Tufty Update

Hehe, he's got horns.

Kitty Face!

Promised before and after shots

And now more cleverly masquerading!

Shelving cleverly masquerading as closet doors.

Front hallway after.

Front hallway before.

Tiniest Bathroom After

Tiniest bathroom before.

Maguire Air Force Show

Promised shots from the Air Force show. It was really a very cool experience. There was some kind of show going on the entire time we were there. I blown away by the huge planes more than the quick small ones. How does something like this get off the ground?! I really admire the people who said "Yeah, of course tons of steel can fly" because that would never have been within my imagination.

The biggest freaking plane ever.

Blue Angels are the coolest.

Yard fun

Today we spent several hours cutting out the vines that overtook our back flower bed. I don't think I realized just how much work our yard needed. Not only did Ryan and Brad rake 3 bags of random sticks, glass, nails and rocks out of our yard, but the flower beds are ridiculous and the side yard is a crap repository. We have at least 8 bags of vines and roots. The bed was lined with what were essentially 4x4s that were rotting and termite eaten. But after much hard work, we can actually see the fence in the back yard. It's amazing what a difference that makes! I really enjoy having a house.

The joys of home ownership

So our new dishwasher is making a noise like it's trying to eat the utensils. Luckily, it's under warranty. Owning a home means that we can't just call the landlord and when we get home the next day the dishwasher is magically not making that horrific noise. Interesting ...

On the other hand, I have a HUGE clothes washer. It holds all of Ryan and my jeans and work pants for the week. It used to take 2-3 loads in the other old washer. It's the coolest (yeah, I've crossed over into the land of the old ... washers are cool).

Meet our newest family members!

So I convinced Ry that we needed cute little animals. We had decided on a puppy first, but found that finding puppies is much much harder than finding kittens. There were crazy listings in the paper for free kittens ... not so much for puppies. So, we decided on cats first, and of course, they do better in pairs so ... (hehe, yep, he bought it). We got our kittens from Trenton. The area wasn't too bad, but reinforced our decision not to buy a house there (although Ryan's rendition of "In the Ghetto" was good fun). We decided that if we can handle kittens, we can get a puppy. If we can handle that ... then we'll consider kids.


Chief: Yep, he's orange. We're working on him not running away when you walk in a room.

Elf: our social kitty. He actually likes to sit on our laps and play.

A long hiatus

It has been a while since I wrote ... but I have an excuse, I promise! We've been very busy with closing on our house, moving, and not having internet access at home set up yet. Whew, finally we are connected with phone, internet and DirecTV.

Our closing went very smoothly, although we found that our fridge was broken during the walk through. We decided not to push the matter though since our seller had already given us more than he wanted to to replace the windows and bought a new dishwasher for us (also broken). So, we sucked it up and bought a new fridge along with a washer/dryer. It is so nice having a normal sized washer/dryer. I'm constantly amazed by how much fits in there! I know, it's the little things.

The move went well. It was really really nice to have the family out to help. We got a lot done in just a few days. Since then ... things have stalled. It doesn't help that it's summer and all we want to do is be outside doing stuff. Yesterday we went to an Air Show at Maguire Air Force Base (pictures to follow), and today we have our church picnic, which will last all afternoon. Oh well. We'll get the boxes unpacked later.

I promise to write more soon and get some pictures of the house up. It's amazing what a coat of paint and some furniture can do for a room.

It was an interesting morning

I was trying to get out of the apartment early this morning so that because our Regional VP was coming for a plant visit today. I got up a little early, took a quick shower and was heading out the door when I realized I didn't have my cell phone. I ran back upstairs and grabbed my cell from the dresser. When I got to work, I opened my purse to put my cell phone on my desk and realized that instead of my cell phone, I grabbed deoderant. Uh, oops. But hey, I smelled great all day!

Truth in advertising?

Closing ... delayed

Our closing was delayed until Friday because the seller got "Clerked".

Ahem.

"Clerked" - when a low-level self-important bureaucrat has a bad day and decides you must pay for it.

Thanks for the fun new term, My Love.

Our seller did some serious remodeling to the house. He got all of the permits he was required to get. Apparently, if you redo a kitchen sink, you only have to get a permit if you move it. He did not. The Township Inspector decided arbitrarily that he did. Yeah. So he couldn't get his Certificate of Occupancy in time for a Wednesday closing. Friday it is.

Update: Crapmobile

The Service Engine Soon light is still on. The duct tape and packing tape roof is holding up like a champ. It's a good thing I work at a Steel Mill where every other car is a hoopty(you know, I don't think I've ever seen the word "hoopty" spelled ... "hooptie"?) or I would be embarassed.

Whirling Dervishes

Do you know what a Whirling Dervish is? I definintely didn't before The Amazing Race tonight. I always thought they were like Tazmanian Devils or something. As it turns out (thank you google), Whirling Dervishes are a sect of Islam who use the whirling dance to show their adoration of God's creation. See, TV is educational!