Success!

I used to watch Dexter, the good little mad scientist, on Cartoon Network all the time, and I've never felt more like him than I did as I surveyed my new floor on Saturday. Behold:





I still need to get the quarter-round stuff and paint the baseboards, but it's SO NICE! It's pretty and clean and makes the room so much better!

My parents came down Saturday, and my dad brought a portable table saw which helped enormously. Even giving the break for grilled sausages, potato salad, regular salad, iced tea and brownies, we were still finished in four hours. Awesome.

RIP

This is how they'll look in my head, forever and always.

You Know What's Nice?

Proper tools! See, I'm trying to deal with the sweet new floor, and it really is going to be wonderful--a vast improvement over the nasty, smelly old carpeting, I tell ya what--but it's hard to do a good job without the right tools. Look at what I had to do to cut out the section for the register:



I only have a small circular saw borrowed from my brother-in-law. It's fine for cutting the ends of the planks, but it wasn't quite what I needed for this particular job. I made a bunch of diagonal cuts so the pieces would fall out. Yes, it looks like a saber-tooth tiger took a bite out of it, but who cares, right? No one will see it once the cover is put back on the register.

Happily, my dad is sympathetic to my plight and is going to deliver some tools (and some helping hands) on Sunday. I can't WAIT to have it finished!!

Hi-diddely-ho, Neighborinos!

I'm back to work this week, and oddly cheerful about it. Normally I come back from vacation feeling like a spoiled brat in the classic Give Her an Inch, She'll Take a Mile sense--time off only makes me want more time off. Not this time, though. Maybe because I was so completely lazy last week? Maybe I finally did get properly rested up? Whatever the cause of this extended happy mood, I'm going with it.

I'm also, like Badger, going with some sock knitting. I've tried it before, but chickened out when it came time to turn the heel, this time, though, I'm determined to soldier on. I'm planning to give the socks to The Boy, so I had him choose the yarn.



Hello, Steeler socks! I started knitting last Thursday, interested to try using two circular needles rather than four DPNs (it's not much different, as far as I can tell), and things were going well until I dropped the ball of yarn into a mud puddle on Father's Day. I shrieked an expletive into the rainy sky, and then quickly put the yarn in a drying rack in the kitchen sink to dry. I got started again last night, and will just have to make sure the socks get washed before The Boy wears them.

I've been listening to the sixth Harry Potter book while knitting (and working on installing my sweet new laminate floor in the dining room, which will be another post), because I want it to be fresh in my mind when I see the movie next month. I love this book, and I'm very afraid the movie is going to be a disaster like the last one. Regardless, though, I'm pretty sure I'll see it more than once.

I also just re-read the Twilight books (which I just *can't* like), and have requested the first Anita Blake novel from the library. Oh, and I ordered the Sookie Stackhouse box set from Amazon, because this Salon article kind of told me to. It seems it's going to be the Summer of the Vampire, which could be kind of fun. Maybe I'll watch Buffy and Angel again, too.

Speaking of watching things, I finally caved and got Netflix. I only have the $12/month basic cable, so I figured an extra $9 a month was justified. The very best thing about Netflix is their Watch Instantly option. It's just like having the On Demand thing cable and FIOS offers, but the library of available movies and TV shows is getting bigger every day. And I bought this thing called a Roku Box that allows my TV to access my wireless broadband connection and stream Netflix to my TV! So awesome! You seriously can't beat it for $9/month.

Lately I've watched His Girl Friday and Holiday, both featuring Cary Grant and both wonderful. (Cary Grant makes me want to dress in heels, false eyelashes, and lipstick and be a WOMAN instead of the grown-up girl/teen-aged boy hybrid that I mostly seem to be.) I've also watched I Capture the Castle, which isn't as good as the book, but isn't bad--and it features Riley from Buffy and a grown-up Elliot from E.T., which was fun to see.

And . . . that's it, I think. The weather has turned idyllic, there's a baby bunny living in my front yard (which The Boy is stalking with carrots and a camera), the dads I know all enjoyed their Fathers' Days, and I have left over taco salad for lunch. What more can one woman ask for?

Vacation: Porch View U

I am on vacation this week, and so far I am living like I did in college, minus all the beer and smoking. The Boy's best friend J is here--my favorite kid in the world that I'm not related to--and J, The Boy, and I have been hanging out in the living room since Sunday night. We've watched some movies and many episodes of South Park, and I have been reading while they play video games.

We also played football in the front yard. I wouldn't bother telling you this, but it made my day today, because a guy walked by as we were playing (I was QB, J was the receiver, and The Boy was defending, flopping around in his best imitation of Troy Polamalu), and he asked the boys whether I was their mom. The Boy answered that I was, and the guy said, "Man, that was a good pass!" The boys were appropriately impressed. :-)

We watched Die Hard this afternoon. I haven't seen it since it came out, and I've never seen any of the sequels, but I have to say that it's an excellent example of what an action movie should be.


You've got your charismatic hero, lots of snappy lines, a smart and kindly sidekick, chases, fires, explosions, derring-do, general violence, and a spectacular villain.


Oh, Alan Rickman. I'll take your Hans Gruber any day.

The only thing that dates this movie (besides the horrible hair on the women) is the fact that the hero, John McClane, fights FOR the big corporation. I think now the hero would probably fight with the guys who are sick of the big corporation's greed.

It's been a great vacation so far, but I'm promising myself that I'll get some work done tomorrow. I want to go through some old clothes, hem some curtains, paint my bedroom, and continue my quest for flooring to replace my god-awful carpeting. It'll be nice to care care of business, but I'll miss living in the dorms.

City of Champions

Check out the hardware that now lives in Pittsburgh!

Lord Stanley's Cup . . .


Meet Vince Lombardi's Trophey!


These two trophies have never met--they've never lived in the same city in the same season . . . until now!

Congratulations Pens!! Hockey, football, Most Livable City . . . I am very proud of my hometown.

Life of the Party

I know this isn't a great picture, but I took it while I was stopped at a red light behind this van.



I don't know how well you'll be able to see the smaller type, but on the left (above the flag) it says, "Urine A-1 Hands With Us," and on the right it says, "We're #1 in the #2 Business!" And did you catch the bumper sticker on the bottom right? STOOL BUS.

I can't decide whether I love the guy who owns this business, or if he's a brighter, more ambitious version of the Randy Quaid uncle from Christmas Vacation.



Then again, who says I can't love him if he's Randy Quaid? At least he doesn't take himself too seriously.

June Rhymes with Moon

One of the fellas I work with has an oddly misplaced Patrician accent--think Katherine Hepburn--and he insists that the vowel sounds in June and moon are not the same. He makes June have an "ew" sound, and it drives me bananas.

The Boy will officially be in 7th grade as of noon (which rhymes with moon AND June) today. He'll take Algebra I, and have Spanish everyday. The so far generic Science will morph into generic Biology. Social Studies will turn into American History. Language Arts will stay the same. He's growing up.

I didn't do much this weekend, beyond basic housework and driving The Boy from here to there (the Spring Ref season is over, and the last soccer game for his travel team is Sunday, so weekends will be a lot easier, which, thank God, because I'm tired of having soccer eat my weekends). I did a little experiment with a cheap vinyl roller shade, spray mount, and some fabric I had laying around, and was able to replace an old, ugly, dirtier than I'd like to admit set of vinyl blinds with a reasonably pretty, sturdy, CLEAN shade in my living room. I learned a few lessons from this first go, and will try it again on another window over the weekend.

That's pretty much it, though. Oh! I watched Role Models last night. C got it through Netflix, and told me I needed to watch it. I was skeptical, despite my fondness for most of the cast, but it's surprisingly funny, sweet, and well written. I recommend it.

And that's it. We're in a fund drive this week, so I feel like I'm looking through a long, long tunnel at next weekend, but I already can't wait for it. And I might take next week off . . . woo hoo!

Head Bumps

If you haven't seen this commercial for Bumpits, please go watch it and then come back. I'll wait. And don't be lazy--it's worth it, I promise.

Did you watch?!?! I don't even know what to say about this. I mean, I guess it's not really that different from stuffing your bra, but it seems like you'd be so much more likely to get busted--because there's a big plastic lump hiding under your hair.

I don't mind some of the styles they show, I guess, but I find the product pretty hilarious. (And how did they make big bee-hive hair in the 60s? Surely Bumpits aren't a recycled thing? And SURELY surely Amy Winehouse doesn't use Bumpits. I mean, she'd never be able to keep track of them, for one thing.) The poor women and girls in this low-budget commercial don't do anything to detract from the hilarity. Note the jaunty little . . . flourish (?) the Asian girl puts on. Her hair bump makes her perky!