2007 August Archive at eastowners

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Monthly Archive for August, 2007

Wish List…..

Published

charmaspice

on August 23, 2007

in Housework and Tackle-it

. 2 Comments

Current Mood: I’ve got an Idea! emoticon I’ve got an Idea!

UPDATED AGAIN 3/19/08: Last time I updated I think I was bluffing. We’ve REALLY accomplished some things now! Check out my post on how much we’ve gotten done.

UPDATE 9/3/07: We’ve actually accomplished some things on the list this weekend! YEAH Check my latest post to find out how things are moving along.

I’ve been thinking today….I know it’s dangerous, but it’s something I tend to do when I get left alone for 2 minutes of sheer bliss in not hearing “MOM”. Anwyay, this afternoon it seems as if the clutter has REALLY gotten to me and I am ready to declutter the house. It all started when Clare wanted to play a game of Mancalla, and we were missing 4 beads. We found 2 of them, but in order to find the rest of them I think it’s time to sort through the junk that’s accumalated around here.

So, in an effort to do that I started making a list of all the things I want to accomplish this Fall in my head (and I think we will start this weekend while Clare is gone for a few days to the in-laws). I think the best way to start accomplishing these things is to get them out of my head and on some sort of medium whether it be paper or here for the world to see. My list is below, and as I accomplish the things or add on to it I will post updates.

~~1. Clean out the office, patch, paint, and move Clare into her new large room.~~

2. While moving Clare into her room I want to sort through the toys, reorganize, and label bins for her to put things away in an orderly manner. We will also be moving the large toy shelf up in her room, so ALL of her toys will be in one room.

3. Repaint Clare’s old room, and put the office back together in the smaller bedroom. Going through the clutter as we put it back together of course.

4. Clean out ALL the closets. Get rid of clothing we haven’t worn in the past year, weed out Clare’s smaller clothing, and regain some hangers for the clothes we do wear.

5. Clean our bedroom. Reorganize, and get rid of things we no longer use…..or haven’t used.

6. Get a quote to have our bathroom redone. We have a mold problem, and I think it’s gone beyond our skillz in making it into something I don’t mind going into to take a shower every day. I want to retile the floor, put in an exhaust fan (the electrical is hideous upstairs, and needs a professional to fix it), and maybe a new light fixture depending on how much it costs.

7. Start working on getting the basement finished (or the half we want finished). We want to make a TV room down/entertaining area down there.

8. Sell some of the computer crapt my darling hubby keeps bringing home. We have some boxes in the garage that have who know what in them, and they haven’t been touched in over a year and a half. Our basement also is home to some things we need to sell or give away to Good Will so we can make our room happen.

9. Finish working on some of the scrapbooks I started last month. I will need to have last years CO trip printed, and I need to put our wedding/honeymoon pictures in the album. I know, we’ve been married for 6 years and I start an album now…..well I had an empty album, and the pics printed it was just a matter of time before I got to putting them together.

10. Finish the back porch. We have a little back porch off our upstairs, and currently it’s an open space. I think it’d make a nice reading room with a futon for over night guests…..as currently our guest room is the office with an air mattress.

11. Have our roof looked at, to see when or if it needs to be redone. We had some icicles on the back porch last winter, so I have a feeling it needs to be done soon. We also need to redo our garage roof…..but we have to coordinate that with our neighbor as it’s a shared driveway & garage.

12. Oil our hard woods. We’ve lived here for what will be 5 years in January, and have never done anything with the floors. Our floors have been abused regularly though with a rambunctious 5 yr. old and a dog that likes to run.

Fun Contest

Published

charmaspice

on August 23, 2007

in Contests

. 0 Comments

Current Mood: Cool emoticon Cool

I was reading my blogs this morning, when over at Diaper Diaries I heard about a fab contest that Jenny from Mommin’ It Up is having. She has decided to give away her twenties in preparation of turning the big 3-0. So head on over and see what she’s giving away!

Broken Mouse

Published

dead headphonist

on August 22, 2007

in Technology

. 0 Comments

Current Mood: Doh!

OK… so I use a strange beastly mouse at work, which I’ve used for several years and absolutely love. I was aware that they had stopped making them and I figured I’d shoot on over to ebay and pick up a couple used for super cheap.

Apparently, I’m not the only one who loves these things. It seems the average LOW price on ebay for a used Microsoft Trackball Explorer is about $85. NIB seems to get $125 or more. Wow! Now I feel bad about breaking mine. It was already coming apart and I had glued it a couple of times to get the buttons to stay in, but tonight, it is definitely dead. And now, there’s no way I’m replacing it.

I got my hands on Logitech’s latest wireless mouse (one of the guys from one our vendors had one), and it doesn’t seem bad, but it’ll take learning a new trackball… something I guess I’ll have to begrudgingly do. Not many people use trackballs, so I guess the market isn’t that huge, but with the amount of mousing I do at work, it is needed; along with my ergo keyboard… when Microsoft stops making ergo keyboards, I’m going to be very SAD.

Our language is lacking

Published

dead headphonist

on August 22, 2007

in Rants

. 1 Comment

Current Mood: F%@k It!

There aren’t words for how I’m feeling today. I’m not sure exactly why, but my level of rage is over the top. It is probably just the combination of annoying factors that have been plaguing me of late. Software has not been working the way it should be today and every little thing crawls up my skin and festers into something I don’t like. I just got done screaming at the fucking dog for doing her yowling thing. Normally I can put up with a little of it, but tonight I’m just on edge.

I left work because I couldn’t work anymore. No… this is not a figure of speech. I broke my mouse and the helpdesk was closed. No mouse for me. I slammed the door and growled to the car.

I have blood pressure and heart issues, so I probably should cool out a bit (and thus the reason why I’m writing). Char is watching the fucking news, which is annoying me. I’ve tried very hard to not pay attention to the BS news agencies that have become the mouthpiece for this administration; perpetuating the fear and allowing the powers that be to run amok over the American People. Needless to say, watching this propaganda is NOT at the top of my list… and she was watching one of the worst; Dateline.

I could rant all day on a number of various issues; most of which are covered at length in other places, so for now, I won’t bother. Tonight is simply a vent… get over it.

Now the TV is off… sweet silence. They are going for a walk. Perhaps I’ll go along.

UPDATE: I went for the walk. I’m a little more calm now, but I’ve developed a lump in my throat; the kind that you have when you’re about to well up and cut loose. No urge here to spite my manhood and let go with the tears, but it sure is annoying. I’m trying the whole breathe deeply and focus on relaxing your muscles thing. Hopefully that will help.

I got a nod; “good job” from my boss’ boss today… I found something that will save the company a lot of money over the next three years… it’s kind of a big deal I guess. I just see it as doing my job. Maybe I should take these things a little more to heart, but what I really want is more money in my pay. Right now, I’m really focused on cost savings measures in IT infrastructure. It looks like two of my ideas (including the one above) are going to be implemented. It’s a good feeling to do something worthwhile (I keep telling myself that cost reduction is saving people’s jobs).

That brings me to the end of my day. I’m not sure why my rage has been so high today. It’s probably completely irrational, which bugs me greatly. My stomach is hurting on top of it all (Pepcid is helping, but I gotta relax). At least I still haven’t had a damned migraine (there are small things one can latch onto for positive reinforcement).

Wordless Wednesday

Published

charmaspice

on August 22, 2007

in Photos

. 1 Comment

I don’t have much to say today, as it was a rainy morning around the Eastowners filled with some tv time to relax and lay low. So, I remembered this piece of art work I found while we were spulunking for art out in Sedona, AZ earlier this summer and I liked it so much I sneakily took a picture of it. It reminds me a lot of Brad & I. For more Wordless Wednesday click here or here.

The Fire Fighters VS the Politician VS the SAHM

Published

charmaspice

on August 21, 2007

in Local

. 1 Comment

Current Mood: Angry emoticon Angry

First off, let me say that I have nothing against fire fighters…..as most of you know my dad & brother are both in the field, and I am very proud of that and normally wouldn’t come accross harshly on the job. However, today I had the WORST experiece at a fire house ever. As a MOMS Club activity we had arranged to have a tour done this morning for the kids. What kid doesn’t enjoy going to see the fire trucks, getting to sit in one, and have mom flash the camera taking pictures of it all? This tour was pre arranged so it wasn’t like we were just stopping by random fire houses around town dropping in begging for a tour. I am assuming they were told the age range of our fair young citizens, and what we might expect out of a tour. We showed up at 10 am with our fire station smiles on, cameras in hand, very happy to be there and maybe learn something new. I had never been in any of the fire stations down town, so I thought it might be kind of neat to see one. On other occasions we’ve ventured out to Kentwood and the like. So, we sat there while the 3 guys tossed around who was going to do our tour….”No you get to do the tour.” Finally it was deemed that we’d follow, Oh we’ll call him Bob, around. They sounded their call siren so to say, so that way if they did have a call we’d know what it sounded like so we could get out of the way and let them get on their fire run. Then Bob led us to the kitchen area, he politely showed us the table where they sat, the living room of sorts they used, and then the comments came. Bob said, “Well, ya know I’m sure most of you voted recently and since you voted for Mayor Heartwell we’ll have even less fire fighters here.” “Sometimes we have 3, maybe 1 person at the station, and sometimes none.” The question was asked of Bob about part time or volunteer fire fighters, and Bob proclaimed, “No, only full timers work at this station…..and since the mayor stopped funding us we don’t get much help, so it may take some time for us to make a call.” Some of us moms had disgusted looks on our faces, come on we were there for a tour not a political debate! What really made me angry is, there are tons of service people in this country that are under paid, under funded, and over worked…..and the people that should be held accountable are the presidents & his cronies, not us. If we’re going to point fingers, maybe we should be pointing them at George Bush. Anyway, we were then commenting on their grocery list on their white board, and telling the kids what they had on it. Bob jumps in and says, “Yeah, we have to chip in every month and buy our own groceries, and sometimes it’s not much.” Finally we got him to move the tour on…..we were hoping that they would show us some gear, nope….maybe let the kids get in the fire truck for a picture, nope…….can they at least see the oxygen mask you wear in a fire, nope. They had 4 vehicles in the station, 1 of which is the only one that is in service…..and still no kids allowed. Finally one of them got into his gear, but it was just his pants, jacket, and hat. They kept proclaiming that most of it was over their heads, and there was no need to give that information. People that aren’t around children don’t really understand that there’s nothing they CAN’T understand. You might have to simplify it a little…but they’ll get it. It just made me angry that he wrote all of our children off because he didn’t keep their attentions….oh that’s right he doesn’t get paid enough because of the mayor we voted for. Why is it that politics have to ruin my good day! Instead of sulking though, we all went to the park for some morning fun and running around. They all needed it because of all this rain we’ve had. I think I need a cocktail now though.

Tackle it Tuesday

Published

charmaspice

on August 21, 2007

in Housework and Tackle-it

. 3 Comments

Tackle it Tuesday It’s Tuesday again around the here at Eastowners, so I am trying to tackle some more house work. After heading to the fire station with MOMS Club this morning I will be coming home to tackle some laundry. I’ve been a little laxed in this arena lately, so it’s time to dig back in and get all of it done. After that I plan on tackling some more dog hair…..our dog sheds like there’s no tomorrow, and leaves our floors super nasty. Thank God for swiffers though

A Great Contest

Published

charmaspice

on August 21, 2007

in Contests and Food

. 0 Comments

As some of you might of read in a previous post I am trying a new menu planning service to help us eat healthier, try new things, and to have less stress in knowing what I am making for dinner. I was really excited to hear about this contest where you can win 1 full years worth of a menu planning service (a $240 value). Sound great? Head over to Casual Friday Everday to enter.

BCAR : A Band of Bees

Published

dead headphonist

on August 20, 2007

in Music

. 0 Comments

Current Mood: Chillin

You like the Beatles? No? Oh… not -that- era of Beatles… the Beatles of Abbey Road and Sgt Pepper. Oh… ok. So you can stand them. How about The Grateful Dead from about the same time? Oh… good. Then you might like an album I’ve been listening to lately.

Imagine if you will a marriage of the two previously mentioned bands with a healthy dose of British Lo-Fi rock thrown in for good measure. Sounds like summer-in-the-headphones, right? Well… it is.

The first track, “Who cares what the Question is?”, sounds like a lost Ringo tune from the B-side of an Abbey Road single. It rambles with the precision and goofiness that it seemed was only possible in the rare instances of tunes like “Octopus’ Garden”. Perhaps that’s where The Bees got the title for this album. It is certainly apt.

Up next is “Love in the Harbour”, a tune that sounds like a direct tribute to “the” band from Haight and Ashbury. It’s a groovy tune that interestingly enough fits like a puzzle piece with the previous tune. The Bees show capabilities of tight folksy vocal harmonies and jangly rambling guitars. The harmonica on this track is a particularly nice touch.

There are several other stand-out tracks on the album. Quite honestly, this album is full of tunes that would have been top-of-the-charts hits in a previous time. “Got to Let Go” is probably one of the most well arranged tunes on the album (and features horns and organs, which automatically gets a couple of stars no matter what).

“Listening Man” qualifies as straight-ahead soul, with heavy bass and bongos (yes… BONGOS). It has almost a doo-wop feel, but is as fresh as it gets. The other stand-out tune (and probably one of my favourite songs in existence now) is “(This is for the) Better Days”. It has a very 70’s soul feeling; think of a more Jack Daniels-fueled gritty Steely Dan. And if that doesn’t make you think WTF, nothing in this article will.

This is The Bees third album and is fairly recent (released in March 07). I’ve been listening to the band for about three years now (at the release of their second album). They really have come a long way since their first album, which is also an impressive piece of work; recorded in their garden shed. Every album is very good in its own right, but Octopus is by far my favourite and most certainly shows as their greatest piece of work thus far.

I highly recommend A Band Of Bees if you are into just plain good music. It’s OK to admit that you are… no one here is going to say anything bad about you. Well… maybe.

Eastown Photos

Published

dead headphonist

on August 20, 2007

in Local

. 0 Comments

While waiting for a backup to complete this morning, I was cruising Flickr and randomly searched for “eastown” out of curiosity. It came up with this. It’s quite a nice pictorial of our little corner of earth.

Thanks to the Grand Rapids Photo Blog for providing some more time-wasting entertainment for my Monday morning. They have a cool pic of the sunrise up right now, by the way.