Colorado, 2011 — Part 1

Soooo, I posted a brief note about our trip to Colorado about a million years ago. I've finally had time to get photos together to share. :)


Erik was glad to get away for a few days.


We headed to Bear Lake. Or was it Big Bear Lake? Not sure which. It's been so long ago!


Of course, there was STILL snow and ice there! Stunning!


He didn't leave his thug attitude at home, though. ;)


For anyone who ever wonders, my father taught me how to work a camera. He's still a photo enthusiast. And perfectionist. Which means we walk about 1/2 a foot, and he stops to take a picture. For 5 minutes. Then we walk 2 feet, he stops and takes another picture. For 5 MORE minutes. Seriously, I was never going to get my heart rate up enough for our 'hikes' to qualify as exercise!


It was extremely beautiful. Using some sprouting branches to 'frame' the mountains here.


Sans framing.




A nice lunch spot!

Photo tip #5

This was taken with my point and shoot (purse) camera in the country. The sun had set, but I liked the tree/silhouette.

I pulled out my camera and used my car door to keep it steady (TIP!). If it's dark/there's low light, use something to stabilize your camera.

I think I also went to the exposure and adjusted. I think I underexposed it a bit (made it darker). Honestly I can't remember. To read more about exposure/overexposing/underexposing (i.e. exposure compensation), you may read THIS blog post.

A few from Christmas, 2011

Theodore wasn't sure at first about the whole Santa Hat thing.


Eventually, he decided it was OK. :)


Theodore unwrapped the first gift of the night.


Uncle Paul scores a win with an empty box. What kid doesn't LOVE a big box to play in? It also occupied small bodies as the big people did gifts.




Sorry sweetheart, worst face ever. But we're now ready for spring training around here!

Chore charts aren't just for kids

I wonder if people sometimes get the wrong idea about me? With this and this blog post about how to do chores the lazy way, I wonder if I come across as lazy?

I hope not.

Yet I am constantly trying to find ways to make things easier. Does that make me lazy? I don't really think so.

Toward the end of 2011, I decided I need to come up with a better system of cleaning. The previous one was to just let things go until company was expected. The problem with this was that then EVERYTHING REALLY needed to be cleaned. All at once.

There had to be a better way.

I consulted with one of my supremely organized clients and started to put ideas together.

This is what I came up with:


Yes, I'm a grown woman, and I have a chore chart.

Is that lame?

Actually, I don't care if you think it's lame. I expect my baby brother to be rolling his eyes at this post. But whaev, Baby Paul.

Previously, I would always put off doing a chore because it'd been XX weeks/months since I last did it, and it was a big/icky job by that point. I started with the hypothesis that if I did things not weekly, but every other week, it wouldn't be so unpleasant of a task. I also figured if I was more on top of a given task, that it would take me a max. of 15 minutes to accomplish. It seems to be working.

For example, I started at the beginning of December. When it came time to "clean" for Christmas because my family was coming over, there really wasn't much to do. Sure, we ran out of time to clean one bathroom, but it was JUST cleaned the week before, calming my guilt over the matter.

I put the super-easy stuff on Monday/Friday, and have one "bigger/deep cleaning" sort of task on Thursday.

Does this mean the task gets done exactly on that day? Not always. Some days, I just have the 15 minutes to get my one chore done. Others, I don't. Another day, I might have an hour to kill. Yet having my chart means I am keeping tabs on things that are getting done (or not, as in the kitchen floor hasn't been washed ... I've been putting that one off for multiple weeks!).

The other way this is working splendidly is that Erik helps. I am usually able to bargain with him. "Honey, I cleaned the entire bathroom, will you scrub the toilet?" (for whatever reason, I loathe scrubbing toilets; but since this is the ONLY cleaning thing Erik has to do, he seems willing to help).

I'm also trying to come up with some other/bigger tasks to be done sometime during the month. For January, it was to put away the Christmas decor. I tend to put this off, but since I got to put a sticker on the chart, it was done before the Epiphany! :) Other examples of this will be cleaning/sweeping out garage and other 'bigger' tasks that need to be done a few times a year.

If you love it/hate it, this is week 7 of my chart, and it seems to be working fairly well. I will admit the first few weeks were rough, because some of the areas needed a BIG clean ... but after the initial clean, it hasn't been so bad!

What do YOU do to stay on top of things? I'm always looking for ways to improve this! :)

#27 — Join a fantasy team

Ooooooh, this is a doozie. Are you ready for this?

Last week, we were at a friend's house, and Marc brought up a fantasy golf league. Yes, you read that correctly. A fantasy golf league. This isn't one of the formal ones; Erik and Marc made up their own rules.

Did I mention we had a draft? Yes.We.Did.

This is a long-term commitment, but one I can handle. All I had to do was select 5 players and then forget about them for the rest of the year. They'll tell me at the end of 2012 how I did. :) Low maintenance. I'm into that. This is great, especially since there are a bajillion tournaments that are eligible to add points to our score.

Oh, did I mention I don't follow the "sport" of golf in the slightest. This is going to be great. Especially since I was the No. 1 draft picker. :)

Here's my breakdown:


1. Rory McIlroy 2. Phil Mickelson 3. Sang-Moon Bae 4. Bo Van Pelt

Let me break down my choices for you by my extremely scientific method for choosing them.

1. Rory. I totally remember watching him crash and burn one afternoon last year. Which tourney was it? Um .... a big one. Masters, maybe? Heck, Idunno. But evidently the next week he went on to kick it in the next big tourney. Which one? Dunno either. But he's gonna be hot this year. Trust me. ;)

2. Phil. I at least have heard of his name before; he's a bit more household. Experienced. Wife is recovering from breast cancer, which is probably why I remembered his name. I like the story.

3. Bae. I looked at a list of top 100 golfers for 2012 and he was on it. Besides, who doesn't love the name? I'm getting a hard time regarding my choice from the other participants. Erik even says I might be about 10 years ahead of my time in choosing him. But I stand by my boy Bae. The South Korean women dominate, so can you, buddy!

4. Bo. Basically, this is a blind date. I picked him off of a list, too. Name sounded good to me.

Last, but the first guy I knew I'd draft:


5. John Daly. Seriously, those of you who know me can't even question this choice. One look at those pants should be all of the reason I need to know he belongs on MY team! :) I think everyone was a bit taken aback by my choice. But know what? If I end up watching much/any golf this year, John will without a doubt provide the entertainment for me. :)

After the first tourney, I'm batting zero. I didn't even have a player in the tourney. :( But my main main, Bae is slated for this weekend, and I have high hopes! (picture this in a Norman Chad voice, ok? it's great).

Erik, however, is off to a more impressive start. Of course, he took the draft very seriously and has selected what everyone else deems as a very respectable lineup of golfers, which is why he's currently in second place.


1. Adam Scott 2. Lee Westwood (I wanted to draft him; darn you, Erik!) 3. Dustin Johnson 4. K.J. Choi (Hey! Erik has a South Korean and nobody is mocking HIM! I guess the decade or so E's player has on mine is the reason?) 5. Ricky Fowler (the kid's got class; I should have looked at him more closely for my team, but I have several young players on there already, gotta get some experience!)

This isn't a fancy league. The winner doesn't get anything, except for out of dinner. The last 2 places have to make/buy dinner, 2nd place is responsible for an evening of adult beverages + snacks; the winner just enjoys it all and doesn't have to prepare/do anything.

This could be a clever ploy by some plotting husbands to interest/involve their wives in golf. If it is, so be it. This should be fairly entertaining. :)

#123 — Install a gate on patio to contain the dog

When we were installing our patio, there wasn't a dog in our future. Sure, Erik wanted to get a dog 'someday,' but we didn't think too much about it. Until we brought Bailey home. And she wouldn't stay in the backyard because that's where my mind WANTED her to stay.

We came up with this elementary solution:


Of course, she eventually figured out how to stick her nose between the side and garage and open the divider. Drat.

During the summer, I like to work in the backyard, but sometimes she'll see a rabbit or someone walking down the street and take off after it/them. And I wont' know until there are shrieks from the front yard. Oops.

We needed a containment solution.

I searched high and low for options that didn't involved digging anything up. Oh, did I mention our opening was about 5 feet wide? Right.

After serious searching and measuring and several trips to return the incorrect posts to the store, we were ready to go.


Thankfully, my dad was willing to come and help.

(Erik is thinking "Am I REALLY missing the Chiefs game? They are beating the Packers right now, and I'm doing a home project.")


We (read: Karen) decided the best solution for our opening was to hang the gate on the existing post. We'd have to put in another post to the right for a latch.


Since we have concrete, and I didn't want to tear anything up, we had to rent a 'hammer drill' and Erik showed it who was boss.


FINISHED!!!!! :) :) :)

Well, not TOTALLY finished. I have yet to attach the latch. But this solution works fairly well for now. When puppy got nutty during Christmas Eve, we were able to put her out back and know she'd stay there. :) When spring rolls around, I can know she'll still be in the backyard with me if I'm gardening -- looking forward to that! :)

Review: Green tape

I splurged on the green turtle tape forour bedroom painting.


This is how it did.

NOT impressed with the edge barrier. :(

It did seem to excel in keeping windows free from paint, though. Maybe it is more discerning about the surface?

I had quite a bit of touching up to do. Then trim painting.


I have NO IDEA how I ended up with so much white trim paint in my hair. Seriously. I've never had this much paint on my head. Ever. I looked like I had white hairs, and some of the paint stuck around 3-5 days. Sheesh.

In the dog house

Ahem.

From time to time, Erik and I will have epic battles over food. I might take home leftovers from a restaurant, thinking I'll eat it for lunch the next day, only to find someone ate it over night. :( Early into our marriage, Erik learned this was NOT the way to win his wife's affection. He's much better at this now.

For Thanksgiving, I made a sweet potato pie. I wasn't buying into some health craze; I am allergic to pumpkin, and it was the closest option. For not being the real thing, I thought it was an adequate sub. My youngest bro isn't convinced, but you eat the real thing and leave this to me, OK Paul?

We had 2 tiny pieces of pie left. It was covered on the counter, and I ran to the craft store to get ribbon to decorate for Christmas.

Upon returning home, this is what I see. Empty pie plate, crumbs.


Hmm.

As I've said, Erik learned this is not agreeable behavior. Besides, he was at work. Did he come home, eat BOTH pieces of pie, leave crumbs and go back to work? Not very sneaky. I called him anyway to ask.

Then I looked at the dog. Who wouldn't look anywhere near my direction.

Seriously. The dog? THE DOG. She had somehow stood on her hind legs, peeled back the wrapping and gobbled up the pie. STINKER. I was stunned. STUNNED. Never before had such a transgression occurred in the house. EVER.

I took her outside, pottied her, and then scolded her ferociously. She wouldn't even look at me (one of her most sure signs of extreme guilt).

Of course, I went to google to see if it was 'safe' for a dog to eat sweet potatoes. Evidently, some dog food uses that veggie in the mixture/formulation. Maybe it smelled familiar to her? We'll never know.

What we DO know is that Erik woke up early one day to come into the kitchen and CATCH HER IN THE ACT of having paws on the counter and sniffing at some chicken I was thawing (at the very BACK of the countertop). At least she was caught in the act and given the business about it.


Here she'd pulled some of the ribbon spools from the middle of the recycling bin to disassemble them. As you can see, when being scolded, this is as close as she comes to looking at us. Oh, and Erik thought giving her a 'crown' of spool shame would add to the effect.

Napping

We painted a bedroom a month or so ago, and it's where the 'pack and play' hangs out, waiting for our nephew to visit. Or our friends with little ones to stop by. Napping is encouraged!


Since I took off the door nob/handle to paint the door, and haven't put it back on, the cat frequently will go in and make herself at home. After all, we *of course* painted the room for HER. It's lucky for US that SHE lets us live in the house with her. ;)


I found her hanging out there last week, and picked her up and tossed her into the pack-n-play to see how she'd react. I got some foam and my sis sewed a cover for it. Seems like a prime napping location.

Usually, the cat would hop right out. Primarily because it was MY idea, not HER idea to be in whatever location I placed her (my lap, on the bed, wherever). But she seemed puzzled. Liked it, but din't want to let on.


The next morning I was looking for her, and where did I find her?


You'll notice tape on the wall. I was trying to visualize the size of a book shelf, and oddly enough, the cat seems to like to align herself with the tape. Seriously strange.

Christmas Decor, 2011

We don't have a Christmas tree. I don't apologize for that. We have a cat. And a dog. This seems like a recipe for disaster, so until 1) we have children and 2) They are in school and 3) realize they are 'missing' out on a tree, I see no need for one. :)

But not to be a total hater, I picked up some ornaments after Christmas last year with just this application in mind. I got a thick and thin ribbon and pinned them from the window. They were festive and looked great!

One of my biggest weaknesses is taking down decor/etc. I was talking with a client/friend, and said 'gosh, if I'd have gotten red, I could say they were for Valentine's day ... or wait, if I got green, they would work for Christmas, then St. Patrick's Day!' - I'd get tons of use out of them. :)

It's the first week of January, and I've managed to find time to put away my December decorations. Phew!


In magazines, I see 'coordinated' boxes for Christmas, and think it's a bit silly. But I had a lot of red and white paper, so wraped most of my gifts in those. Seeing how nice the differing patterns looked, I see the appeal. Yet I still have plenty of paper with other uncoordinated looks to use up, so it might be 3-5 years before you see this sort of coordinated effort en masse.