Christmas and Rigmas

As many Christmas's as Neal and I have spent apart because he's been at work on the rig....well, it never gets any easier. I'm glad that we at least got to have Christmas with his family last weekend. They also surprised us with an impromptu housewarming party at his parents' house. Marilyn apparently spread the word that anything that was red and/or fleur-de-lis-ish would work in our house. It was really sweet and we got some pretty cool stuff. I'll have to take pics of some of it once I think the house is ready to be showcased. We did, however, get a clock that has a picture of Jesus on it along with a saying from the Bible. Now, ya'll know that I go to church and stuff, but uh...I don't exactly decorate our house with religious items besides a few crosses here and there. So I'm not sure what to do with the clock. The Catholic in me won't let me give it away so I guess we'll just have to hang onto it. I felt a little awkward opening it at the party with a beer in my hand.

Neal is actually talking about possibly going into 'directional drilling.' If he decides to do it, he will probably be gone for the first 90 days for training with a weekend off here and there. After that, the schedule will be 14 and 14 or 14 and 10 or something like that. I told him that if he is really serious about it, he needs to bust a move now before pregnancy and kids and all that. The one upside to that type of job is that it would set us up financially. Like, I wouldn't have to work if I didn't want to. (I mean, I don't see myself quitting or anything because I love my job and I've worked hard to get where I'm at, but it would be nice to know that it's a option.) None of this is a definite, it's just something that we're talking about.

So I'll be at my Dad's Christmas Eve and then am going to Houma for Christmas Day. Then back to work Monday and Tuesday and then off from Wednesday through Sunday. Yeeeaaaahhhhhyaaaahhhhh!

Love Actually

It feels like Christmas now because we've put up the tree and have watched Love Actually. And it's cold as balls outside, so there's that too. There has been ice on my windshield in the AM for 4 out of the last 5 days. I really need one of those remote-start vehicles that I can turn on from inside the house and let warm up before I get in it. The little Jeep Jeep just is not that technologically advanced.

I've done half of my Christmas shopping online already and will do the next half the old fashioned way this weekend. Hopefully I get up early enough Saturday morning so I can go to Target, etc at the crack o' dawn and get everything I need. I'm thinking that if I get there early enough I won't have to deal with all the Northshore yats, their over-sized SUV's that they can't drive, and their inability to acknowledge anyone else's personal space.

We have to go to Baskin next Friday for Christmas with Neal's family. It will be a quick trip; I'm going to leave work early Friday so we can be there by 5 Friday night and then we'll come back home Saturday morning. But since I'm leaving work early Friday, I have to miss the official work Christmas party Friday afternoon. I'm not too broken up about it though; they've got booze and all, but the food sucks and a big group of the public works guys lurk in a corner by the bar and blatantly stare at every female in the room. So if you want a beer, be prepared to be visually assaulted by a bunch of greasy guys in wrangler jeans and work boots on your way to and from the bar.

Neal will be at work for Christmas, but he's off for New Year's. I am taking off the Wednesday before NYE, and my office is closed Thursday and Friday that week. This means that we will have 5 whole days off together without work or anything. I honestly can't remember the last time that happened. Last January, maybe? I mean, 5 whole days? I don't care if we just sit at home and stare at each other....so excited!

Use the Deep Conditioner

It's 8am on a Saturday morning and I'm laying in bed with my iced coffee and lap top while watching Full House. (It's the one where DJ wins tickets to the Beach Boys concert.) I blame DirecTv for the fact that I'm watching this crap on television. There's just too many channels. (We HAD to get DirecTv because our subdivision isn't set up for cable. But I have to admit, I sort of love it.)

The house is great and wonderful and it's OURS. But it is soooo not finished yet in terms of furniture and decorations. There's so much to buy and do. I'm actually being pretty good about it though. I'm trying to get just a few things at a time instead of just going balls out and completely depleting our checking account in the process. And my new favorite store? Tuesday Morning. I had never been into a TM until a few weeks ago. It has changed my life.

I finally got a haircut this week. I got about 4-5 inches chopped off. That shit was OUT OF CONTROL. It was so stringy and yuck. I got to the salon and the guy told the shampoo girl, "Um, use the deep conditioner and leave it on for at least 5 minutes."

I woke up a 6am this morning but went back to sleep until 730. In that hour and a half I had the strangest dream ever. And I think that while I was dreaming I was trying to convince myself that it was a dream and it wasn't real, but I couldn't wake up. Don't you hate it when that happens?!

So today I'm going to be organizing and decorating. I also see a trip to Hobby Lobby in my future.

Updates on Life

-We closed on the house last Thursday and we move in next Thursday! I went to Abita during lunch yesterday to set up the water/gas/garbage collection for the house. Get this - all of those services are run through the Town of Abita. So I had to go to Town Hall to pay the deposit (checks only, no credit cards) and fill out the forms, etc. There's this tiny little office with a slot in a door where you drop off your utility payments every month. The lady in the office informed me that they just became able to set up automatic debits for your monthly bill, but there is no website. Small town living - here we come. I dig it.

-I got a raise and promotion at work! It's so nice to know that all of my hard work has paid off. And tomorrow is "jean day" at work. I cannot even begin to tell you how much I love jean days at work. It makes the week so much better. Tomorrow is also "Fair Day" in St Tammany because there is a fair (the kind with livestock shows) that takes place in Covington this weekend. The parade for fair day runs right in front of my office tomorrow and it is a treat for the eyes and ears. It consists of dancing crews and pageant girls and people throwing beads out of the back of pick-up trucks. It puts Mardi Gras parades to shame. Who needs Bacchus when you've got Destiny, Chastity and their stage moms waving at you from a Mustang convertible?

-My mom got married again two weeks ago (this is #4). She called me Friday and said, "Can you be at the Columns at 1130 tomorrow morning for my wedding?" She wore a black dress and asked my brother if he thought that would be okay. He goes, "Well, Mom, I think the cat's about outta' the bag, so there's no need to wear white." Her new hubbs is a history professor at SLU. He's a SUPER nice guy, no kids, been married once. I am VERY happy about this one, I think it's a good deal.

-I want to paint our dining room table. Not sure what color yet, but this caught my eye.



I don't know if I'm brave enough to paint it black, but I like this look. All of my NOLA food-themed kitchen art has red and black in it, so this may work.

The in-laws were kind enough to by us blinds for the house, so I can wait on curtains and stuff for a little bit. But I do have a feeling that I will be putting Sarah's genius drop-cloth idea to use.

So this weekend will consist of me, boxes, and numerous trips to Abita to bring my shoes and clothes to the new house.

Annelle and Sammy

We close on the house September 23rd and are so excited! But more importantly, all of our kitchen appliances are Frigidaire. Do you know what this means? It means I get to quote one of my favorite lines from Steel Magnolias on a regular basis. This is how it's going to go....."Stephen Neal Mahoney, what is this in my Frigidaire?"

House

So I think we're going to make an offer on this 3 bedroom/2 bath when Neal gets home next week. Here are some pics....







Here is the deal: This is a brand new little loop/small subdivision in Abita Springs. There are only 3 homes built in the loop so far. Two more lots are under contract. If the house above is still available next week, I think we're going to make an offer. If it's not available, we are going to build one that is similar. The homes are all New Orleans-style cookie cutter houses, but they're super cute. If we build our own, we have to pick out all the colors, etc which I don't really want to do. I would rather just buy the one that is already built b/c I'm perfectly OK with the one that is available.

So the homes are on lots that are going to be pretty close together, and I know that we could get a little more land or a bigger lot size or whatever if we looked in other areas like Folsom or Covington or Mandeville. But I've looked at houses in our price range in those areas and they are all BLAH. I seriously haven't seen one other house that I was interested in. And I just really like Abita. It's sort of this hippy dippy, laid back, unique little town. Their public schools have small class sizes and are better than the ones in Covington and Mandeville. The town is small, located on the Tammany Trace (the bike/walking path) and is only about 7 miles away from where we live now. There are all these cute little events and fairs and concerts in the town pavilion area and I just love it. LOVE IT.

I am going to miss our rent house and the 1/2 acre of land that we're on, but I will NOT miss the enormous electric bills that we have to pay all summer b/c the house is so old and full of cracks and windows. I will not miss having to walk outside to get to my laundry room. I will not miss the fact that every time our power goes out we can't flush the toilet because our water comes from an electricity-operated water well. And I will not miss the gecko that I found in my bedroom last night and which I'm pretty sure is still hiding somewhere in my closet.

Side note about the gecko situation; here's my convo on the phone last night with Neal:
N: How was your day?
C: It was fine, but there's a gecko in the bedroom and I don't know where he went.
N: He probably went back outside, don't worry about it.
C: No, I know he's still in here. He's hiding, just waiting for me to go to sleep.
N: Oh yeah? Then what's he going to do to you? Are you worried he's going to try to sell you some insurance?

The thought of having a brand new house is sooooo exciting. I have actually never ever lived in a brand new home so it may come as a shock to live in a house where everything actually works?! So I guess we'll see how this all plays out next week!

First-Time Homebuyers!

I met with a mortgage banker yesterday, and we were pre-approved to buy a home! It's real now, can you believe it? Holla!

Just a side note - I want to buy and wear a pair of clogs.....is that bad?