It was great.

My orientation went really well. Now, I am super excited about the job. I should be able to work almost every day if I'd like to, and the district has a really good incentive program (I mean, I'm not doing this for the money, but, you know, it's always a plus). School is out this week for Fall break, so hopefully I will start on Monday.

Let's see, any other news? Nope! See you later alligators.

Change of Pace

Tomorrow morning I start my orientation to subsitute teach elementary school for a local district. I'm pretty excited. It will be a huge change of pace, given that I have never worked in the school setting before. I'm looking forward to working with kids, as it's always been something I've wanted to do. And I've been doing lots of research and preparation, so I think I'm ready. I think. So I guess here's to hoping I get some really well-behaved classes for the first few weeks!

Free Fall-in'

Ahhh, Fall. It's my favorite time of year. I love the smell of rotting leaves, the blustery cold, and the mellowness of the sunshine. It's great. The best combination is when you pair traditional Fall with some good ol' Colorado snow. Now that, my friends, is perfection.

We had a day like that last week. Beautiful. Fog thick as pea soup (hello, anyone remember the claymation "Rudolph"? You know what I'm talkin' about.) After the fog cleared, the trees and plants sparkled. Everything was dusted with snow, the bright colors of autumn still peaking through. "Hello, we're still here," they cried, "don't forget about us". Don't worry sweeties, I won't, you're still my favorites.

I wanted to grab our camera to take a quick pic of the autumn lovelies so that you could enjoy them with me. I went to grab the camera, but quickly remembered that I broke it six months ago. Darn. A word to the wise: digital cameras and ceramic tile don't get along well. Ahh well, if you want to see the beauty, you'll have to use your good old noodle. Trust me, it was fantastic.

Hmmm, I've been working pretty hard on "fixer-upper" type projects. Mainly of the "I'm way to cheap (oh, um, I mean frugal - that's a nicer way of putting it) to buy this new. Let's see what I can find at garage sales/thrift stores/family throw-away piles instead" variety. Some paint and a sewing machine work wonders, I'm telling you.

Maybe I'll post some “before” and “after” pictures of projects as I finish them. (Given that I can get my butterfingers on a good, working camera. Anyone have one they want to loan me? Promise I won't drop it. Haha. Kidding.) Looking at before and after pics seems to make the project more complete for some reason. It’s almost like getting a reward for accomplishing the task.

Hope everyone is doing well and staying snuggly and warm (or cool, for some of you poor folks still in need of air conditioning.) Have a good day!

From Aunt Tara

I am an aunt! My beautiful neice was born at about 6:25 pm on Monday October 2. She weighed a whopping 8.5 pounds! Mindy, I admire you so much and am very proud of you! Welcome to the world little girl. We are so blessed to have you in our lives, and you have no idea how much we love you!

Zee Magical Swvitch

Actually more like "Zee Magical Red Button" . . .

So, we were a little bummed out when we discovered, upon moving into our new place, that about half the electrical outlets on the main level didn't work. This included the outlet for the washer and dryer (kind of a modern necessity) and most of the outlets in the kitchen (which initiated some acrobatic-like feats with kitchen appliances). Bill went to work at solving the problem. His initial assessment revealed a fried electrical wire, which we were sure was the culprit. At the risk of encountering death by electrical shock, Bill decided to hold off on tinkering with the wire until he had some better backup than myself (I married a very smart man).

Cue in one electrically-minded father-in-law. Yesterday, armed and ready, they went to work, determined to shed some light (har, har) on our electrical issue. It seems as if the fried wire was just an innocent bystander. After some minor troubleshooting, they found the source of the problem. Turns out there is a little red button on an outlet inside of a cabinet that had conveniently been hiding behind our blender. I guess, when pressed, this red button will restore electricity to a tripped circuit breaker (or something of that nature).

The funny thing is, I've looked at that outlet several times and pondered what would happen if I pressed the red button (this is probably common knowledge to most people, isn't it). All of that conditioning as a kid (you know the whole "don't pull that switch on the fire alarm", "don't stick that penny into the electrical outlet", "don't remove this tag from your pillow at risk of federal prosecution", etc.) did me no good in this situation. I could have fixed the problem weeks ago. Oh well, now I can run the blender, crock-pot, mixer and washer and dryer all at once if the right situation ever presented itself. Oh, the things we take for granted in life . . .

By Hand

So, our dishwasher broke on the first use by us, its new owners. It could be that it's just my luck with appliances, given that our microwave and washer and dryer also have more issues than National Geographic. However, maybe the dishwasher just misses its old owners. Maybe they gave it an easier time. Maybe they didn't stuff it to the brim with non-pre-rinsed dishes, forcing it to work overtime to just get the dishes somewhat clean, forget sparkling. I wondered if this was just a revolt, a temper-tantrum similar to that of a stubborn two year old.

Unfortunately, we soon learned that it was not an appliance mutiny. Our dishwasher is much more ill than we had previously imagined. In fact, sometime between our possession of it and the day the serviceman arrived, it had died. Quietly and peacefully.

Now we need to decide when to replace it. We have a home warranty that should cover some of the expense, but I'm sure you can imagine the bureaucracy of getting a claim of that sort processed. Which brings me to the title of my post; I've been washing our dishes by hand for the past month. Honestly, I am finding it quite enjoyable. It's relaxing. It makes me want to bake bread and sew an apron. Actually, all joking aside, it reminds me of washing dishes with my grandma. I really liked that. Now, if I could just learn how to cook like my grandma, my kitchen would be a very pleasant place.

So I think I'd be okay with not replacing the dishwasher for a while. Maybe it will be our Christmas present to each other (romantic, wouldn't you say?). Plus, our old dishwasher is serving a very important purpose. It gives me a place to pile our dirty dishes until I actually get around to filling our sink with soapy water and taking care of them. Now see, I'm helping it live out its new destiny as a temporary holding ground for stink, filth, and dirt. If it's anything like my dog, maybe it's happier than I thought.

Introducing . . . GONZO!

Hi, I'm Gonzo. I'm eight weeks old and love my new home. Let me tell you a little bit about myself.

My favorite things:

- Sleeping! I'm one lazy puppy!
- Giving kisses. Whenever I get a kiss, I make sure to return it tenfold. I also give little love nibbles, but for some reason, those aren't as well received.
- Scavenging for food on the kitchen floor. I wasn't supposed to be exposed to people food. My mom and dad thought that if I wasn't exposed to it, I wouldn't have a taste for it. Too bad they were wrong! I have a better nose than they thought.
- Snuggling. My favorite place to be is in someone's arms. If I'm not being held, I make sure that I have a birds-eye-view of my mom or dad. I don't let them leave my sight.

My least favorite things:

- My kennel. I hate it. I hate sleeping in it at night. I even hate looking at it. But, my moms been giving me my meals in it and hiding treats in there for me. So, I guess it's looking better and better.
- Anything scary. This includes things that are loud, things that are fast, things that aren't soft and things that I think are weird.
- Pretty much nothing else. I'm a lover by nature and I'm pretty laid back.

So, there you go. That's a little bit about me. You can come visit me anytime. Just be prepared to snuggle and receive lots and lots of kisses.

Love - Gonzo

p.s. - more pictures will be coming soon!

Guess what?! We're having a baby . . .

PUG! We're supposed to go pick him up on Saturday. I'm very excited and just a little anxious. We're currently waving goodbye to complete freedom and welcoming just a little more responsibility into our lives. I guess this will be our test run at parenthood (although the similarities are pretty few), and we'll be adding one more checkmark to the list of what often separates a "twentysomething" from an "adult". So, I think our slight nerves are understandable. There will be no more jumping in the car for a spontaneous weekend trip (as if we really ever do that now) and we'll have to keep an eagle's eye on him with our white (what were they thinking!) carpet.

In all actuality we're pretty stoked (Do cool people still use that word? I hope not; I'd never want to leave my permanent residence in geekdom and sink to being identified as a "cool kid".) We've been tossing names back and forth, and I think we've settled on one we both find attractive. Gonzo. Our (I say "our" but actually mean "my") favorite Muppet. I suggested the middle name Sputnik. Gonzo Sputnik has a catchy ring to it. Bill is currently vetoing that suggestion though. He doesn't see naming our pug after the first Russian satellite as a logical decision. I say, who cares that it's the first Russian satellite, it was the very first purposeful man-made object in space. Now that, my friends, is an event worth honoring with a namesake.

Here's a picture of Gonzo (Sputnik) from his parents:



If that's not your definitive cute-ness, I really worry about what dictionary you are using.

Well, I have officially rambled my way into the blogosphere. I can't wait to make myself at home here. Have a good day.