Business Time

This is a link to youtube showing Flight on the Conchords, a band from I don't remember where. New Zealand perhaps? Anyway, it is really funny and worth checking out.



Mijo has checked it out already and for him, it is Business Time.

Couch

For the last few months Chris has been complaining about our couch. He seems to think it sags in the middle and swears it would be better if we had gotten a shorter couch. We even looked at couches at Costco today. Of course it isn't in the budget and won't be for a looong time. Chris hates the couch so much he said he would torch it and pee on it if given the opportunity. That is severe dislike for an object if you ask me...which you didn't...but it is my blog so I can write what I want.

Anyway, we overturned the cushions on the couch looking for something earlier today. It was then that we noticed a broken board. More accurately, make that a board snapped in two. Chris and I then started to recall a particularly delightful evening where we took the advice of Uncle Rob, the wonderful man who married us. As Chris and I were driving off to our hotel the night of our wedding, Uncle Rob told us that the best cure for a bad headache is... well... ...ya know... um... ...sex!!

No wonder the couch has been sinking for the last few months. Oops. But what a memorable night that was. Of course Chris and I kept asking each other why we didn't look at the couch the night we broke it. I reminded him we were a bit preoccupied.

My parents broke a bed. We broke our couch. We are official!

The results are in!

The doc called this morning and gave me the thumbs up. Praise God!!

Am I invisible?

Doctors have proven to be a challenge lately. I'm sure everyone has their story about a lousy doctor they have had. I seem to have several stories and the stories haven't stopped coming.

I had a less than fun procedure two weeks ago and the doctor and nurse were well aware that I was anxious about the results. After specifically asking, I was told the results would be back in a week. Since the procedure was done in the afternoon, I decided to wait a week and two days before calling about my results. The triage nurse was very nice and explained that the doctor was out in surgery that morning but would return to the office in the afternoon to see patients. She said my lab results were in but she couldn't tell me what they were because the doc hadn't reviewed them yet but that "she would be sure and attach a note stating I had called and was concerned about the results." Then I waited. I waited until 4:27 because the office closes at 4:30. I spoke with the same nurse who said the doctor had been very busy the entire afternoon and hadn't had time to review my results but that she would put another note on my chart stating I had called back. That was last Friday.

I didn't call on Monday because I wanted to give the doctor a fair shot. She didn't call.

I finally called Tuesday afternoon and spoke to the same nurse who informed me the doctor had been busy all Monday and was out of the office all day on Tuesday. She all but promised me I would get a call on Wednesday with my results because the doc would be in the office all day. She also said she would leave a third note stating I had called and would put my chart and results on the top of the doctor's desk.

I guess the results got lost. Or the doctor got busy. Or the doctor is too busy for me. Or the doctor doesn't seem to think this matters to me. Or the doctor thinks the results are so bad she doesn't want to call. Or I am actually invisible and don't really exist and this entire thing is a figment of my imagination. There are a variety of reasons no one called me today. The longer it takes to receive the call, the more my imagination has time to create a variety of horrible things.

I guess I will call again tomorrow. Hopefully the doctor didn't decide to take a vacation day tomorrow or call in sick due to a painful hangnail.

It has been a bad day. :(

Birthday shoes

I love shoes. I loves shoes a lot. There is a feeling of fullness and satisfaction that comes from purchasing a great pair of shoes. I have that feeling right now times three. I went to my favorite shoe store, DWS, and used the birthday money my mom and sister gave me to find three amazing steals. I spent the entire time in the clearance section of the store and couldn't believe my luck. (Clearance is such hit or miss.) I found a pair of cute black dress flats since Chris isn't crazy about heels. I found a pair of Teva's to replace the ones that Chris had to glue back together before our rafting trip and had to be rescued from the river after they fell off of my feet. And I bought a pair of Born sandals which are usually so expensive I wouldn't dream of owning a pair but the sale was irresistible. They are all super cute!!

Happy birthday to me and thank you to Mama and Jill!

It's my birthday today

And the question of the day is: Are we supposed to say, "It's my birthday today." Or do we say nothing? As kids it was easy. We simply announced to everyone we saw that it was our birthday and proudly shared our new and oh so important age. As a kid it felt great to hear people tell me happy birthday. So why does it seem so weird to say it to people now that I am an adult? It still feels good when people tell me happy birthday but it seems awkward to be the person informing them of my birthday. It's almost like I am asking them to say or do something nice for me.

I went to the gym this afternoon and decided to announce that it was my birthday with the group of friends I attend a weight training class with. They were excited and told me happy birthday but they were also disappointed because I hadn't told them earlier and given them time to plan something.

So again, what is birthday etiquette? To tell or not to tell. That is the question.

Self care

I am sitting at the kitchen table thinking about how I really need to be studying for a license exam that is coming up. I have a few minutes before I leave for my 8:30 doctor's appointment and think I will use the time wisely by pulling out my review material. I have taken a bunch of sample tests but haven't spent much time actually studying which I am guessing might help me on both the sample test and the real exam.

Sadly, the computer seems to be crying louder for my attention than my exam material so here I sit, still not studying but writing which I find much more enjoyable. Isn't that self care? Isn't that what my boss is always talking about? "Don't forget self care Torrey. I don't want you burned out." Then again, I also consider checking people.com once or twice a day to be self care. Self care is very important.

Perhaps when I am done with my self care I will start to study...

Self care might take a long time.

A good reminder

I went for a run after work today and as I was finishing up, I decided to walk to one of my new favorite spots about a half mile away from the house. I changed my iPod from my "workout" mix to my "favorite" mix which is basically a hodge podge of random songs. My ears perked up when "I'll be there" by Steven Curtis Chapman came on. It was the song Joey and Missy, two dear friends of mine from college, sang at my wedding. I was suddenly overwhelmed with emotion. For the last few days I have struggled between being irritable and being incredibly sad. Of course there is no reason other than just because.

I turned around to walk back to a beautiful stream that runs across the walking path and sat down next to it. I listened to the song a second time and began to cry. I thought about how much I love and appreciate my husband and started to pray and give thanks for the gift of him. When the tears stopped and the song was over I felt refreshed. I walked back to the house and thought about what is important and what to never take for granted.

For me, it was a good reminder.

Prodigal Son Returns Part III

I reserve the right to retract and/or modify my previous statement of "it works like a charm." Of course I am referring to the anti-depressant/anti-anxiety meds we put Moses on.

I choose to modify.

It worked like a charm for the first two weeks. Moses has now returned to pooping on the floor next to the litter box and throwing up on the carpet. Thankfully the meowing has still been kept at bay. If we hear one little peep (or meow) out of him around 4 in the morning, he is off to Tails A Waggin.

To be continued...

Oh, and pictures from our Denver trip are coming soon.

Prodigal Son Returns Part II

We took Moses to the vet and poured our hearts out. We talked about everything...the poop, the throw up, the terrible meow, and the fact that although we couldn't quite manage to give Moses away, we weren't able to live like this anymore.

The vet had an easy fix. He said it would either work like a charm in two weeks or it wouldn't do anything and we might have to cope with giving away Moses.

The answer: (May I first say that I don't share this information lightly. I mean come on!! We are both social workers for crying out loud! Why? Why us? It is like having two teachers with a learning disabled child...or two lawyers with a child in jail. Instead, we are two social workers with...)

...a cat on anti-depressant medication.

And I must say, it works like a charm. :)

Prodigal Son Returns

As you know from previous posts, Chris and I have mixed feelings about our cats. Unfortunately most of the negative feelings are directed towards Moses and not Mijo. Moses is the one who meows like he is dying each and every morning around 4:30 because he wants to be the the bedroom with us. Since I am allergic to cats, my allergist gave us strict orders to keep the cats out of the bedroom...no exceptions. Moses is also the one who will poop on the floor if he doesn't get his way. Oh, and the throwing up on the carpet a few weeks ago? All Moses. Chris has searched the internet to find a solution. We have grilled the vet with questions only to be told Moses is healthy and everything he is doing is behavioral...figures since Chris and I are both social workers. Anyway, our last resort before shipping Moses off to the humane society was to see if he could become an outdoor cat. That way he could do his pooping and throwing up outside and it would increase his chances of remaining in the family.

Moses did well for over a week. He would go outside mostly when Chris and I were outside. He always stuck close to the house and never ventured off. Then one day he disappeared. He was no where to be found and it created a mix of feelings. There was no poop on the carpet. There was no time spent scrubbing the carpet from throw up. And each morning upon opening the bedroom door, there quietly sat Mijo. Other than the concern for Moses' well being and hoping he hadn't been eaten by a dog, Chris and I were a content one cat family.

That was then.

Chris and I returned late last night from a vacation and as we were driving into our housing complex, I made a joke wondering if Moses would be waiting for us. No joke. There he was, sitting on our front porch meowing his loud meow. Who knows where he was for the past 2 1/2 weeks. We were tired so we let him in, fed him, and began our struggle of what to do. Mijo doesn't seem thrilled to have him back and Chris and I were up in the air about it until the meow of death began around 4:30 this morning. We finally caught up with our neighbor who discovered Moses two night ago. She showed up the bird Moses brought home and had been feasting on. After seeing the bird and giving it more thought, Moses is now back outside where he will remain until we determine his fate...

If only Moses weren't so cuddly. Anyone know of someone who wants a cat?

Life's little frustrations

I am sitting on the couch slightly less frustrated than I was about an hour ago. You see, an hour ago I returned home from having my car towed only to see that my soon to be dead cats threw up on the carpet for the second time in two days. I'm not talking just a little bit of throw up either. I'm talking they walked around the room and thought it would be fun to see mom clean up the entire carpet insead of just a little part of it. One day being on my hands and knees scrubbing was bad enough. Two days was over the top.

Oh, and did you gloss over the part of my car needing to be towed? Yeah, that is how my work day ended. I was on my way to a meeting and the car started jolting. I was on the phone with Chris at the time and he could hear the jolting over the phone. I pulled over and thank the GOOD LORD that he was still at the office. He picked me up, called the Saturn dealership, and we were told the car wasn't safe to drive. We aren't sure what is wrong with it...although Chris thinks it is the transmission...and I am due to drive to Chicago Friday for a convention. Chris is on the phone as we speak trying to determine if our insurance will pay for the tow and if they will cover a rental car.

One more thing. Our dishwashed died two weeks ago. We just got a new one late last week. Gotta love the joys of life. :)

Brownie bites

Christopher and I attended a Cinco de Mayo party Saturday evening and we were told to bring a side dish. Since both of us are sugar addicts, I made yummy peanut butter brownies. Chris had to go to work that day so he left at 5:30 a.m. and didn't get home until 5:15 p.m. After he got back home, he napped while I attended another party thrown by my fitness instructor. Since I knew I wouldn't have time to make the brownies in between parties, I made them before the first party and let them sit while I was gone. However, fully cognizant of our cats predilection for baked goods, I covered the brownie pan with a dish cloth. I was proud upon arriving home from the first party to discover they didn't eat the brownies. Instead, Christopher informed me that they stepped on the brownies.

At least it gave us an excuse to cut out the stepped on pieces and eat them before leaving... :)

Spring is here...again

The birds are chirping, the sun is shining, and it is warm outside. I'm hoping we won't be fooled again since we have already had one spell of warm weather followed by freezing temperatures and snow. I'm thinking this is the real deal though...and since it is almost May, isn't it time? Although we can reason out why the temps have been changing so severely, our trees and flowers are really confused. We have three trees that are beautiful in the spring. Two bloom purple and one blooms white. All we got was a smattering of color before it froze and the flowers and leaves died. Now it looks sad and pathetic. :(

Chris and I are still enjoying the weather though. We had six yards of mulch delivered Friday and we managed to get it all spread and cleaned by before the night was over. We even had enough left over to mulch Kim and Wayne, our wonderful neighbor's, back deck.

We have started working out outside and even managing to hit the running trails on the weekends...a sure sign it is getting warm.

Soon, the hashing as Rear Admiral and Rear-End-Id will begin again.

Ah, spring...

Easter in Chicago

There is something special about spending Easter Sunday with my family in Chicago. For many, Easter isn't a big deal. It consists of the Easter bunny, chocolate, and hunting for eggs. For us, it is about celebrating the resurrection of Jesus Christ. In my opinion, no one celebrates like College Church in Wheaton. The banners are beautiful. The sermon is meaningful. The children are adorable. And the singing, oh the singing. Every Easter our church breaks out the entire orchestra and everyone sings the Hallelujah Chorus. Even though I can't hit the majority of the notes, I make my joyful noise to the Lord and I feel so happy that I'm convinced I have beams of light shooting out from my fingers. And yes, we still have the Easter baskets and chocolate, and colored eggs. What a wonderful holiday!

Blogging

I have been complaining to Chris for about two weeks that I need to blog but I wasn't having any grand ideas. Once I did have a grand idea, I always forgot it or failed to make the time to write. Tonight I had a few minutes and decided to pull up my blog to write a new entry regardless of my lack of ideas. I then saw my previous entry...the entry about our new tv. Now I know why I haven't blogged for almost a month. Sad...very sad.

The upgrade

Chris and I have received teasing from multiple friends for having exactly four channels on our television and that is when our rabbit ears are turned just right. The last straw came when we were watching one of our favorite shows and our really really sad tv kept cutting in and out. Chris did some research and we are the proud new owners of a 37 inch LCD tv and tv stand. It is incredible!! The tv isn't cutting in and out anymore and the fuzz we had on our old small tv is now even bigger on our new big tv...we are still waiting to get cable. We did see the excitement of our new tv when we put in a dvd and watched a movie. Whatever are we going to do with 800 channels?

...more snow

here we are, we got about 4 more inches of snow on top of the foot we already have. but thank goodness, we have....the snowflake hunter?!?!

V-Day

Valentine's Day is easy to hate when you are single. In fact, it is almost COOL to hate it when you are single and a woman. By hating it we pretend the lack of gifts, attention, and love doesn't really bother us when in fact, it really really bothers us. I used to be one of those woman...and then I met Christopher.

I now love Valentine's Day. It has nothing to do with the flowers, jewelry, or chocolate and everything to do with the date on the calendar. Feb 14, 2004 was the day I knew I had met the man I was going to marry. I arrived at Christopher's apartment and there was a red and pink construction paper heart on the front door. In blue crayon was written that after walking inside, I would discover all the things Chris loves about me. I opened the door and found that the room was full of candles. Under each of the 25 candles was a smaller heart. On each heart, written in the same blue crayon, was something Chris loves about me. It was the most romantic gesture anyone has ever done for me.

I told Chris last night over dinner that three years ago when I was reading those hearts, I knew I was in love with him before I reached the final heart. I also knew I wanted to marry him.

I'm not sure why Chris and I have been blessed with such a wonderful marriage but I thank God every day for it.

I love you Christopher.

Indianapolis Blizzard of '07

We were supposed to get 3-7 inches. We figured they overestimated. They always over estimate. We were wrong. We are currently at a foot of snow and are supposed to get another 4-5 inches before the night is over. The wind is also supposed to pick up to around 40 mph so the drifts should be impressive.

Indy certainly isn't Oswego, NY but Indy also rarely has snow. That means that when it does snow, it is a HUGE problem for the city. Chris and I braved the roads this morning and I was promptly scolded from my boss after arrival since my boss knew that the snow was much more significant in the area I live. I worked for an hour before my boss told me to go home. I got all the way home before getting my car stuck directedly in front of my garage. My car was blocking the street so I ran around to neighbors to locate a shovel.

For those who are interested, Target doesn't carry shovels and plastic shovels from Meijer break easily.

I was able to dig my car out of the snow and create a path up the driveway into the garage. Thanks to my dad's good teaching, I thought to lay down kitty litter in front and in back of my tires for a bit of tread. I managed to make it into the garage on my second attempt.

Chris stayed at work until noonish before he called it a day due to cancelled meetings and an inability to make visits to his clients. We have spent the day making cookies and watching movies. Here is what our cats have been doing while we have been home...




P.S. Pickett, hope you are enjoying warm Kenya while we are freezing our tails off in America!