Wants and Needs

Friday...

First - this. Last night, I heard this on the radio and fell in love.

Second - a little less than a year ago, a friend of one of my co-workers sent a little bound book with a handful of pickle recipes in it to the office. Over half of the book was blank, so we filled the rest in with more pickle recipes and sent it back. I made copies of the book for me and my co-worker, and now we have these awesome little pickle books.

A little while later, we started another project to send to the firend- our WANTS and NEEDS. I was very proud of my little project, and have wanted to post it for a while.
Unfortunately I saved my original in Publisher and my work PC no longer has Publisher - So I'MA START OVER! It's a fun little project, and I encourage you to join in.

WANTS

(Image from here)

(Image from here)

(Image from here)

NEEDS

(Image from here)

(Image from here)

(Image from here)

Enjoy. And I hope you have a lovely weekend.

PUMPED

I haven't posted about this yet - I've been waiting.

But I'm going writing for The Demoiselles Getting Healthy!

I've got an AUTHOR PAGE, you guys!

I Am Stoked

Unfortunately, for me, this means I've got to work out. Ugggggh. I've got a game plan, now I just need to put it into action.

In other news - my weekend is already gone.
Tonight I have to clean the house because...
Tomorrow (Thursday) Mike's grandma is coming over to see the house
(She's in the blue)

Friday we have Mike's brother's basketball game, probably followed by dinner.
Saturday I'm going over to my mom's for my sister's 22nd birthday.

(She's in the dress)

I guess I still have Sunday. But that's Sunday - a day of rest. Also known as Day of Pajamas

Maddie in the Dryer

This...is Maddie in the dryer.

Please forgive the quality, it was taken on my cell phone, and the dryer light in the back is causing a glare.

Maddie is a Jack Russell and Rat Terrier mix. We got her on October 15th, 2007 from the Iowa Animal Rescue League. We went to the shelter with the intention of looking at cats. And definitely not purchasing a dog.

We wandered around for a little while, checking out cages but nothing jumped out at us. Until we wandered over to the corner. There was this SAD little dog, with huge bat ears shivering because she was placed near an open window, in October. She was quarantined because she had kennel cough. She was only 3 months old, and I know enough about shelters to know that sick animals are usually put down first.

We asked to see her, and she ran back and forth between us, SO excited. We were sold, and we brought her home that day.

Maddie's love affair with hot laundry started in Winter 2008. We lived in an apartment without a washer/dryer, so we would come to my parents' house every weekend to hang out, wash our clothes, and let Maddie run around in their yard with the dogs. Maddie is notoriously needy and attached to Mike and I, so when I would go into the basement to do laundry, she would follow.

As I took clothes out of the dryer, she would lay on them, and when I put more on top of her, she snuggled in like she was facing an arctic winter. Maddie is only 12-15lbs, so she's always cold, so I imagine this was like heaven. As time wore on, she figured out that whenever I go into the basement, it's HOT LAUNDRY TIME and every time I would go down there, she would get more and more excited.

Now, in our own house, with our own washer/dryer, whenever she hears the dryer door, she comes running. At first she would wait patiently until I would cover her with the clean clothes, then she figured out that she could sit in the laundry basket and be carried over to the couch in it. And now, she's discovered that the quickest route to almighty Hot Laundry is to jump straight into the dryer as soon as I open the door.

This is my dog. She's strange and needy and awesome.

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Unrelated: My RL best friend just started blogging. Stop by and say Hi.

The Most Boring Post Ever Written and I NEED SUMMER

Per JamieAnn I am currently obsessing over:

- Tangerines. wonderful and delicious.
- Ikea kitchen makeover - OMG, doing my taxes today! (well, my preliminary taxes with Turbo Tax. If my results aren't what I want, then we're going to meet with a TAX MAN)
- Getting a new life **more on this below
- Getting Mike a new life **more on this below
- What I believe to be a piece of glass in the tip of my pinkie finger. I CAN'T GET IT OUT.

Wow...I am uninteresting today. I'm boring myself.

Getting a new life. Le sigh. We've been down this road before. A buncha times.
But, this weekend we went to a friends' house, they've just recently moved in, and their house looks lovely. Every room has been painted, their furniture has been arranged nicely, and their kitchen looked so put together. So naturally, I get home, and I start comparing. I start looking around MY house and I'm all, "UGH! This is awful. Let's move."

So, Mike and I start talking (and we both knew this would happen) and dissatisfaction with the house leads to dissatisfaction with ourselves for being so lazy, which leads to dissatisfaction with our jobs for being so time consuming, and dissatisfaction with myriad other issues (paychecks, commutes, friends, parents).
So, we need a new life.
Not like a quit-you-job-pick-up-and-move type of new life. But a new attitude.

Gross. This is boring. Every other week I post about it. Instead of talking about it, I should probably just do it, right? Duh. I'm....over it.

Mike does need a new life, for sure. He needs a career in video games. In creating them, or writing about them, or printing them, or selling them. He needs to be in that realm.
There's a studio right near our house which he has been investigating for a while. But does anyone have someone in their life in that industry? I would love for Mike to be in contact with someone who actually works in the field.

This is going to be a very long Monday. Much love to those of you in the same boat I am.
I need summer and I need it bad.

How's about this...I need summer because:
- I desperately need more salsas in my life
- Daiquiri, Mojito, and Margarita season. Duh.
- darkness at 5pm is soul-crushing
- I've fallen in love with the Renaissance Fair
- I'm more motivated to run outside.
- I get Summer Hours at work (I work an extra hour M-Th and then I get out at noon on Fri)
- shoveling kills me.
- My sister graduates from college and moves home!

I feel better. Why do you need summer?

Random Pictures

lovely - January 2010
family dinner with friends (Rache and Jay) - January 2010
Maddie is a baby - December 2009
our new bedroom - early October 2009
mums - early October 2009
early October 2009
Starved Rock State Park - August 2009
Starved Rock State Park - August 2009
Starved Rock State Park - August 2009
honeymoon - Galena, IL - June 2009
honeymoon - June 2009
honeymoon

Business Trip to NYC

Hi!

I just got back from New York for work, and wow! I am tired. And my Google Reader is SO backed up.

Thankfully, Mike was awesome at keeping the house clean while I was gone. He did a phenomenal job.

New York was meh. I arrived around noon on Monday (after waking up at 3am in order to get to the airport on time), and departed last night at 6pm. We were there for customer meetings during a trade show, and I didn't have a whole lot to do. My job was to make sure that only people with appointments came to our office, take their coats, offer beverages, and make sure our products got put back on the shelves. It was a lovely break from actual work, but the lack of things to do made the day DRAG by.

I only had one night to myself, and I intended to make the most of it. I planned to take a walk down Fifth Ave, all the way to Central Park, stopping to see the Empire State Building, St. Patrick's Cathedral, Times Square and end up back at the hotel. Well, I took off speed walking and less than 1/3 of the way to Central Park I was like, "Holy Mother of GOD, my feet hurt, I'm so tired, so hungry and it's really goddamn cold."
So I detoured it straight to Times Square (it was the closest attraction) took a picture, texted it to Mike and bee-lined it back to the hotel to order room service and watch the Olympics (and The Bachelor - that Vienna! She's irritating, but I can see why Jake likes her)
I'm a terrible tourist.

The next night, my boss and I went out to eat with a customer, and we ended up writing $1.2 million in orders. I mean, I'm not all business-y or sales-y, but it's pretty cool to have been part of it. Though, it's not like there was haggling, or anything. Just products that he had tested in the past and had worked. And I ate mussels and they were delicious.

At present, I'm exxxxxxxxxxhausted. Traveling really strips me of everything, and sucks the life out of me. I'm an extremely anxious traveler (I get lost SO easily), and it takes a huge emotional toll. But I am home now, and I leave work in 1 hour and 40 minutes. I will go home, eat something (though I'm not sure what) and watch the Olympics. And I couldn't be more tickled about it.

Time Warp

To take a page out of La Wishcake's book:

What I wrote 6 years ago -

"I compared my old journal franticiowa to this new one [suburbian_calm]...and the names speak volumes. I didn't even realize until this one was made that they were contradictory. nuts. My old one was miserable, and now i hardly write because i have nothing significant to complain about. And i compare my well being at the two locales and here i am just content. I am not at a large level of unrest. Though the lack of contact with peers does sometimes get to me. solution: college visits. The weather is improving and my car is fixed...WHO'S GAME?

Life is good, today i am positive. "

Interesting.

Things I Am Not. Things I Am.

I am not soft, or quiet or gentle.
I am not graceful or poised, nor am I a lady.
I am not complacent or ignorant, but I am not a big-picture person.
I am not good at long distance anything - friendships, relationships, correspondence.
I am not a fan of pomp and circumstance, and I avoid all types of ceremony.
I am not having an easy time managing my time, but I am not giving up yet.
I am not certain how I got to where I am; I am not certain as to where I want to end up.

I am a bundle of awkward angles and poking elbows.
I am a lumberjack in high heels and well-tailored pants.
I am ambling, tripping over my own feet, and making exclamations that would make truckers blush.
I am the leaver of long, arduous, repetitive voice mails, and I am wondering why someone allows me (and pays me) to do this.
I am lazy and unmotivated, and I am disappointed in these attributes.
I am well read, in tune with pop-culture, and trying to stay on top of social media.
I am learning who I am. Who I was. And who I will be.

DIY: Trial and Error - How To Get Rid of Ants

Mike and I have new roommates:

[Image via Flikr]

Don't judge me. My house is spotless, so there are no crumbs to eat. At least not anymore.

The invasion started about a week ago, when I found a bunch of ants loitering in the kitchen. I annihilated them with pest spray, thinking that would be the end. (My apologies to those who feel strongly about the use of chemicals on pests!)

The next couple of days were quiet - and then they invaded the living room. HOWEVER, the ants were justified this time! We had left a few crumbs on the floor the other day. So, after another ant annihilation and a thorough vaccuuming, I assumed they would retreat.

I WAS SO WRONG. They invaded the kitchen, the front hall, the bathroom, and the TV stand almost daily. So I set up ant traps - NO USE.

On Thursday night, I was done. I was SOoooooOOO over the ants, so I went online (where all the answers lie) and searched for natural remedies, at home remedies, and essentially anything I could find. Well, I ended up learning a LOT about ants - specifically that they're probably in the house because it is winter, and that they are REALLY hard to actually get rid of and the best you can hope for is to CONTROL them.

Thankfully, every single article mentioned the use of a product called Terro. Which is essentially a 5% Borax solution, mixed with sweetner (or something) to attract ants. Borax apparently dehydrates the ants, and kills them. And with this product, they feast on its tasty sweetness and brings it back to the nest to share, so more die.
(Again, I'm really sorry to those who feel compassionate towards the ants, but I need my house back. I'm tired of feeling dirty because they've taken up residence!)

In my readings I found SO MANY OTHER "natural remedies" that didn't work. Like, a chalk line...many people posted that if you drew a line with chalk the ants wouldn't cross it because the fine dust would impair their breathing (or something), so in the name of science I tested this by drawing a circle around a lone ant. At first it was confused, then the walked right out.

Mustard powder would apparently repel them, however my ants were very curious about it, and decided to take some back to the nest.
Same with cinnamon, black pepper, cayenne pepper and cloves. They walked right through it, and in some instances took some back to the nest.

The only thing that has returned results Terro. They ants SWARMED it (and it took every OUNCE of self control for me to continue to make my breakfast while my kitchen was overrun with those buggers), and brought it back to the nest. Many died in the little traps (because it's a thick liquid, so they likely drowned?), but since I've put them out, I HAVEN'T SEEN ANTS.

And OMG, I am so thankful. Since then, I've vaccuummed repeatedly, bleached the floors and counters. Though, it's not like my kitchen wasn't clean to begin with (I'm super insane about the state of my kitchen). Hopefully those assholes won't be back. But I'll keep you posted.

DIY: Trial and Error

Today:
...I love Jolly Racher Pink Lemonade Valentine's Day suckers.
...My curling iron broke (it exploded on Monday, but was still functional).
...I need to drink more water.
...NEW SHOWS ARE ON! (Community, Parks and Recreation, The Office, 30 Rock)
...Is a more organized, less stressful day
...I am planning for the weekend (refurbishing a table! making soup! sewing a dog bed!)

Sorry for my mini-meltdown the other day. I mean, after re-reading it I realized I sounded way more insane than I actually felt. But seriously, those of you (bloggers, specifically) who are able to do ALL of that and more kill me. And I've decided that you, my friends, are an alien race who are able to function without sleep. And I am jealous. I am of the breed that needs 8+ hours of slumber to even FUNCTION at the most basic level.

I think I'm going to add a new dimension to this blog...a DIY, by trial and error section. I'm at a point in my life where I'm learning new things (about being married, owning a home, cooking, sewing) and sometimes the interwebs doesn't offer the resources I need - so I need to cobble together my own recipe/method/system. So why not blog about it!? Not just before/after pictures. Not just my successes. But everything.

That chicken pot pie recipe I mentioned - I'm gonna blog it. Refurbishing a side table - I'm gonna blog it. Installing a light fixture - If I don't die an electrical-related death, I'm gonna blog it.

I'm acting like this is a new concept - duh, it's not. But it will for sure give me something interesting to do with my time.
xoxo

Groundhog Day. In so many ways...

I wrote 7 posts in the month of January. Seven. In 31 days. I'm sad about this. And only 3 of them were actual posts. I'm going to try to kick it up this month.

But I have a question. For you. Any one of you that may read this.

HOW DO PEOPLE DO THEIR LIVES!?

Seriously. I've been busy as shit all day. No time to check on favorite websites and blogs, let alone write my own posts. Barely any time to pay my bills and check my accounts. HOW DO PEOPLE WORK FULL TIME and still have a commute and keep their houses clean and their bills paid and stock an Etsy shop and hang out with friends and family and significant others? How do these SAME people still make time for TV shows, and facebook and twitter?? How does everyone still cook meals, REAL MEALS and make time for exercise and playing with pets?

I'm seriously at wit's end. I don't know how to DO all of these things. And I feel like a total failure as an adult.

I know I go back and forth - one day I feel like this, and the next make vows to take it easier on myself - but even on the days where I feel OK, I still feel behind and like I am missing out on some mystical instruction on how to make it all work.

My car needs an oil change, I need to do my taxes, I have broken coffee mugs in my backseat, I haven't facebooked or tweeted in forever, I haven't read or commented on blogs in forever, I'm behind on dishes, laundry, TV and sleep. I haven't seen friends in almost two weeks. I need new glasses, I need to make a Dr. appt, Maddie needs to go to the vet, we need to get our water softener fixed and to make it all even MORE exciting - We're running low on moneysssssss.

Sorry dudes.
I'm frustrated at my inability to get it together.