Happy House-iversary!

Four years in, another year, another handful of cash gone. Or maybe four handfuls. This year we were plagued with a variety of issues. Some due to the age of the house, some due to the stupidity of the builders and former owners, some due to lapses in our luck.

I had mentioned in the recap post last year that Adam had started on a bathroom in the basement. Here's the finished product:







Nothing too fancy, but useful for sudden bathroom urges Adam may get while working in his shop. Or when we're stuck in the basement for the ten millionth time because of tornadoes.

We also got a steam cleaner this year. With four cats, accidents are a part of life. It was much easier to clean the carpets with this thing every once in a while. It works great.



We were forced to buy a new vacuum cleaner as well. For some unexplainable reason the power cord of the one we had just fell off one day. Uncool...



Toward the end of the season last year our lawn mower crapped out. The engine seized or something. Of course it was past any warranty period and to fix it would have cost almost as much as just buying a new one. So we bought a new one:



At some point our programmable thermostat died too. Not sure what happened there, but one day it just didn't work. So we had to replace that.

A trip to Door County necessitated a wine fridge purchase:



My love of buying in bulk necessitated getting a vacuum sealer:



(PS - it's awesome!)

More random electrical activity resulted in a new light fixture in the hall bathroom:



and a new ceiling fan in the dining room:



Unfortunate gravity issues resulted in a new exhaust fan (with a light!) for the master bath (the old one literally fell out of the ceiling):



and a new sump pump. Again.

We invested in a sleeper sofa to replace the guest bed that we disposed of a while back.



Adam built me a new desk since the one I had was precariously leaning:



We got new screens for the bay window and the big window in the master bedroom. Pet proof screening and hopefully bug deterrent as well.

After someone stole the top half of our mailbox on Easter Sunday we replaced it with one that's bolted down.



And that's the big stuff. We did other minor things - put a new showerhead in the hall bathroom, replaced the curtains in the living room with vertical blinds, moved the dryer vent after it blew open and exploded lint everywhere, replaced the ice maker hose, tore down part of the shop wall to waterproof a leak. It's neverending.

Coming up: Thanks to a freak hail storm in April and a particularly generous insurance adjuster, our entire roof, siding, and gutters will be replaced in the next month or so. Our blue house will soon be a green house.



Nothing else planned, but you never know what will break next.

QOTD

What kind of milk do you buy?

Skim, definitely. Haven't had anything else in years. Although recently I've started buying Silk for my occasional morning Starbucks Mocha Frappucino rip-off attempts. I seem to be able to handle real milk on cereal but if I drink it straight up or in a smoothie it makes me sick. Weird. The thing with Silk though is it's got the same consistency as 2% milk - thick and slimy. Not so appetizing. I can't even imagine what whole milk is like - chewy?


Unrelated photo: JC playing peek-a-boo

QOTD

What was the longest flight you’ve ever been on?

I've been transatlantic to France twice. First in 1998, second in 2003.

The 1998 flight seemed much longer than the 8 or 9 hours it was because we flew Detroit to Paris on KLM (Northwest.) This was before all the cool technology with video screens on each seat back. I was bored. And the food was scary. And we got bumped on the way back in Detroit. Hello jetlag!

The 2003 flight also seemed very long. This time it was Atlanta to Paris on Air France and while the airplane was 1000 times better, I was in a window seat in a row of three and the girl next to me must have had a yeast infection and wasn't wearing any underwear. I was thisclose to barfing by the time we finally got to the gate and into fresh air. The flight back was much better this time...except for that 12 hour layover in Atlanta where I had to try to make my brain work to get a ride to the hotel that the travel agent had set up for me...that sucked.


La Tour et moi (1998):

QOTD

Do you think you could ever go by your initials rather than your first name?

One of the ladies at work does call me MP occasionally...so I guess it might work. ML? Not so much.

Unrelated photo: Here's the newest cat toy - a bird feeder right outside the bay window in the living room. Aaah, nature!

QOTD

How much does your cat weigh?

Not sure about Connor - he's a skinny thing,



but JC is 11 pounds six ounces,



Ted is 15 pounds,



and Carly, the trouble child, tips the scales at... well, now a lady never reveals her weight.



(a lady also probably doesn't lay like that, but what can you do?)

QOTD

from that's my answer!

Do you listen to the radio or your own collection of music more?

I listen to the radio when I'm in the car - usually NPR because I'm a nerd. WIXX if they seem to be stuck on boring political topics on 89.3. At work I have my iPod playing a weird mix of Britney Spears (and her pop ilk), Van Halen (and their 80s hair band ilk), and Scottish bagpipe music. At home I listen to iTunes when I'm working on something on the computer.


Totally unrelated cat photo:

atrophy

In the past few weeks I’ve started posts but they always descended into something I figured I shouldn’t publish. Between work, the weather, and life in general, the past month plus has been a little rough. Things have happened, but I’m not going to bother to recap. Doesn’t really matter. If it did you would have asked what was up already.

So (un?)fortunately for you, that haiku I wrote about taking a cat’s temperature rectally will never see the light of day.

But I figured I should at least get one more entry in before the world ends on Saturday…

In a Rare Moment of Companionship...

(Or perhaps sleep-induced tolerance) I give you Carly and JC, fellow loveseat nappers.

Blah (and kitties!)

Adam commented that it had been a few weeks since I posted anything here. True. Lack of motivation, inspiration, subject matter.

Whatever lame excuse you want.

So, instead I'll post some cuddly kitty pictures:

Two kitties squished inside a kitty. It's mind-bending! (or not)



Kitties cuddled up in the warmest spot in the house - directly in front of the fireplace.



And our new sleeper sofa. In the time it took me to walk from the office to the kitchen and come back with the camera, Connor had already installed himself on the new sleeping surface.

Fox Cities PAC - the New Season

The PAC announced their new season this morning - see their brochure here.

As current Broadway Across America season ticket holders we got priority renewal treatment and a discount for early-bird renewal. When we saw the line-up for next year it was pretty much a no brainer.

On the docket:
October: Billy Elliot
November: Les Mis
February: Million Dollar Quartet
March: Mary Poppins
April: West Side Story

We stuck with our third-tier Wednesday night box seats. Should be fun!

It's kind of funny - Jane (from bells) and I were talking about this on Monday and when we named the shows we'd most like to see come to the PAC hers was Les Mis and mine was West Side Story. What luck!

One Year Ago...

For whatever reason, we lost a great person.



On the one hand, it's hard to believe it's been a year already. But on the other... let's just say it's been a long year.

I knew him for such a short time - only a handful of years. But what a wonderful person he was. So welcoming, so non-judgemental. He did his best to make me (and, I'd imagine, everyone) feel at home in a place where at times I feel like such an outsider. I can't imagine what it's like for those who knew him for so much longer, for their entire life.

I'm not particularly religious, I readily admit that I go mostly for the bell choir, and it's a testament to the kind of man Fr Mike was that he was able to affect my life so much in such a short amount of time. Fr Jim is a nice guy and seems to genuinely want to make a difference at St. Mary's. But it's just not the same.

2011 Awards Season: Toy Story 3

My Comments:
So cute! I remember the first one, I vaguely recall the second. This one seemed to have a lot more layers than the first two. Oh, what ten years will do! Oh, and Mr. Pricklepants? - bwahahahaha. Lots of great new characters. There were some sad moments. There were some hilarious moments. There were some risque moments when I had to double check that yes, this movie was rated G. I'm thinking the Pixar people hoped some things went over the kids' heads. Anywho, well done again Woody and Buzz.

My Grade: A

I'm Happy With the Simple Things

29 on 2-9

So what is that... a bronze birthday or something? I say it should be celebrated, although I suppose a great majority of the population would never experience it...

Anyway.

Today is my birthday.

Today I get to participate in a full physical inventory - the third one we've done in the last 6 months.

Today I get to go to work early.

Today I get to bring in cookie bars for everyone. Adam made them. He's awesome.

Today I get to crawl around the warehouse trying to see tiny numbers on pallet tags.

Today I get to sit in a conference room with a laptop and five or six other people, trying to reconcile inventory counts.

Today I get to tell everyone I have to leave at 4:30 even though I'm sure we won't be done yet.

Today I get to go out to dinner, although I still haven't decided where we're going yet.

Today I get to see "Wicked" for the second time. It should be great.

Today I get to go to The Bar and drink for free. Not that I will. But I could. Ok, maybe just one.

Today I get to make my last claim that I'm not 30 yet.

Happy Birthday to Me.

2011 Awards Season: The Town

My Comments:
Not the most boring plot ever, but I was still kind of bored. That and I couldn't help having Vicky Cristina Barcelona flashbacks the whole time. Sorry, but Rebecca Hall needs to work on her acting. And Ben, I'm pretty sure the people of Boston don't say "F***" so much. Really unnecessary. Overall, not a terrible movie, but not really my kind of thing. Too much gratuitous swearing and gunfighting. Oh, and the fact that Jon Hamm showed up automatically drops it half a grade. Cannot. Stand. Him!!

My Grade: C-

Caturday: Go Pack Go

Even Ted's getting in on the team spirit thing.

** Random Thoughts **

** Yes, woo, Packers going to the Super Bowl. Seriously though, I'm already tired of hearing about it. And it's still a week away. Gah. **

** Power outage at a plant with 23 blown film lines? Damn near catastrophic. Only thing worse? Fire. **

** For the first time ever we have to pay more taxes to the Federal government. State pretty much offsets, but still. Boo! **

** I heart Nicki Minaj. The best skit last night on SNL was because of her. **

** I manned up and scheduled my wisdom teeth extraction surgery. June 9 @ 8am. Double boo! **

** Wicked in T-10! **

** I'm over this winter thing. Groundhog - you better not see your shadow... **

2011 Awards Season: Inception

My Comments:
It took about two and a half weeks for us to get around to watching this movie. Not only is the thing two and half hours long (grr!!), but we were both sick for awhile and my brain was having enough trouble trying to comprehend how so much snot could be in my nose. I didn't think I'd have the ability to try and understand a movie that was hyped as very confusing in that condition.

All in all, I don't know what all the fuss was about. Maybe I totally missed something, but once it actually got to the plot it wasn't that confusing. Intriguing, yes. But confusing? I don't know. Christopher Nolan always makes really great movies with lots of awesome special effects and thought-provoking plot points. But it's not like this was The Matrix or something. I STILL don't know what that one was all about...

Anywho, good movie, not sure it's the best yet since I've seen so few of them so far, but I was definitely impressed.

My Grade: A-

Oscars!

Nominations this morning added a whopping 12 titles to the list:

Biutiful
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1
I Am Love
The Tempest
The Way Back
The Wolfman
Tron: Legacy
Unstoppable
Salt
Hereafter
Iron Man 2
Another Year

Argh. I might start eliminating stupid categories like sound editing...

*test pattern*

Sorry for the dead air here. I'll be back soon. Between unexpected travel and a double whammy flu/cold epidemic it's been a rough couple of weeks.