Miserable...

That is the best way to describe how things are right now. I just got home from a fabulous weekend with CC in our Clearwater home. Leaving is exactly the one thing I did NOT want to do. I am not whole without him. As cliche as some people make think this sounds, we really are two halves of a whole. Anyone who has spent any amount of time with us knows this. My Dad, he says we are like an old married couple. True. It's just that comfort level thing. We complement each other in ways I haven't seen in a couple in a long time. Marriages, relationships, many consider them a pretty disposable thing. I admit, at one time I probably did. I threw away the best thing that ever happened to me so many years ago. I am just fortunate that fate has smiled upon me. Lord knows I will not squander the second chance we have been given.

I hate leaving. It is so hard. CC and the girls took me to the airport today. I just hate it. I should be staying but I have obligations here. Right now I really need to unload this house. I still have not sold it. I was really upset when the whole deal fell through at the last minute. We are now back to square one. I was really hoping to have it sold by the time school starts. There is still a bit of time but the clock is ticking. School will start here on August 15. I have an apartment complex I have given a deposit to, I hope I will be moving there before too long. That will be a start. I have a friend that the Son respects that stays here when I am away. I am hoping we can continue this arrangement when we are in the apartment. He is a good friend although at times can seem like a second child. He is 10 years younger than me and doesn't seem to have it all together. Failure to make decisions on his own has allowed others to do it for him and has resulted in a very complicated convoluted life. I try to explain it to him but he just can't seem to take control of things. It is sad. He is a very good parent to his children though and does give the Son some good advice and guidance from time to time which is a good thing.

Other than that, things here are the same. Son knows everything, costs me money every time I turn around. Nothing new on that front. Typical teen. He did manage to get a better job than Tumbleweed. He works at a local full service gas station. He is less than 5 miles from the house and is working 11-6 4 days a week and 6-6 on Saturdays. Thank God he will now be making his own money. I can't afford to be a parent anymore. I gave him a late model car that is very reliable and gets excellent fuel economy when he turned 16. I have informed him this is the one and only car he will get from me. He has now wrecked it twice. Once in May in the school parking lot and once in our driveway (Saturday). The second I will need to pay out of pocket in order to keep insurance. I am scared to death they will drop me and then I don't know what I will do. Son wants to sell the car and by another for 3.5k. He has been informed when that happens, I am no longer responsible for any car bills other than insurance. I have also explained he will be dropped from full coverage to collision. I will explain that once again when he sells it. I figure he needs to learn his lessons the hard way and if this is one of them, then here we go. I know he is spoiled but I refuse to carry on at the detriment of our world. We have a mortgage, bills, etc. I do what I can but he will make this decision with all of the information and it will give him something to learn from. I hope, as always, things work out the way he would like, but life doesn't always work that way and it is time he potentially gets a taste of it.

CC and I, however, will be fine. We have had a couple of issues with the new house. First was the $700 water bill. Two leaky commodes. Who knew in one month you could have a bill for $700 because you supposedly used 37,000 gallons of water? That is over three times the size of our pool! The plumber couldn't find the leak but we finally did and CC changed all of the stuff so they no longer leak. I am going to call the water company in the morning to beg for leniency and hopefully some sort of credit! :)

The other issue, well, it isn't so much an issue as it is the more we live there, the more we decide needs to be fixed. It all is well and good when you look at it but we looked at the house, made an offer and had it accepted in all of a day. So, the more we are there, the more we discover the man there thought he was Mike Holmes (Holmes on Homes, HGTV). BUT, he turned out to be a do it yourselfer who didn't have a clue. SOOOOO... We are having to do a lot of things to fix the previous owner's "home improvements". It will turn out well as CC is as handy as they come. Everything he has done at the house in IN and the one in FL has turned out spectacularly. I couldn't be more pleased. He worries a lot about pleasing me but the reality is he does a fantastic job, knows his limitations and is man enough to say when something is best done by a professional. A girl cannot ask for anymore than that.

This past long weekend was wonderful. I left for FL after work on Thursday. I arrived an hour later than expected due to some inclement weather in Chicago. That equates to 0100. CC had to work the next day. He didn't get to bed until almost 0300. Bless him.. He ended up working a bit late but not by much and arrived home exhausted. He took a bit of a nap and we took off for a bite to eat and a trip into Tampa. IKEA!!! We arrived about 15-20 minutes before closing so our trip was extremely focused. We picked up light bulbs for the lamp we bought on our last excursion. (Note.... For anyone who wants to shop at IKEA, their lamps are "special" and require bulbs you can only buy at their store. Stock up while you are there)... We also bought slats for the bed purchased on our last trip. (Note.... Mattresses made in the US do not have a standard. Therefore, one Queen is not the same always as another. It is a bit narrower than those IKEA has and the mattress will fall through to the floor!). We bought bed slats so we wouldn't end up on the floor in the middle of the night. THAT would be a rude awakening. We came home and put the bed together properly and was able to get a good night's sleep. Poor CC was exhausted.

Saturday came early. I awoke to the sounds of Daisy (our golden) whining. I figured she wanted to go outside. I hurried out of bed so she would stop, (I didn't want to wake CC). By the time I got out of the bed, Daisy had jumped into the bed and had laid down IN MY SPOT!!! I HAVE BEEN JUKED BY A DOG!!!!!! I have never felt so much like Charlie Brown trying to kick a football in all my life! I was a bit put out to say the least and CC woke up. He persuaded Daisy out of the bed and I jumped back in. Apparently I need to revoke my application for "Who is smarter than a 5th grader"... LOL! I just don't seem to fit the bill. ;) We rose early. CC worked on the leaky commodes and I left to return some bedding and run to the grocery. I picked up a few items needed for our cookout the following day and also exchanged some bedding for an alternate. Same color but a tamer pattern. I returned home victorious!!! The new bedding was half of the previous so that made it all the better. Sales always make a girl feel even better!!! I came home and we spent a couple of hours in the pool before leaving for the ballgame. CC bought us tickets to the Tampa Rays vs. St. Louis Cardinals ballgame at Tropicana Field. After a bit of driving around, we found a place to park and went in. I have never been to a game that was indoors. It seemed a bit odd. I have no idea how those fielders saw that baseball. It seemed to vanish in all of the lights. I must say, air-conditioned comfort for a summer ballgame was nice! It did rain a bit while we were inside so a game that would've been a rain out in normal circumstances was able to play out to completion. The Rays won 5 to 1. Boo! Although I suppose had they played someone else we would be shouting YAY!! We do need to get us a Rays t-shirt a piece for when we are watching them play someone other than the Cardinals or the Reds. (That's my team!! :D)

Sunday turned out to be absolutely glorious!!! CC had bought a slab of ribs and we were smoking ribs and hanging by the pool all day! Can you think of anything better? We were up, had our usual coffee and read the paper (Got a great deal for Sundays on Groupon). Then CC fired up the grill. I decided to change and begin the sunning process. CC mowed the backyard and then put on the ribs and joined me. Now don't judge, it's a riding mower and a small yard. He was only 15-20 behind me...
We really enjoyed ourselves. It was a beautiful sunny day in the neighborhood; and, when the sun went in, we just moved from the pool to the jacuzzi! ;) We had put a more than decent dent in our beer supply when the ribs were ready. Boy were they good! We had grilled corn and baked beans as sides for the wonderful ribs. CC really outdoes himself when we cook out. During the morning and then after the grilling and swimming we managed to hang all of the artwork in the house. It was a feat. Not that we have that much but when you try to make old things fit in with new things and a new house, it can be tricky. You also need to decide what needs to just be placed in storage or just what needs to leave the house. It was a big undertaking but I think we did a really good job of combining the art of two households.

Monday came a lot faster than either of us wanted. I hate leaving. I can't wait until I am moving there for good. I have a son that needs to finish school. I have a house that needs to be sold and I need to find a job that can give me some of the flexibility I need to make all of this work until my permanent move date. It's a tall order but I am making strides. I had a positive preliminary interview on Thursday. I really hope it works out. The recruiter said that the hiring manager will be willing to work with me on it so I am hopeful at this point. I just hate being away from CC. Two weeks is about the max I can stand it. This last three weeks seemed like three months. Right now my next trip isn't scheduled until the first weeks of August. UGH!!!! I don't know how I will make it until then but I know I must hold on.

The Son and the GF are accompanying me on my next visit. I have a friend with a car service that will pick us up and take us to the airport as CC will be working. The GF's mom will take us to and pick us up at SDF. So, all in all, transportation is taken care of. As long as the Son can behave and all drama avoided...... I pray for this at night!