Random Thought Whenever

Charlie is crying. He's cutting a tooth. He's been cutting this same damn tooth for two weeks, and it's finally breaking through today. I don't know how much more whining and crying I can take.

I won the court case the other day. The guy didn't even show up, and the judgment went against him. He has 30 days to appeal, after which point I can have a lien placed against his shop, assuming it's in his name. I plan to do whatever I can to force the bastard to pay me. I'm tired of being ripped off by con men.

Speaking of con men, a little kid from the neighborhood came to my door a few nights ago to sell me something for the school. The form he had said the cost of the item (a coupon card for local restaurants) was $20, but he said it was a misprint and that I had to pay $40. Thinking it was fishy, I told him I had no cash and that he should come back tomorrow, and then I got in touch with every teacher friend I know, as well as a few parents who have children in the same school. The cards were only $20. So the next day when he came back, I asked him why his cards cost $40 when everyone else's are only $20. He said he got confused. I made him squirm a bit, gave him my best mean teacher look, then asked if he wanted to sell me one for the right price. He said yes, and I bought a card for $20. I'm trying to decide whether I should go knock on the door tonight and tell his mother what he was doing. Maybe I'll write a letter and stick it in their mailbox. I've never met them before, but I'd hate to think the kid might be ripping off some of the older people in this neighborhood who really can't afford the $20, much less the $40, but are too sweet to say no. I'd also hate to think that I had the chance to stop a budding con man, but didn't.

We're moving. At least we want to move, and are doing everything we can to get our house ready to sell. I'm working double time on the bathroom wall, and it's getting closer. After that, we've got to stain a door in the other bathroom, have some (potentially expensive) work done on the wood insets surrounding the front door, and remove the 1990's style wallpaper/border from the rest of the house and paint those walls. That's just what comes to mind right away; there's probably a lot more. I know the screen door to the patio has to be replaced, the clothes lines are rotted and need to be replaced, there's a pile of debris that's been in the back yard since before Tim bought the house that we've got to deal with, and there are some holes to China in the back yard that we need to fill in. In other words, we might be able to put the house up for sale before Charlie graduates from high school.

We want to go to the Jackson area; maybe to Brandon, or near there. Jackson would be perfect, in my opinion, as long as we're not IN Jackson. It'd be closer to my parents, who are only about 2 1/2 or 3 hours from there, and even though it would be about the same distance to Tim's family, they'd be more likely to come see us there. It's just a more central location. It's also almost completely out of reach from any major hurricanes, should another one decide to destroy the Mississippi Gulf Coast again. Oxford is another less likely possibility. Tim went to Ole Miss and has romantic ideas about Oxford. I don't think I'd like it much. It's a nice town, but there are no other sizable towns around it for at least 50 miles. Just cross your fingers for us that we don't run into any super expensive repairs for this house, and that once it goes on the market it doesn't set there for a year.

Charlie goes back to preschool Tuesday. I'm ready.