I was born under a wand'ring star

In the 12 years since I graduated from college, I've lived in 7 different houses/apartments in 5 cities.  Never would I have imagined that much change would be a part of my life, and yet each change has brought me new experiences and new insight on the world and myself.  This latest move brought with it some interesting challenges, so here goes the story for posterity.  **Warning, it ended up being a long story, but the end is...interesting :)

The move out was fairly uneventful - the hired movers were on time and efficient.  A little misunderstanding with the management had my mom and I making a last minute trip to Wal_Mart to buy cleaning supplies and furiously cleaning while Dad headed out driving the U-Haul truck.

My mother doesn't like to drive in the city, so I chose the "easiest" way to get out of town.  Unfortunately, it wasn't the way I normally went and I had us take the wrong exit and detour several miles out of the way.  To give me credit, I had just gotten a call from my new landlord saying as she left my new apartment, the guy weedeating the back patio accidently threw a rock at the glass patio doors shattering one side!!  No worries, it was boarded up and would be fixed asap.

Meanwhile, massive storms were right above us and Mom and I pulled over on the highway at one point because I literally couldn't see ahead of me.  And they were moving our direction, so what about my stuff?

When we arrived at my new place (which I had never seen the inside of due to a lack of rental property available!!) , the truck was half unloaded by the young men I had arranged to be there.  They were sitting with Dad watching the rain - because inside the Air Conditioning had STOPPED WORKING!  On July 26 in Texas, this is NOT what you want to hear.

Eventually, it was sprinkling lightly enough, the truck was unloaded. (although the extra time and pay was more than I had budgeted for). 

In trying to hook up my washer/dryer, my father discovered the water connection was leaking/spewing.

So I called the landlord at 4:45 to report the AC and the water issue.  She said maybe the air was just taking a long time to cool off the place - call back in the morning if it still wasn't working.  Her maintenance man had quit the day before and she would have to call around to find a substitute one  :( 

(I think my parents considered packing the truck back up at this point.)

At this point, Dad decided to take a shower, we went to dinner and he drove home.  Mom decided we would NOT be sleeping in an un-airconditioned place so we called the daughter of our friends (who were out of town) and she welcomed us to her house for the night. 

Mom volunteered to drive - we got in her car, and it was dead.  No starting sounds at all.  So we took my car instead, got a quick night of sleep in a house that was full of boxes because they had only moved in a couple weeks before (did I mention these are GOOD friends?)

The next morning I was sick at my stomach.  Could all these issues be resolved?  Would my new landlady prove helpful or not?  How much confrontation would it take on my part to rectify these situations?? My stomach was doing flip-flops just thinking about it!!

  Upon returning to my new place about 8:00 AM, we called AAA (for both our cars, because now tire lights were lit up on my own car).  But before they could arrive, a maintenance man showed up!!  He repaired the water issue and hooked up my washer/dryer.   He found the problem with the AC, fixed it and we immediately began feeling cool air!  He assured us that someone was coming to fix the glass door later in the day.  And then AAA showed up and our cars were restored (air in my tires - the storm had dropped the temp so fast, the pressure had gone down and a jump for mom's car to go to the store and get a new battery.)  It was mid-morning and all the problems of yesterday were fixed - without any confrontation from me!!!!  The Lord had heard my cry and answered once again.  :)

  

The new door - we didn't even care when the repair man showed up at 1:00 and completely took out the old door thereby making us lose the new cold air we had been enjoying :)

 This apartment has been decorated and arranged by far the quickest of any place I've ever lived.  Thanks to my sister-in-law's help with previous places, I had certain things ready to hang.  And thanks to my friend Jenni's visit a few weeks after moving in, I feel pretty good with curtains and furniture arrangement! (It's not all done, of course, but here's how it looks now.)

Living room looking at front door (nook on the left) & down the hall to the kitchen.

Galley kitchen with cutout to the dining area.  Check out the short frig and the world's skinniest pantry.

Across the hall from the kitchen is a half bath decorated with my TX motif.

The dining table (washer/dryer is in closet to the right and stairs are to the left)  I've even cooked and had new friends over for dinner!

  

My bedroom with my new queen bed.



Yeah, those cutouts in the wall are strange - and open up to the entry way.  It means there's no real sound proofing between upstairs/downstairs, but since I live alone, that hasn't been much of an issue :)



First time to have a second bedroom!  Guest room/office/right now - holding area for junk and least arranged.

Jack and Jill bathroom connects the 2 bedrooms...and also holds one more issue discovered that first day.

Before dinner, Dad showered quickly and came out saying "I think the paint is coming off in the shower."

So the landlady had told me it was an "old" shower and to freshen it up, she had decided to paint it.  Yes, it's an ugly grayish-green.  Finished it just a day or two before I arrived.  But evidently she used the

WRONG KIND OF PAINT!!!!  The kind that comes off with water.  Um, that's not good paint for a shower!!!  I do believe she was honestly mortified when I talked with her the next morning.  Turns out this was the only thing I had to be confrontational about.  And without a permanent maintenance man she asked if I could live with it a bit until a solution could be found.

First step was to run a bath and at least get the paint off the floor so I wouldn't have to stand in it.

As you can see, it literally just came off in big pieces at first.

But then it started coming off in small pieces, a bit at a time.

I learned if I let it dry after the shower, I could just sweep up the paint chips easily.

Which for the first few WEEKS I did daily.

It was like a backwards puzzle, taking out pieces a bit at a time.  Fortunately, at this point I didn't really have to worry about it getting on me - just dealing with it in general.

And so, I kinda got used to it.  I'd lived with several worse things in the Philippines.

But last month, I spent time with a couple friends back in DFW and showed them these pics and they both asked - When can we help you come move???
So maybe I had let this go too long.....Thank you Friends for reminding me to stick up for myself.

I came back, talked to my landlady and she sent her new maintenance man that day who said he thought he knew of an acid that would take off the paint that had appeared to adhere to the fiberglass shower.  The next day he took off most of the paint but ran out of acid and said it would take a couple weeks to order some more.

So yesterday, Nov 5, I finally reclaimed a paint-free shower!!!

I've learned this lesson before...but will try to keep it learned this time. 
Procrastination is not your friend. (and) When you're single, you've got to stand up for yourself. 

 So there it is in all its glory.  If you made it this far, thank you.  But mostly just wanted to document it for myself.  I want to always be grateful for the way the Lord provides so generously for me, but I also don't want to sit around wasting the good brain and spirit He gave me to take care of myself, too!  Who knows what is in store for my future residences, but for now, I'm happy to be in this home.

p.s. Song title is from fairly obscure musical "Paint Your Wagon".  For a chuckle, rent the movie version and you get to see Clint Eastwood singing!!  (And he's one of 2 husbands to a woman in a mormon-reversal situation set in a Westward expansion gold-mining settlement.)



Our state fair is a great state fair

Have I mentioned I love Broadway musicals??? :)  As we walked into the Fair last week, Mom & I knew exactly what this post title would be!  (Let's just ignore the fact that the great duo Rodgers & Hammerstein were writing about the Iowa state fair.  They obviously had never been to Texas!)


All Mom wanted to do to celebrate her birthday this year was to once again visit the Great State Fair of Texas, and seeing how most of us also love it, the request was easy to fill (sorry, Dad - thanks for being a good sport!)  It's over-priced, over-stimulating, over-tiring, and over-fried.   There's just something about it that's wonderful!  Here's our recap - some great pics are on Mom's camera, too, but wanted to get these posted.

Dad & I and the classic Big Tex (Dad was sporting the Rangers hat for their game that night that he was missing...
GO Rangers!!)

Yes, of course that's Earl Campbell made out of butter commemorating the year he led the Longhorns to defeat OU in the Fair Red River Classic.

No one seems to love the butter statues as much as I do - it's always a mustsee for me! I think they're fascinating.

Mom, on the other hand, loves to watch the birds - even though it's the same jokes every year.  They are impressive, though - my favorite is when one of them flies down from the Texas Star!

And there it is - love that this ferris wheel stays up all year in anticipation of this one month.

We all spent the night at Holt's house.  My dad is in love...



Got to see Jason's newest office due to his most recent promotion.  It has a door and a ceiling and a window (although the cubicles at his business are definitely the coolest cubicles I've ever seen.)  We're so proud of him!



I now live in the same town as one of Mom's dearest friends so we were able to go meet her for dinner on her actual birthday (Dad was teaching).  Yea for good food, good friends, book shopping, and playing on Mom's new #ipad! (Isn't she a cool 60-yr-old??)  Love you, Mom!  Always happy to celebrate birthdays.

I ate parts of 6 different fried foods this year (that may be a record for me) and they were all very tasty.  But I think my stomach is ready for a year-long break.  Good bye State Fair.  Until next year....

p.s. There is actually a State Fair the Musical!  It was actually written for a movie version first (done in the 40s and then remade in the 60s) but it was turned into a stage production after that, so I still count the lyrics as fitting into my Broadway theme. 

Happy Talk

My school had a Fall Break this past Monday & Tuesday so I decided to spend it with friends!  If you've never studied Gary Chapman's book on 5 Love Languages I highly recommend it.  You can identify how you best receive love - and learn how better to extend love to others who might differ in their love language.  A couple years ago, I discovered my #1 love language was Quality Time (spent with loved ones).  It helped me realize why I've made certain choices in the past, and it allowed me to know the best way I can "fill my tank."   While God is blessing me with possibilities of new friends in my new town, nothing beats the comfort of those who already know you.  I had a marvelous 3 days - Thanks so much to all my companions!  I spent hours of Happy Talking and came back feeling very loved.

My sweet friend Leslie who's known me since my first year of teaching - Thanks for always being a good listener! 
We got to eat out for breakfast - what a fun treat :)



The Baxter girls let me join them for lunch at Rosa's!  Love this family and spent every other Friday night in their home group for over 3 years.  (I forgot to take a picture so called back to ask them to take one and send it to me.  This is what I got - are they great or what??)



SO glad I got in a bit of nephew (and sister-in-law) time on this happy day! You can't help but be happy around this kiddo - of course, I don't change his diapers....



After spending most of Sunday chatting and movie watching with Katie, I also got to chill with Jenni for dinner
(Oh, how I've missed you Papa John's)  - These are Girls I go deep with.



My final stop on the stroll down memory lane was my former school.  I resigned after school ended and always regretted not seeing some of those folks again.  This was a fun, surprise, visit.  Great to catch up a bit - and great to affirm my new place in life. 



Thanks again, God, for all the wonderful relationships you've put in my life.  And thank you that my new life is less than 2 hours from my old one :)

p.s. Post title is a song title from South Pacific 

"One" (picture each hour)

the idea - Ten on Ten

Take a photo every hour for ten consecutive hours on the tenth of each month. Document a day of your life and find beauty among the ordinary moments. Then share your beauty with us!

Thanks to my friend Kelly who took this challenge last month and then challenged others to do it, too.  I'm still sorta new at documenting life through my own pictures (I much prefer to steal from my friends who are better photographers :)  But I did have fun thinking about how to capture the little and the big moments of the day.  So here goes... (by the way I cheated a bit towards the end so I'm not linking my entry to the original idea's blog!  It's the thought that counts right?)



Beautiful sunny Sunday morning before church






Jesus' words are always beautiful - but also often convicting - just like this sermon message



the math teacher in me gets a bit giddy on "number" days:  10:10:10 on 10/10/10!! :)

I love a city skyline!!  Big D, of course

the beginning of a walk down memory lane - sweet fellowship with a former church home



yummy Mexican food with the wonderful Keyes family





the beauty of movie magic and a triumphant woman & horse! (on one of the largest screens in Texas!)



the beauty of calling a friend and asking to sleep in the guest room - with one day notice! (Thanks Katie!)



who knew??  they're quite tasty - a fun new snack for me



end the day with the FW skyline and the beauty of a part of town (west 7th) being revived

Doubt I'll do this every month, but it was fun and I'd like to try it again.  Let me know if you decide to try it, too!

p.s. OK, so the post title is a huge stretch but I am so determined to keep using Broadway song titles/lyrics :)  "One" (singular sensation, every little step she takes) is from A Chorus Line