Background Change

As you can see I've updated the background a bit.  Let me know if you love it or hate it!  So far I'm liking it...but like everything in life, it is bound to piss me off eventually.

Love,
AM

Top 10 Reasons You Know You Live in Wisconsin

10 - When you put on your turn signal, people let you in the lane.

9 - When the cable guy speaks English and calls if he is going to be late.

8 - When you ride a motorcycle, drivers give you extra room as opposed to joining you in your lane.

7 - When the high temp for the day is in the upper 80s, it is considered a heat wave.

6 - When there are fields of corn growing within the city limits.

5 - When you get a hand written note from the woman at the bank who signed you up for your new accounts.

4 - When rush hour actually only lasts an hour.

3 - When you can go to the DMV, be told with a smile that you are missing a piece of documentation, go home, and get back to the front of the line in a 1/2 hour.

2 - When drinking, eating fried foods, and laying around aren't vices, they are hobbies fit for competition.

and the number 1 way you know you live in Wisconsin...

1 - When you buy a 6-pack of beer, the grocery store gives you a brick of cheese for free.

Three Men and a Tool Box...and other new apartment woes

So far we are really enjoying Madison, our new apartment, and the cool, Wisconsin summer.  However, there are a few things about our apartment that have been getting on our nerves...

1) We're not quite sure what the kids upstairs are doing, but we think it is some variant on sumo wrestling combined with American Gladiators combined with some plyometrics training combined with practicing for next year's running of the bulls festivities.  They run and jump around all day and into the night.  We're trying to figure out a neighborly way to tell them to shut the hell up, but as you can see, that's not going well.

2) Although all of the children that we've met in the complex (and there are a lot of them) are very nice, they play outside all day (not a bad thing)...and bounce balls into cars...ugh.  We've already noticed a couple of dents.  The complex is working on getting the parents to...I don't know...parent them, but until then...dents...ugh.

3) BUZZ...so in our old place, we had a key pad to enter a password to get into the building...now there's a buzzer.  We're getting buzzed...a lot...and not by friends stopping by to say hi...just random people trying to get in the building.  Last night there was almost an hour of buzzing...at 3am...brilliant.  It finally stopped, but when I left for work this morning there were three men and a tool box sleeping in the hallway...WTF?!?!

Adventures of Moving Half-Way Across The United States of America

Our stuff arrived…sort of.  We received our belongings last week Friday, which although sooner than the original estimated arrival of July 9-13…was still later than Monday June 28th.  The delivery drivers in their infinite wisdom packed the truck wrong and had to go to Minnesota first…ugh.  Oh well, I’m sleeping in my own bed again and not an air mattress/guest bed/hotel bed, so all is right in the world again.

We do have a small list of items in the damaged/missing category...desk chair—missing a wheel; dresser—a wood strip broke off en route; pint glass—chipped; tall bookcase—missing (though the shelves made it…go figure); and last but not least, the dining room chair—a leg is broken off (but don’t worry, they tried to glue it and failed…double ugh).

We’re doing a great job of putting everything away…by “we” I mean Al because I have started my new job already and am in training from 7:30am to 4:30pm each day minus one hour for lunch/frantic shopping for stuff we need at home.  Al has been mostly amazing and each day impresses me more and more.  He is the best house-husband EVER!  (Seriously--what am I going to do in September when he starts grad school??...Wanted: house-husband/maid/organizer/reader of my every thought…pay=0…benefits=me yelling at them…any applicants?...no??)

On the bright side, I scored a great piece of furniture for the apartment this week.  It was discontinued from World Market…so we got it for 1/2 price thanks to Al.  Here’s a picture of it…

1 – the new buffet table/table linens storage/”quick…stuff all of our crap in here before the company arrives device”

2 – pretty things from Grammy

3 – Avenue Q autographed poster!!!...no big deal

4 – Guinness…”is there a picture going on??...I must be involved”

5 – vase of wine corks…don’t worry there are more in a zip lock bag…didn’t want you thinking I was getting behind from all of the unpacking  :)

We’re soooo getting used to the relaxed, Midwest lifestyle, seeing old friends, and spending time with family.  We miss our DC family so much…but don’t miss the heat/traffic/insanity…so all of you need to move to WISCONSIN!!

Crying at the Hotel Breakfast

So we made it to Wisconsin mostly in one piece.  We left Virginia on Thursday a little after noon.  We had reserved a room at a Super8 in Ohio since they allow our little monsters to stay there.  All was fine and good: checked into the hotel, had a gourmet dinner at Applebee’s (10% off with room key—score!), and we tucked ourselves into bed.  2:15am—I woke up to the dogs sleeping on the floor and panting.  Apparently the “AC low” setting is secretly the “AC off” setting.  So I got up, put it on high, checked out Facebook for a while, and went back to bed.  4:15am—I woke up to both dogs glued to my side under the covers and me freezing because apparently “AC high” is secretly “let’s see if they really want to move back to Wisconsin temperatures.”  Ugh.  So needless to say, nobody slept well.

Off to breakfast we went.  Coffee (I thought) would be my savior.  After we were done, I was going to fill up the coffee and put a lid on it for the car.  I wanted to get the lid on tight so that it wouldn’t spill in the car…because that would really suck.  When I pushed down, the Styrofoam gave way, and the freshly hot coffee exploded all over me.  So there I was sleepless, tired, startled, and burned crying at the hotel breakfast.  Al brought me some ice that slowly melted into my sundress, and I held an ice pack from the cooler on my tummy for the next two hours in the car…while stinking of coffee.  What’s worse than coffee spilling all over the car??—coffee exploding all over you.  I have a lovely burn to show for it.  Luckily it didn’t blister.

Wisconsin is great, our apartment is massive, and we are really happy to be home.  I don’t think it has set in yet that we don’t have to drive back.

Lamest Camping Ever!!

So the moving company came this past weekend…I know what you’re thinking, “…but you’re not moving until the end of the week??”  Yes, I realize this, but the FREE moving service provided by my new company only had two days available in June…the 18^th and the 29^th.  Since we are both done with work on the 23^rd, we didn’t want to hang out much more in the land of non-stop traffic…plus the sooner we move our stuff from DC, the sooner it will arrive in Madison...in theory…but then they changed the date from the 18^th to the 19^th without really letting me know…ugh. 

They also keep telling me different dates for when our stuff will arrive at our apartment in Madison.  Basically we need to be ready for it anytime between June 28^th and July 13^th…ummm.  Don’t get me wrong, I am very thankful that we don’t have to pay for or physically move our stuff, but scheduling a last minute move has been a bit hairy.

So we are currently living on an air mattress with suitcases.  We both forgot to leave behind any lamps…but I found a flashlight last night.  So we are basically camping in our apartment…without s’mores…lamest camping EVER!

There are worse things to be in the world than stuff-less…like home-less or food-less…but it is inconvenient none-the-less.  I will be happy when we are reunited with our (hopefully undamaged) belongings.

Announcement!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Al and I are officially moving back to Wisconsin.  I have accepted a job offer, and we will return to the dairy state in two weeks.  We are both thrilled to be moving to Madison for the career opportunities, close proximity to family, and LESS TRAFFIC!!!...and really…the most important reason…THE CHEESE!!!

 

We will miss the DC area, the museums, the events, and mostly our many friends that became our DC family.  When you live so far away from your biological family, you form a close bond with your friends.  We’ve celebrated holidays together, been pet sitters for each other, cheered each other on at ½ and full marathons, thrown each other graduation parties, and even taken care of each other when we were sick or hospitalized.  We couldn’t have made it out here without our DC family, and we will miss you tremendously.  We hope you can visit us in Wisconsin, and we look forward to visiting DC (like in January when it is negative 3,000 degrees outside in Wisconsin and the snow is higher than the trees…expect a knock at your door).

We also want to thank our Wisconsin friends who have kept in touch with us through phone calls, emails, FB messages, and even visits out east.  It is very easy to get home sick being 1,000 miles away from home, but your words and laughter would always bring our spirits up!  The friends that stick with you even with half a country in between you are friends for life.

Finally we have to thank our families.  Thank you for supporting our decision to move so far away, supporting us while we were here, and supporting us through the move back.  We are so thankful for your patience and understanding.  We look forward to spending more time with you now that we will be living in Wisconsin.

Now, someone get me some curds...STAT!!

mmmm...curds...