Memories from Cross Creek to Carrollwood Villiage Drive #395

Do you have any idea how hard it was to find a place that would take us and accept all the cats? No place, really. Most would accept 2 at best. To be honest the place we ended up looking at and renting only allowed 3. Thankfully, although we had 5 cats, there were only 4 that liked the sun coming through the sliding glass door and 2 of them looked enough alike that it all could be fudged. Oh I hated having to do that but we were desparate to get out of the townhouse. The apartment was too small for us and all his junk nevermind 5 furbabies. We ended up staying, as this was the best we could afford on what we made, from 10/97-04/01. During our stay here we ended up back at southern momma's a couple different times for upwards to a month (more in one case) due to transportation trouble as we never could afford a new car and ended up always buying someone else's problems.

Not to say the apartment was small, but with all his junk the bedroom area became relegated to storage and "HIS" room. The actual sleeping area was in the livingroom. So basically we were in an efficiency with a small storage shed hooked. I dont remember when we managed to begin using the bedroom as it was meant to be used there. I know it was after one hurricane because we'd gotten our first computer shortly before the bed was relocated. Im thinking maybe 1999 or 2000. Probably the former because the first computer we owned ended up as someone's "5 finger discount" and I ended up on a Rent A Center model after the break in.

I remember always being overly stressed in this place. We had a big sliding glass door that led out to our patio. Unfortunately, we were on the first floor and other tenanent and visitors were continually crossing our patio putting them less than a foot from the glass. Of course, while crossing the patio they had to talk at their loudest and look in the window. I dont know what it is about humans that have to look in every window they pass. I dont know if it's reflex or what. Top things off...we do remember Jim was claustrophobic right? Needless to say there were constant tiffs about whether the blinds should be open or not. He liked them wide open so lots of light came in. Personally, I hate people that close to my windows and dammit we were still sleeping in the livingroom. The whole world DIDNT need to see that! I felt like I was in a fkn zoo (and 5 cats did NOT help this feeling any). I personally always liked the blinds mostly closed. Open enough for a bit of light but closed so not everyone could see our business. Besides open blinds make it impossible to walk around in comfort. Being a bit on the heavy side, clothes can be somewhat uncomfy for me so I pretty much run around in night clothes when I can and not much else. Plus, with the proper drapery, if you keep the drapes closed the house stays cooler because the sunlight is being reflected out and as such the energy bill isnt so bad because the A/C aint on all the damn time. Even with the matter of it being cost efficient, do you think he'd leave those damn drapes alone? Hellll no...had to have them whipped open nice and wide.

You'd think with such a small place it'd be easier to keep clean. Notta chance. Everytime I got things looking just so within 2-3 days there would be a minimum of 15 books in various piles everywhere in the livingroom and then he'd wonder why he was tripping over everything. *DUH* He couldnt just read one book at a time, he always was reading at least 5 at any given time. Did I mention he'd "watch" tv at the same time or tape things so I couldnt watch what I wanted while he was reading? Oh..I did?

*Quick flashback to the first year* I remember a day that southern momma noticed how frazzled I seemed and asked after me. I told her that I was really tired because I'd been up all night typing something for Jim and that day was hectic downstairs in the offices. She replied that some of that was my fault because I ALLOWED Jim to use me as a slave and that I needed to put my foot down. Then I wouldnt be so frazzled. Thing is everytime I tried to do so things got ugly so I basically had stopped standing up for myself.

*Return to the time we were on* That first summer in the apartment was weird. The days would start out so horribly muggy, by 11am the temps would spike and by 1pm at the latest it would rain, then it would be muggier than it was in the morning. You could just about set your watches by the weather. When working, you'd come in around 7 or 8 am and leave by noon to be home before the rain started. Jim actually took a summer job at the school this year. Was I surprised to say the least. After 3 days of going to work and with me being home, he started insisting that I come with him. Work at the school entailled patching up the sheetrock walls and slapping fresh paint on them after. This particular year they'd decided to do new carpeting upstairs. This meant hauling all the books downstairs to be cataloged and reviewed to see if we needed any new ones, moving ALL the desks and chairs down stairs as well. After that all the carpeting had to be stripped out, rolled up and hauled down to the dumpster. The headmaster obviously had no clue as to how the carpeting had to be dealt with to be honest as he'd told Jim to rip up the carpet and leave the padding down because "he could save money" that way. Im all for saving money but honey you cant reuse the padding when you rip up carpet, you have to get fresh padding. Not that I'd call what they had down padding...it was just some mesh shit. Anyhow, Jim's first day had been removing all the books, desks and chairs. What he didnt finish the first day he completed on the second day then he was told to strip up all the carpeting. He stripped out about a 1/3 of a room on his own. The third day he finished the first room and started the second. He was doing it alone, they sent him no help the whole day (he had help to get the books n stuff out the first two days). A whole day in the summer is about 4-6 hours because the school wont run the A/C upstairs in the summer. Why? Because there arent any students and there isnt any sense in cooling the entire upstairs for just the one or two people to work up there. So day 4 shows up and my ass is hauled in because he wanted me there, not because they asked him to bring me in. We managed to strip that whole room and get a good start on the next room when the headmaster came through with the dude that was going to install the carpeting. He brought this guy to the room we were stripping out and they were discussing what was going to go in when the dude asked why the padding was being left down. So of course I answer that we were TOLD that it was going to be reused and I said I thought that stuff like that had to be replaced each time new carpet was put down. The guy said I was right....Oh if looks could kill the headmaster would have keeled over with the look I gave him. This meant we had to go through the other rooms again and rip the padding up as well. I should have given him the look I gave that Rottie...maybe I would have been successful. The rest of that room we were working on went quickly once we didnt have to be careful. It wasnt bad enough that my work was volunteer and that it was 100+ upstairs, but stupidity that really fkn irks me. I was mad enough that we ripped up that last room and managed to get the other 3 rooms that were being done completed before I'd go downstairs again... 2 hours later.