Putting out Fires

That’s right everyone! My house is finally fit for the masses. After the crazy furniture buying, the frenzied painting of rooms which were once BLACK, and some new decorations in the form of photos by yours truly, we were ready for a party! First, let’s get a look at the new furniture. Here’s my fun new living room, new entertainment center, new barstools, and kick ass new space for entertaining:

And, my favorite new room of the house: the bedroom. OK! Fine! It was always my favorite! But you know what I mean. The original state of this room was too hideous to photograph, so I’ll just tell you that it was nasty mint green, with green sheer things on the windows wrapped in fake flowers, some of which were green. Now its a nice, friendly combination of browns, with all new furniture, a KING SIZED bed, and the perfect place for our drawing from Paris.

So, now that the house was (almost) perfect, it was time to trash it. So we rolled in a keg, enlisted our good friends and moms to help with food, and had a GREAT time breaking in the new house. The party started by 4, the living room was packed by about 6, the food started to disappear completely by 10:30ish, and the keg went dry at midnight. Now that, my friends, is a party!

I’d be remise if I didn’t give thanks to everyone who brought us wine, plants, wine, flowers, and wine as gifts for our new home.  Oh, and the best gift award goes to the guy who brought us the plunger.  Every house needs a good, sturdy plunger. 

D*mn, I had something totally funny to write about, but the drink  Ryan made me of mint baileys, vodka, and chocolate soy milk made me forget it.  More tomorrow.

Ryan sometimes reads here, but not always.  If he does read this post, he’s not going to be too happy.  I’ve got a firefighter rant, and its just easier to write it here than to talk with him about it any more than I already have.  Whenever his department does something just plain mean that affects the families whose lives revolve around the department, if I get angry about it when I’m talking to him, he feels like I’m angry AT him.  I hate that I would make him feel that way, because truly all I really feel is the compulsion to call the scheduling people, and his higher-ups to give them a piece of my mind.  They run our lives.

Ryan put in requests for vacation for 2006 back in November.  He picked three times:  February (for skiing), April (for a trip to Florida), and August for whatever strikes our fancy at the time. 

Until today, all of those requests showed up as ‘Pending’ on his account.  Today, however, just TWO WEEKS before our planned trip, the February date says “DENIED”.  No explaination, no suggestion of a different dates, NOTHING.  Just “DENIED”.

Last year Ryan had a vacation request denied 3 times in a row.  Because he was new, and because the guys walk on eggshells around the scheduling girls because they basically control their happiness on the job, Ryan stopped submitting the request.  So he lost a full vacation and was never compensated for missing it.

So now we’re just waiting to see what happens with our April date.  Plane tickets are getting more expensive as we wait.  My relatives in FL are waiting to hear when they can take THEIR vacations.  Its crazy! 

I don’t know what else to say about it.  I feel completely out of control of my life. 

Like lots of you out there today, I’ve been reading the Bloggies nominations.  Oh my.  These people are TALENTED.  These people get PAID to do what I love doing on a daily basis.  Can you imagine? 

I tend to think in terms of my own little blogosphere.  The people I read every day.  So for those of you out there who still think in terms of 5 comments being a GREAT post, for those of you who aren’t mentioned in GQ magazine, and for those of you who blog because you love it, here are this year’s Blogs for the Masses Winners.  (Note:  friends and family members are disqualified from entering, because hey!  It just wouldn’t be fair!):

1.  Best Blog to Meet a New Friend:  Michele Agnew.  On nights when I’m home alone and not sure where to surf to next, Michele always has her famous Meet ‘n Greets.  Her games are interesting and fun, and I’ve found a lot of my favorite blogs through her. 

2.  Most Interesting World Traveling Blog:  Sangroncito.  He’s racy, free-spirited, and he writes to me when he sees a firehouse.  :-) 

3.  Most Normal Female Engineer Blogger (besides me!):  M  M is proof positive that I’m not alone in my testosterone-filled world.  She’s got a new job and a new home.  Love reading her.

4.  Best Picture Collection of Someone Who Doesn’t Even Speak English:  Sergi Bernal  This guy does GORGEOUS work.  I look at his stuff every day and drool.  Someday I’ll be able to use my camera like that. 

5.  Best Blog for Making Me Wish I Was Crafty:  Crazy Aunt Purl  This girl is seriously talented.  And super interesting to read as well.

6.  Blogger Who Got Married in Vegas AND Hung w/ Robbin Williams in the Last Year:  Kross-Eyed Kitty.  Love this girl.  She’s always genuine in her writing and she’s one of the first I read daily.

AND THE AWARD FOR THE BLOG I VISIT FIRST EVERY DAY GOES TO……

7.  Melodrama Jukebox of course.  I’m not sure how J. Star found me, but he’s pretty much how I found most of my other daily reads.  He should also get the award for Best Photographer with No Training.  Gorgeous pics, great eye for the world, and a good heart.

So, who are your favorites?  If you comment with your top favorite here, I’ll add it to the bottom of this post. 

*************UPDATED******************

Suley picks J.Star as his favorite blog also

The Great Sapenous says:

“Most Random Blog: labmonkie

Da Thundah Down Undah: Things I’ve Written (Ben)

Most Down-To-Earth: Manhole Music Tea Room (Suleyman)

The Survivor Award: My Life (Jenelle)

The J. Star Award: Melodrama Jukebox (J. Star)”

********more update*******************

Jen at http://www.jenniferryerse.blogspot.com recommends her friend Paul for his photography at blog.paulsveda.com.  I checked it out and she’s right!  This guy’s really great.  Thanks Jen!  And thanks for visiting!

That’s what my  mom and I set out with today.  The first picture I took with my new camera was of a water feature at the Mesa Arts Center, and it is far and away my favorite of all I’ve taken since.  I decided that for our new guest bathroom I wanted to come up with a collection of pictures of man-made water features.  So today I picked up my mom and we headed out with our cameras and with our eyes peeled for water. 

Our first stop was Arizona State University, where the water features left much to be desired, but the architecture lends itself to shadow pics.  Here’s me and my mom:

Next we headed to downtown Phx and hit the Phx Art Museum.  It was pretty much all under construction, but I got excited about this corridor filled with convex mirrors.  Sadly, I couldn’t figure out how to get the right light in my photos without getting nasty feedback from the mirrors.  Here’s a before pic, and I plan on going back after I figure out how to actually use my camera.  (side note: my first assignment in class is to take a digital picture of my digital camera.  I had hoped to use this)

Next, we were off to the Heard Museum where there was a great water feature!  Not only that, but they had a cafe there with food provided by Arcadia Farm.  It was SO GOOD that my mom and I ran into the gift store and each bought the Heard Museum Cook Book! 

On my way home I saw a great water feature that caused me to cut off at least 3 cars and probably cause a major car accident.  All in the name of photography people.

Well, can’t wait until I actually know what I’m doing, but in the mean time i can definitely see more photography expeditions with my mom in the future.  Mom, had a great time today and I sure love you!

Not that I watch American Idol, but I’ve seen a few of the beginning-of-the-season episodes.  You know the ones:  full of a mixture of idiots who’ve been told by their mommy that they can sing and they stupidly believe it, and the people who want their 15 minutes and purposely act like idiots in the hope of immortalizing their idiocy.  Well my friends, I have a feeling that the folks in my photography class lie somewhere in that first category in my very own Photography Idol.  From listening to these people, THEY should be teaching the class.  Seriously, if you’ve taken 10 photography classes, and you have your own wedding photography business (which I highly suspect really means you took pictures for your sister’s wedding because she was too cheap to hire a real photographer), then WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING IN AN INTRO TO PHOTOGRAPHY CLASS?!  It appears that I’m one of 3 people in a class of 20 who truly expects to learn how to use a camera and how to compose pictures.  The other 17 people nodded their heads to everything the teacher said as if they already knew everything being said.  Seriously.  Shut up. 

So a few pics of the firefighter picnic this last weekend.  The picnic was at McCormick Railroad Park in Scottsdale.  I remember this park from when I was a kid.  There’s a great tiny steam engine train that you can pay $1 to ride around the whole park.  There’s also this whole playground that looks like an Old West town.  It used to look a LOT bigger.  Ryan’s work rented out a huge area, and they served BEER, which is shocking considering the department hates parting with money.  Some pics:

Start ‘em young:

That last one is of Ryan and his guys getting their butts whooped by the recruits.  That’s Ryan upfront.

OK, its 10:41 and Project Runway has 20 minutes left them I’m off to bed.  Love ya!

Have lots to write, and very little time to write it.  This week has been full of MORE furniture buying, watching of the entire extended version of Lord of the Rings, and a fire fighter picnic.  Promise I’ll write about it all as soon as I get a breather.

I’m off to my first photography class!  My camera battery’s all charged, and I have a shiny new pen and pad of paper ready in my bag.  Ready to learn!

Here I am in beautiful Alabama.  So far I’ve seen the airport, the hotel, the place where our meeting was, and a few restaurants.  Leave it to Arizonans to find a decent Mexican food restaurant in the South. 

My hotel is right next door to the Space and Rocket Center, where Space Camp is!  No joke, I look out my 6th floor room and I’m looking right up the tail end of an actual space ship.  This morning I woke up early because there’s a gnarly thunderstorm.  A bolt of lightening struck the huge upright rocket in the middle of the center!  Oh, and we’re under a tornado watch.  Nice.  Luckily my flight’s not until MUCH later. 

Last night I got back to the hotel from the meeting, walking into my room and the entire bathroom was completely flooded.  I was sure someone upstairs had died in their running bathtub or something.  Turns out it was just a broken toilet.

Its interesting traveling w/ people you work with.  You can’t help but get to know them better because you really don’t want to talk shop the whole time you’re stuck in a far away place together.  Last night I got treated to some of my coworkers getting SMASHED at a German restaurant.  Nothing cures a egomaniacal ass better than his knowledge that you’ve seen him stumbling, falling down drunk. 

So I’m stuck in the hotel for another 3 hours until checkout, then I’m stuck in the airport until late.  No earlier flights.  Bummer.  OK, free cable is calling my name.

So what better excuse do you need for spending money than a new house?  In the last week we’ve bought an entertainment center, a full bedroom set, and a king size ‘Heavenly’ mattress.  That’s right folks, the very same as you’d sleep on at the W Hotel.  mmmm  Our poor credit card is hurting, but our backs are going to feel SOOOO good.

Today the entertainment center arrived.  Check it out!

Look!  The sides pull out for storage.  Nice…  Now we’re in the market for a 50″ TV to fit the unit.  Super Bowl at my house? 

I’m leaving tomorrow morning for a business meeting in Alabama.  Alabama.  What the hell’s in Alabama?  Seriously, I hate flying.  All those people trapped in a little tiny tube of metal.  The bumping.  The babies craying.  Ugh.  Oh, and I miss my pups. 

So I hope to be writing to you next from Alabama.  At least it’ll mean that I have the entertainment of free internet in the hotel.  Write to me lots!  I’ll need the distraction.

So this year will be my 10 year high school reunion.  Ten years?  Is that possible?  I still get carded for alcohol (although, strangely, that has been happening less lately), I still get treated like a kid at work (although, there have been 9 new people hired into my group since me, so I guess I’m not THAT new), and I just plain don’t feel like I’m old enough to have been out of high school that long. 

Recently I got myself hooked on myspace.  First of all, myspace is the devil because it sucks away hours of your life without you ever really accomplishing anything.  But, it is a great place if you need a swift kick into age reality.  You wouldn’t believe the people I’ve found on there!  College roommates, people I was friends with in high school, people I hated in high school……………..

If you believe it, I just got sidetracked for about a half hour on that stupid thing, AGAIN.  Anyway, I was saying:  so I spent an hour (or 4) last week looking up people I graduated with from high school.  Turns out the people I thought were gay are, and the people who were slutty in high school are even more so now.  But most of all, they all look OLD.  When I see someone on TV who’s supposed to be 27, I think, “There’s no way.  That actress is 31 playing 27.”  But it turns out that 27 looks grown up.

I guess because I’ve seen all my good friends from high school grow up at the same pace as me, I didn’t really notice that we were getting old.  But let’s face it:  27 is officially past party age.  Its past the age where you can say, “Oh man, I’ve got TONS of time to have fun before I’m faced with the ‘to have kids or not to have kids’ decision”.  27 is old enough where staying up until 1am is cause for celebration.  27 also feels like my last chance to look my best.  Metabolism is all downhill from here.

 So I figure its about time I start living my life more.  I spend my days off ‘resting’.  I tell myself I need it because I have such a crappy job.  I tell my husband I just need ‘down time’.  But I look around me and see people living their lives. 

So my resolution for the new year is to start living life as if I was 27.  I’m going to get back to the gym.  I’m going to take at least 5 Flickrworthy photos a week.  I’m going to clean the house more.  And love my husband more.  I’m going to read in parks and coffee houses and walk the dogs at least 3 times a week.  I’m going to ski one day without falling.  I’m going to take a class and buy nice wall art. 

Here’s to 2006:  10 years of adulthood and still counting.

In the last year we’ve bought entire skiing/boarding outfits, googles, expensive gloves, brand new snowboard, boots, bindings, and ski boots….  There was no way in heck that we were going to sit around in Phx when there was perfectly good man-made snow waiting for us up in the mountains.  So we grabbed Bec and Matt, and headed up to Pinetop

We got there on New Years Eve with no agenda except for eating pizza and drinking heavily.  We were a bit too successful at the latter.  After playing Drinking Texas Hold ‘em, we met our neighbors and continued to drink our way in to the New Year.

The next day we dragged our still-drunk arsses out of bed and up to the slopes.  We had a BLAST, and Bec is a way better teacher than the guy I had last year in ski school.  I was up with the rest of them on the big girl hill in no time.  After skiing, we proceeded to….  yeah, you guessed it:  DRINK.  We went out for a nice dinner in town, then back to the cabin for some Turbo Rally Cranium. 

Hope you all had a great New Year’s too!  Check out all our pics here.