Projectmania

I have a few projects in mind to work through before the summer is over, so I thought I would share them with you all. That way, I can keep myself accountable to finishing them! Plus, you, dear readers, may have some ideas to help me get these done and/or to stay on task.

Cut My Wardrobe Down to Size:
Somehow, over time, I've amassed way too many clothes. So, I decided that I will attempt to cut my wardrobe in half and donate the clothes to our local SPCA Rummage Sale. This is partially because I don't have room to store my clothes, partially because my sense of style has changed a bit, and partially because I still have a bunch of clothes from when I was 30 lbs heavier than I am now. I may keep one pair of "fat" pants... just in case. Anyways, I want to have room for the clothes I will actually wear, and I want to be able to find them! Plus, summer ususally inspires me to buy a few new things, and right now I have zero room for them.

This is what happens when you have too many clothes!

Decorate the Walls in the Bedroom:
We have not put one thing on the walls of our bedroom. And our lease renews for another year soon, and I simply cannot stand the idea of having empty walls for another year. Chris doesn't want to have anything to do with it, so I think that gives me free reign (though, I wouldn't be mean and make the room too girly or anything!). My idea is to fill the walls with prints of maps (which will be interesting to both of us, and, I think, look pretty cool). I really like the way old maps look, so I'm just going to get some cheap prints somewhere online and then frame them with cheap frames (as you can tell, I'm on a budget and still financially traumatized from when I got two things custom-framed last year... never again).

Keep a Food Diary:
I asked my friend Caitlin over at Ola Fitness what to do about my problem with stress eating, and one of her suggestions was to start keeping a food diary. This is not just about listing what you eat, but also about how you feel when you eat things. I'm not trying to lose weight right now or anything, but I am trying to be healthier and exercise regularly. Stressful days are always tough, and weekends tend to be my downfall. I think it's because I'm an emotional eater/drinker. So, I think if I simply start writing things down, I'll feel more accountable to myself. Also, since I play in a band and hang out with musicians all the time, there tends to be a bit of a drinking culture that I'm always surrounded with. So, I've promised myself an alcohol-free week this week... which I think my food diary will help me with.

So, now I've gotten those down on paper (um, or screen?), and now I have to do them. Does anyone have any tips or comments for me? Like, is it totally stupid to get rid of my clothes that fit me when I was heavier? Or do you know of any good places for me to find cheap prints of old maps? Do you have any experience trying to keep a food diary?

Hope you all have a lovely week!

The Palace Part Deux

Whew. Man, we've been working hard on this house and it still isn't all put together yet! It's unbelievalbe to me that I own so. much. stuff. Actually, it's not that unbelievable. I'm a bit of a pack rat. I hate throwing things away. I think I had every birthday card I ever received until I went off to college. I went through my desk to throw things away (something I do every 20 years or so) and found all these cards from like my 8th birthday and stuff. I even found a $20 bill in one! Happy happy happy belated birthday to me! I also love to collect things like books, cds, records, etc. You know, heavy things. Things that make moving totally suck.

Examples of my Pack-rat-itude

Anyways, the house is going to look great once we have everything set up and unpacked. Except for the linoleum. I think I may have mentioned the linoleum. Here are a few promised pictures:

eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeewwwwwwwww!

Mmmmmk, now that that is out of the way, let me give some props to my boyfriend Chris. In one day, he was here to meet the cable/internet guy, the electrician, the other maintenance man, and the guys who came to replace the screens (who thought residents weren't in the place yet. When Chris answered the door, the guy apparently nearly wet himself). Anyways, that's a lot of stuff (thanks babe!). He also got a lot of our stuff set up, including what will be our music room. How sweet to have the space to even think about being able to have a whole room dedicated to music. Woo!

The ground floor is a lot more put together than the upstairs, so I've added some pics for your viewing pleasure. Welcome to The Palace (inside joke between Chris and I. Don't worry your pretty little heads about it):

Above is part of our living room space. We have our TV all set up (Chris and I have purchased two major things together: a canoe and this TV). Notice Chris's new Xbox 360, aka, his new girlfriend. I know it looks messy, but that's just because it is. My goal is to have things looking presentable by Saturday, when my mom is coming to visit. I doubt I'll have everything on the walls, but, I'm hoping to have the boxes unpacked and things put away. 

Here is another view so you can see the fireplace (fire!) and the sliding glass door. I bought the curtains (or so I thought) at Kmart for what I thought was a great deal. Turns out, it was only ONE panel of the two panel set. Chris had to go get ANOTHER one. Um, screw you Kmart. The picture showed two. Pictures should not lie. I'm too busy to read the packaging!

Here is the bunny's part of the living room. Yes, I realize he has a lot of space. Despite what many people think, rabbits actually do not do well cooped up all the time. You wouldn't either! Don't make me test you.

The kitchen. Looks pretty good... except for that floor! Notice the daisies Chris got me yesterday because I had a shitty/stressful day. I'm pretty lucky.

Well, that's a lot of pictures, but I'll have more when things start getting put together. We have some things to figure out still, mainly that Chris is coughing and sneezing a lot, even after we changed the air filters. Suggestions welcome!

Oh, and PS, I had another Ryan the Girl moment today on the phone at work. Someone kept saying they were looking for Ryan, and didn't get that that was ME. Took awhile to get him to comprehend that "this is she" means "THIS.IS.SHE."

RYAN'S RECOMMENDATIONS:

Listening: Miles Davis. Actually, I'm getting ready to listen to Miles Davis here soon. Kind of Blue is still my favorite (and yes, I realize how cliche it is to like this particular album best but I do not care).

Reading: Chesapeake. Some crazay shit goin' down on the colonial eastern shore. Fo shizzle.

Working Out: Back to doing 30 Day Shred! Yay!

Watching: SNL Commericals on Netflix Instant on the Xbox! Technology is cool. Sometimes.

Our Palace

It's official. Chris and I are in our new (rented) house. We're sort-of camping right now, as most of the furniture is in storage until tomorrow (when we shall pick it up in a moving truck). We've blown up the blow-up mattress and pushed it next to Chris's single bed mattress on the floor of the master bedroom. It kind of feels like being at a sleep over or something.

The house is a two-floor, three-bedroom, 1&1/2-bath duplex (side-by-side style. I've never understood why people just don't call them townhouses). We plan on having a music room/office and a workshop in the two extra rooms. The house has lots of space, and we're really excited.

It is not, however, "perfect." The ugliest linoleum ever manufactured lives in the foyer and kitchen. Not only is it completely hideous, but it's scratched up and old. It seriously looks like someone went to a flooring store and said "I would like such-and-such square feet of your butt-ugliest flooring, please" and then took it home and punished it for being so frickin' disgusting-looking. Anyways, I'm sure it is there because it was dirt cheap to put in. Pictures will follow, don't worry. I haven't taken the time to dig my camera up out of the piles of stuff currently strewn about the place. One other thing is that the house is a weird orange color. Yeah, kinda gross, but it's not like we're living in the yard and always looking at it.

After we get settled in and put the furniture where we want it, I will go around the house to take some pics (in case you want to see it). We have a fireplace (! Fire is fun!), a small yard, and a few other cool things.

Yay for us!

RYAN'S RECOMMENDATIONS:

Listening: "At Last" by Etta James. So good.
Reading: Chesapeake by James Michener, http://www.dooce.com/ by Heather Armstrong.
Watching: NOTHING, because the TV is not set up yet!
Working Out: Monday is the day I will finally be able to get back into my lovely routine. Can't wait.

Grandma's House World

I’m finally out of my apartment! Many thanks to my dad, stepmom, and boyfriend for all their help. Things did not, as usual, go perfectly smoothly (I’m beginning to believe that nothing ever goes perfectly smoothly, and that this is a concept someone made up to tease people). The worst thing that happened is that my pet rabbit, Coltrane, decided he would chew up my carpet ON MY FRICKIN’ LAST DAY THERE. As I started to hyperventilate, cry, and kiss my security deposit goodbye, my father swooped in to the rescue! He cut the patch of carpet Coltrane chewed into a square and measured it. He then proceeded to go into the closet where the water heater lives and cut a square of carpet in the desired size from there. He placed it on the spot, and you seriously can’t even tell something happened (Uheights Apartments, if you're reading this, I'm only kidding!). This kind of thing would never have occurred to me. Thank goodness for brave, carpet-cutting types. I’m more of a crap-oh-shit-oh-shit-why-me-why-me-what-do-I-do type when it comes to these things.

Oh, and Coltrane is going to get his balls chopped off soon. No, not as punishment for the carpet (at least not only because of the carpet…). I also told Chris he better not think about eating my carpet.


Anyways, it’s going to be an interesting few days, as I’m staying with my grandmother until the 11th when Chris and I move into our new place. My grandma just had surgery on her foot, so it’s actually good that I’m going to be here to help out. It’s just that, sometimes, this house seems like an alien planet. I seriously feel like Spaceman Spiff (anyone?) exploring a whole other world right now. Here, in Grandma’s House World, things must be clean. Ok, by clean I mean immaculately perfect. If you use a towel once, you are supposed to wash it afterwards. EVERY TIME! I think I maybe wash my towels like once every couple months. Maybe. Ok fine, I’m gross, whatever. But, I’m wondering how these Grandma’s House World towels last for more than a year or so; they get the shit beat out of them in the washer and dryer 47 times as often as my towels do. I’m surprised most of the linen closet isn’t just shreds of used-to-be-towels-and-washcloths. Sheets are washed almost as often here. I think the washer and dryer may be run 6 times a day. Any clothes are also washed as soon as they are taken off of a human and are deemed “dirty.” This means the washer has, max, five things in it (!!!!!!!!) at a time. Again, very foreign to me. I’m the girl who stuffs the washer as full as it will go after going two weeks without doing laundry. And I wonder what my grandma would say if I told her I wear jeans and bras 8-10 times before I wash them (mmmk, stop judging please)? Also, the day starts much earlier in Grandma’s House World than in Ryan’s Mid-Twenties World. Ew.

The other interesting part is that Coltrane is here in the house with me, and my grandmother has never ever had a “pet.” In fact, I think she’s pretending he’s not here so she doesn’t have to worry about it. He has to stay in his smaller cage (poor bun), but he’s adjusting just fine. Sharing a room with the bunny is not ideal, but I’m trying not to take over my grandmother’s whole house. Coltrane makes all sorts of weird noises when I’m trying to sleep, and his hay makes me sneeze a little bit.

As Grandma’s House World adventures unfold, I will be sure to share them. For now, Chris is bringing pizza over, and I refuse to share that.

Bun Behind Bars

RYAN'S RECOMMENDATIONS:

Listening: My grandma was listening to a CD featuring hit songs from 1952 today. It was actually quite entertaining!

Reading: I finished Watership Down last night. Definitely now one of my favorite novels. It's one of those books that you can't stop thinking about, even after you're finished. Now, I'm about to start Chesapeake by James Michener.

Working Out: I went for a good, old fashioned run today. I'm having a hard time getting back into a routine since I'm staying with my grandmother, but it felt good to get a jog in. If it's not too hot where you are, get your booty moving!