Saturday, June 30, 2007

No, I Am Not Dead

I am now one of the UNDEAD. Anyone ever see Evil Dead*? Remember the cabin from that movie?
Oh—you haven't seen that movie? Hmm. Did you ever see the Disney flick from the 70s, Snowball Express?
No? Well, perhaps that one was a little vague. All I can say for myself is that I saw it on daytime tv a bunch of times as a kid (and I have never forgotten the cobwebs or the raccoon in the...oven? of the old hotel).

Let me try one more: Have you seen The Money Pit with Tom Hanks?

What's with all the movies? I am trying to make a point. Poorly, but what the hey. I'm tired.

What all of these movies have in common is a wreck of a house. And that is the same thing that has been keeping me off the Internet. See, the place we've moved into is a bit of a wreck. Trainwreck. Shipwreck. Imagine the Titanic vs. the Hindenburg at a demolition derby.

Yep. But that's what happens when you take a place sight unseen because the rent is cheap.

Don't feel sorry for me, though. I've been enjoying it. Every day is a new adventure. For example, I found a spider in Jake's toy box yesterday. The silly little thing thought he and his ten thousand buddies could live in any and every corner of this house. Um, no. Even if I do feel sorry for them because they all have hacking coughs (former tenants were three-pack-a-day smokers), and even though a spider with a hacking cough is pretty pathetic, I have been killing them by the truckload. Jeff warns me that the Spider Godmother may try to seek revenge, but I don't believe in Spider Godmothers (though sometimes I can hear something large bumping around in the crawlspace under the house, and sometimes I feel as if something is...behind me?...nah).

One of my favorite things about this place is the doorbell. When you ring it, instead of the ubiquitous "ding-dong," we only get the "ding." Jake loves to ring it, and then I like to ask him, "Jake, where did the 'dong' go?" He thinks about it for awhile and doesn't say much until his dad gets home, then loudly announces, "Daddy, I got no dong!"

(Sorry for the lowbrow humor tonight—I'm tired and somewhat loopy. Between painting, weeding, and corralling a now-napless Jake, I've lost a sense of what may or may not be appropriate. Like telling my landlord he really ought to shove a @#$#*& up his @#!!#@ and then #$#@$#@ the @#$#@ monkey's @#$@#! with a #@$#@ @#$#@$ %^&^*!!! Well, I know that is inappropriate.)

The thing that worries me is that there is a hole somewhere in this house that is sucking up all my free time. How am I supposed to have computer time with a time leak in the house? Sooner or later I'm bound to patch it up with all the other holes. Someday.

And Happy Fourth of July.

*I'm not a fan of horror movies. At all. But there are a few exceptions, though Evil Dead isn't really one of them. Now, the third movie in the series, Army of Darkness? Yeah. I enjoyed that one. Long live Bruce Campbell! But if you really want humor + horror flick, try Shaun of the Dead. I really enjoyed it (though there was one part that made me a wee bit nauseous). And for those of you who are Evil Dead cult classic purists, did you know that there is now a musical production of Evil Dead for the stage? I'm not kidding. Really. Go and see.

18 comments:

Melissa said...

Ah... you're back! :) I'm sorry things haven't gone as well as you'd hoped. Do you have a lease? Or are you gettin the heck outta there? Just wondering...

Anonymous said...

hi wynne! welcome back! i missed ya girl! glad you are okay. hope this gets way better for you super soon. ~blessings girl, kathleen :)

Amanda said...

YAY!!! You're back. I actually saw Snowball Express when I was a kid, I haven't seen the others except Lord of the rings.

Got no dong! hahahahaha!

Sorry to hear your place is a wreck. I'm glad that you haven't lost your sense of humor though. Spiders by the thousands, eeeeeeeek. Hope it gets better soon!!

Anonymous said...

It's good to see you back!! At least you got moved, right? Maybe you can make it really nice and then have cheap rent in a nice place!!!

Kimberly Vanderhorst said...

Love two out of those three movies. =P

So sorry you've moved into such a dump! We experienced that once, but luckily it was only for three months.

It was a bad three months.

Praying for you!

Anonymous said...

I feel more sorry for you that Jake stopped taking a nap. I am not going to ever be ready for the day my kids stop napping. Is Jake in a big bed? Does he stay in it or does he know he can get out?

Elizabeth-W said...

I have a present for you at my house. I've been wondering what had happened to you!

Marie said...

Yay! Welcome back to Bloggerville! I've missed you.

Tell Jake not to be sad -- many of us live quite happily without dongs.

Meghan said...

Hi!
Tyler says we can't visit you until all the spiders have moved out. Apparently he inherited my arachniphobia. Tyler wants to know if your spiders bite people. :)
I must confess that I have seen The Snowball Express-more than once. It's a Classic.
Good luck battling those nasty arachnids!

wynne said...

Hi ladies. I'm still moving kinda slow, so I haven't been around to anyone's blog yet...soon. I may have to give my son some sort of tranquilizer first, though (sigh).

BLUEYEDBOYS said...

Welcome back!
As far as naps go, don't give up all hope.
Keep trying. You will certainly have days without any napping (on his part) but try to get him back in his room at least for some "quiet" time.
Yeah I'm not a grrreat example but the theory is that hopefully they learn that whether or not they nap they need to have some quiet time in their room.
I have had this before.
Luck to ya.

wynne said...

Oh, he gets "quiet time" all right. He's stuck in his room for an hour and not allowed out. But he says he won't go to sleep because "the sun is still up." (He did fall asleep on the floor once--but boy, was he grumpy when he woke up!)

melissa--no lease. We can *technically* leave anytime we want to. But we're not going anywhere. I've put too much effort into this place already.

kathleen--hi! I'm so impressed that you remember me from all those months ago. And things ARE good, thanks!

amanda--The spiders and I have a truce. They live outside and I admire their webs (even if one just happens to be on the rear-view mirror of my freshly washed car). They come inside, I pull out the vacuum and suck 'em up. It's all good.

tirzah--that's what we're hoping, anyway. If all else fails, the rent is guaranteed to be cheap. *sigh* But I'm soooooo tired of being economical, you know?

kimberly--do you know I'm actually enjoying it? I've learned how to spackle and saw branches and wrestle with stumps and install light fixtures and hang blinds...and it's sick, but I'm enjoying it. (Except for the part where Jasper the cat friskily leaped into a tray of white paint, was shocked by the damp on his feet, and took off across the newly-installed carpet. He did NOT enjoy being held down in the sink while I washed his feet, either. Then again, neither did I.)

kristine--he is in a big boy bed. Or, rather, we took the side off the crib and put the toddler rail on. And of COURSE he knows he can get out. But he doesn't. Do you want to know my secret? First, I'll have to have you sign a waiver promising you won't contact child services...

elizabeth--a present?? Huh? Um...how far do you live away from me? Is it a long drive? Are you sure you want to give it to me and not keep it for yourself? Why are people so nice to me?

marie--heh. Dong-free, huh? *snicker* Me too.

meghan--if you guys ever make it up here, I will make sure there are no spiders. Anywhere. I'll eliminate them from the entire world if I have to. (But watch out for the flies if I succeed.)

Melissa said...

Sounds like you'll have projects to keep you busy... which, of course is what EVERY mother of a toddler needs, right??

Jennifer B. said...

You're alive! So glad. Good luck getting things settled. =)

Suburban Chatterbox said...

you're BACK!!! yay!!! ive missed you madly!!!!

elasticwaistbandlady said...

We have giant tree roaches seeking shelter from our three weeks of torrential Houston rain inside. Next to me while I sit on the toilet. I think my man may be planting them in there whenever he has to go and doesn't want to wait his frickin turn.

Welcome back to that same old place where you started from. Welcome back! Welcome Back! Welcome Back!

How much do you love a blogger that knows the Welcome Back Kotter theme song?

Christina said...

Yay! If only I were as disciplined as you are with blogging. You had a legitimate excuse for the hiatus...mine was just plain laziness!

Now after seeing the place, I can understand why you're determined to make it work. It's a work in progress...and aside from the lingering smell (that'll dissipate) It's really not THAT bad. (spoken by one who does not live there.

I wish I knew how to do all the things you've been learning! When you say you can now install light fixtures, that wasn't you who installed the switch to the bathroom light in the hallway, was it? That's just a practical joke waiting to happen (over and over and over)! Well, happy home improving! I'm glad you made it!

wynne said...

Disciplined? You're kidding, right?

And NO I did not install that switch for the bathroom. (That would be an electrical wiring thing--all I can do is stick a new light fixture on existing wiring, not really a big deal.)

And can you believe that Jake has only turned off the bathroom light on me ONCE while I've been in the shower? I consider myself very fortunate.