08-27-03 - MOVING! -
revised at 11:05 am!! Read it again!!

I can be optimistic or pessimistic today. It all depends on where I put my eyes.

Pessimistic:

The Russians are back and one of them just walked right into my apartment yesterday while I was answering an email. Just opened the door, walked in, looked around the room and said with a deep Boris (from Rocky and Bullwinkle) accent, "Move this from window." A chin nod toward the trunk in front of the window, and he was gone.

When I made my recent journal entry about the Russians, they disappeared for a really long time. So I was a little worried that maybe they had read my journal and I had hurt their feelings. But then I remembered:

"Silly girl! Russians don't wear Renaissance gowns! They didn't read your journal!"

So today I will have to deal with Russians in my window again. I would leave and go paint the new house, BUT . . .

The alternator on my truck died, and it's in the garage being fixed. So I'm without transportation too, which means . . .

My kitchen is still not painted and I won't be able to get over there until the truck is fixed.

Or, I can be optimistic:

WE HAVE A HOME!

WE HAVE A HOME!

WE HAVE A HOME!

And I get to spy on the Russians all day, which is great fun, and I thoroughly endorse it if you haven't tried it.

And Brian said that Geof can cart me around in his Jeep like he's my little spiky-haired blonde slave boy. (Remind me to post pictures of Geof's new haircut! He got a mohawk!)

Speaking of boys needing girlfriends, Geof needs to find a nice girl who will put up with him being gone every weekend at skydiving events - are you that girl?

In case you didn't remember, Geof is the partner-in-crime who Brian contacted about taking me for the wonderful horseback ride and fishing trip on my birthday. Since he totally appreciated what Brian was doing, I would rank him above average on the Romantic-ometer, so there's lots of potential there, ladies.

He can't budget time or money though. And don't expect him to see him much during skydiving season, because

A - He will be hurling himself out of airplanes
B - He will be spending all his money on the opportunity to hurl himself out of airplanes.

However, he can cook eggs with a machete.
He is an experienced climbing hold sculptor.
He has perfected his "swoop" into an art form. He's a ballet dancer with a parachute.
He's got damn good hair. (I know, because we do haircoloring night together)

Geof lives in the Rochester area and loves to travel, skydive, mountain bike, rollerblade, ride horseback, camp, drive fast, and eat anything with bacon on it.

He's got a great sense of humor and an even better sense of adventure. . . And he drives a Jeep. What more could a woman ask for?

"A kilt," you say? Well, you're in luck, because he's got one of those too. ;-)

Oh, and Brian told me that the Russians aren't really Russian. They are Greek. However, since I don't think Greeks in my window are as funny as Russians in my window, I'm going to keep calling them Russians.

Gotta run - the Russian is back. He just walked into my apartment again. *sigh*

Apparently "knocking" was outlawed during the great Pennsyltucky-Russian Window Conflict.

UPDATE: For the next several days, I'll post pictures and info about my single friends. So if you are single, or if you have single friends, STAY TUNED!!!! I may have the perfect guy for you!

I've got a lot of single fellas in my life, and they all love to travel. So if you see one you like, let me know! Tell your single friends, relatives and neighbors to visit this page - who knows, you may just meet Mr. Perfect!

Peace, till next.

08-25-03 - Happy Monday!

Ouch! What a workout! I can't remember the last time I ued my muscles this much, but I'm loving every minute of it!

Kitchen and dining room are almost finished, and the living room will be next. Brian and I expect to have the kitchen done by tonight.

Here are some pictures - still LOTS to do, but you can start to see a new kitchen in there! Click on any image for a larger view!

Pantry Before:

Pantry After:

Cabinets Before:

Cabinets After:

I bought some decorative molding and will add white trim to the cabinet doors tonight to break up the green monotony. We're also adding customized stencils from this FABULOUS company (click here to visit their website) to the cabinet doors.

Tomorrow we will paint the living room and start refinishing the gorgeous hardwood floors in there. Then finally, we'll tackle the bedroom and will move in on Thursday! HUZZAH!

And most amazingly, we have spent under $350! When all is said and done, we will have redecorated on a REALLY affordable budget!

Of course, next year we're ripping out all the plaster and windows, but we want to wait a good year before we tackle such large projects. (We wanna make sure we know what we're doing and don't rip out major load-bearing walls!) ;-)

I'm off to sew and then paint this afternoon! Woohoo! This is more fun than houses made out of velvet and faux fur! ;-)

Peace, till next.

08-22-03 - Happy FRIDAY and wearebuyingahouseTODAY-day!

Good Gertie, I never thought the day would come! Brian and I are going to be HOME OWNERS today! As Brian left for work this morning, I asked, "So whatta ya wanna do tonight?"

Brian: Go to the house.
Me: And do what?
Brian: Just sit there and enjoy it.

He is a GOD.

Last night for DATE NIGHT we went to Home Depot and spent $200.53 on paint. Buying paint is as much fun as buying fabric, especially when you're buying it with gift certificate! (Yay, family! You rock!)

I learned that you can't just "go in and pick up a bucket of green paint" though. You have to go in, pick a color (from about fifty gazillion choices) and then have Counterboy mix it for you. Next time Brian and I will allow extra time for paint mixing, since we wound up being late for the Jack Ryan's pub gathering.

We got there and were dwarfed by the towering walls of paint color options. I admit it. I was intimidated.

I looked at Brian for help and he had a kind of glazed-over "ummmm-yeah, don't even think about asking me . . ." look in his eye. So I said, "you choose bedroom, I'll choose kitchen."

Deal.

We swatched, we compared, we finally picked the following:

We got to the checkout and the lady was laughing at our enthusiasm. She warned us it would be short-lived. If it starts to get monotonous, I'm going to look back to today and remember the scary Russians peeking in my windows, the boxes packed to ceilings, NO ROOM to move around or store things and how painfully long I have waited for a place where Brian and I can truly call "home."

Yeah, I don't think my enthusiasm is going to fade at all. I'm in love with the idea of having a home, and even more in love with the fact that Brian and I get to share it together. The whole thing is a great edventure and we're just starting out.

Does it get any better than this?

I don't know - but if it doesn't, I certainly won't complain because this is pretty damn good. :-)

Have a GREAT weekend!

Peace, till next.

08-21-03 - GOOOOOOAAAAAAALLLLLLLL!

Yeah, score a direct hit! We're closing up this posicle stand and blasting into our new home on FRIDAY!

That's TOMORROW!

Brian and I will be moving this weekend and over the course of next week. He's got tandem videos to shoot at the drop zone on Saturday, so he's off the hook that day. And that actually works out really well. I wanted to paint the kitchen, bedroom and living room before moving in, so I'll do that on Saturday.

Could I be more excited? I don't think it's possible!

Last night we were deciding how many chainsaws we should buy - are we a two-chainsaw family, or just a one-chainsaw family?

We opted for one, but if we start fighting over who gets to use it, we'll get another one. Chainsaws are cheap compared to the cost of fighting with one!

ZING-ing-ing-ing-ing!

We need to pick up a few supplies for Saturday's paint job, so for DATE NIGHT tonight, we're heading over to Home Depot. Brian was very excited about having DATE NIGHT at Home Depot - especially since we've got about $300 in gift certificates to spend there!

Right now it's FUN to go to Home Depot, because everything's fresh and exciting and new, but I told Brian after a few months, Home Depot will probably NOT be an acceptable DATE NIGHT activity.

Last night we ate at a fabulous Greek restaurant. Until I met Brian, I had never eaten at a Greek restaurant and I can't believe I survived that long without Greek food. Now that I've tasted it, I crave it constantly. My favorite is Pastitsio, although I have yet to eat any bad Greek food - it's all SO delish!

I'm trying a new thing - I often drool over antique gowns listed on eBay, but most of them are badly damaged. I want to start restoring those old beauties and then offer them to the public all pretty and restored. However, I don't OWN any antique gowns, so I've got to find some. If you know anyone who has old dresses they don't know what to do with, have them give me a shout. I'd like to start buying some unique ones and restore them. I've got a pathetic budget to work with, so I can't pay a gazillion dollars for the dresses - but I'd be happy to work with any offers - I'd be THRILLED if I could work out exchanges for garb! New garb for old garb - Any takers? Click here for the info page about what I'd be interested in buying/trading for.

Peace, till next.

08-20-03 - Shhhhh. Be vewwy, vewwy quiet. I'm hunting surveyor.

WOO-BLEEPING-HOO!!!!!

I guess sometimes it pays to be the nasty one.

Don't utter the words above a whisper, because I don't want to jinx anything, but I think we may just close on the house in the next few days!

I got cranky yesterday. I was trying SO hard to avoid being a mean girl, but I just couldn't keep it under control yesterday.

Brian found out the name of the surveryor, so I hunted down a phone number and called them. I told them that it's ok that they've been putting us on hold for three weeks, and it's ok that the ONLY person we've been waiting for is HIM, but if I don't have that little map in my hands by this week, he will find my tent pitched, campfire roaring and me living on his front lawn by Friday.

I guess the idea of having a Bo-peep clad freak camping on your lawn is kind of a scary image, because he called me at 7 last night.

"Uhhhh, ma'am? I've just finished your map and will personally hand-deliver it to the lawyer tomorrow morning."

I told him he was my hero , because now I would not have to become a homeless Bo-peep vagabond and eat campfire-roasted dirt from a coffee can.

He didn't say anything - just a lot of silence and then he followed up with an

"Ummmm, yeah. You're welcome?"

HOOO-DIDDLY-RAHHHHHHHH!!!!

Home, Home, HOME!!!!!!!!

Paint-covered clothes, plaster and lathe, plastic-sheeting walls, chaos, dirt, sheetrock grit, grout, mud, floor sanders, nails, hammers, curse words, POWER TOOLS and window replacements HERE WE COME!

And I'm looking forward to every home-owning second of it!

<BIG BO-PEEP GRINS>

Baaaaaaaa!

Peace, till next.

08-19-03 -How do you solve a problem like a closing?

How do I light a torch under the collective buttocks of the people who hold our future in their hands? I'm talking about bankers and lawyers and surveyors. These people have been hemming and hawing over the closing of our home since May of this year. How do I get this FINISHED?

We've been waiting for one stupid map for about three weeks now - we were supposed to close this deal back on July 25, and we were expecting minor delays - all people who buy houses go through this, right?

But here it is, nearly a month later, and we still can't move in because of some crazy map that the surveryor has not faxed to our laywers.

We have to vacate our apartment in exactly 11 days. We paid our August rent in the hopes that we could enjoy a nice, slow move. But nope. We're gonna have to cram everything into garbage bags and drag it over in 4 hours if things keep moving at this fine snail's pace.

Makes me wanna stalk that surveryor a little bit. Makes me wanna go sit in the lawyer's office till he hands me those papers to sign. Makes me wanna plop my butt in the bank's lines and hope it'll make them move just a little bit faster. Maybe if I wore a Bo Peep costume and asked people waiting with me,

"Excuse me sir, I seem to have lost my closing date. Can you help me find it?"

But I won't. Instead I'll go play with the nice horses at this site.

ooooooo-shmow-mow-mow-mow.

Maps? We don't need no stinkin' maps!

ooooooo-shmow-mow-mow-mow.
ooooooo-shmow-mow-mow-mow.
ooooooo-shmow-mow-mow-mow.
ooooooo-shmow-mow-mow-mow.

Peace, till next.

08-15-03 - FREAKY FRIDAY AFTER THE EAST COAST BLACKOUT!

Email from pregnant sister Erin:

-----Original Message-----
From: Erin
Sent: Friday, August 15, 2003 7:55 AM
To: Very Merry Seamstress; Shannon
Subject: Shower (surprise shower)

Hey guys --

Just wanted to give you a heads up... the baby shower Angela is throwing for me is a surprise... so don't tell me!

She was worried I would go out and buy everything on my registry before they had it, so she told me about it. Now I get to act surprised! This will be all work people, so you don't have to come if you've got other plans.

We are all (including Dad!) planning on going to Mom's BBQ tomorow... are you guys going too? I would love to see you and Dad is very nervous about getting a head count, since he is in charge of bringing corn ;-)

Heather -- Glad to hear you are having "more fun than a bucket of neddies"!

(Side note from Heather: A "Neddie" is a very hyper dog I used to have - lotsa fun - very wiggly)

(PS.. that will become my new expression of the week!) Just be sure to let me know if you need me to remove stuff from the registry. PPS... I have been wanting to sell & buy stuff on e-bay, but I can't remember my seller name and/or password and it won't let me create a new one (it says I already exist) -- any ideas?

Talk to you soon!

Love,
Erin

My response:

-----Original Message-----
From: Very Merry Seamstress
Sent: Friday, August 15, 2003 8:40 AM
To: Erin; Shannon
Subject: RE: Shower (surprise shower)

Hey, Erin!

Hahaha -

You're a geek. I *almost* emailed you yesterday and said, "Hey! I'm gonna stop buying stuff for you until after your shower!" and then I remembered it was a surprise just before I hit send.

*whew* I'm glad it wasn't MY fault that the cat's <roooowr> out of the bag.

I've got these big Russian dudes ripping out all the windows of my apartment. They have scaffolding set up outside all my windows and they sit out there smoking cigarettes, and saying stuff like this: "Iusyedtr vjehffeg dofghort oierkdsnf lnfoerh fvlneortg iretjjfng!!!! Hahahahaha!!!"

I spy on them. I can press my eyeball up to the window blinds and spy on them like TWO INCHES from where they are standing and they don't even know I'm there. Of course, since I don't understand what they are talking about, they are probably saying,

"Psssst, don't look now, but that BIG SCARY EYEBALL is back in the window again. This chick needs to GET A LIFE."

They are set up outside my SHOWER WINDOW alllllllllllll day. I can't pee. I can't poop. I can't shower because I've got Russian men in my shower window peeking in.

Thursday night is ALWAYS date night, and Brian and I were gonna go to dinner and see a movie. I needed to go to Rite Aid Drug Store to get some girly aloe/moisturizer soothing cream 'cuz between the heat, humidity, chafe-y shorts and my sensitive skin, my <ahem> "upper thighs" had gotten sweaty and chafed, and I needed relief - not IMMEDIATE relief - but some *eventual* relief.

FINALLY the Russians moved their scaffolding from the window at 3 pm. I needed to color my hair because I look like Gutter Trash Ho, Inc.

I squirted and lathered and basked in ammonia-stink-ooze.

Ten minutes later, at a little after 4 pm yesterday, my power goes out. I was miffed, because I was totally grooving on a website all about the Kennedy assassination and the REAL alien autopsy and I lost the cool website.

I figured that the Russians had accidentally cut the power to the apartment, and I was gonna give them just a few minutes to fix it before I went Medieval on their hides.

I figured I'd better hog the entire apartment complex water supply in a hurry, because I'll be buggered if I'm gonna lose all my hair from not washing all that goop out of it, simply because the people next door stole all the water first.

I hop in, lather up, rinse off, and am able to hog ALLLLLLL the water to myself. :-)

I exit, still no power, throw on some clothes, head out to Rite Aid Drug Store for my personal needs, and off to find an ATM for some date night spending scratch.

The Russians say hi as I leave and then add, "uhfdrf djnfvouerh sodfhowuef sfmniwhr - Hahahahaha!"

Translation: There's that freaky blonde who keeps staring at us out of her window blinds - Hahahahaha!

Bastards. I hate it when they talk about me.

Anyway, I pull into Rite Aid and FREAKY-END OF-WORLD GUY is there. Bugger is standing in the door, screaming at the top of his lungs:

IT'S HUGE!! IT'S HUGE!!! THE WHOLE U.S. IS WITHOUT POWER!! THE ELECTRIC COMPANIES HAVE SMOKE BILLOWING OUT OF THEM!!! IT'S GOING TO BE WEEKS BEFORE WE GET POWER BACK!!!

I start freaking. I can't get my feminine moisturizing cream because the power is out; you can't use debit cards when there's no power; I have no cash.

Drive home, can't find a radio station with an update as to why the world has come to an end - none of the radio stations have power.

Get home, call Brian - his phone is dead. And by now, I'm sure he is too.

Call mom. Mistake? Maybe . . .

Mom: Hello?
Me: (freaking out) DON'T USE YOUR CORDLESS PHONE!! THERE'S NO POWER!! (not really sure what the hell I was thinking)
Mom: (totally confused) Wha?????
Me: are you on your cordless?????
Mom: ummmmm, yeah? Why?
Me: MOM !!! IT'S HUGE!! THE ENTIRE UNITED STATES HAS LOST POWER - - EXCEPT YOU!!!!!!!
Mom: What???? (clicks tv on)
Me: You got the tv on???? What's happening???? MOM?????
Mom: (distracted) Yeah, it's on! It's on the news! Quick, turn your tv on!
Me: I DON'T HAVE ANY DAMNED POWER, MOM!!!!!!
Mom: (giggle) Oh, yeah. (giggle)
Me: MOM!! THIS ISN'T FUNNY!!! I DON'T HAVE ANY CASH, THERE'S NO POWER, AND I GOTTA GET A TUBE OF FEMININE MOISTURIZING CREAM 'CUZ I'M ALL CHAFE-Y DOWN THERE!!!!!!!!

(silence)

Mom: Busts out laughing
Me: IT'S NOT FUNNY! THIS IS REALLY SERIOUS!!!!

(silence)

Mom: (Busts out laughing again) Ohhhh, honey. It's ok. Just wait till Brian gets home and you two can have a nice romantic evening (trying to control fits of giggling) OH, WAIT!!! (giggle fit) You CAN'T have a romantic evening!! (giggle fit) YOU COULDN'T GET YOUR FEMININE MOISTURIZING CREAM!!!! BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA . . .

Me: (Waiting for mom to shut up with her laughing fit) Ma, kiss my <BLEEP>.

So that's how my day went yesterday - I hope you didn't lose power, and if you did, I hope you didn't call mom.

Ebay: Go to eBay's site map, click on the link that says something like "I forgot my password" and they will email it to you. You just have to remember which email account you registered with. If you don't have the original email account you registered with, then you should be able to contact "Live Help" and ask them what's up. If that doesn't work, I'll take a peek tomorrow and see if we can figure it out.

Buck up, lil camper. We'll beat this thing together!

For the baby shower - don't care - just let me know if I'm supposed to be there or not. I already told Angela that Shannon (other sister) and I will be there, and we will bring food, because mom told us, "Erin is your baby-est sister, and this is very important to her, and if you don't go, it will be just like you've chewed off her feet and made her walk to the nearest homeless shelter without sandals."

So that kinda meant Shannon and I *had* to go - but I don't think we mind. Afterall, I can entertain all your work friends about my feminine moisturizing cream story, right?

See ya tomorrow at Mom's BBQ!

Love,
H
***************

Peace, till next.

08-13-03 -

Ohhh, my dear friends, I'm so sorry for the lack of updates. It's been one chaotic event after another, and we STILL have not moved to our new home!

We were supposed to close on July 25th, and I had hoped that by mid-August we would be all settled in and I could resume the Daily Stitch. However, repairs needed to be completed on the house before the mortgage could be approved, vacations, water lines, and a few other snags hit us when we weren't looking.

Right now we're waiting for one tiny piece of paper to be faxed to our lawyer, and then we can close. I guess it's just a survey map - but nobody can seem to find the surveryors!

Anyway - our landlord is ripping out all of our apartment windows next week, so I'm suddenly in a frantic rush to get this move FINISHED. It's very humid here, and I can't imagine that drywall and humidity are a fun combination - so get me out!

Last week we went to see my FAVORITE band in the world: Seven Nations, at Milestones in Rochester. Of course they were phenomenal, and there were only about 40 people in attendance, so it was a rocking, yet intimate performance. Dan Stacey RULES with his fancy dancin' shoes!

We've booked a FUN Irish band for our wedding! The name of the band is called One Road - I spoke with the lead singer, Peg, last week. She sounds like they have a wild Irish group and they'll be a perfect match for my wild Scottish boys. We had wanted to catch her at Milestones on Sunday, but Heather had a few too many margaritas on Saturday, and spent the following day relaxing a bit. ;-)

So there's a brief update!

For me: I've got a few new projects in the works - (writing and illustrating again!) Brian is still loving his job and gearing up for the big skydiving competiution in October - and if they win, the world championship is in Croatia!

We'll be in Las Vegas next month for a weekend wedding, and we're HOPING that we'll be moved by then. And I *promise* I will try to update more often. :-)

Peace, till next.