Extreme Makeover Crooked Home Edition

I am such a dreamer. David and I live in a crooked little house in the country that I have been dying to paint and decorate, but have been holding off since it was promised to my sister and her fiance' after they get married in August. I haven't done anything permanent to the house because we were only going to be living there through summer. Brig 'n' Bob (the sister and fiance') recently decided that Brig will change her major back to music from liberal studies which means they will be living in Santa Clarita for at least another couple of years. I'll miss my sis... but what does that mean for me? Extreme Makeover Crooked Home Edition! And that is where the dreaming comes in. My new obsession is anything and everything that has to do with Better Homes & Gardens- magazines, books, TV shows. You name it. If I see "Better Homes & Gardens" on the top of the cover at the bookstore, I grab it and read it and buy it or discard it, depending on the number of ideas that could be applied to our house. The dreaming has its unrealistic sides, like, flip-flopping the bathroom and closet, knocking out walls, jacking up the corner of the house so that it is no longer the crooked little house-- although, I think the house would have an identity crisis at that point. All ideas which are possible, but definitely not probable. Ideas that are a little more likely are- redoing the icky bathroom, trading the carpet in the kitchen (yes- CARPET in the KITCHEN) for something that actually belongs on a kitchen floor, painting... well... everything, and getting some window shades or curtains. We are currently walking around in clear view of anyone driving by. Peeping Toms out there- that is not an invitation. Yes, I have all sorts of ideas and lists and pages bookmarked on the Better Homes & Gardens site (of course). And now I can actually do some of these things to the house! I'm pretty excited, but I will be more excited when my hubby's ankle is restored to him and he can help out too. Patience... Until we are able to flip this house, I will just be happy to live in a crooked, funky, exposed, funny little house. It's always an adventure!

Country Life

(I wrote this post right after we moved in)

We are officially country bumpkins. I think that's what they are called. David overslept this morning and it wasn't the sound of a semi passing that woke him up as might have been the case in Petaluma, it was a donkey. If you don't actually know what a donkey sounds like and think it's a mild "hee-haw", here's a snippet for you> Donkey

On one side we have my parents' house (used to be my grandma's- my parents are moving in when they return from their Tahitian cruise) and on the other, we have Honky the Donkey (his real name). He's cute as can be, but sometimes he's an ass. That's a donkey joke, for ya'll.

If you want your children to learn their barnyard noises, bring them on over to our place. Besides the donkey, our neighbors own horses which are not quite as loud as our donkey friend. On my parents' side there are 2 steer.

Don't get too friendly with them though- it's almost slaughtering time. If you want to wait and visit them in a few months, you can come over for a barbecue. Yes, I love animals, but I'm not an animal rights activist. I'll talk to the steer while they are alive and pet their heads, but when it comes down to it- they are beef- very tasty beef, I might add. Across the street we have cows, sheep, and probably a variety of other farm animals. There are peacocks somewhere nearby because I hear them shriek on occasion...

And of course, there is the neighborhood barn cat. He belongs to the neighbors on the other side of my parents' house. He is a very friendly cat. He comes up and rubs against your legs, walks in the house if there is an open door... and jumps in your car while you are loading laundry. David and I learned that last fact about him this morning. David loaded the laundry into my car last night so we can do laundry at my parents' house while they are gone. I went out to my car to leave this morning and saw a cat sitting on top of the laundry pile in my back seat. (Phone pic>)

It freaked me out at first, then I thought David was playing a trick on me, and then I realized the poor cat had been in there all night. He had hopped in last night without David realizing it. I unlocked the car and let him out only to watch him stroll over to the open door to house and walk inside. Somehow the night in the car didn't phase him. Maybe he is partially retarded... (Seriously- I had a retarded cat for a while and she was the sweetest cat I've ever met. Nothing could scare that sweet disposition out of her.) On my way to work, I looked for cat poo in the car, but haven't found any... yet. I'll keep you posted. This will definitely be an adventure...

Disconnected

We should have internet soon as my parents just moved in next door and will be hooking up their wireless. An update from the crooked house is coming!