23 Days into a New Year

Does anybody even read this thing anymore? I feel so "blah" when it comes to my blog! How sad is that? Anyways, I have a little time before I head to bed, so I'll catch y'all up with a few more details.

We've been working on the house for the past couple of weekends. Pretty much all we've done is discover that the ceiling looks awesome without all that "popcorn," but it is a LOT more work than we bargained for. So far, the only place we've removed it is along the hallways. We also picked a warm honey-gold yellow for the hallway and living room (but only got the hallway painted). We'll work on the ceiling in the living room (hopefully this weekend) and get to painting by next weekend. Then, it will just be a matter of time (and money) before we get the last "touches" done (i.e. the kitchen & bathroom overhauls). Yeah, those are going to be BIG...

Richard (yes, I'm just going to put his name in here, enough with the whole "R" this and "R" that) has made me so happy (and proud) with all he's doing in school. Of course, he has a lot of "are you sure" moments (when he really needs my verbal support), but he's getting so much more involved than I ever thought he would! Heck, he even does his homework early and participates in extra-credit projects (today it was a mock interview--competition thing, tomorrow it is a Residential Wiring competition)! He got the official certificate for being on Dean's List last semester and it's currently residing in a place of honor--the refrigerator!

The animals are all still terrific. Guapo is adjusting beautifully to being an indoor dog (and has only had 2 "accidents"--which I will say are mostly my fault--for not taking him out "one more time" before bed). He even figured out that in the morning he better get out there and do his "business" but in the evening he can take a little longer to sniff around! The cats get into all the mischief you could imagine--and our new carpet is going to need a dye-job if they keep up their pyro-gastrics!

We're still living like "poor college kids" with a little tv and futon-sofa. Eventually we will get around to buying more furniture (hello, chairs!), but for now it works. The "elephants" that live above us are slowly driving us insane (I mean, WHO paces their bedroom at 2am?!) but otherwise we have very quiet neighbors (thank goodness).

Finally, work. Yeah, how come nobody warned me how tedious the "real world" is? Each morning I get myself cleaned up, walk the dog, feel all animals, go to work and bide my time until I can go home. I get home, eat dinner (Richard usually gets home before me, so he cooks & walks the dog, too), watch tv or read a book for a couple of hours, walk the dog, go to bed, and do the whole thing all over again the next day! All week I count down the days "until the weekend," then, once it arrives, I busy myself with laundry, cleaning, and fixing stuff. We do try to mix in a few days of "fun stuff" (i.e. sledding with little sister, driving up to the mountain, spending an afternoon at gramma's) but then we get "depressed" about all the HOUSE stuff we didn't do! So, I'm thinking we're better off finishing everything we can afford to do now and get back to enjoying our weekends! Anyways, how'd I get from work back to house stuff? So, work is still very interesting. I'm only 3 months away from my 1-year anniversary and I have my fingers crossed that I will be very happy when that happens (welcome to the world of State Jobs and mandatory raises). It's really amazing all the things a person can learn when you're pushed to it! I've started work on so many different projects and learned things that, less than a year ago, I didn't even know existed! The people I work with are pretty awesome--and even when I "get into it" with the one person I've had "conflict" with, it's still great! :) (Nothing like a little controversy to make things interesting.)

All toghether, we're doing pretty great and enjoying the benefits of living in a big city. I do hope to find more motivation to blog (at least on the weekends) and now that I've discovered the wireless connection (sitting as close to the back door as possible), I might have more opportunity. Thanks to those of y'all who are still hanging in there--I appreciate knowing that you care! Goodnight!