Life always seems the craziest when you’re actively trying not to be busy at all.
Last summer was rough for us because we had so many people staying with us throughout June, July and August and we vowed that we wouldn’t repeat that this year. We made plans to not make plans at all.
The problem with that is we either end up doing absolutely nothing at all, thus turning into literal sloths who serve no other purpose than to make the ass prints in our couch bigger. Or things end up appearing so unexpectedly that before we know it, we’ve blown through seven or ten days and can’t tell you the last time we got to enjoy our sloth states.
You’d think as much time as I spend being a sloth, I’d be able to think up good things to write. Instead, you’ll get a series of snippets.
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This past Monday, I wake up at quarter til seven to the dog going batshit crazy in the office, which is where his perch is located that lets him watch over the neighborhood. And this was his ‘Get the hell of my property!’ batshit crazy bark not the little ‘The neighbor kids are walking across the street’ chatter. I shoot out of bed and squint through the blinds to see two cop cars pulled up to our driveway and Steve standing behind his truck gesturing towards our backyard. So of course, I panic a bit because early morning and cops being at my house doesn’t bode well. I throw something semi-decent on and walk outside to find Steve and a cop standing on the side of the house looking towards the park that backs up to our yard while the other cop is trying to navigate his way across the tiny creek. And in that park is a car.
That’s a silly place to park a car!
I asked what was going on and Steve said he was leaving for work and noticed the car in the park so he called the cops because that’s not exactly a thorughfare. The cop then explained that two vehicles had been stolen from the neighborhood the night before and that the people they thought did it actually lived close enough to the park that they weren’t surprised to find the vehicle there. Said they had been to the woman’s house enough for domestic disturbances and that she was always doped up on crazy pills and stuff. Steve then headed off to work and they spent the next hour or so making calls and trying to get into the vehicle before they finally towed it out of there.
Needless to say, I spent the week worrying a bit because the last thing you need is to find a stolen vehicle pretty much in your backyard. Guess it’s time to get the security system installed.
At least I got to close the day out with Conan O’Brien on The Tonight Show. I love him! I truly do.
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Work kicked my ass this past week on so many levels. So many levels that I’m not going to discuss in public because that would not be kosher. I can disagree with my job but I need it and am thankful to have it at this period in time. I just don’t like change and am not good with it. I much prefer for things to continue exactly the way they are because with change comes stress and with stress comes with an unhappy me and an unhappy me is not fun at all.
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My toes, on the other hand, are healing. They’re still swollen and still painful but they feel surprisingly better than they did before the doctor aspirated the nail. On Friday, I went back to work but had to wear the slip-on shoes I’d bought when I had my blood clot because when I tried to put on normal shoes, the foot protested by sending searing pain up my foot and into my leg. I was able to remove the band-aid Friday night only to find that the hole was still oozing a bit but even that was over by Saturday morning.
Now they’re just black and blue and yellow and green and I can even move them. The swelling has gone down and the oozing has stopped. I just have to remember to take it easy because they won’t hurt for some time and then I’ll walk on them wrong or catch my foot as I’m walking, as I did last night, and it’ll hurt like crazy again. I thought I was able to stop the pain meds because I was feeling better, but I’m feeling better because of the meds. If I’m off them completely the foot kills and it’s the worst if I’m standing still. It’s easiest when I have the meds in me and my foot is elevated with nothing on it, because even the weight of the blanket hurts.
This was Saturday’s progress! It ain’t pretty.
When I went into work Friday, I slipped my sock off and showed my boss who looked right at me and was like, “You know, you could’ve just asked for the day off!” then smiled.
Apparently, when I do it, I do it big.
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I finally finished the closet reorganization that was the cause to the whole toe debacle. Steve had been after me for months (ok, years) to go through our closet and my clothes because well, he’s a man and to him anything more than five shirts and two pairs of pants is too many clothes.
But it was time. I still had clothes in there from college. Skinny girl clothes that I just wasn’t ready to part with because you know, I might fit into them again (we all know how much of a truth that really is). I mean, there are a few favorites that you could hang onto for that reason but they either need to really be your favorite or they need to be classics with style that outlasts trends. An entire closet does not count towards that rule.
Plus, I was having a really hard time finding a place to put things when I did laundry. And I was wearing the same thing over and over again. It just needed to be done.
I thought it was going to take a week. Had it not been for my injury, I would have finished it in an afternoon. That being said, it took a total of one day.
Here’s the before:
Before: The Closet
That is a walk in closet big enough for two people to walk in. If you shut the door, you could fit three, maybe four people. In other words, that’s a lot of clothes. All the ones hanging pretty much consist of my clothes with the exception of a small sliver to the far left that is Steve’s and that starts approximately where the solid burgundy shirt is. The basket on the floor is overflow laundry that has yet to be put away. And the entire left side on the top shelf is my clothes. The back wall on the shelf is Steve’s. That’s not including our two dressers that we have.
Here’s the after:
After: The Closet
It still looks a little crowded but that’s purely because I ran out of hangers, otherwise, the shirts on the top left shelf would have been hung as well. Also, Steve didn’t humor and go through his clothes. But unlike before, everything is organized. The entire left side is now mine and is organized into categories: work shirts and blouses, crossovers (i.e. plain cotton shirts that I can wear to work or out with friends), nice casual shirts (most of them are printed so I can’t wear them to work), polos & button downs and long sleeves. Sweatshirts and sweaters have been moved into our guest bedrooms closet which has been deemed the winter closet. Steve now has the entire back wall with space for his nice shirts and his work shirts. The tucker on the floor contains overflow clothes that he needs to go through but since it has a lid, it serves a dual purpose: as a shelf. Which was an awesome find because I was going to purchase shelves but with this, I can just pile his work pants onto it and they are accessible without me having to worry about putting them into drawers or throwing them on the top shelf (they’re heavy Dickies pants so they were too much for the shelf). The clear boxes and the smaller tucker contain my shoes, the brown bedding is overflow winter bedding for our bed and there’s finally room to tuck the hamper back in the corner. And what you can’t see is that on the top to the left are three of the fabric grocery bags you can buy almost anywhere now. One contains bathings suits, extra bras and my heavy fuzzy winter socks, the other two contain hats and accessories (handbags and belts) respectively. And my drawers, at least, are organized for pants and others things that can’t be hung.
Everything now has it’s place and that’s one more thing that I can mark off my list.
It’s makes my internalized OCD very, very happy!
(I’d like to say the pain of the toe injury was worth it, but it really wasn’t. I mean, I’m crazy, but not that crazy!)
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The only other things worth noting is that we had a very nice dinner with some great friends last night at TGI Friday’s, of all places (they have never been high up on my list of restaurants) and then went to see The Hangover, which was absolutely fabulous and as phenomenally funny as the trailer leads you to believe.
And also, this guy:
SO.FREAKIN’.HOT!
Seriously, I’ve had celebrity crushes before but he is easily one of the best. Right now, it’s him and Gerard Butler, haunting my dreams. Love, love, love! Funny as well as smokin’ hot … my kind of man!
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That’s about it though – the most exciting parts of my week crunched into totally unrelated recaps. I’m hoping for a better week this time around but only time will tell. Here’s one final image from this week.
Hangin’ Around …
One of the things about living in the South … there’s always strange visitors right outside your front door!
Oh wow, is it May already? I have completely skipped any posts of substance for April which is fairly rare since not only did we have a fairly busy month but my birthday is also in April and anyone who has known me long enough is well aware that, in my world, it is not a birthday but a birthmonth!
Regardless, I vow to be much better in May. I do have a lot to say, really, it’s just have it seems too mundane to publish on a daily basis and then I end up feeling like I’m inundating you with boring and the other half is just stuff I don’t want to put out there for public consumption. That other half is something I’m still working on trying to solve.
In the meantime, I figured I’d better do April’s Love now instead of fifteen days late.
This month, it was half and half – half events and half stuff.
The first event was Easter, which unfortunately, I didn’t take any pictures of, much to my chagrin. I tried but I was just having too much fun so I guess that’s what matters. That Sunday morning, Steve and I got up and dressed in our Sunday best (jeans and a nice black sweater for me, Sopranos bowling shirt for him! LOL) and decided to take Lucille out on a leisurely drive over to my mom’s where we proceeded to have the biggest gathering of family we’ve had in years. My nuclear family were – myself, mom, stepdad and two younger brothers. Plus Steve, of course. We also had my cousin and his wife and kids down from Green Bay, WI. And my brother’s fiancee, her mother and her two brothers and sisters. We women basically cooked and chatted while the boys wandered in and out of the game room playing pool, watching movies and into the garage to talk about cars and motorcycles and stuff. It was a very nice day and it’s a shame it only lasted a short time.
Then it was my birthday (April 23), which was fabulous and unfortunately, went rather undocumented as well. I think when it came to actually spending time with those I loved this month, I actually just enjoyed it instead of trying to document every aspect of it and while there’s no visual record, there’s certainly the memories in my mind. But my birthday was fabulous, aside from the whole being much closer to thirty (though I would be lying if I said I hated the thought of turning thirty). It actually started the Saturday before when we met up with parents at Carrabba’s and had a lovely dinner and exchanged gifts (my dad’s birthday is on April 15). I got my dad two t-shirts and the Tropic Thunder and Stepbrothers DVDs. My parents got me gift cards to Barnes and Noble and Bed Bath and Beyond, two of my favorite stores and one of which I’ve already used. Steve was up the night before my birthday until two-thirty concoting things in the kitchen, which turned out to be my presents and a cake. He came in at midnight and wished me a Happy Birthday. The next day, I opened presents in the morning because he was excited for me to open them. I got a new lens for my camera and two boxes of Nutty Bars. Because they are delicious, I brought a box to work with me and about an hour later, I opened it and found an iPod touch tucked into the box, which arrived there by Steve’s sneaky way of surprise. There were tons of email and Facebook wishes and my friends brought delicious cakes to work. A beautiful bouquet of flowers and and accompanying phone call arrived from my mom. Steve had a delicious dinner of beautiful steaks waiting for me at home and I spent the evening on the phone with friends and family, thanking them for their well wishes and gifts sent. Overall, I had a wonderful, wonderful birthday and felt very loved and was glad that I had so many special people in my life that went out of their way to wish me well and make me feel loved and wanted.
The final event was this past weekend when Steve and I, along with another couple, headed off to Charlotte, NC to meet up with Steve’s two brothers and watch PINKS! All Out being filmed at the ZMax Dragway at Lowe’s Motor Speedway. This was not an event that could pass without pictures and I have over 500 that I have to sift through but it was truly, truly amazing. We headed out on Friday evening and got to Charlotte around 9pm where we checked into our room at the Embassy Suites, which was a wonderful hotel. We got a room for $139 a night and because it was a suite and technically slept six, it only cost us $50 a person for the weekend. Aside from the fact that the rooms were amazing and fit the six of us without feeling cramped, the hotel was beautiful and the amenities were plentiful – breakfast was superb! On Sunday, we got to visit Concord Mills which was much different than I expected but we still had fun, racing Go-karts at the Nascar Speedpark and playing games at Dave and Buster’s. Then we got to go to IKEA and well, I love IKEA. I could spend an entire entry talking about IKEA and unfortunately, Charlotte is the closest one. After IKEA, we met up with my cousin and his wife and had dinner at Sagebrush before heading home after a long weekend.
But the highlight of the weekend was the thirteen hours we spent watching over 500 grassroots drivers run their cars down the 1/4 mile track, competing for a spot in the final 64 to win over $18,000 in prizes from PINKS! and the Speed Channel, which I did not know was headquartered in Charlotte. It was a very long and hot day spent watching the races, walking the pits, eating race food (foot long corn dog, what?!) and just generally enjoying each other and the events. And when the sun went down the real events started happening – whittling down from 64 to 16 to 8 and finally to the winner of the night, which I won’t disclose. You’re going to have to watch sometime towards the end of summer. We also got to witness four-way drag racing, something I had never seen in my entire years of going to drag races and yea, it was pretty much as spectacular as it sounds.
There were also burnout contests, jet cars, top fuel dragsters and a street car that ran the quarter mile in 7 seconds. When we left, I was a bit sunburnt, I was tired, sweaty, my legs and butt hurt and my ears were ringing but that’s exactly what we came for and it was absolutely worth every penny and every minute we spent getting up there.
And now to the smaller stuff. A monthly love post wouldn’t be complete without an obligatory Bath and Body Works discovery and this month it was their Eucalyptus Spearmint scent in their Stress Relief Aromatherapy line. It started with the bubble bath then it was the body wash and now the hand soap and next is probably going to be the shampoo and conditioner. I am just in love with the scent! It soothes me and smells so clean and fresh and not overly sweet. It was a great long-lasting discovery that I will gladly keep using.
On the tv front, Rescue Me started this month and god, did I miss that show. Even if you aren’t a Denis Leary fan, you should really watch this show. It’s dark and emotional and witty and so fabulously well-written that you can’t believe you just went from getting teary eyed to thinking ‘That’s really fucked up!’ to laughing out loud to a jock about cockfarts. It’s not just Leary, but the entire cast and writing and production that make this show an absolute gem and I really look forward to it every week. And now, good ol’ Michael J. Fox is on it as Leary’s estranged wife’s new boyfriend and the exchanges between him and Leary are literally laugh out loud, tears in your eyes hysterical!
Finally, just for the fun of it: Oreos! I never ate them much when I was young because we rarely had them in the house and because I didn’t like having to brush my teeth afterwards but Steve is a huge fan and I have snuck a few and literally can’t stop eating them. I’m craving them and a tall glass of milk! Preferably Double Stuf. Not good for the womanly figure.
So that’s it for April! I can’t believe four months of 2009 have just come and gone like that. Next month, or rather this one, since we are already in May, comes graduations and more work for me and hopefully, not set in stone summer plans. After the summer we had last year, I would just like some unplanned weekends that stretch endlessly before me. Lazy summer days are my favorite!
You thought my posting every day for a month meant some sort of revival eh? I think it tired me out more. The whole idea of trying to think of a fancy way to wrap the mundanity of every day life was daunting for my OCD perfectionism. And that is the sole reason I am not a best selling writer. (That and I don’t write good either! LOL)
There’s a lot of things going on in my life, both externally and internally and I’ve wanted to write about them. So much I feel like I’m going to explode. But in a bad way. I just need to hold it a bit and figure out the best way to express it. For now, I’ll settle for a very simple post.
First, a very Happy Birthday to my Dad! He is unfortunately spending it traveling on business, but I can send my well wishes just the same! Love ya!
Secondly, the long overdue March Monthly Love post that has been brewing in my brain since March 24th. March was good month for things and I feel like sharing them.
To start, HBO’s East Bound and Down. I cannot say enough about how awesome this show is. It pushes the absurdity just to the point of being funny and Danny McBride is superb as Kenny Powers, a washed up Major League baseball pitcher who returns to his small hometown to live with his brother and substitute teach gym at his old high school. Oh, there are so many comical, laugh-out-loud, quotable moments in the first season (six episodes) that I am anxiously awaiting the second one.
I’ve been told no human could be as good as me, been asked if I made a deal with the devil…Fuck no, the devil couldn’t afford my shit. ~ Kenny Powers, via his Twitter
Then there’s I Love You, Man which we were so excited to see that we actually went opening night and we weren’t disappointed. The movie was funny and awkward at the same time. The story and underlying lessons were handled very well and all of the characters were amazingly developed. I was throughly entranced with how this movie handled the awkwardness and difficulty of making friends as an adult, once your beyond the safety net of college and high school. I loved Jamie Pressly’s character in it as well and Paul Rudd is just mmm, mmm, good! Seriously, I would have his babies! (So, we’ll add Paul Rudd as an honorary things loved in March!)
Pssst! That Kristy is a totally cool girl! You should leave your Hollywood life and go let her have your bahbez!
And finally, in the entertainment category at least, there’s The Celebrity Apprentice. Okay, yes, I know, it’s trashy reality TV but I can’t help it! I actually have enjoyed most of The Apprentice’s because I do like the concept and the challenges, albeit no where as in depth as they would actually be in the business world, are much more informative and actually have a point, unlike the challenges on some other shows (MTV, I’m looking at you!). Regardless, when I saw the lineup for the season, I was salivating and I was not disappointed! Because they have basically taken some of the biggest nutjobs with ridiculous egos not justified for their level of fame and forced them all to work together in situations where at some point, some of the Chiefs (i.e. everyone!) have to learn to be Indians. The women are kicking ass as always but that mostly because 3/4 of the women’s team are people that most of us haven’t heard of so they aren’t used to super-fame whereas 3/4 of the men’s team is made up of people that most of us have at least heard of and none of them have been subserviant to anyone in years! But yes, the men are the most entertaining! Tom Green, Andrew Dice Clay, Dennis Rodman = batshit crazy! Clint Black = hate you so very much! Brian McKnight = nice guy but strikes me as the guy who thinks his shit doesn’t stink and would probably sing everything to you if you’d let him. The only people I really love on here are Jesse James, Herschel Walker and Joan River, mostly because Jesse and Herschel are real people and Joan Rivers is just hysterical!
Even the sixteen douches surrounding him can’t cancel out the Donald’s ginormouse douchiness!
(You’re excluded Jesse, Herschel and Joan!)
Onto another Bath and Body Works product, this time one that does more than just smell good. I picked up their Instant Aromatherapy Headache Relief on whim last time I was in the store because I needed $10 worth of stuff to use my coupon. I never actually thought it would work, particularly because I’m a migraine sufferer and it used to take two Excedrin Migraines and some sinus medicine to get rid of them. But I started using this stuff and was pleasantly surprised how well it works! It basically peppermint oil that you roll onto places where there’s pain and tension (temples, above the eyes, back of the neck). The oil feels cool and the smell is a very strong peppermint, which is supposed to help reduce stress and ease tension. This doesn’t work when you’re in the throes of a major headache attack but about a half an hour after I rubbed it on the beginning pressures of a new headache, the pain had subsided and I was left feeling refreshed and back to normal.
Hey, you know what’s not good though? Especially if you have oil prone skin? Rubbing this over your forehead and cheeks liberally, more than once a day. My skin hates me!
On a random food note, I’d like to send a big ups to an oldie but a goodie, Pigs in A Blanket. I’d never had a chance to eat these regularly because they really are hors d’oeuvres but I had them at a Christmas party last year and in March decided to try them at home. I picked up a roll of refrigerated crescent dough and a package of Carolina Pride Smokies and rolled them up and cooked based on the crescent roll instructions and they were delicious. They were actually our go to snack this month and we might have even eaten them for dinner once or twice. Add cheese or buy the Hillshire Farms cheddar smokies if you want a little kick!
Kristy, Steve and Sammy say NOM, NOM, NOM!
And finally, the highlight of March was at the end when my girlfriends, we’ll call them C & C, came to visit for Girls Weekend 2009. This weekend had dual enjoyment. I got to spend girl time with two of my favorite people, eating Oreos, reading books, chatting until 3:30am and singing Journey in the backseat of the car as loud as we can. I also got to be a tourist in my own town because I made a point to take them places I had never been before. We tried new restaurants together and explored plantation gardens that were beautifully in bloom and saw beautiful pieces of art and ate delicious seafood and Italian food and sandwiches. All in all, we had a great weekend and the only thing I was sad about is that they had to leave to go back to living 10 hours away. I miss you girls!
The C’s say cheese from Middleton Place and here’s to fun filled and adventurous April!
And just like that my weekend and vacation is over.
Today was a low-key day. I think everyone was winding down from the weekend so we slept in, sat around reading for awhile, got ready to go then headed out and had lunch at R.B.’s down on Shem Creek because the girls wanted to seafood. After that, it was already time to drop them off at the airport.
I was sad to see them go but we’ll hang out again soon enough. After they left, I ran some errands then got home in time to cook dinner and sit down to watch Monday night TV. I realized I was so exhausted because I ran around more than I have in months. And it was all completely worth it.
And now tomorrow, it’s time to go back to work and back to normal life. It may have been a short four-day break but it was long enough. I definitely needed it.
I just hate how quiet the house is now.
Sammy and Steve seem to love it though.
Oh, what a time we are having and I’m loving it!
After the movie last night, us girls broke out the beer (well, the girls did, I just drank my soda. Stupid blood thinners!), played some cards and sat in the kitchen gossiping and chatting. Until 3:30am!
Thank god I couldn’t drink because otherwise, I would have been hurting this morning.
I rolled out of bed at about 8:30am to find everyone else awake and not hungover. After about an hour or so of laying around, we all finally got motivated to head out and enjoy the beautiful weather that today gave us. We went and had lunch at our favorite pizza spot, checked out the Angel Oak and then headed over to the Aquarium to see the new penguin exhibit (kind of sad, but the penguins were cute, nonetheless).
After that, we were pretty much spent and well all decided we needed a nap so we came home and everyone crashed. The house is now silent and soon I’ll have to go in and wake everyone up so we can head out to trivia.
I can’t believe how quickly this weekend is going. The adage about time flying when you’re having fun is definitely true. If I could slow it down and bottle it, I’d be a millionaire!
Tomorrow is the girls’ last day here so we’re going to try and enjoy every minute of it.
Hope your Sunday was a enjoyable as mine.
