New Year, new projects!

As some of you know, M and I closed on a house just before Christmas. We're very excited about a) the awesome deal we got and b) having a home of our own! The house is in great shape but needed a few face-lift type fixes, which began on January 7. Two weeks later, the work continues! We hope to be in the house in the next week or so- for sure before the end of the month.

House remodeling and moving is typically enough to keep two people busy, but we're unconventional. We're also planning a wedding. It's going fine so far, thanks to those who are checking in and offering tips and assistance. I do have 2 big deadlines looming- DRESS and DJ.

And finally, on top of fixing and moving into a house, planning a wedding, I started a new job about 10 days ago. It's part time, mostly administrative work, but it's nice to talk to people, have a quasi-normal schedule a few days a week, and best of all, get a paycheck!

My free hours seem to be disappearing by the day, but I'll try to be back again soon with a house update and hopefully a photo or two!

Y'all talk funny

I don't sound like a Floridian. I already knew this, but it was confirmed twice this week already. Background: Michael and I are in the process of remodeling the house we just bought, hence interactions with carpet and remodel people.

Wednesday
Todd at Empire Carpeting: Where are you guys* from
Me: Ohio
Todd: What part of Ohio?
Me: Cleveland area.
Todd: Ok. I grew up in Buffalo, New York
Me: So you recognized my accent?
Todd: Yeah, it was familiar, I just knew you weren't from Florida
*He said guys! I knew immediately he had Great Lakes roots


Thursday at Home Depot after asking a few questions about vanities
Home Depot employee: Where are y'all from? Minnesota?
Me: No, Ohio
Mary Lynn: We talk a little differently than they do.
HDE: Oh, ok. I could tell y'all weren't from here

What state are we in?

Michael and I went on a home improvement quest on Friday, January 2. We went to the mall and were in the car 50 miles, round trip. During this time, we saw the following license plates, thus giving us our best "license plate game" score ever!

Alabama, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Georgia, Florida (obviously), Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Missouri, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, West Virginia, and Wisconsin. (That's 25 states) We also saw Quebec and Puerto Rico, which are not 'out of state' but still worth mentioning for game purposes.

Oh, and we saw Saskatchewan and Mexico City today!

If it's tourist season, why can't we shoot them?

I am back in the aptly-named sunshine state after a 9-day stint in Ohio. While I enjoyed seeing family and friends, the weather left something to be desired, especially since we did not have a white Christmas. It was cold enough to snow, just no moisture in the air. Alas. Michael and I landed on Sunday afternoon, along with half of the Midwest. You should have seen the Florida airport! And the highways here are more crowded than usual, with approximately 1 out of every 3 cars hailing from a Great Lakes state. This is because they are smart enough to leave the tundra and escape to Florida. Their 'intelligence' unfortunately translates to crowded and very slow highways. I maxed out at 50 mph this morning, and that was at 10:15, after rush hour. The good news is that the 'real' places, such as post office, bank, bookstore, etc. are quiet. No lines! I love it. We're going to EPCOT tomorrow to celebrate New Year's Eve- stay tuned!

By the numbers

I am now in Ohio for a week to celebrate the holidays. And we're definitely not in Florida anymore...

1 - degrees Fairenheit when I went to bed Sunday night
3 - number of stores visited today that did not have mini M&Ms, which I need for snowman cookies
4 - number of times I got stuck on the ice going up the hill of Grandma's driveway Sunday night
5 - degrees Fairenhit when I woke up Monday morning
5 - layers of covers on my bed (flannel sheet, blanket, comforter, knitted afghan, down comforter)
15 - approximate number of wedding gowns I tried on yesterday
15 - approximate number of wedding gowns I did not like after trying them on
35- approximate number of Christmas gifts I wrapped at Nene's on Sunday

Auditory amusements or I am still bad at geography

Michael: Veronica Riffle is in the Czech Republic?
Me: Oh, I thought she was in Prague.
Michael: Yes, that's the capital of the Czech Republic...
Me: Like Beirut is near Lebanon.

Auditory amusements

Radio host: ...so try and relax this holiday season, even if it's only for 5 minutes of silence
Michael: Well, Jules, we certainly won't get that with you around