Letchwork State Park

This weekend marks the end of Bryan's two glorious weeks off from school. Last week we went to Florida (blog about that to be done soon). This week has been lots of lounging around and just taking it easy.

Today was a beautiful 75 degrees and sunny, so I decided to take Bryan to Letchworth State Park, about an hour drive from here. We hiked around, ate lunch, saw some beautiful scenery, and just had an all-around good day (which started with breakfast at Ezzy's, our favorite neighborhood diner).

From Letchworth

From Letchworth

From Letchworth

From Letchworth

It was late by the time we got home (about 9pm). Ladies, feast your eyes on what happened next.

From Letchworth

Yes, this is my beloved voluntarily cleaning out the fridge (wiping it down, the whole 9 yards!). He just "wanted to do it, and I'll mop the floors too." I did not ask him to do this, nor did I even mention that these chores needed to be done. I bet you're all sad that he's already taken! :)

Let's Make a Deal

Bryan and I were talking last week about how much we liked Let's Make a Deal. Maybe that is one game show they should resurrect. None of these stupid new-fangled primetime "game shows." Who in their RIGHT MIND wants to watch an HOUR of BINGO on TV???

If they brought back Let's Make a Deal, what do you think the loser prizes would be now? I don't think a donkey would cut it anymore. And what ever happened with those donkeys anyway. Did someone really take home a donkey?

Thanks to the wonder of the internet, I just discovered the the GSN cable network currently broadcasts episodes of the classic Let's Make A Deal each weekday at 10:00 A.M. ET and late night at 2:00 A.M. & 2:30 A.M. It's a good thing I don't have a channel as wonderful as GSN, or I would never get anything done. I love game shows, especially old ones. I also just learned that the costumes were the idea of the audience, and not originally part of the show. People started to bring signs and funny hats to attract Mr. Hall's attention. It spiraled from there to the outlandish costumes they used to wear.

Anyway, the real point of this blogging episode is that no one seems to want to make a deal with us. On Monday the offer on my house fell through. I guess the husband lost his job, so they could no longer afford my house. We should have another offer coming in either Friday or Monday from another, so we'll see if that actually happens. Also, the deal fell through on the condo we were going to buy. The inspection "found" a faulty breaker (it popped FOUR times in the hour we were there, and got really hot. The scummy owner declared "that has never ever happened before." Right. Even my inspector said he had to be lying. The guy refuses to fix the breaker, or even get an estimate to fix it. Now, regardless of him being a jerk or not, this is a HUGE fire hazard that even he shouldn't want to live with. There also is a flue pipe that isn't properly connected and has asbestos tape on it. Estimate to fix - $315. The seller refuses to put a dollar into it, so we told him to take his condo and shove it (well, we would have liked to say it that way). Now we are out at least the $275 inspection and whatever attorney fees we have racked up to date with the offer...at least $200. But I guess that is all better than getting a place with issues. Back to the drawing board. We found another condo that we love, but the taxes are $3,864 with a $253 a month HOA. That's $575 before we even paid for the unit! For now we are thinking about just renting and deciding what we want to do when we are back to a two income family.

Nothing like a wasted day

My work laptop froze today. Sure, that sucked, but what was even worse was that the proposal I had been working on ALL day was gone. Poof. No trace anywhere, even in a full system search. It turns out my computer ineptness bit me in the behind. The document was linked from another document. I saved it, but it turns out that unless you re-open that saved copy, you are working on some cyberspace version that doesn't really exist. So all the times I clicked on the save icon were for naught, and I have to start over tomorrow. Sigh.

In other depressing news, the condo we were all set to close on has now fallen apart. We are looking into suing for the lawyer fees and inspection fees that we had to outlay, but we are probably just out the money. It sucks that the jerk seller did this to us. All because he refuses to fix two issues that came up in the inspection because he is a cheapskate. He already hated us for making him pay the $50 for the HOA documents (duh, of course we need to READ what the restrictions are!) and $50 for a carbon monoxide detector (it's required by NY state, don't get mad at us!). Back to the drawing board. Can't wait for the vacation to Florida on Saturday. We are both SO excited for a real vacation! (even if I will be working part of it).

Lots to be grateful for

Sometimes, when life is crazy and stressful, I think I get so overwhelmed in the "to-do" list that I forget all of the great things in my life. Buying and selling a house is one of the most stressful things one can do, but in the midst of it I am truly a lucky girl. Just a small sampling of those things I have to be grateful for:

- A mom who loves us enough to put together packages to make us smile...familiar treats from home, my favorite coffee, some new stylin' duds, and some coin so we can enjoy a relaxing vacation. We love you mom!
- A job with a fantastic group of people and the flexibility to work abnormal hours (early, late, normal, weekend, whatever) that fit my work rhythms better and allow me to spend time with Bryan when he has free time (which can be during the afternoon or morning sometimes)
- A boyfriend who, without saying a word, does all of the chores I reallllly don't want to do (like being the brave one to go vacuum up the flea power in the flea infested room....yuck!). He also is always grateful when I do something nice for him, always complimentary about my cooking (even if it sucks), patient with me as I learn tennis, and always is just a sweet guy
- Friends who let you come over with your pets while you are putting yucky poison in your house, buy you lunch, and let you swim in their pool, all the while feeling like they are the lucky ones since you are hanging out with their kids while they go see a movie
- A roommate who puts up with endless cleaning for house showing without complaining and who is willing to stick with us when we change the deal she signed up for
- The ability to go on a vacation! In 2 weeks we are going to Florida, and some days that is all that is keeping us going right now with all of the house/school stress. I am grateful for parents who help us out so we can take vacations without worrying about finances, and I am grateful for a job where I can work from anywhere, including Florida for a few days.

For those of you following the house saga, we are closing on the condo September 21st. The inspection was today, and most things were fine except for a small issue with the electricity that the owner was fine with fixing. My house has a contingent offer, but we still have regular showings, so we are hoping for a better, non-contingent offer.

Favorite things

I figure if Oprah is important enough to broadcast her favorite things, then so am I. I also believe that people should share their favorite items, in case someone else has yet to "discover" them. Besides, if you buy them they are less likely to be discontinued, therefore benefiting me as well! I should say though that some of my favorite things are unique to me and are special to me because of their history, so you can't buy everything in this post. Without further ado, in no particular order:

I love these plants.

From Favorite things

Why I love them: The one on the left I bought when I got my first "real" job after college. I had my own office with a windowsill that begged for greenery. This guy was a little scraggly thing near death when I rescued it from my favorite rack at Fred Meyer....the plant reject rack. I think it was $1. Second from the left is the African Violet that Bryan bought me while I was just in Boston because he missed me and wanted a gift for when I returned. Skip over the Garfield chia pet...that's Bryan's. Next is the African Violet I won at my best friend Maria's wedding shower two years ago. I won for correctly estimating a bucket full of household goods from Target. I rocked at it because I am a faithful Target shopper. On the right is an aloe vera plant. This plant was started at Sherri's house long ago when Lani was just a baby...so about 6 years ago. She had a sadly neglected aloe plant, so I repotted it and all of the "sprouts." This is a world-traveler plant. It has been to Portland and back by car. Now parts of the first planted sprouts also reside at Bryan's sister's house.

From Favorite things

The top plant here was a gift from my internship supervisor Tamara when I was finishing up my master's degree. It had these beautiful purple flowers, then looked like a weed for the rest of the year. When I moved to Rochester I was going to throw it away (it had been a year without any new flowers), and lo and behold it had 5 just budding flowers. The bottom plant I "won" in the gift exchange my first year at PRE, about 4 years ago. All of these plants have been cross country with me, so I love them. Each one has a story that reminds me of something important in my life.

I love these Nike flip flops.

From Favorite things

Why I love them: These are the MOST COMFORTABLE flip flops I have ever worn. So much so that when Bryan borrowed them one day at a concert, he immediately wanted his own. Now I have 3 pairs, he has 2, and our roommate Krista has been known to slip on some of ours when no one is looking! I wear mine so much I have tan lines from them.

I love this scrub.

From Favorite things

Why I love it: I could sum this up with "I love Bath and Body Works," as you will soon see. This scrub is divine. A light scent of lavender, subtle scrubby stuff, in a creamy paste. Delightful! Even better that it was on sale for $4 when I bought it.

I love this shampoo and conditioner.

From Favorite things

Why I love them: Not only is this stuff cheap (on sale for $3 a bottle at B&BW), but it smells fantastic. The first week I used it Bryan was constantly saying how good my hair smelled.

I love this lip gloss.

From Favorite things

Why I love it: This gloss comes in many different shades and glides on smoothly with no clumps. But my favorite part is the mint scent it has. So fresh and soothing. Totally worth the $7.50 price tag, although I have never paid more than $3 on sale.

I love raspberries, hand picked

From Favorite things

Why I love them: I truly think there is nothing better in this world than a raspberry. Sweet, yet tart. Seedy, yet smooth. I love that in New York there are TWO picking seasons...summer and fall. These berries I picked this week, along with some blueberries and gooseberries.

I love tastycakes, namely butterscotch krimpets.

From Favorite things

Why I love them: My friend Travis introduced me to these in college. They come from his home town of Philly, so every time he went home I would give him money to buy me some. These light cakes have a sweet frosting on top. They are delicious, and at 6 grams of fat for 2 cakes, they aren't a terribly gluttonous indulgence. I hadn't had them in forever, and literally squealed in a grocery store in Florida on our vacation when they had them. Imagine the squeal I had a few months ago when I found out Tops has them RIGHT HERE IN ROCHESTER.

Saving the best for last, I love this man.

From Favorite things

Why I love him: There are a million reasons why I love him, but as of late, it is because he is my pool hero. Although he is stupendously busy with school, he has spent COUNTLESS hours skimming, filtering, and vacuuming the pool. He was the first brave one today to jump in so he could scoop the last stubborn parts by diving under and using the scoop. I think tomorrow I might just jump in myself. Man I wish I had a picture of the DARK green swamp we had just a few short weeks ago.

I think I'll go to Boston

Thankfully, unlike the Augustana song, I didn't go to start a new life where no one knows my name. I went to see my best friend from high school (who lives in Portland). She was in Boston visiting another friend from high school and studying for her medical school boards. She was kind enough to invite me to come visit for the weekend.

I'd never been to Boston before. The first night involved a BBQ, where I learned for sure I have no interest in ever moving to Boston. Many of the people there, albeit nice, were SO typical snotty east-coasters. The Boston area is home to many prestigious universities (Harvard, MIT, Tufts, etc), and many of the people were either former or current students (PhDers for the current ones). They couldn't talk about anything besides school. AT ALL. I don't ever want to be like that. The name dropping that went on was ridiculous. This was a group of argumentative "I'm always right and you're always wrong" kind of people. Sure, the copious amounts of alcohol didn't help, but I have never been one to understand that holier-than-thou attitude that seems to unfailingly go along with the more well-known universities.

The weekend really involved a trip to New Hampshire, which is a very pretty, green, fairly unoccupied state. Anne's (our friend who lives in Boston) boyfriend's parents have this very cute fairly rustic cabin that we stayed at overnight. We first went on a hike in the White Mountains. The day was perfect and it was very beautiful. It was a bit strenuous for a non-hiker like me, but the reward is that at the top is a lake and a cute little hut that serves food. They hike supplies up to the hut!

From Boston 2007

From Boston 2007

After the hike, the four of us (Maria, Anne, her boyfriend, and me) had a very fun "date night." It started off with dinner at a local pub in whatever town we were in in N.H. They had some unique beers. Of course, I liked the raspberry one :)

From Boston 2007

Then we went to a really neat putt putt course. I took a respectable second, although the most fun part of the night was the combination of Anne's VERY powerful swings (many went off the course) and her boyfriend's utter seriousness about the game. He did not appreciate the razzing that was going on. After all, putt putt is a serious game. Riiiiight :)

From Boston 2007

From Boston 2007

After putt putt, we ended the evening with some delicious ice cream at a local place. Sadly, Maria's camera fell off the table and broke, so the pictures of the weekend end here! Luckily there isn't much more to report except a yummy pancake breakfast the next morning.

All in all, it was a really fun weekend and great to see some familiar faces from home. But, when I came home to this, I was glad to be right back where I belong.

From Boston 2007

P.S. For those of you who are wondering about the house, don't ask. It's just better that way.

26 must suit me

Okay, so the first incident was 4 days before I turned 26, but that is just a minor detail! I already posted about the bagel guy telling me I was beautiful. Then on Tuesday I went into school to be Bryan's guinea pig for his nursing assessment final exam. I met one of his classmates while I was there, and she apparently told Bryan later that day "She is pretty, you guys make a really cute couple." While being prodded during the final exam, Bryan had to "catch" my kidney. It was really easy for him, and he cutely exclaimed, "oh, that's so cool!" to which the instructor grading responded "that's what happens when your patients are thin." So in less than 10 days I have been called beautiful, pretty, and thin, all by total strangers (two of whom were women). I think I could grow to like 26 :) I hated 25 though, so I'm very happy to be movin' on up.

I'm sad to say that my 4th didn't involve fireworks. I've come to learn that Bryan just isn't into holidays. New years, birthdays, July 4th, Halloween...they are all just days to him. He thinks (and I tend to agree) that it is because he doesn't have the traditions around holidays that I do. July 4th was almost always spent in the cul-de-sac. My brother would spend hundreds on illegal fireworks, as would some of the neighbors, and everyone would come out for the show and a big bucket of ice cream. It was so much fun! Here in NY you can't even buy any fireworks. Not even sparklers! We did see fireworks last week though. we live ~2 miles from Lake Ontario, and they had Harborfest. We rode our new bikes and had a funnel cake, walked around, and saw the fireworks over the lake. For just town fireworks, they were really impressive. I learned though that cameras don't take very good pictures of fireworks!