More Adventures in Homeownership Part 2

Sunday 4:52pm .. final closet doors up!

Next up: paint the back porch … awesome

More Adventures in Homeownership

So we continue our home improvement adventure by putting up more doors in our house (1).  After the last the weekend of the More Tools, More Work Treaty, Mr. MedSchool continued to hold up his end of the deal (more work).  However, the work became very sporadic.  Now I understand that he is in Med School and is not my handiwork houseboy (2), and I don’t want Mr. MedSchool to sacrifice his studies because things need to get done around the house.  However, when our hallway bathroom goes without a door for 2 weeks … I feel like the intense (3) studying habits weren’t prohibiting the door installation. 

On Sunday, Mr. MedSchool took several doors down with the intention of putting them back up that day.  However, the door needed to be cut and it was raining (4).  Mr. MedSchool informed me that he would have them up by Tuesday.  Tuesday passed.  Wednesday Passed. The weekend passed (5). 

It is Saturday and the door is up.  Only 2 more to go… who knows when they will make an appearance in our house.

Reader’s Note: All this being said, my husband is wonderful and does balance Med School and real life extremely well.  He also does tons around the house to help me in addition to all of the handiwork (6). 

1. Yeah ..that’s right we’re still doing that.

2. We’re not into role playing anyways.

3. More like erratic

4. And as we have learned from past experience, Power tools and rain do not mix

5. I will give this one to Mr. Medschool because we actually weren’t home for most of the weekend. 

6. And he cooks and cleans

Party Time

Nieces and Nephews are a special gift.  They give you just enough “kid time” to remind you why you are not ready to have children while also satiating your parents’ need for grandchildren so they are not consistently bug you about having kids.  We have a few nieces and nephews in the family and get together for holidays, family vacations and birthdays. 

Little kid birthdays are the best.  You get to do things like bounce in a bouncy house, go to a petting zoo, swing, fight over presents, play with water guns, (1) etc. I was especially excited about my 5 year old niece’s birthday party this past weekend.  We were meeting then in Big City, South to go Snow Tubing at a local amusement park.  I was pumped! (2)

Unfortunately we got a call shortly before the party was to start telling us that because of the incoming rain, the outdoor Snow Tubing was closed.  Scrambling to find another place, our brother and sister-in-law settled upon one of the most popular spots for children’s birthdays: Chuck E Cheese. 

Now I have been at a Chuck E Cheese in the past.  In fact, we had a college sisterhood event there for my sorority.  Unfortunately a Chuck E Cheese full of 100 20-something girls gossiping and a Chuck E Cheese full of 100 children screaming and running around (3) is not the same.  Not even close.

Mr. MedSchool and I ventured to the party location and sat outside in our car for 15 minutes.  Even though we were on time, we did not want to be the first ones there.  We entered the Chuck E Cheese and made a beeline for the back “Party” area where the family sat (4).  I quickly learned I could stand the “Party” area with the creepy animatronic mouse and incessant playing of children’s songs was easier to handle than the arcade area.  The arcade area was filled with kids running at top speed and screaming.  I was amazed at how parents just let kids run wild throughout the area.  Aren’t they afraid that, I don’t know, that someone will take their kids (5).

So after two hours of screaming, kicking, greasy pizza, creepy animatronics, and a loop of “She’ll be Comin’ ‘round the Mountain,” we realized that our life was still better than the person that has to dress up like Chuck E Cheese and dance and sing everyday.  So onward to our next birthday party.  Our nephew turns 5 next month and his party is rock climbing (6).

 1. Sadly, Mr. MedSchool and his friends do 3 out of 4 of these without being around any children

 2. Come on, it doesn’t snow here much

 3. It was like a swarm of flies, only with very high decibel level

 4. And my father-in-law was complaining about how there were so many TVs and none of them were playing the game.

 5. Note they do have a “stamp system,” and no child is suppose to leave without the adult with the same ink stamp on his or her arm.  However, there is this thing called water … which washes off stamps

 6. Yeah cause that’s not dangerous for adults … much less 5 year olds. 

Sweaty, Smelly and Grunty

So I go to the gym every day, when I feel like it a few times a week, and I have noticed the normal influx of New Year Resolutions gym goers (1).  As the crowd at the gym grows, you start to notice things about people more and more.  You can tell the faithful from the firstimers (2).  There are a few people that have stood out to me most though.

1. Really Sweaty Guy: The other day on a guy hopped onto the elliptical next to me.  After 20 minutes, I noticed that he was really working on up a sweat to the point that it was pouring (3) off of him.  After 45 minutes on the elliptical, Mr. Sweaty McSweaterson was finally done.  There was literally a pool of sweat around the elliptical. Thankfully Really Sweaty Guy did take his towel and mop up the lake of liquid around the machine (4).  
2. Barbie: Barbie comes every Tuesday and Thursday and walks on the treadmill.  You can also smell Barbie before you see her. After hopping on the treadmill next to me last week, I almost hacked up a lung because of her perfume.  Not only does Barbie smell like a Perfumania, but she wears more makeup than any person I have ever seen at 6am (5).
3. Grunty Muscle Man: Every gym has a Mr. Grunty as a regular.  He is the ripped guy (6) that makes awkward and uncomfortable noises that would suggest he is having a hernia.  Mr. Muscle Man is also notoriously bad about dropping weights on the ground after he is finished with them to emphasize how much he was lifting.

 Although these individuals can be distracting, if it weren't for Sweaty, Smelly and Grunty (7), what else would keep me entertained on the stationary bike?

1.  It's okay they only have 2 more weeks until they give up and the ellipticals are all mine again. 
2. Mostly from the extreme panting while walking on the treadmill 
3. No literally pouring in streams
4. Note to self do not use Elliptical #4
5. Except for in Vegas...lots of makeup and for that matter lots of perfume too.
6. Or sometimes a guy that wishes he was ripped
7. Like my own little dwarfs of the gym

But It was On Sale

But It was On Sale: A term that women often use to justify the purchase of an item that will come in handy but is not completely necessary.  Men rarely use this term unless it is pertaining to a grill, TV or in my case, power tools.

Over the past few months, I have found that with new homeownership comes with do-it-yourself projects of all shapes and sizes (1).  Our latest project is hanging doors.  We have approximately 10 doors in our house, and Mr. MedSchool decided that we would paint and hang all of them this weekend in between shopping, hosting friends for dinner, church, studying, and work (2). 

Our door adventure began on Friday afternoon when Mr. MedSchool proudly arrived from an excursion to the Home Depot.  He had in hand a new router, finishing blade, and new drill bits.  He explained to me that even though he had spent a good chunk of change, these were all things that he absolutely needed these things to hang the doors (3).  After spending a few hours setting up a huge mess “workshop,” we began to spend our Friday night painting doors (4).  

We worked until about midnight (5), when it was time to hang the first door.  We got the hinges in place on our newly painted door and drilled everything in place.  Then we closed the door and it stopped.  Over time the house kind of sagged (6), and it seemed that the doorframe was the issue.   There was only one way to fix this issue, buy a new tool for Mr. MedSchool to play work with. 

So the next day we arose early to make another trek to the Home Depot to buy a chisel set.  After routing and painting, I got ready to meet my friend Amy for lunch and a bit of shopping.  After a few hours, I returned to find Mr. MedSchool still working (7).  “I had to spend more money,” Mr. MedSchool informed me.  You see apparently Mr. MedSchool ran out of screws and had to go again to the Home Depot.  While there, an electric sander caught his eye. “I had to buy it you see, it will make my work much faster, and it was on sale.”(8)   

So after hanging approximately 6 doors (9), we wrapped up the weekend about 6 tools richer and a few hundred dollars poorer.  Due to this “investment,” Mr. MedSchool and I have instituted the More Tools, More Work treaty.  This new legislation of our household entails that Mr. MedSchool start a new project for each tool that he buys and that tools must be used in at least 3 times.  Now we just have to see if I can work up a More Clothes, More Cleaning treaty. 

1. And spending money, do your know how much a door costs?

2. Yeah … we’re pretty popular

3. Just like I absolutely needed the new curtains and rug that I bought which Mr. MedSchool didn’t understand why I would spend money on. 

4. Yeah painting doors on Friday night … we’re really popular

5. Like I said … popular

6. Yeah apparently lots of things sag with age

7. Let the record show that the only thing I bought on this shopping excursion was a $35 hall runner and a $7 belt  (thank you TJ Maxx)

8. It was “On Sale” how many times have I used that line on shoes and it hasn’t worked.

9. Shocking! Something took longer than Mr. MedSchool expected.  

Deceiving Your Children: Chapter 1

As you may have figured out (1), I like to cook, and although, I do get most of my recipes off the internet, I love cookbooks.  There's just something about setting open a cookbook and whipping up a delicious meal to make you feel all warm and domesticky.

This past Christmas I received a different kind of cookbook.  It's called Deceptively Delicious by Jennifer Seinfeld (2).

The main theme of the book is tricking your husband (3) children (4) into eating vegetables by pureeing them into goo and then putting them into everything from from pasta to mac and cheese to brownies.

In short, I have decided that this book is pure genius (5).  If you simply lie don't tell your children that you are hiding things that they find disgusting in their food, they will eat it. Plus, there are great chapter titles like "Changing Habits Through Loving Deception."

Apparently, it is hard work to be deceptive and not get caught.  First most veggies must be steamed or roasted. Then they are pureed in a food processor.  Then you take 1/2 cup portions of each of the purees and put them in ziplock bags to freeze.  Now Mrs. Seinfield assures us that you won't notice the extra 2 -5 minutes it takes to puree and it takes her maid her only about an hour a week to prepare all of these purees.  Dear Mrs. Seinfeld, have your maids you ever roasted a squash (6), then waited for it to cool (7), then scooped out the still steaming flesh into a food processor (8), then processed (9), then portioned into individual bags (10) ?

As I read further about pureeing spinach and cauliflower and beets, the book also suggests that you can puree turkey and chicken for extra protein (11), and there are also fun "Tip" pages on topics such as "How to Say No" (12) or tips for "Dining Out" (13).

In conclusion, this is a great book and a good idea. So anytime now that I want to get my folic acid from my lasagna or beta carotene from my sloppy joes, I will turn to Deceptively Delicious.

1.  If you have actually been paying attention to my posts
2. Yes, like Jerry's wife
3. Well Now you know my motive
4. and now you know my mom's motive for giving me the book
5. and Jennifer is thinking "Who's the more clever Seinfeld now Jerry..huh?"
6. 30 to 40 minutes 
7. 5 to 10 minutes 
8. 3 minutes 
9. 2 to 5 minutes (oh look she got one right)
10. 5 minutes
11.mmm ... liquid dinner
12. Really? You're pureeing vegetables and hiding them in other foods... you are way too late on this tip page to start now
13. Because that will make your kids eat healthier?

Welcome to 2010

It's been so long, and I have missed you all.  So to explain my long blogging absence, the only explanation that I have is that things have been slightly South of crazy.  So just to give you a run down: in the last month and a half we have bought a house, fixed it up, moved in, gone on a 15 hour road trip, been in 5 states, celebrated 2 holidays, and managed not to loose my mind.

So I have learned a few things with our ventures of the past few weeks:

1. I was never meant to be a painter or a carpenter or handiman or any job that requires skill or handiness 
2. If the weather says Heavy Snow, even though you live in the South, they might be telling the truth
3. Man CAN live on peanut butter, poptarts and cereal alone
4. If you tell my mother you want cute scarves for Christmas, she will by you a few, 15 to be exact
5. Swedes can pack, have you ever been to Ikea?
6. DVR WILL change your life
7. Attics = Storage Unit for Husband's Junk

I will expound up these in the coming weeks as well as our great adventures of home ownership.  As for now, I leave you with this thought: No matter how crazy and busy your last year was... always be ready for the next to be a bigger whirl wind.  Happy 2010.