Happy Thanksgiving Everybody

Hey y'all,

Sittin' here stuffed as a turkey (all puns intended) and just wanted to tell you all that I'm very thankful to have you all in my life. Even though I don't get to see everyone as much as I might want, you are all still a big part of my life and I'm thankful that you are there!

Happy Turkey Day!
Now take a nap.
Ames

Let Me Tell You About a Little Thing Called Fantasy Football

I got a call sometime in September... It was Phil and he wanted to know if I wanted to take back my spot (like 10 years removed) in the TRU Fantasy Football League... now, mind you, I had made a few meager attempts in the past to get back into it, but the league was always full, so, I was just sitting back, biding my time... waiting for someone to lose their mind. Little did I know that it would happen just like that.
Now, I'm not one to become easily addicted to things (I'll pause while you laugh your asses off), but this shit has got me sucked in. I find myself spending most of my free time on the internet reading stats, running scenarios over and over in my head, and bouncing back and forth between this player and that player (depending on whether or not I think they're worth playing that week). I listen to Mike and Mike in the Morning on ESPN radio on my way to work. So far, I'm 6 and 3 so I don't think I'm wasting my time, but some might say that it has become a slight obsession (sorry baby). I get intensely involved in my games... watching football all day Sunday... staying up too late on Sunday AND Monday... it's horrible...

But I can quit at any time...

Cosmically Connected -- The Mini-Series

So, who do you think the first person was to say, "Hey, our hotel guests would really like their toilet paper rolls to have some nice triangular ends on them."

What a douche bag...

Cosmically Connected

(It All Comes Down to Toilet Paper)
A Series of My Own

As I rush to the restroom with the feeling that the cabbage I had for dinner last night hated me as much as I hated the smell it left in the house, I manage to make it to the potty just in the nick of time. Without divulging too many details, let's just say it wasn't pretty. After about two minutes of what must have sounded to the outside world like a chorus of bullfrogs, jet engines, and hail falling from the sky into an open lake, I come to an awful realization... as I look to my right at the brown cardboard tube where a fluffy roll of white is supposed to be, I find myself in a state of horror as I frantically look around the room and there is no TP in sight ANYWHERE. Now, I have always been the kind of girl who could go camping and squat and pee at will and pretty much be able to shake it off... NEVER have I been the kind of girl who could 'shake off' a No. 2... so, now what? Fortunately (for my well being, not necessarily my ass), I was at work and there is always a roll of those nasty, rough brown paper towels in a dispenser above my head. As I finished up what can only be described as one of the most unpleasant wipes I've ever had, I began to think. I wondered how many times in my life I've been doing my business and found that there wasn't any toilet paper on the roll... how many times I've had to make the 'Waddle of Shame' to a cabinet to get more toilet paper... how many times the holder was empty and there was just an open roll sitting on the back of the toilet (or god forbid just sitting ON TOP of the empty roll)... how many times in my lifetime I've had to change an empty roll of toilet paper because the last scumbag to use the bathroom was too lazy to take 7 seconds out of their lives to do it. Right then I decided. I knew that everything and everyone in this world was somehow connected to toilet paper.

We all use it. We all need it. Some of us prefer it to be in the 'over' roll position, some 'under'. Some don't care if it is on the holder at all. My theory is that you can classify everyone you know by the way they handle the TP situation and that certain traits are common among those who share the same feelings on TP. I don't have any facts yet... just theories. And as the weeks continue, I hope to share with you some of my observations and hopefully draw a conclusion that shows how we are all cosmically connected to toilet paper.

ps. since my unfortunate incident, I have counted 8 times I have gone to use the restroom and the toilet paper roll was empty (I check that first now)

It's Birhday Time Again

And we're going to the Pub!
We're going to be there around 4ish on Friday the 19th and we'll leave when we can't stand up anymore. Come on down and join us for our annual birthday bash... who knows, we may end up with another bottle of Patron **fingers crossed**
lata
a

What's Happenin'?

So, I promised updates, and as usual, I'm late in delivery...

On July 31st, we closed on our house... HOORAY! And other than a leaky shower, everything seems to be going pretty well. It has plenty of space for all of our stuff (which in all honesty amazed the shit out of me) and enough room that we are not walking all over each other. We have a few projects to work on, but honestly, what homeowner doesn't? All in all, I think we got a great bang for our buck and we look forward to growin' old in our new home.

Speaking of enough room and growing old, check out the new addition that we just got today.

Everyone, say hello to Maddie. She came to us by way of Jess' brother. He thought he wanted a wee baby puppy but with him living by himself now, she was just a little more than he could handle. The good news is we were going to start going to the local pounds and humane societies this weekend to find a new friend for Peter, so, it was an easy transition. They get along famously!

So, now all the commotion has settled somewhat, it's time to start enjoying our new family and our new house. We will be having a party probably somewhere closer to the fall (maybe including a bonfire) and invites will follow. Hope that feeds the need for updates... for now anyway.

peace and chicken grease
a

Hurry Up and Wait!

I find myself with some extra time now that I'm in the giant metropolis of Ashland... So, stop screaming for updates... here they are:

We had final inspection and termite inspection last week... no major issues... we have preliminary results from the final appraisal and it all looks good... Money's good... House's good... jesus f'in christ, I think we're buyin a house. Closing date will either be July 30th or 31st... so, basically in two and a half weeks, we'll be moving into our very own house! I'll let ya know when we get some final dates...

peace
a

So Now What???

So, we looked at the new house tonight. We absolutely adore it. The best part is that we took the time to INSPECT. Not only did I not see any minor cosmetic stuff, but I also didn't see any sign of any major problems... not even a piece of wallpaper coming off... There's just one thing though...

We're in a contract on this other house. We can't get out of this contract freely unless the current owner of the house we have a contract on decides that she doesn't want to fix the items that are wrong. My gut says she won't want to shell out $5000 to fix the stuff, but there's always the outside chance that she'll say 'yes' and then we're either locked in, or we walk away having to pay seller fees and other fees 'deemed reasonable by the selling broker,' whatever the hell that means.

I think I'm going to create an entire website dedicated to first-time homebuyers that says, 'Look... look... look... and look some more. Look at every property. Look closely at the properties. Look at it like your about to pay $100,000 for something you big excitable dumbass!'

There are no words that can describe being at the mercy of someone else because of your own stupidity. It makes you want to vomit. Had we paid more attention the first time around, there'd be no butterflies... there'd only be 'man, I'm glad we waited to find this one.'

Fortunately for us, we do have a very cool realtor who basically said, 'Hey, which one do you like better?' Our answer was of course the one we just looked at tonight and she basically said she would do whatever it took to get us out of this contract. Lancaster is a small town and there are basically three major real estate offices in the whole damn town. These people have to work with each other on a daily basis. Obviously we don't want to do anything that is going to jeopardize her relationship with her fellow realtors, but I'm sure she's dealt with this type of situation before... I don't know... I just have this knot in the pit of my stomach... I don't think I've ever been this nervous or unsure about anything in my life (and I've done a lot of dumb stuff).

The second guessing is the worst part. I know what's done is done, but you can't help it... or at least I can't (I'm sure that's no big surprise for those of you who know me and know that I think WAY TOO MUCH about shit like this), and it just keeps eating at my mind. I HATE BEING NAIVE ABOUT THE THINGS THAT I KNOW I'M NOT SUPPOSED TO BE NAIVE ABOUT.

Ok, well, I have to start playing some stupid game now or I'm going to think a hole in my brain... god knows I don't have much more to spare....

peace
a

Inspector Gadget -- Suck my a**

Ok, so it really isn't his fault, but it appears as though this home will not pass inspection by terms that are acceptable to our lending institution... I think we may be back to the drawing board... Apart from the A/C not working, the garage pad missing some gravel underneath it, the inability to get to the crawlspace because of all the overgrowth, and the deck apparently in some disrepair (perhaps sinking and sloping slightly to the left), I just don't see what the damn problem is...

It's amazing the things you don't see and don't pay attention to when you have that 'angels singing in the choir' moment... It's a $250 mistake that we won't make again and compared to $4000-$5000 worth of repairs we'd have to make, I guess it was a pretty cheap mistake. We're still waiting to see if the current owner will make these repairs, but it doesn't look so good right now.

However, there is a little light at the end of the tunnel... we're going to look at another house within the next couple of days that has some promise... it's bigger, the yard is a little flatter, and it's a little cheaper. On the downside, there is no huge deck and no garage, but those things can be added.

Here are some pics of it...










Ok, round 2... ding, ding

Happy Homo-wner (Hopefully)

Well, we found one... we think... we've started the loans, the inspections, the contracts... dear god... why does it have to be so difficult... well, i guess in actuality it's not that bad... and if we get it, it will be soooooo worth it... here's some pics








so... if all goes well, we should be closing in the middle of July... fingers are crossed

So Many Things...

Forgive me bloggers, for I have sinned... It has been 4 months since my last post.

Well, let's see what has been going on... In April, we had a new addition to the family... everyone, Peter. Peter, everyone.


Peter was one of the doggies in that big Jackson County dog animal cruelty case. He and a hundred of his closest friends were malnourished and in generally bad shape and were moved to Grayhawk Animal Hospital in McKee. Jesse, Johnny, and myself volunteered there walking dogs and picking up their poop and Jesse fell in love with Peter. After a couple of weeks, he still hadn't been adopted, so, we got Peter.

When we got Peter home, things were great... everybody seemed to be getting along pretty well. So it appeared as though everything was going to be fine with the 5 dogs, 3 cats, 2 birds, and a turtle...

Then all of the sudden one day, Peter got his foot stuck in a place he shouldn't have been and started screaming like a banshee... as we go over to frantically get him unstuck, Squiggy (one of Johnny's dogs) decides to attack Peter... we got Peter unstuck and Jess picked him up to get him away from Squig... except Squiggy came along with Peter (he had a good grip on the inside of Peter's back leg)...

We thought, wow, I hope that doesn't happen anymore... but sure enough, the next morning, Squig went back after Pete. So we had some decisions to make... either we got rid of Pete or Johnny got rid of Squig, or we move out. After much deliberation, we decided it would be best if we just moved.

So now we're on the house hunt... we've looked at about 15 so far and not really found the one. If it is right priced and decent, it's too far away. If it is close enough and in our price range, the neighborhood sucks. We have two more to look at tomorrow that we feel good about... so I guess there will be more to come soon!

Happy Snow Day

What the ????

So, this could be the most depressing UK game I have ever watched... it's currently 55-16 Vandy. We seem to be piecing together a little run, but I doubt it will be a 39 point run... jesus... what happened?

Where's Dave

So, Phil asked if someone could Photoshop Dave into the group photo since the old bastard was the first one to pass out and didn't make the cut... I decided to have a little fun with it and play the game Where's Dave... Let's see if you can spot him


Looks like that's what you get you little turd :)

To help you get through your after-Ski Trip depression...

Enjoy...

So, I really hope you like chili...

So, it started as a simple experiment... a few pounds of beef, pork, onions, and other assorted madness... just to make a little batch of chili for my peeps... well, it kinda got out of hand... and well, let's just say...

I got about 20 quarts of chili to bring to the party... get your chips and cheese ready!

ames

Be Prepared

Alright kids... it's on now.
Jesse and myself just got ourselves a brand spankin' new videa camera... the Panasonic SDR-H200.

This little guy has a 30GB hard drive and will, in fact, shoot 13 and 0ne half hours of non-stop videa...

I'm going to be annoying as hell on the ski trip :)

Anyway, I just shot this today and it is so easy, even I can do it. So, meet Laverne, Alex, and Squiggy.

Happy Ski Trip! Only 6 more days!