Serendipity

(From the movie "UP") You can retire to Phoenix, Arizona where...  1.  You are willing to park 3 blocks away because you found shade.  2.  You've experienced condensation on your butt from the hot water in the toilet bowl.  3.  You can drive for 4 hours in one direction and never leave town.  4.  You have over 100 recipes for Mexican food.  5.  You know that "dry heat" is comparable to what hits you in the face when you open your oven door.  6.  The 4 seasons are: tolerable, hot, really hot, and ARE YOU KIDDING ME?  OR You can retire to California where...  1.  You make over $250,000 and you still can't afford to buy a house.  2.  The fastest part of your commute is going down your driveway.  3.  You know how to eat an artichoke.  4.  You drive your rented Mercedes to your neighborhood block party.  5.  When someone asks you how far something is, you tell them how lo...

Water tower in Holly, MI It's always interesting to visit quaint little towns that are off the beaten track, and my friends, Laura and her mom, Cynthia took me to such a delightful little town called Holly, MI. Cynthia wrote about our little adventure and the township, adding to it some of the fun facts we learned in the process.  Holly boasts a haunted hotel and numerous antique shops ... more than I have ever seen in a small area! Wow!  I've always found it fascinating to wander through shops...the stories behind the articles, we can only imagine ! What follows is my photo story of the places we seen, the shops we walked through, and some interesting items of note.  Enjoy! Haunted Holly hotel front of the hotel   one of many antique shops main street Holly Candle Shoppe a restaurant Another antique store Clock in town center Another water tower Mural of times past

I have to apologize to everyone for taking so long to get back to my blog and my journey to Wisconsin.  As life so often does, it can become quite busy...and I won't deny that I am truly enjoying the peace and quiet here! I left New York State on the 6th of September driving a nearly new yellow Penske 10' moving van, and made my way toward Highland, Michigan, where I would stay 2 days with a dear friend.  The day was a perfect one for driving...not too hot and not raining...all was good! My co-pilots were two 3-month old kittens...Smokey and Lily.  They were all snug in a carrier...and did very well...to my amazement!  During the entire trip to Michigan, not once did they toilet in the carrier...but let me tell you that the minute I fixed up their litter box...they were in it in a flash!  I was so proud of them! The only times that I stopped were to refuel, grab a snack to eat and make sure the kittens were okay...as I put their food and water dish in wit...

Well folks...I am still here in NY ...my plans fell through at least for the moment.   I am frustrated, hurt, angry...but I can't say whether it's more at the Uhaul company or myself for not following my gut feelings. When I reserved the truck back in the first week of August, I was told that all I would need is a $100 deposit and the balance would be due when I returned the truck at my destination.  In all honesty, it seemed TOO simple...and between then and the time that I was supposed to pick up the truck, I called several times to verify and re-verify that the information was correct...talking to a different woman every single time.  Each time I called...I got the same answer...$100 deposit and the balance when I got to Wisconsin and returned the truck. As scheduled, I went to get the truck, and low and behold...my gut feelings were confirmed...the whole balance was due BEFORE I even took the truck!  I was devastated (to say the least) because I did not hav...

When I made my decision to move to Wisconsin to be with my boyfriend, the biggest obstacle  I had in front of me was telling each one of my (adult) children.  I was truthfully fearful of their reaction...not all sure HOW they would react.  Fortunately, my fears were unfounded. I told my youngest first, to gauge how the other two might react.  He was shocked at first, then admitted that he thought it was a good thing, and since he could come spend a week or two on a visit...he was fine!  That was almost three weeks ago. Last Friday, I had the opportunity to talk things out with my oldest son, and I was shocked that he suggested that I do move!  The reality here is that I have lived with my daughter for most of what will be 10 years this coming November, I am quickly approaching my 53rd birthday, and have not had a life to call my own, since I am a caregiver to 3 grandchildren as well as living with them.  He told me it was way past time for me to ...

Despite the fact that we knew we would be moving and pretty much had a target date in mind, things did not pan out the way we'd planned.   Our intention was to rent a Uhaul and make the move in one fell swoop, which would--in theory--save us money .   However, when it came time to price the Uhaul...the price had gone up $100 and was something we now could not afford...since we had paid a security deposit plus rent, as well as having to pay to have the electric turned on...there was just barely enough money to do anything more than 'borrow' some vehicles and pay for the gas for those vehicles to make a single trip.  (My daughter's mother-in-law volunteered to make a second to get the remaining things.) So--in the style of the Beverly Hillbillies--we loaded up and moved on out...2 pickups and an SUV.  What lay ahead of us was almost a 2 hour trip to our new home. For Alisha's mother-in-law and I...we were looking at a mere 8 hours road time that day......

I am having a really hard time understanding how two women who have paid their rent on time, bothered no one--with no attempts to befriend the neighbors, and who have minded their own business can be reduced to a state of paranoia over the past few weeks. Since the whole episode happened with the trailer having (supposedly) been sold , the ordeal with the dogs that I described in my earlier post,  Evil People, dog tales and moving my daughter and I have come to expect the unexpected, listening for unusual noises at night and been very worried that something will occur that will throw us into another tail spin and grow the anxiety and fear even more. It's not the legality of the situation that is causing the problem...it's the "illegalities" that I am concerned with.  What I mean is that we would not put it past anyone here to do something to my daughter's car, like scratch the paint or flatten tires...just for spite. In the past 3 weeks or so we have he...

For the past month, we have been living under a great wave of turbulence in our lives here.  On the 8th of May, this place we've called home since February of this year, was shown to a possible buyer, who in fact did end up buying the place only two days ago. However, since the 8th, the landlord has done nothing but leave nasty little messages on our cell phone, left a nasty note in our mailbox...all telling us to get out...and now the new owner has stepped up to the plate and begun a similar attack. Our original lease wasn't due to expire until the end of August, rent has been paid before it was due (a month beforehand) and our security deposit was paid in full at the time of the signing of the lease.  With all that has transpired, the original owner has used the deposit against us, saying we won't get it back...or won't get it back until he does a walk through after we vacate.  Thing is, this past Tuesday, he was in here...and saw that this place is in the same cond...

Sammy and Jack Let it never be said that all townships are the same, that every single person in them is a good person and does only good deeds.  I'm here to tell you what we are experiencing right now. Back about 4 weeks ago, my daughter's younger AmStaff was let out by accident by yours truly about 7 in the morning.  I immediately grabbed the leash and went to get him, as he had traveled next door onto the neighbor's property.  These neighbors have 2-3 dogs, all of which are chained outside 24/7 and Sammy went up to their Yorkshire terrior and began just sniffing him.   I called to Sammy and in the next second the dogs were fighting.  I hurried over to them, and grabbed a hold of Sammy, put the leash on him and then did my best to get the two dogs apart.  By then, the owner came out and she worked with me to get them separated...we'd get one dog to let go and the other dog would clamp on. Within minutes though, we had the dogs separated a...