Moving furniture

The chair, ottoman and couch you see here were once in the front part of the house and are now in the sun room in the back part of the house. To do this, all of the totes and boxes in this picture had to be rearranged to free the chair, then re-rearranged to free the sleeper sofa, then re-re-rearranged to bring the newish sofa in to replace the sleeper. Then once that had been done, a trip to Lowes was made to pick up two furniture dollies to move said sleeper sofa the 100 feet from one end of the house to the other. But at least now we have seating in the coolest part of the house. The covers are because Chris has a black dog and I have a dark grey cat and the furniture is a soft, velvety upholstery.

Eyes in the Dark

Dark hallway with glowing eyes. I'm not going in there...

Star Wars: Where Science Meets Imagination

So this weekend I went to the WSMI exhibit in Huntsville, Alabama. I'd seen the exhibit in Columbus a number of years ago, so this time I just went for the trooping. Took one of my Leia costumes and a Padme costume to wear during the 2 days I'd be out there. Chris took his R2-D2 to drive around. Toward the end of the weekend, Chris decided that R2 and C-3PO needed to have a reunion. I'm just glad this 3PO was cardboard and quiet.

US Space and Rocket Center

Ol' Blue Eyes

While leaving a tasty Vietnamese restaurant this evening, I spotted a very old-styled icon on the side of a semi truck. Those are some mighty blue eyes and some thick ol' eyebrows. I like her necklace though. Think she'd trade me for it?

Fuse Box

A recently acquired air conditioner required that Chris rewire part of the house. After battling possums under the house, lots of dirt, and a few safety protocols there is a secondary fuse box in the basement now!

'Fraidy Dog

Chris has a huge black lab mix named Lola. She's a big, black, scary lookin' dog who barked incessantly at any little noise in the house when I first met her years ago. She's come a long way since then, satisfied to merely ignore anyone who isn't Chris. I'm slowly making strides with her as she lets me pet her when Chris is around and even lets me approach her when he's not. But, this big bad attitude is afraid of thunder. I had the bedroom door closed so she couldn't hide in the bathroom, so instead she huddled at the base of the refrigerator. Goofy dog.

More Possom!

I'm starting to become a little obsessed with the possom that got into the squirrel trap. So much so that Chris bought me a scrap metal possum at the art festival last weekend. It's just ludicrously cute. The artist bought a mess of scrap parts from a auto factory and used them to make a wide variety of animals. My favorites were the possom (obviouly) and a horseshoe crab made from horseshoes.

Bad Driving

Chris and I were driving home today and ended up stuck behind a large truck that was veering across lanes, straddling lines, unable to make up his mind where he wanted to be. I took a picture of his license plate in hopes of getting the company number off the side of the truck. Turns out it was an unmarked truck!
So if you're in Nashville and see this truck, give him a wide berth!

At the Car Wash

I was on a mission to find hair extensions for a costume project and in the 15 minutes before Sally Beauty opened, I decided that the bird poo on my hood and windshield needed to go. I really like the automatic car washes drag your car along and pass by windows where people can watch. This little girl waved to me as I drifted by.

Nashville has a Parthenon!

And it's all in one piece! It was built for the 1896 Tennessee Centennial celebration and then shortly after refurbished to last the ages. It sits atop a hill in Centennial park, which is where the American Artisans Festival was today that I went to. Lots of sun, bugs and fun!

Fruity nutty salad!

I made a "summer salad" for dinner tonight. It had Spring Mix lettuces, pecans, shredded mozzarella, onion, fresh strawberries, blueberries and raspberries and chicken all tossed with a raspberry viniagrette. It was TASTY and colorful. I highly recommend it.

Of rain, retail and migraines

It was super rainy and thundery today. I love a good storm, but the incoming pressure change gave me a migraine. My preferred method of curing a migraine is to pop a small handful of pills, down them with a swig or three of Diet Coke and then go to where there is a TON of artificial light. I know that sounds counter intuitive, but sometimes the steady, even light helps.

So I went to the hoity toity mall. In the hoity toity mall I went to the Williams-Sonoma (Chris' second favorite store after the Apple store) and while I was waiting for the clerk to check on inventory of a scrubby brush I like, I drooled a bit over the popsicle makers. The popsicles that I would make with that thing would be excessively tasty, but no where near as pretty as the ones on the box.

Wednesday was an exceptionally uneventful day. I cleaned and unpacked, all day. Nothing interesting happened. I did, however, spend the first few minutes of my morning staring at the ceiling fan. I kinda like it. Needs dusting though.

Brave little coward

One of the biggest reasons I chose to drive from Denver to Nashville was my cat, Remmy. I couldn't think of a way to get her from A to B without her freaking out as she does not travel well. In fact, she doesn't do much beyond chatting and eating spider webs well. So today when she ventured into the kitchen where Chris' big black dog lives, I was impressed. She was displaying some pretty serious cajones (yes, I know she's a she and doesn't actually possess cajones). That is, until Lola shifted on her dog bed and Remmy took off like a fat, shadowy little bullet.

Thing is, Lola knows the cat is in the house. Lola couldn't care less.

Pins in a Shadowbox

I know it seems like such a small and trivial thing, but I'm really proud of this evening's project. Well, one of this evening's projects. After I assembled a cat tree, an etegere, made a shower curtain into a sink drape, and got four loads of laundry done, I then had time to cap it all off with a little art project. Or rather, an arranging project. These are all buttons for a company that Chris started. Everyone else at his office just has them sitting in a dish on their desks. Now Chris has them neatly arranged in a shadow box. I'm quite proud of this arrangement as there were five others that just didn't look as nice.

And for those not in the know, a Firesign is a digital, interactive sign that can be found in places like museums, airports, a few schools, that sort of thing. Yes, a fire sign is also a category of astrological sign (for example, I'm a Sagittarius, a fire sign), but that's not what Firesign is. Firesign is much cooler.

I am such a city girl!

Here I am, at the tender age of 28, and I had never seen a possum up close and in person before! Sure, I loved Over the Hedge that featured William Shatner (heretofore referred to as The Shat) and Avril Lavigne as the father and daughter possums, but those were computer generated balls of dead-playing cute.

Back on track. Chris had set out a trap on his front porch with the intention of catching the squirrels that were trying to nest in the eaves of his roof. Instead he caught a possum. He says it's only a little one, that they get to be much bigger! What have I gotten myself into by moving to Tennessee?! Possums, giant friggin bugs that camp out on my car and don't go away when I drive at high speeds (nice to meet you too, creepy katydid). Anyhow, I thought this little guy was just so adorable and despite the fact that you and I know he's hissing at me because he's stuck in a cage, I think it looks like he's smiling.

Chris set him free the next morning, by the way. There was no animal cruelty going on. He decided that it was a better idea to set him free in the backyard than to drive him far away and set him free. I was concerned with the little guy freaking out in the car and peeing on my new upholstery! Yes, I'm a city girl through and through.

Tonight, we were coming back from dinner and what do we see toddling across the street into the front yard but this little guy all over again! He ran down the driveway, scaled the trash bin and parked himself atop the garden hose coil and stared at me. It wasn't until Chris started shuffling his feet on the concrete patio that he finally snapped to and dove into a nearby bush. Brave little cuss. Chris thinks that his family has built their nest beneath the tarp covering some building materials on the front patio.

Rollerderby Night!

Saturday was the Honky Tonk Stomp, an entire day of Rollerderby. I only went to the last match which ended up being between the Nashville and Knoxville teams. Nashville won 120 to 51. Pretty well stomped Knoxville.

Nashville Skyline

So I got stuck in rush hour today. I didn't mind one bit as my new car has a great air conditioner and the radio station I was listening to was playing some great classic rock. At one point the traffic was standing still just long enough for me to grab this shot of the downtown Nashville skyline. Not all that close, sure, but it's all inclusive!

Returning the Trailer

So I know that hooking a trailer to a hitch doesn't sound like all that big of an accomplishment, but the fact that I had never hooked one up before, the incline the 900 lbs trailer was on, and that I had only watched the Uhaul guy do it once when I picked it up on Sunday should say something. Either I'm just that quick of a study, or Uhaul really has made moving that easy. Ultimately I'm proud of myself for this.

I have arrived!

We 'landed' in Nashville Tuesday evening and proceeded to use what little daylight we had left to unload the trailer and car as fast as possible. There are bins in the living room, the foyer, the spare room with the cat... This is only one picture of all the stuff we managed to cram into a 5'x8' trailer.

I also have 2 job interviews today. One for the costume shop internship that I really want, and one at Davis Kidd Booksellers.

Now the fun part of unpacking begins...

Halfway there...

Putting a cat, who does not travel well, into a car that is already packed with stuff is an interesting experiment. She did OK once we moved her litter box off the floor of the car. She spent the last 10 hours of driving just sitting in her litter. Not once did she use it for something other than a napping place though. I'm a bit worried that she didn't eat, drink, or mess all day.

But that's her hiding behind the passenger seat, next to Chris' suitcase.

Trailer Loading Day

I took a little break on Sunday from the last bits of packing and the Uhaul trailer loading. As I was sitting in the big comfy recliner enjoying a Diet Coke, Quinn decided he needed to sit with me. He was just right up in my face, begging me with his big brown eyes not to move to Nashville.

Graduation Day!

On Saturday, June 5, 2010, I graduated. All I can say is that it's about. Damn. Time. So a big congrats to all the DU Grads, class of 2010!

Creative Recycling

At the Cherry Creek Mall, in the window of the Anthropologie store is a sculpture suspended between the floor and ceiling that is made entirely of cut up water bottles. They are sliced, diced, julienned and painted. This is quite possibly the coolest thing I have seen in a store display ever. Too bad I can't afford a single thing in that store...

Recently the DU Theatre Department closed down their Spring show Measure for Measure. After the set was struck on Sunday, the TD and Shop Foreman, Matt, hosted a bonfire at his house. The bonfire was to burn a few select pieces of the set that had been giving us trouble through the entire quarter.

Well, after the fire was going, people started to get a little bored and decided to shave their heads. That's Nick. He asked Matt to shave his head. They were very careful not to let the hair blow into the bonfire. Matt referred to this as "shaving the monkey." I tend to agree.

The Packing Begins!

Good evening everyone! For those of you who know, I am preparing to move to Tennessee a few short days after Graduation this Saturday. For those of you who don't know, I'm moving to Tennessee a few short days after Graduation this Saturday.

So that means today, after my very last final, I came home, took a short nap, and then started packing for the move. My method of packing, in an attempt to keep boxes somewhat organized and logical, is to make piles on the bed and on the floor around the bed until there is enough of a pile to fill a box. Well, Remmy got into my pile of miscellany and found a little red plastic Queen Amidala figurine that I was given recently. She became quite attached to it to the point that she tried to eat it. Yup, that's my goofy cat biting the head off the Queen. I was feeling about like that when I ran out of boxes this evening.

All of my clothes, except what I need over the next few days, are packed and now my bed is covered in empty hangers. It's amazing how aware of the size of my wardrobe I can be, but I never think of just how many hangers that requires. Maybe I should have taken a picture of the rows and rows of color and style coordinated hangers that are lined up on my bed instead. Nah... Remmy's cuter.

Job Search - The Unemployment Edition

This lovely little board game is on display in the campus bookstore window. I find it just a little ironic that if I had a job, I could afford to buy this game and play it with my friends. But, as I do not have a job currently (at least not one I have much disposable income from) I cannot. Ha!

When I saw this all I could think of was how unmotivating this is to students who are, like myself, getting ready to graduate. Then I started to giggle because I was wondering if it was as fun as "Kill Doctor Lucky" from Cheap Ass Games.

A friend referred to this game as Monopoly for the 21st Century. I certainly hope not since I do need to get a real job post haste. In either case, I might try to pick up a copy of this just for the novelty of it. Yes, I know I said I didn't have a lot of disposable income, but I get to sell some books back soon, right? Right?! You will be taking my books back and not telling me that my Edition is out of date, right!???

Early Graduation Gift

Way back in the day, back when I was in high school, Mom and I made a deal. She promised that when I graduated college she would buy me a car. Y'know, that parenting method of bribing one's children to get them to do what you want? ;)

Well, I'm a few days away from graduation and we bought a car! I researched the Nissan Rogue extensively before selecting it. At first I wanted a Toyota Prius, but as time passed I came to realize that I needed more cargo space than the Prius offered. Plus I wanted All Wheel Drive and I need to be able to tow a Uhaul trailer in a week. So there ya go.

A new friend of mine has already given it a nickname too. Her Royal Highness's Hoth Assault Vehicle. Chris suggested I get vanity plates that read 'Rogue 2' for both the self referentiality and for the Empire Strikes Back reference. I think I might try for 'Leader' first just because the ass end of my car will then read 'Rogue Leader.' I'm a geek.