It's the Thursday before Christmas ... and life has been hectic!
John's been on break from school, so he's been looking for projects to complete around the house. Meanwhile, I'm still working and then I volunteered us to dog-sit over my vacation break, so I invited that family over for dinner tonight so that their dog can meet Honey and get used to us before actually being left here for several days.
So, John decided yesterday afternoon was the perfect time to rip out the pantry and re-do it.
I got home from work yesterday and the entire contents of my pantry were strewn all over my kitchen cabinets (John reassured me that we'd get a pizza so I didn't have to try and cook). He'd torn out all the shelves in the pantry and did some dry-wall repair in there.
Tip: Did you know that Lowe's will cut your wood for you? Seriously - John bought this long strip of wood to use for shelves in our new pantry, and Lowe's cut that long strip down to the exact sizes we needed for the shelves. Normally it costs $0.25 per cut, but they didn't charge us for it. So much easier than trying to do it outselves!
So ... last night we went to Lowes and wandered around a bit, then picked up our pizza. After dinner, John started sanding the dry wall down and then painted the first coat of white in the pantry. I started going through all the food from the pantry and getting rid of stuff that was either expired or I knew that we'd never use (most likely because we'd had it for over a year).
Biggest surprise of the night? Finding 10 cans of black beans - an ingredient I only use in 1 recipe that I make maybe 2-3 times a year.
Grossest surprise of the night? Finding an unopened container of balsamic vinaigrette dressing that looked like things were growing in it. Surprisingly, it was not past the expiration date. We threw it out anyway.
So now John is painting a second coat in the pantry and trying to install the shelves before we have company tonight. I'm making a lamb roast with steamed vegetables and rolls. My guests are bringing dessert and a tiny dog that will probably get into a fight or something with Honey.
Yay!
Thursday, December 20, 2012
Monday, December 17, 2012
Tragedy and Mental Illness
If you've been anywhere in the US the past few days, you've heard about the school shooting in Sandy Hook, CT. We don't really have a tv, so the majority of my information about the shooting comes from facebook posts and online articles. I just wanted to share a few thoughts about it.
For future reference ... or for those who haven't heard about the shooting ... on Friday, December 14th, a man entered a Sandy Hook Elementary school classroom and shot and killed 20 first graders and 6 adults. This is an unspeakable tragedy - honestly no words come to me. I cannot even fathom the pain and the loss that the families and friends of everyone involved must be feeling.
Within hours of the shooting, people started debating whether we should be allowed to carry guns or not. Some people argue that the shooting would not have happened or been nearly as bad is someone within the school had been armed. Others argue for stricter gun laws that may have prevented the shooter from getting a gun in the first place.
By the next day, people were pointing fingers - saying that these things only happen because God was taken out of schools and there's no prayer in the classrooms. They are saying that if we still prayed to God and taught the Bible in public schools then maybe this shooter wouldn't have done this.
(Of course, there's also the radical groups such as Westboro Baptist Church who claim that this whole tragedy is God's judgement on this nation, and they are planning on picketing the children's funerals.)
My reaction to all these? Shame. Frustration. Even a bit of anger.
Over two dozen people died needlessly - most of them young children - and you're using their deaths to get on your soapbox and promote your own belief system? How incredibly callous and unfeeling.
Now is a time for mourning - for grieving and for supporting the families and friends of the victims. Not for politics or religious battles or grand-standing.
After that ... then we can figure out how to prevent this from happening again. Not because of this shooting, but because it should never have happened at all.
***********
Now I'm going to go against what many of the people in my circles believe. I grew up hearing the belief that there was no such thing as a "mental illness". That anything that was wrong in the brain was either demon possession or the results of a sinful life; the only cure was God.
There were some grey areas - mental disabilities such as Down Syndrome or Autism were regarded as sympathetic. But illnesses such as depression, asbergers, bi-polar, etc. did not exist.
And that is something that I disagree with. Every other part of our bodies can get sick or fail us - why should our brain be any different? All it takes is an imbalance in chemicals and hormones to mess us up horribly in the head.
Thankfully, this is not something I've had to experience; neither John nor I suffer from any of this. But I've read up on a lot of it. And while there is help out there (once you get past the sometimes-crushing stigma of having a mental illness), that help is often only available for people with "normal" mental illnesses. And often can only be available if people want help - which many people who are not well think they don't need.
Article: "I am Adam Lanza's Mother" by Liza Long
Currently, in the US, there are no real options available for people whose mental health may cause them to injure themselves or others. The way things are now, we have to wait until they "snap" so that we can put them in jail. At which point it may be too late.
I hardly think that that's a good policy. For anyone.
************
You might think I'm being a bit hypocritical - condemning others for using this tragedy, and then speaking up myself. And maybe I am.
Nothing can justify the taking of lives. I mourn for each of the people who died ... and I mourn that someone felt that there was no other way to ease his own pain than to cause so much pain for others.
Article: "Tragic Violence and Empathy" Nurshable blog
But surely, if we wanted to prevent things like this happening in the future - shouldn't we spend our energy trying to help people so they never get this desperate? That we see that they get the help that they need?
For future reference ... or for those who haven't heard about the shooting ... on Friday, December 14th, a man entered a Sandy Hook Elementary school classroom and shot and killed 20 first graders and 6 adults. This is an unspeakable tragedy - honestly no words come to me. I cannot even fathom the pain and the loss that the families and friends of everyone involved must be feeling.
Within hours of the shooting, people started debating whether we should be allowed to carry guns or not. Some people argue that the shooting would not have happened or been nearly as bad is someone within the school had been armed. Others argue for stricter gun laws that may have prevented the shooter from getting a gun in the first place.
By the next day, people were pointing fingers - saying that these things only happen because God was taken out of schools and there's no prayer in the classrooms. They are saying that if we still prayed to God and taught the Bible in public schools then maybe this shooter wouldn't have done this.
(Of course, there's also the radical groups such as Westboro Baptist Church who claim that this whole tragedy is God's judgement on this nation, and they are planning on picketing the children's funerals.)
My reaction to all these? Shame. Frustration. Even a bit of anger.
Over two dozen people died needlessly - most of them young children - and you're using their deaths to get on your soapbox and promote your own belief system? How incredibly callous and unfeeling.
Now is a time for mourning - for grieving and for supporting the families and friends of the victims. Not for politics or religious battles or grand-standing.
After that ... then we can figure out how to prevent this from happening again. Not because of this shooting, but because it should never have happened at all.
***********
Now I'm going to go against what many of the people in my circles believe. I grew up hearing the belief that there was no such thing as a "mental illness". That anything that was wrong in the brain was either demon possession or the results of a sinful life; the only cure was God.
There were some grey areas - mental disabilities such as Down Syndrome or Autism were regarded as sympathetic. But illnesses such as depression, asbergers, bi-polar, etc. did not exist.
And that is something that I disagree with. Every other part of our bodies can get sick or fail us - why should our brain be any different? All it takes is an imbalance in chemicals and hormones to mess us up horribly in the head.
Thankfully, this is not something I've had to experience; neither John nor I suffer from any of this. But I've read up on a lot of it. And while there is help out there (once you get past the sometimes-crushing stigma of having a mental illness), that help is often only available for people with "normal" mental illnesses. And often can only be available if people want help - which many people who are not well think they don't need.
Article: "I am Adam Lanza's Mother" by Liza Long
Currently, in the US, there are no real options available for people whose mental health may cause them to injure themselves or others. The way things are now, we have to wait until they "snap" so that we can put them in jail. At which point it may be too late.
I hardly think that that's a good policy. For anyone.
************
You might think I'm being a bit hypocritical - condemning others for using this tragedy, and then speaking up myself. And maybe I am.
Nothing can justify the taking of lives. I mourn for each of the people who died ... and I mourn that someone felt that there was no other way to ease his own pain than to cause so much pain for others.
Article: "Tragic Violence and Empathy" Nurshable blog
But surely, if we wanted to prevent things like this happening in the future - shouldn't we spend our energy trying to help people so they never get this desperate? That we see that they get the help that they need?
Tuesday, December 11, 2012
Feeling better ... Honest! *Cough Cough*
Sorry for being MIA the past several days ... I'm blaming the flu. I've been sick with the flu for exactly a week now - my house is a mess and I'm back at work even though I keep coughing and sniffling and sneezing.
But I'm better! Honest!
And my new favorite medicine (whenever I'm actually able to *swallow* the horse pills) is Robitussin Nightime Cold and Flu. It's like the exact same thing as Nyquil, but cheaper. I'm all for cheaper.
The nicest thing about getting better is the possibility of moving back into the bedroom. I've been avoiding the bedroom completely, since the last thing I want to do is get John sick - he's had finals for the past week! My MIL said that doing that was very sweet of me, but I told her it was a completely selfish decision. I can hardly bear to get off the couch ... the very last thing I wanted was to have to take care of a sick John too!
Still, some rather major things came up while I was sick. John took his finals ... he doesn't think he did as well on his first two finals - even though he didn't get sick, I think he was fighting something off. Plus, they scheduled the tests horribly. He then studied all weekend for his final exam on Monday - which he thinks went really well.
After the exam, he emailed the course director about some of his classmates cheating. Two or three of his classmates have been cheating periodically throughout the semester, and during the final they were blatant enough that - when the teacher stepped out of the room - they started talking to each other and passing papers back and forth between them. John found it all very distracting, which helped him to decide to turn them in. It's also incredibly frustrating when John and his other classmates work so hard to have a handful decide they shouldn't have to work as much.
As for me ... I've got big news possibly coming up. But I don't want to jinx it, so I think it can wait for a few weeks (and before anyone asks, no, I'm not pregnant. I wish that were it!).
And finally, I want to link to one of my favorite blogs: Filing Jointly ... finally. Lauren has the talent to keep her blog both real and hilarious! I think her recent post The Day Santa Claus Came to Town did more to put me in the holiday spirit than anything else this season!
But I'm better! Honest!
And my new favorite medicine (whenever I'm actually able to *swallow* the horse pills) is Robitussin Nightime Cold and Flu. It's like the exact same thing as Nyquil, but cheaper. I'm all for cheaper.
The nicest thing about getting better is the possibility of moving back into the bedroom. I've been avoiding the bedroom completely, since the last thing I want to do is get John sick - he's had finals for the past week! My MIL said that doing that was very sweet of me, but I told her it was a completely selfish decision. I can hardly bear to get off the couch ... the very last thing I wanted was to have to take care of a sick John too!
Still, some rather major things came up while I was sick. John took his finals ... he doesn't think he did as well on his first two finals - even though he didn't get sick, I think he was fighting something off. Plus, they scheduled the tests horribly. He then studied all weekend for his final exam on Monday - which he thinks went really well.
After the exam, he emailed the course director about some of his classmates cheating. Two or three of his classmates have been cheating periodically throughout the semester, and during the final they were blatant enough that - when the teacher stepped out of the room - they started talking to each other and passing papers back and forth between them. John found it all very distracting, which helped him to decide to turn them in. It's also incredibly frustrating when John and his other classmates work so hard to have a handful decide they shouldn't have to work as much.
As for me ... I've got big news possibly coming up. But I don't want to jinx it, so I think it can wait for a few weeks (and before anyone asks, no, I'm not pregnant. I wish that were it!).
And finally, I want to link to one of my favorite blogs: Filing Jointly ... finally. Lauren has the talent to keep her blog both real and hilarious! I think her recent post The Day Santa Claus Came to Town did more to put me in the holiday spirit than anything else this season!
Thursday, December 6, 2012
cute cat pictures cure everything, don't they?
About all I can say is that I'm here.
John's taking tests this week. He had one yesterday afternoon from about 3:00 pm until 5:30 pm ... and then one this morning from 8:30 am until .... well, it's still going, so I don't know how long it will be.
I probably should have stayed home another day.
At least I don't have the flu! I think.
And because I can't think of anything else ... and because this is kinda a downer post ...
here's something to make you smile!
Enjoy!
John's taking tests this week. He had one yesterday afternoon from about 3:00 pm until 5:30 pm ... and then one this morning from 8:30 am until .... well, it's still going, so I don't know how long it will be.
I probably should have stayed home another day.
At least I don't have the flu! I think.
And because I can't think of anything else ... and because this is kinda a downer post ...
here's something to make you smile!
Tuesday, December 4, 2012
Thanksgiving Drama - Part Three
Just a quick note - I may be mia for the next few days. I can feel the most awful cold coming down on me, and if it weren't for the fact that I have an event to work today, then I'd totally still be home in bed. Not sure if I'll feel up to logging onto my computer while I'm sick. We'll see.
This series feels like its gone on forever - perhaps because there are other things I want to talk about! But this is the part everyone's been waiting for (and by everyone, I mean me because I want to remember this in 20 years)!
You can begin reading this epic storyline here ....
My MIL came back up from the chickens at 3:30 AM, planning to get a little bit of sleep before getting up at 5 AM to meet the catch crew at 6 AM. She lay on the living room floor (so as to not wake up anyone else - and so she wouldn't oversleep), and at 3:44 AM set her alarm for 5 AM.
The catch crew arrived at 3:45 AM.
Making them simultaneously both hours late and several hours early. MIL jumped up, and rushed back down to the chickens to meet them.
The entire catch crew was Hispanic, and most didn't speak any English. They were upset with my MIL because the chickens weren't ready for them, and my MIL was upset for everything that had happened previously! But, knowing that the chickens weren't ready to leave for another 2-3 hours, she started very slowly prepping the houses and the chickens for the catch. The crew would just have to wait on her.
She finally finished up in house one, and left the catch crew to begin setting up, while she went and prepped house two. Once she was finished with that, she took her tools out to their Mule, passing one of the Hispanic men on his way to their van. She returned to house one to watch and help the crew. Shortly afterward, the Hispanic man she'd passed came up to her and asked, "Did you take our bags?"
She was startled. "No, I didn't take anything. I've been here working."
Apparently, while they were working on the farm (a good 30+ minutes from town) someone had snuck onto the farm, and stolen all the workers backpacks out of their van! Their backpacks which each contained: hundreds of dollars, iphones, driver's licenses, and green cards.
Work completely stopped. The men talked among themselves for a few moments, and then about 4-5 of them jumped in their van, and took off down the driveway as fast as they could - trying to catch up with the thief. As they reached the end of the driveway, they saw a large black truck take off down the road; they gave chase! Next thing we know - there's a van full of Hispanics in a high-speed chase after a Black Truck down country roads at 4:30 in the morning!
I don't know what would have happened if they had caught the truck. But once the truck turned onto a main road, the van turned around and came back to the farm; they probably didn't want to get caught without their licenses and green cards!
Meanwhile, my FIL heard all the commotion from up at the house, and got down there to catch the end of all this. He immediately called the police (who took about 45 minutes to get there). They arrived and took down everyone's names and interviewed everyone and got a complete listing of everything that was stolen.
After the police left, someone (I'm not sure who) got the idea to go take a closer look where they had seen the black truck sitting. When they went down there, they found all the backpacks in the pasture - everything was there except for one iphone. All the workers spread out through the pasture, combing the fields looking for that iphone. My MIL had the idea that maybe the phone had been in the thief's pocket, and he perhaps threw it out the window once he was in the truck. The searchers moved up the road a little, and they found the iphone!!
Needless to say, by the time the actual catch was over and the crew left, it was 9:00 AM. Both my MIL and FIL went back to the house, took quick showers, and went to bed for a few hours. John and I got up, and made lunch for everyone. We all ate lunch at 12:30 PM, and then John's Dad left for work. He had another 10 hours of work to go to.
While MIL got ready for the day (I think she should have gone back to bed!), John and I drove to a local mattress store and bought a mattress. Upon returning, MIL and John surprised me with a trip to Ikea - I had no idea that they were planning on going! I agreed, on the condition that we stop by my aunt's house on the way home. I had picked up gifts for my aunt's family the night before, and wanted to be able to deliver them. About that time I realized that all my phones (I have three!) were completely dead - and I didn't have my aunt's phone number.
Once we got to Ikea, I realized why they had been so insistent to go that day - even though I though my MIL needed to rest after the crazy Thanksgiving! She was completely intent on buying us a Poang chair for Christmas - and wanted us to pick out something that we liked.
By the time we left Ikea, it was 8:30 PM - meaning it would have been 9:30 PM before we could get to my aunt's house. Since I didn't have her phone number, I couldn't call to see if that was okay, and I thought that 9:30 PM was too late to stop by unannounced. So, we just drove straight home.
Just in time to almost hit a cow in the driveway! One of the cows had gotten out, and we spent the next 45 minutes running all over the farm at 10:00 PM trying to chase this cow back into the pasture.
So, that was Thanksgiving and all its drama. Certainly more interesting than any Thanksgiving I'd ever had previously!
This series feels like its gone on forever - perhaps because there are other things I want to talk about! But this is the part everyone's been waiting for (and by everyone, I mean me because I want to remember this in 20 years)!
You can begin reading this epic storyline here ....
My MIL came back up from the chickens at 3:30 AM, planning to get a little bit of sleep before getting up at 5 AM to meet the catch crew at 6 AM. She lay on the living room floor (so as to not wake up anyone else - and so she wouldn't oversleep), and at 3:44 AM set her alarm for 5 AM.
The catch crew arrived at 3:45 AM.
Making them simultaneously both hours late and several hours early. MIL jumped up, and rushed back down to the chickens to meet them.
The entire catch crew was Hispanic, and most didn't speak any English. They were upset with my MIL because the chickens weren't ready for them, and my MIL was upset for everything that had happened previously! But, knowing that the chickens weren't ready to leave for another 2-3 hours, she started very slowly prepping the houses and the chickens for the catch. The crew would just have to wait on her.
She finally finished up in house one, and left the catch crew to begin setting up, while she went and prepped house two. Once she was finished with that, she took her tools out to their Mule, passing one of the Hispanic men on his way to their van. She returned to house one to watch and help the crew. Shortly afterward, the Hispanic man she'd passed came up to her and asked, "Did you take our bags?"
She was startled. "No, I didn't take anything. I've been here working."
Apparently, while they were working on the farm (a good 30+ minutes from town) someone had snuck onto the farm, and stolen all the workers backpacks out of their van! Their backpacks which each contained: hundreds of dollars, iphones, driver's licenses, and green cards.
Work completely stopped. The men talked among themselves for a few moments, and then about 4-5 of them jumped in their van, and took off down the driveway as fast as they could - trying to catch up with the thief. As they reached the end of the driveway, they saw a large black truck take off down the road; they gave chase! Next thing we know - there's a van full of Hispanics in a high-speed chase after a Black Truck down country roads at 4:30 in the morning!
I don't know what would have happened if they had caught the truck. But once the truck turned onto a main road, the van turned around and came back to the farm; they probably didn't want to get caught without their licenses and green cards!
Meanwhile, my FIL heard all the commotion from up at the house, and got down there to catch the end of all this. He immediately called the police (who took about 45 minutes to get there). They arrived and took down everyone's names and interviewed everyone and got a complete listing of everything that was stolen.
After the police left, someone (I'm not sure who) got the idea to go take a closer look where they had seen the black truck sitting. When they went down there, they found all the backpacks in the pasture - everything was there except for one iphone. All the workers spread out through the pasture, combing the fields looking for that iphone. My MIL had the idea that maybe the phone had been in the thief's pocket, and he perhaps threw it out the window once he was in the truck. The searchers moved up the road a little, and they found the iphone!!
Needless to say, by the time the actual catch was over and the crew left, it was 9:00 AM. Both my MIL and FIL went back to the house, took quick showers, and went to bed for a few hours. John and I got up, and made lunch for everyone. We all ate lunch at 12:30 PM, and then John's Dad left for work. He had another 10 hours of work to go to.
While MIL got ready for the day (I think she should have gone back to bed!), John and I drove to a local mattress store and bought a mattress. Upon returning, MIL and John surprised me with a trip to Ikea - I had no idea that they were planning on going! I agreed, on the condition that we stop by my aunt's house on the way home. I had picked up gifts for my aunt's family the night before, and wanted to be able to deliver them. About that time I realized that all my phones (I have three!) were completely dead - and I didn't have my aunt's phone number.
Once we got to Ikea, I realized why they had been so insistent to go that day - even though I though my MIL needed to rest after the crazy Thanksgiving! She was completely intent on buying us a Poang chair for Christmas - and wanted us to pick out something that we liked.
By the time we left Ikea, it was 8:30 PM - meaning it would have been 9:30 PM before we could get to my aunt's house. Since I didn't have her phone number, I couldn't call to see if that was okay, and I thought that 9:30 PM was too late to stop by unannounced. So, we just drove straight home.
Just in time to almost hit a cow in the driveway! One of the cows had gotten out, and we spent the next 45 minutes running all over the farm at 10:00 PM trying to chase this cow back into the pasture.
So, that was Thanksgiving and all its drama. Certainly more interesting than any Thanksgiving I'd ever had previously!
Monday, December 3, 2012
Thanksgiving Drama ... Part Two
Last time I ended the story with us getting in the car and driving to the factory to hopefully find someone to help us save the chickens.
We were hoping to pass the catch crew on the road - even though they'd be late, at least we would know where they were. But we made it through the 30-minute drive into the nearest town without a glimpse of them. By the time we pulled into the factory parking lot, it was nearing 10 PM Thanksgiving night. we drove around trying to decide where to park and where would be the most likely place to find someone ... when we actually saw someone!
A man was sitting in his 18-wheeler truck working on paperwork, or something. John and I stayed in the car, while MIL went to go talk to him. It was amazing. Downright miraculous, even.
The man in the truck was only supposed to be at the factory for a total of about 5 minutes (we had caught him in that time span!) and had the cell phone numbers of the people we needed to call!! He made a few calls, and let my MIL talk to some people on his phone, before giving her the phone numbers for her reference.
Apparently, someone had changed the schedule, so the chicken catch was meant for 6AM instead of 8 PM - without telling anyone about the change. With that change in place ... the birds were supposed to be coming off their feed Now ... even though they'd already been off their feed for hours. My in-laws made some quick decisions - they decided to let hte birds eat and drink for 1-2 hours, and then take them off their feed.
By the time we got home, it was nearing 11 PM. My MIL rushed down to the chickens to help my FIL.
About 11:45 she came back to the house, got cleaned up, and my MIL, John, and I all went Black Friday shopping; a developing holiday tradition.
Since we normally go about 10 PM - this was the latest we'd been out shopping, and as we got closer to the stores (Tanger Outlets) we saw cars parked out at least a mile from the stores. We were seriously thinking about turning around and going home - who wants to walk a mile just to get to the stores? But previous years had shown us that sometimes there are spots in the parking lot that people never seem to take (they give up and just park before they get to the middle of the parking lot!), so we decided to try and find a spot closer to the stores. If we couldn't, then we'd go home.
We found a parking spot not 10 feet away from Bath and Body Works. It was astonishing. Even more astonishing than the line outside of Bath and Body Works (we did not go in that store!)
So, we checked to make sure we all had our cell phones, and then split up to get our shopping done quickly - we had to get back to farm to get the chickens ready for their 6AM catch. We got their about midnight, and left about 1:30 AM - so we were quick about it. John and I got all our Christmas shopping done, as well as a few things for ourselves. (Here's a plug: I got an amazing new wool peacoat at Wilson's Leather for $45.)
When we got home, my FIL was already in bed - he'd left a note with instructions about the chickens for my MIL. She rushed down to the birds, and John went to bed. I was still awake, so I read a while before turning the light out at approximately 3 AM.
And this is another long post, so I'm breaking it off here. I PROMISE I'll get to the car chase and the police in the next part!
We were hoping to pass the catch crew on the road - even though they'd be late, at least we would know where they were. But we made it through the 30-minute drive into the nearest town without a glimpse of them. By the time we pulled into the factory parking lot, it was nearing 10 PM Thanksgiving night. we drove around trying to decide where to park and where would be the most likely place to find someone ... when we actually saw someone!
A man was sitting in his 18-wheeler truck working on paperwork, or something. John and I stayed in the car, while MIL went to go talk to him. It was amazing. Downright miraculous, even.
The man in the truck was only supposed to be at the factory for a total of about 5 minutes (we had caught him in that time span!) and had the cell phone numbers of the people we needed to call!! He made a few calls, and let my MIL talk to some people on his phone, before giving her the phone numbers for her reference.
Apparently, someone had changed the schedule, so the chicken catch was meant for 6AM instead of 8 PM - without telling anyone about the change. With that change in place ... the birds were supposed to be coming off their feed Now ... even though they'd already been off their feed for hours. My in-laws made some quick decisions - they decided to let hte birds eat and drink for 1-2 hours, and then take them off their feed.
By the time we got home, it was nearing 11 PM. My MIL rushed down to the chickens to help my FIL.
About 11:45 she came back to the house, got cleaned up, and my MIL, John, and I all went Black Friday shopping; a developing holiday tradition.
Since we normally go about 10 PM - this was the latest we'd been out shopping, and as we got closer to the stores (Tanger Outlets) we saw cars parked out at least a mile from the stores. We were seriously thinking about turning around and going home - who wants to walk a mile just to get to the stores? But previous years had shown us that sometimes there are spots in the parking lot that people never seem to take (they give up and just park before they get to the middle of the parking lot!), so we decided to try and find a spot closer to the stores. If we couldn't, then we'd go home.
We found a parking spot not 10 feet away from Bath and Body Works. It was astonishing. Even more astonishing than the line outside of Bath and Body Works (we did not go in that store!)
So, we checked to make sure we all had our cell phones, and then split up to get our shopping done quickly - we had to get back to farm to get the chickens ready for their 6AM catch. We got their about midnight, and left about 1:30 AM - so we were quick about it. John and I got all our Christmas shopping done, as well as a few things for ourselves. (Here's a plug: I got an amazing new wool peacoat at Wilson's Leather for $45.)
When we got home, my FIL was already in bed - he'd left a note with instructions about the chickens for my MIL. She rushed down to the birds, and John went to bed. I was still awake, so I read a while before turning the light out at approximately 3 AM.
And this is another long post, so I'm breaking it off here. I PROMISE I'll get to the car chase and the police in the next part!
Friday, November 30, 2012
We Interrupt this Saga for an Important News Bulletin
We got John's last test back .... and he practically Aced it!
The average for the class on the test was an 81, and John got a 99! (He totally broke the curve). He made the highest grade in the class!
He actually missed three points ... but actually was given two extra points because some of his answers were so good!
He is thrilled, and I am so stinkin' proud of him!!
The average for the class on the test was an 81, and John got a 99! (He totally broke the curve). He made the highest grade in the class!
He actually missed three points ... but actually was given two extra points because some of his answers were so good!
He is thrilled, and I am so stinkin' proud of him!!
Thursday, November 29, 2012
Thanksgiving Drama ... Part One
Now that we're a week out ... let's talk about Thanksgiving!!
Hmm. Perhaps some backstory is in order.
My in-laws own a chicken farm; they have two chicken houses that can each house between 25-30 thousand birds. (And since I've had more people ask lately - no, the birds are not in cages. They can wander where-ever they like inside the houses, which are each longer than a football field.) Basically, the birds that my in-laws raise go to the company that provides chicken for places like Zaxbys.
Well, my in-laws work super hard on the farm and on the chickens; the days leading up to getting the birds and the days leading up to getting rid of the birds are almost non-stop - full of crazy hours, hard work, and little sleep. They get paid by how much the birds weigh, so not only is it important for the birds to be alive and healthy, but they need to weigh a decent amount.
That being said, I didn't realize until I married the son of a chicken farmer just how hard it is to keep these birds alive. These birds are dumb. Really dumb. As in, you have to shuffle your feet along the ground when you walk through the house because they don't know enough to walk out of your way so that you step on them. Since my in-laws get the birds practically just out of the egg, they need to keep those birds at a very strict temperature - even a 5 degree difference can kill thousands of birds. They are always praying for the weather to cooperate whenever they have birds!
My inlaws latest batch of chickens were scheduled to be picked up on Thanksgiving evening at 8 pm. A "Catch Crew" would come out with all the trucks, catch the birds, and take them to the company plant. About 6-7 hours before the scheduled catch, my inlaws took the birds off their food and water; this is a requirement by the company so that the birds don't contaminate the factory. What this means is that they are now dependent on the catch crew showing up on time and doing their job; from here on out, the birds will just lose weight - and if they wait too long, the birds will start dying.
Because my inlaws were both working so hard prepping the chicken houses on Thanksgiving, my MIL put the meat in the oven (we had a standing rib roast instead of turkey - So much better!) and I did everything else. While they were working outside, I made the mashed potatoes, the corn on the cob, the zucchini, the veggie tray, and the biscuits. Right before the meal, my MIL came back up and helped me with the gravy and the cranberry sauce.
It was a wonderful Thanksgiving meal! And I'm not just saying that because I made most of it! ;o)
Anyway ... we were planning to go Black Friday shopping after the catch that night, so John and I took naps that afternoon, while my inlaws continued to work in the chicken houses.
Finally it was almost time. My FIL was down with the birds, while my MIL was with us in the house watching for the catch crew. 8 pm came and went. By 9 pm my in-laws were starting to get really frantic - in their almost 20 years of chicken farming, the catch crew had never been so late. The birds were starting to lose weight at an alarming pace, and would start dying soon. My MIL tried calling everyone she knew to call, but only got voicemails - it was Thanksgiving Night - who's going to answer their work phone?
After some quick, frantic discussion, we agreed on a course of action - a rather desperate thought, but the only one we could think of. We left out FIL in charge of the birds, and John, my MIL, and I hopped in the car, and at 9:30 that night we started the 30 minute drive to the plant. Maybe, just maybe, we'd find someone who could help us.
Before this gets too long - I'm going to break here. Part Two is Here!
Hmm. Perhaps some backstory is in order.
My in-laws own a chicken farm; they have two chicken houses that can each house between 25-30 thousand birds. (And since I've had more people ask lately - no, the birds are not in cages. They can wander where-ever they like inside the houses, which are each longer than a football field.) Basically, the birds that my in-laws raise go to the company that provides chicken for places like Zaxbys.
Well, my in-laws work super hard on the farm and on the chickens; the days leading up to getting the birds and the days leading up to getting rid of the birds are almost non-stop - full of crazy hours, hard work, and little sleep. They get paid by how much the birds weigh, so not only is it important for the birds to be alive and healthy, but they need to weigh a decent amount.
That being said, I didn't realize until I married the son of a chicken farmer just how hard it is to keep these birds alive. These birds are dumb. Really dumb. As in, you have to shuffle your feet along the ground when you walk through the house because they don't know enough to walk out of your way so that you step on them. Since my in-laws get the birds practically just out of the egg, they need to keep those birds at a very strict temperature - even a 5 degree difference can kill thousands of birds. They are always praying for the weather to cooperate whenever they have birds!
My inlaws latest batch of chickens were scheduled to be picked up on Thanksgiving evening at 8 pm. A "Catch Crew" would come out with all the trucks, catch the birds, and take them to the company plant. About 6-7 hours before the scheduled catch, my inlaws took the birds off their food and water; this is a requirement by the company so that the birds don't contaminate the factory. What this means is that they are now dependent on the catch crew showing up on time and doing their job; from here on out, the birds will just lose weight - and if they wait too long, the birds will start dying.
Because my inlaws were both working so hard prepping the chicken houses on Thanksgiving, my MIL put the meat in the oven (we had a standing rib roast instead of turkey - So much better!) and I did everything else. While they were working outside, I made the mashed potatoes, the corn on the cob, the zucchini, the veggie tray, and the biscuits. Right before the meal, my MIL came back up and helped me with the gravy and the cranberry sauce.
It was a wonderful Thanksgiving meal! And I'm not just saying that because I made most of it! ;o)
Anyway ... we were planning to go Black Friday shopping after the catch that night, so John and I took naps that afternoon, while my inlaws continued to work in the chicken houses.
Finally it was almost time. My FIL was down with the birds, while my MIL was with us in the house watching for the catch crew. 8 pm came and went. By 9 pm my in-laws were starting to get really frantic - in their almost 20 years of chicken farming, the catch crew had never been so late. The birds were starting to lose weight at an alarming pace, and would start dying soon. My MIL tried calling everyone she knew to call, but only got voicemails - it was Thanksgiving Night - who's going to answer their work phone?
After some quick, frantic discussion, we agreed on a course of action - a rather desperate thought, but the only one we could think of. We left out FIL in charge of the birds, and John, my MIL, and I hopped in the car, and at 9:30 that night we started the 30 minute drive to the plant. Maybe, just maybe, we'd find someone who could help us.
Before this gets too long - I'm going to break here. Part Two is Here!
Wednesday, November 28, 2012
A word of advice for the service industry ...
Don't be so snobby!
I'm planning an event for my company - about 200 people, evening reception at a fancy venue.
I'm calling around to get information from the various caterers in the area. Once I have all this information, then I will decide who to ask to cater the event.
I'm calling and representing a large company - one that is very well known in the area. It's not like I'm just a random person walking in off the street.
The questions I'm asking:
We don't discuss business like this over the phone. I can email you our menu with prices if you'd like, and we can meet in person to discuss the event next week.
Umm ... what?
I'm calling because I don't have time to go to every catering business in the area to get one-on-one meetings. I'm calling to see if I want to work with you! Not to set up a face-to-face!
Needless to say, I crossed them off the list before I even hung up.
I'm planning an event for my company - about 200 people, evening reception at a fancy venue.
I'm calling around to get information from the various caterers in the area. Once I have all this information, then I will decide who to ask to cater the event.
I'm calling and representing a large company - one that is very well known in the area. It's not like I'm just a random person walking in off the street.
The questions I'm asking:
- Are you available to cater this event?
- Would you be able to work within my budget?
We don't discuss business like this over the phone. I can email you our menu with prices if you'd like, and we can meet in person to discuss the event next week.
Umm ... what?
I'm calling because I don't have time to go to every catering business in the area to get one-on-one meetings. I'm calling to see if I want to work with you! Not to set up a face-to-face!
Needless to say, I crossed them off the list before I even hung up.
Backing up a bit ...
It's been far too long since I've written - there's so much to catch up on!!
Maybe brief points?
That weekend I was worried about karaoke and Western Day? Interesting.
Karaoke wasn't scheduled until 9pm that Friday night (9 pm!), which makes me feel old at even thinking about going out that late. So, we had some time to kill that evening. We tried a new Chinese restaurant (so good!) and then watched silly youtube videos for a few hours. We took Honey for a walk, and played with her for a while.
And then ... we found ringworm on her belly. John took a picture and emailed it to his dad (a vet) to get an unofficial official diagnosis, and so we could figure out how to treat her. (Basically we had to rub cream on her belly for 30 days, and wash everything in the house). This of course changed our plans dramatically for the next month!
But, we couldn't do anything that night, so we were still planning on karaoke. Until John got a text from a classmate - karaoke was canceled. Instead, John's classmates were getting together for a party at someone's house.
We got there about 9:30 pm. And were the first to arrive - the hostess was still in the shower! She let us in, and then rushed out to the store to get chips and dip. By this time, John and I were just looking at each other in shock - I couldn't get over the fact that it was after 9pm and the party hadn't even started yet!
People finally started arriving at 10 - and that's when the party actually got going. And let me just say ... I love John's classmates. Late Friday night ... bunch of Grad Students ... after a week of their hardest exams yet ... and there was practically no alcohol to be found. I think 2 of the 15+ people who showed up had one drink. Everyone was just having fun and enjoying each other's company. We played board games, and then had a dance competition with the Wii. I got some priceless video of John dancing to Rick Astley's "Never Gonna Give You Up" (we got Rickrolled!!) and dancing to Carly Rae Jepson's "Call Me Maybe". The night was amazing - we left about midnight, and the party was going strong.
Thanks to Honey's ringworm, we didn't go to Western Day on Saturday - we spent the whole day cleaning everything in the house! By the end of the weekend, the house was cleaner I think than it was when we moved in!
We'd been planning and had actually invited several couples from our church to spend Thanksgiving Day with us ... but we had to cancel because of Honey. Apparently ringworm is a bit like Athlete's Foot - not really that serious unless it affects small children - and all of the people we'd invited had small children. We did NOT want to be responsible for causing a ringworm outbreak among the children at our church! So, instead we canceled and made plans to go to John's parents for Thanksgiving.
Which is another story coming up!
Maybe brief points?
That weekend I was worried about karaoke and Western Day? Interesting.
Karaoke wasn't scheduled until 9pm that Friday night (9 pm!), which makes me feel old at even thinking about going out that late. So, we had some time to kill that evening. We tried a new Chinese restaurant (so good!) and then watched silly youtube videos for a few hours. We took Honey for a walk, and played with her for a while.
And then ... we found ringworm on her belly. John took a picture and emailed it to his dad (a vet) to get an unofficial official diagnosis, and so we could figure out how to treat her. (Basically we had to rub cream on her belly for 30 days, and wash everything in the house). This of course changed our plans dramatically for the next month!
But, we couldn't do anything that night, so we were still planning on karaoke. Until John got a text from a classmate - karaoke was canceled. Instead, John's classmates were getting together for a party at someone's house.
We got there about 9:30 pm. And were the first to arrive - the hostess was still in the shower! She let us in, and then rushed out to the store to get chips and dip. By this time, John and I were just looking at each other in shock - I couldn't get over the fact that it was after 9pm and the party hadn't even started yet!
People finally started arriving at 10 - and that's when the party actually got going. And let me just say ... I love John's classmates. Late Friday night ... bunch of Grad Students ... after a week of their hardest exams yet ... and there was practically no alcohol to be found. I think 2 of the 15+ people who showed up had one drink. Everyone was just having fun and enjoying each other's company. We played board games, and then had a dance competition with the Wii. I got some priceless video of John dancing to Rick Astley's "Never Gonna Give You Up" (we got Rickrolled!!) and dancing to Carly Rae Jepson's "Call Me Maybe". The night was amazing - we left about midnight, and the party was going strong.
Thanks to Honey's ringworm, we didn't go to Western Day on Saturday - we spent the whole day cleaning everything in the house! By the end of the weekend, the house was cleaner I think than it was when we moved in!
We'd been planning and had actually invited several couples from our church to spend Thanksgiving Day with us ... but we had to cancel because of Honey. Apparently ringworm is a bit like Athlete's Foot - not really that serious unless it affects small children - and all of the people we'd invited had small children. We did NOT want to be responsible for causing a ringworm outbreak among the children at our church! So, instead we canceled and made plans to go to John's parents for Thanksgiving.
Which is another story coming up!
Tuesday, November 27, 2012
School Update - with an expected apology for my hiatus with an unexpected explanation
Happy (belated) Thanksgiving!!
Sorry for the brief hiatus - life got crazier than usual lately. Which I will detail a bit in a later post. Just as an appetizer ... the story may involve the police, a van full of mexicans, loose cows, and a car chase.
Not necessarily in that order.
Anyway ... update on John's schooling...
John really likes the lab he's currently in. He loves the research (eye research - something he's been interested in for years)He gets along very well with the PI, who is and would be working closely with him. The only other grad student in the lab is graduating after 4 years (would have been 3.5 years, but she had to take a personal leave of absence for a few months) and is the most decorated and honored student on campus. Not even exaggerating - she received about 4 different awards and scholarships at the beginning of the year.
That being said, there's two things against her ... one, she's thinking about moving on. She's putting out feelers to move to another university. If that goes through, then John would have to move with her. There is no guarantee that if she moves, that John will be able to get into the new university (especially with his record of having dropped out of medical school). Also, he loses all kinds of contacts from this school; as well as being faced with people accusing him of "coming in the back door". Second, he's not sure that this lab would put him where he wants to be long term. It would be amazing for the short term 5-10 years. But not where he wants to be in 15 years.
So, we're back to the original first lab. It might not be as ideal in the short term - but it really is pointing him to where he wants to be in 10-20 years. And to be honest, that is the biggest difference between John and his classmates; he knows what his final goal is. They are focused on the here and now. He is focused on where he wants to be.
Yesterday John signed up for his elective classes for next semester. The lab he wants to go into requires a certain class - Genomic Medicine - and as of now he's the only one signed up for the class. He's excited because all the people teaching the class have been some of best lecturers this semester - and having a one-on-one class would be an interesting experience!
He still has some decisions to make, and details to work out. But at least we're headed in a specific direction.
I'd better pick up that Mandarin Rosetta Stone course again. Something tells me it would be a good idea to learn it.
Sorry for the brief hiatus - life got crazier than usual lately. Which I will detail a bit in a later post. Just as an appetizer ... the story may involve the police, a van full of mexicans, loose cows, and a car chase.
Not necessarily in that order.
Anyway ... update on John's schooling...
John really likes the lab he's currently in. He loves the research (eye research - something he's been interested in for years)He gets along very well with the PI, who is and would be working closely with him. The only other grad student in the lab is graduating after 4 years (would have been 3.5 years, but she had to take a personal leave of absence for a few months) and is the most decorated and honored student on campus. Not even exaggerating - she received about 4 different awards and scholarships at the beginning of the year.
That being said, there's two things against her ... one, she's thinking about moving on. She's putting out feelers to move to another university. If that goes through, then John would have to move with her. There is no guarantee that if she moves, that John will be able to get into the new university (especially with his record of having dropped out of medical school). Also, he loses all kinds of contacts from this school; as well as being faced with people accusing him of "coming in the back door". Second, he's not sure that this lab would put him where he wants to be long term. It would be amazing for the short term 5-10 years. But not where he wants to be in 15 years.
So, we're back to the original first lab. It might not be as ideal in the short term - but it really is pointing him to where he wants to be in 10-20 years. And to be honest, that is the biggest difference between John and his classmates; he knows what his final goal is. They are focused on the here and now. He is focused on where he wants to be.
Yesterday John signed up for his elective classes for next semester. The lab he wants to go into requires a certain class - Genomic Medicine - and as of now he's the only one signed up for the class. He's excited because all the people teaching the class have been some of best lecturers this semester - and having a one-on-one class would be an interesting experience!
He still has some decisions to make, and details to work out. But at least we're headed in a specific direction.
I'd better pick up that Mandarin Rosetta Stone course again. Something tells me it would be a good idea to learn it.
Friday, November 9, 2012
Decisions, decisions ...
John's taking his test right now; he said that he felt ready for it. I hope that he does well!
After the test, a bunch of his classmates are going to a Korean BBQ Restaurant (John says that it's not really BBQ) to eat and do karaoke. John really wants to go, while I'm a bit more ... ambivalent.
First, by the end of the week I'm tired. I want to go home and get into some comfortable clothes and relax! Going out with a bunch of people I hardly know isn't very relaxing. Of course, then the arguement is that I won't get to know them if I stay home.
Another thing is the karaoke - I've never been before, but I know what it is, and I'm not sure I'd like it. Not sure why - but I get way too uptight about music. I don't know most of the music, and it really bothers me when music isn't sung properly. I looked up a list of the top 500 karaoke songs ... and I barely knew 7 of them well enough to be able to sing them. John and I were looking at some last night, and let's just say I didn't react well when John started singing horribly on purpose. I don't know why it grates so badly, but it drives me up a wall!
On top of that is the whole social anxiety deal - I've been prepping myself to go to Western Day on Saturday. That's an annual event that our church puts on. We went last year, and I had the worst attack of anxiety yet - it took everything in me to not collapse in tears when we arrived. I spent the entire time sitting quietly in a corner while John played flag football with the men. It wasn't fun.
I know I *ought* to go to both... karaoke tonight and western day tomorrow. I honestly don't want to go to either. But I promised John I'd go to at least one of them with him. I don't know what I'll do.
John will want to get out of the house and have fun this weekend; he always does after a test! So, we'll see what happens!
Happy Friday!
After the test, a bunch of his classmates are going to a Korean BBQ Restaurant (John says that it's not really BBQ) to eat and do karaoke. John really wants to go, while I'm a bit more ... ambivalent.
First, by the end of the week I'm tired. I want to go home and get into some comfortable clothes and relax! Going out with a bunch of people I hardly know isn't very relaxing. Of course, then the arguement is that I won't get to know them if I stay home.
Another thing is the karaoke - I've never been before, but I know what it is, and I'm not sure I'd like it. Not sure why - but I get way too uptight about music. I don't know most of the music, and it really bothers me when music isn't sung properly. I looked up a list of the top 500 karaoke songs ... and I barely knew 7 of them well enough to be able to sing them. John and I were looking at some last night, and let's just say I didn't react well when John started singing horribly on purpose. I don't know why it grates so badly, but it drives me up a wall!
On top of that is the whole social anxiety deal - I've been prepping myself to go to Western Day on Saturday. That's an annual event that our church puts on. We went last year, and I had the worst attack of anxiety yet - it took everything in me to not collapse in tears when we arrived. I spent the entire time sitting quietly in a corner while John played flag football with the men. It wasn't fun.
I know I *ought* to go to both... karaoke tonight and western day tomorrow. I honestly don't want to go to either. But I promised John I'd go to at least one of them with him. I don't know what I'll do.
John will want to get out of the house and have fun this weekend; he always does after a test! So, we'll see what happens!
Happy Friday!
Thursday, November 8, 2012
Studying and Texting ... with the hint of baking yet to come
Yesterday was John's last day in the lab. He starts his new lab on Monday.
Hopefully this new lab will be better than his old one. He's still planning on going into his first lab, but he'd at least like a good lab rotation!
Meanwhile, he's been studying almost non-stop for his tests! He had a test on Monday, and then has another one tomorrow. I am so proud of him the way he's handling all of this. The first few tests he took were hard for him - not necessarily because of the material (although that also is insanely difficult), but because it brought back flashes of medical school. After his first test, we went to the park and walked for about four miles just to get away from everything so he could recover.
After Monday's test? He felt great! No test anxiety whatsoever! I think he's finally put medical school behind him!
He's still enthusiastic about studying - probably because he can actually see the results of his studying while talking to classmates and taking tests. It's gotten to the point when I have to call him to come home at night - he's so wrapped up in studying that he loses track of time!
Meanwhile ... I got a new phone! One that finally has texting, so that John and I can keep in touch during the day. I also have a few friends who all they do is text, so it will be nice to get back in touch with them!
I volunteered to make poundcakes for the GSO for a Bake Sale fundraiser they're doing end of November/early December. That, plus the fact that I'm going to make poundcakes for all my co-workers and friends at church for Christmas ... I'm going to be busy baking! Last year I found a relatively easy pound cake recipe that is utterly divine, or so everyone who has had it tells me. Everyone who tasted it said that it was the best pound cake they'd ever had - one of my coworkers even started crying and said it was exactly like the poundcake her grandmother made when she was a little girl.
So ... my tradition (started last year!) is to make a poundcake for Christmas for gifts. It's easy - people seem to like it - and is relatively inexpensive (although with the cost of butter and eggs ...).
I expect that by the time Christmas actually rolls around, I'm going to be so sick of poundcake!
Hopefully this new lab will be better than his old one. He's still planning on going into his first lab, but he'd at least like a good lab rotation!
Meanwhile, he's been studying almost non-stop for his tests! He had a test on Monday, and then has another one tomorrow. I am so proud of him the way he's handling all of this. The first few tests he took were hard for him - not necessarily because of the material (although that also is insanely difficult), but because it brought back flashes of medical school. After his first test, we went to the park and walked for about four miles just to get away from everything so he could recover.
After Monday's test? He felt great! No test anxiety whatsoever! I think he's finally put medical school behind him!
He's still enthusiastic about studying - probably because he can actually see the results of his studying while talking to classmates and taking tests. It's gotten to the point when I have to call him to come home at night - he's so wrapped up in studying that he loses track of time!
Meanwhile ... I got a new phone! One that finally has texting, so that John and I can keep in touch during the day. I also have a few friends who all they do is text, so it will be nice to get back in touch with them!
I volunteered to make poundcakes for the GSO for a Bake Sale fundraiser they're doing end of November/early December. That, plus the fact that I'm going to make poundcakes for all my co-workers and friends at church for Christmas ... I'm going to be busy baking! Last year I found a relatively easy pound cake recipe that is utterly divine, or so everyone who has had it tells me. Everyone who tasted it said that it was the best pound cake they'd ever had - one of my coworkers even started crying and said it was exactly like the poundcake her grandmother made when she was a little girl.
So ... my tradition (started last year!) is to make a poundcake for Christmas for gifts. It's easy - people seem to like it - and is relatively inexpensive (although with the cost of butter and eggs ...).
I expect that by the time Christmas actually rolls around, I'm going to be so sick of poundcake!
Wednesday, November 7, 2012
Project Garden Makeover!
Before it gets much closer to winter, I'd better post these pictures of my front garden! Considering the day is cool and wet and dreary, it's nice to remember the absolutely gorgeous weather here!
I can't really explain why this was so high on our priority list, but both John and I agreed that we wanted to plant the flower bed in the front. Maybe we wanted to make the house look ours; or maybe we were just taking advantage of the rare lovely weather. It's only nice here maybe 5 weeks out of the year - we need to spend all the time outside that we can when it's nice!
Here are some BEFORE pictures:
John and I spent about 2 hours in Lowes, wandering around the gardening section. Neither one of us had any experience doing this, so we were reading all the plant labels, and finally tracked someone down to talk to us. This is what we ended up buying:
We also bought a honeysuckle climbing vine - but I guess I didn't take a picture of it.
Next: THE PROCESS!
I broke up the dirt, and John decided that all the bricks surrounding the bed needed to be raised. So, we re-sized the bed, and raised each of the bricks by a few inches. While John was doing that, I was pulling all the weeds out of the bed. I may have gotten a bit carried away with it (John says I'm too much of a perfectionist), but the end result looked nice, I think!
And so, we began planting - by far the most fun part of the afternoon (and the quickest)!
John's parents had given us a large box of bulbs (both orchid and lily), so we planted those along the back of the bed, close to the house. We then placed a medium sized trellis to the right of the window, and planted the honeysuckle vine so that it would climb the trellis. (That is a total experiment on our part. If it grows out of control, or attracts bees or something, we'll tear it out. We don't want to deal with bees that close to the front door.)
Next, we placed a few rows of the Dusty Miller, and planted the mums in the very front.
Ready to see?
All in all, this project took us about 4.5 hours (including the time in the store), and cost us about $80-$100 (we had to buy all the tools, and the soil). We're hoping that they last through the winter, and we can enjoy them this spring. We're not expecting anything to grow this summer. 100+degrees does not equal a good garden!
I can't really explain why this was so high on our priority list, but both John and I agreed that we wanted to plant the flower bed in the front. Maybe we wanted to make the house look ours; or maybe we were just taking advantage of the rare lovely weather. It's only nice here maybe 5 weeks out of the year - we need to spend all the time outside that we can when it's nice!
Here are some BEFORE pictures:
 |
| Confession - this is after I dug everything up. I'd forgotten to get a true BEFORE picture. It didn't look much better, though. |
 |
| Yay, front of my house! |
John and I spent about 2 hours in Lowes, wandering around the gardening section. Neither one of us had any experience doing this, so we were reading all the plant labels, and finally tracked someone down to talk to us. This is what we ended up buying:
 |
| Mums! Honestly, not our first choice, but we liked the colors, and they were on sale. |
 |
| Apparently these are called "Dusty Miller" We thought they looked cool - especially next to the colors of the mums. |
We also bought a honeysuckle climbing vine - but I guess I didn't take a picture of it.
Next: THE PROCESS!
I broke up the dirt, and John decided that all the bricks surrounding the bed needed to be raised. So, we re-sized the bed, and raised each of the bricks by a few inches. While John was doing that, I was pulling all the weeds out of the bed. I may have gotten a bit carried away with it (John says I'm too much of a perfectionist), but the end result looked nice, I think!
 |
| Totally ready for planting! |
 |
| John was so right about raising the stones. It looks so much better! |
And so, we began planting - by far the most fun part of the afternoon (and the quickest)!
John's parents had given us a large box of bulbs (both orchid and lily), so we planted those along the back of the bed, close to the house. We then placed a medium sized trellis to the right of the window, and planted the honeysuckle vine so that it would climb the trellis. (That is a total experiment on our part. If it grows out of control, or attracts bees or something, we'll tear it out. We don't want to deal with bees that close to the front door.)
Next, we placed a few rows of the Dusty Miller, and planted the mums in the very front.
Ready to see?
 |
| Doesn't it look nice? The Dusty Miller is supposed to grow taller than the Mums, which is why they're toward the back. You can't see the bulbs. |
 |
| Yay! Project, successful! |
All in all, this project took us about 4.5 hours (including the time in the store), and cost us about $80-$100 (we had to buy all the tools, and the soil). We're hoping that they last through the winter, and we can enjoy them this spring. We're not expecting anything to grow this summer. 100+degrees does not equal a good garden!
Tuesday, November 6, 2012
Election Day
Today is election day in the US. John and I went to vote after I got off work this evening, and it went fairly smoothly. No riots, no excessive lines ... very orderly.
I'm not going to say much about politics here. We're having a quiet night in. John is studying for his test on Friday, while I'm purposefully not watching the news, because I get angry with the media and I'm pretty sure it's not healthy to get as worked up about it as I do. We had the news on briefly, but when I figured out that the news was predicting states based on less than one percent of the votes in each state? Oh, that made me mad! Just give us the news - stop analyzing and discussing everything ad nauseum about all the possibilities that may or may not happen!
Now I'm getting upset again. Ugh.
John and I watched this video a week or so ago. And found it interesting, and actually agreed with several points made in the video.
I don't know if it's been made clear on this blog yet, but John and I are both relatively conservative, and attend a Baptist church. So, obviously, there are some things that we don't agree with from this video.
Just as a warning, this video is NSFW, due to some language.
I don't know how the election will turn out, or who will be president in a few months. Yes, it's important. And yes, I'm hoping it's a particular candidate. But if the person I voted for loses? It's not the end of the world. God is still in control.
And God tells us in the Bible to pray for our nation's leaders. He told the Christians in Rome to pray for their leaders - even the ones who were persecuting the church and trying to stomp out the church. So, no matter who wins this election, that's what I'm going to do. I'm going to respect the office of President, (even if I don't agree with the person in that office) and pray for them.
I don't tell people who I vote for. I take full advantage of my constitutional right to secret ballots. So this is about as political as I get outside my own private conversations with John.
I hope you voted today.
I'm not going to say much about politics here. We're having a quiet night in. John is studying for his test on Friday, while I'm purposefully not watching the news, because I get angry with the media and I'm pretty sure it's not healthy to get as worked up about it as I do. We had the news on briefly, but when I figured out that the news was predicting states based on less than one percent of the votes in each state? Oh, that made me mad! Just give us the news - stop analyzing and discussing everything ad nauseum about all the possibilities that may or may not happen!
Now I'm getting upset again. Ugh.
John and I watched this video a week or so ago. And found it interesting, and actually agreed with several points made in the video.
I don't know if it's been made clear on this blog yet, but John and I are both relatively conservative, and attend a Baptist church. So, obviously, there are some things that we don't agree with from this video.
Just as a warning, this video is NSFW, due to some language.
I don't know how the election will turn out, or who will be president in a few months. Yes, it's important. And yes, I'm hoping it's a particular candidate. But if the person I voted for loses? It's not the end of the world. God is still in control.
And God tells us in the Bible to pray for our nation's leaders. He told the Christians in Rome to pray for their leaders - even the ones who were persecuting the church and trying to stomp out the church. So, no matter who wins this election, that's what I'm going to do. I'm going to respect the office of President, (even if I don't agree with the person in that office) and pray for them.
I don't tell people who I vote for. I take full advantage of my constitutional right to secret ballots. So this is about as political as I get outside my own private conversations with John.
I hope you voted today.
Saturday, November 3, 2012
You should've come to my house at 6 pm last night
I meant to post this on Thursday, but it took me till today to get a picture.
Last night was my very first Halloween.
My family didn't "do" Halloween when I was growing up. We never decorated, we never dressed up, we never trick-or-treated. In fact, I think I remember missing out on some of the halloween activities in elementary/middle school because of a note from home.
When we got married, John and I never really talked about Halloween, except to agree that we didn't want to do Halloween at our place. That neighborhood was scary! Any kids that we might get (and we never expected any - especially after dark) more than likely went to better neighborhoods.
But this year ... we have a nice house in a quiet little subdivision, and we knew that we'd get trick-or-treaters. And we decided ... that's okay.
So, the first order of business was decorating.
Honestly, I love fall - I love the weather, I love the colors, I love just about everything fall. I love getting my sweaters out of storage. So, all of my decorations are Fall decorations - not Halloween decorations.
We didn't do much. John and I went to the store and picked out two pumpkins for the front porch. We were going to carve the pumpkins, but then got busy and didn't get around to it. So, we've had some pumpkins sitting on the front steps for a few weeks now.
Next, we went and bought a fall wreath to hang on the door. That wreath makes me happy every time I see it - red and orange and glittery!
That was about it. John had a study session last night, so he didn't come home in time for trick-or-treaters. I'd filled two large bowls of candy to give out, and changed into a t-shirt with a big pumpkin on it, and that was it for me.
Unfortunately, I ran out of candy far too soon, but that's my fault. The first 20-30 kids who came by got a large handful of candy, before I realized that I really should be stretching the candy out. I managed to last a bit longer when I started giving each kid 3-4 pieces of candy, but I still closed up much earlier than my neighbors. Oh well.
I'm a little bummed about it, but considering it was my very first time EVER? I'll know better next year.
And as far as I'm concerned? John totally missed out.
Last night was my very first Halloween.
My family didn't "do" Halloween when I was growing up. We never decorated, we never dressed up, we never trick-or-treated. In fact, I think I remember missing out on some of the halloween activities in elementary/middle school because of a note from home.
When we got married, John and I never really talked about Halloween, except to agree that we didn't want to do Halloween at our place. That neighborhood was scary! Any kids that we might get (and we never expected any - especially after dark) more than likely went to better neighborhoods.
But this year ... we have a nice house in a quiet little subdivision, and we knew that we'd get trick-or-treaters. And we decided ... that's okay.
So, the first order of business was decorating.
Honestly, I love fall - I love the weather, I love the colors, I love just about everything fall. I love getting my sweaters out of storage. So, all of my decorations are Fall decorations - not Halloween decorations.
We didn't do much. John and I went to the store and picked out two pumpkins for the front porch. We were going to carve the pumpkins, but then got busy and didn't get around to it. So, we've had some pumpkins sitting on the front steps for a few weeks now.
Next, we went and bought a fall wreath to hang on the door. That wreath makes me happy every time I see it - red and orange and glittery!
 |
| Welcome! |
That was about it. John had a study session last night, so he didn't come home in time for trick-or-treaters. I'd filled two large bowls of candy to give out, and changed into a t-shirt with a big pumpkin on it, and that was it for me.
Unfortunately, I ran out of candy far too soon, but that's my fault. The first 20-30 kids who came by got a large handful of candy, before I realized that I really should be stretching the candy out. I managed to last a bit longer when I started giving each kid 3-4 pieces of candy, but I still closed up much earlier than my neighbors. Oh well.
I'm a little bummed about it, but considering it was my very first time EVER? I'll know better next year.
And as far as I'm concerned? John totally missed out.
Friday, November 2, 2012
A little bit of pampering
A few weeks ago, John mentioned to me that I never seem happy anymore.
That really hit me between the eyes. And started a few weeks of soul-searching.
There are so many things that I should be happy about - my husband, my dog, my house, my job, my coworkers, my brother. Everything with us seem to be going well.
But I was dwelling on the things that weren't going well. My parents have been having marital trouble - and I'm very seriously considering breaking contact with my dad. (Not gonna happen right now, but considering it). I've developed social anxiety over the past year or so that hits me sometimes with the force of a two-by-four. I just recently found out that I have PCOS, and without treatment (and even with treatment), there's a distinct possibility that I can never get pregnant. The medication for that makes me exhausted and nauseous, and honestly neither John nor I think its working. I've gained about 40 pounds in the past four years, and have been feeling overweight and ugly.
John told me that he wants me to do things that make me happy. To take care of myself, so that I feel better.
So ... I am.
I am focusing on things that make me happy. I got my hair cut - and highlighted. I've never had color put into my hair before. And I love it! I bought new make-up and am experimenting with eye shadow. I'm not quite sure what I think about it, but I'm having fun looking different. I'm proud of myself for figuring out how I want to look, and putting in the time and effort to get there. I'm proud of myself for figuring out that by putting a pinch of mousse into my hair, I can prevent fly-aways. I've started counting calories, and keeping an eye on what I eat - the only thing in the past few years that has worked for me in losing weight. Tonight I'm going to a jewelry party - hosted by one of the ladies in my church - where I will spend some money buying myself some jewelry that I like.
I've considered and looked into finding a therapist for my social anxiety, although I'm not going to act on that until after January because of work issues. I've got an appointment with my Ob/Gyn in two weeks, where I'm sure we'll have a serious talk about my medications and some decisions will be made. And I've handled learning that my sister-in-law is pregnant by crying in the shower for 30 minutes before getting a hug from John, and us talking about it, and coming to the realization that God is in control. He saw it fit that my brother and sister-in-law have a baby, and that John and I have to wait a bit longer. I just need to trust His timing. And now I'm ready to be happy for her, and to get excited about becoming an aunt. (John, by the way, is beside himself with excitement!)
I'm forgiving myself for when I make a mistake. For when the house isn't clean, or the laundry isn't done, or dinner isn't cooked. I'm realizing that John and I are in a unique place in our lives - that really no one else near us is in this place we're in. As such, it's okay that I don't have any close friends to spend time with and talk with. That will come later as God wills it.
I'm thankful for God blessing my with my job - this job has opened up so many doors and the possibilities spread before me are astounding.
Yes, this is a self-centered post. This serves more as a reminder to me to focus on the things that are worthwhile; to take care of myself, so that I am better able to take care of others. And to remind myself that it's okay to make mistakes - every day is a chance to do better and start over.
And it's also a bit of a commitment. That I will lose weight - I want to be down to at least 140 pounds by my brother's wedding. That I will take care of myself, and not feel guilty about spending a little bit of time or money on myself. And that I will forgive myself when I don't live up to the expectations I build for myself.
Wednesday, October 31, 2012
Lab Updates
John has decided that he does not want to work in the lab he is currently working in. While he says it's a good lab, and one that many of his classmates are interested in, it's not a good fit for him.
Besides the fact that the lab (or the building, we're not sure which) gives him headaches, he's decided he's not that interested in that field of research. Apparently it is one of the most difficult specialties to actually receive funding for, so it really is a declining field. If he went into this field of research, he'd constantly be struggling to get funding, and he'd constantly be worried about being "scooped" from other labs and researchers who are trying just as hard to get funding.
More and more, he is thinking that he'll end up in the first lab he rotated through. Although he had a rough start, he truly liked it there by the end. Once he left and saw other labs on campus, he's realized just how great that first lab was - and how those three weeks, even with the language barrier, left him better prepared and more knowledgeable about research techniques than his classmates.
Very few (if any) of his classmates are interested in that first lab. All of them (John included) had heard negative things about the lab. But John traced all those negative things back to one grad student in the lab, whose initial research didn't work out, and ended up in a position in the lab that she hates. And the things in the lab that she hates, are things that John actually kinda likes. She's been scaring grad students away from this lab - a lab with plenty of money, resources, and a willingness to teach a grad student - for the past 3-4 years. The PI of the lab is beside himself; he can't understand why no one is going into his lab.
The PI met with John on the last day of his three-week rotation, and promised him three things:
Another cool thing? The primary language in the lab is Mandarin Chinese. John and I have been interested in learning Chinese for the past two years - we've got the Rosetta Stone Mandarin software that we've been going through off and on for about a year now. There is no better place in this country to learn Mandarin than in a lab populated primarily by native Mandarin speakers. If John could leave grad school with a good degree and knowing Mandarin ... that would be so amazing, and would make him stand out to no end.
We also learned that two of the researchers in that lab live about two houses down from us. We haven't actually met them yet, but if John does go in that lab, I'm sure we will at some point.
So ... now John's approaching his next few lab rotations as though they need to prove to him that they are better than that first lab. Right now? That seems a rather high goal to reach.
Besides the fact that the lab (or the building, we're not sure which) gives him headaches, he's decided he's not that interested in that field of research. Apparently it is one of the most difficult specialties to actually receive funding for, so it really is a declining field. If he went into this field of research, he'd constantly be struggling to get funding, and he'd constantly be worried about being "scooped" from other labs and researchers who are trying just as hard to get funding.
More and more, he is thinking that he'll end up in the first lab he rotated through. Although he had a rough start, he truly liked it there by the end. Once he left and saw other labs on campus, he's realized just how great that first lab was - and how those three weeks, even with the language barrier, left him better prepared and more knowledgeable about research techniques than his classmates.
Very few (if any) of his classmates are interested in that first lab. All of them (John included) had heard negative things about the lab. But John traced all those negative things back to one grad student in the lab, whose initial research didn't work out, and ended up in a position in the lab that she hates. And the things in the lab that she hates, are things that John actually kinda likes. She's been scaring grad students away from this lab - a lab with plenty of money, resources, and a willingness to teach a grad student - for the past 3-4 years. The PI of the lab is beside himself; he can't understand why no one is going into his lab.
The PI met with John on the last day of his three-week rotation, and promised him three things:
- John will graduate in 4-5 years.
- John will be researching something that matters, with great possibilities for getting published in high-profile journals.
- John will not have to worry about money. If John wants to research something that costs a million dollars, they can do that.
Another cool thing? The primary language in the lab is Mandarin Chinese. John and I have been interested in learning Chinese for the past two years - we've got the Rosetta Stone Mandarin software that we've been going through off and on for about a year now. There is no better place in this country to learn Mandarin than in a lab populated primarily by native Mandarin speakers. If John could leave grad school with a good degree and knowing Mandarin ... that would be so amazing, and would make him stand out to no end.
We also learned that two of the researchers in that lab live about two houses down from us. We haven't actually met them yet, but if John does go in that lab, I'm sure we will at some point.
So ... now John's approaching his next few lab rotations as though they need to prove to him that they are better than that first lab. Right now? That seems a rather high goal to reach.
Tuesday, October 30, 2012
Normal again - and all it took was some caffeine
So, I've been caffeine-free for the past several years - ever since my sophomore year of college, actually.
It started completely by accident. I don't drink coffee or tea, and the only soda's that I liked back then were sprite and root beer. The cafeteria at college didn't offer root beer, so I just drank sprite whenever I got a soda. Without my even realizing it, months passed with no caffeine being injected into my system.
I didn't realize what was going on until my sophomore year. I had a big day, full of tests that I was dreading. But the night before I was completely exhausted, and I went to bed about midnight, with the plan that I would get up early the next morning and get some more study time in. So, 5 AM comes, I drag myself out of bed, go down to the vending machine, and buy a nice 20oz Code Red Mountain Dew.
And drink the whole thing.
By 6:30 AM, when my roommates started stirring, I was so worked up that I couldn't sit still. I tried resting my eyes for a bit, but as soon as I did the world started spinning and I felt like I was falling.
Somehow I made it through my morning classes.
By lunchtime, I was still so jittery I was shaking. I'm surprised that the essay test I had in History was readable!
By 4 PM I'd stopped shaking, but was still super jumpy. Jumpy enough that my co-workers were commenting (and laughing).
I didn't fall asleep that night until 3 AM the next morning.
After all that? I stopped drinking caffeine.
Skip ahead a few years. A few months ago, I started taking this medication that makes me tired. No, tired is too casual a word ... exhausted. We'd take Honey for a walk around the block, and I'd need a nap as soon as we got back. It hasn't been fun.
So I've been slowly adding caffeine back into my diet. A few weeks ago I started drinking a coca-cola everyday - and actually started feeling good again! I could get things done! I wasn't being a lazy bum and laying around the house all day!
Still, drinking that much coke isn't very healthy ... so John and I started discussing options. Coffee is out - although I'd love the energy boost that it would give me, I just cannot stand the taste. As for tea - I'd never found a tea that I liked. I like Chai Tea Lattes, but those aren't much healthier than Cokes!
This past weekend, I bought some Twinings of London Chai Tea bags, and started drinking that tea. I'm not going to say that it's good - but it's drinkable. (John says it's really good tea, though.) I still need to add some cream and sugar to the tea, but I'm hoping over time to wean myself down.
The tea doesn't give me as much of a caffeine energy jolt as the Coke does, but it's more stable. I can drink a cup of tea and get my work done.
I feel normal again. And it's wonderful!
It started completely by accident. I don't drink coffee or tea, and the only soda's that I liked back then were sprite and root beer. The cafeteria at college didn't offer root beer, so I just drank sprite whenever I got a soda. Without my even realizing it, months passed with no caffeine being injected into my system.
I didn't realize what was going on until my sophomore year. I had a big day, full of tests that I was dreading. But the night before I was completely exhausted, and I went to bed about midnight, with the plan that I would get up early the next morning and get some more study time in. So, 5 AM comes, I drag myself out of bed, go down to the vending machine, and buy a nice 20oz Code Red Mountain Dew.
And drink the whole thing.
 |
| Insert "Caffeine" in place of "Red Bull", and that about describes it. |
By 6:30 AM, when my roommates started stirring, I was so worked up that I couldn't sit still. I tried resting my eyes for a bit, but as soon as I did the world started spinning and I felt like I was falling.
Somehow I made it through my morning classes.
By lunchtime, I was still so jittery I was shaking. I'm surprised that the essay test I had in History was readable!
By 4 PM I'd stopped shaking, but was still super jumpy. Jumpy enough that my co-workers were commenting (and laughing).
I didn't fall asleep that night until 3 AM the next morning.
After all that? I stopped drinking caffeine.
Skip ahead a few years. A few months ago, I started taking this medication that makes me tired. No, tired is too casual a word ... exhausted. We'd take Honey for a walk around the block, and I'd need a nap as soon as we got back. It hasn't been fun.
 |
| This has been me. |
So I've been slowly adding caffeine back into my diet. A few weeks ago I started drinking a coca-cola everyday - and actually started feeling good again! I could get things done! I wasn't being a lazy bum and laying around the house all day!
Still, drinking that much coke isn't very healthy ... so John and I started discussing options. Coffee is out - although I'd love the energy boost that it would give me, I just cannot stand the taste. As for tea - I'd never found a tea that I liked. I like Chai Tea Lattes, but those aren't much healthier than Cokes!
This past weekend, I bought some Twinings of London Chai Tea bags, and started drinking that tea. I'm not going to say that it's good - but it's drinkable. (John says it's really good tea, though.) I still need to add some cream and sugar to the tea, but I'm hoping over time to wean myself down.
The tea doesn't give me as much of a caffeine energy jolt as the Coke does, but it's more stable. I can drink a cup of tea and get my work done.
I feel normal again. And it's wonderful!
Thursday, October 25, 2012
In which a frustrating and embarrassing situation all works out in the end - kinda
My sister-in-law does amazing things with coupons. She's constantly giving away stuff that she got free or freakishly inexpensive because she had a coupon.
Me? I can barely drag myself to the store to get food, let alone plan ahead enough to hunt down coupons! I mean, I like saving money, but I just can't build up any enthusiasm about the whole process.
My version of coupon-searching is looking at the Kroger website prior to going shopping, and downloading some coupons onto my card. If I'm feeling majorly ambitious, I'll head over to the Kroger (and maybe Publix) websites and look at their weekly ads.
Just so I'm buying seasonal stuff, of course. After all, can't expect Easter Eggs when they're selling Halloween candy.
Yesterday evening I went to the store with a mission. I had at least $10 worth of coupons, and between that plus what was on sale at Kroger, I was looking forward to spending and saving some money. (That, and we had no food in the house.)
I spent about an hour and a half wandering Kroger, meticulously crossing things off my list, marking things that I'd have to go to Publix to get, and making triple sure that the items I was getting matched the coupons. Finally, exhausted, I headed to the checkout.
The lady rang up my groceries. I reached in my bag ...
to find no wallet. No ID, no credit card, nothing. I did have my checkbook, but without my ID, it would do me no good.
I was so utterly embarrassed.
The checkout lady (a very nice lady named Marie) kindly told me that she'd keep the cart in the cooler for me, so that I could go look for my ID. I thanked her, and left the store, wondering frantically where my wallet was!
Well, it wasn't in the car. And it wasn't at home. John got home about an hour or so later, and we found it in his car, but by that point, it was so late that there was no point in going back to the store.
I almost forgot about it ... until I went looking for a bedtime snack, and remembered why I'd gone to the store in the first place.
The worse thing? I lost all those coupons.
Me? I can barely drag myself to the store to get food, let alone plan ahead enough to hunt down coupons! I mean, I like saving money, but I just can't build up any enthusiasm about the whole process.
My version of coupon-searching is looking at the Kroger website prior to going shopping, and downloading some coupons onto my card. If I'm feeling majorly ambitious, I'll head over to the Kroger (and maybe Publix) websites and look at their weekly ads.
Just so I'm buying seasonal stuff, of course. After all, can't expect Easter Eggs when they're selling Halloween candy.
Yesterday evening I went to the store with a mission. I had at least $10 worth of coupons, and between that plus what was on sale at Kroger, I was looking forward to spending and saving some money. (That, and we had no food in the house.)
I spent about an hour and a half wandering Kroger, meticulously crossing things off my list, marking things that I'd have to go to Publix to get, and making triple sure that the items I was getting matched the coupons. Finally, exhausted, I headed to the checkout.
The lady rang up my groceries. I reached in my bag ...
to find no wallet. No ID, no credit card, nothing. I did have my checkbook, but without my ID, it would do me no good.
I was so utterly embarrassed.
The checkout lady (a very nice lady named Marie) kindly told me that she'd keep the cart in the cooler for me, so that I could go look for my ID. I thanked her, and left the store, wondering frantically where my wallet was!
Well, it wasn't in the car. And it wasn't at home. John got home about an hour or so later, and we found it in his car, but by that point, it was so late that there was no point in going back to the store.
I almost forgot about it ... until I went looking for a bedtime snack, and remembered why I'd gone to the store in the first place.
The worse thing? I lost all those coupons.
Wednesday, October 24, 2012
Little Bits of Drama
Here are some small dramas that are happening right now.
My Work:
I'm in the middle of a company merger/consolidation. Thankfully I have a job afterwards, but that's not the case for everyone. I'm working with various committees to make sure everything transitions smoothly; which I honestly enjoy since I like knowing the details behind things. But that's not the drama.
The drama is that one side of the company (the one I'm on) backed out of a planned joint event at the last moment, and now the other side is offended. The people on my side are frustrated and annoyed because the other side keeps harping on it, while the people on the other side hasn't been directly told why my side backed out. I'm in the middle, attempting mediation. I managed to get our side calm enough to agree to address the issue calmly at the next meeting. Let's hope the other side can react in a similar fashion. This particular drama has been going on too long.
UPDATE: Another situation exactly like this has just landed on my desk. Argh! We haven't finished cleaning up the last one!
John's School:
Most of John's classmates are amazing. Very intelligent people from all over the world, who have also been kind enough to "adopt" me into their group. The fact that I make them cookies doesn't hurt!
But some of his classmates are causing trouble in the lectures. Some don't show up to lecture at all, even though there is a strict attendance policy (3 absences = failure). Others spend the lecture interrupting the professor with stupid questions. For instance, the professor explains a picture on the powerpoint. The student raises their hand and asks, "Can you explain that picture?" Not even exaggerating. That happened.
Those questions mean that the professor can't cover everything the professor needs to cover for the test. Those same students have been known to raise their hand and say, "Excuse me, professor, but class ends in 5 minutes. Can you just tell us what will be on the test?" AFTER they had spent the whole two hours interrupting with stupid questions so that the professor got behind.
John's Labs:
John is in his second lab rotation, and although he says it's a good lab, he doesn't think it's a good fit for him. We've been having an on/off discussion over the past few days about what he wants and expects out of a lab. For some reason, even though we were talking, we weren't communicating, and both of us were getting frustrated with the other one.
Thankfully, we finally had a breakthrough last night and were able to talk it out. We're good now.
On a completely different note, John and I decided that I need to try various types of tea. The only tea I've ever tried is the tea made in the south, and I do not like it at all. It tastes and feels like flavored water, and often leaves a bitter aftertaste.
I do like Chai tea, but can't drink that all the time due to how many calories are in it. (But if I could, I would. So good!)
So, probably starting soon I'll be trying various types of tea to decide if there is a tea out there I can drink. I wonder if there is a place nearby where I could get samples...
My Work:
I'm in the middle of a company merger/consolidation. Thankfully I have a job afterwards, but that's not the case for everyone. I'm working with various committees to make sure everything transitions smoothly; which I honestly enjoy since I like knowing the details behind things. But that's not the drama.
The drama is that one side of the company (the one I'm on) backed out of a planned joint event at the last moment, and now the other side is offended. The people on my side are frustrated and annoyed because the other side keeps harping on it, while the people on the other side hasn't been directly told why my side backed out. I'm in the middle, attempting mediation. I managed to get our side calm enough to agree to address the issue calmly at the next meeting. Let's hope the other side can react in a similar fashion. This particular drama has been going on too long.
UPDATE: Another situation exactly like this has just landed on my desk. Argh! We haven't finished cleaning up the last one!
John's School:
Most of John's classmates are amazing. Very intelligent people from all over the world, who have also been kind enough to "adopt" me into their group. The fact that I make them cookies doesn't hurt!
But some of his classmates are causing trouble in the lectures. Some don't show up to lecture at all, even though there is a strict attendance policy (3 absences = failure). Others spend the lecture interrupting the professor with stupid questions. For instance, the professor explains a picture on the powerpoint. The student raises their hand and asks, "Can you explain that picture?" Not even exaggerating. That happened.
 |
| This seems apt. |
Those questions mean that the professor can't cover everything the professor needs to cover for the test. Those same students have been known to raise their hand and say, "Excuse me, professor, but class ends in 5 minutes. Can you just tell us what will be on the test?" AFTER they had spent the whole two hours interrupting with stupid questions so that the professor got behind.
John's Labs:
John is in his second lab rotation, and although he says it's a good lab, he doesn't think it's a good fit for him. We've been having an on/off discussion over the past few days about what he wants and expects out of a lab. For some reason, even though we were talking, we weren't communicating, and both of us were getting frustrated with the other one.
Thankfully, we finally had a breakthrough last night and were able to talk it out. We're good now.
On a completely different note, John and I decided that I need to try various types of tea. The only tea I've ever tried is the tea made in the south, and I do not like it at all. It tastes and feels like flavored water, and often leaves a bitter aftertaste.
I do like Chai tea, but can't drink that all the time due to how many calories are in it. (But if I could, I would. So good!)
So, probably starting soon I'll be trying various types of tea to decide if there is a tea out there I can drink. I wonder if there is a place nearby where I could get samples...
Tuesday, October 23, 2012
We Bought a House - Part Three
So, where were we?
We put an offer on the house the first week in May, with a closing date of May 24th - which just happened to be our 4th wedding anniversary! Obviously it was meant to be!
Various drama abounded throughout the month ... after approving and entering into the contract, the seller became angry at her realtor for "letting her sell so low". I worked on projects at work that required 60+ hours a week for two weeks, as well as tried to pack up the house and clean it and get ready to move!
John spent the month working his summer job, which changed from 20 hours a week afternoons to 50 hours a week days and weekends, as well as juggling finances to deal with the last minute costs of moving and the down payment.
But the biggest headache/project, was figuring out the flooring for the house. Because they were not allowed to sell the house without flooring, the contract stipulated that we would receive $5000 to get flooring installed. After much discussion with the banks, and countless hours at Lowes (we got to know the guys in the flooring department really well. They're awesome, by the way!), we decided to have laminate installed throughout the house, with carpet in the bedrooms. There was a very cheap linoleum already in the bathrooms, so we'd leave that as is, and at a later date install tile.
The problem all came down to timing. We couldn't get the money to pay for everything until the closing - but Lowe's couldn't order the laminate that we needed until they were paid. The flooring had to be installed within a week of the closing, but Lowe's delivery time was about 2-3 weeks. It wasn't happening.
John brought up the idea of Lumber Liquidators for the laminate; they had a store that he passed on the way to work. We went over there, and they were happy to work with us. We ended up putting all the laminate on a credit card, and then getting re-imbursed by the bank at the closing.
We had also received permission to install the flooring ourselves - saving on the installation costs, and allowing us to get a higher quality flooring. Between the carpet from Lowe's and the laminate from Lumber Liquidators, we spent the entire $5000.
We closed late afternoon on Thursday, May 24th. John wasn't able to get off work, so I went to the closing by myself, armed with my cell phone and my in-laws phone number. (John's parents love working with real estate, and have bought and sold numerous houses. They were super helpful giving advice throughout the whole process!). I even called John's mom at one point during the closing because I got confused, and she was able to explain things to me much better than the lawyer.
So, we got the best anniversary gift ever! A new house!
And immediately went to work. We had a deadline to get the flooring in!
We spent Thursday and Friday evenings cleaning and sealing the floors throughout the house. John's dad came to visit for a few hours on Saturday, and he showed us how to install the laminate. My brother came for a few days to help us, and we spent the next 5 days working like crazy to get the laminate installed. Lowe's came and installed the carpeting about half-way through the process.
Ready for some pictures?
Doesn't the laminate look nice? Throughout most of the house, John did
all the cutting with the saw, and I did most all the actual placement
and installation. My brother helped for a few days, and John did some
installation in the trickiest parts.
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| We chose "Blacksburg Barn Board" as our laminate. It's gorgeous! |
The hardest part, I think was getting started. We didn't really know what we were doing at first, and the fireplace tiles were interesting to work around.
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| Looking into the dining room. |
We set up the table saw in the front bedroom instead of the garage to save the air conditioner. It was already 90+ degrees outside - we saw no reason to air condition the garage!
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| We still had a long way to go. You can see my brother in the top left. |
Here is a shot after about the third night of hard work. It's a bit hard to see, but the corner on the left goes into the Master Bedroom, and is a triangular shaped nook. That plus the doorway made cutting the pieces to size a bit tricky. I was so proud of John when he figured it out!
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| We're making progress! |
Most evenings we brought Honey with us. Since we were working like crazy, we hated the thought of her being home alone in the evenings as well as the days. Plus, this gave her a chance to get used to the new house. Of course, she wasn't too sure about the whole thing.
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| With no furniture, there's no place for me to hide from the loud table saw. Except outside, but I don't want to go there in case you leave me. |
She wasn't quite sure what to make of all this. Whenever we stayed late working and she got tired (SHE got tired, lol), she'd go hide in a closet where it was dark and take a nap. Several nights I had to go find her so we could go home.
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| Can we go home now? It's bedtime. |
It took John forever to figure out the closets. I'm still not sure why, but for some reason it was complicated. The fact that this was our 4th night of hard work and we were exhausted didn't help, I'm sure.
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| Almost there! You can see the carpet has been installed by now, too! |
With the carpet, we also purchased a new fridge and dishwasher at Lowe's. John wanted to buy me a new stove instead of a new dishwasher, but I refused. I can learn how to cook on an old stove as long as it works. But I want a good dishwasher - the one in the other house had been annoying me since we got it.
Thankfully, he agreed. And after a great deal of bleach and elbow grease, the old stove works just fine.
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| We left the linoleum by the garage door and laundry room, and will tile that later. |
I had to include this shot. This was just after we'd put the last piece of laminate in. It was 1 am, and we were so exhausted we could hardly drive home. We still needed to do all the thresholds and put the baseboards back up. And clean and actually move. But the floor was in!
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| Hooray!! I think we went to Sonic on the way home to get some celebratory milkshakes! |
And finally: some finished shots:
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| Looking toward the front door, with Honey |
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| The front door, all finished |
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| Looking toward the kitchen and eating area. |
Even with just the floors done, the house was so much nicer! Next up: We're finally moving in!!
Monday, October 22, 2012
In which I have to choose between posting something mediocre or not posting anything. Guess which one I choose.
I have nothing really to say today.
John is starting his new lab today ... he was a bit concerned this weekend because he hadn't heard from the PI in the lab, and thought that maybe the PI had double-booked students. I haven't heard from John today except for a brief email saying he didn't know when he'd be done. So, he's in lab somewhere!
I spent the weekend baking and baking and walking and baking. Silly me couldn't for the life of me remember whether I normally follow the recipe for sugar cookies and use powdered sugar, or regular sugar. So I used regular sugar. Mistake. They still taste good, but they aren't amazing. I'm still a bit upset about it.
Not enough to remake the 60 cookies sitting in my freezer, though.
Saturday we went to the local park and took Honey for a walk - we walked about four miles. Then Sunday evening we met up with one of John's classmates and his girlfriend and their dog, and all went for another walk for about 2 miles. It was one of those situations where we really shouldn't have gone because both John and I had stuff to get done before Monday ... but we didn't want to push off the relationship that we're trying to build.
Of course, they might completely shun us after John brought up politics. But, probably not. Hopefully not.
I am thinking and writing in very choppy, incomplete sentences today. I think it's because today's Monday. Or the fact that I'm only now getting caffeine into my system.
John is starting his new lab today ... he was a bit concerned this weekend because he hadn't heard from the PI in the lab, and thought that maybe the PI had double-booked students. I haven't heard from John today except for a brief email saying he didn't know when he'd be done. So, he's in lab somewhere!
I spent the weekend baking and baking and walking and baking. Silly me couldn't for the life of me remember whether I normally follow the recipe for sugar cookies and use powdered sugar, or regular sugar. So I used regular sugar. Mistake. They still taste good, but they aren't amazing. I'm still a bit upset about it.
Not enough to remake the 60 cookies sitting in my freezer, though.
Saturday we went to the local park and took Honey for a walk - we walked about four miles. Then Sunday evening we met up with one of John's classmates and his girlfriend and their dog, and all went for another walk for about 2 miles. It was one of those situations where we really shouldn't have gone because both John and I had stuff to get done before Monday ... but we didn't want to push off the relationship that we're trying to build.
Of course, they might completely shun us after John brought up politics. But, probably not. Hopefully not.
I am thinking and writing in very choppy, incomplete sentences today. I think it's because today's Monday. Or the fact that I'm only now getting caffeine into my system.
Friday, October 19, 2012
Oops
Just a quick note to say that John came home and announced that he'd read the calendar wrong. The GSO needs all those cookies next weekend, not tomorrow.
Sigh.
I just packaged all the cookie dough up and stuck it in the freezer. Guess what we're doing next Friday?
Sigh.
I just packaged all the cookie dough up and stuck it in the freezer. Guess what we're doing next Friday?
Rambling at the end of the week
We made 60 sugar cookies last night ... well, we almost made 60 cookies. They are currently chilling in the fridge, and still need to be baked in the oven. Besides my brief panic attack that the recipe called for powdered sugar instead of regular sugar like I had thought ... it went well. I'll make another few batches tonight while baking. I did take some pictures - but my camera battery died before I could finish. It's charging now.
Today is John's last day in his first lab rotation, and they're taking him out to some Italian place downtown for lunch. Neither one of us have been there before, so he'll have to scout it out and see if we should go there together sometime. We were talking about the lab and his experiences in the lab. Yes, it was a good lab, and he could work in that lab. But, rules or no, English is not the main language in that lab. Even in the three weeks he was there, he'd come home frustrated because he'd made a mistake because he didn't understand what someone told him. He doesn't need that additional barrier for the next 4-5 years.
He's super excited about his next lab - I think it's diabetes research - and from what he's heard, this lab will work him a lot harder than the first one. On the one hand, this is good; he's been a bit bored lately. On the other, he probably won't be able to get as much studying done during the afternoon, and will have to study more in the evenings.
I've been trying to find a good podcast to listen to while at work. For some reason, I haven't really wanted to listen to music lately. Let me just say ... Itunes is not user friendly at all when it comes to podcasts. It's impossible to peruse or find ratings easily.
Either that, or I'm completely useless when it comes to Itunes.
I'm looking forward to the weekend. Baking makes me happy. Happier than cooking, anyway. It's nice to have something really good as a result of your efforts.
Today is John's last day in his first lab rotation, and they're taking him out to some Italian place downtown for lunch. Neither one of us have been there before, so he'll have to scout it out and see if we should go there together sometime. We were talking about the lab and his experiences in the lab. Yes, it was a good lab, and he could work in that lab. But, rules or no, English is not the main language in that lab. Even in the three weeks he was there, he'd come home frustrated because he'd made a mistake because he didn't understand what someone told him. He doesn't need that additional barrier for the next 4-5 years.
He's super excited about his next lab - I think it's diabetes research - and from what he's heard, this lab will work him a lot harder than the first one. On the one hand, this is good; he's been a bit bored lately. On the other, he probably won't be able to get as much studying done during the afternoon, and will have to study more in the evenings.
I've been trying to find a good podcast to listen to while at work. For some reason, I haven't really wanted to listen to music lately. Let me just say ... Itunes is not user friendly at all when it comes to podcasts. It's impossible to peruse or find ratings easily.
Either that, or I'm completely useless when it comes to Itunes.
I'm looking forward to the weekend. Baking makes me happy. Happier than cooking, anyway. It's nice to have something really good as a result of your efforts.
Thursday, October 18, 2012
Let's get ready to .... bake!
It's Cookie Time!!!
Actually, John and I are going to be spending the next few days baking as many cookies as we can. John volunteered me to bake 4 dozen cookies for a GSO event on Saturday (the Graduate Student Organization Fall Festival), and then signed me up to bring something to a luncheon at church on Sunday. Monday, we're having a lunch party at work to celebrate Boss's day and two office birthdays for the month of October.
So ... Cookies for everyone!
Yesterday I picked up some ingredients and handy tools to help us make a bunch of cookies - like a cookie cooling rack. I'd been using the rack from my toaster oven, but that's not really ideal. I also tried to find some cookie cutters, but either Publix doesn't stock cookie cutters or I was looking in all the wrong places. Maybe I can get John to run to the drugstore to pick some up.
Since John is the one that volunteered me - I've roped him into helping me bake. Tonight we're going to make up a whole bunch of cookie batter to chill overnight. Friday night we're going to actually bake everything, and possibly create more batter.
Thankfully we don't have to decorate the cookies - the whole point is to have cookies for people to decorate at the fair.
I'm super excited. I will try to remember to take pictures so that I can post pictures with the recipe.
Actually, John and I are going to be spending the next few days baking as many cookies as we can. John volunteered me to bake 4 dozen cookies for a GSO event on Saturday (the Graduate Student Organization Fall Festival), and then signed me up to bring something to a luncheon at church on Sunday. Monday, we're having a lunch party at work to celebrate Boss's day and two office birthdays for the month of October.
So ... Cookies for everyone!
Yesterday I picked up some ingredients and handy tools to help us make a bunch of cookies - like a cookie cooling rack. I'd been using the rack from my toaster oven, but that's not really ideal. I also tried to find some cookie cutters, but either Publix doesn't stock cookie cutters or I was looking in all the wrong places. Maybe I can get John to run to the drugstore to pick some up.
Since John is the one that volunteered me - I've roped him into helping me bake. Tonight we're going to make up a whole bunch of cookie batter to chill overnight. Friday night we're going to actually bake everything, and possibly create more batter.
Thankfully we don't have to decorate the cookies - the whole point is to have cookies for people to decorate at the fair.
I'm super excited. I will try to remember to take pictures so that I can post pictures with the recipe.
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