Imagination gets the best of me...

While cleaning the tops of my kitchen cabinets (not fun, but judging by the sheer amount/thickness of the dust that was up there, VERY necessary), I found a few curious items: a (faux) diamond ring in box (I looked up the brand, 'Diamonique', it is a QVC brand), a legal folder that said 'contents of deed enclosed' or something like that which was filled with lottery tickets and a printout of the winning numbers, tickets to box seats at a Badger football game in November 2005 with the game book, crumpled pieces of notepaper which, when uncrumpled, read the movie times for a day of movies, and a small paper airplane made out of a church donation slip.

We know very little of the people that owned the house before us. They were (are?) an older couple who through some turn of events (went to a nursing home?... passed away?...) were foreclosed upon. We were surpised to learn the couple was older, given the house has 3 levels and so lots of stairs... especially as the house is new (5 years old) and so assumably, was built to suit the previous owners. The walls are all white and have very few holes from nails etc. (leading me to think they were either boring, unable or unmotivated to decorate). They did leave one decoration in the basement basement (the room that holds all the basement-like items...water softener, furnace, etc.) It is a decorative plate that reads something in German and says 'God' at least once. They put in some strange type of stone-tile surround in a formal dining room. It looks like it was meant for an electric fireplace, plant area, or possibly even an altar? (it does face East...) The guestroom in the finished basement has marks in the carpet which appeared to hold weights and training equipment, again surprising for an older couple...

As you can see, I've already done a fair amount of extrapolating about the couple. After finding these items today, my mind couldn't help but wander into 'what if...' territory. Then it wandered even further into pure fiction...



The ring...
thrown in frustration and disgust by a young man after learning his love had left him for another.

thrown in frustration and disgust by a young woman...after her engagement ring turned her finger green...

purchased from QVC by little old lady who lived here and tossed above the fridge to hide from little old man.

purchased by little old man for little old lady, hidden on top of fridge and forgotten.



The lottery tickets...
purchased by young man to fund his engagement ring purchase, alas, no such luck, he was stuck with one from QVC.

purchased by little old man to avoid foreclosure on his house.


The football tickets/book...
purchased by the young man as the venue/event for his proposal.

purchased by little old man and little old lady to celebrate their 50th anniversary.

Movie times...
another possible proposal venue... ??

written out by little old lady in an attempt to get out of the house...thrown up there in frustration and disgust when little old man refused to go to 'Finding Nemo'.


Paper airplane...
made by little boy while being punished and thrown up there to escape getting caught playing while in time out.

made by little boy and accidently tossed up there...too high to climb up to get and forgotten.

Oh what fun an imagination can have with a few random items :-)

LAZINESS revisited... again... (adventures in first-time home ownership)

I realize I have revisited the 'laziness' topic many times. I now see why I was so wrong. In an apartment, you can be lazy. I mean really lazy... as previously described...

In a HOUSE... not so lazy. We bought a 'new' house (5 years old). Which does not mean 'new' when you consider that the basement was leaking, which takes some explaining*, radon levels were considered high**, no sump pump***, deck is in ill repair****, lawn is full of weeds*****, and we moved from an apartment to a house which means we have endless things to BUY******!!!!

*Basement is not leaking in a way which is typically thought. We have drain tile (as I understand it a mini-level below the basement which collects water into a 'sump-crock' which can then be pumped outside). We have a faulty retaining wall which partially washed dirt into the siding, which created a pathway for water to run over the cement foundation and get into the house itself. It wasn't a huge leak... but it was water on a finished basement... probably creating mold and mildew... which will now need to be remedied...(perhaps I should create *******?) by more people that cost $$$. We have had some people over a few times working on the retaining wall and after a huge downpour last night, the basement stayed dry (and will hopefully stay that way!!).

**Radon is a carcinogen that leaks out of the soil in this area and gets into homes. We had a test done as part of our home inspection. We were found to be in the 'high' range. LUCKILY, because we have drain tile, the radon fix is cheaper than for many people. We just have to install a fancy fan that pumps the air around the drain tile out of the house... therefore most of the radon that comes from the soil down there.

***The sump pump itself is the machine that gets the water from the 'drain tile' area (sump crock) to the outside of the house. We don't have one and figure that we might as well add one since we're putting the fan on that will effectively make it more difficult to add one later if it ever turns out that we need it.... just another expense...

****We were lucky enough to find a house that has beautiful decks. One private deck off the master suite, a large deck off the kitchen, and a patio below that. Unfortunately, these decks were not well maintained and have warped to the point that we need to repair the railings, warped boards, and they were also not built to 'code'. There is no 'flasching' between the deck boards and where it is attached to the house...allowing moisture to touch the house instead of having the protective 'flasching' between them.

*****Our lawn is the LAWN... the one you notice when you walk/drive down the street because it is FULL of WEEEEEEEEEEEEEDS!!! When touring the yard in flip-flops, you must also beware of many, many, many thistles! My soon to be hubby and I are fortunate enough that his father generously gifted us a few lawn treatments so we will no longer stick out and have a pretty yard soon!

******Our shopping list is forever growing... so far we HAVE bought: LAWN-MOWER, step-ladder, caulk, caulk gun, large broom, new showerhead, burst-proof appliance hoses, REFRIDGERATOR, OVEN, WASHING MACHINE, DRYER, new detergent for the 'high-efficiency' washer, MATTRESS, comforter and sheets for said new mattress, among other things I've forgotten I'm sure. We still NEED: PATIO FURNITURE (to enjoy the aforementioned decks), GRILL (to enjoy the aforementioned furniture), shower curtain-plungers-garbage bins-etc for FOUR bathrooms, hanging flowers, other flowers, learn how to garden, garden tools (I planted the 1 plant we do have with a kitchen spoon...), hose, sprayer, WEED WACKER, paint, paint tools.... and the list goes on....

So anyway... I WAS lazy.... BEFORE I had a house... but now I no longer have that luxury :-) It's still wonderful though... as long as I get past the fact that I will be broke until further notice...

Running... or really walking...

I have been running just about every other day for a few weeks now. A definite help is my soon-to-be-hubby going running 'with' me ('with' is a term used loosely... he leaves around the same time as me, but I have no hope of keeping up with him so he runs ahead and then comes back to run/walk with me). Another draw/motivation is the idea that we are running by our soon-to-be new house! It's about 2.5 miles round trip, with a healthy hill as well as nice flat areas.

I have tried to be a 'runner' a few times in my life but it has never, ever worked for me. Back in grade-school, I was the one who always wanted to be goalie... because I hated to run, and I was always the last picked in gym (yeah, I'm over it). In volleyball I could never run all of the laps (and there were lots and lots of them... I remember having to do about 50 one day when we had to run 5 lap for any serve anyone missed....) I just never could run.

I've always wondered why it was so much harder for me than for everyone else? I never gasped for air like I had asthma... my legs weren't in excruciating pain... my biggest problem has always been awful awful sideaches...

So here I am today. I'm trying again... but I still can't run for a long distance... though I will keep trying. At this point I can go maybe 1/2 a mile without stopping to walk. After a bit of walking, I run again, for a shorter distance. But I'll keep trying. Maybe... just maybe.. by the end of summer I'll be able to run the whole 2.5 mile loop. At the very least, I'll keep trying!

I am NOT lazy...

Ok, I disagree with myself, I admit... But I have been working hard at being NOT lazy. Here's my proof...

Since my lazy post I have: looked at 20+ houses, made an offer, accepted an offer, scheduled a home inspection, been to a home inspection, scheduled appointments with the loan people, been to an appointment with the loan people, scheduled appointments with the home owners insurance people, other bank people, talked to my entire family about the house, moved my car insurance to a closer provider (to coincide with the home owners insurance provider), gotten a permit for my 'paperwork' wedding at the Capitol building (I don't want to go through the hassel of a legal Mexico wedding getting transferred to be legal in the US), lined up a judge to do the 'paperwork' wedding, registered at two stores, signed a whole lot of papers, been running 3 days this week, fit in tanning so I don't turn into a lobster at my wedding, contacted my wedding coordinator about travel insurance in case I can't go to Mexico because of the flu, paid for the resort part of my wedding in full, as well as the usual day-to-day shopping trips, work projects, and self-sanity activities (watching a movie that made me BAWL... Marley & me :'( )

I think that counts as not being lazy, right? (buying a house is SOOO much more complicated than getting married)

Moving up??

So buying a house has prompted me to explore life transitions...

Starting when you're born, everyone is always talking about moving on... learning something new etc. etc. etc. (working with preschoolers, I may be skewed to pay attention to many of the early ones... anyway...) I have a distinct memory from when I was entering first grade... someone said, "Wow! Now you're really going to school, are you nervous?" (I say) "I hear there is homework ugh... no fun" (opinion influenced by elder sisters)

Just over 10 years later...I graduated from high school and everyone said (or at least said to me), "Wow.. you're entering the real world... are you nervous... you're headed for the 'big city' Good luck!" (or something along those lines). I am grateful for the well-wishes and, at the time, I was very excited to move on... but even then I was thinking... Madison... "big city"... ??? (not really.. I HAVE ventured outside of the great state of Wisconsin and we really don't have much to qualify as 'big city'...well, I suppose when you compare it to where I come from...) So I think to myself, 'Yep... I'm ready... and I've been ready for a while...'

So anyway, 2 major life transitions (though many more from a parent-perspective, I am sure) out of the way by 18. I go to college, I love it... I love Madison (for the not-so-big-city that it is). 6 short (loooooooong!) years later I graduate with a Master's degree. Everyone celebrates (though no one quite as much as me) and says, "Wow.. you're entering the real world... are you nervous... you're headed for 'real world of work' Good luck!" (all the while I'm thinking... uhh yeah, I've been ready for this for at LEAST the past 2 years!)

Again, I love the well-wishes and hope for the best. I have had most of my first full year of 'real world' work (and luckily I love the people I work with and more importantly the job I do). During this year I also got engaged to be married! I received even more congratulations (Yay... I'm even more excited for this transition than for the graduation one!) Another life transition in less than a year.

On top of the last one (granted one of the 'Big Three' as I have come to refer to them... Marriage, House, Kids), I am looking for the 2nd of the above... a HOUSE! As listed in a previous blog Animals of Many Kinds, I'm not entirely happy with my current living situation. We're looking to move up to no shared walls... of any kind.

Yet another life transition. Am I moving too fast? This is a big one... lots of $$ on the line... lots of stress for me and my fiance to handle. Should we think about having kids right away... get the third 'Big Three' out of the way???


NO!


We will be waiting... at least for a couple years! Get married (almost all plans are done really), find a house (where we will throw a big party to celebrate the former), then take a BREAK! And have kids somewhere in there... when we're comfortable...

I am still left to ponder (as I set up 'retirement accounts' etc.). Every time you enter one of my so named 'transitions' it seems like it's the end of something and the beginning of another. I have always looked to marriage, house, and kids (the 'Big Three') as the 'END' of the story...stability sets in...period.

But really... as I think... every 'transition' (including those 'Big Three') is just that... transitioning to the next level. There is no end. There is ALWAYS another step to look forward to, work for (a few I think of at this point of my life... having a baby... having another?... multiple child milestones... they start school... we sell/buy a new house... (beyond that let's not think about at the moment). The point is... I don't ever need to feel bored with my life... ever. There's always more to plan for... prepare for... help my family prepare for...

I can't wait!

The Bender Ball...

Oh yes, the one time I give in to a TV infomercial... I choose to buy the Bender Ball. $10 is a very inviting number to make yourself look good... so I go to order online assuming the S&H will be significant... it is... $20 is still an inviting number to make yourself look good. After viewing the website a few times over a period of months, I give in. I have a wedding coming up... a wedding on a beach... yes, I need it.

The ball comes. I didn't realize just how small the ball was on TV.


Gripe #1 - Ball could have been purchased at Wal-Mart for $2 as it is the same size as those cheap ones in the wire cages...

So, I get the ball and the training DVD. ... ... ... a month passes ... ... (please refer to my Laziness) ... the next time I really even think about the Bender Ball, I am looking at my credit card statement thinking, "Didn't I pay for that stupid thing last month??" I check... I did...

Gripe #2 - They automatically sign you up to receive the DVD video that you declined to buy when you checked out... it's a 'subscription' that I missed in the fine print.

So I call the Bender hotline (after doing 2 seconds on online searching, I see multiple postings of other people who are just as upset as I am... alas if I had only done that BEFORE!) I am unhappy to the lady, but I do realize... she just needs to make money and the only people she gets to talk to all day are people like me calling in to complain (most of whom aren't as nice as I am and take their frustrations out on her). I try to cancel the shipment... no go, it's already 'in shipping process'. I ask about canceling the 'subscription'... she says, "Don't worry the NEXT payment of $20 WILL BE your last payment, I am unsubscribing you from the program." I get a little testy with the lady...there's ANOTHER payment I have to make!?!? She explains that there is. I go on to ask about getting my money back (now up to $60 for this thing I haven't even used and looks like a piece of junk) She gives me a code to put on the package so that they will be able to process my return.

A week passes, the shipment comes... I don't open it and say 'return to sender' on the package (the h if I'm going to pay MORE on top of all this craziness) with the return ID she gave me. It's been a month... I have yet to see the $40 I am owed appear on my credit card statement.

After my post earlier this week, I get out the ball and try the DVD.

Gripe #3 - The lady who is supposed to be teaching me how to get toned abs... HAS FLABBY ABS!!! Yes, the lady looks more fit than I do.... BUT SHE'S THE ONE WHO'S SUPPOSED TO HAVE THE AWESOME ABS FROM USING HER OH-SO-WONDERFUL PRODUCT!!!!

(that's her in the middle, as I said... looks better than me, but she mushrooms over those pants from the side... grrrrr...)

It does seem like it's an ok work out, but I am probably deluding myself and trying to get some good out of my $60 at this point.... wish me luck on getting toned before my wedding!

se la vie

I AM LAZY

Not when it comes to getting my job done. I love my job. I also get done things that need to get done like grocery shopping (though my fiance and I hate it so much we go once a month). But, typically, once I get home from work. All productiveness falls way underneath the couch, where I can never get the motivation to find it. So.. I plop down and watch TV (usually House...even watching the news is too much work for me.) You might think, "Well, you must have a really stressful job, you need a break, I get it..." No, no, not so much. There are some stressors, but minor really. I feel like I have a good handle on things during my first year of full-time work.

So back to my laziness. My idea of a 'productive' day off would be one small project (such as organizing my closet (a 15 minute task). Get all the things that I've piled up on my shelves or on the floor when there's no more shelf space and organize them (I'm NOT a messy person, so don't imagine a disaster in my closet, just a few things that I don't fold because I know I'm going to wear them soon... why waste the energy?) Chores like laundry are a hassle, but I do them... typically my only productive thing of the day.

Now on to exercising, seeing my thoughts on getting things done you must realize that motivating myself to exercise is like, well, this:


So you would be surprised to learn that I DID run for a whole summer almost every day! But that summer has passed and the motivation for it gone. My new overall motivation is getting in shape for my destination wedding in June. Yeah, that's coming up, yeah, I'm STILL not in shape...

So here's to coming home from work tonight, changing into running clothes and GETTING IT DONE!