Long Time No Writing...

I have a lot to catch up on...

First of all, my Air Force buddy, Jim got me started on Facebook. Alyssa and Trish got me back on Myspace. So, I have been happily reconnecting with friends for the past week. I just signed up for Facebook last Sunday. It is so cool. I don't feel quite so lonely.

The picture of everyone on the porch is our friends from the apartments who went Trick-Or-Treating with us. Idahoans take Halloween seriously! There were adults and children dressed up in the middle of the day at Wal-mart and Sams. They were out by 5 p.m. and candy was gone by 8. The girls didn't get the usual candy fest like Texas. I know better for next year.

The picture of my laptop with the desktop rotated 90 degrees was Kimberly playing on it and "pushing buttons" while I cooked dinner. Needless to say she doesn't touch it anymore. She has her own computer anyway, so she doesn't need to use mine.

I am praying everything works out because I may have a renter for my house in Texas. I am so excited about that. One less thing to worry about. I just hope she is as blessed by the house as I have been. I know she'll have the best neighbors.

Speaking of neighbors, my next door neighbors up here moved from Texas. Randy was stationed at Fort Hood for 14 years. They are very nice. They prevented me running over Lee and Kimberly's bikes that were behind my car.

I am still unpacking and very frustrated. This house just doesn't have any room. I am going to have to get rid of stuff or get a storage unit. I've got to get the cars in the garage. We are already having frost on the windshields.

Lee and Stina finished getting the living room cleared out so we can rent a sofa. Our friends are coming over here for Thanksgiving. It would be nice to have somewhere to sit. I don't want to buy one until I know I have a renter and figure out what I want and save up for it.

We had snow yesterday. It didn't stick, but some of the flakes were quarter size and the girls caught them on their tongues. They were so excited. It was neat to watch them play and just enjoy the snow. I know there's more to come. By Friday we should have more snow and Saturday a winter mix. I love when they predict that. I am so glad Lee joined the Commuter Ride and doesn't have to drive very far in it. His car just isn't made for ice or snow.

I started looking at what I need to do to try and start selling on ebay or just on the web up here. I have to pay $100 just to register my business up here. That's keeping my incorporation in Texas. It's just crazy how much everyone wants to dig into your pockets!

Well, it's late and I'm finally sleepy. I'll post more later. Blessings.

Adventures, Adventures

Well, my life is not without its little adventures this week....

Yesterday when I went to take the girls to homeschool PE, the car was dead. No lights, no alarm, no nothing. Great a dead battery. I have been trying to figure out how Kimberly's door was ajar. I know I went out after the family outing for bicycle tires and checked. It finally hit me, she left something in the car and went out after I had checked.

So here we are trying to get out the door. Car dead, battery charger packed in never land (Lee swears he saw it somewhere). We checked with the neighbors we've met. They weren't home. Just my luck. As embarrassing as it was, I started trying to wave somebody down. Third person was the charm. She had to go get her grandchildren and then helped me. It was refreshing that she knew how to jump start a car. Made quick work of it. At least hooking it up. then I get lights, camera, no action. I flipped the switch on the alarm and the horn starts blowing, lights blinking. Luckily it finally responded to the key fob. Then the car started. So, off we go uneventful, right. Not!

Kimberly missed her class. I'm taking Stina to hers and the battery light comes on whenever I stop. I take it to Auto Zone to have it tested and the alternator. Well, they tried but the battery was too low. So, no test. Well, luckily Lee takes a van pool and his car was in town. So I parked my car where I could use his to jump it if I needed to and took his car.

So off to PE to get Stina. I thought she saw me when I waved to her. Well, she didn't. I wondered why she wasn't coming over after PE. I looked for her while Kimberly was on the walking track up stairs. I thought I heard my phone but didn't get it in time. Then I look towards the doors and in walks Stina. Poor thing was waiting outside calling me.

We did our errands and met Lee back at the cars. My car decided it would start, so I was not complaining. The rest of the day was pretty uneventful. Stina made dinner so I could try to follow the Election. I don't have TV until Monday, so Todd texted me with updates. The girls got a government lesson last night. They were waiting for each update too.

Today, I got up early, made coffee and sent Lee off to work. I sent some stuff dealing with my house to Russell. I had to get some donations on the porch by 7:30, so I was putting those into bags. Found where the girls missing socks and underwear went. Another mystery solved...

I mark the bags and start putting them on the porch. The first bag, fine the door didn't shut all the way. The second and third bags it shut behind me. No big deal just go back in. Well, these locks are the kind you can turn the handle to get out and it locks behind you. Did I mention it was cold and I was in my pj's without a robe? The girls are still sleeping. Great, now I'm locked out. It took about 10 seconds and I remembered that I had put a lockbox out with a key. I was thanking God for telling me to do that last week. We don't have a keypad on the garage, so that wasn't an option like in Texas.

The rest of the morning has been uneventful. I can handle that. I have to get a couple of packages off in the mail now. Trying to find a box for one. Located my large envelopes for the other. Now, I have completed this year's birthday gifts just in time for Christmas... Ugh... It was much easier when I lived close to everyone and didn't have to think about sending stuff home....

Oh a couple years ago, when Stina was at her prime she kicked in two of the bedroom doors. Since it is being fixed to rent, the doors have to be fixed. I told her she would pay for them when they got replaced. She now gets to pay me $180 for both of them. She took it pretty well. I hope this will help her get that stubborn temper under better control. She is doing better. Could like all of us, use improvement. Her temper gets her into more trouble.

Well, that's all my tales for today.

Blessings.

Culture Shock!!

I know this may sound funny, but I had some very real culture shock on Friday! I know Halloween is fun for all. Back home you expect to see a few kids in costume in the afternoon. Well, in Idaho the kids and parents were in costume in the middle of the day. I had to run errands and get the last two items for Stina's costume--tights and black eyeliner. The girls and I just looked at each other. We're talking about at Sam's and Wal-mart. I just couldn't believe all the people dressed up at 3 in the afternoon.

I also learned that we had better get out by 5:30. There were so many trick-or-treaters in our neighborhood, most of us ran out in about an hour and a half. I bought like I did back in Texas and I thought we had a lot back there. Next year I will have to buy 4 Sam's bags of candy instead of my usual 2. We had the light off, but when we returned home, some people just followed us to the house. We had friends over and had to make sure the porch light was off and they still kept coming. I guess they saw the living room light on. Go ahead and laugh at me.

The kids had a great time. Alyssa dressed Buddy up as a cowboy. He was cute. She went as a witch and Trish was a cow. I mean she had the complete costume and makeup. She was funny. I did not get to dress up. My black dress for my witch's costume has not showed itself yet. Neither have my black shoes. I'm missing one whole section of my closet. Not necessarily a bad thing since I have to share a closet with Lee that isn't even the size of either one of ours back home.

We got to meet our next door neighbors on Saturday. They moved here from Texas. Randy was stationed at Fort Hood for 10 years. Now he works for the Sheriff's Dept. Chris said she has family here. Now, how we met is interesting. Lee and Kimberly left their bikes behind my car. They waved us down to let me know they were there. I couldn't see them.

Now, the next question is why were they there? We were getting ready to go on a family ride. Last weekends ago Lee and Kimberly popped their tires on these weeds called goatheads. They are little stickers and are very numerous around here. Lee fixed Kimberly's. The girls talked him into a bike ride mid week. I told him he could take mine since his wasn't fixed. Well, he popped my tired and Stina popped hers. We were headed out to get the self sealing inner tubes. Seems we need them a lot around here.

Lee just came in to check on me. He noticed that I have my "blogging buddy". None other than Salem. He's gong to hate it when I get these boxes unloaded. I also have Chance keeping me company. He likes that I let him outside. He's a good boy as long as he's not getting scavenging for food. He ate Stina's Halloween candy. Oh, she was mad. She was particularly upset that he chewed her pumpkin that she has used since she was 6.

Well, I had better cut this off. I have to get the girls to bed. They have both had their showers and brushed their teeth. Please comment if you'd like. I'd love to hear from you. I tried to put it on here. If there is a problem, I will try to find it. Take care!

Blessings!