TigerTiger

I was reading about the attempted car bombings in London yesterday, and thought some of the preliminary pictures looked familiar. At first, I thought it was just coincidence - we were just in London in March. But the way the road went up a slight hill, and ended at a "T," and it was near Picadilly... When they finally said that it was in front of the TigerTiger night club, I knew I wasn't going crazy anymore.

That's where we at lunch on St. Patrick's Day. Right by the window.

Freaky, no?

Been away from the news all day, and just heard about the airport car bombing in Glasgow. It's a little unnerving, but I can't say that it's going to scare me away from England or Scotland. We had such a fabulous time on our trip, and I absolutely loved England and Scotland. The whole time we were there, I was thinking about what I wanted to do when we go back. I'm a worrier, and I worry about a lot of things. I'm trying to not let this be one of them.

While Supplies Last! Free Flower Pot with Purchase of New Kitchen!

Greg came home from work early today to add the stuff to level out the floor. The first batch got hard a little faster than expected, so we have a new flower pot!

But Greg is now the king of whatever that stuff is, and it went a bit smoother after that. Could probably use a little bit of a touch up -- in spots, you can feel the plywood edges through the linoleum. But we're getting there! They confirmed cabinet delivery for next Thursday afternoon.

Our cats are smarter than your cats

We came home tonight to find Lefty playing with this squirrel toy of hers. It's got a little pocket that you can fill with catnip and then you velcro it closed. Well, we watch her, and she's walking around with it in her mouth, bobbing her head up and down as she walks. Honestly, it was hysterical - we couldn't figure out what she was doing. We finally figured that, as she was bobbing her head, she was pressing the squirrel on the floor, and opening up the slit where the velcro is just enough to get any loose catnip to fall out on the floor. They're so crazy.

Went to they gym tonight, and then out to dinner with some friends, Scott and April. I was going to say that's it's very unusual for us to go out in the middle of the week for dinner, but with the kitchen situation, it's becoming fairly regular. But it is unusual for us to go out with friends in the middle of the week. Their 2 year old was with the grandparents for the week, so they were happy to be out, baby-free. Lots of fun!

Halfway there!

The year is now half over, at least school-wise! I took my last exam, and didn't do stellar (there were some I just guessed on), but definitely well enough to pass. I have a full 7 evenings to myself before the 2nd summer session starts next Tuesday. 3 more classes until I finish my MBA! The syllabus is up for my next class, and it looks like it's going to be another pain. He has like 3 paragraphs on the syllabus about how he judges your class participation, and what makes a good comment in participation. And when are professors of an evening MBA program going to learn how nearly impossible it is for people with full time jobs, class two nights a week, a house, and a family to do "group projects"? Oh well. I don't have to think about it for 7 more days.

Not much else to report. Greg finished terracing the kitchen with 1/4" plywood over the weekend, and will probably level it out fully with the thinset sometime this week. The cabinets are still supposed to be delivered next week sometime, and then installed (by Home Depot's contractor) sometime after that. We've still got to get all of the other cabinets out of there, and get at least a first coat of paint up on the walls... which of course means deciding on a paint color.

I saw some cherries at the grocery store on Sunday, but they didn't look great. Ever since then, I've been craving cherries. To reward myself for finishing my class, I went to Whole Foods on my way home tonight and got some cherries (and a bunch of other things... their frozen blueberry waffles are good, and we love their individually sealed frozen Alaskan salmon, and of course the Honey Gone Nuts granola... but I'm getting off topic). I knew the cherries were expensive, but chose not to think about it. Just looked at the receipt... shhh, don't tell Greg. I think I spent $11 on cherries.

And *so* worth every penny.

Just a quick update for Saturday so far...

I did some yardwork this morning and had to take some pictures of the hydrangeas now that they're all blooming. I just love the color of them!



I mentioned we had pizza for dinner... Lefty's trying to figure out if there's any left for her.


Greg started peeling back the linoleum in the kitchen this morning, and had to cover up an air vent duct. I found his sign kinda cute. :)






But both layers of linoleum are peeled back now. At first, we couldn't figure out why there was a second layer. Once we peeled back far enough, though, we found some holes from nails that had popped through. Underneath, the nails aren't there anymore.











Greg finally got to use his circular saw. Ah, the smell of sawdust. Very manly. (I appreciated that it came with its own case.) He read the instructions and promised not to cut off a finger.

So far, so good! I'm trying to get through my 2nd lecture of the day for class, and just needed a quick break.

EEST (*extremely efficient shopping trip)

Finally, the weekend is here! To celebrate, we've had a highly efficient evening. So efficient, in fact, that Greg was worn out just thinking about it and is in bed and asleep before I am. Honestly can't remember the last time that's happened.

We went to the gym and picked up pizza on the way home, took quick showers (because we can do 2 at once now! how efficient is that?!?), and then I dropped Greg off at Home Depot to get all of the manly things we needed, and I ran to Walmart for the cat litter, deodorant, etc. I was out of there in half an hour! So efficient, in fact, that Greg wasn't done at Home Depot, so I rewarded myself with a quick trip in to AC Moore. Still had 5 minutes before BJs closed when I ran in there! By then, Greg was done and ready to load up the car.

What were all of our manly purchases? A circular saw. Plywood sheets. 2 X 4s. Yeah. He was happy. :) Tomorrow will be the start of the epic battle between Greg and the kitchen floor. As I probably already mentioned, it's not level -- no supports are directly under where the kitchen sink and dishwasher are (were). It's nothing structural, more just a matter of settling. But, in the deepest spot, it's about an inch lower. As far as we know, the new cabinets should be delivered in about 2 weeks.

Sorry no pictures lately. I finally have some energy back now after a very long week. I commented about Greg taking a nap on Tuesday afternoon; Wednesday was my turn. Just came right home and got in bed.

I wish I had gotten some pictures of Dusty attacking the tissue box this morning. She was pulling the tissues out and then getting the box stuck on her head. Not sure where that came from. Lefty's been going through a "digging" phase that we don't really understand. She'll get up on the bed and just start pawing like she's trying to dig a hole. She goes at it like a little machine - no claws, just making noise. Oh, and when she's not doing that, she likes biting toes through the sheet. You have to keep your feet covered by the blanket - it's the only thing that stops her.

Maybe some pictures of the circular saw tomorrow?

Still alive!

Just been trying to get through the day-to-day lately. Neither of us have been getting enough sleep lately - Greg actually got in bed around 8:30 tonight and I haven't had the heart to go in and wake him up.

So, the shower is in! It had to set for 24 hours, so we didn't use it until Sunday, but so far, so good! It's nice to have 2 functional showers again, especially in the morning. We can't clean it for 10 days ... no problem there!

We went to Costco on Saturday. On the way down, there was an accident on the highway where it looked like a truck had caught on fire. Traffic was backed up for miles, but we thought it would be cleared up when we came back through a couple of hours later. No such luck, though. Luckily, we knew where the accident was, so we pulled out the map and navigated around it, but it took us an extra hour or so to get home.

Made it to the gym. I finally weighed myself again, and I'm back to where I was before I started the weights routine. I guess that's good.

Can't remember much else from the weekend. Sigh.

I've got one more exam next Tuesday for my 1st summer class - five chapters to get through. I haven't made it through any of them yet... I'm running into problems downloading them. It gets frustrating when it just keeps stopping, or the audio get screwed up and the next slide audio starts in the middle of the one you're on. I guess it's still better than having to go to class.

Know Any Graduates?

Even, if you don't, we heard this on Car Talk this weekend, and it was hysterical!

Happy Father's Day!

Finally!

Well, we have a new shower!

Batteries need recharging

I told Greg when I woke up this morning that I feel like my batteries aren't getting recharged lately. Today was really rough at work - I was just exhausted, and felt like I could fall asleep at any minute. I haven't had any meetings all week, so it's just me and the computer, until I get up to walk around because my butt keeps getting sore. I'm working on a simulation that keeps crashing, and my frustration level has also been pretty high. I'm really looking forward to the weekend.

Of course, one of the reasons that I'm really looking forward to the weekend is that our new shower is going to be installed tomorrow! I can't wait! Oh, and we're going to Costco this weekend. Can it get much better? :)

I had my second exam tonight for my Finance class. It was much easier than the first one, and I was done in ~45 minutes. I wouldn't say it was easy, because it covers a ton of material, and since it's multiple choice, for a lot of the questions, you either knew the answer or you didn't. Honestly, I was just glad to be home early tonight.

I got my kit for my guest designer spot today - so much fun! I'll be home tomorrow morning with the shower guy, so I'm hoping to get started on my super secret projects.

Greg's downstairs making noise in the kitchen, and I should get back to cleaning up my scrap room (Greg keeps insisting that it's a bonus room, but I think he's starting to concede.) so I can get started tomorrow. I'll try to post some pictures of the kitchen and bathroom tomorrow.

Holy Hail!

Ok, it sounds funnier when you say it with a bad southern accent.

The weather radio was going off all afternoon, and we were finally lucky enough to get some rain (read: I didn't have to feel guilty about forgetting to water the tomatoes and herbs again.), but with it came some hail! I can't remember the last time we had hail.


Having already tired of washing pans and dishes in the bathroom sink, we decided it would be a good idea to go out for dinner. We went to the Mellow Mushroom for pizza, and then walked around the park for a little while. By then, it had stopped raining!

Kitchen Destruction... Dusty's ready to put on her goggles and help.

What a mess!

I took a vacation day from work today, after a little breakdown around 1am when I realized I had lost the memory card from the digital camera. We looked all over, but still couldn't find it. I finally went to bed, annoyed and frustrated with myself and the messes everywhere. I've been emptying out cabinets downstairs and doing a ton of sorting in the office this afternoon. I did find the memory card, on my desk, exactly where I thought it was. I must have picked up the paper it was on a dozen times in searching my desk. Don't know how I missed it.

I entered a scrapbooking contest over the weekend and found out on Monday that I won! I'm so excited. This is my winning layout. I get to be a 'guest designer' at Coordinates Collections for July, which means that I get the kit early, and get to put together and create a bunch of projects from it. I'm so excited!


Finding out that I won *more* than made up for having to go to the dentist yesterday afternoon. No cavities! Of course, there aren't many more places to put fillings in my mouth! I may have a fracture under one of my fillings, but we'll just see if it gets any worse before doing something about it. Sometimes, if I bite down just the right way, I get this horrible sudden pain. But it really comes and goes.

I left the dentist a little after 4 and went to the gym, thinking I'd have all this extra time when I got home, because I don't normally get to the gym until after 5 anymore. In hindsight, "thinking" I'd have extra time was probably my downfall, because it didn't really feel like I had any extra time at all. This probably added to my frustration with the memory card.

So today has mostly been a major clean out/up day, and I'm feeling better. Greg took a half day, and came home and took the sink out. We just took out the counter from where the sink was, too, and he's working on the cabinets now, making lots of loud noises. Think I'll stay hidden up here a while longer. I'll post some picture of the destruction soon.

Helper Kitties

The kitchen is still all in one piece, but not for long! Greg took lots of pictures of the sink hookup tonight so we'll be able to get things running again. Luckily he had some "helper kitties." Finally got my web album for the kitchen to work, so there are just some "before" pictures in there. I was hoping it wouldn't be such a mess when I took the pictures, but I think we've crossed into where it's not going to get any better before it gets a whole lot worse. Sigh.

We got another installment of food from my mom on Friday! It didn't take kindly to the 90+ temperatures we've been having lately (Jetta said 102 yesterday, 104 today), so some of the thinner stuff was starting to thaw around the edges. We had some of her burgers for dinner on Friday night, and again tonight. Tomorrow is chicken night.

I am through 4 of 5 chapters for my test on Thursday, which is a much better position than I was in, cramming for the last one. Hoping to get through the last one on Monday, then have Tuesday and Wednesday to study.

I went to Macy's on Saturday to look for a dress I had seen a few weeks ago. I was thinking about it for Amy's wedding a few weeks ago, but decided to wear one I already had. We just got a "save the date" for a wedding in the fall, and I decided that I could wear it to that. Since I saw it, it had been marked down more than 50% -- it came to ~$25. Rock on! I'm not usually rewarded for my patience. I suspected they wouldn't have it, or wouldn't have it in my size.

I'm taking a scrapbooking class in August with Ali Edwards called "A Week in the Life" where I'll make a complete album based on, well, a week in my life. I decided on Saturday that this would be the week I'd document, so I've been running around with the camera(s) all weekend.

We went for our first frappucinos of the season after dinner on Saturday. Oooh, those are good. Caramel. Yum.

Sunday was the usual: groceries, gym, homework.

Web Album is Up!

Attack of the Mutant Tomatoes

So, I was all excited about my first bright red tomato, but I went out this evening, and it looks like there's another green tomato somehow growing around my pretty red one. What's up with that?

Another winner

Found out today that my professor for this summer class told another student what I got on the test. I thought telling grades was pretty much a no-no. Luckily, she's a friend, or I never would have heard about it. She called after the test results came back to talk about her grade and whether she needed to drop the class. Sounds like he was pretty much a jerk, but then he told her she should study with me because I got a good grade. Now, since it's an online class, he has no idea that we actually do know each other. He also pointed out to her that he is teaching an undergrad, distance learning class at the same time, and the undergrad class did much better, and had a much lower spread of grades. She pointed out to him that undergrads don't have full time jobs and families. :)

Since it's an online class, he's basically getting paid twice (for the grad class and the undergrad class), and the only additional work is grading more multiple choice tests. (Grades were posted within 5 hours of the exam.)

Sigh... It's a good thing I'm close to the end.

Is it the weekend yet?

Don't know where the week has gone!

Well, I guess I do. I had that Financial Markets and Institutions exam on Tuesday night, and it was tough! I didn't spen a lot of time studying ... listened to the lectures and did the problems, and when I looked at the first two problems that I had no idea how to do, I was panicing. Apparently the rest of the class was, too, though, as there was a pretty big curve, and I ended up doing a lot better than expected.

The kittens helped us put away groceries last weekend. Being cats, they have to sniff everything that comes in to the house. Greg says they have a way of honing in on the meat, but I think they just go after *all* off the bags. I snapped this picture of Lefty with my phone while she was helping.

On Wednesday, we were both back at the gym. I was back for more today, and was very discouraged when I weighed myself and found that I've gained 4 pounds in the last 2.5 weeks. It just really hard to see myself creeping back to where I was, and where I swore I'd never be again.

On a more positive note, the weekend is almost here! It's been hot and dry this week - in the 90s. The tomato plants are doing well, as are the herbs. We've actually used the herbs for a couple of dinners now. And my first tomato is now red! I didn't get a chance to get out there before it got dark tonight, but maybe I'll get a picture over the weekend. I'm so proud of it. :) I can't remember if I'd posted this earlier, but there are 5 or 6 tomatoes on the plants now.

We've been making small strides in cleaning out the kitchen this week. Still tons to do, but Greg found these wind-up sushi toys that the cats were playing with. Once they wind down, if you tap them again, they'll start again for a few seconds. Lefty is happy enough to tap it and then see it go, tap and watch, tap and watch. Dusty attacks it and flips it over, so that game ends pretty fast. (That's Lefty in the frame, and Dusty's paw reaching in.)

Greg also had to take the power strip that his computer and all of our modem stuff is connected to and mount it to the side of his desk. The kittens love to get back behind the desk, and have a knack for stepping on the "off" switch on the power strip. (We have to keep the paper shredder unplugged! It is now Dusty's perch to sit while we're in here at night and look at the bugs outside the window. Poor thing jumps and swats at them to no avail. Darn that glass.) They about went crazy when Greg pushed his desk back closer to the wall and they couldn't get back there.



Not a whole lot planned for the weekend. Greg's working on his thesis, and I've got 5 chapters to get through before my next exam next Thursday.

I should be studying...

I've got my first exam for my summer class on Tuesday night, which means that it's just about 1/3 over! Of course, 2/3 over means another exam next Thursday... I feel like I spent a ton of time over the weekend listening to lectures and doing problems, so I'm pretty much burned out right now.

We had a nice dinner for our anniversary on Saturday night. I tried something new at a restaurant where I always get the same thing -- and I'll tell you, there's nothing like my mom's pot roast! This just didn't compare. (Yes, mom, that is a plug for more frozen pot roast in the mail!) With both Greg and I in school right now, my mom gave us the best Christmas present ever -- she cooks a whole bunch of food, vacuum seals it, and send it by 2 day FedEx with some dry ice, and voila, dinner in minutes! Tonight we had some more of the steaks she sent us. Greg's becoming a pro at grilling steaks. :)

I had a terrible allergy attack going on all day on Sunday. It started in the morning, sometime before we left for the grocery store. All day, I was sneezing, and totally congested. I waited until dinner time to take some medicine, because I kept thinking it would get better. Between the Benadryl and Sudafed, I still felt like I was in that medicine-fog all day today, too. Still a little congested today, but nothing like yesterday. I wish I could figure out what triggered it.

I finally scrapbooked (yes, I do believe that is a verb) some honeymoon pictures over the weekend. Actually, both of these were more than half done already, just had to finish them.


I added the web album over at the bottom of the column on the left to document our kitchen progress. Of course, that was when I thought we were going to empty the cabinets this past weekend and I could get some good "before" pictures. There just weren't enough hours in the weekend.

the sun will come out tomorrow

We were welcomed home from our trip last weekend by the opening of the first gladiola. The other ones don't even look like they're ready to bloom, and it seems a bit early still, so I'm not sure where this one came from. They're usually after the hydrangea, which are stunted this year due to the late freeze.

We went to a picnic last night with some people from my department at work. It was fun - the first time we've really socialized outside of work. Plus, Patrick's triplets were too funny. There was one other little girl, Rachel, and all we heard all night was "Look at me, Rachel." "Come over here, Rachel." "Let me show you something, Rachel." They brought her a flower, told her mom when her hair bow was falling out, and were quite the little ladies' men. Poor Patrick is going to have his hands even fuller in a few years.

The sun hasn't been out yet today. It's just been cloudy with the threat of rain - tropical storm, maybe - all day. I messed around for a while this morning, then went to the gym. I've been doing the weight training exercises for 2 weeks now ... and I've gained two pounds. Sigh.

I spent the last hour listening to an online lecture for my MBA class - we have a test on Tuesday. I'm hoping to get through most of it tonight.

We're headed out to dinner tonight in a little while to celebrate our anniversary, since I had class on Tuesday.