Blogging from the New House

1. We've decided to decorate our house in a Scandanavian motif. More specifically, we bought more stuff from IKEA. For those from Utah (which is getting an IKEA soon): Warning! IKEA is a bit like a drug. I think their big catalogue is actually a form of Home Furnishing Porn.

I continue to have a love/hate relationship with IKEA. Nothing is more fun than shopping there. But the do-it-yourself portion isn't always the easiest thing in the world. Fortunately, this latest venture resulted in extremely limited pain in relation to assembly...but that's not often the case.

I wish someone would invent an electric allen wrench, which is the the major source of sore hands.

2. Fuddruckers and Newman women (or soon-to-be Newmans) don't seem to mix well. We always stop there on our way home from IKEA. Once again, Caroline spilled her milk shake creating a chocolate river under the table. Happened last time, too. When Kathryn and I dated, we went to the one in Baltimore and she spilled a couple of water glasses on the table. And yet we keep returning.

3. Is there such a thing as "sick days" anymore? Seems like for me and my clients, rather than taking a sick day where we turn off the phone and computers and rest, we simply say: "I'm not feeling so good today...I'm actually going to stay at home today, but will be on email and am accessible by cell phone." The electronic age has made it harder for us to completely "turn off" work when we are sick, on vacation, etc.

4. It's a mild form of self control, but I'm pleased nonetheless. I have a Dilbert daily calendar on my desk at my office. Most years, I skip ahead at some point when I'm bored to see future cartoons. But this year, I vowed not to look ahead. It's a mild form of self control, but I'm proud to say I've withstood the impulse to 'read ahead' this year.

5. I think someone was taking flash pictures during sacrament meeting today. Seriously. I thought I saw a flash go off once and then heard what sounded like a one-time use camera being wound. Then it happened again, and the winding sound. Can't imagine why anyone would want to record our sacrament meetings...they're barely worth noting in a blog.

6. Things I miss about our old house: disposal, walking to the train, feeling more comfortable in my kitchen, having toilet paper roll holders installed (that's this week's project), my little "mail slot" on the stair well, a fridge with a higher "fridge to freezer" ratio than what we have now, a bigger dishwasher. Also, the old house was an attached home, which is another way of saying it was like a duplex....meaning someone owned the other half of the house. When I heard strange sounds, I just assumed it was the neighbors and didn't investigate. Now, when I hear sounds that scare me (footprints upstairs, pipes hissing, etc.) I can't igmore and most investigate. I liked just assuming it was an easily explained sound vs. thinking there's a monster upstairs.

7. What is nice about the new house: having a doorbell that works, heat that is non-radiator, dimmer switches already installed where we want, a shower that is only a shower and not also a bath, double-paned windows to make the house warmer. a huge walk-in closet for me that fits my dresser and filing cabinet, too.

8. Last week during the move, I didn't shave for more than a week because I couldn't find my razor. I'm pleased to say that it was to the point that the BYU Testing Center would not have let me in. But that was about the extent of it.

9. I'm still not fully feeling like I'm in my routine. I think part of it is that I've been out of my office for 5 of the past 10 business days. (3 when we closed, one for Good Friday, and one for a trip outside the office). Plus, we have General Conference last week, so even the Sunday didn't feel like a Sunday. I'm a routine guy and I'm still feeling a bit discombobulated.

10. "The Office" returned to high form this week. "Why do I have to bring Toby? He's like the worst person on the planet." "Michael, are you wearing a woman's suit....you look like Hillary Clinton." "I am not a real hero. The real hero are those who put on costumes and fly around with capes."

11. Joke of the night from Josh: How do you get a tissue to dance? Just put a little boogie in it.

12. Yankees update: so far, they've played pretty stinky. But Saturday's game was very memorable. Josh had been watching it off and on throughout the day. The Yankees clawed back into the game. In bottom of the 9th, Yankees down by one, 2 outs, bases loaded, 2 strikes, A-Rod at the plate. SLAM!!! Home run! A-Rod gets a lot of grief from NYC fans, but for one moment, he was quite the hero. It was cool to watch it live.