Hard to believe it is August already!

Well, looks like I'm averaging a post a month! Being without internet definitely put a crimp on my posting time. But, I'm back in the world of the web now. I finally got my Comcast High Speed internet installed. Also got a new laptop. When I told my supervisor I'd gotten a new laptop he asked "You didn't get a new laptop just because your ethernet port wasn't working, did you?". The answer: not really. I had been wanting a new one for a while (my old one was...well...old) and the ethernet issue just gave me a bonafide excuse. Rather than spend the money to have it fixed (because I quickly determined I was incapable of doing it myself), I just bought a new one. My aunt is going to buy the old one from me. She doesn't need an ethernet port, so that won't be a problem for her. We have something of a regular chain for PC hand-me-downs. I'm the one who buys new PCs, my aunt gets my most current old one, and then my grandmother gets the old one my aunt was previously using! But anyway, even with internet working, I still haven't settled all the Comcast issues. I have spent so much time talking to Comcast customer service reps...online chats, phone calls, trips to the local office and I've resolved almost everything. Actually, after the last visit I thought I HAD resolved everything...and then, I got my latest bill and they are charging me for things I have never had. They actually had the nerve to charge me for the "Self-Install Kit" - I ordered an internet kit and they sent a digital converter kit...I'm not paying for that. It is crazy, because the last 2 times I was at the local office, they found and corrected billing issues! How many billing issues can one customer have? But, on the positive side, all my services are installed and working correctly. I couldn't be happier with that...and if I can just get the billing issues straightened out, I'll be a happy camper.

I found out from Suzette Sunday that our insurance money has finally come in! Much needed, let me tell you. I can now breathe a little easier, and stop ranting at people who use too much toilet paper. When my grandmother and aunt were up I went a little off the deep end about that....the second day there my grandmother told me we needed more toilet paper in the master bathroom and I just went off on her..."How much toilet paper do you people use? I put a mega-roll in there 2 days ago...a MEGA roll...that should have lasted me at least another week. I've got 2 mortgages to pay and a ridiculously high electric bill and I had to pay for the plumbing repair and the roof repair and I need a lawnmower. I will put more paper in there, but the limit is 3 squares per trip!". Fortunately, they know I'm insane, so I don't think they took me too seriously. (Although I was dead serious in that moment....felt silly later...but, really, that paper SHOULD have lasted me another week.). But, anyway, now I can pay off the 20% mortgage as planned and have the money I need to cover all my bills. I'm still figuring out how to lower the electric bill, even with the money I don't want to have $300 electric bills. Now, with the insurance money I'm going to get the things I need to make the house complete. I can get the pretty plantation blinds I want...and an storage building for the yard....maybe a cabana thing for the deck...I could probably have someone come and do the insulation in the attic the way I want it done. I would LOVE to have the pool area screened in, but I think that is something that will still have to be a long-term dream. Anybody have any idea how much something like that costs?

Hee! Yesterday I got my first bill from Austell Natural Gas. I just about had an aneurysm when I saw it. I only have gas for the hot water heater, and I saw the usage amount and it was very small...but the bill was $120 and I just could not believe it. And then I remembered that the first gas bill includes the $100 deposit for the gas meter (okay, is it just me or is it ridiculous that I have to pay them for use of the gas meter that they use to see how much to charge me for the gas????????) so the gas usage portion was only $20 which is about what I expected.

Okay...lets see...house stuff:

- Finally got a lawnmower, but it is too hot to mow anything. Figures I'd buy one the day before it got dangerously hot.
- The alkalinity in my pool is entirely too high and I have yellow algae...which I can't do anything about until I get the alkalinity down and the pH down. And actually, looking at the active ingredients in the algae killer, it just looks like it is going to raise the pH. Ahhh, the joys of pool maintenance. And because I am completely insane, I don't want to go to the pool supply place and have the water tested, because I don't want them to see the sorry shape the water is in! I'm like the crazy people who clean so their maid won't see the house is dirty!
- My roof no longer leaks! I finally got someone out who fixed it. Is it always so difficult to get contractors out to do work? Between the plumber and the roof thing, I just had such a hard time getting anyone out when they said they'd come.
- I got half the carpet pulled up in the den, so Whitney can stay in there during the day now. My aunt and grandmother came up and helped (my aunt helped with the carpet, my grandmother cleaned the floor afterwards). The flooring under the carpet is linoleum or vinyl, so it is perfect. My grandmother got me a gorgeous day bed. It was in my dad & stepmom's house and I've always wanted it. Suzette was selling it and my grandmother knew how much I loved it, so she bought it for me. She and my aunt brought it up and it is in the den now. So, Whitney pretty much stays on the daybed all day. And Naiya stays in the same room in her playpen. And Whitney is MUCH happier and calmer when I come home than she was when she was staying in that little pen. I use the pen as a gate now and she has all the room she needs.

At some point, I hope to post some pictures of the new house. It isn't picture-ready yet, but a few rooms are getting there. The computer/sewing room is desperately in need of furniture. Funny, because I've always been sort of overfurnished in my apartments....now I have rooms with almost nothing in them, because there is so much more space. I'm looking forward to hitting the thrift shops and antique sales and picking up some items that I can refinish.

Monday, Whitney has a vet appointment...one of those drop-off-at-7am things. I have solemnly sworn that I will use that day to finally get everything out of the old apartment. I've been so lazy about that. I had a feeling that once I was in the house I wouldn't want to go back and I was so right. I wish I'd had everything ready when the movers came, but I didn't and I can't change that now. I have brought a few things over since then. But, really, I just need to go over there for a full day and do it all. Then I can have the cleaners come and I can be done with it.