MIA

I just read Pannie's latest blog entry and she has been away from her blog, too. Must be something in the air. Unlike Pannie, I have not forgotten I had a blog, I just have not taken time to log in and post anything. Mind you, since February 10 there have been many post-worthy events and tidbits to report. Unfortunately, my memory is not that great so you'll just have to deal with the 6 week lapse in Jules updates. Except for what is listed below, of course. And, keeping in the 'homage to Pannie' theme, they will be written in "yays and boos" style.

YAY for Nana and Papa visiting in early March
BOO for Nana having a kidney infection and staying in the hospital part of the time!
YAY for her recovery

YAY for finding a florist for the wedding
BOO for a diamond falling out of my ring and having to send it in for repair :(

YAY for St. Patrick's day themed food and drink. Specifically, green frosted sugar cookies and Heineken at work (not at the same time) I don't even like Heineken but it helped to make the office lively and rowdy at 3:30
BOO for no Shamrock Shake at our McDonald's. I was heartbroken. That is not an exaggeration

YAY for Typhoon Lagoon opening last Sunday (it's an awesome water park)
BOO for quasi-chilly very windy weather preventing us from going

BOO for spending time doing taxes
BOO for having to PAY taxes

YAY for finally finding a sideboard for the dining room
BOO for finding it at IKEA and spending more than 3 hours assembling

YAY for last Friday off and getting a pedicure
(no BOO for this one!)

YAY for Momsie and Popsicle visiting this Sunday
BOO for the rain forecasted for next week while they are here

Auditory amusement

Marla, discussing Angelina Jolie's obsession with children.

I think she's trying to adopt one from every continent. It's like they're McDonald's toys; she has to collect them all.

The search for Yoda

There are many great things about my family. This chain of e-mails about a Yoda figurine is just one example of how we're quirky but will do just about anything for each other :) We also have a good sense of humor about most things, including children's toys.

To: Julia
From: Nene
Subject: Now I have a favor to ask of you, please
Hi Juj,
The favor I have to ask of you is to please look for a Yoda play figure the next time you go by the store which is at the exit of the Star Wars ride @ Disney. Michael bought a 4-pack of figures, in which Yoda was one of them, which came with a commemorative tin, from that particular store. (I do not know if they sell Yoda by himself, or not) Unfortunately, Bandit [the dog] got a hold of Yoda, and chewed his legs off by the time we realized he had the toy in his mouth. We have not been able to locate a Yoda at any of the stores nearby, so I was hoping you could be on the ‘lookout’ for one for us, if possible.

To: Nene
From: Julia
Subject: Yoda Update
Hi Nene,
Wanted to let you know I did see a Star Wars gift set at MouseGear yesterday (at EPCOT). It had Yoda, R2D2, C3PO, Chewbaca, a storm trooper, Darth Vader, and a couple other creatures. The set cost $12.99. The Yoda was approx 2" (maybe 2.5") tall. His legs were covered by his robe. He was not holding a light sabre. The box was horizontally rectangular (2 rows of characters, maybe 5 across) Wanted to see if that sounded like Michael's gift set.

To: Julia
From: Nene
Re: Yoda Update
Thank you for the update, & thanks for being on the lookout for Yoda! The set you mentioned is not the same set that Michael's Yoda came from, & his set was a bit more costly w/only (4) characters, but it did come with a commemorative tin, so maybe that's why it was a higher price.
Michael's Yoda had his legs covered by his robe, too, & was the appx size you listed. It's hard to say if it's the same one, but it probably is.

To: Juj
From: Nene
Subject: Search for Yoda is over
Hi Juj,
I just want to let you know that we found Yoda at SuperK on Saturday….yay! Believe it or not, Michael still had a return to make from Christmas & found Yoda, so the search is over.

Auditory amusement (actually an e-mail)

Um, not to sound sacrilegious, but doesn't [she] seem a little obsessed with Catholicism?
-AMB

Baby it's cold outside

I live in CENTRAL FLORIDA, aka "The Sunshine State". This morning it was darn sunny, but the thermometer on the car read... 36! That's Fahrenheit, folks. I heated my seat and drove to work with gloves on. I felt like I was in Ohio this morning!!! Although, if I were in Ohio, there would not have been a man cleaning my pool in the morning, which there definitely was today. I told him to be sure not to go in today or he'd freeze to death. If FL is this cold, I don't want to think about everywhere else. Stay warm, everyone!

Irony?

Seen on the back of a dump truck involved in a fender bender this morning:

Safe driving is no accident

Update: On the way home, I saw a Fire/Rescue ambulance getting towed on the same road!

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!