Old Friends

A great day here at the Love Shack!

I had another real life meeting today, a person who means so much to me.
I told you, I work weird ass hours. Today I got out of work @ 12:30. One hour to get home. All the way, something is thudding around in the back of my truck. Every corner,THUNK. I am getting nervous about this, is it something *I* did? Innocent lil ol' ME??? How much will THIS cost? I pulled in the driveway, and pulled the inside of the truck apart. Finally found..... drum roll please.....ONE of my favorite blue boots, [I have blogged those boots, come to think of it, in the bloggie where Steve was in the doghouse] it has been in there since the move, [ not ONE word about why *A* boot was in the truck still,...I haven't found the other one yet, for all I know THAT one will bust a move next Tuesday] and it decided to bust a move and roll around the cargo area. I was THRILLED!!! I'm holding it up, laughing like a loon, YAY Gail! ......and someone pulls in behind me. And that someone was John, my cello teacher and friend. I have known him for 33 years, but haven't seen him in a loooong time.Now, we had planned for him to come to us at the Shack, and he had made the offer to make a print of any of the B&W's on his blog:

http://johnvossphotography.blogspot.com/

as a present for the Shack. I know exactly where it's going, and how I'll frame it, and will bloggie that when I git 'er done. But I missed his call, [ or I PROMISE I would not have been standing in the driveway holding up a blue boot like a hunting trophy, a great first impression :x ]
We come in the house, and Tony is home. I tell him, hey Tony, I brought a man home with me, and he says, is it John Voss? Later, Stevie shows up for the laundry/dinner day, and I say to him, hey, I have someone I'd like you to meet. Stevie says is it Him? Could John TELL he'd been discussed?? I'm only sorry Steve and Boo weren't here. Always a pleasure, he hasn't changed one Bit, still as funny and kind as ever. We picked up right where we left off, and had a few good laughs too. It's very rare to have a friendship pass the test of time like that, and I feel very lucky. Plus, he was more than polite about the mess Tony left in the bathroom, and the books yet to be shelved in the "library". AND he approved of Ruby :O) Once again, I find myself saying "Thank You, John" .
The other fantastic thing that happened today........ Steve won a Toyota award again !!! ANOTHER drum roll please,.........a trip to Turks and Caicos Islands ! BUT.....most dealerships that participated were given the choice, if they won, of the trip or a cash award. Steve wasn't given that choice. Even as we speak, his rep is gonna try and move heaven and earth to get Steve the moolah. He needs a shed, but he WANTS a pool, so I vote pool! YAY YAY Steve, you ROCK it honey :o)

Oh, and I guess this falls into the category of "Glass half full or half empty"... every once in a while I make a dinner that falls totally outside Steves comfort level. He is a roast chicken and white rice kinda guy, and I love that about him. I found this fantastic looking punjab simmering sauce for chicken, and that was gonna be dinner tonight, along with a lot of oven roasted vegetables that are not his best friends, oh No. BUT....I am still not accustomed to this refrig, and just discovered that the chicken is rock hard. And Who am *I* to fight fate? So, italian take out it will be, Steve is safe.........for tonight, hehehe. But I can still oven roast the veggies. :X

Also, this is for my MIL [Mother In Law]
Hi, Mary :O) Steve told me last night you read my blog, I didn't know :o) Here's a pic I uploaded to facebook. I wanted you to see the floors,...I took the pic the other night in the middle of a furniture mishap :X Ruby had to come out of the 3rd bedroom [music room for now] so Steve had room to dismantle stuff.

When you 2 are recuperated from your travels, let us know, you can come meet the Shack :O)

If Facebook is from De Debbil, then Classmates is Hell.

Dear Bloggie,
Did you SEE this?
Shit, I can't c & p it. On the AOL Welcome screen today [no anti-aol salvos! OK, maybe one or two but that's IT]

Oh, wait, yes I can.How friggin TACKY is this? This is like a woman in the grocery store in a pink chenielle bathrobe, big big pink plastic curlers with a hairnet, with a ciggie hanging out of her bright red lipsticked mouth screaming that THOSE LE-SEWER PEAS ARE 59 CENTS EACH DAMMIT!!!

-------
Hitting a Sad Note

Dead Body Found at Music Festival

Bassist Lost Both Arms in Accident
-----

"Hitting a Sad Note"?? OMFG ! The welcome screen changes in a slideshow fashion, I had to keep back-clicking to make sure I didn't misread that [ I have a gift of misreading things] so AOL advertizers thought they got a few more clicks than they really did. I wish they had a "Clicked only in disgust, not in actual interest" button I could click.

I deleted my classmates account today. I joined when they started up, and it was free. And I almost didn't mind them charging an annual fee to get all the info from the site, me more than most would know what that would cost. I chose not to participate, and basically over the years I ignored it. Until today. I got 8 e-mails from Classmates, everything from "look who searched for you" ....only to be hit up for that pesky annual fee,....to 2 people I actively disliked in high school,"I saw you at classmates but you didn't answer so I'll try on facebook" And I didn't really dislike anyone, if I cared about you I did and if I didn't you didn't blip on my radar. but THOSE 2....

The first one. I was a freshman in h.s, and knew this persons sister. Person one, when I walked into the bathroom, was sucking stuff from a spoon up into a needle, had a piece of rubber tied around her arm, and as calmly as the nuns at mass, let me know if I told anyone she would find me and kill me. Dead eyes. I'd never seen drugs like that or eyes like that before. I can see it right now, all these years later. I have NO interest in anything that person might have to say, and can't imagine why she would want to contact me anyway.

Person two was a bitch hag who, when lying to me about Steve didn't break us up, made some pretty hefty insinuations about me. *Insinuations*, not outright lies, and ones that had to potential to do some real damage. To anyone who would listen. Now,*I* knew, hell, EVERY one knew none of this was true, but it was still going around, around, around. You know, I can still feel myself cringe, as I did when person after person after person asked me "if it were true".Sweet Baby Jesus. So, all these years later, 2 very bad experiences jumped up and bit my ass, on the same day.
That felt good, to type that out. And really, I re-read what I just typed, and that's the way it went down, WHY WHY would those 2 people think I wanted any contact with them? THAT is a question I wish I had an answer for. So I deleted myself from classmates. Now, I can read minds! I can hear you thinking "Gail hon, you showed us your diningroom! We've seen your house and your kiddies! So, if they are looking, they will find you" and while that is true, I blog because *I* enjoy it, because I am touching people who care about me and we and us, because they TELL me that. Or because they enjoy counting how many things I've lost to Teriyaki and red pepper sauce over the years. No one will dictate my conduct to me. But that doesn't mean I'm open to potshots from the past, either. And I already have them permanently blocked at facebook.

You know, I'm lucky, I'm healthy and don't feel my chronological age. Except, sometimes, when I think about technology. I remember hard phone cords, dial phones, and party lines. The National Anthem at the end of the late movie, and "snow", when the channels went off the air. 2,4,5,7,9,11 and 13,-PBS, that WAS television.My kids are growing up in a time where you never lose contact with the past...sometimes that's good, but sometimes, nothin' could be finer than to be able to walk away from a painful experience. Or a painful person.




July:
29th: Cheese Sacrifice Purchase Day
30th: National Cheesecake Day

And.....
If you divide the worlds Legos among the human race, every man,woman,and child gets 75.

Moona Lisa finds her Home

I'm sure you've seen snippets of this already, here's the full "Best entrance to a Wedding" video. It made me cry [hush] such happiness and joy! THAT is what getting married ought to be about, not being scared to death.

http://www.lemondrop.com/2009/07/24/-wedding-entrance-video-forever-ever/

A LOT happened the past few days! I did get to go to my IRL with some of my best internet friends. We met K at the hotel she was staying at, [you see, I'm never sure how much info about others is ok and what is TMI for them, so they will be initials] D was already there with a lot of her family, another D showed up with most of her posse, and Laura, my friend and real estate attorney came too. What a BLAST, I've known these women for 10 years or more and never got to party with them before. VERY cool beans :O)

Saturday we helped move Boo, and it went really well. The worst thing that happened was the breaking of the plate out of her microwave, so we are very lucky too.You should SEE the steps leading down out of her old place, it was in the heart of New Paltz...seeing us carrying guitar hero and a mattress tables, chairs, oh at one point I had a spider plant and banjo and ...omg, the funny thing was, NO ONE gave us a second glance, hehehe, I guess they see that stuff walking around all the time.

As far as the house goes...Bedroom.DONE! [ but we didn't paint yet] Diningroom. DONE! The diningroom, a before:

and the after:

Everything else, WHOOPSIE!! The kitchen is kicking my ass, if we had more time off it would be done,but we're getting there.

About the bedroom...Steve and I decided we are not going to fight the 50's/60's funk around here, we'll try to update it a bit. I found the perfect bedding set online @ jcpenny, and ordered it. The day it was due, a strange guy with a silver sports car rings my bell [woo-Hoo!] He has 2 huge boxes with him....evidently UPS thinks I live one street over, at this guys in-laws house, and he brought me my misdelivered packages. Every neighbor I have met has been terrific, especially when they are dressed :X I wasn't gonna blog the bedroom yet cause we haven't painted yet, but this is the retro set:

I called Steve over, showed him this shot, and asked if he'd mind if I blogged it.He said maybe I shoulda taken the shotgun out of there, and too bad it wasn't a better pic [I took it and didn't care that the pillows weren't lined up just -so, I was Bloggin' baby!] so I had to go smack him upside his head :o)

July:
26th: Groovy Chicken Day
27th: Take your Pants for a Walk Day
28th: National Milk Chocolate Day

~Trivia~
Three things you didn' know had names:
-Obdormition: the scientific term for a limb that's "asleep"
-Ophryon: the space between your eyebrows
-Purlicues: that tight bridge of skin between the thumb and an extended forefinger

Wow-ilicious

A great few days planned! Friday is a big one...

-The inspector for the electricals is finally showing up, so we can put paid to that expensive episode of the Love Shack.

-My Chifferobe is coming!!! My dresser got destroyed during the move, and I was determined to wait until what *I* wanted showed up, not just buy something ugly to be expedient. We ordered it from the same furniture store we ordered our bed from, [ and the couch, the loveseat,the recliner,the tv console,the coffeetable, they know us well there] they match.OK,you'll have it end of July. Ok,you'll have it first week of August. Ok, you'll have it the second week of August,.....I heard that, and I'm sure YOU all heard me yell oh HELL NO. So Steve went over there tonight, and explained about my sad state of affairs,...no dresser for Gail!! Upset wife!! HELP!!! And the guy [THANK YOU JEFF] got a brilliant idea.He searched for my chifferobe. And discovered they have one on lay-away for another customer, -their house will not be ready til Sept. [Oh, I believe that, those poor people will be waiting a hell of a lot longer that THAT] so they sold that one to US! It will be here friday.

-I get to meet some of my heart loopies, IRL [In Real Life] on friday, and I am so happy I could pop! I've talked with these women for 10 years or more,they know when Steve is in the doghouse, but more importantly,they know when *I'm* in the doghouse :o) Cool,Cool beans! If they dont mind, I'll blog pics of us, but ya never know. I think it was Thanksgiving....I got a beautiful pic of one of my sisters with her daughter, and asked her if I could blog it, and she acted like I hit her with an electric prod NO NO NO. I don't get that, but I can respect it. The people here who know my last name and my incidentals are people I care about, and I trust them. I'm still waiting for a certain cellist to get done with the Bard and make an appearance :O) :O) But,what the hell, we haven't seen each other for 30 years, what's a few more days or weeks?? :O) And I will ask him if I can blog THAT too :o) More cool beans.

The move was harder than I EVER imagined . But I feel better, and more in control, and more hopeful than I did this time last week :O)

Saturday, another good day...for my Boo.She has a roommate from Hell in her apartment, and her new apartment is ready, so we will be helping her move. I sympathize with her so much, I HATE moving.[Just in case you didn't know that already]

The house is NOT NOT where I thought it would be at this point,but...I don't care.I FEEL a lot better about it, it will get there, it always does, and the people who are in it, and visit it, are what is important. Plus, getting the hang of this dishwasher thing helped a lot :X I feel excited and happy, and I haven't felt that way, well, since the bloggie where Steve and Tony followed the moving van and I was vacuuming the old place. Hehehe, I'm looking around right now.........No countertop on the long sideboard in the diningroom yet [waiting for it to arrive] A TON of paperwork on Steves desk.Boxes in the puter chair, a box on the stairs, an open toolbox [mine] on the loveseat] A work in progress :O) :O) :O) But DAMN,that dishwasher is humming out there!

Oh! That's the other thing. Most couples have a "song". Steve and I have a "Power Ballad" and a "song". You know the power ballad, Love Shack by the B-52's.It kept us company all these years, waiting for our Love Shack, and that's the name of our home. But "our" song ? An oldie but a goodie.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1MWN_duZfIs

[sweet, sweet memories you gave-a me, you can't beat

the memories you gave-a me]

Take one fresh and tender kiss

Add one stolen night of bliss

One girl, one boy

Some grief, some joy

Memories are made of this.

Don't forget a small moonbeam,

Fold in lightly with a dream.

Your lips and mine,

Two sips of wine,

Memories are made of this.

Then add the wedding bells,

One house where lovers dwell,

Three little kids for flavor.

Stir carefully through the days,

See how the flavor stays....

These are the dreams you will savor.

With His blessings from above,

Serve it generously with love,

One man,

One wife,

One love through life.

Memories are made of this.

Thank You, Mr Carter

WOW. [g-rated, newslink]

http://tinyurl.com/l25qob

When Carter was president, I had zero respect for him. I felt, you cannot take the highest office in the nation, and be the commander-in-chief of our armed forces, if you are a pacifist. It's like those asshat pharmacists who think they get to determine what medications they dispense, they think some are morally wrong and don't want to dispense them. You KNEW the job parameters when you took the job,...do your job or leave. I personally am NOT a pacifist, if you threaten one of mine you will have trouble. Thus the aluminum baseball bat and the shotgun. I have to say, for a man who spent 60 years with his religion, to leave it over the treatment of women is shocking and awesome and lovely, and I am grateful. And proud, if that is possible. There isn't a religion I feel comfortable in my own skin in, for the very issues Mr Carter has enumerated. I do NOT believe, for one SECOND, that God gave me a brain and a heart, and expects me to subjugate them to someone else, and I have NEVER been able to do that. Leading by training, intelligence, charisma, age or status, that's one thing. Lead only because you have physical, not metaphysical or existential, balls? I think not. And it appears that maybe Mr Carter isn't the pacifist I thought he was, that's a strong stance to take against a religion you have held in your heart for as many years as he has.

I have an update!! I found not only the camera cord, but both my shuffles and the charger for the Nano! I have a few tech bags, full of misc. peripherals to go with puters, phones, cameras, ect. The wire bag.....I thought, now, almost ALL the time when I practice Ruby, I am listening to the nano or a shuffle and playing along with it, so WHY NOT leave the shuffles and cords in the music room [3rd bedroom without a bed yet] ??? And the camera cable was the shuffles' hostage to fortune, where they go it goes. YAY !! I can't STAND when I get such brilliant ideas that I screw myself over,hehehe. I prefer to think of it like that, instead of thinking GOD what an ass am I.The pics are at Facebook if you wanna look.

Oh. Another update.
Holy.Mary.Mother.of.God.
Am I getting the hang of the dishwasher thing.
Oh yes.
LET Boo laugh at me because I still have to refer to the owners manual to load the damn thing.
Steve insists, rinse all the dishes during the day, put em in there, and we run it at night. I say, hon I don't HAVE that much silverware. So, we went out yesterday, and he insisted on buying lots of silverware. TRUE Love :o)

Also, I can't seem to stop speeding. I'm never aggressive, or mean spirited behind the wheel, but if I can pass someone doing 40 is a 55, well, I do it! When a sign says "use two lanes" I am OUT in that left lane :O) I beat Steve home today. I met him at the door and he was just looking at his watch and shaking his head,..and his finger, at me. "Looooooooocy, whatchu DOIN'"?? Whoopsie!

Another update. Found nano cord. Lost nano. Just SHIT, I can't wait for this to stop :X

You know THAT was what I wanted to say. I was talking to a dear friend, a military wife, asking her about moving, and she made it sound so simple. I wanted to DIE. But, I realized, it's not the physical move that did, or is doing me, in. It's the translating............these houses are so different. You can't take all my kitchen stuff from the old place and put it in the new, it won't fit. But I gobs of space for books! Translating our old house into our Love Shack, now THAT is quite the chore. Don't tell anyone, but I'm still not done unpacking, and odds are I won't be for quite a while.

July:
20th: Ugly Truck Contest Day
21st: National Tug-of-War Tournament Day
22nd: Rat catcher's Day

~Trivia~
- Worlds oldest restaurant: Ma Yo Chings' Bucket Chicken House. It opened in China in 1153.
-Jesse James' nickname was "Dingus".

Faux Closets

O-M-G!!! I have blogged this,.....I told you this was true months ago......and now have proof that it is TRUE! Swearing mitigates pain!!! A link:

http://www.boingboing.net/2009/07/12/swearing-mitigates-p.html

I have told you, the string of curses I can produce,......hell, my whole family replied to the bloggie about it too. If I am pissed or hurt, I can swear, well...like a pirate! HERE is proof that it actually helps. You heard it here first,- swear your ass off the next time something falls on your foot, and blame it on me :o)

What a GREAT day! I got so much done....not so much the unpacking, -Steve and I will hang all my toys up in the kitchen this weekend, and finally I'll be able to organize that puppy. STILL no camera cable, so I'll take cell pics and bloggie them, when we're done. But I got my first round of baking in the Shack under my belt YAY Gail! A family favorite, pumpkin bread. But WHOOPSIE, I could only find 2 loaf pans, and I make 4 loaves at a time. What to do? Well, I *did* find 5 round cake pans. So I made 4 pumpkin cakes. I was worried about the translation, a quick bread recipe is quite different than a cake recipe, so I lowered the oven and just kept testing em. When they were cooled....one just did NOT look done in the middle. So I got this idea, to use my biggest biscuit cutter and cut the center out...making people think I did it on purpose, instead of screwed it up. [Who, ME have a kitchen mishap? hehehe] Well, it WAS done. This is when Tony walked in the kitchen, and saw this perfect little pumpkin cake....the center I'd cut...so I lost that pissing contest on the spot. And I have 3 rounds in the freezer. I MISS baking and cooking and general fooling around in the kitchen, if Steve would get up off his ASS and hit the lotto, I could be a SAHW, and have fun all day !!

Our electricals are done for now, round one is over. That was, the main cable outside the house, installing an emergency shut off in the panel, we had none, upgrading to 200 amp service, and getting a bigger breaker box, for future upgrades. A LOT of simoleons. The upgrades we've done so far aren't eye candy, but we're thrilled, and the eye candy will come...someday it will come.

Speaking of eye candy-vs-necessary repairs....listen carefully. I am about to give you a MAHVELOUS tip, for any time YOU are house hunting. You would assume,would you not, that a closet in your home will have the capacity to hold a friggin HANGER ? As in a standard-no-frills-except-there-are-a-lot-of-different-colored-ones hangers? Well, hahaha on us. The closet in the foyer will NOT hold a hanger! The depth of the closet is not sufficient to let a hanger sit on the rod!!! I thought we would bust a gut laughing at that, only us, only the Love Shack, would have a faux closet. We'll need to see if kiddie hangers will work. So, Take a Hanger with you when you're looking, and hang that puppy up in ALL the closets :o) Your PSA for the day :O)

July:
18th: Cow Appreciation Day
20th: National "Get out of the DogHouse" day

Something new! I love trivia. Always did, but didn't realize it until a few years ago.We host family gatherings, and one of my sisters brought us a "Bathroom Reader" :

http://www.bathroomreader.com/

as a hostess gift. I can count on the fingers of both hands the books that the 5 of us have shared, we have massively different tastes. The readers are one of them.THey are dearly loved here. So, instead of a smart-ass line here [I can always get them from Steve or the kids] I'll give you some trivia from the Reader.You can thank my sister Lynn :O) This was on the page I read last:
~Trivia~
~In Shakespeare's time, mattresses were secured on bed frames by ropes. When you pulled on the ropes the mattress tightened, making the bed firmer to sleep on. That's where the phrase 'goodnight, sleep tight' came from.~

Boozapalooza/Sweet,Sweet,Delicious Irony

This past week, Steve and I visited Vermont. I believe I blogged the resort in my last entry.
Oh, MY.
It was like another world.
First off, we got on the main drag here to go there, and got behind a lovely vette'. It had Jersey plates, and Steve became convinced that the car belonged to a Toyota employee going to the same place we were. And you know what? He was right! Hours later, we get into Vermont, into the town proper, and there is no grand sweeping entrance to this place, just an abrupt right off the road. We did not know this. Steve says "Where the hell do we go" and I said "Follow the Vette'!" So we did, hehehe, Garmin got NOTHING on us. Later on, we met the ladies in that car in the bar, so I went over to compliment them on their ride, and tell them the funny story about how we followed them, they followed us yada yada yada all the way to Vermont.They looked at each other and burst out laughing like loons....you see, Steve drives a Crown Victoria..."The Vic", it is the same car used a police car /police interceptor. Those poor ladies thought WE were the cops.....US!!! It was MY turn to laugh like a loon. I cannot imAGINE thinking I was being followed, by the cops, right across state lines to boot, THAT is really bad!
So this place was just the tops. Toyota had a hospitality suite, so anytime you needed aNYthing from a snack to a drink to directions or info on the events taking place, you had a place to go. Each night of our stay, Toyota had "goodie bags" delivered to the rooms.The first was great, it was all about Vermont,and the foods they're famous for,including real maple syrup. A fun toy :X :o) The second night, OMG. We got a little blue leather pouch from Tiffanys, with a sterling silver and pearl bracelet in it.
The resort itself was nothing short of amazing. Everywhere you looked was gorgeous, no attention to detail missed. I had to be careful walking around, cause I'd be so enthralled by what I was looking at, I wasn't watching where I was going.
I think the food and the booze were the funniest, and most fun, parts for me. Aside from being alone with my honey with no unpacking to do, and no guilt over it.....[famous last words, and more on that in a few minutes.]

Food wise, I discovered 2 things.
-Life is short, I am going to find and pop for the best butter I can. I usually use land o lakes, but my dear GOD, the butter at that resort would make paper towels taste good.The 2 stores I looked in do not have anything like it, but I gather that yea, I will know it by it's price, and will buy it.
-This resort only uses Green Mountain coffee....good stuff, but a bit on the sweet boring side for me, I'll keep my 8'oclock brown and purple bags of beans and mix them. BUT! I have been drinking coffee since I was 11, and I have ALWAYS used cream [milk, 1/2 & 1/2,whatever] . ALWAYS. At the Equinox, when I added cream, the coffee turned a disgusting shade of grey, I was thinking THIS is what you have to offer? The next cup I omitted the cream....and WOW. A most excellent thing, and quite the surprize to me. At home, I'm leaving out the cream, and liking the coffee even more. I am Proud to say, there WAS a new trick this old dog could learn, only took me 38 years for that one! [STILL didn't master the dishwasher thing yet, but hope springs eternal]

The Booze. Once again, all top shelf, mass quantities, even the wine was LOVELY...they usually serve a plonk kind, great in it's own way, but I had a Chardonnay....the most over-used wine in the world I think,...but this one....we were handed glasses as we entered a historic home on the second night. I smelled it and it stopped me in my tracks, I WISH I had thought to ask what it was. Absolutely the nicest wine I've ever sipped, and I am a merlot kinda gal, so for me to enthuse over a white like that is WOW.....but for the drinks,I stuck with the Grey Goose. I picked a liquor and decided to stay with it, I don't need no steenkin' hangovers, and I like grey goose. At this resort, each bartender has their own "hand", now they mix drinks. At the events on the premises, it seemed like vodka based drinks always came with lemon, and gin based always came with lime, so that they could tell the difference when serving the mass quantities of drinks.Well, somewhere between the party and the bar, someone reversed that. I watched 3 different people gag on their drinks, and then looked down at mine .Lime :X And left it on the bar. [Oh, don't worry, I got another one right quick! ]The bartender looked up like she just woke up, I could SEE the horror on her face, and felt pretty bad for her. I've been on the service end of a large drunken crowd, and that's a tough row to hoe.

It is always such a blast, to see people who don't have to drive or pay, party. Some of the people Steve works with [and I am NOT naming names, and a LOT of these people were from all over the place, I never met them before] OMG,they let their hair down so far it fell out !! I mean, I'm no slacker, but I could not keep up and didn't try, neither did Steve. The first morning there, we come down,and the people that actually made it to breakfast.....woo-hoo,VERY rough around the edges some of them, I wanted to go tell them my theory about not mixing boozes.
So I told you, we were gonna do the Land Rover off road course as our activity. We both just decided,we HAVE to have some down time, HAVE TO. So our activities were:

Day One: breakfast. Curl up to watch a movie and NAP [Steve was stunned...aside from having kids or being very ill, I don't nap at all.....but WAIT there's MORE!! Eat lunch, walk around a bit, go back to the room and NAP again. Get up shower dress and hit the night life.
Day two: breakfast.Put on a movie with NO pretense of watching it and nap. Lunch walk around nap. GEt dressed and hit the night life.
Nap appeared to be the common theme, and we needed it so badly. I didn't know I had to go to Vermont to get a break :o) Thank you very much Toyota, we had a great time :o)

And now for that "more later", tasty delicious, melt -in-your-mouth irony.
We both felt kinda guilty for going on the trip, and not finishing the unpacking or any of the myriad things left to do. But this trip was a gift, right? Well, kinda. We paid for that puppy in spades when we got home :X
You may remember:
-this house came with a brand new smooth top electric stove.
-Gail prefers gas ranges and brought her own to the Shack
-Steve sells the electric, with the thought of putting some of the proceeds towards a new range hood, my current one BITES.
-Delay, delay, delay in the picking up of said range.
-Get ready, this will be VERY tasty.
-The buyer finally shows up to pick up the electric range after we got home sat. afternoon. ONE HOUR later, I ask Steve to preheat my lower oven for me.
NADA.
No sounds, no heat, NADA.
It appears that my range broke within the hour after we sold the smooth top.
That we could have used and sold as used, and I would not be without an oven right now.
Can you DIG that? I thought Steves head was gonna pop off. He ripped it apart, and took some part from my upper [smaller]oven and used it in the lower [regular size] oven, so at least now I can cook while we wait for the replacement part. But WAIT! THere's MORE!! We have a huge walk in shower, one side is an adult height shower head, the other side a child height shower head.The child height shower head is leaking.We need to find a cut off for it......or [tasty stuff again!] rip the tiled wall out. I am figuring I'd better learn how to tile like RIGHT NOW.
Oh! And I do have a party pic to post. I asked Steve "How do I look" and looked up and there he was with the camera, that sneak :o) ...if I can find the camera cord. And I don't have a CLUE where it is. All I remember thinking when I put it away was "Brilliant ! I CAn't lose it now!!!"
Haven't I ever met myself?

July:
13th: Fool's Paradise Day
14th: National Nude Day

~It's a biiiig mistake to allow any mechanical object to realize that you are in a hurry.~

Naps = The Awesome

All unpacked? Hahaha!! No friggin way.

Sunday at The Shack

-no unpacking.

-naps for both of us,we haven't had a down day in 3 weeks.[I'm not looking forward to the insomnia tonight, but naps are the awesome ;o)]

-trying to catch up on e-mail, I'm down to 179 now. Hey, clearing out your e-mail box IS a form of cleaning.

-STILL haven't figured out the dishwasher thing.All my friends that have em say, they run a load of dishes every two or three DAYS. Now, in the interests of science, I am willing to TRY this. But, I just don't think I can do it. I want the dishes done, not hiding out in the dishwasher, whispering to me. Maybe this is one trick this old dog can't learn, dammit. That is the second thing [the cabinets in the kitchen being the first] that, in theory, sounded beautiferous,- but in practice, just doesn't work for me.

-We sold the smooth top electric range that came with the Shack, and are waiting for the buyer right now. THEN I can get my mondo range hood, the one in there now looks like it wants to bite me.

-I had a bloggie planned for today.However, I am trying to pack, and packing BITES. Steve earned the Toyota Presidents award for parts,

[YAY Steve! WTG, and I am so proud of you!!!!!!!!! ]

and we are being treated to 3 days/2 nights at The Equinox:

http://equinoxresort.com/

I just don't understand why the company thinks it's an HONOR to vacation with your co-workers? The first night is a BBQ and a drinkathon, NO kidding. THAT will loosen you up with the co-workers alright. I guess I'm up for that. I asked Steve to sign us up for the Land Rover 4x4 off road class as a recreational activity [Can you see me in archery or falconry? I'd put an arrow straight thru the poor falcon :X Or having a mani or a pedi, nope, I don't like that.] Off roading sounds good to me. I didn't want Tony to be alone in the new house, so Stevie and Boo are my personal calvary, spending the nights we're gone here with Tony. [Kids: just so you know, I don't care HOW much fruit is in it, a Daquiri is NOT a health drink!]

And I promised you before and afters. Steve and I really like ceiling fans, and plan to have them all over the place.The first one, in our bedroom. The original fan, it looks like the previous owner repurposed it from some elses diningroom, that fan made me Laugh when we first saw this place.The new fan, I loved the fan but HATED the frosted glass shades that came with it, they looked pre-dirtied. I wanted something warmer and a little more eclectic. I found tortoise-shell shades, dark and lovely.I dont want surgical room lighting, and now I don't have it:

[that's on a dimmer switch, and at about 30% power]

Now, you might be wondering,where is the before? Well, I will TELL you.It is sitting on the livingroom floor. Doesn't EVERY man put their old ceiling fans on the living room floor?

[and you can tell, I took these pics with my cell. I have the cord for the camera but not the camera, and I *had* my nano and now I can't find it anywhere.Did I mention that packing and unpacking both bite?? :o)

Pissing Contests and Endpin stops

Dear Bloggie,
Hi! Long time no see! This unpacking shit B-I-T-E-S, let me tell you!

Pissing Contest:
(noun) Meaningless though nonetheless entertaining event or act in which people try to outdo one another.

Even though we are all in the Shack [well, not unpacked, that's another bloggie for another day] I am still working at the job that was extremely close to our old home. The irony is, my 4 1/2 minute commute turned into an hour commute. Thru a stretch of road that I likened to a rodeo yesterday morning, OMG, the stupidity of people! I laughed for 5 miles, watching people jockey for position at a left had turn.....speed up! Quick switch lanes and cut off a big rig. Who the HELL in their right mind would get into a pissing contest at ALL behind the wheel of a vehicle, let alone in a passenger vehicle? And have said pissing match with a Semi or commuter bus? WHO? Well, let me tell you. A LOT of people around here would. I was cut off by a mini cooper. I could pick that lil thing up and put it in the back of my truck, ........if we got into an accident he wouldn't be walking away. So he goes zipping in and out of lanes, everyone doing 10 to 15 over the limit, it WAS rush hour,.....and as we approach the light, the mini cooper winds up right along side me. All that effort, for NOTHING! I looked over at him, he looked over at me, and I burst out laughing, he probably thought I was a loon. Gail wins this pissing contest.

Steve has XM radio in his car. I thought, with his Loooong 30 minute commute from the old place, he ought to have good stuff to listen to. Since we moved, and the tables have turned so to speak, I have thought *I* should have the XM now. My commute is 3 times as long as his. Steve has intimated to me that it would be a BITCH to remove the radio, as he has hard wired it into the Vic, Ooooooo, he might hurt his back, Oooooooo, about 10 more reasons to let 'er lie where she is. So last night, I ask in general terms about XM radio, *I* know how hard it is to get out of a vehicle,...and he says, "oh NO, hon, I can have that out in less than 30 minutes"..........and even as the words were coming out of his mouth, he knew he lost that particular pissing contest. So YAY, I am getting XM radio, I LOVE their 70's station and some of the comedians. Gail wins this pissing contest.

Remember I told you, I applied for a position up here, and decided I didn't like it? So I "chose to decline the position" . I had been pressured by my work to work more hours. I am already commuting 8 to 10 more hours a week, I ain't working any more hours! When I declined the position, I wrote my supervisor and the owner a letter, telling them HEY! I was offered another job, at a pay scale quite a bit above what I am making here, but turned it down I won't turn down the next offer if the pressure doesn't stop. [ that's when I told them that I hadn't toked lately so I could pass the pee test :X ] And the upshot was, All is well Gail, your hours are fine, blahblahblah. Yesterday they gave me a raise! No one told me, they circled it on my pay stub. Cool, cool beans! I make almost a lil money now! Almost! Gail wins This pissing contest too!

And in the stunning denouement of this pissing contest bloggie,....last night, I made a honkin Amazon order. I needed an end pin stop for my cello, I've never been in a place where I needed one before. Hell, the end pin stop snowballed into an accessories for my Ruby order, as well as a grocery order. By the time I was done, I spent 108$. We agreed to place this order on the joint card, as a household expense, because if I don't get my endpin stop, someones household will need to hire a maid. I told Steve the total and gave him one of those wife stares, DARING him to say something. And he didn't, Good Man. I'm looking over the confirm today.....and I see that I put the whole shebang on MY c.c. Not the general household one. So, I lost this pissing contest with a vengeance, I can't stop laughing about it. Hey,I'm 3 for 4, not bad :O)


July:
4th: National Country Music Day, Tom Sawyer Fence-Painting Day

~A smart man covers his ass; a wise man leaves his pants on ~