Thank you all so much for all your purrs and good thoughts.  You guys
are just *amazing*!

We are moving!  Our most recent landlord, Gary, has a friend who owns a
lot of apartments, and he had two available in the neighborhood.  Gary
put in a good word for us with Rick, and Rick seems like a really good
guy.  He lowered the rent on the new place from $450 to $400 a month;
lowered the deposit to $150; said he would not require the usual pet
deposit of $250; and he knows we have nine cats!  He said he knew the
place "wasn't the Ritz", and told me he trusted me.  Wow.

It is a  bit smaller than our place now, but still has two bedrooms and
a basement.  And even better, it has an actual backyard!  I can plant a
garden now, and I'm sure Rick won't come along and weed-whack it like
the present landlord (grrrrrr).  It's sort of a half-double, and we met
the lady next door when we were looking at it.  She seems very nice, and
has a bunch of windchimes on her porch (I collect them), one of which is
a cat windchime :-)

We're a bit nervous about the neighborhood.  There is a carryout a few
doors down on the north side, and a bar on the south side a bit away,
with a lot of very disreputable-seeming clients, plus our back windows
look out on the alley where Richard was assaulted several years ago :-(
Not to mention that whoever lived there before must have been a drug
dealer or something; he boarded up both doors so there's only peepholes
and no windows, and it looks like a lock factory in there!

But it *feels* good.  And the neighbors are late-night people and keep
an eye on things.  Plus, it's set back aways from the sidewalk and is
covered with vines, so it's almost hidden away.  And there are *trees*
in the backyard!

The funniest thing about this:  if you walked in a straight line from
our back door for a block, you'd run right into it!  lol -- yep, it's
one block away!

We haven't done very well in getting ready, and I am really worried
about that.  I have packed three boxes of Barbie dolls (I collect them,
too), and that's it so far.  I gave my 30 days notice June 22, so we
have until July 22 to move.  DH is pretty useless in terms of doing much
during the workweek, and I still have the hip problem, so I have no idea
how we are going to do this, or get enough help to move the heavy stuff
(we have a washer, dryer, freezer, and dishwasher, not to mention the
waterbed, couch, etc.  Yikes!  So far, my ex-hubby Victor is the only
one who has agreed to help, but I haven't yet sent out a mass e-mail to
ask yet).

I could really use some more heavy-duty purrs that somehow we can come
up with the finances to do this.  We really don't have the wherewithal
to pay rent on both places on the 29th.  And I have to pay renter's
insurance and electric before they get cancelled/shut off this week.  At
least the gas and electric won't be a problem as long as I'm not more
than 60 days behind (which I won't be once I pay the electric); they can
switch it over to the new place, and the phone company as well, since I
am current.  However, I can't afford to switch my business phone (aka,
my "not online" phone), as installation is $160!  I swear it was nowhere
near that when I first installed the second line here, back in '93.  And
it probably wasn't!  I also have to pay water here with July's pro-rated
rent, which pretty much means about the same as regular rent when you
add it together.  Not to mention food and cat food (and we owe the vet,
too, of course, although they are kind about waiting and letting me make
payments).  I feel like I'm about to fall off a precipice, or make the
leap and have a clean new beginning.  And it's scary, both because I
don't know how we are going to pay both rents, and because I haven't
moved in so long.  I really hope this is the right choice.

I also could use purrs that our friends are kind enough to come on over
and help us move!  When I moved in here, we got about 10 friends willing
to help.  I had everything except what we needed at the last minute, and
cleaning supplies we needed, packed, labeled, in the living room, and
ready to go.  It took us about 3-1/2 hours to do the entire move
(including having all furniture in place, all boxes in the room they
went in, and the stereo hooked up).  Unfortunately, some of those
friends are gone now, or we have lost touch.

Whew.  Sorry for the length of this and my rambling!

Thank you all so much; you are one amazing group of people :-)

Ginger-lyn
and my physical therapist is happy with my progress, and my ovarian cyst
has not changed whatsoever and the blood test that can suggest cancer
was negative :-)