Adventures in Home Ownership

Last week I discovered that I had a broken sprinkler head in the front yard. I went to the Home Depot and got what I thought would fix it, but it did not. I went back to get something else, but it didn't solve the problem. My lawn (and foundation) were desperate for water so I decided to let the sprinklers run a few times anyway until I could figure out what to do. So tonight, the Smiths were dropping me off from a trip out to their house-in-progress when my favorite neighbor stopped me to let me know that I had a broken sprinkler head. (This guy is more worried about my sprinklers than I am! He's the one that was talking to me about coordinating my system with his before I ever even closed on the house! Then a month after I moved in he was telling me that I was creating a bog situation between our houses with my sprinklers. Yeah, remember last June....when it rained every single day? But it was MY sprinklers creating the bog situation. This guy really works my nerves.) But I digress.....Luckily, Bob and Natasha got out of their car to have a look at it and Bob told me that I would have to dig a little deeper to get a better look at it. Bob told me that he would come back tomorrow night to help me look at it, but I was so annoyed by my neighbor that I just started to dig. While I was digging my neighbor from across the street came out to let me know that I had a broken sprinkler head in my front yard. I was like, yeah, thanks, that's why I'm DIGGING A HOLE IN MY FRONT YARD! Yes, I seriously said that. He didn't offer to help me fix it, nor did the first guy. I figured out what the problem was, made my 675th trip to the Home Depot this summer and fixed the thing myself. I get such a rush fixing things myself. Once I pulled it out of the lawn, it looked like the pop up part didn't pop back down and someone ran over it with a lawn mower and cut it clean off. I'm a little dismayed that either my lawn service or my other neighbor broke it and no one bothered to let me know. And while I appreciate my others neighbors letting me know that I have a problem, I quote Bob Smith, don't just tell me what the problem is, tell me how to fix it.

More Awesomely Bad Baby Names

The entertainment continues:

1. Laykin, whose siblings have even more awesome names: Nevada, Caleb, Te'Ya, and Zoe'. Wow - Caleb really got lucky there.
2. Makeelah Markez
3. Ja'Cerrian O'Bryant
4. Makullen Kayne, sister is Makenna Rayne
5. Chesnie Jo
6. Zakemeon Dornell, Jr.
7. Alora Neveah

Photoshop Fun

Last summer Natasha got me hooked on etsy.com. This summer she's got me hooked on creating stuff in photoshop! It's so much fun!! Here are the first two things I've successfully made by myself: an invitation to Jennifer's birthday party and a picture for my mom.

I finally finished painting my kitchen! A coat of primer and two coats of paint later. I finally settled on a color called white truffle. My hands hurt really bad. At least now I can start hanging stuff on the walls and making it look pretty. Pictures will be posted soon!

The Crickets Must Die!!!!!

I'm totally taking insomniac to a whole new level tonight. I'm actually super tired and want to go to bed, but my mind and the mutant Texas crickets won't let me. I don't know what it is about the crickets around here, but they have the loudest chirp of any crickets I've ever encountered. Their chirping is so intense that it sounds like they are sitting on my bed with me. It wouldn't be so bad if it were just a dull roar, but this is insane!!!!! If anyone reading this knows how to exterminate yard crickets please let me know!

I must pick a color to paint the kitchen tomorrow. I must. No more vacillating. It's time to make a choice. Why are there 60 different shades of beige??

Really, I just want to the crickets to die!!!! Hmmmm...dead cricket.....I wonder if that is a color option?

Painting

I spent the day priming my kitchen for a new coat of paint. I thought I had the color picked out, but now I can't decide. I have it 'narrowed' down to seven colors. This will only be the third color in 13 months that these walls have seen so I really want to get it right this time. I guess my kitchen is having a little bit of an identity crisis. Maybe I need to call David Bromstad for help!! Painting by yourself sucks, but luckily I had some little helpers stop by today!

Parker said he likes to paint!

Caden was a very hard worker!

Allie before she got her hands in the paint!

Oops! Got a little on the face!

The Final Creation:

By the way - Natasha was nice enough to teach me how to use photoshop and I made my blog banner using my new skills! She was the creator of the others I've had and now I can make my own!

Musing on Happiness

I just saw a link to an article on MSN.com titled Is it Possible to be Single and Happy?

Let me answer that for you - yes. Astonishingly - I am happy. Actually, this is the happiest I've been in a long time. Why? Because I do whatever makes me happy and enriches my life and stay away from things that suck the life out of me. I wouldn't be so appalled by a title like this had it read something like......

Is it Possible That There is Life on Uranus?

Is it Possible That Flying Monkeys Could Take Over the World?

Is it Possible That Dick Cheney Could Actually Embrace Gun Control?

I Love This Man

If anyone knows a man like this:

please let me know. Handsome, funny, and smart isn't too much to ask for, right?

Saturday Night Thoughts

I'm entertaining myself at Natasha's house while she is taking the babysitter home. I found an article on MSN.com called 9 Money Rules to Live By by Liz Pulliam Weston. I always read articles like this because I want to make sure that I'm not doing something stupid with my money. There was one little section that articulates a thought that I frequently have and I just wanted to share it. I always wonder when enough will be enough........finding a balance between a good, comfortable life of contentment and always wanting more. Anyway....this is what I found:

"The pointlessness of the hedonic treadmill

This isn't the latest workout device at your gym. The hedonic treadmill means that we quickly adjust to improved circumstances. A raise at work or a new possession may make us happy for a little while, but we soon take our situation for granted. Our expectations continue to rise: if only I could get another raise, or a better car, or a bigger house. Should those expectations be satisfied, again we'd adjust and quickly want more.

This has a lot of implications for personal finance and the economy, but here's something to consider: Maybe we need to look beyond our wallets for true happiness."

Recipes For You!!

I made a delicious dinner tonight and I wanted to share it with you! I used Tilapia instead of Flounder (cause that's all they had at Kroger last Sunday) and it was still awesome, although the fish fell apart a little. Hope you enjoy it as much as I did! I got these recipes off of EatingWell.com.

On a vacation note - Suzanne booked us a trip to Cozumel today!!!!! We will be at an all-inclusive resort on a secluded beach. All-inclusive means that you don't pay for drinks. And they have a swim up bar. Oh. My. Gosh. I can't wait!!!!!!!!!!! We'll be there four nights and we'll fly back on my birthday!

Sauteed Flounder with Orange-Shallot Sauce

Ingredients

• 1/3 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon salt , or to taste
• Freshly ground pepper to taste
• 1 pound flounder , sole or haddock fillets
• 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 each large shallot , finely chopped (about 1/3 cup)
• 1/2 cup dry white wine
• 1 cup freshly squeezed orange juice
• 2 heaping teaspoons Dijon mustard
• 2 teaspoons butter
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley

Instructions

1. Mix flour, salt and pepper in a shallow dish. Thoroughly dredge fish fillets in the mixture.
2. Heat oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat until shimmering but not smoking (see Tip). Add the fish and cook until lightly browned and just opaque in the center, 3 to 4 minutes per side. Transfer to a plate and cover loosely with foil.
3. Add shallot to the pan and cook over medium-high heat, stirring often, until softened and beginning to brown, about 3 minutes. Add wine and bring to a simmer, scraping up any browned bits. Cook until most of the liquid has evaporated, 1 to 2 minutes. Add orange juice and mustard; bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low and simmer until the sauce thickens a bit, about 5 minutes. Add butter and parsley; stir until the butter has melted. Transfer fish to individual plates, top with sauce and serve.

Sesame Snap Peas with Carrots & Peppers

Ingredients

• 8 ounces sugar snap peas , trimmed (about 2 cups)
• 1 each small red bell pepper , cut into strips (about 1 cup)
• 1 each large carrot , peeled and thinly sliced (about 1 cup)
• 1 tablespoon reduced-sodium soy sauce
• 1 tablespoon toasted sesame oil
• 1 teaspoon sesame seeds
• Freshly ground pepper to taste

Instructions

1. Bring 2 inches of water to a boil in a pan. Put peas, bell pepper and carrot in a steamer basket and place in the pan. Cover and steam, stirring once, until crisp-tender, 5 to 7 minutes. Transfer to a medium bowl; add soy sauce, oil, sesame seeds and pepper; toss to coat. Serve warm.

Decorating and Dinner

Amongst other things today, I hung up my other buy from the Uppercase Living party in my new "craft room". It looks so cute in there and I can't wait to get the rest of the room put together.

Cristian came over tonight and he made his favorite dinner: Italian sausage and pasta with peppers and onions in the marinara sauce. It was delicious! My compliments to the chef!

One of These Things is Not Like the Other

Can you see in this picture that my left ankle is slightly larger than my right? Well, that's because I tripped in a sink hole and twisted it. Yeah. Natasha came to pick me up for a scrapbooking get together and as I walked out to the car I had to learn the hard way that there is a dip in my front yard. I walked right into it and twisted the heck out of my ankle. It hurt for a minute, but then the pain subsided. After sitting for a while at the get together my ankle managed to swell so much that I could hardly put any weight on it. I was able to hobble back to the car and now I'm laying on the couch with an ice pack. What a great way to kick off the summer!

Trying to be Handy

So, today I went back to the tile store to pick up the tile I ordered, along with the necessary bag of grout and tile adhesive. I got my tile from an independently owned tile store and the owner was a little shady. The price of the tile was clearly marked, and I don't think I got a bad price on it. However, when I went to pay for all the stuff, this guy was going to try to sell me a $40 3.5 gallon bucket of adhesive. (He told me the day before that he would get me a small gallon bucket of it, but today he was unable to get that for me). This bucket has enough adhesive for me to tile my whole freaking house, not to mention that I'm not paying $40 for it. I told him no thanks, I'll just get a small bucket myself from Home Depot so just tell me what I owe for the small bag of grout. (I asked him yesterday how much it was and he never told me - he said he'd have to look it up). Well, when I asked again today he still didn't have an answer. He started looking through papers for what seemed like 5 minutes and then came to the conclusion that the bag will cost $24. WHAT???? I straight up told him that was a little excessive for a small bag of grout and that I could just pick that up at Home Depot, too. He told me that since I was a good customer that he would give me the bag for $12. That seemed a little more reasonable to me. I wondered what it would have cost me if I wasn't a single girl ordering tile all by myself? I felt like he was taking advantage of me and under the impression that I was born yesterday. I went to Home Depot after I left the store to get my adhesive. They had a small bucket of adhesive for $9.97. They also had the same large bucket as the tile store for only $27.97. Interesting. The exact same bag of grout that I got - $12.97. I saved 97 cents on my bag of grout. I guess I can't expect independent businesses to compete with Home Depot prices, but a 100% mark up is excessive when Home Depot is a half mile down the road.
Yesterday, the contractor was telling me to get some longer screws for my electrical outlets and I wanted to write down the correct size. He told me what it was and then told me (in a condescending tone that had a hint of pity for me, the single girl trying to get some handy work done) that I should ask for help when I got to Home Depot. Why? Because I'm too stupid to find the bag of screws that says #8 1 1/2 inches on it? I have a master's degree, I think I can find a bag of screws by myself. I don't know as much about being handy as I do about baking a cake, but I can learn. I'm smart and have a desire to learn new things. I can learn how to be handy, I just need to be taught how to do all of these new things. I don't appreciate these men assuming I am incapable of doing these jobs. Acting helpless is not a quality that I find endearing in other women, and I feel a great sense of accomplishment when I am able to do things on my own. Not that I needed to feel any less inept today, I tried to start caulking my crown molding. I did it just how I'd read in three different sources, but gravity was working against me. I'm definitely going to need some hands on training to get this project finished.
One project that I was able to complete was to put up my new welcome sign that I ordered from Natasha's Uppercase Living party. It looks so cute! I have some other stuff for my office that I'm going to hang up next week.

Summer Break, Day 1 = Home Improvements

I spent my first day on break doing all kinds of stuff I'd been putting off. I ordered tile for my back splash in the kitchen, the contractor came out to measure, and hopefully it will be going in on Monday! Can't wait to post pictures of that. He also gave me an estimate on painting the cabinets and I'm seriously considering having that done within the month. This afternoon I finished painting my "craft room" this cheery green color! I want this room to be vibrant and a place that will inspire more creativity. Right now all that is in it are curtains. I guess I've got all summer to spruce it up more. Between work and home, I've got WAY to many summer projects scheduled. I can't wait to have the kitchen finished, though!

Can't Sleep....Thoughts.......

Wow - it's June and we are still in school. This is very bizarre. Tomorrow is the last day with the kids and luckily we only have one class. I am very much looking forward to having the summer to do stuff. I've got so much planned:
-finish painting the office/craft room
-caulk and paint the crown molding
-repaint the kitchen
-put together a giant shelving system for the dining room
-get a dog
-plan for next year
-plant a tree in the front yard
-have lots of craft nights with Natasha!
-go on vacation!!! been researching Toronto lately......
-learn how to be a pastry chef!


I spent the weekend trying to reflect on some positive things in my life. I tried to focus on things that I am good at and things that I enjoy. My job provides me with certain freedoms that I have not always had the luxury of, such as two uninterrupted months of vacation and financial stability. These two things together help me explore lots of other things that I really enjoy doing, but don't get to much time to during the hustle and bustle of the school year. Things like fun cooking (not survival cooking, which is what I normally do), all the little creative projects I like to work on with Tasha, and decorating my house. I like to investigate new music and find lesser known artists that don't sell out to pop culture. Anything that allows me to be creative, I'm in! I really like having other things to occupy my time besides band. I want to be good at my job - I want to be damn good at my job - but I want to have other things to enrich my life. I feel I need other outlets in order to be a well rounded person. I have more to say......I'm just not sure how to put things into words right now......I'm not really sure how to say what I'm feeling tonight. Perhaps I will be a bit more eloquent after some sleep........
I want more in my life than band! Is that such a crime?