Smell of Fresh Paint...

Last night, Kurt started painting the sunroom, and finished this morning. We bought the paint forever ago, probably 3-4 months, but he just got around to painting this holiday weekend. Anyway, it looks awesome. We painted it this color by Eddie Bauer called Gourd, which is a really deep, rich yellow color. It looks awesome with the new furniture. I love color. Now, that we have done one room, I am going to have Kurt painting everything, LOL.

Called Dell today and besides the fact that I was on hold FOREVER, it was the easiest call I have made. They basically made me do one quick check, and then said they were sending a new harddrive as well as a new keyboard for me to install. Usually, they give me a really hard time for whatever reason, and I end up talking to a supervisor/manager. It is so annoying that I have a warranty, yet I have to argue with these people to get parts sent or repaired. I will never buy a Dell laptop again. We have probably had 4 + keyboards on this thing, keys constantly fall off. We also have had a monitor replaced, a harddrive replaced, and various other things fixed. And none of these things are because of any fault on our part.

Been looking online for lighting fixtures for the sunroom and kitchen nook. Found two i really like, but am trying to get this one website I like to match the price from another website. If they do, I am going to order right away. I literally hate almost every light fixture and ceiling fan the previous owner had in this house. He had a really traditional, boring style. It is so odd to me that he would put in all solid oak doors and triple pane windows, but his lighting fixtures are so boring and cheap.

Kurt and all the pugs are sleeping on a chair right now, it's pretty funny. Oscar is snoring, and Gretel and Vito are cuddling. They are so sweet when they are sleeping....

Yard Fun

I don't want to call it yard "work" because Kurt and I are actually having fun watching the property come together.....We bought some new stuff today at the local greenhouse we like. For around the sunroom, we bought three Rhododendron Shrubs, and for the front of the house, by the garage, we bought three Blue Princess Holly. I also drove around and watered everything in the yard, which took a while but was fun. Saw lots of birds and a nest in one of the pine trees Kurt planted. Maybe there will be baby birdies soon. ;). I am exhausted now though. Whenever I spend a ton of time outside, for some reason, I get exhausted. Still need to do some grocery shopping........All for now.

Today was nice. Kurt put the rest of the pine trees throughout the yard, which looks awesome. I am so excited to have more trees. Once he finished, we went to the tree place and bought even more trees to be put in. They cut us a deal on some birch trees they were trying to clear out, and we also bought three Crimson Maples for the front yard. They probably will not be planted for a couple weeks, but I already can't wait.

Went to a new spa today to get a pedicure, one near by house called Blu Water Spa and Salon. I really, really liked the place. My pedicurist was Kelly B, and she was really nice. And my feet look great! Yay!

Went to dinner with Julia and Jay at La Shish in Dearborn. Jay had wanted to eat at Red Lobster, and suggested the one in Dearborn Heights, since it is half way between our two houses. NOT a good idea. We got there, and immediately felt like we should not be leaving our car in the lot. BAD neighborhood. We sat down and once Julia and Jay got there, they told us the alarm was going off in the Porsche. The alarm has NEVER gone off before. I imagine, one of the wonderful residents of Dearborn Heights was trying to open the doors to steal by radar detector. Kurt turned off the alarm, but needless to say, we decided to leave and never, ever return. I love downtown Dearborn and the restaurants, but I don't suggest to anyone eating in Dearborn Heights. But, La Shish was awesome. I had shrimp ghallaba which was really good, yet again. And it was fun to sit and talk to them, as usual.

Home now and not feeling very well. I feel like I may be getting a cold, which would royally suck. I need to get some rest tomorrow because I don't have time to be sick!

Holiday---It Will Be So Nice.....La La La

So, holiday weekend! Yay! We were supposed to take the day off, but that did not happen entirely. We had a couple things to do this morning, a couple appointments. Then Kurt went home to meet up with the guy delivering his post hole digger, and I headed downtown to file some stuff and have much with Julia! Picked her up at her office, so I got to walk around the floor of where I used to work. It looks totally different. Saw one person I knew, Terri Smith, but everyone was at lunch pretty much so I did not get to say hi to others I know......Had lunch with Julia, which really, I need to do more often. It was really nice to sit there and vent to her about some things that happened at the office this morning which I am on longer going to talk about because I am trying to relax. All I have to say is SOME PEOPLE ARE PSYCHO. Anyway. We had new carpet installed at the office today. I have not seen it totally done yet, but it looked awesome while I was there.

Came home and Kurt had already started putting in all the new pine trees. So far, he put in 6 of them, so he will put in the rest tomorrow morning. He put in one kinda right in view of the backdoor and I already saw a bunny sitting under it eating grass! Yay for bunnies!

My ring came in at Elder Beerman so I went and picked it up and still LOVE it. Thank you Kurty! I love my b-day gift. :).

Now we are watching the end of the Tigers game and chilling with the puggies and Toby. I love holiday weekends......

My Beyotches

Yesterday afternoon, one of my best friends, Kerry, called me at work. And......drumroll please--tells me she is pregnant again! She has a little girl, Sara Ann, who was born in August 2004. I knew she had decided to try again, so every time I talk to her, it is the first thing I ask her. So, I knew right away when she called, but was kinda surprised because I just saw her Friday night and she was not pregnant then (or did not know yet anyway). So, I ask her if my friend, Marla, is pregnant too. I ask this jokingly, although I know that she has been trying as well. She tells me no, not that she knows of. So, like TWO seconds later, Marla calls to tell me that she is pregnant too. I was like "YOU BITCHES! You planned tricking me!" Or course, they found this hysterical and could not believe they pulled the whole trick off. Bad, bad friends. LOL. It was actually pretty kewl, and I am really excited for both of them (just glad it's not me since I have not yet gotten the pregnancy bug). So, this will be pretty interesting, watching them both through their pregnancies. They think they will have the same due date. I saw Kerry a lot through her last pregnancy, but Marla lived in Interlochen during when she was pregnant with Bodie and I did not see her once. :(. At least she is down here now!

In other news, we put in an offer on that house and the purchase agreement is signed. We are buying it. Are most likely going to immediately put it up for sale after the purchase, assuming the city lets us break off the land onto our house. I am trying to get Julia and Jay to look at it, because the house is really kewl (and right behind mine), but Jay is pretty set on living in Troy or around where they are now. Although I think Julia would love it.

Our pine trees were delivered and are ALL on the side of the house. Kurt is going to plant them tomorrow and I CAN'T WAIT!

Anyway, bed is calling me. I will write more later..........

Trees Glorious Trees...

Went today and picked out the pine trees for the back yard (and some for the front as well). We bought 13 new ones, and Kurt is going to plant them this weekend. I can't wait. We keep saying, the more trees we have, the more wildlife we will get in the yard. And we are obsessed with having as much wildlife as possible.

Had class tonight. Equitable Remedies is still pretty blah, but Pre-Trial was again fun. I had to do a mock interview in class of another student (posing as a police officer) and I think I did really well. 30% of our grade is class participation, so hopefully I did well.

Exhausted, so I am going to close for the night.

New Beginnings

Started my new classes on Monday. I am taking 9 credits this summer, which is a lot since the semester is condensed into fewer weeks. But, I need to do it to insure I graduate next May....I am taking two classes--Equitable Remedies and Pre-Trial Advocacy. I am also writing a research paper on a Bankruptcy related topic for 2 of the credits. I like this not going to class for credits thing, but writing a 25+ page research paper is not going to be easy with my work schedule and other classes. Anyway. Loved Pre-Trial so far. Prof is really laid back and kewl, and has such an interesting career, he specalizes in medical malpractice birth trauma cases. My other class, I went into knowing I would be bored, but it fit my schedule. And yes, I was bored thus far. Maybe it will get better once we get into studying the cases, who knows. We also got out an hour early Monday night (I am supposed to be there until 9:10 p.m. each night).

Had a great day at the office yesterday. We got SO much work done that we were behind on. We love getting caught up. Kurt ordered the post hole digger for the Kubota, and this weekend, as long as the rain lets up some, he is going to plant some pine trees around the yard, and possibly put in a brick walkway to the house (and a porch). We have to go today to order the brick and pick out trees. Yay.

First Impressions

Had class today for the first time this summer semester. I have two classes--Equitable Remedies and Pre-Trial Advocacy. I also am writing a paper on a Bankruptcy topic for a Directed Study class. I don't like to decide if I like a class or prof from day one, but so far, I do not like Equitable Remedies. I did not think I would going in, it basically fit my schedule and was one of the only things I could take, but YUCK. Hopefully, it gets more interesting. The reading is LONG, and the material blah. But, on a positive note, Pre-Trial is great. The prof is really laid back and kewl. He does medical malpratice for a living, focusing on birth trauma cases. And the class is really interactive, not a lot of prof lectures and the like (as there in my other class). Plus, we got out an hour early. Yay!

Sunday and Beyond.....

Sunday was a really odd day. We slept in really late, which is rare for us. Did not even get up until 11 a.m., and that was like 13 hours of sleep. We needed it. We ran some errands we wanted to, including going to the tree place and another nursery to look at pine trees. Kurt is going to order some pine trees to put in this weekend for Memorial Day. Then, we were driving around looking for any land for sale around our house and saw this sign for a house for sale on Toll Road. Toll Road runs behind our house, but WAY far back, past the back of our property. So basically, this house's land backs up to the back of our property, and is on Toll Road. There was an open house, so we stopped. The house is really nice and on 7.2 acres. Of course, now Kurt wants it. He wants to buy the house, cut off their land and attach it to ours and either resell it or rent it out. So, we put in a bid which was accepted. She is doing a for sale by owner, so really, she could make this hard if she wants, but apparently, she is moving to Nashville and wants to leave now. So, we called our mortgage guy and he is already working on everything. We will see if everything goes through, but if it does, we are going to make a fortune on this house. She has it listed at about $50,000 under market. So, keep your fingers crossed. ;). Had dinner that night with Auntie and my Grama. We ended up at Ruby Tuesdays. They brought me b-days gifts which I opened, and loved, and we had dessert at the house which she had picked up from Maria's, the best Italian bakery in Canton. Went to bed straight after that. I was SO tired.

My Mommy was in Town

Satuday, my Mom was in town. My sister had wanted a ride to Lansing to visit her friend, Tara, so my Mom decided to head over to the Detroit area for the weekend. She got to my house from my Aunt's around 1 p.m., and after showing her the new trees, etc. in the yard and updates on the house, we headed to the mall to walk around. I got a cute new Michigan state zip up sweatshirt, and some hair stuff i needed from Target. We then took my Mom to dinner in Monroe, and by that time it was like 10 p.m. and she headed back to my Aunt's. It was a really nice day.

I have not posted in so long.....I am going to break my posts up into a few entries......Kurt was mowing the lawn on Saturday and accidentally ran over the cable modem, therefore, we were internetless until tonight (at least at home).

Friday night, after work, we went to Fox Hills to have dinner with Kerry/Max/Sara, Marla/Scott/Bodie, and Julia and Jay. It was SO great to see everyone. Sara has grown so much, and it beyond cute and Bodie was a total ham. He is such a little entertainer. They were both really good at dinner. Julia and Jay, although told NOT to, brought me birthday gifts, which I love. Click here and here to see them. I have only tried the Vanilla Cupcake and Chocolate Frosting shower gels so far, but both are AWESOME. Thanks again Julia and Jay!

We were EXHAUSTED when we got home. Went straight to bed.

Competition

Kurt and I compete over everything. Whether it be ACT scores, LSAT scores, law school grades, golf, basketball, bowling, trivia.....You get the point. It actually is not as bad as it seems, we have fun with it. I think it's fine to be competitive, as long as you have fun with it. We actually are very proud of the other's accomplishments--and don't truly get "mad" if the other wins. That said, sometimes we compete when we should not...................

This morning, very early, we were at the office finishing a Brief and an Order that Kurt needed for two hearings this morning. As we walked into the office, Kurt asked if I had my office key to put back on the ring because I had taken it off. I handed it to him and walked in the door. Finished the documents, printed, and started out the door to go home and take a shower. As I was walking out the door, Kurt says "Where is that key? Do you have a key to get back in?" I say "I gave you the key when we were walking in......did you put it on my ring or somewhere else?" He says "No, you did not give me the key." Keep in mind, only like 20 minutes had passed since I gave him the key. He insisted OVER and OVER again that he did not have it, nor had I given it to him. Then, he looked on his key ring, and Voila! It was there. He looked at me and smiled, knowing I was right (which of course, I loved).

I said to him "You are going to compete with me on everything for the rest of our lives, aren't you???

His response "NO I'M NOT!"

I guess it's good we are both going to be lawyers. It must be in our blood. :)

Birthdays and Sleep

Have not posted the past couple of days because I am exhausted! My b-day (yesterday) was pretty uneventful. We were going to go to dinner, but after work, I just felt like coming home and watering my trees. So, we came home and did some things around the yard, went to the grocery store, just stayed in. Which was nice. We are going to do my b-day dinner on a night I have more energy. This week has been insane at the office. I basically only get to relax while I am on hold or talking to clients in the office (which is when I surf the net to catch up on everyone else's blogs.

Oh, my friends Stacy and Jean sent me beautiful flowers for my b-day. I love having flowers sitting on my desk and these are awesome. I took some pics to post, but of course, have not had time to download anything yet. Thanks again guys, I really love them. :).

Today was again busy. Besides work, I had to take the cars into the shop for oil change and some other boring stuff, meet the guy to get the VIN for the Spyder and title, and pick up some checks from downtown.

Last night, I woke up at like 3 in the morning. Kurt was getting up and going into the living room. He came back with Gretel. Apparently, he woke from a dead sleep because he heard Gretel crying and felt sorry for her. I guess she was sad because the others were sleeping on the couch, and she was all alone on the floor. So Gretel snuck her way into sleeping with us, little brat! :).

"Social entrepreneurship??"

Click here to read the article.

Gag.

Eyes in the Woods

OK, the kewlest thing happened tonight. Words really cannot describe it......but it was such a beautiful sight to experience, and it totally made my night. Ok, probably my week. Maybe even my month.

I was sitting on the back porch, talking to my Mom, thanking her for my b-day gifts she sent (which I love, thanks again, Mom!!!!!!!!) Just as the conversation was about to end, I saw movement in the woods and almost fell out of my patio chair when I saw a beautiful deer saunter out into our yard. It was so graceful, and did not notice me whatsoever. Just as I was telling my Mom about it, SO excited......Another deer walked out. I think it was probably the mate to the first. They walked right next to eachother, slowly, through my yard. They were probably only 30 feet from me, I think the closest I have been to a deer (besides the ones in petting zoos, etc.). It was so peaceful, sitting in my backyard, talking to my Mom on the phone, and watching the deer. They walked through a lot of the yard, by a couple hills, by some of the trees we planted. They finally walked over by our large barn and disappeared from sight....

I was beyond excited. When we moved in, the guy we bought the house from told us he had seen deer before, but we had not really believed him--until now. we see a ton of wildlife, but not any deer until tonight. I really wish Kurt could have been here with me, but he is at a meeting in Livonia. :(. He is going to be SO jealous. I don't even know if he will believe me or not, since we have not even seen a SIGN of a deer until I saw them tonight.

Maybe this is an early b-day present to me? I say thank you to the person who sent me the early gift..........

Cheese Town

Got up this morning (Saturday) and headed to Pinconning to visit Kurt's Mom, Grama, sister, nephew, and niece. Bought this new radar detector (click here) for the Carrera and got to test that out. I researched for a long time on which one to buy, and so far, I am very happy with my selection. We really need to get used to it though, because every time it went off, we about jumped a mile because we were not expecting it. I am hoping it cuts down on the amount of tickets Kurt gets. For some reason, the cops are not as lenient with him as they are with me, LOL.

Seeing everyone was nice. We went into Bay City for the day to have lunch and go to a few stores. We needed to buy Kurt's Mom a late Mother's Day gift, and ended up buying her a dresser at Target for her bedroom. We put it together for her as well, then headed home. O

On the way home, Kurt suggested stopping at Soaring Eagle casino, which we did. The poker wait was INSANE, so we played some Blackjack and left. Nothing is the same as Vegas. I don't really like casinos unless I am in Vegas. The smoke factor for one. In Vegas, many of the tables are smoke-free, and the poker rooms are almost always smoke free. Here, we had people blowing constant smoke in our faces, and everyone was so serious. Mostly everyone in Vegas is there to have fun, and here, people were getting all emotional if they lost a hand. Got home really late, played with the puggies and went to bed.

Today, we have been at the office most of the day. Kurt mowed the front yard early this morning, and then we came in here. We are leaving in a couple minutes, yay. I hate working on Sundays.

Sleeping in Thunderstorms

I am odd. I actually love thunderstorms. I love the sound of rain, of thunder, seeing lightning. It relaxes me, and makes me calm. And now, they make me happier because I know the storm is feeding all my new trees and greenery outside.

Had a busy day at the office. Was supposed to do lunch with Deanna, but she had something come up at work and we had to reschedule for next week, which was fine with me because like I said, we are slammed at the office. I don't even remember the last time we were caught up.

Came home with Kurt, don't think we got here until around 7:00 p.m. or after. Made dinner because we were both too tired to go out. Am sitting here now cuddling with Gretel Olivia who finally calmed down and needed a nap.

Good news, Toby's blood work all came out fine, so we can schedule his teeth cleaning and cyst removal.

I think I need a nap.....

No Leashes Required.

We are crazy. We came home work and had a vet appointment. For ALL FOUR ANIMALS. That's right. Kurt and I took all four babies to the vet--at the same time. That is a first, but we managed. It was quite a fiasco. I took the Jeep--Toby in his cage, and Gretel in my lap with her blue blankie. Kurt took the Saturn with the boys, Oscar and Vito. Drove there and the nuttiness began.

You have to understand going into this, my dogs do not like leashes. We never take them on "real" walks. Not because we are bad parents, but because they don't need leashes on our property. We have 27 acres of land, with paths, etc., and we take the pugs on walks at least once a day, all through the property, no leashes required. But, this can pose a problem when trying to take four animals in public together. Anyway, pulled up to the vet, which is on a main road in Monroe. Kurt grabbed the boys and carried them towards the door. All the sudden, as I am starting to grab Toby's cage, I hear Kurt freaking out. I look behind me and Oscar and Vito are both running around the parking lot, toward the road. I immediately threw Gretel in the back seat of the Jeep, and called Oscar. He came right to me, and I grabbed him. Vito, on the other hand was on the sidewalk near the road. Kurt bribed him by saying the word "treat" and he came back. Thank God. It's rush hour in Monroe, and my dogs are running loose on the streets. Anyway. It all calmed down after that. When in the vet, where everyone loves the puggies. Oscar and Vito both got their rabies shots......Toby got a rabies shot and two other shots, and Gretel got her second set of puppy shots. Toby needs some dental work done and a cyst removed, so they took blood work from him to run tests and make sure he is healthy enough for the surgery. They are calling tomorrow. The vet tech gave me a picture of Gretel they took the last time we were in there. Oh, Gretel now weighs 4.2 pounds! She has gained over a pound since her last appointment a month ago. I guess she is getting enough food here, LOL. Took the boys to the car ONE at a time and got home. Easy. OK, maybe not! ;). Oh, and this is funny. We now get a multipet discount at the vet. Hilarious. Maybe that is a sign that I don't need any more pets??

Came home and watered all the trees. Saw birds in lots of the trees again, but I watered faster than usual because it was windy and really cold. I almost needed gloves to be out there on the tractor.

Did some laundry, and took a bath. Read part of a new book I bought, total trashy novel which is so what I need right now. Law school totally turns me off to reading anything intellectual or that involves heavy thinking. Give me Jackie Collins, V.C. Andrews, Danielle Steele. I promise, as soon as I finish school, I will start reading "good" books again. ;).

Accidents and Sleep

Hey, not much to post today.

My Mom called me at work today because my sister got in a car accident. Don't worry, she is fine. Nothing major, she turned in front of someone on a side street, they swerved, and ended up in a ditch. I guess everyone is OK, which is good.

My Mom got her Mother's Day gift in the mail (finally). And she loved it, yay! I got her two different Origins products. Click here and here to see which ones. I talk about products I like with her all the time, so I like to order her ones for holidays to actually try. They sent her a sample of one as well, that she used and liked. She had a stressful day worrying about my sister, used this product (click here), and said she layed down on the couch and immediately fell asleep. I need to buy it, LOL. I actually came home from work and grocery shopping and ended up falling asleep for about an hour. I needed a nap, apparently. :).

Winners, Watering, and Relaxation

Had a busy day at the office. Lots of drafting, me taking finals really screws up the office.

My night was great though. No studying, no school. Came home and watered everything outside. Kurt hooked up my new water tank. It is 45 gallons and hooks to the back of the Kubota so I can drive around the property and water all the trees, shrubs, flowers, etc. It is great. I had a fabulous time watering all the trees, and seeing animals. I saw a bunch of bunnies, as well as birds galore. It is so exciting for both Kurt and I to see birds already starting to hang out in the trees we put in. We want nothing more than animals in the area to feel comfortable and safe on our land. I planted a veggie garden this weekend and guess who ate most of the seeds already? You guessed it, the bunnies and birds. Oh well. I don't really want to put any kind of repellant out to keep them away, so I will have to wait and see if any of my seeds took. Silly birdies. :).

We watched the end of The Amazing Race and I was so glad of the outcome. I did not want Rob and Amber to win, since they already won $1M on Survivor and I also did not want Ron and Kelly to win because they really annoyed me. So, yay for the winners!

I still feel like I should be studying, it is hard to get out of that mode. I ordered my books for next semester today and they were under $100 total. Cheapest semester ever. And watch, I will not even use the book in one of my classes. It's a hands on kinda class, and in those classes, you rarely use the book you buy.

The weather was so perfect after work today. I love Michigan when the weather is nice, it is beautiful.

I am so thirsty. Off to get something cold.....