Saturday, June 20, 2009

Aftermath of GARF

What a year this has been! Thanks to all who participated in GARF 2009. It was an exciting rookie year for me as Entertainment Director. I have learned a lot and I hope to continue to improve my skills & abilities to make 2010 even better and more exciting for everyone!

Thanks SO much to the cast for the wonderful gifts! Closing day they presented me with a bottle of Tums and a big bottle of Captain Morgan's! (tums and alcohol being a motto of mine), gift certificates for 2 hours worth of massage, and a gift card for Kohl's!

I've been savoring the gift card, only spending a little at a time so I can have as many shopping experiences as possible. *lol* My first shopping trip, I got a Bissel hand vac with a stick extension (which will be handy with all the hardwood floors in the duplex). Yesterday was trip #2 and I made out quite well - a sterling silver and crystal dragonfly ring, a triple strand necklace of silver chains and red beads (which I'll wear out dancing tonight), and a flattering pair of red shorts - $80 of merchandise for $40! Not sure what I'll get next but I'm loving the guilt free pleasure of being able to go spend money on myself for things I don't necessarily need but would certainly like to have. Every time I see the little bit of bling on my finger, it makes me think of my awesome cast and makes me smile. :)

So we're two weeks post closing. Whew! I'm pretty much done with GARF laundry (save a couple of court gowns in my tub and the King's feathers in my kitchen sink). I've cleaned and closed everything, finished all my paperwork and, starting next week, I go back to my thril-a-minute job as an at-home answering service operator. I'm relieved. As a single homeschool mom, it's very hard for me to make my budget on just one job and, unfortunately, MMP has been through a very dry spell. It'll be very helpful to cycle another paycheck back into the household. I went last night and got 2 cordless handsets (the last two have just died from overuse), and a new laptop fan (I burn through those, too) and just need to download the software back onto the laptop (after crash and rebuild #9) and I'll be ready to go!

Other randomness:

Last weekend was my first weekend off in months and it was wonderful. We threw a belated birthday party for my friend, T (thanks for waiting a week, sister, so I could be conscious for the event!). We closed the dance club down Saturday night and Sunday I got to sleep in until an obscenely late hour.....and loved it!

A & I went to see "Knowing" Sunday. It was a pretty decent bit of afternoon brain candy. A movie reviewer described it well in saying it's all the bat-poop-crazy you'd expect from Nicolas Cage. *lol*

I discovered the Panda Express by my house. That's a mixed blessing. I haven't cooked in ages (partly due to being insanely busy and currently due to the chaos that is my half-packed house). Finding an non-fried alternative that is quick and inexpensive is something I'm going to have to resist over-indulging in. The Mushroom Chicken was VERY tasty!

I've gotten a good start to my second weekend off and am looking at it like the calm before the every-day busy of the off season kicks in. The apartment is mostly packed except for kidlet's room. All that's left for me is the everyday stuff - the kitchen, the bathroom, my clothes and the tv's/computers. I finally have my lease in hand so I can get the utilities turned on but I still need to get the paint so I can paint the walls before I complete the move and unpack.

I really am looking forward to it. The apartment was a blessing and what I needed when I most needed it but it's time to move. The management is trying to entice me to stay, offering not only to not raise my rent but to give me first month's free rent on a renewal. But I'm having to look at the long-term picture. I'm never going to get a move-in deal like this again. Even though all I've done is put boxes in the living room, the more I'm there, the more it feels right. It feels nice to be in a "house" setting again. The yard was full of fire-flies last night and it was beautiful. It'll be nice not to have upstairs neighbors or walk out my door to the smell of the dumpster cooking in the summer sun. It'll be nice not to have kids playing 2 feet away from my window or to have the leaf blower going on for hours at a time twice a week (they're a little OCD about mowing and painting the speed bumps, really). It'll be about 3 more weekends before I do the "final move" due to my schedule, but as I'll have to pay rent at the apartment complex through the end of July, there's no hurry.

So that's about it! If you're still reading this you're either a) me re-reading my archives or b) really bored and willing to read anything just to kill some time!

**hugs to all*

Posted by Valerie at 3:34 PM