My Family. Family tradition of taking a photo of everyone sitting on the stairs. Including dogs, would have included the cats if they didn't hate the dogs. The white dog is my parents' (Claire), and the orange one is my sister's (Remington)--they have their Christmas jackets on because my sister's dog is a wimp and thinks it's too cold in Colorado; Claire only has her jacket on because it's the ONLY jacket that my mom and sister have ever put on her where she didn't have this look on her face like "oh god, what are they doing to me? please make it stop!"Thursday, January 28, 2010
Family
My Family. Family tradition of taking a photo of everyone sitting on the stairs. Including dogs, would have included the cats if they didn't hate the dogs. The white dog is my parents' (Claire), and the orange one is my sister's (Remington)--they have their Christmas jackets on because my sister's dog is a wimp and thinks it's too cold in Colorado; Claire only has her jacket on because it's the ONLY jacket that my mom and sister have ever put on her where she didn't have this look on her face like "oh god, what are they doing to me? please make it stop!"
Monday, January 25, 2010
Homes for Sale!!
As Shawn and I were watching a bunch of home improvement shows on cable this last Sunday, we did start discussing how much our home is worth. You see, there's this show that basically has people asking realtors to give them a fair value for their house if they sold it in the current market as is. And in all cases, the people were over-estimating the value of their home. Which just emphasises the fact that most people think their house is worth more than it really is.
I estimate our house could sell for $135k, but Shawn insists that it would go for closer to $150k. This of course spawned another "Let's search Realtor.com" bonanza. I found out that there are two houses for sale on the street behind us. One just went on the market a week ago or so, and it's 1625 sq ft (about 350 sq ft larger than our house) going for $165 (and I think they just dropped the price by $4000 because I swear it was at $169 when I looked at it yesterday). The other house is 1850 sq ft going for $135 which I thought was a bit on the low side unless the house was just a mess, but today when I walked by it, I found out that it's actually a foreclosure, but it looked pretty good from what I could see (of course the most expensive fixes for any house are the ones you can't see from the outside).
Then of course, there are houses that really gained in value because of the Domain being built. Houses in that area probably gained about $50k just because they're within walking distance. Lucky bastards.
Of course watching one of those "What will 250k get you in _____" and apparently you could get some nice houses in Kona, Hawaii for $150k in 2004 and now most of those houses are closer to $350k.
Man, it really is all about Location, Location, Location.
I estimate our house could sell for $135k, but Shawn insists that it would go for closer to $150k. This of course spawned another "Let's search Realtor.com" bonanza. I found out that there are two houses for sale on the street behind us. One just went on the market a week ago or so, and it's 1625 sq ft (about 350 sq ft larger than our house) going for $165 (and I think they just dropped the price by $4000 because I swear it was at $169 when I looked at it yesterday). The other house is 1850 sq ft going for $135 which I thought was a bit on the low side unless the house was just a mess, but today when I walked by it, I found out that it's actually a foreclosure, but it looked pretty good from what I could see (of course the most expensive fixes for any house are the ones you can't see from the outside).
Then of course, there are houses that really gained in value because of the Domain being built. Houses in that area probably gained about $50k just because they're within walking distance. Lucky bastards.
Of course watching one of those "What will 250k get you in _____" and apparently you could get some nice houses in Kona, Hawaii for $150k in 2004 and now most of those houses are closer to $350k.
Man, it really is all about Location, Location, Location.
sicko
I'm home sick today. I think its food poisoning, though I guess it could be the flu...though I doubt it if only because I don't feel like I was hit by a truck nor do I think I have a fever. But still the worst part about being home with stomach issues is that every time I need to fart or burp, I only feel safe about doing so in the bathroom--just in case. Bah.
Saturday, January 23, 2010
Life Changes
I've been feeling that I haven't been blogging as much lately as I used to (which is obviously a lie since I logged more entries in October, November, and December each than I did in April and May combined, but I feel that everything is of a lower caliber. Which is funny because I know I set the bar SO HIGH).
I have come to realize that the reason I don't blog as much as I used to is because I used to blog when I got home from work before Shawn did. But now I come home from work at the EXACT same time as Shawn since we now carpool. That's us--saving the planet one car ride at a time, but also seriously cutting into my blogging time.
Also, because of the copious amounts of comment spam (which has seemed to get out of hand rather quickly--I blame the Twitter feed I added), I've had to enable Captcha Verification. Sorry, dudes!
So What to Blog About? Nothing interesting is happening aside from GRAY KITTEH! I let him in the house today (what? it was totally cold and windy outside), Shawn wasn't too happy with that. Which is only funny because that animal was walking around our house all day Sunday last week, what with the windows not being in their window holes and what have you. Anyhow, I know you all just come here for pictures of GRAY KITTEH! and now, for your viewing pleasure:
I have come to realize that the reason I don't blog as much as I used to is because I used to blog when I got home from work before Shawn did. But now I come home from work at the EXACT same time as Shawn since we now carpool. That's us--saving the planet one car ride at a time, but also seriously cutting into my blogging time.
Also, because of the copious amounts of comment spam (which has seemed to get out of hand rather quickly--I blame the Twitter feed I added), I've had to enable Captcha Verification. Sorry, dudes!
So What to Blog About? Nothing interesting is happening aside from GRAY KITTEH! I let him in the house today (what? it was totally cold and windy outside), Shawn wasn't too happy with that. Which is only funny because that animal was walking around our house all day Sunday last week, what with the windows not being in their window holes and what have you. Anyhow, I know you all just come here for pictures of GRAY KITTEH! and now, for your viewing pleasure:
Wednesday, January 20, 2010
Window Replacement: In Pictures
Step One: Destruction.
Step Two: More Destruction. Also, I swear I feed him. Really.
Step Three: Framing.
Step Four: Screwing. Hehe.
Step Five: Ta-Da!! And it only took 3 hours. For this one.
Thursday, January 14, 2010
Facey-Spaces
Been having some conversations with people today about facebook and privacy and the internet and whatnot.
There is no privacy anymore unless you're in the bathroom, and now with blogs and Twitter you can even update people on that too. Pictures you post anywhere on the internet have the possibility of being found by your employer. Nothing is truly ever 'deleted', unless you go through the hassle of overwriting it with 1s and 0s, but I don't know if that's even possible on the internet since everything goes to somewhere else. Email provides ads based on keywords in your email (apparently typing suicide/death/9-11/murder somewhere in the body prevents ads...but it probably also puts you on the terrorist watch list). Our cell phones have GPS in them and it can be remotely enabled. The president isn't the most powerful man in the world, Larry Page and Sergey Brin are. Except in China.
I'm just waiting for the day when they put a chip in my brain that will play advertisements based on which store I'm walking by. The epitome of consumerism. I can just sense it. It's coming. It's like that short story about how the government decided to make everyone equal so those that were graceful had to walk around with sandbags tied to them, those that were innovative had a loud squawking noise go off in their brain every 10 minutes to prevent any new thoughts. And I don't remember who wrote this story...probably Shirley Jackson. Possibly Garth Nix. Anyhow, yes. WAVE OF THE FUTURE I tells ya.
Also, it is apparently de-lurking day. So for all yas out there, leave a comment to let me know you read my blog (drivel, though it may be).
[edited to add] yes, I realize how ironic that I post about this when I am obviously a Google fangirl--phone, email, search engine, blog. Just pointing out how technology will take over the world, especially if someone who will use it to their advantage is in charge...which means that at this point I love Eric Schmidt. Ergo: Please don't whack me, Googleplex!
There is no privacy anymore unless you're in the bathroom, and now with blogs and Twitter you can even update people on that too. Pictures you post anywhere on the internet have the possibility of being found by your employer. Nothing is truly ever 'deleted', unless you go through the hassle of overwriting it with 1s and 0s, but I don't know if that's even possible on the internet since everything goes to somewhere else. Email provides ads based on keywords in your email (apparently typing suicide/death/9-11/murder somewhere in the body prevents ads...but it probably also puts you on the terrorist watch list). Our cell phones have GPS in them and it can be remotely enabled. The president isn't the most powerful man in the world, Larry Page and Sergey Brin are. Except in China.
I'm just waiting for the day when they put a chip in my brain that will play advertisements based on which store I'm walking by. The epitome of consumerism. I can just sense it. It's coming. It's like that short story about how the government decided to make everyone equal so those that were graceful had to walk around with sandbags tied to them, those that were innovative had a loud squawking noise go off in their brain every 10 minutes to prevent any new thoughts. And I don't remember who wrote this story...probably Shirley Jackson. Possibly Garth Nix. Anyhow, yes. WAVE OF THE FUTURE I tells ya.
Also, it is apparently de-lurking day. So for all yas out there, leave a comment to let me know you read my blog (drivel, though it may be).
[edited to add] yes, I realize how ironic that I post about this when I am obviously a Google fangirl--phone, email, search engine, blog. Just pointing out how technology will take over the world, especially if someone who will use it to their advantage is in charge...which means that at this point I love Eric Schmidt. Ergo: Please don't whack me, Googleplex!
Sunday, January 10, 2010
Cats
Here are some pictures for my sister (who refers to Quazi as her "grand-nephew kitty"). This year, for Christmas, the cats received a huge bag of toys treats and other such stuffs from their "cousin", Remy (my sister's dog):
Ivy coming out of the little "house". Dani got it figuring that Quazi would like it, but it has actually become Ivy's new favored hiding place. It sits next to the chair, and she likes it because two of the 'doors' are on the backside so she can get in and out without having to go in the front door.
Ivy playing with "Cheepers" This damn bird toy is covered in cat nip so both cats love it and every time they bat at it, it does this obnoxious chirping thing. Which drives the cats wild. They also love the little mice. I came home from work the other day and one of the cats had crawled into the bag to retrieve the mice. The mice in which I had never shown to the cats. So someone must have smelt the catnip. Of the three mice, one had been ripped from the packaging (a cardboard back), and the other two were still attached. All three were COMPLETELY covered in cat spit. Like they were 50% heavier because of cat spit. Ew. I haven't taken the other stuff out yet mostly because we dole out toys throughout the year, otherwise they'd end up with all of them under the couch within a week.
So Thank You Aunt, Dani.
Now then, for the rest of you. If you've been following my half-assed posting the last two days, or have been reading my Tweets, then you know that we've had a gray tabby kitten hanging around in our backyard. We don't know if he's a stray, but we think he MUST have a home because he doesn't just hang out in our yard all the time (he does actually leave for large periods of time). He's very people friendly and he follows Quazi around and vice versa. Ivy puts up with him being around but he isn't allowed within 3 feet of her. He does have ear mites (our cats are on Advantage Multi so they won't get any from him), and he's got a spot on his left ear where the skin is rubbed off--can't tell if it's like frost bite, or if he was attaked by a different animal and the skin is sloughing off, he also seems skinny to me--If I remember right, when Quazi was this age, he still had a little bit of a belly (not fat, but you know, a little spot where you could feel that he had a belly, this cat doesn't have that). He keeps trying to come in the house (reminds me of Ivy when she found us), but he's not allowed in because he's still "someone's" right now.
Also, all these photos were taken with my Droid. The top two in low-light, and the bottom one in bright-light. The most annoying thing is the response from when I tell it to take a picture to when it actually does take the picture. you gotta have a VERY patient subject.
Ivy coming out of the little "house". Dani got it figuring that Quazi would like it, but it has actually become Ivy's new favored hiding place. It sits next to the chair, and she likes it because two of the 'doors' are on the backside so she can get in and out without having to go in the front door.
Ivy playing with "Cheepers" This damn bird toy is covered in cat nip so both cats love it and every time they bat at it, it does this obnoxious chirping thing. Which drives the cats wild. They also love the little mice. I came home from work the other day and one of the cats had crawled into the bag to retrieve the mice. The mice in which I had never shown to the cats. So someone must have smelt the catnip. Of the three mice, one had been ripped from the packaging (a cardboard back), and the other two were still attached. All three were COMPLETELY covered in cat spit. Like they were 50% heavier because of cat spit. Ew. I haven't taken the other stuff out yet mostly because we dole out toys throughout the year, otherwise they'd end up with all of them under the couch within a week.So Thank You Aunt, Dani.
Now then, for the rest of you. If you've been following my half-assed posting the last two days, or have been reading my Tweets, then you know that we've had a gray tabby kitten hanging around in our backyard. We don't know if he's a stray, but we think he MUST have a home because he doesn't just hang out in our yard all the time (he does actually leave for large periods of time). He's very people friendly and he follows Quazi around and vice versa. Ivy puts up with him being around but he isn't allowed within 3 feet of her. He does have ear mites (our cats are on Advantage Multi so they won't get any from him), and he's got a spot on his left ear where the skin is rubbed off--can't tell if it's like frost bite, or if he was attaked by a different animal and the skin is sloughing off, he also seems skinny to me--If I remember right, when Quazi was this age, he still had a little bit of a belly (not fat, but you know, a little spot where you could feel that he had a belly, this cat doesn't have that). He keeps trying to come in the house (reminds me of Ivy when she found us), but he's not allowed in because he's still "someone's" right now.
Also, all these photos were taken with my Droid. The top two in low-light, and the bottom one in bright-light. The most annoying thing is the response from when I tell it to take a picture to when it actually does take the picture. you gotta have a VERY patient subject.
Mint
As discussed eons ago, I read the "It's your money or your life" book and started doing step 3...or whatever it was. And I honestly haven't done anything since. But, that's not the point. The point is that Shawn has been teasing me since about March that I use Open Office Spreadsheets to keep track of everything when I could just use the open source equivalent of Quicken to do the same thing, only better. I however found it cathartic to actually go through and type up everything at the end of the day. Then, instead of typing everything every day, I started only checking stuff on Sundays. And then it went to 2 times a month, until finally it was checking everything on the last day of the month when it just became a hassle to typing in everything just to get the end numbers so I could put it in my graph. The graph that shows how much I spent/earned over the month, how much is in my Roth account and how much I have in my account from which I make donations.
[aside] funny thing about the donations account. I started it so that during our combined charities drive at work, I could make donations and shawn couldn't complain because I'd budgeted to donate that money (basically counting it as money I've already spent so when I donate it, I don't actually use any money we need). However, since starting this account with ING, I haven't EVER transferred money out of it to donate and instead just donate directly from my paycheck. Which is how we ran into that overdrafting of my account debacle. [\aside]
At the beginning of the new year, Shawn decided to broach the subject of using an online tracker for our expenses instead. Now then, I don't trust the internet. When Shawn started using ING back in 2004, I only signed up for it so he could get the $10 "refer a friend" thing and then only kept like $50 in the account for a year. So basically until I was pretty sure that ING wasn't a scam that was going to take my money. Sadly, ING actually has better security protocols than a lot of banks. Shawn's new baby: Mint.com
When you sign up for Mint it asks for all the other log on information for your other accounts (bank, credit card, 401k, etc.) and then tallys up your net worth every time you sign in. Plus it has nifty features such as showing you where you spent the most money in the last month, proposes budgets for you, and you can set it up to text you whenever there's odd activity.
Now then, as I said, I don't trust the internet. So of course my biggest fear is that someone hacks into the servers at Mint.com and steals all of the money out of all our accounts (which I realize the irony since I do all of my banking online. But! if they hacked into the Wells Fargo servers, they could only take my Wells Fargo money, and my other money would be safe). Shawn tells me that this wouldn't happen because who would be stupid enough to steal a bunch of money out of one person's Mint account? Wouldn't it be smarter to either take a little bit out of everyone's accounts so that no one notices (how many people would notice a penny missing)? Or wouldn't it still be smarter to only take money out of accounts from the same bank? If you take all the money out of all the accounts, it's pretty obvious that it happened because of Mint, and it would get shut down; whereas if you only took money out of one brand of bank account, then it would look to be that specific bank's problem and it would take much longer for Mint to be shut down.
Yeah, sometimes he scares me too, people.
[aside] funny thing about the donations account. I started it so that during our combined charities drive at work, I could make donations and shawn couldn't complain because I'd budgeted to donate that money (basically counting it as money I've already spent so when I donate it, I don't actually use any money we need). However, since starting this account with ING, I haven't EVER transferred money out of it to donate and instead just donate directly from my paycheck. Which is how we ran into that overdrafting of my account debacle. [\aside]
At the beginning of the new year, Shawn decided to broach the subject of using an online tracker for our expenses instead. Now then, I don't trust the internet. When Shawn started using ING back in 2004, I only signed up for it so he could get the $10 "refer a friend" thing and then only kept like $50 in the account for a year. So basically until I was pretty sure that ING wasn't a scam that was going to take my money. Sadly, ING actually has better security protocols than a lot of banks. Shawn's new baby: Mint.com
When you sign up for Mint it asks for all the other log on information for your other accounts (bank, credit card, 401k, etc.) and then tallys up your net worth every time you sign in. Plus it has nifty features such as showing you where you spent the most money in the last month, proposes budgets for you, and you can set it up to text you whenever there's odd activity.Now then, as I said, I don't trust the internet. So of course my biggest fear is that someone hacks into the servers at Mint.com and steals all of the money out of all our accounts (which I realize the irony since I do all of my banking online. But! if they hacked into the Wells Fargo servers, they could only take my Wells Fargo money, and my other money would be safe). Shawn tells me that this wouldn't happen because who would be stupid enough to steal a bunch of money out of one person's Mint account? Wouldn't it be smarter to either take a little bit out of everyone's accounts so that no one notices (how many people would notice a penny missing)? Or wouldn't it still be smarter to only take money out of accounts from the same bank? If you take all the money out of all the accounts, it's pretty obvious that it happened because of Mint, and it would get shut down; whereas if you only took money out of one brand of bank account, then it would look to be that specific bank's problem and it would take much longer for Mint to be shut down.
Yeah, sometimes he scares me too, people.
Saturday, January 09, 2010
cable
We finally have cable (I say that like I've wanted cable, which I haven't). I have been watching animal cops all morning. That and gray kitten visited again, this time Quazi was outside. All I can think is that gray kitten keeps thinking "today is the day. Today is the day I will make a new friend. Oh shit, hiss, nope, not today. Maybe tomorrow."
Friday, January 08, 2010
Dipping the toe in...
We've taken the plunge and gotten ATT U-verse. Only took the poor man 4 hours to set it up (required him drilling holes through our walls). Half of the time he was outside. and it's only 25 degrees out today.
Thursday, January 07, 2010
Monday, January 04, 2010
That Wench!
That wench on the radio lied to me. you know the one. the one that does traffic. This morning she told me that all the highways were slow, so I took Alternate Route 1. I did not need to do this and in fact wasted precious minutes because of it.
Speaking of radios...I love the clip they keep playing of Dick Clark. 20...19...18...17...16...15...14...12...10...11...10...9...8...7...6...5...4...3...2...1...Happy New Year!
But hey, he still did much better than I. At least he was still awake.
Speaking of radios...I love the clip they keep playing of Dick Clark. 20...19...18...17...16...15...14...12...10...11...10...9...8...7...6...5...4...3...2...1...Happy New Year!
But hey, he still did much better than I. At least he was still awake.
Friday, January 01, 2010
Ringing in the New Year
So yes, sometimes my posts are boring, and there are only maybe 4 people in the world who read this blog. So, I figure I will show you just how old-fogey I can be.
Last night, that is, New Year's Eve, Shawn and I ate leftovers for dinner, watched a movie, fell asleep on the couch while watching the movie, and then, after waking up after the movie finished, I decided that it was time for bed. It was 10:00.
I was totally asleep, in my bed, when the new year started. And I don't even have kids waking me up at 4 in the morning to blame it on.
Last night, that is, New Year's Eve, Shawn and I ate leftovers for dinner, watched a movie, fell asleep on the couch while watching the movie, and then, after waking up after the movie finished, I decided that it was time for bed. It was 10:00.
I was totally asleep, in my bed, when the new year started. And I don't even have kids waking me up at 4 in the morning to blame it on.
Wednesday, December 30, 2009
Trevails of the Travels
Like totally OMG guys! I haven't posted in what seems like forever. Okay, I posted using my phone while on vacation, but still, I don't think that counts.
So onto the Travails of the Travels.
We took the cats back to Colorado with us. We spent the night in Lubbock with Shawn's friend and his family. One of the cats spent the entire night under the bed. Until we were asleep, then he had a party. We go up and drove to Parker. We stayed with my parents and since my parents had been in Hawaii the week before, their dog was still at the kennel so the cats had free reign of the house and interestingly enough, they LOVED it. Quazi especially enjoyed the exercise room because there are floor to ceiling mirrors in there and that cat sure does love looking at himself in the mirror.
On Monday we went to Shawn's parents house and helped them by painting the trim on the chimney, patching holes in the chimney, moving an exercise bike and cleaning out the fridge (as per my previous post).
On Tuesday we went skiing. That was miserable. As I posted via twitter, "The first time I ski is out of love, the second time is out of pure folly." That or being completely shitfaced.
Wednesday I convalesced at Mom and Dad's house and read a book until it was time to meet Grinder at Anthony's Pizza. He claims I was pretty spry. Which is a word you use to describe an 80-year-old woman. So, considering I was feeling like I was 90, I'll take it as a major complement. We went back to my parents place and then Matt showed up after dinner and we watched "War Games: The Dead Code." I'm amazed the boys managed to get through it since they're both major computer nerds and kept pointing out all the flaws in the movie. We also put the cats out in the snow. Quazi did not like it at all, and Ivy thought it was just a hindrance to her explorations.
Thursday (aka Christmas Eve), we went to Shawn's house and Shawn shoveled while I pulled old glassware off the top of the cabinets. At one point, Shawn's mom asked his dad to go get some cardboard barrels out of the attic so the glassware could be packed in them. This is the point where Shawn's dad fell down the second half of the attic steps and knocked out 3 of his front teeth and then bent a fourth one back (so it looked like it was missing at first). Needless to say, Shawn's parents then spent the rest of the day at the emergency room while Shawn and I finished washing the dishes, cleaned the stove-top, organized some movies, and made Christmas Eve dinner. We opened our presents that night. And then headed back over to my parents' house where we opened presents there until midnight.
Friday (aka Christmas Day) we woke up and had breakfast then opened our Christmas Stockingbags (my mom didn't do stockings since Shawn's and my stockings are down here in Austin, but decided to just put everything that would go in a stocking in a plastic shopping bag instead). We started watching Angels and Demons (it was a gift for my dad). We had to stop so I could peel potatoes for dinner. Then the sink got clogged with potato peels (hey man, my mom has ALWAYS put peels down the garbage disposal and never had a problem, I do it once and end up having to use a plunger to get the sink to drain). Oddly, there was one point where I started giggling uncontrollably because I was standing there plunging the sink while Shawn and my dad stood there and watched. We watched some more of the movie until Shawn's parents arrived for dinner. Then we all ate a pound of perfectly cooked roast beef each. We watched more of the movie while Shawn's parents were there and finally ended up finishing it after they left. We then packed up all our crap so it would be ready to go in the morning and finally went to bed around midnight.
We woke up at 730, ate breakfast, packed up the car and the cats and headed back down to Texas. We got to Lubbock around 7pm and stayed with Irwan again where Ivy, once more was a trooper with the toddler and Quazi spent the night hiding under the covers. Once Ethan went to bed, however, then that cat was going everywhere and being everyone's friend. Ethan had gotten a matchbox cars racetrack which of course provided endless amounts of entertainment for the adults because the goal was to do as many loops as possible without having something to wrong. Our record was 3 (it was a total MouseTrap situation and it required each adult setting up 2 cars before the loop was complete to keep it going).
We drove into Austin on Sunday, and other than a small mishap where Shawn got confused between the clutch and the brake, we didn't have any problems. The cats traveled extremely well, albeit Quazi was a bit of a spaz, but Ivy was perfectly content to sit on the console between our seats.
I'll update later with pictures when I get around to getting them off my camera.
So onto the Travails of the Travels.
We took the cats back to Colorado with us. We spent the night in Lubbock with Shawn's friend and his family. One of the cats spent the entire night under the bed. Until we were asleep, then he had a party. We go up and drove to Parker. We stayed with my parents and since my parents had been in Hawaii the week before, their dog was still at the kennel so the cats had free reign of the house and interestingly enough, they LOVED it. Quazi especially enjoyed the exercise room because there are floor to ceiling mirrors in there and that cat sure does love looking at himself in the mirror.
On Monday we went to Shawn's parents house and helped them by painting the trim on the chimney, patching holes in the chimney, moving an exercise bike and cleaning out the fridge (as per my previous post).
On Tuesday we went skiing. That was miserable. As I posted via twitter, "The first time I ski is out of love, the second time is out of pure folly." That or being completely shitfaced.
Wednesday I convalesced at Mom and Dad's house and read a book until it was time to meet Grinder at Anthony's Pizza. He claims I was pretty spry. Which is a word you use to describe an 80-year-old woman. So, considering I was feeling like I was 90, I'll take it as a major complement. We went back to my parents place and then Matt showed up after dinner and we watched "War Games: The Dead Code." I'm amazed the boys managed to get through it since they're both major computer nerds and kept pointing out all the flaws in the movie. We also put the cats out in the snow. Quazi did not like it at all, and Ivy thought it was just a hindrance to her explorations.
Thursday (aka Christmas Eve), we went to Shawn's house and Shawn shoveled while I pulled old glassware off the top of the cabinets. At one point, Shawn's mom asked his dad to go get some cardboard barrels out of the attic so the glassware could be packed in them. This is the point where Shawn's dad fell down the second half of the attic steps and knocked out 3 of his front teeth and then bent a fourth one back (so it looked like it was missing at first). Needless to say, Shawn's parents then spent the rest of the day at the emergency room while Shawn and I finished washing the dishes, cleaned the stove-top, organized some movies, and made Christmas Eve dinner. We opened our presents that night. And then headed back over to my parents' house where we opened presents there until midnight.
Friday (aka Christmas Day) we woke up and had breakfast then opened our Christmas Stockingbags (my mom didn't do stockings since Shawn's and my stockings are down here in Austin, but decided to just put everything that would go in a stocking in a plastic shopping bag instead). We started watching Angels and Demons (it was a gift for my dad). We had to stop so I could peel potatoes for dinner. Then the sink got clogged with potato peels (hey man, my mom has ALWAYS put peels down the garbage disposal and never had a problem, I do it once and end up having to use a plunger to get the sink to drain). Oddly, there was one point where I started giggling uncontrollably because I was standing there plunging the sink while Shawn and my dad stood there and watched. We watched some more of the movie until Shawn's parents arrived for dinner. Then we all ate a pound of perfectly cooked roast beef each. We watched more of the movie while Shawn's parents were there and finally ended up finishing it after they left. We then packed up all our crap so it would be ready to go in the morning and finally went to bed around midnight.
We woke up at 730, ate breakfast, packed up the car and the cats and headed back down to Texas. We got to Lubbock around 7pm and stayed with Irwan again where Ivy, once more was a trooper with the toddler and Quazi spent the night hiding under the covers. Once Ethan went to bed, however, then that cat was going everywhere and being everyone's friend. Ethan had gotten a matchbox cars racetrack which of course provided endless amounts of entertainment for the adults because the goal was to do as many loops as possible without having something to wrong. Our record was 3 (it was a total MouseTrap situation and it required each adult setting up 2 cars before the loop was complete to keep it going).
We drove into Austin on Sunday, and other than a small mishap where Shawn got confused between the clutch and the brake, we didn't have any problems. The cats traveled extremely well, albeit Quazi was a bit of a spaz, but Ivy was perfectly content to sit on the console between our seats.
I'll update later with pictures when I get around to getting them off my camera.
Tuesday, December 22, 2009
copper
We went skiing today. I did two runs, both green. It took 5 hours. We didn't take breaks, that's just how much I fell. I think I'm gonna be black and blue tomorrow. Surprisingly for as many times as I fell on my hip, it really hurts to sit down. And I may have pulled a groin muscle, and a calf muscle. And I think my knees are all bruised too. As a man wiser than I always said, "I'm getting too old for this shit."
Monday, December 21, 2009
cleaning
Since shawn was helping his parents by repainting the chimney, I decided I'd help by throwing out all the moldy cheese and fruit that was mushy in the fridge. After I pulled out the fruit drawer, I noticed there was some goo stuff along the back. I pulled out all the drawers and lower shelves and found an egg that had fallen down behind the shelves and broken, thus goo-ifying the back and bottom of the fridge. It required a knife to scrape off the yolk. Hopefully they can keep it fairly clean so they don't have to scrape anything when they decide to sell the house.
Friday, December 11, 2009
Wednesday, December 09, 2009
Non-Sequitors
"That 'adopt an Ethiopian for $1 a day' thing does not count as 'dating'."
"I don't think she's retarded; I think she's German."
"Wait, are we going to start a Droid users group in which we all get together, wear matching Snuggies, and set our phones to all say 'Droid' all in unison?"
"I don't think she's retarded; I think she's German."
"Wait, are we going to start a Droid users group in which we all get together, wear matching Snuggies, and set our phones to all say 'Droid' all in unison?"
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