Wednesday, February 27, 2008

Greta

This little girl slays me. She and her 3 older siblings (all white boxers) showed up at the Lucky Dog photo shoot a couple of weekends ago. So. cute.

Woof.


Franklin make a new friend the other weekend. Grommit is an English Mastiff who is one of the gentlest dogs I've ever known. Even though he outweighs Franklin by, oh, 170 pounds or so, Grommit got down on the floor to greet Franklin and let him have a few sniffs.

The funniest thing was that Grommit drools. A lot. Every time he put his head down to check Franklin out, the ween would end up covered in dog spit. Who needs a shower?

Speaking of showers, Franklin ended up in the shower with me a couple of nights ago. He was pissed. I figured that as long as he was in there, I might as well soap him up. Yeah, not the best idea I've ever had...

Tuesday, February 26, 2008

Fantasy Real Estate #3

How likely is it that I'll have the time, motivation and skill to rehab a house myself? That is pretty much my ultimate fantasy, but it might remain a fantasy for many, many years.

Thing is, I don't see the point of spending a lot for someone else's taste. Yes, there are plenty of beautiful houses out there, but everything I've seen would have to be changed to suit our taste, at least a little. It makes sense (in my mind) to buy something lower-priced and make the updates as we go (or, you know, pay someone to do it, but you know what I mean) to end up with a beautiful house that is perfect for us.

I know that idea goes against the "real estate as an investment" theory that many financial conservatives hold, but you know what? Fuck it. I want a house that is our space, just for us, that makes me happy to be in.

And now, what you've all been waiting for...fantasy realty volume 3!





7424 Carleton, 63130. Again with the no-fireplace, and it needs a lot of work, but this house could be a real gem. Also, it is priced reasonably enough that we could afford to fix it up pretty quickly. Hmph.

List Update #1

Ok, time for an update on the list. I've been getting good feedback from friends both inside and outside of the computer. I kind of love having the list and working towards accomplishing these goals. Now for the update:

-I emailed the instructor to inquire about #11, learn to SCUBA dive. I have the $$ set aside for Jeremy and I to take the beginning course starting in April with the [MyCompany] Scubaneers. I have the form. The only thing left is to write the check and send in the form. Hopefully, we will be certified divers by the time we get to #43.

-I inadvertently accomplished #17 over the weekend. Jeremy and I went out to eat with the Maunes to Red, where I have never been, and I ordered, well, whatever I wanted. Go me!

-I put kate in charge of getting tickets to #47 - seeing the BodyWorks exhibit. This coming weekend is the last weekend of the exhibit, and they are having like a 63 hour marathon or something. Hopefully we will get to go.

-I talked with my brother to get advice on home project #60. I need to look in the storage space and see if we have a miter box - to get #61 done this week. That's my goal for the rest of this week. We'll see.

Overheard in the parking lot...

...as I was on my way back from the dumpster a few weeks ago. A mom to her ~9 year old son:

"No, Polish doesn't mean 'stupid,' honey, it means 'from Poland.'"

Hells yeah.

Monday, February 25, 2008

More and more

Yay! I have positive proof that at least three of you are reading along with me! Your comments have motivated me to start blogging a little bit more frequently. I have some amazing photos of Franklin to share, but they are at home. We are still between internets at the apartment, but our DSL is supposed to be activated on Tuesday. In the meantime, more fantasy realty goodness.



I have been stalking this house for MONTHS, I tell you. It is in U. City, north of Olive. I have actually been inside this house - I went to an estate sale there over the summer. The inside of this place is totally grotty and would need a total rehab - but I can't get over the rad windows and roof line. The inside actually has a decent amount of space. Also awesome is the full, clean basement. Lots of these atomic ranch houses were built on slabs. Great for California living, but not so much an option here in tornado country.

I've probably spent far too many minutes thinking about this house, but my rehab would involve taking out the wall between the kitchen and the dining/living area and opening up the whole space. We would need to have a fireplace added; being able to light things on fire is very dear to my husband.

I am really hoping that when the time comes for us to buy, we can find something in U. City. We might end up with a smaller house than we would have if we looked farther out, but that area has so many advantages. And - hello - single stream recycling! Duh!

Friday, February 22, 2008

Lush Puppy

Franklin had a few laps of Irish Cream last night. We figured that he would do the same thing he always does when we offer him alcohol*: sniff it, stick his tongue in it, then jump off the furniture and run away as fast as he can.

Nope. He loved it. It made him sneeze, though.

We spent the rest of the evening keeping the dog away from our glasses and watching him try to figure out how to get liquored up.

*Um, not that we try and get the dog drunk every weekend or anything. Franklin has only tried the stuff twice in his life.

Real Estate, Volume 1

So, certain people in my life are totally sick of listening to me moon about real estate. It's true, we're not looking to buy a house until at least late 2008, but I've been addicted to watching the listings since the first time we tried to buy a house, in 2006. So today, I bring you the first installment of fantasy real estate.




Sure, it's not in the greatest neighborhood. But seriously, this is my fantasy guys. Don't worry about crime.

This house has 4 bedrooms, 2 full baths, and freakin' 6 fireplaces! At 3096 sq. ft., I imagine the gas bill is astronomical in the winter.

Wednesday, February 20, 2008

101 Things

I've been inspired to start a 101 Things in 1001 Days list. So, without further ado...
  1. Finish this list
  2. get up early and walk the dogs
  3. find a therapist
  4. talk to my doctor about switching medications
  5. ride the metrolink
  6. research getting my e-ring reset
  7. run a mile without stopping
  8. weigh less than I do now by 20 pounds
  9. ride a bike on the Katy trail
  10. take a long hike with my dogs in a place I've never been
  11. learn to SCUBA dive
  12. cook dinner at home every night for a week
  13. get up early and make muffins
  14. bake a loaf of yeast bread
  15. learn how to prepare fish
  16. cook Indian food
  17. Have dinner at a restaurant I've never been to - and order whatever I want
  18. plan a monthly menu
  19. develop standard shopping list
  20. Host a dinner party
  21. weed out unused craft supplies
  22. draw something awesome
  23. make Bobbi's quilt
  24. piece tree quilt
  25. finish bird quilt
  26. piece paper-pieced swirl quilt
  27. sew every night for a week
  28. take longarm quilting course
  29. successfully bind a quilt using mitred-corner bindings
  30. piece a denyse schmidt quilt
  31. Sew a piece of clothing for myself from a pattern
  32. Sew a corset
  33. make a denim skirt
  34. fix Zoe's pink sweater
  35. Fix Tootie's summer dress
  36. find a pair of boots that look good on me
  37. Get a massage
  38. get second tattoo
  39. put together outfits from existing clothing.
  40. discard clothing that doesn't work
  41. get a pair of pants tailored to fit me perfectly
  42. go shopping and buy an entire outfit at once
  43. take a sweet vacation with Jeremy
  44. Visit the southwest
  45. try camping again
  46. get season tickets to the MUNY
  47. See the BodyWorks3 Exhibit at the Science Center
  48. Plan a surprise for Jeremy
  49. take the GMAT test prep course
  50. take the GMAT exam
  51. research grad schools
  52. Apply to grad school
  53. spend an entire day at work without getting online for leisure.
  54. Take a LEAN course
  55. buy a house
  56. plant a garden
  57. buy an eames fiber glass rocking chair
  58. Do all the laundry and put it away. Have everything in the house clean at once
  59. purchase an accessory for a specific place in my house
  60. fix carpet issue in hallway
  61. install moulding in hallway
  62. hang a quilt up at home
  63. Do a spring(summer, fall) cleaning
  64. make my house smell good
  65. develop AT-inspired style tray
  66. sell microwave cart on craigslist
  67. wash and wax my car
  68. Blog about places I have lived
  69. figure out if I can post pictures from my cell phone directly to my blog
  70. figure out how to add a sidebar to my blog
  71. take photos and blog about places from my past
  72. get laptop to functional, useful status
  73. label my desk drawers
  74. get a power cord for my scanner
  75. learn Photoshop
  76. upgrade computer
  77. Go through files on computer and pull anything I can over to portable hard drive
  78. read camera manual
  79. take some good pictures of Rita Bean
  80. take some pictures of the dogs together
  81. take some studio pictures of Kate's dogs
  82. take a family picture of Boomer + Brett
  83. Spend a weekend day taking photos on location around town
  84. take pictures of the improved hallway
  85. take pictures of living room
  86. Take some self-portraits with good lighting
  87. update my avatar photos on websites that have them
  88. Get someone to take a few good pictures of me and Jeremy
  89. create some art from photos for home
  90. create some art from photos for TU
  91. Get FP website organized and running
  92. Fix Instaproofs site for photo ordering
  93. Design a logo for photo business
  94. add some quilts to my etsy shop
  95. scan 2-D Laura + Jeremy-abilia
  96. photograph 3-D Laura + Jeremy-abilia
  97. Make a photo book of Laura + Jeremy-abilia
  98. make Boomer's wedding album
  99. finish Jake + Meghan's DVD slideshow
  100. Ship J + M's wedding stuff
  101. find a cute pair of outfits for Rob's twins