Condo Update: Rubbish

I've realized a few things in the past week:

1. Reuniting with old friends from a joyous period in your life involves lots of good times, lots of good food, lots of laughter and smiles, and very very little sleep.

2. I'm sick of being sick. Over the last week I've experienced nausea, night sweats, arthritic achiness, mind-numbing headaches, stuffy nose, fever, sore throat, cough, and now I have no voice. Calgon take me away.

3. You reach a certain point in some life situations where you just say, "I don't care how much it costs or what my other options are, I just want to pay for it and get it done." I've reached that point with the plumbing fixtures and hardware decisions on my condo.

4. Heaven bless the men who have turned my house from this:



and this:




into this:

and this:

Because I really really don't like doing this kind of stuff, not to mention it would take me at least 3 months to do what my contractor and his crew can do in roughly 3 hours.

Let's Clear the Air, Shall We?

It has been suggested in a comment on this post that I plagiarized/copied the idea for my bad news letter to Old Man Winter from a Canadian journalist who wrote a letter to Mother Nature. If I may, let me take a few moments to state the facts.

Fact: I've never seen or heard of this Canadian publication/website/article/journalist until today.

Fact: As one who takes pride in her own creativity, I am a little hurt at the mere suggestion that I would take the ideas of another.

Fact: If I stole any hint of an idea whatsoever in this post, then I stole it from my brother-in-law, C2000. He regularly gives verbal bad news letters to people, that go a little something like this: "Dear Soandso, BAD NEWS: you ___________. Sincerely, C2000." So let me give credit where credit is due---C2000, thank you for introducing me to bad news letters. But really, didn't you learn that in your business writing class at the university? So maybe I should find your professor and ask him/her if it's ok for me to write bad news letters to people.

Fact: I would never call Mother Nature a b****, slut, or make other degrading remarks (as the article does). It's common knowledge that is no way to treat a lady.


Whew, I feel better now. With that said, I wish you all a lovely weekend. I'm taking a break and heading to southern California for a few days to reunite with old friends. Happy Easter!

Dear Winter (aka, A Bad News Letter)

Old Man Winter,

Bad news: You've grown old.

Your cold and gray skies springing a sneak attack and pushing out the last ray of sunshine on an otherwise pleasant day are so tiresome. They don't even surprise me anymore.

Your weekly dusting of snow on the mountaintops is no longer beautiful, nor easy on the eyes. It's just annoying and quite frankly, a bit rude.

The rain mixed with sleet mixed with snow is so last year.

Sub-zero temperatures for the better part of 6 months?!? Puh-leeze. Surely you can do better than that.

And the torrential winds that precede your storms are soooo played out. Can't you come up with a new gig?

Maybe you need to take some time for yourself. Just pack up, think through some things, regroup, formulate a new plan of attack, and come back better than ever...say next winter.

xoxo,

J

P.S. More Bad News: I heard that Spring is on it's way. We all know how tempermental she is, what with her April showers and May flowers. She is not to be toyed with. I'd hurry on up and get outta here if I were you.

Obsessed/Addicted/Consumed

Three weeks ago, my sister finally got me to sit down and watch one episode with her. Since then, I've spent roughly 13 hours watching every single episode. And that doesn't even include the time I spent finding and downloading them. So I've probably spent more like 1500 minutes (about 25 hours) in total. Well worth every single second (about 90,000).

Now I'm counting down the days (33), hours (10), minutes (26) until a new episode.

Just When I Felt Recharged, They Had To Yank The Plug

Last week, I:

*watched my sheet of notepad paper skip across the sand.

*enjoyed the company of myself so much, I didn't care that no one else was around.

*made computer friends. who speak my acronymic language. that made me happy. and slightly more geeky.

*walked barefoot in the ocean at midnite, with my trousers rolled up.

*let my skin soak in the humidity (and not the sun). oh, humidity, how I love thee.

*sat in classes all day. and learned. and kind of wished I were a student again.

*sat in a cabana. closed my eyes. listened to the waves crashing on the shore

*let the Florida sunshine recharge my soul.

*came home to 6 inches of snow and a blustery gray wind.

A Few Thoughts Until I Catch Up...Then I'll Share How Awesome Florida Was And How Crappy It Is Being Back

Ok, a few things. First, I lalalalove this picture. Second, I totally wanna be this girl. Third, it's almost enough to make me wanna grow my hair out (again). Fourth, or purchase a suh-weet wig (and hat). Fifth, I loved catching up on The Shiny Squirrel last week, where I found the photo. Sixth, I'd like to be her too.

Over + Out

I've shaped up and shipped out to sunny Florida for the week. The only drawback is that it's for business, not pleasure. Time permitting, I'll be around.

xoxo.

In + Out

This door mat is just the perfect thing for indecisive/commitment-phobic people like me. Place it one way and it says "Go Away", turn that frown upside down and it displays an inviting "Come In." Simple, expressive, and versatile. Depending on how your day goes you could pull a switcharoo.

It kind of reminds me of our family cabin. Where most would post a wrought iron "welcome" sign, my dad proudly hung a barbed wire "go away" sign.

Cousin Lit

Been looking at lots of lighting solutions for the condo. This one makes me confused. I'm not sure if this light makes me want to invite it in for dinner and a movie, or slap it and tell it go run home to its mother.

The Answer Is...

Lalalalove this fashionable statement from Viktor & Rolf for their fall 2008 show in Paris.

I can think of at least a few days when I wouldn't mind wearing this, just so people got the message loud and clear: don't even bother asking.