I Feel Old

There have been a few times (recently) that I have been: a) mistaken for a college student at the college where I work, b) told I'm "too young!" to have a doctorate, own a house, etc. etc., and c) told that I am "the exact same age" as my coworkers' children! In spite of having JUST had a birthday.

I know, some day I will be quite happy to hear such things.

But last night, I had a different experience. I felt OLD. K-Dog and I were doing our last presentation for incoming first-year students and K-Dog, liking to change things up sometimes, decided to play a youtube video of the song "Things That Make You Go Hmmm" by C & C Music Factory. How many of you remember that song?? Anyone? Anyone? Apparently NO ONE in our audience knew the song. They stared at the screen, half-dumbfounded and half snickering.

I was beside myself. No one knew the song. No one. Just K-Dog and me. I felt old. I felt a mixture of shock, disgust, disbelief... and a slight amount of giddiness. Yes, giddiness. At being old. Then I start to think I'm odd for being happy about it. I'm not sure I can explain it exactly, but it's like I had proof in the form of a young, dumbfounded audience, that I am older than they are. I don't know if that makes sense or not, but it's the best I can do.

Today K-Dog and I realized that most of those students in the room were just babies (or not born yet) when the song came out. Now there's a reality check.

OK. Giddiness gone. I just feel old again.

Weekend Warriors

This weekend was a do-it-yourself fest. My mom and brother came out to help me rip up the carpet since it still smelled bad and was still pretty dirty. I was slightly terrified to rip up the carpet because earlier in the week I had started taking down the wallpaper in one of the bedrooms (aka the office) and found...paneling. Wood paneling with all this wood trim in the corners, base, and top. Under the wood paneling? Funny you should ask! Looks like it is the original plaster, in rough shape. All the trim seemed to be covering the gaps where the paneling didn't exactly meet. I stopped working and waited until this weekend when I had reinforcements to help me assess the situation. It seems this house has surprised me a few times already, so it was with some trepidation that I faced the carpet situation.

However, we all thought there were wood floors throughout. Did I mention my home is 91 years young? So it wouldn't be unheard of. We peeked under the carpet in the corners, but it was tough to see and in one spot it looked like ... linoleum. Huh? On the other side, it looked like hardwood. So my brother started in front of the front door and cut a 3-foot strip of carpet. Here's what we found...


Nice, right? It looks like at one point there was a half-wall or built-in something there because the hardwood goes up to it... all that black tar-like stuff appears to be glue. For the kick-ass, 1960s, speckled linoleum. I nearly cried. And because we cut the strip right down the middle, there was really no turning back (plus the carpet and pad were disgusting, so it had to be taken out and everything cleaned.)

My living room is this giant 14'x24' room and the linoleum covers over half of it. After we uncovered more, it appeared that at some point one of the previous owners tried to remove some linoleum and realized how tough it would be and gave up. It kills me that the beautiful floors are covered like that!



We worked really hard for hours to get everything cut, rolled up, and bundled for the trash. Then we pulled out the staples, which is really tough work. We washed the floors with a lovely citrus-scented cleaner, which actually did help get rid of the smell of dog pee. I contemplated getting carpet just for the half of the room with the linoleum, but in the end, just couldn't do it (namely, I'm not rich and can't have the wood half refinished AND have carpet installed). So in a few weeks, the lovely wood will be covered up again... as well as the ugly linoleum.

But perhaps we finally exorcised the ghost of Puppy Pees A Lot. And for that, I am eternally grateful.

Oh, stay tuned for updates on the office wallpaper/paneling/plaster issue... that's another upcoming weekend project (that scares the bejeezus out of me).

Makeover!

I decided to try something new... what do you think of the new look?

Yum!

I had the most amazing chicken last night! It was quick, easy, and delicious and definitely something I will make again. It was a pretty simple marinade, but it packed quite a punch! AND it made the chicken very tender and moist. Yum!

Here's the recipe, in all it's simplistic glory:

1 Tablespoon of Balsamic Vinegar,
3 Tablespoons of EV Olive Oil,
the Juice of half a Lemon,
and a pinch of Black Pepper

I got the recipe for Balsamic Chicken from my new fave food blog, though as usual, I tweaked it a little. Originally the chicken was served with a salad, but as I didn't have any more salad greens on hand, I ate it with a baked potato instead. Since I didn't have a whole lemon for fresh lemon juice, I used the lemon juice I had in the fridge (I didn't measure exactly how much, but you want approximately that of half a lemon). I did use a bit less olive oil and increased the vinegar, but I really love balsamic vinegar. I also added a little salt after I threw the chicken in. I tend to like my chicken cut in strips (it's faster to cook) and last night was no exception- I trimmed any fat off the chicken breasts (I used 2), cut it in strips, and tossed it into the marinade, closed the container, shook it up and let it rest in the fridge while I did a few things around the house. I only let the chicken marinate for a short time (probably no more than an hour) and shook it a few times before throwing it into a really hot pan. There was a lot of liquid still, but it reduced quickly, so be careful not to burn!

Confessions of a Foodie (Wannabe)

I'm obsessed with food these days. I'm not sure if that makes me a foodie... but here's what Wikipedia says.

Out of all the blogs I actually read and check regularly, most are food blogs (check out my new favorite The Good Mood Food Blog). I love the amazing pictures as much as dreaming about making such awesome food. (secretly I want a good camera so I can take my own food pics and blog about my own food creations once in a while).

I love the Food Network and am pretty sad I'm back to having no cable/no TV.

I have a stack of cookbooks that I was so excited to unpack and have actually gone through a number of them quite recently.

I love trying new foods (remember that episode with baby octopus?).

I'm also excited to have my own kitchen again! Some day I will fill it with gadgets and cooking gizmos.

Cooking is relaxing. Last weekend I experimented with baked veggie egg rolls (they're OK baked... way better fried). Chopping carrots and bamboo shoots and onions became this zen-like thing for me.

One of my favorite books is Food & Mood: The Complete Guide to Eating Well and Feeling Your Best. It explains a lot about health and nutrition and offers some tasty recipes too!

So why the obsession? Well, it's not exactly a NEW obsession. I'm trying to get back to eating like I used to eat before the job from hell, chronic tonsillitis, dissertation drama, and the job from hell. Snacking at regular intervals, making sure I'm getting lots of fruits and veggies and fiber and protein, and eating things I enjoy making AND eating. I take mass quantities of food with me to work every day, all lovingly planned out, then lovingly eaten. Yesterday one of my snacks was a bowlful of cherries and a handful of almonds. Yum.

I'll admit, I feel a little weird going to work with all my food and declaring out loud that "it's snack time!", but I have noticed that I'm more alert during the day (without huge amounts of caffeine). The last few days have been much more productive for me. I'm not starving by the time I get home in the evening, even when I have to run errands right after work. And I'm not really craving anything, I feel pretty satisfied!

Furniture? Check!!

I bought some beautiful new furniture!! I wasn't intending to buy a new couch and chair right away, but I found out about a warehouse sale last weekend, then another sale, and so my brother and I had to go check things out. Lo and behold, I found something I liked at one place and then found it for a better price at another! Since the second place didn't have it in stock (ugh, who wants to wait 6 weeks?!) and their customer service was not stellar, my brother and I planned our strategy for working a good deal at the first place. And we got it! (Don't you LOVE getting a GREAT deal?!)

Cross one more item off my list!

8. Buy one new piece of furniture for myself.

So now I am the proud owner of a gianormous leather couch and a funky fabric chair & ottoman. I took a nap on the couch yesterday afternoon after it was delivered and it was such a good nap, I forgot where I was!

Speaking of my list... I know I haven't filled in the remaining items. I just can't think of other things that I want to do that are "list worthy." When I think about it, I've done so many things that if I would've made this list as an 18-year-old, they'd be on there. Like "live alone"- done that, obviously; "get a dog"- got 2; "go to graduate school"- check; "travel abroad"- YES; "ask a guy out"-scary, but I did it. So there aren't too many things I'm just dying to do before I'm 30 that aren't already on the list. Hmm... maybe get involved in my community (now that I have one) and learn to fix and/or replace a leaky faucet could be added...

gratitude [grat-i-tood, -tyood]

My family has been awesome always, but especially lately with all this house stuff. Last weekend my older sister and her family and my parents came to help move me in and clean some things up, which was great! My sister even wrote about it on her blog here. I'm grateful that they spent their 4th of July to help me and to share in such a big event! Thanks Mom, Dad, Tim, Kim, Ben, and Tessa. My little brown-eyed girl, Abby, even spent the night and helped me unpack and organize things. That 10-year-old girl amazes me with her selflessness ... she just kept saying, "Whatever you want me to do to help you get settled, Heidi." Thanks, Abby.

This weekend, my brother came from St. Paul, MN to help me too. I rented a Rug Doctor so we could shampoo all the carpeting in the house because there was definitely a lingering pet odor in the house and some spots in the living room. Boy did we work hard! Technically, he did the bulk of the shampooing while I did the pre-shampoo vacuuming, moved a few things around, and shampooed the stairs. I cannot believe how dirty the carpet was. We're talking disgusting, black water, kind of dirty!! Even after going over the carpet a couple of times, the water was still coming out very dirty. Blech. And I'm not kidding when I say the carpeting on the steps was nearly as bad as the entire living room! The smell has gotten better, but is probably not completely gone. It's most likely in the carpet pad, which will be nearly impossible to get out, I'm guessing. The previous owners did a great job of masking the smell when we were here for the showings and inspection... or they let it get worse after the offer was accepted. That would be my advice to a home buyer: if the carpet is staying and isn't new, write a professional carpet cleaning into your offer.

Anyway, my brother and I also ran all over the city looking for some new house numbers (you just can't see mine very well), a new mailbox, and other odds and ends. We didn't find everything, but that's OK. It was fun having him around, as always. I think that we're pretty entertaining for salespeople and whatnot, once we get going. So thanks for all your help this weekend, Brother!!

The Joys of Homeownership

My fingers hurt as I type this. It's a weird feeling. Actually, the soreness doesn't stop there... it continues up my forearm, upper arm, shoulders and back, down my legs all the way to my feet. I've been moving, unpacking, cleaning, and doing yard work since Friday and I'm sore. But it's a good sore that comes with hard work. I'm OK with that.

It's been fun unpacking my things, though it will be a while before I'm actually "settled in." People have asked me if everything fits in my house...um, yes. The furniture that fit perfectly in an apartment and a small house seems like toy furniture in my new house! The carpet needs cleaning, big time, so that will be another project, probably this weekend. I also need to fix a couple of drippy faucets sometime in the near future.

The puppies are back home with me, which is great. They love the new house and yard. This morning I watched Lilly chase Montey in a large figure-8 pattern over and over, stop and pant for 30 seconds, then Montey took a turn being the chaser. They did that about 4 times ... but who knows how long they were chasing each other before I caught them. Silly dogs.

Speaking of the yard... I have a LOT of plants and flowers that I know nothing about. I'm hoping I don't kill them. Maybe I'll find a good book or website that will help me out. I've had to deal with some wasps already, but I'm sure that's not the last I'll see of them. What are wasps' natural predators?

Home Sweet Home

Well, it's all over. I bought a house today! I think I might be in a bit of shock... I mean, I own a house. I have a flipping mortgage for crying out loud!

I'm not sure when this picture was taken (I stole it from the real estate listing). The bushes still need trimming though. But in spite of that, isn't she pretty?

And... I have a front porch swing!! I have always wanted a front porch swing and now I have one! I imagine many evenings sipping lemonade (OK, maybe sometimes something stronger) and being lazy on the porch.

The puppies will soon be home and can play in their awesome backyard and I will be able to sleep in my own bed! For the first time in 4 months!! Well, tomorrow I can sleep in my own bed... I have no furniture right now. AND I can finally start getting settled in this new life of mine. And I get to cross one more thing off my list! Hooray!

Approved!

I got final approval this afternoon! I'm set to close on the house on Friday morning! Whew! I was worried this wasn't going to happen with all that hoop-jumping and whatnot! I know I'm relieved... Tomorrow is the final walk-through and it will be interesting to see the house completely empty...