Lazy Blogger

I have been pretty slack in my Blog upkeep lately. I am still getting adjusted to the new house and a different way of doing things. I haven't spent much time on my caveman laptop lately. This computer seems to get slower and slower every day. I don't have the patience to wait for things to load.

I finally took a few pictures of the house as well as a few pictures of what I did with our front windows. We have two sidelights around the front door. They are simple glass windows that allow everyone who drives or walks by a complete and unobstructed view inside our house. I do not like that one bit. I originally wanted sidelight curtains but we were unable to find them. Then I wanted to do a glass treatment that made them look like stained glass, Gallery Glass. We finally found the Gallery Glass stuff at Michaels and I pondered the pattern to use. After thinking about numbers, measurements and other mind numbing things, I decided to freehand. Nothing had to be exact. I went with a vine pattern. It turned out so good! If you don't know anything about Gallery Glass, it is a "paint" that when dry, looks like stained glass. They even have "leading" strips that you can peel and stick, or you can make your own lines with the liquid version. I used the leading as the vine and the outer edges of leaves. I filled in the leaves with clear. When the clear dried, it looks like wavy glass. I intended on "etching" the remaining glass to make the panels completely opaque, but liked the look of just the vines. Immediately following the start of the Gallery Glass, my mil offered to make sidelight curtains if we sent her the fabric and measurements. Now we have the vine pattern with pretty green curtains to further obstruct prying eyes. We absolutely love the way it turned out.

Our new little house!!

Sidelight

Sidelight curtains (thanks S!!)

We saw The Happening this afternoon. Meh. It was a good movie but wasn't as scary as I anticipated. It also didn't have the usual M. Night Shyamalan twist like I expected.

We are planning on having a garage sale tomorrow in the hopes of unloading lots of useless stuff we have acquired over our last 15 years. I wish we had done this before the move! I just hope it doesn't rain. It is already drizzling out....fingers crossed! Once we clean out the garage from the garage sale, I will be able to park in it. Pretty cool. SH built shelves to put all our garagey stuff on and they look great. The rest of the house has pretty much fallen into place.

I have been sending in resumes on a daily basis. Hurry up people, I am waiting on your calls for interviews!!! I think a lot of these places won't give me a second look since they know I have a college education. Apparently this means they will have to pay me more. Ummmmm, hello. I wouldn't have sent in a resume to apply for the job if I wasn't interested.

Home Sweet Home

We are finally in Northport! We packed up the UHaul last Wednesday and left Troy Thursday at the crack of dawn. We made it here safe and sound and had everything unloaded by 2 in the afternoon. SH's parents were a BIG help. We have spent the past few days unpacking, arranging and getting stuff together for a yard sale. We had so much stuff that we never used! I really don't want to have to do a yard sale, but I want the cash. :) Our first night here was quite eventful. After spending hours unpacking boxes and putting things away, we decided to go out back and hang out for a while. SH decided to step inside for a minute, but he couldn't get inside. The door had locked! Apparently we didn't know the trick for the door. DOH! We were both locked out in our pjs at midnight. Oh joy. We remembered that earlier in the day, SH's parents met one of our new neighbors. This guy had locked himself out and was waiting on a locksmith. Remembering this, SH went down to neighbor's house (in his pjs) to use his phone. Neighbor called the locksmith and as SH waited with the neighbor, I stayed in the garage and broke down boxes and straightened up. While we were all waiting for the locksmith, neighbor locked himself out of his house AGAIN. DOH!! The locksmith finally arrived and we told him that although we were in our pajamas, it could have been worse. He said that he had picked a few locks for people in worse predicaments than us. I couldn't imagine how embarrasing that would be. We finally got back in the house and crashed. First thing the next day we had keys made.



Our other event happened earlier in the day. I went out in the garage and heard rain. I looked out the side door expecting to see rain, but it was completely dry. The dripping was coming from a pipe in the ceiling of the garage. The water was landing right on the hood of SH's truck. I yelled into the house that SH may want to come out and see this. We had just moved the washer/dryer a little while before so we thought maybe we had done something with a pipe. We couldn't figure out why there was water coming from a pipe in the ceiling. While SH was at neighbor's house waiting on the locksmith, he asked about it. Neighbor said that it was an emergency relief valve to the AC unit. Apparently our house had been closed up since winter and when we turned the AC on, the unit froze up and this dripping was from that. I turned the AC to a non-freezing temperature and the dripping eventually stopped. Whew, disaster averted.



We are returning to Troy tomorrow to clean the house and ready it for showing. Not fun. I hope it sells soon.



Now that we officially moved, working out is going to have to become a priority again. It had fallen to the wayside while preparing for the move. Both SH and I are going to board the workout wagon and get back into shape. I have taken almost a month off and can feel it.

What happened to your ear?

SH had Friday off since the University was closed for spring break. He ended up going to the off-campus office to work with the work-study student. I didn't think anything of it until after 5:30, SH should have called or at least been home by then. I called him several times with no answer. It got to be about 6:30 and still no word. The office is only a few miles from the house and I decided to drive over there. I thought he may have fallen asleep since he is still adjusting to a new prescription. I ended up passing him on a back road. I called his cell phone. When he answered, he was not really coherent, but I thought he just woke up and was groggy. He said something about his ear, but I had no idea what he meant. When we got home, SH asked me if his ear was ok. When I looked, his ear had a horizontal split on the outer edge and was swelling. He had blood all over his face and hands. I told him that his ear was not ok and he was going to the emergency room. He did not want to go but I insisted. I tried to get him to the truck, he stumbled and staggered and eventually got in. His eyes rolled back into his head a few times as he told me he was ok and didn't need to go to the hospital. I told him he was going period.

At the ER, they did a catscan and bloodwork. They did absolutely nothing to his cut ear, not even clean it up!!! After waiting for a few hours, I decided to drive over to the lab where he hurt himself to see if I could CSI the scene. We were both under the assumption that there would be blood puddles and likely SH's broken glasses. When I got there, things looked normal. I found one dried drop of blood near the door. I found his new glasses on a chair and they were fine. I couldn't figure out what on earth happened to give him a split ear. I returned to the hospital with his glasses, which he was happy to know made it through ok.

After waiting a few hours, they told us the results of both tests. Catscan was clear, bloodwork......... alcohol level was .24. WHAT!!!????

The doctor said that it was possible that the medication SH is taking may be slowing down his metabolism of alcohol. SH had several drinks the day before and one drink Friday at lunch. He was not drunk when he left the house early that afternoon. I wouldn't have let him!!

The only thing we can figure out is that the work study student left around 4:15. Apparently SH was closing up and getting ready to leave himself. Something happened to cause SH to fall/trip/stumble/pass out and he likely split his ear on the flooring tiles. We don't know exactly what time this happened, but it was sometime after 4:15. I tried calling him 4 times and sent him a text message until 6:30, so he could have been out for almost 2 hours. Then when he finally woke up, he drove home. He has no memory of the accident itself, driving home, arriving home or getting in the truck to go to the hospital. I can't believe he actually made it home safely, now knowing that he was actually drunk.

Needless to say, he is going to stop taking that medication. If it causes things like this to happen, he doesn't need to be on it. He also says he doesn't feel like himself and has a hard time remembering things.

That certainly made for a scary Friday evening.

Mini VaKay and a few newbies

SH and I did a bit of work out of town at the end of last week, then made a side trip to visit some friends. We haven't seen them in almost a year and a lot has gone on in their lives. It was great to catch up. We also managed to eat like pigs! Everyone knows that there are no diets on vacation.

I finished up a few more crochet pieces, but since several are presents, I can't show them all.

This adorable halter top is for a friend's daughter who will be celebrating her 8th birthday next month. Nothing like starting a present early!! I saw the pattern and knew she would love it. You can find it here. I love the colors!!

This sweater will be going to my husbands cousin who is expecting a little girl soon. I figured that since I been making stuff for every other pregnant person on the planet, she should get some things too!! This pattern can be found here. (about halfway down the page)

I finished a shawl for myself but it is so large I haven't taken a photo of it yet. Maybe I will get SH to help with that.

I have an interview at the end of the month for a state job and am expecting a call for another job as a leasing agent. I am not holding my breath, but am still hopeful. I don't know how much longer I can be a SAHW and not be pulling in a paycheck!

Mobile

The SH and I made a trip to Mobile last week. We were doing some field work nearby and decided to spend the rest of our time in Mobile. A friend told us about the Riverview Renaissance Hotel downtown and we decided to stay there. Boy howdy was it posh! We both felt completely out of place when we arrived in our dirty field clothes. This hotel is geared to the business suit crowd, but was so beautiful and comfortable. If you have the chance and the cash, the Riverview is a beautiful hotel within walking distance of lots of fun stuff. That afternoon, we made the long walk (maybe 50 steps) over to the Mobile Exploreum to check out the exhibit "Our Body". It has been in the news for several years and was amazing. To read more about the exhibit, follow the Exploreum link. It may be too graphic for some. We decided to make the trek to Wintzells Oyster House for dinner. We have heard nothing but good things about it and it has even been featured on the food channel. It was definately worth the walk!! Good thing we had a nice walk back to the hotel to burn off some extra calories!! The trip, although work related, was a much needed break for us.

A typical holiday happening

Last night SH and I were in bed and I got up several times throughout the night to turn off the heat. I never really noticed that it wasn't actually turning off each time. This morning when I got up, I realized it was STIFLING in the house. I went yet again to turn off the heat. It wouldn't turn off. It was about 80 degrees in the house. SH got out the toolbox and did what he could to figure out the problem. Finally he just turned off the circut breaker. Whew...a little relief. I had to turn on all the ceiling fans to get the temperature somewhat comfortable. Everything SH tried didn't work so it was time to call in the repairman. He is currently working in the laundry room trying to get our problem fixed. I only hope it isn't too expensive. Why is it that on almost every big holiday, something major breaks at our house? Not just a blown bulb or a toilet that doesn't stop running. It is always something BIG. I know we have had similar problems with the heater/AC unit and I only hope it has a few years of life left in it. Fingers crossed!!! LOL, Before the repairman arrived, I scrambled around (in usual Cla fashion) cleaning and straightening up. SH even joined in.

possibly the last post of the year

Seems like it has been ages since I blogged......

Following that wreck in front of the house, I have been kind of in a slump. I have been so sad thinking about the family of the driver. She didn't get to be at home for the holidays. I assume following the funeral/memorial service, the family drove up to see the accident site. There were flower arrangements and a funeral wreath placed at the scene. There are orange/white DOT barrels on the median warning drivers that the pavement is pitted and uneven from the extreme heat.

I had pretty much fallen off of the exercise wagon after quitting my job. Recently I have slowly gotten off my arse and climbed back on. I started doing two workouts in the day. I have been doing at least 30 minutes on the treadmill, walking and running. I usually burn about 200 calories or more. Yesterday I went almost an hour and made up for two cinnamon rolls I ate. It felt so good to feel like I never even ate them!! I try to treadmill earlier in the day, then at 6 pm I do my regular workout. I have all kinds of workout videos, but I am trying to stick to cardio for the time being. I am also back to counting calories. UGH. I read somewhere online about a way to start cutting calories that is a little easier to stick with as opposed to immediately slashing your intake by several hundred calories. It suggested cutting 100 calories per day and sticking with that for 4 days. On day five, cut another 100 calories and stick with that for 4 days. You will eventually be down to the calorie limit you should sustain.

This has been on my mind and I want to bring up a question to see how others feel. Say you want to add a pet to your family. Specifically a puppy. You already have a very sweet 5 year old dog. Do you get rid of the first pet to add a new pet to the family? I have a friend who is "retiring" pet #1 for pet #2. Pet #1 will be going to live at the parent's house. I could never get rid of a pet for the sake of adding another! You certainly couldn't do that with children!!

Xmas was great this year. I didn't have many wants this time around. Normally I have all kinds of wishes and "needs". I felt bad asking for things since I was not working and bringing in a paycheck. I did get one of my big wants....an iPod!! SH got it for me for my birthday and all the accessories came for xmas. I even got a really cool cover for it. It is hard plastic with a chrome-type finish on it. When the ipod is on, the screen is visible through the cover only to the user. It rocks. I have since become a Podcast nerd. I have all kinds of podcasts and have actually been BUYING music. I hadn't purchased music in ages. I have used the ipod while treadmilling and it makes the time go by much faster than staring at the walls or the tv.

I have still been crocheting blankets. I ended up making one for SH's mother that I finished in record time. I completely forgot that SH mentioned that his mother would love to have one of my blankets until 10 days before we were to visit them. We made a mad dash to pick out yarn and I got to crocheting. I thought a pattern utilizing squares instead of a full-on blanket would be fastest. In all the rush of holiday-ness, I forgot to take a pic of it!!! I found the pattern at Bernat. The site is running v.e.r.y s.l.o.w. today so I couldn't link the pattern but here is a pic. I went with a similar color pattern too. It looks so much prettier in person.

The current wip (below) is a lapghan using leftovers from the MIL blanket.

I am working on another blanket for a certain someone when they get knocked up.......*wink-wink* you know who you are. It just needs one more skein to be finished. I also have plans to re-start a blanket I intended on making about 5 years ago for my nephews. I had all the best intentions when the boys were babies to make them a blanket, but since I was looming it (waaaay before learning crochet) I couldn't figure out how to attach the squares correctly. I had 70% of the squares done when I completely trashed it. I am now going to make good on the promise I made myself and get their blanket in the works. :) Only now it will need to be much bigger!!!

P.S. I need this and/or this. Mother of Purl, you need this.

A Donnie Darko moment

A little after 6 this morning, an explosion woke me from a sound sleep. I sat straight up in bed. Was it a propane tank? Was it an airplane crash? The airport is directly behind our house. It was a total Donnie Darko moment for SH and me. We jumped out of bed and looked out the front and back doors. Nothing unusual. I looked out the front door again and saw our neighbor running down the street. He yelled "call the fire department! We heard several smaller explosions and were confused as to what they were. We dressed and while I was waiting for SH, I saw smoke rising from the front of the neighborhood near the highway. We started walking that direction. I was scared about what we were going to see, but human nature made me need to see what was going on. I was just hoping everyone involved was alright. As we crested the hill, we saw flames. Huge flames and billowing black smoke. It wasn't someones house. It was an 18 wheeler on fire. The story is that the 18 wheeler rear ended a loaded log truck that had just started moving after pulling out of a driveway. The "bangs" we kept hearing were unfilled propane tanks that the 18 wheeler was carrying. The driver of the log truck was taken to the hospital and we hear he may have a broken neck. The driver of the propane truck never made it out of his rig. They are saying that he was likely asleep on impact. Through the grapevine, we heard the parents of the log truck driver say that their son saw the propane truck driver coming down the hill in his side mirror. He said to himself "you are gonna slow down buddy aren't you?" He never did. The propane truck hit the log truck and they both slid several hundred feet. The parents also said that all the controls in the cab of the log truck were shaken loose. Once the fire department put out the fire, what was left of the propane truck was shocking. The rear end of the trailer shell was crumpled and blackened. The cab was gone. It was like it was never there. You could see the frame and front driver side wheel, but no cab. There was empty space where the cab would have been. I couldn't believe my eyes. It made me so sad to realize that someone isn't coming home tonight.

The family of the log truck driver kept talking about how their trailer is totaled. Wah-Wah. I know that sucks and they will need to buy a new trailer. Isn't that what we have insurance? Big deal. True it will be inconvenient, but it can be remedied. For another family, their father/husband/son won't be home tonight.

Update: The only remains they have been able to recover of the driver is a few bones. The local news is saying that the family hasn't been notified yet. I don't know how on earth they can figure out who the driver was with nothing left of a truck. I just hate to think that somewhere there is a family who still thinks their family member(s) is on the road hauling their shipment, expected to be home for Christmas.

Exploding Pyrex

Since I have been sick, the types of food I am able to eat numbers about 12. I cannot eat anything with a real texture. It bothers my throat and sends me into one of my coughing fits. I have been on a soup/pudding/jello diet since Tuesday. I bought a few acorn squash the other day and decided that would be something that I would be able to tolerate. I decided to prepare them like my mother always did. Baked in the oven, halved with a spoonful brown sugar and a pat of butter in the cored out center. I lovingly prepared the little squash and even made them a little nest of aluminum foil to prevent them from rolling around in the baking dish. They had been in the oven about 20 minutes and I went to check their progress. The oven door was open and I pulled out the rack just a bit so I could see them better. At that point, SH decided to step outside and opened the back door. Our back door is about 10 feet directly behind our oven. I don't remember what the exact temperature was outside, but it was COLD. A few seconds after he opened the door, the pyrex dish shattered. Glass went everywhere. I think I screamed since I was standing about a foot away from the oven. I was standing there dumbfounded. I thought Pyrex was some kind of superhuman material. Then I realized that this was the second piece of Pyrex broken in our house in less than 2 months. The first was a measuring cup that I broke while putting away dishes. Standing there with scalding hot glass fragments melting into the floor, I was at a complete loss. Where on earth do we start this daunting clean-up? SH decided to first be sure the glass didn't stick to the floor and did a preliminary sweep. We waited for the glass and the oven to cool before we started the main clean up. This of course happened at dinnertime and neither of us could use the oven for food prep. SH took out the oven drawer and took it outside to clean up this am. I just now finished cleaning up the interior of the oven. I am still a bit scared to use it for fear of microscopic glass particles getting into my foods. I decided to check the internet to see if this is a regular occurrence. Apparently it is and it mainly happens with the size dish I was using!!! 13x9!! Those of you with older Pyrex dishes, be careful!! I found out that over time, the Pyrex develops tiny cracks and if it experiences an extreme temperature change, it could shatter.

Charity Blankets and a Cold

I finished the Mile A Minute charity blanket late Saturday evening! It turned out so pretty!! I even found a blanket I did earlier in the year that never was sent off to a charity, so I will be delivering two blankets this time.

Mile a Minute Afghan

Rippled lapghan

While at a friend's house Saturday, I ended up smoking several cigarettes while watching the Bama game. I woke up Sunday with a hell of a cough. I was under the assumption that it was just the cigarettes. It wasnt. I coughed all day yesterday, had a runny nose and my throat has been sore to boot. Lucky me! I have a cold! I spent all morning in bed and have been drinking water like it is going out of style. It has been ages since I have been sick so I have forgotten exactly how it feels. I am going to do everything in my power to prevent this cold from turning into a sinus infection. The last one I had was the worst one ever. I remember sitting in the waiting room at the doctors office with a terrible cough. I really thought I was going to cough up a lung. I know everyone else in there was getting p'od because I couldn't stop the coughing, but I was a sick girl. They ended up giving me two shots in the heinie. One was an antibiotic, the other was a steriod. Needless to say I am trying to nip this one in the bud before it turns. I have a dentist appointment AND a job interview Thursday morning, so I need to be as close to 100% as I can by then. SH went and bought me some chicken soup and meds to help me heal. Wierd but I have been craving oodles of noodles soup. mmmmmm. Warm brothy goodness.

Happy Anniversary to me and the SH

Well folks, three years ago today, SH and I tied the knot. It seems like we have been married for eons though. I guess that has something to do with the fact that we dated for about 10 years before deciding to stop living "in sin". It really only seems like yesterday that I was knee deep in wedding planning, choosing what kind of flower arrangements to have, what to use as favors and all the other necessary wedding vomit taking up housekeeping in a corner of the office. The wedding was beautiful and I couldn't have been happier with the way everything turned out. Thanks SH for sticking by me through the thick and thin of our lives together. We have plenty more to come. :)