My garden containers are taking off! I have lots of big leaves and the lettuce is actually starting to look like lettuce! I'm now trying to get my strawberry seeds to hatch. Apparently they're a pain in the ass to grow... we'll see. So far, none of the seeds have sprouted.

I started my new job last week. So far, so good. They seem like a fun bunch to work with. I also started volunteering at the local shelter. They have an inexpensive spay/neuter program based on income level. One older couple brought in a cute little dog that couldn't have been more than 5 pounds. They owed $14, and they brought in an envelope (inside a Zip-Loc bag) with a $10, some ones and several quarters. It was depressing, knowing this couple had probably searched the house for whatever cash they could find. So many people down here are at poverty level.

Eric and I just went for a short walk around Lake Keowee. It's so pretty! We can't wait to (eventually) have a boat.

The beak on one of my puffers is growing too long, so I'm going to have to anesthetize him and trim it. Ugh. The stuff I have to buy is kind of expensive, so I've been putting it off a bit. Sigh... the joys of having high-maintenance fish.

Poop Tea!

I bought several bags of compost (cow and horse manure), and I made a compost "tea"--add water to some compost, oxygenate it with an aquarium pump for a few days, and water your plants with it. We'll see how the veggies like the poo.

The Garden

Here's a pic of the seedlings I've started. The ones on the right are the Lowe's seeds, and they're "leggy"--meaning, the stems have grown too tall due to lack of light. The ones on the left are the heirloom seeds, and look much better. I planted the Lowe's seeds a few days before the heirloom seeds, and we didn't buy a light until the day the heirloom seeds started sprouting, so the heirloom seeds look much healthier. The plants in the third and fourth columns in the Lowe's tray are lettuce plants. They've all completely collapsed, but they haven't died yet, and they're actually starting to sprout new leaves. I'm not sure how this will work out, but I'm running with it just to see what happens. :)

My little hatchlings:

We have a renter!

And I have a new (additional) job! This all happened in the last two days.

Our house in Philly finally has a renter. I've applied for a couple of part-time jobs to fill up my time since I'm not in school until this fall. I interviewed for them last week, and one of them offered me a job today. WOOT! I like money. If all goes well and I'm accepted into Clemson, I should be the proud owner of a Bachelor's degree in 14 years. Sigh.

We've been to a quite a few restaurants around the area, and I've been trying to shop more locally, rather than buying from the Lowe's and Wal-Marts of the world. So far, I've supported the local bookshop, bars (heh), pet shop and nursery. Well, okay, I haven't bought anything from the nursery yet, but they were really nice, along with all the other people here.. They also wanted $50 for a watering can. So I bought mine from Lowe's.

My latest obsession is gardening. What's wrong with me? I get an idea in my head, and if I initially like it, in general, I become obsessed and take off with the idea. Whatever. Anyway, I'm going to try to grow cauliflower, broccoli, lettuce, strawberries, okra, cilantro, beans and spaghetti squash. I'm not taking on too much... I'm really not. So, I got some seeds from Lowe's to "practice" with, and in the meantime, I've been reading up on what to do. I also bought some heirloom seeds from Baker Seeds, and those are the ones I actually want to EAT from! They're non-hybrid, non-genetically-modified seeds that have been passed down generation to generation. The Lowe's seeds are looking pitiful. I didn't realize how much light they needed, so they grew 4 inches tall and most of them have collapsed. We bought a light, and the heirloom seed tray is mostly thriving now. I'm worried about watering too much/too little. Apparently watering too much is a rookie mistake, but how do I know when the plants are thirsty?!

Oh, and Becky, I still have spiders living under my cabinets. Unhappy face. OH! AND Eric got up into the attic to see if the whole-house fan (like the one we used to have in the old house) was letting all the heat escape, and he was screwing around up there... and let loose a dead, huge, leggy daddy long leg. It's still hanging from the fan opening with one long leg, taunting me every time I pass. I haven't worked up the courage yet to vacuum it up. Let alone use a paper towel, YECK!

Spider webs in the cabinets

We got back from Eric's parents' house on Sunday. I opened the cabinet door in our kitchen to get a bowl out, and as I was setting it down, I started looking for a spoon, then something in my brain went, "WAIT! Look at that bowl again!" At the same time, I dropped the bowl because I realized I had seen what looked like a spider crawling out of the bowl. I'm not sure if that is what I actually saw, because by the time I looked back again, the thing was gone, and all that was left was spider webs.

We had been gone for 10 days, and apparently some spider thought it was a good idea to set up camp in there. *shudder*

Ever since then, I've been creeped out any time I have to stick my hand in the cabinets. Or the drawers. Or anytime I'm cleaning in the kitchen.

I FINALLY got my grade back from my multivariable calculus professor: B+! Woohoo! Of course, I was really hoping for an A, but the class was hard, and I'm happy enough with a B+. I also got a B in my physics class, giving me a 3.17 GPA for the semester.

So, I'm starting to get my application filled out for Clemson. I've also been looking at jobs available in the area for environmental engineering, and there isn't much here. There's a power plant a few miles from us, and they have co-ops available for chemical, electrical, mechanical and civil engineering. I've been thinking about talking to them to see what the market is like for environmental engineers in the area. We'll see.

The house, the holidays, etc...

Our house is towered by trees that are three-four times taller than the house. It's beautiful and peaceful, and I'm so glad we chose this place to live. We nearly chose a townhouse similar to the one we left in Philly, and as it turns out, the townhouse is across the road from the train tracks (which we learned after we had chosen the house)...

Right now, we're about a half mile or so from the tracks, and for me, it's a pleasant sound every day (Eric doesn't particularly like it ;) ). It reminds me of my grandparents' house. It's just a slight whistling that I can hear a few times a day. If we had moved into the townhouse, it would have been a nightmare. Eric and I went driving around downtown Seneca over the weekend, and we crossed the tracks several times. It even has an old train station. :)

I had to go to the post office the other day, and it was so busy! For a little town like Seneca, I was surprised. I had to fill out the address forms for a couple of packages, and while I did that, at least 10 people walked in to stand in line. Thankfully, I got through the line quickly enough. I just love the "feel" of this little town. It's so spacious, friendly and quaint. I know there are things I won't like about it (such as the fact that many people keep their dogs outside :( ) but overall, the pros definitely outweigh the cons. I'm hoping that Eric's coworker's wife (who is an avid humane society employee) will eventually be able to find me a part-time job. I have a lot of veterinary experience, so that would make me a valuable eployee, and it would be a very rewarding (albeit sad at times) job to have.

I wrapped Eric's presents last night, so I'm all set for the holidays! Speaking of presents... I accidentally opened Eric's present to me. We had several Amazon.com boxes stacked up, and I chose the one that I thought had my gifts to him... but when I opened it, I saw that it was the Friends season box set. Oops. I was disappointed that I "ruined" Christmas, but oh well... I'm sure my gifts to him will make up for it. :)

Tomorrow after Eric gets off work, we're heading to DC for the holidays. I'm sad that I won't be spending Christmas with my family :( but I'm excited to learn the traditions of his. I thought about offering to make monkey bread like my mom does every Christmas morning, but Eric's parents' house may be a bit too chaotic for that... so I'm just going to make some quiche!

Off to watch The Santa Clause, one of the best Christmas movies... :)

Small Town, SC here we come

Eric's new company paid for movers to take our stuff down, but the movers wouldn't take any liquids, and Eric's company wouldn't pay for the big televisions to be moved since the movers would have had to build a crate for them... so, we rented a U-Haul trailer to pull behind our SUV. We put the televisions, my aquarium and all our liquids in the trailer. In the back of the SUV, we had Jaiden along with my fish (in a cooler) and my snails (in a styrofoam cooler). It took five movers 6 hours to pack up our stuff and put it into their truck. We stayed in the house overnight, blanketless and pillowless--but with an air mattress at least--and had to use U-Haul blankets and clothes for pillows. We woke up and painted four rooms in the house the next day. We had to hire help, but it was well worth it, and hopefully that'll help get the place rented/sold.

We left that night at around 8PM and arrived in DC at midnight. Eric hauled the fishies into the house in order to keep them warm, and we put Eric's wine collection (all 50 bottles!) inside to keep them from freezing. A storm was going through the south around that time, so we decided to stay the next night as well. We hopped back onto I-95 and when we reached I-85, I took the wheel. I had never driven a trailer before, but quite honestly, it wasn't anything to be worried about. That is, until we hit the weather.

It always happens. Whenever Eric and I switch seats, the nasty weather starts. When we drove from Philly to Austin to get my stuff, 10 minutes after I started driving (and Eric slept in the back), a rain storm hit like nothing I had ever seen before. I was going 30MPH and couldn't see a thing. I considered pulling over, but I was afraid that nobody would be able to see us and would hit us. Eric slept through the whole thing.

This time, at least Eric was awake. It began snowing 10 minutes after I started driving, which was no big deal at first... but it began accumulating on the roads. Any time we ran into slush, which was often, the trailer would get squirrelly. We saw numerous cars in the ditch, and every time we approached a downhill slope or a turn in the road, my knuckles turned white. At one point, some idiot was going 30 MPH (safe driving speed was around 45), and as I went to pass her, Eric attempted to put the car in four wheel drive, which made the whole thing feel funky and I panicked a bit, especially since the trailer began swaying back and forth. So, I got off at the next exit and let Eric drive. The weather cleared up 30 minutes later.

We arrived in Seneca about 10 hours after we left DC. The house we're renting is in a pretty part of town (although there are probably very few "ugly" parts ;) ) with lots of trees and houses that are spaced far apart. Ours is a brick house with a front porch and it's on an acre. We have three bedrooms (one of which is my horsey Woman Cave/guest bedroom, lol) one guest bathroom and a teensy little master bathroom. There are two living rooms, one carpeted and the other hardwood. We're using the hardwood living room as our joint office/aquarium room. Speaking of hardwoods. I will never... EVER... have hardwood in a house we plan on owning. Ever. They're nothing but a pain in the ass, and my feet are always dirty! I would have to sweep or vacuum every day, and that's just not my thing. Not to mention they're impossible to keep from getting scratched. Because of the movers and just general furniture moving, we're going to have to sand the stupid floors before we leave. Absolute pain in the ass!

My first morning here, as I was setting up the aquarium, I heard a scratching in the wall. I banged on the wall, but it only stopped for a few seconds. I tried to ignore it, thinking it would just go away, but it didn't. I went outside and heard it there, too, so I figured it must be in the gutter and was trying to get out. About an hour later, I was in the bedroom on the laptop, and I heard a significant scurrying above me. I don't know if it was on the roof or in the attic, but the damn thing did it ALL MORNING! It sounded like a 20-lb cat up there, pouncing around in glee as if it enjoyed hearing me and the dog making sounds of protest. Even his barking didn't make it go away. Thankfully, I haven't heard it since (this was a few days ago), but it can't possibly be over with.

Eric got our first power bill: $84 for 8 days. It's because of the damn heat pump we have. It's totally inefficient at heating the house unless it's 50 degrees or above outside--so really, I just don't see the point of it. I can see it maybe in central and southern Texas for cool nights, but in upstate SC? It doesn't stay THAT warm in the winter. So, we're looking at wood and pellet burning stoves, but they're pretty expensive and might not be ideal to install. We'll see... but a $300+ heating bill is not ideal.

The people around here are nice. They never stop talking, either! People wave all the time and just seem generally happier here. So, the water tastes like a copper penny, we have *something* living in our roof, and our heating bill is going to be outrageous, but I love it here! :)

Here are some pics of the house--the "before" pics:

Office:


Office:


My woman cave ;)


Master bedroom:


Eric's man cave: