Random Bit of Info

These popsicles I referred to 2 years ago?  Yeah, there are still some in my freezer from that very same box.  Turns out 200 of them take longer to go through than you would think.

Retirement

Admittedly, some days I have more trouble adjusting to my retirement than others.  It's strange not working while your husband does.  It leaves you feeling sort of worthless, like you don't contribute anything to this life you share.  I mean, I don't even have kids to care for, and my craft business isn't going anywhere because I can't figure out the PA laws.  These problems aren't constant though.  I've been making an effort to cook dinner everyday.  This is a major step for me, and it sort of rubs in that housewifey feeling I don't particularly like.  But at the same time, it's something DS hates doing, and it's one less thing he has to worry about after a long day at work.  I have to admit that it feels good to make something tasty.  Most nights though, I'm just putting Tyson chicken strips in the oven or something.  Baby steps people.

What I have been doing more of is baking.  It's awesome.  I'll sometimes get on a kick, and DS will have to ask me to stop because he can't stop eating cookies and he feels sick.  Ha!  We didn't do gifts for our anniversary, but I did make him some peanut butter cookies.  (He ended up getting a little something from Naked Chocolate for me, which was DELICIOUS.)  I had some decorative sugars in the cupboard in fall colors, and thought they'd be fun to use since peanut butter cookies have to be rolled in sugar anyway.  Check it.

4 Years of Awesome

Happy Anniversary dearest.  Thank you for making life wonderful, and the opposite of being in jail, or caged, or tied down, or any of the other things people seem to associate with marriage.  I cannot imagine a better second half.  <3

Twilight

Weekend in Aiken

DS and I managed to find some last minute plane tickets to South Carolina to celebrate his mom's birthday over the weekend.  It had been a long time since I was able to go with him, and we spent a lot of time at his sister's house playing with the kids.  They were so much fun, and the little one cried when we left.  <3

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Party in NY

Friday, October 8th, was Sam of NY's (not Sam of Santa Barbara) birthday.  DS and I fought 3+ hours of rush hour traffic to get to Brooklyn in time for dinner.  It was totally worth it!  DS, Sam, Matt and I took the subway to Manhattan so we could go to the Barrel.  It was a beautiful little tapas place.  The food was delicious, if a bit overpriced.  There were many many people there, all of whom I had never before met.  There were also many many drinks.  I tried to remember the names of everyone I managed to photograph (it was very dim, and people were moving a LOT), but there is a bit of fuzziness.  This was seriously a wonderful time.  We all just kept randomly ordering items off the tapas menu, so that food just kept appearing.  And then quickly disappearing.  They also had quite the list of original mixed drinks, including something with basil infused vodka that had me swooning.

After we finally scarfed down cheesecake and tiramisu, and paid our (OMGSERIOUSLY) bill, we all careened off to the nearest bar with room for us all.  It ended up being a new place called Queen Vic, which was meant to look like a little English Pub.  This led to Sam and I drunkenly explaining to each other what English pubs really look like (Sam) and random tidbits about Queen Victoria (me).  Did you know that English pubs have carpet?  I can't imagine how horrible that would be to clean.  She tells me it's because it's so cold all the time.

Anyway, what I'm saying is, our friends have cool friends, and Manhattan is apparently an excellent, though expensive, place to celebrate.

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Wookie

I wish I could say that I took this, but alas, I did not.  This is Wookie, Matt and Sam's lovable cat, and Sam took this with DS's new lens.  Wookie showed up one day, looking disheveled, and decided to stay.  All he wants is love.  All love all the time.  It's so different than my cats.  We curled up together on the futon bed while I recovered from a bit of drinking the night before for Sam's birthday.  Isn't he so handsome?  He is one of the many treats that await us when we visit our friends in New York.

Pretty Kitties

My mom got DS a new lens for his camera for his birthday.  I am predictably taking photos of the cats with it.

Winston makes doing laundry difficult.  2 years away from a dryer and he still has forgotten how much he loves being in one.

Felix continues to be sweet and loving.  Plus the new food change has her coat even more silky and shiny.

Not too Shabby

Life around here has been pretty mellow.  A lack of immediate friends will do that.  Also, DS has been scarce because teaching has swallowed him whole.  I'm just happy if he's home by 7 and not completely catatonic.  It's a good thing those notes he's making can be used in future classes...

So I've been celebrating little things.  Why not?  Tuesday was DS's birthday.  I didn't give myself time to make him a treat, (and honestly, after the birthday cupcakes I made myself which were so nasty that we threw them all away, that's probably a good thing) so I picked him up a little cake and two of his favorite ice cream flavors.  Well.. I'm guessing he'll love that Baked Apple Dumpling.  He does love apple pie like crazy.

He got all kinds of sweet presents, including a new lens and flash for his fancy pants camera.  I'm told he took cool pictures at Maker Faire, but I have yet to see them (see above).

My most recent sewing triumph is this new cushion for the window seat.  It's corduroy, so it's super soft.  I even put a zipper on one end in case it needs washing.  Felix has claimed it, which is to be expected.

She's a little confused at my coming near and not loving her...

I love this set up, because it's the perfect length for me to stretch out and lean back against the pillow and read books.  And thanks to a helpful tip on Facebook from a family friend, I picked up some shelf liner to keep the cushion from sliding.  And also the couch (thank god, for real; hardwood floors are slippery), and the craft station table top.  Finding that in the grocery was way easier than dragging myself to someplace like walmart...

Six Flags Great Adventure

DS and I spent the weekend with our friends Matt and Sam.  The Matt who married us.  They live in NY, which had its first Maker Faire.  It seemed smaller than the SF one we went to last year, and DS and I got there late in the afternoon so we didn't have a lot of time.  Still though, it was cool to go, and ARC Attack was AWESOME!  I recommend finding some video of the dudes themselves, because it was so cool.  Though maybe you've heard of them?  Apparently they were on America's Got Talent?  I have no idea, I don't watch TV...

Anyway, we had a lovely dinner, delicious chocolates, and good conversation.  Then on Sunday we drove Sam out to Six Flags Great Adventure in NJ.  It's been at least six years since I've ridden a roller coaster.  I have a serious fear of heights.  Well, not so much of heights, but of falling.  If I think I'm safe, I have no problem whatsoever being high in the air.  Roller coasters were something that took me some years of concerted effort to be comfortable with, to trust that they wouldn't kill me and accept the fear so I could enjoy the adrenaline rush.  It's a skill that requires practice to maintain, and so I was excited about Six Flags, but also horrified...

There were six of us altogether, and we split a Flash Pass so we wouldn't have to wait in line.  (so worth it!)  We started off with the Batman coaster, which looked about on par with the types of coasters I really enjoyed back in the day.  I've looked up some point of view videos on YouTube for you to ride along.



Not too high, not too fast.  Easy peasy.  Also, shoulder harnesses, which are an important part of me feeling safe.  So then they all insisted we do Nitro, which is the second highest coaster in the park, with the first downhill going past vertical.  Yowza.  According to Wikipedia, you can see Philadelphia on a clear night from up there.  There aren't even shoulder harnesses.  I was freaking out.  I closed my eyes for the lift hill, because contemplating falling to my death is less forceful when I can't see it laid out before me.  Surprising myself, I opened my eyes as we crested the hill and let go.  It was exhilarating.  Watch.



That horizontal helix is just the right length so that you just start to feel your vision fading, then those little snake hills would have me giggling from the blood still stuck in my head.  Probably not good for you to do all the time, but several times a day once a year seems like a good plan.

Other notable experiences:

 El Toro, which I think is supposed to make you feel like you're riding a bull. And as such, there's little to hold on to, and I was lifting out of my seat quite a bit.  Also, those rails always freak me out, which is oddly one of the reasons I love wooden coasters so much.  And hooray for banked turns!  That's something wooden coasters have seriously needed.

Kingda Ka gave me a panic attack just looking at it.  DS loved it, and I sat and tried not to think about him failing to come back to me...

Superman would probably be a lot of fun for me, except that the cars invert you so you face the ground like you're flying.  Staring straight down at the ground as I plummet towards it was a little too much for me visually.  Though with my eyes closed, it didn't feel all that crazy movement-wise.

Bizarro is actually a fun coaster, but it has this music that plays right in your ears the whole time that's loud and static-y and completely annoying.

Skull Mountain reminded me of Kentucky Kingdom's old Starchaser, and as such had me laughing through the whole thing.  Also, they put a giant foam jack-o-lantern at the bottom with a spotlight on it.  SCARY!

After at least six hours of this, we were exhausted.  DS and I made the short trip home (about an hour, and some of that was because we took a wrong turn; though we ended up getting home toll free because of that wrong turn, so I was happy) on our own.  We made a frozen pizza, checked the interwebs, and then crashed as the pitiful hour of 8:30.  Even me people.  Me who is currently up at 3am.  I slept 14 hours last night!

This was my third separate theme park, the first two being Kentucky Kingdom and King's Island.  I have to say it was a lot of fun.  Sometimes terrifying, but overall, fun.

Apartment Tour!

I kept thinking I would do this when everything was neat and pretty.  Then I realized that would probably never happen, at least not up to my expectations.  So here it is!  The apartment in all its glory, and mess, and lived-in-ness.  Enjoy.

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My Husband is a Professor!

Here is the photo that will soon be adorning the faculty website!  I'm so proud. :)

Birthday update to follow soon!

PSA: Laundry

This post has some nasty images in it, so move along if you don't want to see them.  No blood and guts though, just what came out of my washer.  It is meant to serve two purposes.  

1. To let the previous tenants of my apartment know that I will punch them in the face if I ever meet them.

2. To warn the rest of you about things I've learned the hard way when it comes to washing clothes.

So you know that piece on the washer that says "Liquid bleach only"?  Yeah, they mean it when they say that.  Apparently the previous tenants didn't care, or couldn't read, because they put other things in there.  Nasty things.  Things which I discovered with my nose, because I couldn't figure out why my washer smelled like mold after using it.

I pried the little cover off the bleach thing, and to my horror, discovered the entire compartment full of moldy, caked in detergent and fabric softener.  Or maybe just fabric softener.  It had that really horrid smell that liquid softener has.  (Did I really use to like that stuff?  UGH.)

What you're looking at in that second photo is the top rim of the drum part of the washer, with mold on it.  In the bottom left corner you can see where the caked in detergent is all the way up to the rim of the bleach compartment.  GAG.

I spent over an hour today scraping that stuff out with a butter knife.  A knife I might have to trash....

Yeah, that's nasty stuff.  And just think, when you use liquid fabric softener, that crap is in your clothes.  All the time.  Maybe not moldy, granted.  I'm not sure that makes it any better.  This is why your towels smell nasty and no amount of washing them fixes it.  It's partially why you have sweat stains, but that's also due to antiperspirants in deodorant (something else we've given up, and been the happier for it).

Even if you don't agree with me on the fabric softener thing, please don't use the bleach compartment for anything other than bleach.  The drain holes it has are super tiny and clog very easily.  And you're likely to cut your hand on the metal washer casing when you clean it out, because I did twice.  If you have a mold smell in your washer that you can't seem to get out by running an empty cycle with bleach, check in there.

Winston is Angry, but we are not.

Before we left Santa Barbara, we had to take the cats in to the vet for official health certificates.  They were behind on the FCL something or other, I don't know.  It's a shot they need yearly.  So we paid the check up fees for each cat, the cost of the shots, and a small prescription of "chill out" medication, just in case.  Then we find out that for the vet to sign the piece of paper saying she looked at them was extra.  To the tune of $37 EACH.  So yeah, that wasn't a cheap trip.

So when the vet told us Winston would need oral surgery to fix his bulging gums to the tune of $700+, we were not happy.  Then she told us that we needed to do it as soon as possible.  Double not happy.

The move meant that wasn't really happening though.  We had to wait until DS's paychecks started rolling in and we were a bit more settled.  I found a vet nearby with decent reviews.  When I called to schedule the surgery, they let me know that they couldn't do it without a normal check up with them first, which was another $52.  *sigh*  The things we do for these kids...

Today we took him in for his check up, which actually went really well!  Whew!  After all that stuff that happened above, I was sort of dreading this.  Don't get me wrong, Winston yowled the whole way there, frightening the guys that work in our garage, and then growled the whole time he was being examined.  But he didn't swipe at anyone, or try to bite anyone.  He just sat there and let the vet stick her fingers in his mouth, around his lymph nodes, and over his tummy.  Well, sat there and growled, but he let her do it!  She was super nice, answered all our questions, and was really good with him.

To top it all off, their estimates for the surgery are a LOT cheaper.  We also learned that Winston is in good health, probably shouldn't eat grapes anymore, and has lost 4 ounces.  Hooray!

Monday we take him back for the surgery.  He can't eat after 9pm the night before, which is going to be hard, since when he's hungry he finds plastic somewhere and chews it loudly beside the bed at 3am.  He'll be there all day, but will thankfully be sedated.  I can't really afford to pay for some vet people to get stitches.  Oy.

Oh!  And we got the cat food Beth suggested, the Natural Balance, Green Peas and Duck.  Well, the wet is that.  The dry is Green Peas and Chicken, because the didn't have big bags of the duck.  The cats are now going on a half wet, half dry diet, at the recommendation of the vet.  They got their first can tonight, and are now sleeping happily.  Here's hoping Felix stops dropping bombs all over the apartment soon...

Slowly but Surely

We are slowly making progress on the apartment.  There are just a few boxes left, but most of the last week has gone into making sure things are in the spaces they belong.  A lot of the initial work was just getting the boxes emptied as quickly as possible.  Things went wherever there was space, and there was packing paper EVERYWHERE.  I've never seen so much paper in my life.  I kept one whole trash bag of it to use when shipping fragile items, and bags and bags of it are slowly making it to the recycle bin.

Meanwhile, Felix is finally taking to the window seat I set up.  I knew she would love it.

Current Goals

1.  Make good use of my new gym membership.  Ultimate goal: stop feeling like dog doo everyday.  Vanity goal: lose 25 lbs.  And yes, that is based on healthy weights told to me by a doctor.  For some reason people always look at me like I'm crazy when I say that.  Though, upon hearing my weight, one friend did say "Man, you're dense aren't you?" So... yeah.  I guess I am.  Progress thus far:  2 visits in 1 week.

2.  Build a standing work desk for the craft room so I don't sit on my butt all day.  Perhaps something like this.  It's going to be awesome.

3.  Make a pad for the larger than normal window sill in the living room that I've decided to make into a window seat.  Here's hoping my sewing skills, or lack thereof, are up to it.

4.  Finish unpacking and arranging this freaking apartment.  *groan*

Moving In

When we got to town, we were very excited to finally be out of the car and HOME.  Of course, we love traveling and visiting friends and family, but it can be so exhausting living out of a suitcase and juggling all the people who want to spend time with you.  Especially when you have to cram everything into such a short space because of how infrequently we're in town.  So yes, home was calling our names.

Having been here a full week now, I have compiled a list of loves, and not-so loves, regarding our new place.

Loves:
1. The apartment is on the National Register of Historic Places, because it was the first lager house in the US.  This is why our building is called the Lager House.
2. Because of #1, we have giant, wood frame windows, and original exposed brick and wooden support beams.
3. We have a balcony again.
4. From my couch, when the blinds are open, I can see the Benjamin Franklin Bridge, the Delaware River, and some other cool buildings.
5. It's surprisingly quiet here, even though we're right next to the bridge and highway.  The only thing we really hear is when the train goes over the bridge, and I don't mind it.
6. This place is larger than our last two apartments, so I don't feel squished anymore.
7. Washer and dryer!
8. Built in HDTVs in the living room and office.
9. A/C
10. Walking distance to the subway, various DELICIOUS restaurants, a small grocery, pet supply stores, bars, a gym, and some of the more popular tourist attractions.
11. Our actual street has none of these things, so street noise is nonexistent.
12. Did I mention how good the food here is??  Because it SO IS.
13. My office has built in shelving, and a ginormous walk in closet that I don't have to share with DS.

Not-so loves:
1. Bugs.  Creepy, fast, multi-legged things that come out of nowhere and scare the crap out of me.  They seem to be few and far between, but boy do they creep me out.
2. Dirt.  Some of which I suspect is due to a prolonged vacancy, just judging by the dust and the knowledge that it was empty when we toured it a month before.  The rest was obviously from the last tenants, meaning that the place wasn't cleaned by the landlord before we moved in.  It took me 4 hours and 3 magic erasers to clean all the walls, and I'm still not done with the bathroom.
3. Somehow, this place has the same bad plumbing as our last place.  Specifically, the shower hardware was installed incorrectly so that the single knob goes left for cold water, or right for hot water.  Showers are sometimes uncomfortable...
4. It takes 3 full cycles on high heat for clothes to dry in the dryer, even if there are only 4 things in there.
5. There is evidence of water damage in multiple places.
6. There are at least 10 light bulbs either missing or burnt out throughout the apartment.  (We have a combination of track and recessed lighting.)
6. The landlord has yet to return any of our phone calls since we moved in, so we none of this is even being addressed.

That's it so far.  Today DS and I pulled out the W/D combo to check the hoses for lint.  The exhaust didn't look too bad, but the intake was completely covered.  I'm hoping laundry tomorrow goes smoother.  I at least know that the heating apparatus is functioning, so here's hoping cleaning the back helps.  All things considered, I think this place is awesome.  The things that are wrong are completely manageable, and the things that are right are SO RIGHT.

We still have boxes all over the place, because there is only so much unpacking and arranging I can handle at one time.  But we're much much closer to being done, and I will post photos once we are.  I checked to see if there was anything useable from my move in photos, but they're all close ups of various things I wanted to document for the landlord whenever we move out.

The one thing I miss the most right now are my friends.  Right now, we don't know anyone, and without me having a job, I have no immediate hopes of meeting anyone.  It's incredibly difficult to spend all day alone, and then just get a few minutes of conversation out of DS once he's home.  It's like pulling teeth.  We're both adjusting, him to a new job that's more stressful and demanding, me to an utter lack of human interaction.  I wish we could just put an ad on craigslist for friends :P  But I did join a gym today, and we have briefly met one of our neighbors, who seemed cool.  DS has even been to the local climbing gym.  With any luck, we'll have friends soon.  In the meantime, if anyone wants to visit, you have our permission.

The Move

Is it Thursday already?  We've been at our new place for over 4 days??  Wow.  Well, let me tell you about the move.  Be forewarned, there is boring narrative to follow.

The cats were taken away, and I cried like a little baby.  They looked horrified.  The movers came and boxed all our stuff in a mere 7 hours.  I guess when the things aren't yours, you aren't as tempted to spend time touching, remembering, getting sidetracked by each thing you own.  Everything just got quadruple wrapped in white paper and stuck in a box.  DONE.

At the Palace, clinking glasses with the staff as we sang What a Beautiful World.

That night we started staying at our friends, to whom we gave our big tv.  It was a wedding present, and also a way to get rid of it since the new place has built in televisions.  We were not opposed to getting the best new thing whenever we manage to get a house :)  That Friday we did just a little bit of cleaning, but nothing much since we were basically told by our landlord that he was taking the money out of our deposit to have it professionally cleaned no matter what.  I was not about to break a sweat cleaning some place for nothing.  The pick up for our things was delayed until Saturday, but went smoothly.  Though there was some muttering about just how much stuff we had, and packing the truck had to be done carefully to make sure it all fit.  I don't know what to tell them.  A guy came to estimate our belongings' volume a month ago, and it's not like we got a bunch of new stuff...

Nell and DS looking at the city and the moon.

We took our friends out to dinner at The Palace, a Louisiana inspired grill that is soooooo good.  Then we all went up to Lizard's Mouth (a rocky spot on the mountain) to see the sun set over the ocean and take photos.  After too little rest, we caught a plane to KY, where we were picked up by my mom and her husband.

Me and Sam at Lizard's Mouth.

Monday we visited my grandmother, then the four of us toured the Louisville Slugger Museum.  I'm not sure how none of them had ever been before, but I made sure that was fixed.  Back in G'Town, we took my mom out to dinner for her birthday.

Kid in front us at the Bat game, covered in cotton candy.

Tuesday we hung out with my college friend Tim and his wife, and their dog Sterling.  We grilled burgers and learned a new way to make delicious corn on the grill.  After dinner we went downtown to see the Louisville Bats play.  DS was so excited because this guy named Chapman was relief pitching, and he's supposed to be the next best thing for the Reds.

Aroldis Chapman pitching.

Wednesday we picked up Chanda and went north to see Kelly and Jon.  We enjoyed their patio, and their cats, and the booze in their fridge.  For dinner we had Olive Garden, which I hadn't been to in years and years.  Seems strange.

DS, Tim and Beth at the game.

Thursday we saw Geno, walked the dogs, and I was surprised to discover my good friend Mike had moved back next door.  My brother even graced us with his presence.  We picked up the rental car, then DS made dinner for us.  Everyone thought it was delicious, and I let them know it's because Alton Brown can do no wrong.  (Seriously, try that 40 cloves and a chicken recipe)

Chapman's pitching speed.  DS claims we saw him pitch 101.

Friday morning we piled into the car and drove to Elkins, WV to visit with DS's grandparents.  It's only the second time that I've been there, and it was nice to have more than a few hours to see the place.  We spent the rest of the weekend bouncing between his two grandmothers, and I met loads of extended family at various dinners.  Elkins is beautiful, and decidedly cooler than KY this time of year.

Elkins as seen from the Triplett place "in the holla".

Sunday morning we loaded up the car again and drove the rest of the way to Philly.  Pennsylvania looks almost exactly like the region of KY where I lived.  At least, the region we drove through did.  We mostly took back roads out of WV, then took the Turnpike the rest of the way.  Stupid tolls, and lunch at one of those little stops on Turnpike was not great.  But I guess it was better than driving through places like DC the whole way.  That would have take an hour or two longer.

Once in the city, we quickly realized that driving here is nowhere near as nice as walking here.  It made me very happy that we chose to live downtown so we won't need the car hardly ever.  We managed to get some keys, drag in our few belongings from the car, and set up the air mattress before dinner.

Up next: Moving in.

========================
For some reason, I only have photos of a couple of things.  I'm assuming DS has the rest on his camera.  Though I know I forgot to gets photos of me with Kel and Chanda :(

Where does the time go?

I was just searching for my photos from Mardi Gras to show a friend, and realized they are not to be found here, on flickr, or facebook.  Why didn't I upload them??  I'm sure I took some.  It occurs to me that even with my incessant back-posting, my blog is seriously lacking.  So perhaps you would like an update.

I'm counting down my last days in Santa Barbara as we speak.  The cats are being moved by an animal transport service.  They'll be picked up on Wednesday, flown to Philadelphia, then boarded until they can be delivered to us in August.  The movers come Thursday to pack all our belongings, and then will pick them up on Friday.  We'll be staying with friends here until Sunday morning so we can tie up any loose ends, like cleaning, then we're flying to KY to visit family and friends.  We'll be there for almost a week, then we'll rent a car and spend the weekend in WV visiting more family.  Finally, we're driving to our new home, which will hopefully let us in.  Getting keys isn't something that's been worked out yet... We should be in our new place by August 1, and with any luck, should have our stuff the next day.  Though that's up in the air.

We've been trying our best to fit in all the last minute things we wanted to do here.  DS took one last climbing trip to Pine Mountain this weekend.  I've been to my last book club meeting, and hosted my last BSG night.  I've already said goodbye to several people for the last time in the foreseeable future.  Sad times.  I also thought it would be a good idea to make sure only things worth keeping made it to Philadelphia, so I've been combing through my belongings to cull the crap.  I actually had medication that expired in 2004, and mascara from high school.  Oy.

Because we don't need to pack, we are happy to be avoiding the unpleasantness of the cats protesting the destruction of their world.  I'm really sad that they'll be with strangers for nearly 2 weeks though.  Though not sad enough to drive them across the country again.. seriously.  I feel almost sorry for whatever sucker is flying with them.  Still, I am cherishing things like Felix bringing me 6 balls of yarn over a couple of hours, and Winston waking me up with a full facial and complimentary ear cleaning.  It's the little things ;)

I'm not sure how much internet time we'll have after Thursday, but I'll try to update when I can.

Green Thumb

Despite having only a hanging planter in a window that gets less than 6 hours of sun a day, and two cats that seem to love eating things that make them sick, I've managed to keep my pepper plants and basil flourishing this summer.  Four of my six pepper plants are producing, and the other two are on their way.  I just need to keep Felix away from them for a bit longer.  Twice the basil has gotten so huge we've had to have basil pesto just to have a reason to cull a ton of it.  Which, by the way, is SO GOOD made with just picked basil.

Now if I just knew what those peppers were....

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