Me oh my oh!

So. This is a light hearted/regularly bitchy post, but please know I've been a bundle of nerves on behalf of the entire northeast. I've checked in with all the people I know and everyone is fine. I know others are not. That others have homes to rebuild and lives to restructure. I understand your road ahead. I've been there, with 13 feet of floodwaters in my house, in a city mangled by mother nature, with no idea of how to start the process. Stay strong. Move forward. Rebuild. 

We've had a cold front in North Carolina. As you've probably seen, as Sandy moved North, a cold front came in her wake. Our temperature hovered around 50 degrees today, which to me, means I need to eat spicy food. Soooo. Cajun dinner for one planned by 10am. But then I didn't want loads of leftovers and invited some friends over to help consume.

I made jambalaya and crawfish pies. And yes, I've been singing this song all gd day long. I didn't make the file gumbo, but the rest was good enough without it. So I went to Walmart to get my crawfish tails for the pies. I grabbed an onion while I was there. But guess what? No onion when I got home. This is ONE of the reasons I hate Walmart. I think they do shit like this on purpose. They put ONE EFFING ONION in a bag by itself, on the bag turn style, you think you grab everything, but leave the onion behind. It's a conspiracy I tell you.

So I left Walmart and ran by the Teeter to get pie shells. Walmart doesn't sell the minis. Got home, couldn't find the onion, went back to Teeter. In the freezing ass cold rain. Not happy. So I get home with all my ingrediences, and open the crawfish tails. CUE JACK GOING NUTS. He's a cat. Of course he loves all seafood, particularly crawfish. A result of living in Louisiana for too long, I guess. So as Jack is sprinting through our house, across the bar, and attempts to dive into the sink, I'm cooking. Mass chaos.

Dinner was great. Friends were awesome. Evening is complete.

Weekend Recap.

Soooo, Now that this kitchen is done-ish, I'm refocusing on the rest of the house. And I hope you like a linky-loo. There are lots in this post.

1. Since last summer, Bob and I have had 5 mattresses. Yes, FIVE. Last week, we picked our (hopefully) sixth and final... a Tempur-pedic with cold technology. It's super awesome. One of our hesitations in buying one was that our friends said they were hot. We don't do hot, especially to sleep. So, Tempur-pedic finally came out with a "supreme breeze" bed, which is cold to the touch. Apparently everyone else is excited about these beds, because ours is on backorder until next Friday. Bleh. I'm already looking forward to a good nights sleep. It's been a while.

2. I hit up World Market and picked out new towels for our guest bath. This looks just perfect with our Marimekko shower curtain (which is discontinued, so no linky). I also got this incredible lotion/soap combo that smells heavenly. I usually can't do smelly stuff, but holy balls. This stuff rocks.

3. I've been looking for coordinating pillows for our sofa with absolutely no luck whatsoever. World Market had a curtain on sale that pulled everything together perfectly, but I already had curtains. Sooooo. One curtain = 3 pillows. The loverly Mrs. E whipped out her sewing machine and helped me with mah pillars. Please ignore our saggy sofa. That's our next big purchase. Bob just doesn't know it yet. Oops.

4. Today, I matured our guest room. And by matured, I mean I bought a bed frame so that room is no longer just a mattress on the floor and a television sitting on an upside down laundry basket. Pretty sweet, huh? Oh yeah. We were full on bachelor pad prior to today. I would show you the actual picture of the bed, but I need to replace the light bulbs in the room. It looks yellow. Gross. I was able to use my Pottery Barn duvet cover and the prints I bought a few years ago to spice it up a bit. It looks awesome. I'm headed back to Ikea later this week to buy an unfinished night stand/chest. I'm thinking of using a gray/green color paint. We have a house guest coming next week, so I'm full speed ahead to get this room/bathroom ready for her!

And that about sums up my working/decorating weekend.

Why Lifetime can kiss my aaaaask.

So. One of my all time favorite movies is Steel Magnolias. And when I say my favorite, I mean I can quote every line, word for word.

When Lifetime remade the movie with an all black cast, I was down with it. The actresses they cast in those iconic roles seemed pretty legit. However, they effed up with the words. It's not word for word, but close enough to show they tried and failed miserably.

Lifetime is proud of their remake and show it an absurd amount of times during the week. Every freaking time I see if playing on the channel guide, I get super excited. But then I realize it's the remake. If they'd said the same exact words as the original, I wouldn't have a problem with it. However, when you rename Ouiser's dog Thurman, I'm done.

Sorry, Lifetime...

And about the title, have ya'll see this video? I love this child.

Wtf, over?

I spoke entirely too effing soon.

When dudes installed our dishwasher, they installed it crooked and when they drilled it into the wall, they split the wall. Then when they tried to close it, they broke the top of the door. Did they tell me this? No. I discovered it last night. AFTER I had loaded the dishwasher to capacity.

So last night, I HAND WASHED every single glass, goblet, dish, pan, tupperware, casserole, and eating utensil in our house. HAND EFFING WASHED.

The dishwasher part has supposedly been ordered. Our reinstall will be scheduled upon arrival of the new door.

Omg. Ridic.

MY NEW KITCHEN!!

So. You know how to get over something crappy like having to give back a puppy dog? Have something exciting happen. My something exciting is the completion of my (our) kitchen!!

From beginning of the very first day to today, it's been a long ass 12 weeks (and 3 days). We started with lots and lots of mold. And now we have a gorgeous new kitchen. We're still lacking a backsplash, but I'm totally okay with it right now. Next week may be a different story, but as of now, I'll take the kitchen as it is!

 Mold schmold. A small glimpse of what our entire kitchen looked like.

 

 Before... gray Corian counter tops and the beginning of our ET phone home plastic experience that expanded to the entire back of the house.

 

And now, beautiful Cambria Winderemere Quartz counters and Pale Butter walls. I love.

I has a sad.

So the past few days have been pretty horrible. Our sweet puppy dog will be going back to her foster mom on Thursday.

After some pretty serious conversations and a realistic look at the future, Bob and I decided that we are not the perfect family for Reesie. I'm completely in love with her, but her behavioral problems and hatred of cats will require intense training to make her a household dog. We are not equipped to handle that sort of training. She needs someone with more dog experience.

If you are interested in adopting Reesie, you can find her adoption listing here. She's a 10 month old Rottweiler/Pit Bull mix. She is potty trained, loves her toys, and plays well with grown up people and other dogs. Kids are questionable, and cats are an absolute definite no. She is not crate trained and has severe separation anxiety that drugs and collars do not help. She needs a very experienced dog owner who has the time and training knowledge to help her adjust to a new home. She is healthy on the inside, is current on her shots, is spayed, and microchipped.

If you can give Reesie a good home, please consider adopting her.

Cow Love.

I think I mentioned that she loves her cow...

 

Today, she also scared the ever living shit out of me. I took Bob to the airport, put Jack in his room and stuck Reesie in the back yard so I could shower in peace. We have lever handles on most of our doors, including the back door. So I was showering, in peace, when I thought I heard her collar. Getting closer. And closer. (Jaws music should have been playing in the background.) And then... she barreled into the bathroom. Full speed ahead. When 10 minutes earlier, she was firmly planted in the backyard. Bitch can open doors. Shiiiiiit!

And then, poor thing. Had such a bad day. She killed her crate while I was at work. Like slid out the bottom plastic tray and bent the METAL crate. Someone is having some separation anxiety apparently. Hopefully this, along with mutual hatred she and Jack feel for each other, will dissipate. Which her obedience class teacher says will happen. If it doesn't, Edie (the trainer) will be adopting someone. Either Jack or Reesie. Or me.

We still love her.

SJ Thursday: Puppy Dog Edition.

Introducing our newest family member... Reesie! Or Theresa Louise when she's in trouble. We picked her up last night and we've already learned a few things...

She and Jack hate each other.
We're in love with her.
She's in love with her cow.
She likes cat food. (Yes, I know it's bad. We thought she was eating her food, but no. Jack's food is now unreachable for Reesie.)
She walks well on a leash. Ish.
She LOVES other puppy dogs. Especially if they're on a leash too...

Reesie is around 10 months old and she's a Rottweiler/Mystery mix. We rescued her from SSRR, which does amazing work for Rottweiler puppy dogs. If you're interested in your very own Theresa Louise, please check out their website. 

Her Louisiana Tech blue and red tennis ball. Gotta represent!

Her cow.

Her bestest friend, Aspen. They haven't met yet, but Aspen's Mom and I plan to make this relationship work. Aspen wears the cone of shame to protect her fixin' stitches. She won't meet Reesie until she's all healed up. Reese likes to play. Hard.

And since this is SJ Thursday, here's the obligatory SJ pic. In the kennel. With her Nelly.

Weekend Recap.

Sooo. This has been one interesting weekend. I came to Hometown last Thursday, which was a day before the arctic blast hit the area. Did I pack for that? Nope. I brought shorts. Lots of shorts. Yeah.

Friday night I had a choice between my high school homecoming game OR the MC Hammer and Vanilla Ice in concert. I chose the concert. And it was HORRIBLE! Omg. Hammer found Jesus and sang mostly gospel songs before he FINALLY played Hammertime and 2 Legit. Good ol' Rob sang Ice Ice Baby, about 7 other songs I've never heard, and then plugged his DIY show no fewer than 15 times. I ran into a friend of mine from college and my Mom's bff from when I was a baby. So it wasn't a total bust. I did get to see some good peeps. Just not good peeps singing. In other news, my high school won their game, bringing their record to 5-1.

Saturday night I had a choice between my college's football game or going to a friends engagement party (along with my other friends Kat and Jamie). I chose the party. And it was INCREDIBLE. I went to school with the bride from 2nd grade to 12th. We weren't too close in school, but became great friends during college and after.

Now this wasn't a typical engagement party. She's Indian and Hindu and she found her a nice Indian/Hindu boy to marry. They had a half naked, very large and in charge Hindu priest there to bless the marriage and lead the ceremony. They all signed contracts and the groom to be (Ajay) scored a pretty sweet Rolex watch from the bride's parents (an Indian tradition). It was a pretty chaotic, incredible ceremony. I was very impressed with all the tradition and ceremony involved. A lot of it, Asha admitted, even her parents weren't familiar with. It's not every day you attend an event like that. I can't wait for her wedding, which I'm told will last approximately three days and I should expect everyone to stay intoxicated for the whole of those three days.

Even though we didn't go to the game, we heard all about it. La Tech won, making them 5-0 and ranked #23 in the nation, which is amazing for my little alma mater. So proud of them!

The rest of my time in Hometown has been spent eating (Johnny's Pizza and Sundown) and trying to keep warm. I'll head home tomorrow after squeezing in a haircut (I still come here for haircuts). I mean, the only place that has hair stylists is Hometown. Right?

Well balls.

Just in case you're wondering... No. I still don't have a kitchen.

We should have had counter tops in this week. However, our contractor decided to go ballistic on the insurance agent after she sent him a check for an incorrect amount. He yelled at her, she freaked out, and he cancelled the order for our counters, because he didn't think he was going to get his money.

So. After several phone calls within a matter of 30 minutes max, at least two involving Bob calming the insurance lady down, everything was resolved. This resolution came AFTER THE EFFING CONTRACTOR CANCELLED THE COUNTER TOP ORDER. Conveniently, OUR counter tops were SOLD within minutes of our order being cancelled.

Yeah. So now, they have been reordered. Guess how long it will take? Probably til NEXT Christmas at the rate things are going. This has been a 10 week project so far. And balls only knows how much longer it will actually take.

Gah.

Brain Fart.

My poor husband... Bob works so hard for us. He works his ass off and this past trip, he apparently worked his brain off too.

I typically drop him off and pick him up from the airport for his trips. When I do pick him up, he'll keep me updated on his arrival so he can just walk out the airport door and get directly in my car with no waiting. We usually time it pretty well.

Last night, he text me that he landed and he was walking through the terminal, to pick him up from Door 2. Well, I was in bed, not planning on picking him up, because he drove himself to the airport last week. But he forgot that. Poor guy.

At least this isn't as bad as the time he completely lost his car. Usually, when he drives himself he'll park at an airport hotel and take their shuttle to the airport. He tips well, so the drivers don't mind giving him a lift. He left from Houston on a trip a few years ago and was gone for about 6 weeks. He returned, took the shuttle to the hotel, but his car was gone. He called the police, reported it stolen, and went about his business.

A few days later, the cops called back. They found his car. At the Sheraton. When he thought it was parked at the Holiday Inn.

Poor, poor Bob.