Timber!

Well, Chris left for the week (again), so I'm currently drowning my sorrow in raspberry sorbet, and, well, blogging.

This past Friday night, a crazy-scary storm ripped through our town. We were actually out-and-about with one of Chris's besties when the wind started up. By the time we got home, the tree in our front yard (which we've both been worried about) was down.

Timber!

Yup, that's pretty bad.

A limb alongside our house, probably the one that cracked our window.

Cracked window.

The view from the backyard.

The tree is hanging into our neighbor's yard. She is not happy. But, it's the landlord's responsibility, not ours. So, we wait.

Happy Candy Day!

Happy Day-Where-It's-Ok-to-Gorge-On-Candy to you! Well, that's all the holiday really means to me, anyways. I'm not in to that whole costume thing at all. But gimme a bag of candy, and I'm a happy camper.

In other news, the house continues to fall apart: The plumbing system (which we apparently share with the neighbors) backed up and our downstairs flooded. This was due, also, to the fact that our half-bath toilet runs (we always fix it when it does this, when we notice). This time, Chris was upstairs and I was not home, so the toilet kept running, and, because the plumbing system the duplexes share was backed up to begin with, the freakin' downstairs got gross.

So, this is what I came home to:

Think that's enough to scare the trick-or-treaters? I do. It's like our very own Halloween Nightmare. Boo!

In other news, I got my hair cut today, and I'm getting new glasses tomorrow. Fun stuff. I can't wait to be able to see!

So yeah, Chris and I are giving out candy and then we are most likely going to camp upstairs since the fan that our landlords gave us to dry up the wet carpet is SUPER FREAKIN LOUD. It's like we live on a jet or something. Oy.

Anyways, I was thinking of ways to be irresponsible on Halloween, and do you think I'd get in trouble if I went and bought some of those cute, tiny liquor bottles from the liquor store to give out to the kiddies? They're kiddie-sized... :)

Now, I shall grab another Twix, pour myself a brown ale (goes well with chocolate), and collapse until the next knock at the door.

When it Rains It Pours

Well, I have no clue what the weather has been like where you live dear readers, but it has been rainy and grey for about three weeks straight here (today I can finally see blue sky though! Thanks goodness! I was about to lose what's left of my sanity).

As if that's not depressing enough, for whatever reason, The Palace has started crumbling around us. The trouble started about a week ago: We could hear a drip-drip-drip sound in our attic. We knew that wasn't a good thing. Then, a day or two later, we noticed a crack in our ceiling right where we were hearing the drip-drip-drip sound. Then, we contacted the landlord. That day, a guy came out and got on the roof and apparently patched some things up.

Well, it kept right on raining, and the roof kept right on leaking, despite the work the man did, until water started dripping from the crack in the ceiling (the fixer-guy said he wasn't going to patch the ceiling until he knew that the roof was no longer leaking and when he landlord gave him the green light). So, we had to put a big ole container on the floor under it to catch the water since it was raining IN our house.

The soaked ceiling and the leak

You can see the drip-drip-drip

Mr. Bucket (Balls do not pop out of his mouth)

Oy, and then it started raining harder. And then it kept leaking. And the landlords said nothing could be done while it was still raining, because it would be pretty dangerous to put someone on the roof in the rain. So, things just got worse:

Chris said he barely touched the ceilng and it disintegrated at his touch (hole on the right)

So, now it smells like a wet dog in our house (I guess it's wet insulation or something), and it's humid and gross and bad.

Mr. Fixer  Man told Chris that he thinks our entire roof needs replaced, but, of course, since we rent, that's not up to us. We'll see what the landlords decide to do I guess. It's pretty disconcerting to know that our roof lacks integrity though. I mean, what are we going to do when it snows this winter? Snow is heavy.

SO, we've been dealing with all of this stuff, and then all this other stuff went wrong:

-A shot glass fell down the drain, and I didn't know it, and I turned on the garbage disposal. The shot glass shattered, so now there are tiny pieces of glass still stuck in our kitchen sink drain. Then, it stopped working altogether. Fantastic.

-I think I've mentioned that I locked myself out in the rain the other day when Chris was out of town.

-Chris cut himself multiple times while sailing on Tuesday:

Ew!

-The lightbulb in our foyer burnt out.

-The lightbulb at the top of the stairs burnt out.

-Our screen door hasn't been able to shut in awhile, Mr. Fixer Guy fixed it, and now it's already messed up again.

And all of this was going on during an extremely busy week at work and an extremely busy week for the band (we have two gigs this weekend and had to learn several new songs).

So, I've barely been able to hold it together. I mean, it's already difficult enough for me to deal with it getting cold. I hate cold.

I hope you all have had better luck than we have lately!

Day 1 of Living Alone

Now, I lived alone for awhile before Chris and I moved into The Palace, and I actually enjoyed it a lot. I think people learn a lot about themselves when they live on their own. Like exactly how many bags of groceries you can hold while still managing to get your key into the door, or how long you can really go without taking a shower.

So, Chris left today staright from work, so I had to say goodbye to him this morning. My alone time began this evening.

Day 1 of Ryan the Girl's Time Alone in the House (Post Work):
-Went into Urban Outfitters to browse for a minute after work. I never do this, even though I pass it every single day. T'was nice. Did not buy anything.

- Stopped at Whole Foods to get salad-making supplies. I had leftover chicken in the fridge that needed eating (but Chris actually ate it), so I stopped to get greens, an avocado, a tomato, etc so that I could have a wonderful dinner. Then, I stopped and got some mozarella.Yum.

- Went to the pet store. Got hay. Yay.

- Went home, fed the bun.

- Went to Target and got the only season of Sex and the City I didn't have. Wahoo!

- Came home, made my salad, and ate the hell out of it (along with some pita chips and garlic hummus). Drank some red wine as well.

Dinner... mmmm, yummy.

- Played with Coltrane.

- Watched Sex and City.

- Drank more wine.

- RELAXED A LITTLE

- Went to bed.

Goodnight!

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!

"Secret Single Behavior"

Things have been pretty much the same here at The Palace. Chris is still getting over what was diagnosed as Pneumonia, Coltrane is back to his happy, playful self, and I'm fighting off a little something. There has been more TV watching than usual, which is probably a bad thing. One of my favorite shows is Sex and the City (I used to be ashamed of this "guilty" pleasure of mine. Not anymore. The show features 4 strong, confident, sexy women, and the main character makes her living as a writer. What's not to love?). I have slowly been collecting the DVDs, and it's a great "me-time" thing to do to relax a little.

One of the recent episodes I watched featured a conversation between the 4 main women about what they dubbed "SSB," or "Secret Single Behavior." The main character, Carrie, was talking about the things she can't do after moving in with her boyfriend. SSB includes all of the behavior you take part in when you're totally alone, and often goes by the wayside when living with someone else. Charlotte mentioned inspecting her pores every night before bed, Miranda mentioned putting vaseline on her hands and putting them in gloves while watching TV. Since Chris and I have recently become roomies, this got me thinking about my own SSB.

Confession time! What are the things I can't/won't do now that I live with my boyfriend? More like, what are the things I can't/won't do when he's home (I think I revert to my SSB if he's away)? For one thing, when I lived by myself, I never really felt too guilty about splurging on myself every once-in-awhile. Here's the typical Ryan-is-by-herself-and-wants-to-splurge purchase: Pack of salmon roll sushi ($6.00), fresh strawberries ($3.00), bottle of red wine ($7.00), and lovely 72% cocoa fine dark chocolate bar ($3.00), fine evening to myself (priceless). No one around= no one to judge me for spending almost $20 on myself for one evening. Chris doesn't splurge on food. Like, ever. And he would certainly give me a look if I did that around him, so, I don't (which is probably good for my wallet anyways). Let's see, I also leave the bathroom door open when nobody is around. Not sure why. It may have been something that developed in my apartment when Coltrane was running around (and I was afraid he would start chewing on my baseboards if I took my eye off of him for one second). But also, growing up, our family was a bathroom-door-open family (hi mom!). Another thing I do when I'm by myself (grooming-wise) is pop any zits I may have. I'm a picker. All the way. And I get ingrown hairs from shaving my legs all the time. For me, ingrown hairs clog my pores and lead to little zits, which must go immediately. I realize this grosses people (including Chris) out, so it's an SSB. Then there are the normal things: I pluck my eyebrows (last time I was doing this the bathroom door was open and Chris walked by and said something like "aw, man, I don't want to see that." Mainly referring to how painful it looked), I take long-ass showers, I eat junk, and I watch Sex and the City!

None of this makes me regret the decision to move in with Chris. Besides, he won't be in the house every single second (At least, after this sick week at home he won't!).

What are your SSBs? Confess! Men, do you have SSBs too? You surely must!

Just a reminder that R's Rs are now a permanent feature to the right of the posts!

I will also keep you all updated on my search for a new laptop now that my current one broke. Anyone have and like a Netbook?

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.