i wanna go home!!!

THERE IS A GECKO IN MY APARTMENT!!! i am FREAKING out!!! as i sit here thinking of ways to trap it and prevent any others from EVER thinking about entering my apartment, my skin is crawling!!!

lucy goes to the door this afternoon...her way of saying she has to potty...i reach for the leash and as i'm about to put it around her neck is see movement...a little brownish-greenish gecko goes for cover in my laundry closet. insert BLOOD-CURDLING scream here. what must the neighbors think?!! side note: i had just put a load of laundry in the washer...no idea how i'm going to get it in the dryer because i am NOT going anywhere near that closet.

but that's not the immediate problem...

guess where the laundry closet is located?!! yep, right by the front door...how the heck am i supposed to get lucy outside before she piddles all over the floor?!!

so after SEVERAL minutes of cowering on the couch...after SEVERAL pitiful and longing looks from lucy...i get brave, put the leash around her neck, and practically drag her out the front door. insert exceptionally LOUD door slam here. note to self: must apologize to neighbors...

i'm outside, lucy does her thing, and thank goodness...i remembered to grab my cell phone...because i really had no intention of going back into the apartment until matt could get home to find it and remove it. i call him and...no surprise here...he finds the story highly amusing and is completely unsympathetic...he says he can't come home until his regular time...he rode into work with a friend...doesn't have a way to get here anyway. i offer to come get him...and he thinks i'm kidding...i really wasn't. his advice: go to walmart and look for gecko traps...

it's 2:30 in the afternoon...matt won't be home until 6:30 or later...so i decide to get brave...AGAIN...throw the front door open, drag lucy across the apartment, and assume the cowering position on the couch. insert ANOTHER exceptionally LOUD door slam here.

that was MANY hours ago...i've been encouraging lucy to "get the gecko"...she brings me her ball.

not only will the laundry not get done, dinner will not be prepared...the kitchen is next to the front door which is next to the laundry closet which is harboring the aforementioned, unwelcomed gecko...i'm prisoner on the couch until matt gets home.

did you know that there are geckos that FLY?!!

what if they crawl on me while i'm sleeping?!!

what if they get in my cupboards?!!

what if they get in the laundry and i wash and dry one?!!

I WANNA GO HOME!!!

almost lakefront property

our view from the back patio...you sorta feel like you're living on a lake...okay, not really...i'm just trying to find something positive about living on the third floor.

there's a golf course directly below the back patio and the golfers are driving lucy crazy...she's obsessed with their every move.

and just to make all of you northerners jealous...it's 80 degrees outside...nothing but blue skies...beautiful, gorgeous, wish you were here!!!

best pumpkin ever

i know that halloween is SOOOO last year...but how cute is she?!!

it's the least i can do...

http://www.freerice.com/

my cousin, cindy, brought this website to my attention. for every vocabulary word definition you get right, this site will donate 20 grains of rice through the United Nations. doesn't sound like much...but...yesterday, over 140 million grains of rice were donated...wonder how many bowls of rice that is... i've personally contributed over 5,000 grains of rice today...it's addicting!!! can't believe all of those greek and latin root words are still in my head...thanks, mrs. stahley (high school english teacher).

upside-down frown

i feel like pouting and complaining, so i guess i should do the opposite and find things to be happy about today.

1. janelle had her baby early this morning...elijah william...SOOO happy for her and SOOO impressed with her 50 hour labor...sorry nelle, i know it's probably not something you're ready to be happy about...the 50 hour labor...but i am seriously impressed and so thankful that you had a safe delivery! CONGRATULATIONS!!!

2. grandpa is going home today...if the snowy roads improve between indianapolis and elkhart...if not today, monday...they don't transport by ambulance on the weekends. he'll go to a rehab facility for a few weeks until he's able to move about without assistance and eat a proper meal...no more pb & j, grandpa. grandpa has been in the hospital since christmas...he had a tumor removed from his pancreas...as well as many other "things". his doctors are considering this surgery very successful at this point...and i am thanking God for SOOO many answered prayers!!!

3. i get to see matt in a week...he's already in FL working on his project. we've been apart for 3 weeks...i miss him...lucy misses him...so ready to be together again!!!

4. my car will be fixed next week...working with an adjuster to get all of the details straightened out...found out they'll provide a rental car while mine's being fixed...PTL!!! while i was in IN, my cousin lisa accidentally backed into the front bumper of my car when leaving to take medicine to her son at school. is it funny or ironic that just the day before this happened i said, "i wish i'd just get the first ding...then maybe i wouldn't worry about something happening to the car anymore"??? thank you God for an answered prayer???

5. when i got home from IN on wednesday, i discovered/remembered that i still had some of my favorite coffee creamer left. it's a flavor that you can only get at christmas...peppermint mocha...YUM!!! the little things...

6. before leaving for IN i decided to pack up for FL...so glad i did that because now i can use this week to tie up loose ends...maybe get a haircut...a pedicure. i can enjoy my final days in my house before being separated from it for more than a year...is it weird that i'm feeling separation anxiety...from a house???

7. i found a teaching job online that starts on march 1...how perfect would that be?!! i sent my resume and a cover letter yesterday and am praying that i'll hear from the principal...soon.

in the day of prosperity be happy, but in the day of adversity consider-God has made the one as well as the other...ecclesiastes 7:14.