Pass the Bengay, Please!

Yes, I am still alive albeit just barely! Every bone and muscle in my body hurts and my hair is a lovely shade of Behr white. Thank God this home improvement venture is coming to an end! Today Marcus and I are painting the crown moulding in the living room. Actually, I am painting the crown moulding and he is spotting me as I climb to the top of a very shaky twelve foot ladder. This is not my idea of fun! My calves are rock hard from climbing up and down and ass muscles are beginning to spasm and cry out in pain. I had best have a cute ass when this task is completed! LOL Once the living room is accomplished I need to finish Marcus' closet, Shannon's bedroom and bathroom and the laundry room. Then I have to pack everything up and move it into the garage before the carpet and tile people come on Tuesday. After all this work my house better sell within the first week of being on the market.

Speaking of houses, in September marcus and I will be making a trip to Virginia to house hunt. This will be the first time I have ever house hunted as in CO and here in LA Marcus picked out and purchased out home before I even arrived. I am looking forward to house hunting simply because it seems like fun and I can have a hand in deciding what aspects of a new home are most important to me. The market in VA (around the Pentagon area) is absolutely crazy. Homes are selling for small fortunes and rarely are on the market for more than a day. I've been stressing because I didn't think that any bank it their right mind would give us a mortgage loan for the kind of money needed to purchase a home equivalent to what we have now. I've had nightmares of living on the street, in a tent, or in my car. I've been driving Marcus absolutely crazy with my worry over this. Marcus is a fly by the seat of your pants sort of guy; he has faith that everything will work out. I am the exact opposite--I need at least three plans of action and even then I tend to focus on all the negative "what ifs." I guess he got tired of my worrying and contacted a mortgage broker who then called me and by the end of day she had us pre-qualified for more than what we should need!! What a load off my mind; now I feel like I can relax (somewhat cause there is always something to worry about you know!) and enjoy my house hunting. We do not intend to spend the amount a bank is willing to give us; yes, that would be a nice house but that is just crazy!

I am sure you all are just dying to know whether or not I still qualify as a non-smoker, right? It has been TOUGH, but I am still a non-smoker!!! It has now been over a week since I have had a cigarette. I still think about it often but at least I no longer find myself standing out in the garage thinking I am going to smoke. I've been really, really cranky the last couple days. So bad that no one wants to be around me; unfortunately for Marcus he is "stuck with me" (his words this morning after I yelled at him for the umpteenth time). I am sure he is secretly hoping that I take a nose dive off that twelve foot ladder! Instead of getting upset with me or just fighting back with me, he had adopted a new tactic for dealing with my grouchiness. When I start getting testy he flies across the room, wraps me in a bear hug and plants very wet and noisy kisses all over my face. It is extremely annoying because at that moment I just want to yell at him, not be loved by him. It is, however, very difficult to be angry at someone who is mauling you to death with kisses, so I usually end up laughing instead of yelling. Hey, whatever works I guess; give the man an "A" for ingenuity!