Subfamily: Gerbillinae

The gerbil. The elusive, long-tailed, hamster like creature that Tara was never able to own in California.

But then she moved to North Carolina.

September 19: "YAY!!!! I'm gonna get a Gerbil today!!!"  

I had finally worn Chad down. It had been 3 months of occasional hint dropping "ooh ooh! Do you think this pet store has female gerbils??" "I've always wanted a gerbil... I could never have one in San Diego...." and the like. Finally, we were ready - we were going to the store to get a gerbil.

Or... should I say two gerbils.

Somewhere between our house and the first pet store, Chad decided he wanted one too. And come to find out that was a good thing. Apparently, gerbils are MUCH more social than hamsters. In fact they don't like being alone at all. So, ok, good. Two gerbils.

We got the cage. We got the food. Now, time to pick out our new little kids. When getting them in pairs/groups, you have to keep them with their tank mates. Pet stores keep them in separated same sexed groups in tanks - too keep them from breeding and fighting - so we randomly picked a female tank and went through the 6 residents and ended up with these guys:

I picked out this little cutie pie! She was a super light colored, little runt.

Chad picked out this one: a slightly grumpy, big ole, dark colored gerbil with a toupee looking circle on its head.

We got them home. Set them up.

Milli was confused... then amused.

YAY!!! Gerbils are awesome!

Early October....

They need names still and mine is cute and little, so I named her Peanut. Chad still can't come up with a name... but she's a little nippy... and pushy... I've been jokingly calling her Grumpy Gus, so we went with that...

At this point I have mixed feelings about gerbils.... I find myself saying things like "Chad I think your gerbil is a lesbian.. it keeps chasing mine around and she keeps squeeling all unhappy like...." and "you're stupid gerbil is eating the plastic parts of the cage again..."

Crap... I think their cage is too small... when we bought it, we were only planning on the one... hmmmmmm....

October 21: Gerbil Palace

You read that right, I made our girls a freaking PALACE! I tripled their area, while adding new happy gerbil features like a functioning running wheel, a sand bath and a litter box. Plus, there is absolutely no plastic.

And they were SOOOO EXCITED!

Late October... hmmmmm

"Chad.... you stupid gerbil is being mean again..."

"Tara, Peanut is getting fat!" "It's cause Grumpy is so mean an won't let her use the wheel!"

"Chad... You're gerbil looks weird.... she's gotten really big..."

Early November... Lightbulb.

Hmmmm... Peanut IS getting fat... *Click*

"DAMMIT! CHAD!!! I THINK THE STUPID PET STORE SOLD US A MALE AND A FEMALE GERBIL!!! PEANUT IS TOTALLY PREGNANT! AND YOU'RE STUPID GERBIL HAS BALLS!!!!"

Time for research... 19 days gestation... dammit... keep male with babies, he'll actually help the mom instead of eat the young like male hamsters do... ok, not so bad.... female will be ready to get pregnant again moments after giving birth... dammit again....

November 1: We now have six gerbils...

She gave birth to these 4 little, pink, wrinkly bodies sometime last night... Chad won't let me touch them...

Ugh.

Now we just get to sit and wait for them to grow up. There are a couple of options we're tossing around of how to deal with this... only time will tell... and how cute they get will definitely be a factor.

And yes. I did see Grumpy Gus mount Peanut again... yes... the same day she gave birth. WTF?!? Oooohhh Gerbils.

So... It's Definitely Fall...

As in Fall, fall.

Leaves fall.

Water falls from the sky...

Temperature falls....

Yeah.. it's definitely Fall.

The only thing that doesn't seem to seasonally "fall" around here is the humidity. Ha!

Living at Sweetwater is my first experience with fallen leaves and being responsible for raking them...

Let me just say, since this day, I have done a bunch of research - all of which supports my idea that: leaves should not be raked. Or moved. Or disturbed in any way... they should lie there, as they fell. Its only natural. And way less a pain in my butt...

Screw leaves.

Anyways. Back to why I feel this way:

Load #1

#2

....#3

 ...........#4........

......I'm over this..... 

There are only three things that these wheelbarrows indicate: First, the yard looks less messy. Second, the compost pile is VERY happy (and finally reaching the correct brown to green ratio). 

But, best of all, #3, its Fall. Its cooler. All things are flavored pumpkin. The trees are full of colors that are bright and warm. And, I got to dress up my porch pig.

Awwwww Fall. I love you. Despite all the extra work. 

The Creepy Room...

So, as you know Chad and I now have a house, 3/4 of an acre, a couple gerbils, a dog and a small garden.... but did you also know we are also the not-so-proud owners of a creepy building at the bottom of our property? Yeahh....

 That's it. The creepy room. A huge 12x24' building...

I consistently refer to it as the "Creepy Building." Chad doesn't like that I do... and I think its keeping him (and me) from wanting to use it for anything other than box storage and a huge cricket cage.

Plus, its a mess. I was pretty sure it was useless. The side beams looked rotted out, the plywood floor is soaked in oil, the drywall has sat 1/2 taped and exposed for probably years...

But then Dad came, took a look at it, and said I needed to fix it up. Ugh...

Fine.

Face your fears Tara.

Put on your gloves, pull up your big girl pants and fricken do it.

So, that's exactly what I've been doing. Two hours a day.

After only 3 days, there has been major progress!! I can't believe it!

Day 1: Uggghhhh the creepy building... there are spider webs and a bird nest and mice nests and roaches and crickets... its full of wood and old rusty paint cans and weird gasoline containers... its so gross... so this day, I mostly took inventory and started cleaning...

Day 2: The great drywall taping experiment. When Dad was here, we went to Lowe's and bought a few drywall taping tools and a huge bucket of goop. After a quick, goopless lesson, Dad left town... so... there I was... in the creepy room, holding a bunch of tools, looking at sheets of drywall... and BAM! I did it - Like. A. Boss!

Day 3: Really... I needed to spend more time cleaning.... gross. Took forever to just move everything out... Instead of just putting everything back in (cleaner, yes) all willy-nilly, I repurposed some old shelves and even used some of the wood to temporarily fix the door. Yeah, I pretty much rock.

So now, cleaned and de-cluttered, come Monday, that drywall is mine! Updates to come!

Answer: Parents

Question: Who are the greatest people ever!?

Chad and I had the pleasure of hosting a couple of my parents here at Sweetwater *almost* Acre this past week!!! 

My dad and step-mom visited for a whole 4 days and we got to explore the greater Jacksonville area a little and Chad and I got to show off our fancy new home!

A few of the highlights:

Before they got there, Chad and I had been slowly compiling a "daddy-do" list. It was composed of mostly little questions like "where is our septic tank" and "could I switch this window out for a door without TOOOO much hassle?" But there were some other, more grand ideas like "build a pergola with a swinging bench that converted into a platform" and "should we keep and fix up this weird, huge building in the back yard? And if yes... how do we go about doing that?" The best part of the list, was not 10 minutes after stepping foot in our house dad asked "so, what house projects are we doing?!" Best. Dad, Ever.

The insanely full rental car after our trip to Lowes!

Probably as a courtesy, before they came, dad asked "is there anything I can bring you from San Diego?" Why, yes! Of course there are things I can only get in SD that I would LOVE to have imported! So, I provided a list.... an odd list albeit... but a list of things I absolutely couldn't find (and have TRIED!) here in Jacksonville. Well..... instead of actually bringing any of the list... I recieved my whole list via the mail (both physical and digital). Almost every day leading up to the trip and during their visit a package came with another one of my list items! Best. Dad. Ever.

During dinner one evening my step-mom mentioned "Oh! Tara, I have something to give you." Ohhhhh??? Ohhh you doooooo??? YAY! Ok... dinner has been over for a few minutes.... how long does courtesy require before I can ask about my PRESENT??? Ok, I've settled on 8 minutes! "Sooo.... you mentioned a present??" After a quick trip to the guest room, present in hand! And Oh. My. Goodness! Tasty Asian Store Treats!! My sister-in-law knows me all too well! 

One of the projects we actually did finish was our fancy new fire pit. After a quick trip to the store for some firewood and s'mores makings - we had the best night sitting around an awesome fire, talking and making tasty treats! It was so exactly what I wanted! It even kept the bugs away (though I think the citronella tiki torches surrounding us may have helped...)

On the last night of their visit we went on a Sunset Cruise of New River. It was great, granted we mostly missed the sunset... and the second half of the trip was in pitch darkness... it was still awesome!

We did some other stuff too, like make this screen/trellis thing, went to North Topsail beach on the most beautiful day possible and watched a whole bunch of old movies I'm glad I still have around. It was just such a wonderful time!

I like having my family around...

*hint hint* to all you others!

I Need Hot Water! That's Who!!

What a mess...

But what a beautiful outcome!

Ok, so, yesterday this super young guy drives up the driveway in the most beautiful sight I've ever seen: a plumber truck.

He comes in and I describe the situation (as I knew it). He just kind of looks at me, then the water heater and mutters "ok, I'll take care of it." He began fiddling, tools were slung, "Ma'am's" were hollered.

Then, the news "Ma'am, did you know your water heater has been leaking...? And for quite a while...? See this HUGE rusty spot at the bottom...? This thing needs to be replaced, its from 1992. I'll be back."

WHAT?! Rust?! Leaking?! AND electrical issues... yippy.... ugh.

No joke, 15 minutes after he leaves my home warranty company calls "Hello, I'm from Old Republic, just calling to let you know you're water heater needs to be replaced, and we've approved it. The work should be done by end of business today."

YES! WOOT! YIPPY! YYYYAAAAAAYYYYYY!

The same young guy comes back a while later, tinkers some more, and BAM! Our shiny new water heater is installed! I can almost feeellllll the hot water showering over me. Awwww...

POP!!! FLASH!! Burnt electrical smell....

Dammit....

Luckily, the plumber guy was still there... he look annoyed... then got on the phone with his boss and all I hear is "I don't know! I'm not an electrician?! What!? Fine, I'll look... I'm not an electrician!"

20 minutes later... young guy says "you need to call your home warranty people and get an electrician. Burnt wires... mumble mumble"

Dammit....

Luckily, Old Republic rocks and puts another work order through, almost no questions asked.

However... we don't hear from the electrician company that night...

Another night of no hot water. Ugh.

The company was hard to get a hold of... but I cornered them at 8:45 this morning, and by "cornered," I mean I sounded ultra-pathetic, "its been three days... we haven't had hot water... you're the second set of people... woah is me... my parents are coming... please help... you're my last and only hope... whoa whoa.."

Needless to say, a guy showed up 30 minutes later, on his way to another job, fixed the electrical problem, and was on his way. And you know what that means:

WE HAVE HOT WATER!!!!

Ohhhhh the trials and tribulations. But, I still love this house. Like, a lot.

Who needs hot water anyway...

Another joy of home ownership has reared its ugly head...

Our water heater went out. 

As in, I go to take a shower and it just never got hot.

So, I went to look at the water heater and... of course I saw NOTHING! I'm not a water heater expert!? I don't know what they should be doing? Humming? Whirling? Steaming?! There wasn't anything obvious like water spewing everywhere... I don't know.

Looks ok right?!

So, I went back into the bathroom and tried the tub... maybe it was just the shower? Of course it wasn't. Ugh.

Back to the garage... to look at the water heater again... bah... it hasn't sprouted a head to tell me what's wrong with it.... hmmm... I decide to touch it... then feel silly... I don't know what it should feel like?! hummm... I'm pretty sure one of these pipes up here should be hot, most likely the partially insulated one.. I mean the hot water has to come out from somewhere, right?... its not hot... duh... my shower wasn't either.... HHHMMMMMM ... I think its electric... wait?! is it on?! Did it pop its breaker? Yup, its popped. WOW!? Maybe I am an expert! Cause, I can totally reset a breaker.

Sweet. On my way to sweet sweet hot water.

POP!!!

Dammit... 

Least there still isn't water spewing out... you know, bright side and all.

Now, time to call an expert. Dadddddddd........

Ugh... Response: "It's broke." (well, really there were words like coils or leaks or something muttered... but you know, bottom line and all)

Dammit.

You know that point when you can almost see $$$ floating around... Hmmm... maybe, just maybe its covered by our home warranty...

Fast forward a few minutes: now I see Old Republic riding in on a white horse, wearing shiny, shiny gold armor. 

No joke, I call an 800 number, someone answers pretty quickly, speaks English, is super nice, and within 5 minutes and no "I don't believe you" questions, I have a work order in and a company will be calling me by the morning.  

Unexpected bonus, I started this whole process after 5pm, I wasn't expecting any kind of help till this morning... but to my surprise the hot water heater experts called me to set up our appointment that night! At like 7:45! whaaatttt???? And put me on the books for first thing this morning!? 

I love this house. I love, love, love it. Little hiccups and all.

And Old Republic. I love them too.

Butterfly Wings

I saw this guy this morning - pretty much made my day.

Day made. Right?