Thursday, November 29, 2007
I can't believe its been that long!
I can't believe its been over a month since I last blogged. Never fear friends.....I will be blogging more soon! Keep checking for an update....I will do it this weekend!
Thursday, October 11, 2007
Haunted house?
So, the remodeling is STILL coming along.....slowly. But an interesting thing is happening to us. 4 different times over the past couple of weeks we've noticed that someone is either coming into our house at night with a key.....or.....our house is haunted. I'm pretty much thinking its the later, but you never can tell. Here's the facts: I'm at the house most afternoons doing stuff plus keeping an eye on the workers. At the end of the day, either Alex or I will shut off all the lights and lock ALL the doors. But, despite this, we have come back the following day and find that one of doors is unlocked or ajar and sometimes a light is on in the house. Most recently this happened on Wednesday morning. I was there all day on Tuesday, locked up and shut the lights off. On Wednesday morning I went to check on the house because it had rained very heavy the night before. When I went down to the basement, I opened the door and found that all the lights were on. I quick, backed out and then high-tailed it out of there. I checked the doors upstairs and found the front door unlocked. UGHHHHH! So who can it be you ask? So do we? We haven't changed the locks yet because we wanted to wait until after the house was finished, right before we move it. So, obviously its someone who still has a key......or its the lady that died in the house! I went to the local police dept to ask them if they could drive by at night and keep an eye on it and the cop I spoke to mentioned that THEY had a key! Then he went back to a HUGE panel box...........FULL of keys! It was like they had a key for every house in our town! How small town is that?! But, in the end he couldn't find it. Hmmmmm?!
So, I've told Alex that we need to get the locks re-keyed NOW! Thats my project for today.....after that we can really decide if its a person that is curious or a ghost that is curious......I hope its not the ghost!
So, I've told Alex that we need to get the locks re-keyed NOW! Thats my project for today.....after that we can really decide if its a person that is curious or a ghost that is curious......I hope its not the ghost!
Paying for stuff
Do you know what I hate? When you go out with people, have dinner, drinks, etc....then one of the people you are with decides that they will either not pay enough for what they ate or drank..........or they decide, despite the fact that I only had soup, that they will just divide the bill between 6 people and I end up spending $70 on soup and two drinks. Now, most of you know I'm not cheap, but I can't stand either of those situations. I can't get into specifics but I experienced these very situations recently. Whats up with people? I was a dinner recently where one of the diners decided that there was no way he had as many drinks as were on the bill. He wouldn't pay and the server wouldn't take it off the bill....rightly so......so other people ended up paying for his cheapness. (and believe me.....he drank all those drinks!) So, my question is.....what is wrong with people. If you can't pay for stuff....DON'T go out!
Clown hair
So, last week was my brother's rehersal dinner for his upcoming wedding. I have been wearing my hair pretty long for the last couple of months in anticipation of the wedding. I wanted to grow it out and have them put it up in a pretty up-do for the wedding. So, since I hate long hair, I've been keeping my frizzy, curly hair up in a ponytail since July. I look lame pretty much everyday. The alternative is a head full of super frizzy curly hair. But, faced with going to a restuarant for dinner, I had to actually style my hair. So, I let it dry curly. Now, I admit, my hair is pretty wild when its curly, but it still looks pretty cute. I looked in the mirror before I left my car, and was satisfied with the results.
I walked into the restaurant and greeted my family members and my future sister-in-laws family members. That's when the following occurred.....(it was one of MY family members that said this)......"whats wrong with your hair?" I was shocked and asked him what he meant......and he replied...."it looks funny.....like clown hair"! Can you imagine my pain and confusion. I mean, I LIKED my hair when I walked in. I mumbled something about wanting to grow out my hair, then quickly ran to the bathroom. I expected to see that my hair had taken a bad turn during the 40 feet from my car to the restaurant but I was stunned to see that in MY eyes, there was nothing wrong with my hair. I guess that's the problem.....maybe I'm in denial about my clown hair. But let me ask you this.......why is it that older people feel that they can say ANYTHING without reprisal? They just shoot out any words that come to their minds. I mean, I have lots to say about stuff, but common decency prevents me from saying it......but what happens when you fly past the age of 60? Is there some sort delay button in our brains that quits working and people just say exactly what they are thinking at the time?
I walked into the restaurant and greeted my family members and my future sister-in-laws family members. That's when the following occurred.....(it was one of MY family members that said this)......"whats wrong with your hair?" I was shocked and asked him what he meant......and he replied...."it looks funny.....like clown hair"! Can you imagine my pain and confusion. I mean, I LIKED my hair when I walked in. I mumbled something about wanting to grow out my hair, then quickly ran to the bathroom. I expected to see that my hair had taken a bad turn during the 40 feet from my car to the restaurant but I was stunned to see that in MY eyes, there was nothing wrong with my hair. I guess that's the problem.....maybe I'm in denial about my clown hair. But let me ask you this.......why is it that older people feel that they can say ANYTHING without reprisal? They just shoot out any words that come to their minds. I mean, I have lots to say about stuff, but common decency prevents me from saying it......but what happens when you fly past the age of 60? Is there some sort delay button in our brains that quits working and people just say exactly what they are thinking at the time?
Monday, October 1, 2007
Sauerkraut
Now, I'm not sure if I spelled that right, but you all know what it is right? If not, find a Polish friend to help you out. Sauerkraut is a wonderful veggie that is usually served with pork. Its got a very unique (sour) taste. But, I grew up on it and love it! The best part is.......its 0 points. In Weight Watchers world this is wonderful. I've lost 13 pounds to date with another weigh in tomorrow, so needless to say, I'm doing pretty well if I say so myself. But last week, I almost fell off my chair at dinner thanks to my father.
In the morning we go over the specifics for dinner that night. On that particular day he told me that he was make a pork roast with sauerkraut. I told him I would cook my own lean pork chops if he would save me some sauerkraut. He said sure! When I came home that afternoon, I sauted my porkchop then put it in a roastin pan with some sauerkraut. Now, I asked my dad how he prepared it because I could tell that it wasn't just right out of the can. He said "ALL I used Amy, is garlic, onion and caraway seeds, that's it.....nothing else". I confirmed with him that was ALL he put in it and he said yes. So, I took a bunch of sauerkraut, covered my porkchop, and roasted it.
At dinner, I was famished, and the sauerkraut was WONDERFUL. I couldn't get enough of it. I was soooo excited because here was a 0 point food that I loved and could eat lots of! About halfway through my second helping of this delicious food, I asked my dad........"how did you prepare this exactly, because its sooooo good"? He was very excited to report........."Well, first I started with some bacon fat!". Thats as far as he got............at that moment, I wanted just scream and shout. But, I was raised better than that. He went on for several minutes as I tried to formulate what to say but my mom could see something brewing in my eyes. She spoke up and said "whats wrong with bacon fat, there's nothing wrong with it". Now of course there's nothing wrong with bacon fat, it keeps the pig warm in the winter. But it also CREATES people fat! But my mom, who by the way eats whatever she wants and weighs only 95 pounds, can't understand what could possible be wrong with cooking sauerkraut with bacon fat and then not telling her dieting daughter while she eats 3 pounds of it!
The point here is.............if something tastes too good to be true, then it usually is.
In the morning we go over the specifics for dinner that night. On that particular day he told me that he was make a pork roast with sauerkraut. I told him I would cook my own lean pork chops if he would save me some sauerkraut. He said sure! When I came home that afternoon, I sauted my porkchop then put it in a roastin pan with some sauerkraut. Now, I asked my dad how he prepared it because I could tell that it wasn't just right out of the can. He said "ALL I used Amy, is garlic, onion and caraway seeds, that's it.....nothing else". I confirmed with him that was ALL he put in it and he said yes. So, I took a bunch of sauerkraut, covered my porkchop, and roasted it.
At dinner, I was famished, and the sauerkraut was WONDERFUL. I couldn't get enough of it. I was soooo excited because here was a 0 point food that I loved and could eat lots of! About halfway through my second helping of this delicious food, I asked my dad........"how did you prepare this exactly, because its sooooo good"? He was very excited to report........."Well, first I started with some bacon fat!". Thats as far as he got............at that moment, I wanted just scream and shout. But, I was raised better than that. He went on for several minutes as I tried to formulate what to say but my mom could see something brewing in my eyes. She spoke up and said "whats wrong with bacon fat, there's nothing wrong with it". Now of course there's nothing wrong with bacon fat, it keeps the pig warm in the winter. But it also CREATES people fat! But my mom, who by the way eats whatever she wants and weighs only 95 pounds, can't understand what could possible be wrong with cooking sauerkraut with bacon fat and then not telling her dieting daughter while she eats 3 pounds of it!
The point here is.............if something tastes too good to be true, then it usually is.
Mailbox
Now, I have a theory. The way I look at it, a person can only be either handy or booksmart. I'm not saying that handy people aren't book smart, and booksmart people aren't handy. But, in the grand scheme of things, handy people are just that............handy. We are not handy people. I would very much like to clarify that.........I am slightly handy..........Alex, not so much. But, he is brillant with numbers, book stuff, etc.....in a way that I will never be. And he can write a mighty check to pay handy people.
We learned this the hard way on Friday. Last friday Alex decided that we would end our war with the post office and put up a mailbox. We had all the right stuff, tools etc. He figured it would take us about an hour. I told him it would take us three hours............and he laughed at me. It ended up taking 5 1/2 hours. Now, I really don't want to get into the specifics of what went wrong, but we ended up having to leave our mailbox and going to Lowes for more parts. In the end we were out at the curb until 9pm putting up this mailbox. Thats right, we were putting it up in the dark. We had the car on and the headlights blasting so we can see. The neighbors were all peering out the windows and probably saying something like this..."hey honey, how about those idiots from California putting up a mailbox at 9 pm at night".
We learned this the hard way on Friday. Last friday Alex decided that we would end our war with the post office and put up a mailbox. We had all the right stuff, tools etc. He figured it would take us about an hour. I told him it would take us three hours............and he laughed at me. It ended up taking 5 1/2 hours. Now, I really don't want to get into the specifics of what went wrong, but we ended up having to leave our mailbox and going to Lowes for more parts. In the end we were out at the curb until 9pm putting up this mailbox. Thats right, we were putting it up in the dark. We had the car on and the headlights blasting so we can see. The neighbors were all peering out the windows and probably saying something like this..."hey honey, how about those idiots from California putting up a mailbox at 9 pm at night".
The house!
The house is STILL coming along. I guess I shouldn't complain. The longer the house takes, the longer I am out of work. But along the way I've become the foreman/contractor of the project. Making sure everyone does their work, cleaning up after they leave, reporting to the owner (Alex) what was done and not done. We are still hunting for a good painter. We've gotten estimates from $7,000-$11,000. I think the guy that gave us the $11,000 estimate might have been crazy because our house really isn't that big! After several estimates I told Alex he should just drive down to Home Depot and hire a couple of workers that are out on the street! Ha, Ha!
I was sitting at the "money pit" (alex's house) today and watching the painter across the street. Our very nice neighbor needed some painting done as well and hired the very cheapest painter he could fine.....and he was REALLY cheap. So, I tried several times last week to call this guy and get him to come out and give me an estimate. He never called back.....this is pretty typical....I guess alot of people around here really don't need to work. Any way.......I was watching him today at the house across the street and realized that I'm glad he didn't call back. First of all, his crew is made up of just himself! He is a crew of one! Now, I don't know alot about painting, but I would think that it takes MUCH longer to paint the outside of a house all by yourself.
Number 2.............he is taking more breaks than I ever thought possible. He has a lawn chair and table set up in my neighbors driveway and comes back to it every hour or so.........then he procedes to sit there for 15-20 minutes at a time relaxing. Now, don't get me wrong, you need breaks............but this guy is ridiculous! I'm guessing this job might take him about 3 months at the rate he's going.
I was sitting at the "money pit" (alex's house) today and watching the painter across the street. Our very nice neighbor needed some painting done as well and hired the very cheapest painter he could fine.....and he was REALLY cheap. So, I tried several times last week to call this guy and get him to come out and give me an estimate. He never called back.....this is pretty typical....I guess alot of people around here really don't need to work. Any way.......I was watching him today at the house across the street and realized that I'm glad he didn't call back. First of all, his crew is made up of just himself! He is a crew of one! Now, I don't know alot about painting, but I would think that it takes MUCH longer to paint the outside of a house all by yourself.
Number 2.............he is taking more breaks than I ever thought possible. He has a lawn chair and table set up in my neighbors driveway and comes back to it every hour or so.........then he procedes to sit there for 15-20 minutes at a time relaxing. Now, don't get me wrong, you need breaks............but this guy is ridiculous! I'm guessing this job might take him about 3 months at the rate he's going.
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