Happy Berfday

I figured that if I waited a couple days before blogging, it would be more interesting. I'm pretty sure I'm right.

Friday was the day we decided on our furniture. The couch is the same as in the previous blog. Here is a website for the sectional. It basically has the same picture I had posted but it also shows the optional ottoman [which we opted out of because it was another $200+]. It is called the Galini Sectional by Primo International. The recliner is called the Romulus. I have a lame phone picture along with an online photo [in the non "clamshell" color]:




I sent the photo of the recliner to My T-Mobile Album and once again, it is taking forever to load. Although my phone is absolutely amazing, I wish that there were easily available covers for it [I drop mine more than any other human being on the planet] as well as an upgraded online experience. This blows.

Back to the furniture... we put an ad on Craigslist for the main couch we sit on [$300 obo] and Andrew is working on possibly selling the other couch + chair set back to his sister. The new tan furniture will be delivered on Thursday, and Andrew is pretty set on delivering our couch [already sold from the ad!] to a guy in Bellingham on Wednesday, leaving just enough time for a Thursday morning delivery. How exciting!!

Today is Andrew's birthday; he turned 25. I was really excited for the presents I gave him, which meant I couldn't post this until after he opened them because I didn't want to give anything away. I did one of our family's traditions [The Sticky Note Game! 25 different notes hidden around the house with instructions on each how to get to the next one] to get to where the presents are. My mom and I went to Costco around 11:00 yesterday morning [A.) because the gifts wouldn't fit in my car, and B.) even if they could, Andrew took my car to work], picked up some things [presents for him from me as well as from my mom and dad, groceries my folks needed, etc.], stopped by Target for wrapping utensils, went to Party City for better wrapping utensils, and then came back to my place. After wrapping the easy presents, we went outside and wrapped the huge and heavy one. After I hid the "sticky" notes in their appropriate places, my mom left. She is literally an amazing gift wrapper:




She wants her own wrapping room [like Aaron Spelling has!] and someday she will get it because she deserves it and she's good at it.

I'm typing this from the black leather[?] chair in the corner of the room. I grabbed a Snapple to drink and couldn't find a convenient spot to put it while I typed. I don't think that'll be a problem on Thursday with our new couch! But this will be the location of our new recliner. It looks kind of corny from the picture I took [like a poof ball] but it is amazingly comfortable, leans back really far [which the couch recliners don't do as intensely], and it swivels! I'm sure it would be easy to move to view the screen if we had a lot of company over. I wouldn't be the one to move it though; the last time I tried moving a swivel recliner, I dropped it on my big toe and it basically demolished what was once a toe nail. It has been disgusting ever since, but recently I started using a nail fungus treatment [started after I dropped the chair and the nail got infected or something] and it has been working miraculously. I am not putting up pictures [like I mentioned before], but the nails are looking super healthy and super shiny [with the help of my nail buffer!].

I see both Murphy and Moses laying on our carpeted floors, enjoying the coldness that is our air conditioning. It has been ferociously hot outside lately [up to the 100s even, I believe] and although it is great Summer weather, it is not for me. I enjoy the cold weather much more than the hot. I would rather wear jeans and a sweatshirt or coat than shorts and a tank top. I just recently got into wearing tank tops in public [I felt that they were too revealing] so the heat isn't keeping me inside, but I choose to be because it is more tolerable. Will the house stay cooler when we take up the carpets and just have hardwood floors? I hope so, but I also hope that I can find some sweet slippers like I had before [but ended up getting so thin that I had to call it quits].

Andrew decided he wanted to open presents at 12:01 am so we did everything we could to make the time pass. We watched Requiem for a Dream [amazing! Rated #62 on the top 250 movies on IMDb.com] and Shutter [an alright movie with an overused plot line, pretty poor acting, Roy from "The Office," a kind of cool/weird ending, but a 4.8/10 rating]. After this we farted around, ate a bit, and put in Fargo [#115/250]. I fell asleep not even a fifth of the way into the movie [Ugh! I love that movie too!] and when I woke, the end credits were beginning to roll, Andrew was smiling in my face, I looked at my phone, and it was 12:15 am, the precise minute he was born 25 years ago. I sent him a text saying, "Happy Birthday! ...Look behind the toaster." The scavenger hunt began:

2.) Look in the DVD case for “Yoga for Beginners”
3.) Look on the inside of the bottom toilet paper roll in the cupboard above the toilet
4.) Look behind the picture of you smiling really big by the front door
5.) Look on the underside of the wooden bowl that is under the ClearWire stand and router
6.) Eject the tape in my VHS player in my room
7.) Unscrew the lightbulb that is burnt out in the living room
8.) Look on the bottom of the smallest candy container jar on the kitchen counter
9.) Look under the bottom thing of Q-Tips in the cupboard above the toilet
10.) Look behind the pig picture
11.) Look on the underside of the full laundry detergent container [the kind that we usually use]
12.) Open up the United Furniture Warehouse umbrella and look inside
13.) Unscrew my lightswitch cover
14.) Look on the inside of the Ritz box
15.) Look behind the VCR in the living room cabinet
16.) Look under Murphy’s food dish
17.) Feel underneath your drum seat / chair
18.) Look on the inside of the picture of Cracker on the zebra blanket
19.) Look in the VHS case for Memento
20.) Look in my ceramic frog’s mouth on my shelf by my beads
21.) Look in the left-most colorful mug on the top shelf of the right-side cupboard
22.) Look on the back of one of the Jackelope’s ears
23.) Look inside the fireplace
24.) Look in my left DC black sneaker in my closet
25.) Open the bus in the backyard

...and in the bus were my two wrapped presents. We used the flashlight because it was really dark outside. One present was a steel shelving fixture [that he already has two of and wanted more] and the other was a 34-piece painting set that hooks on to an air compressor. I'm not sure how the latter works really, but he does and was really excited about it.

We then came inside, opened up the card and gifts from my parents, and called it a night.




This morning we woke up and took the dogs for a morning walk before the hot hot sun arrives full force. We usually walk the dogs just around our little block but feeling a little bit un-exercising lately [aka "lazy and getting fat"], I suggested it be a different route. We walked maybe a little under a mile round trip, but it was worth it. The dogs got some exercise, we got some exercise, and we got to check out more of the neighborhood, including the most random stop sign ever:


Honestly... why? It is such a slow neighborhood and there are a few other of the exact same intersections without stop signs. How random!

From there I went to Haggen, picked up some groceries, came home, and we all sat down and watched Grandma's Boy [yet another stoner movie to add to our recently viewed category]. I felt hungry but decided to give myself a time when I could eat because I knew I was just bored and falling into the habit of eating junk when we watch movies. 3:30 was my time and I had two and a half hours to go. After the movie I had 45 more minutes so I started making some No Bake cookies and some fudge.








The first picture looks like vomit in a pot, but I assure you it's not [rhyme]. It is the prequel to no-bakes, which kind of defeats the name because I had to boil the stuff first. I didn't think it would actually boil, with so much dry ingredients. I went to a bunch of websites to try and find the recipe [here!]. And the fudge didn't fit all that well in the rectangular tray, but it called for a square tray anyway. I called my gramma and she didn't have the precise measurements with her. She told me the ingredients and I found one website and copied down their stuff. Similar to this website, but I mixed up the URLs for the fudge, so don't quote me. The last picture has both desserts I made as well as the cake that Sam made a few days ago. I then chopped up the head of romaine lettuce I got at the store:




I totally scored! This whole thing was $1.50! I just had to chop it up myself. I hope it's just as good. If not, I'm going to get the huge bag of chopped romaine I saw for $3.99 [and asked myself why I wasn't getting that before]. We'll see! Andrew, Sam, and I went to Fred Meyer to get some gallon-size zip-lock bags for the lettuce [so it will preserve longer], Alfy's [for some birthday stuffed crust pepperoni pizza], Papa Murphy's [cheesy bread wheels], and Hollywood Video [to rent Shawshank Redemption -- #1 on IMDb.com's Top 250, by the way].

After the food and movie [absolutely amazing], Andrew moved our two Scott Mutter posters from one wall to either side of the new wooden cabinet. It looks really good! With Andrew possibly bringing the other couch up to Bellingham on Wednesday [after we bring the dogs to the vet -- sad day], we will have room for the new couch and it will look amazing with the posters, cabinet, and future hardwood floor!

I'm going to go spend time with the birthday boy.

Productive

I was determined to give Moses a bath. I meant to yesterday but the sun set a lot faster than I had anticipated and after watching three movies, I made it my personal goal to have him washed first thing after getting up.

...and I did. I hooked up the hose and sprayer outside and in the 85°+ weather, it made me want to hook up the sprinkler instead. With some resistance I hosed him down, lathered him with Perfect Coat, and rinsed him off. He did pretty well, considering he did NOT want to be bathed. While I did this, Andrew mowed the front lawn.

After this, I put away the clean dishes and cleaned the dirty ones. Andrew vacuumed the living room. I'm pretty sure we were extremely productive.

A little bit of non-productivity was spent at a cool blog [Photoshop Disasters] where people let the author know about media publications of pictures with Photoshop mess-ups. We spent a little under an hour looking at these oddities. Lots of fun though!

Sam came home from being out and about with a billion bags of groceries. I'm not joking when I tell you that the freezer in the garage is full. Overflowing. Ah!

After this, Andrew and I decided to look at furniture at stores to see what was out there. Andrew has been wanting to rip up the carpet, get rid of the leather couches and chair, paint the walls, and get new furniture. So we went to Ashley Furniture and checked out the selection there.

And there was none.

From there we went to Furniture City and found a pretty sweet couch with a chase. The coloring was kind of off [black with dark olive / forest green cushions and multi-colored throw pillows] but next to that couch was another one that was amazingly comfortable.

From there we walked to United Furniture Warehouse and found the couch:






How sweet is this?? It's only $899 and we found a matching recliner for $369. We were very very excited, got some information, and went to Fred Meyer. We looked at the couch that Andrew had been thinking about for a long while. It's a dark brown couch with a chase and tan cushions and backing. It's very nice but was on sale for about $1,100. Deciding that the theatre seat layout was the way we were going to go, we looked at a few things and picked up a cool cabinet for the projector and game consoles.

With no room for it in my car, we drove to my folks' house, picked up my mom's Durango, filled it with all my home stuff, went to Fred Meyer, got the cabinet, went to Costco, returned my Rachel Ray pots and pans [although it was a 10-piece Hard Anodized Aluminum set which is absolutely AMAZING, the orange handles didn't go too well with anything], returned my glassware at WalMart, and went to our house to drop everything off.

I switched cars while Andrew set up the cabinet. He finished while I finished unpacking my dinnerware and glassware, finished packing up Andrew's dinnerware, and stacked up all my other house stuff by the bar.

Now we're watching South Park on the projector with no shadows from the ceiling fan because of its position in the cabinet.

I feel as if our day was extremely productive. But I'm not going to be productive now because I'm going to watch the show now.

Not Meant To Be

I was woken this morning with a phone call from the branch manager of Washington Federal Savings:

"We're going to offer the position to another one of the five candidates we interviewed."

So I started off my day on the wrong foot. Now I don't know quite what to do job-wise. I will have to go through, apply at more places [that aren't hiring], go through more interviews, and face the fact that I may get rejected for the job yet again. I guess this job just wasn't meant to be.

After getting up, I called a Mount Vernon vet clinic to set up exams and neutering of both the dogs. It'll be a sad day come Wednesday. Sad sad day.

At 1:40, Andrew and I snuck some Jack-in-the-Box into the theatre and saw Pineapple Express. It was pretty funny. Not the best movie in the world, but another one of Seth Rogen's funny roles. I'd probably rate it a 7.3/10. IMDb.com has it as an 8.0. Andrew gave it an 8.2.

After this, we went to the pawn shop because we wanted to pick up a couple movies [Butterfly Effect, 300, and Gladiator]. 300 was there but the other ones weren't. The movies are $3.99 each or six for $20.00. We picked out 300, Wedding Crashers, Girl, Interrupted, Cinderella Man, Black Sheep, and The Mexican. We picked out all the movies and were walking up to purchase them when all of a sudden, the power shut off. Apparently a Draper Valley Chicken Truck hit some power line and all the power to most of Mount Vernon was shut off for a little over a half hour. Wal-Mart too was turning away customers! There was an article on the Skagit Valley Herald website about it too. So we're locked in a pawn shop, can't buy our DVDs, and don't want to waste time waiting around for who knows how long. It just wasn't meant to be.

After they unlocked the door for us, we left and went to K-Mart [which sucked], Fred Meyer [found Butterfly Effect and Gladiator], and then home again. We watched Gladiator [extremely good movie], I brushed both Moses and Murphy, and then gave Murphy a bath.

Now we're watching Butterfly Effect and I'm going to cut it short because it's an extremely good movie.

It's A Wrap!

The last couple days have mostly been focused on finishing my dad's birthday present. I tried not to blog about it because I didn't want him finding out exactly what I was making, even though I put up some pictures of Brittany earlier and mentioned frames, I think. Anyway, I used a frame from Ross to make a collage of sorts with seven pictures each of Brit, Kels, and myself, and eight pictures of Sam to fill all the spaces. I also had four 5" x 7" frames from Wal-Mart to put a picture of each of us girls in. Here are the ones I chose for the 5" x 7" frames:








Here are Brit's seven chosen shots:














Kels's seven:














Sam's eight:
















...and my seven:














...this is going to be a long [actual length, not word count] blog. Anyway, I finished all the pictures by about 4:30 today, giving me an hour and a half to get everything printed, set up, wrapped, and over to my folks' house.

This morning, Andrew and I put the pictures that we had [all but Kels's] into the montage frame. The dimensions given for each picture hole weren't for the picture needed; they were for the actual hole itself. So when I printed out the pictures at the correct dimensions, they ended up having some spaces showing on the sides. I figured that we could flip the backing around so that instead of the cardboard brown side facing inward and the black matching the back facing outward, black would be facing in and take away from all the spaces and it wouldn't matter about the back view because no one looks at the back anyway. It was a good idea. But also, for each picture hole, there wasn't a nesting space for the picture. So Andrew [so kind to put up with my frustration] taped them onto the plastic covering between the frame and the pictures while I laid underneath the glass table and told him which way to scoot the picture before taping.

No wait, it gets better.

After taking Kels's pictures in the afternoon, I realized that I had forgotten to get wrapping paper and a card at Wal-Mart earlier when we got more photo paper and a color ink cartridge. I asked my mom if I could use some of hers because she had extra and she said that I could. Looking at the selection, it was nothing but small rolls. I decided to go to Fred Meyer and get a big roll and just use that for other presents when the time comes [Andrew's birthday is coming up as well as Sam's]. At Fred Meyer, I picked up a shirt for my dad to go along with the picture gifts, a funny card [the front said something along the lines of "I wanted to give you the sun and the stars..." and the inside said "...but I decided to give you the moon instead!" and it had a picture of a cartoon man pulling down his pants. Of course, I taped a picture of my head on this guy's body. No big deal], and 2 rolls of silver wrapping paper [to go along with some bows I snagged from my mom]. When I got home I undid the plastic around the wrapping paper of one of the rolls and started unraveling the next layer of plastic. I thought to myself, "When does the wrapping paper start?" and realized what had happened:

They used a silver roll on the inside for clear wrapping material for gift baskets.

Of course this would happen. I call Kels and ask her to bring me a roll of my mom's stuff that she just bought. She does and it ends up being literally one tiny piece of wrapping paper [on an un-opened roll, no less] that barely covered one side of the photo montage frame. I decided that it wasn't meant to be, so I grabbed some boxes from the garage, put the frames in a Cheez-It box and the shirt in a food chopper box, put a bow on each, taped the wrapping paper sheet to the front of the montage frame, put a bow on the top, and called it good. At least the card had the proper "wrap job." Here are my presents mixed in with some others:


Don't be jealous of my skills. After my dad got home, we started up on the food.




Don't be jealous of my dad's cooking skills. Okay, you can a little bit. Although I didn't eat much [ate a muffin and some pizza earlier in the day], it was delicious!

From here we took a whack at the piñata that Sam picked out of a Barbie.


After it was decapitated, my mom tossed out candy, first tossing a large bag of Reese's Pieces to my dad.




While everyone headed inside, B-Ray checked out Barbie's head and SCORED!




Then we did gifts, and here's my dad [new du-rag in place] opening my presents that he loved:




Here's a semi-distorted final version of the collage thing:


After receiving many sweet presents and sweets themselves, we sang "Happy Birthday" and he blew out the 41 candles:




The brownie cake was very VERY rich but very VERY good! Then people began making their way to their cars and my folks turned on the television. This is when I called it a night because honestly, all there is on cable these days is reality shows. My mom told me tonight about some show called "G's to Gents" where some gang member G-thugs are transformed into gentlemen. How honestly stupid are the minds of this country to actually want to watch this? Is this show getting good ratings? I am not even going to waste any part of my life Googling it [is that an official verb yet?]. I am so glad we don't have cable. I don't care about thugs turning into gentlemen. I am kind of looking forward to hearing about the next idiotic reality show so that I can get a good laugh and maybe a paragraph or two of a blog out of it.

Murphy is tossing and turning next to me. I'm going to let Jewel lull him to sleep. Not "LOL," which is by the way the all time most annoying thing in the entire history of anything. End this please, as well as the stupid <333093985730984752 thing, the =] smileys, using more than one comma at a time for no apparent reason, and the stupid [HxC] crap. You are not "hardcore" if you say you are. It's like when you're young and adults say, "That's cool!" and it's so not because they say it is. Thx [which is NOT annoying].