Snow Pug

Our first snow flurried were last Saturday night. Rocky took one look at flakes falling from the sky and ran back in the house. However, the next morning when the yard was a blanket of snow, he remembered how much he loved it! He eats it, rolls in it, chases it, and pretends it's chasing him. Just look at the smile on his little face (I'm kidding... he always looks miserable.)

Here he is enjoying the freshly fallen snow!

new posts coming soon...

more coming very soon... ive been caught up in lots and lots of studying! some fun items TBA

Fruit Picking

Gorgeous view of Lyman Orchards in Middlefield, CT! It reminds me of Italy!
My friends Naomi and Courtney came along! (I suppose it was a mini I-hate-Meriden club meeting.)
The perfect apple!
Here I am picking some luscious Empires...

I made some apple crisp and realized I could eat nothing but apple crisp (and peanut brittle) for the rest of my life and be very content.

moving on to electrical work...

Today I finally mustered up the courage to install the new outside light! And (it seems so far) I have succeeded! After hours of thinking and rereading the directions- and I'm not exaggerating- I finally did it. The huge road block has been that there is no label on the breaker that says "outside lights," and there are about 7 that seem to say "lights" in illegible handwriting. I decided to just turn off anything that even resembled "lights" and go from there. The hardest part was getting the old light fixture off because it was so rusted and old that it seemed to have attached itself to the side of the house. AND the directions are never as easy as they look in the directions manual! In the manual, there was no rusty old fixture, random extra wires, cracks in the siding, or dead insects. Two hours later, I caulked the edges of the fixture (except the bottom to let moisture out) and turned all the breakers back on... and the light worked! I can't wait to turn it on tonight after it gets dark! lol

Rocky had to stay tied up on the deck because he couldn't control himself. I found him peeing on the neighbor's bushes!!! Yesterday he was in the neighbor's yard eating bread they had put out for the birds!

My next home improvement task is taking down those hideous awnings... but I need manpower (Pauly) to get them down!

Garbage Hunting

I never thought I would be doing this... but I did it all right. On our morning walk, peaceful and serene (also trash day), Rocky and I glance at everyone's garbage piles as we head back to our house. He usually waits to go to the bathroom until we get to our house for some reason ! About a block away, I spot this ottoman- an olive green color that would perfectly match our sitting room upstairs! (Nevermind that we don't have armchairs up there yet!) It doesn't smell, it's not wet, there are no tears or stains... I flip it over and see that it is from Bombay. That means it must've been one expensive footrest (or they bought it when our local Bombay closed ~ lol) I looked left and right... no one around at 7 a.m. So I carry it home with Rocky frantically trying to figure out what I am doing. Once we got it inside, I let Rocky check it out and he seems to like it very much. I can add another detail to list (see previous blogs) of how I am becoming my mom. I'm actually looking forward to next garbage day when I might get lucky again.

Bath Time

My first successful home repair!!! Here is a pictoral of me fixing the bath tub:

This is after I took it apart the first time! It removed it, cleaned it, tightened the nut around the fixture, applied some vasoline, and put it back together. The tub still won't hold water.

My old apartment didn't have a tub. I couldn't wait to have a nice tub to take a long, hot bath after work... Almost there...

I noticed that the linkage was short so I loosened the nut again and made it longer, then tightened it. I put the drain back together and crossed my fingers... Success! The tub held water! I didn't believe I actually fixed something, so I stood in the tub for about ten minutes, staring at the water level on my feet. The level didn't move! Later, I took my first my bubble bath in my new house!

Of course, I didn't just know how to do this. Even though I've watched my dad fix the tub a million times, I've never actually tried it myself. Check out hammerzone.com! It gave me pictures and step-by-step instructions on how to do this. It even told a few troubleshooting strategies for when something goes wrong!

Speaking of Mail...

Amity's funny mailman story reminded me of what happened last week... Rocky and I were outside watering the garden - and I use the term "garden" loosely because it hasn't grown since I planted it a month and a half ago. So in the five seconds that I am not looking, Rocky vanishes. Now the first place I look is in Carmen's yard. She is the 90 year old lady next door whose yard is a menagerie of lush plants, just Rocky's size. He loves it there and she loves when he comes over. No, not in Carmen's yard. Not in my back yard where the garden is. Just then, the mailman walks into my yard, which is strange because I already got my mail that day. Trotting behind him with a smile on his face is Rocky Balboa. The mailman explains that Rocky was following him down the street to each house while he was delivering mail! At least he didn't bite him, I guess. BTW, Rocky follows everyone. If a random stranger walks down the street, he follows. He tried to get into the cable guy's van, too!

Replacing the Outside Light

Did not happen yet... I went to Lowes, stared at all the possible exterior light fixtures, selected and opened the one I wanted in the store (add that to the list of How I'm becoming my mother), and bought any supplies I didn't already have. Then I read and memorized the directions and was ready to install! I went down to turn off the breaker, lest I electrocute myself on my first real home improvement task... alas! Not only is most of the handwriting illegible on the breakers, there are five labelled "light." Disenchanted, I set the job aside for now, untile Ricci (Pauly's friend) can get over here to tell me which one to turn off! Stay tuned for adventures in the dishwasher and the tub....

I have the summer "malaise," as Becky calls it... there's really no better way to describe it. When you realize you've been so busy all summer, yet you still didn't accomplish half of the things you had planned on doing... it's time to get excited about the fall! Of course I have huge plans to be apple picking and canning preserves, but I will probably be too immersed in anatomy and phonetics, sadly. Here are a few cute pics from Florida~ hopefully my next vacation will be VEGAS! :) Luckily, I visited with my cousin Cori and her family one day! We did Magic Kingdom, Animal Kingdom, and Universal, too! This baby giraffe came right over to the jeep at Animal Kingdom. There's a safari ride with all the animals in pseudo-natural habitats... but it's got to be better than the zoo.

surround sound takes over

After many hours of frustration, sweat, and trial/error, Springer has set up the surround sound for our HD tv!!! Now we can have the full experience of our beautiful 52" LCD flat screen.

See the blue light? That means it's working!

Rocky is adjusting to his new habitat!

Here is Rocky on the day we moved in. He took a big diarrhea dump in the kitchen (which I also took a picture of, but spared you from seeing it) right before I snapped this shot.

Here he is later, enjoying his yard! He's a swimmer now. He uses the ladder just like a real person. He couldn't figure out how to get in the pool, but after watching us do the ladder enough times, he climbed down it... and climbed back up it when he was tired of swimming! I jumped in to show him he could do that, and soon after he took a fearful jump in. Now every time we go outside, he bolts straight for the deck gate to go to the pool!

Notice that there's no stairs on the back of the deck? The seller's lawyer told us there would be stairs there- but lied- and of course it isn't in writing. So you can sit on the deck... but if you want to go into the backyard, you have to walk around the front and through the gate! And they also took some of the gate down to build the deck and never put it back up, so lil Rocky can escape the backyard! It's still nice to have a yard anyway!

How did the burners get like this?

When we first walked into the house while it was on the market, the very first thing I noticed was the burners on the stove. Why? Because they were caked in the most dirty, disgusting, nasty brown goo I've ever seen on a non-frat house stove. The rest of the house- spotless. Just these gross burners. I said, "Those have got to go." Here's a nice shot of Auntie trying to renew them for me... Try as she might, they are still awful. But at least they have been sanitized until I can find a solution. Any ideas?

how i know i'm turning into my mother...

1. When I don't like something, I say, "I don't care for that very much."

2. I lost the attachment to the vacuum cleaner, so I bought another one, took out the part, and returned it!

3. I was blacklisted from returning items at Walmart. (This happens when you return too many items without receipts. I have yet to ask people to go return things for me.)

4. I hounded the people at Comcast cable until they gave me exactly what I wanted, when I wanted it, and at a reduced price.

5. I will call/go to ten places before making any final decisions/purchases.

now i know why...

now i know why my parents sometimes acted the way they did- like when dad would get so mad when something broke- or when mom would call someone and yell at them until they came fixed whatever they did wrong. Because if you don't yell at them, no one will listen to you. And something always needs to be fixed and it never ends and you have to do it yourself... all the time!

moving in!!!

well, there is no internet, cable, or phone at the new house, so blog posts will be delayed... here's some pics of the fun! we were in for a few surprises, as we had anticipated. The carpeting needed to be completely replaced, every room painted, and a serious clean-up. Random food, their belongings, holes in the wall, etc. I couldn't believe that a family lived in such filth! Thankfully, the Shue twins (Pauly's mom and twin sister) cleaned and I gathered the troops- the Calamitas, Ricci, Kristin, Perky... anyone who walked by or just looked at me was given a job to do. The door may look stable- however it was hanging by random miss-matched screws until Daddy came and fixed it!!!! Also, these pictures were taken post- cleaning... so you can't see the inch of dust Auntie scraped off the fan, the grime washed off the walls, the random shoes and debris left everywhere...

second attempt at pictures

Here's some Father's Days pics! We had delicious brunch at Amity's house in Victor, NY!!! Rocky had lots of fun digging a hole in the front yard. Look at Jason's guns! What an attractive family! ;)

almost moving day!

Three more days until the fun begins! Rocky can't wait to have a big backyard and I can't wait to have more than two rooms to live in! We went mattress shopping yesterday! At Sleepy's, you get to take this quiz on the computer about how old you are and what hurts when you sleep on your old mattress. Then you lie on this special bed and a little report prints out about what kind of mattress you need. It was lots of fun to do, but I don't really believe it lol. We laid on all the beds and picked one out anyway. $1300 later, we have a mattress. Better last 15 years! I requested the highest one possible so Rocky can't jump up. He's been spoiled because I've been letting him sit up there and watch TV with me. The new house has a no couch no bed dog policy, which will be very difficult to enforce. Rocky is very aerodynamic... you should see him leap over puddles when it rains!

Father's Day

If you're looking for the pictures... I can't upload them because there is an "internal error?" Blogger.com won't let me, so TBC. (to be continued ;) ) One more week!

Mystic birthday!

Today is my 26th birthday!!! Pauly took me to Mystic for three days and it was the best vacation. We went to Misquamicut Beach in Rhode Island, toured the old ships in the Seaport, and went to the Mystic Aquarium. We went to dinner at Foxwoods Casino- in a limo!!! I felt like a celebrity. We also went to downtown Mystic, but we didn't eat at the famous Mystic Pizza (you know, the Julia Roberts movie) because it actually is glorified Pizza Hut. And our room had a hot tub in it! Sorry, I have to brag. Mystic is only 1 hour away, but it is completely different from New Haven- a quaint little New England town with ocean beaches! I feel so lucky to live so close to cool places like this and to have such a thoughtful boyfriend!!!

Enough bragging... now for the funny part. Guess who wants to change the closing date again? Guess who can't without paying lots of penalties and owing us rent? That's right, the seller who just can't seem to pull herself together and wants us to rearrange our lives while she doesn't keep track of hers. And I'm not worried! Have fun staying at hotel with your four kids because we will not change the closing date four times. Or maybe we will change it and you can pay us rent... that would be an awesome way to earn our first month's mortgage!!!

don't sweat the small stuff... and it's all small stuff

When it comes to buying a house (and many other things), it really doesn't pay to get excited, worried, nervous, anxious, or any other emotion for that matter. For every time we got excited, the seller rejected our offer and we started over again. Likewise, whenever we worried about something, it turned out to be nothing. So I decided to listen to my mom and calm down, refusing to worry (or to be excited).

This revolutionary way of thinking came about when Pauly requested an extension for his mortgage application. He has plenty of money, earns plenty of money, and has no credit problems. He simply asked for an extension just in case he didn't get his paperwork in on time. (He needed tax forms from three years ago and was waiting on the IRS to send him copies.) Despite several accomodations we made at the seller's request because Pauly wanted to "be nice to her," she refused the extension and we were stuck. While Pauly freaked out and told me to stop packing, I stopped to think...
Why would someone going through a divorce with four children and another mortage on their new homes want to break this deal less than a month before closing? Did they really want two mortgages and divorce lawyer bills? Was this house bad luck and we shouldn't move in there anyway? Didn't they care that we already switched the closing date for them twice because we knew the kids wanted to finish school in their district- which put Rocky and me out of a place to live???
Well, my mom said it best: "Oh, that happens all the time. It will work out and don't get comfortable because this is just the beginning." SO I kept on packing, and low and behold his mortgage is approved without needing an extension. Now I feel calm and I'm not worried about a thing- not even money- because it's not worth the stress! The book on mom and dad's toilet is right: dont sweat the small stuff - and it's all small stuff.

not a pack rat

Since our moving date is about a month away, I'm sorting through all of my junk, trying to decide what goes, what stays, what's being donating, and what's so funny I have to show someone before I toss it... I found a letter that my 12th grade Honors English teacher, Ms. Wells made each of us write to ourselves at age 30. It was tempting to open it, but I think it will be funnier (or more nauseating) to read it when I'm thirty (hey, it's only 4 years away). I found my tap shoes and - yes- I did dance a little in my kitchen. I found some fun pictures of my former self- which I safely put back in the box- no one needs to see me hanging from the ceiling rafters at a frat party, at least not right now. (Thankfully, I went to school before the invention of facebook and blogging and myspace therefore my life has not been ruined like most people's today- don't even live on campus if you EVER plan on running for office). I have so many pictures of people going to the bathroom - especially outdoors, that it's unbelieveable!

Anyway, the point is - I realized that I am getting rid of pretty much everything... I just hate "stuff." I hate boxes of notes from junior high, random knick-knacks, all those clothes you say you're going to wear and you don't... I am donating at least $4,000 of clothes. It hurts saying that, but some Goodwill customer will be very happy to walk out in Bebe and Coach! No I'm not going to ask for a receipt for my taxes because I honestly don't ever donate anyone any time or money... I suppose my fancy old clothes are my community service. I am at least selling the BIG stuff, like my bed, dresser, kitchen set, tv (which my parent's bought me in college and even though it works, it just looks ancient compared to tvs now!), shelves, air conditioner... Something just seems wrong - moving into a new house with old furniture that has truly seen better days. I guess I'm not even sentimental because each of those things has a fantastic story behind them, but I just want them out of here! Maybe I can use those stories as pitches to sell better on craigslist! (For example, my bed is haunted. No, really it is!)
So I apologize, I know I stem from a long line of pack rats... (but Grandma Grace's plethora of makeup cases really have come in handy- really), but it's all got to go.

oil tanks from WWII

So yes we changed the closing date and then changed it again- and again, but none of that matters right now. All I care about it that there isn't an oil tank from 1940 buried in the front yard. And the oil tank from 1975 in the basement is not leaking. *Yea* That's enough for me to be satisfied.

Stay tuned for pictures, more fun stories about closing (because I know the "contract" is going to change again), and more updates when I learn how to blog.