Halloween on 2nd Ave Part I October 31, 2007

Last year was our first Halloween in our current house.  We had no idea what we were in for.  The trick-or-treaters came early and continued well into the night.  We blew through $40 worth of candy in no time at all and had to start rationing it or risk running out.  I think the last knock on our door came at 10:45pm which – call me a curmudgeon – seems ridiculous to me. 

Many of those arriving on our doorstep were well above the age for which Trick or Treating is generally acceptable and/or without costume.  After giving away candy to the umpteenth non-costumed teenager, I started to get a little testy.  When two girls in jeans and t-shirts showed up at my door, I was feeling unusually bold.

Me:  So what are you two dressed up as?

Lame Teen#1: I’m a model.

Lame Teen#2: And I’m her agent!

Both responded with an air of haughtiness implying that I was so out of line to be asking such questions.

Then there was the poor little boy who was sent back to our front door by his parents to get candy for the “baby in the car.”  He could not have been more then 5 but even he was embarrassed by his parents.

So this year, Kurt, Chrissy, and Lisa are coming to our house for what we hope is another year of good old fashioned Halloween entertainment courtesy of the residents of Oakhurst and Kirkwood!  Look for pictures on Flickr soon!

The Quick Run Down October 21, 2007

I have been meaning to write since early last week but managed to put it off time and time again.  So rather than the long version of the story, here is the run down on the past week:

Tuesday:  Met up with the APWBWGTTD* crew for the first time.  We met at Fox Bros BBQ and, although I had not met a soul previously, I didn’t feel like I was hanging out with strangers.  The beauty of the blogosphere.  A special thanks to Lori, Dave and Shelby for making me feel welcome – I look forward to next time.  Sidenote:  We were very disappointed when informed by our server that they were out** of Mac & Cheese.  She said they were making more but that it might not be ready for our visit.  Sensing our disappointment (or trying to make my whining cease) she sent out a couple bowls when the cheesy goodness was ready.  Their Mac & Cheese kicks ass in general but the fresh out of the oven version has me spoiled for all future visits.

*Atlanta People With Blogs Who Get Together To Drink  (Except when they are pregnant, in which case they order a Diet Coke and obsess about the Mac & Cheese.)

** She said it was “tainted.”  I didn’t want to know the details.

Wednesday: Randy and I bit the bullet and bought a new car.  We had one of these as a rental in July in Buffalo and we loved it.  So far so good – just need to get used to the extra girth of the new wheels.  A bit bigger in all dimensions than the Vibe (may he rest in peace).

Thursday:  After being in the house for over a year, we finally got ourselves some screens for the windows.  It is SO NICE to be able to open up the house and let the breeze come through without a bug fest.  And kitties are gloriously happy .  

Friday: We took Kristen (Randy’s sister) out to dinner at Murphy’s for a belated 21st birthday celebration.  She is staying with us for three weekends in a row while she takes a class at Agnes Scott College.  After studying abroad at St. Andrews during her spring semester, she was bitten by the travel bug.  She now has her eye on South America (Chile perhaps) and hopes to teach there for a while after her graduation from Clemson in May 08.

Saturday:  Kurt, Chrissy, and Maddy (6 weeks old) stopped by for a visit.  This was the first time we had seen Chrissy and Maddy since we visited them in the hospital.  She is one cute baby!  But alas no picture to share…….    3rd Annual 2nd Ave Block Party.  Again – no pictures – what was I thinking on Saturday?  Anyway – a great time was had by all.   It is quite the treat for the neighborhood kids – between the moon bounce and having the street blocked off – too bad it is isn’t more than once a year.  

Today:  Finished the book club book.  Two thumbs up and two days to spare.  Go me!  Mass closet purge – MBR, office and guest room.  Very exciting stuff.  Trying to make better use of what storage space we do have by taking all the crap out of the closets that hasn’t seen the light of day since we moved in last fall.  My closet is full yet I cannot wear about 95% of the clothes in there.  Getting larger by the day, I have a hard time believing I will actually wear some of those clothes again.  I also came across a fine piece of artwork circa 1995 by my brother.  Ah poor Snotz – may she rest in peace as well. 

Looking ahead to Thursday: Heading to NYC to visit with Mike, Kim & Giuliana.  Looking forward to the visit – not so much the flight.  After this one, no more flying for me until after the Biscuit has arrived.

So much for the “Quick” run down – this has taken me over an hour.  Grrr.  Past my bedtime.  I’m late for my nightly date with my weird-ass dreams.

The Before & After October 16, 2007

                

Over the last week we finally refinished the chest of drawers we inherited from Randy’s side of the family. A little sanding and a lot of painting later and we have the first piece of the nursery completed. We started the project while Sara was visiting and know it would have gone a lot less smoothly had it not been for her help. After all, Randy and I are not the quintessential DIYers.

We now know that the chest of drawers goes back even further than we thought. I was mistaken in thinking that Jane bought this for Randy’s nursery but – in fact – Pi Pi bought this for Jane’s nursery over 50 years years ago. How cool is that? This piece is on its third generation of wee ones! 

Thanks to Sara, Bridget, and many others, the Biscuit already has a lovely collection of toys some of which are shown in the picture on the right. The polk-a-dot frame is a gift from Bridget. The floppy lion is something i picked up at Sprout here in Atlanta. And the rest are little goodies from Sara. Thanks to all!

It’s official – I have Baby Brain. October 11, 2007

I started a new set on Flickr called Baby Brain.  It documents the effect this pregnancy is having on my everyday life.  Hopefully the incidents continue to be harmless in nature as the first few posted pictures show.

Boredom Prevails Today October 5, 2007

But I am stuck here for a while.  Thought this might be a good way to entertain myself……. a fun meme copied from Mingaling by way of Maigh.  Bold type means I have done it.  Comments (in parens) are unnecessary but I already know I won’t be able to resist……

01. Bought everyone in the bar a drink
02. Swam with wild dolphins
03. Climbed a mountain
04. Taken a Ferrari for a test drive
05. Been inside the Great Pyramid
06. Held a tarantula (And never will unless forced – you know how I feel about spiders!)
07. Taken a candlelit bath with someone
08. Said “I love you” and meant it
09. Hugged a tree
10. Bungee jumped (But I did do the xtreme skyflyer at Kings Dominion which scared me to death – my knees were literally knocking)
11. Visited Paris – (I was only 12 though so I would like to go back someday)
12. Watched a lightning storm at sea
13. Stayed up all night long and saw the sun rise
14. Seen the Northern Lights
15. Gone to a huge sports game
16. Walked the stairs to the top of the leaning Tower of Pisa
17. Grown and eaten your own vegetables
18. Touched an iceberg
19. Slept under the stars
20. Changed a baby’s diaper (But I will be making up for lost time very soon.)
21. Taken a trip in a hot air balloon
22. Watched a meteor shower
23. Gotten drunk on champagne
24. Given more than you can afford to charity
25. Looked up at the night sky through a telescope
26. Had an uncontrollable giggling fit at the worst possible moment
27. Had a food fight (These were never particularly long or messy but I do specifically remember throwing a spoonful of cottage cheese at my brother.  I missed.)
28. Bet on a winning horse
29. Asked out a stranger
30. Had a snowball fight
31. Screamed as loudly as you possibly can
32. Held a lamb
33. Seen a total eclipse
34. Ridden a roller coaster
35. Hit a home run
36.Danced like a fool and didn’t care who was looking
37. Adopted an accent for an entire day (But I have done it for a few hours at a bar.)
38. Actually felt happy about your life, even for just a moment
39. Had two hard drives for your computer (But I hope to soon given the recent computer dumpage)
40. Visited all 50 states
41. Taken care of someone who was drunk
42. Had amazing friends
43. Danced with a stranger in a foreign country (But I did dance with a Stranger in Seattle and – given that I lived in Boston at the time – Seattle is about as Foreign as you can get without leaving the continental US.)
44. Watched whales
45. Stolen a sign
46. Backpacked in Europe
47. Taken a road-trip
48. Gone rock climbing
49. Midnight walk on the beach
50. Gone sky diving
51. Visited Ireland (With my Mom, MIL, and Husband – Randy deserves a medal.)
52. Been heartbroken longer than you were actually in love
53. In a restaurant, sat at a stranger’s table and had a meal with them
54. Visited Japan (But I hope to someday Christisan!)
55. Milked a cow
56. Alphabetized your CDs
57. Pretended to be a superhero
58. Sung karaoke
59. Lounged around in bed all day
60. Played touch football
61. Gone scuba diving (Only Snorkeled)
62. Kissed in the rain
63. Played in the mud
64. Played in the rain
65. Gone to a drive-in theater
66. Visited the Great Wall of China
67. Started a business
68. Fallen in love and not had your heart broken
69. Toured ancient sites
70. Taken a martial arts class
71. Played D&D for more than 6 hours straight
72. Gotten married
73. Been in a movie
74. Crashed a party
75. Gotten divorced
76. Gone without food for 5 days
77. Made cookies from scratch
78. Won first prize in a costume contest
79. Ridden a gondola in Venice
80. Gotten a tattoo
81. Rafted the Snake River
82. Been on television news programs as an “expert”
83. Gotten flowers for no reason
84. Performed on stage
85. Been to Las Vegas
86. Recorded music
87. Eaten shark
88. Kissed on the first date (and now he’s my husband)
89. Gone to Thailand
90. Bought a house
91. Been in a combat zone
92. Buried one/both of your parents
93. Been on a cruise ship
94. Spoken more than one language fluently (Unless Pig Latin Counts)
95. Performed in Rocky Horror
96. Raised children
97. Followed your favorite band/singer on tour
98. Passed out cold
99. Taken an exotic bicycle tour in a foreign country
100. Picked up and moved to another city to just start over
101. Walked the Golden Gate Bridge
102. Sang loudly in the car, and didn’t stop when you knew someone was looking
103. Had plastic surgery
104. Survived an accident that you shouldn’t have survived
105. Wrote articles for a large publication
106. Lost over 100 pounds
107. Held someone while they were having a flashback
108. Piloted an airplane
109. Touched a stingray
110. Broken someone’s heart
111. Helped an animal give birth
112. Won money on a T.V. game show
113. Broken a bone
114. Gone on an African photo safari
115. Had a facial part pierced other than your ears
116. Fired a rifle, shotgun, or pistol
117. Eaten mushrooms that were gathered in the wild
118. Ridden a horse
119. Had major surgery
120. Had a snake as a pet (See No. 6)
121. Hiked to the bottom of the Grand Canyon
122. Slept for more than 30 hours over the course of 48 hours
123. Visited more foreign countries than U.S. states
124. Visited all 7 continents
125. Taken a canoe trip that lasted more than 2 days
126. Eaten kangaroo meat
127. Eaten sushi
128. Had your picture in the newspaper
129. Changed someone’s mind about something you care deeply about
130. Gone back to school
131. Parasailed
132. Touched a cockroach (If by whacking with a shoe or the nearest object means touching then – yes – but I don’t know that my bare fingers have ever come in contact.)
133. Eaten fried green tomatoes
134. Read The Iliad – and the Odyssey
135. Selected one “important” author who you missed in school, and read
136. Killed and prepared an animal for eating
137. Skipped all your school reunions
138. Communicated with someone without sharing a common spoken language
139. Been elected to public office
140. Written your own computer language
141. Thought to yourself that you’re living your dream
142. Had to put someone you love into hospice care
143. Built your own PC from parts
144. Sold your own artwork to someone who didn’t know you
145. Had a booth at a street fair
146. Dyed your hair
147. Been a DJ
148. Shaved your head
149. Caused a car accident
150. Saved someone’s life

Greetings from the Couch! October 3, 2007

A lot has happened since yesterday’s post.  I was rear-ended at the intersection of Ridgecrest Rd and Ponce on my way home from work last night.  It’s a dangerous place to turn left – especially in rush hour.  So you ATL locals – beware!  The rub is that there really isn’t a great place to turn left off of Ponce if you are headed to Oakhurst.  The woman who hit me was from Wisconsin and not used to the traffic on Ponce.  So of course today has been full of visits to Enterprise, the Collision shop, and many phone calls with insurance companies and adjusters.  Fun fun.  The good news is that the Biscuit and I are OK.  In fact, we are very fortunate that it was not any worse.  I am not sure how I didn’t end up in a head-on collision when booted into the oncoming lanes.  But Randy took me to Piedmont, as directed by Dr. Kleiss, and they monitored me for over 3 hours.  We got a little preview of the quality time we will be spending there come January.  The verdict is still out on the Vibe.  Total loss?  That is the question.  We may be car shopping sooner than we thought………..

I was on my way back into the house after picking up the rental car (Kia Rondo – surprisingly fun) this morning and the DHL dude showed up with our new laptop.  He had already been by but could not deliver without a signature.  And he just happened to catch me coming home.  Hooray!  I already am up and running with the wireless connection.  This did involve 90 minutes on the phone with a Dell Rep in the Philippines but it is a small price to pay to have the freedom to geek out somewhere other than the office. 

So far so good with the laptop.  The speed is a vast improvement over our desktop (it was approaching 6 years old) and the wireless connection is just as fast as the tethered connection.  The CD Drive is pretty noisy but – other than burning cds into Itunes – I don’t foresee it getting a ton of use. 

OK – I feel that I have bored you all long enough tonight.  Be careful out there – especially on Ponce!

System Failure: Boot Halted October 2, 2007

That is what our computer told us – repeatedly – when it bit the dust a couple of weeks ago.  5 years of pictures, all my addresses, and (GASP!) all my Music.  And no it was not backed up.  Please learn from our mistake and back up your schtuff!  I have not lost complete hope as to data recovery but I am not in a huge hurry to solve that dilemma until I have something to transfer it to.  We almost made a rash computer purchase in August to take advantage of the back to school tax breaks but realized that was silly – especially when we didn’t NEED a new machine.  Our old one was a little slow but still getting us by.

With the subsequent crash of our computer we were spurred to move forward with the new computer plan.  Sure we can justify it.  We NEED it to check our Fantasy Football scores and send pictures of the Biscuit to the doting grandparents right?   And – yes – I said OUR Fantasy Football scores.  I have a team this year……but I digress……

We are anxiously awaiting the arrival of our new computer from Dell.  When checking the status of our order at Dell.com (because I am obsessed and bored) I received a pleasant surprise – it has already shipped!  Upon ordering it on 9/22 the estimated ship date was 10/15.  Hopefully the set up of our new machine is equally pleasant.  We are entering uncharted territory with laptops, Vista, and wireless routers.  This is somewhat scary given that I am only slightly technologically inclined and I have read multiple horror stories of Vista / Wireless Router incompatibility.  And – for the record – I was really tempted to go for a MAC but couldn’t justify the price when we started comparison shopping.  MAC fans – I know there is more to it than price points – please feel free to tell me why you love your MAC, OK?  The dude at the Apple store did not make a very convincing case and I was willing to be sold.  If things go South with Dell I will be willing to reconsider.

Now I am aware that my blog entries were scant prior to the aforementioned crash.  However, my hope is that with the new computer – and the new speed / portability that supposedly comes with it – my postings will become more regular.  But just as random if you know what I mean.

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 Uh – I just ran spell check and WordPress doesn’t recognize “blog.”  WTH?