Oh, Country Life

Yesterday afternoon when I arrived home from work, I took the dogs out for a walk like usual.  I rounded the corner into the backyard and glimpsed something moving over to the left.  Imagine my surprise to see a horse chilling in our backyard chomping down on our grass.  I can always see the horses from our backyard looking out through the woods onto our neighbor's land but this was different.  The horse was IN our yard.  Once I got over the shock, I called Howard who proceeded to laugh hysterically at me.  Meanwhile, Jack and Copper had caught wind of the horse and were barking up a storm and angrily pulling on their leashes.  I dragged them back inside the house and got in my car to drive up the road to the neighbors.  The woman who lives there had stopped by Sunday morning to introduce herself so I felt comfortable enough going over there.  I knocked on the door and I swear I heard a woman say "one moment please" but then a half-naked man answered the door a minute later. 

Me:  Hi, I just moved in down the road a ways and I believe one of your horses might be loose on our property.
Half-Naked Guy:  What color is he?
Me:  Brown
HNG:  Is he scrawny?
Me:  Sort of.
HNG:  Oh, he'll come back.
Me:  OK......
HNG:  Thanks for letting us know!

I didn't want to be an a-hole neighbor right off the bat but come on, this horse was eating our grass, of which we don't have much of to begin with.  So I drove back home, took the dogs back out on their leashes and let them bark/chase that horse right back to it's pen. 

The picture quality is awful but the daylight was fading and I wasn't exactly in a picture taking mood.  I really only took this picture so Howard would believe me.  When I woke up this morning to take the dogs out, he was frolicking in the field across the street from the house.  I have a feeling I'll be seeing a lot of this horse in the future!

KY Generosity

As I mentioned in my last post, our heat went out sometime Sunday night, only 3 days after we had closed.  We tried everything to fix it short of calling someone in.  Howard called the previous owner (who had been kind enough to give us his phone number at closing) to see if there was something we didn't know about.  He offered to send his guy who had worked on the system over to help us out.  The guy showed up Tuesday night about 6:30 and went about fixing the heat.  When he was done and Howard asked how much we owed him, he said, "Nothing, this is on Dwight".  We bought the house as-is from Dwight yet he was paying someone to fix our heat.  The guy then tells us that an electrician will be out the next night to rewire the heating system completely free of charge so we won't have anymore problems.  As promised, an electrician showed up last night to rewire the system and told us Dwight was covering it.  We were stunned.

Yesterday, I was all set to leave work a bit early.  I grabbed my purse and reached inside for my keys.  They weren't in their usual spot so I dumped everything out on my desk in hopes they were just deeper down somewhere.  Nope.  I checked my coat pockets, the drawer I keep my purse in, the path to and from my car.  I couldn't find them anywhere.  I glanced inside my car and that's when I saw them lying on the passenger seat.  Oh joy.  The maintenance tech, my boss and I tried unsuccessfully to unlock the car with wires.  I was about to call a locksmith when my boss had the idea to call the tow company we used the other day to lift a trailer from the mud it had sunk into.  They sent someone over within 5 minutes.  15 minutes later and I was sitting in my car with the keys in the ignition.  I asked the guy how much I owed him and he said nothing.  Again, I was stunned. 

So there really are some great pluses to small town life. 

PS. I figured it was about time I posted something nice about people in KY.

Wingo Statistics

Here are some statistics about our new city.  I'm not sure how it can be called a city though.   

Population in July 2008: 594
Males: 268 (45.3%)

Females: 326 (54.7%)

Estimated median household income in 2008: $36,869

Estimated median house or condo value in 2008: $91,904


Races in Wingo:

White Non-Hispanic (95.4%)
Black (2.9%)
Hispanic (1.2%)

For population 25 years and over in Wingo

High school or higher: 66.8%
Bachelor's degree or higher: 14.0%
Graduate or professional degree: 5.8%
Unemployed: 6.3%
Mean travel time to work: 21.6 minutes

For population 15 years and over in Wingo city

Never married: 14.9%
Now married: 58.8%
Separated: 2.1%
Widowed: 11.9%
Divorced: 12.3%

0 residents are foreign born

The ratio of number of residents in Wingo to the number of sex offenders is 594 to 1. (I looked this up and it's now 4.  The closest is 2.5 miles away on the same road that we live on.  Another one of them has put in an application at my work recently.)

Full-time Law Enforcement Employees in 2006: 1


Wingo-area historical tornado activity is above Kentucky state average. It is 132% greater than the overall U.S. average.


Wingo-area historical earthquake activity is significantly above Kentucky state average. It is 11% greater than the overall U.S. average.


Residents with income below the poverty level in 2008: 17%

Wingo fatal accident list:


Jul 3, 2008 07:30 AM, Us-45, Lat: 36.667764, Lon: -88.735628, Vehicles: 1, Persons: 1, Fatalities: 1, Drunken drivers: 1

Jul 10, 1992 07:10 AM, 45, Vehicles: 3, Persons: 4, Fatalities: 1

Aug 16, 1987 08:22 AM, 45, Vehicles: 1, Persons: 3, Fatalities: 1

Yep.  Middle of Nowhere, KY. 

New House!!

So we got the house!!  We closed on Friday :)  I'm very, very excited!  We moved in on Saturday with the help of Howard's co-workers.  I took the dogs to the groomer at 7:30 in the morning so they would be out of the way.  I arrived at the house around 8 am to wait for DirecTV to show up.  The timeframe we were given was 8-12 so I figured I'd see them about 2 pm.  But they actually showed up at 9 am and were done by 9:45.  I couldn't believe it.  Howard called and told me they were on their way with the first load of furniture.  I waited.  And waited.  And waited some more and finally they pulled into the driveway.  I walked outside to meet them and Howard reported there was only one minor incident.  The bookcase and my desk had taken a spin on the highway.  The bookcase did not survive and the desk had a number done on it but I wanted to remain optimistic so I just said it looked aged and antique :)  At least it wasn't the TV.

They unloaded round 1 and left and I set out to unpack everything.  I had the entire kitchen, living room and all my clothes put away by the time they got back.  I was very impressed with myself until they continued to bring in box after box.  It was then I felt like I hadn't really gotten anything done at all.  It was nearing the time I had to go pick up the dogs so I left the house.  However, I forgot my phone.  I thought to myself, oh, it's no problem, I can get there without GPS.  WRONG.  I got extremely lost and ended up going in a huge circle and ending right back at our house...30 minutes later.  I got my phone and used GPS to get to the groomer in 10 minutes.  I love my phone.

When I got back to the house, the football game was starting so I decided unpacking could wait for a while.  That was Saturday afternoon.  I haven't touched another box since then.  Yesterday, we decided we deserved a lazy day of laying around watching football and enjoying the house.  So that's what we did.  Nothing was accomplished and I'm ok with that.  I'll post pictures when I feel like the house is presentable.

***

I knew we were moving to the middle of nowhere but I'm not sure I was prepared for it.  It's going to take some time to get used to the "country" life.  Some examples...

We went to the local grocery store on Saturday and when I pulled out my debit card to pay, the cashier pointed to a sign that said "NO DEBIT/CREDIT CARDS".  What?  I didn't even know places existed that don't accept credit cards anymore. 

We have to wait until the 28th for our stove and fridge to be delivered which sucks.  They don't keep a lot of items in stock out here so everything has to be special ordered.  I didn't want to order them before closing in case something went wrong.  Howard's co-worker had an old mini-fridge he wasn't using so we have that in the garage right now.  We've been grilling so we can eat hot food.  Somehow Howard managed to cook sausage and pancakes on the grill Sunday morning.  I have no idea how he pulled that off but it was delicious. 

Saturday night, Howard and I were hungry so he wanted to order a pizza.  He called Domino's, Papa John's and Pizza Hut.  Not one delivers.  Best answer we got was to drive about 10 miles to a church where they would meet us.  Um, that really defeats the purpose of delivery! 

I walked outside Saturday night for a phone call and was greeted by the lovely sight of a skunk on the driveway.  I hauled ass right back inside and was afraid to walk the dogs later.  I didn't see him again last night but I smelled him.  Very awesome. 

The area surrounding our house is pitch black.  I mean like walk into your closet, turn off the light, bury your face in your clothes dark.  I can see every single star but it's pretty hard to walk the dogs when I can't even see where I am going.  And me being me, I think someone is out there hiding in the dark, of course.  I'm sure I'm going to be a nervous wreck when Howard is out of town next week for work.  He had today off so he's at Lowe's buying deadbolts, motion sensor lights and blinds for EVERY window.  We've even discussed getting a gun.  I'm not sure I want to go that far yet.  I suppose it will depend on how I do alone next week...

And the kicker!  We woke up this morning to a freezing house.  The heat isn't working.  Yay.  Howard also gets to work on that today.  Oh the joys of being homeowners!  We can't just call the landlord anymore and tell him to fix it.

But with all that said, it doesn't stop me from looking around the house in awe of what we were lucky enough to find.  I absolutely love it.  It already feels like home. 

These Are a Few of My Favorite Things

Being an only child sometimes has its perks.  Wait...I'm not an only child.  But it sure feels like it when I'm the only one that can make it home for Christmas Day with my parents!  Seems like Christmas revolves around ME!  Really though, I would give that all up if my brother and sister and their families could make it to Christmas.  I know Christmas would then revolve around the little kiddies but I would be just fine with that.

Anyhow, I had a fabulous Christmas and thought I would highlight some of my favorite gifts.

This was my biggest surprise.  I had mentioned to my mom in August that I could use a new camera but told her not to get one because I might get one for my birthday in September.  I didn't but I forgot to tell her otherwise.  A week before Christmas she told me she was alllll done shopping and that's when I mention the camera.  Whoops.  So I was mighty surprised to open this gift.  Thanks Mom (& Dad)!

So obviously it would have been nice had I used said camera to take actual pictures of my gifts but yeah, it's not gonna happen.  If I waited until I got home from work to take the pictures, then I would never get around to posting this blog.  You have to be in a blogging mood and when I get home, it's the last thing on my mind.  So Google Images it is.

This was also a surprise.  I hadn't asked for boots but I needed them.  And they have come in SOOO handy over the past week since temps have been down in the teens and walking the dogs at night is NOOO fun.  Slip these babies on and I feel all warm and fuzzy inside.  Well, along with a hat, scarves and gloves that is.

I am a sucker for new cookbooks.  Nicole gave me the Betty Crocker book at our Secret Santa party and I've already marked all the recipes I can't wait to try.  My parents gave me the Pioneer Woman one.  I love it because every recipe is mapped out with pictures.  Step by step.  You just can't go wrong.  Unless you are me.  Then you will find a way to screw it up. 

I have been obsessing over these coasters I found on Etsy for some time now.  Rachel knew this.  And she got them for me so I could stop obsessing.  It didn't work though.  Because now I just obsess over them in person while they sit on my coffee table.  Yes, I admit it, I obsess over coasters.  Thanks Biffles!

Amanda came over on Christmas Eve to play some Trivial Pursuit on the Wii with Matt, Howard and I.  She brought me this shower cap because of my love for hippos.  Too cute!  I love when my friends buy me cute, little gifts just to make me smile.  This one definitely did :)  Especially when Howard put it on.

I also got a mountain of kitchen stuff which I have yet to put to good use because I have no room in my 2x4 square the apartment complex tries to call a kitchen.  And because I am at work and not at home staring at all my fun goodies, my mind is completely blanking on everything else. 

NYE

Howard and I normally don't do anything for New Year's Eve mainly because we live too far away to get a cab from the bars downtown and driving is out of the question.  This New Year's was no different...or so I thought.  Howard had his last indoor soccer game of the season at 6 pm so he told me to meet him in Paducah for the game.  I got off work early and called him to tell him I would meet him at the house in Benton and we could drive in to Paducah together when he got off of work.  He told me to just go straight to Paducah and do some shopping or something.  I thought nothing of it and headed to the mall. 

After stopping in 3 different stores and spending money in all 3, I decided I needed to leave the mall asap.  I headed over to the bar to hang out with Potter (the bartender) and play some MegaTouch to kill some time.  I called Howard on the way to let him know where I was and to call me when he got to the gym for the game.  I just had a feeling that being it was NYE, not many people were going to show up for it and there wouldn't actually be a game.  I was chatting with some people in the bar and telling them that we were heading home after Howard's game when Howard walked into the bar about 5:15.  He ordered a beer and I looked at him strangely wondering why he was having a beer when he had a game in 45 minutes.  He informed me that he wasn't going to the game.  He had gotten a hotel downtown, the dogs were already there and we were out for a night on the town.  Needless to say, I was shocked :)  We left the bar and headed over to Outback since it was right next to the hotel he had booked. 

We closed down the bar at Outback with tons of other people and had a blast.  I know Outback sounds like a strange place to celebrate NYE but given it's Paducah, there aren't a ton of options.  We were getting ready to walk down the street to the hotel when we found out a guy we know who works there was off for the night.  He gave us a ride so we wouldn't have to walk in the 10 degree temperature.  It was a very fun night but unfortunately, I was asleep by 12:10.  Man, I'm getting old.

Things I Realized While Home in VA

...A Chicken Philly and Mac & Cheese from Glory Days is the BEST hangover food in the world.  I went from feeling like an 18 wheeler ran over me to ready to rock in no time.  A couple White Russians doesn't hurt either.

...I placed 3rd in both of my Fantasy leagues.  Not exactly where I wanted to be but good enough to take home some money in both leagues.  I'm already looking forward to next year's draft...

...I hate traffic.  Like absolutely, 100% despise it.  I have no idea how I can be going 80 mph on Route 95 but then have to come to a screeching halt in a matter of seconds...over and over again.  It makes no sense.  And I hate it.

...I have learned a whole new definition of the word "classy".  That's all I'm gonna say.

...Although we know it will never happen, it won't stop Howard and I from trying to convince Ashley and Jason they need to move to KY.  Howard has already sent me job postings to send to Ashley for Physical Therapist positions opening in the area.  She graduates in May and Jason graduates in August.  We've got plenty of time to brainwash them.  Muhahaha.

...Have I mentioned that I hate traffic?  Because I do.  With a full-blown passion.  It is my personal nightmare. 

...KY isn't the only home to strange people.  They reside in VA too.  Case #1:  While at Wings with Amy one night, we witnessed a grown man weilding a back scratcher running up and down the sidewalk cackling incoherent words.  Case #2:  Howard and I stopped for food somewhere in Southern VA and saw a man in a wheelchair rolling himself down the middle of the busy highway.  At night.  With no lights or reflectors.  I have no idea how he wasn't hit.

...I love KY.  There, I said it.