Rosie Vs. Elizabeth......

Do I dare even touch on this subject??? As I am typing, my head is saying "I know better than to start....". But, oh well, this is what blogs are for, after all.

Whose side am I on?? Do I have to be on a side? No. I don't think I do. But, I suppose, if I HAD to be on a side, it would be..................(Oh, let the controversy begin...) Rosie. Don't get me wrong here, I really DON'T know or LIKE either one of them. Not even a little bit. But, even before Rosie was on the view....(which made me stop watching it....because she is way irritating....) I could not stand listening to Elizabeth. I'm sorry to all the Elizabeth lovers. But, she just bugs the crap out of me. Not to mention, she has consistently supported the Bush campaign, through thick, and mostly thin, and that is about enough to make me puke. She will not listen to reason, at all. (according to me....:-) ) She seems VERY one way with her political views. As are most people, I guess. But, my FAV people are those who have, yes, chosen a side, BUT, will listen openly to opinions of others and make a decision from their heart, instead of what they deem as "politically correct". That's all. And from what I have heard of her, she is WAY on the other side. And that is fine, it is workin' for her. So, she can keep running her mouth about all the stuff that she believes in, because you know, that's what this country is all about, but, I don't have to watch it. Yeah!!! That's actually the best part!!! Oh, but I did get online and view the "argument" after the fact, and it was kind-of funny. I really couldn't tell who won or lost, but I just wanted to see what all the "fuss" was about.

The reality TV Buzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz...............

Alright, the end is nearing in reality TV land. Idol is almost over, dancing with the stars is like over tonight, the bachelor is over....well, one last hurrah tonight. I just need to get my feelings out about this bachelor thing. First, this show is really stupid. So why do I keep watching it? Why does it grab me hook, line and sinker?? I mean, I watch one or 2 episodes, and then I have to watch every single one?? Why?? Do I have a weird personality where I thrive on this stuff?? I don't know. But, last night, I just about dropped dead when he picked Tessa. I mean, don't get me wrong, she would have been my pick (if I was a guy wanting to settle down.....which I'm obviously not.....a guy....). So, he played the Bevin card sooooo much, that as Joe was nodding off to sleep he mumbled that he would pick her, for sure. Then, there I was, unable to go to sleep even though it was WAY past my bedtime, I was turning the volume up so I could hear every last word over Joe's snoring.....(sorry honey...secret's out....yup, you snore...), and he told BOTH girls he loved them. But, I thought, OK, he loves them. One of them he loves like a sister, one of them he loves like a, well, you know.......love slave. So, obviously, he would pick the one who he shoots bolts of electricity at every time he is near her. But, in the end, he picked the "good" one. The one that I think will be the "one" for a long time. Unlike the other, where in a couple of weeks the spark would be gone, and, well, then what's left??? Nothing.

same stuff, different week..........

Not much new going on here. Still working on the fixer house, and hoping to be done in less than 4 weeks. Yikes......

I saw this brochure online, I guess I should have read it earlier......

I picked out a carpet sample, and I really like it, and have ordered it to be installed in about a week and a half. So, Danielle was looking at it and she was like..."Oh, there is some green in it...." and I was like.."Yes honey, it has a few specks of green." So then she says " Well, at least if you barf, you wont be able to see it." What??? Where does this stuff come from?? I am starting to doubt every single decision I make for this house. Never before have I struggled to come up with decorating ideas and color schemes. I mean, for crying out loud, some of my friends have actually come to ME for decorating advice. Have I lost my "talent"??? Did it just up and walk away on me??? I can't stop second guessing myself. "What color is this??? Is it yellow?? Is it greenie?? Is it grey?? Too light? Too dark?? Too perky?? Too fricken bright?? Too dreary?? Not white enough? Too white?" Oh my gosh, I think my next step is gonna have to be decorators -anonymous. Is there such a thing?? If not, maybe I'll start one up.

Oh, and I am not sure if I just started being super picky, but it is getting outrageous. My mom can't paint right, Joe can't sand right, I can't choose colors right......(all this according to me...) this is really bad. Joe was texturing the walls, and every time he would spray some I would be like..." that's too thick.." so he would change the setting..."that's too thin..." Since when did I become so cranky about people helping me. Gosh, I should be grateful as hell that I have help. Pretty soon they are gonna throw the paint rollers and sand paper at me as they slam the door behind them. I am so sorry guys, stress just does bad things to me. I promise I will try to get help. I mean better. Yes, better.

Star spotting in beautiful north Idaho........

Drum roll, please............................

Yesterday, while in Lowe's for about the 100th time in the last month, joe and I were in the appliances, spending all kinds of money, and who do we run into???? Dennis Franz. Yep, from NYPD Blue. He was buying a coffee-pot. You know, I didn't even recognize him. I had a quick thought that he might be someone special because as the customer service guy was helping me, he turned away and left me high and dry and went over to this guy in the coffee pot section. I was wondering what was up, because these associates in kitchen and bath make commission, and I was in the middle of a transaction that was gonna be tons of money total, because I was buying 3 major appliances, and the customer service guy just up and left me to go sell a coffee pot??? What?? It better have been a damn nice coffee pot. So, when he came back, he said, isn't that guy...........................um, from NYPD Blue??? And then I turned and looked and he was right. I would have never noticed. I think that is one of the reasons why he probably likes to live on the lake in beautiful Coeurd'Alene. None of us hicks from up here in Idaho notice that he is "famous", and you get the bonus of a great place to live.

Yes, I am alive......

darn-it anyway..............kidding. I just have been so busy, I haven't had time to blog. Good grief, where are my priorities???

I have been busy with the fixer house, and all of danielle's activities ( dance, swimming, etc..). But, I do have some new news......I am going to New York!!!!!!!!!! Well, I am flying into New York and then heading to Connecticut to see my friend lynsey!!!! I am sooooo excited. Not only do I get to see my close friend and her new baby (by then), and her husband, but, I also get to go to the east coast. Yeahhhhhh!!!! It's like a win, win. I am escorting her mom, who is deathly afraid of flying, hasn't ever done it before (lets hope she actually goes through with it.....:-) ), so I will have to feed her some Valium and some relaxing beverages, and we will be on our way.. :-) Kidding.....I hope. :-)

So, I will have a busy couple of months ahead of me. We are currently trying to meet a deadline at the fixer house so we are ready to get carpet in two weeks. Keep your fingers crossed, I am already nervous. So, in a month we are headed to Alaska via cruise ship. Wooo-Hoooo. Lets pray we are done with the fixer house by then. Then, it will be 4th of July and shortly after that, east coast, here I come.

Anyway, I just thought I would do a quick update, but I really need to get to work. Heigh-ho, Heigh-ho, it's off to work I go. Oh, and I was wondering if anyone out there likes yellow walls.......???? Because, I picked a paint color, and I knew it had a bit of yellow in it, but I thought it was more on the tan side, and I painted a little room by the dining room with this "mystery-color" and by golly, It was yellow. No denying it. Yell-ow. With a capitol Y. Let's hope it tones itself down a bit. Does paint do that????? Oh, and the pic I posted is just an example, not the actual wall. Just thought I'd add an example for ya!!!

Home Owner Associations....

Many of you probably know that we live in a community that has a home owner association. We moved into our neighborhood because of this "perk", and because Joe and I are super picky about the appearance of our house, we wanted neighbors to feel the same way. We thought this would be a perfect solution to the problem of "messy" neighbors. Well, we have been here in this house for about 9 years, and over the years we have seen more bad neighbors than good. For some reason, the board of directors of our association doesn't seem to enforce many of the rules in our CC&R's. Our neighbors yards are full of weeds and dying, their houses need fresh paint, they have multiple cars parked outside their garage, they park on the street and in the sidewalks, their dogs bark at all hours of the day and night, all of these being violations. We have written letters, gone to board meetings, called members of the board, to no avail.

This is why it seems strange to us, that whenever we have a small "violation" of the CC&R's, they quickly send us out a notice and are right on top of it. So, yesterday I received a letter from the board about our boat being parked on the side of our driveway, as we were cleaning it up to sell and it probably sat there for 5 days. This was definitely a temporary thing, as we already sold it. Anyway, I will let you see the letter that the board member sent us, and the letter that I am sending them in response.

His letter is this.....

Dear Mr. and Mrs. XXXXXXXX, (us)

The home owners association is working very hard to preserve the value of the homes in our development, by eliminating unsightly conditions, such as parking and other violations on the individual lots. It has come to my attention that you have a boat parked in front of your home in violation of our CC&R's. Please remove said boat immediately. I know that you take great pride in your home, as we all do, so please cooperate with us in our attempt to maintain the beauty and value of the development.

Sincerely,

John XXXXXX

Architectural Compliance Committee

Here is my letter in response:

John XXXXXXX, Chairman
Architectural Compliance Committee


Dear Mr. XXXXXXX:
We would like to inform you that we did receive your letter about our boat being parked in our driveway and that it was a violation of the CC&R's of our development. We had already moved the boat behind our fence (which we have a variance for ) upon receipt of your letter.
We were actually quite surprised that you would even notice our boat in our driveway, as our neighbors 3 cars are always parked in their driveway and over the sidewalk, thus blocking the view of our boat. We were under the impression that the board could at times be lenient with certain situations, and would allow a boat or RV parked in front of a house for a couple of days out of the 9 years that we have lived in this community. Unfortunately, that does not seem like the case.
So, you will be happy to know that we sold the boat, and now you will not have the problem with us, but we would hope that you are following our other neighbors just as closely as you do us. We can see many violations right out of our front door, and have complained numerous times about these violations, to no avail. We are one of the few houses on our street that uses our garage for our 2 cars, and do not park in our driveway. Our three neighbors have a total of 12 cars and 1 boat that are parked on the street, in their driveways, and over the sidewalks in front of their houses. We would appreciate some attention to this matter.
Thank you for your time,


Joe and Kelli XXXXXXX

Sad, but true........

Ok, it is no secret that our "fixer" house, is no question, a "fixer" house. Yep, needs TONS of fixing. But Danielle and one of her friends just said some things lately about the house and about it's condition. I'll fill ya in..........

On our way to our friends "fixer" house here in Post Falls, Danielle and I were having a conversation in the car about it because we hadn't seen it before. So, Danielle says, " Mom, is there house as bad of a fixer house as ours...?" and I said..."No, I don't think it's as bad as ours, because it's alot newer and stuff." And then she says.."Good, because ours is a dump." Yep, kids tell it like it is, that's for sure.

So, yesterday, my friend decided to take her kids to ours. The kids are looking around, and of course they noticed the "smell" and then they decide to go out to the "garage", and one of Danielle's friends comes out and he says, "Kelli, there is a hole in your shack." So I asked him again what he said and he repeated the exact same thing. I wondered where he even heard the term shack. I had to laugh. Kids are so funny......they just let it all out, no holds barred. Too funny....

So, I added a pic of our "shack". Enjoy!!!!!!!!

Thanks......................................

I would just like to thank my neighbor for the "wake up" call this morning. I thought I was gonna get to sleep in a bit until I heard him fire up his lawn mower at about 6:55am. Give me a break, already. Once, I mowed at 8:30am and I thought THAT was kinda rude. Well, I don't anymore...........

Damn, I forgot the nails...........

I was at Lowe's in Spokane today, you know, looking for crap for the fixer house. I think I know that place by heart, for sure. I know the exact route to all of their clearance tables. Heck, I could lead you to the clearance section faster than the employee's could, I know the short-cuts. I'll hook you up!!!!!!! Anyway, on my way out I saw a strange thing in the parking lot.......(no, I'm not talking about my car that was literally bursting at the seams because I had already crammed way to much stuff in there already......) but, I saw a hearse. Yes, a hearse was parked in the parking lot of Lowe's. It just seemed odd to me. Was the driver like, on his way to, well, you know........the cemetery, and he forgot he needed to pick up some 2X4's???? What??? I just feel bad for the family and friends who were waiting around the grave site thinking.............."Where's Grandma, I thought that damned hearse was right behind us............."

Oh, and one more weird tid-bitt, the hearse had a scull and cross bones on the liscense plate.....

You know, I know they are totally the "in" thing right now, but doesn't having them on a hearse sort-of cross the line??? Just wondering.

Bloomsday, baby.......

Here is a picture of me and my friend Julie walking through the finish line at Bloomsday 2007. Julie, her husband, her brother-in law and I left Post Falls at 6:40 (way too early for this girl....) and we took the bus to downtown Spokane. After stopping at a local coffee house for our morning coffee, we were raring to go. I almost missed the start of the race, as I was in line to use the potty for a half an hour. I got up to the second person in line and then I heard the pop of the gun that is the start of the race. So....after a second of panic, I bagged the potty situation and ran to meet my friends. I did alot of "excuse me, and pardon me's" and I finally met up with them down the road. Thankfully. But everything else went off without a hitch, and a good time was had by all. Oh, one little complaint.......I don't like dark green. Didn't they know this while they were deciding on a T-shirt color. :-) Oh, and our finish time was 2 hours and 18 minutes. Not bad for walking the whole way...........

Oh, Julie and I are in the right side middle of this photo, I'm in red, and she's in white. We both have black pants on. Sorry I couldn't make it bigger....

"But, Mr. Police Officer............"

I was reading a forwarded email today, and it reminded me of something that happened to me a couple of weeks ago here in Post Falls.

I was leaving Wal-Mart, and it took longer in there than it should have....like usual... and I was headed for the local video store, to return some movies that were about to be late. So, I took the "back" way, kind-of through some empty lots and fields, thinking I could make up for "lost" time, and save myself from a late fee. So, I was rounding some corners, and one had a stop sign, but there is like NEVER anyone back there, so I thought I didn't have to come to a complete stop. I mean, for pete's sake, I thought I was the only one in town who knew of this "secret" short-cut. Evidently not. So, shortly after I failed to come to a complete stop, I see lights in my rear view mirror. After I say a few choice words to myself, I pulled to the side of the barren road. I start to pull my documents out, because I have been in this situation a time or two....and I know the routine. Mr. Police Officer comes to my window and asks me if I know what I did wrong. Now, what do you say when they ask that question??? It's kind of a trick question. So, my usual answer is..."No, officer." So he then informs me that I did not come to a complete stop. "Oh," I answer. " I guess I wasn't paying attention and since there is never any traffic on this part of the road, I looked really quick that way and then I continued. " So, he asks to see my drivers licence and insurance/reg. I find all of them but my insurance card, so he goes to his car and says he will get it when he comes back. I am irritated by now. When they go back to their car, I know very well what is next. Ticket Time. And if you know me, when I realize it's ticket time, I also get this weird urge to say something really stupid to the officer because I feel like I'm getting a citation anyway, and what could it hurt.........

So, he comes back to the car, and he asks if I found the insurance card, and I say "Yes Officer, I did. And I bet you are pretty disappointed by that." and he says, " Why is that, Maam." And I said, "Well, I am sure you are trying to meet some sort of quota or something and just a simple violation like not coming to a complete stop probably wouldn't be as satisfying to you as a no-proof of insurance violation." So, then he replies, as he hands me back my papers, "Maam, we are just trying to enforce the law out here, and here is your warning, please be more careful in the future.." Oops, I sure put my foot in my mouth......Maybe I'll keep it shut next time. But, I doubt it.

Cute saying of the day.......

I saw this in an email forwarded to me by a friend, and I thought, OMG that is sooooooo me, so here it is...........

I read this article that said the typical symptoms of stress are: eating too much, impulse buying, and driving too fast. Are they kidding? That is my idea of a perfect day.

What is this world coming to???

Ok, I need to vent about this for a minute. Here in Northern Idaho, prices for houses are going through the roof. Literally. Prices for gas, groceries, taxes, utilities, and tons of other things, are sky high. Here's the problem..........our wages.

Now, I am not speaking for myself here, because I have a very part-time job for the city, and I get paid a fair wage for working there. And, Joe and I are super lucky, because he has a job 10 miles over in Washington, and he makes a fair wage for working there.

So, I am actually venting for many of the "working middle class" that live in this area. How are they making it? Well, the fact of the matter is, they are BARELY making it. I know some people who in the past three years, haven't received a raise of more than $1.00. Total. That means they have received a measly .33 cents a year. And actually, they are the lucky ones. Some other people have received ZERO. So, as the price of housing goes up, and everything else under the sun goes up, does it really seem fair that wages still stay this low?? Who in their right mind thinks this is ok?? I want to hear from ya!!!

Here in Idaho, the minimum wage is at the lowest of the fricken nation, I think, and it is at $5.15. Wow, thanks. Oh, and if you're lucky enough to make tips, you get a measly $3.35. Thanks. Who decides this crap. Oh, let me guess, our state government, which is.................................republican. Is this a coincidence??? I think so, because ten miles over, in Washington state, (democratic state) their minimum wage is $7.93. A whopping $2.78 per hour difference. You have to drive just 10 minutes to Washington to get a HUGE pay raise.

Oh, but the big businesses keep rolling in over here in Idaho. They get Huge tax benefits to move here and they don't have to pay their employees as much as they would elsewhere. Perfect set-up for them, right???? That's exactly what they are thinking. But who is thinking about the people who are losing their houses, don't have medical benefits, can't make a living wage. I don't think anyone is.

What were they thinking?????????

When I say "they", I mean the American idol voters. My fav "idol" Phil, got voted out last night. Why?? I liked him. Oh well, usually when you make it that far on idol, you get a real huge boost to your career after the show. So, I am sure we will be hearing from him again. Oh, and Chris Richardson got dumped too. Those two were the ones I really liked. But, I do like Blake, and Danielle thinks his "beat-box" stuff is way cool, so I guess we will be rooting for him. My thoughts are that Lakeesha and Melinda needed to go instead of the guys. But, what do I know............

We got ripped........

No, I am kidding. I did have high hopes, though. But, Brandon Roy took the title of Rookie of the Year for the NBA. Adam Morrison was number 10 last I checked. Bummer. Did his knee injury have anything to do with it???? Probably not. But, hopefully, he recovers quickly and is raring to go for next year. Can't wait!!!

Before

Here are some pics of our magnificent fixer house BEFORE any of our renovations. We better be able to work some miracles here, people. Check out the light fixtures, top of the line, let me tell ya. Oh, and the chipping and peeling paint, that adds character, for sure. And that Kitchen, why would we want to renovate that???? Note the can's of Kilz paint......... hip-hip-hooray, they have actually helped. The smell isn't TOTALLY gone (says the girl with the super sensitive nose...), but it is almost there. I think the downstairs is smellin' pretty darned fresh. Oh, and we brought Neiko over there because you know, he is a male dog and male dogs pee if they smell pee, and he was about ready to lift that little leg of his upstairs, before I stopped him. There will be no more peeing in this house, Neiko. That'll teach him...........