Guilty Pleasure

I love Saturday mornings. I love waking up and not having to run out the door. Iona and I get up early and drink our coffee and watch America's Next Top Model. Michael can't sit through 10 minutes of the show, so it belongs only to me and the dog. It is the guilty pleasure that just lets me numb out after the week. I also catch up on the ends of all the shows that I fall asleep watching. I literally nap on the couch at least four nights a week, so I have snippets of The Office, House, or Bones to see. I think I managed to stay awake through CSI this week, even though Sara Sidle's hair was so atrocious. Michael's awake now, so it is back to HGTV. My time starts again tomorrow morning.

Living in a small town

I grew up in a small town...a REALLY small town. Although I had a great childhood and a fabulous family, it just didn't work for me. My mom says she knew by 5th grade that it was inevitable that I would some day be moving on. By the time I hit junior high, it was hard; high school was painful. I graduated with the same people I went to kindergarten with. Sure a few people moved in and few moved out, but we stayed the same for the most part. That made it really difficult to rebrand yourself, to start over, to make new friends, or try and carve a different path for yourself. Some managed to that, and do it well. I wasn't quite sure of myself by that point yet, so I just came across as indifferent or confused. Who did I want to be? Who should I emulate? Instead of dealing better with those around me, I made friends with people from other schools. It was easier for me to separate my social life from my school life...and that did work. It also alienated me from people I wanted to be friends with, and should have. Therein lies the beauty of Facebook and other social media, but that is another story entirely.

So...we moved, and moved, and moved again. That antsy spirit inside me just couldn't stay quiet or still. We ended up in a large city (LA) and I traveled extensively and worked from another major city (Manila). Tall buildings, and gridlock traffic, and millions of faceless people milling around you everyday. So imagine my shock to wake up in a small town again. Ok, so it didn't quite happen overnight and it certainly wasn't a surprise...but some days it still feels surreal!

In passing last night, Michael says, "Did I tell you that I saw so-and-so yesterday"? He saw this person while driving down the highway. Seriously? You saw someone you knew by driving down the road. That so doesn't happen in LA. A couple months back we were checking out at Macy's and struck up a conversation with the salesgirl, whose mother was a realtor who worked in the same office as ours. "Peter Rumsey? You are working with Peter? I LOVE him! I've known him my whole life..." And then there was the time that we were at a company event and someone walked up to me with..."Stealey? Are you the people buying the house on Hinsdale?" Turns out he was the seller. Come on!

I see people all the time "running" into acquaintances at the market or the mall. While that hasn't happened yet, I know it is around the corner. I am living in a small town again, and I think I like it.

Google goodness

At 7.52p my husband and I were standing in the Condo kitchen eating pretzels and wearing pajamas. This is weird for a number of reasons, least of which that we rarely seem to be home together before 8p these days. I acknowledge that it was a rough day, so the wine joined the pretzels as necessary sustenance quite quickly. It's also raining so Iona's walk was very short. Hence the pjs.

We've been taking the Pig to the baseball field behind the Condo to run off-lease at night, so that is the only bummer of the evening. Other than that, I am perfectly content to sit in my pjs a tad tipsy and blog away. I read about Gmail Googles today, and fortunately it didn't say anything about blogging. That's a good thing, because I am not sure I could do math at the moment.

"Gmail Labs has introduced a new feature today that helps you to not to send emails when you are drunk or tired. The feature is called Goggles which is active on weekend late nights by default. Once activated it shows random math questions when you try to send a mail in weekend late nights. "

Although this may potentially impact me, it does crack me up. Google needs to add this to all cell phones and political conventions, and instant messaging applications, and well...they should just embed it into my brain. If I had to do math before saying anything flippant and sarcastic, I would be damn quiet. I know a few people (husband) that would be willing to fund this. Have I mentioned that Google scares me a little?

Make mine purple

I actually try to stay away from most political discussions, as I, like most people, get a tad personal in the heat of the debate. Since we are finally down to the wire with the presidential race, I just can't keep it in any longer.

I must preface that I love this country and love living here. I have traveled all over the world and have spent 1/2 of the last few years OUT of the US for one reason or another. I can fill out an immigration card blindfolded and certainly don't need to double check my passport information. I know that number better than I know the birth dates of my loved ones. Each and every time I would land back on my homeland, I would get a little choked up. I love seeing "Welcome to the United States of America" in big letters as I leave an aircraft. The more I travel, the more I appreciate what we have here. Even with our current economic mess, it is a right good place to be.

That said, my patriotism takes a hit during presidential election time. It frustrates the hell out of me that the candidates do everything to slander each other and pull the country completely apart. The finger pointing last night was just appalling. When this is over, both sides will act shocked when we all 'just can't get along' and come together. Yank us apart and slam us together. Very effective. I have decided on who I will vote for, and it wasn't easy. I didn't want either of these candidates, but since this is the offer I've been given, I will make the best choice for me.

Wisconsin surprisingly goes blue, Texas was certainly red, and California...well, no one expects them ever to sway off that Democratic platform. So it only seemed fair that we were headed back into Republican territory. So imagine my surprise when North Carolina became a SWING state! This is the first time since the 1976 election that NC may go Democrat...which makes them a solid purple. While I would like to be personally responsible for this swing, I am not sure my one voter registration is powerful enough. No matter...purple is making me proud.

My Mail Order Puppy

Iona's got a boyfriend, Iona's got a boyfriend!

My friend Rain sent me the funniest email today. Apparently HER boyfriend Alex is attempting to pimp out Iona and has already found her a mate. I don't typically post emails from others, but this one was too fabulous to resist.

"Alex has been trying to match-make Iona with Sam, who is a lot younger but looks quite handsome. So whenever Sam is in the shop, Alex shows him Iona's picture on his laptop and says, 'Look Sam, an older woman. Older women are hot!' And Sam, who is a very cool puppy despite his age, looks reflective. I did take him aside a couple of times to explain that this hot older woman lives in the other side of the world and will not likely be visiting soon. But maybe her humans will be."


So our little girl has a secret admirer from the Philippines. I guarantee that if they ever did meet, Iona would be yelling at him within three minutes. Maybe she'd cut him some slack for looking like a teddy bear and being the same color as she is, but I doubt it. Sam would be like, "Bitch! I've been waiting all this time and this is it? You have no legs AND you're loud." And away he would go back to the islands. Hmmm...do they even speak the same language? Does Sam 'woof' in Tagalog?

The idea of them ever actually meeting is rather entertaining, and I thank Alex for the thought. The Iona Pig is most grateful that you want to rescue her from being a single Corgi. She too has been mistaken for a stuffed animal, and she looks for the same quality in her boyfriends.

In case you want to know a little more about the man that sets up orange dogs from around the world, check him out here. Thanks Alex. I now truly miss you, the wine and your strange sense of humor, just a little bit more.

One more 'Maverick' and I'll be too drunk to stand

Renovate your marriage

As another weekend draws to a close, I must think...where? Where did it go? The only reason I am certain there was a weekend is because my entire body hurts. The deck is completely gone and so is the cheap wood floor in the living room. We still can't figure out why the floor was installed, as the original is in great shape. All the scrap is now loaded into the truck, including the old shutters, some screens and other miscellaneous crap Michael found under the deck. We're both still shocked that one of us hasn't been punctured by one of the million nails we've encountered.


All the new photos can be found here on Facebook.

I often think that I should rename my blog to "How to Renovate and Stay Married". It certainly isn't easy to do this type of project and we're learning some valuable things along the way.

• Work on connected, but independent projects. It helps to have your own task and be able to work it from start to finish. It makes you feel like you are equally contributing and you can do things your own way without someone telling you that you are doing it wrong.
  

• Music. Not only does the right loud music help motivate, it also masks the profanity and periodic cries of pain. It keeps your loved one from thinking that you are a wimp or that you have developed a case of Tourettes.

• Bring your own keys or your own transportation. This keeps you from having to work as long as the other. Sometimes you would just prefer to end your task and go home and take a shower. This keeps you from bitterly glaring at your spouse while they stand between you and being clean.

• Have a Subway nearby. Wow, so simple, yet so true. We have one around the corner and the 5 minute walk provides a great change of scenery from dust and demo. We stay fed (and therefore less grumpy), no one feels responsible for food, and we're eating relatively healthy.
  

• Beer and a rocking chair front porch. Sometime during every renovation day you need to sit together and talk about nothing, the project, each other, the weather...anything. Just be together and enjoy it. These chairs may be our best investment ever. They are also the only thing in or around the House that isn't covered in a layer of dust.

My competition

I post the shed, because he loves the shed.

BTW - this is the color scheme that the outside of the House will eventually be. Goodbye purple!