Will it fit? -- Part II

Yep....remember when I said there wasn't much left in Baton Rouge?? Yea, well it seems in addition to my affliction with packratitis I may also have a problem with spatial awareness!!

ANYWHOOOOOOO-->we crammed everything we could into the Mommyvan, threw the rest away, and locked the door to the clean ("I'm-NOT-cleaning-this-apartment") apartment! My SO has been shipped out actually to a drill ship for probably 3 weeks so THAT should make settling in and unpacking a REAL adventure for me!

OH BOY!

We have arrived!!

We DID finally make it to Houston Sunday evening just before dark to the yummy smells of a baking ham with all the trimmings in the kitchen from SuperLois!! She honestly has been FANTASTIC and that doesn't even begin to describe her! :) THANKS A MILLION LOIS!!!





I have fast forwarded the last two days since ALL that was involved was sore muscles, lots of RAIN RAIN & more RAIN, off-loading the caravan into the garage in between the raindrops, shopping for a new fridge (since dumb & dumber thought we remembered that the fridge stayed with the house and were WRONG), moving in a "loaner" bentup fridge compliments of Home Depot, and attempting to get the "kids" acclimated to the new home. We even got in some YARDWORK!!!! Remember my mention that the yard was a bit of a MESS!!! (This could take a year.....seriously!)

BUT-->did it all fit?

Why OF COURSE NOT!!!!!! My previously described packratitis may not have included enough detail regarding the severity of my problem!! Here is a bit of what got left behind: a nearly full deck of plants, the beer fridge formerly known as college dorm fridge, the frogs and their not-so-small house, LOTS of what I termed as I locked the door "there isn't much left--we should be able to get it out fairly quickly" [insert hysterical laughter here]




THEN after 3 calls to SuperLois changing our "expected" arrival time (believe me when I say this woman deserves some kind of medal for being our real estate agent---she had NO IDEA what she agreed to when we signed her "we'll stick with you" contract) ---> we depart in caravan for HOUSTON, TEXAS amid very cloudy skies and with exhaustion all around!!! My SO had the lead, followed by bluebuggie & me, Penske driven by Dad, and Mom bringing up the BLOCKS-for-lane-changing rear in the MINIVAN!! OH YEAH---it was FUN!!!!

What time were we supposed to leave??

Here is the result of another ENTIRE day of packing literally every nook and cranny of the Penske!! Did it all fit, you ask?? Well, have a look at our pal Penske before we shut the door, the back of my SO's truck, my bug, hmmm....I guess I missed the stuffed-like-a-can-of-tuna shot of Mom's van.






The stories you are missing here include Mom's trip to the InstantCare clinic to avoid the ER secondary to cat bite AND the rain. I can't let you miss the way the last boxes were labeled....it is just TOO appropriate to the whole "moving" story in itself!

Dad to the rescue!!!

I know I have disappeared for a while but all who have moved before KNOW what I have been doing! :)

I'm backposting a few things to bring everyone up-to-date with our life...FROM TEXAS!!!!!

Dad arrived on Thursday evening to help us finish packing (heehee) and get organized (ROFL) for the arrival of the movers I got to help us get the furniture downstairs and on the truck!!! I honestly don't know what we would have done (and still would be doing) without all of his help!! Despite the craziness of everything, Dad has been the one who is able to focus and keep us on task!! Thanks so much for everything Dad! YOU are the best Dad a girl could ever hope to have!! (AND the best packer I know too--I'm talking we probably had 2 - 5% wasted air space inside the Penske thanks to Dad's stellar packing skills)

I knew it may be a bad sign when they walked in (FIVE 1/2 HOURS LATE) and said "Is all of this going on the one truck?" YEAH.....I thought it would, I mean it is a 26 foot truck supposed to hold a 3 to 4 bedroom house! SURE it will all go on the ONE TRUCK!!! After all, we only live in a 2 bedroom 900 square foot apartment! :) *ROFL*

Things I won't miss in Baton Rouge

ROAD CONSTRUCTION ON PERKINS ROAD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

We're READY!!!

Think this truck is big enough? I marvel at my SO's ability to drive this thing!! It's the biggest one you can drive without a CDL! YIKES!! Thank God for MEN willing to drive mammouth vehicles since I would have had to hire someone to navigate this 'ginormous' beast without Dad and my man! After we finished all of the paperwork to pick it up this girl showed up to get her 22 foot monster--> I say "YOU GO GIRL!!!" I'm impressed! Really I'm just a chicken and I guess if I had to 'man-up' as they say....I would have! (however, I'm soooooooooooooo glad I don't have to)

To be continued...

FYI--> NO illegal crossing!!

BACK TO THE RED STICK!!!

Because my SO never does anything boring...we found the hard way it is not WISE to cross the ditch on the interstate no matter how bad the traffic!!!!!

I know this is difficult to believe BUT we STILL haven't finished packing!! NOW------->I can hear the Clean Sweep reruns in my head... ACK!!

Signed on the dotted line!

Well, the deed is done! We are homeowners!!! OMG!!! It was less painful than we thought. (I know-I know--> wait until we make the payments...and have stuff to fix...and begin work on all the projects in my head...)

WWWWWWWWOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOHHHHHHHHHHHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :) :D

I have a HOUSE!!! A real house!! I can paint the walls! I can mow the grass! I can make as much noise as I want without worrying about the downstairs neighbors!! I can make home decorating disasters!!! I can grow plants and dig up any part of the yard (albiet the smallest yard in the history of yards....my SO can mow this thing in 10 minutes..tops!) that I want to!! AND best of all instead of DUMPING thousands into someone else's investment...I can build equity in my own!! (WOW --> THAT almost sounded grown up!!)

YAY!!! A home of our own!!!!

A fun meme!!

I'm apparantly a creature of suggestion so I sniped this meme from Miltie!!!

Here is how is goes....you go to GOOGLE, type in your name followed by NEEDS and list the top ten in your blog! Pretty funny and for me scarily appropriate....check it out:

1. Julie needs an early start! (*LOL* NO DOUBT)

2. Julie needs your help! (always in need of that)

3. Julie needs to work on her parenting. (OK....????)

4. Julie needs a new pair of shoes. (I MUST have a new pair of shoes!)

5. Julie needs a new home! (What?!?!? Closing tomorrow--too funny!)

6. Julie needs God's strength, wisdom & healing! (true)

7. Julie needs to get out in the fresh air! (been breathing too much packing dust)

8. Julie needs 25 to 35 grams of fiber daily! (WOW!)

9. Julie needs to contact John's parents to determine what is going on at home. (John....is something going on at home???)

10. Julie needs to bite the bullet and set up a new home. (*ROFL* SO TRUE!!!)

Ok....that may have only been really hilarious for me!!! :D But a good dose of laughing the day before you close on that new home can't hurt!! :) Happy day everyone!!

PACK-PACK-PACK some more!

More and more packing!!!! :)
BOX mountain still rising!!!!!

MOM to the rescue!!!

HOORAY Mom!! Let me tell you how great my Mother is....she gave up a perfectly good Saturday to come help me pack my kitchen!!! (and to qualify this remember she has a BEAUTIFUL new grandson...) Thanks so SO much Mom!!! You are the best Mom in the whole world! :)


EVEN MORE PEAKS in the box mountain!! :D

Rest in Peace Mike V

We all have heavy hearts today in Baton Rouge since the loss of Mike V. He arrived at 4 months old in 1990 as the mascot of Louisiana State University and has remained there since. His seventeen year reign included a national football championship and the construction of a beautiful new habitat in 2005.

Mike is such a part of the LSU experience! A game day is never complete without a walk by his new pad. We all await his ROAR in Death Valley!! He embodies the purple-&-gold feeling that courses through the veins of every LSU fan and most Baton Rouge citizens! He will be missed. Rest in peace and run free in that big jungle in the sky Mike!

Friend to the rescue!!

Thank you thank you thank you to my bud (the aforementioned Supermom) who came to my rescue today to help me pack the rest of my bedroom!!!! It helps to have outside focus at times! It was fun, productive, and GREAT to catch up (even IF sleep wasn't really included in the deal)!

The box mountain has new peaks! :)

Night out in the Red Stick!

Thanks to my honey!! We went out to one of our favorite places for dinner to celebrate my b-day! It is a fantastic local seafood joint that always has wonderful and FRESH fish--YUMMY! :) Only down side is my SO has to go out to catch a boat at 2am this morning for another offshore gig...AND that leaves LOTS and LOTS of packing for me to entertain myself with! We are going to MISS Baton Rouge so much...

Packratitis

Yep...I just have one question.

How in the world did I get so much JUNK into this little 900sf apartment???????????????

I am DEFINITELY of McCoy lineage!!! I proudly bear the "pack-rat" genetic code making professional organizers everywhere cringe and get nervous with the desire to "fix" me!! *Muhahaha* (supposed to be my witch laugh...how is that working for me?) :)




HAPPY BIRTHDAY M.A.!!!!!! :)

Happy Birthday to me! :)

Thanks go out to each sweet soul who remembered my birthday! Thank you. Love and hugs to all on my 29th!!!! :D *heehee*

My friend who lost it!

OK, I'm backposting here but this is just too good to miss in the blog!

Picture this: I pull up innocently delivering cake decorating supplies around 9pm on a Friday night when my vehicle is surrounded by what seems like 30 boys ranging in age from 7 to 13 all asking like a hundred questions (all at once of course) and sweetly offering to help carry my one bag into the house! After I greet the ones I recognize and answer at least 20 of the hundred questions, they run off in a pack as quickly as they came! It was then that I got the opportunity to count...16....yes SIXTEEN boys and 1 very brave bold little girl are playing chase/tag/whatever-they-call-it-now in my friend's yard (and are ALL staying for a sleep-over)! I go inside [I should mention that 'go inside' is a bit of a task in itself since the boys have previously been warned their lives could be at stake if they track up the new carpet with the red mud from outside as its been raining for 3 days SO-->getting 'inside' involves traversing about 20 pair of a variety of shoes--see pic above...oops digressing again soooo on with-->] (I go inside...) remarking that she has DEFINITELY LOST her mind to find the kitchen covered in cakes that "we" are going to create into a guitar. [OK...you need some history to fully understand this cake thing. Since her little ones were one (now 12 and 8) we have been making their birthday cakes...which I think are getting more difficult as we go.] She is calmly washing dishes, baking cakes, making party food for the big day (since this that I am witnessing is not the ACTUAL party --more children will be coming tomorrow-- this is "just" the "few friends" for the spend-the-night-part of the party) as all of this CHAOS is happening around her. Can you say SUPERMOM???!!! OH YES, SHE HAS CERTAINLY LOST IT!! It was hilarious!

Let me shorten another could-take-all-day story for you--->we create a four foot guitar cake that actually was recognizable; my favorite quotes of the evening were "Allen's bleeding--is that ok?", "We can wrestle but we can't bodyslam?", "Are you one of those famous cake decorators from HGTV?" and "Can you time me while I run to that tree?"; only one bottle of wine consumed to complete the project around 2:30am; only one catastrophe to the wall AND NO trips to the emergency room!!! UNBELIEVABLE!!! I have decided that you haven't really lived until you experience the noise, fun, and pandemonium that this party had going!!

Happy Mother's Day!!

I am such a fortunate "young" lady to have the most wonderful Mom! We had an interesting day spent with my Mom, her Mom, and the new Mom on the block with her Mom! Now that is a lot of MOMS!!! heehee :) I hope a terrific Mother's Day was had by all.

More Andy gushing here........see pics to insert your own! :)

More baby love!! :)

Have I mentioned that my nephew is the cutest baby ever!!! :) Here are a few more pics for those of you looking...

Back to the country!

This pic says a lot about why I love home...

Got the job!!!

Actually I now have 1 1/2 jobs ...not so sure what I'm going to do about the 1/2?? It will all work out. Spent the day MAKING myself handle all of the junk for my licensure and registration re: the transfer to Texas/renewal in Louisiana...etc. I KNEW if I went home there was NO WAY I could stay away from little Andy long enough to get it done so I've been bored and alone but busy finishing my procrastination pile!

More pics of my sweet nephew are on the horizon!! Meanwhile, have you met my other two nephews??? Angus(goofy-full-of-antics-not-so-coordinated-orange-&-white cat) & Kier (serious-observer-black-with-beautiful-golden-eyes cat) ---> they live at Hotel Malwitz and keep looking at me like "Are you back here again???" Kitties never fail to amuse me so I thought I would share the latest pics of my furry nephews to tide you over until the human baby appears on ginnydreamin again.... :)

My FIRST MEME!!!! :)

I have entered a new level as a blogging fool! My first meme tag!!! :) Only one problem I only have one blogging friend to tag and she tagged me! Oh Miltie! What am I to do?? heehee ANYWAY---> here goes my SEVEN little known facts about me:

1. I love to talk about and ponder life. (Just ask Grogan about this)

2. I love marshmallows after the bag has been opened for a LONG time and the marshmallows are a little bit hard on the outside but superduper chewy!! (yea, I know I'm warped!!)

3. I'm rarely on time for anything....hmmm.....not sure if this qualifies as "little known" heehee :D

4. Flowers make me happy! :)

5. I sleep best when it is really cold in the room and I'm snuggled under tons of blankets with just my top half of head sticking out....and maybe one foot too!

6. I keep every drawing, school paper, letter, rock, etc. given to me by my godchildren since it warms my heart so much that they thought to give it to me in the first place. :) :)

7. I hate HATE HATE funky luke-warm/cold dirty dishwater with food particles floating in it! EEEEEEEEEWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW! I have to change it to fresh right away and I can hardly stand to put my hands in it long enough to pull the plug!!!!! YUCK!!! [I know this is not very "green" of me but I just can't take it! I will recycle a few extra cans a year to make up for it!!]

A bright new day!

I realized sometime in the middle of the night (since my buyers remorse and overall-crappy-beginning-of-the-week was preventing me from sleeping) that I left my Ginnyisms and my sunglasses in my old buggie! So I took off early this am to go retrieve them and to really say goodbye to my sweet old car! Little did I know that my very own items would give me a much needed ATTITUDE ADJUSTMENT!! I pulled down my visor and read the following:
May today there be peace within.
May you trust God that you are exactly where you are meant to be.
May you never forget the infinite possibilities that are born of faith.
May you use those gifts you have received and pass on the love that has been given to you.
May you be content knowing you are a child of God.
Let this presence settle into your bones and allow your soul the freedom to sing, dance, praise, and love. (St. Theresa's Prayer)

WOW--> exactly what I needed to hear today!!!! SO--> it's a bright new day!! Here is the introduction photo of my NEW BUGGIE :) ....kinda cute, huh?

HAPPY DAY EVERYONE!!!

Cy-Fair & VW blues!!

Ok, made it to the interview in the rental! (cool car graphite black 2008 Dodge Avenger--fun!) Interview was fun too--whew! What a relief after the day I had yesterday. It wasn't really what I expected....not with the dept. head (he said "I have heard all I need already." YIKES, what in the world does THAT mean???) I met a "panel" of peers....the ST, COTA, PTA, etc. from the department who sat and asked me questions. I think it went ok??!!?? I really liked them all and they seem like they would be a lot of fun to work with. I'll have to tell the green bean story later! SO I HOPE I get good news out of this one as it would be the perfect job for me right now since I would have a 10 minute (UNHEARD of in Houston) commute from the house (provided we still buy it)!!!!

On to the REST OF THE STORY----> the inspection yielded a 9 page list of repairs that TOTALLY freaked me out on first read!!! My head started to hurt sometime during the interview and continued ALL DAY!!!! I call John, Dad, (wish I could call my SO who is now somewhere in the middle of the Gulf), Mom, Lynn, and SuperLois trying to figure out what to really freak out over!

Meanwhile I get a call from VW telling me that it will cost $2400 to get the car back on the road!!! WHAT!!!!! I just spent $1100 and a new battery less than a month ago!!!!!!!!!! ANOTHER long story shortened I drive by Ford and Honda gazing at the mid-sized SUVs and decide I don't want to get one without my SO along to advise....basically want to throwup because I don't want to make a decision about a new car by myself at the same time we are trying to buy a house....end up back at VW looking at used and new beetles & jettas.....end the day cleaning out my old buggie trying very hard not to just CRY because I'm so stressed out....and drive off in a new buggie-just-like-my-old-one-but-blue to arrive again at Hotel Malwitz with a raging headache and the most serious case of buyers remorse I have ever had around 8:30pm!! I felt like I was abandoning a child----I loved my old buggie so much! :( See her last picture above :( We had many MANY good times!!

A very bad day... :(

Yes, I was late leaving [around 6:30am Monday morning]....BUT --> did my day take a turn downward after the post of sweet nephew pics! Listen to this:

About 38 miles outside of Houston, my car started overheating!!! ACK!! OF COURSE I am on my way to meet the house inspector so I can't be delayed by more than 30 minutes or so... HA!!! That is not the way my day was to go! I stopped about 5 times---let my poor little buggie sit to cool off----looked under the hood (like I knew what I was looking for!!!) pondering what the heck I was going to do since everyone I know and love is MILES away at this point!!!! After only making 10 miles or less every time I COOLED off buggie and MANY frantic calls to my poor hubbie and dear Dad --> I FINALLY decided I wasn't going to make it to M & B's. So I pull off into this WONDERFUL neighborhood somewhere outside of downtown Houston (see pics---I could see the skyline so I ALMOST made it!!) (see the shut down warehouse I parked beside) My biggest complaint for the event is WHO WRITES THOSE STUPID HANDBOOKS FOR THE CAR????? I mean the section I'm reading on the side of the road is labeled 'Tips & Advice' --the only TIP I got referred me to the fuse panel of the car which after prying off the panel and nearly losing my fingernails before I figure out I can use a KEY (duh!) then holds some sort of SECRET CAR LANGUAGE symbols that make no sense and there are NO tips and advice to help you once you get to it!!!!! I JUST LOVED IT!!!!! (see secret VW language in pic)

LONG STORY SHORT---> after Houston police, Univ. of Houston police(was in a UH parking lot and didn't know it and yes, I always manage to attract a crowd--even in deserted parking lots), more frantic calls to my sweet DAD (thanks Dad!!), many calls to the poor schmuck who was called to tow me (turns out the shutdown warehouse part of town I died in is NOT on any map that AAA had), a LONG tow across Houston to the VW dealership, MISSED THE HOME INSPECTION COMPLETELY, calls to SuperLois, and the LAST RENTAL CAR OF THE DAY at Enterprise---> I finally arrived at Hotel Malwitz around 8 pm looking like a homeless person sunburned with a headache and near dehydrated (thank God I still hear Aunt Harriett telling me to bring water for a road trip whether you think you'll need it or not OR I would have been really dry)!!!!

B2 made me what I now consider to be the BEST MARGARITA I EVER TASTED!!! (Thanks so much B2!!) Needless to say I turned in early in hopes of salvaging myself before the interview on Tuesday!!!! NOT a GOOD DAY :( Stay tuned for the continuing saga...

WHAT A BEAUTIFUL BOY!!!!

Andy is so gorgeous!!! I FINALLY got to hold him!! He was in the room for a visit and will be with J & B all night(insert sleepless nights beginning here!) to see how he does! He might get to go HOME Monday afternoon sometime--we are all keeping our fingers crossed!! He has had a rough start as have Mom and Dad!! (and Nonna & Poppa too!!) (maybe even Aunt Julie & Uncle Matt) All reports from the docs say he is doing great now!!

He is the cutest little one!! I could go on and on but I'm late leaving for Houston so I'll just post what you are all looking for ;) (PICS) and be on my way with more gushing about my new nephew to follow very soon!!!!

It's a BOY!!!!!

Marshall Anderson McCoy (I'm guessing we should start NOW to teach him how to spell this before kindergarten!) arrived today weighing 8 pounds 14 oz. and 19 inches long! He has a head FULL of red hair (wonder where that came from?) and is cute as a button!! This will be the short version of the day as I'm just trying to get pics up before I RUN to Houston AGAIN!!

Andy will be what he is called!! He was put into the NICU b/c of respiratory issues and we hope to get our hands on him SOON!!! Brandy was a trooper and is nothing but big smiles as is Jeff!!

CONGRATULATIONS BRANDY & JEFF!!!! I LOVE YOU!!!