Late Updates!

I haven't blogged in a little more than a month - so we'll just go for a photo dump!  It's been a pretty plain month though.  The weather has been fairly warm, though we did get a little bit of ice once.  I immediately hopped online and bought a set of YakTrax for Eric and me, so he doesn't fall while working and I don't fall on Squish.  Currently, Mom and Alan are in Mexico and Ashley is on her way home.  Eric is house sitting for them, and I can't wait to have him back at home next week!

A shot of our 2011 Christmas tree.  We never decorated it, but I used it to hold all of our Christmas cards and the Rainbow fish that Kelli and Tracy made for me!

 I had Cameron, Caleb, and Colin over for a fun night while Paul, Deb, Brian, Jen, and Eric wrapped up the winter mini-tour at Old Chicago.  We had a great time!

We house sat for Papa while he was in Michigan visiting the Murray's.  Addy came along so we didn't have to leave her home alone.  By the end of our time there, Addy and Frisco were coexisting fairly nicely! 

New Year's Eve at the Green's, in Smithville.  We played "Truth Be Told", which isn't nearly as fun with people who aren't as close with one another. 

Ready for 2012! 

Eric's champagne and my sparkling juice! 

Cheers!  It's Squish's year!!! 

Addy on the drive home from Papa's house. 

After holiday break, Kelli and I discovered that we had another person moved into our office!  It was a bit stressful to happen with no notice.  But we have since rearranged our office and it's all worked out! I actually think I like the new configuration a lot better.

Eric and I spent a nice chunk of savings and Christmas money on a new computer.  Brian helped Eric choose all of the parts and build it, I set up our wireless headphones on the TV and the computer, and now all we need is a wireless keyboard and mouse so we can use it on the TV. 

Mom got Alan a helium shark for Christmas - here it is peeking out of Alan's car. 

Alan was an instant pro at using the remote control to maneuver it around the house. 

 

He used it to intimidate the dogs.

 Such a cool toy!

Ashley bought me a dress preservation service before the wedding.  Since then, my dress and the kit have been tucked away in our closet...oops.  So two weeks ago I tried the dress on (and it still fit!) and packed it away! 

So sad to see my dress go, but it will be clean and in a preservation box when it comes home.

Day 162: The Office!

Way back when (When you ask?  On Day 8 of us being married of course!, we posted pictures of the post-wedding apocalypse that we call our office.  It was pretty much where we threw anything wedding related, and anything that didn't belong somewhere else in the house.

Over the past few days, Eric and I have nearly made it to the finish line in getting it back to a functional room!

The desktop computer hasn't been functional in ages, and we got the desk cleaned off and the computer up and running.

We've got all the board games and Wii equipment in here.

The bed is completely clean!

And I can't just hide this - there is a pile of clutter in the entrance to the room, but that will be taken care of this week.  Huzzah!

Remaining Comments

Day 152: Gearing up for Happy Routes!

Eric and I have watched all 6 of the Harry Potter movies on DVD and listened to most of Deathly Hallows on CD over the last month.  We are down to one day until the movie, and still have 3 chapters of the book to go!  We aren't in a huge rush to finish though, because this movie is only the first half of the Deathly Hallows book.

Eric and I both text using the T9 feature, and when you try to type "Harry Potter", it comes up as "Happy Routes", hence the blog title for today.  Tonight we decided to lay in bed and listen to some Harry Potterwhile each playing our own things on our computers.

To each their own!

Day 89: More catching up!

Eric was off work today and did some chores that have been left undone - dishes, laundry, cat litter.  He went out to Olathe early so he would have time to go for a ride on the motorcycle and ended up being one of the first to see Ashley's new Ford Fiesta and Mom's new Ford Mustang.

While he was at school, I continued catching up on my schoolwork.  Once he got home I conceded and unblocked Family Feud on Facebook.  Now I'm pissed that you can't play more than one game per day!

A rare shot of Eric in his natural environment, and wearing a shirt!

Day 60: The HP Mini is HERE!

Yay!  I'm so thrilled to have a laptop that (A) Doesn't burn my legs, (B) Can fit in my purse, (C) Has a battery life of much longer than 5 minutes, (D) Still reads SD cards, (E) Has a silent fan, (F) Everything else great about it!

Eric was a smart man and left it in the box until I got home.  I came home on time for the first time since school started and set up my new computer, yay!  It will take some adjusting getting used to the small screen - I don't like not being able to see as much of the screen at once.  But, I did get a netbook and not a laptop, so it was my choice.  The keyboard size isn't an issue whatsoever, I can type just fine!

The built in webcam has a camera option, but the quality is lousy.  Enjoy!

I love love love it!  So small and so great!

Day 50: New Computer! (sort of)

We woke up early and got to Best Buy in Lees Summit before they opened this morning to [hopefully] buy my new netbook.  When we got in they had the store arranged like Black Friday, with tape lines and sections blocked off except one way to enter.  We were assigned a person to help us choose our computer, a really knowledgeable guy...not!  They didn't have the model we'd decided on in a display, so he assumed that we knew nothing and that Best Buy didn't carry it and couldn't order it.  We looked at other models while he visited with a supervisor about how the customer is always right. 

We chose another model to buy and he discovered they were out of stock, but would have to order it.  Eric and I chatted and decided that if we were going to have to order the computer anyway that we might as well order the computer that we had originally decided on.  We told the sales guy our decision and he puttered off aimlessly chatting with other people about how to do the impossible.  We found another sales person who knew what they were talking about and had the order ready in just a few minutes.

Sooooooo, right around the same time I'll be getting my camera back, we should also have a new HP Mini shipped to our front door!

Here it is!

Day 49: No Computer

Rawr!  We drove out to Best buy in Lees Summit and they were CLOSED!  I called ahead and the recording said Saturday until 10pm - we got there at 9:30 after Eric got off work.  Apparently they had special hours this weekend...great.

Other than that - I spent a few hours setting up my classroom today and we made a dinner menu for the week. 
Sunday: Wraps
Monday:Hamburger Helper
Tuesday: Spaghetti
Wednesday: Leftovers
Thursday: Pizza
Friday: Hamburger Helper
Saturday: Sandwiches

Day 48: More Riding

We've decided to replace my laptop - which has a broken fan or something that makes it incredibly loud/overheats, and a dead battery so it has to remain plugged in at all times.  The best time to do this you ask?  The "Back to School" tax free weekend in Missouri! 

Mom, Alan, and Eric rode their bikes - with me on the back of Alan's, out to 135th and State Line where Mom swears there is a Best Buy on the Missouri side.  Well, she was wrong, but we had a nice 35 mile round trip on the bikes!  Eric is doing really well riding, and he's starting to feel a lot more comfortable with it.

Another day without my beloved camera - but here is a picture of me on my old motorcycle in 2004.  A purple 2002 Honda Shadow Deluxe.

Day 46: A Big Day!

Yesterday was exciting!  At our garage sale, Alan had his "extra" motorcycle on the curb for sale.  Someone ended up interested and bought it on Tuesday.  He turned around and asked me to bring Eric out to Olathe on Wednesday morning.  While I was at work with Jack, they went out to Freedom Cycles in Missouri and BOUGHT a cobalt blue Kawasaki Vulcan 900.  This is Alan's secondary bike, with the purpose of letting his friends and family members ride with him.  My impression is that Eric got his motorcycle license last August, and has not ridden once since then.  I think Alan is excited to have more people to ride with, and doesn't want our financial plans to get in the way of Eric actually learning to ride. 

Eric had to, as you probably guessed it, leave for work right after they left the dealership.  So I went to hang out with Alan after I was done with work - and I got to go for a ride with Alan before Eric ever rode the bike!  I was wearing shorts and flip flops, so I went up to Ashley's room and stole a pair of jeans [I squeezed into her size 7's!!!] and a pair of socks and shoes from Mom.  The ride was a bit scary because I haven't ridden for at least three years, probably closer to four or five years.

I'm sure I'll be getting my motorcycle license back soon!

I also went with Mom and Alan to the Apple Store - they wanted my teacher discount and I wanted the "buy a computer get an iTouch free" deal.  Mom got a new 27" Mac, which is WOW huge and fits her desk hutch with no room to spare.  I bought the iTouch and we'll get the full rebate in a few weeks - woo!