Went for our first swim in 6 years yesterday! After spending over $400 at Walmart on groceries and stuff for the house, we returned home, did a few things around the house, and then drove to the pool. I paid strict attention as to how to walk there on my own when I want to (or ride my bike once I get a new one). It shouldn’t take more than 5 minutes to get there.

On the way, Tom pointed out the “leaker” house. The one that was humungous but in shit shape. For some reason, I thought that place was on the other side of the park, but it’s right behind us. It’s now wearing a new roof, paint and more. They really remodeled it big time. I still think the people who came to look at it after we saw it bought it with plans to renovate and flip it. It will probably sell in the 20Ks or higher instead of the 12K they were asking for when we checked it out. I’m glad we didn’t get that one or the triple wide for 10K. Those were just way too big and not as new/nice.

We got to the pool at around 11:00 and found it deserted and the gate locked. Just as we were wondering why we were never given a pool key, Joy and her husband (who I learned live here) came to the pool, accompanied by another woman and a girl about 10 years of age. Larry, her husband, had locked the pool down so he could treat the water, though the pool is usually open from 6am - 10pm.

The girl got in the water first and was going “Brrrr….” In a way that made me think it was cold, but it was actually quite nice. Hey, it was over 100° the day before and it’s solar-heated too, so it should be nice. The plan was to just go for a quick dip just to finally be able to say we did, then get back to work, but I never wanted to get out of the water! It was just so beautiful. I was surprised to find its deep end is 8’ deep since diving isn’t allowed and there’s no diving board or anything like that.

With reluctance, I soon managed to pull myself out of the pool where I then showered off the chlorine and went home. Tom didn’t want to get burned anyway. He got enough of a burn at the company picnic.

On the way back I was delighted to see next door sitting on the other side of their house. They waved to us, though I don’t know that they knew who we were. They can’t see our car from their place. I’m just so glad they won’t be hanging out on this side. I HATED it when the neighboring duplex people would camp right outside our window and laugh and shout and gab for hours at a time. They were even closer to the wall of our duplex than the freeloaders were to the wall of our Phoenix house. They might as well have just come right into our bedroom and done their chatting there cuz they were pretty damn close enough as it was.

Later…

Went for a walk to the clubhouse and it was so beautiful. Little nippy at first, to my surprise, but still gorgeous. The “6:00 man” that always passes by on his morning walk is 20 minutes late today, so I just saw. Anyway, it took me about 10 minutes to and fro, but was so nice and peaceful. It was great not having to worry about being attacked by dogs.

A maintenance guy was doing a puzzle and the exercise room wasn’t nearly as impressive as I thought. I’m so glad we didn’t get an elliptical machine! I do not like the feel of it at all. Maybe I could get used to it but maybe not. The bikes were ok with the comfy seats they have, and the Bowflex was ok. But the treadmill can do what the bike can do and my resistance bands can do what the Bowflex can do. Maybe not as well but pretty damn close. So why not work out in the comfort of home where I can then jump right in the shower? There goes the 6:00 man again. Guess he’s circling the block.

As I was leaving the clubhouse some guy left his house to walk his mutt which went off on me when it saw me. Not sure who the guy was more annoyed with; his dog or with me for daring to leave the clubhouse right when I did, LOL.

Saw next door was watering the grass they have on the other side of their place. Not by hand but with sprinklers. They have a better view on that side than on either side of our place, but I’m not sure I’d want to swap spaces with them. If we were where they are the nearest carport would be further away, but the people in here would probably spend time on the patio which is between the two places. They have a screen door in back of their garage, too.

Not sure if I want to go swimming today or not. As usual, I have a lot to do. I’m also glad I didn’t go to a salon when I first considered it. Now that I’ll be swimming regularly I’m definitely sick of long hair. It sheds all over and is a bitch to care for. I think that right at the start of every pool season I’ll cut it to my shoulders, but I do want to let the pros do it and not us, haha. They don’t have to dye it or anything, but first chance I get, I’m getting it cut.

Later…

Found Kim on Facebook, sent her a friend request, and she added me. I knew her when I lived in South Deerfield, MA. She was a nurse, very bright, and I feel bad for ignoring her before we left Phoenix and then later on as well. I just had so much going on with me at the time, not that it’s any good excuse. She was always good to me.

We haven’t talked yet. FB makes it very hard to contact people these days. If you’re not friends (and sometimes even if you are), your messages, wall posts and comments to them often go unseen.

While my day started off well and I got a lot done, I’m not very happy right now at all. We haven’t even been here for two weeks and the water’s been off for over two hours. No wonder Joy warned us about this when we met with her. I was afraid that “occasional” need to turn the water to the park off really meant “frequently.” Why bring it up if it was just occasional? I have a feeling this is going to happen once or twice a month and that would really suck, too. :( What if I was in the shower?

I’m getting a little burned out now, so to quickly go over yesterday’s shopping trip – I got these really cool shiny pink and silver wall décor things you stick on the walls. It was a 6-piece set and it’s in the bathroom now. Don’t know how long they’ll stay put, but we’ll see. They’re supposed to be removable and reusable.

Got a lovely doormat for inside the back door with purple flowers, a pail for my new office with pink and purple flowers, purple glitter nail art polish, two pink bathmats for the master bath, one of those dusters that’ll let me dust the fan that’s 10’ up, and new toilet seats for both baths. The master has a tan one with a palm tree design on its cover and the other one is slate blue.

I also thought it was time to replace our glasses. I prefer plastic ones in case we drop one. The floral design on our 7-year-old cups was disappearing, so I got 4 new ones in different colors – pink, red, blue and clear. They’re kinda tall, too. I didn’t get the green ones they had cuz it was an ugly shade of green, like olive.

The silver faucet I wanted for the master bath was out of stock. The nickel was dull and the brushed bronze made me want to cry just looking at it.

Andy lost 9 pounds. Yay for him! My own weight is “resetting” itself as usual, despite keeping active and eating less. Oh well. I guess if my body fights to hang onto weight like this, then it was meant to be there.

Getting spam again on Ask #1 so I temporarily disabled anonymous comments. It might be a little more than temporary this time because I just don’t have time for that anymore. I can barely keep my eyes open to type this that’s how busy I’ve been.

More to tell but am just too beat. Back tomorrow!