Well Hello There...(this post is months old)

Our road trip was amazing and I will post pictures sometime. They are on the slow computer. We went to Newport, RI, then Acadia National Park in Maine, then up to Burlington, Vermont, then we came back through the Adirondacks on our way home. I loved Maine. I could have camped there for another week if there were showers. Also, I probably just need to move to Vermont and the Adirondacks were gorgeous. I really need a mountain/lake home.

My internship is going well.

I finished my first pottery class and I actually made some pots and glazed them. I didn't make the large pot in the background, I just glazed it. All of my pots are very small and uneven, but it was so much fun. I can't wait to take a class next summer.

And finally, the house. We still haven't painted, but we are getting close to picking out colors. Our new couches finally arrived and I am so glad we like them.

I really need to sit on a beach somewhere for a couple of days. I hope Maine and Rhode Island cut it. I guess we could always stop in Cape Cod or something.

I Wonder...

How Nick would feel about a Purple Kitchen?

Uhgg!

You know when one of your friends comes into town on a Tuesday night and takes you out to dinner and drinks and you decide to have 2 yummy martinis with dinner and 2 beers after dinner. And you wake up the next morning with the worst hangover, but you have to go to work because it's your last week and you have a lot of work to finish.

Yup, I think I am officially old. I have lost my tolerance for alcohol or finally developed my mother's alcohol tolerance.

Nick and I had a good weekend with his parents. This is my last week, hopefully ever, of being a Fiscal Technician. I'm trying to get my desk cleaned up and my files organized, as well as finish writing my job manual. Nick and I are going to Raliegh next week for a Jack Johnson concert and then I start my internship the next day. Then we head off on our road trip to Acadia National Park in Maine. The current plan is to camp until we can't stand it and then find hotels on the way home. I got tired of planning the trip so I just quit. It will work out, or it won't. Either way, it will be fun. As soon as we get back, I start school. I'm really looking forward to it. I decided to take 4 classes next semester, so I hope I don't make myself crazy. 3 is full-time, but my internship is only 2 to 2.5 days a week. I guess this is the beginning of non-stop busy.

Country Roads...

Take me home. I have a confession to make. Nick will probably kill me for this, but we all know he is a sentimental, caring guy. Otherwise, I wouldn't have married him. When Nick and I were struggling through our year of living in the flatest place on earth, Texas, we would listen to "Country Roads" by John Denver over and over again and get a bit misty. Texas was and is, nothing like home. Up until that point, we thought we could make it anywhere. That we would have good jobs and a nice house and each other and we would find friends and things to do and we would just be happy. But we found that Texas just couldn't offer us the things we needed. We love hiking and camping, and in Texas, at least our portion of the state, hiking was really a walk, in the sun, surrounded by flatness and camping was relegated to the 3 weeks that were spring or fall. Too bad if we had other plans on those weekends, cause if you blink you miss the good seasons. Winter was cold and the summer, well, our first summer, there were over 40 days over 100 degrees. We learned very quickly why all of our neighbors hired lawn crews to mow their tiny patch of earth. So, when we decided that we had had our fill of Texas, we set up some standards to find our next home city. Probably on a spreadsheet, no wait, Nick made us a decision matrix. If you have a hard decision to make, talk to Nick.

So, we decided to move within driving distance of our friends and family and we wanted to be near the beach and very near the mountains, but in a mid-size city with no traffic and plenty of job opportunities. However, the first time we came to Richmond to check it out, I saw trees lining the highways and I said, "I am home." In Plano everything was the same shade of tan and in Dallas, everything was concrete. Both not for us.

I still think we are so lucky to have found Richmond. It reminds us both of home, but on a slightly larger scale and we always have something to do. Virginia is serious about their festivals, especially alcohol festivals. There are tons of cute non-chain restaurants, some in the middle of neighborhoods. It's an artsy area and they have managed to preserve the river with some wonderful parks. And this place is chock-full of history and the residents appreciate that. They are always rehabbing old buildings and the city has a wonderful charm. Also, I found my true calling here, Urban Planning. And can we talk about traffic. There is none. An impatient person's dream. Sorry mom and dad and mom-in-law and dad-in-law, but I think we are here for good.

Oh, and Richmond, you can pay me anytime for this wonderful endorsement.

Camping, Camping, Camping

It's all I can think about. Nick and I haven't had any time to plan our road trip since we have also been getting our new house unpacked and ready, so we have decided to drive to Acadia National Park in Maine, set up camp there, and just enjoy ourselves. We will probably stop in Block Island, Rhode Island on the way. We do plan on car camping in Acadia, which some campers turn their noses up at, but I don't care. I enjoy it. I have an airbed and a propane stove and it is still nothing like staying at home. We actually have to entertain ourselves and we can't clean the house or paint the bathroom. Camping gives me a chance to unwind and forget about the little things that get me worked up. Also, I thrive off of the energy of the campground. I love all of the families sitting around their campfires and spending time together. I also love indoor plumbing.

I'm trying to get the final boxes unpacked. We have too much stuff and not enough sunstantial furniture to store it. I never want another object in my life. Now, clothes and shoes that's a different story.

Is This a Sign?

I had another dream last night that I had a baby. I have these a lot. I haven't had the baby bug since 2002 and I thought my body was done with wanting children, but here it goes again. I'm not listening by the way. I'm way too busy. And starving. I hear that isn't good for the baby. Anyway, I always wake up from these dreams all excited to have a baby. My dream last night took a strange turn though, my baby turned into a cat and kept running away and I would have to chase it down and carry it home clawing and screaming and I couldn't understand why it didn't want to live with me. Kind of symbolic of what happens to real children huh? It was a sweet baby that I wanted then it went through it's terrible two's and became a cat, the most hated pet ever, then it became a teenager and ran away and I couldn't figure out what I was doing wrong.

I was just telling Nick that since 1997, I haven't had a year as hard as 2008. I was trying to tell him that this year has been hard and trying, not awful like 1997, but now, due to some events I just can't talk about yet, 2008 has been, hard, trying, and awful. I am stuck in this strange limbo of depression due to the pain of losing so many loved ones and being utterly happy with my life and accomplishments. At least, Nick and I have each other through all of this and that is the best support we could hope for. We are looking forward to our upcoming vacation and we hope it is completely uneventful. I know this sounds weird, but I almost feel like the grinch after his heart has grown. I know I shouldn't worry so much about others, but I am so empathetic that I think it is starting to affect me. I need to quit shouldering everyone else's burdens, but I can't. I care. And I worry.

License Plate

I just got my new SC plates. I like them except for the Clemson colors. Who thought that would be ok? You may be asking yourself why I still get SC plates after living in NC, TX and now VA. My father gave me my car as a gift in college and has never asked for it back, good thing. VA has car inspections, what a pain in the ass. I have been putting off buying a car for as long as possble to avoid inspections (and car payments), but I do plan on recycling my car when I get out of grad school and giving it to my sister. Gotta love the Honda Civic though. It's 8 years old with only 60,000 miles and zero problems. I will miss it and my SC plates at that point. I kind of feel like I am hanging on to my roots. Is that silly?

P.S. Did you ever name your car? Mine is RoShonda the Honda Squivic.

Last Post Today

Don't you hate it when you are just too busy to squeeze in a Willie Nelson concert or three? He'll be in VA and MD next week, but with quitting my job and such, I just can't take the time off.

Decisions, Decisions

Nick and I are really trying to get rid of junk and pair down to the stuff we actually need. The more stuff we have, the more stuff we have to take care of. We have moved tons so you think that would help. Unfortunately, fortunately, in the past we have always had packers, so we have missed our opportunities to get rid of junk. But, this past move was all us, so we went through all of our stuff. We took a whole car-load over to Goodwill and we fell a lot better about our stuff at the moment. Here is a pick of Nick at our old townhouse comparing can openers. Which one do you think we kept?

This is why my windows are so dirty

So, maybe the other reason is that I don't really believe in cleaning windows. Look at how her nose is squished up there. She is also ruining what will soon be Carolyn's couch in order to get up there.

Hey Today Show...

The name of your show is the Today Show, not the Guess What Happened Last Year Show. This morning on the Today Show we learned that the 80's are back in fashion. I could have told you that last year, or maybe the year before. The 80's are old news.

I'll be There for You

These 4 words and a contraction I swear to you.

One of Mom's Projects

I wanted to put some pillows in my window seats that the cats would sleep on and I asked my mom to sew some pillow cases for them. I chose terry cloth because if you have a cat you know how much they love to sleep on towels. I can't tell you how many times I have used a new towel only to discover that a cat had used it first. Being wet and covered in cat hair is not fun. Hmmm, maybe that's why they hate being wet. That is Spidey enjoying her new bed. It is in my bathroom next to my vanity table and she also enjoys watching me groom, it's something she knows a lot about.

Mmmm! Orange Julius

I haven't had an Orange Julius since they left Columbia Mall after the shooting. Do y'all remember that? It took so long for my parents to let me go back to Columbia Mall. I had an Orange Passion from Tropical Smoothie this morning and from what I remember it is pretty much the same. It will have to do anyway, since the nearest Orange Julius in is Waldorf, MD, 80 miles away.

Customer Service

There is something to be said for good customer service. While I no longer work with the general public, thank goodness, I still do customer service. After 10 years of practicing, I like to think I am finally good at it. I have found that I can turn around most situations with a smile and a cheery voice. Because of this, it always confuses me when people try to get their way by being mean. It also really bothers me when a company doesn't offer or even require good customer service from its employees. I think that with the flood of businesses out there offering the same product for the same price, eventually customer service will be the only thing distinguishing companies from one another.

I am finally reading again

I can't really read anything but text books during the semester or my eyes might fall out. I recently picked up Lincoln Hall's Dead Lucky: Life after Death on Mt. Everest. I am only two chapters in, but I am enjoying it so far. I'll let you know what I think. I have read about what happened to Lincoln on this particular trip in various articles, so I am excited to hear his first hand account. I find Mt. Everest stories fascinating. I love adventure and survival techniques and the idea that society as we know it goes out the window in place of survival boggles my mind.

Good Times

So, my mom spent a week with me the week before last. I took the week off of work and I am glad I did. We got so much work done on the house. I need to take pictures. She got here on Monday, just in time to grab some tapas for dinner and go to my pottery class with me. We worked on coil pots instead of the wheel. As fun as the wheel looks, it's frustrating to never build anything. Mom was shocked at how hard the clay was to work with. My little sister is an Art Major and does a lot of pottery and mom kept saying that now she respected my sister's work a lot more. I kept joking that she would quit throwing it in the trash. Of course, we all love my sister's art work. I'm still waiting on my portrait of Daisy. Anyway, mom pruned one of my neighbor's trees that was hanging on my power lines, with permission, of course. She shortened our shower curtain, sewed 2 pillows and repaired a third. She made curtains for my shed and a coozie for my boss. She did my mending and my dishes, although I am surprised she didn't clean my kitty litter boxes. She usually does that. Also, I got to take her to Kuba Kuba for lunch and Maymont to walk around. We also spent hours at JoAnne's, Lowe's, and the grocery store. We made macaroni salad and it was delicious and we went out to dinner with my friend Cristina at Cous Cous. The three of us shared a caraffe of white sangria with peaches and strawberries in it. It was delicious and so much lighter than the red sangria. Nick, of course ordered a beer. Even if he'd wanted white sangria, he wouldn't drink it in public. It was a wonderful trip and the time flew by. We worked so hard that I would collapse into bed everynight at 10:30, exhausted. I can't wait to do it again.

Back to My House

So, when we bought the house, I wasn't too sure about this bathroom. It was grimy and looked old. Now it is sparkling clean and looks retro. I think it's my favorite bathroom in the house. Of course, so far the 2 in competition are lavender and bright orange with some slick white tile on the floors. Floor tile should not be white, especially in a room where you are bound to get your shoes wet and then you make those gross dirty spots all over the floors. My next floor tiles will be the color of dirt. Maybe. And maybe we can get black grout, skip scrubbing that stuff altogether. As much as I love grouting, I hate cleaning it. That's my house rant for today.

I need this house. Isn't it awesome? Now, I just need a tiny seaside lot. Or better yet, a few acres in the mountains on a stream. Or really, just somewhere in the country, where it gets so dark at night that you can't see your hand 1 foot in front of your face.

You Mean Cartoons Don't Emulate Reality?

Ok, so I really like chipmunks and I haven't had any in my yard since Charlotte. Alvin and the Chipmunks lived in a house. Chip and Dale lived in a tree. I am pretty sure that these chipmunks live under my deck.

Daisy has discovered the chipmunks. She had 2 of them cornered behind our AC unit this morning. Fortunately for them, they make funny sounds when they are scared, so Nick was able to get Daisy into the house. They also have an elaborate tunnel system throughout my yard and used it to escape.

Grandma Marie

I kind of skipped over the death of my grandmother on this blog. I couldn't attend her funeral at her home in Nine Mile Falls, WA and I didn't want to memorialize her on here. But, I just keep remembering things about her. She was your quintessential grandmother and she made for a good balance between my paternal grandmother, who did things a little differently. She lived on some family land in the country in Nine Mile Falls, WA which is just outside of Spokane and I spent every summer out there. My uncle's cows use the pasture that surrounds her house and every time she looked at them, I think a baby got loose. They had to tell her to quit looking at the cows. When I was a kid, she had a barn that was still used to store hay, back when hay was still put in rectangular bales. There was a rope hanging from the ceiling and my cousin and I would climb to the top of the hay bales and swing off on the rope. We would only stop for Schwann's push pops. We would have rope burn and hay scratches all over us. Then we would go play dolls in the basement. The basement was scary because there was a painting of a witch in there and a huge rock that I guess couldn't be dug up, so there was a curtain hiding it. We walked as far around that curtain as we could. The basement also had the only shower in the house. I would go as long without a shower as they would let me. Grandma would also tape all kinds of hallmark movies for me to watch. I remember watching the summer Olympics out there. She said I couldn't watch gymnastics without getting on the floor and stretching. It's true. Have you tried to watch the Biggest Loser without doing at least one push up? Anyway, my summers where filled with horseback riding, four wheeling, and playing with my cousin. She would also keep her garden gnomes in the shed until I visited and she let me put them out in her gardens. I would color coordinate the gnome's hats to the flowers. I was there in the late 90s and picked up a rock in her yard and found ash from Mt. St. Helen's eruption in 1981. She said it got everywhere. She also had the cutest dog named Precious when I was a kid. I still love Precious. She had sweet spaniel ears and smelled like doggy perfume.
When Grandma met my husband for the first time, we all warned him that she would try to kiss him. So she asked for her kiss and Nick went in for the cheek. Grandma never liked that, so she waited until the last second and turned her head so he had to plant one on her lips. She also got really nervous if you spent more than 1 minute in the bathroom. And she would come check on you. Her bathroom door was about as thick as a closet door and may be a closet door and after your minute was up, she was on the outside of the door asking if you were alright. This ended up making you nervous and made it almost impossible to get out of there in another minute. Getting the second check on was worse than the first. My dad tells a story of getting up in the middle of the night to visit the bathroom, only to run into my grandmother leaving it and she said, "I left the seat warm for you." He said it was the worst thing she had ever said to him and he still has trouble even if the chair he is sitting in has been warmed by someone else. She had a wood burning stove in her house when I was a kid. I thought it was so cool to shove your trash in the stove every day, with Walt's help, of course. My Aunt Isla did replace her stove with a pellet stove. I don't think she liked it as much.
Grandma went into the hospital just before she died and was diagnosed with Leukemia, although no one was going to put her through the test for that since it is very painful. My cousin Wes was visiting with her one day and Grandma asked him where his girlfriend was. Wes told her that she was at work or whatever and Grandma asked, "How many times have you been married anyway, Wes?" Well, Wes replied, "Not as many times as you Grandma." Which is true, but Grandma gave him the finger. No one even knew that she knew how to give the finger or that she was that coherent. My mom is still giggling that her mother gave someone the finger.
My mom was able to leave work and go to Washington. Grandma had signed her DNR papers and since my mom is a nurse she took my grandmother back to her house so she could be more comfortable. Grandma only lasted 3 days after my mom arrived. It was snowing. Grandma had been devastated by the death of her husband Walt in 2002 and was ready to join him. My family spread her ashes where his had been spread around the gazebo that he built for her.

Daisy Dog, dogs to the beat of a different drum...

I am embarassed to admit it, but that is one of the songs we sing to Daisy. She likes it almost as much as the dollop of Daisy song. Ok, so maybe we should just have kids. Anyway. I have decided that Daisy is really smart and might have a touch of OCD. She loves chasing squirrels and rabbits. She caught a baby bunny in our yard in Texas and was so proud of herself. Nick did pry it from her mouth, where she was just holding it, not biting it, not sure what to do next. It did run off so we think it was fine. Also, she has a stuffed squirrel that her grandpa Anderson gave her and she has managed to not pull all of the stuffing out yet. This is a record for her. Most stuffed toys last about 2 days and then make their second appearance in our yard. Sorry for that image. I hate omission. Anyway, Daisy has learned that when she is in the yard, the squirrells won't play with her. She has started hiding under the deck and behind bushes to trick the squirrells into coming out. Once they do, she chases them back out of the yard. So this pic is of Daisy squirrell huting. We don't think she can see the chipmunks, but she may surprise us.

Stonewall Jackson and Little Sorrel

I learned some neat Virginia history today that I thought I would share with all of you. I have already emailed it to some of you, so sorry.
This link will take you to a picture of the Stonewall Jackson monument on Monument Ave. in Richmond. I would take the picture myself, but that would require stopping on the way to work, or I guess taking a walk right now to get a pic. Anyway. In the monument, Stonewall is shown on a stately horse, as he should be, I suppose. However, that was not his horse, nor the horse he was on when he was shot. This is the story about his real horse. Not as stately and with a very unfortunate ending.

Cutest Picture of Daisy Ever

More House Stuff

Nick has been amazing about putting together our new furniture. He didn't even make me help him. I have to be in a certain frame of mind to put these things together. Last night, I did help him assemble our new kitchen cart. We have some space in our kitchen where the windows are too low for counters, so the kitchen cart is perfect. The keg-o-rator actually fit pretty well, but it looked like we had too many refrigerators. We still don't know where to put that thing, but it's really handy when you have company. It's like a keg party for grad school.


Nick picked out this day bed. We call it Carolyn's bed. This one of the things that Nick assembled without my help. I did come into the room as he was very capably struggling to move it from it's end to all fours and helped him set it down. We just have to get a matress for it. Those slats don't look very comfortable.

House Stuff

Here is a pic of the redone floors. I love them.


And here is the fabric we picked for our living room couch. The couch color is the tan color on the far left. The middle blue one is one of the throw pillows and the striped fabric on the right is for two throw pillows.


Here is the fabric we picked for the sectional in our den. The couch color is kind of olivey and the striped pillows remind me of lederhosen, in a good way.



This is the rug that I hope matches one of the couches.

Stress

Despite being under tons of stress (boxes and house repairs) and having some big decisions to make (assistantship or internship) I feel great. I feel like I have options and its like everything just started to make sense. I finally realized that my life is mine for the living. It's not just happening to me. I've lost about 20 pounds. I'm taking a pottery class and I am loving grad school. There has been such a refreshing change inside my head. Instead of the impending doom I have been feeling about getting old and having children, I am actually excited for my future. Now, if anyone could just give me some advice on that decision I have to make.

New House Update

Our floors look fabulous. We went with a water based sealer instead of oil for lower VOC's. They don't look like those hardwoods that you can ice skate on, but you can really see the wood grain which is pretty. We still need to have someone put in the shoe molding. The cable gets turned on today. Yay! We hope to unpack a lot this weekend. We are also going to get some new low-profile light fixtures so Nick can quit ducking and maybe buy some Daisywire to repair the fence. We really need to paint at some point. We wanted to paint before we moved in, but we still can't decide on colors. Our couch is currently blending into our den walls and we have a bathroom that is so orange you look jaundiced when you are in there. I noticed yesterday that even the ceiling is orange. We also noticed that we have a room of every color of the rainbow in our house.

We found out the other night that our microwave doesn't work. It makes all the lights and noises, but the food comes out cold. I wonder if it is cooking me? I'm thinking about replacing it with a stove hood and putting a microwave in the pantry or on my kitchen cart, but I'm not sure. Do I need a built in microwave? We don't use it that much, but that could change when we have kids.
This is the Sir enjoying the new 'hood and defying gravity. He is about 20 pounds and that ledge is tiny. I don't even know how he got up there.

Sick. Moved. Back at work. Still sick. House is a wreck. Everything in boxes. Can't find my makeup or work clothes. Hungry. Tired of pizza. Daisy is sick. Nick is sick. We all want to curl up in bed and cry (except Nick, he doesn't cry).

We got into our house and a few hours later the air conditioner wasn't working. I called and AC repair person who came out to look at my AC, said that there is nothing wrong with it and figured it was a broken wire, so he called an electrician for me who came out and found a burnt breaker instead of a broken wire, but it was an easy fix. I have been advised that we may need to replace the whole breaker panel at some time, but it's not a big job. We are just glad we didn't have to buy a new AC before we even moved in. Now, on to the next project. We have to pick out paint colors and look at furniture this weekend and the hardwoods start getting refinished on Monday.

I Want to Ride My Bicycle

So, moving into the house is getting much closer. We get the house on Monday and we think we will move in about 2 weeks later. After we move I will be about 3 or 4 miles from work and school, so I am going to attempt to ride a bike to save gas and the environment and all that stuff, not to mention, parking is a pain. The problem is that I haven't ridden a bike since I lived with my parents. And I don't have a bike. That will soon be solved. My dad found a bike for me and has fixed it up and my mom will be cramming it into her GTI in July and bringing it up to me. Isn't it cute? It's a 1975 Scwinn Collegiate. My dad posed it in various locations so I could get the full effect. He also put the biggest baskets ever on it. I suppose my books will fit in there, and Daisy, and Nick. Now, to get the guts to ride the thing, on cobblestone no less.

5 more days to go until we can move into our house. Yay!

Do you ever get that moment of panic when you can't figure out what day it is for a minute and when you finally do figure it out, it's only Wednesday and not Thursday? I haven't worked full-time since Nick and I left Texas and it's hard to get used to again. My days are blending into one and I spend most evenings asleep on the couch. There is no way that working full-time can be more tiring than going to Grad school full-time and working part-time, as well as taking care of the house, so I don't know why it's tiring me out so much. It must have something to do with doing mind-numbing work all day instead of doing something to stimulate my mind, like class. I leave work thinking "do I have to go back there? why did I say that stupid thing at lunch?" and I leave school actually thinking.

Pics of the New House

The inside of the new house anyway. I am kind of wary of putting a full-frontal picture of my house on the internet, but here is my new street.

Here is our master bedroom. The whole unpstairs of the house is a master suite, which we love. We are a bit confused about how to decorate this room. Do you paint the whole room one color? Do you paint the ceiling white? Where does the ceiling start? Oh, and this is not our furniture. We are currently renting the house to the sellers since they haven't found a house.

This is my favorite room in the house. The Den. It's so cozy and it's at the back of the house. I love the red walls with their grey couch.

This picture is of another of my favorite features of the house. The arched doorways in the living room.

This is another of my favorite things in the house. The huge kitchen sink. I could bathe Nick in there if we did such things. I hope they take the mirror though, it makes me think of people brushing their teeth in the kitchen sink. I don't really like how the cabinets and counters look, but we can live with those after we repaint the kitchen.


The sellers move out on the 9th so we can get in on the 10th. We want to paint before we move in, but we don't have any idea of what colors we will use. We also might consider refinishing the floors if they need it, as well as any other repairs that are necessary.

Weekend Festivities

Richmond is really hopping this weekend. The greek festival runs until Sunday, but the office went today for lunch. There is a Beer, Bourbon and BBQ fetsival at RIR on Saturday and CountryFest at RIR on Sunday. Dierks Bentley and Sugarland will be there. Not to mention Gwar will be playing at The National tonight and The Indigo Girls will be there tomorow night. Not that I'm a Gwar fan, but I heard that the sister to one of the band members is a chef at Avalon, a tapas style restaurant that I really like. So, there is plenty to choose from this weekend. What will Nick and I do? We will be packing for the move.

Mmmmm! Falafel Burger

Ok, I admit that it has been a long time since I ate meat, but I could swear that the yummy falafel burger I just ate had a crunch just like a fried chicken sandwich.

Keep on Movin'

Nick and I are buying moving boxes this weekend. I know it's weird but I am excited. This is the first time we've packed for a move since we left Columbia, so I am excited to go through all of our stuff again. It's easier to not take it with you than it is to get rid of it once you get there. I realize that I have probably not moved as much as kids who grow up in the military and I always stayed in the same schools, but this is still ridic.

This will be my 15th move. And I have never lived in a dorm or gone away to college so I'm not counting that.

This will be my 7th move with Nick.

This will be my 3rd residence in Virginia. We moved here in Oct. 2006.

This is the 4th state in 3 years that we have lived in.

This will be our 2nd house purchase.

I have lived in 5 apartments in my lifetime and 10 houses, of the houses, only 5 have been owned by me or my family.

Road Trip Advice?

Nick and I are tossing around the idea of a northeastern roadtrip this summer. Does anyone have any tips on good road trip planning websites?

Camping

I have had the camping bug bad lately. I think I want to purchase a pop-up camper at some point to make camping easier and a little more comfortable. I love unspoiled nature, but I also appreciate running water, cold beer and hamburgers (or black bean burgers). If we ever get one I want to make this campground one of my first stops. The reason for needing the pop-up first is due to my distrust of vault toilets. But the campground sounds nice and pretty and quiet.

Here is one I might try now. I like that the campground is near a trout stream and some sites are along the stream. We'll have to bring our screen tent for dinner without bugs.

One Hell of a Ride

If you love Willie, do yourself a favor and buy his new box set, or just buy it on itunes, One Hell of a Ride. It is amazing. I love the covers he does as well as early recordings of his songs.

One More Thing Today

I am having a young life crisis.

Songs I Have Totally Been Digging Lately

"Yellow Ledbetter" by Pearl Jam
"Ripple" by Grateful Dead
"When I've Sung My Last Hillbilly Song" by Willie Nelson
"Graceland" by Willie Nelson
"Last Request" by Paolo Nutini
"School Spirit" by Kanye West

Have You Been in a Parking Garage Lately?

What's with everybody thinking that they have a compact car these days? I know that just because you managed to squeez your truck into the compact car spot that you think it fits. In reality, I still have to find a way to maneuver my compact car around the already impossibly tight turns in the parking garage and your dually is in the way.

Anniversary Trip 2008

Last year Nick and I had a very nice, uneventful anniversary trip. This year, it was very nice, but somewhat eventful.

• Thursday, May 15, 2008. 3:00 PM- Julie arrives home early to pack for vacation. Finds 6 week old kitten with badly infected eye outside of apartment.


• 3:30 PM- Trapped the kitten despite not really wanting to touch it and chasing it all over in my dress and work shoes.


• 3:45 PM- On my way to animal shelter, using my printed mapquest directions, I pass Nick on his way home with his happy GPS tucked into his console, not even being used.


• 3:55 PM- Can't find shelter. Text Nick "GPS."


• 4:00 PM- Find shelter. Drop of Kitten. Told by staff they will try to find it a home.


• 4:15 PM- Lost again. Stupid one way streets and "No Left Turn." Still cursing Nick and his unused GPS.


• 4:30 PM- Finally get home and start packing.


• 6:00 PM- Melissa calls back to tell me I can come use her hose to clean my cat carrier. Little guy was gross.


• 6:15 PM- Get on road. Don't have time to clean cat carrier. Go to Total Wine and get gas for trip.


• 6:45 PM- Pass a family standing outside of a completely burnt van, looking very sad, tired, and charred. Wonder what happened, but the pro's are on the scene.


• 8:30 PM- Reach Shenandoah National Park. No one is working the gates. There is a sign that says to pay when you leave. We feel guilty since we have a pass and aren't going to stop to show it when we leave.


• 9:00 PM- Start going through patches of cloud. Can't see anything.


• 9:30 PM- 10 miles later. Reach hotel room. Thankful we are in one piece.


• 10:30 PM- asleep


• 1:30 AM- Wake up to Daisy eating her food.


• 1:31 AM- Realize Daisy is on the bed with me.


• 1:32 AM- Start "bowing" Nick to get him up. I have lethal elbows.


• 1:33 AM- We have this conversation:

Nick: "What?"

Julie: "Something is eating Daisy's food and I don't think it's Daisy."

Nick (the eternal sceptic): "Why?"

Julie: "Daisy is right here."

Nick: "OK"

Julie: Either he doesn't believe me or he's sleepy. I wait for the noise again. Once we hear it I say, "See."

• 1:37 AM- Nick finally believes something is eating Daisy's food, so we turn on the light and wait. Sure enough, the mouse finally comes out and eats some more food and takes a drink from Daisy's water bowl. Daisy is shaking and barking/whining/growling.


• 1:40 AM- Nick is up out of bed with a trashcan in hand and the balcony door propped open.


• 1:41 AM- Nick is giving me the evil eye. He thinks I had something to do with the mouse. It's true, I can conjure up animals to interrupt his precious sleep when I know they will bother him the most.


• 2:00 AM- Mouse finally gets chased out of our room, by the brave, heroic Nick and scurries off across our balcony.


• 2:03 AM- We get back in bed. Daisy does some pacing to make sure the mouse is gone.


• 2:05 AM- We are trying to get back to sleep. I have my leg pressed against Nick. He asks if I can move over a little. I do and he stays where he is, so mad about my mouse-hearing abilities that he can't stand to touch me. This makes me laugh.


• 2:07 AM- Nick is asleep.


• 3:00 AM- Julie is awake


• 4:00 AM- Julie is still awake. Stupid mouse. All I can think about is how I don't want it to get into my goldfish crackers. I bought a bigger box than usual.


• 8:00 AM- We wake up. I must have finally fallen asleep. Nick admits that he was irrationally blaming me for a) the existence of mice, b) that there was a mouse in our room, and c) that I heard the mouse and woke him up for it. I argued that I didn't know that what was eating Daisy's food was actually a mouse and shouldn't I wake up my husband for things like that? Anyway, I knew he was mad at me for the mouse. Plus, it was nice to see him succumb to irrationality, even if it was from tiredness.

We made it through the rest of the weekend with minor incidents and mouse citings. The fog finally lifted so we could see the valley. We went on some great hikes. If you are in Shenandoah near the central region, Lewis Falls is an awesome 3.3 mile circuit hike with some scrambling and a stream crossing. The stream is actually the waterfall and after you cross it you get to an overlook for the falls. You return on the AT, which is relatively easy.

On Saturday night, our last night, the mouse paid a visit to Nick while we were watching TV. He got on the bedside table right next to Nick's head to try to steal Nick's cookie. This really upset Nick since he loves cookies. So he chased the little guy all over. The pic is where he hid after we pulled out the bedside table. We asked for another room, but they didn't have one. They did come put a mouse detering plug-in in our room and Nick finished his cookie in one huge bite. Turns out mouse deterrers only work in theory. We still heard the thing running around all night. Daisy would pace for about an hour, hunting mice, and come to bed for an hour. She is no mouser. We finally got up at 5AM and checked out. We figured we could still get home early enough to take a nap. It was a beautiful drive home with very little traffic, save the house they had to move across the street we were on, so we did get stopped for a while, but we got to see a house move. We made it home safely and managed to get some more sleep before Nick called his family to find out that his Great Aunt Mary had passed away. So, a lot of happenenings. I've been putting off returning my phone calls from the weekend cause I need an uneventful day.

This Guy Makes Me Smile!

He just seems so content. Can't you see it in his face?

Happy 4th Anniversary, Nick!

Old Pics

I found some pics of our move to Dallas in 2005. We look so young. I want to tell us how hard it will be and how much we will change in the next few years. I have no idea what I was expecting from the move at that point, but I was uncharacteristically optimistic. Here is a pic of some unhappy, drugged up, collar-wearing cats in a hotel room. They sobered up long enough to realize that the cat carriers brought them in, so the cat carriers would take them out.

Happy (late) Birthday Megan!!! Wish we could celebrate together.

I've Almost Made it

Today is the last day of finals. I think my last paper is finished. I just have to listen to 4 presentations tonight and then take my last final and I'm finished until August. Nick and I close on our house tomorrow. The sellers still haven't found a house and we are letting them stay until next month. Then on Saturday morning Nick and I are off to the best beer festival in the world. Ok, there are probably better ones, like, I don't know, Oktoberfest, but anyway. This is the best beer festival that I have ever had the privilege of living near.
The picture is our view from the festival from last year. The festival takes place at an old plantation in the foothills of the Virginia Mountains. The town is an old Main St. town with antique stores and a candy shop and Nick and I found a decent hotel not far from the festival which allows dogs. Your ticket buys you a 6 oz. glass and 10 beer tickets and you go around to beer tents and stand in line to sample the more obscure beers made by your pretty normal beer makers. It's fun. Plus, the area is bucolic and peaceful. Last year, we met a very drunk, sunburned, shirt less guy who tried to convince Nick that I wouldn't mind if he wanted to check out the other ladies at the festival, he said it was good for guys to "shop around" and that I would understand. Then he told Nick that he would actually like to "shop around" with me. We tried to tell him we were on our anniversary trip, but the alcohol was affecting his hearing and he kept asking us for cigarettes. Wonder who we'll meet this year.

Julie Staplerhands

Sometimes I think that my job would much easier if my hands were staplers. At least, I would have an employable skill, right? And it might get me out of some housework, unless it involved stapling.

Random Pics from my Phone

The Sir: A Cat who likes to feed his toys

I always do this

Vino: A Cat who likes people

Kaitlyn

Spidey: A Cat who wants to get out more

Frances: A Cat who wears many shirts

Daisy Dog Nose

Really Good Advice

Did you know that if you are taking Prilosec or anything similar that it impaires the absorbtion of other medication you might be taking, like birth control? Luckily, I did not have to learn this the hard way, I don't think. But, I wonder, how many Prilosec babies are out there?

If you are the only person to notice something, does it really exist?

Yay! Horses!

Tomorrow is the 76th annual running of the Strawberry Hill Races. It's like the cup, only the day before, they do a carriage ride through the city and make stops. It's fun to have horses and carriages run by your office on a random friday. Do they do that in Camden? No, do they, I've never been.

There are reasons...

I don't believe that things happen for a reason. In fact, I believe that things happen for no reason at all. I do however, believe that every footstep we take determines the next. I am thankful for every step I have ever taken.

I was just typing an email and realized I had written "duplicate payment payment."

It's 11:30 AM on the first day of April...

And I am already tired of the April Fool's entries on websites and blogs.

My Pets Should Be on Broadway (Because they have so much drama)

Spidey may have too much Olestra in her diet.

Daisy has epilepsy.

Willie

Saw Willie Nelson last night at The National, a new music venue in Richmond. It was awesome, going to Norfolk to see him again tonight. I'll post pics later.

My sister is in the Free Times

Helpful Household Tip

When buying a house, replace the toilet seats.

How You Know You are Married to a Man

I tried calling my husband yesterday afternoon to let him know that I had picked up some of his favorite beer. When he didn't answer, I texted him, "Bought you a case of Augustiner, don't need to talk." He came home so excited, he said it was the best text message he had ever gotten. He had plenty of beer at home and he didn't even have to call me back.

Seriously?

If you were my grey pants with blue stripes, where would you be? Seriously. My house is 1000 sq.ft. Did the dryer eat them?

Vegetables!

I am trying to give up meat. I have never really liked it, so why not get rid of it. Is it weird that I keep forgetting and accidentally eat meat?

Yuck!

I think I posted this before, but I can't find it. Nick just told me that I can email pictures to myself from my cell phone. What a life saver. Anyway, saw this at Ukrop's a few months ago. Ukrop's is the nicest grocery store in Richmond without being a Whole Foods or Fresh Market. They don't sell alcohol, but they do sell pork brains.

I'm Not Technically in the City, But...

I've lived in this apartment for 14 months now and I just noticed that someone down the street has chickens. Just walking around their yard. And I was suprised by the corn patch down the street.

Wang wang

That's chinese for "woof". I wish Daisy understood more english. There are some things I would like to tell her:

• You are the cutest dog on earth
  
• Going for a walk does not mean we are going to follow your nose somewhere.


• You will never be a sled dog.


• You don't even like the cold weather.


• There is a weird thing on your eye right now, but it's getting better.


• The cats really aren't that impressed with your dog food. And even if they do eat it, I can give you more.


• We heard the knock at the door too.


• The food on any table is ours, actually any food that isn't on the floor is ours.


• I know they are fun to chase, but you will probably never catch a bird or a squirell.

• Whining does not accomplish anything, unless your goal was to annoy me.
• You're ticked
• My mom thinks you have more spots everytime she sees you
• I won't let Nick and Cristina shave you
• I don't really want to take your toy from you
• If it's raining outside, you really don't want to go out there and you will probably still make me get up, open the door for you, only to have you run out and run right back in without doing anything.
• We love you!

Another RV

I forgot one of our favorite RVs. The Fun Finder. We really like the 160. It has adequate space without being too large. We could fit a family in here, but moving space would be low.

While my car gets fixed I am renting a little Mazda 6. It's actually cute. I have never rented a car that you could say that about. I kind of like it and it's zippier than mine, but I'm having a hard time mastering only 2 pedals.

Parking Wars

Some wanker ran into my car in the parking garage while they were trying to get into the parking spot on my passenger side. It looks like they made contact with my car, decided it was no big deal and kept going until they got into the spot, saw the damage to my car, and reparked somewhere else. So I decided to call it in to my insurance company, which is really my dad's insurance policy. Turns out, I'm a little too old and married and independent and living in Virginia to still be on my family's insurance, so I had to get my own insurance. No big deal, I had to grow up at some point. Anyway, I moved Nick over to my new policy all by myself. I seriously think I feel more grown up now than I did when I bought my first house. Here are some pics of the damage:

So True

I saw this little blurb on Dooce today and it struck a chord with me. I'm not talking about the necklace, it's what she says about all the clothes at Forever 21 being so small. I've never been there, but the same is true at H&M. My first time there, I started trying on my size and ended up with one that fit 2 and 3 sizes up. Why do I want to buy something that makes me feel like a giant?

Congratulations!

Congratulations to Nick on his promotion.

Under Pressure

Ohmigosh! The stress is killing me. I don't think I ever stop thinking. I just can't shut my head up so I can do other things, like sleep. Now, I admit, waking up at 4 AM and not being able to go back to sleep isn't exactly insomnia, but it is very unusual for me. I could win a sleeping contest. It's just the amount of thoughts that were running through my head the whole time. It was all I could do to not get up and get my "Idea Notebook." The thoughts have gotten so bad I just have to write them down right away so that, hopefully, I can think about other things. It's just not working.

Yay! Fun Weekend

Nick and Cristina and I got together to visit some wineries. Bethany and Brandon met us at the first winery,
James River Cellars, not too far from Richmond. Here is a pic of us walking back to the car.



Then Brandon and Bethany went home and Nick and Cristina and I went to
Grayhaven Winery. They had these stools there and they sold warm baguettes with local goat cheese. So we stayed a while and drank some wine and ate some yummy food. Then we took more pictures.








We finally made it to Cooper Vineyards where they make a delicious chocolate wine called Noche. Seriously, you have to try this wine. It is so good. It was all we could do to make it home before we opened a bottle of it ourselves.