sometrouble

You guys are sharp!

posted by sometrouble @ 4:59 PM | Test Category Two | Thursday, January 25, 2007

Everyone picked up on the one little line I mentioned in the last post about the thing I hadn't been talking about...me not working. I thought I could just mention it in passing, and not draw too much attention. Nope. You all are too sharp for me! Not that it is really a big secret or anything, though.

That's right, I am no longer working (for the moment). It is a complicated situation, which I would rather not talk about here. However, I will say that I did not leave on bad terms, neither am I exactly unhappy to be not working at the moment. And one last thing...in case anyone was thinking that the reason I had to leave my last job where I worked with hazardous, vaporous chemicals was because of me being pregnant...I am not...nor did I think I was. Hubby and I are not ready for that just yet.

I have been "blissfully unemployed" since January 5th. That is not to say that I am not busy...we have plenty to work on around the house. Also, I have been getting a little more into setting up my photography side business. And I am looking for another job. But, honestly I am enjoying feeling like I have time and energy to accomplish regular things at home now. Chad wants me to start working again as soon as possible. I want to get some things in order first, including organizing our tons of stuff that we merged when we got married (and getting rid of a lot of it). So I am splitting my time between that and pursuing a new job.

Thanks everyone for the good suggestions on getting more time together. I will try to have set plans for us to spend some time. It is just a little different than I thought it would be, being home. I thought it would be perfect...but surprisingly, I miss having work to go to everyday for a little while. I did feel overwhelmed before though. So hopefully, I can get this place under control...then go back to work...and not feel so stressed.

I got to go up north with my mom and sister for the weekend to the lake chalet, which my grandparents purchased this summer. It was beautiful. They had more snow up there than we have here. It was a real winter wonderland. Chad had to work, so he couldn't come with us. The three of us went out to play in the snow. We brought a plastic sled we got several years ago (and was really too small for any of us) and found a little (but steep) hill on the side of the dirt road to climb up and sled down. The steepness and the too small sled resulted in much tumbling out of the sled and down the "hill." It was great fun. Except the part where I landed on both my knees on the snow covered dirt road. The ski-pants I was wearing helped pad them a little...but they both have nasty bruises.

I really love the chalet...it is a really restful place to visit. I can't wait until my cousins from Washington (Numine, Anonymity's Name, and Titania) get to experience it.

Ok, I am off to go see DELIRIUM, a Cirque du Soleil live music concert with my mom, aunts, grandma, and cousin. (That's my grandma's Christmas present from all of us.) I am excited, it should be good! (Better be for $72 a ticket!)

Labels: life happens

7 comments

7 Comments:

At January 25, 2007 7:47 PM, Anonymous said...: I'm jealous of your little winter-weekend-getaway! I still need to come visit to see this new chalet.
At January 25, 2007 8:01 PM, Anonymous said...: Also...is that "katie" the stove?
At January 25, 2007 11:28 PM, sometrouble said...: yes, that is "katie":o) Be here the weekend of February 8th through 11th...Chad and I are probably going up then. You can come too...you do have a pink rhinestone, after all!
At January 26, 2007 11:39 AM, Anonymous said...: Sorry to hear about the not working thing. I hope everythings ok!

I know how nice it is to have the time off, but it does get old after a while!

Good luck with the organizing stuff. Talk to you later!
At January 28, 2007 5:22 PM, Anonymous said...: Things will work themselves out, professionally. You'll get a job and get stuff done when you are supposed to. Have fun in the snow!

P.S. One more little thing that I've noticed: your 'About Me' still says that you are "still searching for the perfect house to settle down in". Are you looking at buying a SECOND house this year? ;)
At January 29, 2007 2:18 PM, sometrouble said...: Wow, Rachel, you ARE REALLY sharp! I never look at that section. No, we are not that crazy to buy two houses in one year.
At January 30, 2007 7:39 PM, Anonymous said...: I love the black and white of the "winter wonderland" type shot. I'd love a copy for our new house... if we ever get it! Hope all is well and talk to you soon!
-Jenelle

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catch up

posted by sometrouble @ 3:41 PM | Test Category Two | Wednesday, January 24, 2007

I feel like I can't get enough sleep lately. I wake up everyday feeling like I can't get my eyes to stay open. When I get up, I wander around the house having a hard time sticking to a task. I plan many things to accomplish in the day...and can't get going on any of them. I blame it on the husband. He is a big distraction...he has plans of his own for the day...and usually has some idea of what he feels I should do with the day too. He throws a big monkey wrench in my plans...then goes off to work at 2:00 and leaves me with a day half gone and none of my stuff accomplished. Also, I am alone. Which I don't like so much. It puts me in a bad mood day after day. I love seeing him more...and having mornings together, now that I am not working. But I hate being alone for 8 hours a day, 6 days in a row.

Too often, on his days off, he gets busy with a project, and spends all day doing it. It seems like I see him even less on those days. Last night after dinner, I asked him to come sit on the couch with me and just watch TV together and relax for an hour. He said he wanted to finish organizing the garage (which he had been at all day)...and that he only had a little left, then he would spend time with me. More than two hours later, he finally comes in at 10:30 PM...now there is nothing worth watching on TV, and I want to pick up a little in the kitchen. So much for spending some time together.

Today, he's been running around getting a workbench for the garage from a friend, picking up another friend to help him move it, dropping that friend back off at home, then running down to his mom's to get her so he can pick up his truck from the body shop (it was there because of me...whoops). Running to his Uncle's where we used to live...and a few other places...and when he gets back, we are going to have dinner and play cards with friends.

Tomorrow he is back to work again until next Wednesday.

Oh, and Caramel Apple Dip is a wonderful thing! That is all.

Labels: life happens, queen of the castle

5 comments

5 Comments:

At January 24, 2007 8:35 PM, Anonymous said...: Sometimes you just have to make time to be together. Schedule a board game, a drive, a walk, or a bath (tee hee).

Also.. you're not working? That sounds pretty good to me right now...
At January 24, 2007 9:13 PM, Anonymous said...: Yes what is with this not working business? I found it to be delightful, yet boring after awhile. Being alone no es bueno.

Micah and I have had to schedule time to be together. We realized that we scheduled activities, friends, and other things into our lives and we gave each other backseat priority for time spent together. I highly recommend coming up with some "you guys" time and sticking to it. Good luck!
At January 24, 2007 9:49 PM, Anonymous said...: I have to admit, that is why I like Brad on mids and me on days. He does his erronds while I'm working/sleeping and I do mine while he is working/sleeping. This way we have time to actually spend together. Try telling Chad, the garage can wait and that YOU are the priority now. The garage/workbench/lawn/erronds will be there tomorrow. Once he realizes that YOU are now the priority, he may start slowly changing his ways. Just keep that in mind for yourself too. Besides that, try doing what you can while he's at work that way, you can expand your time. Don't worry, you'll figure out ways! Miss you guys! -Jenelle
At January 24, 2007 11:29 PM, Allie said...: Sorry to hear you guys aren't seeing a lot of each other. Other commenters have left some good suggestions. Hope something works. I wish I could offer some advice but I am still single...

And I'm also wondering about the not working thing. Are you taking up more full time with your photography?
At January 25, 2007 1:30 PM, Kat said...: Ah, that sounds relaxing... but I don't know how long I'd be able to do it. Two months of unemployment was about all I could take.

I, too, tend to get very involved in my time off. It's a tough compromise. Somehow I end up feeling like I have too much alone time and not enough!

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winter weather

posted by sometrouble @ 2:02 PM | Test Category Two | Thursday, January 18, 2007

In my last post, maybe I shouldn't have been complaining about the lack of wintry weather we've been having.

Monday night we got hit by a winter ice storm. All the rain froze. Everything was coated in tiny icicles. It was very pretty...all the tall grasses and tree branches were glittering in the sun. It was also very heavy, causing lots of branches to fall and causing power lines to go out. It was estimated that about 120,000 customers lost power this week. Ours went out on Tuesday morning around 9:00 am. We spent the day running a few errands, and I sat at Caribou Coffee for a while with the laptop and knitted while enjoying a gingerbread latte. (too bad those are only seasonal!) Chad got up on the ladder and broke the ice off of our gutters so they wouldn't get clogged and water won't leak under our shingles.

Our house is really well insulated, so it didn't get too cold inside. We keep the thermostat at 62 F at night, and by 5:00 pm it had only dropped to about 56 F.

We decided to take the cat and spend the night at my grandparents' house since they are in Florida anyway. So I packed everything up, and we ran out to get some dry ice to keep the freezer cold. When we got back with $20 worth of dry ice, we found that our electricity was back on. Go figure. We were some of the lucky ones though, many people have been without power since as early as 4:00 am Monday morning. Around 20,000 still had no power yesterday afternoon.

I have got the knitting bug...I learned how to knit as a child, but never made anything more than a very crooked piece of a scarf out of miscellaneous scrap yarns that I got from my mother and grandmother. It was only about a foot and a half long. In the past two years, I picked it up again. I made a few pretty scarves out of fancy yarn...but no fancy stitches, just straight knitting (garter stitch). I could never even remember how to purl. I suddenly have the motivation to teach myself more. I have always been crafty, and it is really fun. I'm trying my hand at a felted booga bag. I will post pics when I finish it. It is going very quickly.

Well, gotta go be productive today. Lots to do. Take a look at the other ice photos, throughout this post, which I took in our yard (click for larger images).

Labels: life happens, photographic ventures

2 comments

2 Comments:

At January 18, 2007 4:17 PM, Anonymous said...: I like the bag! Very pretty! :)

We got all snow up here...about 6". Im glad it wasnt all ice! I have a friend in Missouri that got slammed with the ice storms over the weekend and yesterday was their third snow day so far this week. Crazy!

Hope all is well. Talk to you soon.
At January 19, 2007 9:03 PM, Allie said...: I saw someone with a booga bag the other day! I was trying to figure out how they made it. The lady said her daughter knit it but then it also looked felted, so now that makes sense after looking at the directions.

Felting is really fun. We teach classes on it where I work. Though we teach more needle felting than wet felting (what you are doing with this bag).

Anyway, I could ramble away...

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Gotta love this rainy winter

posted by sometrouble @ 4:14 PM | Test Category Two | Saturday, January 13, 2007

It is mid January and we haven't had any substantial snowfall yet. I'm not complaining too much, because the temperatures haven't been all that bad either yet. However, temps above freezing mean we're getting it all as rain instead.

Yesterday morning, we woke to a wet cat jumping on us. Immediately we were wondering why he was wet. I thought maybe the bathtub was damp, since he likes to play in there. We checked it...bone dry. Then I checked to see if the toilet lids were closed, because I thought maybe he had just been playing in the water...closed. The third place we checked which we dreaded looking, because by process of elimination, we both knew had to be the reason, was the basement. Sure enough, flooded. Damn.

Apparently, our sump pump had failed to kick on. Also, the back up pump, which runs on water pressure failed to kick on as well. So the water had overflowed the pump pit and was all over the basement. The pumps were both fine, though.

*Warning: my attempt at a "technical" sump pump explanation follows:*

The main pump is supposed to be triggered on when a floating balloon goes upright because the water is high enough to lift it. This "balloon" is on a long hose, but is attached to the pump by a metal fastener with the correct amount of slack to control our water level. Well the metal fastener corroded away and the balloon was now just floating on its side with about 3 feet of slack hose. Nice.

So the back up pump, works with a spring loaded valve that opens the house's water flow to create a vaccuum and force the water up and out. The valve is triggered by a weighted float that is on a string tied to the handle of the valve. The weight holds the valve closed as long as there is tension on the string. When the water level rises, the string slackens allowing the spring to open the valve. There are two problems with this method: 1. Eventually, the string will rot away...but the worst that would happen here is a huge water bill from the valve staying open. 2. Cats play with strings...which is I think what happened in our case. The string was tangled around the pipes of the pump, and the spring was no longer putting pressure on the valve.

*End "technical" nerdiness.*

In any case, we mopped up the water, and did damage control on the thankfully few things that got wet. Our basement is unfinished, and right now we only have a few things stored down there. Many things are in plastic boxes. An inch of water doesn't do much damage to wooden furniture either. I did have my photography "studio" set up down there...and a couple of the backdrops got wet. But I just threw them in the washing machine, no biggie. Chad spent all day working with his dad and his brother to replace both pumps. They were both still working, but we are planning to carpet and drywall the basement this year...so new pumps can't hurt. The backup one now has a rod and an enclosed spring to trigger it, so hopefully no more malfunctions.

We are REALLY REALLY glad this all happened yesterday so we could take care of it before there is more at stake in the finished basement. No soggy carpeting, thank you. I guess the water table here is pretty high. We had some trouble with water sitting at the back of our yard last week. The water level in the ditch back there was actually higher than the sump pump's outlet pipe. Chad had to dig all that out too. Its fantastic being a homeowner.

Another reason I'm glad it was yesterday and not tomorrow is because as I am writing this, we are having this installed in the basement:

Only ours has "ocean blue" felt!
We got an awesome deal on it, some guy bought it and only had it 4 months...he says he only played on it about 5 times. He is unfortunately getting divorced, and wants to sell it before his wife can take it. Chad's brother refelts tables as a side job, and came across it. He would have kept it, but he doesn't have a house. We wanted to get one eventually after we got the basement done...but this deal was so good, we are taking it now. I researched it online, and from what I can tell, we are paying about 1/3 of what it should cost new! I am super excited! I can't wait to get the basement all done.

Labels: homeownershipness, life happens

1 comments

1 Comments:

At January 15, 2007 1:22 PM, Anonymous said...: Ugh I feel your pain about the wet basement. We don't even have a sump pump (we'll be installing one within the year) but to have both pumps break is a major bummer. It is really good you were home and able to take care of it.

Yay for the pool table too!

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TGIF

posted by sometrouble @ 10:04 AM | Test Category Two | Friday, December 01, 2006

I am so glad it is Friday. I caught a bit of a cold from my sister last weekend while traveling and sharing living quarters with her in my family's lake cottage in Northern Michigan. I have had stuffed up sinuses and a congested chest cough for the better part of the week. I am feeling much much better now though. Compared to the last time I was sick, this cold is nothing.

The photo above is a macro of one of five or six orchids we keep in our lab here at work. It is a Doritaenopsis "Aposya", which is a hybrid cross between a Phalaenopsis and a Doritis. Right now, we have a Colmanara Wildcat "Okika" blooming for the first time. The flowers are very strange looking...I will have to get pictures of those, too.

I missed my little kitten buddy this morning in the bathroom as I got ready for work. Every morning he lays in the sink while I shower, then plays behind the shower curtain while I dry my hair. Today, however, he was already gone when I got up. My husband dropped him off at the vet's this morning. He is getting his manhood taken away. I feel bad for the little guy...he is going to stay overnight at the veterinarian's office. I can't wait to get him back and have him feeling better. Right now, I am waiting for the vet's office to call me and let me know they are all done.

We are supposed to get "slammed" by a winter storm today. It has been raining all morning, any minute now it is supposed to turn to sleet and then snow. If the weather gets really bad, I may head out of work early just to try to make it home in under 2 hours. I live about 30 minutes north of work, which is already a bit north of Detroit...and they are saying it will hit worst in Detroit's northern suburbs.

Labels: life happens, photographic ventures

4 comments

4 Comments:

At December 01, 2006 12:46 PM, Anonymous said...: Stay safe out there!
At December 01, 2006 12:54 PM, sometrouble said...: Thanks allie! I will!
At December 01, 2006 3:20 PM, Anonymous said...: Be safe! We were reading the news about the weather out your way. Sounds pretty ugly :-(
At December 02, 2006 8:53 PM, Anonymous said...: Aws my kitties keep me company during the morning bathroom routine too. All good domestic puppies and kitties must have their reproductiveness taken away, for the greater good. He will be okay, I remember being told that it is a simple process, much less invasive than it is for the females.

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I think I'm dying

posted by sometrouble @ 10:46 AM | Test Category Two | Thursday, November 02, 2006

Sick. Still.

October 1st: My friend, Renee came over to our new house to help me organize the kitchen. She warned me that she had a cold. I took my chances.

October 4th: We spent the whole day busy moving. Making trips back and forth the 20+ miles between the old apartment and the new house. On the go constantly and eating junk.

October 6th: I started to feel the telltale scratchy throat and runny nose. It progressed over the weekend.

October 11th: Felt the worst so far, stayed home sick from work. Went back the next day. Gradually felt a little better by the end of the weekend.

October 18th: Thought I was on the mend. Intense sore throat and general ickiness began. Suspected low fever by achy limbs and chills. Didn't own a thermometer to confirm.

October 19th: Much worse than previous day. Stayed home from work again. Found out Renee was still sick and had needed antibiotic to kick it. Going on two weeks sick for me. Went to doctor's. Hubby also went to his doctor, since by now he was sick and miserable too. Bronchitis is going around, apparently. We both got put on a 10 day course of antibiotic.

October 20th: Stayed home sick again. Antibiotic on an empty tummy...not good things were happening at 5 am. Gradually started feeling better over the next week. Still waking up feeling like crap and all stuffed up, though. Noticed I was having more headaches...especially at night and in the morning.

October 29th: Finished antibiotics. Better but not great.

November 1st: Throat feeling tight and sore-ish. Sinus pressure and pain. Body very sore and tired feeling.

November 2nd: Woke up stuffed up. Sore throat AGAIN. Feeling chest congestion...and definitely not well. Very worn out.

When will this end? I have been sick for about a MONTH! I have never been sick this long in my life. I just want to be better. I don't know if it is all the same thing, or the bugs are just piling up on top of each other. I'm debating whether I should go to the doctor's again. Renee thinks I should, if the antibiotic didn't knock it out. I don't know that my doc will really be able to do anything...she'll probably just write it off as cold and flu season. A co-worker suggested I check my house for poisonous gas levels such as radon. He also mentioned that paint gives off all kinds of nasty chemicals as it dries. We did repaint almost the whole house when we moved in. We just finished up the kitchen and the second coat in the bathroom last week. A few people have suggested a humidifier to help with the morning stuffiness. I will probably go pick one up.

I'm just sick of being sick!

Labels: life happens

5 comments

5 Comments:

At November 02, 2006 7:22 PM, Anonymous said...: FEEL BETTER!! :D
At November 02, 2006 9:01 PM, Allie said...: Aww, my poor emily! I wish I could come and take care of you.

Sounds like Krissy has been sick for awhile and gave whatever she had to Jeff. Are you sure you don't have mono or something?

...and I'm sorry if you do! I apoplogize!
At November 02, 2006 9:02 PM, Allie said...: that's supposed to be "I apologize"
At November 03, 2006 9:26 AM, sometrouble said...: emily: Thanks! I'm trying!

allie: I think I gave it to Krissy and Chad both...and then Krissy gave it to Jeff. But really, it is all Renee's fault. :o) I love her anyway, though. Any why do you "apoplogize"? You didn't do anything. Although, being sick so long did make me think about you, because you always get really knocked out with something nasty when you catch it.
At November 06, 2006 3:52 PM, Liz said...: Honey, that sounds like my first semester of school last year. Strep, bronchitis and pneumonia. Almost THREE MONTHS of lingering cough, sinus congestion and sore throat. I totally understand how miserable you are and I send you love and kisses and all the healing energy I can muster. I hope you get better soon! Drink as much water as your body can take, and get some packets of Emergen-C to help boost your immune system so you don't keep getting sicker. Kick those microbes' asses!

Love you much! XOXOXOXOXOXOXO

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You guys are sharp!

7 Comments:

catch up

5 Comments:

winter weather

2 Comments:

Gotta love this rainy winter

1 Comments:

TGIF

4 Comments:

I think I'm dying

5 Comments: