If you've been following me on Facebook, you'll have seen that my son and his lady are going to have a baby. And just this week, they discovered they are going to have a little girl! So that means I'm going to be the granny to the sweetest little princess ever!!! Woot!!!!
This is the way they told us... BEST. REVEAL. EVER.
As you can imagine, we are VERY excited. We have been waiting to find out the sex of the baby for a month now, and this was such a cute way to tell everyone. I've got such a creative family.
Now, I'm all about getting stuff for them and the baby. I'm spending the day (after work, I promise) on Amazon and I've got a feeling afterwards Jonathon will threaten to cut off my credit card. LOL
But how can I help it? There is so many cute things for a baby girl. Like these...
Becoming a grandmother is wonderful. One moment you’re just a mother. The next you are all-wise and prehistoric. ~Pam Brown
Grandmas are moms with lots of frosting. ~Author Unknown
Grandmas never run out of hugs or cookies. ~Author Unknown
Grandmother — a wonderful mother with lots of practice. ~Author Unknown
Most grandmas have a touch of the scallywag. ~Helen Thomson
I plan on leading my grandbaby into a lot of trouble. LOL I've been waiting a loooong time to hold my grandchild in my arms. Being half way across the globe is REALLY hard, and I've got this sneaking suspicion we won't be on the road for too much longer. I can't bear being away from this new little treasure. I want to be in her life as she grows.
But until then, I plan on spoiling her completely. After all, isn't that a granny's prerogative? As this awesome quote says...
This is the blog I was going to share with you on Friday, but was rant blocked by my landlady and her ridiculous internet limit. But I've been writing this on and off over the last few days and took a quick trip down to Starbucks to upload it. Hopefully, it will come through okay.
I hate the DMV. Hate, hate, hate them. Actually, I don't think there are very many people who DO like them. Hmmm... Okay, just to be fair, hold up your hand if you do. *searches...searches...searches...* Nope. Didn't think so. Wait...was that a hand there in the back? *shakes head* Takes all kinds.
Now before I go on with my rant, please read this...
*disclaimer... I know there are probably good offices and great people that work at a DMV...those that haven't been corrupted by the company's stupidity and general assholyness. If you are one of those few people, I applaud you. But, all I can say to you is...RUN...RUN BEFORE IT'S TOO LATE*
Ahem...now that I've made that clear...
The DMV is an entity we HAVE to deal with. If you want to drive. If you want to register your vehicle (in most states), they are the people you go to. You can, of course, drive illegally, go off the grid, or not drive at all, but if you want that shiny license with it's less than stellar picture, you have to deal with the DMV.
Now, my utter loathing for them doesn't come from the longass lines, unfriendly and taciturn staff or the fact that (at least in Florida) they've closed most of the offices so you ALL get to go to the same one, adding to the longass lines and irritating the already unfriendly and taciturn staff.
No, my hatred and disgust comes from the fact they are the most unhelpful, ridiculous, inane company on the planet!
We all know how it works. You have to renew your license, so you grab the longest book you have or tuck a small game console in your pocket. Girding your loins for battle, you take a deep breath and walk through the doors. (If you look close, above the door jam is scratched... Abandon all hope, ye who enter here.)
You grab a number from the machine (G129) , and praying for mercy, you slowly look up at the big flashing board to see what person is lucky enough to have made it to a window. Then you drag yourself to one of their horribly uncomfortable plastic pinch-your-ass chairs because they are only on G45.
*sigh*
And you wait....and wait...and wait. And when you finally make it up to the window, it's hours later, your stomach is growling because you can't eat inside the building, and you wished you'd brought a second book!!!!
BUT...what if you're like me and can't enjoy a restful day waiting for hours at her local DMV while she waits to get her license renewed. What if, you travel the world and won't be in country during the time when you can renew it in person.
Well the DMV has this dandy little thing called an online renewal. Fantastic, right? I was jazzed when I discovered that. That is until I put in all my information, and it told me I couldn't renew online because I had a FLORIDA ONLY LICENSE.
What? What the hell does that mean? I looked it up (before my internet died) and discovered a Florida Only License was one given to people before 2009 who also had licenses in other states. (Because Florida is such a snowbird state apparently this was allowed)
But I didn't have a license in another state. When we moved to Florida back in the early 2000s, we gave up our licenses and became Florida residents. I've only had a Florida license since then, so WTF???
So I wrote them. Explained my license would expire when I was overseas and I couldn't come home to deal with it. I told them I was a full time Florida resident and had been forever. I didn't have two licenses, only the one and I needed the renewal so I could continue legally driving. I couldn't just come to the local office to fix this, because I was in Australia.
Their response? A f*cking form letter that said nothing different than what I'd read on the website. This is the law. Come into the office to take care of it. And then a teeth baring, We hope this was of help to you.
REALLY? Is it any wonder I hate them? I gave them a specific problem...a mistake THEY had made and all I get is a freaking form letter????? Grrrrrrrr.
So I wrote them again, politely (when I wanted to send one my my fire breathing dragons after them) explaining their mistake, telling them I COULD NOT come to the office. I was TEN THOUSAND miles away from the nearest Florida DMV office.
Their second response. ANOTHER BLOODY FORM LETTER, with this one repeating I needed to go to my local DMV and get this taken care of. And the added. That while it may be inconvenient, I may just have to hop over from Australia to get it taken care of.
Inconvenient? Hop over?
AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Is it any wonder we hate them like a fat kid hates broccoli?
There has to be a better way. When an entity is universally disliked on the scale the DMV is, something is very wrong. But how do you fight for change when the thing you're fighting is so entrenched in our culture, we think it's perfectly normal to have to deal with it each and every time we walk through their hallowed doors.
Sort of like politics... But THAT was last Tuesday's blog!
Anyway, I'm not sure how my story will end, but I'll keep fighting. Either that or I'll be heading to the states a little earlier than I had planned to. *sigh*
To end this rant, I thought I'd share a hysterical video about the DMV from the movie Zootopia. If you've seen the movie, you're probably already laughing. If you haven't, I swear, if this isn't perfect rendition of what we all go through with them, I don't know what is. Watch it through to the end. It's worth it.
The rant blog I was going to write today has been postponed. Probably until Tuesday. Hopefully no longer than that. Our landlady here in Sydney neglected to inform us that our internet has severe limitations and my daily use to download information, contracts and do research for my books, sucked our time dry in less than a week.
Really? *sigh*
So while Jonathon and she figure out how to get me back on going, I'm stuck with my data (unlimited, thank God) on my phone. But typing...not so easy, so everything big is on hold until I get my internet back up to speed.
So check back on Tuesday to see if I can share my rant blog with you then!
In the past I've used Tuesdays to talk about my releases, post silly blogs or let you know what I'm writing about. That won't change, but I think we can add to my Tuesday blogging schedule with some other info and news.
Case in point.
I don't do politics online. There is way too many ways for people to get angry, misrepresent your words or just plain act like idiots. (sorta like the politicians themselves)
But I have to admit I've really enjoyed reading through the different FB memes and posts where people mocked, poked fun at or dissed each of the candidates. Some of them were inspired.
Some were just mean and stupid, and anyone with a brain would know better than to listen to them. But others gave actual facts and brought things to light I wasn't aware of.
But the ones that poked fun at the candidates--in ways that were funny and not cruel--those I enjoyed. Because in all honesty...IMHO this election's choices are so bad, if I didn't laugh...I'd cry.
I won't go any further with MY assessment because it isn't worth pissing anyone off. But as you read through your social media and you have a special post or pic that made you chuckle, please post it or a link in the comments below.
As you can see by the meme to the right, renovation can often be quite an adventure. Surviving can even be a struggle.
For me, I think while I worked hard to get things done and learned to live in a "dust zone", it was easier than what some people deal with. Partly was because of the help I had, but I think the biggest reason was that I did most of it on my own.
Jonathon was there only for a few days, and while he gave me daily input when he was gone, the majority of the work and decisions were mine. And then I carried them out. No arguing, no worries for the most part. I'd ask his opinion, we'd make a decision and then I'd carry it out.
Not that I'd want to do it again. I MISSED him. Missed him being a part of the fun. If we ever do this again, we'll make sure he's part of the action.
But after two and a half months, I'd done all I could do before leaving. And I was happy...very happy with what we'd built. Last week I gave you the BEFORE and AFTER of the kitchen, bathroom and living room. Let's do a few more rooms!
The Upstairs Bedroom
One of the easiest rooms in the house mainly because I only did the basics in this one. Since my son and his lady were going to decorate it, all I did was give them a base to work with. But once you see the BEFORE, you'll see it was something that needed to be done. Badly.
Maybe they were going to use this room as a nursery. Only reason I could think of for a bedroom painted pale blues and pinks!
BEFORE
AFTER
As you can see, pretty basic, but SOOOOOOOO much better than the pink and blue.
Let's move on down to the lower level of the house. This area was the part that had the water damage when they turned on the water and forgot to check to make sure the winterizing had been done correctly. Luckily, Jonathon is a wiz at plumbing, electrical and construction, and he taught his family when we renovated our tiny cabin in Idaho.
But this house was also a challenge. There wasn't a single room that didn't need work. Our bedroom (formerly an extra living space) was the best of the lot, so I left that for last. Let me show you two areas that needed a lot of work--two that IMHO, I changed into an area you can use and enjoy!
The Hallway.
This was where MOST of the water damage was. Floor tile was destroyed, ceiling crumbled and paint was peeling. There was nothing we could do but pretty much start over. Let me show you what I mean...
BEFORE
I have to add, when the contractors "fixed" the water (Boy, did that not happen!), they pulled down the destroyed ceiling. And left the broken, moldy and disgusting pieces on the floor under the stairs.
Which destroyed all the tiles. Bloody idiots!!!!!!!!
AFTER
Big difference, right???? I am really proud of myself. Especially the floor. That was my own personal HELL until I got in the groove. LOL
Now the next room is one I'm REALLY proud of. This one was a joint effort. Jasiah, Jeramiah, Jonathon AND I together changed this room from the worst in the house to..IMHO...to one of the best. I'm talking about...
The Laundry Room or...as it was called at the beginning.
The Hole of Death.
BEFORE
This is a little fuzzy, but it's the best of the worse pictures. This is what the room looked like when we first moved in.
AFTER
I have to admit, I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE how this turned out. Talk about a before and after, right????
Anyway, that's all for this week. I'll be back next Friday with a special blog about some other things going on, then I'll be back the following Friday with the last of the renovation blogs!
Have a great weekend! And please, let me know what you think!
Since I just did my latest upcoming story blog--see links at bottom for that information--I thought today I'd give you a bit of a giggle.
As you know I'm always on the look out for funny signage, statues and street art. I've been in Australia less than two weeks and I'm already finding lots of fun to share. Ready???
Some of these I've shared of FB, so if you follow me there, think of it as a reminder treat. *grin*
Okay...not so much a funny sign, but one that made me think. Who's Larry? Why is he happy? Why will eating pizza make us happy like Larry? Is that why Larry is happy? Because we're eating his pizza and making him money? If we didn't eat pizza would the sign be changed to...
"Unhappy as Larry"?
And then there are these three pictures. I shared them on FB but they're totally worth another look. Who came up with such an awesome marketing plan? Talk about a creative name!!!
Saw this at the Fishmarket this weekend. I know WHY it was up. It is a predominantly Chinese area who do this a little differently than we do. But to have to put up a sign??? Really???? Cracked me up and made me look VERY closely at the toilet BEFORE I sat down!
In Chinatown pharmacy type place. Kangaroo? Huh...just huh.
They have these "bird deterrents" all over Darling Harbor. Read it completely. The birds are REALLY aggressive and if they get too close you squirt them. Has diluted vinegar in it. I did use it once. LOL Had to.
And finally... This sign is at the entrance to Hyde Park. It tickled us. Tree failure. What a polite term for...
"dropping a branch on your head"
That's it for today! Don't forget to check out my latest release, Hide and Go Dragon. Links and information is below! And as always, please let me know what you think!
