So Castlerock has decided to build a two-story 'stock' home next door to us. I knew the day would come where we would have to deal with the whole construction process, but so far it has been 100x worse than I anticipated.
So the first day they were working they started building a frame for the foundation at 5:30 PM and didn't stop banging hammers and crap until 7:45 PM. I had a headache by the end of it.
Yesterday at 6 AM I was jarred awake by the sound of a very loud truck. After looking out the window I see that it is a concrete truck. They chose to pour the foundation at 6 in the morning on a weekday. I normally get up around 6:15, but I was still miffed that I spent the entire morning getting ready listening to the sounds of construction.
Today is the icing on the cake. I was in our laundry room when I heard the high pitched squeal our outside faucets make. I thought that was strange, so I looked out the kitchen window and what do I see? One of the construction workers with a hose connected to our faucet using our water. I ran out the door in my pjs to confront him. Here's the conversation:
Me: Excuse me, but were you just using my water faucet?
Construction Guy: No.
Me: Um, but I heard our faucet running and I saw you standing next to it with a hose, so I think you did use my water.
Construction Guy: Oh, well yeah I used a little.
Me: Yeah, you need to not do that. I pay for that water and I really don't want you to use anything attached to my house.
Construction Guy: Well, it was only a little.
Me: I don't care. You shouldn't steal my water. It's very rude and weird for you to just think you can use my stuff for free. Please don't do it again.
Construction Guy: Yeah ok.
REALLY?!? First you lie to my face, then you just don't seem to care that you STOLE from me and were caught?? What's next, are you going to plug into my outside electrical outlet to blare your music and use your power tools to build a house that ISN'T MINE? Hell no. Ted is calling the head construction guy, but I swear I will call the cops if I catch them doing it again. Surely that is considered theft, right? My water main is not a public watering hole.
Idiots.
Oh, and to pour salt in the wound, the house they are building (a new Castlerock floor plan) is bigger than mine and the base cost is $40k less than what I paid for mine.
Wednesday, March 23, 2011
Tuesday, March 22, 2011
Random Things
I couldn't come up with a witty title for this post. Sorry. Also, instead of a narrative update, I'm going to stick with bullet points.
- I finally found a dress to wear to the ball. It came down to 2 dresses that I bought and then mulled over for a few days. At the end of the day, I wanted to have a ballgown in the truest sense of the word. I lurrrve it. Oh, and it was on clearance. Original price: $375. My price: $112.50. Yay for being thrifty!
- We went to Ikea the other day and continued to dream about finishing our living room and getting the bookshelves / tables / chair that are required to do that. I tried lingonberry preserves for the first time ever and I'm now a fan.
- Speaking of home related things, I've been bitten by the home renovation bug. I am currently making plans to finally set up a guest bedroom, redo our master bedroom, and possibly paint our kitchen cabinets. I want to be a busy bee for the next few months. I found a home blog that is beyond inspirational, and I'll share that in an upcoming post.
- Our Vegas plans are coming along nicely. Thanks to my mom I was able to call a VIP number at MGM and we got a better room rate, which means we saved $220. Now I don't feel so guilty about going to see Viva Elvis because that more than covers our ticket price.
- Blair is graduating in less than two months. This makes me feel old, but I'm really hopefully she gets an amazing job in Houston and I'll get to see her more. If she gets a job somewhere else, I'll just kidnap her and make her stay. Just kidding...a little.
- I turned 28. I still don't know how I feel about that.
- There has been some extended family drama lately. It has made me appreciate how normal my parents really are. I am extremely grateful that they raised Blair and I the way they did. I hope and pray that when I have kids I am capable of treating them as well as my parents treated us.
- Speaking of home related things, I've been bitten by the home renovation bug. I am currently making plans to finally set up a guest bedroom, redo our master bedroom, and possibly paint our kitchen cabinets. I want to be a busy bee for the next few months. I found a home blog that is beyond inspirational, and I'll share that in an upcoming post.
Wednesday, March 16, 2011
1 Goal Down, 100 More To Go!
I completed my first goal!! I actually thought that this one would take some time, but I guess my little dog is smarter than I give him credit for.
49. Teach Sly a trick
He will consistently shake! (his paw, not uncontrollably in fear) I kept picking his paw up and saying shake. Finally I would just say shake and he would lift his paw. I'm super proud of him! Last night he did it like, five times in a row. I tried to reward him with a treat but he got so excited when he saw the treat he stopped paying attention.
I <3 this pups!!
He will consistently shake! (his paw, not uncontrollably in fear) I kept picking his paw up and saying shake. Finally I would just say shake and he would lift his paw. I'm super proud of him! Last night he did it like, five times in a row. I tried to reward him with a treat but he got so excited when he saw the treat he stopped paying attention.
I <3 this pups!!
Tuesday, March 8, 2011
Mer and Ted's Excellent Adventure Part 4: A Magical Trip to the Kingdom
So Friday we spent the entire day at the Magic Kingdom. I was giddy. I love that even though we are in our late 20s we can still go somewhere that encourages acting like a complete kid in public. We took the monorail over to the Magic Kingdom transportation spot and then decided to take the boat the rest of the way.
Once we got inside, we made a mad dash to get our Fast Passes for Space Mountain. Surprisingly, we got one that was only an hour and a half away, so we tried to stay close by. We hopped in line for the Buzz Lightyear Space Ranger ride. It was pretty neat. It is like going into a video game - you have to shoot a laser at various things to score points. I totally beat Ted's score, but I couldn't get a picture as proof :(
After we finished up being a Space Ranger, it was time for Space Mountain! But it was down for some repairs so we had to wait a few more hours :( We decided to grab some lunch. This is another time we had taken some time to research food options and reservations somewhere. I just was not impressed with the fast food. After lunch we headed over to the Jungle Cruise and Pirates. Both are so cheesy but I love it!
We decided to go to Splash Mountain / Thunder Mountain next. We grabbed a fast pass for Splash Mountain and got in line for Thunder Mountain. The line was way longer than we had anticipated. It took forever, but I loved it. Ted thought it was a wussy excuse for a roller coaster. Splash Mountain was fine. I was glad that I didn't get wet because I did not feel like walking around in wet jeans all day.
Of course we had to do the Haunted Mansion - I promised Mom because it is her favorite.
As it was getting dark we headed over to Fantasy Land. I really, really wanted to ride "It's a Small World" - I love it. However, Fantasy Land is going through a major renovation right now, so most of the rides were closed and under construction. So, no Small World for me :(. We rode the Winnie the Pooh ride, but it sucked in comparison. We also watched Mickey's Philharmagic. It was really cute and since I'm a symphony music junkie I really enjoyed it.
The last thing we rode was Dumbo. I was totally fine with waiting in the 30 minute line with the screaming kids and tired parents. I was going to make up for not getting to go on Small World. There were two women behind us in line with 3 very young children. One of the kids did not understand personal boundaries yet - he was pretty much standing under Ted's butt the whole time we were in line. When we were about 10 minutes away from getting on the ride, one of the little boys broke free of his mother and ran ahead. The poor mom had to chase after him, maneuvering around all the people in line. She caught him, and dragged him back to their spot. Suddenly, she screamed; the kid's head was gushing blood; we think he fell when she finally caught him. Ted and I were like, holy crap we have to help. All the people around her in line scramble for napkins as well as an attendant. I was shocked with how "calm" the attendants were when they finally walked over to find out why this woman was screaming. It was a huge gash - I'm sure the kid needed stitches. The attendants finally helped her out of the line and (sorta) rushed to the first aid place. It was crazy. As we load up in our flying Dumbo, one of the attendant hands us free "Let's Celebrate!" buttons. He didn't hand any to anyone else...we think they tried to buy our silence with buttons! Who knew that riding Dumbo would be so dramatic!!
Overall we loved our day at the Magic Kingdom. I think we mostly did what we had hoped to do, with the exception of everything that was being renovated in Fantasy Land. I'm ready to go back and take our future kids!!
Up next: Our Last Day :(
Once we got inside, we made a mad dash to get our Fast Passes for Space Mountain. Surprisingly, we got one that was only an hour and a half away, so we tried to stay close by. We hopped in line for the Buzz Lightyear Space Ranger ride. It was pretty neat. It is like going into a video game - you have to shoot a laser at various things to score points. I totally beat Ted's score, but I couldn't get a picture as proof :(
After we finished up being a Space Ranger, it was time for Space Mountain! But it was down for some repairs so we had to wait a few more hours :( We decided to grab some lunch. This is another time we had taken some time to research food options and reservations somewhere. I just was not impressed with the fast food. After lunch we headed over to the Jungle Cruise and Pirates. Both are so cheesy but I love it!
We decided to go to Splash Mountain / Thunder Mountain next. We grabbed a fast pass for Splash Mountain and got in line for Thunder Mountain. The line was way longer than we had anticipated. It took forever, but I loved it. Ted thought it was a wussy excuse for a roller coaster. Splash Mountain was fine. I was glad that I didn't get wet because I did not feel like walking around in wet jeans all day.
Of course we had to do the Haunted Mansion - I promised Mom because it is her favorite.
As it was getting dark we headed over to Fantasy Land. I really, really wanted to ride "It's a Small World" - I love it. However, Fantasy Land is going through a major renovation right now, so most of the rides were closed and under construction. So, no Small World for me :(. We rode the Winnie the Pooh ride, but it sucked in comparison. We also watched Mickey's Philharmagic. It was really cute and since I'm a symphony music junkie I really enjoyed it.
The last thing we rode was Dumbo. I was totally fine with waiting in the 30 minute line with the screaming kids and tired parents. I was going to make up for not getting to go on Small World. There were two women behind us in line with 3 very young children. One of the kids did not understand personal boundaries yet - he was pretty much standing under Ted's butt the whole time we were in line. When we were about 10 minutes away from getting on the ride, one of the little boys broke free of his mother and ran ahead. The poor mom had to chase after him, maneuvering around all the people in line. She caught him, and dragged him back to their spot. Suddenly, she screamed; the kid's head was gushing blood; we think he fell when she finally caught him. Ted and I were like, holy crap we have to help. All the people around her in line scramble for napkins as well as an attendant. I was shocked with how "calm" the attendants were when they finally walked over to find out why this woman was screaming. It was a huge gash - I'm sure the kid needed stitches. The attendants finally helped her out of the line and (sorta) rushed to the first aid place. It was crazy. As we load up in our flying Dumbo, one of the attendant hands us free "Let's Celebrate!" buttons. He didn't hand any to anyone else...we think they tried to buy our silence with buttons! Who knew that riding Dumbo would be so dramatic!!
Overall we loved our day at the Magic Kingdom. I think we mostly did what we had hoped to do, with the exception of everything that was being renovated in Fantasy Land. I'm ready to go back and take our future kids!!
Up next: Our Last Day :(
101 in 1,001
So you may notice I have a new page called 101 in 1,001. It is my new project. Please take a look at my list and hopefully you will be inspired to do it too! I've decided to officially start the 1,001 days on Friday - my 28th birthday. In a way this lets me work on doing some of this stuff before I hit 30, which I consider a huge milestone. What do you guys think - am I crazy?
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