SNAKE

I just killed another snake. So, we're up to 5 total snakes, removed dead or alive, from the property, and up to 3 that I've killed with my snake-killing shovel. Phew!

moving day--last year

I was thinking, a year ago today, we were moving to our second townhouse after living in the first one for three years. Three years! We were very sad to be leaving and probably would have stayed for much longer than we should have, but we had a lot of space, a good view, and a great location. But, bad neighbors have a way of ruining things, just when one least expects it. I found some of the pics from what townhouse #2 looked like at move-in.


Entrance: stairs right in front, kitchen and dining on left, living room on right. The kitchen was very small: Jon complained about its size at least once per day.


The master bedroom had a half bath attached to it on the left of where the picture is being taken.



Bedroom 2 was tiny, at least by Townhouse #1 standards where all of the rooms were huge (much larger than we appreciated at the time).


We traded "up" to a slightly worse location, more neighbors (we had neighbors attached behind us as well as to the left and right of us), more money, a shared parking lot, and at least 400 sq ft less space. However, with some finagling, and a payment, we were able to get out of the lease three months early, which was a real blessing. We wouldn't have been able to buy our house if we'd had to make two payments each month.


Jon and Jeremy will be working on expanding our driveway today (what a way to spend Labor Day!). We should be able to fit both cars side by side when the day is done!

Cat herding

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1SmgLtg1Izw

I really don't spend that much time watching videos online, but I can't seem to stop posting them here! I am so cat obsessed! Maybe we should just have kids. People don't think you're crazy when you talk about your kids all the time, but they sure get uncomfortable when I talk about my cats as if they're my children. Go figure.

Tigers!

So we went to see the Detroit Tigers last Sunday at Comerica Park. I've been wanting to go all season, and I was finally able to get tickets--at auction. They started losing the day I won the tickets, and Sunday was no exception to the sad new rule. 8-16. How humiliating.

Curtis Granderson posing with his glove on his head. (This one's for Tara!)

Here we have Zach Miner being (blessedly) taken out of the game in the second inning, after more than 50 pitches and allowing 5 runs. Way to go.

Ted and Tara

Jon and me. A picture of me? Who knew one existed?

We still had a good time, despite the absurd heat and the devastating loss. I sure hope they can pull off a win for us if we have another chance to get down there. As we headed back to the car, the same homeless guy who'd joked with us on the way in was still there, so I gave him some money and received a much needed and appreciated, "God bless you," in return.

Olympics

In the spirit of the Olympic Games, I came upon this and found it too funny not to share. It's just a couple of minutes:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=woYG6Uq6OVU

GVSU

GVSU called to retract the adjunct offer I accepted 3 weeks ago. A tenured professor needed another course, and he decided he wanted my Thursday night Brit Lit. Super.

Yipee!

I finally got the contracts for both the Grand Valley gig and the Aquinas gig! There are adjunct orientations next week, and I'm probably the only person on staff who is actually pretty excited to go to them. I don't have access to either GVSU's Blackboard or Aquinas' Course Connect yet, though I suppose it wouldn't much matter if I did; I don't know how to use either them (though I have a much better idea of how to use Blackboard, even if it was 7 years ago!).

One of Jon's coworkers (and formerly one of my coworkers from the dry cleaners) has had issues with her cat, Zoey. Ever since they moved into their new house, she (the cat, not LeAnn) has been peeing on their carpet. So... LeAnn dropped Zoey off at our house yesterday--as if a house with cats is going to make her feel more comfortable, but I figured we'd give it a try. I feel like we're making very little progress. She's holed up in the guest room. We haven't introduced her to Remy and Bailey yet--everything we've read says not to do that for the first few days. I haven't been able to pet her yet. I've spent several hours in the room, just so she can get used to me, and we played with a stick for a little while earlier. Ah, well.