Just a little update

It's another beautiful day here in NC. It's strange to wake up and know you're going to wear shorts and a tank/t-shirt everyday instead of watching the forecast to see if it will be warm enough to wear short sleeves. The only problem we're having with this is that none of my shorts fit and Joe only has two pair of shorts. The pair I'm wearing today is staying on my hips only because I've got a couple safety pins taking them in on the sides. I guess we're going to have to go shopping... :)

I get the feeling that the neighborhood we live in is pretty safe. I see a lot of people on the ground floors with bikes and things on their patios and I haven't noticed any of them being locked up. The people at the pool are friendly, the kids are all inside at a decent hour, and everyone seems to respect the quiet hours established by the property managers. The maintenance guys are fast (and cute!) and take the time to pet the cat. They got my newspaper wet when the were power washing the entry ways, but I'll let that slide on account of their cuteness.

On Friday I went to the DMV to get my N.C. driver's license. Thankfully, I'd done my homework and made sure I had all the required documents and had even reviewed some stuff for the exam. But I'll tell you this - all of you Michiganders need to give your clerk a hug next time you go to the Secretary of State. In Michigan I've waited 20 minutes max to do everything from getting a new license (I lose them a lot) to renewing license plates to transferring titles. This is not the case here in N.C. To get your license, you go to the DMV and to get your plates you go to a different office that's across town. Oh, and by the way, you're going to wait 2-3 hours for your number to come up. Yeah, 3 hours, sitting on the floor (there weren't any chairs available when I got there and I was definitely not going to let 60 year old ladies and pregnant women stand) while I waited for my number to be called. And let me tell you, this isn't exactly the kinda place you want to even touch the walls, let alone sit against them. It was dirty, probably hadn't been remodeled since 1970, and was cramped. There was a sign up that said it was unsafe and unlawful to exceed the maximum occupancy of 43 people...but at any given time there were over 60 people there, and that didn't count the ones that were waiting outside. Tomorrow I have to repeat this process to get the jeep's plates transferred and then Joe will have to do both to get his license and transfer the impala. I miss the Sec. of State.

In addition to my experience at the DMV, I've found some other naiveties that have carried over from my small town upbringing. I established a PCP about a week after we got here, mostly because I needed a referral to make my first appointment with a psychiatrist. I knew it would take a little while to get into a psych, so I made sure I got in for the referral right away. All my meds are filled through the first week of September (some longer) so I figured I'd be all set up with a doc by then, three weeks should be long enough, right? Wrong. The first available appointment they had was for October 1st. I hope this long of a wait is only happening because I'm a new patient or I'll be looking for a different office, even if it means going to Charlotte. Thankfully my new PCP is really cool and had already called in refills for all my stuff before we even knew when the psych appointment was, just in case I needed them, which is awesome. But I'd been hoping to see a psychiatrist before my Ambien CR script ran out because I think I'd like to try something different given how much of a headache filling the Ambien has been. I hate the FDA and insurance companies.

I've also come to realize why people complain about WalMart so much. In Marquette the Walmart is clean, fairly organized, and the employees are generally helpful and nice. Sure, there are still some serious annoyances at that store, but nothing like down here. Walmart is always packed, people (both customers and workers) are either completely oblivious to that fact that there may be other people around and/or they are rude. The store is laid out in a way I don't understand (no flow). Oh, and it doesn't help that a little boy was molested in the bathroom there last week. So I've decided that I'm going to go somewhere else, like K-mart (which is less than a mile from here) or Target. I'm sure that keeping my sanity intact is going to be worth the extra money we'll spend.

Joe snagged us a cute little bistro patio set while he was in the U.P. (at Walmart actually...). Patio furniture isn't on clearance here yet...I'm not even sure it ever goes on clearance? It's really cute and sometime I'll post a picture of it but I don't feel like it right now. We spent most of last night sitting on the deck playing cards. The cat likes to come out with us, but wants to go in and out a lot. If we're out and he's not getting our attention to let him out he stretches up and tries to open the sliding door. If he only had thumbs.

My stomach is bugging me again today, which I'm not impressed with. This nausea thing is getting a little old. I can't seem to connect it with anything I do during the day, so I don't know why it comes and goes. And no, I'm not pregnant...why can't a woman be nauseous without everyone thinking she's knocked up? Yeesh. I'm thinking it's anxiety, but I don't feel anxious. I suppose I should see if a xanax helps anyway. I hate taking xanax, but probably not as much as being nauseous. Meh, I'll figure it out. At least I'm not having panic attacks, those really suck.

Jake starts school next week and he seems really excited. He's hoping his friend John that lives in 1304 (he's told me the kid's address like 10 times) will be in his class. John also has a little brother about 3 months older than Sam (but slightly smaller?) and Joe and Sara went over and met them all last night. They're excited to know someone in their neighborhood that speaks English well because they have a hard time understanding their other neighbors. Jonny didn't get accepted for the preschool program Sara was trying to get him into, but I'm sure that she'll appreciate having a break from at least one child everyday. The real cause of her stress is the combo of Jake and Jonny...they do everything they can to piss each other off. I hope they grow out of it, but I'm not going to hold my breath. They like coming to our house because they like our pool more than theirs. Since it's right out our door its not such a production to let them go for a swim and they've decided that the whole reason we have a second bed is for them to stay the night. Jake stayed on Friday and we spent a couple hours "jewel crafting" (that's World of Warcraft speak for beading), which he was beyond excited about. He made two necklaces, a bracelet, a pair of earrings, and a ring. I use the phrase "he made" very loosely...and I've gotta say I'm impressed with myself on the ring because it was my first time. He had a blast doing it though, so I think I'm probably going to have to get some more kid friendly supplies.

That's all for now. I've got stuff to do this afternoon, like go buy a picture frame, pick up my one hour photos from last week, vacuum (Mondays are vacuum day) and read up on IRAs and such so I can figure out where to roll my investments from Baxter. I guess they don't want to manage my accounts since I'm no longer an employee. Weird.

Toodles!