6.12.2009

Random Hyperbole

OMG! So, the most disturbing thing happened today!

It’s Friday. It’s lunchtime. Which typically means I go out for lunch instead of eating my “brown bag” lunch like I do throughout the rest of the work week. Unless Daniel text messages me at 11:30 with “I want to see you. Can I take you out for lunch?” And I usually let him take me out for lunch…cuz I’m nice like that.

So there I am, standing at the counter of my favorite sandwich shop, ordering my favorite sandwich and next to me are the strategically placed cookie baskets. When I go to this particular sandwich shop, I almost always get a cookie (oh who are we kidding, I ALWAYS get a cookie) because they make really delicious cookies. Strike that. I don’t know for a fact that ALL of their cookies are really delicious because I only ever get the Chocolate Chunk Cookie.

Today, I looked at the Chocolate Chunks. I looked at the Peanut Butters. I looked at the Oatmeal Raisins. That’s what I do, I practice equal opportunity when it comes to cookies. I give each cookie it’s chance to entice me and inevitably Chocolate Chunk always wins. But today, TODAY, I willingly picked out AN OATMEAL RAISIN and put it on the counter.

I don’t know what happened! I don’t know what came over me!

Here’s what I suspect: My choosing an Oatmeal Raisin over a Chocolate Chunk is a clear sign I’m getting old (well in addition to the other signs…like wrinkles and white hairs). Today it’s Oatmeal Raisin over Chocolate Chunk. Tomorrow, it’s the Weather Channel over VH1. Weak Tea with Lemon, over Vodka Tonic with Lime is next. And before you know it I’ll be getting up at 5 am on a Saturday to go have breakfast at Shoney’s!

This is where it starts my friends…this is where it starts.

6.11.2009

I Need Your Help

That’s right, I’m actually soliciting your opinions and wise words of advice.

To register or not to register? That is the question.

What is your opinion on the whole registering for stuff you want?

As a creator of such a registry, I have to admit, the idea makes me uncomfortable. Uncomfortable in a guilty sort of way. It just seems very demanding or bossy of me to put a bunch of things on a list that I am hoping people will buy for me to “celebrate” my decision to get married. *shudder*

Don’t get me wrong – I love gifts. I love giving gifts. I love getting gifts. I love seeing what kinds of gifts other people get. I am NOT against gifting. But shouldn’t a gift be something that the giver wants to give and not something that the receiver is instructing the gifter to give? Are those two things mutually exclusive? Are you confused yet? I am.

Because the gifter in me understands that it is nice (and convenient) to be able to give someone something that they really want/need without having to agonize over the decision or go all Columbo trying to figure out what it is they want. Ya know? If I give someone a toaster, but what they really needed was a blender, then essentially what I’ve just given them is an errand. And that’s no good.

On the other hand, I don’t want to seem presumptuous. I mean, I don’t want anyone to feel obligated to buy any kind of gift at all. After all, I’m 33 and Daniel is *gasp* almost 45, so it’s not like we’re just starting out and need to build a household full of toasters and stuff. Although since both of us are first time home owners, there are certainly things we are lacking that we will need to buy at some point (lawn mower comes to mind…)

Am I being stupid? The giver in me says yes to registries. If a registry is available, I typically choose an item from it to give as a gift; although I also sometimes add non-registry things to the gift as well. See? Even as a gifter, I don’t entirely like to be told what to do. It's like the registry is insulting my ability to choose an appropriate gift.

I know there are people who will want to give me and Daniel a gift in celebration of our marriage – I would want to do the same for my friends and families. So, if I don’t register then I run the risk of receiving 3 blenders and a dozen pink towels with little embroidered flowers on them – not that anyone would actually give me pink towels if they knew me at all . . . although now that I’ve said it, I’ll most likely get pink towels from some wise-ass.

So, do I just suck it up, be bossy, and tell people what to buy me?

Pro-Registry? Anti-Registry? Anyone? Anyone?

6.01.2009

Get Outta Mah House!

Our contractors have had it good, man. G-O-O-D. For the past 5 weeks, they have had exclusive run of our house. No bothersome people or pets to work around, no furniture to worry about, and no schedules for them to deal with. Ideal circumstances under which to work.

All of that is about to change Friday morning when Daniel and I pull up with our moving truck full of furniture, our two cats, our work schedules and our lives. Our contractors' perfect little set-up is about to go down the terlit very quickly.

Which is why they should hurry the fuck up and get outta mah house!

Otherwise, we're going to be moving into this:



And this:







And this: Notice the lack of countertops




Right now, there is NO WAY all of our stuff will fit in addition to all of the construction crap strewn willy-nilly throughout the ENTIRE house.

Hopefully (fingers and toes crossed), MUCH will get done in the next 4 days. Today, the electrician is supposed to install all the new lighting, new receptacles, and upgrade some wiring. Our kitchen countertops are also supposed to be installed today. Our contractor is supposed to finish the kitchen floor and finish repairing the kitchen walls. Our kitchen appliances are supposed to be installed on Thursday.

That's a whole lotta supposin'.

In more productive news: This past weekend, Daniel and I sanded, primed and painted the hallway leading to the kitchen and the kitchen ceiling. Paint under our fingernails and in our hair has become an inevitable part of our lives. Tuesday night we will be sanding and priming the walls behind the refrigerator, and Wednesday, we will paint those walls in preparation for the refrigerator installation on Thursday.



You can see the color we'll be painting the kitchen walls just there above the window. It's not a terribly accurate color representation but, it's called Puddle and it's a purple-ish gray color. I love the names of paint color. Really. I delight in them. If I could find a way to make paint-naming my career, I so would! In addition to Puddle, we also bought cans of Castle Walk (for the dining room), Sweet Molasses (for the pink bathroom), and Gobi Desert (for the master bath and bedroom).

FUN FACT! My sister also, without prior knowledge or consultation, bought Gobi Desert for HER new bathroom. We're weird like that.

Anyway, cross your fingers that our contractors fully understand the ramifications of us moving in to their construction site in less than 4 days!