Froedtert

I made it through busy season alright - just the same ole paper cuts, CYA stacks of paper, signing my name to probably too many returns, and eating more sugar than a person should be allowed (given how tired and hopped up on sugar  I was, I would tell myself "only three pieces of Halloween candy today" like I was a child...however like an adult I ate about a fourth of a pound of candy a day.)

There are times in your life that give you pause: phone calls from home, realizing that in a 7 day period you've eaten more McDonald's than you have in the last 14 years, not knowing what day it is because they blend together, and buying your first serious piece of furniture. Yep. Serious. Furniture. As in, we will likely have this until the end unless RJB wins and we upgrade in size. We bought a bed frame. This is very exciting for me because I have wanted a sleigh bed since I was a little girl AND RJB liked it without my suggesting to him that it might be a great design. Between a bonus and store sale, we will be proud owners of this in 1 - 2 weeks:

Uncle Grant wasn't generous enough to also allow us to get new dressers so we will still be mis-matched but I really don't care. And RJB is secretly happy that the rubbermaid bins I currently have under the bed will need to be moved (why it bothers him to have a few of those under the bed is beyond me). 

RJB and I were planning on going out of town next month to officially disconnect from work but decided to save on $$$ and stay in town instead. So we will do dinner, shop, catch up on movies....(by the way, RJB just asked in a suspicious tone "what are you writing about me?" ha ha!). I am actually excited because I haven't been in the new crib very much since we moved it. Perhaps I can actually get settled!

Speaking of the new crib, we finally ordered bookcases - we got two so we are officially at 3 in the house and need more (quote "we cannot possibly sustain this growth"). I guess we are all set if we get snowed in for a few weeks. 

Boxes of my beloved books!

 

Of course about a week after these guys were delivered, we got a "welcome to the neighborhood" coupon from Pottery Barn. Thanks.   Next on the list, kitchen table (we discovered the one we love is way too big for our space), a bed for the second bedroom, then new dressers to match the new bed! We got a ways to go, that's for sure. 

Going through the Big D and I do mean Dallas

Somehow I never posted pictures from my brief trip to Dallas in July! It was great times and I cannot wait to see the girls again in November (yay Austin and seeing little Luna!)

Ok, so this wasn't in Dallas but at Karen's wedding. But man alive is it funny!!

Just another day

JMB: sitting at the coffee table working (at least i was home). 
         "Hi, babe."

RJB: "ugg, sorry I was sleeping." (it was like noon, but he was up at 5am to run 18 miles)

JMB: "no problem."

RJB: "no really, I shouldn't have slept so much. I'm just so tired."

JMB: "not a big deal, really."

This conversation seems to happen every other weekend with the apologizer going back and forth between the two of us. Its weird, when I sleep in, I feel so guilty but I never put guilt on RJB if he does. I like to think he feels the same. So why do we feel it necessary to apologize? Hmm...could it be we are still in the sweet honeymoon phase?

Last Thursday I met up with a friend from the Dallas office. He was up here for a new promote training and for work. How refreshing it was to be with a co-worker who is full of excitement about the future and career and has that same historical foundation of, uh, work "noise". Have to say, his renewed spirit and attitude really influenced me (helps that I know he is sincere) and my Friday was much more inspiring.  Thanks for giving me that lift, JM!

Heaven on Fifth

RJB and I moved in to our new home last week. Everything went fairly well - movers arrived timely, Comcast guy arrived "early" and got us up and running, neighbors in the building are nice...so far so good.  Packing was an adventure. I've never packed and moved with someone before (college doesn't really count as there is very little common property).   RJB and I have a very different opinions around packing fragile items and glass. I am pro bubble wrap, RJB is pro brown paper.  However, I let go of control just a bit but not without mentioning that RJB would buy me new kitchen stuff if anything breaks (nothing is broken of which we are currently aware).

We have already had our new homeowner hazing. Our A/C conveniently broke, meaning the last four days it has been in the 80's inside our crib.  It was quite the hit to the pocketbook, though fortunately the closing costs were much less than we budgeted for, so while it hurt, we can recover soon.

Enjoy the photos! I can't wait to be officially settled in with furniture it its place!

Kitchen with room for a table - finally! Now we just need to buy one.

Living room - plus a nook for RJB's desk - and as you can 

see, we already have cat toys out.  To the right is the fireplace.

Master bedroom - needs painting and new window treatments

The infamous "second bedroom"

Our porch

Yes, No. 10 made it. 

Bubble Wrap

Well friends, our closing is quickly approaching. Hard to believe that in three short days, we will be homeowners.   Lucky for me, I get to spend my last two weekdays as a renter in beautiful Temperance, Michigan.  And what will I be doing in beautiful Temperance? Why, checking out an alloys plant of course! (yes, this is serious).

Packing your house is a weird thing. At the onset, it is all about cleaning things out, being thoughtful when you stumble across a sentimental item (with me, that's about every third thing I pick up. I sometimes worry you will see me in 20 years on those hoarder TV shows or in the paper: "woman found dead in house among six feet of trash"....) I digress.

Packing is a bit of an art, a joy of carefully packing your beloved possessions. Then it starts. You become tired of packing - holy cow, I own a lot of stuff! No, I NEED that for my hobby, granted it hasn't seen the light of day in 2 years but I NEED it! - and the boxes start looming. You start sensing the impending doom of becoming so desperate to finish packing that you become careless or more apt to trash items because you don't know what to do with them. Or, horrors of horrors, you find a box from Dallas that was never unpacked. Oops. But I swear I NEED all those old cooking magazines. Cooking library, anyone?

Sadly, on the flip side, the  "where do I put this" drama will unwind in the new house. This will be the first time that RJB and I enter a space that neither of us have lived in or moderately set up. (RJB lived in our currently place for 2 months before I moved in.) This will be interesting.

Sylvester's short term memory is saving him a lot of pain. He has yet to start to act as the stressed kitty even though there are boxes everywhere. He did wake up us last night but jumping into a half-filled box. Somehow he got under the box flaps and was literally packed up!  His little cat brain will perk up, though, when his carrier reappears. Sigh.

Running of the Gals

I'm not sure about yall, but when July rolls around there is a lot of excitement in the B household for le Tour de France. Dedicated watchers. Provides me with more mental gusto to think "viva le tour!" when I see an idiot on the bike path in a sponsor jersey (sky or saxo bank, anyone?) speeding past so fast you feel the whoosh! Sadly neither Lance nor Schleck won. :(

Nonetheless, I finally ran my first "race" of 2010. For me, not so much racing as an organized run since I am in no way actually racing.  I once again did the women's run and it was the best organized run I've completed. Ever. And to celebrate, I then took a week off of running. Sabotage! However RJB and I are heading up to Madison next month for a race (5K for me, half for him) so at least I have some motivation to keep in shape. And yes, August - in the throes of busy season! See, trying to live that work-life balance. No pictures to share of the women's run which is probably a good thing. Promise I will start posting more photos soon - those are what make blogs fun after all!

Lets get on the big yellow dog

If you are anything like me, you have ventured into the world of Facebook and stumbled upon old friends and acquaintances. From the comfort of your home, you have had the good ole slide show (fortunately sans a slide projector and having to listen to a monologue about how wonderful a particular outlook point was) and discovered that all these kiddos from high school are, some 13-14 years later, still friends. Like good friends, not Facebook voyeurism  friends.

This strikes me as odd. My mom is BFF with one of her high school friends. Otherwise, my folks are not chummy with all those kiddos from the "fun-filled" days of high school.  I am not sure about my brother, but I'd guess he is the same.  I maintained one "solid" friendship for a whopping 7 years after graduation only to lose contact once I moved BACK to Texas and was finally in the same state as this friend.

Perhaps had my folks stayed in Texas things would have been different. Though let's be honest. I likely would have never moved back to Houston had my parents stayed. Nonetheless, I'm sure I will continue to be surprised to stumble upon who is still friends with whom. 

PS - I was going to scan a high school photo for this post but alas, all my high school photos are at my parents home...ha ha, how poetic. Instead, I'll pay tribute to Big Al.