Things making me nutty, lately

Frozen windshields... On the INSIDE of the vehicle
Related: Having to wear 38975987016516 layers just to take the dog out to pee. 
Also Related: Wearing 2937984027609867 layers to work, then overheating in my office because it's like a billion degrees.
People who say "after a lot of thought and prayer, I've decided to do X" (which is usually the option that benefits them, personally, the most).
 It seems like everywhere I look on the internet, the author is knocked up. Maybe its just my demographic, but I'm feeling flooded with reproduction stories,
Myself, for being unable to follow through on things. Gah.
Stress eating candy.
Working until 10:15pm, then being too exhausted/ worn out to make it to a 7:30am yoga class this morning. 
Driving on icy roads.
Not being able to bicycle for exercise... for at least another 3 months. 

Ten on Tuesday

This is going to be a short, yet unbelieveably rambly post. Hey, it's Tuesday... let's do it this way:

1. The last Wednesday I posted, waaayyyyy back in June, ended with golf ball sized hail, which caused MAJOR damage to our vehicles. Major. Like I thought I'd drive home and find windows out of our 9 month old house (none were, thankfully). So, two insurance claims and nearly $10k in checks later... I'm still not sure what our plan is to repair our damaged vehicles.
2. El Weddingo happened! and went beautifully! It was warm, but overcast to not boiling. Really, it went really, really well. I will recap it more later. It includes things like great times with girlfriends, unexpectedly over the top flowers, yelling obscentities at my dad... good times people.
3. We've been home a week. I still haven't totally unpacked the wedding tubs. Motivation has left my body, almost entirely.
4. I'm pondering a major change at work, both in how the program I work with runs, and if I even want to continue in this career field. No big plans, yet; I guess I need to let the stress of the last few months settle.
5. We have finished landscaping the yard! Soil pep went into the beds last weekend, and I planted the last of the perennials on Sunday night. As well as about a million Iris splits from my friend Shannon!
6. The hail did major damage to my veggie garden. MAJOR. Like I'm not even sure if the onions are going to make it. I'm kind of at a farming fail right now.
7. There is a possibility of a Mexican honeymoon in November.
8. Maybe the lake again next weekend.
9. Major developments for my parents.
10. Finally! I'm excited to start actually decorating our house now that every. single. penny doesn't have to go to El Weddingo!

I'm back!

December 15 Ten on Tuesday

1. I was talking to Jen last night driving home from an AOII meeting, and pulled a little too far forward in the garage. I bumped a potted plant and broke it.

2. I now believe that talking on your phone and driving is akin to driving drunk.

3. I still have a lingering cough. I've been sucking on cough drops at work, in meetings, at the gym, and as I fall asleep. DJ is hot for kissing a menthol flavored fiancee.

4. The correct usage of the F word (which DJ doesn't like), is fiance with one e for men, fiancee with two eé s for women. Learn something new every day.

5. We're embarking on the Washington holiday pilgrimage over Christmas. Another road trip!

6. Gretchen is coming back from Washington to stay with us until January 7th. She's suggested that I can make her my "bridal bitch". While she's here. She'll be addressing envelopes to send the Save the Date Pamphlets (at the printers now!)

7. I struggle with the lack of access to exercise when we visit family. I'm a gym goer, and when I don't get a chance to work up a good sweat daily I get grumpy. I'm taking my running shoes and hoping to sneak out and get my fix!

8. The high tomorrow is 40 degrees. It's been over a month since it’s been that warm!

9. The new grants person whom I report to for work is a firmer auditor... Talk about detail oriented. Which I, by rule, am not. It’s causing conflict.

10. I need to figure out how to print labels so that we can use them as a return address. I don't want t write out a return address for 130 invitations! I’m picking up the envelopes in “Lake Blue” today!

Ten {awesome things} on Tuesday!

I have so much to blog about right now! Every single one of these ten on Tuesdays could be {and will be, eventually} their own blog post…


1. Here’s the latest photo of the house:

Why yes, yes that is snow.
They were finishing up the garage siding today, and starting to put up the shingles tomorrow.

2. They poured the cement for the front steps and walkway, as well as the driving strips today. I added a 2009 penny to the front steps for fun!

I was suprised that I actually had a 2009 penny!

3. The tile turned out well! DJ did such a good job directing the project, and I’d like to think I was a good helper bee. Turns out I’m pretty good at spreading thin-set to set backer-board and tile on!

And mom thought I wasn't doing anything productive while watching Bob Villa all those years.


Little did she know I was learning a crucial skill.

Spread, then scrape.

Spread, then scrape.

The thinset goes down, then the backerboard, which has to be screwed in every 6". Pain. In. The. Ass. Literally, my backside is sore.

DJ became a master tile cutter.

Sometimes you have to clip it out to fit around the toilet.

We laid out every single piece before thin-setting it down.

No, really, all of them.

Then we spread more thin-set, and placed the tiles.

And this my friends, is the final product.

4. They were supposed to landscape tomorrow, but the snow and crappy weather means that’ll be held off until the middle of next week, at the earliest. Here’s what I’m thinking for landscaping right now. Just the basic beds, although I have all sorts of opinions about what plants to put in. Mom even gave me a bunch of iris bulbs from the lake to put in this fall! And I’ll get to plant others too…

I know! I'm out of control on this. Where do I sign up for the garden club at?

5. The hardwood floors are in! Circle sawn lumber, which will be sanded down to the point where you can see the circle sawn, but not feel any of the texture. It’ll be stained a darker color on Thursday.

They left a bit of an area for a hearth unfinished. We'll go with subway tiles here too, hopefully.

Circle sawn!

6. We have a wedding date and location! Harrison, Idaho on July 10, 2010.
7. Cocktail hour on my parents lawn at 5pm

8. Ceremony on my parents waterfront at 6:30pm (ish)
9. Reception at the Landing Restaurant at 7pm (ish)
10. We also have a photographer; my talented friend Anne Sherwood has agreed to shoot our wedding! Wohoo! www.annesherwood.com

July 14 Ten on Tuesday

I actually had to double check with a calendar that it was Tuesday before rattling this off. Did you make it through the lengthy blog on the Mullan Road trip? I realize now that I should have broken it up into Thursday, Friday and Saturday!

Ok, quick like a bunny.

1. North Church potential historic district tour! 7pm! Meet at the Hawthorne School playground. I think I’ll be the tour leader on this one…

2. Second half of the Main Street Historic District tour, 10am on Tuesday July 21st. Meet at the Downtown Business Partnership on Main Street, near Mackenzie River Pizza. Should last an hour. Hopefully one of the board members stepped up to lead this one because…

3. I’m headed back to the lake on Friday! I volunteered to help my mom paint the house. If they don't paint it this year, they'll need to reside it next year. I’ll be gone the 17th through the 26th. Sorry for the blog silence, but I promise to come back with photos!

4. I have a phone interview with Hasslyn Harris of KECI/ KTVM news at 6:30am on Wednesday. She’s interviewing me about a piece that Jonathan Athens of Bozeman’s KTVM is working on about historic preservation, demolition by neglect and bonding new construction. The segment should run Wednesday night. Good interview genes run the family.

5. DJ is leaving for a fishing trip in Wyoming on Wednesday afternoon. He’ll be gone through Sunday. He’s got lightweight camping gear strung through the house! But I’m excited for him; I made him miss the Ross Lake hiking/ fishing trip last year to go to Shawna Rader’s wedding.

Shawna and I at her wedding in July of 2008.

6. Speaking of weddings, my cousin Blake FINALLY married his girlfriend of nine years last Saturday. It was a large, large wedding, and was a lot of fun to be a guest at (note that I didn’t indicate that it must have been a lot of fun to plan?).

7. We put the condo on the market!!! Anyone know someone who would like to buy a nice 2 bedroom, 2.5 bathroom, single car garage in a great neighborhood? We like the ‘hood so much that we want to buy a house in the same ‘hood.

8. If you’re having problems with your neighbor, talk to your neighbor. Please don’t call the city planning department and expect me to fix it. I’m just sayin’…

9. I had 18 voicemails to return on Monday when I got back. OVERWHELMED. So overwhelmed that I can't even begin to figure out where to begin. And people left me multiple messages. And sent me an email. Patience people...

10. We ate strawberries and snap peas from the farm when we got home on Sunday!

June 9 Ten on Tuesday

Ten on Tuesday:
1. I continue to moonlight at Montana Gift Corral, mostly closing the Main Street store at night by myself. I really enjoy being there in the quiet of the night, winding down the day and drinking coffee. But in the past two weeks they’ve had me training new hires to close. I know that it’s necessary for the company, but my job satisfaction has gone WAY down. I hate making small talk and playing the “get to know you” game. I’d really rather close by myself. Selfish, huh?

2. We’ve had some promising clouds, but no actual thunder and lightning storms yet. I’m ready for a real storm!

3. The plants went back into the garage last night, but only after I did some photography. Hopefully DJ will take good care of them while I’m in Butte Wednesday night through Saturday evening.

4. Yes, I’m spending the end of this week in Butte, and really looking forward to it! I’ll be at the Vernacular Architecture Forum geeking out over old buildings. Deal with it!

5. The VAF team made the guidebooks available via PDF on the web… which is awesome, except that it means everyone has to print off their own 200 page guidebook. Sorry City of Bozeman… I printed double sided and in grey, and AB and I are sharing it…

6. I’ve been picking cilantro leaves off of one of my cilantro plants for about two months now. I’d pick them off at the stem, and within a couple of days they’d totally grow back and replenish themselves. When the jalepeno plant DJ tried to grow didn’t sprout, I planted another pot of cilantro, so that when the original one goes I’ll have a backup. I think that’s happening now. The tops of the leaves are getting skinnier and skinnier. Look at the comparison!

7. Every night when I get home I check the snap peas, which have been growing like crazy, and branching out to curl around each other and their support stakes. Maybe I shouldn’t, but I’ve found myself “helping” them wind themselves around stakes and other branches. Duuudeee these things are creepy looking:
8. Clearly I need a little tripod for my camera, huh? (sorry for the blurry photos).
9. DJ and I worked through the scheduling issues with this summer. I’m really excited that over the 4th of July we are going to do a Montana camping road trip! Maybe I can talk him into staying somewhere with a 4th of July street dance or something!

10. I haven’t even thought about what to pack for Butte. I’d make a list while during the quiet time at Gift Corral tonight… oh wait, I have to make small talk for 2.5 hours. Damn. I wish I had the manager authority to send people home when we were slow!!!

Happy Tuesday!