Keychain Addition

My keychain has a new addition.
Yesterday IronGreg and I closed on our new-to-us family house to call home.

We were forunate to sell IronGreg's house and find a renter to fill mine.
We had our eyes set on this house for a few months and thankfully - it became ours.
the moment we walked in the door we jsut knew we were meant to be in that house.

A tri level built in the fifty's - it's has the personality we were looking for.
We have already found quirks with that personality.
Like...all the outlets are two-prong...
the light switches make no sense.
In the master bedroom the switch for the ceiling fan is in the hallway...um ok.
It's 4 bedrooms, 3 baths, 2200 SF.
Hopefully by December it will be 5 bedrooms, 4 baths and 3000 SF.

IronGreg would liek to add wainscotting to the entry below the chair rail. he has installed this before, so that wouldn't be a problem. It needs paint and a new light fixture.

The kitchen was recently updated with granite and stainless and new cabs so that's great.
The only work in here is paint and a pendant over the sink - these people had AWFUL taste in lighting.

The dining room is painted BLACK! who does that?! (if you do, please re-paint)
Paint and a new light fixture. I have renamed the current fixture the "tri-boob". It's so bad. I will take a picture of it as it goes in the TRASH! Although hmm I bet we could sell it on Craigs List.

The bathrooms all need to be updated.
I am focusing on the downstairs bathroom since that is the one that most guests will use.
new tile on floors, walls below chair rail, and in the shower, grasscloth wall covering (love my Wolf-Gordon rep), new sconces, new mirror, and a new pedestal sink.
The hall bath has pink tile. yes, pink. we are embracing the pink, though, and painting the walls grey. Who knows if we will have boys or girls and what the furutre of this bathroom will be, so for now embrace the pink!
the master bath is tiny. it needs a new shower, but for now It's going to get a paint job. I would like to put in a new pedestal sink too. that may or may not happen b/c we also have lots of furniture we want to buy, too.

The utility room has SO much potential. My dream is to finish this room off and have the laundry room of my dreams...wow is this what my life has come to? a nice laundry room? I'm okay with that.
I just ordered Whirlpool Duet 9550 series washer and dryers and I cannot wait for them to come home!
The floor is concrete, so we would like to put cork tiles down.
the waster heater is in here, but IronGreg really wants to go tankless and that woudl give us even more space.
the former owners took the fridge, but we can get a cheap one to replace it.
add in cabinets/counters and I'm a happy girl in my pretty new laundry room.

So aside from the addition work (a new floor, garage doors, etc)...there is still lots to DIY!
Good thing I am a designer and we have lots of handy friends!

Coolest Website Ever!

Last night in my funk a good friend, the Beave, had an opening for a massage.
So I skipped my bike ride and headed on over for a massage and some wine.
Perfect!

In our post-massage wine conversation she told me about the coolest website ever.
http://www.missnowmrs.com/
For $30.00 you fill out some information and VOILA! they have every form imaginable for you to change your name and address. Including Passport and IRS - I would have thought about IRS next March!

I highly recommend you check it out if you are planning on changing your name.
I have already started to fill out mynew information!
4 weeks to go!

thank you, Beave!

I take it back

I may not do an Ironman in 2011 after all.

there is a much heated debate on ym team on which race to do.
Instead of going with two, some people feel the need to have just one option.

so it may be CDA.

and my heart is not in for CDA.

so I will sit here and pout about the fact that my last year in the next 20 yers for doing an Ironman may get flushed down the commode.

you can call me Debbie Downer. I'm okay with that.

2011

Yes it's only the 2nd quarter of 2010.
But in Ironman world, you have to register for races a year in advance, so it's really never too early to plan ahead for your next year's schedule.
I have been dying to do Vineman 70.3.
then I decided I want to do an Ironman, too.
But the only Ironman that works is Wisoconsin and I hear more bad reviews than good.
Then someone "slapped me upside the head" (or emailed me) to bring to my attention one minor little detail.
not only is there Vineman 70.3....
there's Vineman FULL!
*cue angels singing*
it's like killing two birds with one stone.
And I mean hello! bike and run through wine country with a wine-induced vacay post-race...
twist my arm!
where do I sign up?!
(no, registration is not open yet, but I will continue to check obsessively untoil it does).

now yes I do remember that work and Ironman trainign don't always get along and I miss more workouts than I should.
and yes I remember that my body doesn't really cre for Ironman training and ocne a month I was laid up with a fever...respitory infection....etc....
I know I am not fast. I never will be. I don't train to be fast. I do too much to train all the time.
It's hard watching others have the ability to train and make progress.
but you know what - I am hitting the same finish line (albeit behind them).
but I liek to wear many hats.
and I want to do another Ironman. (becasue baby time is soon approaching!)

so there it is.
Vineman.
Full.
July 2011.

Jam

J-A-M you got to Jam.
J-A-M you got to got to Jam.
Ahh memories of cheerleading in elementary/middle school.

however, this is a different jam.
my finger has hurt for about 2+ days now.
shockingly, i am keeping my pain complaints to myself.
until this afternoon.
i say something to my colleague and look and sure wnough i have a crooked and swollen finger.
it's totally jammed.
and i have no idea what i did.

Boxes

i should have take a picture of my condo this weekend.
this is my only weekend in town before we close on the new house.
and the weekend we close - I am going to be out of town.
I will be in town for one more weekend before the wedding...and that's the weekend before the wedding, so I may be a bit pre-occupied.
so I wanted to take full advantage of this past weekend to pack.
I have SO much stuff crammed into 850SF.
i have taken over the hallway with boxes.
my entry area is filled with peanuts and bubble wrap.

i did manage to squeak out an hour ride on the biek this weekend. not the 2.5 hours scheduld, but good enough for me. i had a hard time ridfing my bike looking arounda t all theboxes to be paceked.
now before you get excited for me - it was pretty slack.
I put my bike on the trainer (it was windy outside haha) in front of my computer.
I spun for about an hour while watching the movie Carolina off Netflix "watch instantly"
oh and my biek was under a fan.
why did I jsut now think of this set-up?

sunday i also squeaked out a mini work out.
i wsa schedule 8 miles.
i did 4.5. and it took me 40 minutes.
i felt like i ran a marathon.
side stitches. walk breaks. i jsut couldn't get my legs moving.
hmm maybe I let myself get tooo out of shape?

also on sunday I had a bike fit. my aerobars have never been right.
and Les figured it all out.
my fit was done by a roadie.
and a road set up on a TT bike doesn't work.
so hoepfully nwo I will be abel to go in aero without feeling like i am raching 5 feet forward.

and he is changing my bar tape to yellow to match my new uniform! i mean i gots to look cute.

Wedding Planning

wedding planning is a full time job.
especially for someone like me who is OCD when it comes to organization and likes to be in control.
I am not going to lie - I wish I could be there when the florist is setting up for the reception.
I have made lists galore. I guess that's the PM in me. I have no problem leaning on my wedding party with little things to help me accompish my OCD tasks.
I wish I had hired a wedding planner that could take care of everything for me.
but hell, I would want to tell them what to do, too.

this week's theme seems to be timelines...and it's only Tuesday.
I have worked with my mom and the photographer to come up with the day's schedule for photography.
this then has me coordinate with the band for the reception schedule for dancing and cake cutting, etc.
I took that schedule and coordinated the pick up and drop off times for the trolley that is driving the wedding party around for the day.
I was also able to coordinate with my greeters and guest book attendant on when they need to be where and what they need to bring where.
I already have the schedule of events for the week. yes, week. although guests won't be arriving until Friday - IronGreg and I have things to do on wednesday and thursday. then friday starts the wedding festivities.
I feel good about my itineraries and to-do lists.
now maybe I can catch up on thanks you's - man do I have some awesome friends!

oh - I still have to fill you in on the portrait debacle.
but i will save that one for a rainy day.....

ps - thank you to Monkey and Cakes for the wonderful shower this past weekend. love you.