Ready for mid April

Dale and I went to the VCU game two Sundays ago and watched them lose to ODU in OT. It was hard to watch them lose as I'm really not used to watching them lose. We had a good time though. We upgraded our seats again and sat in the lower bowl by the pep band again. /basketball season
Work has picked up due to the nice weather, people going outside to do yard work and then call to complain about their lawn/shrubs or wonder why we haven't been out since we normally come out in February. Apparently people don't remember the foot of snow on the ground in February and must think that they are the only customer that we have. Plus we're under-staffed and can't keep appointments. And my hours changed again to 10-7. Come on mid-April! /rant

Last week I started getting a sinus infection (due to the nice weather mentioned above). I decided to try a neti pot for the first time. As gross as it is, it worked. My sinus infection/pressure was lessened and it never moved into my chest, so I didn't have a week's worth of coughing like I did last time. So by Thursday of this week, I could taste my food again and breathe without constantly blowing my nose. /nasty

Last weekend since I was sick we didn't do much of anything. I even asked B to accompany me for grocery shopping. He did and we got home in time to watch the Blackhawks/Caps game on NBC. Since there was no NASCAR, I fell asleep watching hockey with the Caps in a 3 point deficit and woke up in OT and a minute later the Caps won the game. /Nap Time PerfectionThis weekend we dropped off B's truck at the new Firestone near my house for a state inspection. The Durango needed 3 new tires and new wiper blades. We bought 4 tires and the blades and almost $700 later we picked up the truck. There went the rest of B's OT money. And I'm pretty sure that we're going to end up owing both the feds and state taxes. *sigh* /money woes.

I'm almost done with the hallway wall. The damn wall that I've been fighting since August 09. This morning it looked like this:

This evening it looks like this:

I am SO very excited about this. At first the contact paper had us stumped. Then we thought we had its number, but it showed us. Then my cousin came over and gave a suggestion that worked quite well and even let us borrow his power sander to make it happen. Tomorrow night that wall will finally match the kitchen and the rest of the hallway. /giddiness
5.5 months until Buffett! Until next time, keep your stick on the ice.

Zombies!!!

We went to see Zombieland today. It was pretty funny. I'm not one for horror movies at ALL, but I did enjoy Shaun of the Dead and read a review last night that said it was very much the same type of movie. I will not spoil the best cameo in a movie in a long time, but it was awesome.
After the movie we went to TGIFridays because I was one of Woody's first 500,000 fans and got a coupon for a free Jack Daniel's burger. I'm not a big JD fan, so I gave that to Byron and I had something else. For the second weekend in a row, B did not like the burger he ordered. I feel like I'm on the quest for burger that B will enjoy. I guess we'll have to go to Five Guys next weekend. They never disappoint.
We also discovered that when flooring was bought for the kitchen that not enough was bought. I don't know if we gave the chick at Home Depot the wrong measurements, they were right and she figured them wrong or we got less boxes than recommended or a combination of any of the above, but we're about 5 boxes short. So now more flooring has to be bought. First, we need to paint the ceiling, prime and paint the hallway and paint one piece in the kitchen and the outlet/switchplates. Then we can lay the flooring. I'm hoping to be done by the second weekend in November.
Until next time, keep your stick on the ice.

Another Weekend

This weekend has been nice but a bit tiring. Yesterday my dad came over and he and B replaced the kitchen faucet. I went grocery shopping while they did this. Wal-Mart is remodeling their Chester store and this week most things were not where they normally are. It was tiring having to go down every single aisle trying to find things. But there's only a month or so until it's done and I can understand the whole needing to move things around while remodeling. My kitchen is a mess! The stuff on the main counter is on my table, the stuff on the left counter is on my main counter and the painting stuff is on my left counter, main counter and kitchen table. Ahhh! B moved the refrigerator and I got the wallpaper off from behind there today. I'm waiting for him to come back so he can move the stove and get the wallpaper from behind there. With that done, all the wallpaper in the kitchen will be removed. Hurrah! The bad news? We found out that the wallpaper in the hallway isn't wallpaper. It's contact paper. What a mess! And there's no really easy way to get it and its adhesive off the wall.
We went to Target to look for some new curtains for the kitchen, but they didn't have much of a selection. B took me to Bed, Bath & Beyond and I found what I liked, but they didn't have the size I needed and didn't have the valance I wanted. I did find some online this morning and will be ordering them soon.
We also made a trip to GameStop and checked out their used games for the Wii. We picked out SSX Blur. After dinner we played the Wii for the rest of the night til bedtime.
Lilly also got her bath today. She hated it as usual, but she behaved well. I think she's got an inner ear infection. She's been shaking her head and scratching her right ear quite a bit recently, but the ear itself is clean. When I put in the ear drying solution after her bath she whined a little. A guess a trip to the v-e-t will be in order soon.
Until next time, keep your stick on the ice.

July, exit stage right

July started off busy and pretty much stayed that way. About mid July I overheated my truck to the tune of having to replace the radiator. The thermostat was broken, so that needed to be replaced as well.
Soon after, we went to Carter Mountain for some peach picking. Brian and Ale were supposed to go, but Ale had a really bad sinus infection and they couldn't make it. So, the three of us made the trek up to C-ville. Warning: Cute Dog Pics and Scenic Mountain Views Inside
A few weekends ago we attended Richmond Tea Party's Libery 101, a freedom rally. Nothing like some info for the noggin. Warning: Funny signs and one cool video inside That night Carolyn, Todd and I went to the Funnybone to see Tom Wilson (the guy that played Biff in the Back To The Future movies). He was hilarious.
Two weekends ago it was B's birthday. We went to Captain Chuck a Muck's in Rescue, VA (just east of Smithfield). We had seen the place on Food Network's Diners, Drive-ins and Dives and B wanted to go there. The food was good (and mid-ranged priced for seafood), the atmosphere and staff were friendly...however the owner left much to be desired. The table I called ahead for was the Captain's table. It's reserved when there are 7 or more people in your party and there's a 90mins limit on the table. Yes...a time limit. I can see why. The place is busy and you want to make the most of your space. We got there 5mins earlier...well two in our party didn't. They got there 10mins late. At about 5mins late the owner came over and made a big deal about the time limit and that they had a group coming in after us and then just walked away. Wow. Really? No "thanks for coming". No "I hope you enjoy". Just "they'd better get here". So, we had a good time making fun of him for the rest of the evening. Oh and we left 5mins past our allotted time-limit. So there! K caught up with the owner after dinner as we were leaving and asked him how long he had been in business. He answered 12. K said that he wouldn't make it to 13 if he kept treating his customers that way. The owner could do nothing but apologize to K, but K didn't do it for the apology.
We would go back, but not as a large group and not if we were coming from home. Ninety mins is too far to drive for that. Captain Toms in Colonial Heights is just as good if not better. Maybe if were were already in Surry and the Rocky Bottom Grill was closed and we wanted seafood. Well...I just went to see if Rocky Bottom Grill had a website to link to and it seems they went out of business in September 2008. RIP RBG
Last Saturday we went to see G.I.Joe. That was good and a nice way to round out the Summer Movie Season. Lots of explosions with just a hint of plot. Yummy! We also took advantage of the tax-free weekend and went to Best Buy and got a new wireless router. Yippee! I can finally play my Wii online. I've been playing Mario Kart Wii all week online. I love that game. If you wanna be my Wii Friend, lemme know and I'll give you my number.
Last Sunday we started on the mini-renovation of our kitchen and hallway. The plans at the moment are to remove the wallpaper, apply primer and paint to both, get new curtains, replace the faucet and possibly replace the flooring in the kitchen. You can watch the progress on my Flickr. All this is because I'm still planning my Open House in December (mentioned in my Welcome 2009 post).
That's all for now. Until next time, keep your stick on the ice.