I'm Back... :)

This is the first time I've really had to sit down at the computer and actually write anything. I've been so busy trying to get the basement set up for the kids and me that I haven't even had time to stop and think. Yesterday Joe came over to help me unload the truck just so I could get it returned. Just about everything I own is in Kara's garage. At least the huge yellow truck is gone from her driveway, though. Little by little I'm bringing things downstairs and Joe is supposed to come back tomorrow, with a friend, to help me get the furniture downstairs so I can get everything in place before the kids get back from Paul's tomorrow evening. That'll be hard work but I'll get it done.

This morning I went to Steve's house, about a half hour away, to pick up the cats. You remember, he's been boarding them for me. We visited for a while but since I've kept up with everyone since I left Long Island the first time we were just bullshitting like we'd never missed a beat. The cats were a little standoffish for the first five minutes but warmed up to me very quickly. I had Steve take pictures of me with the cats and send it to Paul's phone so he could show Dolly. I'm sure she was thrilled. The cats are now back with me and happy as can be. Bobber, my female cat, follows me around like she's a puppy. They're too cute.

When Kara and I went food shopping that was an adventure in itself. We spent much of the time laughing hysterically as we compared prices and tried to figure out what a "whole fowl" was in the meat department. She wanted to get a roasting chicken and one package was labeled as above. I told her that I always thought chicken, turkey, pheasant, etc. were all considered fowl. Since I didn't know what was in the package it could be nuclear pigeon for all we knew and I wasn't going to eat that. Since we are both very loud talkers most of the store could hear us laughing and joking and acting a-fool. Finally one lady told us that "fowl" is like an older, tougher chicken and is good for soups and stews. We decided to buy the Perdue Roaster instead. When we're feeding three adults and five children, nuclear pigeon would not be a good food to put on the table.

By the time we got home it was almost dinner time so we really didn't get too much done after that. Tomorrow I'll spend some time cleaning and whatnot while she and her kids are at church. When they get back it'll be all-out unpacking mode for everyone. Enough unpacking, at least, to get the boys' beds assembled and all of their belongings put in place for their return. I'm sure they'll like their space and Kara's two dogs as well. Her boys are very excited to have new live-in playmates coming. We can only speculate, so far, as to the noise level that will be in the house. Her boys are exactly like mine so we've come to the conclusion that we'll have to make a schedule and give each kid a turn to talk at the dinner table. We all know how that will turn out, don't we?

Monday I'll enroll all of my kids in school and they'll start Tuesday. Then Kara and I will have time to get some things done that she needs to do and I can get some more unpacking done. Eventually I'll be settled and things will be running smoothly before I know it. I can't wait for that. It'll be nice, though, and in a couple of days, when we've got a schedule going, I'll speak to her dad about possibly working part time or even volunteering for him to gain some experience in the paralegal field. Fingers crossed on that. I need it just to get my foot in the door, and hopefully it'll lead to more permanent work. I'd love for it to work out so that I can get a steady income and finally get out of "the system" once and for all. I'll let you know how that turns out, but for now I'm heading off to bed to get some well-needed rest.

Until next time...peace to all.