Today is my 25th birthday.
Some people consiter it a milestone. You're young, but you're not really considered a 'kid' anymore. Of course, most people who know me don't consider me a 'kid' at all, even though they know I'm young, but that's not the point of this post....
I have decided to use this milestone and make a list! Yay! You know that most people have lists of "thirty things to do before you turn 30" or some such. Well, this is MY version of that list.
It is just a list. I'm not explaining my action... Or inaction. It's not a list of things I don't and didn't want to do, or things I wanted to do, or things I plan on doing, it's just things... Well... you'll see.
25 things I DIDN'T do before I turned 25
1. Had a one night Stand
2. Done drugs
3. Gone on a backpacking tour of Europe
4. Ridden every single roller coaster in a theme park in one day
5. Had a child
6. Lived completely alone
7. Figured out how to get rid of poison ivy once it reaches my face on my own.
8. Learned how to run without breaking my ankles
9. Learned how to ENJOY exercise
9. Skydived
10. Bungee jumped
11. Anything else that involves jumping of a perfectly good something to fall to the ground below
12. Gone on a cross country road trip
13. Been so drunk I passed out- well Once I did have two drinks and got so tired I went to bed... After midnight... Does that count?
14. Stayed up for three days straight.
15. Been overseas
16. Told my parents I hated them
17. Performed in a play of any kind as an adult
18. Gotten a tatoo
19. Skipped out on something by pretending to be ill (Although I've missed plenty of things I love while being truly sick)
20. Written a book (But I've had professors accuse me of such)
21. Learned how to dance
22. Gotten to like World of Warcraft (Sorry, Chris!)
23. Had no bruises on my legs.
24. Watched the Titanic
25. Made something that looked as good as it did in the book/ magazine/ television.
There. That's it.
Have I missed out? Oh sure. On what? Well, that depends on who you ask, but certainly a lot more than this.... But I have time to make up for it, and I intend to.
God bless and see you soon,
Joelle
Friday, August 26, 2011
Tuesday, August 23, 2011
On this day in 2010
Facebook has a new feature. You can now see what you or your friends were up to "On this day in 2010." I'm not entirely sure how to make it show up, but this time last year was a very busy time, and I'm quite enjoying reading the old statuses and thinking of everything we've done in it. Especially when it's displayed with such a historic sounding title as "On this day in 2010." Don't worry. I know I just talked about what we did all last year. I'm not going to run you through it all again.
On this day in 2010, We had finished most of the packing and Dad, John, and Chris had come to The Frozen North Country to help us move all of our stuff into a truck and ship it back to Maryland. We had gotten the rental truck, been pulled over for smuggling people across the border, and were packing stuff into the truck in preparation for the twelve hour trip.
Emotions were high. I was stressed, we had only had a week to plan, prep and move. I was excited, we were moving back down to the DC area, where I had grown up. I was nervous, what was going to happen once we got down there? Surely we weren't going to live with my grandparents forever! I was even a little sad.
On this day in 2011, I am feeling quite different. The animals are sleeping, I haven't had to look at a box for weeks, we have plans for Thursday to go to a ball game with Dad, the house is clean and tidy (well, except for the laundry that Monty own't let me fold), and Zach is at work and will be late, like he has been for the past several weeks due to an overabundance of work and a lack of workers.
***We interrupt this blog post to bring you breaking news***
There has been an earthquake all along the East Coast!
That's it. You can look it up in the news but I thought I should probably mention it, as it is a rather strange occurrence and I was in the middle of writing as it started.
***We now bring you back to the not so historical, historical blog post***
While we left behind a lot of things in Maryland and don't for one moment regret our decision to come back down, we had built a life in New York. We had made friends and plans and were rather firmly rooted in the neighborhood- at least to a few people. We grew to love the people and still talk of them often. When it's cold nine months out of the year (well, maybe not quite that much, but it seemed like it to us!) people develop warm hearts and open arms.
Even when you get what you really wanted- a place close to family, a home that you bought, and a warmer climate- there are always trade offs. We'll always remember and always be thankful for the people in The North Country.
And that's what I'm thinking about On This Day in 2011. Those people in 2009-2010 (and the earthquake).
God bless and see you soon,
Joelle
On this day in 2010, We had finished most of the packing and Dad, John, and Chris had come to The Frozen North Country to help us move all of our stuff into a truck and ship it back to Maryland. We had gotten the rental truck, been pulled over for smuggling people across the border, and were packing stuff into the truck in preparation for the twelve hour trip.
Emotions were high. I was stressed, we had only had a week to plan, prep and move. I was excited, we were moving back down to the DC area, where I had grown up. I was nervous, what was going to happen once we got down there? Surely we weren't going to live with my grandparents forever! I was even a little sad.
On this day in 2011, I am feeling quite different. The animals are sleeping, I haven't had to look at a box for weeks, we have plans for Thursday to go to a ball game with Dad, the house is clean and tidy (well, except for the laundry that Monty own't let me fold), and Zach is at work and will be late, like he has been for the past several weeks due to an overabundance of work and a lack of workers.
***We interrupt this blog post to bring you breaking news***
There has been an earthquake all along the East Coast!
That's it. You can look it up in the news but I thought I should probably mention it, as it is a rather strange occurrence and I was in the middle of writing as it started.
***We now bring you back to the not so historical, historical blog post***
While we left behind a lot of things in Maryland and don't for one moment regret our decision to come back down, we had built a life in New York. We had made friends and plans and were rather firmly rooted in the neighborhood- at least to a few people. We grew to love the people and still talk of them often. When it's cold nine months out of the year (well, maybe not quite that much, but it seemed like it to us!) people develop warm hearts and open arms.
Even when you get what you really wanted- a place close to family, a home that you bought, and a warmer climate- there are always trade offs. We'll always remember and always be thankful for the people in The North Country.
And that's what I'm thinking about On This Day in 2011. Those people in 2009-2010 (and the earthquake).
God bless and see you soon,
Joelle
Friday, August 12, 2011
The Wroth of the Steam Cleaner!
Originally, this was going to be in the same post as my previous one, so I could have the title "Flea the Wroth of the Steam Cleaner", which I loved, but alas, my verbose style of writing did not allow for a manageable post length , so I had to split it up.
We've had a hard time housetraining Monty. We get to a point where we are SO close, and he decides he needs to relieve himself inside again.... I've been doing my best to keep the carpet clean despite this, but we don't always catch him, or see it, so it sometimes sits until it turns... colors.
I still thought it was ok, because I would scrub it with fabric soap, then rinse it really well. I really thought I was doing alright, even of it wasn't perfect. I would borrow my parents' carpet cleaner when we finally got Monty completely housetrained and it would be pretty again.
Then we came home from Church on Sunday and there were... Odors.
I immediately fell into a state of CHAOS (Cant Have Anyone- not even myself- Over Syndrome) and decided I had to get rid of it. Now!
After much deliberation with myself, and checking my wallet... I decided I had to use stuff we already had in the house. I was rolling up my sleeves, preparing to grab a bucket- and every towel in the house- when I remembered- the steamer!
We bought it to pull the wallpaper of the walls, and it more than paid for itself by doing that, but I am of the school of 'use it 'til it dies!', so I've been finding uses for it since we've had it (One of my favorites is breaking up that nasty grease that builds up on the oven hood.), so I decided to try it on the carpet.
I pulled it out and put it together. I managed to find my floor extensions and tool. When it was ready, I got up and started scrubbing. Since I've never used both extensions, I was unsure how they would work. This was how it went.
Pass one- "Well, that seemed to be ok. I hope it really was"
Pass two- "Yeah... that was alright."
Pass three- "Ok, this will definitely wor-" CRACK!
Apparently, you're not really supposed to scrub when you're standing up. One of the extensions broke right at the seam where they met. Oh well... I went back on my hands and knees.
The rest of the cleaning went fairly well. I methodically ran the tool over the rug and would stop and scrub whenever there was a 'spot' until it was not noticeable anymore. There were a lot of invisible 'spots', one of them was even laundry detergent I missed rinsing once, and a few sections of... Pine sol of all things. But no matter. Nothing could escape the wroth of me and my mighty steam cleaner! "One last square foot and the entire carpet will be clean! Mwahahaha..... Wait! You can't run out of steam now! I'm almost done!"
"Sssssssssssss........... "
So, I had to wait for it to cool down... And refill it... And wait for it to heat up again. I went into the living room to wait.
There were, not one, not two, but THREE new spots in the living area. I was too furious for words. I must have grown to three times my size, because Monty took one look at me and ran- without even looking back- to the bedroom and under the bed, where he sat in the most defensive mood I'd ever seen him in.
Did I care? Oh no! He was going outside. It would happen. "Snap at me if I so much as look at you under there? Guess what? The mattress is movable! HA! Now there's nowhere to hide, Monster!"
After much more posturing and chasing and ridiculous antics on both of our parts, I managed to get him into my arms and out the door. I now realize that last time I vacuumed, he had gotten almost run over by it, and the steamer had several of the same qualities as a vacuum. Marking territory to make a statement is not cool, but at least I have a reason behind it now, and someone's not allowed to chase the vacuum anymore- lest it happen again.
I managed to get the rest of the house steamed over and cleaned up and the difference in the look, feel and smell of the carpet has been amazing. Monty still has his 'spots' but they're no longer in the same places- which means the scent was destroyed to a point that even he cannot smell it anymore. And now I have a low-cost, low- work, low- time clean up routine for when they do happen.
Definitely worthy of a burn here, a little waiting there, or some rather offensive... 'odors' for a few minutes. Facing the wroth of the steam cleaner is beyond worth the fuss it takes.
God bless and see you soon,
Joelle
We've had a hard time housetraining Monty. We get to a point where we are SO close, and he decides he needs to relieve himself inside again.... I've been doing my best to keep the carpet clean despite this, but we don't always catch him, or see it, so it sometimes sits until it turns... colors.
I still thought it was ok, because I would scrub it with fabric soap, then rinse it really well. I really thought I was doing alright, even of it wasn't perfect. I would borrow my parents' carpet cleaner when we finally got Monty completely housetrained and it would be pretty again.
Then we came home from Church on Sunday and there were... Odors.
I immediately fell into a state of CHAOS (Cant Have Anyone- not even myself- Over Syndrome) and decided I had to get rid of it. Now!
After much deliberation with myself, and checking my wallet... I decided I had to use stuff we already had in the house. I was rolling up my sleeves, preparing to grab a bucket- and every towel in the house- when I remembered- the steamer!
We bought it to pull the wallpaper of the walls, and it more than paid for itself by doing that, but I am of the school of 'use it 'til it dies!', so I've been finding uses for it since we've had it (One of my favorites is breaking up that nasty grease that builds up on the oven hood.), so I decided to try it on the carpet.
I pulled it out and put it together. I managed to find my floor extensions and tool. When it was ready, I got up and started scrubbing. Since I've never used both extensions, I was unsure how they would work. This was how it went.
Pass one- "Well, that seemed to be ok. I hope it really was"
Pass two- "Yeah... that was alright."
Pass three- "Ok, this will definitely wor-" CRACK!
Apparently, you're not really supposed to scrub when you're standing up. One of the extensions broke right at the seam where they met. Oh well... I went back on my hands and knees.
The rest of the cleaning went fairly well. I methodically ran the tool over the rug and would stop and scrub whenever there was a 'spot' until it was not noticeable anymore. There were a lot of invisible 'spots', one of them was even laundry detergent I missed rinsing once, and a few sections of... Pine sol of all things. But no matter. Nothing could escape the wroth of me and my mighty steam cleaner! "One last square foot and the entire carpet will be clean! Mwahahaha..... Wait! You can't run out of steam now! I'm almost done!"
"Sssssssssssss........... "
So, I had to wait for it to cool down... And refill it... And wait for it to heat up again. I went into the living room to wait.
There were, not one, not two, but THREE new spots in the living area. I was too furious for words. I must have grown to three times my size, because Monty took one look at me and ran- without even looking back- to the bedroom and under the bed, where he sat in the most defensive mood I'd ever seen him in.
Did I care? Oh no! He was going outside. It would happen. "Snap at me if I so much as look at you under there? Guess what? The mattress is movable! HA! Now there's nowhere to hide, Monster!"
After much more posturing and chasing and ridiculous antics on both of our parts, I managed to get him into my arms and out the door. I now realize that last time I vacuumed, he had gotten almost run over by it, and the steamer had several of the same qualities as a vacuum. Marking territory to make a statement is not cool, but at least I have a reason behind it now, and someone's not allowed to chase the vacuum anymore- lest it happen again.
I managed to get the rest of the house steamed over and cleaned up and the difference in the look, feel and smell of the carpet has been amazing. Monty still has his 'spots' but they're no longer in the same places- which means the scent was destroyed to a point that even he cannot smell it anymore. And now I have a low-cost, low- work, low- time clean up routine for when they do happen.
Definitely worthy of a burn here, a little waiting there, or some rather offensive... 'odors' for a few minutes. Facing the wroth of the steam cleaner is beyond worth the fuss it takes.
God bless and see you soon,
Joelle
Thursday, August 11, 2011
Flea Before Me!
The dogs have been scratching.
A lot.
A lot a lot.
I've been checking them every day for the past month for any sign of fleas, and never being able to find any, passed it off as summer skin and mosquito bites.
Then I found it.
While Monty was on his back and I was searching, I found a single brown insect of the blood sucking, jumping variety.
This took me from 'objective, defensive' mode to, 'freaking out, calling husband moaning and totally over the top' mode.
I washed every scrap of fabric in the house. I put more flea killer on Charlie, I grabbed the cat and combed her until we were probably both as scratched up as the other. I inspected every corner of the house wearing white socks, scuffing along the floor, watching for tell tale signs of 'fleadom'. I vacuumed, moved furniture, vacuumed again, move it back and vacuumed again. Twice.
When Zach got home, I didn't stop. I pulled the baggie of supplies he brought home from his hands, put the flea collar on Monty, and insisted on using the new, unchewed comb on every animal- after I sprayed all the clean bedding with flea killer.
I probably went overboard, as I continued my rampage into the next week. Despite only finding one other flea on Monty the night before, and no other signs of them whatsoever, I vacuumed every day, twice a day, and combed all the animals as often as I could get my hands on them.
Before long, I grew tired of constantly checking, cleaning and combing, and the animals of me poking, prodding, and detaining them from activity. We all had a big fight, then went to our respective corners to lick our wounds.
So I realized I was probably making too much of a fuss over it, as I often do, and settled down to a new chore... Of which I will write about tomorrow... Maybe. I still check them about once a day, and they're happy with that. No signs yet, but if ever there are, I'll be ready!
God bless and see you soon,
Joelle
A lot.
A lot a lot.
I've been checking them every day for the past month for any sign of fleas, and never being able to find any, passed it off as summer skin and mosquito bites.
Then I found it.
While Monty was on his back and I was searching, I found a single brown insect of the blood sucking, jumping variety.
This took me from 'objective, defensive' mode to, 'freaking out, calling husband moaning and totally over the top' mode.
I washed every scrap of fabric in the house. I put more flea killer on Charlie, I grabbed the cat and combed her until we were probably both as scratched up as the other. I inspected every corner of the house wearing white socks, scuffing along the floor, watching for tell tale signs of 'fleadom'. I vacuumed, moved furniture, vacuumed again, move it back and vacuumed again. Twice.
When Zach got home, I didn't stop. I pulled the baggie of supplies he brought home from his hands, put the flea collar on Monty, and insisted on using the new, unchewed comb on every animal- after I sprayed all the clean bedding with flea killer.
I probably went overboard, as I continued my rampage into the next week. Despite only finding one other flea on Monty the night before, and no other signs of them whatsoever, I vacuumed every day, twice a day, and combed all the animals as often as I could get my hands on them.
Before long, I grew tired of constantly checking, cleaning and combing, and the animals of me poking, prodding, and detaining them from activity. We all had a big fight, then went to our respective corners to lick our wounds.
So I realized I was probably making too much of a fuss over it, as I often do, and settled down to a new chore... Of which I will write about tomorrow... Maybe. I still check them about once a day, and they're happy with that. No signs yet, but if ever there are, I'll be ready!
God bless and see you soon,
Joelle
Monday, August 1, 2011
Take me out to the Ballgame!
Yesterday we went to Nat's stadium for the game. As my father holds season tickets, it's not unusual for us to visit the park and enjoy a game. Yesterday was special, though. It was my parents' 29th wedding anniversary. To celebrate, Dad upgraded all his seats and bought several extra at the 'Red Porch'. The center field restaurant/section. Seven of us all lined up in a row to enjoy the game.
The view was awesome. We could see every play, every pitch and actually follow the ball. I always used to wonder how the players managed to catch or hit the balls at all. Now I know that it's really not quite so impossible as it seems. I'll still never be able to play, but now I know that baseball players aren't the most superhuman sportsmen ever.
It was a beautiful day. Sun in the sky, very few clouds, low humidity (for the area), and 95 degrees.
Make that at least a hundred in the sun.
The problem with the incredible seats we had was simply the fact that there was nowhere to hide in the shade and still see the game. By the time the eight inning rolled around, I was so beyond thirsty I wasn't anymore. Fortunately, the employees who waited on us hand and foot, bringing food we were supposed to be buying, traded most of the food orders for running about with complementary water and ice cups. Despite the stand workers' attempts at keeping us cool and my drinking more than usual even after we got home, it's taken me nearly the whole day to get rehydrated.
It was definitely worth it. A day with family is more important than a few hours of discomfort, but I hope next time they have us visit and help clean out the basement again or something. Dripping sweat is much more comfortable and less draining when you are moving, and OUT of the sun.
God bless and see you soon,
Joelle
The view was awesome. We could see every play, every pitch and actually follow the ball. I always used to wonder how the players managed to catch or hit the balls at all. Now I know that it's really not quite so impossible as it seems. I'll still never be able to play, but now I know that baseball players aren't the most superhuman sportsmen ever.
It was a beautiful day. Sun in the sky, very few clouds, low humidity (for the area), and 95 degrees.
Make that at least a hundred in the sun.
The problem with the incredible seats we had was simply the fact that there was nowhere to hide in the shade and still see the game. By the time the eight inning rolled around, I was so beyond thirsty I wasn't anymore. Fortunately, the employees who waited on us hand and foot, bringing food we were supposed to be buying, traded most of the food orders for running about with complementary water and ice cups. Despite the stand workers' attempts at keeping us cool and my drinking more than usual even after we got home, it's taken me nearly the whole day to get rehydrated.
It was definitely worth it. A day with family is more important than a few hours of discomfort, but I hope next time they have us visit and help clean out the basement again or something. Dripping sweat is much more comfortable and less draining when you are moving, and OUT of the sun.
God bless and see you soon,
Joelle
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