Preview of future weekends

This past weekend was mostly crazy busy with some fun mixed in. I took the day off Friday and Corey was off for the week, so we scoured the house in preparation for meeting with our listing agent. We filled our entire truck with old mismashy furniture and Corey took it all to the recycling center, and we can now see the basement floor again. I mean, you could probably take up residence down there. The agent walked through the house with us, room by room, and told us what we should update to get ready to sell. Two big items include replacing our back door and cracked glass in our living room window. The rest is really painting, replacing baseboards, organizing, moving furniture, cleaning the carpets, etc. Not huge expenses but just a lot of time. So...we are trying to map out our tasks for Menards and elsewhere and will try to get cracking. We went to 6 open houses on Sunday with her and it becomes rather easy to decide which houses are worth considering and which are just kinda icky. So, the faster we can sell I think the more freedom we have to choose something else. Friday night Kim and Tom invited us over to their new place and we hottubed it under the stars--that was fun. Saturday we priced some items we're planning on buying--a bookcase, an ottoman, and possibly a chair. Any other advice for preparing/staging your house?

Returning to the emerald isle

Well, I have my ticket so it's official: I am going to Ireland this May! A really great opportunity to "tag" along with a group from the area came up, so I had to jump on it. I can't wait: in three months I'll be back to the land where I left a little bit of my heart eight (yikes!) years ago. Having been there before, there's almost more pressure to see all of the good stuff, since I know how wonderful it all is! I called my Irish lassie, Janey, to give her the good news a few weeks ago. I am most excited to see her since her visit four years ago for Janell's wedding. Besides going to Dublin and Belfast, we will be returning to the beloved town of the west, Louisburgh, to see how unbelivably different it looks today. My ladies: the SPAR had a fire last week, and Tom McNamara doesn't own it anymore. In addition, we'll be stopping in to visit Jane's family, and I've already bought a new trenchcoat to prepare for the coastal weather. Now I just need to find my passport! For those of you who have visited since the millenium, what is an absolute must that I [re]visit???

sidebar bloggy

I started this about a month ago, so for some fun reading, visit:

http://neccessityandjoy.blogspot.com/

the path to [nutritional] enlightenment

As most of the northern half of the country will agree, winter is certainly the time to associate your mood and energy level as BLAH. I am no exception to this fact. And although I'm a regular mover/shaker and a pretty consentious eater, I can't shake the feeling that I don't have a healthy dose of spunk these days. First, I decided to give up processed sugar, since it's like crack to me. I can't have just a little. I had not had any for about 2 weeks than had a few pieces of chocolate the other night. I practically couldn't blink and was up until about 2:00 am. Enter detox proposal. Several people I work with are quite alternative when it comes to health care and nutrition. I have been really interested in trying some sort of detox for quite some time just to gain more energy and to get my exercise to count for a little more. I went to see a RN who owns a health food store and decided to give it a try. It's a 7-day program, which is actually liberal in the sense that you are encouraged to eat fruits and vegetables, to drink water and eat whole grains, so I figure it'll do my body good. The only thing that really stinks right now is the plan encourages you to obstain from caffiene too. So my little cup o' joe will have to wait...We'll see!

Snow in the desert

I just returned for Tuscon where I had been for a conference. We were lucky enough to stay at the Biosphere2 and man, for not being a scientist, I was pretty amazed with the place! It kind of brought me back to being a kid again, where everything that surrounds you supplies a certain type of wonder and awe. It certainly didn't hurt that every morning when I woke up and looked out the window, there were mountains surrounding us. We stayed in little casitas which, during the academic year, are dormitories for students doing research in the Biosphere. I was struck by the desert and how vastly different the landscape is from what I'm used to. The southwest is just going in to their spring, which is really the only time of the year where they see rain. There were notes posted warning visitors to watch for the javelinas (wild pigs), deer, racoon-like animals, mice, and very rarely, the Gila monster. That was more than enough to keep me on the path to the parking lot.


Last Tuesday night we actually celebrated Valentine's due to my leaving early on Thursday. We went to Pizza Luce, which we've been known to frequent on the 14th, and then stopped at another watering hole for a glass of wine. We actually both made homemade cards this year which was great. Corey got a tie and some cheeky boxers (which I get him every Valentine's) and I got Obama's book The Audacity of Hope. I was really touched; I had mentioned the book a few weeks ago and was pleased he had remembered. I can't put it down. Thanks for the great Valentine's Day, babe. I heart you.

Week rewind

Lately I haven't really had anything too interesting to write about, but in actuality, most of what I ramble on about is minute and very random. I was crusing online for clipart and stumbled upon this great logo:
I wonder if they have updated signs referring to sightings in Las Vegas or various collectible shops...

I didn't make it to the caucus Tues night because I had to work, but afterwards Corey and I went out for a drink and majority of the TVs at the establishment were tuned into the delegate summaries. Hillary kept doing this stupid pointy finger dance which I think she's mastered on TV for the last 9 months. Corey was in the wilderness with students and parents for a few nights, so my mom went with me to the first of what I anticipate to be many house showings. I was kind of excited. She thought of about 5,000 questions/considerations that me, the rookie, hadn't really figured yet. The realtor told me the average buyer looks at 7-12 houses. That sounds crazy! But I suppose one does so much pre-planning, it becomes pretty obvious what one likes/dislikes. Today I ventured out to run errands, along with majority of the city's population. I found these really pretty printable vellum Anna Griffin invitations for CR's garden-themed bridal shower/luncheon in March. Not much garden action happening then, but we can all dream. Tonight I can hear the wind howling outside my window and I am staying put inside.

2 much txting mks u 1 bad splr

My co-worker had a coaster with this message printed on it. I think I'll share this one with my students, who seem to think addressing me with "Hey you" in an email is a good way to communicate.

Thursday morning I woke up thinking it was Saturday. This morning I woke up thinking surely by now it must be Saturday!

Wednesday night I hosted book club at my house and it's always such a great opportunity to sit around and gab and vent about life, and laugh. We read Three Cups of Tea, which I really liked, but wasn't a group favorite. I am not going to suggest the books anymore b/c they end up being lame to most of the ladies. Two of the women are in the process of selling houses, so it was a great opportunity to get advice and information from them. I think we are really going to push to get our house sold by this summer. This weekend we are going to install the new toilet (I've been scouring DIY for lots of directions with pictures), and Corey suggested we just do the floor, too. I'm game. Any house selling or buying advice you want to share would be great! We're also having some peeps over Sunday for the Superbowl, which is a good excuse to get together.