Requiem for the Spacemarshmellow

And here I was, thinking I'd have more free time in the fall now that the sailing season is over. I was going to knit more, and read, and bake bread and maybe even sleep in some days.

Then one day I find myself working 12 hour days so that I have time to take care of a sick friend, get my house repaired and visit someone I'm crazy about who just so happens to live 1500 miles away.

That being said, I live on the beach, have two adorable kittens and an amazingly hot boyfriend who likes to lend me books.

I suppose busy isn't synonymous with bad. Life is good in these parts.

I just realized I hadn't made the Big Announcement. I'm now a proud kitty mamma of two 10 week old girl kittens, named Nell and Lilly. I've had them since they were 7 weeks old, and it's really amazing how much they learn and grow in that short amount of time.

I'll post pictures soon!!

It all started with a plumbing problem, when they had to cut open some drywall to see pipes, which turned out to be fine. The problem was the roof, which is now fixed. Anyhow.

I figured while I was getting that drywall repaired, I'd also fix this ugly bit above the sliding glass door that leads out to my porch. The world's greatest contractor (if anyone needs house fixing in Maryland, I can't recommend THe House Surgeon enough) suggested we could skim coat it. "It would look the same, and be cheaper, even if it is a bit of a shortcut". I decided that no, I wanted to fix things the right way, so let's go ahead and cut open the drywall. Thank goodness I decided that.

When the drywall was cut open, we found that a major support beam to my house had been slowly rotting away due to the fact that my vinyl siding was poorly flashed around an upstairs window, and so every time it rained, water was pooling around the beam. Great.

To quote my friend Dave, "that beam looks like it just came out of a fireplace". Ugh. not good.

Both the header over the door and the girder which provides support for that wall are rotten. And the rot has extended to the subfloor of the room above (my bedroom), so all of those need to be replaced.

To replace major support beams, my vinyl siding needs to be removed, along with the wood behind it. They'll then jack up my second story from inside my first story, and remove the rotten beams. They'll then replace everything, put the wall back on and then jack my house back down.

Yay. I'm currently waiting for the contractor to get here to look at my wall and give me an estimate. I'm probably going to pass out when I see how many zeroes this will require.

"Hold this for me?", I asked as I handed him a folder and started towards the restroom.

Upon my return he informed me that he'd be right back, as it was now his turn to use the facilities.

My obvious, logical response to this, which I yelled down the hallway, was "What?!? I don't get to hold something for you!??!.

Yes, I wanted to die. Yes, watching me put my foot in my mouth is a spectator sport. No, I will never be speaking again.

"What happens if we get hit by lightening??"


"We'll see what happens"


"WHAT!?!?"


"I mean, let's just cross that bridge when we come to it".


Not the greatest day for sailing. Great day for getting soaked to the bone though. I really hope I have hot chocolate downstairs.

I'm growing increasingly tired of these arbitrary rules and regulations people put on their lives and those around them.

Don't they realize that life is a wild animal that chafes when caged?

As for me, I only know how to be one thing. And that thing is this crazy, contradictory, intelligent, happy person that I've spent the last 27 years becoming.

The chance that I'll conform to some random set of requirements and rules: 0.

It's odd how complete strangers can give you back something you didn't realize you had been missing.

Is it possible for me to miss camaraderie that I both gained and lost in four short days?!?

Lesson learned. Nebraska grows some amazing people. Who knew.

"You don't need both hands to steer" he informed me as he handed me a beer. Best Captain ever. Best sailboat ever. Good race too, came in second and everything.

It's funny the places you end up when you just let it all go. This slow re-structuring of my life is going better than I could have ever possibly imagined.

I'm probably going to be dead by the end of today, but at least I'll have gotten some things done.

I was up at 4, ran two miles (yay getting into shape!), and now I'm finishing up a lab for my wireless security class. Still need to finish a midterm tonight. After I attempt to get a million things done at work with a 3 hour meeting wrapping up my day, I'm going to get my hair cut. It really needs it, I'm looking shaggy. Then I'm off to Rebekah and Michael's house.

Rebekah is getting her gallbladder removed today, so she'll be in my thoughts. I hope it's a quick procedure and she doesn't need to stay overnight.

I'll probably be home late, and up early again on Thursday. At least this weekend will be relaxing!

Hereby making 2009 the roughest start to a year I've ever had, my aunt passed away earlier today. She was suffering, and it was truly her time to go. May she rest in peace.


I just hope she tells my grandma hi for me.

So here's what happened:

Long story short, because I really don't want to get into it. After 2 years of being together, Martin decided he couldn't ever see himself marrying me and "didn't want to waste my time anymore". And this is after having a fantastic Christmas and New Years. In fact, he came over to tell me about 10 minutes after I'd downloaded all the pictures of us kissing at midnight.


So that's that.

I don't understand at all, and probably never will.

1) Get and stay in shape.

2) Stay in touch with people better.

I figure two is manageable. And everyone says that you can keep your resolutions better if you tell people about them, so here goes nothing :)

Alternate title: Guinea Pig post that is mostly for Andrew's benefit, but everyone is welcome to learn about my Guinea Pig adventures.

My friend Andrew is in Texas for a few weeks over Christmas/New Years, so I'm watching his Guinea Pigs while he's gone. There are two of them, both super cute, and they answer to the names Tater Tot and Ms. Fuzzbottom.

It's surprising (to me at least) that they really do have distinct personalities.

Ms. Fuzzbottom is decidedly the more timid of the two, but is way more adventurous in terms of food. I can't say I really have a favorite. Tater Tot comes right up to the edge of the cage to say hi to me, but Ms. Fuzzbottom eats (mostly) whatever I put in front of her.

There is about 5% of me that is marginally concerned with making the Guinea Pigs fat. But it's not like I'm feeding them fudge, so I think it'll be ok.

Because Guinea Pigs are a herd (gaggle?) animal, my friend Brian always jokes that he imagines Guinea Pigs swarming an animal and leaving behind only bones. As I've discovered, this is what happens when you give them spinach. I've never seen a pile of spinach disappear that quickly. I'm impressed.

So what have I tried to feed them? And have they liked it?

* mushrooms - nobody cared
* tomatoes - nobody cared
* spinach - swarm of destruction
* banana - Ms. Fuzzbottom ate some, Tater Tot ignored me
* basil - same as the banana

One of the greatest things about the holidays is that I let myself eat whatever I want. Not that I'm generally super restrictive, but during the holidays all bets are off.

Because I want to make everyone jealous, I'm gonna post what I make and eat this weekend. Yummy.

Last night's dinner:

Chicken breast stuffed with goat cheese and spinach, topped with artichoke hearts. Served with long-grain rice pilaf. Pumpkin caramel ice cream was dessert.


Breakfast:

Bagels, cream cheese and smoked salmon. Bananas. Orange juice. Hazelnut coffee.


No clue what's going to be for dinner, but it'll probably be delicious. I'm a happy Sandra.

If anyone doesn't have a place to go for the Christmas weekend, I'd like to invite you over to my house. It's going to be a weekend full of good food, alcohol, movies and whatever else. Stay for a few hours or the whole weekend!!

One exam and finishing touches on a final project are due tonight. Of course, I'm not 100% done. Not even close. Ugh. Better get in gear, if I could just stop getting horribly horribly distracted.

It's amazing how distracted I get, I'm not even home! I'm in a hotel right now, traveling for work. You'd think I'd have nothing better to do than work on my exam, but apparently that's not the case.


Stupid school. Never ever try and work full time while going to school. I can't wait to get done with these stupid classes so I can get my stupid raise and then never ever ever go back to school ever again.

We won both our dodgeball games this morning - go us!!

Season Injury Total: 2

This week I got hit in THE EYE!!! I'm not sure if I'm gonna have a black eye or just some upper cheekbone bruising. Hopefully nothing at all, but it feels swollen which is never a good sign.

At least I keep getting hit in body parts that rhyme.

New theory: dentists hate when people get some action and want to prevent it whenever possible.

Proof #1: My teeth need more fluoride, so they give me this strange goo to smear all over my teeth every night before bed. Oh yeah, that's sexy. Might as well give up now and invest in flannel nightgowns. And rollers.

Proof #2: Retainers, 'nuff said.

Finally got around to painting my house this weekend. Bribed a few great friends and kablamo! The first floor looks amazing!

Still need to return all my furniture to their proper locations, hang some curtains and decorate a little. But my house is now finally moving towards looking like an actual adult house, not a collection of walls and random furniture.

Once I clean up and get everything looking NOT like an explosion, I'll post some pictures.