Wagner's House

2008-11-11T19:59:00.002-05:00

Let's see. What have we been up to lately? We saw a great band at a bar last weekend. We bought a new area rug for the living room. And OH YEAH. I threw Brian a huge surprise party for his 30th birthday!

I thought about it for months and finally got the ball rolling at the end of September. Bob and Pat were generous enough to host the party at the garage and with some help from Shannon and my mom, I sneaked around for weeks buying supplies and planning the menu. A neighbor of ours has a smoker and made us 13 lbs of pulled pork... it was (and the leftovers still are) delicious! Jon was in charge of buying the keg, I got some boxed wine, and the guests each brought a side to share. Brian thought we were meeting some friends at the garage before we went out to a restaurant to celebrate his birthday, so getting him there was pretty easy. We arrived and there were a LOT more people than he expected! He seemed pretty shocked. But the best part was when his parents sneaked out from the crowd - he had no idea they had driven up from South Carolina! We all had a great time and I'm pretty sure it was a birthday to remember!

The rest of that weekend was great, too. We celebrated Halloween by going to three parties... after Brian had played golf all day with his dad, Jon and Glenn. A very long, fun-filled day! Brian and I dressed up as two of the characters from Juno - I was Juno and Brian was Pauly Bleeker. We made a pretty great pair, if I do say so myself.

Next on our agenda is the wedding of two of our newest, yet greatest friends, Shannon and Aaron! We've gotten to know them during the length of their engagement and I'm so excited to see them tie the knot! It should be a fun weekend!

Let's Make Strides Together

2008-10-13T22:39:00.003-04:00

Before I get back on track with my blogging, I'm going to ask you all for a huge favor. It's funny that I feel SO awkward posting this message even though I have absolutely no problem supporting others who ask me for donations, but here goes.

I was approached in my office to participate in the annual Making Strides for Breast Cancer Walk put together by the American Cancer Society. Of course, I agreed to sign up for the walk and get a few donations, but I did it mostly out of obligation. I love to help out a good cause, but I didn't feel like I had a powerful reason to be walking. On the ACS website it says something like, "we've all been touched by breast cancer," and I do know a couple of women who have been affected, but I'm not close enough with them to walk "for" them.

So I signed up, emailed some friends, and I was shocked that within 2 weeks I had gotten over $300 in donations. Obviously, my friends and family think it's a worthwhile cause. Then I started thinking about why I'm doing this. Where is this money going and who will it benefit?

I know of two women in particular who have been affected by breast cancer. An ex-coworker's wife was diagnosed earlier this year and has battled with surgery after unsuccessful surgery while trying to mother three adult children and one son under 14.

Another woman I know happens to be a cousin of mine and I regret that we don't have a closer relationship. Being separated by age and distance, I don't know the details of her battle with breast cancer, but I do know that she has a wonderfully supportive husband and a young son who both need her in their lives.

I'm hoping that some of the money raised for this walk will go to find better treatment for these women. Maybe even a cure, but that's wishful thinking.

If you've been affected by breast cancer, know someone who has, or feel the desire to support cancer research, please consider contributing to the ACS and supporting me as I walk.

The neighbors were concerned.

2008-07-31T18:19:00.000-04:00

When Grady goes outside and the weather is nice enough, I like to leave the door open. Let me just tell you I will never NEVER do that again. Tonight, I opened the door to call Grady back inside and while I was standing there, the FASTEST rat came bolting towards me, following the line of the fence. If he had continued to go straight, he would have run right between my legs and into the kitchen.

Thanks to a rat's keen sense of direction (mazes!) and my "I'm about to die" scream, the rat pulled a cartoon turn. He skidded and hopped on his outside foot 3 times while winking at me as he made a tight 90 degree turn around a gap in the fence. Heart pounding, I slammed the door right in Grady's face. A whole lotta good it does to have a cat, eh?

Grady Friday #13

2008-07-25T08:15:00.002-04:00

Updates!

Grady is still going outside, but has seemed to cut down on his grass eating. I've moved the lilly out of reach, but sometimes he reaches for the other tall grass that we have in the yard. I've been meaning to pick up some cat grass for him and I promise I will the next time I'm at the Sunday Farmer's Market.

The auto-feeder has been a god send. Brian and I have gone out of town a couple different weekends this summer (Philly for the 4th of July! Wagner Family Reunion in Indiana!) and Grady has survived on his own just fine.

The auto-feeder has also come in handy for when Grady decides to meow the top of his lungs for food at 5:30 a.m. We can set it with his breakfast and forget it... Usually only on the weekends when I'm too lazy to get out of bed. On the weekdays, I just squirt the cat with a spray bottle and tell him to wait until 7:30.

Another update, but unrelated to Grady... Remember that monster plant I was growing out front? I was SO proud. Well, about 4 days after I took the pictures of it, the plant was DUG out of our planter by someone who decided they wanted to fill out their garden. I was incredibly upset.... I mean, I can sort of understand some angst ridden kid walking by and ripping some leaves off. But DIGGING OUT THE WHOLE PLANT?? Wow. That not only takes guts, but determination. The day after the plant went missing, I made a pathetic little sign to stick in the pot that said "Please don't steal our plants, they're happiest at home." I'm surprised the house didn't get vandalized. C'mon... that's a pretty annoying statement, right? After a few days, I decided to take it down and replant. Much to the dismay of a few of our neighbors, we're enjoying lovely zinnias instead of the poison ivy and stinging nettle that they suggested.

I have many more stories and pictures of our summer to share. Stay tuned!

Grady Friday, #12

2008-06-27T17:54:00.002-04:00

Letting Grady outside for a few minutes at a time has become a habit. He loves it out there... but only for about 5-10 minutes. Then he's sitting at the door, ready to come back in.

His usual outdoor routine consists of sniffing around the perimeter of the fence and then pausing around the trash cans to check things out. I'm sure he can smell the (hate to say it) rats that sneak through our patio at night.

Since early spring when Brian and I put some plants in the back, Grady has been pausing at each pot and smelling the flowers. He really knows how to appreciate the simple things in life, huh? One of the plants is a day lilly which is pretty much like a grass - its leaves are long, thin, and abundant. Grady loves this particular plant. Every once in a while, he'll try to chew on the other plants in the back yard, but every time he goes outside he chews on the leaves of the day lilly. And every time he goes outside, I have to push him away from that plant.

One day, Grady was outside unsupervised and you can probably guess what he did. I know, I'm a terrible pet owner. Hours after letting him back inside, we were on the couch when Brian heard Grady in the kitchen gagging. We entered the kitchen to find a small pile of cat puke with an entire day lilly leaf still intact... This thing must have been about 10 inches long! I finally realized that perhaps I should put that pot on the table... duh.

All of his grass-eating got me to thinking... I've heard of "cat grass", but I'm not quite sure what it is. As far as I know, it's a little pot of grass that is kept indoors for cats to chew on. Wouldn't this encourage him to eat the plants outside, though? Maybe I should be nice and indulge him and his grass-eating tendencies.

Monster Plant

2008-06-10T19:56:00.001-04:00

The Wave
Originally uploaded by Cindezio

Good news! Our plant has grown! It's completely out of control and has filled the entire pot.

Originally, we had 2 small azalea bushes in there with this little petunia, but our neighbor's football landed right on one of the bushes and snapped it off. Instead, I got liriope to take its place. Turns out, I didn't have to get anything because the petunia would have been plenty by itself! This type is called The Wave... maybe because it acts like a tsunami and overtakes everything in its path.

Grady Friday, #11

2008-05-23T08:09:00.001-04:00

Grady has recently developed a most unfortunate habit of using his vocal chords. You know the phrase "he has a face for radio?" Well, Grady has a voice for silent movies. His is the most obnoxious meow I've ever heard out of a feline. It's more like yelling, really.

Before we feed him, he barks. Yes. Barks. I think he was raised by dogs. I don't so much mind the barking... it's kind of cute. He's talking to us.

It's the yelling in the wee hours of the morning that drives me nuts. Every day without fail, he starts his crying between the hours of 5 and 6 a.m. My alarm goes off at 7 a.m. I lose a good hour or two of REM sleep because of a loud cat.

Sometimes he yells from the living room a few (27) times and then stops which is bad enough, but yesterday morning at 5:30, he started his noise at the FOOT OF THE BED. And then started clawing the carpet. I'm pretty sure he's hungry or wants to go outside or just wants company, but at 5:30 I'm really not in the mood. I got up, pushed him into the hallway and shut the door behind him. Sure enough, I solved that problem! I'm not sure if he got the hint and stopped crying or if I just couldn't hear him anymore... either way, it looks like I'll be sleeping with the door shut from here on out!

Grady Friday, #10

2008-04-25T20:44:00.003-04:00

A gift from a fan
Originally uploaded by Cindezio

Grady has fans! We were super excited to get this package in the mail. He certainly conquered this household. Thank you, Dorinda!!!

It worked!

2008-04-21T14:39:00.001-04:00

We arrived home late last night to a LIVE kitty who was pretty happy to see us. Both lids were open and all the food was gone. Thank goodness.

Grady Friday, #9

2008-04-18T11:11:00.002-04:00

One of the reasons I was able to talk Brian into getting a cat was because they're so self-sufficient. Cats are easy, I said. They just lay around, they clean themselves, they use a litter box and don't require early morning walks outside. Hell, I said, we can even go away for a weekend and the cat would be fine.

And we have gone away and the cat was fine, but mainly because we had a friend come in and feed him his daily serving of Trader Joe's.

Well, this weekend Brian and I are driving to Raleigh to see one of his old friends get married. I decided not to inconvenience any of our friends or neighbors by making them come over, but instead I went to PetSmart and bought an automatic feeder.

Last night we gave the feeder a shot. I put some food in one compartment, closed the lid and set the timer. When the timer hit zero, the lid opened and Grady could eat. I have to say, it's definitely not the most accurate timer. It's a dial with a marking every two hours, so you have a vague window of time when the lid may open. Luckily, Grady doesn't take medication and doesn't need his food at EXACTLY 5:30 so I think it will work for us.

When I tested it out last night, I happened to be in the kitchen with Grady who was sitting about 3 feet from the bowl when it opened. I didn't say anything or make any gestures, just sat there and watched him. At first he definitely didn't know what was going on. He saw the lid open, but then just shrugged his shoulders and didn't really care. After a minute or two, I could see his little nose start twitching because he could smell the food. He walked over and scarfed it up, thinking Ohmygod! What IS this machine? Was this food sitting here the whole time? I'm so confused, but mmm, Trader Joe's, mmmm...... nom nom nom.

This concerns me just a little. You know from past confessions that my philosophy is that if there is food available, the cat should eat it. But feeding time has become such a routine for Grady. Brian and I get home from work, open the basement door to let him into the living room, march downstairs, grab his food bowl, bring it into the kitchen, fill it up while Grady waits desperately, and march it back downstairs for him to inhale. I'm just a little worried that the timer will open the lid of this auto-feeder and Grady will be at the top of the stairs waiting for us to come home, totally oblivious to the food that's there for him. And if there's one thing I've learned about my cat, it's that he's no genius.

All we can do is put the auto-feeder where we normally put his dinner and hope that we don't come home to a starved cat.

Who wants a landscaper?

2008-04-17T15:12:00.004-04:00

The past few days have been gorgeous! Leaves on the blooming trees are budding (I love pink and light green together... on trees), the smell of fresh cut grass is in the air, dandelions are out in full force, and I even saw two tiny butterflies dancing around each other in a field.

Last night would be a great day to grill some dinner and eat outside... if only we had some patio furniture. But wait! We do!

Last weekend, Brian and I devoted some time to the back patio. We went to Lowes on Saturday and ~~spent a ton of money~~ bought some plants because we had a vision of a lush backyard with large planters full of flowers and greenery. We loaded up our carts (plural!) with what felt like an OVERWHELMING amount of plants, along with two giant bags of dirt. I've been collecting a few vessels to start a container garden and thought that we had PLENTY of stuff to be well on our way to a backyard jungle.

After unloading everything, the two of us spent a couple hours playing in the dirt. There was dirt EVERYWHERE and containers and plants strewn about the patio. I loved how full it seemed while we were gardening.

I was so excited to see the finished "garden!" We finally got the last plant potted, cleaned up our mess, and lined ALL of the containers along the fence. Brian and I stood next to each other staring at all the work we had done and instead of feeling proud, we both let out a sigh of disappointment. Our jungle-like garden was more like Charlie Brown's Christmas tree farm - a very small, very sad collection of tiny plants.

"Well, it's a good start and things will certainly look better once we get furniture back here," we reassured ourselves.

So on Sunday we took another trip to a suburban strip mall to buy some patio furniture. We'd been pricing sets at a few stores (Offenbachers: ridiculous! Home Depot: sad. Target: winner!) so we were able to just march right in, get what we wanted and load up Brian's car. But Sunday, the weather was chilly and overcast so we unloaded everything into the living room. There it still sits, in boxes.

Last night, I thought we might want to set it up outside, but we decided to go shopping (again) instead. And we won't do it this weekend, so in our living room it will still sit, in boxes, until we have time to set everything up and enjoy it.

Finally...

2008-04-16T17:01:00.002-04:00

Sorry for disappearing! Last Friday was just not a Grady Friday and I apologize to his loyal fans.... all three of you.

There has been much going on in my life at the moment and I'm pretty busy. Wouldn't you know? It turns out I blog when I'm bored... and thus, my writing is boring. Maybe if I wrote when I was busy it would be more interesting, but then my head might explode.

So the biggest news is... drumroll... I FINALLY got a new job! I haven't written about it here because honestly, I was too embarrassed. I've been searching since June of last year but hadn't had any luck. At first, I would bring up the subject to friends and family because I was excited about the prospect of a new job and I also wanted to spread the word. I even got a few friends to pass along my resume, but that got me no where. And that was the most embarrassing part - the fact that I roped my friends into my search and STILL no one would hire me. I had more than a few interviews (Just counted. ELEVEN! Oh my goodness, I suck.) so I guess my resume looked good, but evidently my interview skills are lacking. It just got too depressing to keep disappointing my friends when they asked about my search. I finally just resorted to saying, Oh it's fine, and then changing the subject. I guess I don't like people feeling sorry for me... which they don't have to do anymore because, YAY! A new job! I got one!

Let me compare my current job with my new job and show you why I'm so excited...

Old Job
40 minutes from home
Four people in the company and only one in my age range besides myself.
One designer: me.
One main project to complete over and over again.
All coworkers live in suburbia and can't relate when I tell them about things like street festivals or not being able to leave anything in my car overnight.
I'm the smartest one in the office, thanks to Google.

New Job
20-25 minutes from home
Company employs thousands of people.
Six designers including me.
Lots of new different projects all the time.
Most of the people in my department live in Canton.
Thanks to Google, I won't be the dumbest one in the office.

For the past few days I've been trying to organize my workspace and the files on my computer. I'm worried that my current company won't be able to find someone by the time I leave next week, so I'm typing up meticulous instructions of what it is exactly that I do. I hope they're able to find someone who is competent... I know they already got a resume from a "designer" who listed Microsoft Word as the only program she's familiar with. Yikes.

So THAT coupled with the start of spring and a wealth of activities to choose from every day has made me a little busy and a little preoccupied. But I'll try to be a better blogger, I promise.

Second Purse

2008-04-08T11:25:00.001-04:00

Purse #2
Originally uploaded by Cindezio

Soon to have a new home with Charissa!

A Boring Post About A Fun Saturday

2008-04-07T14:11:00.003-04:00

I had the best Saturday I've had in a long time. And it's not that I've had any bad Saturdays lately, it's just that this past Saturday was super.

I slept in just enough for it to feel like a weekend but still early enough to enjoy the morning. Brian and I went to the Broadway Diner for breakfast where he offered to pay for my meal if I tried something other than my usual, delicious Monte Cristo. It was tough, but I settled for the equally delicious Pigs in a Blanket. And then I whined when Brian forgot about our deal and asked me to pay, but I sucked it up and put out the cash. He did after all, pay for our dinner at Yellow Dog the night before.

After breakfast, we ran over to Shopper's and got our groceries for the week. Then we went to Home Depot to pick up a couple more parts for Brian's workbench that he's building.

He spent time last week making trips to various hardware and home improvement stores to pick up all the "ingredients" for a set of plans that he found for a workbench. He started building on Friday, but soon realized that a couple of his 2x4"s were warped, hence the trip again on Saturday.

While Brian got to work on his bench out on the patio, I put together some spinach balls for a small party later that evening. The name is deceiving, but those balls tasted pretty good. If you help me come up with a better name, we can both feel more comfortable.

After the food prep, I moved upstairs to my makeshift sewing room and (wait for it, Charissa...) completed my second purse! I don't have pictures to share at this point, but I'll be sure to get some before I send off the purse to its new happy home.

Brian and I were both beat by that point and ready for a drink, so we headed out to our friends' house and spent a great evening with great people. Also, great spinach balls... and taco dip and spinach dip and... I'm still full.

To top off the night, I was finally brave enough to sing my very first karaoke song... sort of. I had signed up with a friend, but she bailed and went home before it was our turn. Luckily, a neighbor of mine was there and willing to sing a duet, except that I held the microphone far enough from my face that no one really heard me. It still counts.

Yay, Saturday!

Grady Friday, #8

2008-04-04T23:56:00.001-04:00

nom nom nom
Originally uploaded by Cindezio

Hungry Grady!

Grady Friday, #7

2008-03-28T08:34:00.004-04:00

A couple years ago, I was in Cross Street Market buying a sandwich from a deli. There was a little old man who was asking the counter attendant for smoked turkey, but it seemed that all they had was roasted turkey. "No! I need SMOKED turkey!" The attendant excused himself to check again and the man turned to me to say, "My cat loves the stuff. It's all he'll eat! I need the smoked turkey! He just won't eat anything else!" I was skeptical, but nodded politely like I totally understood, "Cats these days, I'm tellin' ya."

What I was really thinking was, "Dude, YOU are crazy." This guy wasn't at any old grocery store. He wasn't just looking for Hillshire Farms. This man took a SPECIAL trip to the MARKET to buy his precious cat SMOKED turkey. He probably spends at least $20 week on lunch meat alone. Yeah, pets are rewarding, but they certainly don't have to be spoiled.

Ha! So I thought.

Then Grady came into my life. At first, I was all about getting the cheapest possible canned cat food. No Fancy Feast for us, no way. How about this 39¢ can of terribly smelling slop? He'll probably eat it.

And he did. He gobbled up the slop for weeks. And then, he tapered off. He didn't finish his half-can serving in one sitting anymore. And then it got to the point where he would smell the slop, take one tiny bite and then be finished. At first, I thought (with my tough guy attitude) oh well! He's got food. If he's hungry, he'll eat it. I'm sure he's not dumb enough to starve when there's perfectly good (disgusting) food sitting right there in the bowl, not to mention his dry kibbles that he can eat anytime. So every night at dinner time, I'd wash out the remaining food and refill the bowl only to have most of it sit there until I fed Grady the next night. Still, I was not concerned. I am cold and heartless.

One day during my lunch hour at work, I ran into Trader Joe's to pick up some odds and ends that were on the shopping list. One of those things happened to be cat food. It was just a little bit pricier than the usual junk, so I took home a few cans.

That night, I opened up the can of Ocean Fish and Salmon with Rice, threw it in Grady's bowl and set it down in front of him. Grady INHALED it. He LOVED the stuff and ate the whole bowl immediately.

Since that happy day, I've been to Trader Joe's for other things and always pick up a couple cans of food to have on hand. The other day, I had to stop after work to pick up specific ingredients that I had on a list. I walked around with my head down, focused on the list and stupidly forgot to pick up more cat food. Because we were on our last can at home, I went back to the store the next day and bought 12 cans. Nothing else. I got to the counter and the cashier asked me about my cat... and I had to admit that Grady only eats TJ's cat food... and yes, he is spoiled.

Grady Friday, #6

2008-03-21T12:29:00.002-04:00

Last week, in response to my sewing post, ACW suggested that I make a cape for Grady. It sounded like a fun project, so I accepted the challenge.

It didn't take long at all to whip up cat-sized cape and for most of the time that I was in my sewing room, Grady was beside me and interested in everything I was doing. He especially enjoyed when I added the elastic collar and was fascinated by the roll of stretchy cord. I think his favorite part of the process, though, was when I finished and adorned him with the cape.

WIthout further ado, I present to you... Señor Grady! Olé!

Grady Friday, #5

2008-03-14T14:44:00.003-04:00

Since we know Grady can sometimes go insane, Brian and I are pretty wary of having him in bed while we sleep. Usually though, if we coax him into the bed, give him a quick pat on the head and just let him lay down on his own, he'll stay curled up and calm at the foot of the bed all night long.

It's when we pet him too much that he freaks out and attacks. We've tried to control our affection and, thanks to Summer's suggestion, I've been keeping a spray bottle on my night stand to protect myself. I've used it a couple times when I see Grady's head whip around, his pupil (singular - he's got a bum eye) dilates and focuses in on the fleshy part of my arm. I slowly reach for the bottle and spray Mr. Hyde on the back so he'll jump off the bed and run away. Works like a charm.

Monday morning at roughly 4 am, I awoke with a startle to Brian flailing around and yelling at the cat. "Grady NO! Cindy, get the spray bottle! GET THE SPRAY BOTTLE!!!"

Groggy, but with adrenalin pumping, I grabbed the bottle, sat up, took aim, and got Grady in the hind leg. He jumped off the bed and ran all the way downstairs. I was proud of myself for saving the day.

Except... Once Grady was gone, Brian was dumbfounded. In his sleepy stupor he really didn't know what just happened. "I don't think Grady bit me," he admitted, "I must have had a dream."

So, poor Grady was just sleeping there soundly when, out of nowhere, his comfortable mattress started moving violently underneath of him. When he stood up to readjust, he was hit in the butt with a cold stream of water. As he ran away, I'm sure he was thinking, "What the hell just happened?! Those humans are crazy!"

Sew, what do you think?

2008-03-12T16:58:00.002-04:00

I've been sewing! Remember that sewing machine I got for Christmas? I've finally been making use of it.

My first project was a plastic bag holder to hang in the pantry. Brian and I remember only about 1 out of 5 shopping trips to bring our reusable bags with us, so we're still over loaded with plastic grocery bags. It's not so bad because I use them to empty Grady's litter box, but we still needed a place to store them other than shoved into a cabinet taking up valuable storage space. So I made an oversized holder out of lovely purple fabric and voila! No more cupboard of bags!

My second project was to finally get rid of the terribly ugly, forest green, ruffly curtains in the basement window. I absolutely hated them, but grew to ignore them - they were in the basement after all. I decided to get fabric to compliment the front of the house, since the curtains would be visible from outside. Someday in the near future (fingers crossed) we'll paint our terribly ugly, forest green front door. You can sort of make out the ugliness here, but I need to take an updated picture of the front of the house. We have new(ish) house numbers, a black mailbox, new light fixture and now, new curtains! Here they are from the inside:

My third and latest project was a birthday present for Dorinda, Brian's mom. I wanted to do something personal and special, so what better way than to sew something? I know Dorinda likes to go out on the town with her girlfriends, so I decided on a handbag... plus, I had the perfect pattern in my new sewing book (highly recommended!). One night of sewing produced this cute little bag:

I'm still dreaming about my next project, but I haven't settled on anything yet. Suggestions?

Grady Friday, #4

2008-03-07T19:29:00.001-05:00

Grady's been pretty upset with me for portraying him on Fridays in such a negative light. He'd like me to point out at least one redeeming quality so you don't get the impression that we're all living in misery over here.

When we first adopted Grady, I was told to buy some scratching pads, sprinkle catnip on them and encourage the cat to scratch the cardboard - not the couch. I did as I was told and, though he loved the catnip, he never really showed too much interest in the scratching pad. The only thing he showed interest in scratching were our small area rugs and those only occasionally (and at 5:00 a.m.). So the cardboard just sat there. I'd put catnip on it once in a while, Grady would lick it up and then curl up and sleep on the scratching pad.

One day a couple weeks ago, I felt like playing with the little guy. I got down on the floor and pet him, talked to him, knocked around his little toy. Then, started scratching my fingernails on the cardboard. To my delight, Grady caught on and started scratching right along with me! It was the cutest thing ever and since then, whenever I scratch the pad, Grady joins me.

Don't let my previous posts fool you. He really is a great cat and we have such a good time scratching cardboard together.

Spring is coming!

2008-03-04T14:15:00.001-05:00

Over the past year, I've become very aware of how the seasons and weather change my mood and personality. The gorgeous weather the last couple days has made me so happy and has filled me with ideas of what I want to do this spring. (Becoming more physically active is a priority, so I'm writing it here to make myself accountable.)

The backyard is at the top of the list, because at the moment it's just an empty slab of fenced-in concrete. Brian and I both love plants, but neither of us are gardeners, which makes our vision of a backyard jungle kind of hard to attain. We try. We've failed in the past, but this year - this year is going to be the Summer of Green. I can feel it.

I'm thinking about building planter boxes along the sides of the patio. The problem is that I have no idea what I'm doing. I've been researching online and I plan to ask a professional at the nursery for advice, but any tips you could give me would be much appreciated! Should I use wood? What kind? Line the box with plastic? Fill entirely with dirt or insert shallow pans of dirt on top? Maybe stone would be better? Can the dirt sit directly on the concrete? What about trees? I'd really like a tree, but it can't get too tall or have roots too deep, because it probably has to live in a pot forever.

Part of me wants to do it exactly right so it will actually work. But the happy, springtime version of me just wants to go to the lumber yard, buy some wood, and get building! So there will be plants and flowers!

I'll let you know what happens.

Grady Friday, #3

2008-02-29T16:26:00.002-05:00

Last week, I touched upon Grady's schizophrenic tendency to play with his hallucinations. But I suppose his condition would better be described as multiple personality disorder. Grady has at least two identities that control his behavior, I'll name them Professor Grady and Mr. Hyde.

Professor Grady is kind, gentle, and smart. He wears tweed coats with leather elbow patches and smokes a pipe while having in-depth discussions about the meaning of life. He's pretty mellow and likes the company of good friends. Especially human friends who scratch behind his ears and give him treats.

Mr. Hyde, unfortunately, is a holy terror. He's paranoid, angry, and abusive. He wears a black hooded cloak and eye liner and runs through the streets at 3 AM screaming obscenities. He hates people, yet instead of removing himself from social situations, he seeks people out only to hurt them. He especially likes scratching and biting.

Very early Tuesday morning, Mr. Hyde was on the prowl. My alarm had gone off at least twice and I was still in bed trying ignore the day. Laying under my warm comforter, I heard the sounds of tiny feet on their way up the stairs, and as usual, I got excited. It's a special treat to have Grady in the bed and he looks so cute when he's curled up and cuddly.

If my life were a movie, the pitter pattering of Grady's feet would have been heard over a background of scary violin music foreshadowing what was about to happen.

It was actually Mr. Hyde who jumped onto the bed. When I reached out to pat his little head, he let me know it was him by swatting at me with his claws, so I backed off. Except the only way to "back off" while in bed was to put my arm down. Apparently that was not far enough away for Hyde's liking. His eyes got huge, his ears perked up, and all of a sudden he lunged forward and sunk his teeth into my triceps. I screamed in pain and pushed him away, but he was persistent and tried attacking me again. He finally jumped off the bed and ran away while I sat there cursing him and holding my bleeding arm.

I wish there was an easier way to identify which personality Grady is controlled by at any given moment. Right now, I've only been learning by scratches and bites.

Grady Friday, #2

2008-02-22T16:03:00.002-05:00

One night before we fell asleep, Brian and I alarmingly said to each other, "What is that noise??"

It was kind of scratchy sounding, a little bit creaky too. Something was happening on the stairs and we could hear the floor squeaking.

"Did you set the alarm?," I whispered.

"I think so."

"Well, what is that?"

I got up to investigate and found Grady attacking invisible mice on the stairs. He would pounce on something in the corner and then follow it as it climbed up and then down a few steps. He batted the mice around with his paws a few times. And just as quickly as it started, he lost interest and pranced down to sleep on the couch.

I'm not sure if you caught what you just read. I said that Grady was attacking INVISIBLE MICE. Our house was built in 1920 and, even though we don't have mice at the moment (I'm knocking on wood), I'm sure that at some point in our home's history, there were tiny little mice that scurried up and down our stairs. And at some point, they died. And they left their little mouse ghosts behind to torment our cat.

Maybe we should get an exorcist.

Visit to the BMI

2008-02-19T09:51:00.004-05:00

Brian hasn't taken a sick day in the 3+ years he's been working at his company, so when he stayed home from work on Thursday and Friday, I knew he was really feeling bad. I prepared myself for a weekend of caregiving and occupying myself while he slept away his virus.

The virus was bad and it was a snot-filled weekend, but not as bad as I thought. Thankfully by Sunday, Brian was feeling much better, but cabin fever had set in. He was still weak and incapable of making decisions, so I jumped at the opportunity to suggest the Baltimore Museum of Industry... somewhere I've been wanting to visit for quite a while.

I was an art major in college, so by default I spent a lot of time at art museums. I loved (and still absolutely LOVE) looking at original works of art. What I didn't love was the stuffiness of most of the museums I visited. Even - or should I say especially - the modern art galleries. Walking around, I'd overhear pretentious idiots having deep conversations about transcendence versus nothingness or some other bs argument. At one point in my academic career, I really admired those who could pull off a conversation like that. Now, I think it's all ridiculous. I understand and appreciate that art has had a GINORMOUS impact on society throughout history, but I just hate all the speculation. What was the artist thinking? What was he feeling? Do you sense the angst in his work? BLAH. I'm much more interested in how a piece was executed and what materials were used.

Which is perhaps why I LOVED the BMI. I got to see how and why things were made... all factual, no speculation. It's all about the history of industry in Baltimore... The kind of history people still have stories about. What was made here, what was imported to and exported from our ports, how some of the products were produced, and where they were manufactured. Many of those industrial warehouses are still standing, although most of them have been repurposed. At the end of our visit, Brian bought a book that labels on a map where these factories and warehouses are in the city. We're pretty excited for our next urban adventure in search of the umbrella factory.

Grady Friday, #1

2008-02-15T15:14:00.001-05:00

In an effort to post more regularly, I've decided to start Grady Fridays where I will share an anecdote about our cat. OH, I KNOW YOU'RE EXCITED!

Seeing as how this was a very spontaneous decision, I won't have a photo to go along with my post this week, but hopefully that will be a regular thing as well.

Since Grady was adopted, he's turned into a complete 100% indoor cat - after being a complete 100% outdoor cat. So at some point, Brian and I thought he might enjoy a little field trip out to the back patio. On a nice fall day, we escorted him cautiously outside, half expecting him to take off at top speed and jump over our 6 foot tall fences, even though that's not really his style. He stayed in character and slowly explored the perimeter of the patio, sniffing the ground where the rats have been. We got bored, opened the back door to the kitchen, called to Grady who immediately came running inside. It was a short and sweet trip with no glitches.

Every now and then, when one of went outside to check out the patio or take the trash out, we extended the offer to Grady to join us. He seemed to really like it and it made me feel better about keeping him cooped up inside all day.

Now, after about 2 months of occasionally letting him outside, Grady sits by the back door, staring up at the knob, hoping it will magically open up to let him into his beloved Baltimore wilderness. It's getting annoying.

On one particularly cold and windy day last week, we decided we might try to get him to change his mind about the great outdoors. Grady is NOT a fan of moving air... the wind, breezes, a fan, or his crazy owners blowing in his face. When I do that, his neck disappears and his head squishes back into his body. It's hilarious, really. So on the windiest night, when we opened the door and got him outside, he was fine until a strong gust of wind came and he hunched down so low that he practically vanished into the sidewalk. It was awesome and we thought for sure that he'd learned his lesson.

Oh no... not at all. He seems to know how this weather thing works. It's not always cold and windy and dammit! He wants to GO OUTSIDE! He is now reaching up with his front paws and trying to teach himself how to unlock the dead bolt. Pretty soon, he'll have mastered our alarm system.

Nothing goes quite as expected, Part 2

2008-02-06T21:17:00.001-05:00

Posed
Originally uploaded by Cindezio

Eventually, we'll change all the light fixtures in our house. This time, we're in the kitchen replacing the lovely pink ceiling fixture with a 5-bulb halogen fixture. We chose the new one because we could aim the individual bulbs onto the counters that we use the most and because the shape of the light accents the length of our first floor.

Of course, nothing is as easy as we expect it to be and we had to take an emergency trip to Home Depot about halfway through the project. I was trying not to get too involved, but apparently it's kind of difficult to line up the bar of lights in the direction you really want it. There was some sort of swivel system that came in the box of hardware, but it wasn't fitting correctly into the ceiling bracket with the pieces they gave us. Brian ended up getting screws and nuts that actually worked and he put that sucker in the ceiling. When all was said and done, we discovered that the hole in the ceiling was larger than the metal plate of the light fixture. Such is life.

Our New Ceiling Fan

2008-01-11T16:02:00.001-05:00

Our New Ceiling Fan
Originally uploaded by Cindezio

Voila.

Nothing goes quite as expected, Part 1 (of MANY)

2008-01-11T15:49:00.000-05:00

On December 14, Brian took a day off to use up some vacation time and decided to get some work done around the house. He discovered a burned-out light bulb in our bedroom fixture and decided to make a trip to Home Depot to replace it, along with getting a few other things. In an attempt to buy the correct replacement, he dismantled the fixture and unscrewed the bulb... Well, tried unscrewing the bulb, which pulled away from its metal thread cap. He then tried using needle nosed pliers to get the metal cap out of the socket... but not before switching off the circuit labeled "master bedroom" which - oops! - was actually the power for the entire house. So struggling in the dark, balanced on the edge of the bed, he grew increasingly frustrated when the damn cap would not come out. Picture lots of fumbling and angry cursing.

When I came home from work, he sheepishly told me that he ended up ripping down the entire fixture from the ceiling. That's fine, I thought... we planned on replacing it anyway. We had bedside lamps we could use in the meantime. No worries. The hole in ceiling with wires poking out wasn't a big deal.

Of course, we didn't have time to replace it until after Christmas. While Brian's parents were in town, his dad kindly installed a brace to support a ceiling fan, which ended up making the hole in the ceiling just a little bigger. They also picked out and bought a ceiling fan together at Lowes, which sat in a box on our floor until January 2.

After work last Wednesday, Brian spent some time assembling the fan and wiring the remote control sensor into it. Then came the fun part. The part where I stood on my tip toes on the wobbly edge of the bed with a 15 pound fan lifted over my head while Brian stood on the ladder and wired it up. Picture more fumbling and angry cursing, but we got it up there. We flipped the switch and the light came on, but not the fan. Shit.

We had to trouble shoot... I got our step stool from the kitchen, which provided a more solid surface, but still had to stand on my tip toes while holding the fan directly over my head. I held fan, Brian unscrewed fan from base, checked all connections between ceiling and sensor, between sensor and fan. Screwed fan back in, I let go. Tried switch, light still worked, fan did not.

I held fan, Brian unscrewed fan from base, removed potentially faulty remote sensor, I cursed, he screwed fan back in, I let go. Tried switch, light still worked, fan did not.

We decided it must be a problem with the motor. Started taking fan apart. Removed piece that connects light fixture to fan. Discovered wires aren't connected between fan and pull chain that turns on fan. Duh. Tried switch, light still worked, fan works too! But now there's no remote.

I held fan, Brian unscrewed fan from base, re-installed remote sensor, I cursed, he screwed fan back in, I let go. Everything works!

Except my spaghetti arms. It was quite an exercise in patience, teamwork, and yogic breathing.

The Obligatory 2007 Recap:

2007-12-31T15:45:00.000-05:00

Moved in with Brian!
Visited my extended family in Michigan.
Went to 2 weddings, missed one :(
Camped a few times.
Visited Charleston for the first time.
Saw my first Clemson football game in their stadium.
Went to a Maryland football game and got a high-five from Brian when the Terps scored!
Saw a few great concerts (The Shins, The Decemberists, Wilco, Dr. Dog, Delta Spirit).
Hosted parties, dinners, gatherings at our house.
Played softball and broomball.
Adopted a cat.
Got a sewing machine and lots of kitchen gadgetry for Christmas!

Looks like 2008 will be a year full of homemade clothes and new recipes! Here's hoping for the best.

Happy New Year!

Merry!

2007-12-27T15:53:00.000-05:00

I feel like the luckiest girl. I'm so grateful for my wonderful family, my amazing boyfriend, his family, our friends. It's been a great Christmas season full of warmth and love. I hope you all enjoyed your holiday as much as I did.

Oh yeah... Grady says hi!

I do not want a vacuum for Christmas, thank you.

2007-12-19T16:38:00.000-05:00

When Brian and I moved into this house together, I decided to buy a cheap vacuum for the hardwood floors. Brian has a heavier duty model, but it pretty much died last Christmas when he was cleaning up needles from the tree in my apartment (we went with short needles this year).

So the vacuum that I bought sucks! No wait - it doesn't suck? Whatever - it's terrible. And my brand of lazy tells me it's easier to use a broom -and then- a Swiffer, than to lug the sucker (ha!) up from the basement.

When Grady moved in and we discovered that he's not the most delicate litter box user, we went out and bought a $40 Dustbuster to enable us easy clean up of the litter spewed around the box. I had my doubts, but it works wonderfully. So wonderfully in fact, that once I start vacuuming the litter, I cannot. stop. myself.

Last night, in an effort to make the house more presentable for the arrival of Brian's parents next week, I vacuumed the entire house with the Dustbuster. I really wish those things came with longer handles.

Not much has changed

2007-12-06T16:41:00.000-05:00

I've continued adding to our Christmas decor... it's a compulsion. I must buy some new holiday tchotchke everywhere I go. Nothing matches because I didn't have a plan going into it. I've ended up with a crazy hodgepodge of random frippery (I just found that word and dammit, I like it).

The neighborhood has not yet caught on to my enthusiasm. They probably all get together and wonder about me. Maybe there's an unspoken no-lights agreement on my block that I'm violating. At least my next-door neighbors will stand by me with their happy little tree.

Next year, I'm stringing lights up that post and maybe even into the branches of that tree.

2007-11-26T10:16:00.000-05:00

Every year it starts earlier and earlier... and every year people are shocked and upset at the gall of retailers to put up Christmas decorations before THANKSGIVING! And, in some cases, before HALLOWEEN! Usually, I'm in the same boat - "Can't we just celebrate one holiday at a time? Can't we at least have Thanksgiving??" But for some reason this year, I was giddy at the first candy cane I saw... back in October. Instead of rolling my eyes at the giant display of Christmas trees, I hopped up and down and clapped my hands. Christmas is coming! Christmas is coming!

I think it probably has something to do with this house I'm living in. I feel a sense of permanence here that I haven't had for quite a few years... since high school, probably. This is my house... my home. It's a great feeling to know that my lease isn't going to end anytime soon and I can settle in here. Which means I can buy Christmas decorations specifically for this house and just store them in the basement until next year. This year, I'll create the first of many boxes of decorations that I'll bring out annually... maybe someday I'll be telling my kids about the ornament that I bought this year.

So, yeah... a month ago, I bought holiday towels and a holiday rug. So what? They were on sale. And I waited patiently until the day after Thanksgiving to display any of my Christmas paraphernalia. On Saturday, Brian and I put up a single string of colored lights on the front of the house. After they were hung, I was so proud! Our house is so festive! This will be the best Christmas ever!

I think all of my anticipation has set me up for disappointment, though... As darkness fell and we switched on those lights, I looked up and down the street. Ours is the only house that's decorated so far... and the lonely string of lights just looks sad. But you wait and see, Neighborhood... I'll show you what I'm made of. I'm made of HOLIDAY CHEER, that's what. If I have to buy a string of lights for every house, so help me God, our street will look FESTIVE.

2007-11-20T16:01:00.001-05:00

I guess I just have to chalk it up to adjusting to his new surroundings, but Grady is bizarre. Proof:

One. That bed pictured above that he once so clearly loved? He hasn't touched it since that picture was taken. The old scrap of carpeting in the basement that we saved from our renovation? He LOVES it and we always know he'll be sitting on his carpet throne whenever we're looking for him. Is this the equivalent of a kid playing with the box that the toy came in? I call it weird. Did you see that bed? It's FLEECE for crying out loud. C'mon.

Two. He purrs SO loudly when I pet him, so I pet and pet and he purrs and purrs. He's such a happy kitty until SNAP! He turns and scratches me for NO APPARENT REASON. I don't move into the No Man's Land of his belly or anything, I just continue to pet the same area when he suddenly decides he does not want. After multiple wounds on both Brian and myself, we took him back to the vet to get his incredibly long and sharp claws clipped by hardened professionals.

Three. He does not play. Oh he sees that bunch of feathers attached to that stick that you're holding. He just does not care. It is a bunch of feathers. He seems semi-interested in the laser pointer, but it's too much effort to stay focused on it. Yet, when I thought it was okay to knit with Grady next to me on the couch... you know, since he's not interested in playing? He suddenly reverted back to his kitten youth and pounced on the yarn in my lap.

Four. We've been giving Grady full reign of the basement while we're away during the day mainly because we have motion detectors that we'd like to keep armed, but also to limit the possible havoc he could wreak in the rest of the house. In the evenings, he's more than happy to come upstairs, eat his dinner and then hang out on the couch with us. But on Sunday? When Brian and I were both hungover watching football all day in our pj's and looking to cuddle with a furry cat? He wanted NOTHING to do with us. Even after giving him TREATS on the COUCH.

Despite his weirdness, Grady is an awesome cat. Brian is in South Carolina for the week visiting his parents for Thanksgiving and last night, Grady kept me company in the living room. Not exactly the same caliber of companionship, but I'll take it until Brian returns.

Grady's Visit To The Vet

2007-11-14T12:18:00.000-05:00

My stomach had been in knots all of yesterday, not just thinking about all the health problems Grady could have, but mostly just worrying about physically getting him into his carrier, to the vet, watching blood being drawn, possibly passing out. Thankfully, the process went rather smoothly. The carrier wasn't too much of a problem and although he was very vocal the whole ride, we got him to the vet's office with no problem. The people there are incredibly nice and, as one would hope, great with cats.

Our friends who had been feeding him for about a year suspected that Grady was almost two years old and needed to be neutered. We were shocked to learn from the vet that Grady is closer to ten years old (!) and has already been neutered. The vain little bastard has even had dental work. With his age roughly equivalent to a 58 year old human, his general health is on the decline, but thankfully he tests negative for Feline Leukemia (FeLV) and Feline AIDS (FIV).

We took care of his ear mites (ick), fleas (double ick), and worms (ick ick ick) to provide him with immediate comfort. The vet informed us of some other concerns, but we're going to get some advice from friends (and the blogger community! Help!) before we take action. Expensive action.

The vet thinks that the lens in his cloudy left eye has shifted and is blocking the drainage, causing there to be pressure on the eye, which he says is usually painful. Thinking it might be glaucoma, he tested the pressure of both eyes, but neither were in the very high range. We came home with $16 eye drops which have a steroid in them to reduce the swelling. If turns into glaucoma, we'd have to give him $60/month eye drops and then consider surgery to either fix the lens or remove the eye. Hopefully the drops we have will help... although his eye looks weird, it doesn't really seem to be causing him pain that I can tell. How can you tell a cat is in pain if he doesn't flinch or avoid contact to the eye?

We opted not to get the blood work done to test for a thyroid problem which could be contributing to an abnormal heart beat, or heart murmur. If the $150 tests were positive, it would be about $50/month worth of medication and more blood testing every 3 months... or a $2500 (Ha!) dialysis (or some such - I tuned out after the price) that would supposedly help the problem.

If the bloodwork shows that the heart murmur isn't related to a thyroid problem, they'd do a $300 echocardiogram, which would probably result in more medication if they found a problem.

As it was, we walked out of there $280 poorer with all the vaccinations and medications. The way Brian and I see things, we took Grady indoors into a warm, safe, clean environment where he will get fed and cuddled regularly, so he's better off than he was a week ago. If we see down the road that the cat is uncomfortable or sick, we'll try our best to treat him in order to maintain a certain comfort level. We don't really know what our options are, though. The vet made it sound like we either spend all this money on treatment now or not adopt him. Which means we'd either put him back out on the street or take him to a shelter where he'd probably be euthanized. We're thinking, what if we keep him at home, but don't treat him? Would that be terrible? Would Grady be suffering? This is our dilemma...

Grady is home!

2007-11-12T11:24:00.000-05:00

The rescue mission went very smoothly. Our friends knew we were coming at 10 to pick Grady up, so they fed him shortly before our arrival so that he'd be nearby and ready to go. They scooped him up and, with little effort, dropped him into our cat carrier for Brian to load into the car. Grady was very vocal during the car ride and clearly didn't like being trapped. His meows are more like baby wails - guttural cries to signal danger... I'm hoping his voice might soften after being indoors for a while.

Upon opening the cat carrier in the living room, Grady cautiously explored his new home. He hid under the couch for a bit, but I coaxed him out with treats. I picked him up and placed him in his litter box, but he wasn't having any of it. After a few more minutes of acclimating to his surroundings, we showed him his scratching pad sprinkled with cat nip. He loved it... rolled around on it, licked it, and then tried to squat and pee on it. I snatched him up and plopped him down in the litter box and he used it! Yay! Later on, he went #1 and 2 in the basement litter box, completely on his own. So yay, he's house trained! That was easy.

We let him explore the house on his own for a little while... He liked our nook on the second floor the best and every time I would creep upstairs to check on him, he'd be laying on the bathroom rug. He found one of the few scraps of soft flooring that we have and he claimed it as his own. Then it dawned on me to show him the cat bed that we bought for him, duh. Of course, he snuggled right into it.

Grady is a great sleeper. Almost too great. In fact, Brian and I are a little worried that he might have some of thyroid disfunction causing him to be lethargic... he's got a couple other symptoms that are of concern, as well. So, in addition to his SPCA appointment to get neutered and vaccinated, I made an appointment at our local vet's office for tomorrow evening. He will likely have his ears cleaned out, get de-wormed, and be given anti-flea medication. Hopefully a little TLC will be all Grady needs to be healthy and happy!

Introducing, Grady:

The News!

2007-11-09T16:18:00.000-05:00

So... That news I was going to announce next week? Yeah... I can't wait any longer. It's no secret anymore... Are you ready?

Brian and I are adding another member to Wagner's House! Yippee!

Yes, we have plans to adopt a cute, cuddly cat. (What? Were you thinking something else? Tsk tsk...)

On Halloween night, while visiting our friends in their garage*, we met Grady and (I) fell in love. He's the friendliest cat ever! And cute. Our friends made him a bed out of a cardboard box lined with hay so that he'd be warm at night and they've been feeding him daily for almost a year. They've built a relationship with the cat and say that he'd be a great addition to any family... they would probably have taken him inside already had it not been for their other three house cats.

I grew up with cats and love them, but it's been about 10 years since I've lived with one. Brian had a dog when he was a kid, but it died when he was (I think) still quite young, probably 20 years ago. He's not exactly a "cat person," but I (maybe mistakenly) just interpret that to mean he's never had experience with cats. It's no big deal, I say. Ha ha!

We had been discussing the adoption of a rescue cat for a few weeks. Brian is graciously open to the idea, although he does admit that it would never had crossed his mind had it not been for me. See how much he loves me? He's willing to torture himself... what? NO! Not torture... he's opening his heart and home to a lovable kitty. There will be much cuddling and laser-pointer chasing. It will be fantastic. Will. Be. Fantastic. (I promise!)

After even more discussion when we met Grady, ~~Brian caved~~ Brian and I decided together that we should take him home with us. We went to PetSmart this week and I emptied my wallet buying a bed, litter box, carrier, food, brush, toys, etc. Last night, we set everything up for the little guy to feel at home. The plan is to pick him up tomorrow morning!

Of course I have an appointment set up for his vaccinations and neutering (poor lil' guy!), but since I went through the SPCA and their spots fill up fast, the appointment isn't until November 21. Meanwhile, I'll brush him and clean the city grime from his fur, teach him about litter boxes, and feed him some delicious flavors of Friskies. (Seriously - Country Style Dinner, Shredded Turkey and Cheese? These sound tasty.)

I can't wait to show Grady his new home... and take lots of pictures and make LOLCats! Yay!

*Our friends own a ~4 car garage behind their house. The inside is decorated with all sorts of English/beer/sports car/Baltimore paraphernalia, including a Jaguar dashboard on the wall with actual beer taps attached. Behind the wall is an industrial sized refrigerator with room for 3 kegs, at least one of which is always active. It's a place for neighbors to gather and socialize, and a place for cats to keep warm behind fridges. We love our friends and their garage.

2007-11-07T10:07:00.000-05:00

I have some exciting news from the Wagner household... but the announcement will have to wait until next week.

Until then, I leave you with this funny little video:

... dedicated to those cat-lovers I met at the Blogger Happy Hour!

Someone's having a birthday!

2007-10-30T16:02:00.001-04:00

Someone's having a birthday!
Originally uploaded by Cindezio

Happy Birthday, Brian!

2007-10-29T15:42:00.000-04:00

I love the idea of traditions... the more outrageous and silly, the better. Having been together now for just over a year (17 months to be exact), Brian and I are starting to repeat some of the activities we did last year... thereby starting our own traditions.

Typically every fall, I get nostalgic and emotional... in a good way. Happy to have such great childhood memories of the exciting fall season. The crisp weather, the falling leaves, the smell of bonfires, the taste of apple cider. I love fall.

Last year was my first autumn in the city, so I felt the need to drive out to the country, see some farms and turning leaves. I used to go to a pumpkin patch as a kid and I loved that whole experience, so I researched farms in the area and decided to take Brian to the best looking Google result. We were willing to make the hour long drive because the website made the place look AWESOME.

One crisp Sunday morning, we ate granola bars and hit the road. Little did we know we should have packed food for the day... the trip ended up being slightly longer than expected. After a wrong turn or four (and the bickering that goes along with getting lost), we finally arrived at the farm, starving and cranky. What was intended to be an idyllic country pumpkin patch ended up being a carnival filled with screaming children. We couldn't even walk from our car to the hay ride without tripping over 17,000 kids along the way. Somewhere amongst all the chaos, standing waist deep in whiny brats, Brian and I locked angry eyes and, without a word, headed back for the car. We ended up at the farm's affiliated home-cookin' restaurant down the street. After a semi-delicious meal, we considered returning to the patch to hunt for pumpkins, but anticlimactically just bought 2 from the lobby of the restaurant and called it a day. "Maybe next year," we sighed.

Come September of this year and all I could talk about was my pumpkin patch. I promised to take Brian to the one I used to visit. It's small and certainly no carnival. Come to think if it, the hay ride is quite pathetic. But it's my pumpkin patch - I know it and love it, so there.

We hopped in my car, grabbed some bagels with cream cheese from Lenny's Deli ("grabbed" can be debated, but that's another story), and headed to my home town. Since we had to drive through Davidsonville to get to the farm, I decided to swing by the two houses I grew up in, although in Davidsonville, "swinging by" is more like a 30 minute detour. But the houses were neat to look at and it felt good to be back on those roads I used to be so familiar with as a kid.

I finally made it back out onto the main drag and headed towards the pumpkin patch, until... we hit a road block. They closed the tiny little bridge that crosses the Patuxent and it wouldn't be such a big deal except that the fastest detour that I knew of was going to be at least another 30 minutes of driving. By this time, we had been in the car for almost two hours and I was just ready to get pumpkins, already. Brian urged me to take the long way and get us to this place that I would not shut up about, but seeing as though we were going to pass at least two other farms on this detour, I couldn't justify driving any more than I already had.

We stopped at Doepkens' Farm, where there's a different mosaic made out of mums every year. I bought a beautiful bouquet of fresh flowers. Then we trekked across the street to an official Pumpkin Patch, trudged around the fields, kicked a couple gourds, then finally decided to just buy two tiny pumpkins from their big bin to display in our front window.

So, yet another anticlimactic ending to our autumn adventure. I smell a tradition...

2007-10-18T10:08:00.000-04:00

In a recent episode of The Office (You don't watch it? You should.), Michael and Dwight decided they'd win back more customers by hand-delivering gift baskets than if they used Dunder Mifflin's new online ordering system. As we do during every episode, Brian and I laughed and laughed.

Last night, the doorbell rang. Brian and I both did our typical doorbell pause-and-stare, running through the hundreds of possible scenarios. Kids asking for school donations, cops asking about our neighbors, a friend stopping by for a beer, flower delivery (ha!), solicitors of the Baltimore Sun requesting our subscription... the list goes on. He was closer to the door, so thankfully he answered.

Brian was greeted by a woman handing him - guess what - a gift basket! She said something along the lines of "Looks like they really want you back as a customer!"

At that point, I broke into giggles thinking about Michael Scott and I have no idea how Brian could keep a straight face as this woman spoke to him. She was representing the Nielsen Company and was pressuring Brian to once again become a Nielsen household.

In his last residence, he signed up for the rating system and got the equipment attached to his television. When he moved, it was a huge hassle to schedule an appointment to remove the equipment. They left multiple notes left on his door (Hi! We've been trying to contact you! Please call...) until eventually, the representative was forced to wait outside the house in his car until Brian came home. It was pretty scary to have someone jump out of his car yelling "Mr. Wagner" just as we were unlocking the front door, albeit the guy was about 4'9" and had a pocket protector. In any case, the whole experience left a bad taste in our mouths.

Currently, we have a land-line phone in the kitchen that we never use - I don't even know the number. But guess who knows it! The Nielsen Company! They're good. They call a lot. If I happen to answer, I'm rude and say I don't have time for this!, hang up, and then promptly return to my important activity of staring into the refrigerator. If Brian answers he's nice, he takes the survey, he helps to keep quality programming on our television networks. Like The Office.

So when this lady arrived at our door, he took the time to listen to her spiel. He gave her feedback regarding his previous quality of service with the company. Despite trying to reject the gift basket, he said he wasn't completely against the idea of reenlisting with Nielsen. He used me as an excuse, said he had to check with me before making any decisions and like magic, she left.

We're still in discussion about it... whereas, I'm not against the company tracking my television habits, I'm skeptical of the inconvenience the equipment might cause. We'd have to schedule installation appointments and probably answer more phone calls and take more surveys... and quite honestly, I'm just too busy watching TV to be bothered.

She insisted that we keep the gift basket regardless of our decision, but I'm afraid to open it for fear of her returning to demand the macaroons.

2007-09-27T15:48:00.000-04:00

Fortunately, we haven't had any more ADT emergencies. The false alarm must have either been the curtains blowing or the basement door swinging shut when our AC was scheduled to turn on around 5 pm. Also of fortune? No signs of indoor rodents... or birds.

In an effort to prevent any future real ADT activity and also to befriend our neighbors, Brian and I have been participating in a weekly Citizens On Patrol (COP) walk. Last night, we joined several others and their dogs in our regular schlep around the neighborhood.

Although Brian and I are very happy with our house, our block and our neighbors, it must be said that we live in an area where crime is a concern. Hence, the alarm system. We both try to be as smart as possible regarding our personal safety: we don't walk alone at night, we don't leave anything visible in our cars, we always keep all doors and windows locked, we don't invite prostitutes or drug dealers over for drinks... well, except for that one time. Nevertheless, there have been break-ins and other crime reported in our neighborhood, each of which highly unnerves the members of our neighborhood association who then snap into action.

The weekly COP walk is one way we can proclaim our presence in the community and hopefully impede criminals. Sometimes accompanied by an actual cop, we take a friendly saunter up and down each street within the official borders of our neighborhood. Last night, there must have been at least 15 dogs, each with its owner(s), plus the rest of us dog-less folk. It looked like an SPCA parade. Next week, I'm bringing candy to toss to all the kids who run out of their house in awe of our fuzzy friends.

The row houses in Baltimore are absolutely amazing and the COP walk also gives me an excuse to closely inspect brick-work, house numbers, light fixtures, and landscaping with the occasional peek into an uncurtained window. Afterward, Brian and I join the rest of the group for a drink at our corner restaurant, where we practice small talking. Not surprisingly, we've made a few friends... I think it's because we always seem to mention Brian's home-brewing hobby. Someday, we'll actually have people over to the house so they believe us.

Or maybe a bird...

2007-09-05T16:53:00.000-04:00

Yesterday while driving home from work, I was catching up with my dad on the phone. I had just left a message for Brian telling him I was on my way home, so when his call buzzed in, I ignored it figuring he'd just be telling me that he'd see me at home. The third time that Brian buzzed in, I finally got the hint and put my dad on hold.

Brian was in panic mode which, as it turns out, is pretty contagious.

"ARE YOU AT HOME??"

"No. I'm on my way. Why?"

"THE ADT PEOPLE CALLED AND OUR ALARM IS GOING OFF! SHOULD I TELL THEM TO SEND THE COPS???"

"Uhhh... OHMYGOD!"

We decided, yes, we should probably send the cops. I quickly realized that I was ahead of Brian on our respective commutes and would thus beat him to our potentially burglarized home. I also quickly freaked out.

Meanwhile, my father was waiting for me on the other line. I pulled myself together enough to strategically explain the situation to him and promptly brush it off, "Eh, it was probably just something that fell off the counter... No big deal. I'll just talk to the cops when I get home... it's nothing."

Talk to the COPS? When I get home? No big DEAL? I was more than a little nervous.

I pulled onto our street half expecting there to be a SWAT team blockading our house... There wasn't. There was no one. No cops. No sketchy dudes in a white van hauling off our t.v. No neighbors. No one.

I sat in the car, phone in hand, 9-1-1 fingers READY, and waited for about 5 minutes until Brian got home. He was brave and walked around to the alley to see if there was anything suspicious. There wasn't. He carefully unlocked the front door to see if there was anyone inside. There wasn't. Searched the house. Nothing.

After talking a few deep breaths and waiting (and waiting and waiting) for the cops to arrive, we reasoned that it must have been our kitchen curtains (yeah, these cute ones!) that were blowing from the air conditioner enough to set off the motion detector. Or a rat... but I'm really hoping it's not a rat.

Home Alone

2007-08-18T12:52:00.000-04:00

Brian is on a plane home from Utah right now... he's been gone since Sunday so I've had full reign of the house. I'm posting this message while taking a break from frantically cleaning up my mess...

While I did have a good, full week, I sure missed him. Being home alone is fun for a little bit, but I feel better with Brian's company.

It seems like a distant memory at this point, but I've finally gotten around to posting my vacation pictures. On July 27th, Brian and I drove down to his parents' house just south of Charlotte. We stayed with them for 3 nights and then drove to Charleston - Brian's favorite place. He got to show me around as we filled our days with touristy activities. It was a great trip and I can't wait to go back.

We stayed in Charleston until Friday when we drove back to his parents house. Friday night we met up with some of his high school friends for their pre-reunion reunion at a local bar. Saturday night was his 10 year high school reunion at the Home Run Cafe in Knight's Stadium where the minor league baseball team plays. I'm glad I was able to go and meet his old buddies... and now I'll be able to drag him to mine next year.

Go check out our pictures!

Carnival

2007-07-24T22:48:00.001-04:00

As a precursor to our vacation next week, Brian and I visited the traveling carnival in Locust Point. Flashing lights, kids laughing, the smell of cotton candy. It's just about as good as summer gets.

Baltimore Pride

2007-07-12T16:00:00.000-04:00

Brian's cousin Monica is in town for a conference this week and we had the distinct pleasure of taking her and her friend out last night.

My favorite part of the evening was after we had finished dinner at Kooper's Tavern. The four of us walked over to Bertha's where some nice gentlemen offered us their barstools. A fun Dixieland Jazz band was playing as we enjoyed our drinks and talked into the night.

New Couch

2007-06-25T14:21:00.001-04:00

New Couch,
originally uploaded by Cindezio.

After 11 weeks of waiting, our new couch was finally delivered last week. We should have had plenty of time to make arrangements for the old couch, but we still didn't know exactly what to do with it when the new one came in. Ideally, we'd pass it on to a friend in need, but no one was in need... I couldn't bear to take it to the dump considering it was in perfectly good condition. So I took pictures and posted the couch on Craigslist - free to a good home. After some slight communication errors, a college kid finally came by and picked it up. It was a slightly sad moment for Brian, but at least those kids will get some more life out of the couch.

The new couch is great... we need to break it in, but I have full confidence that Brian and I are up to the task.

The ottoman, however, wobbles like a cheap restaurant table. Unfortunately, I don't think a sugar packet will help us. We went back to the store where Brian insisted on getting a replacement. After some negotiating, he was able to keep the wobbly ottoman while the new ottoman is custom made and delivered. Probably another 3 months. But for the amount of money he spent on this furniture, it had better be perfect! We're willing to wait.

A Housewarming Gift

2007-06-21T09:40:00.000-04:00

Brian and I had our housewarming party on June 2 and stated specifically in the invitation "No Gifts, Please!" Despite the instructions, just about everyone brought us a bottle of wine, so we now have one awesome wine collection consisting of over 20 bottles. We also received a lovely orchid that I will try my best to keep alive.

On Tuesday, I took a long lunch break in order to be at home for our couch delivery (We got it! Pictures to follow). When I got home, there was a package in the mailbox hand-addressed to Brian and me from a name I didn't recognize. I waited for him to get home that night and we opened it to find an Edgar Allan Poe anthology from a long time family friend of the Wagners. A very appropriate and thoughtful gift for a Baltimore row house!

The generosity of our friends and family is astounding... we know some great people and our house is filled with reminders! Thank you, everyone!

Color

2007-05-31T23:11:00.000-04:00

For months - ever since Brian decided to buy the place - we've talked about painting. Changing the color of the living room, kitchen, bathrooms, etc... It took a while but we finally decided on a color for the living room. A nice blueish-gray.... Stone Fence.

Paint the living room. Sounds easy enough. Especially for a 3-day weekend. Well, we set aside Sunday for painting... I'll admit that we slept in and didn't really get started until 12:00. But seriously? It took ALL day! We wanted to join some friends at a BBQ, but by the time we finished with the first coat and then ate dinner, we were too exhausted.

The hardest part of painting is the prep work - all that taping. Every edge. And then - after it was all over and we started peeling up the tape - stupid blue paint leaked through the tape and onto every piece of white molding. Poor Brian spent the entire next evening touching up the baseboards... I was at a yoga class. Lucky, lucky me!

Take a look at our new living room. Hopefully, our new couch will be arriving soon. Very, very soon!

I made curtains!

2007-05-30T14:52:00.001-04:00

Finished Curtains!,
originally uploaded by Cindezio.

One night, a couple weeks ago, Brian went out for the evening and I was feeling productive. So I decided to make some little curtains for the kitchen windows.

At first, I thought I'd find cute vintage tea towels that I could hang, but I didn't have much luck and I was running out of patience. I headed to JoAnn and found some festive fabric. It's very likely that these curtains will be temporary due to their almost blinding bright colors, but they were fun and easy to make... maybe I'll do it again when I find the perfect tea towels.

Click on the image to see more - and step by step instructions.

Also, you'll see pictures of our living room paint samples... more about that soon!

Visitors!

2007-05-17T17:07:00.000-04:00

Last Thursday, Brian's parents drove up from South Carolina and stayed with us for the weekend (Hi, Dorinda and Paul!). They were our first house guests and motivated Brian and I to really get things ready for guests. Although, I was probably a little more motivated...

We hung pictures, cleaned bathrooms, straightened up clutter, and even got new bookcases so Brian could display his extensive collection of CDs... I mean books.

I got up bright and early as usual on Friday morning and snuck off to work... when I returned home, there was a ceiling fan in the living room! With a remote control! The Wagner family had spent the morning at Lowes choosing the perfect fan and then installed it in the afternoon. By the time I got home, there wasn't even a trace of sawdust or wire scraps to be found.... I felt like I was on a home decorating show and the ceiling fan was my surprise.

They did a fantastic job. It's been less than a week since installment and we've already gotten plenty of use out of it - especially since the weather has been perfect for keeping the windows open!

The rest of the weekend was great - flea market, Cafe Hon, Jon's birthday party, Oatmeal Cookie Shooters (lest we forget), and Mother's Day dinner at my Mom's house.

Who wants to come and be our next house guest?

Now for an episode of Good News, Bad News!

2007-04-17T14:02:00.000-04:00

Good News: We hosted our first dinner party/24 viewing last night.
Bad News: Only half of the usual crowd showed up.

Good News: The oven works! The lasagna was a success!
Bad News: I didn't make dessert.

Good News: We've gotten a lot of odd jobs accomplished - little insignificant things that make life easier.
Bad News: I don't think that list of odd jobs will ever end. Ever.

Good News: The amount of boxes is slowly decreasing.
Bad News: I still have about 3 carloads of stuff in my apartment that need to be moved.

Good News: Brian has purchased a beautiful new couch and kitchen table.
Bad News: They won't be arriving for another 4 weeks.

Good News: The skylight is great
Bad News: There hasn't been any sun

Good News: Our basement is dry - even after all the heavy rain.
Bad News: It's been cold and rainy. Where are you, Spring??

Good News: I've gotten a chance to sit, relax, and appreciate the house.
Bad News: Doing that just makes me feel guilty for not getting things done.

Good News: We're really enjoying living in the new house.
Bad News: There's no bad news... we really love our house!

New Images To See

2007-04-06T13:47:00.001-04:00

Close Up
Originally uploaded by brian_p_wagner.

A very productive Thursday night resulted in a newly painted pantry and beautifully hung curtains. Check out our pictures... uploaded and captioned by Cindy.

Hardwood Revival- In Progress

2007-03-30T11:21:00.000-04:00

Hardwood repairs were made Wednesday... Brian and I are drooling over the 5'x3' repaired section in the guest bedroom and wishing the entire floor looked so good.

I'm excited to see the place after the sanding is finished and some sort of sealant has been applied. Three passes of the sander (happening now! as I type this!) is sure to produce plenty of sawdust, so the fun plan for tonight is to vacuum and dust everything. When you're responsible for a house, I guess every Friday night can't be a party... But we should be able to relax tomorrow night once we move all of Brian's furniture onto the first floor. Celebratory bottle of wine in Little Italy anyone?

The Hardwood, and I'm Not Talking About Hoops

2007-03-19T18:04:00.001-04:00

The Hardwood
Originally uploaded by brian_p_wagner.

What's the best way to spend the first weekend of March Madness and St. Patrick's day? That's right, pulling nasty, dirty, cat hair infested carpet from 500 sq. ft. of the upstairs! Even more exciting, 87 years worth of staples nails and other random debris inserted into the random width pine planks. With the purchase of my very own shop-vac, every single staple from at least 3 generations of floors was sucked- up (technical term for you novices). Most of the boards are in good shape, even if there are a million little holes everywhere. Hopefully that will add to the authentic,"distressed" look.

A 2-foot wide border of paint pretty much covers all of the rooms upstairs, but it should come up with some sanding. Further, a 5 X 3 foot square section of plywood was found in the corner of the guest room. And to add insult to injury, literally, I accidentally kicked the bed leg on Saturday night and broke my little toe again. Yes!

By the way, congratulations to the Winthrop Eagles for taking down the evil empire known as "the I haven't won a bowl game in 15 years " notre ame fighting irish (D is optional, and so is capitalization).

Click the picture for more pictures of the carpet removal!

We're in!

2007-03-16T15:59:00.000-04:00

...Almost. Brian closed on the house on Wednesday and got the keys. We've been putzing around the place for a past couple nights, taking it all in. Brian still has a couple weeks before he starts moving anything and I have until the end of April. It's been great exploring all the little details of the house that we never could before. Also, definitely easier to picture furniture when you're actually in the space. We're taking measurements so hopefully Brian can order a couch very soon. We're so excited to make this our home... a tad stressed, but mostly excited. And we met one set of next door neighbors - they seem like a friendly, younger couple. A good sign for us!

Today, Brian took off work to meet with a few contractors who will give him estimates on refinishing the upstairs hardwood floors, currently covered by wall-to-wall carpet. Coincidentally, it is Day 2 of the first round of the NCAA tourney. Go Winthrop.

Now that we've spent a little time in the house, we're starting to notice the imperfections that remained hidden under the previous owners furniture... and Yankee Candle. Some are minor details and pet peeves, others will require more attention to fix.

So far, we've noticed:

The Smell - previous owner must have smoked inside.
The Grime - I'm totally scrubbing everything from top to bottom.
Busted cabinet door - never noticed before, might have been done while moving furniture out, a hole that goes clear through a lower cabinet door.
Discolored flooring - an area rug must have either dyed the hardwood stain on the main floor or prevented the sun from evenly fading the stain.
Large gap in seal around back door - we could see outside underneath the door, it didn't close tightly... Brian fixed this today, yay!

For the discolored flooring, Brian is asking the contractors to include the downstairs floors in their estimates. Hopefully we'll find someone reliable and affordable to get the refinishing out of the way so we can start other fun projects.

Woot! A house!

What I learned over the weekend:

2007-03-05T12:09:00.000-05:00

Furniture is expensive.

Anxious!

2007-03-01T16:13:00.000-05:00

It's really hard to visualize decorating a place in which I've spent a total of less than 20 minutes. Brian did a good job taking pictures during the inspection, but there are spots that he overlooked... missing pieces of the puzzle that I replace with my memory... which is certainly not accurate.

We're both getting pretty excited about what we can do to make the new house our home. We want to make it unique and special, but comfortable and not too crazy. And all projects must fit well within budget... which can be difficult when we're aiming for unique.

Last night, while enjoying a couple beers and killing time (at Jack's Bistro - highly recommended - cute, cozy place with good beer and great food), Brian and I drew out crude sketches of the floor plan. Where should the TV go? Are there cupboards along that wall? Isn't there a pantry somewhere?

We had just finished perusing Home Depot, as we've done at least twice before... And we found something we could get for the house in just about every department. Flooring, paint, kitchen showroom, bathroom showroom, area rugs, window treatments, lighting fixtures, ceiling fans, even tools and hardware to create a workshop in the basement where a lot of projects could potentially be completed ourselves.

We'd like to paint at least one wall of the main floor... the trouble is deciding which wall. One wall? All walls? Coordinating trim? Also, which color. Sage green? Terra cotta? Beige? There are way too many colors to choose from.

We'd also like to re-do the kitchen at some point. Replace countertops, install tile flooring (or hardwood? pergo? vinyl?), and make a backsplash. And change out the brass hardware for something more stylish. There are just way too many kitchen styles to choose from.

Another dilemma is furniture. Between the two of us, we have an eclectic (I'm being nice) blend of random pieces... But we'd at least like a new couch and kitchen table. A friend who works for Ethan Allen tipped us off about their warehouse sale this weekend. Or should we just go to the thrift store? Antique shop? EBay? Ikea? There are way too many places to choose from.

See a trend? Luckily, Brian and I easily agree... we both have similar tastes so I'm not worried. We just have to actually make the decisions and go with them...

... But maybe I should actually see the house again first.

Home Inspection Day

2007-02-08T21:54:00.000-05:00

Today was the home inspection, and this was a major hurdle to jump over. Everything is on hold until the inspection was completed ....insurance, financing, a certain sense of inevitability. Here are some of the photos that were taken during the two hours of tire-kicking this house received, courtesy of Darrin Holliday, licenced home inspector. Click the picture to see the other 42.....

Let the fun begin........

2007-02-02T16:30:00.000-05:00

What have I gotten myself into?!?!

Right now, I'm just overwhelmed, but happy.....very happy. However, the prospect of moving makes me tired just thinking about it. Well, hopefully move number 17 in the course of 10 years will be the last for several. Who needs a beer?

He Got It!

2007-02-02T13:19:00.000-05:00

Here are the Real Estate Agent's images of Brian's new house. The ugly curtains will be removed pronto. The carpet in the bedrooms will be replaced or removed - hopefully revealing beautiful hardwood underneath. Also, the kitchen will be the first "project" - neither of us are big fans of the pink countertops, blah light fixtures, and vinyl flooring.

Brian made an offer on Wednesday morning and we've been anxiously waiting for the phone to ring ever since. As you can understand, buying his first home is a huge milestone for Brian and we're both so excited that the seller accepted and a contract is in the works!