ilex_cassine | Entries tagged with house

For some reason, I'm tense and crabby. Absolutely no reason beyond the usual house/job stress that I should be tense and crabby. And this is a pattern. I tend to have mentally trying times on Saturdays more often than other days.

I think its because with the hubby home my loose schedule falls apart. And I usually don't get food when I need it, because the other person in the picture needs to be taken into account (who never needs to eat, it seems) and we DJ right over the dinner hours (tonight, www.wxdu.org 4-5 EST). Oh, and it occurs to me I tend to eat more sugar, as there are often pastries for breakfast and snacks. And the dab of coffee I don't usually drink. And the fact that I'm tremendously annoyed when hubby doesn't help around the house on weekends, since he actually has time, whereas during the week I cut him more slack because his work is difficult. Huh. Thinking about this enough to write down speculation is actually helpful.

This home (found on the Selby via a link in the NYT, but of course) is really tantalizing to me, so organically opulent. It'd be a bit much for 24/7 living, but dang, so pretty.

It makes me sad that my house isn't more together. I totally thought after nearly a year of living here we'd have a nice cozy house. Instead its still a mess, the walls are white, and it feels like we could move out at any moment, so more like an apartment than a house. Oh well. Everything could be much, much worse. We have a place to live and are in no risk of eviction. And I do enjoy arranging the paint chips on the walls.

Current Mood: cranky

Update on my last post: even after a visit from the mayor, Jeremy had to dismantle his shiitake growing operation. The zoning laws are just not going to get fixed fast enough for him to continue without being bankrupted by fines. But its still worthwhile to have harangued the city council about it, as if things are going to change it'll help in the long term. I'm glad the Mayor Rybak is taking an interest, he seems like a good guy.

( Whining and whinging follows, you are forewarned )

Current Mood: depressed

But they are being over shadowed by our bathroom sink, which is stopped up. We have tried removing and replacing the stopper bulb arm thingy, and we tried using a plunger. I'm trying to remove the trap, but the plastic joint won't budge. This should be straight forward. But it is heartily not. I'm starting to wonder if they didn't use some sort of sealant on the joint? They shouldn't have, you should be able to remove the trap. But I really can't get it to budge, and neither can Jj. Damnation!

And I should be grading, not engaging in plumbing adventures.

Current Mood: frustrated

Okay, I'm not. But you knew that. I still like my new LJ icon. Thanks Reuters photographer dude (Luke MacGregor) for snapping such a nice shot and the NYT for putting it up.

Our mail is now arriving. I was about to get very desperate about it. Thankfully I don't have to now. I did manage to burn myself on a torqued screw pretty badly while assembling the mailbox. Good grief. But having mail is worth my sore finger.

Finished doing data entry and compiling test grades for my class today. Another perfect curve, with a B- average. Perfect. I'm so good at writing tests. Its probably my best teaching skill and the only one I'm really proud of.

I must measure and hang things this weekend. Like a toilet paper holder. This house is beyond ridiculous at the moment. Boxes must be denuded of their contents and pitched, as well. And I should build shelves.

We are having trouble with our cat, Engels. He is pooping and peeing out of the box. I think it may be because I'm spending a lot more time out of the house and he is having separation anxiety. Or the move has just made him bats. Sigh. Regardless, we are having to keep the cats out of carpeted areas until this phase (I'm erring on the bright side and assuming its a phase) blows over.

I love fall. I hope everyone gets to enjoy some nice fall smells and colors this weekend.

Current Mood: sleepy

On Halloween, Sat. Oct 31st. Its going to be a gothic luau housewarming. We'll be sending out e-vites to the locals soonish.

The hubinator is in charge of this, but he is ill. He thinks he has swine flu. I think the jury is out on that one. But regardless, he's ill so no formal e-vites. I wanted to post though in a "save the date" sort of way.

I seriously hope we make a better dent in these boxes by then. Holy crap is this getting tedious. And the kitchen... is not designed well. I think the cupboards were created by people who expected folks to live on microwave dinners. It needs some help. And we need to hang the gutters. And get the dryer electricity hooked up, with the hubinator sick we didn't get to that today. Aaargh. Everything in my existence is taking about twice the time I would have anticipated it should take.

I have a job application due at the end of the month, which I'm dreading. This means I should really get the article I have in the pipeline submitted so I can list it as "submitted" on the application. Bleh. I don't even want this job, but it'll be good preparation for the application to the job I do want which is is due in December. Its terrible that there are really only two academic jobs I've seen that I feel I match up with. I really need to push my CRM possibilities, but even that probably won't help. Sigh. I'm trying not to think of seeking retail seasonal employment in a little while... but its probably the responsible thing at the moment.

Current Mood: blah

The post office doesn't recognize our address either. Its on the house purchase papers. Its on our deed, I assume. It was changed by the city planner/911 folks like a year ago, apparently. But nobody but them recognizes it as a real address. I don't know what to do about this. I guess I'll call the city about it tomorrow. I'm using 618 as a fall back, since Netflix actually recognized that one, which is what it was before they switched it.

So weird. I thought addresses were pretty straight forward, solid things. Not so. Not even close.

Current Mood: irritated

My brain is a bit scattered at the moment. I'm considering trying out twitter, just for the heck of it, as it seems to match the brain waves...

Why would folks installing a washer dryer closet use a cooking range outlet? Because at my new house, they did. Which led to yet another trip to Ace Hardware (much much more useful than Lowe's, with the added bonus that the employees actually respond to me as if they understand the language I'm speaking). And will lead to more afternoon fun with washer/dryer installation.

I have no underwear left and my only pair of reasonable summer pants has a hole in the ass. Prepared to be mooned, Weaver St. shoppers! I need detergent.

Trader Joe's is my savior. I'm glad I waited 20 minutes for them to open this morning. My kitchen is not set up and so I will be microwaving meals in the coming days till it comes together. The single serve microwavable mac n' cheese is not something I would normally eat, but dang, if it was around when I was eight I'd have lived off of it. Easy to prepare and it turns out like boxed mac n' cheese. We will see if it has hidden migraine trigger ingredients.

I also must figure out where the Walmart is, because that's the place in town that seemed the most reasonable for prescription filling. Not my preferred choice, but hey, they are cheap.

Living in a furniture tumbled abode is not good. Much work must be done this weekend for my sanity, and poor hubby is away on a work trip. Onward!

Current Mood: spacey

This was nearly my experience on Monday. I have to go back on Friday. Great.

The utility companies don't believe the house we are buying exists. We had to collect meter numbers to prove it for them. Great.

The folks at the USDA who have the final say over our mortgage are not getting word to us fast enough. This may delay closing, or even cancel our contract. Great.

Packing is not happening fast enough and we are yet again out of boxes for books. Another trip to the ABC Store. Great.

Well, if everything happens as it should, I'll own a house and be moved in by Monday. Even if I'm near death from stress and overwork, that actually will be Great.

Current Mood: stressed

I twisted my ankle badly today. I had just been thinking how week and weird my ankles had been seeming as of late, and how I should do some balancing exercises to work on that, and blammo, I step wrong on a rock and fall down. Growl. I have applied Aspercreme and it still hurts. I don't think I've ever twisted by ankle so badly, when it happened I was gasping in pain for a good few minutes.

I made myself an eccentric lunch and I feel a bit better now. An eccentric lunch is when I improvise while cooking in a big way.
Here is my recipe for today's eccentric lunch:
Vegetables- Two cups chopped peeled broccoli stem, cabbage, thinly sliced carrot, frozen peas
Nuts- Pepitos (handful)
Spices- Garlic powder, ginger powder, garam masala, curry powder, black pepper
Other- Oil- 1 tsp, Tomato Paste 1 tbsp, soy sauce 1 tbsp, Coconut milk barely 1/4 cup, hot sauce
Pasta- About 2 cups cooked pasta or rice noodles

Saute veggies, nuts and spices till barely tender. Add tomato paste and soy sauce and stir it around. Add coconut milk in a few steps- it should bubble and reduce. Turn heat to lowish. Let sit while pasta cooks. Drain and add pasta. Top with a bit of hot sauce. Yum.

Got good news about the mortgage today to. Looks like we are closing on the 10th. Fingers crossed, I'm not gonna believe it till we have the keys to the house handed to us. And I am terribly worried about getting our current apartment rented.

I need to call my brother and see what advice he's got about bum ankles (he is a soccer coach, he knows things about twisted ankle treatment, I bet). Though the odds of reaching him are slim to none. We haven't really talked in months, unfortunately. He is too busy.

Ted Koppel is on NPR right now. By god, why isn't that man in politics? He should be. Or at the very least, NPR should hire him. He is so sensible. He drips sense with every syllable. More Ted Koppel please.