I’m living with Sting!

On the advice of John’s grandmother’s live-in aide, Cheryl, we asked his new stylist, Jenny, to model his new haircut after Sting’s hair.  See exhibits A and B (we took these pictures with us):

Now, see John’s very cool, very Sting-like hair:

We’re discussing the possibility of a beard.  Short, a little scruffy, but neat.  And new glasses.  It’s almost like having a new husband!  Not that I was looking for one.  🙂  I like mine.

For Mom, pictures of my new haircut

Here you go, Mom.  John took a bunch of pictures so you (and everyone else) can see my new haircut, properly blow-dried and hair-sprayed, in advance of us going out for Mexican food tonight.  ‘Cause you just can’t go out for Mexican food unless your hair looks good.  Please ignore the face and just look at the hair.

I love gift cards

I know there are people out there who think gift cards are the cop-out gift, the gift that says, “I didn’t put any thought into what to buy you for this occasion”, but I’m not one of those people.  I suppose a gift card could say that, if you received one for something you have no interest in, but I’m talking about the ones that say, “I know you really like books, but I have no idea what you have already or what you might want, so here.  Go shopping.”  Or, “You said you need clothes, and you want clothes, but I’ll just mess up the sizes or the colors or the style, so here.  Go shopping.”  I LOVE those.  And my family tends to come through for me, as evidenced by the years of Amazon and Ann Taylor gift cards.  They’re perfect.  I don’t mean to say that I don’t appreciate the sweater or the DVD, ’cause I do, and I like them very much, and I’m thrilled that you know me well enough to pick out the right sweater and DVD.  But it’s so much FUN to actually do the shopping and the picking out that I feel like I got TWO gifts.

My point is that today was my big shopping day.  By 11am, I’d been to three stores: 1) Kohl’s, so I could exchange pants for John, 2) Target, ’cause John needs cushion-y socks for his work shoes, and 3) the Ann Taylor Factory Store in the outlet mall so I could spend my fabulous gift cards on fabulous work clothes for my new job (that starts next week!  Yikes!).  From there I went to the mall mall to look for a headband at Lord & Taylor (which I did not find – maybe it’s supposed to be at Ann Taylor Loft?) and to use my Banana Republic gift card.  I could have used it at the Banana Republic in the outlet mall, but I cruised quickly through that store and didn’t see anything I liked.  At the one in the mall mall, however, I found that sweater I was drooling over with Mom in the mall in KY in the perfect GREEN shade I like so much, and I bought it for $34.99!  (It was $59.99 two weeks ago.  Yay for sales.)  And I got a cream cami (with satin-ish trim) to go under it AND they gave me an extra 10% off just for using my gift card.  Yay for retail desperation.

Here is a badly aimed (and blurry) picture of the two of us outside the restaurant before dinner last night:

Blurry as it is, this picture is far better than our other attempts.  We asked the hostess to take one before we were seated, but it’s too far away and overexposed.  The ones we took after we got home have strange expressions and double chins.  (The photos themselves, not us.)  Not okay for internet viewing.

Shoveling is hard

Shoveling is made harder when there are 19 inches of snow and only one snow shovel.  I was using the regular shovel.  Not as efficient.  It took us more than two hours to clear the driveway, the cars, and the sidewalk.  Then John cleared the deck.

Also, our shopping is basically done.  Yay!

Now, pictures.

Here’s the bench on the deck after the snow stopped last night:

View of the deck before shoveling this morning (through the sliding glass doors):

The deck after John shoveled:

Some pictures of the yard:

And some pictures of Roxy in the snow:

This isn’t supposed to happen here!

It’s 3:40pm, we have over a foot of snow (judging by the undisturbed pile on top of the table on the deck), and it’s still coming down.  This is nuts.  We could probably leave the house if we really needed to, in the Tucson with 4-wheel drive on, but the roads haven’t been plowed (not in the neighborhood, at least) and we have everything we need here.  I got home last night right about 5pm, let the dogs out, unloaded the car, and went back right back out to Wegman’s.  We have plenty of food.  Good stuff, too.

The snow started before we went to bed last night, and we had 4-6 inches when we woke up.  John went out front to shovel (we figured it would be easier to shovel at the end if we made a dent in the beginning), and I played in the back with the dogs.  We shoveled the deck, too, but that was three and a half hours ago and it’s like we were never outside, front or back.  I just let the dogs out again, and Riley didn’t even bother to leave the deck at first.  He just peed on a pile of snow.  ON the deck.  I can’t blame him.  It doesn’t really matter.  But they love the snow.  Riley more than Roxy.

We didn’t eat breakfast until about noon (since we shoveled and played first).  We have a fire, we’re watching TV, John is doing some programming stuff, and I’ve been reading during the commercials.  We’ll probably switch to movies (other than those that happen to be on right now) soon, like White Christmas.  Seems appropriate.  🙂  We were watching Keeping the Faith earlier.  I love that movie.  It was on TBS or USA or something, so it was edited a bit, but I love it anyway.

And here are the pictures.

View of the deck table around 9:30am:

View of the bench around 9:30am:

View of the deck table after we let the dogs out:

View of the deck table about 5 hours later:

View of the bench around 3:30pm:

Sister Mary Riley:

Obi-wan Riley:

A good (normal) picture of Riley:

And Riley’s warning look: “Back off, buddy, I’d had about enough of you and that camera.”

Party on, Wayne.

I’m tired of painting.  The second coat is on, so tomorrow I’ll do the trim.  Or at least part of it.  I think I’ll need John’s help with a couple of things.

I should feel more tired than I do.  It was after 1:30 when we got home last night from the holiday party.  I’m sure it’ll catch up with me tonight.  The party was fun, though.  Lots of food, open bar, a live band and music when the band needed a break.  We went to find Joe so we could say goodbye on our way out, but Joe was on the dance floor, so saying goodbye turned into an hour of dancing.  I like to dance.  🙂

So you know how John is usually the tallest person in the room?  He’s got a coworker who’s 6’6″.  We spent a lot of time talking to him last night, and I just couldn’t get over how he dwarfs John.  It was totally weird.

And now I’m off to shovel the sidewalk and the driveway.  Here’s a cute picture of Roxy (I didn’t want her to feel left out).

Dining Room Makeover, Part IV

First coat is on!  Second coat tomorrow, then trim, then…furniture?  We haven’t talked about exactly when we’re getting the new dining room table.

This first picture shows the contrast between the primer and the new color.  It kinda looks like my walls are bleeding color.  It’s creeping in all on its own.  Run away!

Here’s the same corner with the first coat.

And here’s another view of the dining room, with different lighting.  It doesn’t actually look this dark in person, but I don’t feel like messing with my camera to fix it.  (You may wonder why I’m showing you this picture in that case.  Don’t worry about it, okay?)

And now for the other important announcement:

It’s snowing!  Like, a lot.  2 to 4 inches by the end of the evening.  See?

And because you’ve been so patient, here’s another adorable picture of Riley.

Now, I have to get in the shower and remove all the paint from my hands and arms (I think I kept it out of my hair.  Go me!) so I can look presentable at the party tonight.  If only paint removal was enough to make me look presentable…

Primer! (Dining Room Makeover, Part III)

Today I bought paint, cleaned the walls, taped the edges, and got a coat of primer on.  Just finished that.  (I also applied for the two jobs I’m required to apply for each week so I can receive unemployment.  Got my first check yesterday!  Woo!)  I ran, too, with the dogs.  My calves are sore.  And I’m very surprised at Roxy.  We went four miles, and she didn’t wimp out.  Good for her, I guess, and helpful to me.  I don’t like dragging her home when she quits on me.

Anyway, here’s the dining room with primer drying.  The dogs follow me around, so I really hope I don’t end up with dog hair caked on the walls.

I decided to go with Havana Cream (it’s a Behr color).  It’s a muted buttery cream color, and the first coat goes on tomorrow.  I might wear a hat…we’re going to the holiday party for John’s office tomorrow night, and I don’t think I should show up to a semi-formal event with paint in my hair.

And just because you’re nice, here’s an adorable picture of Riley.  See how cute he is with his nose tucked under his paw!