It's time for some bitching! We live in a lovely apartment on the downtown mall. Life is great living there. There are lots of shops and places to eat and things to do. I watched parts of "A Bug's Life" out my window this year, listened to a Jazz band in my PJs, avoided many DUIs, and have loved it all. Now that the weather is turning colder, all that is changing.
I'M FREEZING! Our lovely old apartment was 55 degrees when I got home yesterday. I could stand by the closed window and have my hair blown back by the amount of wind coming through the cracks. The charming radiators were ice cold. I had to call the emergency number to get some heat and even with heat, it barely made it to 62 degrees. I did find out something interesting.
Before I tell you that, I should start be letting you know that we had NO heat last winter except what could be made by space heaters and the oven. At the beginning of December, the furnace died in our building. We were first told that it would be fixed in two weeks. Those two-weeks came and went. In the end, the heat was fixed in late February but only somewhat. We still had to run the space heater. By then, we only had one space heater left because they came and took the one they gave us in December to use. anyway, it warmed up rather quickly so it wasn't too much of a pain. Now that it's getting cold again, I'm starting to get pissed again.
Now, about that interesting thing I found out. The thermostat for the old furnace was on the second floor in the hallway. Not the greatest place considering the interior of the building is about 10 degrees hotter than the rest of the place. When they installed the new furnace, they moved the thermostat and you'll never guess to where. Inside one of the apartment on the second floor in their KITCHEN! Turns out that the lady that lives in that apartment was baking something yesterday and her kitchen was already 72 degrees so the heat didn't come on! Why am I surprised?
Our goal is to move to a bigger place on a second floor somewhere else downtown where WE control the heat. Living downtown is great but I'm going to turn into a popsicle if we don't move soon!
On a "Bummer Free" note, I did find out that the handyman is an Obama guy!
I'm taking a cue from President Bush (aka Will Ferrell) and creating a "Bummer Free Zone" on this blog for this post (maybe longer). In keeping with the Bummer Free Theme, I'm posting some images that go to Carmi's theme of "Happy" this week. Instead of just posting pictures of smiling faces, I decided to post photos of things that make me happy.
First up is living downtown. I love living downtown. You see the strangest things sometimes.
You REALLY see strange things over Apple Blossom.
This picture of my husband was taken one Saturday morning when there was a wine festival downtown and a band was playing across from our apartment. My husband makes me happy and this is another reason why living downtown makes me happy.
Vegas makes me happy.
Nature makes me happy.
Being crafty makes me happy.
I guess that's enough for now.
Your turn...what makes you happy?
I think we're going to need to move
I love living downtown and, until recently, I loved our apartment. Well, I still love the actual apartment but we don't have heat! At the beginning of December (2nd or 3rd) the furnace in our building died. I came home to find a TINY space heater and a note saying that the heat would be fixed on Dec. 17. Well, the 17th came and went without heat. We had to get another space heater to try to stay warm. It didn't always work. The awesome big windows we have aren't very weather proof. Since the beginning of January, we've had heat on and off. One day, it's 50 and the next day it's 80. Tonight it's 50 and I'm freezing!!!!!
Anyway, since it's Tuesday, it's American Idol! If anything happens, I'll let you know!
I'm a total loser!
I can't believe it's taken me THIS LONG to get back to blogging! What the hell was I doing?!?!
Well, most of my free time has been taken up by poker either online or live. I love that game! I'm starting to get better which is awesome. I had some great hands the last time I played live which is good because the time before that SUCKED!
Mike and I are enjoying our new place and living downtown to the fullest! The latest thing that we do is send our laundry out! We found a cheap place in town that will do our clothes. Mike drops them off in the morning on his way to work and I pick them up after work. Of course, I get stuck paying for them but I do get his entire paycheck so I guess that's okay. It took a little getting used to but I am no longer concerned with the knowing the name of the strangers that are now touching my underwear once a week!
I still plan to blog about Apple Blossom but I'm not sure when. I want to get back to blogging something AT LEAST once a week (I'm going to try for more but I don't want to promise anything).
So You Think You Can Dance (SYTYCD) is my summer love! If you're not watching it, you're a loser! Just kidding! But, if you're not watching it, you should check it out. The dancing, for the most part, is amazing. The host, Cat, is cute and fun (gets my vote over Ryan Seacrest any day). The judges are entertaining and really love what they are doing (unlike Simon). The choreographers rock! Mia and Wade are the best and always give the dancers the best moves! On elimination day (Thursdays) the dancers that are left do a group number at the beginning of the show which is awesome. The best SYTYCD blog is Ducky.
Speaking of blogs! I found a great one the other day. It's full of Passive-Aggressive Notes that people leave for others to read. The notes themselves are great but the comments are even better! Don't Skip The Comments!!!
It think that's all for now. I still have some time left before I have to cook dinner.
OH! I almost forgot! My step-son Brandon is going to be spending a lot of time with us this summer. Tonight marks the beginning of the first weekend so I can't tell you if it's a good thing or a bad thing yet. I can tell you that our new place is small and I'm not sure how I'm going to handle being alone with him tomorrow night but we shall see. I already have to tell him to stay out of the porn section of the Newsstand! The Newsstand is right next door to where I work and a co-worker of mine already saw him going into that section today! I think he's been in town less than 2 hours. I guess I should also tell you that he's autistic which is kind of hard. He's not a lot autistic, he's just a little bit. Humor is mostly lost on him especially sarcasm which is my personal weapon of choice! I'll keep you posted.
Take care all and it feels good to be back!!
Our new place...at last!
Apple Blossom is over (post about that later this week) so I now have time to blog about our new place. As you may know from past posts, our new apartment is about a 7 minute walk to work for me which is awesome! It is located on the downtown mall of this little burg. It's a one bedroom in an old building that has hardwood floors and high ceilings. The rent is more than what we were paying but heat, water, and trash are included. All in all, I believe we are going to save money with this move.
This is what you see when you walk in.
The kitchen is through the doorway. Aren't the windows great? And how about those shelves? BTW, I built those all by myself!
This is the other corner of the living room.
The desk in the corner is actual my makeup table!
Here's the part of the bedroom with the bed.
And here's the other side of the room.
We have some art on the wall now but not in this picture.
Here's the kitchen.
It small but not much smaller than our old kitchen. It has two big windows in the front and a side window.
There is also a bathroom but I didn't feel I needed to take pictures of that.
Well? What do you think?
Update!!
Hello everybody! Sorry I haven't blogged for a while. American Idol is too boring for words now that Sanjaya's gone. I've also been busy getting our new apartment in order and preparing for Apple Blossom and our house warming party Friday. I have pics that I'm going to post next week with progress reports on the apartment and a recap of Apple Blossom. I took pics of the mall outside our window last Saturday and plan to take photos at the same time this Saturday so you can see what Apple Blossom is like. Anyway, I better get to work!!
Downtown, Where all the Lights are Bright!
I love living downtown. The weather was a little better yesterday for my walk home so there were more people out. As I was walking home, I was looking around and my husband came out of the wine store just as I was walking by! We got to walk home together! It was quite cosmopolitan!
We had a glass (or two) of wine at home before walking to Sweet Caroline's for dinner and a night of poker. I drank WAY too much because I could and staggered home, alone, at about 10:30. I got knocked out of the second game quickly due to the massive amount of beer I drank during the first game. I will NOT be doing that again!
Sanjaya is gone and I'm sad! He made the show worth watching for me. I still think he should have sang "Indian Outlaw" by Tim McGraw! I guess I'll be voting for Jordin from now on. Next week is the big "Idol Gives Back" thing. I'll be glad when that's over! I hope they go back to the 1/2 hour elimination show after that. I can only take so much filler! The theme for next week is, of course, Inspirational Songs. Oh Joy.
Moving Update!
Well, we're almost all moved in to the new place and moved out of the old. I'm going to take more pics on my walk home tonight and I may just find time to post them...hopefully. I have to do a little shopping, arrange Avon deliveries, unpack, and watch American Idol tonight. We'll see how much I get done. I'm also having Poker withdrawal pretty bad so I might just have to play a little bit too.
I HAVE to tell you about the awesome cable deal I got yesterday! I still am in shock! At our old place, we had basic cable and Internet to the tune of $93.00 a month. I got a deal yesterday that includes basic cable, digital cable, HBO, Showtime, Starz, and Internet for $42.50 per month for the next year! I know, you're thinking "what happens after the year is up?" I asked them that and everything will go back to full price which is $98.00 per month (that's just $5.00 more than what I was paying). I had to ask the nice cable lady three times if that price included everything.
BTW, in case you don't follow Idol, Haley went home last week. I think this week is Scary Phil's swan song. Some people think Sanjaya will be going home this week but they are just delusional if you ask me! He's got at least one more week.
Movin' on up
I spent all day yesterday packing. When you live some where for 10 years, you accumulate a TON of shit! I did say that I was going to post pics of the new place but I was in such a hurry to measure the space that I forgot to take pictures. I'm a dummy! I did take some pictures of the downtown area for you to view!
This is the north end of the walking mall which runs about 4 blocks. This end is where all the action is. There is a great Italian restaurant called Violino's (right side of photo - green and yellow fence) Brewbaker's, another restaurant, is a very popular spot in Winchester (umbrellas on the left). During Apple Blossom, the fenced-in outside seating area is PACKED. Also on this end of the mall you can get your shoes shined, buy home brewed beer, get an excellent sandwich at the Cheese Board, buy a formal gown, stock up on fudge, and spend a few thousand dollar on a painting! There's also a Post Office and a Dollar General Store.
This isn't the best picture of the Court House Square but I was in a hurry. This is where the city holds concerts and has First Night on New Year's Eve. Village Square Restaurant is on the right and has great food. This section has a number of Interior Designers, a bead shop, a pottery shop, and a Daily Grind (Winchester's version of Starbucks). There are also additional restaurants and Wilken's Shoe Store in this section of the mall.
Here's my friend Angie in front of the fountain. We're pretending to work so she has a delivery for one of our customers.
This is the front of our new home! Our apartment is on the top floor, the two sets of windows on the right. The front entrance is on the bottom left of the photo.
Here's the view from the front door to the right.
Here's the view to the left.
And the view straight ahead. As you can see, we have a parking lot right in front of our door. We don't have to worry about where visitors are going to park! You can also see that we are on the quite end of the mall whicha a good thing is you're trying to sleep.
I think we are going to love it! I hate to move and dreaded having to do it until we got this apartment now I can't wait! I wish we were there now! I tried to talk my husband into moving this weekend but he talked me down. After all, we're not even packed!
My New Life
I'm getting ready to start bloging about my our new apartment! I'm going to measure it and take pictures tomorrow. I'll post those pictures this weekend. It's so cute!! I know some of you are getting tired of all the AI posts and I'll try to tone those down or at least include something more!
Don't Speak...SING Damn it!
It's Tuesday and this is American Idol. Gwen is gorgeous!! LaKisha is up first and singing Donna Summer. WHOO! That dress is a little too busy for a big girl. The top half is great and the bottom half is Joseph's Coat of Many Colors. She sounds good as normal but it was kinda boring. I'm getting tired of this one trick pony. Randy says it was a change? Oh well! What do I know! Boy! The judges are pimping her a ton! It's great to be the chosen one.
Time to play the bills! I forgot to reset my Tivo to record longer so I have to do this live but I will have these wonderful (rolling of the eyes) commercial breaks to catch up and correct my spelling! As normal, I'm playing poker too.
Oh! I forgot to tell you all! Mike and I found a new place to live! We're getting kicked out of the town house because it was sold. It was REALLY cheap so finding a place we could afford without fainting was a chore. It's expensive out there. The place a really cute it's smaller but it's right downtown. I will be walking to work!! It's not really a choice. It would take me longer to drive. More later!
We're back. Chris S. is in the chair for the question. He is singing Police!! I love them. He was suppose to be last so this is not good. He's a little off and a little nasally (is that a word? I guess spell check will let me know.). Not too good for Chris S. He might be in danger tonight because I'm voting for Sanjaya! I'm disappointed in him and have been for awhile. I haven't voiced that opinion because I liked him but I'm strangely free to talk about the contested that I wanted to like but really didn't.
Gina is next and what in the hell is she wearing? It's too shiny. She's doing MUCH better than last week. The judges like it and call it her best performance AND the best performance so far tonight. I agree! Too bad I have Sanjaya Fever. Maybe I can vote for both of them.
Commercial Break: Okay, back to the apartment. It's in an old building downtown and faces the walking mall. We will be moved in just in time for annual Apple Blossom Festival! It's going to be a party! I think I want to try and have a house warming party that Friday before the parade. I'm excited. I'll post pics when we move.
Sanjaya is singing No Doubt. Look at his hair!! Love it! He forgot the words...perfect! I know Dave is happy. Fantastic! Very cheesy!! Loved it! I wish he would have rocked it a little more but it's good for me.
Haley is singing one of my favorites, "True Colors." She's showing a lot of leg which works for her. It's boring but she can sing very well. She's in danger for tomorrow.
Commercials: The apartment has one bedroom, living room, kitchen and, of course, a bathroom. The ceilings are very high and the windows very tall. The floors are hardwood and everything has been redone. It is so CUTE! I'm planning on making some furniture for it and get rid of the old stuff we have now. I have 3 very helpful Trading Spaces books that I got on sale for a total of $5.00. It was a steal. We have a cool little phone nook that I can't wait to do something with.
Scary Phil is next with his HUGE eyebrows. He is also singing the Police. I hate him. Damn! That's an ugly hat. He doesn't sound too bad as long as I don't look at him. He's no Sting but it's very good Karaoke. I think he might be safe tonight. DAMN!
Melinda the lollipop kid is next. I'm sorry. I've been trying not to be catty but I just can't anymore. She's great but it's not the kind of music I listen to so I'm always bored with her and find myself zoning out. She'll get rave reviews...and she does. I'm shocked! Her "I don't know how good I am" act is soooo old.
Commercial Break: time to play a little poker. My big stack isn't big anymore!
Blake is singing "Lovesong" by The Cure. I hope he doesn't beatbox! Like to outfit tonight. He's sounding really good tonight! Good for him.
Jordin is singing No Doubt. I love her!! She was the best of the night! Loved it Loved it Loved it! She might make me change my mind about Sanjaya.
Chris R. get the pimp spot after the commercials. I don't understand why people like him. I think he is bad and I wish he would go home. Poker is on break so I don't have anything to do except to type away. I'll tell you about the Apple Blossom Festival. It's a time when this town triples in size and we party down! We have a largest parade of firetruck on Friday evening and the grand feature parade on Saturday.
Gwen hopes that Chris R. sticks to the melody and doesn't fuck it up. I'm paraphrasing. I don't like him and I don't like this. YUCK! I want him to go home too!
It looks like my Tivo knew that Idol would run long. It's so smart!!
To wrap everything up:
bottom 3: Haley, Chris S., Scary Phil Chris R.
Bye, Bye Haley! I wish Phil would go but I think it's going to be Haley.
We shall see tomorrow if my record is in tact. Until then, Mantoni OUT!
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