Archive for July, 2008

party time: day 13

Saturday, July 19th, 2008

Sat on the top ‘not-a-step’ of my 6-foot ladder and lived to tell the tale. Work on my bathroom started today. And my ceilings now look fabulous.

Day 13 was a much, much better day than the horrible 12. Even if my neck has now failed. I have decided to never paint a ceiling that large again. Ever.

Will be heading to Home Depot later to buy the wall paint, now that I picked a color (I call it purple, he calls it gray) that the husband has agreed to.

And I’m so looking forward to a shower once the bathroom men turn my water back on …

Party time: day 12 part 2

Saturday, July 19th, 2008

Broke the internets (or at least the antenna on my router). So the blogs are being written in old-fashioned word, until the mail man brings me my new internets.

Overall, the day was bad, and the husband came home after a bad day at work. And so we did what any couple does after a double-bad day: we went to Maggie Moos for a shake and a little piece of heaven.  

I tried the dark chocolate, fudge, strawberry and nut concoction – and it is the best thing ever. Total chocolate buzz on the first bite. I am in love with Maggie Moos dark chocolate. Even if I can only eat 6 bites before my intestines pitch a fit. It is sooooooooo worth it. Especially after a bad day.

party time sucks: day 12

Tuesday, July 15th, 2008

Up early for more patching and sanding and cleaning off dust and patching and sanding and cleaning off dust.

I hate this part of painting.  I rather like painting itself.  But I sure could do without all the prep.

My ceiling patching efforts aren’t getting rid of the ceiling crack.

And the cats will NOT leave me alone.  Right now, as I type, Havok is cramming his entire body on the 4 square inches available on my lap, between my arms and the laptop.  Because he knows that as soon as he steps or sits on my laptop, I will usher him away.

And my vacuum cleaner broke.  That’s right, my 5-year-old $50 Wal-Mart vacuum cleaner that nobody even makes bags for anymore broke.  The vacuum cleaner that I NEED in order to get rid of all the dust I am generating.  Oh, and buckets of cat hair.  I do not want buckets of cat hair in the basement once I start painting.  Cat hair and paint do not mix.  I already have basement trim full of dog hair (courtesy of previous owners).  I do not want to add cat hair to the mix.

I am toying with the idea of running to BB&B for a 20% off dyson.  Because, you know, I’m not earning any money at the moment.  And what better thing to do than SAVE $100 on a vacuum cleaner that doesn’t lose suction.  Because my current vacuum cleaner has given all its suction away.

Grrr.  I think I might be about ready for a real job …

party time: day 11

Monday, July 14th, 2008

Time to get to work!  Woke up “early” (a hair before 7) to beat the garbage man.  Gathered up all the trash, scooped the kitty poo, and ran out to the street in my jammies with plenty of time to spare.

Cleaned out the pink room (a 9×9 child’s bedroom that is painted pink, with a pink wall paper border, and pink mini-blinds), which mostly just meant actually filing all the stacks of paper that has collected over the last 6 months.  Discovered a reimbursement check dated January 17 that is no good after 180 days - today is day 179.  Who said bein’ unemployed doesn’t bring in any money? 

Moved the closet that I had previously moved to the basement on account of our mold issues up to the newly organized pink room.

After making about 30 trips up and down 2 flights of stairs, I was really cursing my decision to take all our clothes to the basement. 

Once the clothes were upstairs (the pink room looks better than it has in months, the cleaning ladies are in for quite the shock …) it was time to move everything out of the basement.

Oi.  Books are heavy.  As are bookcases.  And OMG, I totally discovered something new about the husband:  he has a TMNT sewer playground.  Like that he used to play with when he was 10.  Now, I’m not one to talk; I, myself, have an embarrassingly large lego collection.  I just didn’t know the husband had anything besides collectors-items-still-in-the-packaging toys.  That we are soooo gonna retire on.

Got a phone call from the bathroom man just so he could tell me that he didn’t have a start date for me yet.  Oh, and could I drop by a check for the over-budgeted tile amount?  Because once he orders the tile, THEN he can get me a start date.  Maybe.  If he feels like it.

Showered, paid the bathroom man, did some shopping at Lowes for pre-painting supplies (caulk and pink patching goop), and found some fabulous light fixtures!  So I bought 6.  And wished my dad was still here to show me how to install such things without killing myself.

Stopped off at the grocery store and bought all kinds of wonderful yumminess.  And found out that when you don’t stop off at the grocery store after work in a mad rush to get home in time to start dinner, the grocery store is quite a lovely place to leisurely meander. 

Got home just before the husband, and started dinner.  And did some dishes.

Washed the basement walls and doors (I know it’s not necessary, but the previous owners liked to fling lumpy goop all over the walls - and I don’t dust or de-cobweb …).  Helped the husband with some wow quests, then patched up some holes.  There’s still plenty more to patch up tomorrow.

party time: day 10

Monday, July 14th, 2008

Slept in (boy, doesn’t that sound familiar …) then got up to prepare a Sunday School lesson fit for 9 year olds.  And, seeing as they are 9, my lesson manual was very insistent that I leave out the most scandalous part.

Church was churchie, then I came home to get my warlock to 56. 

Made breakfast for dinner - which for the husband means biscuits, tater tots, bacon, eggs, and GRAVY - and for myself, bacon, eggs and toast. 

Watched an episode of Middle Man, which, if it weren’t summer, we probably wouldn’t be watching.  The characters are entertaining, if you can get over the power-rangers style “special” effects and fight scenes.

Played a little free-cell before bed, and then called it a night.

party time: day 9

Saturday, July 12th, 2008

Slept in to almost 9, then got up to do one more load of laundry and to get my wow on.  Caught an afternoon Hellboy II with the husband after lunch at the food court (five guys for him, texas bbq for myself).

Fish sticks and fries for dinner, some spiderman 3 on tv, and a little more wow-age.

I’ll get to the basement painting.  Next week.  Maybe.

party time: day 8

Saturday, July 12th, 2008

Woke up late (I love getting up at 7:30, wish I could do it in real life), with the determination to clean out some closets and drawers - and didn’t get very far.  Did about 8 loads of laundry and the dishes, however, so I did do something useful with myself.

Pulled some freezer montreal chicken out of the freezer to thaw (quart-sized ziploc, 2 tbsp olive oil, 3 tbsp montreal seasoning, 2 chicken breasts, freeze up to two months; thaw and cook at 400 degrees for 20 minutes).

Met up with my bathroom design consultant at Lowes to pick out shower hardware, towel bars, a toilet, mirrors and lighting.  Now all I need to do is schedule a start date …

Went to Target (because spending money is a fabulous idea when one is unemployed) to pick up some tums, milk and dishwasher detergent (so the dishes I loaded into the dishwasher could actually be washed).

Worked on my warlock for a bit, then cut up some potatoes for some home-made chips.  Enjoyed dinner and some ice cream, then spent the rest of the evening on more wow, some tv, and a little free cell.

Unemployment rocks!

found: too many unused electronics

Friday, July 11th, 2008

All negotiations for the following junk-tronics must go through the husband.  He reserves the right to not part with any of the following:

  • Firewire card
  • Geforce 7900 Video card
  • 360 watt power supply
  • 16x cd-writer drive
  • Motorola Cable Modem
  • Netgear Wireless (G) Router
  • Kenwood car Stereo [kdc-mp8017, mp3 capable]
  • Alpine car  Stereo with ipod thingie [cda-9851 + kca-420i]
  • Directv receiver [D10-200]
  • 5 old cell phones

All this stuff has been sitting in closets for a year or more - which means we are most likely never going to make any good use of it.  Anything of value will eventually be ebay-ed, while things of no value will be recycled (the cell phones) or thrown away (directv receiver).

Any takers?  [This is meant for locals, specifically, the husband's friends.  Or mine, if I had any ...]

party time: day 7

Friday, July 11th, 2008

Slept in, and got up to find the dad watching a Burn Notice marathon.  Surfed the interwebz, balanced the checkbook, and played some freecell, before taking the dad out to buy a new camera bag and get lunch at the Tortilla Factory.

Returned home for some more Burn Notice, then checked the dad in to his flight online.  Used 15,000 miles to upgrade to first class - for a 6 hour, cross-country non-stop flight, not a bad deal.  Dropped the dad off at the airport for his first-class experience.

Ordered pizza for dinner, then knitted and caught up on my tivo list while the husband caught up on his wow.  Did some googling about painting ceilings (I wouldn’t bother, except the basement ceiling has cracks that need to be patched, as well as sporadic black marks).  Also, did a load of laundry so the husband can maintain his habit of wearing clothing to work and baked some more M&M cookies.

I sure could get used to this vacation thing.

party time: day 6

Thursday, July 10th, 2008

Got up early to stand in line for US Capitol tour tickets.  We snagged the 10:10 tour and found a bench on the hill to wait out our time.

Took the tour along with about a gazillion other people and saw some great art and architecture, as well as a fun acoustical feat (stand in one part of the old House room and hear someone speaking in another part).

Wandered over to the Smithsonian of the American Indian and got some lunch - fry bread and barley salad for me, and fry bread with buffalo chili for the dad - and then looked at the exhibits.  The first two floors are dedicated to a cafe and gift shops, but don’t let that fool you - there are more exhibits than my poor, tired feet could handle on the third and fourth floors.

We called it an early day, and headed home.  Stopped at the grocery store to pick up M&Ms, and made the cookies the husband has been talking about all week.

After the husband got home from work, we all went to see Wall-e and eat hot dogs and popcorn at the theater.  Cute movie, but not sure if it’s really the best movie of the year.

Another full day of vacation - and my feet are begging for a nice empty day of vacation …