A Girl From Home

Well the vacation is finally over. I was really sad to see my sister go back home. If I had my way she would move up here with us.

We made it down to Tennessee on Friday. The visit went well and our granddaughter is doing very well. She’s 11 months old and already wears 18-24 month clothes! The girl is not fat in the slightest, she’s just big. On both the drive down and the drive back we ran into some of the worst weather EVER! I was driving down I-71 doing about 20MPH. It was raining so hard that you couldn’t see anything. On the way down you could hardly see the car in front of you, and if it was a white car you couldn’t see it at all. People were pulled over all up and down the side of the road. On the way back it was dark of course and that made it even worse. All you could do was follow the tail lights of the car in front of you and hope to hell they knew where they were going. As we were coming back we were listening to the weather and they had alert after alert on how bad the conditions were. I would have pulled off at an exit but I couldn’t even SEE the exits! I finally drove out of the worst about 15 miles or so north of Louisville, but it rained on us the rest of the way home. I have never been so happy to see the Cut In The Hill before!

I had to return the rental car today so in the end Ap0k was stuck at work with no vehicle. When I went to pick him up this afternoon I was screwed royally. I was on I-74 and when I got to the I-75 North ramp it was blocked off! There were police everywhere! They shoved us all over into the lanes for I-75 South. “No biggie”, I thought, “I’ll just get off and go up to the next entrance ramp.” WRONG! The exit (and entrance) ramps were all blocked off too. There were even police officers on the overpasses. The first exit I came to that was open was the one that takes me right back home again. Now how ridiculous is that? I drove for over 30 minutes only to end up back at the same spot I started from. Of course that meant I had to start all over again only this time I had to stick to ground level streets instead of the interstate. I ended up getting to Ap0k’s office almost an hour later than I intended.
So what was all the hoo-ha about? Why was the interstate shut down?
Because Bush was here visiting! They shut all of the northbound lanes down so that he could travel alone on it. What kind of crap is that?
This is the THIRD time that Bush has screwed up my drives. It happened twice in Tampa and now once here. Grrrrrr!!!!!! I understand he’s an important man and all, but come on, I had places to go as did everyone else on the interstate. It probably wouldn’t have bothered me near as bad if they had just made us wait, but to make us go the exact opposite way we were intending was just not cool.

What a busy week this has been, and it’s not over yet!
My little sister is visiting this week and we have been going all over the place.

On Monday we went to the Cincinnati Museum Center at Union Terminal.



The museum was originally Cincinnati’s main train terminal. The terminal was originally opened in 1933. During WW2 it was a major transportation hub for the military and the general population. With the explosion of interstates and air travel during the 1950’s the terminal died a slow death. By 1972 only 2 trains passed through the terminal each day so it was officially closed. In 1977 it was declared a National Historic Landmark. At one point during the 1980’s a developer tried to run a mall in the terminal but due to the recession the venture failed. In the late 1980’s the terminal was completely refurbished and in 1990 it was reopened as the Museum Center. The museum center actually contains 3 separate museums,; The Cincinnati History Museum, The Museum of Natural History and Science, and The Children’s Museum. It also houses the OmniMax Theater which is currently going through major renovations.
The terminal is actually a working terminal again. In 1991 Amtrak Passenger service resumed.
The museum center attracts more than 1.4 million visitors each year.
Whether you are a fan of museums, or a lover of Art Deco architecture, if you are ever in the Cincinnati area I would highly recommend visiting the Union Terminal Museum Center.

On Tuesday we went to The Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Garden.
The Zoo opened in 1875 and is the 2nd oldest zoo in the United States. It’s been nicknamed “The Sexiest Zoo in America” due to it’s extensive world renowned breeding program. For some reason I find that totally hysterical.

As most of you know I am a flower picture taking fool. Here are some of the pictures I took at the zoo of the various flowers in bloom:















Wednesday was shopping day. This included the antique mall, Tuesday Morning, the mall, Bed Bath & Beyond, and Jungle Jims.

Today is Thursday. We are going to go to Sharon Woods and take a ton more nature pictures.

Tomorrow we are going to go down to Tennessee to see my daughter and granddaughter.

No plans yet for Saturday or Sunday except for the fact that we have to have her back to the airport by 6:00PM on Sunday.

To add to all of the above, Monday was my birthday and today is Ap0k’s and my 21st anniversary.

Come Monday you will probably find me asleep in a corner somewhere!

Saturday, after a shopping trip, we somehow managed to leave the side door wide open and Tippy got out. In just the couple minutes it took to realize the door was open he had completely and utterly disappeared. The poor guy has never been outside before.
Ap0k, my little sister, and I all looked everywhere for him. We searched the yard from one end to the other. We walked up and down the street looking in everyone’s yard while calling his name. He was just GONE.
Sunday morning at 5AM we started looking again. All over the yard and up and down the street without catching a glimpse of him anywhere. I was a wreck inside and I don’t think Ap0k was feeling much better. We’ve had Tippy since the day he was born. If it weren’t for Ap0k taking care of him he wouldn’t have even survived. He was so tiny and cold.
The later it got in the day the more upset I got. Where on earth could he have gone? We looked in every nook and cranny around.
I was worried sick! The poor baby had to be scared, tired, and hungry.
About 12:30AM on Monday (today) I saw the neighbor’s cat in the driveway next door. When he walked behind the house he looked to his side, stopped, and hissed like mad. I went out and chased him off and looked all over again. I called and called but again I couldn’t find him anywhere. I was devastated!
About 1:30AM I went out on the back porch and saw him sitting on the back steps! My heart about fell right out on the ground. I opened the door of the porch and that scared him a bit. He jumped down and went around the corner of the house and under the porch where we store the trash cans. I called him and he started hollering like mad. I sat down on the sidewalk and he came out and walked over to me. I snatched him up and took him right into the house. For the next 30 minutes he hollered and yelled and basically raised one heck of a fuss. Boy was he not in a good mood! I chopped up some chicken for him and he calmed down a bit.
He’s wandering around the house now, smelling and looking at everything. I guess he’s just making sure that everything is as he left it. It did throw him for a loop when he walked into the living room and saw the 3 new tables we bought. I will admit that that made me laugh.

I am soooooo relieved that he is back home!

I finally got around to transferring my driver’s license from Florida to Ohio. I had kept putting it off because it was going to be such a hassle to get it all done. In the end I finally had to go through with it because my Florida license was due to expire on Monday.
I looked up the BMV site to see what info I would need to bring and was horrified. Not only did you need your current license and your social security card, it also said you need a birth certificate, a marriage license if you have changed your name, and possibly a credit card or other form of ID with your name and/or social security number on it. To top it all off, a person transferring license from another state to Ohio has to take a written test! I haven’t had to take a written driving test in over 20 years.
I downloaded the BMV driver’s handbook in pdf format and read through it but couldn’t find anything different from Florida other that what to do if you are on the highway during ice and snow conditions.
Of course I got all stressed out because tests always throw me for a loop. I can know a subject forwards, backwards, and upside down, but if you ask me to take a test on it I will almost always have a minor panic attack.
There are only 2 places in this county that you can take the test so I was sure I would have to wait in line forever.
I gathered all of my forms of ID and headed for the office farthest away from the center of the city.
When I got to the sheriff’s sub-station to take the test I didn’t even have to wait in line. The officer looked at my Florida license, filled out the info on paper, and then gave me an eye test. He then sent me over to the computer to take the test and I went through my minor attack. The test consisted of 40 questions total and you were only allowed to miss 11 of them or you fail. I answered the first 29 questions correctly and it stopped the test on me and said I passed. WHEW! What a relief that was!!!! I would have been terribly embarrassed if I had failed the test after having driven for so many years. I went to the next counter and another officer filled out my paperwork and sent me to the office next door to get the license itself.
Again I didn’t have to wait. I was called right up to the counter and I went up armed with all the forms of ID they said I would need. In the end the girl only asked for my Florida license, my social security card, and $23. Why do they make you bring all that other stuff and then not ask to see it?
I had my picture taken (gag!), waited the 2 minutes it takes for the computer to spit the license out, and off I went.
The whole thing, which I thought was going to be a major ordeal, took only 35 minutes from beginning to end. Now I am officially a citizen of Ohio!
Here is what I really don’t understand. When I entered the sheriff’s substation there were four people sitting at computers taking the test. When I left the office those same four people were STILL sitting at the computers. What was taking them so long? The test is multiple choice and almost all of the questions are brain dead simple. When I went to the other office to get the license itself there were 3 people standing at windows doing their thing. When I left they were all still standing there! One guy was getting pretty belligerent too. He wanted to know why he needed to show ID to get his license. He said that he had legitimately passed the written test and that is all that should matter. He should be able to get his license without showing any ID at all. The other two people didn’t have anything with their social security numbers on them. The clerks were trying to explain to them how to get copies of their social security cards and birth certificates, but even though both people looked normal enough, evidently they were dumb as rocks because they just weren’t getting it at all.

As a reward forgetting through the whole thing without panicking I took myself shopping. I bought 3 small dressers (2 white and one pine), a blue king size comforter, a bed skirt, 6 towels, 6 pairs of undies (gotta have my new undies!!!), a silver bowl for my blue balls, 2 blankets, and a pink/grey/white Adidas tracksuit.

All that stress over nothing. When will I learn not to worry about things that MIGHT happen?

Here’s a bit of an update on how things have been going:

The living room furniture arrived and looks fantastic! The colors of the furniture go well, but contrast nicely, with the wall color.

The bedroom furniture arrived also. We painted the bedroom blue and it makes the wood of the furniture jump right off the wall. It’s the biggest bedroom we have ever had. We put a king size bed, a full dresser, and two large nightstands in it and there is still plenty of room to wander around in there. I am used to tiny little bedrooms so this one is pretty much tickling me to death.

The appliances, now that is another story! The guys came Friday with the stove and dishwasher. The dishwasher had a large dent in the door so I refused it. Then when they brought the stove in it was white instead of black. I told them it was supposed to be black and they actually asked if I was sure Ap0k had ordered a black one. I asked why, if I had a black refrigerator already, and had ordered a black dishwasher, then why on earth would he have ordered a white stove? They tried to get me to accept it anyway but I refused it. We paid extra for black and I want black! Ap0k went to the store the next morning and they brought us a new black stove, but had no one to hook up the gas. They are bringing the dishwasher on Monday and they are supposed to be sending someone along who can hook up both the stove and the dishwasher correctly. I can’t even use the kitchen sink now. The first guys unhooked the old dishwasher and left the connection to the drain open. That means when I run the water in the sink it drains into the cabinet. Of course I did not realize that until after I ran the water! I will say this for Home Depot; it was not their fault that Maytag delivered a dented dishwasher, but they are replacing it themselves. They are trying to make the stove issue right too, plus they gave us a $50 credit for our troubles.

I have gotten the dressing room red finally. It took 3 coats of paint on the wall and 4 coats on the edges, but it’s finally done. Now I have to wait a week for the paint to set up so that I can tape it up for the white parts.

The hallway and stairway has one coat of paint already and I will do the final coat today. I chose a yellowish-khaki color. LOL! Some people would say that a paint store had exploded in my house, but it’s not near as bad as it sounds. All of the colors really do work together. Each room flows nicely into the next and while the entry room would look silly next to the dressing room, you can’t see them both at once from anywhere. Any room that can be seen from any other, goes together.

We still can’t find a 5’x8’ pub table for the dining room. Apparently the largest anyone makes is 5’x5’? Ap0k is going to call some of the Amish furniture stores to see if he can get one made. 5’x5’ would be too small for the room. 5’x8’ is as small as you can go without looking silly.

On a different note; the people who live two doors down had a party last night. By the time it was over (around 4am) there were some DRUNK people wandering around! At about 2am they were all out there singing “Sweet Caroline” at the tops of their lungs. It was really pretty funny. The cool thing was that because these houses are built so well you could only hear them if you were in the kitchen. One step out of the kitchen and you literally couldn’t hear a peep.

Now I am off to paint some more!

Was talking to my little sister on the phone yesterday and she asked what I was doing. I told her I was sitting in the corner of the bedroom with a razor blade. She thought I had lost my mind!
No, I have not gone suicidal; I was actually scraping paint off of a baseboard. And no, it wasn’t me who got the paint on the baseboard; this paint is ancient and beige.

I have completed the bedroom and the new bedroom furniture will be delivered on Friday. I painted the room blue and the furniture is a lighter wood. It should go very well together.

I started working on the dressing room today. It’s all primed and ready for paint tomorrow. It will take a week to get it done because the wall color has to dry enough to be able to tape it off so that I can paint the window frames, baseboards, and wardrobe. This room will be red with white trim.

I don’t think I ever told you that we have officially moved in. This past Wednesday the movers came and loaded up. We decided to go with movers instead of doing it ourselves because we had so much heavy stuff that went on upper floors. My books alone would have taken us days to get to the 3rd floor!

The new living room furniture will be delivered on Tuesday. It’s very “retro-ish.” Kind of a 50’s-60’s hip and modern style. Low backed with no arms. Very coooooool.

My new stove and dishwasher will be here Friday. Yes, I am spoiled rotten!

The floors are all sanded and ready for stain. We just have a few more stairs to strip and then we will be staining fools.

Ap0k has been working his butt off around here. He’s run electrical and cable wires, he’s helped me paint, he’s toted boxes to wherever I tell him to, he’s made countless trips to Home Depot, etc etc. He’s also spent a mint on buying me new stuff. I hope he knows how much I appreciate everything he’s done.

I still have to touch up the ceilings in the dining room and entry room, I still have to paint the stairway walls, I still need to paint the bathroom and computer room. Eventually I will make it to the 3rd floor.

WOW! This has been a lot more work than I thought it was going to be!!!!!
But I would recommend it to anyone. The sense of satisfaction over knowing you’ve done it yourself is amazing. It’s easy to pay someone to do it, but to be able to step back and say “I did that” is something you have to experience at least once in your life.