Ketchup

To get you caught up to speed on the goings on 'round here.

1. I've spent much of the weekend multi-tasking. I do stuff around here while at the same time gritting my teeth to the point of nearly popping my jaw out of place. Herr Loud is making sure he annoys us as much as possible and I choose to clench my jaw instead of going upstairs and beating him until he's a bloody lump of flesh. Perhaps I should beat him until he achieves bloody lump of flesh status but that's definitely not an activity with which I can multi-task - I need full concentration for maximum impact - and I really don't have time to waste on that idiot. I've got to spend my time doing other things like...

2. ...packing. Since the Loud family seems hell bent in making us miserable the chance of us moving in the near future has shot up to a full 100 percent. Nothing short of finding that every other apartment building with an elevator in Magdeburg has been infested with rats, lice, fleas, ticks and roaches will keep me from moving. To that end I've started sorting through books, determining which will go into the keep pile, give away pile, sell on Ebay pile and too ratty to deal with pile, putting summer clothes and linens I won't use in the next few weeks into sacks, sorting through stuff and throwing away anything I won't want to move with me, etc. in an effort to get a leg up on getting packed. Once I sign a contract I want to be moved in no more than six weeks. Four if I can swing it.

3. We called my mother today and while I dreaded doing it, gave her the lowdown on us moving. She suffers from the beginning stages of Alzheimer's and trying to explain things like the conflict with the Louds is sometimes not worth the effort. She tends to not get the details, worries about things that aren't the real worrisome things, gets confused on the timeline, etc. so I just never bothered to tell her about the problem. Today though I thought I'd roll the dice and tell her about us searching for a new apartment and why and to my happy surprise she understood it all. Actually stayed lucid for the full hour we spoke on the phone and didn't have one episode where she sort of "checks out" for a few moments. It was like talking to the Mama I know best once again.

4. We've narrowed our first choices for apartments to two buildings with another five or six as backups. They're all in the same general area - maybe a kilometer apart at the most extreme points - and I'm sure at least one of them will be suitable for us. My MIL is going to pick up tomorrow a floor plan for one of the buildings that seems suitable but I've not yet seen a floor plan for, Tuesday I have an appointment to see my primary interest apartment and maybe more if I can and then I'll make appointments to see the rest. After that I hope it shakes down to me just picking the one I like best and not just taking whatever we can get our stuff crammed into.

5. I haven't knit a single stitch in a week. I know I should be knitting so as to relieve my stress but I can't get interested in it this week. If I'm not obsessing over new apartments, packing or trying to ignore the ass loud television pouring through my ceiling then I read.

6. I hope there's a lot of bananas and Nutella in Heaven. Twizzlers too.

7. Last Thursday my doctor was here and being bloodthirsty wench that she is, she took blood for my quarterly H1ac test. Left a big ass bruise on my arm as well because the needle shot back out and she had to shove it back in. I didn't actually see this - I was too busy doing my impression of a needle phobic squirming five-year-old. Anyway I think my numbers aren't going to be so hot. Too much knitting and reading and not enough ass on the bicycle is going to show up as well as my love of bananas, Nutella and Twizzlers. I rationalize this by saying "Well, that bag of Twizzlers is nearly empty. You can get back on the wagon when it's finished.".

8. Sweet Jesus in Heaven. Herr Loud is taking his screaming crap and the neighbors on the fourth floor are banging on the pipes. Someone's gonna get all Lizzie Borden on his ass one of these days. Not me of course. I'm busy getting ready to move.