Happy Fridays

My "to blog" list is getting rather large.  I've been extremely lazy lately.  My house is a wreck, I haven't freezer cooked, I barely do laundry, Mike cleaned the bathroom last, my blog is a little lazy (no pictures lately... boo), and you really should see my knitting pile.  It's bad.  Oh, and that reading thing.  The book I'm on is rather boring, to be honest.  Who would have thought?  It's Robin Hood.  I'm trying to finish it this week, but I'm behind.  So behind.


BUT!  Today is a very happy Friday indeed.  I took my last full vacation day at my current company.  I woke up and ate, tried to read, and then fell back asleep.  We had Red Robin for lunch, and then I went and bought $25 worth of books for $5 (because I bought a groupon a while back).


Today is a very good Friday indeed.  Next up- hopefully doing some organizing with my knitting projects.  Get some things in order.  Get some to-do lists and timelines hatched out.


Enjoy your weekend!

Weekend Wish- Fitting 96 hours into 48

Or at least trying?  Because I'm pretty sure I have well over 96 hours worth of stuff on my to do list this weekend.

Happy Friday, everyone!  And by Happy I mean very happy, because tonight, my friends?  Tonight is a girl's night out!

I hope we can figure out a DD because I really would like to enjoy it, if you know what I mean.  Not to the point of piss-ass drunk or something, of course.  But not worrying about driving would definitely be nice.

And since it's girl's night out tonight, the boys are probably have a guy's night in (I think?).  Michael might not be attending, though, because our weekend has filled to the point of over-flowing, and he'll probably want to get some zzzz's before it starts.

Tomorrow?  Starts with a football game in what will shape up to be 1-3 inches of snow.  BOO!  I like snow, but not on my football games.  I like football, but usually with warmer weather than permitted for snow to fall.  And all in all, I don't foresee a very good game, so this whole day will kinda suck.  But I love my friends, even if we lose fingers or toes from frostbite. 

Then hopefully I will come home and Mike can go to sleep while I do some couponing, grocery list making, grocery shopping, and maybe some cleaning.  Because Mike's boss screwed up, and Sunday he works 1:30 am - 9:30 am, then 11 am to 6 pm (or something on those lines).  BOO!  He will sleep good that night!

Sunday I will be spending a lot of time in the kitchen.  I prep in the am for cooking day.  Then I'll probably take a break to do some laundry and clean some of the house.  Then I'll spend several chaotic a few organized hours cooking away in our kitchen.  Hopefully I will manage to finish the laundry and the cooking with enough time left to put up the Christmas decorations.  I have some excellent ideas, and if enough snow falls, Romeo and I will spend the evening outside making a snowman.  I don't think 1-3 inches will be enough, though.

And if I finish and I'm NOT ready to pass out on the spot?  I can design my Christmas cards.  That's right- we make our own around here.  I'm a modern version of Martha Stewart (only prettier, with lots less money, better trading ethics, and no stick up my butt (as I imagine...)).

How about I give you some of my awesome ideas for gifts/crafts for the holidays?  Interested?  I might just try that out.  Because I love the holidays.

Happy Friday!

Fridays are my favorite and least favorite days of the week.

Favorite- it's pay day.  it's also "new line on the budget" day (meaning I have spending money again, or at least we hope).  it's also the start to the weekend (which is actually my favorite time of the week).

Least Favorite- It's pay day.  And in accounting that means that anyone who's check is off by a penny blames me.  I get a lot of complaints. 

But it's Friday!  :)  I can endure the complaints as long as I get my weekend.  And Mike is officially done with his second job today.  :)  This makes me extremely happy.  Poor?  yes.  Happy?  Extremely.

So what's the plan for the weekend?

I'm going to be running tonight after work.  And then doing a "minor" workout (I think it's a major workout, but Shorty SWEARS it's hardly anything at all...) So afterwards I plan on reheating a freezer meal (Beef stroganoff, anyone?  or maybe spaghetti?).

The weekend will definitely include:
Walking Romeo (probably both Sat and Sun)
Laundry
Groceries
Cleaning (bathroom and kitchen.  Ew, gross)

The weekend SHOULD include at least something from this list:
Washing the car
Sorting through the garage
Re-arranging furniture
Organizing/Editing pictures
Organizing recipes
Creating an Address book
Raking leaves
Cleaning gutters
Date night
Mapping out Christmas and Thanksgiving
Writing (thank you notes, journal entry, blog post, something)

The weekend will MOST LIKELY include:
TV
Reading

So my wish for this weekend?  Relaxation.  Last weekend was just way too busy.  I apologize for not having a blog post.  It was too busy for pictures, and we lost the football game.  And our halloween costumes didn't turn out as well as we hoped.  Oh well, we'll do better next time!

Have a happy weekend!

The Taming of the Office

So we've been living in our house for just over 9 months now, but we've failed to even hang most of our decorations and artwork, let alone decorate the house in general!  It's sad, I know... But we want to fix that!

So we started with the most daunting rooms- the office.  That miserable room has been the graveyard for all things unknown.  It's where we have the litter box, the bean bag chair, the desk that's covered in all the papers that need to be sorted and taken care of.  It's an unholy mess.  The window isn't even intact!

So we started decided on design ideas.  Since it's mostly Mike's office, I went with some pretty masculine and modern ideas.  I decided everything months ago, fyi.  I even bought the paint and the window treatment things! 

AND then months later I finally decide to just grit my teeth and bear it.

And this?  That's a scratching pad.  For my declawed cat.  What, you say?  I know.  He's weird.  It belonged to a female kitty who lived with us for a few months.  He was in love with her.  Apparently he still is.  I wasn't allowed to touch it.  I kid you not.

So we emptied the room first.  THAT'S a chore.  And to be honest, the papers that need to be gone through are now sitting in the living room waiting to be gone through (haha!).  BUT we got it emptied.  Into our guest room.

This was the guest room.

And Orion is STILL guarding his post.

I then spent 90% of my Saturday scrubbing, taping, and then painting.  I was so sore by the end of the day!  But I finished, with only a minimal amount of paint on the ceiling and trim.  :)

See my lovely paint job???

And then Sunday I touched it up because it apparently needed a second coat (after the guy at home depot swore it wouldn't) and I didn't quite have enough paint to do a whole second coat.  I was rather upset.

And Orion was SO worried about his scratching post.

But it worked out nicely, and we actually got a lot of the stuff moved back into the room that evening.  The desk moved to the other side of the room to make it look bigger.  I now have a desk where the closet was.  I organized his bins and files and now everything has a home.  :)  It looks fabulous!  And it's not even done yet.

Orion is still only worried about his scratching post.  You do notice it's still there.  Normally I would not be ok with this, but I'm so upset that I broke my cat's heart that I can't bear to get rid of it.

Tonight I still have to hang everything on the walls, including- 2 cd racks, 1 large shelf (in the closet), 5 degree frames (2 degrees, 3 certs), a shelf for a trophy, a plaque, 4 paddles, two dry erase boards, and 3 beautiful pieces of artwork.  Maybe someday I'll figure out how to design a movie reel piece of art for the wall as well.  I also have to make the cornice and hang it.  I might hang the curtain rod back up as well and hang a nice sheer there, but there are so many trees outside it's honestly not necessary at all.  Oh, and I have one more trip to Ikea before I'm finished.

And I'm sure the scratching post will STILL be there when I'm done.

Tis the Season....

FOR FOOTBALL!!!!! 

And when I say football, I clearly mean MARCHING BAND!!!

And by that I am dead serious, because, folks, this house is chuck full of band nerds.  I mean it, 100% of the three adults living under our roof are born and bred true band geeks.  History lesson?  Michael plays sax- alto sax, bari sax, and even tenor sax on occasion.  In high school he was drum major for 3 years (although they were called field commanders.  To me this is just weird).  He lived for his KK Psi brothers (the band honorary fraternity) at UC.  He worked hard with equipment crews and band room duties and fundraising activities.  We were at every event from dawn til dusk (exaggeration, but seriously- we were usually one of the first there and last to leave).

Me?  I was a pianist before I could say my name.  I later learned flute and piccolo, and then joined the colorguard.  I wasn't quite as devoted as Michael, but I still worked hard.  I was section leader.  I was voted best musician.  I played a solo at state merely days after knee surgery while I was hyped up on vicadin and STILL was only 1 point away from an excellent rating!

Ahem... Anyways.  Yes, even now, years after graduating and leaving the college world for adulthood, we are still band geeks at heart.  We show up 2 hours before the game (usually earlier).  We haul equipment, wear uniforms and bright shiny field passes, push prod and haul band kids into formation, and then watch a football game from the sideline (where you can see approximately nothing).  We listen to really loud music right next to us while shouting at refs and cheering with the squads.  At half time Michael takes his camera to record while I haul equipment.  We watch the band do their thing while most are getting pizza.  We haul everything back and then feed them all like toddlers, because they always need a sugar rush to survive the third quarter lull.  We lose our voices.  At the end we haul everything back, shake hands, watch the band kids dance, comment on the game, then go grab a beer with the other alumni (who are incidentally doing the same thing as you are).  However, before we can leave the field we always pay tribute to the Alma Mater- heads held high, arms linked together.  

This is our football season.  We root our BEARCATS on every game.  We're there in the rain, or with serious colds (possibly the flu).  Sometimes both (see: this weekend).  We love our team, even when they lose (or lose their coach- see: Notre Dame lost and I want to gloat).  Hell, we even make our holiday plans around our team's schedule.  Last year Mike and I celebrated 4 years in New Orleans, band style, cuz that's just how we roll.  This is what we do.


I wouldn't change it for all the money in the world.

Getting Away is not the same as Running Away

Hi, everyone!  I'm back, and hopefully starting fresh.  I honestly wanted to "start fresh" on Monday, but I was on a plane, and then I was reunited with my hubby and my puppy and that da** cat.  It just didn't happen.  And then catching up Tues and Wed because I was gone all weekend meant that it didn't happen then, either.  OH WELL!  Here I am.

I went away.  No, literally.  I got up Friday morning nice and early and caught a small little plane to Philadelphia, PA.  I spent about 30 minutes trying to locate my aunt.  Apparently you arrive at the departure entrance to terminal F and then you must take the escalater up to the skywalk, then the skywalk over to the escalator, then the escalator down to the ground again to be at the arrivals exit.  Weird, since no signs told me to do so.  Anywho, I arrived in sunshiny Philadelphia and spent a blissful long weekend with my aunt, uncle, twin cousins, and grandma.  It was heaven.

I mean really... That cup of ice cream?  Divine.  Heaven!  It was chocolate ice cream with reese pieces, cups, and peanut butter in it.  Scrumptious!

The twins ride horses.  They are obsessed with horses, actually.  They're 8.  So Friday I had the liberty of watching their lesson, where they proceeded to jump.  Which I think is scary and I ride horses!  At one point the li'l pony literally RACED to the jump.  I seriously thought Sydney would scream and fall, but no.  She did tremendous!  They both did.

Meanwhile I babysat their puppies.  This pic was NOT taken during the time of my babysitting.  This was the next day, after receiving 3 vaccinations.  They are shepherd mixes.  Beautiful, fun, and intelligent.  I was only slightly jealous.  So was someone else.

I love this guy.  Who incidentally missed me lots.

Anywho, PA.  Right.  We also went riding as a group, and I was reminded of just how much I miss my farm, riding, my own horse, who is now fatter than fat normally allows, and riding in general.  They gave me the fiesty "Sarge".  He was a fat stock horse.  He had an attitude, something about thinking he's the boss?  Guess we know where he gets his name!  He promptly attempted to shove me into every fence we walked past, ate an entire buffet's worth of corn, alfalfa, and just any sort of grass in general, and pretty much refused any suggestion or more of going faster than a walk.  It was a blast!  I loved Sarge.  I was rather jealous of my uncle, though.  They gave him Marshal, a former race horse.  I would have LOVED to get him on the barrel course they had set up!  Or the pole bending.  Oooooooh how awesome that would have been!


Speaking of my awesome uncle, you wouldn't believe what he's found!  

That, my friends, is the original deed or rather a digital copy of the original deed to the farm I grew up on.  Apparently it was originally bought by my seven-times-great-grandfather in 1825.  That there document?  Signed or stamped, it might not actually be his signature by Mr. John Quincy Adams!  How freakin' awesome is that?  I've got to figure out where it is.  I want to see the actual thing!

We also spent the weekend setting up their new classroom.  The girls will be home-schooled this year.  I used to think that was a bad idea.  Until I left Indiana and saw that some parents are intelligent enough to do it correctly.  It looks exciting, and I'm insanely jealous of the girls and coincidentally their mom.  She'll love it too.

And by the end of the 4th day, when I was flying home, I realized I hadn't thought of something for 90% of the trip.  This is probably the exact opposite of what it was like at home.  And while I still think of it quite a bit now that I'm back, it's not so bad or as often.  I'm not as sad, now.  That weekend away really really really ten times over helped me let go.  And while it'll probably always hurt, I was totally ok when my grandmother told me that I don't need to get pregnant.  I was shocked.  and it came out of the blue with a rather negative tone.  I think I even laughed!  Had that happened day one of the trip it happened on the last day I would have burst into tears.

So let's raise our glasses to getting away!  Vacations are just sometimes necessary.  Especially when life gets to be overwhelming.  Now if I could just lose that extra weight... But that's another story in and of itself!

Happy Belated 4th of July

I must admit- this is my absolute favorite time of year, and always has been.

Summer is the best season.  Yeah yeah, I know it's hot, but there are so many ways to relieve the heat!  Jump in a pool, slip on a slide, hang out in the shade, oil up and take a nap... or drink.  I dont' do a lot of the last, but you know... It's supposed to help.

I am a summer baby.  I love the heat and all it's glory.  I love to camp, to swim, to ride horses, to drive in convertibles, and to have fun outdoors.  You just can't do that as much in the winter. 

But what I love most- the fireworks.  They have always amazed me.  It's partly because I can't quite wrap my head around them.  How do they make the shapes?  Seriously, how do you pack explosives in a way to send things in a certain direction?  I can understand the chemistry of the lights and the sounds and the timing.  It's the shapes that are mind boggling. 

But they're gorgeous.  Seriously, who doesn't love fireworks?

I hope everyone had a safe and fun holiday.

The Dreaded Father's Day

I wrote this post a couple weeks ago, but couldn't post it immediately.  It's a delicate subject, ya know?


About 3 years ago my Dad's company held their bi-annual company picnic at King's Island.  As someone who was working there, I managed to wiggle my schedule enough that I would at least get to see him that morning (July was by far the busiest month at the park).  Mike and I spent all morning with them.  We split up pretty early, and it just felt odd.  I mean, I had to obtain Mike's ticket- my dad found an excuse for not getting him one.  Everyone knew how tense Dad was about me dating someone who wasn't (and still isn't) white.


That was the last time I saw my Dad.


I was having a birthday party in a month and everyone at the party already knew I was moving in with Mike in September.  Everyone except my Dad.  So a few weeks after the trip to KI, I called him up and let him know.  It didn't go over so well.  We yelled, we got disconnected, he called back and yelled at me for hanging up on him (I was driving- I went through a bad signal spot).  We yelled some more.  He hung up on me.  I called him back 4 times.  Finally his wife answered and said he didn't want to speak to me.


I could sit here and say I was absolutely shocked.  But unfortunately that would be a lie.  I was totally expecting it.  Doesn't mean that the actual words didn't hurt.  They still hurt today.  You wouldn't believe how many different ways I've learned to cope with the pain.


6 months later Mike proposed.  I wrote my Dad a letter.  I told him about it, and told him how much I missed him, and asked him to participate.  That Mike and I were an Us now.  Not just me.  He wrote back and turned every nice thing I said into something hateful.  He was mean.  I gave up.  I responded with every thought that I had formed and told him how awful he was for doing this.


1 year and 6 months later- It's Father's Day (oh how I hate this day).  One of my best friends was married 2 days earlier, Mike's best man was married the day before.  Our wedding was in 5 days.  It was my last shot- I called him.  It went exactly as I had expected.  He shot me down.  He even had the nerve to say "Had I voiced my opinions sooner, maybe things could have been different."


I hate Father's Day.  Today marks the 1 year anniversary of that horrible call.


But today is going to be different.  We're starting new holidays for us.  Not ones where we celebrate our own Father's, but one where we celebrate us as parents.

Happy Father's-To-Be Day, Mike.  I love you.  And yes, I'm terrified.


This also explains the lack of posts lately.  Because, quite frankly, when you have one big thing on your mind, it's hard to NOT write a post about it.  Now that I have, I will try my best to keep my blog from being over-run with pregnancy posts.  Please keep in mind I said TRY.

Weekend Wish- Many more weekends just like this

This weekend marks the 1 year anniversary of my beloved wedding.  What on Earth are we doing to celebrate, you ask?

We have a whole weekend of plans.

First, we are hopefully buying me a new car.  We say hopefully because we are ONLY buying the new car if the deal is exactly what they say it is.  We aren't going to go crazy and up our monthly expenses if we can avoid it.  So here's to hoping.  I'm in love with the Carmine Red Toyota Yaris 5 door hatchback!

Then, if I can convince my very thrifty husband (thankfully.  Because we all know I'm most certainly not the thrifty one in this household.) to go shopping, we are going to update our wardrobes.  Mainly, I need shoes and tops.  We both need jeans.  He probably needs socks.  Stuff like that.  We all know how badly things can get worn... And our wardrobes need some help lately.

After a long evening running around and stressing over cars and clothes, we are going to enjoy an absolutely scrumptious meal at Benihana's.  Or, at least I think we're going to Benihana's.  It's our favorite.  We never actually said where we were going though... Ah the communication of a married couple.

And then we'll head home, where I will fall asleep from utter exhaustion.

Ah, yes, a totally unique and awesome weekend ahead.  Ok, so it's not a vacation, or a super awesome gift, but it's exactly what we like.  We aren't big on huge celebrations.  We are pretty much a happy couple all year round, and while we understand that it's a big occasion, we also understand that there will be many more for years to come (hopefully.  Don't wanna jinx it.)

Enjoy the beautiful weekend, everyone!

Playing Hooky to See the Butterflies

Yesterday was the last day for the annual Butterfly show here in Cincy.  It comes once a year, and you can see all these gorgeous butterflies.  This year we teamed up with Japan for an absolutely exquisite bunch of butterflies!

But with Mike working EARLY mornings on Sundays, I had no one to go with.  So Carrie played hooky, and we went and enjoyed the butterflies.  We did NOT enjoy the heat.  It was still worth it, though.

They were very stunning, even though the pics don't show them so well.  They're actually very busy creatures and hardly rest at all!  There were so many different colos, though!  Blues, Oranges, Reds, Blacks, Purples, Whites... and some were striped like tigers while others were brilliant on one side and then dark on the other. 

There were several kids enjoying the show too, which I though was fun to watch, but difficult.  They like to touch, and butterflies can't be touched.  There was this adorable girl, though!  A butterfly loved her bandana so much it just rode around on her head all the way through the exhibit.

And that was our Dad's day.  Carrie's dad is in Texas, and I don't honestly have a Dad anymore, so... For us it really wasn't much special.  What did you do, though?  I'd love to hear your stories!

Just Your Average Weekend

So we have a baby bunny living near our house.

And he's been getting bigger.  And braver.

And sometimes he plays out back with the birds and chipmunks.  Orion likes to watch.

He can stare ALL DAY

We travelled to Indiana to welcome a friend home from Afghanistan.  We braved all sorts of weather.

But it was nice enough for the picnic.  We played and ate and saw the ducks!

Weekend Wish- New window treatments!

So since Mike begins his new position in T minus 3 hours 11 minutes, we decided that we needed to add update our lack of window treatments.  I say window treatments because I normally hate traditional curtains.


History
When we moved into the house there were cheap curtain rods above the windows with Goodwill curtains the previous owner bought to "spice up" the otherwise mostly empty house.  All were taken down with the exception of the one that blocks the view of the neighbor's backyard.  I'm sure she likes her privacy as much as we like ours.  Our windows have been bare except for that one curtain and the clear plastic we put over them for the winter.


What we wanted
We were going to just buy blackout blinds and once we had some extra cash we'd put up some nice treatments.  However, the price of the blinds was higher than I liked for something that didn't add to the room.  So instead of buying three sets of blackout blinds, we bought something for the main window (it's rather large) that would add to the room.  We'll deal with the other two windows within the week... hopefully.

See: bare windows and an unmade bed.  We never make the bed.

Romeo isn't too happy.  Normally weekends are spent chasing toys and birds.

This is the boss.  He's managing quite well, is he not?

My station: Putting the screens together.

Three panels down (or should I say up?)

Mike loves using the camera too, even if I protest.

All done, minus the clean up.  But wow what a difference!

Oh, and don't mind the color- we are eventually going to paint the walls a deep red/burgundy color.  And maybe someday I'll get the guts to add a nice oriental design to the curtains.  I'm thinking bamboo outline or leaves?

How exciting!!!!  This weekend wish is just about granted!  And I love my new panels.  If they weren't so expensive, I'd do them in every room.

My Weekend Wish- A Shaving Station

Confession- I hate to shave.  I avoid shaving.  In the winter, it's bad.  My hair, though, is blonde and very thin, so it's not the worst thing ever.  Right?


Here's my issue- for all the gentlemen out there, do you realize how long it takes to shave your legs?  There's a lot more skin than on your face.  Plus, there's more distance.  You have to reach your ankles (easy, right?) and the backs of your knees (ok, so you have to twist a little), and the back of your thighs (ok... seriously, I either need a mirror, or do it blind, because it's just not possible).


Problem two- I have yet to find a razor that works.  Really works.  There should be a balance between so tough it cuts your skin off or to pieces and so soft it just doesn't cut.  I like the ones I'm using now.  They are disposable venus something or others.  They do a decent job.  But that still isn't great.  I have to double check and triple check (like I said, my hairs are blonde and thin) because without a doubt, the second I finish and dry off, I find a HUGE strip that just refused to let go.  And my knees... They're rather bony, or have scars (knee surgery in '02 and '08) and the terrain is just not tolerable of shaving.


The biggest problem- that stupid shower!  I'm not the type of girl who likes to do things separately, so I don't sit on the edge of the tub and shave.  I try to shave in the shower.  On second thought, maybe I need to just try the edge of the tub because shaving in the shower requires acrobat-like abilities.  My legs have no where to go.  The lighting is poor.  It just isn't working.


I think a woman needs to design a shower.  A shower entirely based around the needs of a woman, because let's face it.  Men need less out of the shower.  Just a tall shower head and a place to put his all-in-one (or so he thinks?) soap/shampoo.  It needs to have a bench (not the old lady bench, people) and a couple extra ledges to place things like, say, your foot while shaving.  How about a decent razor holder?  All the ones I've seen or used suck. Hang a mirror off of the ledge so you can automatically see the back of your thighs.  Add a second shower head (a mini one) within arms reach to rinse either razor or leg without having to leave your position.  Shaving would be faster, easier, and a lot more convenient.


Does anyone else feel this way when they shave?