Exercise is good for you

I think I've come to the conclusion that there really is no "good" time to start working out again...

So I really need to just suck it up and start, which is what makes Nike's tag line so damn perfect.  It's short and sweet and gets right to the core of the matter... no ifs ands or buts, just *do* it.

Uhhhng.

Your name is mud...

I gave the dog rice because her tummy wasn't feeling well, and this is what happened... I know this mess is better than the "other" mess... but really?!? C'mon!

Try something new

It was time for an adventure, so I took the train into town rather than fight traffic and spend $35 on parking...

It was gritty as I'd expected, some parts smelled better, some parts smelled worse... but the worse was on par with Vancouver so nothing entirely new

An unexpected highlight was two grubby little kids unceremoniously plopping down next to me, the little guy had bonked his head on the way in and his sister was successfully distracting him into beautiful belly giggles, he kept glancing at me shyly sideways and smiling and it was adorable.

I think the funniest part was the big dude who stepped up behind me and asked in a conspirital manner "who made your being" or something like that and when I asked "what's that?" He asked "how does the sea taste" I dryly answered spectacular... and before I'd finished my scrunched up skeptical face he was *gone.

Without further ado I managed to make it on the correct train home, I feel slightly nauseous from the pulsing stop and go which this head congestion didn't help with AT ALL, and I feel like I should probably bathe in hand sanatizer, but I think overall my adventure was a success.

I made it downtown in time to pick up my passport, the train isn't quite as scary as it was before, and I had some alone time, and was able to step back and look at things and reevaluate just how lucky I've been with the choices I've made thus far.

I'm a believer

There truly is the perfect sound for everyone just waiting for you to put on a pair of these babies, absolutely incredible!!!!

Way to see it through Team Nura, you guys are amazing!!

Giving thanks

I am thankful I have a job, even if I've been working it for the last month straight logging ridiculous hours at ridiculous times working with both Switzerland and the East Coast... but for the most part I'm enjoying myself, learning new things and I get to be smart and nerdy with people who are way smarter and nerdier than I am... which is pretty awesome!

I'm also thankful for my Dad, who flew in a week and a half ahead of his scheduled day-long visit - (this is his view on how long visits should be), and proceeded to knock off basically everything on my list of house fixes that would probably have taken me 3 months... and at least three times as many trips to Home Depot as it took him ;)

I'm thankful that he organized my shop... and even though it sometimes takes a little longer to find things, I'm pretty sure it's karma for the time I "lost" his screwdrivers with no recollection whatsoever in my fort for 20 years... (sorry Dad)

Dad, you didn't just fix things... you got them moving again, we were stuck in a rut of "There's no point in unpacking this, until I fix/do that" and now things are moving, and rooms are starting to take shape... and I found things that I knew were "around somewhere" but now they're filed, and I KNOW where they are, and I feel *so* much better about it... *exhales* so thank you for that. 

In the middle of *the* craziest month of programming work I think I've ever had in my life outside of University, you gave me some piece of my sanity back that I lost in the move ;)

I have no idea how to thank you for that, but thank you.  

Thanks for flying in like a shining knight on a big armoured steed and rescuing this self-rescuing princess... again, it is greatly appreciated.

... and if you ever need help with anything, just let me know. seriously.

Love you and *huge hugs*

No shame have you when it comes to the force

Is it still considered crashing a funeral if your friend was invited by someone who works at the church that the funeral is being hosted at?

Heh... that's what I thought too ;) Well, either way, that happened last weekend.

I have to admit, the idea of it was a little weird... when we were driving up I was thinking "Seriously? are we really doing this? Yep, we're doing this!" We're really for real going to someone elses' funeral, dressed up like Han and Chewy.

Prior to arriving we were texting back and forth with our friend "So far, no one dressed up" she told us... our hearts and faces fell... "I take it back, Star Trek just walked in"!

So what prompted this departure from the normal social protocol in which one does not show up at funerals where one did not previously know the person the funeral is being held for?

Two words: Jedi Elvis

This guy was a huge Star Wars fan and big into cosplay and created a mashup of Elvis as a Jedi, and it's incredibly epic. 

He was also a professional actor (unlike the rest of LA who just wants to be ;) and had some other awesome costumes.  

Like Russel from Up

and the Penguin from Batman!

We know this because we saw some pics on Facebook, and because we were lucky enough to see the slideshow of his life.

It was incredible the number of lives he had touched, and the range of costumes and characters that were represented. We saw Harry Potter, Wonder Woman, Pirates, an old Finn with a cane from the new Star Wars movie, and a Storm Trooper in a full flight suit, and had it been any other occasion I would have asked for pictures with everyone.

In some small way I feel as if I knew him, and I can fully admit I laughed and cried with the rest of his friends and family... but that's mostly because I can't let people cry alone.

At the end off it all, I almost wish we'd gone back to the reception and made friends, because if they were half as cool as he sounded? Well, we would have fit right in ;)

Not today!

Taking one for the team

Getting pulled over directly in front of your husband...

minus minus

Getting a text message from him with an audio clip of "All I do is win win win win win"...

So supportive

Sweating it out while the police officer reviews everything, giving you enough time to realize that you were doing 22 over the limit, and that they have the option of pulling your license in Massachusetts...

Even bigger minus minus

Taking one for the team by getting pulled over and keeping the police officer occupied while everyone else zips by...

So swell of you

Getting a warning from the very nice police officer because you have a very clean record...

Sweet relief

Pulling one over on your husband the perpetual jokester by texting that "it's not good" and switching drivers... only to then startle him with "Surprise!" When he gets out of the car to give you a hug...

Priceless

Sending him his own audio clip back saying "22 over the limit and all I get is a warning" when he got a ticket last week?

Sweet sweet revenge ;)

Morning musing

Is it just me, or did Corn Pops used to be more spherical?

Homeownership adventure number 1!

It was one of those conversations...

Her: "I think this is blowing hot air"

me: *dubious* "I don't think it's turned on... It's probably just the fan blowing through it from the other room and picking up hot air from under the house..."

Her: "I dunno, it's really warm"

me: "okay" *shrugs* "but I'm not really sure what to do about it" :/

*muttering to self* Well, just because you don't think something is on, doesn't mean it isn't... and your off the cuff response doesn't entirely make sense, why would there be hot air under the house? The sun doesn't even shine down there, so it should actually be cooler air... *sigh* I should take a look at it... it's not like she's saying this just to be difficult... she's just as hot and cranky as you are.

She left for rehearsal and I started taking the cover off of the 50's era heating vent. 

I discovered to my alarm that the thing under the vent actually was quite warm!  

Deeper and deeper into it I went...

...undoing things and taking them apart until I found what looked to be an excessively large pilot light... and damn was it ever throwing off a whole lotta heat!!!

Further investigation revealed a munched label above two square poles that looked like once upon a time were valves but they seemed to be missing handles...

*panic*

*run to shop for vice grips*

*continue staring at it, as if it will come to me and I will somehow know what to do to turn it off*

I took a deep breath and decided that since it hadn't lit anything on fire yet it was probably okay for now, and dialed my emergency on-call Civil Engineer...

me: "Hi Mom? Is Dad there?" ...

Mom: "Hi sweetie, your father is driving, what's up?"

me: "Well there's this heater thing that looks like it's from Granny's era, and I want to turn it off... I mean I guess it hasn't blown up or anything yet so it's okay for now, but I was hoping Dad could take a look at it"

Mom: "We're just coming through the S-bend now, so we'll be home in about 5 minutes, can you call us on the land-line?"

me: *relieved* "Sure no problem, I'll take some pictures and email them to you so you can see what I'm talking about"

Six or so odd pictures with the dog thrown in for scale and about 10 minutes later I was talking to my Dad.  With him on the phone I tried gripping the handle poles with a pair of vice grips but all that did was cause the pilot light to flicker and an alarming bit of orange to jump into it.

Dad: Alright, well your next option is that there *should* be an emergency shut off valve near the appliance.

me: Sooooo since I can't see anything like that from up here, that means it's under the house right? *scrunched up look*

Dad: Yep, most likely, it should be on the gas line leading to the heater.

me: *groans* alright, I'm going in...

If I don't call you back in 20 minutes something under the house got me... I'll take my phone with me, whatever good that'll do from under the house :/

Dad: *chuckles* Alright, be careful

It's 84 degrees in the house at this point, but I have no idea what I'm going to find underneath it... so I suit up.  Shirt w/sleeves and thick jeans which I taped to my runners.  I jammed my phone in my pocket, grabbed a can of Raid, the vice-grips and a flashlight and descended into the crawl space.

*cautious breath*

It took a handful of seconds for me to equalize my nerves and calm my imagination enough not to just jump right back out again, but once I did I realized it didn't smell as bad as I had feared, and there weren't hoards of creepy crawlies all over the place like an Indiana Jones movie.  I saw one or two desiccated insect corpses, but that was about it...  I calmed down, spotted the heater line and dragged myself over to it... literally.

Sure enough, just like Dad said there was a shut-off valve on the gas line. It turned like a charm and within seconds the pilot light was blissfully silent.

I scrambled out, and called my parents to let them know I was still alive 

...while simultaneously stripping down and promised to call them back after a quick shower.

Dad: So it worked did it?

me: Yes! *grins*

Dad: You sound pretty pleased with yourself ;)

me: Yeeeessssss *grins even bigger*

Dad: And so you should!  Now you need to book someone to come out and service it and tell you how it works, preferably in the off season before you need it.

me: It's so hot right now, I can't even *think* of turning it back on, but yeah I will thanks!

Carpet puker

I don't know what it is, but I'm glad that the carpet guys left us some extra, because this one only likes to puke on the carpet.

I think this will be her new I'm not feeling well rug.

Silly walk!

This might be my new favorite video

https://youtu.be/gn4nRCC9TwQ

Box of safety

While it isn't fourth of July until tomorrow, the hooligan neighbors have been testing out their fireworks in increasing frequency for the last three days or so, and the dog has been getting more and more nervous because she knows that THE WORLD IS GOING TO END beginning with a series of small explosions.

We've been scouring the internet and nothing was really all that helpful, there are doggy earmuffs that look like a couple of jock straps but the reviews weren't all that good and don't warrant the price tag... there's the thunder jacket, but we tried swaddling her and she ended up just hot panting on top of stressed panting, and for the price tag we could just stuff her into one of her old shirts she's too fat for to achieve the same effect... although it would be funnier to wrap her in ace tensor bandages and pretend she's a mummy like one of the blogs suggested :p

But as usual out of the chaos came a couple helpful hints, tucker her out, distract her, and then maybe some white noise... She has some cat like tendencies, so the Ninja put her in a box, and threw a fan on top, we've got some tunes on in the background and the bathroom fan which sounds kind of industrial, but surprisingly enough it seems to be working. 

She isn't entirely relaxed, but she's not freaking out either which is a big improvement over yesterday. So to the handful of people who seemed to think you shouldn't have any extra noise because "fireworks are loud enough" I say poo-poo!!

Heh

Yesterday I was being a hooligan and throwing some eggs of questionable freshness over the wall and into the abandoned empty lot next door, when I heard an indignant voice shout

"Hey, what are you doing!"

I gasped and froze, and then scurried to close the garage door like a little kid who's about to get busted.

Then as a cover I came in and started doing dishes, only to have the Ninja come downstairs and ask how it went...

I confessed that I'd been scared off by a disembodied voice, when she smiled and admitted that she had been watching the eggs explode next door, and unable to contain her bubbling giggles any longer that she'd been the one to yell at me, and had been laughing since the eggs stopped exploding :p

No dog bed in this room now

This is the dog making sure I don't forget to take her when we move. So sweet :)

As if we would forget her, she's so awesome.

H.E. double hockey sticks NO!!

We've looked at numerous houses, but my favorite "Nope!" was the one where they'd put in extra padding under the carpet in the Master bedroom to try to make up for how uneven it was... It started with Kevin going "Girls, watch this" as he let go of the door and it closed itself...

Then on the way down the stairs I realized that the ceiling was sagging away from a wall that they'd removed most of in order to open things up a little... and someone had attempted a patch under the bathroom.... "Definitely, don't even maybe want to touch this place with a thirty nine and a half foot pole!!!"

My favorite though, was him pointing out the porch on the place across the street with the same sagging symptoms, since its a community I suspect they all have the same problem. It may be a fantastic neighborhood, but no bueno!!!

Time!

I'm calling it... 11:28 pm the night before our open house, I've done the best I can with the time we had left. 

I'm so sticky and gross but also so exhausted I don't even know if I have enough energy left to take a shower.

Cheaper, but it'll take twice as long ;)

Dad was lamenting that while doing something yourself can be a whole lot cheaper, sometimes it ends up taking longer because you end up having to do it twice, and I'm definitely starting to feel that way...

So far we've put in two shower cartridges, I don't know what was wrong with the first one, but the second one worked like a charm...

We've done the caulking in Faith's shower twice because I didn't read it carefully enough and bought clear caulk... now I know better :/

I've done the touch up paint twice because apparently the sun has bleached my room more than the hallway where the paint match chip came from *sigh* it still isn't *quite* right but at this point it's "good enough"

I had to patch the holes our sweet shelf left in the bathroom wall twice because they were just big enough that it fell in a bit as it dried and wasn't flush like it should have been.

Needless to say, I've fixed the things I wasn't happy with, and corrected some of the other patch jobs that weren't up to snuff lest they think *I* did it like that ;)

At very least I can honestly say I've stayed true to one of the life lessons I learned so very long ago in Girl Guides, and that's that I've left things better than I found them.

That dawning moment of realization

So this text got sent from our house this evening and pretty much sums up how things are going:

"Yay! We're still doing house stuff, but we're almost done! Just need to do baseboards in my bathroom, clean Sam's bathroom, caulk both bathrooms, deep clean the kitchen, touch up paint...shit..."

Staying out of the way

Ah the sound of someone else working, it's comforting and strangely enough has brought back memories of when I was three and my parents were able to afford to put carpet in the house.  I don't remember a whole lot, but I do remember running around on the really fine particle board that's now under the carpet... running into the living room and stepping on the thin strip of carpet tack they'd just laid and then sitting in the rocking chair my Grandfather made me nursing my foot... and feeling indignantly angry at that carpet tack, because it hurt!