Win and Loss, in the span of 15 minutes.

So, Kev's team won their game tonight, which left a 3-way tie for first place in the conference. The top two teams would be determined by a coin toss, and would then move on to the playoffs. The coin toss was supposed to happen tomorrow. But in a turn of events, the coin toss instead happened this past Monday--the Monday before the game tonight. Here's where this all gets sticky.

You've got Team 1 (Kev's team), Team 2, and Team 3. Here's the breakdown of the match-ups:
Team 1 vs Team 2 = Team 1 by a landslide.
Team 3 vs. Team 1= Team 3 by a landslide.

So tonight, Team 3 played Team 2. Everyone was expecting Team 3 to win by a landslide. That would have put Team 3 in first place, and Team 1 in second place. Both would have gone on to the playoffs. Instead, in a HUGE shocker, Team 2 beat Team 3, which left a 3 way tie for 1st.

As I mentioned before, the coin toss to determine who would go on to the playoffs IF this situation happened occurred this past Monday. Team 2 won 1st, and Team 3 won second place. So, as of Monday, Team 3 knew that they were guaranteed a spot in the playoffs. There is now quite a bit of talk that Team 3 intentionally threw the game tonight, allowing Team 2 into the playoffs rather than Team 1.Both Team 2 and Team 3 coaches are notorious in this area for trying to pay off refs, illegally recruiting players from other teams (we're talking HS football here), so I would be disappointed, but not surprised if this were true.

It just seems really odd to do a preemptive coin toss for a theoretical situation. And it gives a lot of temptation for shady behavior. I wish they would have done it tomorrow instead. Actually though, the coin toss at all is pretty crappy. No matter what, someone was getting screwed.

Appraisal.

So, today was a good day in that I got off work at 2pm, and got to come home and sleep off part of my migraine before Kev's game tonight. I'm popping Epidren to try and make it to the game. Not only is it an important game for the team, but my aunt and uncle are coming from Portland to watch, AND it's my high school versus Justin's high school.

Apparently the house appraisal happened this week. I don't really know anything because our lender sucks. She was great at first, but has stopped returning our calls. Our agent has to call and make her promise that she'll call us in order to get a call, and she never has time to explain anything to us. We know that the appraisal came in for less than expected, but don't know what that will mean for us in terms of closing. Whether we went with an FHA loan or regular loan was also pending the appraisal. Here's the scoop: we offered $160,000 for the house. BUT with the FHA loan, there's a fee that's rolled into closing costs, which would put our loan at $163,000. However, the house appraised at $161,000. I'm not sure that I want to be having a loan that's more than the property is appraised for. But our stupid lender doesn't seem to want to listen to our concerns.

She keeps sending us emails saying only "You'll need 1500 for closing." When we ask if that's AFTER our earnest money is applied, she doesn't respond. We also don't know if that figure includes things that are factored into closing costs, but we've already paid for, like the inspection.

I really want to fire this stupid lender, but with closing two weeks away, I think it might be too late. I just hate going into this not understanding what's going on. Anyway, Justin is calling right now to see if we can come into her office on Monday and meet. We need to go over this all line by line.

But Wait, There's More.

Yes, it's after 1am. I am so absolutely irate, crushed, pissed, frustrated, etc. Again, Justin doesn't deserve these emotions (except maybe the frustration), but I have to vent somewhere or I'm never going to sleep tonight. Justin got home not too long ago, and informed me that he will not be going to Washington next week. No, instead, he will be going during one of the following weeks:

1. November 10th. Remember me writing about how excited I was to go up North and see a comedian on the 13th with Ryan and Renee? Yeah. Did I also mention that the tickets are already paid for, and are in Justin's name and only he can pick them up? Seriously, we never go on dates. We never do ANYTHING as a couple. And now I'm remembering why...because any time we have plans to do anything of that nature Justin ends up having to work, and I'm crushed. And pissed. Really pissed in this case. Even if we could pick up the tickets, I'm still not sure whether or not I'd go. I don't know anyone that could take Justin's ticket, and I don't even like this comedian. I only suggested it because I know Justin loves him. Still, I was getting really excited about going with the three of them, and it's something that I'd really been looking forward to.

2. November 17th. Why yes, that IS the day that we're supposed to close on our house. Yes, there's a per diem penalty for closing late. Even if Justin were able to go up after the closing on Monday, that would leave me to do all the moving and such all by myself. I'm totally not even excited about the house anymore right now.

Or HEY...why don't we just push it back one MORE week and send him over Thanksgiving? Rant over. For now.

Tired.

My life has been bi-polar lately. Great amazing days, followed by really bad days. Today has been the latter for me. First of all, I had to help with a night training at work tonight, which means I just got home about 20 minutes ago. Justin is still working nights, and he left about 10 minutes ago. I recognize that some people have things far worse than I do. I recognize that we're blessed to both have jobs. I recognize what a blessing it is that he gets automatic overtime when he works nights. But this has made me very weary lately. Honestly, I've hardly seen my husband all week. And it's been a ROUGH week at work. Even though I can't share the details with him, just being there, making me laugh...all those things are support for me. And I haven't had it this week. We've tried to still do the Love Dare this week, but even that has been difficult because we just aren't seeing each other.

I hate being alone in these apartments at night. I hate being alone at night at all, but especially in these apartments. The complex as a whole knows where I work, and doesn't see it as a positive. I do NOT like being here alone, especially today. In fact, it was a particularly bad incident here that has caused us to start house hunting. A few months ago, we came home to one of our neighbors being kicked in the head while he was unconscious in the parking lot. There were kids watching. No one would stop it. Justin did, and I called the cops. It was completely out of control. They all know I was the one that called the cops. And people are STILL mad at me. In fact, I hear them talking about how the only reason no one has started any shit with me is because no one wants to mess with Justin. That's ONE of the incidents. One that Justin KNOWS about. There are many more that I CAN'T tell him about, all of which cause me to be leery about being here by myself.

Until today, I had been telling myself that it would all be over soon. I had been telling myself that this is the last week Justin should have to work nights for awhile. That tonight is the last night. Granted, we have a VERY busy weekend, but I was looking forward to locking the doors and staying home all day Monday with my husband.

Until I got the news. The news is that they're shipping Justin off to Washington to work for awhile. We're not sure how long--maybe a week, maybe two, maybe longer. And he doesn't get to come home until they're done. And wait for it....they will either leave this Sunday or next Sunday. Justin called to tell me right away. I had to employ some serious breathing techniques to not start screaming at Justin immediately. I know it isn't his fault. I know he doesn't have a choice in the matter--I'm mad at the situation, not at him. But I'm still tired, and scared, and frustrated, and angry.

I got home tonight at 8:20. Justin had to leave at 8:45. I walked in, and Justin was watching The Hulk. I could not get him to turn off the damn TV for the life of me. We had 25 precious minutes together today, and The Hulk got all of them. That was all Justin was interested in tonight. By 8:40, I was sobbing. I just couldn't do it anymore, and Justin had no idea why I was upset. I told him, and while he apologized about The Hulk, I think he thinks I'm being a big baby about the whole thing.

And like I said, I know there are people who put up with this much, much longer. But I was not cut out to be one of those people. And I am just so tired.

Thinking

The last five times I've gotten in the car, the same song has been playing on the radio. Each time, it's at virtually the same spot in the song. It's Sanctus Real's song "Whatever You're Doing". I've posted about it here before, and I believe I even posted the video. Anyway, the portion that keeps being on the radio goes:

Am I doing everything to follow Your will

Or just climbing aimlessly over these hills

So show me what it is You want from me

I give everything I surrender...

After hearing THAT verse for the fifth time today, I can't help but wonder if I'm really doing all that I'm supposed to be doing in life. So, I've taken some time this afternoon to think about other things that seem to be recurring in my life lately. And the first thing that popped to mind is blogs like Angie Smith's blog. I love to randomly click on links in people's blog roll, and by far the majority of the ones I've clicked on have been women in similar situations to Angie's. The other thing that seems to keep popping up in my life is the Now I Lay Me Down To Sleep foundation.

I'll be honest, this hasn't been easy for me lately, because being in the situation that these women find themselves in is honestly one of my biggest fears, and probably one of the reasons that I'm always so afraid of being pregnant. As irrational as it is, I keep thinking that no one in my generation has had any devestating pregnancy experiences, so obviously, I must be the one that it's going to happen to. I KNOW it's irrational. But I just can't shake it.

Anyway, I've also been thinking about photography a lot lately, and how once I get a real DSLR camera, I might like to pursue that part-time as well. As I mentioned before, I've also been seeing a lot of the NILMDTS foundation. At first, I found the idea of infant bereavement photography really odd and strange, but more and more I'm feeling like maybe that's something I need to look into. So I looked up which local photographers are involved, and there are only two that are involved...and frankly, they aren't very good.

More and more, as I think and pray about it, I'm feeling like this might be the direction I need to go. But I'm just not sure how to make it work at this point. It isn't like DSLR cameras just drop out of the sky.

Sea of Bitterness?!

So, for at least two years Justin and I have had one boy and one girl name for the future babies that may come along. In the FUTURE. Don't misinterpret that I'm pregnant mom, because I'm not. I'm just saying that some day when that happens, we have a boy's name and a girl's name picked out. At least we HAD names.

About two years ago, before Ryan and Renee had chosen a name for their son, Justin and I talked about both of us liking the name Logan for a boy. We didn't share with anyone since we had just gotten engaged not to long before and didn't want to freak anyone out. However, great minds must think alike because Ryan and Renee chose the name Logan for their son! So, Justin and I quickly re-grouped, and decided that we both like the name Nolan. We had agreed that Justin got to pick the boy-middle name, and he picked Ryan...which would make the child's name Nolan Ryan Lastname. Yes, that's the name of a historical a baseball player. But, I suppose by the time we get around to kiddos, they probably won't even know who Nolan Ryan is, and it also isn't like we'll actually call him "Nolan Ryan" all the time...he'll just be known as Nolan.

Anyway, the girl name has always been Isabella Marie Lastname. I love the name Isabella, and I thought that Marie fit nicely. I also liked the combination of Isabella Grace, but I know that's a VERY popular combination. Anyway, being home alone (again) tonight and bored, I decided to do some name research, and discovered that the name Marie means "Sea of Bitterness" ?!? REALLY? I had no idea. Coupled with Isabella, which means "God's Oath"...that leaves 'God's Oath is a Sea of Bitterness'. I think Isabella Marie is out. I have a weird superstition about names, and I don't know that I could go through with Isabella Marie now that I know what it means. I know...probably half of you have the middle name Marie/Maria, and I'm bashing you all by proxy...which is not my intent. But really...SEA OF BITTERNESS? I had no idea.

I can't think of any other middle names that I like with Isabella, so I'm thinking about bumping Isabella to the middle name. I'm liking Lily right now....how about Lily Isabella?

I don't know why I'm so worried about a girl's name....I'm having all boys anyway ;)

Good Day.

Why is it that the foods that are the absolute tastiest rarely LOOK good. And even less frequently do they photograph well? For example, this BBQ pulled pork that I made in the crock today doesn't exactly look appetizing, but it tasted like heaven, and I don't even like pork. It was one of the things that made today a GOOD day.

(Pulled Pork almost ALWAYS contributes to a good day...we LOVE us some BBQ!)

Another thing that contributed was being out of the office almost all day long! For once, I actually got to see outdoors during business hours, and appreciate the beautiful fall. The church that I grew up at has a women's circle that meets on Tuesdays. In November, they allocate all their charitable giving for the next fiscal year, so they asked me to come speak about the agency that I work for and our needs. I wish I could discuss the agency on the blog, because it's a national agency that really deserves a lot of prayers and support. However, if I've learned anything from Dooce, it's that you probably shouldn't talk about your place of employment on your blog. Anyway, I got to go speak to them in my hometown today, which is about a 1/2 hour drive. The ladies were such a treat, and it was great to break up the day. I really wanted to stay for the whole Bible Study, but felt like I should probably head back to the office.

On the way home, I took part of my lunch break, and stopped by a FANTASTIC used book store in my hometown. I came prepared with an armful of books to cash in, but was pleasantly surprised to learn that I already had about $20 in credit there! I added another $17 with the books that I brought in, and walked out with 3 books and about $19 left in credit. I got the following:
- Alias Grace by Margaret Atwood
-A Good and Happy Child by Justin Evans
- Abide With Me by Elizabeth Strout.

How funny...I just noticed that all the books start with "A".

I used the rest of my lunch break to stop at the little bitty Wal-Mart by my parent's house, which is infinitely superior to the ginormous Wal-Mart by where we live. First, it's never as crowded. Second, they have much better clothing, and there's nothing that I love more than your basic cheap cami or t-shirt. However, in an attempt to follow my new rule of trying on clothing before I bought it, I tried on a pair of jeans. Wal-Mart jeans now come in "super long", and for $15, I bought a pair. I think I like them. We'll see how they hold up at the football game on Friday!

Es por eso que debo decir...

Tonight after band practice, Ryan and Renee (for those not in the know, Ryan is Justin's brother, and Renee, his wife, has become one of my best friends) called up and asked if I'd do some family pictures for them like I did for Kelsey a few weeks ago. They said that they've gone to Wal-Mart in the past to that little mini photo studio that's set up, and it's always been over $100, and were wondering what I'd charge. Um, you buy the film and I'll do them for free! Basically, they want some family shots, some individual shots of their kids, and some shots of the two of them.

I've taken pictures of their kids a million times, and always have a blast. It's usually impromptu, informal Sunday afternoon shots (see pictures at the beginning of the post), and I'll take a roll or two and maybe get 5-10 really good ones out of the bunch--with shooting kids I get a LOT of sudden running/jumping/odd face making. Another reason that I'm dying to eventually have a digital SLR camera. But, anyway...what I'm trying to say is that they've always been totally no-pressure. This time, there's a little more pressure to deliver. But, I'm learning more every time, and I'm thinking that I can definitely deliver.

I suggested to Renee that maybe we can do the pictures over the course of a couple of days/weekends. Maybe do the family pictures one day, the kid portraits another, and her and Ryan yet a different day. I just remember that the last time we did WHOLE family portraits, the kids wore out pretty quickly. But then again, they're more familiar with me sticking a camera in their face all the time, so they might roll with it longer than I'm expecting.

Anyway, this is kind of a blast. The more I think about it, the more I'm thinking that it would be a WHOLE lot of fun to do photography full time. I just don't know that I'm quite "there" yet. I'd love to take a few more classes, but for some reason they're all smack dab in the middle of the day.

I'm Lusting After...

After discovering Old Navy's Tall section and seriously cleaning out my closet (two bags to Goodwill, at least 1-2 more to go!), I'm lusting after some new winter basics from ON. Both of these are $15, and both fleece, and both from the TALL section. Which means I might actually own fleece pants that I wouldn't have to roll up into capris...which is kind of silly with fleece. Purchasing these pants would allow me to give at least 3 pairs of black fleece pants that I tried to convince myself we're long enough (they aren't) to Goodwill. And I'm loving this blue color for winter!

I'm also in the market for a new pair of jeans. I only have two pairs that fit me well right now AND that are long enough. I probably gave 15 pairs of jeans away to Goodwill that either didn't fit or I don't wear 'cause they're not long enough. Anyway, I LOVE Gap's Long & Lean jeans, but I really want a dark wash and they don't seem to make them in a dark wash anymore. I can hardly bring myself to shell out $58 for jeans, so Sevens, or anything of that nature is out of the question. I found long jeans from target online and levi's online, but I hate not being able to try jeans on before I buy. No good.

In other news, there have been some serious sirens for like the past 30 minutes. I hate that when I'm home alone, and hate it even more when I don't have a phone.

You came up with the breeze...

So, it's been a few days. Since I last wrote on Thursday, we had a wonderful night of staying home on Friday, a pretty miserable day for me on Saturday. We helped out at a harvest fest, which meant I cooked like 5 gallons of cider and about 8 batches of caramel for caramel apples. Not only that, but there was hay everywhere. In fact, my husband helped out with the hay station--the hay that I'm highly allergic to and broke out in a rash all over my body just from being within 100 feet of the hay. My day pretty much went like this:

Justin: Mere, come do the 3-legged race with me.
Me: I can't, it's by the hay.
Justin: Oh.
[Five Minutes Later]
Renee: Mere, come see the spaghetti eating contest.
Me: I can't, it's by the hay.
Renee: Oh.
[Fifteen minutes later]
Justin: Mere, come watch me get a pie in the face!
Me: I CAN'T BECAUSE IT'S BY THE HAY.
[Five minutes later]
Church Person: Mere, could you help me come move the hay?
Me: I'm sorry, but I'm REALLY REALLY allergic to hay.
Church Person: It will only take a second!
Me: It doesn't matter. I can't even go near the hay.
Church Person: I haven't ever heard of anyone that allergic to hay before.
[Ten minutes later]
One of my nieces: Auntie Mere-Mere, I want up.
Me: I know sweetie, and I really wish I could pick you up, but I can't because you were playing in the hay.
Niece: Are you allergi-tic to hay?
Me: I'm super duper allergic to hay.
Niece: I'm sorry.
[Niece then gives me a big hug because she's sorry, and then I proceed to break out in hives.]

The whole hay situation made me extremely grumpy for two reasons. One, because my husband worked the freaking hay station when I explicitly asked him not to. I am so allergic to hay that having his clothes with hay-juice on them in the house will make me break out in hives. Being within 50 feet of them (i.e. the car ride home) will make me break out in hives. Justin doesn't comprehend this at all because he has nothing that he's THIS allergic to. But the second reason it really irritated me is because I didn't get to partake in any of the fun. Lately, I have been feeling like an outsider in a lot of ways--the person that's always looking in on the fun...or usually PHOTOGRAPHING the fun...while everyone else actually partakes in the fun. There was a meeting that morning that just compounded that feeling for me as well. Yay. Plus, it felt like people didn't believe me that I was allergic to the damn hay. Even as I'm breaking out in hives all over my body, people were asking me why I was so grumpy and wasn't participating. I DON'T KNOW...MAYBE BECAUSE I'M BREAKING OUT IN HIVES ALL OVER MY BODY. But that's just me.

Anyway, this morning at church was a whole different problem that I don't know how to deal with, and I'm not sure I can talk about on this blog. Then I left my cell phone at Justin's parent's house. I really hate being home alone without a cell phone seeing as how we don't have a landline. That's the stuff that horror films and Grey's Anatomy is made of.

So yes, Justin is working tonight, and I feel sorry for the guy. At least we both have tomorrow off and can snuggle all day. Any-hoo, the night was eventually redeemed because Kait and I went to see Fireproof, and I had a great time with her, as always!

And now, I leave you with this hilarious You Tube video of a mime re-enacting "Torn" by Natalie Imbruglia.

Forget what a day...what a week!

It has been a bad couple of days at work lately, including hearing about a kiddo that almost died. I am just really needing a vacation, and seriously looking forward to seeing Jeff Dunham in a couple of weeks. Followed by a 5-day weekend on Thanksgiving. That is going to be a serious blessing for me. Please pray for me, and for my strength until then!

I can tell that I'm starting to get too stressed when being admitted to the hospital sounds like a vacation. I heard that a family friend was admitted today, and my first thought was "Actually, that would be kind of nice right now. I'd like to sleep all day and watch TV." I know, I'm a terrible person. Sometimes, my job can just be a little overwhelming. Like I said, next month is going to be a blessing for me! Anyway, only one more day of work this week, and then a 3-day weekend!

Adding to the misery, I got allergy shots today. No fun.

What a day.

Seriously. I JUST walked in the door from work. It's been quite a day. I was hung up on by like 4 different supervisors at child welfare. We disagree. Their solution is to hang up on me rather than to discuss why our points of view are different. It's bullshit. At least we cracked open a bottle of wine at about 5:40 pm.

Today's love dare was to buy your spouse something that demonstrated that you were thinking of them today. I got the new "The Hulk" for Justin. I knew he had been looking forward to seeing it, and he hadn't bought it already which is totally unusual for Justin. He buys movies ALL THE TIME.

Justin bought me a gift pack from bath and body works of warm vanilla sugar lotion, body wash, and spray. Warm vanilla sugar is my FAVORITE, and I'm impressed. Seriously, the love dare is awesome. I know you aren't supposed to do it together, but it's been great for us. When we discuss the day, I discover things that Justin has done in an attempt to be nice that I would never suspect. Yesterday, when we discussed our attempts to be kind to each other, Justin said that his act of kindness was not using my towel after he got out of the shower. Which is something that I HATE. It's a no brainer to me, but it was something that Justin really thought about as an intentional way to be nice. So it's nice to hear those things so that I can recognize them. Really though, it's great. I woke up this morning, and all the dishes were done. That NEVER happens. I am loving my husband right now.

My Husband Has Lost His Marbles.

If all goes well with the house, we are set to close on Nov. 17th. Depending on when the appraisal happens, it could actually be sooner, but the official date is Nov. 17th. That's not counting on new carpets or anything else that might take god-knows-how-long.

My darling husband has been telling our family that if we close on Nov. 17th, we'll have Thanksgiving at our house this year. We'd do a turkey (have I mentioned I've never cooked a turkey?), and everyone else will bring sides.

Have I mentioned the house needs a MAJOR cleaning to get rid of all the mouse droppings and leftover dog hair? Have I mentioned the whole reason for giving our notice at the END of this month was so that we'd have a couple of weeks to paint and slowly move in? Have I mentioned that our dining room table only seats 6 and there would be like 14?

Seriously, I think he may have lost every ounce of marbles that were once in his head. I keep telling myself that I can relax once we get moved in...but now it sounds like I won't be relaxing until AFTER Thanksgiving...at the earliest.

Every Day Is Exactly The Same

I'm really tired. I slept like crap last night, and I even took some Simply Sleep...which means it's time to lock up the Codeine cough syrup, or I'm gonna end up using it to finally get some shut-eye. Which I don't want to do at all.

My dad totally freaked me out about my knee. I was telling him that I think I hurt it doing squats during the dang 30-minute shred movie, and that now I can't extend my knee all the way OR bend my knee all the way. He responds, "Oh! That's exactly what happened to me when I tore the cartilage and had to have surgery! Not being able to bend or extend your leg is classic torn cartilage!" Awesome. I think we all know that I'm a huge hypochondriac, and that does not help.

Justin and I took a cue from Ryan and Renee (who ironically took a cue from us), and are doing "The Love Dare." Today's dare is to do an unprovoked act of kindness. Easy, right? Not really. This was always my problem in school too. I need specifics. But, I'm sure I'll figure something out.

In terms of the house front, we finally got signed papers back from the bank, which means we should actually be able to lock in our rate today, and hopefully also finalize how much we should actually be paying for closing.

P.S. The Hutch

What do you all think? It's totally not my style. I'd love to paint it and give it all new hardware, but DH looooooooovvvvvvvvveeeees it just the way it is. Maybe I'll give him the stupid hutch in exchange for my living room arrangement.

Inspection Update

I've been trying to actually socialize with my husband at night rather than sit on the computer blogging and reading blogs. However, he sat down to play Ghost Recon as soon as we got home (and is now singing "Heeeeeaaaadddddd Shhhhhhoooootttttttt!" in some strange opera voice), so I think the computer is fair game tonight.

Our inspection went fairly well. It was great to talk with Dean, and hear about his daughter (my age, she and I went to school together). My dad came with, Justin was able to get off early and make it there about an hour in, and then my mom brought us drinks towards the end. There's nothing major wrong with the house, but Dean isn't sure whether or not the FHA appraisal people will okay the carpet. Everyone was pretty shocked by the carpet, but they all seemed to think it just needed to be cleaned. Little did they know, it's already been cleaned. They should have seen it the first time we looked at the house. Gag me. The carpet definitely needs to go, but we could probably live with it for a little while (i.e. until we receive our tax return and the subsequent $7500 tax credit for buying a house). Dean told us that the FHA inspectors can sometimes be a little more strict, and sometimes demand new carpet in order to finance, especially when there are some holes in the carpet, as there are in this house (you can see where the dogs tried to "dig" at the doors). He said one of the inspectors is pretty relaxed, and will let most things pass. The others really tend to go by the book.

I'd love it if our lender required new carpet and the bank that owns the house agreed to pay for it. That way, we wouldn't feel like we needed to do wood floors right away, and I wouldn't have to worry about all the animal fur and my allergies. However, I'm not sure that the selling bank would agree to replace the carpet--which is silly because pretty much anyone buying this house will probably be trying to use FHA. So they should just do what the FHA people say. I just hope that they don't let the deal drop over some stupid carpet. But they might.

Also, the "landscaping" is really pretty laughable. We found all sorts of crap in the backyard--cardboard boxes, swimming toys that had half-dissolved, many "blue tarps" that were now disinegrated into blue string, etc. What's more, I hear the land underneath the hay/grass is clay. BLECH. I'm thinking we'll just bring in some topsoil and cover everything.

But the carpet. It's gonna come down to the carpet.

Consequently, I'm trying not to let myself imagine living room furniture placement and plan the bedroom/bath themes TOO much. I can already tell that's going to be a feat in and of itself. My mom and I agree on how we'd both arrange the living room. Justin wants another random arrangement that my mother and I both think would be the world's WORST and most impractical living room arrangement. We also disagree about the china hutch. Justin wants it, and I don't...how's that for role reversal?

As much as Justin is a manly man, I can tell that his mother instilled SOME decorating tips in him. For example, I didn't really particularly want a bed skirt on our bed. To me, it's just another piece of fabric that things I'm allergic to live in. Justin threw a hissy fit and demanded a bed skirt because it makes the room look "elegant." Well, it would if it weren't for all of the dirty clothes on the floor.

Inspection Day

In honor of inspection day today, Justin took the opportunity last night to watch Inspector Gadget while I was sleeping with my knee elevated. He will take ANY opportunity to watch a Disney/Pixar/ Other children's movie!

What's that you say? Why yes, I WAS sleeping with an elevated knee yesterday. I guess I must have gone a little crazy with the 30 day shred business because I woke up on Friday with a knee swollen to twice it's size, and the inability to either straighten OR bend my leg all the way. It was a fantastic weekend.

Today is going to be a long, crazy, emotional day! As I mentioned before, it's house inspection day. And Justin cannot get off work. Luckily for me, my wonderful father is going to come with me to the inspection. I'm hoping that the day will give me the opportunity to get some room measurements and such. Then I can start decorating from afar! I am just hoping that I can pick up my paycheck before I head over this afternoon!

Also in the plans for today--hopefully doing a serious "What Not To Wear" on my closet. If I'm honest, I have entirely too much crap that I never wear, and it's time to make a Goodwill run. In general, I think we're trying to downsize before potentially moving. I'm trying to only keep things that are made well, are flattering, and that I actually have WORN in the past year. Yes, I have that many clothes that there are some I haven't even worn in the past year. Therein lies the problem. I'll let you know how it goes.

Me Talk Pretty One Day--for Lisa

So, my favorite ex-roommate Lisa recently relocated to Norway, where I'm sure she's quickly picking up the native language, because the girl speaks like 4 languages already, but could probably pass as speaking like 10.

Anyway, one of her recent posts describing Norwegian class reminded me SO MUCH of David Sedaris' Me Talk Pretty One Day. I was surprised to hear that Lisa hadn't read it. I have a copy, which I promptly found in the blue section of my color coded bookshelf, and contemplated shipping it overseas to Liser, but then decided against it given that it's a hardback and would probably cost a fortune. Sorry girl.

I do have SOMETHING though...I found one chapter online over here, and it's just the particular chapter I was thinking of. It isn't nearly as funny without the rest of the book, but it's still a "kick in the pants", to steal an expression from hubby. Particularly if you've ever attempted to learn another language, and found yourself trying to construct a logical sentence or story using only the present tense. And even if you were successful at doing THAT, some "false friend" probably resulted in your teacher laughing his or her butt off at you. Case in point, "Estoy embarassada." For you non-Spanish speakers, it does NOT mean "I'm embarassed", as I thought until about my third year in Spanish class. It means "I'm pregnant." No wonder I got such strange looks from my Spanish teachers in high school...

Chica-Cherry-Cola

Do you guys remember that Savage Garden song back in the day about "Chica Cherry Cola?" I am not only seriously craving Cherry Coke, but I've had the song stuck in my head today. I actually went through a phase where I LOVED Savage Garden. Now, I'm just sort of puzzled. I mean, "I want to live like animals, careless and freeeeeeee!" or "Mama never loved her much, daddy never kept in touch, that's why she shied away from human affection" or "I'll love you more with every breath, truly, madly, deeply, do!" ---could we get any more melodramatic?

Seriously, really thinking about the lyrics of some of those songs is cracking me up tonight. But I've gotta admit, they're catchy songs...I still dance in my car when they come on the radio.

Anyway, I don't know what brought on the Savage Garden tangent...probably being home alone while hubby works late AGAIN. And he will tomorrow as well, which means missing Kev's homecoming. Suck. And suck even more that I have to drive there by myself. I just keep reminding myself that it's good for all these unexpected house expenses that I know will be coming.

Speaking of, our inspection is scheduled for Monday. Woop! And even better, the inspection guy isn't likely to screw us over, because I discovered today that it's my YMCA basketball coach from elementary school! Small world!

How could I end the post without the chica-cherry-cola video?!

October 15, 2008

Today is my parents' 25th wedding anniversary! Congrats to them! They were married in the exact same church that Justin and I were married in, which is something that's so special to me. So, I'm busting out an old picture of the family (minus Kevin) to commemorate the day! My dad is very proud of the fact that he has officially been married to my mom for HALF HIS LIFE!

And to make the day even better, we heard from our REA that our offer was accepted on the house! I am really very excited...but trying to remain calm, cool, and collected because we still don't have the SIGNED paperwork yet. Once that happens, we'll schedule an inspection, and pending a good inspection, we should be good to go!!!!

Here are a couple other pictures of the could-possibly-be-our-first-house! It's small, but it would be ours!