Project Table: Day 7

First off, thank you all for the encouragement! Via email, comments, etc, you have been incredibly supportive!

Much progress has been made since day 2. I have just been too lazy to post about it. But I know that you are all on the edges of your seats, so I couldn't make you wait any longer.

I worked on the doors almost every day after work last week, chipping and scraping away. I did luck out on Friday and found out that the other side of the door that I had been working on all week was a TON easier to scrape. So as of last Friday, I was able to get to this stage on that door:





For your reference, this is what your jeans look like after an afternoon of vigorous scraping:



Saturday, the great and powerful Tiffany accompanied me to IKEA so that we could do some brainstorming and potentially procure some table legs. The trip proved to be really successful, and at times, humorous. We basically took over the dining section of the store, moving tables and chairs at our leisure trying to see what arrangements would work. We test drove almost every chair they had, so if you have any quesitons about their selection, just let us know.

As for work on the doors, the bitterly cold rain kept us from doing much that day. However, that was not the case on Sunday. Tiffany came back over (a glutton for punishment, some may say) and we got to scrapin'.

Here is Tiffany with her weapons of choice:



Though Tiffany did seem to get a lot of scraping done, I couldn't help but think that she had a hard time keeping her mind on task:



Anyhow, here is what the door looked like before:



And here is the damage that we did:



The triumphant warriors after a long, hard day at battle:



Goals for the week:
- Finish scraping both doors
- Purchase hinges
- Purchse equipment to make a rip fence*
- Cut both doors to size
- Start assembly

The stretch goal is to have the table assembled by Saturday night, when we have a big group coming for dinner. Keep your fingers crossed...

*A rip fence, as suggested by my dad, will aid in cutting a straight line across the bottom of the door. For this I will need a set of clamps and a straight piece of wood...I'm off to the hardware store later today to get such items.

Project Table: Day 2 part 2

Progress from yesterday afternoon:



I'm hoping to finish that side this afternoon, after I pick up a better paint scraping apparatus today on my way home from work. Yippee!

Just for some context, the dark part that you see exposed is the first layer of paint on the door. Then come 2 layers of some sort of tan. Then another layer of brown. And finally a layer of white. Wow.

Project Table: Day 2

In an effort to be transparent through this process, and to share with you the craziness that is me brainstorming/second-guessing/creating/etc., here are a few things/thoughts/questions that came to me in the last 12 hours:

Musings

• Will one big table, made of 2 doors, be too big?
• Should I instead, make 2 smaller tables?
• We could leave 1 out all the time, and store the other one, then when the need arises, bring them both out and put them side by side...
• Will the glass be too expensive?
• Will the glass be too hard to procure?
• How will we get it home?
• Ordering two smaller pieces of glass would be easier to transport, potentially less expensive, and allow for the flexibility of having 2 tables at a time, or just 1 table at a time...
• Should I strip all the paint of both doors, or just keep chipping away at it for a bit longer?
• If I just chip away at it, and don't get it all off, is that ok to paint over?
• Geez, these are ugly paint colors that these people picked back in the day...why do you paint the hardware onto the door?
• Are old doorknobs worth anything?
• What color should this be in the end?
• Is this really worth the time and effort just for the "unique and handmade" factor?
• Do I have all of the necessary tools/skills/etc. to complete this?
• Just how much can you do with a circular saw?
• I wish I had a table saw...
• I wish we had a garage....
• Am I making too much noise for the neighbors?
• Do the neighbors think I'm: insane? and idiot? weird? Who cares?
• Will one table be too narrow?
• Will the narrowness cause people to knock knees? Unavoidably play footsie? Never want to have dinner with us again?
• Will people need to sign a liability waiver before they dine with us?
• Will the legs support the weight?
• If I do two tables, is there a cool hook/clip/clamp I could install under the seam so that they can lock together?
• Is the aforementioned idea too much work?
• Am I now, or at some point during this project will I be, breathing in anything toxic?

More craziness to come, I'm sure. Stay tuned...

Project Table: Day 1

Here's the damage I was able to do after work today:

Project Table: An introduction

I like to make things.

At times, I also tend to overestimate my ability to do so.

This deadly combination recently manifested iteself in the form of my newest project for the house: a dining room table.

I've been thinking about our need for a bigger table for a few weeks now, but I wasn't really ready to take the plunge, spend several hundred dollars, and have something cookie-cutter in our dining room. Not that there's anything wrong with that, I just wanted to do something different.

I've seen this particular experiment done on t.v. before, so I'm going to attempt to recreate it for the purpose of allowing us to host more than 2 people for dinner at our humble abode.

To summarize: I'm going to attempt to take 2 old interior doors, cut them to size, join them together, attach legs, and add a nice piece of tempered glass to the top. Voila - we've got ourselves a table.

So Amar suggested that I keep a running status of the project on this here blog, since I know you are just dying to know what we're up to.

Current project status:
There are two very old, very dusty, very ugly doors on our front porch. I was able to partially remove some of the harware on one of the doors over the weekend.

What's up next:
This evening I'm hoping to get the doors cleaned (they are really filthy). I'd also like to get the remaining hardware removed and the paint scraped off. Since I'm planning to paint the wood, and not stain it, it's not imperrative that it be totally stripped down. And if the wood happens to get a little scuffed up in the scraping process, it will just create all the more character.

Wish me luck.

I'll also try to post pictures of the process, so you can feel like you're right there with me, which I know is of importance to you all.

For now, however, here's a taste of what the end project will resemble, and a link to a "how to" article:



How To article

The race is on!

Ok, seriously folks. All of the Presidential coverage is killing me. It's akin to decorating for Christmas in October. By the time the holiday rolls around, you're already over it.

Why must we be subjected to this day in and day out for months on end?

Amid my whining, I saw this quiz posted on a blog I read. Basically, it matches you up with the candidates that most closely hold your views on various topics. I took it, and here are my results.

84% John McCain
79% Mitt Romney
72% Mike Huckabee
70% Fred Thompson
68% Tom Tancredo
58% Bill Richardson
58% Rudy Giuliani
55% Ron Paul
50% Hillary Clinton
50% Chris Dodd
47% Barack Obama
46% John Edwards
36% Joe Biden
28% Mike Gravel
24% Dennis Kucinich

2008 Presidential Candidate Matching Quiz

I'm honestly not sure about the accuracy. But it is interesting to say the least. How do you measure up?

Some cuteness to start the week

Ok, seriously. How cute is that guy? I just couldn't avoid posting it after seeing him on the front page of Wikipedia this morning. Happy Monday!

For more on this little guy, read the whole article here.

Cake

My corporate life as of late:

"Bake me a cake" says the man upstairs.

"No problem, sir." I respond. "I'll need 6 eggs, 2 cups of flour, 1 cup of sugar, some vanilla and some icing."

"No problem." He responds.

2 days pass, while I'm making the cake.

The phone rings.

"Kim, I still need that cake. But you're going to have to make it with half the eggs."

"Sir," I humbly reply, "I don't know if I can do that and still make a decent cake."

"Kim - bake the cake. 1/2 the egss. Talk to you in 2 days."

So I slave away in my bakery, trying to figure out how to make the cake with 1/2 the eggs I was originally planning on.

Two days later, the phone rings.

"Kim's bakery. How may I help you?"

"Kim, about the cake..." comes a familiar voice over the phone. "I'm going to have to ask you to make it with no flour."

"No flour?" I reply, holding back the panic that seems to be creeping steadily into my tone of voice.

"That's right - no flour. You'll have to give me a cake with 3 eggs, sugar, vanilla and icing. Actually, hold off on that vanilla for now. I'll get back to you."

Two days pass.

The phone rings again.

"Hello?" I answer tentatively, not wanting to hear his familiar voice.

"Kim, I've been looking at the recipe again. It's calling for way too many ingredients. You're going to have to do with just one egg, 1/2 the sugar, and no icing."

"So sir, let me get this straight. You want me to make you a cake with 1 egg and 1/2 a cup of sugar?"

"Yep. And have it on my desk by 8AM tomorrow."

So back to the bakery I go, late at night, to figure out this cake. Since the man upstairs called at 10PM, it's going to be a long night to try to make my deadline.

Finally, I come up with something that I think might work. I drive back into the office and present him with the "cake".

Upon sampling the concoction, he spits it out. "Kim! This is nothing but flavorless meringue! I thought I asked you for a cake!?!?!"

So, who wants dessert?

Foods of yesteryear: A humble plea

The other night at Bible study, we started reminiscing about foods we used to love, but which aren't available anymore.

I mentioned Yoplait Custard-style Banana yogurt.

Suddenly the room was filled with "ooohs" and "ahhhhs" as people recalled the thick, creamy goodness contained within that pale yellow plastic cup.

I lamented, however, that I was not able to find such yogurt in any grocery store. Others shared the same concern, and out of that collective sorrow, I decided to launch a campaign to bring it back. We want our creamy delicious banana yogurt!

So Yoplait, if you're out there, we're desperate. We need you! Do you still make this tasty product? Your website indicates that you do, but none of us can find it!!

Anyone?

In keeping with today's theme: quirks

Eryn and Krista both wrote about various "quirks" today, so I figured I'd continue the theme.

Although, before I get started, you may be wondering about the nun. In searching for an image to complement this post, I searched for "habit" and voila: a nun. I love search engines!!

My quirks:

• I am #2 on Eryn's list
• Before I start doing laundry, I have to make the bed
• Actually, to think straight in the morning, I have to make the bed. This poses a problem when the husband is still sleeping...
• I could eat a peanut butter product every day for the rest of my life and not tire of the wonderful substance!
• I have a strong fondness for Microsof Excel, so much so that I basically think in spreadsheet format
• My work email box has to be relatively clean for me to feel productive/organized
• I tend to be a very competitive driver, so I guess the quirk here is that I need to find the most efficient route at all times
• I do not like talking on the phone, so don't take it personally if this particular quirk of mine impacts your life directly. You are not alone, nor is it about you
• I, too, count stairs when ascending/descending, though I am not as neurotic as Eryn seems to be about it ;)
• Actually, come to think of it, I used to count bites when I would eat as a small child. And I would have to have the same amount of bites on both the left and right side of my mouth before I could swallow. What a weird kid!

OMG!

I work with a bunch of folks who are relatively older than I am.

Ok, so they are a lot older, for the most part.

I am the same age as their grand-children, in some cases.

So when they respond to an email or instant message with "LOL!!!", it just about makes my day.

Here's a typical* IM session:

Kim: Hey Harold**, did you get my email?

Harold: Y :)

Harold: OMG! That was so funny! LOL!!!!

Kim: What was funny? I sent you an email about compliance training.

Harold: BRB LOL OMG!!!

Kim: Harold, are you ok?

Harold: CYA L8R!

Kim: Harold, did you take your pills today?

Harold:....idk?

Kim:Harold, is your blood sugar low?

Harold:IMHO, TMI!

Kim:cya....


*The definition of "typical" is used loosely.
**Names changed to protect the innocent.

I (heart) Steven Colbert

Simply because the man can do things like this and get away with it.

Check it out.

Even if you don't know who the heck he is, reading the Wikipedia articles will surely bring a smile to your face. If it doesn't, I don't want to talk to you ever again.

There, I said it.

Sharing the goodness

While catching up on some blog reading this morning, I figured that it might be helpful/interesting/entertaining to let you, faithful readers, know what I peruse on the web of the wide world:

Fashion/Style/Shopping

• The Manolo: a.k.a. the Shoeblogger. Wildly entertaining and insightful.
• Oh Happy Day: a relatively new find, offering good decorating/shopping/etc. ideas
• Design*Sponge: very similar to the above...

Technology/Finance/News

• Lifehacker: tech tips and news, and overall life shortcuts
• The Consumerist: interesting/funny/snarky tidbits about business
• The Austinist: all things sarcastic, and entertaining about Austin

What would you add to the list? Let me know....this may come in handy on slow days at the office....enjoy!

Chronicles of the Holy Land: Part 2

It's not weird, it's different.

We quickly learned that they do some things differently in Israel:

Pizza - we have a problem:
They don't mix meat and dairy food at any meal. It's either a meat meal, or a dairy meal. Never the two shall meet.

This might lead to, for example, an interesting lunchtime experience in which one attempts to purchase a slice of pizza (clearly dairy) and take in into the falafel restaurant (clearly meat) to join one's friends and winds up getting yelled at by the falafel shop owner "NO DAIRY!!!". One then finds oneself eating pizza alone in the Old City. Never fear, however. This makes for some good people watching.

Going down?
The Shabbat elevator.

Fantastic for those who observe the rules of the sabbath and want a long, leisurely ride down to the lobby from the 13th floor.

Not so fantastic for the Christian tourist who merely wants to meet up with the rest of the group in the lobby quickly before they leave the hotel.

The result? About 15 people in a teeny, tiny elevator, stopping at every floor on the way down, all the while adding to the number inside the overburdened elevator car.

Word to the wise: your elevator ride will take more than 60 seconds if you are trying to depart your hotel around sundown on Saturday in Jerusalem. Just accept that as a reality.

Et tu, tofu?
Again, the meat and the dairy. This time, lesson #2. You think we would have learned by now, but no.

One of the last, and best, meals that we had was at a kibbutz in the Galilee. Wow. I mean, these folks grow their own food, and they do a darn fine job if I say so myself.

At dinner one night, which was clearly a meat meal, even to the untrained eye, a group of us gals found ourselves eyeing what looked to be a very fine display of ice cream. We concocted a lovely sundae out of the ice cream and went to town. I'm no ice cream snob or anything, but this stuff was just incredible. We just kept eating and eating, wondering how they made such tasty stuff.

Finally, we asked our guide what kind of ice cream this was. Godiva? Blue bell? Sorbetto? Do tell!

Tofu.

Soy-based.

And at that, my mouth dropped open. I had been betrayed by dairy. Tofu, I never knew ye.

Happy New Year, and all that...

So it seems that 2007 has come and gone, leaving us all breathless and wondering how in the heck we could be an entire year older in such a short time. Ah yes, my friends, as sands through the hour glass, so are the days of our lives.

In thinking about the past events of said year, it seems to have been a busy one. Here's a recap for you, in case you missed some of these highlights. Eager clickers be aware, each month section title is a link to all the posts for said month. Also, I am an HTML wizard. So for those of you who want to relive the triumph and the tragedy, feel free.

January
World travelers, take note: I was in Brazil and Alabama in January. Ha! Beat that! I spent some good, quality, working time down in the Southern hemisphere. Nothing says international travel like wearing a hard hat for 12 hours each day. This month I also tried, rather unsuccessfully, to make granola. Woo.

February
This month saw me obsessing over a Target ad, providing personal advice to co-workers, and getting the flu for the first time in my entire life. Gotta love February.

March
March. The month in which I apparently decided to spill large quantities of food on myself at all the wrong times. Also, I discovered the goodness that is IKEA, went to the dentist for the first time in WAY too long, and...what was that other thing? Oh yeah, we bought a house. Oh, and peanut butter betrayed me. We have since reconciled.

April
In April, I aged, fought of a fierce snake, watched some TV and tore apart then redesigned a kitchen. Good times.

May
Looks like it was a bit of a slow month. Apparently I painted and ate orange foods. Big month for color. Huge.

June
We moved into our house in June. And I had some problems with gas. June was not a good friend to me this year.

July
In July, I apparently took humorous pictures of my husband and mocked our last name. Who doesn't love doing that? Oh, and I grew a flower. Said flower has since betrayed me and abandoned our front porch without so much as leaving a note. Good riddance.

August
During the month of August, we celebrated our 1 year anniversary of being married (awww!). I was also the victim of a near hit-and-run (vicious!), and we took care of a SOLID dude named Wallace. Shout out to my peep Wallace!

(Can "peep" be used in singular? Oh yeah, it just was.)

September
Wow, apparently the ONLY thing I did during the entire month of September was fly to and from Poland. I'm freaking awesome.

October
In October, we hung out with good ol' Lyle Lovett. I also wrote a sweet joke, and we got 2 puppies, one of which threw up almost 1/2 her entire body weight last night. Good times.

November
In November, we went to Chi-town for a bit. Chilly, but also cool at the same time if yaknowhatimsayin. I also made a lasting impression on O'Hare.

December
Israel. That's all I can say.



What did you do last year?

Chronicles of the Holy Land: Part 1

Rocking the boat on the Sea of Galilee

Chronicles of the Holy Land. Stories in which I impart wisdom to those that stayed behind. Stories in which I attempt to convey to you, dear reader, what you missed. Stories that will resonate through your very soul.

We begin with Part 1: Rocking the boat on the Sea of Galilee.

It was a dark and stormy morning. Our travelers had chosen this day to take part in an epic adventure out to the semi-deep waters of the Sea of Galilee. Or Lake Kinneret, as I found out it sometimes uses as an alias when it wants to lay low. Ha! Get it?! Lay low? It's conveniently located 209 meters below sea level, making it the lowest freshwater lake in town.

Seriously. Back to the adventure. The darkness and the storms....

Half way out to sea, the captain starts playing some, ahem, oldies. Christian oldies. Circa 1985. We were touched.

It was about this time that Tiffany and I chose to have a little fun. I took a look at the planks of the deck, and thought to myself, "Hey, wouldn't it be funny to try to walk in a straight line whilst sailing on the Sea of Galilee?"

Tiffany was up to the challenge, and we began our feable attempts at walking in straight lines. Soon enough, the whole crew had turned its attention to us, as apparetnly we were making quite a spectacle.

We got a little bored of walking the plank after awhile, and the captain could sense our unrest. It was at that moment that he made the best decision in his life: to play Hava Nagila. Bam! The whole boat became a floating party.

Several of us made our way to the center of the deck, joined by 1/2 the crew and our tour guide, and we took off. Dancing our way through the song, singing at the top of our lungs, and trying to copy what the Jewish people in the circle were doing, since many of us Americans had never learned the proper dance.

Tremendous.

Israel - the pictures

Well my friends, you can stop twiddling your thumbs now. I have finally gotten around to posting some pictures from our trip to Israel. Here are some to wet your whistle:



This is a picture of a hillside in Jerusalem, taken from near the Temple Mount.

*Bible scholars, take note: the words "temple" and "mount" when paired together should ring a bell.





This is downtown J-town (my pet name for Jerusalem) at night.

*Bible scholars, take note: J-town is where it's at. All of it.





This is the fabulous Tiffany, giving a tour of the Valley of Elah.

*Bible scholars, take note: This is where David gave Goliath the smack down. For real.





This is one of the characters at the top of the Mount of Olives, posing with his donkey, Dr. Peter. Yes, that is the donkey's real name. I saw his driver's license. This guy will also sell you 20 postcards of Jerusalem for $3.

*Bible scholars, take note: Cool things have happened at the Mount of Olives.

As always, more pictures available at theramas.smugmug.com. More updates regarding the trip in general are soon to come.

I'm back, and have triumphed over jet lag

Yes.

There has been a severe shortage of posts lately.

But I have a good reason: VACATION!!!

Yep, Amar and I just got back from a 2 week trip to Israel. So, I promise that you shall soon be seeing posts again.

So for now, it's back to the office. Speaking of which, I came across this fantastic Dilbert cartoon. Those of you in corporate America - I feel your pain (and so does Scott Adams). Those of you not in corporate America - I know you must be green with envy:

Chicago Pictures!

Hey folks,
Here are some pictures from our trip to Chicago. All in all, I really enjoyed the town. I highly recommend the architecture boat tour. You really get to hear some neat history and see the city from an interesting perspective - the river!

Anyhow, I went a little Picasa crazy. I've just uploaded the pictures that I like (most of which are edited....). Here are some teasers.

You can check the rest out by going here.

Enjoy!

What a Monday!

I know, I know. I've taken several blogging breaks lately. Please forgive me as I explain to you the craziness of Monday morning. Get comfy...it's a long story....but worth it, I promise!

Amar has been in Chicago these last two weeks for work, so I joined him up there for the weekend. I'll share stories/pictures from that later this week, but I had to tell my O'Hare story before its vivid memory faded from my mind.

My flight from O'Hare to Austin was slated to leave at 8:20 AM. So our plan was to leave the apartment by 6:30 AM, put me on the train to the airport, and have me there with plenty of time to get some coffee and relax before winging my way back home.

Think again.

We actually left the apartment around 6:50 AM, hailed a cab, and headed for the train station. I think I got on the train around 7:00 AM or so, leaving just enough time for the ~40 minute ride. Little did I know that the train I got on (along with 50+ other people heading to O'Hare) wasn't going to take us all the way there.

No.

It stopped 4 stops early and booted everyone off before it turned around and headed back down town. So there we all were, standing on the platform with our luggage at 7:20, mere miles away from our final destination.




I tried to convince myself not to panic at that point. "You have plenty of time..." I said to myself. I even decided to put my cell phone (and clock) away for the rest of the trip so I didn't panic.

10 minutes passed and finally the next train came along. It was 7:30 AM, if you're keeping track, and I was supposed to board my plane in 20 minutes. So I again tried to calm myself and keep myself from making 10 contingency plans in the back of my head.

My prayer, at that point, went something like, "God, if You want me to make the flight, I'll make the flight. If not, then no big deal."

The train crept along as if the tracks were made of molasses.

Literally.

Probably going about 10 miles an hour at that point.

Heck, even the RUSH HOUR traffic I could see out the window was passing us.

"Don't panic," I reminded myself. "Stay calm. It'll work out. No need to stress about it."

Finally, I gave in and checked my cell phone for the time. 7:53 AM!!

Alarm bells went off inside my head, and I decided to text a co-worker to spread the word that I may not make my flight and to pass that info along to my boss. I clicked "send" on the text message just as we entered the tunnel into the airport. "Message sending failed," my phone told me.

Great.

We came to a stop and it was the moment of truth. Either I was going to go ALL OUT and haul myself to the terminal, trying everything I could to make the flight - OR - I was going to give up and admit defeat.

Well, I'm no quitter. So I decided that I've gotta go for it. Game face on.

So I slung my backpack over my shoulder, extended the handle on my rolling carry-on and headed for the nearest steps....along with about 200 other people with luggage. I immediately observed that the escalator was packed, so I picked up my bag and sprinted up the stairs. Additionally, the moving sidewalk people-mover-thingy was jammed, so I ran past it as well. I hauled myself up the last set of stairs and into the airport.

Blast! The security line!!!

Time check: 8:03 AM

I got in line, sent my text message, and waited it out. As usual, all the lines were packed. After all, it was Monday morning at O'Hare. What did I expect?

I got up to the point where they check your ID and boarding pass and I noticed that the "Airport Staff" security line was virtually empty. Now, I normally wouldn't do this, but I looked at the security lady and asked if there was any way I could hop in that line. She pretended I wasn't speaking to her....so I tried again, indicating that my flight started boarding 15 minutes ago...She looked around to see if anyone was watching, and then mumbled to me "go under the rope..."

So I did. Gladly.

I got in line and started throwing my stuff on that conveyor belt. Removing my shoes. Bumping into people...and folks started to notice that I needed help. So the lady behind me asked what I needed. "I NEED A PLASTIC BIN" I exclaimed, as I realized that I hadn't fully followed airport security measures. They tossed a bin to me and I threw my shoes and liquids in.

Boom.

I was through security. I threw my shoes on, forgot to zip up by backpack, grabbed the carry-on and tried to find out what gate I needed to be at.

K1! MUST FIND GATE K1!!! As the words "Final Boarding" flashed next to my flight number on the big board.




So I started running through the airport, bag flailing around behind me, scarves falling out, yelling "Excuse me!"

I found K1 and sprinted to the gate.

The poor agent said, "Are you Kimberly?"

"Yes, ma'am," I replied, handing her my boarding pass.

"You're in an exit row."

"Yes, ma'am," I wheezed, panting between words.

"Have a nice flight." And she closed the doors behind me as I walked down the jet way.

5 seconds to spare.

Jesus action figures

I just find it really ironic that these are made in China.

Anyone?

A taste of Texas

Last night we joined some friends, headed down to San Antonio and made our way to the Majestic Theater to see Lyle Lovett and his large band.

Now, I'll start off by saying that I'm not a huge country music fan. However, good friends were going so if we didn't like the music, at least we would enjoy the company. However, I will say that the sound of the "large band", some soulful backup singers and Lyle's gritty voice was really neat.

He had a fiddle, cello, 4 piece brass section, multiple guitars, 2 percussionists, a pianist, a steel guitar player and 4 backup vocalists. It was indeed large.

Their set ranged from jazz, to Texas country, to Bluegrass to Gospel. And it all sounded really good. I do wish, however, that they would have turned Lyle's microphone up a bit. In between songs, it was a bit difficult to understand what he was saying between the multiple "umms" but it was entertaining nonetheless.

The singers got really into the music and danced. And they certainly had some moves! The bass player had the biggest beard I think I've ever seen in person, and we half expected another band member to crawl out of it midway through the set.

All in all, it was a fun evening. I particularly liked "The Boat" and "Don't Cry a Tear" if you were curious....

Puppies!

Well, at long last, here are some pictures of our new puppies. We've had them for about a month now, and they are doing great!



Their names are Bella and Zoey, and they are Scottish Terriers. They are now about 6 months old, and are still very much in the puppy phase.

Anyhow, more pictures to come in the future, I'm sure. Check out the smugmug page for pictures and captions...

A few pictures from Poland

Since we basically worked 12-14 hours each day, I didn't get much time to run around town and take pictures. So on my last day there, I snapped a few from the taxi (most of which came out blurry). I had about 20 minutes of downtime before I had to catch my next taxi on my way out of town, so I ran down to main street and took as many pictures as possible. So here are a few....for more, check out SmugMug (I even added captions!).

The joke

Sorry, I realized that I left out the joke from yesterday's post...

I really enjoy puns.

The other day I was listening to the radio and was inspired, for some reason, so I invented a joke. Here goes:

Did you hear the one about the probate lawyer?




For the answer, click on "comments."

So many updates, so little desire to write

Ok, so honestly it's been forever since I've posted anything decent. Or anything at all. And I do apologize. I usually enjoy writing, but lately, I've enjoyed chilling out just a bit more. I have pictures of Poland and puppies to share, along with various other things to write about....

But all my pictures are on my other computer which is currently sitting in a car half way across town. So for now, hopefully a list and a joke will suffice.

Latest happenings:

• I went to Poland for a week, and lived to tell...
• We got two puppies! Scottish terriers, to be specific
• I am totally loving our sermon series at church lately (Everything from 8/26 onwards...)
• Reading another Brennan Manning book, and loving that as well
• Our company is undergoing a massive "re-org" so the job scene may change a bit in the near future
• Amar and I have been in the same place for more than a week!! Yay!

Poland: The journey begins

Well, I finally made it to Poland, in one piece. I wouldn't say that it was necessarily a smooth trip, but they got me there on-time in the end so a few things had to go right…

The Austin flight wound up taking off 30 minutes after it was supposed to have landed. However, by the time I reached Chicago, our other flight had been delayed as well, so after a sprint to the gate, I made it on the flight with about 30 seconds to spare.

Or so I thought.

The plane sat at the gate for about an hour more, due to an issue with the “flushing mechanism on the toilets” which I was very glad they were keen on fixing.

Or so I thought.

As it turns out, they decided not to fix it, and instead decided to rely on physics to do the flushing for us. Apparently above 15,000 feet, the air pressure differential is enough to provide a good, solid flush. Lesson learned.

We wound up getting to Heathrow about an hour late and had to take the bus to switch terminals. At this point, give the dodgy history of British Airways and their renowned baggage department, I wasn't exactly confident that my baggage was going to make the trip. And then I saw the security line, and I wasn't confident that I would be making the trip.

Or so I thought.

The first line I waited in was basically a batch processing queue for an escalator to nowhere. 20 minutes of waiting. The next line I waited in was a zigzag of about 10 turns that led to a mosh pit. Literally. About 8 random lines all fed into one holding pin, which seemed to lead exactly nowhere.

Or so I thought.

At the end of the second line, after several groups were let through to the next waiting area, I made a break for it and busted past a group of tourists into the next area. The “real” security area. And waited some more…Luckily I didn't have to get patted down, but bunches of other folks did. After the whole security check, about an hour and a half had past, and I wound up with about 20 minutes to spare before the next plane left.

Whew. I have to say that I was a bit impressed. All told, there were about 7 hours of delays, and yet I still made it to Poland on time. And with my luggage. Sweetness.
More on the rest of the trip later. Internet access/availability is a bit spotty, so I may be posting occasionally as I can.

Jet setting

Sorry for the delay in posting, my friends. I hate to deprive you of my eloquence...

Things are a bit crazy, but what's new. I'm heading off to Poland tomorrow, which should be interesting. Glamorous, I know. I'll even get to wear a hard hat and steel-toed shoes too!

To be honest, I'm a little nervous. I've never been to this part of the world before, and even though I'll be with co-workers, it'll still feel a bit lonely not having friends and family nearby. There's a 7 hour difference, which might also make staying in touch a bit of a challenge.

Oh, and did I mention the weather? Folks there are advising that we bring scarves, hats and jackets. It's already getting into the 40s at night, and coupled with the rain, it just sounds like an Eastern European paradise ;)

Seriously. I have a blanket in my cubicle and it's 90 degrees outside. Don't be surprised if I look like a block of ice when I return. Wish me luck!

Houseguest

While one of our friends is out of town, we're taking care of his dog, Wallace. How can you not love a face like this?

Office politics

Someone stole my lunch out of the office refrigerator.





That is all.

Tag, you're it: Volume 2

The second "tag" I've received is from my former roommate Malita, and it goes a little something like this:

The Rules:
1. I have to post these rules before I give you the facts.
2. Each player starts with eight random facts/habits about themselves.
3. People who are tagged need to write their own blog (about their eight things) and post these rules.
4. At the end of your blog, choose eight people to get tagged and list their names.
5. Don’t forget to leave them a comment telling them they’re tagged, and to read your blog.

Fact #1:
My "internal clock" can tell you exactly when it is anywhere between 10-10:30 PM on any given day. How? Because that's when I'll inevitably start yawning profusely and falling asleep spontaneously.

Fact #2:
One of my legs is longer than the other. I found this out when, one day while I was using my computer (propped on my lap), I noticed that it sat at an angle. Sure enough, one of my legs is longer than the other from the knee to the ankle. Odd. Maybe that's why I keep walking around in circles....

Fact #3:
I have an addictive personality. Food and beverage addictions, that is. For example, I'm currently coming down off of a 3 year addiction to all things Diet Dr. Pepper. The replacement? My on-going addiction for all things grapefruit. Just the other night, my friend Eryn and I downed an entire 1/2 gallon of the stuff in less than an hour. And it didn't even phase us.

Fact #4:
I am a pathetically awful swimmer. In fact, I really don't like being in the water very much, other than the occasional hike through Barton Springs or sticking my feet in the pool. I pretty much feel like a drowned rat whenever I'm in the pool, flailing around trying to wipe the mascara out from under my eyes while also trying to keep my hair out of my face. It's pretty much the embodiment of glamour.

Fact #5:
I love to make people laugh. So much so, in fact, that kind of a subconscious goal of mine at any given outing with food + friends is to get someone to spit something out of their mouth due to me being funny.

Fact #6:
I am almost always cold. It's reached epidemic proportions, I'm afraid. My office is like a meat locker, and I have to always remember to wear sneakers to movie theaters to keep my feet from freezing right off. Honestly, it's likely partly medical (there's apparently a history of Raynaud's in my family...in fact, if you click that link, my hands look like that picture all the time). But still, I'm always cold. I love that feeling of thawing out when I leave the office and walk outside into the blistering heat. Oh, and that feeling of getting into the car when it's been parked in the sun all day? Love it.

Fact #7:
I really like nature. It just reminds me of how creative God is, and I love that. Just this past week I was flying back from TN and made sure to get a seat on the side of the plane that would face the West so I could take in the sunset. It was amazing. A bonus sub-fact is that I love trees a TON. I could probably hike around Northern California in the Redwoods forever...not to mention the Aspens in Aspen. Kinda catchy...

Fact #8:
I am a very competitive driver. That's probably an understatement, but I'll leave it at that. I'm a safe driver, yes. But I just really like finding the best, most efficient way possible to any given destination. And sadly, yes, I take a lot of pride in that....it's my Achilles heel, I guess.

Tag, you're it: Volume 1

Apparently I'm getting tagged a lot lately. The latest is from my childhood pal Amanda and it is called "4"...it goes a little somethin like this:

4 jobs I have had in my life:

• High school volleyball coach for a summer camp
• Bus driver
• COBOL programmer
• Super fabulous IT Project Manager

4 places I have lived:

• Austin, TX (the home I grew up in)
• College Station, TX (dorm room)
• Bryan, TX (Aspen house in the ghetto)
• Austin, TX (in the first home we've owned)

4 TV shows I like to watch:

• The Office
• House
• Project Runway (come back, I miss you!)
• Various real estate show....(TLC, Bravo, HGTV, etc.)

4 places I have been on vacation:

• New York
• Boston
• India
• Colorado

4 of my favorite foods:

• Ice cream
• Homemade mac-n-cheese
• Anything potato-based ;)
• Anything breakfast

4 pleaces I would rather be right now:

• Kayaking on Lake Austin
• Hiking in Aspen
• Hanging out with the McPeople and other dear friends...
• Vising Europe on vacation with my hubby

4 places I like to shop:

• Uh, can you say Banana Republic?
• Oh, and IKEA
• Don't forget about Target, my friends
• Lately...Hobby Lobby

4 friends who I will guilt into responding (artistic license on this one):

• TPalm? Where you at?
• Lippy...you're up!
• McPerson #1
• McPerson #2

New addition to the family?

Almost. But not quite.

Puppies, people. I'm talking about puppies...

Within the past 2 months, we've come so close to getting a dog. Actually, 2 separate times we've almost gotten a dog, and each time the deal fell through...for very different reasons.

So we're on the lookout once again. For now, we're both traveling a bit for our jobs, so it might be best that we take a puppy break...but we both still want one.

P.S. I'm personally obsessed with the K9 Advantix dog. You know, the "there ain't no bugs on me" puppy?! Oh my!!! I'm usually sternly opposed to ALL media that might feature talking animals. But for this little guy, I make an exception. Could he BE any more adorable? I think not. You should totally look those commercials up on YouTube...

Updated kitchen pictures

Woo hoo! We finally got the back splash tile installed, for those who care. Here are some updated pictures:

How it went down

Me: Driving in a parking lot.

Him: Also driving in a parking lot.

Me: Exiting the parking lot in the "main lane".

Him: Pulling into the "main lane" without noticing my car.

Me: Honking wildly as his car gets really close.

Him: Hitting my car and then stopping.

Me: Pulling my car over into the nearest parking space.

Him: Driving around in the parking lot for a few more minutes.

Me: Walking around my car to inspect the damage.

Him: Hanging out in his car with his friend and his cat.

Me: Noticing a bumper-sized scratch just behind the front right wheel of the car.

Him: Still sitting in his car, oblivious.

Me: Walking over to his car.

Him: Not noticing.

Me: Interrupting with, "Um, I think you just hit my car."

Him: (pause..........) "Oh, I did?"

Me: "Yes, you did. I can see paint from my car on your bumper. And paint from your car is on my car."

Him: "OK. I'll be over in a few minutes."



After we exchanged information, and his cat literally got out of its bag, we were both on our merry way. No major damage to report at this point, really. However I was quite floored by his response to my statement about him hitting my car.

"Oh, I did?"

Yes. Don't you remember about 15 seconds ago when I was honking at you and you were paying more attention to your cat than to driving your car? Yeah, that was you hitting my car. So yes, that's what happened. No harm, no foul. But come on here, wouldn't you want to at least check to see if you did any damage to your own vehicle?

*Image courtesy of Wikipedia

Boston: Been there, done that

We survived our trip to Boston. Actually, we did more than survive. We loved it! Great weather, tons of stuff to see, a great walking town. It was super fantastic. More detailed updates on Amar's blog: Here and here.

I've uploaded some pictures in two batches. One batch, the unedited one, is every picture I took during our trip. They have not been touched up, cropped, or anything special. A few of my favorites are below. I like to call this the "Rama" series:

First we have SleepaRama:



And then we have TanoRama:


The other batch is a subset of the aforementioned batch, but I've done a little work in Picasa (!). I get a bit carried away with Picasa at times, but I generally enjoy the results. Hope you like 'em as well. Here's a few:

A view from Christopher Columbus park to the water:


A street shot at night in Little Italy:



Links:
All Boston pictures: here
Edited Boston pictures: here

I think I'll go to Boston

Well, in lieu of taking a big summer vacation, we've opted to delay our official "vacation" until later this year. But November is too long to wait for a break, so we're taking a mini-break this weekend.

I've been there before, way back in high school, and I remember loving it. And since Amar's been there all week in training, he hasn't had much time to see the city. So it should be a fun, long weekend.

Gratuitous Boston Links:

• General Boston info
• We're staying near Boston Common
• We'll be navigating Boston's public transportation system

Wish us luck!

Green thumb?

This daisy is the pride and joy of my porch. Never in my life have I kept a plant alive for more than a week (that guy's going on a week now). And most certainly I've never taken care of a plant and had it produce a flower!

Ha!

And what's just as fun? I'm growing some basil in the pot right next to it...wish me luck!

Where am I and who are you people?!

Seriously, this must be some freakish hick phenomenon.

Local news shows continue to highlight the fact that the water is laden with bacteria. So I'll be they catch something all right. But that something might be more along the lines of ecoli.

Picture courtesy of Austinist.com

Moive review: Once

To celebrate our nation's independence yesterday, I, along with millions of other Americans, went to the movies. A group of us saw Once and we loved it.

I'd heard a bit about it a few weeks back, and was even listening to a radio show when the star called in to discuss the film. All that I'd heard was that it was sort of a musical, which I now kind of disagree with. While the music does play a huge role in the film, this isn't the song-and-dance type of movie that you'd see Baz Luhrmann produce. (Nothing against Baz, this just isn't at all like his work...)

All in all, it was a great show. I was a huge fan of most of the music, and it just felt so real. The actors were actually the ones that sang and wrote most of the songs, and that was just amazing.

Not to give anything away, but I was glad that this movie didn't end the way I kind of wanted it to. See it, and you'll understand what I mean. Looking forward to downloading the soundtrack...

Stereotypes

What? US? A bunch of what you say?




Oh yeah, hillbillies.




This picture, courtesy of CNN, was taken near Valley Mills, Texas.

Saturday night live!!

That's what my co-workers in Brazil when we work an all-nighter over the weekend....which is what we're doing this weekend.

So I'm going to be working from about 5PM tonight until we get done, which should be hopefully around 1AM on Sunday....

Wish me luck!

Song for the gas man

To the tune of B-I-N-G-O

There was a girl who had no gas
And Kim-bo was her name-o
K-I-M-B-O
K-I-M-B-O
K-I-M-B-O
And Kim-bo was her name-o

Gas man said he'd come by to-day
But he has not come by yet
Please come by to-day
Please come by to-day
Please come by to-day
Sang Kim-bo to the gas man

Gas man, gas man where have you gone
I need to take a show-er
Nice hot show-er
Nice hot show-er
Nice hot show-er
Sang Kim-bo to the gas man

Please come to-day if you so dare
I'd like to wash my red hair
Need to wash my hair
Need to wash my hair
Need to wash my hair
Sang Kim-bo to the gas man

I need to run an errand now,
I'm sure you'll come when I'm gone
Must wait here for you
Must wait here for you
Must wait here for you
Sang Kim-bo to the gas man....

Open letter to the city

You know, my dear city, this has just been a long series of days....I was looking forward to today, because I thought that you were going to send out an inspector to my house, check for any leaks in the gas line, give me a clean bill of health, and be on your merry way...all WITHOUT me having to be there.

Never did you call to schedule an appointment.

Never did you even hint about when you'd find the time to swing by.

You simply told me that you were too busy on Friday and might get to me on Monday.

Well, when I got home today, I saw that you'd left me a note. I was hoping that it said, "You're good to go! You're totally awesome! You're ACES!"

But no.

Apparently "Jim" told me, in all caps by the way, that "INSPECTOR NEEDS TO HAVE SOMEONE ACCOMPANY HIM FOR INSPECTION INSIDE THE HOME - RESCHEDULE."

Ok. Just a few things I'd like to point out:

1) I was told specifically by several plumbing entities that I need NOT be at the house when INSPECTOR came by.
2) There's a freaking GIANT gauge on the EXTERNAL gas line that clearly shows that it's holding 15 pounds of pressure, which I happen to understand is the correct reading of said gauge. This proves that there are no leaks in my house. Why would you need to come in? Why?!?!?
3) In order for me to REschedule, I would have first needed to SCHEDULE!!! Which, by the way, I tried to do countless times, failing at every single attempt. Scheduling was not this issue here, city. You and I both know that.

So "Jim" left his number. I called promptly after I got home from work...at which I worked NORMAL hours (i.e. 8-5)...which had me reading your note at 5:40PM today. Apparently, and I hope you know this, dear city, apparently Jim's normal working hours are 7AM to 3PM, and according to his voicemail, he's available to see customers Monday through Friday from 7-8AM.

Ah, lucky me.

LUCKY FREAKING ME!

This means, my best case for the next few days, as I see it, is as follows:
1) Jim checks his voicemail at 7AM tomorrow and he calls me.
2) I'm able to then schedule for Wednesday, if Jim's got a slot open in his busy schedule.
3) Jim comes out Wednesday and says everything is peachy.
4) I call the actual gas company on Wednesday and then ask them to come out to my house to actually turn the gas ON and they just might happen to have an opening on Thursday.
5) The gas company, who refuse to actually give you a window of time during which they will come to your house, calls me 30 minutes before they arrive at my house on Thursday.
6) I'm lucky enough to actually hear and respond to my phone while I'm at my office doing my JOB and the call comes conveniently at a point during my day at which I can sail down the freeway to my house in less than 25 minutes to meet the gas guy.
7) Gas guy waits for me to get there and is able to turn on my service.
8) I have hot water and a functioning stove by close of business Thursday.

But city, I know better. This is week #2 of this soap opera, and frankly, I know "best case" is probably more like "when pigs fly" so to be honest, I'm not going to get my hopes up. Getting my hopes up only means that they will be dashed against sharp, pointy, poison-coated rocks when just one of the above items fails to materialize. Getting my hopes up eventually winds up in a sorrowful, rage-filled phone call to my traveling husband in which I sound more like a sailor than an IT professional.

So no, my hopes will stay firmly on the ground, next to the gas pipe with the freaking GIANT gauge on it. That way, we may finally be able to meet in person.

What's that you say, city? You actually LIKE the look of my hair after I wash it in the sink because I personally refuse to take a cold shower in my own home? Why, thanks. That's kind of you. You probably never want me to have hot water again. Oh, and you're probably laughing your silly little head off about the brand new oven that is sitting in my shiny new kitchen completely USELESS, since it has no gas. You probably really like that, don't you.

Fine.

Be that way.

You showed me, didn't you.

We'll settle this at the gas gauge, city.

We're in!

This past weekend we successfully moved from our apartment to our house. Yay for us! Though it was a bit stressful, it does feel good to be out of the apartment for good. Even though we were able to get rid of several boxes of items (headed to Goodwill as we speak), it's still amazing how much stuff there was to move.

Today, I'm taking the day off work and staying home to meet various folks who are swinging by the house. The locksmith was here earlier, and now the countertop folks are working away in the kitchen. The plumber should be out later this afternoon, and all in all, it seems to be coming together nicely.

As soon as I can find one of the cables for my camera, I'll be posting some pictures. Wish me luck!