Dawgs v. Arizona State

Last Saturday, me, Shane and my brother headed up to Athens for the UGA v. Arizona State game. For the past two years, Shane and I have been present at almost every home game, so this season is a little different but less stressful, I must admit, because this was our first game this season. Our partners in crime, David and Jennie, had their baby boy last January and, understandably, can't drop everything and go to Athens every Saturday with us anymore...sad.

But I digress, back to the present...we got to Athens around 11 a.m. on Saturday and set up our spread. It was raining, and even though I knew this - I still insisted on straightening my hair. Five minutes at the tailgate and that was no bueno...enter the hat that you will see in the pics below. Our friends, Kelly and Austin, and some of their family, met up at our tailgate and we all hung out for a while. I then left with Kel to go to Austin's work tailgate on North Campus and it all gets a little blurry there...ha ha - as usual.

We got to the tailgate, started socializing, drinking - and then came the monsoon. After about 10 minutes of rain, I had to roll up my jeans and take my shoes off as the water was already ankle deep. The whole area was flooded. As game time approached, it was evident that I would not be making the game, so Shane and my brother went. I went back to the car and napped. :)

Good times had by all and we can't wait for the LSU game this weekend!

The Doors Have Been Installed

The doors were finally installed on Friday! My brother met them at my house and they were done by around 3 p.m. My mom stopped by while my bro was there and took some pics to email to me at work. This is what she sent:
Old door (for reference):
Please note the doors are gray because they primed and not painted (I opted not to pay the additional $300 for a few coats of latex paint). Looks great, right?!? Well, they do - except for the fact that that isn't the hardware that I chose. I wanted oil rubbed bronze NOT brushed nickel. I call my sales rep, tell him I got the wrong hardware and he says he'll call me back later once he figures out what happened. He calls today, Monday.


The new new (shot of both doors):

Old back door:

New back door:

New side door:

Today he says that he thought I wanted brushed nickel and that's what he ordered. Wrong, fella. He is now ordering the correct hardware hopefully. God knows that the way this process has gone that he'll order bright pink and green before we get the right choice - oil rubbed bronze. Honestly, at this point I would have just taken the brushed nickel, but I've already invested in light switch covers, door stoppers and a door knob in my bedroom (we're changing the door knobs in a phased approach)...plus it was just wrong.

Also, the installers made an absolute mess with caulk and stuff that they had to rip out to get the doors to fix, plus, they just left an old door sitting on my deck. I can see how they would miss that when cleaning up...screwdriver - check, caulk - check, the old doors that we just spent hours ripping out - hmmmm....

Although the install didn't go as smoothly as it could have, I'm just happy to have our new doors. It's nice to have two doors that match. AND the best part of it is now my back door is high enough off the floor to have a rug in front of it! I've said it before and I'll say it again - it's the simple things in life....:)

Supposedly...

The doors are going in today. My brother is at our house supervising and the installers are there...but I'm still not confident.

Rain, Rain....Stop. Seriously.

I mentioned it has been raining here in the ATL, right? Here is the scene in Woodstock, where I went to high school and where my parents live, on Monday afternoon:

I used to work at this place...for like a second. I quickly realized that waitressing wasn't my forte. And neither was hostessing or to-go orders:We got lucky and didn't have this type of situation near our house. I did stop to reminisce about when I first purchased my home and my agent asked if I wanted flood insurance. I immediately said 'no' - we don't get floods in Atlanta! Come on!

Weekend Update

As I mentioned on Friday, it has been raining for FOREVER. Can my fellow Atlantans believe all of this rain?!? Twenty-something inches of rain over the past couple of days...

Friday: We took it easy. I had every intention of cleaning, so that I didn't have to do so much on Saturday (since we had people meeting at our house to go out for Gretchen's birthday), but I slept instead. Although, the door guy called me and said that the doors had been picked up. But they can't be installed until Tuesday...so remind me again why we rushed to get the doors that quickly when they are going to sit in your warehouse for five days? Mmmmkay. Shane and I can't be here tomorrow so I'm holding my breath for a Wednesday install.

Saturday: We got up early, Shane had to take our lawn mower to the repair shop and I started cleaning. I left a little while later to go to my friend (and boss), Melissa's, baby shower. It was a good time and she got a TON of good stuff. I got home around 3 to meet the electrician, who fixed the light in our kitchen...not sure what was wrong (he was talking, I was kind of listening) but it was free. Everyone arrived around 5:45 p.m. to head out to Stats for Gretchen's birthday, and we had a great time! I'll let the pics tell the story...Happy B-day, Gretch!

Sunday: Um, it was raining...shocker. So, I did absolutely nothing. Just watched TV, napped, did a little work - very relaxing.


Hope everyone gets their week off to a good start! For all of you in the Southeast...stay dry, my friends.

Friday…Finally.

No word from the door peeps yet. I talked to my sales rep last night, and he was very apologetic about the entire incident. He said that they were looking to get doors from another manufacturer in Huntsville, and they would drive over today and pick them up. Not sure when they think they’re going to install them, but I’m sure we’ll work it out. I really want these doors installed…like yesterday. No, like two months ago. I emailed my sales rep this afternoon, but am waiting to hear back…not a good sign.

I’m also having to have an electrician come out to look at one of our lights in the kitchen that keeps blowing the bulb. The dude that installed the lights was extremely odd, and I think that he fudged some stuff up. This is going to be the second time the electrician has had to come out to look at shorts in the lighting wires…oh well, hopefully it’s something they did and I won’t have to pay anything.

And, what the heck is up with the weather in Atlanta??? It has rained everyday this week, it feels like, and is supposed to continue into the weekend! We are celebrating our friend, Gretchen’s, birthday tomorrow night with everybody meeting at our place for some pre-partying and then heading to Stats, in downtown Atlanta, to watch the UGA v. Arkansas game…I’m sure it will be a crazy night!
Hope everyone is having a great Friday – have a great weekend!

Door Drama

Were the doors installed today? Hell.No.

Here’s the situation:

• We ordered both the windows and doors before Memorial Day weekend. Windows are custom order…okay. Doors take 6 weeks, but the windows take 8-10, so we were good. We were told they would come together.
• About two months later, we get a call to schedule our window and door installation. We get another call the day of installation saying that they couldn’t come because it was raining where they were…and they didn’t have any doors to install.
• About a month after that, they call to install the windows and doors. Both items arrived and were ready for install. Yay! They arrive at my house with the wrong doors. Hello? – I asked for two aluminum, full light doors with no grids and brushed bronze hardware, not a solid mahogany, steel reinforced, arched door with my name spelled out in wrought iron…is it really that hard?
• They said that my REAL doors would be on the truck the following Saturday (which to account for time, was the Saturday after Labor Day) and they would be installed the following Wednesday…last Wednesday. I call last Tuesday to confirm and I’m informed that the doors weren’t on the Saturday truck, but that they would be on today’s truck…Thursday of the following week.
• I call yesterday to confirm that they would be installed today. I get some attitude, and excuses about rain, but I was on the schedule and they had tracked the doors and were sure they would be here today. They call this morning around 10 a.m. to let me know they are on their way…

**Please note: For the sake of time, I leave out my color commentary, snide remarks, and the tone of my high school teenager-type attitude that I included in all of my correspondence with this vendor.

Here is where the drama ensues: I’m sitting in a department meeting, and keep getting calls from the door installer. I email Shane and ask him to call them, and a few minutes later I get a response ‘Call me, they brought the wrong doors.’ I read it, pause, and proceed to have an Ally McBeal moment in which I imagined myself screaming ‘WTF!’ and turning into the Incredible Hulk, throwing tables around, breathing fire and biting off the heads of my co-workers and peers.

I talk to Shane after the meeting and he informs me that they brought doors that opened the wrong way (we needed right hand doors, they brought left hand doors). He said that they looked at the doors and the setup of our room and there is no way they would have worked…I told him that that was a good thing – because if I had come home to doors that opened the opposite way in which they did this morning before I left for work, I would have had an Ally McBeal moment in which I scream ‘WTF!’ and turn into the Incredible Hulk, tear the house down, pull down the power lines, eat the small dogs next door and bite off the neighbors’ heads.

I called my sales rep at 11:35 a.m. and told him that I was pissed. Apparently, it was the manufacturer’s fault…Window World ordered the right doors, but they shipped the wrong ones. They told Shane that, and he promptly ended the BS’ing by responding that he works in Logistics and he knows it’s always common practice to check your junk before you take it off the truck. Boo Ya! And what YOUR manufacturer does is none of my concern….give me my freakin’ doors. I told my sales rep that if I had to wait until the ‘truck comes in’ that I wanted my order cancelled. I hope that scared him and he doesn’t make us wait, because I really don’t want to cancel my order. We have no door knob on the back door for Pete’s sake!

It’s the end of the business day and I have yet to hear from my sales rep. Tick. Tock. Tick. Tock. Mister.

I propose that they Fedex the doors overnight from…wherever they come from…and install on Saturday. If not, and I have to wait until next Thursday, I want a 35% discount. Why 35%? Because it’s not as ballsey as 50% and not as weak as 25%...and it’s an increment of five. Serious science going on my head…I know. Don’t be intimidated. Maybe next week we’ll tackle my reasoning and method for leaving tips and doing simple math.

Until next time…

Long Weekend Update

What tha'?!?!? Life has been very busy for the past two weeks. Let's get straight to it, shall we?

We had a great time in Destin! The beach, seafood, cold beverages, live music...what more could you ask for? Well, we could have asked for Georgia to win against Oklahoma State...sad.
Thursday: Took off around 1 p.m. for Destin! We made a few stops, but made it there by about 7:30. The rest of the crew arrived, and most of us (besides the lame ones), went out to AJ's for some 'first night partying.' We hung there for a while, met up with one of our friends from the ATL, and then left to get some Waffle House. And believe it or not, it wasn't Shane's idea this time! However, while there, he did crank out a few curls on the pirate rope:
Friday: Our first beach day! The weather was beautiful and we hung on the beach all day. I didn't really feel like it was hot enough for me to put on sunscreen, so I got fried. For some reason, I feel superhuman when it comes to the sun and its rays. But my sunburn that felt like a massive burning bruise reminded me that I, too, do require sunscreen. We played bocce ball on the beach, everyone besides me, and just chilled until late afternoon. We then got ready and went out for Adam's birthday. Cool part was that we went to a seafood restaurant, and Adam doesn't like seafood...wow - good friends. We then hit up Hog's Breath and a local joint, KJ's. Hog's Breath used to be mine and Shane's fave, but not so much anymore.
Saturday: It rained a little bit, but cleared up in the afternoon. We hit up the beach again - with my entire body slathered in SPF 30. The guys all went to a local bar to watch football all day long...literally, from 11 a.m. - 10 p.m. We met up with them that night, after hearing that wings had been spilled in my car...on the carpet, and it was evident that everyone had consumed way too much over the course of the day and it was time to go home.

Sunday: We were a little slow going on Sunday morning. Shane was hungover, and I was still in an intense amount of pain from my sunburn. It was pretty cloudy, so I headed down to the beach around 2. That night, we headed out on the town to enjoy our last night at the beach. We found another bar with a band that was on the bay and hung out for a while. There was this really weird bouncer guy that kept asking us if we were 21, and when we ordered drinks the bartender stared at my ID for at least 40 seconds. Not sure what he was looking at - but we were all convinced that he was scanning it in to steal our identities. 'Ma'am, what was your social again?' 'And you said your mother's maiden name was...tell me again, I can't remember.' It was weird...

Monday: The entire day was spent in the car. We left the condo around 9:30 Destin time, stopped by the Nike outlet (where I got some really cute new shoes and Shane got some new tennis gear), and got on the road around 11 a.m. Destin time. We got home at 10:20 p.m. There was traffic EVERYWHERE! I don't know exactly what the Destin Police force does, but it certainly doesn't involve directing traffic on Labor Day freakin' weekend. AND, there were some Florida rednecks selling puppies on one of the busiest highways we were on...resulting in the slowing of traffic. REALLY?

Overall, it was a great trip, but we were ready to get home. My mom was watching B&B all weekend (thanks, Mom!) and we definitely missed them! Last week was crazy busy at work, but I was loving the short week...as we all were, I'm sure.

Last weekend was Friday night in the Highlands to celebrate our friend, John's, birthday and then met up with Kel and her group. Saturday night was Flip Flops with Lindsay, Matt, Adam, and some other peeps. We got a late start both nights - which translates into a late night, involving Steak 'n Shake or Taco Bell, and sleeping way too late the next morning.

This week has been crazy busy at work too...what's up with that? On a good note, Shane made the playoffs for one of his 27 tennis leagues that he plays in. Yay! And another good note, the doors is being installed TOMORROW! With all of the rain, and of course it would rain, they sounded like they were trying to get out of it...but that won't happen.

I hope that everyone has a good rest of the week, and I promise to blog at least once before October. Ha! No, seriously, hopefully tomorrow I will have some pics to share of my new doors! Adios!

Beach Bound!

Shane and I are beach bound this afternoon as of 1 p.m.! Nothing like the white sandy beaches...cool breeze in your hair...cold alcoholic beverage...and good friends to celebrate the Labor Day weekend!

Speaking of Labor Day - does anybody even know what this holiday means? I didn't, so I turned to the all-knowing internet resource, Wikipedia:

The holiday originated in Canada out of labor disputes ("Nine-Hour Movement") first in Hamilton, then in Toronto, Canada in the 1870s, which resulted in a Trade Union Act which legalized and protected union activity in 1872 in Canada. The parades held in support of the Nine-Hour Movement and the printers' strike led to an annual celebration in Canada. In 1882, American labor leader Peter J. McGuire witnessed one of these labor festivals in Toronto. Inspired from Canadian events in Toronto, he returned the USA, to New York and organized the first American "labor day" on September 5 of the same year.

Good to know. Have a great weekend everyone!

New Master Bedroom Curtains and...Goals

We have finally gotten up one set of curtains in this house (besides the bamboo shades in the kitchen). It's probably not shocking that these are from IKEA, my home decor god, and were super cheap...like $20 for two panels. I feel like they add a lot of height to the room and make it seem more 'complete.' What do you think?

Moving on to goals...I didn't really do too bad this month:

1. Paint front door a deeper shade of red - Nope, and I've decided to paint it black again. Moving to September.
2. Paint kitchen ceiling - Nope, moving to September.
3. Make 2 new pieces of jewelry (DONE) - Yep, check them out here!
4. Finish landscaping backyard (moving concrete pad, pinestraw, grass seed) - We did some of this, but not all of it. I'm moving some of it to September and making it more specific.
5. Read two books - Yep - Time Traveler's Wife and Kisscut
6. Have new windows/doors installed - Half of this was completed - the windows were installed and the doors are going in on September 9.
7. Pay the water bill (DONE) - Yeah, I was competent enough to pay my water bill this month! High five!

September Goals:

1. Paint the freaking front door black. Enough already.
2. Paint the kitchen ceiling. Geez.
3. Make 2 new pieces of jewelry (including super secret ring project).
4. Read 2 books.
5. Have doors installed and painted. (That's right - we ordered them primed and not painted. I clearly have no problems with getting doors painted in a timely fashion...per goal #1 that has rolled over 5 times.)
6. Clean up under deck area (i.e. Spray Round-up, lay landscaping fabric, put rocks on top)
7. Lay pinestraw by the house and by backyard Oak.
8. Buy paint for master bath.

These seem reasonable - I'm confident I can accomplish at least two of them.

Hope that everyone is having a happy Hump Day! Only two more days until the long weekend, but for Shane and I - we are getting started early and leaving tomorrow for Destin! I'm working half a day and we are heading down at around 1, putting us there by 7. So excited!