Category: home

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Got a new fridge and now for the floors

Well I have great landlords.  They had a new refrigerator for me the very next day.  It’s a lot better than the other one because it has an ice maker in it too.  I hate to have to empty ice trays.  I usually just grab a couple pieces out of the tray and when they’re all gone, I’ll refill them, usually.  I have just sat them off to the side and started on the next tray.  Before I know it, I’m all out of ice.

I have been getting pieces of laminate flooring out of the dumpster at work, remember they told me I could have what ever I find?  Anyway, this has been going on for several weeks while they were building several houses.  I finally have enough to put down in my living room, dining room area.  It’s going to look so much better than that dirty old carpet that’s in there now.  All I have to do is go to my favorite store, Lowe’s and buy the under pad and 1/4 round molding and I’m good to go.  Sounds like a good project for this weekend.

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Came home to a mess

I didn’t pay any attention before I left work to the refrigerator.  I mean, why would I?  I got my sandwich out of the refrigerator I had made last night for lunch today and grabbed a Coke and everything seemed cold so I didn’t notice anything different.  Well it was a totally different story when I got home.  In fact, it was rather easy to tell something just wasn’t quite right.

I went to get a Coke and a snack and the refrigerator was almost warm inside.  Man the darn refrigerator had gone out sometime and I”m not sure when either.  It could have been last night or else after I went to work but I’m thinking it was last night for it to be as warm or ‘uncold’ as it was inside when I got home.  I called my landlord and they said they would get a new one.  Well tonight I have a cooler with ice in it to keep my food from spoiling.  Thank goodness I didn’t have the freezer full.  What was in there I went ahead and cooked, invited Breanna over and we ate most of it.  The rest I put in the cooler.  Hopefully there will be a new refrigerator in my apartment when I get home from work tomorrow.

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Been really busy lately

Boy between work, keeping the house clean and Breanna, I have had a busy week.  I have to hit the sack by 10 pm at the latest because I have to be at work at 6 am so I’m not much of a night owl anymore.  Oh man, I got a 50 cent an hour raise this week.  They said that I’m learning faster than anyone they ever hired before.  They also said that my work quality is really good too.  Man that felt good to hear.  Especially when you’re used to hearing how you won’t ever amount to anything.  That’s why I’m where I am now and not back home.  This is more home to me than where I grew up ever was.

They have signed me up for some basic electrical classes too so I can start working towards my journeyman’s card and then my electricians license.  I can’t wait to start but I’m scared to death at the same time.  I’m not sure I can do it……..wait a minute, that’s not me talking, that’s what I have heard.  I WILL DO IT AND DO IT WELL!!  That’s better.  Now I have to go back to Lowe’s and get some electrical tools I don’t have yet so I’ll be ready for class.  I love Lowe’s.  It’s become my favorite store.

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Been a great week

Well I have had a great week.  Work was good and life is too.  Breanna and I talked almost every night this week and we’re going to the movies tonight.  Meeting her sure made a big difference in my life just when I needed it.  I didn’t realize how lonely I was until I met her.

It’s hard to move somewhere where you don’t know anyone at all and then to meet people, well that can be a challenge when you have to work.  I have been putting in all the overtime they would allow me to just so I could get things I need for my apartment so that left little or no time to meet anyone.  I guess the time was right.  I am a firm believer in all things will come to you that you need with the time is right.  No I don’t know where this will go with Breanna but I do have a friend and that’s wonderful.  If it goes any farther, great, if not, that’s cool too.

Oh I got some more stuff from work for my apartment.  Someone ordered the wrong pantry cabinet for one of the houses we’re working on and the company didn’t want it back in exchange for the right one.  Best part is it’s just about the same color of the cabinets in my kitchen.  I have the perfect place to put it too where it’s not right up against the cabinets so you really can’t tell it’s not the same color.  Now I have plenty of cabinet space in the small kitchen.  Nice, huh?  I just need stuff to put in them now.

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Best Christmas of my life

I told you I had great people that I rent from.  Well for Christmas, they gave me a months free rent.  That means I don’t have to pay any rent until February 1st.  I went to church with my landlord and the church gave me a box full of food too.  I guess Mrs. Thomas told them about me being young and out here alone.  I don’t know but now I have enough food to last for about a month I bet.

The after Christmas sales are really helping me get everything I need.  Most stores didn’t do as good before Christmas as they thought they would so they really marked stuff down a lot after Christmas.  I got a new pair of work boots at 40% off.  I got some jeans for work at 25% off.

That allowed me to buy a mattress and box springs that are new at a local thrift store so I now have a bed.  I don’t have a headboard or dressers but I have a bed.  I got a set of sheets too.  Luckily I have a blanket and pillow.  I’m getting there.

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I didn’t know it got so cold in Arizona

I came out here in June.  I knew it got hot but it’s a different type of hot here.  The humidity isn’t a factor like it is back home so when it hits a hundred degrees here, it’s more like eighty-five back home, or where home used to be.  What has really surprised me is how darn cold it gets here.  I thought it stayed kind of warm here year around.  Oh well, I don’t mind the cold that bad.

I got a comment from an old friend back home on my first blog.  How cool is that?  I was surprised because she’s an old flame from a couple years ago.  It would be nice if she does come visit.  I do miss some of the people back home but I love it here and have made some great friends.

I’ve decorated for Christmas as best as I can on a tight budget.  My Christmas Tree is more of a Charlie Brown type of tree because it really is a twig I got from where someone cut some off of their tree.  I did spend a little money on some lights for it but I made the decorations for it.  I went to a local thrift store and they had some ornaments for fifty cents.  So I have a Christmas tree!!  I think it’s great personally. I won’t be sending out any Christmas cards through the mail because I can’t afford it but there are plenty of cards you can send online and that  will have to work this year.

My landlord told me about a 15 year old kid up the street that is in need of some guidance.  His father left them a couple years ago and his mother has to work two jobs so there’s no one home to keep him out of trouble.  I have become his ‘big brother’ more or less.  I’m trying to get him a Game Boy for Christmas if I can scrape up enough money.  He comes by every day when I get off work and helps me do what ever I’m doing that day.  He’s a pretty neat kid and if I can help him stay out of trouble, then I’ve done something good.

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I can’t believe my luck!

I bought a Sunday paper and was sitting outside my room enjoying the weather when the owner of the motel walked up and asked how I liked it there.  I told him that I was trying to find a small apartment to rent because I needed something more than just a motel room.

Well he told me that his neighbor had a small apartment over their garage that had just come open two days ago. The guy that had rented the place had really trashed it and it needed some repairs before they could rent it again.  That started me thinking.  I asked where it was and if he thought it would be okay to go by and see the place.  He gave his neighbor a call and said to be there in 45 minutes.  It was only about 2 miles from where I work.

When I got there, they told me not to expect too much and took me up to see the apartment.  Yeah, that guy had trashed the place pretty bad and these were elderly people that had rented to him.  I made them an off they didn’t refuse.  I offered to do all the clean-up and repair what he had messed up for the deposit and at least the first months rent.  They agreed!!

Most of the stuff I would need to make the repairs I could get off of the job site from the dumpsters.  It was scraps mostly but they had already told me that if there was something I needed, it was okay to take it.  I HAD AN APARTMENT and guess what else, it was furnished.  Some of the furniture was messed up but nothing I couldn’t live with or fix.

It was a one bedroom, one bathroom and a living room, dining room, kitchen combination.  The power was included in the monthly rent and it was only $350 a month.  Man am I lucky or what?

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I got paid today

I was really surprised when they handed me a check today.  The pay period runs from Wednesday to Wednesday with overtime available for those who want or need it.  I’m working all they will let me.  I have to get out of that cheap motel and into an apartment of my own.  At least I have a roof over my head and what I made will cover the room for next week.

I’ll probably pick up a Sunday paper and check out apartments around here.  All I want is a small place.  It doesn’t have to be furnished.  I can sleep on the floor until I can find a bed or at least a mattress to throw on the floor.  I sure hope they have yard sales and flea markets here like they did back home.  I don’t mind second hand until I can afford better and I will have better some day soon.

Well I gotta find a place to wash my clothes and pay for my room so I have clean clothes and a roof over my head for next week.  Check ya later.