Home Ownership - Year 6

As the date of the anniversary of our closing approaches, it's time once again to reflect back on what another year of home ownership has gotten us. This year really wasn't too bad. As I dumped the data from our Microsoft Money file, I was a little surprised at the relatively few big hits we had. It seems like every year something goes wrong that requires fixing. Year Six was no exception - the bathtub is the hall bathroom cracked and we had to replace the entire thing along with fixing a (related) leak in the basement. We also had some more flooding in the basement with the spring melt that required attention. But aside from that, nothing we spent money on was really a reaction to a catastrophic event. So that's good!

Here's a run-down of the big hitters this year:

New bathtub and surround in hall bathroom
(Acrylic with a surround that goes all the way to the ceiling)

Replaced Snow blower
(an Ariens)

Basement crack repair

We also took down a tree in the backyard at the request of our neighbor, replaced our flagpole after it was bent in a windstorm, replaced our memory foam mattress topper (it was time...), replaced the humidifier we use in the bedroom during the winter with one that didn't require a filter, and had a company come to spray for pests/spiders TWICE. Everything else household related was relatively small or just normal consumables. Not too shabby. If all goes according to plan, this time next year we should be in the middle of a deck demolition/patio building project!

La Tour, times three

1998, Paris

2003, Paris

2012, Las Vegas :-)

Gimme Five

Happy Anniversary!

(Even after five years, this picture still makes me crack up...)

Year Five

So, house, we've made it through year five.
In general, this year was not as exciting as some others. But we did get a pretty big facelift last summer, didn't we? Going from blue

to green

was a change.
Expenses related to that were almost all insurance claim covered, but we did have to pay our deductible and we decided to invest in gutter heater coils (to prevent icicles) and some new lighting outside as well. We had to replace the side access garage door because when they removed the siding around it it pretty much fell apart from so much bug and rot damage. Other outdoor improvements included some lawn mower and snow blower maintenance items, new grates for the grill (stainless!), and supplies for the now infamous adirondack chairs.
Indoors, we replaced the cabinet and towel rack in the hall bathroom, invested in a second set of sheets after one too many 3am "aah, the cat's barfing in bed" moments, and bought a special pet filter for the furnace. We had something of a ceiling fan saga in the living room, going through something like six fans in about a week. We had to replace our CO/fire alarms recently because the ones we had malfunctioned. We replaced the kitchen faucet AGAIN because of leakage. We just have no luck with that faucet... Big ticket items were a new Dyson vacuum cleaner we bought when yet another Bissell power cord pulled right out of the back of the machine and a new Keurig when the one we had stopped pulling water - a pump issue apparently.
All in all, not a bad year. I'm hoping this year will be pretty quiet - but the deck project is on the horizon!

Door County Trolley: Progressive Dinner Outing

Speaking of fun activities...

Last weekend we went up to Door County for a few days. We had booked the Progressive Dining Trolley Tour a few months ago and, of course, had no idea it would be so ridiculously gorgeous. It was just stellar weather. A lot of places weren't opened back up for the season yet, but it was kind of nice, just driving around, soaking in the atmosphere.

As for the trolley tour, If you're in the area and have the time I highly recommend you check it out. It was awesome!

The trolley picked us and the other 18 people in the group up at Lautenbach's Orchards and Winery (coincidentally, our favorite winery in the area!) at 5pm. We met everyone, chatted with the driver, and then headed off to appetizers. They advertise them as being at a "surprise location" and they're not kidding. I don't want to ruin it, but it'd be hard to give a review without mentioning where we went.

Appetizers were at the Hands On Art Studio in Fish Creek. We were definitely surprised, but absolutely pleasantly so. This was somewhere we'd been before and had even considered stopping in on this trip too. I invite you to revist Hazel, the adorable pot-bellied pig, and all the other animals from our first trip, in this post. After a mini tour (drawback of nice weather after snow? MUD!) we headed upstairs for some food. Studio-owner Cy is apparently a chef in his spare time and had put together some fabulous flat bread pizzas. I stuck with the blue cheese, pear, and canadian bacon one. There was also an asparagus and bacon, a vegetarian with tomatoes and eggplant, and one other one that I can't even remember. There were also some veggies with the greatest dip ever, shrimp cocktail, and all kinds of beverages. Just a wonderful spread. After eating too much we all set about decorating a wine glass. Yes, you don't just get food, you get a craft project as well!

I made a glass with humor:






(it's a cat and the back says "a Purr-fect glass" - it doesn't photograph well...)

And Adam made a pimp cup:


After the glasses were blown-dry and packed for safe keeping we headed back to the trolley and on to dinner. Now, when we booked the tour the website said that dinner was at Alexander's. At some point they must have changed that and we actually had dinner at The English Inn (which is literally right down the street from Alexander's.) It was wonderful. They had a long table set up for us toward the back of the restaurant so we got to wind our way through all these normal diners and get gawked at. That was cool. We had a choice of seven entrees (and a special) and all kinds of soup/salad/side options. Dinner also came with one glass of beer or wine. I went with the special which was a chicken Wellington and I had the Mandarin salad (greens with mandarin oranges and a really good honey mustard dressing.) Adam chose the Prime Rib and had the clam chowder which he declared excellent. We were seated at one end of the table and our end got a little rowdy at times. We were by two other couples who were great conversationalists. We had more than one uncontrollable laughter sessions... it was a lot of fun.

Given how much we'd consumed at appetizers, a lot of us didn't eat much of the dinner. I took almost all of the chicken Wellington home and I had it for lunch on Monday. Adam made it through his meat but left his potato behind. After we were done with dinner it was off to dessert at the Eagle Harbor Inn in Ephraim. They had three different desserts: A chocolate creme brulee, a cherry crumble of sorts, and a chocolate raspberry tart. I chose the chocolate raspberry, Adam had the cherry crumble. They were delicious. The coffee was pretty good too.

After desserts it was back to the trolley and back to the winery. We collected our glasses, said goodbye to our tour companions and headed back to our hotel in Sturgeon Bay.

This is without doubt a great way to experience a great evening of food and friendship in the area. No stress, no worries about being late, not being able to get in, figuring out a tip (all gratuties are included.) The three venues were top notch, the food was wonderful, I have nothing but superlative adjectives for the whole experience. Our tour guide/trolley driver was a great guy and the trolley itself was cute, cozy, but comfortable, even for Adam and his legs (we did sit in the very front though.) Adam has suggested we make this an annual thing. I wouldn't be opposed to that. It was a uniquely awesome night.

Fun Activities Update

Oy.

So much for being a more consistent blogger.

Anyway. Many things to discuss.

Firstly: The PAC announced their 2012-2013 Broadway Across America line-up. They are:

Blue Man Group
Elf
Catch Me If You Can
The Addams Family
War Horse

with two special add-on shows - Mamma Mia! and The Lion King

We renewed our seats the same day they announced the shows and got tickets for the two add-ons as well. Woo for early bird discounts!

Granted, none of these are on my "see before I die" list, but I believe I'll enjoy most of them. Keep in mind that season ticket holders get early purchasing rights on all shows so if you'll be in the area and are interested in any of these let us know! Our tickets are always for the Wednesday night show.

--------------------------------------------------------------------

In the same vein, the second I caught wind that Kristin Chenoweth was going to do a concert tour I was on the web, looking for her closest stop. Minneapolis would have been easier from a logistics/parking/hotel standpoint, but from a financial standpoint, Chicago was actually a lot cheaper, especially since we booked a hotel outside of the downtown area. So, woo again:



tickets have already arrived!

--------------------------------------------------------------------

This has been some crazy weather lately, but perhaps it means we'll actually be able to attend the first two games of our Timber Rattler season ticket package. Last year we missed our first two because of really awful weather (wind, thunder, HAIL). This year we've got one in mid-April as part of our package and we got comped tickets to the season opener on April 5th. We shall see what Mother Nature has in store.

Hugo

We watched Hugo last night. Admittedly, I wasn’t really looking forward to it. I’d say it was ok, not spectacular. I guess the subject just isn’t my thing.

It had some redeeming qualities though: It was set in Paris (automatically earns some points just for that) and the whole thing just reminded me of Amelie. Quirky “French” girl, gloomy "French" boy. Tricky camera work and fantasy sequences. Colorful supporting cast complete with Sasha Baron Cohen’s Inspector’s awkward wooing of the flower girl and the man/woman/possessive dog trifecta. Even the music. But then I felt like I was stuck in a Smashing Pumpkin’s music video for most of the second half of the film. Luckily I discovered that I was, in fact, not totally insane and their “Tonight, Tonight” video was indeed a relatively faithful recreation of the Méliès film “La Voyage dans la lune.” Whew! What an example of how cultural references shift perception…

Anyway, another one down. It’s hard to get very far on the list early on here because we’re definitely not a primary market.

Valentine's Day

This year Adam took over the Valentine's Day planning. He told me I couldn't come home until he was ready. I went to the library after work and waiting for the signal. When I arrived, I was met with this scene:



and this food:



Mmm... chicken parmesan. One of my favorite foods ever. It was excellent. Definitely a success in my mind.

Well, that's kind of weird...

Yesterday I started kicking around an idea for a summer party: I'm thinking a "build-your-own taco bar" sounds like a lot of fun. So many different possibilities, none of which that are too expensive or too labor intensive. The thought was still kind of percolating in my brain when I saw the most recent recipe posted on Tasty Kitchen. Homemade Refried Beans. Seriously? Maybe this is a sign...

Nothing's guaranteed but...

As the overachieving accountant type that I am (and the impatient, get it done right now type that Adam is) we filed our federal and state tax returns last weekend. We found ourselves in an eerily similar situation to last year. In fact, our state refund is $1 less than it was last year. Weird. We had to pay in a couple hundred dollars for federal again, but that’s ok. Our effective tax rate was pretty much the same as well – just below the 9% mark. That’s what we get for being DINKs. Oh well. The state filing process is awful (Adam actually did it this year because I just couldn’t bring myself to face the stupid website after the past couple years) but it’s free (take that, TurboTax) and ridiculously fast. Our refund is due to direct deposit on the 15th. Crazy.

American duty - check.

A Momentous Occasion...

So 30, huh?

Like many years in the past, I’ll be working a normal day today. Such is the life of an accountant. We’ll be going out to dinner tonight and my dad and Cheryl are coming up for dinner on Saturday. I don’t anticipate a lot of hoopla. I specifically rejected the singing gorilla and with my birthday so close to Valentine’s day, flowers are always prohibitively expensive. So it goes. I’m happy with simple things. It’s no surprise that I’m not an attention whore. Although sometimes I’m not sure if that’s a good thing or not. At some moments it seems like I should demand the attention I deserve but I tend to let it pass. Stupid introverted personality (I’m an ISTJ. Who’s shocked?)

29 was not an easy year. Many upheavals both professionally and personally. I’m hoping 30 will be a more balanced, zen year. You may have noticed that things got a little quiet here in blog land. I sort of lost my inspiration/motivation. I’m also hoping to improve on that and post more here, even if it’s just stupid cat pictures or movie reviews.

Perfectly Coordinated

I finally found the perfect shower curtain. I've been searching for just the right one for a long time. I had managed to swap everything else out to the purple/white color scheme except for the awful green shower curtain. I just could not find the right purple.

Then, yesterday at Bed, Bath, and Beyond, on a shelf of clearance items, angels sang, the stars aligned, and I caught sight of this:



Perfect! Purple, shiny, and sparkly. And only $10!

My interior designer (that would be JC there) agrees it's an excellent choice.

Oscar 2012

Yikes, there are a lot of additional titles added to the list with Oscar nominations coming out this morning. I can't guarantee I'll watch them all (Harry Potter, Transformers, and Real Steel, I'm looking at you...) but we'll see. There are quite a few I'm actually looking forward to.

Shortest Movie Reviews Ever

Moneyball: Boring.
The Ides of March: Depressing.
Rango: Boring-er.

Hodge Podge

* We watched The Help last week. It was ok, I guess. I think I was distracted by Emma Stone's southern accent. It was an interesting film, but not one I'd probably watch again. Up to 7 on the done list. I plan to watch the Golden Globes tonight and see how they turn out.

* We ate Brussels sprouts for the first time ever this week. The verdict? Pretty good! I was kind of surprised because they look like baby cabbages, but don't taste like cabbage at all.

* I passed my seven-year service anniversary at work earlier this month. That seems like such a long time. Scarier than that? I still have emails from 2005 in my Outlook personal folders. We accountants keep everything!

* I yielded to peer pressure yesterday and got an iPhone. Between cancelling our land line and the convenience of being able to check email wherever I am, the Apple sirens were calling too loudly for me to ignore them any longer. So far I've gotten addicted to Fruit Ninja and discovered that that hyped up "Words With Friends" game is really just Scrabble. Scrabble, people! Ugh. I HATE Scrabble. Although I will mention that I still won when I played Adam yesterday. :)

* I'm currently making a mixed berry crisp in the crockpot, Adam made Flat Apple Pie earlier this afternoon, and I'll be making Brookies in just a few minutes. Yay for cold-weather dessert-making!

* But boo for snow. I was so hopeful that maybe it would miss us completely this year. 'Twas not to be.

*GO PACK!

2012 Movie List

So, let's talk about movies. I did terribly on watching the 2011 award nominees. Just awful.

Carly: You mean you're not going to finish your Oscar list from 2011?!?



Horrors!

Maybe I'll get back to them, but for now there's a brand new list! Golden Globe and SAG nominees are out already and Oscar noms will be out later this month. Woo!

We had a weekend full of movie watching. We saw a total of five movies (The Change Up, Midnight in Paris, Crazy, Stupid, Love, One Day, and The Beginners), three of which appear on the 2012 list. Go me!

My favorite was definitely Midnight in Paris. Perhaps I'm partial to movies that show great shots of the famous city. This was also a classic Woody Allen production where you'd need to watch it over and over to catch everything and take some art history classes in between viewings to appreciate all the homages. Just wonderful, Owen Wilson notwithstanding.

The Change Up was a stupid comedy with plenty of gross out jokes. Not much else to say about it, really.

Crazy, Stupid, Love was pretty good. Lots of intertwining plots that you didn't really see until the climax scene. And Steve Carrell managed to tone it down a bit. He's kind of like Adam Sandler - can't usually seem to escape the character hole he dug himself into to get his big break, but when he does it's amazing.

One Day was enjoyable. Once again, lots of great shots of Paris and the like. Slightly distracted by Anne's accent, although that may just be because it was made such a big deal of during the promotion of the film. Definitely not a comedy, but plenty of fun along the way.

The Beginners seemed kind of slow. Jumped around in time, used a "this is the sun, these are the stars, etc" kind of technique that I'm sure I saw before but can't quite place. It was ok, but not spectacular.

Thus far I'm six for 34. Let's hope I do better this time around.

Unanticipated Farewell

Things don't always turn out the way you thought they would.

We finally decided it was the right thing to do to try and get Ted and Connor in to see the "real" vet. When we got Carly we had the mobil vet come to the house and try and see them. He ended up giving them their shots from an arm's length as they were both hiding under the couch. It worked. But it was time for JC to go in to get his shots anyway and Ted and Connor's three-year rabies was up as well. We'd had success in getting Ted into the carrier when we had the scooting/anal gland issue a few months ago. We figured we could use somewhat of the same stategy to get Connor into one. And that was pretty much the case. Trap in a corner, confuse with a towel, shove into carrier, endure wrath of evil kitty glare.

So we got all three cats to the vet and had back to back to back appointments. JC went first because he's easy. And a picture of perfect kitty health, viral blip in April notwithstanding.

Then came Connor, pretty much because his carrier was on top of Ted's. He did really well for not having been to a vet in years. We kept him under the towel for the most part, but he didn't scratch or even squirm too much. We learned that he had severe dental problems. This explains all the drooling and bad breath. I had suspected as much. We decided to leave him overnight so they could sedate him the next morning to check him out better.

Ted's exam was much the same as Connor's. Didn't struggle too much. His mouth was less severe, but still bad enough that the vet wanted to get a better look at him as well. He also needed his anal sacs expressed again, which she opted to wait to do until he was sedated.

So we went in with three cats, came out with one.

The next morning Adam called me with the vet's news. They had put Ted under first and once they were able to get a better look at the situation, it was so much worse than they had originally thought. We had gone into this thinking all he needed was a good cleaning. Turns out all his teeth were pretty much shot, hanging on by a thread. He had terrible gum disease. Would need all his teeth extracted at some point. Was probably in a lot of pain. He was also a lot older than we'd been led to believe. When we adopted him back in 2007 the shelter said he was about a year and a half old. That would make him five or six now. Try ten. Twelve. He was from New Orleans so who knows what he got into down there after the floods. The vet said he was pretty much a feral cat who'd been living in our house for four years.

So we had a few options: Take out the six worst teeth and see what transpired with the rest (estimated cost $800 now, much more as the rest of the teeth cracked or fell out.) Take out all his teeth now (didn't even bother to get this estimate.) Accept the situation for what it was, pretty much hopeless both financially and in terms of quality of life for Ted, and do what was the hardest: let him go. Even the vet agreed it didn't make sense to do nothing and surrender him to a shelter as they'd just put him down immediately anyway since no one would adopt him in his condition.

It was probably the most heart-wrenching decision we've had to make. Knowing that Connor had been initally estimated to be in much worse shape than Ted, letting Ted go meant we'd have to let Connor go as well. We didn't have a lot of time to make our decision - Ted was already under and they couldn't have more than one cat out at a time. So we had to do what we hope was best for the cats.

They put Connor under pretty much just to confirm what they had previously suspected and it was apparently about seven times as bad as Ted's had been. And his real age was more like fifteen. So that outcome kind of wrote itself.

Of course all of this was going on while I was at work. Adam called me, conferenced in the vet tech. I had to go out to my car for awhile to talk things through with Adam. While Adam called the vet back to tell them our choice about Ted I went and told my boss what was going on and that I needed to leave for the day.

We didn't go to see them. By the time I got home they were probably both gone anyway. And I didn't want to see them like that, really. We got Adam's dad to pick up our carriers and the blankets we'd left with them overnight. Neither of us could imagine going back to the vet's office yet.

It's been rough. I miss them. They might have been categorized as "feral" by the vet, but they were our cats and very much ingrained into our daily lives. I miss Ted hanging out with me in the bathroom. I miss Connor walking in front of my face while I'm trying to type on the computer. I miss Ted being my neckwarmer/pillow while I watch Molto Mario while eating breakfast. I miss seeing Connor conked out on the mouse pillow.

We were also worried about JC. He'd never been in the house without these other two around. The first night they were gone he seemed to mope a little. We jumped the gun a little and actually brought a kitten home on Thursday but neither JC nor Carly were having any of that so it went back the next morning. We felt bad about that - it was an awesome kitten, but it wasn't right for our existing cats. JC seems to be dealing with it pretty well. We're wondering if maybe we overestimated how close he really was to Ted and Connor. I know those two were best buddies, and maybe JC was just on the periphery of that. He's eating, sleeping in the bed with us, playing. So unless he starts to get bored or looks like he wants another cat around, we're going to stay with just the two.

These things keep circling in my brain:

1) Is this whole thing our fault because we didn't take them to the vet regularly? If we had gone before now could we have prevented this? This is what's really killing me... the guilt of not knowing if all this was present before we even got them.

2) I hope we made our decision for the right reasons. I'd hate to think we did this because of the money. We had no idea things were so bad - we didn't know they were in pain, though they almost certainly were. I take some comfort in the fact that the vet said she would have done the same thing if they were her cats.

3) I'm so mad at myself for not saying a proper goodbye to either of them at the vet's office. When we left them there overnight I stayed out in the lobby with JC while Adam the the vet tech took the other two back to the kennel area. It really never occured to me that I'd never see them again. They were taken there to get rabies shots for goodness sake!

4) I hope Ted and Connor were happy for the four years they were with us. Who knows what kind of life they lead before they came to us. All I can wish is that they felt loved and safe while in our house.

5) I'm kind of glad that if it had to be one, it had to be both. I don't think they'd have wanted to be apart. They were such good cuddle buddies.

A Week in the Life of Martha

Monday:
5:15AM – alarm goes off. Adam works at 6am these days so it’s an early start. Although I was up at 4:45 to put Carly in the cat room. Luckily I seem to be able to fall back asleep easier these days. I roll over, re-set the alarm to 5:45 and go back to sleep.

5:45AM – alarm goes off again. Time to get up and feed the cat – Carly gets a quarter can in the morning and a quarter at night. She knows this and gets cranky if I stall with her food in the morning. I also unload the dishwasher – I did a lot of baking yesterday so I have more dishes in the sink that I want to get going before I leave for work. Go to the office, check my email, then head to the shower.

6:35AM – clean and dressed, it’s back to the kitchen for breakfast. Reese’s Peanut Butter Puffs. Yum. I channel surf while I eat, ending up on “Molto Mario”. Mmm, pasta. Ted climbs up on the couch behind my neck and tries to eat my hair. Connor jumps up to hang out right before I have to get up. Poor kitties.

7:00AM – start the dishwasher, kiss Adam goodbye, bring in the paper, and off to work. Boo for being dark out at 7am…and boo for NPR pledge drives.

7:15AM – got a decent parking spot this morning. There seems to be a 4 minute window where you either get a spot close to the doors or you have to walk a mile. My boss is on vacation this week but I’ve got a whole list of projects. I tend to get bored if I focus all my brain power on one thing so I find myself bouncing back and forth between two or three things for most of the morning. Keeps me awake.

10:00AM – mmmm, chocolate. I have been overindulging on the mini twix bars, for sure.

11:45AM – time to head home for lunch. Man, it’s windy out.

12:00PM – I’m unsurprised to walk in the door and see all the kitties lined up in the sun in the living room. What a life. Soup for lunch. But I hate how the carrots explode in the microwave. So annoying. Watch my DVRd Pop-up Videos while I eat. I’m so excited that they brought the show back!

12:30PM – a few peanut butter cups for good measure and it’s back to work.

12:45PM – I somehow managed to get a spot directly in front of the door. Score!

2:30PM – OMG. Need caffeine. Machine Hour Rates are not the most stimulating topic.

4:15PM – calling it a day. Head home to make dinner before going to bell rehearsal.

5:00PM – kitty feeding time. They have internal clocks that never fail. Also, they hear the chiming of the clock on the wall and know it’s time for food. They stalk me from the time I walk in the door until the time I set the food down in front of them. Pavlov anyone?

5:15PM – dinner time. Turkey paninis. Quick, easy, yummy.

6:00PM – off to bells. The Breezewood highway exit is open again (yay!) so it shouldn’t take so long to get there anymore.

6:30PM – as much as I enjoy the company of the ladies in the bell choir, it’s a never ending struggle to keep from sticking my nose where it doesn’t belong regarding music choice and technical performance details. We’re getting deep into Christmas music already.

7:45PM – rehearsals theoretically go until 8 but I can’t remember the last time we actually lasted that long.

8:15PM – back home. Adam’s up in Green Bay as Dave apparently got his key stuck in his door lock. This gives me time to catch up on some of my DVR shows that Adam can’t stand. I’ve been recording the new Rosie O’Donnell show and I’m still undecided. I fast forward through some of it, but I think I’ll keep it on the list for a little while longer.

9:00PM – kitty pit stop for Carly, time for PJs for me. After brushing my teeth I go back and clean out the litter boxes. Carly’s very proud of her latest addition. Didn’t even bother to bury it. *sigh* Settle into bed, even have some cuddle time with Ted before Adam gets home.

10:00PM – lights out. Nighty-nite.

Tuesday:
5:15AM – alarm goes off. I get up this time and take Carly to the room and feed her. She was especially obnoxious last night – I think we were up two or three times.

5:45AM – alarm goes off again. Check my email, then head to the shower.

6:35AM – Breakfast - Reese’s Peanut Butter Puffs again. What can I say, I’m a creature of habit. Mario’s making a pasta/cauliflower dish today that looks good. Maybe I’ll try and find the recipe…

7:00AM – Off to work. Looks like the pledge drive is over. Woo!

7:15AM – Parked right in front today! Amazing. They’ve started decorating for Halloween in the office this morning. Black netting with some fake spiders. Someone comes by and says, “oh, that’s cute!” and one of the ladies here says, “it’s supposed to be scary, not cute!” Ha.

11:45AM – time for lunch. Have successfully not killed any people from sales & marketing this morning. Sometimes it’s a challenge.

12:00PM – JC is totally wound up today. He’s chasing his own tail, Ted’s tail, and generally terrorizing Connor. Lunch today – Lean Cuisine – Honey Chicken. One of my favorites. I especially like the peas.

12:30PM – Back to work.

12:45PM – A little bit of a walk to get back today. Not way out in converting, but not right in front either.

4:15PM – Heading out. Got to make a quick stop at the bank before heading up to Darboy for IMA. We went to an online credit card payment system this year, but I still try and have some cash with me in case people show up unregistered. We also have a 50/50 raffle that operates on a cash basis.

5:00PM – Setting up my registration table. I always tend to be the first person here.

5:45PM – Dinner – chicken and fish. Simple food, but very good. I love when our meetings are at the Darboy Club. They’re so easy to work with. Got a bit of a late start because there was some confusion over the dinner start time… should have verified when I called in the headcount, although not really my responsibility. Oh well.

6:20PM – Speakers tonight are talking about servant leadership. With my position in the organization I end up at every meeting and I hear every speaker whether I’m interested in them or not. It’s both a blessing and a curse.

7:20PM – we’re trying out a new format this year with just one hour of CPE. This means the meeting is over earlier than usual. We’ll still have a board meeting after the regular chapter meeting is over, but I should still be home before 10PM!

8:30PM – Gah… board meetings always go long. Finally heading home.

8:50PM – home reached. Do some dishes, clean some cat boxes, then head to bed. Catch up on some Pop-up Video since Adam’s snoring away before I even lay down.

10:00PM – lights out.

Wednesday:
5:15AM – alarm goes off. I left Carly in the room around 5 this morning so I just reset the alarm and roll over.

5:45AM – alarm goes off again. Put away some dishes, computer time, shower time.

6:30AM – Breakfast - Reese’s Peanut Butter Puffs again. Thought about doing Special K, but the puffs won out. Watched a few segments of yesterday’s Rosie show. Fran Drescher was on.

7:00AM – Off to work.

7:15AM – I think I got the same spot this morning as I had yesterday.

9:30AM – I have such a headache I had to take my contacts out. Not sure if it’s related to the weather or hormones. Either way, it SUX. Very hard to concentrate when all you want to do is rip your eyes out.

11:45AM – time for lunch.

12:00PM – Nary a sign of the kitties – kind of reflective of the weather. Dreary and rainy. Good day to stay in bed and sleep. Good call, cats.

12:30PM – Back to work.

12:45PM – Wow, there are a lot of cars in the visitor lot. Wonder what’s going on?

2:15PM – still have that headache. Not as bad now, but even chocolate isn’t helping…

4:15PM – call it a day. Why is it so yucky out? Boo, Wisconsin weather. Boo.

4:30PM – Adam’s at the gym so I wait to start laundry until he gets home since I’m assuming he’ll have some stinky clothes to be washed. I do laundry twice a week – Wednesday and Sunday – because Adam’s got big clothes and I’d rather do a few smaller loads than a whole bunch at one time. In the meantime I watch some Pop-up Video.

5:00PM – start laundry quickly before the swarming cats get their desired food.

5:05PM – time for people food. Tonight’s menu: Greek Meatballs with gnocchi. I’m not sure what exactly makes them “Greek.” It’s just beef with onions, allspice, cinnamon, oregano, and parsley. Browned and then cooked in some tomatoes. The gnocchi are homemade – I made a huge batch a few weeks ago with my new ricer. We reheat some of the apple slump I made on Sunday for dessert. That’s a great fall recipe.

6:00PM – Catching up on some DVR shows – Conan, NCIS. Flip the load of laundry to the dryer.

7:00PM – Adam retreats to the bedroom to watch the first game of the World Series. Too bad the Brewers didn’t make it. Would have been sweet to win the Super Bowl and World Series in the same year. Oh well… I finish up my Pop-up Videos and the Rosie from yesterday.

8:00PM – whoops, totally forgot about the laundry. Now I get to fold it on top of Adam. Time for the rest of the Wednesday night tasks: garbage collection, litter locker cleanout, fridge cleanout, dishes. I usually do my menu planning and shopping list but I didn’t get to it.

8:30PM – I watch the Rosie from today while Carly takes some time in the cat room.

9:15PM – bedtime prep, kitty retrieval.

10:00PM – lights out.

Thursday:
5:15AM – alarm goes off. Get up and feed the cat.

5:45AM – alarm goes off again. Put away some dishes, computer time (Happy Birthday Dad!), shower time.

6:30AM – Breakfast – We tried the new Pillsbury frozen breakfast biscuits this morning. Bacon and Egg. They’re ok – I’m kind of weirded out by the square-shaped eggs. Not sure I’d get them again. Maybe if they’re on sale and I have a coupon… Mario was making some kind of braised chicken this morning. And buccatini. I like buccatini. It’s fun stuff.

7:10AM – Off to work. Running kind of late. I blame the blender. And the fact that I overfilled it. Made my knock off Starbucks Mocha frappuccino using splenda, almond milk, and sugar free chocolate syrup.

7:25AM – even though I’m late I still got a pretty good parking spot. Maybe everyone’s having problems this morning…

11:45AM – time for lunch. Ugh. It looks like it might snow. The horror!

12:00PM – Ted was on me like white on rice today. Jumped up on the couch behind me almost immediately. Lunch today was pasta and homemade sauce. I haven’t bought jarred pasta sauce in ages since Adam got a recipe from Mark that he really likes. And I can never say no to pasta…

12:30PM – Back to work

12:45PM – Ugh. Not only did I end up far, far away, but it’s raining. A cold, cruel rain.

4:25PM – calling it a day. I heard murmurings of snow around the office earlier but I sure hope they were kidding.

4:40PM – home. So dreary out, but no snow!

5:00PM – kitty feeding time. I totally hate the whiney meows…

5:15PM – people food time. Tonight’s menu: Scrambled Egg Burritos. Bacon, cheese, sour cream, scrambled eggs in a tortilla. I also added some southern hash brown potatoes and some onions. Good stuff.

5:30PM – DVR time. Harry’s Law, Law and Order: SVU

7:15PM – Adam’s making a Culver’s run – Andes Mint Avalanche. I do dishes while he’s gone.

8:00PM – Adam retreats to watch ultimate fighting or wrestling or something. I go in the office and take care of next week’s menu planning and grocery list. Adam works on Saturday morning so we’ll be doing our shopping Friday night instead.

8:45PM – Wow, that took way too long. It shouldn’t be that hard to come up with six things to make. I did end up finding the recipe I saw on Molto Mario earlier this week. We’ll see how it is. I head back to the living room to watch Project Runway.

10:00PM – Oh, come on! Eliminate Anya already! Boo! Kitty retrieval, bedtime.

Friday:
5:15AM – alarm goes off. Get up and feed the cat.

5:45AM – alarm goes off again. Put away some dishes, computer time, shower time.

6:40AM – Breakfast – Back to the puffs. Watched the After the Runway from last night. Still annoyed that they kept all four designers for fashion week.

7:05AM – Off to work.

7:20AM – Lots of empty spots this morning. Everyone must have taken the day off…

10:30AM – I think my leg heard me last night when I said it was doing much better and I probably wouldn’t reschedule the chiropractor appointment I had to cancel a couple weeks ago when I was knocked on my butt by a cold. It’s been aching all morning.

11:45AM – time for lunch.

12:00PM – Leftover pasta today – added some peas for some veggie goodness. Oh, and lots of pepper.

12:30PM – Back to work

12:45PM – I’m in the exact same parking spot as when I left. Amazing. And I even got stuck by a train on the way back.

2:30PM – Friday afternoons are always a struggle.

3:30PM – heading home. Got a lot of stuff to accomplish tonight.

3:45PM - home - and pretty much turn right back around to go shopping. Down to Oshkosh to the outlet mall to look for new shoes for Adam (no dice.) Back up to Neenah. Dinner at Cy's Asian Bistro (so good!), grocery shopping and Piggly Wiggly and Pick and Save, then back home.

7:00PM - feed some very hungry kitties. Then catch up on some Pop up Videos before calling it a night.

9:30 - lights out a little early today. So sad...

Saturday:
5:45AM - Adam wakes me up to tell me he's going to the gym. Crazy man...

7:00AM - alarm goes off. I get up and go have breakfast. Any guesses as to what it was?

8:00AM - Adam works today 8-12 (overtime!) so I'll be doing the rest of our weekly shopping by myself. Getting a kind of slow start today. I don't get out the door until almost 9.

9:00AM - Walmart, gas, Copps, back home.

10:30AM - making chili. Adam's got ribs is in the Nesco already. It's a busy kitchen day.

12:00PM - Adam's done with work, I'm making lunch. Shrimp Fettuccine Alfredo. Just Fettucine minus the shrimp and alfredo for me.

12:30PM - Back out into the world - to World Market (mmmm, New Age), Menards, Vitamin Shoppe, Dicks Sporting Goods, with a stop at Culver's for good measure.

2:30PM - home. Tried to watch Paul but it was awful so we gave up after about an hour.

3:40PM - remembered I was supposed to be making a few other things today. My knockoff Hot Pockets (both sausage and bacon varieties) and a big batch of Santa Fe Turkey.

5:00PM - Kitty feeding time. Adam eats some ribs and then packs the rest up to take up to his grandma. She's wild about them.

6:00PM - totally bumming around flipping between the Cooking Channel and reruns of Friends.

8:00PM - into PJs. Adam's watching the World Series and the Badger Game. I'm zoning.

10:15PM - lights out.

Sunday:

6:00AM - Carly wants to go in the cat room. Fine. I leave her there.

7:00AM - alarm goes off. I get up, feed the cat, and find out what Adam wants for breakfast. I've got some leftover sausage from my hot pockets yesterday and some potatoes I cooked but didn't eat so I scramble some eggs and throw it all together. No sausage for me, no potatoes for him.

7:30AM - read the paper, watch some ID. I love that channel.

8:15AM - time to do the weekly cat room cleanup. Vaccuum, deoderize the boxes, clean out the water dish. Good stuff. Adam's also doing the weekly vacuuming for the rest of the house.

9:00AM - shower time.

9:30AM - there are a few things you never want to hear. "The cat pooped in the bed" is one of them. Argh. Since Adam has this severe aversion to bodily matter the cleanup falls on me. Gross.

10:00AM - Adam's on his way up to his parent's house with our comforter. They have a huge washer and dryer and it doesn't fit in ours. I've started my Sunday laundry as well.

1:00PM - Supposed to be leaving to go to Dad and Cheryl's for their "Ciao Italia" party but the dryer just finished so I'm going to fold laundry first.

2:40PM - Finally arrived at the party. Traffice was nuts and there must have been an accident just north of OO because we were at a standstill for like 10 minutes. I guess this is my definition of "fashionably late."

6:20PM - heading back home. Yummy food eaten, but I stayed away from the wine. :)

7:45PM - back home. That sucked. It was a trifecta: construction, torrential rain, and cloud to ground lightning. Woo.


And there you have it. A week in my incredibly boring life.

And now, your kitty Moment of Zen...

Ohm...

IV

This year we're spending our anniversary in Milwaukee - staying at a fancy hotel we got for $6.66 a night thanks to airline miles (and hoping that price isn't some kind of bad omen...), going to a Brewer game with fancy seats that have wait service, and eating at THE CHEESECAKE FACTORY.

Guess what I'm looking forward to most. ;)