I hate this time of year. As a kid, September meant the end of summer and the return of school. Now it still means the end of summer, but it also means colder weather will be inching its way in and I’m not looking forward to it at all. I’m thrilled that the brats are back in school, but it’s only going to get colder and colder and the weather’s going to be mostly shitty until April. Should have some pleasant days in March, but the nights will still be cold, possibly even into May.

And then there’s the noise. Once the leaves start coming down every day, I’ll have to listen to those insanely loud blowers every goddamn day, not to mention other things. The Twenties are driving me crazy as it is with their very loud project and I’m already sorry they moved in. Figured God would make sure they were noisy. They are the second-closest house to us after all, though the house behind us is closer to my bedroom than they are. All that hammering for 8 hours a day for two weeks now, yet the place still looks the same. The bottom half of the wall on the side facing us is torn off. The hammering has been so damn loud that I can hear it on the other side of the house when in the bedroom with the sound machine on. I have a bad feeling it’s going to last another week or two, too. I just hope they’re not the project junkies Jesse was. I still hear every bit of it whether it’s a hired hand making the racket or themselves. There’s plenty more they could do, too. They could install a garage, redo the roof, add a sunroom in front, paint the place, etc. If they can’t shut up anytime soon, I’m going to push to have them moved. They’re just way too close to us for all this activity. I have lived in 5 states and never before this one have I heard so many loud projects being done so often. Carpet cleaning, hammering, sawing, chainsaws, wood chippers… and Saturday the park calendar suggests we may be back in the mainstream. Or at least feel like we are with 4 hours of base thumping when they have a live band here. Seriously, I didn’t come here for all this shit or the weather, which could be worse but still isn’t warm enough for my tastes, and I wonder just how many more years before we can move to Hawaii or Florida.

Soon someone will have to listen to our own loud carpet cleaning van. We really could use them out here, and I almost wish I didn’t get this sandy-colored carpet. If I had to start all over again I’d have dark or colored carpet in the bedrooms only, and the rest of the place would have laminate flooring.

We thought about what to replace some of these plants we want removed (if we can ever afford it) and I was thinking along the lines of cactus because it’s low maintenance. We know what we want to do by the carport, but aren’t sure about the other 3 sides.

Sometimes I wish we could afford to hire both housekeepers and landscapers, but even if we could, that wouldn’t work with my sleep curse, would it?

No lightheadedness, fatigue or earaches today or yesterday. I’m surprised but grateful that it backed off so soon after returning. Usually when it comes on it stays with me for a week or more.

Getting nervous, having more trouble sleeping and using lorazepam to help me sleep (hey, I might as well use what I’ve got left), as my appointments loom closer. Doc A is ignoring my message no doubt because she’s pissed at me, and I’m just worried that seeing her and the sleep doc is going to be a waste of time. Then again, that’s what I thought with Stacey.

I also worry that my dentist is going to uncover all kinds of problems.