Big steps...and a moving dolly

Moving in together is a big step...one that we did not take lightly as it involves two additional lives. Christian (age 11) will be with us every other weekend and for extended periods around school breaks. Daniel (age 15) will be with us on occasional weekends when he's home from school. We had both of the kids at my house on Thanksgiving to see how things went...1000 square feet isn't alot of space for 4 people. It went surprisingly well and the kids really enjoyed themselves. We told them about us moving in together and they were both pretty excited (considering they would be alternating between the spare bedroom or the couch.)

This weekend we did more moving of Michael's things and Christian came to stay. Christian arrived Saturday night along with 6 giant plants and 3 large gallon containers or different "kinds" of water. She is doing a science experiment to determine which plants will survive longer. She is feeding them with either: tap water, tap water with salt or ocean water. I am pleased to say her hypothesis is turning out correct...the salty water plants aren't looking so hot.



On Sunday, we borrowed a truck and went to Michael's old place to pick up his washer, dryer and couch. Although I have a washer and dryer, mine came with the house when I purchased it and are somewhat temperamental. Michael has a front load washer and dryer (Hell yea!!). My dad loaned us a dolly and some straps to make moving a little easier. Our anxiety increased as we realized we would have to lift both the washer and dryer into the back of the truck...which is really high. To our amazement, the washer and dryer were a cinch to move. With the help of blankets, they were relatively easy to get into the truck and into my house. The dolly certainly helped too. We anticipated those to be the toughest pieces to move...boy were we wrong. We got the couch out of his place with relative ease. We knew we would go into the back door at my house with the couch since my front door has 24 steps leading up to it. But the problem was that it is super heavy, made of suede (which doesn't help the lifting process) and large (so it must come through the door at an angle.

We finally got it onto my porch and initially, I was at the back and Michael was at the door navigating and pulling. Apparently our communication broke down at some point because Michael was assessing while I began pushing. I pushed the couch into his thumb, thumb into the wood door frame and which split his thumbnail about halfway down the bed. He was inside the house holding his bleeding thumb and running to the kitchen to put it under water while I am trapped out on the back porch by the couch. Once his thumb regained feeling, we moved the couch back out, I took the pulling/navigating role and he was the "pusher." 10 minutes later, the couch was still on the porch blocking the doorway, his thumb was still throbbing and my patience had caught the last bus to the bar down the street. I was done and wanted the couch in my house even if it required me to disassemble it and bring it in pieces.



A light went off in my head to some gardening gloves (never used as I have a 'black' thumb) that had some rubbery stuff on the palms. I figured they would help me grip the suede-like fabric. I put on my gloves, bent at the knees and told him to push. Damn if that thing didn't fly in the door! We got it in, put it in its place (even if its a temporary one) and fell onto it, exhausted. We were spent, our backs hurt and hunger had set in BIG TIME.



10 minutes later, I was in my pajamas, Michael was on a beer run and Christian and I were viewing the end of the wizard of Oz on TNT waiting for our pizza to arrive. We are now living with a washer in the living room and a dryer in the kitchen and honestly, I cannot guarantee that they will be hooked up before Christmas.

Am I too friendly?

I am generally a happy and kind person. I hold doors for strangers. I smile at passers-by. I do the obligatory wave when someone lets me into traffic. Hell, I have even honk less at terrible drivers compared to when I lived in Chi-town and my horn was used about as much as my blinker. For the most part, my happy disposition has served me well but I recently had a peculiar thing happen to me at Target.

I was at the Superstore the other day after work, bound and determined to finish my Christmas shopping. I had my list in hand and cart moderately full when I entered the creative activity aisle. I was looking for something for my 4 year old niece...wanting something educational and fun (I know, I am that aunt) when I heard an "excuse me." A nice woman, probably a few years older than myself (at least I think I looked younger) started small talk about Christmas shopping, etc. I thought nothing of it.

See I grew up with a mother who would (and will) talk to everyone about anything. To this day, we can be in line at a store, minding our own business and she will tell anyone within earshot what she's buying and why. Sometimes she'll share where she's from, what she does for a living as well as how well she does it. I understand that sometimes, there are those moments in line when the cashier is taking too long or patrons have a shared experience and its normal to chat for a second and then go on with life. My mom doesn't' wait for those moments, she chooses to make them. For a long time this bothered me. I'd be lying that on occasion it still does ("Mom, that stranger does not care that you were born in Hartford and can drive in the city better than most people.") She can talk to anyone at anytime about anything.

But I digress...

So, I was not totally shocked when this stranger struck up a conversation with me initially about the holidays, recent moves to NC (she used to live in IL too), and where we were employed. Initially I thought, hey this is how friendships begin. Maybe I am making a new friend...until she started asking me a little too much about my employment.

Then it happened...out came the business card and the inquisitive question of, "Are you interested in becoming involved with an up and coming group of young entrepreneurs?" Give me your email and I will send you a short video to check out. I must have still been dreaming about my new friend and the many adventures we would have checking out pottery shops, going shopping, etc because I heard myself giving her my REAL email address. I was still in a daze when she said "Happy Holidays" and skipped away with my email address in hand. I gazed down at her card and under her name it read"Private Franchising." What the hell does that mean? I'm a social worker, not a business major.

I forgot all about my "almost" new friend until today when I received an email from her that read:
It was nice meeting you the other day! As I mentioned I am sending you some details on our company expansion! The first step will be for you to watch a 6 minute video I have on my website. It will not work on a smart phone, so you will need to be directly connected to the Internet. The video is not designed to teach anyone what we do, or how we do it. What the video does is cover some of the concepts behind what we are putting together. We use the video as a screening tool. It helps to separate the people that are just curious from the people who are actually looking for a way to make extra money. After you watch the video, email me back, and let me know if this is something you are still interested in and we can get into the details.

Of course I was curious so I watched the video that told me ABSOLUTELY NOTHING about what she did but encouraged me to attend a information session. Um, no thanks lady! Apparently, just viewing her message prompts a follow up email about how grateful she is that I watched the video and how I should contact her about setting up a time to meet. Seriously? Now she wants to have coffee with me.

Needless to say I will NOT be attending an information session and I hope that she hasn't sold my email address to other pyramid schemers out there.

This is a perfect example of me not following one of the simple rules that Miss Horton* told me in Kindergarten...NEVER TALK TO STRANGERS.

(*Side note-Mrs Horton was the coolest teacher ever. She only had 1 and a half arms yet she could tie my shoes. My mother says I used to sit there in awe of her when she would help me get my shoes on.)

So, this weekend was filled with holiday parties and moving. Friday we ventured to my party which was held at my bosses house. It was calm and quiet but allowed Michael to meet some of the folks I talk about on a regular basis. We ended the evening at one of the local pubs by OUR house, playing touch screen and continuing to carry on the FTOOL tradition.

Saturday was his holiday party which was AWESOME! It is a casino night and upon entry each employee is provided with 20K worth of poker chips. From 7-10 is gambling: craps, poker, roulette and blackjack. We started at craps for a tutorial and things quickly went downhill despite Matt, our dealer, egging us on to bet more. We rotated around to black jack and hit roulette for a second. Michael stopped at poker and did well until an unruly guest became too annoying at which time we headed back to craps. The 15 minute warning was given so we figured we'd take our remaining 6K and bet it all. Well, it paid off because we ended up with over 26K within those 15 final minutes and with the help of Michael's boss (who slipped us his chips) our total was 43K.

Why is this important? Because there is an auction of items that you bid on with your earnings. Some of the top prizes were:

• $375 Visa Card


• $150 Visa Card and $250 gift certificate for a limo (5 hours)


• $200 Best Buy Card


• $150 target Card

We knew we fell about 4th in the rankings so the top two prizes were out. We did win a $150 Target gift card though...remaining Christmas presents, here I come!!

This weekend we also began combining Michael's things into our space. I cleaned through clothes and provided him with a drawer or two along with some closet space. We set up the televisions (I LOVE Direct TV!) and the Internet. We also combined our refrigerators and I laughed out loud by the multiples we have between the two of us. We will not need condiments for months. Here's the short list of the current contents of our fridge: (feel free to read it while humming the tune "The 12 days of Christmas")

• 8 sticks of butter


• 5 vanilla extracts


• 4 Parmesan cheeses


• 4 sour creams (seriously?)


• 3 crescent rolls


• 3 cream cheeses


• 2 bottles of mayonnaise


• 2 mustard containers


• 2 ketchup bottles


• 2 blue cheese dressings and


• 1 bottle of fish sauce (we went through a Thai phase)

Our next adventure will be to figure out which furniture stays, and what goes....stay tuned!

New Roommate

Jessica and Andy did it. My brother and his wife did it. According to the 2008 US Census, 13.6 million couples did it. Yup, we're moving in together...I'm getting a roommate!!! After lots of thought, Michael and I decided to shack up. He'll be moving into my townhouse over the next month and a half. We have until the end of January to have his apartment cleared out so it gives us lots of time to slowly incorporate our stuff and see what fits (big comfy couch) and what doesn't (horrible queen sized mattress that feels like you are sleeping on a lump).

In reflection, I realize that Michael isn't my first male roommate. The summer before my junior year in college, I lived with 3 of my girlfriends and 3 guy friends in a large house just off campus. It was totally a party house. Only two of the 7 of us maintained steady jobs that summer and we spent most of our non-working awake time behaving like the debaucherous college students we were. I think this new roommate situation will be a little different.

I'm really excited that we are taking this step but admit to feeling a little nervous. I'm not nervous that he's moving but I'm anxious about the inevitable growing pains that many people go through when you live with your significant other. I have a feeling that there will be some new adventures on our horizon. Wish us luck!!

It started with the beast!

My parents were generous with the three of us growing up. We were all promised a car to drive on our 16th birthday and I was just hoping that "my" car wouldn't' be the 1982 Buick Le Sabre (complete with battery acid stain in the hood) that had been sitting in our driveway for two years since my mom decided she needed a new Lincoln. But alas, it did turn out to be my 16th birthday car and honestly, it was great. My parents didn't have to worry about my being hurt in a wreck since I had 2 tons of metal protecting me. The car was so big that I managed to fit myself and 13 friends in it one winter evening (including 4 football players) while we did donuts in the high school parking lot. Hey, there's not a lot to do in Dover, Ohio!

Once I headed to college, I got Baby Blue. BB was a V6 Beretta that was awesome. I LOVED THIS CAR!! It was fast, it looked cool and had a pop up sunroof that could be completely removed and placed into a giant protective cloth envelope in the trunk. Talk about cool!! BB lasted through college and well into my move to Chicago. BB died as a result of a cab driver who stopped too quickly and my friend's (who we will call Humberto) ability to drive a little too close. In all honesty, we know how Chicago cab drivers are, if they see a fare they will slam on the brakes from going 60mph to get it. I was actually out of town when this incident occurred, and despite what many friends thought, upon my return, I did not throw said Humberto from the car while speeding down the highway but rather I assured his safety from the accident and began my new car search.

Next came my white Saturn...never really had a good name for it. WS was cute, had a sunroof and survived many road trips across the USA including my move from Chi-town to NC in 2008. Sadly, in the last year WS has had some issues. Most recently, it billowed smoke while I idled at traffic lights. I pretended to ignore the looks of passersby or pedestrians that were coughing and running away from WS. These incidents made me think that I needed a new car. The boyfriend and I have been talking and since I will be getting a roommate soon (another post with details will follow) I will have some extra cash for a new car and it may be best to trade in WS before we actually have to push it to a dealership.

So, last night we went to a dealership with the intent of looking around. We decided on a car as opposed to an SUV since boyfriend already has one and it makes more sense to get something that will be more economical on gasoline. I like the Civic and the price was in the range we wanted to spend. We looked at the differences between the LX, EX, etc and ultimately, I knew I wanted a sunroof. That left us with the EX. We did the pricing and with incentives and the discount from being an employee of the University Who Cannot Be Named...During Basketball Season, the financing was right on. I picked the color I wanted and we almost signed the papers when....boyfriend remembered there was an EX with Bluetooth and a navigation system on the lot. He suggested to the sales guy that we just take a look at it. Well, I should have just put up the white flag cecause as soon as he saw the Navigation system he was sold. Me, I was a bit more hesitant. See I come from the the school of thought where all I need is my trusty atlas to get me to my destination. I do not like a voice telling me "Turn left now" or "continue ahead 5 miles" or "Missed turn, redirecting." But, I weighed the pro's and cons and after learning that I do not always have to use it, I caved and said yes. Ultimately the decision was mine, but seriously bf's puppy dog eyes were too much for me to say no. Needless to say, we've owned the car for less than 24 hours and his phone is already programmed into the bluetooth...whatever that is :)

So, I am now the proud owner of a new Honda Civic known as Black Beauty. I know its cheesy, but I haven't brainstormed a more suitable name yet. Suggestions are welcome. My drive to work was absolutely lovely...and exhaust-free!!

PS: This is not the actual Black Beauty as I do not have my camera with me :)