We have no water. But....

we have access to a Temurpedic (sp) mattress. Last night my hubs was very brave. With the help of some of our wonderful friends and my fabulous father-in-law, a hole was dug in our front yard, exposing the leaky pipe. Digging started at 5pm and ended at 1am. They tried to fix the pipe, but with no success. So, after the many hours of working, all of our wonderful helpers went home, took showers to wash off the mud, and went to bed. Ross just went to bed. Neither one of us slept a wink the rest of the night. I arose at 6:30, called my assistant principal to tell him I needed a sub today, and left my dirt, crusty, wonderful husband to go make lesson plans for the day.

I returned just before 8. Ross and I then loaded up a bag with shower necessities and headed over to my in-laws' house. Conveniently, they moved into the house last weekend, but don't live there yet. After taking showers and finally brushing our teeth, we settled in for a long winter's nap on the best mattress in the world. I slept until 3 and didn't move once.

Now we're back at home, spending quality time with the dogs, and packing up clothes for tomorrow. We will return to the in-laws' tonight. A plumber is scheduled to come tomorrow. It was a horrible night last night, but I've realized that we are very blessed to have people willing to give of their time and homes to help us out. Hopefully everything will be back to normal and not caked in mud by the end of the week!

P.S. A huge thanks to all of the boys who came to dig up my yard last night. You guys are amazing!

Blue.

As of now, I've been in a rut for about 2 weeks. I don't want to be at work. I don't want to be at home. I don't want to be anywhere. I don't want my job anymore, but I'm not qualified to do anything else. I look into getting qualified and get overwhelmed by the logistics of doing so. Things make me happy for a short time, and even when they do, I'm just a little happy. I don't particularly want to be around anyone. I try exercising to get my energy up, but it really just makes me tired and even more cranky. It seems like during times like this, more and more mess gets piled up on me than usual. Even the slightest hiccup in my day puts me on the verge of tears. But I'm sure it's just that I'm more sensitive now. I'm on meds for anxiety, and they are basically anti-depressants as well. I guess every now and then even they can't give me the seratonin I need to perk up. Oh well. I'm sure tomorrow will be better.

Four Things

MaxPower over at Haduken tagged me for this, so I might as well contribute. So, here we go, here we go now.

Four jobs I’ve had

1. 5th grade teacher
2. Nanny
3. Student Assistant at the UR Curriculum Materials/Technology Center
4. Architectural Archives worker at UR Architectural services

Four movies I can watch over and over

1. Jaws
2. Silence of the Lambs
3. Anchorman
4. Big

Four places I’ve lived

1. Grayland Avenue, Richmond, VA
2. Ellwood Avenue, Richmond, VA
3. University of Richmond (Lora Robins, South, and North Courts), Richmond, VA
4. Two Notch Ct., Brandermill, Midlothian, VA

Four TV shows I love

1. Made
2. Curb Your Enthusiasm
3. Lost
4. Campus Ladies

Four places I’ve vacationed

1. Ashland
2. Dominican Republic
3. Mexico
4. Chicago

Four of my favorite dishes

1. Cafeteria pizza at my school
2. Chicken quessadilla and fiesta potatoes from Taco Bell
3. Club sandwich on toasted wheat, no tomatoes, with fries at Perly's
4. Peanut butter toast

Four sites I visit daily

1. RVABlogs
2. Haduken
3. Imdb
4. The Superficial

Four places I would rather be right now

1. Domincan Republic
2. In the shower
3. Bed
4. At the Creehans'

Four bloggers I am tagging

1. Sister
2. Brother
3. Maura
4. Kate

The Day of Suck

Nothing horrible happened today, but it definitely wasn't the best I've had lately. This afternoon Ross and I found out that we have a leak under the sidewalk under our house (probably a pipe that froze and then broke). The leak is between the meter and our house, so we might be responsible for tearing up the sidewalk, fixing it, and putting the sidewalk back. Meanwhile we've got a water/gas bill approaching the $1k mark because of it. Not a dire emergency, but a potentially very expensive one. Luckily, public utilities will be here tomorrow between 8 and 4 to look at it. I feel a battle coming on.
I left work late because I spent the better part of the evening trying to get my grades done. Report card time is coming and my duties as lead technology teacher require me to be available to my co-workers. Consequently, I work on a much tighter deadline. I didn't even want to come home because I knew it would be freezing. I walked in the door, ran up the stairs, and put on my flannel pajamas, a sweatshirt with a hood, and my robe. I proceeded to then spend the next hour making Ross suffer for a leak that is by no means his fault. I yelled, pouted, and declared that I want to move. I still want to move, but I feel bad for yelling at Ross.
While eating dinner huddled around the space heater (as our thermostat has now been turned down to a balmy 58 degrees in an effort to save money while we sort things out with the utilities people), the hubs and I watched a few episodes of Lost. Feeling better, I did my Thursday vaccuuming upstairs, and then headed to the icebox of a kitchen to load the dishwasher. As per usual, the dogs were crowed around the dishwasher, lapping up any globs or splashes that fell from the dishes. Shooter, ever the enthusiast, decided that he needed to kick it up a notch and actually hold one of the plates between his paws as he licked it. I think he realized halfway through the act that he was CRAZY, flipped out, got his paw stuck in the rack, and pulled the bottom drawer out of the dishwasher. As I played tug-of-war with him, trying to save my set of dishes, for some reason I looked up. And what do I see? Oh, just a mouse having a good ol' time climbing across the handlebars of my bike. So I scream, let go of the dishwasher rack, it crashes to the floor, Shooter scrambles away, and I stand there ready to pass out because I have no clue what has just happened. Luckily no dishes were broken.
In an effort to cheer me up, we decided to watch a little Curb Your Enthusiasm. However, it was the episode where they've just bought a new house and it keeps making "a house noise." This just reminded me of how much I'm hating our house right now. So now I'm right back where I started. I know, I should feel blessed that I even have a house, but I'd feel more blessed if it wasn't leaking, freezing, and home to furry things other than those I chose to have there.

What I like about you...

After my wonderful evening of grilled cheese, tomato soup, "Lost," and some quality hubby time, I'm definitely feeling the love. So I thought I'd say what I love about some of the people in my life. If I don't include you, it doesn't mean I don't love you. I'm sure I'll write something about you later.

Ross - I love you because you're the best thing in my life. You know how to make me happier than anyone and I'm a much better person when I'm around you. And, you gladly accept and follow a weekly chore chart.

Maura - I love you because you're my kind of girl. You're girly enough to always look good, but not so much that it looks like you try too hard. I'd date you if I were into that. When you really care about something, you do it with everything that you are. I wish I could more like that. Plus, you have beautiful, dark locks.

Phannie - I love you because you keep me on my toes. You and I were together during one of the most important (AND AWESOME!!!) times in our lives. You taught me how to live with someone that isn't a member of my family. Ross should either thank you or blame you =)

Robinitaface - Even though you were mean to me when I was little, and I was mean to you when we were big, you really are my heart. I love you more and more the older we get. When we are old, gray, and fat, I imagine my heart will have exploded if it continues at this rate.

Brother - You showed me that being smart is awesome. I think I never got involved in anything really bad because I just wanted to be smart like you. I'll never be as smart as you, but I'll always work at it. Thanks for setting the bar really high - I think I'm successful because of it.

Maaaachew - I hope we are friends forever because you're the only ex-boyfriend that I have really made an effort to stay friends with (no offense to any of the others who might be reading this-but chances are, you're probably not, since we're not friends). Anytime I do something stupid, my first instinct is to plead "Don't tell Matthew" to whoever saw it. That means you're in my brain forever!!!! And you wrote me a poem one time. I still have it.

Matt - I love you because you live with Maura. Well, that's not the only reason, but it's the smartest decision you've ever made. For serious though, it so easy to be your friend because you're awesome. It's never hard to be around you, and you're good at everything. Especially Karoake. What's not to love?

Nicolai - Some people might think that I only love you for your family, and that would be a logical assumption because they feed me and there are babies there, but really it's because you have so freely allowed Ross and I to become part of that family. Ross and I have both learned so much from you and the rest of the Creehan clan that we will be forever grateful.

Kate - You are my oldest friend and I think that is awesome. I love that I get to spend time with someone that I've known for so long. I love that we didn't hang out in high school but we always talked when we saw each other. You're just awesome and we are all lucky to have you.

That's all for now. Try being in a bad mood now, friends!!!!!!!!!

Do You Need Some Smarty Pants?!?!?!?!!

Ross had me take this MENSA test tonight. If you get 19+ correct then you're considered a genius. I got 20!!! I *KNEW* I was brilliant. Anyway, check it out and let me know what you got. I especially want to see how the bro does.

Just a little image to keep you awake a night. I think it conveys my genius quite well. The cap is because I'm so busy getting genius degress that there is no point taking it off. I need such thick glasses because I reeeeeead so many genius books. And the quill just helps me feel connected to my forefathers who are the only individuals who can truly understand my intelligence.

My Husband, the hero. (Warning: There is disucssion of my underwear in this post.)

Tonight I was going through the nightly fit of figuring out what to wear to work tomorrow. Unlike most people who work in the cooporate world where they actually interact with adults, I need to dress in a manner that allows me to look professional, but also enables me to crawl around the floor or sprint across the playground towards a bleeding child. Meanwhile, I wanna look somewhat stylish and not commit any FOH PAWS of which so many of my co-workers are guilty, i.e. jumpers, print turtlenecks, crocheted vests. I got some new pants over Christmas (I rarely do the skirt thing at work. Or ever) that are amazingly comfortable, but require me to wear a certain kind of very small undergarmet. In a fury prompted by exhaustion and a belly ache, I ran into the office, fist raised, proclaiming that I was going to have a VPL tomorrow, and I didn't care who knew it. Ross, ever the formidable force, looked at me square in the eye and demanded, "DON'T BE ONE OF THOSE PEOPLE." I stopped dead in my tracks and with a wide-eyed look said, "You're right. Thank you, Ross." I will be forever grateful.

No title.

Ever since the Harvey family was murdered on New Year's Day, I have made it a point to not go by the World of Mirth. I knew there were flowers and candles and messages placed outside the door, but I didn't want to seem like a gawker. I wanted to give those people that knew them their time. On my way to the tailor today, I passed by the store and couldn't help but stop and look. The number of flowers was overwhelming, as well as the sealed envelopes with "Stella" and "Ruby" scrawled across the front in wonderful and undeniable kid penmanship. They have pieces of butcher paper taped on the store windows where hundreds of people, those who knew the Harveys and those who didn't, have left sweet messages to these people who loved this city and did so much for it. I began to tear up as my eyes scanned the message, that choking lump forming in my throat as I went.

When I finished reading the messages, I said a prayer, and started to make my way up the block. But, something caught my eye. They have a TV set up in the window, playing a montage of the Harvey family which I assume was the one playing at the memorial service. I couldn't make myself move. Ever since I heard about what happened, I recognized that it was awful. But I didn't really get it until I saw them living in that footage. Seeing the little girls was the hardest. They were just babies. In one clip, Kathryn was holding Ruby in her arms, and you could see Ruby mouthing "Mommy" over and over again with a smile as her mother danced with her. At that moment, I really got understood. Here was a family, living their lives, loving each other and their city, and they were taken away for no reason whatsoever. All I could do was pray for the souls of the people who did this, pray that they would have an understanding of how much pain they have caused; I also thanked God for showing me a slight consolation in the fact that atleast that they were all together, and that none of them would have to go through life feeling the absence of another.

After that, I walked over to the tailor, and was greeted by the woman who works there, a nice Korean lady who doesn't speak much English and thinks my name is Balerie. Being as pale as I am, I don't recover quickly from the redness that accompanies crying, so she could obviously tell something was wrong. She came up to me from behind the front desk and asked "You OK?" and kept gesturing towards the chair by the window to see if I needed to sit down. I smiled at her and declined. I told her what I needed done and she filled out my ticket. As I took it from her, she patted my hand and smiled. We said goodbye, and I made my way home. I went inside, hugged my husband, and thanked God that we have each other.

I'm undeniably beautiful. And Ross is sometimes.

I happened upon this website this evening that uses "face recognition technology" to scan your picture and tell you what celebrity you look like. Click here to see the pictures I scanned, and the results I got. I look like two classic beauties. Ross is apparently still up for debate.

Result #1

Result #2

Result #3

It's pretty fun stuff. Try it out. I definitely felt better about myself after doing it.

LET'S ROCK OUT!!!!!!1111

I've decided to really try and get regular exercise this year. So far I've been pretty successful with the help of my lateral thigh trainer, balance ball, and new hand weights. But the most helpful thing has been my iPod because it provides the best distraction from the overall discomfort and sweatiness I experience during these workouts. I've discovered that are certain songs that really "get me goin" as it were, so I thought I'd share them with you and see what you thought.

1. ABC by the Jackson 5. I shake it, shake it, baby, when they tell me to. And I love it.

2. Love is a Battlefield by Pat Benatar. Originally I thought Heartbreaker would be better, but the beat is not consistent enough.

3. American Idiot by Green Day. It's got a very fast beat and is longer than most Green Day songs.

4. Dammit by Blink182. Again, fast beat. And it's a lot easier to get caught up in a song when you know the words to it.

5. Bubble Pop Electric by Gwen Stefani. I save this one for last. You really need to work up to it because it almost kills you.

PharrOut Phamily Pheast

Last night, Ross, myself, Scott, and Christi went to Magianno's to celebrate the second anniversary of PharrOut. We got the family style option where you pay $24.95 per person and have an endless supply of food for the rest of the time you're there. I must say, it was a wise decision-we have so many leftovers that we won't have to cook for days. Anyway, it was great to see Scott and Christi to celebrate how far the business has come in just 2 years. I'm proud of our little PharrOut Phamily, and I look phorward to many pheasts to come!

Please?

I need one of these:



PRESENTING THE PUGGLE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Frustrating.

Today, one of my boys called one of my girls the "N" word. Both of them are African American, not that that should make it any less bad. I didn't even know how to begin to address this, so I had to just send them to the guidance counselor to talk it out. The little girl was crying so much she could barely breathe, but the boy didn't see any problem with calling her that. Sigh. I hate it when I don't know what to do.

Gavin, I will fight Gwen for you...

I added some songs to the iPod shuffle on Sunday. On a whim, I decided to plunk a little Bush on there, just for kicks. Well, this evening, as I was perusing myspace.com, Glycerin came on the speakers. I literally swooned. A wave of memories of my undying love for Gavin came over me, and I was once again an awkward 14 year old listening to the Buzz in my room, truly convinced that I would one day marry him. I mean, how could a girl resist these lyrics:

must be your skin that i'm sinking in :: must be for real 'cos now i can feel :: and i didn't mind :: it's not my kind :: it's not my time to wonder why :: everything gone white :: and everything's grey :: now you're here now you're away :: i don't want this :: remember that :: i'll never forget where you're at :: don't let the days go by :: glycerine

i'm never alone :: i'm alone all the time :: are you at one :: or do you lie :: we live in a wheel :: where everyone steals :: but when we rise it's like strawberry fields

if i treated you bad :: you bruise my face :: couldn't love you more :: you got a beautiful taste :: don't let the days go by :: could have been easier on you :: i couldn't change though i wanted to :: could have been easier by three :: our old friend fear and you and me :: glycerine :: don't let the days go by :: glycerine

i needed us more :: when we wanted us less :: i could not kiss just regress :: it might just be :: clear simple and plain :: that's just fine :: that's just one of my names :: don't let the days go by :: could've been easier on you :: glycerine

Or this face:


Sigh. I listened to it twice. I guess it really is too late, considering he's married and has a baby on the way. Oh, and I'm married, too.

Some things.

I don't like cake. Please don't offer me any.

I thought I already loved my brother and sister an insane amount. But it turns out, the more time I spend with them, I love them even more.

I love buying people lunch.

When watching movies, I get more upset when a dog dies than when a person dies.

Everyone in my family has dimples but me.

Billy Joel ballads make me tear up whenever I listen to them.

I sometimes think I should just give my dogs away now so I won't have to deal with the sadness I will feel when they die.

I don't need to use tape when painting a room.

I've never met a Matt I didn't like.

I have never broken up with someone in person. And I've only been broken up *with* in person.

I sleep on my stomach with my arms parallel to my body, very much like a fish.

I still pretend to be a mermaid when I go swimming.

I'm scared of vampires.

I love to watch documentaries about exorcisms.

I read exceptionally quickly.

I'm a sucker for a boy with curly hair.

I use my smile to try to get people to do what I want. And it usually works.

I am able to detect if someone is BSing in about 3 seconds.

I do not fight fair.

I think cheating is a definite deal-breaker.

I cry on every anniversary of my grandma's death.

I will eat an entire box of Swiss Cake Rolls in one sitting. Not Ho-Ho's. It's only Swiss for me.

I've had the same cut on my thumb for 10 years. I would call it a scar, but it looks brand new everyday.

Few things makes me happier than a clean kitchen.

Artificial Limbs Flying Everywhere!!!

Tonight Ross and I joined my dad's side of the family to celebrate my grandmother's 95th birthday. My grandma (Thelma) lives at Imperial Plaza over in Bellvue, so we all met up with her and some of her friends in one of the party rooms there to throw down. I had myself a quality meatloaf dinner, and even had a balloon tied to my chair! My grandmother seemed really happy, and it was nice to see that she and her lady friends take good care of one another. One of her friends is named Helen, and she's just about the funniest person I've ever met.

Helen informed us that she had spent her whole life living 3/4 mile away from Imperial Plaza, so she's a hard-core Richmonder through and through. Ross and I could tell she was immediately by the way she pronounced "house." People who are Old Richmond say "house" in a way that sounds almost Canadian, but a little more slurred. Needless to say, once we made this connection, she was our favorite of the ladies joining us. But little did we know that our love for her would grow the more and more she talked.

Helen is one of those elderly ladies who seems to say whatever she wants, basically because she's old and she can. She told a bunch of stories over dinner, but my favorite had to do with old people on a cruise, fog, and a prosthetic leg. According to Helen, some friends of her took a cruise up to Alaska (or around Alaska, I dunno-I just know that my grandmother took a similar cruise a couple times-maybe old people like it?). One morning, this couple was strolling along the deck, making their way to the dining room for breakfast. As it was foggy, the deck was a little slippery. Unfortunately the older gentleman slipped and hit the ground with such force THAT HIS ARTIFICIAL LEG FLEW OFF AND SLID INTO A CROWD OF PEOPLE. In my mind, I pictured all of these elderly people being plowed over like bowling pins by this rogue, soaring leg. Needless to day, I almost died from the hilarity of it all, and Helen seemed happy to have given us all a chuckle.

Anyway, it was a good time had by all, and it was nice to see my grandma smile so much. Happy Birthday, T-dawg!!!!!

I'm so trendy and LOVED!

I have been asking Ross to get me some jewelry for a Christmas or birthday present for a long time. For real, ask Maura. Anyway, he actually listened this Christmas and ordered an opal (my birthstone) ring off of the ebay.com. Unfortunately, said ring has yet to arrive and it was intended to be my "main" Christmas present. But luckily, my thoughtful husband made ammends for the tragedy today.

I got home today around 5:30 to hear Ashlee Simpson blaring from upstairs. My first thoughts was, "Man, Ross is such a forgetful bastard. He left his iPod on when he left." My second thoughts was, "Oh no. I'm about to be murdered and the killer has decided to supply a very odd soundtrack to my slaughter." Bravely, I made my way up the steps behind my ferocious dog Zapp, and into the sunroom, the location from which the music was blaring. And what do I find hooked up to my laptop there? None other than an iPod shuffle! I know some people think the shuffle is lame-o, but it's perfect for me because I'm not really picky about music or the order in which it is played. I just kept saying "What the mess?!?!?!!?" over and over again. And the best part is, I have no idea what he put on it, so it's like a nice surprise with every song that comes on!!! I'm so happy and feel so appreciated. YAY HUBS!!!!!

So so sad.

Most of you in the Richmond area have probably heard about the murders that took place on New Year's Day in South Richmond. For those of you that haven't, click here. I'll refrain from giving a summary of the horrible events, more for my sake than anyone else's.

We all know that Richmond can be a violent city, but I always considered the violence to be based on people making really bad decisions in the heat of the moment. But this incident required so much planning and calculation that it makes me queasy to think about it. My heart hurts for their family and friends, and particularly for the little girls' friends and classmates who are having to deal with something this horrible way too early in their lives. Please keep all involved in your prayers. Pray for Richmond, too.

Have a New Year!

So this year is off to an amazing start. I spent last night at Blair's house playing Pop-Culture Trivial Pursuit. It was boys against girls and the boys got pwn'd, I must say. I drank my first entire beer, and it turns out that beer makes me bossy.

I woke up at 11:30 today, ate some toast, went back to bed, woke up at 3:30, took a shower, and headed over to Chris from Canada's to partake in the New Year's Turkey Fry. Last New Year's Day, Ross organized the roasting of a pig. This year he successfully orchestrated the frying of a bird in peanut oil. I must say, when that hubby of mine puts his mind to something, he can accomplish anything. Not only that, but this get-together was the ultimate example of worlds colliding-even my sister, who I love, came which was great!

Anyway, I had an awesome time at Chris's and I seriously adore everyone that was there. I'm a little bit in love with each and everyone of them. My heart is exploding with affection for them and with gratitude that I get to call them my friends. So much that I don't mind that I came home to Zapp eating the curtains that my mother custom-made for our dining room.

I hope everyone had a great New Year, and I wish you all many blessings this coming year!

Big Ups to My Big Sis

BLOGGING RUNS IN THE FAM!!!! Check out my big sister's new blog, dear readers!