::home:: while dude is away

• Pay Nov bills to send off on Tuesday
• Finish painting the top of dresser
• Deposit reimbursement check
• Buy lotion caddy for top??
• New gloves for DC trip
• Take the puppies out
• Get hair goop
• New puppy toy tin
• Clean the up-bathroom
• Candy for trick-or-treaters
• Figure a puppy poop solution
• Watch Wednesdays Pushing Daisies
• Clean out cars, so they’re nice when we come back

age of technology

2 day i got 2 gr8 txts f 2 gr8 ppl i luv 2 luv:

::honey:: i just adore you

::liz:: I like you and your friendship means the world to me, but if zombies were chasing us, I would sooooooo trip your a$$! Happy Halloween!

What a day. Happy Halloween!

::postcard:: dedicated to MA SOEUR

::home:: WE VOTED. proof below.

::home:: 2nd Annual PUNKINS.

My husband is nice to humor me...so tonight we carved pumpkins for the 2nd time since we've been married...(I can't for the life of me remember last year...?). And this time he was especially nice since he's feeling somewhat sickly... I got these cool kits with stencils and these fancy tiny little knives, and 3 big pumpkins (3 day before Halloween sale, thank you). And we set off-a-carvin:

*guts*guts*guts*and more guts*

After he got the guts out and the picture traced on (dedicated to Colton, btw), what did he do? He pulled out the dremel to finish the job. I don't know why I'm still surprised by something like that. He finished fast while I finished slow (typical in our relationship) and cooked dinner while I labored over my pumpkins.

And you can't even tell what mine is...

For dessert, caramel popcorn, but poor ::mh:: was too pooped...hopefully now he's sawing logs and will feel better tomorrow. Thanks for being a good sport, crazy! Love you!

***punkins, left to right: crossbones, SPOOKY, and a haunted house that looks more like an abstract witch on a broom. enh. oh well.***

***i might be just a little kinda glad that halloween is almost over. cuz that means we're that much closer to Christmas!***

::home:: please HELP Me.

I just need some advice. I've been working on these dressers this weekend and need a little bit of feedback. Which do you like better? I'm trying to decide if I like it better:

1. with decoration on the top AND the drawers

or

2. just the drawers, leave the top plain.

or

3. The top might look good with some decoration, but the placing you used is lame...once you re-arrange the design, it'll look best.

I promise I won't be offended if you choose #3. I'm thinking I may like it best just plain on top. BUT I do think the design on top right is lame, so that may be part of it.

Anyway, help! Thanks, and I'll post final before/afters when I've finished them.

::home:: for a perfect chilly evening

I don't like tea so that's not really true. But we both LOVE Starbucks Caramel Apple Cider as a sweet autumn treat. And tonight we decided to go on a Scavenger Hunt to track down ingredients so we can make it at home. Piece of cake. (or cupcake).

Ingredients (for 2): Treetop Apple Juice (1.5 cups), Starbucks Cinnamon Dolce (fancy for syrup - 1 capful), Whipped Cream, and Caramel Syrup. Highly recommended and so delicious!

"The ants are my friends, they're blowin' in the wind"

I always thought it was:

"Nobody does it like Sara Lee."

But I guess it is:

"Nobody doesn't like Sara Lee."

Weird.

::home:: catching up

This blog has evolved into Alison's corner of the world. Anyone suprised? I'm not. Alison is definitely the more creative and artistic of the two of us. I finally had a few minutes today to see what she has been posting. Isn't she great!!!!

I have been working on building a small strawbale house at work. The progress is slow as I am learing as I go. I left for Boston with the roof only halfway done and a snow storm rolled through. Luckily it was covered well enough with tarps that it should dry out in the next couple of days (the forcast is for sun). I will be finishing up the roof this week. The final step...Stucco will begin in about a week.
I am still hoping to complete another one before the weather gets too bad. A few people have expressed interest in helping out, let me know and we can do a sort of workshop if people are interested. With everything I have learned in the first one, I am sure the second one will be much faster.

Boston was amazing. Alison is handsdown the best travel partner I have ever had (not a small task by any means). It was the perfect mix of family and just the two of us time. We got lots of play time with the girls and spent a couple of days among the "beautiful people" of Martha's Vineyard and Cape Cod. Dan and Tara were amazing hosts...great food, excellent company, and free access to their car any time we wanted. Thanks guys. Sorry for any inconvenience or tears when teasing or play time became too much. We even got to "rock out" to Celine Dion (if putting up with her all the way the way to Rockport isn't love than what is).

Lexington and Concord really were two of the highlights of the trip. You can't go anywhere in that area without being reminded of how great this country really is. To stand in the places where people like Paul Revere, Samuel Adams, John Hancock, and so many others stood is very surreal and very humbling. Since we left I have been reading anything I can about the Revolutionary War, especially those early days in and around Boston.

We stood above the hill of the Old North Bridge and tried to fathom the excitement and fear felt by the militia and minutemen as they saw smoke rising from the Concord Commons and British troops blocking passage back to their families and loved ones in town. Alison is right...it is a sacred place.

We really did have an amazing time, and though it was difficult to leave, it is always nice to come home.

::wandering:: Boston Part I

From Top Left: sunset on Martha's Vineyard; our first fresh lobster, Rockport; at dock, Rockport; fresh squash, Charles Road; journaling the day, Edgartown Lighthouse; city view, Bunker Hill Monument; more beachwriting, Chatham, Cape Cod; minuteman statue, Concord; autumn colors, Lexington; pumpkins, pumpkins; Maddy...raw corn, driving; jellyfish, Boston Aquarium; Lizzy's shrieks of delight - girl gets AIR!

::home:: again

I used to watch old movies C.O.N.S.T.A.N.T.L.Y. It wasn't unusual when I was in college for me to come home from a late night and flip on AMC or TCM at 1 o'clock in the am, and watch a movie or two. I just love the old scripts. But...it was always hard for me to watch something in the oh-so-gorgeous technacolor, and then watch a black-and-white. I could watch technacolor after technacolor or black-and-white after black-and-white OR black-and-white after technacolor. But NOT the other way around.

Coming back to the desert of Yu-Tah (though I love it here, usually) after being in the brilliant color of the Northeast is much like watching a black-and-white after Technacolor. It just feels like something is missing.

::wandering:: this year we got AUTUMN colors...

because our trip back East was planned JustRight. We're back now (boo.) and we had such an unbelievably great time with the D4Gs (soon to be D5Gs). In case you, too, are in the desert, and missing the colors:

More pictures to come! (Brace yourself. You will see more pics of both of us than you have seen in the entirety of this blog...just a fair warning.)

*This picture is in Lexington, just outside the Visitors Center where the first shots of the Revolution were fired, resulting in the first deaths. An amazingly moving and sacred spot, and probably the favorite place for both of us.

::wandering::

I just need to vent…

…for a minute about my husband…I just need someone to know what I go through living with him…

First of all, the dogs. He never takes care of them. Never feeds them. Never, ever takes them out for walks. Never sweeps the floor to make sure there’s not dog hair when people come over to visit. Never covers the couch to make sure they don’t get up during the day while we’re gone. Never picks up massive amounts of poop out of the backyard. And he never spends time, just giving them loves.

Second: around the house. He never helps me clean. Never sweeps the floor, mops the floor, shines the floor. Never helps me dust the fan that I can’t reach. Never helps out with the laundry. Never, ever does the dishes after I’ve cooked. Never scrubs the toilet cause I hate to. Never helps out when I have a “big cleaning”.

Next: Fixing up our house. He didn’t do a lick of work here. He didn’t spend five hours every night working on the next project. He didn’t install new sinks or sheetrock all of the weird places. He didn’t change flooring over 1700 sq. feet. He didn’t get on a ladder to mud all of the places I couldn’t reach. He didn’t change almost every single light fixture in our house. He didn’t put in new outlets, countertops, or baseboards. And he didn’t just finish our stairs last weekend…out of the blue. He really does nothing.

And last, me. He’s never, ever patient with me. Never tells me he loves me, or that I look nice. Never wants to cuddle, or “hold.” Never wants to spend time with me. Never helps me to relax when I’m stressed out about messiness. He didn’t tell me that the 2nd bedroom should be “just yours”. He doesn’t ever understand that it’s expensive to get LONG hair colored! He never, ever spoils me. And he never talks nice to me, even when we’re fighting.

So that’s what I live with. I just don’t want him to think I don’t notice.

::home:: on FRIDAY we* carb-loaded...

...for our** annual marathon, Saturday morning. (13th largest in the nation. Toot, toot!)

Our good friends came into town for the event. We haven't been able to hang out in so long; it was a great excuse for a little reunion...so the house was full: Big D, Little Nat, and Mother M. were all running. Scooter came along for the ride. And of course Tresspasser was there.

Everyone finished.

Big D & Little Nat after getting their post-race ice cream.

After Mother M crossed the finish

It was rainy (when does that ever happen HERE???) and cold and windy and sounded pretty miserable for everyone we knew that ran it. BUT it was great to have everyone here for the weekend. Once again, we're happy for the ideal little location of our little place. Come back anytime, you guys! And, seriously, we can't wait this long again. Hope the recovery goes smoothly!

*we - meaning we all benefitted from Barb's delish lasagna. chad, scooter, tresspasser, and I didn't necessarily NEED the carbs. But we loaded.

** our - meaning our TOWN... my thoughts on marathons: "Are you insane?" chad's: "Maybe. Could be fun."