Remodel Stress

We all manage stress differently. 

I get outwardly stressed. Sure, call it bitchy if you want.

Josh? He is calm. He knows everything will be fine and reassures me. His back just hurts. 

And when he tries to heat up a hot pack in our crappy microwave and the buttons don’t work decides to slash the button control panel with a knife.

Then I release my stress by laughing uncontrollably for several minutes and even while writing this.

Still laughing.

 

Additional Resources:

Ewave Microwaves are junk

30 is the new 20

I read it on a bottle of Vitamin Water. 

“30 may be the new 20, but green is definitely the new black. please recycle.”

There you have it!

36 is then the new 26, right? Dang us young folk are looking pretty darn wrinkly these days.

Twelve Unintentional Benefits of Exercising

At my 6 am Jamie Atlas’ ski conditioning classes I am building muscle, gaining flexibility and burning calories. Of course!

There are, however, the following side effects…

1. Waking up 6:30 am on non-exercise days and feeling like I slept in

2. Drinking my daily recommended amount of water before 7 am

3. Sweating like I am in a sauna, actually more like a steam room, while everyone is fully clothed (no awkward moments, accidental views of unsightly body parts, and no shaving my legs!)

4. Learning the Australian language. I think I’m learning although I still say, “What?” to Jamie a lot. Of course I noticed that he also says, “What?” to me a lot. Luckily this isn’t a serious communication barrier.

5. Getting out of the house at least three times a week, even if it is dark and really cold outside.

6. Exercising my brain by trying to figure how to repeat the “complicated” moves ten more times but now starting with my “other” left leg. 

7. Possibly being motivated to actually go ski after hearing that everyone else in the ski conditioning class has been up skiing, many times. Some even skip ski class and actually go skiing! The nerve.

8. Feeling very energetic and motivated to accomplish everything on my “To Do” list, at least for the first hour after I get home.

9. Watching the local Sloan’s Lake fox troll the neighborhood in the dark morning and finding out he/she smells like the sewer. Can foxes live in the sewer?

10. Wearing workout clothes any day of the week and people just assuming I went to my ski conditioning class. Wait, maybe this isn’t a good thing. Maybe people will start wondering why I don’t shower and get out of my sweaty clothes. 

11. Going out in public with some seriously scary bedhead and not caring, well at least realizing it is dark and my workout mates haven’t made funny of me, to my face.

12. Eating breakfast twice! The one at 5:30 am doesn’t really count, right?

Crazy Quiet House

 

This morning I snuck out of the house at 5:50 am and jumped in my friend Karyn’s car. Normally we walk to Jamie Atlas’ ski conditioning class (just 10 blocks away) but today even the snow had frost on it. Brrrrr.

An hour later I return to find that the kids (niece and nephew) were still asleep.

The taxi to the airport arrived at 8:30 am and the last of our 9 family visitors departed.

Now only the lonely sounds of the washer and dryer keep me company, at least for now. The inspector for our new electrical work and the carpenter will be over before the end of the day. 

We enjoyed the time we spend with family and friends this holiday season and are VERY thankful for all their work and company! This was a really fantastic holiday season!

 

 

Dec 24, 2008 Josh and our friend Mike take down the scaffolding in the evening!

Dec 25, 2008 Men's Sewing Circle (stringing cable railing) and mom cleaning a mop

 

Grauer Family Christmas Eve 2008

Cooking Christmas Eve Meal at the Grauer House

Mom and Josh making gravy

Pop cutting while brother, Jochen, samples the lamb he cooked

Mom and Henry... even the cats had bows on them

 

Dec 27, 2008 We put Hadley and Guntra (Josh's brother and sister-in-law) right to work

 

Harry (Josh's brother-in-law) and Josh hang the bathroom doors on barn railings.

Dec 31, 2008 Watching the Monster Production: Guntra, Libby, Gene, Dan

The Monster Production

Writers, producers, and voices for the Monster Production: Hilda and Charlie

Chef Charlie of Charlie's Diner

Gene and Josh work on the railing while Hadley takes a snack break.

Libby and Guntra (Gene in the background)

Mimi (Josh's sister) and Hadley (Josh's brother) unpack old wine

 

Hilda and her Uncle Dan

 

Guntra, Libby and Jen (inside the bathroom) remove blue tape from the bathroom doors

 

Josh is exhausted!

 

Jen and Josh enjoying their new upstairs space with Gene (Josh's dad) and Libby (Gene's wife).

Libby and Gene (aka Grandmamama and Gumpy)

Happy Holidays 2008

 

Hope your holiday season continues to be fabulous!

For the Solstice and Hanukkah weekend we escaped the house remodel and went to Santa Monica, California for Josh’s cousin’s wedding. The weather was fantastic and I also got to see my cousins and a friend, Mary, whom I went to school with in Alaska. 

Josh and I are STILL trying to get phase one of our remodel completed.

The evening of Dec 24th Josh and I spent at my parents and my brother… who actually came down from the mountains despite all the nice new snow. If he hadn’t agreed to bring the lamb for dinner we might not have seen him. Ha! 

Dec 25th and 26th my parents (and our friend Mike) came over and helped us with the house. In a matter of days we went from construction zone to clean and livable (although not complete). There is no way we would have been ready for visitors without their help.

Last night, Dec 28, I finally put up a few decorations with the help of Libby and Guntra (Josh’s family). Josh, his brother Hadley, and our friend mike, worked on stringing cable in the railing frames. Today the remaining five family members show up, including a 10 and 7 year old so we really hope to have railing installed before they arrive.

Today a whole bunch of contractors show up ( tile guy, glass guy, carpenters, plumbers) to entertain our ten house guests with a show called “A Taste of What Life Has Been Like at the Raleigh House The Last 6 Months But Without All the Plastic, Dirt and Dust.” 

Have a fun New Years Eve!

Explaining Myself by Referring to My Blog

It was a done deal when I recognized the implications.

Even so, I knew it would happen again.

Instead of explaining why I was not going to join the “recipe exchange chain email letter thing” I sent my friend this reply: 

 

Thanks for the invite! Sorry to drop the ball. 
Click here for an explanation.

 

If I were to do it all over again, I would have added this:

Click here for a reason to be glad I’m dropping the ball.

 

New Dinner Plan for Picky Eaters

Me: “How about spaghetti for dinner?”

                        

Him: “We had that last night.”

Actually, we had pasta and salmon.

Me: “How about sloppy joes?”

I have ground buffalo thawing.

Him: “No, I don’t want that. Will you put rice on?”

My new plan? Don’t ask, just make.

On the other hand, he will end up making dinner tonight.
Did I say something about a new plan?

Buddhism Through Eyeball Acid

Hydrogen peroxide does not feel good on the eyeball. 

Let me rephrase that.

Hydrogen peroxide makes your eyeball burn like acid. It will make you scream, like you haven’t done since you were two years old. It will have you running around the bathroom and even bring your contractor moseying over to see what the ruckus is all about.

Your eye will hurt like crazy and tear up all day. This will result in a big fat headache and using lots of tissues to blow your nose.

“Do not rinse [contact] lens with Clear Care prior to insertion.” This makes the second time I have over looked that warning label. These are very painful lessons about being more mindful and living in the present. 

“Excuse me, Universe. How about a new lesson? I promise I’ve learned this one.”

Top Five Solutions to Holiday Card Guilt

The first holiday card of the season arrived from my friend Trudy, just five days after Thanksgiving.

The day before that, Denise asked for my current address. She confirmed it was for a holiday card mailing.

Both of these women have children and they are able to get holiday cards out EARLY?! 

Guilt is mounting!

My Top Five Solutions:

1. Buy myself some time by sending out “Happy End of Remodeling” cards sometime in the Spring of 2012. 

2. Buy a pack of cards and only send them out to those who send us one, as long as they include a legible return address.

3. Gather all the post cards from vacations that I never sent to anyone and mail those out to anyone who sends us a card.

4. Send out “ECO” cards to everyone with an email address. Call or send a card to the two people I know who don’t own computers.

5. Call everyone during the day when they are at work and leave them an 8 second Happy Holidays greeting. 

Are you sending out holiday cards this year?

Nature or Nurture: A Tale of Two Cousins

Lisa is three years younger than me. She grew up in Iowa and I grew up a traveling military brat. We saw each other rarely, except for the times she visited us in Alaska and Europe. We did not keep in touch but, as my cousin, she did receive a few of my nice dresses when I grew out of them. 

Then one day Lisa moves to Colorado to attend Naropa University. A relative of mine attending a Buddhist university in Boulder? A first cousin? A first cousin from IOWA?

We find out that as adults we have very similar ideas about the world that differ significantly from our grandparents, parents, siblings, and other cousins. 

We even both enjoy a good single malt scotch!

Should we credit nature or nurture?