Tuesday, January 26, 2010

Bob Seger?

My house feels alive again. The past 13 weeks while Bryan was gone, it felt like a morgue. I'd come home to no lights, no noise, and not much warmth. The TV stayed black, nothing moved randomly out of place, and I stayed confined to the one corner of the house that had everything I needed. Now when I come home, the lights are on in almost every room, the TV's blaring with music, the counters are a mess, and Bryan's slaving away in the back corner room. We started into the final upstairs bedroom a week or so ago, and just finished painting the walls. Painting is extremely relaxing for me (no it's not the fumes that lull me into a hazy dream world). I like the rhythmic rolling of the brush and the time spent thinking away while accomplishing a mundane task. But it's even more special spending the time conversing with Bryan. I love his silly comebacks to every question I have. Like where's the stepladder? "If it was up your bum on fire you'd know!" Or the quacking ducks and barking spiders that have returned from their hiding places. The best random comeback he had was "At the breadstore". This was used for everything back in the day. Then while he was in Sacramento, he found a place called "At the Breadstore". We laughed our heads off and went there for breakfast when I visited, because now we had officially been 'at the breadstore'. The sound of his truck yelling its way home is wonderful. And the final tap of the throttle right at our pine tree as he downshifts to pull into the driveway is comforting. There's also the telltale signs of his scattered clothes all over the house; from where he was sitting on the couch working on the computer (more like finding every possible image and commentary on the Camaro), to his dirty painting clothes in the kitchen, just outside the bathroom where the unmentionables lie, to the socks from the night before lying next to our bed. Then there's the dirty oatmeal breakfast bowl sitting in the sink, where I've asked him to put it, but not rinsed (which is really weird, because the mornings he's almost late for work it's rinsed, but not the days when he has til noon). And there's the countless water bottles stashed everywhere, and the random piece of garbage in the recycling bag. The best part? Having him on the other end of the couch, like right now while I blog. A house needs life, and I wasn't hacking it. Neither was Bob Seger.

Wednesday, January 13, 2010

Resolution Steps

I hate when I get the itch to blog, but then have writer's block. How does that happen? I have all these ideas in my head, but they all step back at the same time, as none want to take the lead to start the flurry of thoughts.
Bryan finally completed SMTP and graduated. He only missed one answer on the final exam. And it was one of those questions that is philosophical, such that every answer works. There's not even one that trumps another. Disappointing. Now that this is finished, the next step is to complete the renovations on our home. We want the most equity possible, and adding a bathroom while finishing off the two bedrooms and open basement area will net us five figures. On top of this, we want to complete all of this by March, as the turnover of stores is usually higher at this time of year and we'll have a larger pool to choose from (fingers crossed). This will bring us to our next step, moving. We've lived here for over eight years now. This is the longest residence I've ever had in my life which is really strange to an Air Force brat. I will be sad to turn in the key and walk away forever from this home, but in the same breath I'm excited for new adventure. On top of all these aspirations, we also want to become healthier. Now that we're into our thirties, all the steps we should have taken in our twenties have become brazenly obvious. I'm finally an acceptable weight, but worry that I'll tip the scales the wrong way if I'm not smart. And Bryan needs to rein in his health as I expect him to live to 90. Then for the tippy top step, I've decided to try out my entrepreneurial side, and begin an extremely small business. I don't expect much gain from this venture, other than experience and maybe some courage to jump off these steps into a larger business one day. We'd be good at this, but unfortunately (maybe?) my realistic side keeps my hand gripped to the staircase rail.

Saturday, January 9, 2010

More Hawks







We were out driving today and noticed a massive hawk on a post. It was the biggest I have ever seen, about 18" tall while on the post. As I got out of the truck it took off and hid in the field. We then went about a mile down the road and came across another hawk not near as big. It had an injured leg and didn't move much. He moved from one post to another not far away and I was able to get a few shots. I love these birds.