What's new? Peef Spills the Beans on Life & Home Ownership

We haven't talked in awhile. Sorry about that. I'll get you up to date since we have been a bit busy...

First off, we've been watching political conventions for what seems like weeks on end. FINALLY, this week we have a reprieve and can return to our usual schedule. Well, sort of.

Lo is back in school. She is taking a class on early American Lit. Not super exciting (she's reading Benjamin Franklin, for goodness sake!), but I think she is enjoying it more than she lets on. Since she has reading to get done most nights, we've struck up an agreement of sorts for how we operate on weeknights. We start off cooking together; but, after most of the preparations are completed, she goes off to start her reading and I finish things off. After we eat, she finishes up her reading while I handle the clean-up. It makes for a fairly quiet life most nights, but we're getting on pretty well. As you can see from our posts over there at Burp!, we're still cooking up quite the storm.

On my end, things are settling back down a bit. Having finished off all of my summer school business in August (I made the grade in both Accounting AND Macroeconomics!), I'm looking forward to starting my fall traveling for work. Well, maybe "looking forward" is a bit of an exaggeration. But, a boy has to make plans, or nothing gets done! So, next month, I'm scheduling my semi-annual trip to Seattle, and then maybe another one to New York following that. I might also sneak in a trip to Minneapolis as well, but since I would probably turn that into a weekend adventure, it seems less like a work trip (and that's the sort of thing I like).

In other news, even after five years, I'm still floored by how much work is involved in home ownership. It seems that, despite all of the work we put in over the past few months, we still seem to have a few unfinished projects around the house that we need to finish before the cold winter snow starts blowing. First, we still need to finish painting the garage (we managed to primer it back in July, but we tired of painting in the heat and humidity, so we put the project off for cooler days). In conjunction with that project, I need to take some measurements and make a trip over to the local door shop and get a new wooden service door, which we've been needing for a while. Last winter, a gap in the lower portion of the door got so bad that we had snow blowing right underneath the garage door and drifting into lovely little piles right inside the garage! Finally, we'll soon be looking forward to clearing out the gardens, winterizing the lawn, and digging up and splitting up the perennials. I'm getting tired just thinking about it!

I'd like to think that once winter hits, we'll be through with the household projects. But, it seems they never really end. Once the cold weather hits, we'll simply take to the inside projects! We've got some painting we'd like to do. And the basement could use a bit of cleaning out. Looks like another one of the things we'll be considering this winter is a small renovation to the bedroom as well. We've both been waking up feeling pretty creaky lately... and we're starting to suspect that our 10-year-old mattress is to blame. I think we might be leaning towards a sleep number bed... we ran into one at the State Fair this year, laid down on it, and pretty much fell in love. But, we'll take any suggestions you might want to offer!

Alright, it's getting late. So, I'll let this suffice for now.
But, let's try not to let so much time get between us. It really is good to talk to you...

What you don't know about the Lo

Here's another pseudo-meme inspired by MTP over at Floor 22: 15 things about Lo that I think most other people wouldn't know.

1. Lo is funnier, quirkier, and more whimsical than she may seem
2. Lo is a blanket thief. In the middle of the night, she puts her mask on and takes all of the blankets and tucks them all around her body and refuses to give them up.
   
3. Lo worries more than she should, or maybe just more than me
4. Lo is almost always cold (probably why she likes to steal the blankets)
   
5. Lo is happier staying at home than a night out
   
6. Lo falls asleep after eating sugar
7. Lo can move heavy objects like nobody I know
8. Lo would let you rub her feet or hands for hours
9. If stuck, Lo always finds a way out
10. Lo can sleep longer than you
11. Lo would rather drive. Otherwise she will be out like a light the minute you hit the highway.
12. Lo has a collection of food magazines that go back 10 years or more
    
13. Lo has a hard time sitting still
14. Lo loves a good challenge
    
15. Lo remembers EVERYTHING

Feel free to tell the world about someone you know well!

Starting Over: The First Day of School

The first day of school is always a revelation for me.
It wreaks of all things new and exciting. And it reminds me that there is always hope.

I've been done with my undergraduate work for longer than I care to admit at this point. Twelve years, in fact, if my math isn't too rusty. Although I've played around with course work since then, I've mostly observed others when it comes to the first day of school. The undergraduates look so fresh after a summer of doing as they please. Sure, some of them spent the summer working the register at Dairy Queen. But, at private universities, like this one, you'll find more students who spent the summer interning for a Fortune 500 Company or laying on lakefront piers perfecting their tans. Usually, I sit and observe. And I watch as that "first day of school" look turns into a squirrely mid-term gaze and then an end-of-semester frenzy.

Unlike other years, this time I'm actually in the frey. And I'm feeling the first day of school again in a new way. I've got the butterflies in the pit of my stomach. And the worry over whether I bought the right books. Most of all, I've got the urge to put on a sweater.

Yes, it's true. For over 25 years now, I have denied every urge I've had to wear a brand new sweater on the first day of school. It's not a particularly difficult decision, since indubitably it is far to warm to wear anything close to a sweater at the end of August. But, I have to talk myself out of it nonetheless. Sometimes it works. And sometimes it doesn't.

This year, as I don my unseasonable (and slightly scratchy) sweater, I'm truly filled with hope. Degree or non-degree, I'm back where I belong... in an English department. Smelling the smells of the dusty books. Listening to the sounds of academic prattle. And wondering what the writings of Benjamin Franklin have to do with anything at all...

It's a good thing, this new beginning.

State Fair Part 2: The Peoples

Our adventures at the fair didn't end with the animals. No, no, no.

Although the Fair was filled with some vicious varieties that we hadn't seen anywhere else...
And we were awfully amused by the offerings of this particular catfish. Take special note of the deep fried macaroni & cheese on a stick. We didn't try it out, but we wondered about it all day long.
We were also pretty stymied by the amount of JUNK available for sale.
We managed to resist the Sponge Bob Squarepants dolls, but Paul couldn't resist giving himself a milk mustache with some delicious Wisconsin icecream. If you look closely, you'll see that his nose got in there too!
Meanwhile, Lo decided that it would be a good idea to eat the lemon that came out of her beer.
We couldn't resist trying on some of the oh-so-fashionable cowboy hats we found at one vendor.
Apparently Lo couldn't control herself around the Dean's Chocolate Milk Chug dude either.
Fun, fun, fun...

Being Brave Pays Off

I am pleased to report that I have lived through the GRE, yet again.

As an added bonus, from what I can tell, my scores are quite respectable. I'm still waiting to see what my analytical writing scores look like; but, to be honest, I wasn't all that worried about the writing end of things. I was more concerned that my verbal scores were somehow going to take a nose-dive... which would have been a fair tragedy, considering I'm trying to sell myself to the English department.

I can't say I'm THRILLED by my scores. But, then, am I supposed to be?
I'm mostly just relieved to have it over with. And, I would guess that Peef would echo my thoughts. He has, after all, put up with me and all of my crazy studying for the past 4 weeks.

Life can now begin again. Yay!

State Fair Part One: The Animals

OK, it was just one day of the weekend (the rest of the time I've been studying for the GRE). But, it was a load of fun.

We made sure that we went during the day this year so that we could catch a glimpse of the animals at the fair. And what a glimpse we did catch!!

First, there were the pigs. Lots of cuties at the fair. But, this one caught our special attention with his Elvis-like smirk.
And then there was this fella, who donated his derriere to the Midway.
We saw lots of goats.
Greedy goats, who were trying to eat other goats' food...
Pretty goats with floppy ears...
And there were lots of goats who wanted nothing more than to eat Lo's fingers!
We also saw plenty of adorable bunnies, including these floppy fellas:
We saw chickens with big feathery feet...
And stripey Tim Burton-esque chickens...
And even some Tina Turner/Andy Warhol chickens...
There were ducks with toupees...
And even a lizard or two...
And then we entered the House of Moo: Where we found Award Winning steer, who had been sold down the river for their meat...
And pretty little calves sleeping peaceful as could be...
And others spending quality time with their mothers... In the end, we were very sorry to have to leave. But, alas, it got late. So, we ate.
(See exactly what we ate over at Burp!)

Me? A Bad Wife?

You Would Make a Horrible 1930's Wife

You are way too non conformist, independent, and sassy to be an ideal retro wife. You may be so wild that you aren't even considering marriage! Good thing we don't live in the 1930s anymore!

Would You Have Been a Good Wife in the 1930s?