Playing Catch Up from Xanga, Originally dated August 24, 2010

I mean... UPDATED!

Wow where has the time gone? Where has this summer gone? I'm comfortably wearing a hoodie today... its so wrong, but it feels so right.

So over the past few weeks we have done these things:

Received a free pinball machine from 1977...mint condition. Its a great addition to the dining room (I am now the best wife ever) and creates awesome pinball score battles when friends come over...



I found time to take a bath... aside from wanting/needing a bigger bathtub (FOR TWO! with JETS!) i do love my bathroom... its very relaxing:



I attempted to make taffy and failed... EPICALLY FAILED:



I made fish tacos and all jokes aside, I totally scored on making the worlds tastiest fish tacos (i even made the tortilla from scratch)...



Spent some time with my Neph-dog (Nephew that is a dog), Cuervo:



So with how hectic our summer has been... how stressed out we have been... and how badly we needed not only a few days alone, but a few days without spending a dime, we planned a 4 day weekend! The plan was simple; continue saving our pennies since we had a little financial hole to dig ourselves out of. So, my mind was set, life on track... and I was ready on Friday, August 13th at 3pm to put all my thoughts and worries aside... grab an ice cold beer, light a fire in the fire pit, and sit on my ass for four days.

SO that isn't what happened at ALL. As I'm sure you can guess, there is a giant curve ball in the mix. I arrived at home to a note on the door from the water company. You see, the shut off valve for our water line has been leaking. We just did our duty and called them assuming they would take care of it. Instead the HANDWRITTEN note says:

"There is a leak in your line, fix it in the next two weeks or we shut off your water"

&%&%^#^#*%()%*($%&*$@#$!$#^%*^&!
AHHHHHHHHKKKKKKKK!

So of course nothing can be done until Monday. I have the appointment lined up for the water company to SHOW ME how they came to this conclusion early Monday morning and also set up several plumbers to give us the bad news Monday afternoon.

So this was on my mind all weekend... what if its several grand that I don't have? What if they have to dig up my entire yard... why the hell did it have to happen NOW?!?!

And the entire time, the birdies were just enjoying their new bird bath:



So after a few ruined days it turns out it is our fault, and several estimates later we settled on replacing our entire water line (it was galvanized and OLD as heck). Oh and this is a $1,400 job. Just so you know :)
I had, by this time, started counting my blessings:

1) the leak could have been worse
2) it could have exploded
3) i still have my health
4) we were able to afford it with some creative bill rearranging..
5) it could have happened in winter
6) At least Nanobots aren't running wild and eating us alive... yet.

Tuesday, the last day of my mini staycation, I was finally able to relax. Went back to work on Wednesday, and then home for the day on Thursday for the new water line.

Diggin Diggin Diggin... They were able to dig ONE hole and pull the entire line. I still have to replace the cement in the sidewalk, but still, this is awesome:



After they finished i went out to see the old line. The worker tells my husband "I ain't never seen nobody take no pictures of the old pipe" and Bili responds "You obviously haven't met my wife, she documents everything"
HA!

So I counted a lot more blessings once i saw this pipe... i CANNOT believe we were drinking water out of this thing... ew. ew. ew. ew. ew.



So that is over. Another thing we never see or think about that we wont have to see or think about while owning our home.

After that, life went on as usual... Bili snapped this Picture because EVERY DAMN TIME I do Yoga, Vega has to show me up. I posed in Downward Facing dog to get the picture and my point across... but she seriously does this every time:



Also, last Friday we took the Camel to a nightclub. Yup. You heard me correctly. The club was celebrating its 15th anniversary so we traveled to the Flats in Cleveland and set up outside. And talked to drunk people like they were stupid kids all night. It was great. I heard "OHMYGAWDISDATAFOOKINCAMEL" at least 200 times... and several drunk chicks thought they were gonna just climb the fence and jump on Gretchen. I was like um, NO. get DOWN. Felt awesome.

Here is Dan, Tricyn and I posing with the lady of the hour Miss Gretchen:



The best part was at the end when we were loading up and trying to keep people out of her path and they were NOT listening... the Club's bouncers were even gettin in peoples faces and shouting at them for not listening to us... I mean what part about "You look nice ma'am, so nice, I'm sure that dress will get you done every which way tonight with one of these winners currently pounding their denim crotch against the glass window up there, but this camel, you see, if she kicks on accident- well... your leg will break. Instantly. broke and broke. so, please wait a few minutes while we load her into the trailer and you can get on your skanky way"

Surprisingly that didn't work out so well and they just marched forward and fearless.

So now I have a full work week to finish and another busy weekend awaiting me. Tonight i will pretend that cleaning, laundry and cooking is a mini vacation and enjoy all the true blood, real world, and jersey shore that is on the DVR. And the Breyers Heath Bar Ice Cream in the freezer.... YUM!

Also - happy dance- we have cut our monthly food + misc average from 800+ to less then $350 :) SCORE!

Playing Catch Up from Xanga, Originally dated August 9, 2010

Im getting lazier and lazier at blogging... but pictures speak a thousand words right? And are way more interesting then anything I could actually say. Friday I worked, dog-sat, cooked for the weekend, picked up our CSA, and helped tear out those pesky bushes that we have hated since the day we moved in. Seemed like the whole neighborhood showed up to help us pull them out. It only took 2 hours to pull 50 feet...and as a bonus i found a buried rock wall with BEAUTIFUL stones. If you don't know me... then you don't know that i love rocks. I love landscaping with them... i just love rocks. period.

Also.. another thing you should know is, i do most my hard yard work wearing flip flops. Yup... i like gettin dirty.



All day Saturday and ALL DAY Sunday were spent in a little town called Zoar at their harvest festival. We had a petting zoo set up and guess what? They have a new baby Zebra... ELEVEN DAYS OLD....can you believe it? She was SUCH a sweet heart. Saturday i was bit by a 14 week old tiger cub... fun fun... but it was worth it to play and get this photo:





And Sunday i was kicked heartily by the 2mth old buck i was carrying to its pen. ouch! bruised and bleeding. Oh well, its part of the job. And once on his feet- the little buck was as sweet as a puppy!

I considered what it would take to house train a goat. This is a baby pygmy... they don't get very big. I researched as far to see that you can train them to pee outside like a dog... but you cant train them to poop outside as they cant stop when the poop starts... HA! So it just comes out when its ready... oh well, maybe someday when i have a farm, right? :)



Miss Savannah:


And her GORGEOUS Legs:

 

Bottle feeding baby goats... two at a time... while the other four are fighting/head butting/ grabbing for the food... is a challenge, and adorable... and almost fun :)



So aside from that i am also playing the re-finance game. Calling some banks and seeing if that 4.5% interest rate would help us any on our home loan. We mortgaged at 5.2% four and a half years ago... but its worth a try.

And I have my evening free to catch up around the house and clean up the yard where we tore up the bushes. Oh and we have also been good for 10 days this month... only spending a few dollars and on our way to breaking even for the month. I am proud!

Playing Catch Up from Xanga, Originally dated July 22, 2010

I just upped contrast and had a little fun in photo shop while watching the real world... (come on Preston KICK Ryans Butt! I do love the little birdies they put on their hands while flicking each other off)

Okay so these are all for fun!
And it WAS a lot of fun!
The end result will have my skin paled WAY out, and the makeup popped super deep...







Some fun on the stairs:



Then we got messy... the end result of these will be SUPER cool!



And we got Bili and the Fish eye Lens involved:

Playing Catch Up from Xanga, Originally dated July 22, 2010

I have to go to Tahiti and tell Ally that i am in love with someone else- Frank

LOL, I hate that show.

Okay so this is basically another photo recap of my week... life has been so busy. SO BUSY.
Starts out with a four day weekend, which didn't feel like a weekend at all... we were bar tending at the Island Party Friday night. Which was a blast.  I love bar tending, and if it didn't tire me out so badly from being ON and super cheery for hours on end, i would seriously consider doing it part time.

They had a bonafide reggae band playing so after we dealt out all the red-stripe i could pour, among other drinks... the volunteers were encouraged to finish out the kegs at the end of the night with the band.
Dreadlocks EVERYWHERE!
loved it!
Here we are- the shirts were unflattering so i made mine a little cuter with some scissors and Flair!



Saturday my period woke me up with the cramps of death. So... that was fun. We were up early anyways to be ready for Tigo to be dropped off. This dog has had quit the Journey from a rescued pup from the store by my parents... to his forever home with some friends of ours. He is REALLY sketchy and prone to biting and not liking people, but for some reason he has always adored me... making us the perfect dog sitters. And Bonus is- his owners own a sub shop in town that we love and frequent and we are being paid in store credit.
Good bye waste line, and cooking :)
Here is Montigo... aka Tigo, the Husky Shepherd mix:



Vega is totally over him already... and could care less.



Saturday night was the grand opening of the first awesome Art gallery in town by our good friend Billy. I was laughing at my husband because this opening was written up in several papers and the reporters called the Mayor for his input, the head of Arts in Stark, and ... my husband.
I said "I am still getting used to the idea that your opinion matters"
... Bili: "Gee thanks"
:)

So i tried my first DREADLOCK MOHAWK! And it worked! Which is good because today i need to recreate it for another photo shoot... AVANT GARDE!



My BEAUTIFUL friend and local famous artist AND the woman who drew my mermaid tattoo... Miss Megan Mars:


My Hot Mama Kerry



This here... this here is private ya'll



Mohawks and silly staches!



My friends brought their Irish Wolfhound to the Gallery at the end of the night:




Sunday and Monday were spent in the yard, we kicked its ass... and in turn, it kicked ours. Every muscle ached by the end of the day- but we have lots to show for it. All weeds are pulled, all blades of grass are shortened.

We had the garage floor and our tiny driveway replaced this week, and a 8x10 pad put in the back yard so eventually i can own the worlds cutest garden shed to store stuff in.





Soon ill be home all dolled up and ready to smile or not smile for the camera! Tomorrow Drew is coming over to make Doughnut Muffins (Its a Pioneer Woman recipe- don't hate). And Friday is a celebration for my mom's bday... and Saturday Craig comes to Visit, and Sunday is a glorious day filled with family!

Playing Catch Up from Xanga, Originally dated July 2010

I love animals.
There, i said it.
All you humans can go to hell.
JUST KIDDING. But i do like animals better then people... i just do.

Some good friends of mine have been running an animal rescue for over 20 years. I just got involved about three years ago and have been blessed to help them do events and educate people on some of the wonderful creatures that exist on this planet.

Today we took a Llama, 5 goats, 4mth old white Bengal tiger, Cockatoo, Albino Burmese Python, and a Baby Wallaby up to Toledo (a 3 hour drive for us).

Here is Sasha the Cockatoo... LOVE HER... she is so social, and i have never trusted a bird so much!





Now the super cute Bengal Tiger, Miss Leah. Love her as well! Its amazing how normal it is for me to be around tigers now... i dont freak out with excitement like i should! I mean, WHO GETS TO DO THIS? really?


I took a turn at babysitting... gladly!





Some guy brought this Raccoon, I almost took him home.





Now if you dont like snakes, you will hate these next few pics. But it was my job today to walk around with Butterscotch the Albino Burmese Python wrapped around my body. He wiggled and slithered all over me constantly... it was fun! He is 9 feet long and almost 50lbs!







That was my day. Days like this remind me how lucky i am...and how amazing my life is.

Playing Catch Up from Xanga, Originally dated June 2010

Its a cool 70-something here in Ohio and our nights are dipping into the 40's (wtf mate?) and i would enjoy the crisp fall-like air if i didnt have a huge sinus headache that is making me want to crawl into bed and forget about the day.
I was semi productive today- I called and got the balance on my car loan ($2,300 - woot) and realized at our current pace of paying a ton on it each month that it will be payed off this fall and 2 years early on the loan! I also called and got some stuff started to take the PMI off on our home loan. At least ill know what i need to do and if it is even time for that.
Then I got bored and started reading my zipped files of my old blog (bork) and started stalking people who used to comment on my old blog. I found a few that really had me excited to see they still exist and actively blog! One guy we befriended (any of you remember Jyoseph?) i found on facebook and we all started chattin again... he said he felt as though we were long lost siblings. I couldnt agree more. Its funny how the blog world is like that... I have so many friends that i have not met in person and may never meet in person but feel as though i do.
 Okay here are some pictures I forgot to post... A great one of most the group that stayed with us last week taken by Emma:

During the cook out Vega layed in chalk and this happened:

My gal Kerry brought over her little man... Love her...and Little Charlie:

Bili looks like a natural doesnt he?

On the topic of kids... We are still on team No kids for now and no plans for the future. But i watched the movie "The Business of Being Born" three times... which is a very informative documentary all about natural child birthing (and i saw Ricki Lake's Vagina). But wow... if and when the time comes i will SERIOUSLY consider the natural path. And to top it off I recently befriended a super awesome woman who happens to be a midwife and has been for years. Its weird to meet someone and think hmm... yeah id let you pull a baby out of me :)
So we arent making plans but i love exploring options and learning new things so i drove Bili nuts for a few days talking about water birth in the living room :)
My child for now, Vega, had a playdate with an Irish Wolfhound Puppy...
Vega and Tallulah:

It went well ^
And a few weeks ago we attended an awesome bonfire

For some reason there was not one... not two... but FOUR axes and a pitchfork at this fire...

Well at some point tonight we might take a walk and then head to bed early... there has been some epic cuddle time happening in the Kribbs house hold lately and its addicting.