Been so busy sweeping that I haven’t had much time for writing. I haven’t even worked on my book for about a week before the move.

The neighbor continues to come and go at odd hours but isn’t home nearly as much as Bev and Pat were. She seems to load/unload things a lot, too. At least she hasn’t been a problem in any way.

A loud siren passed by as I was waking up. Tom said there were 3 or 4 really loud stereos earlier that I slept through. As he says, it’s pretty much going to sleep to them and being close to waking up that may be the only real hassle (just so long as we never get one of those pulling up next to the house).

We walked to that shop with the bamboo stalk I’ve always liked that I first saw when we first got to Oregon. For just $1.50, I got a 6” one. All you do is put it in water. You never plant it in potting soil. I plan to get a taller one that curls, along with a pretty vase for it, just as soon as we have more money. It was a really cute store and I was glad it was open. It’s an Asian store. The lady who owns it sells 100-packs of incense for $5.50. Not bad, considering how Jan’s 100-packs are $10. She also sells 15 sticks for a buck, rather than a dime a stick.

When we got back, Tom neatly arranged the outside stuff in back and covered it with a tarp. Then he hosed down the front patio and killed two huge spiders that were there. They were average for Arizona but big for Oregon. We’ve been getting tons of spiders in here, but his hosing off the webs seems to have helped so far. He’s going to get something to treat the outside walls with, as well as something to kill the wasp’s nest on the side of the house. It had gotten to be Maricopa-creepy in here with at least half a dozen spiders, some rather large, each night. Tonight, however, I have yet to see one. Even the midges have failed to make a pest of themselves.

I had a rather disgusting experience last night when I was in the kitchen and felt something crunch down under my heel. At first I thought it was something the rat dragged out, then I thought it might be a beetle or even a cockroach, but when I turned on the overhead light, I could see that it was a giant spider. It was gross! I can still feel that thing crushing under my heel.

Speaking of the rat, he seems to really have lost his energy. He still comes out to cuddle and explore, but not nearly as much as before we moved. He was always at the door begging to be let out. Now he spends most of his time sleeping. I worry that the beginning of the end has arrived for him, as sad as it is, but he is also at that age where they start slowing down.

Tom untangled the pink butterfly wind chime that was left here, and then we hung up 6 of my 8 chimes. Tomorrow after he’s hosed the back, I’ll hang the last two in back. I like to separate the one that sounds the prettiest, as well as the most unique which is my wooden bamboo stick one so that they stand out.

I look forward to doing things such as Webshots, Blockbuster, sweeps memberships and oil orders. I also look forward to getting a small dining table, a washer/dryer, a new brush for the vacuum, and things like that. I still hope to get season two of Charlie’s Angels and maybe a basic Tonner doll.