Posted 4:38 PM by Bonnie

By popular request I am posting pics of the house. Outside only as the inside still looks like a box factory. I had to laugh because when I told one friend I was trying to unpack 10 boxes a day, he said, 10 boxes a day! we only had 10 boxes all together. Yes, we did have a lot to move, but I am making progress. In the meantime, here are some pics of the outside.


Front view


Back view


backyard pic 1


backyard pic 2

The inside pics will come once I find the rooms beneath all the
boxes and plastic bags! Anyone want to come help unpack now?

Posted 7:52 PM by Bonnie

Found this on Victoria's blog.

You scored as Pacifism. You are a Pacifist. Under no conditions will you fight. You will accept risks -- even those of violence against you or death -- and you will act to help the victims of war. Conscience matters to you. Other pacifists: Martin Luther King Jr., Jesus, Buddha Pacifism 100% Just War 70% Chicken Hawk 50% War Liberal 30% Terrorism 25% Fascism 0% What is your view on War created with QuizFarm.com

Posted 12:11 PM by Bonnie

You find out who your friends are :-). Just one more load to move out of the old apartment and I will be able to relax and use my energy getting the house in order. Right now we are still surround by stacks and stacks!! But I wanted to take a moment to thank all the people who rallied around and helped me with this monumental task.



Louise, Julie, Jackie, and Linda... my friends and my TOPS support group! And boy, did they come through for me. On the day of the big move they came over and packed boxes, loaded boxes onto the moving van for me, and helped unload at the other end. They wouldn't quit and wouldn't give up. Even after Jackie got a huge wooden splinter in her leg she insisted on finishing the job of getting all the heavy furniture out for me.

Cynthia Harris, PHD who was ready with her truck every time I was ready to move a truckload or two of boxes and did it with a happy heart and a smile on her face. She and Jackie were my muscle and between them every heavy piece of furniture was moved. I had to laugh because I can lift some heavy things, but these two women made me look like a wimp :-).

My brother Mickey, who saved the day by changing the lock on the side door. We had no key to the lock and it is the best door to come in and out because there is a room between with a door that allows us to keep the cats inside while we make an easy exit. He also interrupted a walk with his wife to help me move in and stock videos on their shelves. I knew all I had to do was call and he would be there. (sorry about the picture, but i couldn't find a better one).

Without these friends (and yes, my brother may be family but he is also a friend) I would never have been able to do this. I can't thank them enough! Thank you just doesn't seem adequate but it is all I can do for now.

PS...don't forget to scroll down and post a vote for the name for the new kitten!

Posted 8:42 PM by Bonnie

While we were preparing to move we had the apartment door open to make it easier to carry boxes out. Keith was sitting in his chair when in walks this orange kitten. She immediately walked over to Keith, jumped up on his lap, curled up on his shoulder and fell asleep. When she woke up she went to the feeders and ate. We thought at first she was the same orange kitten who had visited us before, but that was a male and would have been much bigger by now. She smelled of smoke and had some singed fur, so we deduced she had been in one of the apartments that burned down. No one seemed to be looking for her and Keith wanted to keep her...so... yes, we have another kitten...


We are going back and forth on what to name her and can't agree, so I leave it up to you to decide. We have narrowed it down to the three names below.

Posted 10:18 AM by Bonnie

This is a chain interview from Victoria (started with Kim)

You have a new feedback to your feedback in Left Wing Liberal Commie Agitator.
Vic wrote:
Okay, here goes

1. What do you consider to be the most difficult thing you have ever done?

Give my daughter up for adoption. Even though I knew at the time I would not be able to raise her and give her a good life, due to my lifestyle then, it still broke my heart. I’m just grateful that when she 18 she sought me out and we have been in touch since then. Sometimes you just have to love someone enough to not think about yourself, but do what’s best for them. She has thanked me more than once for giving her the wonderful family that did raise her.

2. If you could go back to age 13 (where Sarah is now) and know everything that you now, what is the first thing you would do differently?

Study, study, study!! And not worry so much about boyfriends and peer pressure that girls aren’t supposed to be smarter than boys. I really blew it education wise!

3. If you were on a desert island and could end up with any three books with you, what would they be?

Little Women by Louisa Mae Alcott – this has always been one of my ‘warm fuzzy’s’
Welcome to The Monkey House – Kurt Vonnegut
The Story of My Life – Helen Keller (something to encourage and inspire)

4. If you could live anywhere in the world that you wanted, where would you live and why?

New York City! I love New York and the question implies I would have the funds to live anywhere I would like. Of all the places I have been NYC has been the most exciting, most alive, most real place I have visited.

5. If you could go through your house and throw out any dozen things, (besides trash), what would they be?

1. Videos we don’t watch anymore (give away though not throw away)
2. Half my pots and pans
3. An old wooden chair
4. JASA books over 1 year old
5. Consumer report magazines over 1 year old
6. All the empty boxes for the computer peripherals (printers, etc.)
7. A single chair with a yellow cushion
8. Bins of clothes that no longer fit Keith (already got rid of my old clothes I’ll never wear again)
9. Unmatched socks (that one I really should do)
10. Old toothbrushes that are being saved to clean other things besides teeth
11. Expired hydrogen peroxide bottles (dang are those still there –they’re going out as soon as I finish this!
12. Old bills (paid) stacked up in my desk – yep they are getting shredded and going out too!
(Thanks! Guess I’ll go clean out some stuff!)

1. Leave me a comment saying, "Interview me."
2. I will then ask you five questions. I get to pick the questions.
3. You will update your LJ with the answers to the questions.
4. You will include this explanation and an offer to interview someone else in the same post.
5. When others comment asking to be interviewed, you will ask them five question

Posted 9:47 AM by Bonnie

This is a chain interview from Kim

That was fun, Kim. Sorry it took so long to reply. We're in the process of moving. Tomorrow computers will be moved and no cable hook-up until Tuesday! How will I survive :-)?

Subject: Re: Interview
Ok Bonnie, here ya go!

1. How many cats do you have?
Nine if you count the stray who lives outside (we had him neutered) and the kitten who
Walked in last night and refuses to leave.

2. What is your favorite childhood memory?
Sitting on the front porch, on a rainy day reading Little Women and eating hot chocolate
Chip cookies and drinking ice cold lemonade.

3. What is your favorite quote and why?
Work as if you don’t need the money, love like you’ve never been hurt and dance like
No one is watching.

I like this one because it gives us the freedom to enjoy life without being self conscious
Or inhibited by what others may think.

4. Which sibling are you closest to?

That’s a hard one. I am closest to my two sisters and I would have a hard time choosing
One over the other. Each have endearing qualities that make me love them and enjoy
My time with them.

5. Who is your favorite author/poet and why?
Wow! I do love to read and do love poetry…but from my wild and crazy youth one
Author stands above the rest – Kurt Vonnegut. Why? Because he made us think! He
Made us realize life is crazy and in order to survive it we have to accept the insanity
And make it work for us.

1. Leave me a comment saying, "Interview me."
2. I will then ask you five questions. I get to pick the questions.
3. You will update your LJ with the answers to the questions.
4. You will include this explanation and an offer to interview someone else in the same post.
5. When others comment asking to be interviewed, you will ask them five question

Posted 2:18 PM by Bonnie

Well, talked with JulieBird on the phone this morning and she said she was tired of seeing that same old poll on my blog, so it was time to update. Am back at the old apartment for some clean up work, so figured I'd write a bit about our move yesterday.

Got up at 7 A.M. Fed cats, etc etc etc...Cynthia met me here at 7:45 and drove me to pick up the truck. We loaded boxes, boxes, and more boxes! We even got some furniture on that load. But had to pack as we had run out of space to stack boxes, so had to unpack at the other end to pack more. After we finished the first run three of my TOPS pals showed up to help. Linda P (aka PeePee-don't ask), Louise and JulieBird. The packed more videos (there should be a limit as to how many videos one person can own or move :-)) and helped me move another load over. Shortly after they left another TOPS pal (Jackie - an ex-marine) showed up and Cynthia came back, and between us we moved out the entire bedroom and huge kitchen table and more boxes!!!

We took a short dinner break and did one more small run. Jackie could have kept going and would have moved my husbands office out that night, but it was after 9 PM and I had been working since 8:30 AM and was exhausted. I know I was snapping by then and cussing someone out. :-). Anyway, tomorrow Cynthia will bring her truck back and we will move Keith's office out, and then move my computer and small bookcase and small desk. After that it will just be a matter of coming back and picking up books and small things and cleaning the cat hair off the carpet.

A few days before my brother Mickey (Michael to you :-)) stopped and helped me unload a ton of videos and stack them on shelves. Like I said...there should be a limit to the number of videos one person can own! I still have tons to load... stop by anytime Mickey :-).

Got the cats in last and they are all busy exploring, with the exception of Hidey who is living up to her name and hiding in the bedroom closet.

Later!!! Have a great weekend! Okay, JulieBird---are you happy now?

I am exhausted!!! But time to go get some more cleaing done!

Posted 10:34 PM by Bonnie

Posted 9:14 PM by Bonnie

BDI Monday Music Mambo - Week 49

01. In recent years advertisers have been using popular music in commercials. Name two or three of your favorite songs and what product/service those songs might represent.

Song: Product/Service
Darlin' Be Home Soon - American Airlines - song plays as someone waits at home watching out the window or at an airport and flashes between that person and the person they are waiting for on the airplane.

Aint No Mountain High Enough - Jeep Wrangler or a hiking shoe/boot commercial.

02. You are taking a road trip and can only take one cd with you. Which cd would it be?

Carly Simon - Tapestry

03. If your pillow played music that relaxed you and helped put you to sleep, what song or music would it play?

Spencer Lewis - Gardener's Rain (Spencer Lewis combines guitar and violin with sounds of nature. Very relaxing.

Posted 8:31 PM by Bonnie

For this month's Blogging for Books, write an original blog post about one of three topics: lying, fornicating, or going home. I know everyone who knows me would have expected me to choose fornicating. Instead I have chosen Going Home as my topic. Following is my entry.

Going Home!

Corners! I live in corners. When I first moved here my husband was already ensconced in his apartment. When I walked in I wondered where I would fit and after three years find I still don’t. Wall to wall shelves of videos take up more space than my books, which are allotted to a bookcase behind the loveseat. I sit now typing, on my computer, stuffed and crammed into the back of the kitchen, behind a table which I must walk around each time I want to work here.

Corners! I live in corners. My husbands huge television on an even bigger table, surrounded by three VHS players and two DVD players has more priority and space in the living room than I have. His chair sits facing the television and he surrounds himself with his movie books and videos. My small Queen Anne style chair sits in a corner between yet another shelf of videos, the love seat, and a table crammed and overflowing with his stuff. My husband loves me, of this I have no doubt, but he has lived alone too long and sometimes I think I also live in a corner in his heart. A cozy corner, but a corner all the same.

Corners! I live in corners. In the bedroom my side of the bed is closest to the wall and I must move sideways to get in and out. Beside it I have a small bookcase on which I keep my audio tapes and a small tape player. These are my company when I awake in the middle of the night and can’t get back to sleep, because his cats are taking up more space on my bed than me.

Corners! I will no longer live in corners. We have found a house to rent. Somewhere in the three bedrooms, one and a half baths, living room, kitchen with a separate area for the table, and large den I will find space for me. I will finally move out of my corners and I will be going home. I will be going to our home, not his home, and there will be space for me to breathe and say, I have finally come home again.

Posted 7:15 AM by Bonnie

We did it! We are renting a house! We signed a contract to move in on the 16th, but our landlady said we could start any time we wanted, so I will be packing and we will begin the move on the 12th. Since it is only a couple blocks away we aren't doing the BIG move thing, but will move boxes and stuff first and then rent a uhaul for one day to move the bed, dressers, kitchen table and such. It should be fun (NOT!) but it will be worth it. Not only will we be out of these fire trap apartments, but we will BOTH have space to work and set up offices. Plus the windows can actually be opened because the screens don't fall out :-). This was a nice place to live when I first came here, but it has gone down hill since (hmmmmmm- do you think it was me?) with people trashing the area all the time, blasting loud music in the middle of the night, shootings, fires, fights....and it's amazing how a couple blocks moves you into an entirely different area. Well, more updates and pictures as things progress. Better get packing!!