Ladybug Studio

I'm Still Stuffed

When I got home from dinner last night I smelled unpleasantly of cooking oil. After shucking off my clothes and putting everything in the hamper, I changed into my oversized sleeping shirt. I was getting ready to brush my teeth when Tom asked, "Aren't you going to take a shower?"

"Do you want me to?" I asked.
"You should," was the reply.
"Do I have to wash my hair?"
"…"

After spending hours breathing in the aroma of The Melting Pot, I couldn't really detect the lingering odor. But obviously Tom could. So I soaped up really good, washed and conditioned my hair and after laying a towel over my pillow, went to bed with a wet head. I looked like Medusa this morning!

Dinner was really good, naturally. We started with martinis at the bar. There is a huge menu to choose from and my original choice was a mistake. The Washington Apple didn't taste as much like apple as it did just straight alcohol. Since I don't even like the taste of alcohol, I was rather disappointed. But Joy asked the bartender to trade it out and the second one, Berry Sexy, was much tastier. I don't recall the ingredients, but there were strawberries floating on top and it was very pretty.

The four of us took our drinks to our table and began the serious task of planning our meals. Because there would be only one pot to dip/cook in, we had to agree on 1) cheese - Traditional Swiss, 2) cooking method - Bourguignonne, and 3) chocolate - milk and dark chocolate swirled.

We decided to order a large cheese and a large chocolate and split two entrees. This turned out to be a great idea. Each entree came with a salad, which was split between two. Joy and I shared a Mushroom Salad while Stacey and Jeanene split a California Salad. The entrees provided more than enough meats and vegetables for everyone. With tip it came to $30 per person. Not bad at all for a delicious and fun dining experience.

Stop With the Rain Already!

Two more rainy afternoons since I last posted. Yesterday was nearly a flood, in fact. I had a pedicure right after work and ended up trapped at the salon for about a half hour after my toesies were beautified. It was such a downpour I would have been drenched three steps from the door. And of course I parked far, far away. Finally it lightened up a little and I was able to make my escape.

I had planned on filling my gas tank and stopping at Publix on my way home, but forget about it! I had no desire to get even wetter than I already was. As far as I know, the rain lasted well into the night. Though it didn't hugely affect my plans, I'm just a bit tired of this weather. I'm sure it will rain tonight, too.

But I have plans for tonight. Delicious plans. Pants tightening plans.

Joy, Stacey, Jeanene and I are going to The Melting Pot tonight. A Ladies Night Out of sorts. We've been trying to get together for this outing since early January, so it's well overdue. See, my father passed away on Stacey's birthday. Naturally, I did not get my act together for my good friend. So I made a deal with her. I asked her to do nothing for my birthday and we would go to MP to celebrate both of our birthdays. In the mean time, both Joy's and Jeanene's birthdays have gone on by as well. Celebrating birthdays doesn't make much sense any more. However, we do have another cause for celebration. Stacey has just finished six weeks of radiation treatments. Now that's a reason to party.

More Rain

Another tennis lesson rained out. We had quite a storm come through yesterday afternoon. At least this one started early enough that I didn't spend my time driving to the courts to turn around and go back home. I still went home and wasted the afternoon watching TV. Now I'm caught up on The Next Food Network Star, The Closer and My Boys.

But I did not allow myself to nap. Instead, I went outside and puttered in the yard for a bit. On Sunday Tom and I had gone to Lowe's and bought some salt for the water softener, which resides on the east side of our house. Several years ago, when Tom installed the system, he also put up a black metal trellis and we convinced a couple of Confederate Jasmine to climb upon it. And climb they did! It's full and lush and smells like heaven during the spring. But it's perhaps a tad out of control. Tom couldn't even get to the water softener to put the salt in. He had to machete his way in first. Okay, maybe not a machete, but he did use the large hedge trimmers. Wearing gloves, I had gathered the vine clippings together into a pile. But that plant bleeds white sticky liquid when cut and I wanted it to dry for a day before shlepping it all to the curb for pickup. So I took care of that small chore and then quit with the yard work. It's just too hot to be outside these days.

Rain, Rain, Go Away

There has been nothing worth writing about lately. It rains every day. I go home from work and watch TV for a bit. Then I get sleepy and end up taking a nap. I wake up feeling sluggish and dumb.

Tom and I watch the Tour every night and I do a little freelance. Things have calmed down in that area a bit. There are still some summer calendars in the In Box, but the urgency's not there. I have plenty of 2009 calendars to work on, so I can't procrastinate too long, but it's nice to have a small break.

I just wish I could do something fun or productive with the extra time. The yard is growing and getting all sorts of out of control. I haven't biked or played tennis in nearly two weeks. Damned rain. It's supposed to be a little drier this weekend though. I am planning on doing the Saturday tennis thing tomorrow morning and Tom and I are going to do a bike ride on Sunday morning. The mornings are definitely our safest bets.

I had my hair cut yesterday and I sure hope the problems I've been having lately are resolved. Truly, I don't understand what's happening. It's like a cruel joke. I spend most of my life with boring hair and no style. Finally, I go for it a make a huge change. Amazingly, it works out better than I could even have hoped for. I end up with a cute style, for which I receive lots of compliments. And the icing on the cake? I can style it all by myself!

Unfortunately, something went wrong after the last cut and I haven't been able to do a thing with my hair. I mean, it's been really awful. I would have called my stylist, but she's been out of town. So yesterday I went to my scheduled appointment. Lori determined that my hair wasn't textured enough and went around razoring and snipping here and there. The results this morning were lackluster. Well, things were looking okay until I decided to fiddle just a bit. And pretty much destroyed what style I had managed to coax out. (sigh)

Hopefully I'm just out of practice. I don't really want to go back to the old reliable one length ponytail. But I may have to.

Fickle Florida Weather

I was looking forward to my tennis lesson yesterday. Plus, I had left my racquet with my instructor to be restrung and was anxious to give the new strings a try. However, the weather had other plans and I was denied. It didn't look too bad when I left work. Overcast, but not threatening. So I was fairly surprised when I got out of my car, grabbed my tennis bag, took about five steps toward the courts and the heavens opened up. I dashed back to my car and threw myself in just in time to avoid a serious soaking.

I hung around for about 20 minutes, until it lightened to a sprinkle. The courts were seriously wet and puddled, so playing wasn't an option. But I needed to get my tennis racquet. Poor Instructor Tom looked like a drowned rat, after gathering up his tennis balls and other teaching equipment in the pouring rain.

At home, it hadn't rained a drop. In fact, about a mile from the courts it was dry and sunny. I stopped at Publix and stocked up on Lean Cuisine meals (50% off!) and other items, which put a sizable dent in my debit card. At times like this, I'm really glad we only have to feed a family of two. Things would be so much tighter if there were children involved. Once home, I put away all of the groceries, sifted through the mail (bill, bill, junk, magazine, bill, junk) then powered up the Mac and got to work.

July 11 has come and gone and I still haven't downloaded the latest, greatest iPhone software. To tell you the truth, I'm afraid to. First, people were reporting serious problems that basically disabled their phones. iBricks, they were calling them. Then stories began to trickle in of people who got the download to work, but were noticing very slow, sluggish behavior. I'm just itching to start downloading programs and games from the App Store, but I don't know that I'm willing to sacrifice my current speed. I personally know of a family with three phones that were all successfully upgraded. But when I mentioned the slowdown, they started to have doubts and question their iPhones' performance.

I think I'll wait just a tad longer. I'm an admitted early adopter. But that doesn't mean I have to jump into the pool without first checking to see how deep the water is. Also lifeguards. I should have an idea of their location. And sunscreen.

Oh, that reminds me. You know how so many people dread going to the dentist and getting the dental floss lecture that makes them feel like disobedient children? Well, I recently experienced the dermatologist equivalent called the sunscreen lecture.

Better Weekend

This weekend was pretty good. Much better than I've been having lately. Shopping was involved. And pizza. With those ingredients, how can you go wrong?

The fun didn't start right away though. After a bit of after work lounging and Boston Legal Third Season watching, I cleaned the inside of my car. It was overcast and not too miserable outside so I thought I would take advantage. Imagine my surprise when I soon became a river of sweat. Damn Florida humidity! It was very frustrating and I probably didn't do my usual A+ job. But the interior is better than it was, if that's any consolation.

Because we had to run up to Walgreens for a prescription refill, we ordered our pizza from Valentino's. Which is Tom's favorite. I also had Tom stop at a 7-Eleven, because they were giving away free Slurpees in honor of the company's 81st birthday. But the freebies were small (7.11 oz) (cute!) and that just wouldn't do it. I went ahead and paid for a more substantial Wild Cherry Slurpee. Heaven.

Saturday morning I took the little car down to Melbourne and dropped it off at the dealership for its first service. Then I walked a couple of blocks to Southern Photo Supply to attend my free DSLR class. It was worth attending. Along with 13 other students, I learned (re-learned) some basics about aperture (small opening = large number = greater depth of field), exposure and shutter speed. The best part, though, was when the instructor walked us through the settings menus. His camera was connected to a projector so we could all clearly see and follow along with our own cameras. Having someone explain in simple, layman's terms was most helpful.

After class I walked back to the dealership to pick up my car. It was ready and waiting, freshly washed and shiny. Which didn't last long as it started to rain as I got on my way. From there I went to the Melbourne Square Mall. I ended up spending longer there than I had intended as the rain ramped up into quite a soaker.

Eventually I was able to dash to my car (parked in the back forty, of course) and head on up the road (through more torrential downpour) to Avenue Viera. After visiting Bed, Bath and Beyond, Trade Secret and Kohl's I finally went home, quite tired from my retail adventure.

On Sunday I let Tom choose what we would do, as he had worked on Saturday while I was out having my fun. He wanted to visit a bicycle shop in Winter Park that sells Cervelo bicycles. Warning: watching the Tour de France not only robs you of sleep, keeping you up late every night watching television coverage, it will also induce an urge for a new, expensive bicycle.

So we went to the store, oohed and awed over the pricey two-wheelers, inspected the accessories and clothing, and left empty handed. We then located a Circuit City store so I could buy a card reader (the photo instructor highly recommended not transferring photos via camera to computer) and an Office Depot so I could get a 2nd SD card for the camera (2GB on sale for $14.99!).

I'm glad Tom didn't want to set up a bicycle ride, because it wouldn't have been very successful. It was quite a rainy weekend. We hit even more rain on our way back home (and saw tons of stupid people who should not be allowed to drive at all, much less in the rain).

I admit to not doing a minute of freelance work the entire weekend. That's not really a good thing, but I think I just got beyond burned out. The break was necessary and refreshing. But tonight… I'd better get to work.

4th Weekend

We did finish up at The House on Thursday. Just under the wire, I'd say. That was the finish date I had selected, because we needed an end date, if for no other reason. Though it was also nice to be able to finally relax and enjoy an entire weekend. Which isn't to say that I did, because, you know, freelance and all.

I didn't work solidly over the weekend though. In fact, I spent quite a lot of time away from the computer. On Friday I puttered around during the morning, doing this and that. Then Tom and I loaded up the road bikes and went riding on River Road. We parked at the Cocoa library and rode north. The south way is less hilly, but we thought it best to avoid Cocoa Village and the Independence Day goings on.

I have, apparently, lost all of my biking fitness. Tennis and biking work the body in entirely different ways, so I was struggling quite a bit. The only thing to do about it is to ride more often. Which I should be able to do, with the leagues on summer break. Of course I enjoy biking, and because it's something Tom and I can do together, there's an additional bonus.

On Friday night we watched the fireworks from our roof top. Titusville and Port St. John combined their efforts this year and produced a fireworks show from Space Coast Regional Airport (AKA: Tico). That's not far from us at all, so we thought we would give it a try and climbed up onto the roof. We had an excellent view right between two trees. If we had been on the neighbor's roof, we wouldn't have been able to see a thing. Nice to be the lucky ones, for once.

Saturday was the first day of the Tour de France. We invited some biking friends over to watch the stage, socialize and eat pizza. The socializing and pizza eating were very successful. The Tour watching, not so much. There was too much going on with the chatting and Alex and Jeanene's little guy running around. Good thing they showed coverage again later that night so Tom and I were able to see what we had missed.

Sunday I spent nearly the whole day on the computer, which enabled me to watch the 2008 Wimbledon Slugfest Men's Final. Holy cow! An unbelievable match. I probably wouldn't have made it through the whole thing if I hadn't been busy in the office. But I'm glad I did. The match was epic. Poor Fed. I was really routing for him. But then again, he's won his share and maybe it's time for someone else. Might as well be Nadal.

Tom felt sorry for me, spending so much time working. So he took me to dinner last night. We ran some errands down in Melbourne then ate at Smoky Bones. Always a pleasure. Then we topped it off with chocolate marshmallow milkshakes from Del's Freeze. We winded down the weekend watching Stage 2 of the Tour, then lights out - the weekend is over!

Nearly Done

This should be the last day. It's not over until it's over, but I really think this will be it. The House will finally be completely finished and I will be free! Well, actually, I will have even more time to spend on freelance. But still!

The last time I wrote was Monday, so since then, here's what's been happening:

Monday I had my tennis lesson and it was so miserably hot. With all the sweat that got in my eyes, I could barely see that evening. But there was something I just had to do freelance-wise, so I spent about an hour and a half staring at the computer screen. Which is one of the worst things one can do when one's eyes are dry and irritated. I know this is medically true because I read it somewhere. Anyway, Monday was just tons of fun.

Then Tuesday. Since I didn't have doubles (hurray!) I was able to go straight to The House after work (not so much hurray). I was there all by myself, which was kind of nice. It was quiet and peaceful. I listened to an audiobook (Killing Floor, by Lee Child) while I worked. You know, I was there for 2.5 hours and hardly accomplished a thing! It's amazing just how long it takes to do stuff.

First, in a sincere effort to procrastinate, I took up the blue painter's tape from the baseboards in the dining room. What a pain! I had to score every inch with a knife, otherwise the paint wanted to peel away. Gah! Then I removed the tape from around the window seat on the dining room front wall. Again with the scoring. Next, I removed the tape from the kitchen doorway. Score.

Finally, I could put it off no longer. I gathered up my paint supplies and went to the bathroom to touch up the cutting-in. I really hated to do it because I was now on my third time around doing that very same chore in that very same room. But at least I didn't have to re-do everything, just the spots that looked thin. Oh, and I had to paint behind the toilet, which is quite a lot of fun.

At 7:00 I left The House, stopped at Panda Express for dinner (Orange Chicken for Tom and Orange Chicken and Mushroom Chicken with Chow Mien Noodles for me) and finally made it home after quite a long day. And you know I had to get on the computer after dinner, right?

And Wednesday. Joy and I both took a half day in order to tackle the job of replacing ceiling tiles in the den. Sucky way to spend vacation time, right? Anyway, there were seven or eight tiles that had been water damaged some time ago that looked pretty bad. I was not looking forward to this task because those darned tiles are most uncooperative and an absolute pain to work with.

As it turned out, I got seriously lucky. Paul had just finished with the front porch, so he and Joy took on the task together while I painted the inside back wall of the bathroom vanity and the attic hatch door. Then I scrubbed all of the paint spots out of the kitchen sink with steel wool. I also laid down the law: no more rinsing of paint brushes and related items in the kitchen sink. Any further paint cleanup must be done outside from now on. I think that point is moot however. I do believe we are done with painting. Hallelujah!

Once Joy and Paul were finished with the ceiling tiles, I vacuumed the den really well. Joy laughed when I asked if they were all done. She knew I was just itching to get in there with the vacuum cleaner. All of the dirt and God knows what that had fallen from the ceiling was just killing me.

Family friend Lee had offered to haul away any trash that we might have, so Joy and I went around the yard, the garage, and the workshop dragging various bits and pieces and piling them up for pickup. There was a surprising amount of crap laying around in the yard and under the portable carport in the backyard. It's really great to have this offer of help. One more thing we can check off the To Do List.

Note: Regarding Paul. I have to say, when he first started working, I had my doubts about him. He was nice and polite and obviously industrious, but he was way too picky and seemed to take forever painting the kitchen. But he did a smashing job in there and it's sure to make a difference. Then, in addition to that job, he has been incredibly helpful in a million other ways. He's very intelligent and knows how to do just about anything around the house. His help has been invaluable. Joy and I couldn't have done it without him. I think I'm actually going to miss him a bit.

So Today. One thing we will be doing today, and it's not going to be easy, is putting all of the window treatments back up. The problem we're going to have is entirely Jo's fault. Surprise! She's screwed us once again! When she and Rachel took down the blinds, curtain, switch plates and outlet covers, they just threw all of the hardware into a bucket. Great, isn't it? So we have no clue what went with what and are going to have to wing it. Since everything else has been more difficult than expected, I don't see any reason why this task will be any different.

Then, we need to clean the bathroom and the kitchen. The kitchen is a bit of a disaster right now because it's been the Project Staging Area and there are all sorts of tools, equipment, cleaning supplies, painting stuff and various odds and ends scattered all over the countertops. It's been making me crazy for weeks and I am so looking forward to seeing it all squared away.

Once the house is ship-shape and in order, we will finish up by sweeping and blowing the outside storage areas. Not looking forward to that at all. I've brought grubby clothing and safety glasses, so I'm somewhat prepared.

I just wish I had kept good track of the number of hours I've spent getting the house ready to sell. Just a low estimate since Memorial Day weekend: 60 hours. And trust me, that's a low-ball estimate.