Namaste!

I've been "releasing my pelvis and pubis and opening my collar bones and floating my rib bones appropriately and breathing into my muscles and letting my brain release into my heart." All the while I'm doing this with an easy-on-the-eyes, barely dressed Asian dude who contorts his body in the oddest of positions. Yep, it's yoga time again. Rodney Yee is kicking my butt into shape.

Update, next morning: Ouch.

Done

Wow, what a difference. The nasty industrial tile is gone along with its fragrant smell of mildew. In its place is a shiny new floor that's perfect for sliding across in your socks, Risky Business style. Trust me, I tried. Now all that's left is trim and baseboards, paint, blinds, new light fixtures, a mirror for the bath, and installation of the new toilet. Piece of cake. (And by the way, I've had several people ask if I'm going to paint the front door. NO! The flaky paint and worn look is part of the cottage look, and in this case it's authentic.)



Alan and I are staking claims to what the guest house will be used for when it's complete. You thought it was going to be a guest house? That's silly. For me, I see a yoga room and future storage for teachery stuff. Alan sees a bachelor pad, and went so far as to place the little fridge next to the futon couch for convenient beer placement. Again...pure silliness.

Too much TV

The Braves have really sucked this week. You know your team is sucking when the highlight of the game is all the Sonic commercials. I'll stop dead in my tracks if I hear the Sonic "Full Throttle" commercial where the guy is totally high on the new Sonic energy drink but denies he's had any. It's so hilarious, but Alan says I like it because it's that awkward humor like that of The Office. By the way, if you didn't see the "Women's Appreciation" episode of The Office a couple weeks ago, you really need to see it during reruns this summer. A MUST.

The floor is almost done!

Getting Laid

Ha ha - gotcha. The guest house floor is being laid, that is.



These guys aren't exactly getting to rest on their holiday weekend.

The weekend begins

We had a pretty good time last night and a few more people than expected showed up. Everyone brought something, which usually makes me feel guilty when I start putting it all way, because we end up with everyone's food and really didn't provide a whole lot ourselves. My fruity Bellinis were a pain in the butt to prepare yesterday and were a total FLOP. Everyone drank what they brought. Anyway, it was fun and the weather was cool enough for Alan to finally put his birthday present to good use:



Bailey left this morning for Temple Lake with a friend and will be gone all weekend. I drove her crazy making sure she packed every necessity, but that's a mom thing I can't stop doing yet (sorry, Bailey!). I was sad to see her go, which is weird since she's living with us full-time now and I get to see her every day. I guess it's easy to get used to new routines.

My exciting life

I haven't had much to talk about lately, so I've been filling the blog with photos. Mostly that's my way of saying I'm aware that I'm boring right now. (If you want to read a non-boring blog, I suggest reading the May 21st posting on www.verygeorge.com where he publicly bashes some former girlfriends.)

We're still busy around the house, and Leigh is arriving today to help with the guest house - yea! We're also having a party tomorrow night, so I've been getting ready for that. I think this will be a small party though, so really there hasn't been a whole lot to do. But it doesn't matter if you have 2 or 20 people coming over, you have to clean your house. I was cleaning areas on the back porch yesterday that no one will ever notice. Like the ceiling fans. Think someone's going to notice that layer of dirt when they're spinning that fast? I don't know...I can't be convinced.

Alan's been diligently running almost every day, and I've been keeping up my exercise about 6 days a week. I can't jog for a while because of tendonitis in my right foot. Boy, I am really upset about that. NOT.

I have no serious leads on jobs and have been told it could be July before I hear anything. July! School starts in August. Not what I was hoping for, but that's okay. Speaking of teaching, I was at Wal-Mart yesterday (because I like to punish myself like that every once in a while) and overheard a teacher chastising a boy for making a mess in the cracker aisle. It wasn't her son, wasn't her business, but she sure had to point out that it was the "teacher" in her that made her speak up and say something. Whatever. If I ever become that pompous, I hope someone will make fun of me.

Maybe I'll have some pics to post after tomorrow night.

Just fluffy

It's a hard life chasing bugs and butterflies all day.



Bailey wanted to see how many things she could pile on him before he woke up. I think we have a new game.

Hidden treasures

Now that Alan's back in town, we're (mostly Alan) back to ridding our backyard of the piles of lumber, stone, and junk hiding on various sides of the guest house. Look at this cool stone we found at the bottom of the rock pile:



And then this little gem:



Even Junior put in a hard day's work:

Her music

I love taking Bailey's iPod when I go for a jog or walk. This is a typical shuffle:

Mariah Carey

50 Cent
Rascal Flatts
Mercy Me
Dane Cook (stand-up bits)
Cadillac Don & J-Money
Little Big Town
Nelly
Lit
Fergie

I think it's amusing that on the last two days, "Word of God Speak" by Mercy Me has played immediately following 50 Cent and Dane Cook. I wonder if someone's trying to steer me in another direction. ;-)

Almost there

Yesterday after I put on a couple coats of the polyure-thane and let it dry, I was not pleased. It was still a very rough texture. So this morning I lightly sanded an area, and that appears to solve the problem. It won't be glossy smooth, but it'll be an interesting texture as opposed to a strange, rough texture. Then I'll apply another coat or two of polyurethane and will hopefully be done. It also seems that the sanding evens out any splotchy areas of paint. The bad news is that I've already taken off all the tape and plastic....and now I have to spray the polyurethane again. Joy.

Swamp Trivia

I may have to change my blog name. I should try to find out how many days it's rained this year in Midland. I'm not complaining though - I love it. I talked to Alan this morning (who's in Houston all week) and told him how much rain we've had the past few days. Instead of thinking about how green and pretty everything is, I could hear the "cha-ching" in his head, realizing it's a few more days of not having to water the yard. Besides posting a picture of the rain, I'm really taking an opportunity to prove that my plants are still alive and GROWING. The Mexican grass is sort of getting taller than I expected, but I still like it. And get this - the other day our neighbor looked over the fence and remarked about my "garden." Garden? I have a garden? Whoa - somebody thinks it looks like a garden! Alan said he may have to slip the neighbor some money for that comment.

Steps in the process

EDIT: I'm more nervous now, because I've sprayed the paint and it's a pretty rough texture. I've been assuming that the polyurethane will add a layer that'll tone down the roughness. If it doesn't...that might be weird. No turning back now!

Thought I would share how this project is going. The existing countertop was nasty - burn marks and other stains from who knows what. But rather than rip out the countertop and put in a new one, I'm going to paint the formica. This makes me nervous, so I'm trying to follow all directions and do it right. I filled in holes with wood putty (why were there holes?), sanded the top, cleaned it with ammonia, and have now primed it with two coats. The longest part was taping everything off in preparation for spraying the paint on tomorrow. If you look closely you can sort of see the new sink and faucet.



I'm using a spray texture paint that's supposed to have a stone look. After a couple coats of that, I can start putting on coats of polyurethane. If all goes well, I'll have a new countertop that only cost $27.

When you gotta go

Nice name.

Good times. Alan worked hard yesterday pulling tile, hauling away old lumber and clearing up what was becoming our own little junk yard behind the guest house. These are his "look how hard I work" jeans.

Sometimes I do stuff.

The sun is shining in Midland today. Who'd have thought that would be a rarity? So far, it's been the most random morning:

Got my morning exercise.
Took Bailey to school.
Bought a sink and two faucets.
Almost bought a toilet.
Cleaned up carpet stains.
Changed my license plates.
Called the cable company, the pharmacist, and the eye doctor.
(Vacuumed and did laundry, but that's really every day.)
And took pictures before everything dies:

Just 'cause

During a break from the rain...



We thought the ones below were Purple Martins but were told they are just swallows that come back every year. They have the darkest purple wings, so I just assumed. In a few weeks when the eggs are laid and/or babies are hatching, the mom and dad will be really unhappy every time we step outside to the front yard. As soon as we get out of our cars, they are swooping down on us.

The Guest House, aka The Cottage, aka The Love Shack

Postings might be a little less frequent for a few days. We're pulling up tile in the guest house and then will be laying new flooring (that laminate wood-look stuff). We also hope to have the plumbers out Friday to put in a new toilet, sink, and faucet. Instead of replacing the countertop, which we discovered is actually a piece of kitchen countertop because of its measurements, I'm going to paint the existing formica. There's still a long list of things to do, including hanging new blinds, finishing the trimwork, and painting.

It's times like these that I wish we had a bunch of friends that would exchange back-breaking labor for steaks on the grill and beer. It's just Alan and I right now, and I'm proud to report that we haven't thrown a hammer or putty knife at each other yet. Yet.

We have grass

Did I mention the lawn mower broke? Or did I forget to throw that in with all the other things that have turned to crap this year? Anyway, it's a jungle out there, let me tell you. And Sears, being the respected GIANTS in customer service, had no problem telling us they don't provide a local repair service any longer and would therefore ship our mower off to New Mexico for a mere 17 days. Of course, they don't provide a loaner. Pleeease. That would be courteous and helpful and above the call of duty. I don't like Sears, don't like shopping there for fear I will age 20 years just by setting foot in the store, and really don't like the appearance of their staff.

Just give it a couple more days and the Mexican crews will be back at our doorstep asking if we're still lazy and need help with the lawn.

A Little Boy in His Fort

Somebody likes his fort Alan erected for him temporarily. (I could only take the ugly foam mattress in the den for so long though.)

Twinkle toes.

Ladies only

I am once again living the life I am so good at living - being a lady of leisure. Aaaah. The interview yesterday was fine but not near as important as the interviews I'll have on campuses. Anyway, it's over and so is the school year (nearly), so I'm excited about being off for 3 1/2 months! We hope to visit family and friends in Kansas and Oklahoma over the summer, although none of you really know that. :-)

Over the past week I've attempted to go running with Alan a couple times. Big mistake. First of all I was a little under the weather. Second of all, I don't like to run. It didn't go well and I don't think Alan will ask me to go again. Yesterday I walked a vigorous mile and ran a half-mile. Not impressive, but very necessary if you saw how sad it was when I tried on the pantsuit for my interview yesterday morning. When Alan and I were dating, the pants were too big really and kind of hung off my hips before that style was really a style. Yesterday there was no bagging ANYWHERE. And the top - the TOP was tight. Granted, I was pretty small when I bought this suit a few years ago, but it was still a very eye-opening experience. The other day I had to take a shirt off because of how fat my back looked in it. My BACK WAS FAT. Why can't my boobs be the depository for excess fat? I gotta say - God messed up on that one.

Needless to say, I counted calories, fat, and sugar grams yesterday and will likely do that for a while until I can put those pants back on and at least wear them comfortably. I don't even like them, but that's not the point. I know I'm getting older, but that's not going to be my excuse for the rest of my life. What I need to be saying this year is GOOD LORD I'm turning 40 and need to get in the best shape I possibly can.

So now I'm off to go do this new exercise I saw for love handles that looks very awkward but promising.