packing

I hope everyone's 4th of July holiday went well. Here it was pretty uneventful. We're in the middle of packing and getting things ready for the move. You know how that goes.
Last Friday we had an amazing day! Rodrigo and I had our appointment with the design center for our new house. We were total kids in a candy store! It was soooooo much fun being able to pick out everything just the way we like it. Here is a list of things we were able to chose. . .

- cabinets: length, wood and finish
- tile (areas of the house we wanted tiled and of course the tile itself)
- carpet (along with the padding)
- kitchen countertops, edging and backsplash
- sink and faucets for kitchen
- sink and faucets for bathrooms
- shower door
- shower wall
- lighting fixtures (style and color)
- doorknobs (style and color)
- paint color
- light switches
- appliances
- staircase stain
- railing or pony wall in loft
- grout (yes, we picked our grout)
- window treatments and ceiling fans (which we've decided to hold off on and coordinate later)

I feel like I'm missing something, but you get the idea. There are things that I'd never thought about like carpet pads and the color of grout and was pretty amazed at all the choices. Luckily, Rodrigo and I have very similar tastes and we both feel very happy with the choices we made. We were carrying around a cabinet door to match with carpet samples, tile, etc. I cannot express just how much fun it was. I was shocked at how many choices they had of everything. Our coordinator was amazingly sweet and helpful. I soooooo want that job.
That day we also went to our wiring place. Rodrigo was in dork heaven here. So, we set up for structured wiring and all the various techy things that he absolutely needs.
In addition to those meetings, we also met with our realtor and our lender. The next day we went to look at the rental we'll be in for six months and got some of that paper work out of the way. We've set up for utilities and are still trying to keep up with all the paper work that comes along with selling a house, moving to a different state, starting a new job, renting a house, going to a new school, and buying a new home.
There are so many things to do but we are very excited. These are going to be the longest six months of my life. . . . .

feeling: excited
listening to: Blue October (Hate Me) <-- I hate this song today, I'll hate this song tomorrow. :P

links

- I love this pan. I want one.

- Hmm, she doesn't strike me as someone who just wants to be left alone by the media.

- I took this personality test yesterday. It's pretty funny.

-ARGH! They have a contest now? I don't have an office anymore.

- Too funny. I know a few people who could've used this though.

- I bought another one of her books last week. (check out "reading" on the horizontal navigation bar under the blog title). I only need one more.

- Oh, come on! Why do you put this up a whole year in advance. Now I can't wait and this isn't even the type of movie I anticipate. Wow, did you see Topher Grace?

- I tasted the tangerine one. There was no pomagranate. It tasted very watered down.

- We'll finally be able to shop here.

feeling: sleepy
listening to: Theory of a Deanman (Santa Monica)

friends

My friends hate me. How else can I explain the fact that we live in the same city and hadn't seen each other in almost two years? I have to move away in order for them to finally see me. :P
We all met when we worked together a few years back. Although half of that work time was spent laughing. The place we worked at has since closed and, well, life got in the way. Some of us had babies, some got married, some bought houses and some did all three. You know how that goes. We keep in touch via email but had just not been able to get everyone in the same place at the same time again. A couple of them are lurkers on my blog and better leave a comment.
Anyway, we all got together for dinner tonight. No guys so that we could bash them (kidding) and no kids so that we could have adult conversation. Here's the thing; I hadn't realized how much I'd missed them. I mean, although we hadn't seen each other in a while, we all right away started talking like if we had just spoken yesterday. We didn't even glance at our menus for the longest time so as to not interrupt the conversation. So now I'm leaving and I feel like I wasted time by not getting together with them more often. Three of us have kids that are practically the same age and we could've had play dates too.
We had a very fun time as always. Honestly, I didn't look around to see if there were people around us but I hope we didn't ruin anyone's dinner by laughing too loud. While we were all saying good-bye, they were wishing me luck and we were promising to see each other again when I'm in town. This time I think we mean it.
Now I'm getting a little verklempt, talk amongst yourselves. . . .

feeling: I love my buddies
listening to: some new local rock station

rubber band ball

Friday was my last day of work. Woot! I really thought I'd me more excited or sadder but I was just alright. I think it hasn't really hit me yet. I was a few weeks shy of having worked there for two years Since the first day I started working there, I started making a rubber band ball. There were just always sooooo many rubber bands lying around.

This ball became the subject of many conversations. People wouldn't believe that it was all bands and no ball in the middle. One client even thought it was a baseball in the middle. He wanted to take it apart just to make sure it was all rubber bands. I told him he was welcome to as long as he would put it back together.
There was a time when my ball was kidnapped and I went so far as to threaten to request to see the security tapes just to find out who it was. I got it back but always locked it up after that. Clients would go in there and ask to bounce it. One man told me that it was a giant ball of bacteria. Being a germy, that really hit a nerve. I refused to touch it for a while and was trying to think of a way to soak it without making it fall apart when another client told me "If you want to get literal, then everything is nothing but a big ball of bacteria". Eww. I started working on it again after that. This same guy wanted me to take it apart before I left, count the rubber bands and have people guess how many there were. I was tempted. I was also asked to pass it down to someone else at work as a "Legacy Ball". I considered that for a while too but I decided to keep it for myself as a paperweight. I also thought I could use it in pictures when I write to update my now ex co-workers. Aww.
The ball is actually somewhat bigger now since I got a whole of rubberbands on my last week. Oh, and I guess it had been a long while since I posted any picture of myself here so, there. Yes, I pose with toys at work. I never said I wasn't a dork.

feeling: free!
listening to: Bloc Party (Tulips)

overdue world cup explanation

This World Cup is driving me crazy! USA is playing Ghana right now and I am at the edge of my seat as it gets to the final minutes. I would just hate for the US to not advance. I thought I'd give a brief explanation as to how these matches work. I think that if you watch the World Cup and care, you probably already know all this, but here goes anyway. . .

The world's 32 highest ranked teams get to compete at the World Cup. They are broken up into groups of 4 who them play each other in this first stage. The teams then earn points. 3 points for a win, 1 point for a tie and no points for a loss. The two teams with the highest points from each group then move on to the round of 16. If teams end up with the same number of points, then whoever scored the most goals moves on.

The following teams have already moved on to the next round . . .

1. Argentina
2. Brazil
3. Ecuador
4. England
5. Germany
6. Mexico
7. Netherlands
8. Portugal
9. Spain
10. Sweden

As I write, the USA game is still going on and it is not looking good. I highly doubt that the USA would have a chance to win, but I absolutely want them to at least go on to the next round. I sooooo wish I could be in Germany right now at any one of these games. Maybe South Africa in 2010.

feeling: anxious and nervous
watching: soccer

commercials

Ever since we've had DVR there is hardly anything that I watch live. Even if it's a few minutes behind, I won't watch live so I can forward through commercials. Now with the World Cup, though, things have changed. I HAVE to watch live. So now there are a few commercials that I've seen and love.

The Slowsky's. I actually saw this for the first time a few months ago in Arizona. I love that they have their own blog. Adorable! You can watch the commercials on the top of the page. My favorite is the last one. "There's a lot of things you don't know about me".

My next favorite commecial is from Volkswagen. It's called hike. This one made me laugh out loud.

Ok, well, I have to start watching soccer now. Mexico is about to play Portugal. Portugal has already moved on the next round but Mexico HAS to win or at least tie this game to guarantee an advance. U.S. plays Ghana tomorrow and U.S. also must win in order to have a shot at advancing. If you have any business in Mexico today, good luck. Everything will be at a standstill until the game is over. Ok, it's starting. . . .

feeling: nervous!
watching: World Cup

since I last wrote. . .

Friday there was a quick drive back to Tucson. We found a house! That's the good news. The bad news is that it won't be completed and ready to move into for six months. That picture is the model home. So, this means that will have to go to temporary housing. We were trying to avoid that, but the deal on the new home was just too good to pass up. Plus, you should see layout! I LOVE IT! We have to go next week to pick out all the design details (paint and carpet colors, wiring options) and we are just soooooo excited. Rodrigo and I think these will be the longest six months ever.
We had to change our moving date again. We were initially going to move in August, then late July, then July 17th, then we found out that school there is on a year-round schedule and actually begins on the 17th. So, I guess this year I'll be moving on my birthday. :(


Saturday we had a small family gathering to celebrate Alec's third birthday. I can't believe that tiny little preemie baby is now three years old. Time flies!
Alec's actual birthday was on Sunday, along with Paul McCartney. We did nothing on Sunday. Part of Rodrigo's happy Father's Day was not going anywhere and just lounging around all day. I watched soccer, then I watched soccer and after that I watched more soccer.
I already gave my resignation letter at work :( and am now looking forward to a good-bye dinner with my girlfriends on Thursday evening and an "Yvett is going bye-bye" luncheon at work on Friday. I am sooooo going to cry.
For now I have to get ready to go to work. I cannot believe that I am going to working at the same time that England is going to be playing. ARGH! I don't know how I'll be able to concentrate. Ok, enough for now.

feeling: I have soooo much to do
listening to: Weezer (My Name is Jonas)