One Month (Long, But With Pictures)

I had planned to have a new layout up here by the end of the month (read: tonight) but that obviously didn't happen.  I knew I was working extra long hours this evening and had decided to plow through and code while I let the work process run on the other laptop.  Then I got home and Steve wanted to go to dinner and when we got back about six loads of laundry stared me in the face making me feel guilty.  That and I wanted to have the house clean so that when I wake up tomorrow and go do "fun" stuff, I don't feel bad about my house looking like a wreck.

So no new layout.  But while I'm waiting for the second part of work to finish, I can do a recap of the last few weeks since I know everyone has missed me so! (I do realize it's already March here in my time zone but since I haven't slept yet, it still counts!)

So back to February - I was in Orlando the first week for work.  Not the first time, won't be the last so it's really nothing new anymore.  I did get to go with one of my coworkers this time and she was great to hang out with.  The mini-vacation full of "alone time" was nice enough but I sure did miss Steve and Sammy.  I came all hot at Steve because I spent all week calling the house only to have him not answer the phone.  I thought he was purposely ignoring.  Boy did I feel like I jerk when I pointed that out and he informed me no one had called at all - and then I realized the ringer on the phone was off.  And I went on to realize that not only did he fold the pile of laundry I left on the couch and washed the dishes in the sink but he also went out and bought a grill, which we needed, AND he washed and waxed my car, changed the oil and replaced the brakes.  I give him a lot of grief but when he wants to show it he really is an amazing man.  /ends gushing

But I returned home and was just completely out of sync.  Since I had been on vacation and on an expense account, I pretty much threw my diet out the window.  And I came home and there was no food in the refrigerator or meals I had planned so we resorted to take out.  I got really really busy at work and didn't have the time or gumption to be super-housewife (not like that's what I aspire to but you get my point) and go grocery shopping and plan out meals like I had done so well in the first of the year. 

I didn't even do Valentine's Day this year.  Yes gentleman, that's right, I, a red-blooded-card-carrying-cry-at-sappy-movies-female, voluntarily opted out of Valentine's Day.  And that's actually odd for me because I get all geeked out about kitschy holidays like that (case in point: St. Patrick's Day - why did I want to run into Spencer's tonight and buy all the shamrock and green stuff that had displayed in the front of the store?).  I had good intentions - I was going to buy Steve some jack stands and a jack and get him a cute card and make dinner.  But I was too overwhelmed and busy to go to the store and get it.  I also had NO OTHER ideas to get him, no brain power to come up with anymore and frankly, didn't feel like spending over $100 on him when I knew he treats Valentine's Day as a commercial holiday and only mildly participates because I pretty much force him too.  

And I'm still not sure how I feel about it.  Not having the pressure was nice but at the same, I felt a bit left out.  I don't think we'll NOT celebrate it next year but I'm going to mandate that it be simple (because really, a card would be nice).  I'm not going to let him get off that easily.

My grandpa went into the hospital the day after Valentine's Day.  That was a major scare and I had a hard time dealing with it intially.  I was never very close with my mother's parents, mostly because they were much older and lived farther away.  But my dad's parents have always been there for me and it's only lately that it's hit me that they are, obviously, getting older and that scares me a little bit.  I never expected them to stay young but since they were young and spry as grandparents, I kind of got used to the idea that they were good to go and in good health and it's difficult to accept that those things change.

Regardless, I spent summers and holidays with my grandparents and my dad so it's not something I want to hear.  Nor is it something I think I'm ready to handle.  Thankfully, my grandpa had only minor heart attacks and when they did the cardiac catheterization, they found a 90% blockage in one of the ventricles and were able to put a shunt in it and open it up enough to feel good about him making a full recovery.  Obviously, he has to make the changes any doctor will tell you about when you have a heart problems and I only hope he does because I'm not ready for either of them to not be around.  Needless to say I was relieved when he was realeased from the hospital.

Onto lighter and happier topics!  We've acquired quite a few cool things this month that make me a happy, happy person.

The weekend after I got back from Orlando, Steve decided it was time to sell his Jeep.  He felt he had reached the end of that project and wanted a new one to work on.  I knew this was coming since he had been talking about it for weeks.  And I knew what he wanted to replace it: a Mustang.  He had his heart set on a late 80s model but I really don't like the body style of those and I pushed a little for a classic.  I think they are much more aesthetic and frankly, much more valuable.  So, we sold the Jeep and found a 1968 Viper Red Mustang Coupe that looked to be in pretty clean condition (read: run, body straight, minimal to no rust).  Only snag - it was in Gastonia.  So we drove to NC (three hours), bought the car and came home (three more hours).  Needless to say, it was worth it because now we have Lucille (I call her that because she's a classic redhead - Steve doesn't like it, but whatever!)

I also got my DSLR camera - the Canon Rebel XTi that I spoke about in the last entry as well as the 50mm f1.4 lens.  I'm still testing out all the features and learning so they're not awesome but they're getting there.  Some of the first ones are posted on Flickr already and needless to say, I'm immensely satisfied.  I'm thinking of heading out tomorrow (rather, today) and going to Cypress Gardens to shoot a bit.  We'll see how late I end up working tonight.

And while we're talking about cameras, I want to thank everyone for giving me their advice on my last entry and also for inviting me out to the local meetups.  I had every intention of trying to go but when things go out of wack, I just couldn't find time.  Maybe next time.  And also apologize to Geoff for going the Canon route!  I'd kind of had my heart set on it and had more experience with the Rebel so I guess I'll never know the beauty of the Nikon! :-)

And finally, we got new pots and pans.  And this is how I know I'm getting old and turning into a grownup.  I get excited over pots and pans!  Regardless, the ones we had were a mish-mash of various types that had been given to me by my mother when she cleaned out her kitchen.  And most were welly beyond their wear.  Since Steve's parents had given us a gift certificate as a house warming gift we decided there was no better time than now to replace our pots and pans because we wouldn't do it otherwise.  And we decided to make it last and get the Rachael Ray 14-piece set.  Because I love how deep they are (I cannot stand shallow pans) and that they are non-stick and that they have the orange rubber on the handles (since I'm accident prone and everything).  They are absolutely awesome and I would highly recommend them if you're in the market for new pots and pans.

As far as the rest of the month, it's been busy at work and busy at home.  I feel like I've been in entertainment overload lately and I think it's just because of our love for gadgets and the fact that we've pretty much streamlined everything to allow us to get it when we want.  That and there's just so many GOOD things that are coming out I can't fit them all into one.  I want to play the XBox, watch the new shows, read quite a few good books and see many movies coming out in both the theatre and on DVD.  But I can't do it all at once and I can't justify wasting full blocks of time doing it all back to back.

So I'm trying to ration it:  TiVo lets me watch when I want, XBox can be played when we've gone through the recordings, movies are for weekends and books are for downtime, because they can go anywhere without needing a gadget to read them.  The only drawback to TiVo is also it's plus - I can watch programs whenever I want.  Which is awesome because I'm not scheduling my life around my programs but then, I have to make time to watch them and that's difficult too because they have a tendency to just sit on the DVR while I go about more pressing items.  I guess that convenience isn't really anything to complain about - I should've known it would happen like that.

Here's my entertainment admission for the month.  I saw Rambo, twice, in the theatre.  And I enjoyed it both times.  Obviously, it's not an Oscar winner or anything.  And since I didn't go in expecting anything but gratuitous blood and violence, I got exactly what I wanted.  A LOT of blood, A LOT of violence and John Rambo ripping someone's throat out with his bare hands.  And also, did you know 50 caliber Gaitling gun bullets will rip Burmese militia in half but if Rambo gets shot with one, he winces, grabs the wound for a second then shakes it off and proceed to end one of the longest running civil wars in the span of two hours?  AWESOME!

A few last random things:

• I also saw American Gangster and We Own the Night.  I thought American Gangster was much better.  I sometimes forget how much I love Denzel.  He's pretty much awesome in whatever he does but he's even awesomer when he plays a bad motherfucker.  We Own the Night was ok but I thought it was rather slow - almost too slow to make the good car chases and fights stand out.  We also rented the Lindsay Lohan movie I Know Who Killed Me for a laugh and well, we got one.  The only thrill I got from it was thinking LiLo was going to punch herself in the face and even that didn't happen.   Finally watched Superbad again as well and am truly, truly happy I did. BRILLIANCE!
• I've neglected my reading so I've bought about eight books in the past two weeks.  I have yet to get through the first one (granted, I've already read it, just want to re-read it - Practical Magic) but at least I know they're there for awhile.  I love new books and bookstores!  They are one of the small pleasures in my life.  Like new socks.
• I've turned into a gardener.  LOL  Not hardcore as it took me forever to figure out if the flowers were growing in the front garden were supposed to be there as opposed to being weeds.  However, I've spent quite a few weekends outside this past month pulling weeds out of my front garden and turning over the soil and water the plants that were desperate, since it's been a dry, dry season here.  I actually enjoy it - it's kind of satisfying to pull the ugly weeds and make it look nice.  Aside from the fact that it totally kills the OCD scream in my head that's saying the yard is ugly and unkempt, fix it.  Soon, I shall pull the dead honeysuckly vines from my back fence and then actually mow and weedeat the lawn.  Again, when did I turn into a grownup?
• I can also operate power tools.  Okay, tools being a random orbital sander.  A few weekends ago we went out and decided to refinish the deck since it's original to the house and was all gray and weathered.  I bought a small sander and my dad and Steve got to work.  And since I'm clumsy, I was more than content in allowing Steve to use the tool but he got tired and handed it over to me and I went to work.  And after a few hours, the deck was sanded, secured and power washed and it looks much nicer than it ever did.  And I helped!  I like being efficient and helpful instead of standing around and twirling my hair like I can't do projects because I'm a girl.

Finally, I decided to do something I wouldn't usually do since it was Leap Day and it only comes once every four years.  Those of us at work decided we wanted to take out some frustrations by going to the gun range.  I had shot quite a few times when I was younger but it had been years and the boys just wanted to be boys.  So we all headed up there and I started off with a SigSaeur 9mm.  I had the guy give me a quick overview since it had been so long.  And when I got in there, I realized I was nervous because, well, this was live weapon and I had to be extra careful (again, klutz).  I kept having problems with the casing jamming in the chamber every time I fired and I thought it was me not knowing what I was doing.  As it turns out the spring was broken, which was causing the gun to jam. 

So the guy brought me a compact 9mm Glock and set me up.  I did pretty well and had a lot of fun.  It took me awhile to get over the nerves but we went through two boxes of ammo a piece.  When we bought our second box, the guy accidentally gave us 380 ammo instead of 9mm so the bullets were jamming in our guns and to make up for it, he brought us some extra.  I was loading my gun and look down and I said to my coworker, "Holy shit, these are hollow points!" and they definitely were. 

Regardless, we had a lot of fun and it was a lot easier than I expected.  And damn did I feel at ease in the range.  And calm too.  I think we're going back tomorrow!  New hobby?  Like I need one, right?

Speaking of tomorrow, well, it's already here and I need to get to bed if I plan on going to take pictures tomorrow.  If you've made it to the end, congratulations and thank you for reading!  I will try to be more talkative this month.