So, I turned thirty this week. And I didn't really think I would care, but, man, there is something about not being "in my 20's" anymore that just feels so life redefining. Not necessarily in a bad way, I don't think. But I've definitely been introspective this week.
That didn't stop me from having fun, though. It started last Sunday with a big, family, combo birthday party for me and Jer (whose birthday was in December). We managed to convince Jeremy's extended family that, since it was a birthday party for us, they should all travel outside of their normal five-mile-radius stomping ground to have the party at our house. It was fun to have everyone down here, and it was a great motivator to get the house thoroughly cleaned. I wore myself almost completely out, but it certainly felt good to get it all done.
Wednesday was my actual birthday, as well as our regular Wednesday night gaming group. Erin made hot roast beef sandwiches (one of my all-time favorites), and Rachel made an amazingly rich chocolate-raspberry cake. Rachel also gave my character a lovely surprise birthday gift in the form of her first kiss with the non-player character she has fallen in love with. I know it's only imaginary, but it left me on cloud nine.
So, to finish off a nice, long birthday week, I decided to throw together a last-minute birthday party with my non-family and non-gamer friends for Sunday night. I shot off a quick email to a bunch of friends, and invited a few more people that I didn't have email addresses for in church on Sunday morning. The lovely thing with last-minute parties is that there isn't nearly as much pressure for everything to be perfect, and I'm not nearly as disappointed if no one ends up coming. The house was still relatively clean from last weekend, so getting ready consisted mostly of taking a nap. And thawing out frozen pizza dough. At least a dozen people ended up coming, which was really awesome considering the short notice. We had lots of fun, even if we did only end up playing a couple of games (I won at Settlers, while those with less patience for tiles firmly established that they were, indeed, smarter than the DVD-game version of a fifth grader). And everyone left fairly early, which might have disappointed a younger me, but the old lady who had to get up for work at 4:00 the next morning appreciated it.
Unfortunately, between the three parties, there were at least three cakes, and at least half of each remains. I might just need to throw another party, and call it the "Please Eat My Cake Before I Eat it All and Get Fat; My Aging Metabolism Can't Handle All This Sugar" party. You'd come to that, right?
Showing posts with label the chrysalis. Show all posts
Showing posts with label the chrysalis. Show all posts
Monday, January 28, 2008
Saturday, September 29, 2007
A Quick One
Sorry for the disappearing act. The computer situation in our house for the past few months has been thus:
One laptop with a broken screen,
One laptop with no power supply,
One desktop buried under a mountain of crap in the spare room,
And my laptop, which everybody uses, and I always feel guilty about kicking people off of.
Hence the infrequent updates.
But, for the past two weeks or so, the computer situation has been thus:
One laptop with a broken screen,
One laptop with no power supply,
One desktop buried under a mountain of crap in the spare room,
And one seven-year-old laptop with a completely fried RAM.
Hence the zero updates.
But Jeremy's work bought him a laptop this week, which would help me with my computer situation if only it didn't live at work with him when I am home and wanting to write. So I cleared a path through the mountain of crap today to the desktop in the spare room, and I had Jeremy hook up a mouse for me so that I could actually use it, and I squeezed myself in between the three currently non-operational computers that take up most of the desk. And everyone else is downstairs with Jeremy's laptop in the living room, with the distracting TV on in the background which always kept me from concentrating on writing anyhow. Okay scratch that, now everyone is crowded into the spare room reading over my shoulder and trying to drag me off to a thrift store to buy costumes for Jon and Rachel's 1920's-themed party tonight. Which is ironic, since the next thing I was going to type was, "I'm really enjoying having a private, quiet place to write, and I think this is exactly what I needed to get back into blogging regularly again."
Anyhow, work is going pretty well, I'm adjusting to my new store and they to me, and I'm extremely happy to be back in the people-serving business again. And now I am off to buy a costume, because whatever else I had planned on writing, I can never turn down the chance to go to a thrift store. Maybe, while I'm out, I'll buy a lock for the door to the spare room.
One laptop with a broken screen,
One laptop with no power supply,
One desktop buried under a mountain of crap in the spare room,
And my laptop, which everybody uses, and I always feel guilty about kicking people off of.
Hence the infrequent updates.
But, for the past two weeks or so, the computer situation has been thus:
One laptop with a broken screen,
One laptop with no power supply,
One desktop buried under a mountain of crap in the spare room,
And one seven-year-old laptop with a completely fried RAM.
Hence the zero updates.
But Jeremy's work bought him a laptop this week, which would help me with my computer situation if only it didn't live at work with him when I am home and wanting to write. So I cleared a path through the mountain of crap today to the desktop in the spare room, and I had Jeremy hook up a mouse for me so that I could actually use it, and I squeezed myself in between the three currently non-operational computers that take up most of the desk. And everyone else is downstairs with Jeremy's laptop in the living room, with the distracting TV on in the background which always kept me from concentrating on writing anyhow. Okay scratch that, now everyone is crowded into the spare room reading over my shoulder and trying to drag me off to a thrift store to buy costumes for Jon and Rachel's 1920's-themed party tonight. Which is ironic, since the next thing I was going to type was, "I'm really enjoying having a private, quiet place to write, and I think this is exactly what I needed to get back into blogging regularly again."
Anyhow, work is going pretty well, I'm adjusting to my new store and they to me, and I'm extremely happy to be back in the people-serving business again. And now I am off to buy a costume, because whatever else I had planned on writing, I can never turn down the chance to go to a thrift store. Maybe, while I'm out, I'll buy a lock for the door to the spare room.
Sunday, May 13, 2007
A Passel of Partial Posts
I love the purple walls in my house. I will love my house even more when we finally get our shelves this weekend so we actually have a place to put things, and when we get our bed so we can stop sleeping on the floor on an air mattress. (Edit: I wrote this several days ago, but didn't post it yet. Bed and shelves acquired, many things still remain to be put away.)
Okay, I'll admit, it's not always easy, but the benefits of living in community far outweigh the stresses. We take turns making dinners and lunches. The other day, I opened my lunchbox to find a napkin with a note from Erin, "JuJuBi, Jesus loves you. Make good choices. Love, Mommy." It kept me smiling the rest of the day.
The next three weeks or so promise to be just as busy as the last few. I might not be around the blogosphere too much. I apologize for that.
I swear, I had about 10 partial posts to write when I started this, but now I don't remember what the other ones were.
Oh yeah, one of them was this: Twice, I have posted pictures of my baby nephew, and neither time did I mention his name. I'm too subtle. I put his name in the labels section only. Sorry. His name is Trevor. Trevor Jaden. Or, possibly, Trevor Jay, if he wants to be a DJ when he grows up. I'm rooting for Trevor Jay.
Okay, I'll admit, it's not always easy, but the benefits of living in community far outweigh the stresses. We take turns making dinners and lunches. The other day, I opened my lunchbox to find a napkin with a note from Erin, "JuJuBi, Jesus loves you. Make good choices. Love, Mommy." It kept me smiling the rest of the day.
The next three weeks or so promise to be just as busy as the last few. I might not be around the blogosphere too much. I apologize for that.
I swear, I had about 10 partial posts to write when I started this, but now I don't remember what the other ones were.
Oh yeah, one of them was this: Twice, I have posted pictures of my baby nephew, and neither time did I mention his name. I'm too subtle. I put his name in the labels section only. Sorry. His name is Trevor. Trevor Jaden. Or, possibly, Trevor Jay, if he wants to be a DJ when he grows up. I'm rooting for Trevor Jay.
Monday, April 23, 2007
Photolicious
I miss blogging.
And apparently, some people in the blog world even miss me. Thanks to everyone who emailed me or im'ed me or phoned me to check in and see how I'm doing. It meant a lot to me.
I'd like to start blogging again now, if that's alright with you all.
Some adjectives to summarize my life for the past five weeks: busy, harried, adjusting, covered in paint.
When Jeremy and I were engaged, my dad gave me some words of wisdom for marriage. One of those words was "renovate" and it was used in close proximity to the word "don't". More divorces are caused by paint and wallpaper than finances, children, and infidelity combined. (Note: May not be a real statistic.)
Somehow, though, we made it through this past month of painting and renovating, and no one is dead (and I'm pretty sure none of the injuries are permanent). All it took in the end was Erin deciding that we could host a surprise party for her mom with about 45 people, only a few weeks after moving into a house that was, in every way, the epitome of a "fixer-upper". And actually, Erin was right, we pulled it off (mostly due to her not sleeping for about 36 hours prior to the party). And it was a great party. But the best part is: the house is finally together.
It's not done. If I have learned nothing else from watching other people in the act of home ownership, I have learned that there is no such thing as "done" when you own a house. But it's done enough that I finally dare to post pictures.
And, without further ado, here are some pictures.
This is the Chrysalis from the front. Consider it a "before" picture of the lawn (which is badly eroded and needs to be terraced), and of the sidewalk (that needs to be torn up and replaced because it is being destroyed by the roots of the big, beautiful tree that needs to be cut down).
This is Apollo. He is the guardian eagle of the house. He hung in that same spot on the wall for as long as anyone remembers, quite possibly since the house was built in 1950. We were told that if we took him down, the house would burn to the ground. We decided to brave fate, however, in order to paint behind him. We were greatly amused by the color difference between the wall behind Apollo and the walls around Apollo. THIS IS WHAT SMOKING WILL DO TO YOUR TEETH, TOO!
This is what the bathroom looked like when we moved in. Yes, those are trash bags stuffed in cracks in the tile.
This is that same section of tile after Jer's dad came and spent an afternoon with him. The rest of the tub still needs some work, but the trash bags are gone!
This is the living room before we started to paint.
This is Rachel in the kitchen before we started to paint. The kitchen had been fairly recently painted, so we decided to leave it that color for now. We took a paint chip of the teal with us to the hardware store when we bought the purple so that we could make sure they would match. We also bought a little bucket of the same teal in order to do some accents in the living room. And yes, that is a computer on the kitchen counter. It was the only music we had for the first week or so here, so we kept it central.
This is Erin and Brian in the living room getting ready to paint. Notice that they are still smiling. That's because this was taken on Painting Day 1, not on Painting Day 19. Fortunately for all of us, my camera batteries died and I couldn't find my charger for the next few weeks.
Brian's name is on the deed, so we let Brian put the first stroke of paint on the wall. Please note how utterly horrible the color of the primer is. I think the name was "Murdered by Easter Eggs Purple".
Erin painted the walls nicely for a while...
Then Erin posted important public service announcements on the walls.
(Aside: See that big rectangle on the wall that is a different color than the rest of the wall? There used to be a mirror there, and the last time the wall was painted, they just painted around it. Around Painting Day 12, this idea started to sound really, really smart.)
There is an unexplained cubby hole in the living room. We were told that the family that used to own this house before the person we bought it from raised seven kids in the house. We figure the baby must have slept here, because we have no idea where else seven kids would go in this house. Regardless, random cubbies must be painted, and I painted it from the inside.
And finally, some after pictures...
The dining room. (Yes, it's a little cluttered, I know, but for two days after having a huge birthday party, I think we can be forgiven for having a few "50" napkins still kicking around.)
Erin relaxing on the couch.
Jeremy relaxing on the other couch. (That's Erin's dog Peanut in the foreground.)
Another angle on the living room. We're still not sure what to do with the cubby, so it has a stereo in it for now. We also left the cubby Grandma's Attic Purple for the time being, lest we forget.
(Aside: The banister may change colors again after all. We liked the teal on the door frame, but it's a little much on the banister. We're hoping some purple stenciling will tone down the PeeWee's Playhouse contrast effect a little bit.)
The guest room is the only room upstairs that is presentable enough to photograph at the moment. There are two other bedrooms, which are both much bigger, but also much more lived in. This room has been dubbed "Stuart's Room", even though Stuart doesn't actually live with us. And his name isn't actually Stuart.
This is our porch. It was our salvation during the birthday party, because it has many windows and a ceiling fan, and stayed about 15-20 degrees cooler than the rest of the house all evening. We're currently looking for cheap/free wooden seating to furnish it with.
This is our backyard, which is across a little alley from our house. Consider this a "before" picture with an indefinitely distant "after". The retaining walls are falling down, but that's a pretty big project to tackle for amateurs. We'll see how we do on the front yard, first. For now, our makeshift gazebo is about all the beautification our backyard is going to get. And maybe a fire table at some point.
This is my car Bitsy, parked in front of our house.
And, since I'm posting so many pictures, what's one more? This is a picture Steve took of me at the wedding of a coworker and fellow Canadian, Bronwyn, last weekend. It's the first picture of myself I've really liked in a long time, so I decided to share it with you all.
And apparently, some people in the blog world even miss me. Thanks to everyone who emailed me or im'ed me or phoned me to check in and see how I'm doing. It meant a lot to me.
I'd like to start blogging again now, if that's alright with you all.
Some adjectives to summarize my life for the past five weeks: busy, harried, adjusting, covered in paint.
When Jeremy and I were engaged, my dad gave me some words of wisdom for marriage. One of those words was "renovate" and it was used in close proximity to the word "don't". More divorces are caused by paint and wallpaper than finances, children, and infidelity combined. (Note: May not be a real statistic.)
Somehow, though, we made it through this past month of painting and renovating, and no one is dead (and I'm pretty sure none of the injuries are permanent). All it took in the end was Erin deciding that we could host a surprise party for her mom with about 45 people, only a few weeks after moving into a house that was, in every way, the epitome of a "fixer-upper". And actually, Erin was right, we pulled it off (mostly due to her not sleeping for about 36 hours prior to the party). And it was a great party. But the best part is: the house is finally together.
It's not done. If I have learned nothing else from watching other people in the act of home ownership, I have learned that there is no such thing as "done" when you own a house. But it's done enough that I finally dare to post pictures.
And, without further ado, here are some pictures.
This is the Chrysalis from the front. Consider it a "before" picture of the lawn (which is badly eroded and needs to be terraced), and of the sidewalk (that needs to be torn up and replaced because it is being destroyed by the roots of the big, beautiful tree that needs to be cut down).
This is Apollo. He is the guardian eagle of the house. He hung in that same spot on the wall for as long as anyone remembers, quite possibly since the house was built in 1950. We were told that if we took him down, the house would burn to the ground. We decided to brave fate, however, in order to paint behind him. We were greatly amused by the color difference between the wall behind Apollo and the walls around Apollo. THIS IS WHAT SMOKING WILL DO TO YOUR TEETH, TOO!
This is what the bathroom looked like when we moved in. Yes, those are trash bags stuffed in cracks in the tile.
This is that same section of tile after Jer's dad came and spent an afternoon with him. The rest of the tub still needs some work, but the trash bags are gone!
This is the living room before we started to paint.
This is Rachel in the kitchen before we started to paint. The kitchen had been fairly recently painted, so we decided to leave it that color for now. We took a paint chip of the teal with us to the hardware store when we bought the purple so that we could make sure they would match. We also bought a little bucket of the same teal in order to do some accents in the living room. And yes, that is a computer on the kitchen counter. It was the only music we had for the first week or so here, so we kept it central.
This is Erin and Brian in the living room getting ready to paint. Notice that they are still smiling. That's because this was taken on Painting Day 1, not on Painting Day 19. Fortunately for all of us, my camera batteries died and I couldn't find my charger for the next few weeks.
Brian's name is on the deed, so we let Brian put the first stroke of paint on the wall. Please note how utterly horrible the color of the primer is. I think the name was "Murdered by Easter Eggs Purple".
Erin painted the walls nicely for a while...
Then Erin posted important public service announcements on the walls.
(Aside: See that big rectangle on the wall that is a different color than the rest of the wall? There used to be a mirror there, and the last time the wall was painted, they just painted around it. Around Painting Day 12, this idea started to sound really, really smart.)
There is an unexplained cubby hole in the living room. We were told that the family that used to own this house before the person we bought it from raised seven kids in the house. We figure the baby must have slept here, because we have no idea where else seven kids would go in this house. Regardless, random cubbies must be painted, and I painted it from the inside.
And finally, some after pictures...
The dining room. (Yes, it's a little cluttered, I know, but for two days after having a huge birthday party, I think we can be forgiven for having a few "50" napkins still kicking around.)
Erin relaxing on the couch.
Jeremy relaxing on the other couch. (That's Erin's dog Peanut in the foreground.)
Another angle on the living room. We're still not sure what to do with the cubby, so it has a stereo in it for now. We also left the cubby Grandma's Attic Purple for the time being, lest we forget.
(Aside: The banister may change colors again after all. We liked the teal on the door frame, but it's a little much on the banister. We're hoping some purple stenciling will tone down the PeeWee's Playhouse contrast effect a little bit.)
The guest room is the only room upstairs that is presentable enough to photograph at the moment. There are two other bedrooms, which are both much bigger, but also much more lived in. This room has been dubbed "Stuart's Room", even though Stuart doesn't actually live with us. And his name isn't actually Stuart.
This is our porch. It was our salvation during the birthday party, because it has many windows and a ceiling fan, and stayed about 15-20 degrees cooler than the rest of the house all evening. We're currently looking for cheap/free wooden seating to furnish it with.
This is our backyard, which is across a little alley from our house. Consider this a "before" picture with an indefinitely distant "after". The retaining walls are falling down, but that's a pretty big project to tackle for amateurs. We'll see how we do on the front yard, first. For now, our makeshift gazebo is about all the beautification our backyard is going to get. And maybe a fire table at some point.
This is my car Bitsy, parked in front of our house.
And, since I'm posting so many pictures, what's one more? This is a picture Steve took of me at the wedding of a coworker and fellow Canadian, Bronwyn, last weekend. It's the first picture of myself I've really liked in a long time, so I decided to share it with you all.
Tuesday, April 10, 2007
Further Adventures in Not Blogging
Another brief update on borrowed Internet access...
Still no Internet at the new house. Still not quite done painting, but the purple looks great wherever the second coat is done, and the new house is starting to feel like home. And, as is the tradition with communal houses, we have named the house. So, you can all come visit me sometime at the Chrysalis.
And I did end up buying a car. She's a 1998 Mazda 626 with leather interior and her name is Bitsy. It's the first car that I have ever had in my own name, and it's kindof an exciting feeling. (Even if it did take me five and a half hours to get my Pennsylvania driver's license in order to be able to buy a car, but that's another post for another day when I have more time to rant. While I'm at it, I can talk about how excited I am to be finally registered to vote, as well as registered with a particular party so I can vote in the primaries.)
So much to say, but I guess I'll have to hold it in for now. Hopefully we'll have Internet at the Chrysalis soon, and I can start wasting my evenings on blogging again. I haven't been to my Bloglines account in ages, and I am sure there are 500 posts sitting there for me to read. Sigh.
I miss you all. Drop me an email if something really exciting has happened in your life that is currently buried under 499 other blog entries. Use my gmail.com address, juleannwakeman at. Hope you all had a wonderful Easter.
Still no Internet at the new house. Still not quite done painting, but the purple looks great wherever the second coat is done, and the new house is starting to feel like home. And, as is the tradition with communal houses, we have named the house. So, you can all come visit me sometime at the Chrysalis.
And I did end up buying a car. She's a 1998 Mazda 626 with leather interior and her name is Bitsy. It's the first car that I have ever had in my own name, and it's kindof an exciting feeling. (Even if it did take me five and a half hours to get my Pennsylvania driver's license in order to be able to buy a car, but that's another post for another day when I have more time to rant. While I'm at it, I can talk about how excited I am to be finally registered to vote, as well as registered with a particular party so I can vote in the primaries.)
So much to say, but I guess I'll have to hold it in for now. Hopefully we'll have Internet at the Chrysalis soon, and I can start wasting my evenings on blogging again. I haven't been to my Bloglines account in ages, and I am sure there are 500 posts sitting there for me to read. Sigh.
I miss you all. Drop me an email if something really exciting has happened in your life that is currently buried under 499 other blog entries. Use my gmail.com address, juleannwakeman at. Hope you all had a wonderful Easter.
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