Yes, that was a barely-veiled nod to “Hot Shots – Part Deux.”  I have no idea why that reference popped into my head.

For those of you who do not have the hyper-Googling thing going on (bythelbs read about the song in the post, looked it up, and found it before I even had a chance to locate the thing online yesterday!), the song I was referring to is here.  I have no idea if I’d find it so compelling had I not seen dance choreographed to it.

Anyway, another bit of randomness pulled from an e-mail yesterday:

Btw, did you know that spell-check recognizes “Wal-Mart”?  I had taken the lazy route and just typed “Walmart”… I usually don’t bother spell-checking, but “guttural” looked weird so I ran it, and what did it pick up on?  “Dustbunnies” (it prefers “dust bunnies”) and “Walmart.”  Yeesh. 

What has our society come to?  Spell-check has an entry for Wal-Mart.  And no, this is not one of those where I added the word – I never (ok, well, this one time) use spell-check, much less add words to it.  I should add that just for giggles and grins I ran Xanga’s spell-check on this post, and it does not recognize “Wal-Mart” (nor, apparently, “I’d” or “spell-check,” ironically enough).  It also does not recognize or offer alternatives for “dustbunny.”  I just thought you’d want to know.

I’m back!  Sort of.  I’m getting ready to go on vacation and I have high hopes of actually managing to keep up a nice blogstream, so blogging has been on my mind.  I also have high hopes of catching up on the last three months of blog subscriptions that I’m behind on.

I was emailing a random side note to a friend and thought, “Hey, this is as good a blog as anything I’ve managed to not write lately…”  Plus, this kind of eases me back in gently, without the pressure of blog-specific creativity.   

Ok, so I’m fixated on a new song.  I must confess, I actually heard it on “So You Think You Can Dance” and I spent like half an hour trying to figure out what it was and who sang it.  (Side note: This is the first season of SYTYCD that we’ve watched, and I must say it’s fascinating.  The judges are irritating and the people’s personalities sometimes less than riveting, but the dancing is amazing.)  Anyway, the song is “Belief (Stripped Version)” by Gavin Degraw.  Oh.  My.  Gosh.  It’s not a Christian song or anything, but the guy packs some incredible raw emotion into his voice.  I listened to the original released version (I bought the whole “Chariot – Stripped” album on the basis of this one song, and it comes with all the originally-produced versions PLUS all the stripped versions) and it was just sappy and pointless, but the stripped version… Oh, wow.  Not that I do that sort of thing or anything, but it’s one of those songs that would totally make you want to jump the guy.

Have you heard it?  If not, I bet you want to now, don’t you?  Muahahahahaha.

Wow.  It has been almost a month since I blogged, and it’s been just about that long since I’ve read any blogs…  Yeesh.  I’ve got some catching up to do.

Anyway.  Just to give you guys an update: We’ve been in the process of adding a garage and bonus room to our house – a project that was supposed to take two to three months and is now going on five.  The problems it solves are well worth it (I keep reminding myself), but honestly – I.  Cannot.  Handle.  Much.  More.  Of.  This.  Grad school + work (tax season, to boot) + chaos and construction at home = stress. 

The good news is, once this is complete it will solve virtually all of our minor issues with the house – we really like our house (I built it about four years ago, just before TBear and I got engaged), but it’s fairly small.  Don’t get me wrong – it’s a great starter house and was ideal for a single gal, but if/when we ever decide to have kids things would get cramped.  We considered buying land so we could eventually build something bigger, but we really like living here – so this addition is adding a nice big garage (storage!! room for TBear’s man-stuff!) and a nice big new living room so that TBear’s big TV has a lovely nice home where it won’t look like a 2-ton elephant squeezed into a child’s playhouse…  AND I won’t be running into speakers all the time AND the fireplace will be noticeable again AND no more scraping ice off windshields in the winter AND the washer and dryer will be moving to the garage so I get a PANTRY IN THE HOUSE!!!!!  YAY FOR STORAGE!!!!  Plus we were able to get the living room, dining room, and spare bedroom painted as part of the reno and the colors are gorgeous (previously everything was kind of an ugly yellow, due to an incorrect color-match by person or persons unknown when the house was originally built/painted).  HUZZAH!  PLUS, now we will have a nice back porch (previously pretty much just an oversized landing) and a back deck!  And did I mention we now have a real, honest-to-goodness concrete walkway instead of a narrow little DIY deal (that was painfully obviously inexpertly done by yours truly)?

So, while things have been crazy-hectic, at least the end is in sight and glorious wonderfulness awaits (LOL – kind of like life…)

So here are a couple of before/after pics (reno isn’t done but most of the exterior stuff is):

House before.

House after.

Ugly paint before (hard to see color – just trust me on this one) (Oh, and btw – the TV takes up the entire corner between the window and fireplace)

Pretty paint after (the fireplace wall is an accent wall, so the color on it is a bit darker, then everything else is more of a putty color).

HOORAY HOORAY!

Behold my anniversary present from TBear:

I spent two hours playing with them last night.  :-)   (Now, mind you, I first studied for three hours, took a crazy exam, went home and moved the chair and laundry baskets from their corners in the bedroom, swept said corners, shook out the rug, moved the chair to the laundry corner and the loveseat from the living room into the chair corner, moved the bookshelf from the loveseat corner, swept that corner of all the construction debris created by the removal of the window that used to be in that wall (which removal necessitated all the furniture moving and rearranging to temporary new locations), and cooked two meals simultaneously – homemade pizza for last night and a stew for tonight.   Only then did I play.)

There.  See how neatly I justified my playtime?  Actually, I think that the mere knowledge that I could look forward to the playtime made the rest go a lot faster, so I ended up with a sense of accomplishment and a nice break.  Plus, after I put together the new set, I got out the ones I got for Christmas and set them up as part of the whole tableau (the above only shows the new set, since it’s just a stock pic I pulled from online somewhere).  And yes, the train DOES ride around the tracks (if you push it – they’re Lincoln Logs, after all, not Lionel Trains).  And there’s even a log-loading setup that lets you load the little bitty single logs into the train. 

Go, TBear!

I know – cheesy title and I can’t stand the song, but it’s the only thing I could come up with.  And now the song is stuck in my head. GRRRRRRRRRR.

Happy anniversary to the man who makes every day a joy; who is a model of patience, understanding, and self-control; who blesses me with thoughtfulness in countless ways even when I act unblessable; and who constantly motivates me to be a better person – I love you!

 

I saw this on bythelbs’ site and decided to snag it and post it since today is our anniversary (mine and my husband’s, not mine and bythelbs‘) and it’s all about us!

How long have you been together?
We were married exactly three years ago today.  When writing this, I thought we started dating 3 years, 3 months, and 3 days ago, but then I realized I conveniently left out the whole time we were engaged… So really we’ve been together since June 15, 2005.

How long did you know each other before you started dating?
Well, technically we kind of met a couple of months earlier at a seminar, and apparently he kind of flirted with me (I remained blissfully unaware of this until many moons later, since at the time I had my eye on another guy – ah, the perfidy of women…).  I didn’t really start thinking of him as a ‘prospect’ until he locked his keys in his car a month and a half later and asked me for assistance…  Then the stalking began and two weeks later he was MINE…

Who asked who out?
Erm… Well, he asked me out… But I kind of basically sort of might have completely cornered him into it…

How old are each of you?
I am 31, he’s 45.

Whose siblings do/did you see the most?
Mine – they’re both still teenagers and live with my parents, who are only a couple of miles from us.  His parents and sister also live close but we don’t see them as much.

Do you have any children together?
Nope.

What about pets?
The cutest dog in the world and some fish (also cute, but harder to cuddle)

Which situation is the hardest on you as a couple?
My being in grad school – because I also work, my schoolwork ends up taking up a lot of our ‘together time’ 

Did you go to the same school?
Same college

Are you from the same home town?
Nope.  I was born in Maryland and grew up in North Carolina, and he was born in and grew up all over – Norway, Nebraska, Washington… (Air Force brat)

Who is the smartest?
He would probably say me but I think we both are, just in different ways.  I’m probably quicker-witted (and certainly sharper-tongued), but he’s definitely a smart one (hellooooo – a Master’s in Applied Mathematics?  Yeesh!).  He also works harder at everything and has a stick-to-it-ness that eventually conquers any problem.  The man is my hero.

Who is the most sensitive?
Hmmm.  I’d say it’s pretty even. 

Where do you eat out most as a couple?
Oh, wow.  It varies.  We try not to eat out much, but when we do we like to make it somewhere special – there’s a great local Italian place we love, and any time we’re in a town with a P.F. Chang’s we try to go there.  For sheer frequency I’d have to say Panera, though, because if we’re needing something quick we’ll go grab a bowl of soup there.

Where is the furthest you two have traveled together as a couple?
Maui, for our honeymoon.  Can’t wait to go back.

Who has the craziest ex’s?
I really don’t have any, so by default it has to be him.  There’s one of his I would back over with my car if I ever had the opportunity.  Or knew her name.  Or what she looked like.

Who has the worst temper?
Me. 

Who hogs the bed?
Him – he likes to invade my side when I’m not looking.  Or when I get up in the middle of the night.  Or whatever other times he can.

Who is more stubborn?
Me, when it comes to sheer cussedness and refusal to admit I might (possibly) be wrong.  Him, when it comes to determination to finish something.  So, I guess you could say I’m stubborn in the bad way, and he’s stubborn in the good way.

Who is more jealous?
Neither one of us, although I tease him about the young college girls in his math class and about the fact that several have left comments about his hotness on ratemyprofessor.com.

Who does the cooking?
Usually me, but he is the Grillmaster and can do amazing things with slabs of meat and fire.  He also makes amazing breakfast foods (omelettes, pancakes, and french toast, all of which I’m really bad at).

Who is more social?
I’d say he is, but I think we’d be more evenly matched if I weren’t always feeling so stressed with school.

Who is the neat Freak?
I’m the frustrated perfectionist – I want everything perfect but am rarely motivated to make it so.  He actually follows through in his drive for neatness.  Again, I partly blame school for my descent into entropy.

Who wakes up earlier?
He does.  I always let the alarm go one (or two…) more cycles before I lurch to the shower.

Where was your first date?
We went to see Batman Begins.  I didn’t think it was really a date, because I had kind of coerced him into inviting me to go with him and his friends, but he assures me that he thought it was a date.  So it was.  The next night he asked me to dinner with absolutely no coercion (but a lot of pre-request idle chitchat – initiated by him, thank you very much).

Who has the bigger family?
We’re both one of three, but I maybe (maybe) have more cousins.  Our families are probably pretty evenly matched, though.

Do you get flowers often?
Usually on birthday, anniversary, Valentine’s day, and sometimes at random intervals in between – like the anniversary of our first date or something. J 

How do you spend the holidays?
With family – we alternate between his parents and mine, since both sets live so close.

How long did it take to get serious?
Well, we were engaged three months to the day after our first date, and apparently he ordered the ring a few weeks before that, so…

Who does the laundry?
I try to, but a lot of times he beats me to it.  This only bothers me because I am anal about what does and does not get put in the dryer and sometimes there are slip-ups…

Who drives when you are together?
98% of the time he does.  I think it’s a guy thing.

Is your family still growing?
Um… It’s possible, I guess, since there’s really no ‘growth’ thus far. 

Wow.  My first Valentine of the year!  It’s a shame I’m already taken…  Here is my sweet love letter in all its grammatical splendor:

Hello,

How are you today? I hope you are fine.If so thank be to God almigthy.My name is Suzan Patrick,26 years from Sierra leone in West Africa. I am single girl looking for honest and nice person.(well, of course, aren’t we all?) Somebody who care and love God whom i can partner with .I don’t care about your colour or ethnicity. (or, apparently, my gender…)

I would like to know you more,most especially what you like and what you dislike.(I just bet you would…)I’m sending you this beautiful mail, with a wish for much happiness.(I appreciate that.  Really.  I do.) I am looking forward to hear from you.

Thanks and God bless.
Love from,
Suzan

Well, I, for one, am touched.  Deeply, deeply touched. 

You know those magazines by the checkout lanes at the grocery store – the ones that you wouldn’t subscribe to in a million years, but that nonetheless draw your eye as you wait for the cashier to sort through the ball of crumpled coupons the customer in front of you just surrendered? Turn your mental eye away from the ones proclaiming the latest celebrity infidelities and alien babies, and instead picture the more glamour-oriented, fad-culture/fashion rags – the ones that invariably have a more-gorgeous-than-life woman with windswept hair and out-thrust chest airbrushed on the cover. Okay. Now, hold on, don’t go jumping to conclusions – this blog is not about the ideal of flawless feminity being crammed into our collective imperfect consciousness by every media outlet known to man. Or woman. Let me just say at the outset that this model of perfection does not threaten my self-image; I am fully aware that the models themselves are amazed at the wonders modern photoshopping can do for every imperfection. I got over that issue a long time ago (although I’d probably find myself revisiting it with a great deal of angst if I had a young and impressionable adolescent daughter).

Here’s the thing, though – is it just me or does it seem that these women’s heads are getting bigger every year? I mean, every pic I see lately shows a tiny body topped by an outsized head (often made even more disproportionate by massively volumized hair). I literally cannot think of a single instance where the distance between your ears should be greater than the width of your hips, except possibly with very young children. Granted, most mags are not that extreme, but seeing one that was is what actually prompted this blog (I wish I could remember the name…). Has anyone else noticed this? Is it just me? Seriously, I want to know. Keep your eyes out and let me know if you happen to notice this insidious trend next time you’re stalled by the magazine rack…

Since bythelbs dropped me on FB chat (*sniffle*), I must resort to blogging to keep myself awake.  TBear is off doing the first part of his grueling 5th degree black belt test and I have no idea when he’ll be home.    Lucky him - he still gets to get up at 6:30 am tomorrow morning to go to work.  I hope he’s not getting too bruised and battered…

Behold the subversion of a puppy:

Yes, that’s TBear there with the huge bag of (puffy – ugh!) Cheetos… and if you look more closely:

He’s even involved Woobie in his heinous snacking choices!  /shudder/

Behold the insidious effect these puffy fried snacks have (other than turning your fingers and pantlegs orange…):

More randomness from our Disney trip:

Apparently Captain Obvious now works at Brawny.

Pic of Cinderella’s Castle at night (taken on my phone). 

Biggest turkey leg I’ve ever seen in my LIFE – I felt like I’d slipped into a Flintstones episode.  We were sitting at a table eating (this is about all I finished of the leg – and yes, I was using a plastic knife and fork because I draw the line at snarfing on a 6-lb chunk of greasy meat in front of the masses like a cave-lady) and this older retired couple came to share our table.  After about two minutes they were egging me on to pick the thing up and chomp on it.  !!  (Didn’t happen.)  Bizarre, though.

Just got a text from TBear that he has at least another hour to go (he’s been there since 6:00 pm and now it’s after 11:00 pm – the other guys that are testing can all lay around like lazy slackers tomorrow and recuperate, so I’m sure no one’s giving any thought to the fact that my guy actually has a job.)  No, no, I’m not bitter…  Did I mention he has to take off work on Wednesday to finish the blasted thing?  ARGH.  We will both be so glad when this is over… LOL – him more so than me, I’m sure!

So now for a rundown of my favorite present of this year (well, ok, one of my favorites):

LINCOLN LOGS!!!  I love Lincoln Logs.  As a kid, I would walk to my parents’ office after work, where I would pretty much be stuck, bored and alone, from 3:00 p.m. until about 9:00 p.m. (often later), which was usually about when we ate dinner.  My saving grace during those long, tedious hours was my Lincoln Logs, which I would set up almost daily to make villages for the little plastic people that came from my Burger King Kid’s Meals (ok, now that I’ve done a search on them, apparently they were from Arby’s kid’s meals) – the Little Miss and Mr. Men figures.  They had amazing social interactions and daily fun, all scripted and directed by yours truly.  So, anyway, wrenching myself away from my nostalgic meanderings – all of these fond memories have made me yearn to have Lincoln Logs of my very own again, and in light of this, TBear presented me with these on Christmas:

The set included the little ponies and cow and everything.  *blissful sigh*  I’m such a child.

By which I mean, of course, “Catch Up” – yes, pointless and terrible pun, but “Catch Up” as a blog title sounded almost as bad as “Update.”

So, anyway, where did we leave off?  Oh, right, Christmas and the flood.  So, Christmas was awesome – the normal craziness of trying to be with two sets of parents at different times in the same day, rushing around and trying to do too much and see too many people, while also keeping firmly in the forefront of one’s mind the real reason for the celebration…  But it was a fun and crazy time and we enjoyed catching up with lots of people we don’t get to see very often (my parents do an open house in the afternoon/evening so all our family and friends can get together in one place and visit and enjoy the day).

My big surprise present to TBear was a three-day, two-night romantic Candlelight Christmas visit to Biltmore Estate, which is this a-freaking-mazing massive 250-room mansion built by George W. Vanderbilt in 1895 and still privately owned by his descendants (to quote the website - ”this French Renaissance chateau remains America’s largest privately-owned home…The house covers 4 acres, totaling 175,000 square feet. It consists of 250 rooms that include 35 guest and family rooms, 43 bathrooms, 65 fireplaces, and three kitchens”) .  It sits on 80,000 acres and has a winery, farm, formal gardens, conservatory, and restaurants.  We stayed at the four-star Inn on Biltmore Estate, which is actually located on the estate and is absolutely luxurious (and far nicer than anywhere we’d ever stayed before!).

We arrived at the estate with just enough time to check in to our room, then we headed over to the house itself to eat at the Stable Cafe - actually a nice restaurant (upscale steak kind of place, contrary to the name) that is in the converted stables attached to the mansion (and holy cow, these horses must have had it good!).  Then we got to do a self-guided tour of the (four-story-plus-basement) house itself, all decorated for Christmas and lit by the soft (electric-assisted) glow of candlelight.  There were also a ballet performance of sections of the Nutcracker Suite, a full choir singing carols, and story-telling and marionettes as part of the tour in the house.  Yeah.  AMAZING.

So, we spent January 1 – January 3 there, blissfully alone together in this incredibly romantic setting, and just took time to relax, rewind, and recharge while enjoying the house and grounds.  It was especially nice to have the time to ourselves after all the furor of the holidays. We did a daytime tour of the house, toured the winery, and went to a couple of the other fabulous restaurants.  We also took a special rooftop tour of the house that let us into areas not normally open to the public, including the roof.  Here’s a pic of one view:

That big building with the spires and gables there to the right of the big roof?  That’s the stables and courtyard.  Yeah.

So that was major fun and we actually ended up getting season passes so we could go back when all the gardens and grounds are in bloom – the estate is about 3 hours from where we live, so it’s a good weekend trip.

Ok.  That’s enough for now.  Since then I’ve been sick for three weeks, started a new semester of grad school, and suffered heinous deadline pressure at work (hence the lack of blogging).  Someday I’ll get around to posting all the amusing blogs about our other interim experiences that I composed in my head but never actually wrote down…