Big Plans

I think this next weekend we're going to do something awesome. It involves 3 ingredients: my husband, a new beanie and a drive up to and proceed to walk around Vail....

Do you think we'll fool people into thinking he's an Olympic gold medal bobsled driver?

Wish me luck

How am I supposed to concentrate on getting anything done today when the following two things have happened:

1) My Colorado State tax refund just hit my checking account and

2) The ear doctor said we could go shopping after work and buy a new dining room table!!!!



So VERY excited over here that we might actually get rid of the full sized bed that has been in the dining room for the last 4 months!

Ready for my closeup

Last night as I was driving down my street after work. I was tired and just wanted to get home and put my feet up.

As I got closer and closer to my driveway I noticed one random guy pointing a camera at our house. Not a small, little point and shoot, but a big TV style video camera. I was perplexed. Why on earth would someone be video taping our cute little house?

I pulled up next to him and asked him what was going on.

He told me that he was from HGTV and was filming the outside of our house for a show!

Cool!

I guess it'll be background for another couple who were considering buying our house, but we snaked in and got it before they did.


So if, in the future, you're sitting on your couch watching HGTV and you see a really cute gray little house in Denver with Christmas lights still up in the end of February, that'd be our place!

Semantics

I'm not really sure how I got the bad wrap. Somehow over the past almost 3 years I've garnered the reputation of being the stick-in-the-mud early to bed person in our relationship.

We valiantly tried to have the picture perfect hollywood type of marriage where bed time is concerned. You know, you both get ready for bed together, pull down the duvet, climb into bed, talk and read with by the light of individual lamps on bedside tables, lean over give a loving kiss goodnight and switch out the lights. We both really wanted it.

But I just can't stay up late enough for the ear doctor's last blood sugar measurement and insulin dose (have I mentioned before that he's type 1 diabetic?...well, he is). And if he attempted to go to bed before the 10:30 rerun of Seinfeld his mind might just explode.

So we're stuck.

I hit the sheets around 10:30 and he stays up til midnight.


But lately I've been paying closer attention. As we sit on the couch catching up with Simon's American Idol antics and scratching out heads at the plot trajectory of LOST I've started to realize that I am the only one awake! At one point, just when Claire was swinging the ax into that poor "other's" gut he woke up and asked, "what did I miss?"

HUH? What?

How is it that I'm the late night party pooper because I prefer to doze off in my bed instead of on our couch?

End of my rope

Usually I consider myself a pretty determined person. Give me a goal and I will slog my guts out in order to achieve.

However...

This kitchen renovation is really testing me. It's long, drawn out and every single task brings an annoying learning curve.

Take last night, for example. We'd finished 90% of the tile for the backsplash and only had the fancy cuts to make. Due to the size of the tiles (not small or big) making these cuts has been EXHAUSTINGLY difficult. The tiles break, they aren't quite right, they don't fit in the field all the way, whatever.

Yesterday it took us 3 hours to get 5 tiles in place. 5 TILES! And we still have about 10 to go!


At one point I just had to hold my breath and say to my dear dogged ear doctor, "I'm feeling very frustrated," which was then followed by a break and a rapidly consumed row of Girls Scout Cookies. I felt like giving up, which is totally out of character!


This #$^@$@%">#$^@$@% kitchen is going to kill me.

Why we should keep the space program

I'm going to try to keep this succinct...but just be warned, I may fail horribly.

There are three main reasons I think we should keep investing in the space program: symbolic meaning, it's ability to inspire and the impact it has on technological advancement.

First, it's symbolic meaning. To be American is to explore. It is part of our cultural identity and heritage. It is who we are and what we've fought for from the very inception of our nation. I shutter to think of what Lewis and Clark would say to us if we just decided to quit expanding our knowledge of the world around us.

Second, the space program has the power to inspire people more than anything else...period. Just take a look at my comments on the previous post. No one who was alive to see the lunar landing wanted to cut the budget. I'm afraid our current generation takes for granted the fact that we sent a frail, weak human being to the MOON!

Also, everyone knows that our educational programs are failing our children. Scores are slipping, no one wants to teach kids for such a pittance and kids are seemingly less interested in math science engineering and technology. This, everyone would agree is a problem. How many kids are going to be motivated to pursue education in the above fields if we as a nation do not agree to support those fields? How will they be inspired to learn and work hard if there is no amazing science left to do? And believe me when I say that once we give up on the space program other fields will be left vulnerable. If we as a people don't care about advancing the sciences there is no point to work on our educational system where the maths and sciences are concerned.

And lastly, the research and development that has been dedicated to devising solutions for taking mankind into space has had some pretty amazing benefits to our entire race. I'm not saying that we wouldn't have come up with these ideas without the program, but it sure helped move the development forward. Here is just a small list of the benefits we see thanks to the federal dollars invested in the space program:

Semiconductor Cubing (making computer chips cube shaped that reduced the size and weight of memory-intensive systems like medical imaging devices), structural Analysis (the main technique that EVERYTHING is designed with now to predict when things will break. next time you walk over a bridge and it doesn't collapse thank space), air Quality Monitor (this is how we can monitor the dirty air that factories create and we can attempt to limit their environmental impact) Virtual Reality (Avatar was pretty cool, right?), CDs, enriched babyfood (a lot of food science has come out of the space program...a lot), water purification systems, scratch-resistant lenses, chemical-free pool purification (why don't we have more of these in residential pools?), ribbed swimsuit for speed swimmers, better golf balls and composite golf clubs, athletic shoes (almost all shoes not have shock absorption materials developed by the space program), dustbuster, shock absorbing helmets, home security systems, smoke detectors, flat panel TVs, sports bras, fogless ski goggles, transitions lenses, hang gliders, art preservation, microspheres (the first commercial products manufactured in orbit are tiny perfect microspheres. They are used when manufacturing requires really perfectly calibrated measurements and currently are used mainly for environmental control, medical research, and manufacturing), solar energy, weather forecasting via satellite, forest management via satellite, hydroponic plant research, fire resistant material, radiation insulation, digital imaging breast biopsy system (LORAD), and breast cancer detection, laser angioplasty, ultrasound skin damage assessment for serious burn victims, programmable pacemaker, voice-Controlled wheelchair, ultrasound scanners, automatic insulin pump, invisible braces, portable x-ray, MRI, engine lubricant, emergency rescue cutters (jaws of life), fireman's air tanks, self-righting air raft, Doppler radar, studless winter tires, improved car breaks, improved aircraft engines, emissions testing, electric car

There are many, many more but I'm attempting to keep this post to a readable length. If you thought the space program was expendable and that we have bigger fish to fry as a nation will you take a second to consider how many of the above you use on a daily basis. Would you rather go without them?

From left field

Today I have a semi serious question that I really hope you take a second to chime in on.


Do you care about America's program of manned space exploration? Do you think it's worth paying for or do you think we should let other countries take our place as the leaders in space? Are you concerned at all about the future of our space program and all the related ramifications?


Thanks

Minor medical emergency

I really try not to post about my dog every single time I sit down at the computer. I really do. I get it that you all may not be as excited about oh-my-gosh-he-is-the-cutest-thing-in-the-world like I am. But today I just can't help it.

I came home Monday night and the front door was unlocked and the door to his crate was wide open. I freaked out. I thought someone had come in and stolen him. I attempted to call the ear doctor, but it went straight to voicemail and his box is full. I may or may not have filled it with "awesome" renditions of Motown hits sung by moi at piercing volume.

About 3 minutes after I arrived home the ear doctor walked in with leash and puppy in hand. But when I looked down at our little nugget I gasped and the strangest basic instinct to pick him up and cuddle him washed over me.

The poor little guy went from looking like this:

to this:

I'm not sure if you can tell because you don't see his adorable mug everyday (thanks to my self control), but his face was swollen and hard!

Turns out the ear doctor had rushed Roscoe to the vet and forgot to lock the door behind him because was so worried about our boy. He could barley open his eyes and he'd been home alone for 4 hours! The vet thought that he'd probably been bit by a spider or stung by a bee. He got a shot and bottle of benadryl and 2 hours later he was back to normal.

But I was a wreck. Every time I looked over at the poor swollen drugged little beast it made me want to cry.

I have no idea how you parents cope with sick kids....it blows my mind.

Buyer beware

Let's talk about buying rugs online.

How am I supposed to trust what shows up on my monitor when the SAME rug is on two different sites looking first like this:

and then like this:

Are you kidding me? I'm supposed to shell out $1000 for something that may look like a sprite commercial vomited on my floor?

Valentines Day Wrap-up

You know how people always say their husbands don't remember V-day? Or how people complain about it being just another day and it shouldn't be a reason to do anything special? Or how some guys run out and find themselves in the line at Safeway on the big day with a sad bunch of carnations and a card witha fuzzy teddy bear on the front becuase that's all that was left?

That is NOT the ear doctor. He's pretty much the most thoughtful, selfless gift giver under the sun.

For example, this year I woke up (late) and in a frenzy to get to church on time almost missed these gorgeous flowers on my kitchen counter:

In case you didn't remember, blue hydrangeas were our wedding flowers. The ear doctor sure didn't forget...

Then, I opened a little box and found these beautiful earrings!

(please ignore my deformed little ear...it's the thing on my body I'm most insecure about so pretend it's just normal, ok?)

And then later I got to open up a pretty envelope and found this:


A gift certificate for a pedicure, which will come in handy as my toes look like a rodent has been gnawing away for the past few months.

Backyard dreaming

With the weather warming up my mind is drawn away from the myriad of projects to do on the inside of our house to the state of our backyard. Right now it's a big, glorious blank slate. In fact, one of the reasons we bought this house was for the beautiful big back yard. Well, it's big by city standards.

After watching where the sun falls all day long I've put together this design idea. Here's what I would want to do to the backyard if I had endless funds and energy:

The blue areas get shade almost the entire day and the pink get full sun. We'd love to add a flagstone patio at the base of our deck stairs for more seating/hanging out area. And the dark green area is perfect for a long veggie garden.

So here is my question: if you were to buy a house would a beautifully landscaped backyard be a selling point? Or would the big expanse of grass be just as appealing? Would you pay a little more for a house with a great yard?

Since we aren't going to stay in this house for a decade I'm not sure if it is worth putting all this work and money into making a show stopper of a back yard. I know WE would love it, but I'm just concerned about the return on our investment...

Lovin my bloggie friends

Megs as me for a list of things I love and, well, since it's Valentines and all I figured you might be interested.

Hop over to her place and see what I'm loving!.

Hail the conquering hero

Hooray! The ear doctor is back! Not only did he get to go to Disneyland a few times but he totally kicked some serious Audiology/Neuroscience booty! I'm so proud of him.

After 8 grueling days filled with papa john's pizza and kraft macaroni and cheese my man has returned to save my eating habits. In fact, this morning I've already assembled a pretty awesome menu and shopping list for next week. I'm actually looking forward to grocery shopping.

A first in my life.

I'm pretty excited that Valentines day lands on a Sunday this year. As a family the ear doctor and I try not to go out on Sunday's as a way to rest and recoup for the week. The result? I get to spend the whole day making a simply perfect dinner for us.

I'm sure those of you who stay home everyday and cook for your families day in and day out just recoiled a bit. But for me, it's a total luxury to turn on some tunes, pour myself something delicious and get to work in the kitchen.

My brand spankin new, almost finished kitchen.

Desperate measures

Today after lunch I was so desperate for something sweet that I actually reached into the depths of my purse and pulled out that single stray piece of gum that's been lingering in the blackness for months now.

I unwrapped the sucker and actually had to brush gritty crumbs off before gingerly sticking it in my mouth.

You know what's worse that not having something sweet to state a craving?

Chewing sand...

Missing you bad

For the last week the ear doctor has been nerding it up at conference in California. From his reports it sounds pretty awesome and like he's learning a ton.

But I hate it when he's gone.

It's weird to sleep in a quiet bedroom. And since he's the one that usually takes out the trash the bags are just piling up next to the can. He always locks the doors at night so without him I'm paranoid that I forgot to do it and end up staggering across the living room at 2:47 am just to make sure the deadbolt is in place.

But mostly I miss him because he makes me eat well.


On my own I don't do well.


For example, yesterday I ate the following:

12:34 pm Two fists full of cocoa roast almonds
3:24 pm Jr Bacon Cheeseburger, fries and a diet coke from Wendy's
5:15 pm Ravenously consumed a small mountain of Teddy Grahams and milk
7:47 pm Heaping pile of buttery, salt popcorn



Please, ear doctor, come back soon! The leafy bunch of kale in the fridge eagerly awaits your arrival...and my colon can't take much more of this!

Shut in

You know what isn't really fair?

Getting the flu TWICE in one season.


I blame my little sister. She's the one who brought her sick kids to my house, the result of which was my for 2 weeks on the couch.

And because I know how horrible it is to get sick I didn't want to risk passing it on to anyone else. I stayed cloistered up in my house, buried by quilts and didn't even look in the ear doctor's direction for fear of infecting him.

By Friday I was about 98% over it.

Sunday I still had a cough, but figured it would be alright to go out in the world and attend a friend's superbowl party. Especially since this friend just had high risk baby a month ago and I was dying to check in and and see how she was doing.

BELIEVE ME WHEN I TELL YOU I HAD TO GET OUT. My weak grasp on sanity was beginning to falter.

Her baby was born with CDH which means that there was a little hole in her diaphragm. Intestines flowed up and prevented her little left lung from developing. Scary, scary stuff, but since the baby's been born things have gone as well as possible. Really, it's been miraculous. But she'll probably always have respiratory problems, and still isn't home from the hospital.

Which is why I only felt a twinge of guilt when I coughed a few times during the party.


My friend, the mother, told me that for the next year their life will revolve around hand sanitiser and isolation. Visitors will be asked to shower and change clothes before even seeing the little one. Casual trips to the grocery store will soon be highly orchestrated ordeals.


And suddenly the past two weeks of being quarantined in my house didn't seem like that big of a deal. The "ordeal" I'd just been through was really nothing compared to the year this dear friend has ahead of her.

All about the Benjamins

My sleeping rhythms are all off.

Every morning at about 3:30 my eyes pop open and I find myself staring at the red Christmas lights that are currently hanging over our bed. And most of my thoughts have one unifying characteristic. The thing I worry most about. The topic I can't ever tear out of my mind.

Finances.

Which is probably why if someone peeped into my house at 3:47 last Tuesday morning they would find me sitting in my underwear at the dining room table writing checks and paying my bills online.

What?

You don't pay your bills in your underwear?



Hmmmm....



Anyway, since buying the house in October we've also had Christmas and nearly completed a kitchen renovation. My poor bank account is starting to feel like a hemophiliac. Always ebbing, never clotting.

Sometimes I wish I could just be one of those people who doesn't worry about money all the time. A person who isn't paralyzed by an unpaid credit card balance. Like a college co-ed whose tuition is taken care of. A girl whose crumby dirty apartment rent can be found between the cushions of a couch.

But, alas, I'm not.

Are you?

How do you do it?

Liquid or Powder detergent?

Usually I'm much better at getting the laundry done. There are only the two of us and we really don't stack up the dirty clothes that fast, so if I just toss a load in every other morning it's typically a pretty simple thing to conquer.

But twice in the last month I've opened my underwear drawer at 6 in the morning and found not a single clean item to wear under my clothes.

My solution both times this has happened is pretty simple. I get the laundry going and curl back up in bed to wait out the dryer. Which is what I was doing this morning when I woke the ear doctor up on accident. Typically we are pretty isolated sleepers, but this morning we cuddled up together and fell back to sleep in a pile. Just as I was drifting off I thought to myself, "enjoy this Katie...when you have kids these moments will be few and far between"


That was the first time in my life the vision of me being a mother, of us being parents, has really, clearly come to me.


And it was really nice.



But if I'm ever going to be a good mom I'm going to have to get better at the laundry...

Howdy

You know what we do well in our family?

Wear awesome hats:

Saturday we spent the day running around after our niece and nephew at the National Western Stock show. They got to feed goats and eat their weight in funnel cakes. It was pretty rad.

What's not rad? They gave me the lovely little cold they've been incubating all week.

Dining room revisited

The kitchen renovation is *this close* to being done. We're just waiting on a final cabinet being delivered from Home Depot (since they messed up our original order). We can't put up the backsplash until that's done.

Oh, and there isn't any real floor in yet...trying to install what we got ourselves was a nightmare. It made me sink into the very depths of despair.

Anyway, with a lull in kitchen design upon me, my sights have switched to the dining room. In November this was my idea for the dining room:

It was alright, but there were a few things I wasn't loving. First, there wasn't a whole lot of color. Or pattern for that matter. Plus I found out that those curtains are really shear so they weren't really going to give us the privacy I was hoping for. Also that rug? A bit sedate, right?

So here is my latest idea:

More color? Check! More Pattern? You bet.

Since our dining room is part of our living room I wanted to keep the feel pretty casual, and I think having different chairs around the table is a cool way to do that. We'd really get 4 white chairs (instead of the 2 pictured) and I LOVE those two wood chairs for either end of the rectangular table. Plus, these chairs are so functional. I really like the idea of being able to use the chairs in other ways when we move into our next house should that house have a more formal dining area.

My only reservation with this look is the curtains. I want a double curtain because it'll give us much more privacy. The ear doctor hates people looking into our house at night. I already have the white shears for underneath, but I need something heavy to go on top. What I have pictured is some fabric from Amy Butler, but I'm not totally in love with the idea. What do you think? Any alternate ideas?

The kiddies are here!

Last night I picked my sister and her to adorable kiddos up at the airport. After a day of FRANTICALLY trying to get the kitchen into a toddler-friendly condition I flew out to get them. As I drove down the passenger pick up lane where "ONLY WAITING FOR PASSENGERS, NO PARKING" is allowed I spied my adorable sister in a beautiful red trenchcoat and and adorable black cloche hat.

But what really caught my eye was the almost 3 year old standing up on her tippy toes in the back of the double stroller. There was a open mouthed grin from ear to ear and it was clear that the squeal of joy coming from her mouth was probably reverberating off every cement beam in the structure.

I can't be sure.

I was still in the car.



I stopped, jumped out as quickly as my home-renovation-sore muscles would allow and ran to my little Charlotte girl. After a hug I was presented with a gift.

An art project colored on a white paper airplane barf bag.




It has officially become the first and perfect piece of art that is prominently displayed on my brand spankin new beautiful space-aged fridge.

Great news

2 items of great news my friends:

First, our Appliances are being delivered today!!!!!!!!!

We purchased our appliances the Saturday after Thanksgiving. They were initially scheduled to be delivered to the house on December 15th, and since they are only 1 month late I guess I shouldn't be too upset? Right....

Second, I have found my new passion in home repair/remodeling.

Patching and repairing drywall.

Sweet Moses, this is a fun little job. If you like frosting cakes, this is the job for you. It's quick and totally fulfills the little perfectionist living deep inside my soul.


So if this whole Aerospace engineer thing doesn't work out I'm pretty sure I've found my fall-back career.

All in the details

The hardest part of designing this new kitchen has not been the demo. It has not been going more than 2 months without cooking my own food. It has not even been the sore muscles from lifting pulling and dropping things on my foot.

It's been the details. The hundreds of choices that all need to be made all at once. There are just too many options out there. Everything from cabinet finish, to door hinges to countertop finish to faucet style! It's not like designing a living room or bedroom where things can come together staggered and over time. Things in a kitchen can't be easily tweaked if it's not quite right either. once we've picked a countertop, we've picked it.

And even when you've selected a style, color and size there are STILL choices to be made.

For example...should we go with these drawer pulls:

or these:
For someone who does not like to mull choices over very much this has been tortuous.

Which pull do you like better? Should the door knobs be round or oval shaped? Will it matter if this dumb design process transforms me to into a mean harpy of a wife, causing my dear, patient husband to leave me thereby necessitating the sale of our house because I can't bear to live in it alone?

Alone with ugly drawer pulls?

Vital tools

I was racing through the mall during my lunch break and happened to see this little gem prominently displayed in the Williams-Sonoma window:

In case you can't tell what it is, it's a baking sheet with individual circular wells that are about 1/4 inch deep, intended to help you make perfectly round cookies for whoopie pies.

And it initiated the following sequence of thoughts in my head:

You've got to be kidding me! Who would ever buy such a lame stupid kitchen tool? Who on God's green earth has one extra little slot in their kitchen cabinetry to house such a trendy single-use instrument? What would it be like to have a kitchen so big and spacious that picking up this silly little baking pan would seem like a good idea? What would it be like to have a kitchen at all? I'm never going to have a kitchen again....my life will be filled from now on with greasy take out food. Going out to dinner will never again be a luxury that I look forward to. Instead it is a pain that takes time out of my day and forces my little dog to spend way more time locked up in his crate. Because we can't let him out just in case he decides to dump again on our bare, exposed sub floor of the room that formerly was known as the kitchen but is now only a symbol of the overwhelmingly oppressive existence that is known as MY LIFE!!!!!!

It was at this point that my brain exploded.

Which is really kind of convenient because I will now be fed directly into my stomach with a tube and have no need for cooking or a kitchen whatsoever.

Sensing a theme

Is anyone else watching the new show Modern Family on ABC? Because last night when the ear doctor and I got around to watching the most recent episode we ended up doubled over on the floor laughing so hard.

What made us laugh until tears came streaming across our cheeks?

The dad had a kidney stone.

Yup, seeing someone else writhe in pain sent us over the edge.

Now, I've never had a kidney stone myself, but my little sister has and she said it was awful. The ear doctor had one when he was living in a dirt-floored, non-airconditioned, pantry-converted-into-bedroom on a rural Mexican ranch. And I think for him, for some reason, having gone through the tortuous event himself made the episode so remarkably funny that we had to rewind and watch it over and over again...

...Just like the time we laughed with abandon when we saw the Amazing Race episode where the girl who had a prosthetic leg had to scoot across the rice paddy in Gollum-esque fashion because she didn't have the right attachment on....

...Or pretty much every episode of that dumb yet addictive show Wipe Out where contestants endlessly attempted to walk in front of a wall of mechanical punching fists and without exception ended up in a trough of mud...

Put on Pause

After driving for 3 days straight we've returned to Colorado from our Californian Christmas Adventure. But, since we've arrived we've been working non stop to get the kitchen renovation buttoned up. And in the process it seems like I've lost all semblance of excited New Year Spirit.

My house is a mess

My clothes/dishes/furniture are all over the place

My hair is grown to an uncomfortable length

My waist is the biggest it's ever been

My work is the same exact pile of stuff I left here in December

My food is basically expensive take out that is starting to taste the same


Nothing seems new or fresh right now

Well, that's not entirely true...

As each screw goes into the wall to anchor our brand new kitchen cabinets my heart starts to beat a little more excited. And when my husband and dad had the beautiful new white farmhouse sink in place last night I may have done a little happy dance across the room. And my sister is coming to visit next week.

So when LG decides to finally ship us our appliances (topic for another post) I might take the ear doctor out to a fancy dinner and stay up until midnight to re-ring in 2010. Until then, I'm just going to pretend that the new year hasn't happened yet.

Is that OK?

Not to brag but...

Well, the decade of the 2010's is off to a great start. Which is more than I can say for the last decade.

The last decade was rung in by me staying up late in my grandma's basement all alone finishing up the latest installment of Harry Potter.

Try not to be too impressed by my total and utter coolness.

No, this decade started off right...with a smooch from my best friend and husband.

The next day? Staying home all day in pj's watching TV and eating until I practically exploded.

Since then I've done the following:

• Spent all day at Disneyland and got to see the Christmas decorations up. No one does festive like the happiest place on earth
• Took my first trip to IKEA...you bloggers weren't kidding about that place. It's AMAZING.
• Went out to dinner steps from the ocean with my best friend from high school who is just as awesome as I remember her.
• Got to go to the San Diego Wild Animal park on a day when it was practically deserted.
• Saw Avatar, Young Victoria, and Sherlock Holmes. All were AWESOME!

If the past week is any indication of the upcoming events of the decade I'm in for a pretty unbelievable new year!

My favorite Christmas song

I'm dreamin' tonight of a place I love, even more then I usually do

I'm not going to be home in my parents house for Christmas this year, but that's nothing abnormal. Christmas Eve's of my childhood were always spent tucked with eager anticipation into my grandma's basement bedroom spare bed. So my Christmas dreams are surrounded by the cold, snow covered mountains of the Wasatch range.

And although I know it's a long road back I promise you...

I'll be home for Christmas, you can count on me

But this year I'll be spending it with my new family. The ear doctor's family. The newest branches grafted into my personal tree.

Please have snow and mistletoe, and presents under the tree

There probably won't be much snow but his family really knows how to have a fun time. And presents? please. I've learned over the years that the ear doctor's limitless spending on gifts was an inherited trait from his two wonderful parents.

Christmas Eve will find me where the love light beams

I'm already basking in the surety that love light will be beaming all over me...

I'll be home for Christmas, if only in my dreams

A dream come true is knowing that this new family I have loves me so totally. And I have the chance to be in love with my very best friend in the whole world. My Christmas wish is that everyone could be so lucky.

It's beginning...

The ear doctor and I love going out for breakfast. And while we both love getting fancy eggs Benedict with perfectly balanced hollandaise and steel cut oats topped with organic strawberries and home made granola, we can also appreciate a greasy plate of hashbrowns, bacon and sunny side up eggs.

On Saturday we went to the diner in our neighborhood. It's been open for 30 years and only takes customers from 4 am to 3 pm. Breakfast is their thing.

We came in, found a seat and ordered our food. As I looked around I knew the place would be awesome because every other table held groups of 85 year old men sipping their coffee from those thick beige ceramic mugs. It made me miss my grandpa.

Just as our food was delivered I looked to my right and what to my wondering eyes did appear?

The fat man himself!

I couldn't believe our luck! Here it was less than a week before Christmas and Santa was eating breakfast in my neighborhood. And I knew for sure it was him because as he finished his meal he paid his bill and proceeded to go to every table in the place that had a kid and handed out tootsie rolls.

Only the REAL Santa would do that!

She whom bears the mark

Since moving to our new house the ear doctor and I have change the church congregation we attend. I was a little nervous about meeting 150+ new people. I hoped we'd find some new friends: cool couples we could have over for dinner, little kids we could play with before and after the meetings, older mentor figures we could learn from and look up to.

And guess what, this new group of folks have not let us down. We've felt so totally welcomed and embraced!


The first week we were there I noticed a young mother of 2 little girls. She seemed really nice and her kids were adorable...but do you know what really caught my eye? She was wearing an awesome headband with 3 big felt flowers on the side of her head.

After church I commented to the ear doctor about her and he said, "yeah, I saw her too. Did you see her headband? I bet she's a blogger."


And I bet he was right. Can I help it if after 5.5 years of doing this I'm drawn bloggers?

Definatley not Angela

Good news everyone...I've officially made it here at my new(ish) job. It's been a long hard 6 months, but today I've arrived. I've been invited into the inner sanctum of....wait for it...the party planning committee.

Yup, despite being in a male dominated industry, I was invited to help put up the decorations with a group 100% female members.

As part of the committee I spent an hour of my time covering conference room tables with cheap wrapping paper and draping the walls with green plastic garland.

Frosted window panes

According to legend, every year my grandma asks my grandpa to put lights up on this outside of the house and he "refuses." She'll ask and he'll use a valid reason why he won't do it. And she gets flustered. It's not that he doesn't want lights up, it's that he likes to tease her before he puts them up.

And now my parents do the same thing.

On Tree Day (the day after Thanksgiving) my mom wants my dad to brave the sub zero temperatures and he putzes around for a while not putting them up. A few days go by and there are still no lights. The thing is, I really think my dad LOVES having lights on the house, but getting them up there is sort of an ordeal...and it's more fun to tease my mom until her head explodes.

This year I was pretty sure that we wouldn't do lights on our little house. Was I sad about the lack of blinking festivity? A little. Was I perfectly aware of how deep our strings of lights were under Mt. Cardboard box in the garage? Abundantly. It just didn't seem worth the hassle.

Which is why a small tear left the corner of my right eye the other day when I pulled into our street after a long, cold day at work and saw this:

(He may or may not have forgotten that we actaully have 4 posts on our front porch...)

And from the inside of the house, admiring the lights:

I guess I'm like mother, and like grandmother...I just LOVE Christmas lights on my house!

Utter shame

So, after sending my wish for a home cooked meal out into the ether of the Internet, the ear doctor and I were promptly invited over for a perfectly cooked Sunday dinner.

One of my newest friends texted me and practically demanded that she save us from another night of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. Gratefully, I immediately took her up on her offer. In addition to providing awesome food, sparkling conversation and a little competitive scrabble action, these friends LOVE our dog making them the perfect people to spend an entire afternoon/evening with. You see, they used to have a dog but had to find another home for him when they moved from Arizona to Colorado. They miss their dog terribly so anytime Roscoe is around they are thrilled!

Excitedly we all piled into the car, Roscoe included, and drove over to their house.

Dinner was awesome.

Roscoe played so gently and lovingly with their little 18 month old darling.

After dinner we all went down to the basement to kick off our shoes and play some games. Things were going so well until we all looked over and saw that Roscoe was BENT OVER TAKING A DUMP ON THEIR FLOOR!!!!!!!!!!!!

I have never been so embarrassed in my life. We quickly cleaned the place and disinfected with bleach, but the image of his brown lump of goo on their white sealed cement floor will haunt me for eternity.


But you know what? They were totally cool with it. They'd had a dog. They understood.



But seriously, Roscoe is NEVER going to someone's house again.

Gift Guide: My little sister

My little sister is an awesome mommy of 2. As a result she doesn't think of getting herself special things very often. This list is a whole group of things JUST for the Magster.

1.Brown boots $180

2.New spatula $7 and scrubbie $5

3.Cashmere turtleneck $158

4.Ten-finger mittens $28

5.Honey roasted peanuts and cold cereal

Gift Guide: My mom

Shopping for my mom is really easy for me. She has such great taste and is happy with anything!

1.Colorway watch from Sundance $88

2.Beautiful farmer’s basket $99

3.Nesting bowls $60

4.Jan Brett’s Christmas Treasury $27

5.Turkish towels $28

Giveaway

One time the ear doctor and I went to the Denver zoo. We were way in the back in a pretty secluded little area. There was a cute squirrel just sitting there staring at us. I thought he was just adorable so I walked up to him. I figured that FOR SURE he would run away, but he didn't. The ear doctor just stood and watched as I reached down and put my finger out. I still thought he'd run away.

But he didn't.

He reached up and GRABBED me.

I was so shocked I jumped about 1o feet in the air and squealed.

Which is why this necklace would be PERFECT for me. I hope I win it from my cousin's ETSY shop. She's hosting a give away over on her blog so go check it out!

She's officially christened!

We'll, we've finally cooked our first thing in the kitchen of our new house:

The ear doctor woke up early, threw on his snow stuff and braved the 4 degree weather one morning this week. It had snowed and I was running late so he gallantly picked up the snow shovel, broom and window scraper. His mission? to clear a way to my car, brush off the foot of powdery flakes and scrape the windows free of ice so that I wouldn't have to do it in my work clothes.

Unfortunately it was bitterly cold and he didn't have the time to clear off his own car before he was a human Popsicle.

When he came back in I took one look at his perfectly rosy cheeks and I realized what he'd done. I was so thrilled by the thoughtfulness of the gesture that I HAD to do something to show my appreciation.

I dug to the bottom of one of our many MANY kitchen boxes, pulled out a pan and boiled him up steaming hot mug of hot cocoa. I really wanted one too, but we only had enough cocoa mix for one cup...so I went without.

Kind of our own little Gift of the Magi moment, eh?

Gift Guide: Snow Bunny

Living in Colorado means having the right gear. Do you know someone who loves the snow?

1.Helen of Tundra Sorel boots $150

2.Cable knit gloves $26

3.Candygrind beanie $27

4.Merino basket-weave scarf $50

5.HH Baselayer $55 (top) $ 40 (bottom)

Ugh! Enough complaining!

Want to see something about our new house that has totally, completely and utterly changed my life for the better?

Yup...that's our totally ugly, not-in-keeping-with-the-historic-nature of our old house DOGGIE DOOR! The days of me walking our little Roscoe down 2 flights of stairs 10:30 at night when its 6 degrees out are behind me. Having the ability to just let him go do his biz whenever he feels like it is HEAVEN!

I assume this is about 1/10th the elation that parents feel when their kids are fully and totally potty trained.

However, now that I look at that photo that door may need a serious stripping and re-painting job...

....and that hardware could get stripped and restored as well...

...and currently that original door knob isn't functional...

Gift Guide: Book Lover

I always thought I was a serious book reader. That is, until I met my college roommate. That girl rips through books like you wouldn't believe. The tricky thing about gifting for a voracious book reader is that you never know if they've already read a book or not. My solution is to get them book accessories...

1.Read sign $32

2.Eat sleep read necklace $24

3.Personal library kit $20

4.This book belongs to label kit $11

5.Conceal bookshelf $15

A pick me up

So I think we've decided that this year we won't be putting out our Christmas decorations. Our house is a zoo with boxes half unpacked and piles of odds and ends everywhere. Next week our new appliances, cabinets and flooring will all arrive and fill our house to the brim. An electrician will be coming in and our moving old outlets and replacing them with new. We hired someone to come replace the existing window with a new one twice it's size, so he'll be cutting a hole in the side of our house...in the middle of December.

In consideration of all these factors it just doesn't make a lot of sense to go out and buy a tree that will eat up precious space. And putting out the breakable beautiful decorations just doesn't make a lot of sense.

And I know it's logical and practical to leave my snowglobes in storage, but the lack of festive cheer around our little house has really been getting me down. I mean, it hardly even feels like Christmas to me!

So, last night I took matters into my own hands. I decided that if I couldn't decorate my house, at least I could decorate my body. If you'd come by our house last night at about 8 pm this is the get-up you would have seen:

A girls gotta do what a girls gotta do.

Gift Guide: Cook

A person who likes to cook is sometimes different from a person who likes to bake. Although, I like to do both, so anything for either list would make me feel like a million bucks.

1. Ceramic Pizza Stone $11

2. Le Creuset baker (isn’t that blue gorgeous!) $80

3. Best of America’s Test Kitchen 2010 (I LOVE these books) $25

4. 2 Calphalon pans $99

5. New 8” chef’s knife $60

Saturday's happenins

What to know what's fun?

Ripping out old hardwood floors.

I didn't get to do any of the demo of the kitchen, so this was my first experience with intentional destruction of our house. Taking out stress and frustration with a pry bar is wonderfully rewarding. It's especially nice when the 87 year old plank subfloor is still in working condition.

Not a termite bite or water damaged spot to be found! I love Colorado!

Gift Guide: Proud Puppy Parent

So I never thought I'd be the person that loves their dog so much they get excited over dog products...but I totally am. And I'm sure the doggie lover on your list would love getting any of these lovelies.

1.Snuggie for Dogs (hilarious!) $10
2.Classic Kong chew toy (You can never have too many!) $10
3.Personalized Dog Bed cover $44
4.Classy new leash $19
5.Bio-degradable poop bags $20

Still no kitchen

I knew it would happen, but I didn't think it would come so soon.

I am officially SICK of eating take out. Tired of sitting in restaurants. Annoyed by just the thought of another drive-thru window. Bored by having to spout the requisite small talk to the endless line of delivery people knocking on my door.

I yearn for a simple meal cooked in 30 minutes. I pine after the calm ambiance created by dinner eaten at a proper dining table instead of hurriedly inhaled from in front of the TV.

Don't even get me started on how depressed I am that I won't be doing any Christmas baking this year....


Can anyone think of a polite way to invite myself to a friends house for a home cooked meal?

Gift Guide: Creator

We all have a friend who is awesomely brilliant and always makes the coolest things. Well, here are a couple of things that I'm sure they would love to find under the tree. I know I sure would!

1. Masking tape $25

2. Gingher scissors $20

3. Yudu screenprinting Machine $200

4. Dry Erase Paint $99/25 sq ft

5. Crayon Rocks $7

Gift Guide: Baker

Aside from the nesting prep bowls (which I already have and LOVE) any of these would rock my world, so I'm sure any other baker would probably love them too.

1. Fleur de sel $12.50

2. Escali Primo Digital Scale $25

3.Emile Henry pie plate $44

4.Bench Scraper $7

5.Glass nesting prep bowls $30

Denial: A photo essay

Looking around our living/dining room last night I started to feel pretty good about the house. There were so few boxes and things were really starting to look like we've moved in.

I mean, aside from having a bed in the dining room (it won't fit down the stairs into the basement) and a stack of boxes holding kitchen stuff that can't be put away until the renovation is done, it's basically livable!

I was really feelin great...until I looked in our kitchen:

And then I peered into our basement bedrooms:

Do you think if I just close the doors I won't have to unpack all that stuff?

Gift Guide: New Home Owner

Well, it's that time of year again. I get to my computer and start scouring the Internet high and low for the perfect gift for my loved ones. Along the way I find tons of great stuff that's not quite right for my people...but they might be perfect for yours! Today the recipient is a new home owner.

Not that anyone around here is one of those....

1. Stamp with their address ~$40:
2. Stat Key $11:
3. Welcome/Goodbye doormat $30: http://www.cb2.com/family.aspx?c=170&f=5547
4. Home Depot gift card
5. New House numbers $40/ea: