Walk through

Yesterday we did an "official" walk through of our new place and made a punch list! Hopefully this week I'll have a chance to post pictures that DH took a week or so ago. Let me just say that builders must be some of the nastiest (i.e., dirtiest) creatures on earth. Let's forget for a moment what the toilet in the unit next door looked like (sooooo glad ours did not look that bad) and focus on generic trash. When we were making sure that all the cabinet doors/drawers opened OK, we noticed that a few of the drawers contained random assorted screws and also generic chunks of splintered wood. Why the heck is the wood in the drawer?? I mean, I do know why...because the cabinets were installed long before the countertop was put on, and they pretty much threw crap everywhere. But is it really that much easier to throw it in the drawer than, say, on the floor? Also in exciting cabinet news...we're missing a cabinet door. Apparently the cabinet guy took it with him. Schwunh?

Of course, all this stuff gets cleaned up...but isn't it so much easier to not get it dirty in the first place?? The floor is an absolute horror. We have prefinished bamboo floors. Now, in the other unit, it's the generic oak that they can sand and finish at the end. But for ours, it doesn't get redone, so any damage/scratching they are doing stays forever. And the boards have these little "micro-bevels" on each edge that are now filled with drywall dust and gunk. It especially ticks me off because I kept telling our architect that I did NOT, NOT, NOT want beveled edges, micro or otherwise. But he seemed incapable of finding them (even though I can go to ifloor.com and find "no bevel" edges), so I eventually had to give up. So, I will just have to live with gunk in them, because I have no confidence that they'll actually be able to get it all out. And I have even less confidence that my Scooba will be able to suck the dirt out, either. They did put paper down over the floor, but most of it is now torn or gone.

Enough negativeness...the deck is just awesome. The view is spectacular towards downtown, and we are high enough to see over the parking deck on one side and over the warehouses on the other. I love our master bath...the tile looks just amazing and I love our vessels sinks. I love the way our kitchen counter came out...when you're looking at a 2" square Corian sample, you never know how the variations are going to look on a giant counter. I'm also jazzed because we found a really great deal on curtains at Pottery Barn...dupioni silk and actually wide and long enough for our windows. Not as good a bargain as the dupioni silk queen duvet cover, 4 shams and bedskirt I got at the ADAC sample sale for $50, but still a good deal. =)

Just in time for warm weather...

...I finished my silk/wool/alpaca mitts. I think I'll still be able to wear them at work, where the men-folk keep it arctic during the summer.

One down, one to go

I finished the first of two ornaments I'm doing for an exchange with friends. It's a complex exchange (and is part of the reason they refer to me as, "The Magic That Is Heather"), so I'm not going to be giving away this ornament, but making up kits for it. This is the Fancy Work ornament from the JCS 2006 ornament issue. It's stitched in Gloriana silk, which is just delicious to use, on an R&R fabric, which also feels fantastic to touch.

Movies: 97 out of 239

I copied this from Teresa Wentzler's blog...I'm already predicting I have no life.

“It’s been said that allegedly if you’ve seen over 85 movies you have no life. Mark the ones you’ve seen. There are 239 films on this list. Copy this list, go to your own blog, paste it in and put x’s by the ones that you have seen. Add them up, change the header adding your number, and post it.”
( ) Rocky Horror Picture Show
(X) Grease
(X) Pirates of the Caribbean
(X) Pirates of the Caribbean 2: Dead Man’s Chest
( ) Boondock Saints
( ) Fight Club
( ) Starsky and Hutch
(X) Neverending Story
( ) Blazing Saddles
(X) Airplane
(X) The Princess Bride
( ) AnchorMan
(X) Napoleon Dynamite
(X) Labyrinth
( ) Saw
( ) Saw II
( ) White Noise
( ) White Oleander
( ) Anger Management
(X) 50 First Dates
(X) The Princess Diaries
( ) The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement
Total so far: 10 out of 22.
( ) Scream
( ) Scream 2
( ) Scream 3
( ) Scary Movie
( ) Scary Movie 2
( ) Scary Movie 3
( ) Scary Movie 4
( ) American Pie
( ) American Pie 2
( ) American Wedding
( ) American Pie Band Camp
(X) Harry Potter 1
(X) Harry Potter 2
(X) Harry Potter 3
(X) Harry Potter 4
( ) Resident Evil 1
( ) Resident Evil 2
(X) The Wedding Singer
( ) Little Black Book
(X) The Village
Total so far: 17 out of 42. Whose stream of consciousness was this, anyway? Who goes from American Pie to Harry Potter??
(X) Lilo & Stitch
(X) Finding Nemo
(X) Finding Neverland
(X) Signs
( ) The Grinch
( ) Texas Chainsaw Massacre
( ) Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning
( ) White Chicks
( ) Butterfly Effect
(X) 13 Going on 30
(X) I, Robot
(X) Robots
(X) Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story
( ) Universal Soldier
(X) Lemony Snicket: A Series Of Unfortunate Events
( ) Along Came Polly
( ) Deep Impact
( ) KingPin
(X) Never Been Kissed
( ) Meet The Parents
( ) Meet the Fockers
( ) Eight Crazy Nights
( ) Joe Dirt
(X) King Kong
Total so far: 28 out of 66. Really 30, as I've seen all three King Kong movies.
( ) A Cinderella Story
(X) The Terminal
( ) The Lizzie McGuire Movie
( ) Passport to Paris
( ) Dumb & Dumber
( ) Dumber & Dumberer
( ) Final Destination
( ) Final Destination 2
( ) Final Destination 3
( ) Halloween
(X) The Ring
( ) The Ring 2
( ) Surviving Christmas
(X) Flubber
( ) Harold & Kumar Go To White Castle
( ) Practical Magic
(X) Chicago
( ) Ghost Ship
( ) From Hell
(X) Hellboy
(X) Secret Window
( ) I Am Sam
( ) The Whole Nine Yards
( ) The Whole Ten Yards
Total so far: 34 out of 90. I'm counting the original Flubber...haven't seen the latest one.
( ) The Day After Tomorrow
( ) Child’s Play
( ) Seed of Chucky
( ) Bride of Chucky
(X) Ten Things I Hate About You
( ) Just Married
( ) Gothika
( ) Nightmare on Elm Street
(X) Sixteen Candles
(X) Remember the Titans
( ) Coach Carter
( ) The Grudge
( ) The Grudge 2
(X) The Mask
( ) Son Of The Mask
( ) Bad Boys
( ) Bad Boys 2
( ) Joy Ride
( ) Lucky Number Sleven
(X) Ocean’s Eleven
(X) Ocean’s Twelve
(X) Bourne Identity
(X) Bourne Supremecy
( ) Lone Star
( ) Bedazzled
( ) Predator I
( ) Predator II
( ) The Fog
(X) Ice Age
( ) Ice Age 2: The Meltdown
( ) Curious George
Total so far: 43 out of 121.
(X) Independence Day
( ) Cujo
( ) A Bronx Tale
( ) Darkness Falls
( ) Christine
(X) E.T.
( ) Children of the Corn
( ) My Bosses Daughter
( ) Maid in Manhattan
(X) War of the Worlds
(X) Rush Hour
(X) Rush Hour 2
( ) Best Bet
(X) How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days
( ) She’s All That
( ) Calendar Girls
( ) Sideways
(X) Mars Attacks
( ) Event Horizon
(X) Ever After
(X) Wizard of Oz
(X) Forrest Gump
(X) Big Trouble in Little China
(X) The Terminator
(X) The Terminator 2
(X) The Terminator 3
Total so far: 58 out of 147. Again, who stuck E.T. between Christine and Children of the Corn???
(X) X-Men
(X) X-2
(X) X3
(X) Spider-Man
(X) Spider-Man 2
(X) Sky High
( ) Jeepers Creepers
( ) Jeepers Creepers 2
(X) Catch Me If You Can
(X) The Little Mermaid
(X) Freaky Friday
(X) Reign of Fire
( ) The Skulls
( ) Cruel Intentions
( ) Cruel Intentions 2
( ) The Hot Chick
(X) Shrek
( ) Shrek 2
Total so far: 69 out of 165. I saw both Freaky Friday movies. And I hated Shrek.
( ) Swimfan
(X) Miracle on 34th street
( ) Old School
( ) The Notebook
( ) K-Pax
( ) Krippendorf’s Tribe
(X) A Walk to Remember
(X) Ice Castles
( ) Boogeyman
( ) The 40-year-old Virgin
(X) Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring
(X) Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers
(X) Lord of the Rings: Return Of the King
(X) Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark
(X) Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom
(X) Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade
Total so far: 78 out of 181.
( ) Base-ketball
( ) Hostel
(X) Waiting for Guffman
( ) House of 1000 Corpses
( ) Devils Rejects
( ) Elf
( ) Highlander
( ) Mothman Prophecies
( ) American History X
( ) Three
(X) The Jacket
(X) Kung Fu Hustle
(X) Shaolin Soccer
( ) Night Watch
(X) Monsters Inc.
(X) Titanic
(X) Monty Python and the Holy Grail
( ) Shaun Of the Dead
( ) Willard
Total so far: 85 out of 200. No live and still a bunch to go! =)
( ) High Tension
( ) Club Dread
(X) Hulk
( ) Dawn Of the Dead
(X) Hook
(X) Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe
( ) 28 days later
( ) Orgazmo
( ) Phantasm
( ) Waterworld
( ) Kill Bill Vol. 1
( ) Kill Bill Vol. 2
( ) Mortal Kombat
( ) Wolf Creek
( ) Kingdom of Heaven
( ) The Hills Have Eyes
( ) I Spit on Your Grave
( ) The Last House on the Left
( ) Re-Animator
( ) Army of Darkness
Total so far: still 88 out of 220. Wow, I haven't even heard of some of these!! I almost counted 28 Days Later, 'cause I've seen some of it on TV.
(X) Star Wars Ep. I The Phantom Menace
(X) Star Wars Ep. II Attack of the Clones
(X) Star Wars Ep. III Revenge of the Sith
(X) Star Wars Ep. IV A New Hope
(X) Star Wars Ep. V The Empire Strikes Back
(X) Star Wars Ep. VI Return of the Jedi
( ) Ewoks: Caravan Of Courage
( ) Ewoks: The Battle For Endor
(X) The Matrix
(X) The Matrix: Reloaded
(X) The Matrix: Revolutions
( ) Animatrix
( ) Evil Dead
( ) Evil Dead 2
( ) Team America: World Police
( ) Red Dragon
( ) Silence of the Lambs
( ) Hannibal
Grand total: 97 out of 239. I won't swear I didn't see Ewoks: Caravan of Courage. And I shouldn't have marked Reloaded and Revolutions, because they don't really exist. :p

Actually, though, I've seen WAYYYYY more movies than this. And most of my top movies aren't even on here!

Snowflake Nativity

Great Frame Up called to say my frame was in, so I thought I'd better get on the stick and lace this thing. Here it is after being ironed (and ironed, and ironed! ):

Sadly, I didn't even get around to lacing it today...I spent too much time claiming the high score for Hexic Survival Mode!! (At least, highest on my friends list...although I am 186th in the world...seems impressive to me. =)

Edited to add: The original picture was hosted on Webshots, which went away before I could retrieve it. So please enjoy the framed picture!

I love my sisters

This past weekend I visited Highlands, NC, (really, "Walhalla" in SC...say it three times fast!) with two of my three sisters. The first thing you need to know is that I'm 12 years younger than my youngest sister and 17 years younger than my oldest. My middle sister is 13 years older than me. So they form a nice group with tons of shared childhood memories. However, for most of my life (you know, the part where you're very young and the whole world exists to cater to your every whim) they were these people that would show up now and again, but I didn't really know them (although they dearly love telling me what a pain I was as a baby and how much time they spent caring for me). We used to be scattered across the country, but now we're all in Atlanta. For the past couple years, we've been trying to get together once a month for lunch. Last year, this turned into, "Let's get away for a weekend together!" We went to a bed and breakfast and had fun shopping, playing games and gabbing. My oldest sister was keen to make this a repeat affair, so my youngest sister found us a great lake house owned by a friend of hers from church that we could stay at basically for free. It had a really beautiful view of the lake, surrounded by woods dotted with dogwoods just starting to bloom.

The second thing you need to know is that I'm basically an introvert. Sure, I like parties (so long as they're not "stand around and make small talk" parties...I am terrible at small talk and invariably make an idiot out of myself in some form or fashion). But parties tire me out; I need to go home and be alone and recover. The weekend was bound to tire me out. But then, I also experienced a bad blood sugar crash on Sunday. My youngest sister told me, quote, "You're not acting like any normal human being would be acting."

Finally, you need to know that I think so differently from my other sisters, that it takes a bit of brain power for me to converse with them. It's like I'm constantly running a background process to translate their conversations and questions into a form I can understand. This is not to say they are freaks; I know well that I am the freakish one. But the end result is many a furrowed brow or pregnant pause from me as I interact with them. You see, by the time I came along, my dad was so ready to have a boy. So I am basically the boy. My three sisters are, respectively, an interior decorator/chef (for lack of a better description...she can basically do anything in the kitchen or with a sewing machine), a nurse and a teacher. These are very traditional female occupations. They are all great occupations! But "traditional" nonetheless. I, on the other hand, have an undergraduate degree in Electrial Engineering and a master's in Computer Science...not as normal for a chick. Now, my sisters are all very smart ladies. But their thinking processes are drastically different from mine. I was trying to explain to my oldest sister what my husband does: He's basically a web developer, but he mainly designs interfaces (for computer applications). When I told my oldest sister this, she said, "See, we don't even know that someone has to do that!" I said, "Well, all that stuff is there...how do you think it got there? Someone had to create it! It's like the universe, it didn't just drop into existence!"

So what's the point of this stream of consciousness? I don't feel like I was very good company for the weekend. I felt tired and cranky most of the time. I felt really ill on the road from Walhalla to Highlands and back (soooooo curvy...). I had the sugar crash. I am not a morning person and was really cranky in the morning. I was impatient with my youngest sister who had never operated a home alarm system before. I was less than responsive and empathetic most of the time due to fatigue.

Bascially, I was really glad to get home to my husband, who makes me feel like a likeable person rather than the complete wench I actually am.

But I do really love my sisters. =)