Does it count as one of the first real fights in a marriage if the husband falls asleep halfway through before it gets going good?  Mad zonked out but I think he heard my last point because he said sleepily “I believe you”.

The argument began when H’s car broke down and he walked 2 miles to the apartment.  We’ve been taking him to work with us ever since…ok, ok, I know it’s not like it’s out of our way or anything since we all work at the same place and share the same hours, but still!  I wouldn’t say the argument began then, it just sorta started trickling.  I keep telling Mad “you’ve GOT to get H’s car fixed” to which he always replies “I know”.  I know it’s not Mad’s place to HAVE to fix it, but he HAS to fix it!  Another week of being stuck in a small space with no where to hide from the roomie and I’m going to kick him not only out of the apartment, but out of the car itself, while we are on the interstate, at 10 o’clock at night, going 70 miles per hour.  And heck, I’ve refused to be the one to take him to work on Thursday nights which is our off night as it is but luckily for Mad, J is a kind and very good friend and has met Mad twice at the gas station next to the onramp and hauled H into work and back home again for us so “we” don’t have to make the drive on our off nights, meaning Mad doesn’t have to make the extra 2 drives there and back again each week.

So this morning.  Actually no, last night:  “I’m going to fix it after we got off work in a few hours”.  We get home and Mad says “I’m gonna wait an hour or so until it heats up to make sure everything under the car has dried out”…which is reasonable since it did rain last night.  Or, as I pointed out “why bother?  you are wearing work clothes and need a shower anyway”.  Fast forward four hours and Mad and I are on the patio:  “I thought you were going to work on H’s car”..him:  “I am in a little bit”…..he goes inside, I go inside a different door and by the time I lock the door from the patio to the bedroom and walk to the living room, Mad is curled up on the couch covered from head to toe in a blanket.  I pulled the blanket back and repeated myself:  “I thought you were going to work on H’s car” (this said in a loud hiss)…he said “I will this afternoon I’m just going to take a nap first”…it went from there to him screwing up his sleep schedule and being messed up for work because of it to his saying he wouldn’t be and back and forth and I finally said “If you don’t have it fixed before our bedtime tomorrow (that translates to Monday morning for ya’ll) I’m going to hire a mechanic to fix the damned car because I can’t take it anymore!”  He said he believed then he fell asleep.

Looking outside, it’s about to rain.  If he wanted the pavement to be dry today, he’s gonna be real surprised tomorrow if it does rain today when I make him go out in a rain storm.  Because if it’s not fixed by tomorrow evening, I’m calling mechanics Tuesday morning as soon as we get home from work and Mad is staying in town instead of Chattanooga like he wants to for our weekend and towing H’s car to the mechanic of my choice..and if that happens they are both in big, big, big trouble!

Men!!! (sorry Daddy)

I think it might finally be turning fall down here…some leaves have turned brown and I watched a couple of them drift to the ground.  Nah…it’s probably just the heat causing that.

We might need to break the sweaters out for when we come visit in October.  I was talking to one of the mailhandlers who’s from Maine originally…he’s been down here for 13 years and says he’s called home on many a Christmas day and giggles when he’s asking what their weather’s like and they say snow..he’ll then point out that it’s 76 here and laugh and laugh.  He was cackling just telling me about doing that.  He says we’ll get used to having all one season except for Jan through March…he said that Jan cools off, Feb can get cold and then March is just windy as it starts warming back up.  And then Carl, one of the forklift drivers told me “I’m from New York and been down here 16 years (really Carl?  from NY?  the accent would have never given him away  heh).”  Carl in the 16 years has been back home 3 times and that’s it..he says he won’t even go visit anymore.  Apparently everyone thinks we should fall in love with this area and stay forever.  But where do a lot of them go on their vacations???  Chattanooga, Ellijay, Blueridge, Memphis, Helen GA.  I’ve met people that have all gone to one or the other places on trips just in the time we lived down here….so when I ask what’s the best part, they all say it’s the scenery.  When I tell them I could sit on my front porch and look at the mountain that Rock City and Ruby Falls are on every day if I wanted, you can see the light bulb go off in their heads as to why I keep telling them it’s too flat here.  My supervisor argued with me that it wasn’t flat so when I told him there are barely hills here he said “we have hills!” and when I asked how high he held his hand up to his waist.  I’ve already established that the bridges that go over the water do not count as a hill even if it does go up and then down.

I gotta say, we’ve made some fine friends at the BMC.    John, the one that lives in Pomona Park, he and his wife picked up the cake and he snuck it into work to surprise Mad tonight.  All I had to do was put the candles on it when he handed them to me, one by one.  I guess he thought I wouldn’t be able to spell “over the hill” without him putting them in order for me.  lol  As it is, he critiqued my placement of a couple of the letters and made me move them over.  Our pal Mark, who is as big a sap as J and Mad, took the pictures with his cell phone after Mad had blown out the candles…and yes, we lit them in the office.  Afterwards, one of the building mechanics said “don’t worry, you couldn’t have set off the smoke detectors and sprinklers in the office because we disconnected them a couple of years ago and never hooked them back into the system.”  He was serious too…I think they did it to keep the computers from being accidentally flooded in case some dummies decided to do something silly, like, oh, I don’t know..maybe light some candles in the middle of a work shift?

Mad's BDay cake from work pals

It was great to see you doll!!!  Mad and I both love you lots!!!!!  I hope that we get to spend a lot more time with you next time you come down to visit and I’m sorry I slept all day long today….I didn’t feel too good.

This blog is for you and my folks……ok?  Mad is able to post to it, but I think he forgot how so now I get to remind him.    Comment all you want and read or visit whenever you want to.  I don’t post every day and sometimes I’ll go a month between posting anything new, but I’ll try to get on here at least every 2 weeks…if I can get your uncle Mad to do the same, then maybe we can get something new up at least once a week…we’ll see.  heheh  Just don’t hold your breath is what I’m saying.  We might take a while. 

Loves and hugs!!!

Aunt Tams

Since I have my camera’s memory thing hooked up to the computer, I’ll post the pictures of the inside of the apartment we originally took.  I’ll have to retake  photos now that the furniture is in, etc. 

If you click each picture, it will take you to a larger shot of it.

Master bedroom

LR

Me and the vanity

BR closet

Tiny bathroom

Our bedroom

Computer room

LR

Kitchen again

Into the kitchen

LR/DR/K

Hallway

Second bedroom

H and his bathroom

Patio

I now understand why people ask for those foot bath/massage things for gifts.  Jeez oh pete!  I have hot water and epsom salts in the bath tub (I got it too hot, so now I gotta wait for it to cool off for a few minutes) and I’m going to plant a camp chair next to the tub and soak a while.  Lucky for me, camp chairs have cup holders built in so I can keep my beer with me. 

Last night was the hardest I think I’ve ever worked in my life!  Chasing shoplifters and stocking shelves was cake in comparison.  I am covered in dry sweat and grime.  Harry apparently got bored after a couple of hours which means he wasn’t really working very much….Mad and I both worked our butts off.  And to prove it, the biker dude (name not remembered at the moment) who wasn’t very friendly at first talked to us quite a bit tonight…he stopped by to check on me in the section I was assigned tonight and chatted for a while plus, he actually engaged in real conversations on breaks.  Mad thinks he’s become friendly because he saw that we actually work and not just pretend to clean like some of the custodians.  I’ve gotten more advice from fellow custodians on how to “look busy” than I have on “being busy” so basically, I’m doing my own thing and just cleaning everything.  One of the supervisors from the earlier shift walked by me on his way out the door while I was dust mopping under some of the lift machines and said “be careful, some of the dust in here has been here since 1975.”  He laughed when I told him I completely believed it.

Two nights down this week and only 3 more to go til we are off.  I think Wednesday we are going to try to get what’s left unpacked and go to the mall to see if we can find the shoes New Balance makes for mail carriers.   Thursday, Cass is coming over to go the beach with me and Mad.   And for now, the water should be about right and I’m going to go soak and then bedtime.

Mad and Harry have taken off to get renters insurance and to check out details at Uhaul.  If I’m lucky, they’ll be gone for at least another hour.

It’s windy and cool right now and the high today is supposed to be 59 or 60.  If they don’t wimp out, I still want to go to Jax Beach and see a few more things while we have what’s basically a “free” day paid for by someone else.  I also want dinner at a little seafood place down the street from where our apartment is.  Julie recommended it to us and I read some reviews online…most of the reviewers gave it a 4 or 5 star and most were regulars.  It’s a little place in a shopping complex that gets lines of people out the door on the weekends but are said to be fast so the wait isn’t normally over 30 minutes.  And since Mad and Harry are both picky (Mad less so), they can eat chicken while I load up on real fish.

Bath time!  There’s a reason I told them to go alone.  lol

Partial view of apt complex entrance

Different view of sky from Regions Bank with Mad in side mirror

Left entrance view of apartment complex

I’m determined to make this a real blog for ya’ll to read with updates every couple of days at least….ya’ll being Momma, Daddy, Beep and Heather (since Heather will probably be internet savvy before we know it…ok, so she already is, but more internet accessible).  As soon as I figure out how to add a user name for Mad to post with, he can add his own thoughts to the blog and the both of us can post when we want.

I know I’m following in Wayne’s footsteps by posting a picture of nothing but clouds to start with, but I thought they were pretty while we sat in line at the bank so Harry could get a check cashed…the boy may be smart as all get out, but common sense ain’t his forte.

Clouds over Orange Park today