry room.  but my brother and sisterfromanothermister have the lower part which has a small living room, two bedrooms, a full bath, and the laundry room.  the upstairs part has a big living room, dining room, kitchen, full bath, and three bedrooms.  i've not seen it yet, but i'm told it's AWESOME and has navy carpeting.

which makes me a bit nervous.  awesome husband said 'blue carpet' and i said i hate blue carpet.  he said it's 'dark blue'.  i said, 'navy?' and he said 'yes'.  but he is a boy.  and boys don't always appreciate the subtleties in shades of blue.  so we'll see.

not twenty seconds after he hung up the phone, it rang again.  we were celebrating and it was a number he didn't recognize.  awesome husband answered it and it was a job offer.  more money than he was making down here and a higher position - shop foreman.  it's a great opportunity and we're superexcited about it.  it's actually at a dealership he worked at about 7 years ago before we moved to florida. 

so we had a good day yesterday.  i finally had an address to get quotes on moving our shit to new york.  now we have half a house-full of crap, us, our car, and four cats.  oh, and two hermit crabs.  and i didn't want to have to drive our car with the cats alone, and have awesome husband drive a rental truck because that would SUCK.  so we're using the same company we used to move down here.  they generally haul broadway-show type sets across country but rent out space on the tractor trailers for moving people.  we used them to move from new york to florida, we used them to move mom from new york to florida, so we're excited that they'll be able to help us out again.  i got my contract from them today and we're set to go.  it's costing us about $500 more than renting a truck and gassing it up, but it's worth it to us because we don't have to drive alone.  for 20-something hours. 

and then today, i started cancelling services here in florida.  the power will be shut off, the cable and internet, the phone, and the water.  and thursday i'll probably call to start having everything turned on in new york. 

then saturday we're having another yard sale to sell all this furniture that we're not bringing.  and my bestie is coming over saturday  night.  and sunday we're having a few friends over.  and monday i have my last day of work in florida. 

then tuesday, we load that truck.  and wednesday morning we're off on another adventure.

at least this one brings us back home.

Thursday, May 5, 2011

one door opens, another slams shut in my fucking face

okay so good news/bad news sitch.  awesome husband has left me all alone (with four cats and two hermit crabs.... so not terribly alone) and gone to new york to find a house/job.

and what did he do?  he joined a fucking gym.  seriously.  i have two weight benches and a set of those fancy adjustable dumbbells that were like $300 ON SALE and p90x and the over the door thingy to do pull ups.  and he goes to new york and joins a damn gym.

yeah, that's not lasting.  if he's joining a gym, he's selling all that shit.  plus the gym is like a half hour drive from where we are probably going to live.  so it will take him an hour round trip to drive to the place where he'll work out for an hour.

men reading this, i bet you think this makes perfect sense.

women, i don't need to say anything more.


BUT we did find the PERFECT place to live!  it's actually two blocks from where we lived with my mom in new york and across the canal from where my brother lives now (doesn't that sound fancy?)  it's a high ranch so the lower floor has like two bedrooms and a bathroom and a laundry room and the upper levels have living room, dining room, kitchen, three bedrooms, and another bath.

so the lower level is basically a kitchen-less apartment.  perfect for my brother and sisterfromanothermister.  and there's room for an office.

and a workout room.  fucking awesome husband.  not like he's reading this.  DICK.

it's a little more than we were hoping to spend and has oil heat (sobbing) but we can make it work.

IF awesome husband finds a job this morning.  we don't really anticipate a problem because good mechanics are not a dime a dozen.  and awesome husband has had literally THOUSANDS of dollars of chrysler-specific training and chrysler dealers LOVE that shit.

so we're applying with the property management company today.  the realtor that showed the house doesn't think we'll have a problem.  i'm hoping she's right because IT IS PERFECT.

the door closing is the buyers for our house in florida.  the inspection came back and the inspector is like 'there are some loose shingles, a couple of missing shingles, and some puckering shingles on the roof.  so fix it and do some routine maintenance'.  the buyer's agent interpreted that to 'we want you to replace the roof'.  which is so not happening.  we're less than two weeks from closing.  so we are trying to get a roofer in here to see how much the repair/maintenance will cost and we'll offer to do that and see if they are okay with that.

legally, they have to be.  in florida once an offer is accepted the buyer only has like three times to back out of the sale without losing the escrow.  one is inspection, one is appraisal, and the other one i forget but it already passed.  now they SKIPPED the inspection and went right to the appraisal because they thought it would appraise for less than the offer/asking price and wanted us to let them have it for that price.

yeah.  not happening.

but they WAIVED their inspection contingency so they cannot use it as an excuse to back out of the purchase without penalty.

technically, my realtor tells me there are ways they can have their loan denied which would void the purchase without any penalty.  and we are motivated.  so we are going to try and work with it.  but it's just another headache that i didn't want.

so i'm eating lots of tarzipan and playing the sims medieval until awesome husband comes home tomorrow.  at the very least, until i get word that we have that house and awesome husband has a job.

that will make me happy in the pants.

Tuesday, May 3, 2011

why u no follow me on twitter?

hahahahaha.



seriously.  DO EEEEET.

follow me on the twitter.  @stephgas.

what else?

 notice the shiny new uptweet button and facebook share button on my blog.

use them.

because i crave more followers.  i really do.  it's like high school all over again.  i want to be as popular as the other guys and gals on the bus with me.

i mean, i'll never be a 'the bloggess' or 'aunt motherfucking becky' or 'annah' or whatever.

but i can be a KICK ASS steph gas.

and blogger,  WHY U NO BON ME?

seriously.  have you SEEN the blogs of note recently?  am i not as good, if not better, than most of them?

i think i am.  but then again, i'm a narcissistic whore.

in other news, PACKING and FINDING A PLACE TO LIVE dominate my life.  i keep taking sims medieval breaks, but it's still pretty fucking ridiculous.  especially since i am not in new york, but in florida.  and i need to find a place to live in new york.

yup.

anyway.  fucking moving.  yeah.