♫ yuzza yuzza rent yuzza yuzza already spent!♫

Whoa, what a bad day!

It started off rocky. Tears were shed. Our boss was away last week, so we were/are dealing with a shitstorm of issues & people who have been awaiting his return. Too, I have exactly 5 billion things I have to do, professionally & personally. ATM & I thought we'd take care of a big task over lunch break -- handing in our 30 day notice to vacate to our landlady. You've probably inferred that it did not go over well. It really didn't. She was such a jerkface!



We stopped by her office after lunch to hand deliver the notice. I didn't go in with ATM because I thought that this would be an easy, simple task. Nooooo no no. She immediately became cold & talked to ATM as if we were bad tenants. Then she went on about how we were responsible for rent until the lease expired (in April 2010!). THEN she told us our horrible options. She was really unhelpful and unpleasant.

Is my sense of entitlement way off to A) want her to say something along the lines of, "Oh, dag, you bought a house! That's awesome! I will do everything I can do to help because you've been a great tenant for the past EIGHT years!" and B) want this matter to be treated as business and it not be personal?



Nothing can be easy, I suppose.

What we will end up doing is signing a termination agreement and paying a fee which is equal to one month's rent. Yikes. This might hurt a bit!

Health Care Reform Rally 2009!

Not a teabagger in sight!

BRAVA! to the ones that showed on this grey & rainy day.  I really wish I could thank the gentleman that gave me the plastic sheet to shield myself from the rain.  That little act of sweetness right there is why I even bother caring about stuff, so thanks, guy!


ATM <3:


Man of steel, Somers Mathews (He helped fund this event BIG TIME, so thank him personally!):

Rep. Kathy Webb:



Was she texting whilst singing?

What a pal!





Doesn't the Belvedere look so strange?

THE BIG NEWS

Even though I have reservations, I've been assured by many that it's safe to announce that we bought a home.  Finally, eh?  I didn't want to post about it anywhere on the internet because I was certain that I was jinxing us.  Too, when we made this offer, we worked very hard to "be cool" & not get too emotionally involved, just in case.  The house was foreclosed on, so we would be working through a bank.  That's why it took nearly three weeks to hear back from them.  I remember where I was when we heard the good news.  We were driving back home from Florida.  It was raining.  We were listening to Grizzly Bear feat. (THE) Michael McDonald on S1r1us radio.  [An aside:  ATM read this interview with Michael McDonald who said he was really diggin' what the youngins are playing these days.  He enjoyed working with Grizzly Bear,  said it reminded him of Doobie Bros. days, when they were experimenting with music.  I had to chuckle.] When Suz (our realtor) told us the good news, I totally sobbed.  It made sense at the time.  Do you know how hard it was for me to not get stoked?

3519 N Olive St.

North Little Rock, AR  72116

Here's a funny:  The house that we 'won' is right across the street from our second failed attempt.  I can't wait to wave hello at that guy.  He hasn't sold his house, yet, btw.  Hee.

These photos (from the Cry3 L3ike website) do not do this house justice.  We are going to meet with our realtor soon, so that I can take proper photos. Please note the aluminum awnings & how great they will serve us on rainy days.




Second bedroom:


Part of the backyard is fenced in.


Mud/laundry room:

Dining room. With French doors, oui oui:

Living room:


I took these few. Long drive-way:

You may've noticed that we're going from huge porch to zero porch, but I'm hoping to make up for it in the back. You will love it. Please note the building out back that is roughly half the size of the house itself. Future recording/music studio for ATM plus room for storage, tools, etc.


I'm sorry if I failed to mention to any one of you the good news. Frankly, I don't know who I've told & who I haven't, so let this serve as the announcement. I'll let you know when the housewarming party is. Ice cream & cake!

make time take time

Note: I'm just gonna publish this post. If it seems unfinished, well, it is. But, I gotta make room for new posts. Something happened to me post-vacation. I feel like the Dude. Just puttering along, man. Onward, onward!
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Last week, ATM & I joined his mom & stepfather in Perdido Key, Florida for much needed R & R. Lots of hanging around on the beach, eating, sleeping, eating & sleeping. Beach.

No need to get wordy about this lot of photos:









But, these might need some 'splainin:

Flora-bama. A literal shanty/tent town. Attracts the wooooo! crowd. Smells like Pizza Don'ts. Makes a stiff pina colada.



Ye olde bra toss:





ATM got a little (clay) court time in. It's vacation! And we kept up with the US Open.


On our last full day, we drove into Pensacola & explored their precious downtown. Pensacola totally got the Spanish/French treatment a la New Orleans & Mobile, AL. The next time we are in the area, there are some restaurants & dives I'd like to check out. We went to their art museum that is housed in a building that used to be a jail. It's not a big museum; they only had two exhibits. 1. Passport to Paris with sketches and etches. And 2. Art of Africa, which featured beautiful pieces from some guy's personal collection. I can only imagine what his house looks like. And is it just artifacts from Africa?



This stool could be in the MOMA catalog:

Stairwell in museum:


It's a ten hour drive from NLR to Perdido Key, FL. By the time we rolled into Florida, it was dark & we were a kind of exhausted , tempered with total spaz. We ate, briefly faced the ocean & then went to our room to retire. We needed to decompress, so we turned on the television & immediately caught a second wind. Why? We realized that we were in Mark Ghormley territory! We watched The Unchartered Zone (UZ to REAL fans). It did not fail to entertain. No Mark Ghormley, but they did feature lots and lots of other local "talent". Thank you, Collin, for introducing us to Mr. Ghormley. Keiko made me laugh heartily when she told me that her little bean moved with an intensity while she was watching Brad Pitt on the silver screen. AND MARK GHORMLEY (on the computer screen)! Precious. Too bad they only show it one night a week.

I failed at documenting the foods and meals that we consumed, but I was on vacation from this blog, too, you know? I love this photo:

We were about to dig into our last breakfast before we hit the road home. There sits a tall, cold glass of milk. No one I know drinks milk like that any more. Sign of the times?

Tech-junkies make terrible vacationers. I checked my email & the usual sites nearly everyday. And I'm glad I did! Autumn has an online business called Avante Tarte. She will list what she's b/making, take orders by a certain date/time, and then she will deliver them to you. I love it. And she is some kind of baker! I got my order in before I left Florida. True Blood Season Finale pie: Black cherry rhubarb with blood orange merlot(te) sauce, and pâte brisée crust.



I don't even have to tell you it was good because your heart already knows! If you live in the NLR/LR area, get in on this madness!

Oh, ugh, the vacation totally set back the self-improvement plan. I ate whatever I wanted in FL. I've been back home for 6 days now & I have been good, but only 50% of the time. Pie & making runs with my lady folks to Hot Springs to eat @ Rolando's (with gelato afterwards) is not helping matters. But, I digress. These are the noteworthy, memorable & delicious things, not the vegan boca burger w/ salsa, no cheese that I forced myself to eat for lunch. I get it. You can't self-improve on vacation. I'm still sulking, though. Poo poo.

Posting out of boredom.

I mean, it's not unusual that I don't want to be at work, but it's harder this week. Sitting here @ my desk is torture. It's making my butt and back hurt and I'm drinking a cup of coffee @ 3:00 p.m. because I can hardly stay focused on anything. And it doesn't help that it is faux-fall outside. I've got autumn foods on the brain. Casseroles. Soups. T.o.r.t.u.r.e.

And it's difficult to not let my mind wander to a house we may one day own. I already know what I'm going to make for the dinner I'm inviting you to. There'll be table linens & fresh baked bread.