Tree Cutting

Tree Cutting
Sent via camera phone by lukeawol.

A big day with my evergreen cut down by Jim.

New house

New house
Sent via camera phone by lukeawol.

Alex and Jim have their priorities in order

Movie night!

Had a great movie night with Nicole, Mark, Todd and Katie. Todd smoked some pork all day today and Katie ended up making fresh cucumber salad and delicious homemade coleslaw. Had a great night with the group.. and even endured the movie...!

Descent Day

Descent Day
Sent via camera phone by lukeawol.

The guys are over

House Progress

House Progress
Sent via camera phone by lukeawol.

Floor supervisor. Carpet is in. Moving stuff begins.

Latest house pictures

Nola's house is almost complete! The carpet comes on Wednesday, and the kitchen cabinets shortly thereafter.







Best part of all? She's moving out! Just kidding, Nola. :)

Breaking the law?

Breaking the law?
Sent via camera phone by lukeawol.

Something tells me that We're breaking the law.

Zombie night

Michael feeling Jake's stash
Sent via camera phone by lukeawol.

Schlock night was tonight, in which we watched Zombies! Zombies! Zombies (Strippers versus Zombies) at Michael Frank's house. Goodbye to Jayson as he makes his way to Chicago, and a regrettable follow-up movie Zombie Strippers, in which we ended up watching at 1.5X speed just to get through it. Enjoyable, regardless.

Just 3 little words...

Frankmusik - 3 Little Words

All you want from me
Are three little words
But you just get me laughing
A quiet sound
I know I'm with you now
But this all might end
So save all the "I love you"s
And let's not pretend

Cause you won't hear it now
And you won't hear it then
I love you, no
Those three words that begin
With three words always end

You can be a little full-on
Cause I know what you need
That really doesn't mean
You'll get it from me
Lying to yourself
Doesn't make it easier
"Save us both the time
Let's be together
We'll be fine"
You say, but

Cause you won't hear it now
And you won't hear it then
I love you, no
Those three words that begin
With three words always end

Cause you won't hear it now
And you won't hear it then, no
Those three words that begin
With three words always end

Plead for time
And you might understand
Feelings have no thoughts
And they ain't got any plans
So don't be surprised
When I look in your eyes
For all I want from you
Is a kiss or two

Cause you won't hear it now
And you won't hear it then
I love you, no
Those three words that begin
With three words always end
I love you, no

You won't hear it
You won't hear it now
You won't hear it then, no
Those three words that begin
With three words always end

Cause you don't know
What I'm talking about
Well you'll see it written
In the clouds

Cause you won't hear it now
And you won't hear it then
I love you, no
Those three words that begin
With three words always end
I love you, no
Cause you won't hear it now
And you won't hear it then
I love you, no

Cause you won't hear it
Cause you won't
Cause you won't
Cause you won't hear it now
Cause you won't hear it now
And you won't hear it then
Those three words that begin
With three words always end

And you know we can pretend

Cleaning and painting

Cleaning and painting
Sent via camera phone by lukeawol.

Today is cleaning and painting day at Nola's house. Wanna stop by and help?

Come to an END

Has Winter broken? I'm hoping. These rides/walks to work have been brutal this winter, and the jogs to Nola's house during lunch has done nothing for my tolerance of the cold. Something about walking across a river when it's -10 wind chill makes me shiver.

Life has been chugging along. I was slightly out of it for awhile, being downtrodden with several aspects of my life (job, season, social life), but things seems to be back on the up and up. Perhaps it was the whole seasonally affected syndrome or whatever.. or maybe the stress of life over a couple weeks was getting to me. It's been a pretty static work, home renovation, sleep, work, board game, sleep, work and occasional movie. And an occasional jerk in a social engagement breaks and worsens the mood. But hey, moving on.

Went over and watched Frankenhooker at Michael's last night with a couple people. Michael has been having weekly movie nights for about a month.. to much success. He has an extensive movie collection, and an adorable dog named Lucky, so I can see repeating this exercise for many weeks to come. We previously watched Poultrygeist, with its sing-a-long DVD, and unfortunately for all involved, Michael popped that in again last night. I'm also sensing a theme with the movies.. much nudity and degradation of women. Hmmm....

Speaking of nudity, a couple of us went to Rome's annual movie night at the Little and watched 'The Reader.' Was a really good movie. Pretty predictable and obvious, but hey, I almost cried. By the time the movie finished, I think Jake and I were the only ones in the theatre not crying.. Marni and Lindsay were a mess. But a free movie, popcorn and drink with desserts to follow is nothing to laugh at, unless it's a comedy, like last year's Juno. Then you can laugh.

I have a roofing appointment next week. I'm gonna see if my house's roof needs to be replaced, or just cleaned. It's a bit rough in spots, and the garage roof is a bit of a mess, but I have no leaks, and I may just be judging it by its appearance. The previous 2 owners didn't know how old the roof was... and I think that in itself means it's probably at its end. I've budgeted a roof replacement into the last year, so it's just a matter of getting the guy over and finding out what is best for the house. We shall see!

Speaking of budgeting, if you've ever read money magazines or articles, you'll know that less than 25% of Americans know where all their money is going... and it suggests you track every penny over a few months to get a handle on things. So I've been doing this since October. Every penny. And it's been eye opening. I'm by no means a wasteful and lackadaisical spender, but I felt I could benefit from the exercise. Well, February was my first month in enforcing a true budget.. in which I had a max $$ I could spend along 12 categories, with a total cost goal, and by the 25th of the month, I had $14 left, and no food left in the house.

It made for an interesting final few days, and a few pounds lost, too! But I've found ways to cut $500 more out of my budget, maxing out my 403b and Roth IRA, and still not feeling too pinched. But my saving rate is up to about 50%, which is what people used to do in the depression days. But I sorta miss my old days, buying anything I wanted, but those days are behind me. Oh, being an adult. But at least my house will be paid for by the time I'm 35. TMI?

Oh, I don't know if I mentioned. My vacation for May to the Bahamas is all set and paid for. I was kinda passive about wanting to go away, but after that 3 weeks of hell that I just passed through, I think I really needed a vacation. And I plan to head to see Laura, Luke and Sean in D.C. in early April, plus, I have another vacation planned for North Carolina in late July, and a 5 day camping trip with the friends set for the July 4th weekend. Plus, I have a conference I'm trying to go to in mid-June, setting up for a full itinerary to Indianapolis for a week, and maybe even some training out in Boston in the next month or so. I guess the winter was just really too cold and slow, but as the weather breaks, time for travel! And NYC is continually calling my name. Well, Sheila is calling my name.

And we're hiring at my work for an assistant. We interviewed people last week, and I really liked them. Can't wait to have them start, so I can get some help!

Some things to look forward to.

Ode to Michael

Oh, I just enjoyed this little poem from Michael on my IM after getting back from a meeting. Nonsensical, for sure.

Today @ 3:40pm

Michael:

HIlo

trucker

car

mountain

mackerel

tuna

sand

cow

moo

clvoer

bellow

train