Insert Clever Blog Name Here

Hubby carved an awesome pumpkin:



We were visited by our adorable grandkids:



And we had about a dozen trick or treaters...Jason, a ninja, a rodeo clown, several princesses and assorted camouflaged zombies. I think there may have been a pirate or two, as well.

After the doorbell stopped ringing, hubby and I settled down to watch "Young Frankenstein", which is our own Halloween tradition.

All in all, a lovely first Halloween in our house. :)

Today we tackled this pile:



And it looks like we'll be living in a library--



And we are FINE with that!

More pics coming soon.

Spent all day packing. The more I sort, pack, and stack--the more I find that still needs to be packed. *flails*

The kitchen stuff is almost entirely packed. Only the pots and pans and plastic stuff left. The DVDs and videos are packed. The breakables are mostly packed.

I have found more yarn than I ever knew I owned...many half-finished projects that were stuffed into a bag and forgotten. I ruthlessly unraveled them and wound the yarn into balls...and filled a HUGE under the bed container and STILL had enough to fill a plastic bag. And that doesn't even take into consideration the cross stitch projects.

NEEDLE WORK FAIL on an epic scale.

And, apparently, every time I bought yarn for a new project, I bought a new crochet hook, too. I have at least ten. Many in the same size. *sigh*

I look around and see that the CDs need to be packed, the desk needs to be sorted, organized and packed, there are drawers to be gone through and ... *flails again*

It's too much.

I have a feeling that moving day (hopefully a week from today for the big stuff) is going to be a lot of throwing crap into boxes just to get it out of the apartment.

Isn't that what most moving days are like...ISN'T IT???

Going to breakfast with hubby tomorrow morning and going to buy a new sewing box...the one I have that used to be my grandmother's (which is a huge plastic thing) is broken beyond repair and yes, I have more thread, buttons, needles and pins than anyone needs--so I need a place for them. I told hubby I do not want a fishing tackle box--I want a proper sewing box. So, after breakfast, we're going to the local craft/hobby store to see if they have something suitable. Then we're picking up the anniversary gift we gave each other--the Monty Python 16 Ton Megaset --and then coming home to even more packing. I'm sure we'll be watching the Pythons as we go.

Off to bed.

So, last Friday...hubby and I made an offer on a house.

And we spent the rest of the weekend stretched as tightly as a bow string waiting to hear back from our agent. Finally, on Sunday at around 2 pm, he called and said we had a verbal agreement from the seller.

Well, it seemed to us that a verbal agreement isn't worth the paper it's written on and so we waited some more to hear that he had signed the contract.

And waited, and waited.

Stressing.

Finally, last night, our agent called again to tell us the contract was signed! (The seller had been out of town--what, he never heard of a fax machine?)

So, next up is the home inspection. Which we expect this place to pass with flying colors.

Tonight, we went out to dinner at our favorite restaurant to celebrate. :) And de-stress with a couple of glasses of wine.

The closing is set for 10/20...the day before our 9th wedding anniversary. And our loan officer at the bank told us we've locked in 5.375% interest...which is a full percentage point lower than we got on the first place.

So...serendipity seems to be at work here. We are big fans of it since it has been at work for us from the beginning of our relationship.

So very happy. So very excited.

Hubby still hasn't told his parents that we are buying a house in town rather than building in the country...which is a bit troubling. But, he will have to before long since some of our stuff is stored at their place.

That's for the near future. Right now, we're just enjoying the calm before the storm.

...that we were only PRE-qualified...now we've gathered up the requested proof of jobs, 401ks, bank accounts, etc...

AND NOW MY STOMACH HURTS AGAIN.

KEE-RICED.

I hope the bank doesn't take its sweet time deciding if we really do qualify for 100 grand.

My nerves can't take it.

The house we love passed the Dad inspection! We are going to meet with our agent tomorrow and write up an offer...

...OMG I can't believe this is actually happening. I hope that there aren't too many bumps in the road...

*squees madly*

Oh, and a funny/nice thing happened to me last night. As I was driving back from having dinner with my dad, I noticed that a car was following me. It became obvious, especially when I turned into the supermarket parking lot and they did too.

So, I parked and got out of my car and watched as they parked not too far away. A very cute girl of about age 20-21 I'd say, got out of the car and bounded over to me. "Do you mind if I take a picture of your license plate?" she asked, adding, "it is Slytherin, right?"

(Here is the license plate in question, it most definitely is the best Slytherin I can do with only seven letters:)



I tell her that, yes, I'm the Tennessee Slytherin and she squeals, "OMG Harry Potter is my life!" and begins to go on about how much she loves HP and how she's getting a tattoo on her hand that says "I must not tell lies" and just going on and on. I pointed out my Hogwarts sticker:


...which is on the back window and that sent her into more bubbly exclamations of HP love. Eventually, I wrote my nickname down and gave her the Sycophant Hex website and told her to look up my fanfic.

I have to say, that made me feel so good.

Had a great time in Florida this past weekend! My dad made his famous BBQ ribs, we laughed much and ate WAY too much. I think I'm still full. Oh and there was a massive Scrabble tournament which was a blast. Here's a few pics.

My sister, in the midst of her epic rib-eating. She ate an entire rack by herself. (I told you my dad's ribs were legendary!)


Me with the wand of the old ones and my own personal cake from my dad.


My sister and me showing off the gifts we received from our mom.


And we were lucky enough to have yet another cake, homemade from Mom! It was delish!


That's all for now...

BTW...hubby and I are house-hunting...send good thoughts our way!

I always take my birthday off--so in the morning, hubby gave me the traditional two cards--one mushy and one silly. The mushy one made me cry! It says: To the woman I'd marry all over again...through all the changes life and love have brought us, one thing will always remain the same--you mean the world to me. It was a wonderful reminder that he (for some reason I'll never understand) loves me as much as I love him. I am so lucky to have found such a wonderful man.

Anyway, I drove hubby to work (so I could keep the car). I picked up some breakfast on the way home (McDonald's sausage, egg & cheese McGriddle-yum) and was playing around on the computer when there was a knock on the door. It was the UPS man (drool--is it a requirement that the UPS delivery folks are all gorgeous? I mean, really--) bearing gifts!

My sister dragged me into the 21st century by buying me my very first cellular phone. Yep, I'm one of "them" now. It's a TracFone, so I don't have to fool with any kind of service contracts or anything--and she was kind enough to purchase some extra time for me, too. I put the sim card in and the battery and then plugged it into the charger.

Next, I worked on the pictures for my previous entry--which took several hours to compose. The time passed swiftly as I looked through and at all the pictures of my sister and our family and friends. It was a nostalgic trip down memory lane for me, so it wasn't a chore at all--I enjoyed every minute of it.

When I finished the LJ entry, I got into the car and went to the UPS depot to pick up a package that was there (we had the sticker on the door a couple of days before) which was one of my gifts from hubby. It was two bottles of my favorite cologne, Amarige by Givenchy they came together in a set, the large 3+ oz bottle and the small 1 oz which is suitable to carry in one's purse.
Wonderful gift. Oh and he gave me chocolate, too. Some Guylian Twists chocolate truffles. YUM.

After I got back from UPS, I checked the mail (cards from family, two of which were bearing gifts of cash--W00T!) then I fooled around online some more until it was time to get ready to go get hubby from work and go out to dinner. So, I got showered, dressed and perfumed (hee) and then picked him up. At first I thought I wanted to go to Outback, but then I heard that the new Carrabba's accepted "call ahead" requests--so I decided that's where I wanted to go. I had heard so many good things about this restaurant, but I had never been.

Everything I heard was proved true, and better.

The staff is friendly, they are knowledgable and they don't try to push the most expensive things on the menu on you. I had a glass of their homemade Sangria to start and hubby tried the Italian beer on their menu. Then we ordered a bruschetta appetiser which was so good, I'm still thinking about it today. The bread was grilled and practically dunked in extra virgin olive oil then spread with a pine nut and herb pesto and topped with fresh mozzarella, diced tomatos and fresh basil.

OH. MY. GOD.

It was so good. Now my natural instinct, on seeing anything green and leafy is to brush it off...but I sucked it up and tasted it...and I'm so glad I did. The bread was crunchy, the toppings were flavorful and the olive oil practically ran down my chin...it did run down my throat...heaven.

After the appetiser came the salad, luckily there was only one because Hubby ate it. I do not like Romaine lettuce, and that's what was in it. So he happily ate it. The house dressing was awesome, though. Oh, and they give you a quarter loaf of wonderful Italian bread, too.

Then we got our entrees. Now I have to say that each course's arrival was perfectly timed. The bread, then the appetiser, the salad and our entrees all were served just when we were ready for them and before we began to wonder where they were--if you know what I mean. Yet we did not feel rushed in any way. The service was fabulous. Anyway, our entrees. Hubby had their homemade pizza with all his favorite toppings. Oven baked with freshly made dough. He was in heaven. I had one of their daily specials which was not on the menu--I can't remember the actual name of the dish, but it was chicken breast, flattened and seasoned then grilled and topped with a light mustard (very light, there wasn't much of it, which was actually perfect) sauce and diced tomatos. It was served with a side of spaghetti. My mouth was, as Emerill would say: happy, happy.

And it wouldn't be a birthday without cake, so we also ordered dessert. (We did not eat all of our entrees--in fact we still have the leftovers which will be lunch today.) The dessert was called "Chocolate Dream"...and they were not lying. It is a fudge brownie brushed with Kahlua then topped with chocolate mousse, whipped cream and chocolate sauce.

Wow. That's all I have to say about THAT. We devoured it. Even my hubby, the man of "don't care about dessert" ate half. :)

I guess what I'm saying is...if there's a Carrabba's Italian Grill anywhere nearby---run, don't walk to partake of their wonderful food.

We came home, all full and satisfied...watched some tv and then fell into a feast-induced coma. hee.

Yesterday, Hubby went to work and I lazed around the house...well, got the laundry done, dishes, etc. But basically just lazed. :) Oh, and played my new obsession: Diner Dash 2.

Guess that's it for now...oh, the paperwork is done, Hubby is the proud owner of 6.9 acres of land...next step toward the house is...to the bank!

Since an update. I'm sorry, but my life has gotten extremely boring lately. Although I did get to meet some online friends last week which was awesome. Online friends + fabulous restaurant = much fun had by all. I stayed up much later than I have in ages and it was totally worth it. I can't wait to do it again.

I received a copy of scott_lynch 's book, but I have not been able to read much of it yet--*wah!*--because not only did I get together last week with my online friends, this social butterfly got together with her work friends as well.

Needless to say, I was pretty much useless over the weekend. Hubby was watching the World Cup.

I did finally get a visit from my absent muse and got most of my ss/hg gift fic written. I have nearly finished it and need to send it to my betas tomorrow. So that means, more writing tonight. It's good discipline, but I really wish that bitch (the muse) had not waited until the VERY LAST MINUTE to show up. Gah.

Oh, in other news, the survey is finished! It is for 6.9 acres, and as soon as it is filed with the courthouse, we can go to the lawyer. Woohoo! We might actually have a house before the end of the year. That would rock.

I'll leave you with a few pictures of our view...the view from our future house...

( Click to see the pretty )

Next update after I finish the fic and the book, probably. Unless something exciting happens.

I'm sitting here this morning, queasy stomached, cotton-headed and dry mouthed--with a huge grin on my face.
I had such a great time last night!
After work, four of us met up at a local steakhouse. Said local steakhouse had Happy Hour with two for one well-brand and they consider Jack Daniels a well brand!!! OMG!! I had them put the two into one large glass and damn. Their bartender was generous. Or maybe I'm not really used to drinking much anymore.
Anyway, the girls and I ordered appetizers (by the way...who ever heard of putting chili on potato skins? Gross) and drinks and then we started talking. We talked about work, ourselves, our past...it was really amazing how much we revealed to each other. We were at the restaurant for a couple of hours. (I had two of the Jack and coke doubles, and NO, I won't be doing that again any time soon.)

I just have to say that last night reminded me of why girlfriends are important. You can say things to other women that you just can't or won't say to a man. And my hubby is one of the best.

We agreed to try to meet like that at least once per month. I can't wait for the next time.

Later today, hubby and I are going to the country to visit his folks and to see his brother's new house. *jealous* Hopefully, it will give my hubby the kick in the pants he needs to write the check to get the survey done on "our" property so we can start our house. I'm not sure what's happening with him, but whenever I bring up the subject, he either changes it or refuses to talk about it. Something is going on with him about that subject, but I'm not sure what. (And I have told him that if he doesn't want to have the house, an apartment is fine with me--no it honestly is--as long as it's not here. If we are going to live in an apartment, I want one with at least a dishwasher, and preferably one with both a dishwasher and a washer and dryer.

As far as the whole thing that happened at work...well, the management keeps saying they "didn't find any reason inside the building or classroom" for what happened. But they have kept us out of that room for the past week while they cleaned it from top to bottom--walls, floors, ceiling, computers--everything. They also fixed the duct system, adding more ventilation. But, the memos going around are all "as far as we can see...nothing is wrong..." Meanwhile, several of my classmates were rushed to the ER and had high levels of carbon in their blood. We believe it was carbon monoxide poisoning. But, the company may never admit that that's what happened. Oh, and we were informed that we will have to use our own sick time for the days we were out...even the days when we were SENT HOME. That really sucks.

Other work news, the training is going well, at least for me. I seem to be grasping the concepts pretty well and I am feeling better about the whole thing overall. There's still a lot to learn, but I was able to obsorb the lessons and tasks this week pretty well and I'm glad. *sigh of relief* I was afraid I would be slow to learn and embarrass myself, but I seem to be one of the quick ones in the class. Whew.

Guess that's all for now. We're off to the country in a little while.

Well, I finally bit the bullet and signed up for a paid LJ account. Mostly so I could use more icons like the one above which was made by caitirin2 . Isn't it gorgeous? *icon love* I also intend to go and find those Star Trek icons I saw butter_cup_ using. I suppose I'll be looking at the different LJ templates again...gah! It took hours to get this one just so...

Yesterday, work was having a "customer service" appreciation celebration which included a contest which was to sing an 80s song karaoke-style over the intercom. I joined up and sang "Girls Just Want to Have Fun". I didn't win the ititial contest (email ballot box stuffing) but the CFO said that anyone who was brave enough to do it (there were only three contestants) deserved a prize, so I won three tickets to a Nashville Predators hockey game later this month. Hubby was thrilled.

Got some good news today, the EPA folks finally got the land to perk, a bit further away from the house than we anticipated, but whew. They are supposed to come out and stake out the area this week. Once that is done we can get the damned survey done and then file the quick claim deed. Then, it's off to the bank to find out how much they will loan us and we can pick out a house. I hope the EPA folks don't disappoint us this week.

Got to get back to my Lily/Kingsley fic I'm doing for snegurochka_lee in a little bit. I'm going to go read the meme ficlet she wrote because I stumped her on her fic meme. I'm just getting the smutty part started on mine, so I'm wondering if I should base it on how much I like the one she wrote for me? *evil laugh*