Light Bulb Curse

Apparently this blog really helps to vent about the shenanigans of this house. Currently we have been under a light bulb curse for about the past month. It has not been fun. I am not so sure if it is the house who is under this curse, or just me.

Once upon a time (well, really a month ago) the first bulb died. It was in the bathroom. It wasn't too horrible, but I didn't have any on hand. Luckily, I picked up a 5 pack at Meijer, because the bulbs just kept on burning. Then it was the light over the sink. That one was about two weeks ago and ended in nearly loosing the screw for the fixture down the garbage disposal. It happened while I was playing IT support professional regarding mail merges. Dani's light in her closet. Then, one of the lights over the kitchen table died. Then, come Wednesday morning, I was confused. While I went to turn on the ugly light over the counter, it wouldn't turn on. Then, I went to the fridge to get my peanut butter, and the light in there was also dead. I scratched my head because this was right after the two weekends of power issues. So I inquired with Lydia is she had electricity in her bathroom and she did. No! Two more lights were out!!!!! While changing the ugly light, the light bulb I tried there didn't work. Odd. Tried another light bulb, thank god for this multi-pack, and it did work. However, that same one that didn't work in the kitchen worked fine in the lights in the living room.

So the fridge. To me, this seems like a landlord issue, anyone else?? Well, I think Stu screened his calls and didn't answer. Luckily, mass went on forever and a day yesterday, and I pulled into the parking space right as he was walking his dog. HA! He was cornered. I inquired about the light, assuming that it took a special light bulb only for a "Well, you can change it, any light bulb will work, but probably not those newer ones." I pointed out to him that those "newer ones" have gas in them and that wouldn't make sense for them to work in a fridge. Seems to me that the cold air would slow them down. I wasn't happy, guess I need to go buy a new light bulb. Ugh, well let me tell you all, I was right, he was wrong. As my Dad said, Stuy Dewy is an idiot. Decided to shop local, went to the Ace Hardware, bought the correct light bulb for $3. Also stopped at Target where they had the bulb for $1.29. Well, now I had two light bulbs. I figured if we wanted to deduct the bulb from the rent, I would charge him for $3, or if we just wanted to split the cost, it would be for the $1.29. Tried the cheap one, it didn't work. Tried the pricey one, it also didn't work. So we still don't have a light bulb for this horrible fridge. However, I did switch it up, and took the working freezer bulb for the fridge, since we use the fridge much more often.

Also, after arriving home from purchasing these bulbs, guess what bulb was out. My rear turn signal. Off to Autozone! At least they change the bulb for you. Thank you worker at Autozone for being more kind regarding the $3.50 I paid for the light bulb compared to the landlord who gets several times that amount for rent each month. Ugh, this is going to be a long week, and it is only Sunday. And I still don't have a working light bulb

In the past month

Well friends, it has been awhile, but know that all are alive and well here on Paris. The house still has all it's walls and dust bunnies as usual (well we do sweep pretty often, but they love us so much they just keep coming back!)

One new thing we have learned is that both Lydia and I can not blow dry our hair at the same time because that will blow a fuse. It happened twice last Sunday. The basement is a creepy as ever and we both nearly died in the attempt to get down there. We are having door handle issues again for the front door. It really needs a new screw, there are no threads left on it. I don't plan to call Stu because he will probably ask some dumb question about whether or not I still have the door handle...seriously, who does he think we are?!

Christmas is finally over here, just took down the last of the decor today. We are optimistic about what we might decorate next. We still could use something on the mantel, under Audrey, but it can't look too much like a shrine to her. Yes, we do love to watch her movies (just watched Roman Holiday last night). The snow last week allowed us to meet the sorority girls next door, the one I spoke with seemed pretty nice. Turns out there are 7 people who live in that house, which is well over the 4 un-related people rule for GR. She said that they are being investigated because of it. It's funny because all of those years working with Res Life, we told people about the rule and what not and I never heard of anyone getting in trouble because of it. Someone on Paris must not be a big fan of those ladies.

Today has been pretty productive, with the taking down of Christmas decorations, I made a bird feeder out of a toilet paper tube and peanut butter. Even already made dinner for tonight (new recipe here!). I was pretty excited because I had nearly everything for it and just improvised a little. Also, I did have one casualty in the process. The vegetable peeler sliced my finger. Luckily I still have some pretty nifty Christmas themed band-aids, so the Gingerbread men will keep my finger safe. Next on the list will be to go to mass tonight and probably just hang out. What have you been up to today? Any new recipes you would like to share? Perhaps my goal for Lent will be to keep this up more, only time will tell.

Thanks Snow!

I try not to get to sentimental and feel that people need to read why I am thankful or about the good things I do. But today is a bit different, and I feel like today is a great opportunity for the first post of the New Year (obviously, keeping up on the blog was not my resolution). Today really is the first legitimate snow fall of Winter 2011-2012 in Grand Rapids and it was had its planning so that arriving at work would be prompt--I was in at 7:59! (This was only successful because I was up at 6:20 to clean off my car/shovel) Paris looks absolutely beautiful with snow on the trees and electrical wires with our cute street lamps, it's almost Narnia-esq.

I am thankful that I could go outside and clean the car off, but then come back inside to warm up. I am thankful for the hot coffee that accompanied my commute.
I am thankful that work is only 5 minutes away, and about 12 in the snow.
I am thankful that traffic circles are not too bad to drive through in the snow.
I like to appreciate the little things in life, like driving to work while the snow falls so pretty and the silence of the car (Thank you automatic antenna for being frozen down for only static this morning and not having cassettes for my cassette player).
Thank you weather man who looks like Stu for prepping us for the snow.
Thank you Paris for being a street without the dumb odd-even parking rule so we won't have to move our cars to the other side of the street  at 1 am. Or get home at 5, then go switch to the other side at 6. Also, thank you news channel for explaining this to me 5 times in about 1/2 an hour last night.
Thank you "hooker boots" for letting me wear you to work and not while looking for work.

Finally, thank you to those who support and care for the homeless and disadvantaged. Today as I drove in I went  my typical path up Division and where I witness the true poverty of the population in our community. For many, they were able to stay at one of the many missions, but still others sit in the cold outside, or in the cold inside struggling to pay for heat. As so many struggle to find work and adequate housing it is such a blessing to live in Paris, with all of its beautiful quirks.

This just in.

Toilet didn't flush this morning. More to follow. Also, Jackie Chan was spotted delivering V8 Juice to the fridge. He's got mad skillz and is bad ass.

It's been awhile

Yes, sorry, it has been awhile here at cleaning rags to riches. But in our defense, we haven't had much clearning or riches to report. Well, maybe that is not all true. Whatevs. We have been having issues with the garbage disposal. The landlord thinks we are crazy and whatnot.

Christmas in Paris is alive and well with classy trees and garland galore, and an elegant wreath. We even have coordinated between everything by using red. The tree was an issue, stupid lights. We were smart and took a long string off of the fake staircase garland and replaced it with a half out stand of lights so the tree would look better. 

This morning at 7:15 the lights went out because of my height. Long story short I hit the chandelier in my room and the shaking made it go out. Er. Well then I went into my bathroom and the lights wouldn't turn on, and the outlet didn't work. In my bedroom, one outlet did work while the other did not. Er. That ended up being the case through out the rest of the apartment. The light over the kitchen sink worked while the one over the counter did not. Being smart I knew it was likely that it was the breaker in the basement. I braved the basement, which is totally creepy. Too many doors going into weird spaces and open crawl spaces. Not a fan. I was unsuccessful and got the hell out of there. Too much like a scene from criminal minds. I can picture the scenario in my head right now. First I am blonde, which means I most likely to get attacked and from one corner a man in a ski mask would probably hit me with an axe and take me away. Maybe to a Canadian Farm, run tests on my body and then feed me to pigs, but put my shoes in a box. Maybe having Ion as our only watchable station is a bad idea. But we do LOVE their corny Christmas Movies. Marathons every Sunday beginning at 1:00. At least when we watch those we can hold out hope that maybe a golden retriever will play matchmaker and bring us back to a lost love. Or, thieves will try to steal original pieces of artwork dressed as Christmas characters and tie us up, just so we can outsmart them. Don't worry the guy always gets the girl from the bad guy and Christmas cheer is spread all around the world. We will be back on the couches Sunday at 1 for round two. If we are lucky we might even get to eat dinner in front of the TV again!!! But then UFC round one is on Saturday night so we might be up late watching men beat each other up.

Moral of the story. Lydia and Dani saved the electricity and they didn't have to go about in the dark. I had to do my hair this morning in the kitchen! That was the only place with a working outlet. Over and out! No more going into the basement alone, that is for sure :)

New Experiences

This year has been a battle with the limitations of the 24 hour day....Granted, I do not have to spend any part of those 24 hours knocking on doors for fire drills, confiscating alcohol bottles, or calling Campus Safety about a fight, but things have been busy. Below I have some words of advice and some stories I wanted to share with you.

Lesson #1: Partake in finding those hole in the wall places and enjoy the community!
This past weekend I spent 10 hours on a my CAPTA analysis and then headed to East Lansing for the weekend with my family. I hit the road with an overnight back sans my laptop and books and reveled in the fact I would be away from the books for approximately 32 hours. I had my first Crunchy's experience-sounds super divvy and greasy but the food is great, the drink specials astound, and it is the perfect way to get in the mood for a college football game. While we did not indulge in the bucket of beer, we did enjoy our pre-game celebration. Believe me-we'll be going back.

Lesson #2: Meet new friends, even if its just for the night!
Readers, this is not a suggestion to partake in one night stands or to make some wasted friends at a local bar. Go sit in a college football student section! I graduated from a small liberal arts Catholic college-our basketball games were probably the most well-attended events. Going to MSU and sitting in the upper bowl with thousands of my not-so closest friends was fantastic. This community has its own way of communicating: listening for the cue of the band or slamming our cabooses onto the metal bleachers to row together or to calling out the one Wisconsin kid sitting with his rather embarrassed girlfriend. Green and white were the appropriate colors in dress and bottle water and hot pretzels and hot dogs were the foods of choice and convenience to stave off the effects of the mass consumption of alcohol that occurred earlier in the day. My throat is sore because I bled green that night.

Lesson #3: Take the time to eat a bowl of chili at midnight.
AKA celebrate the little and big moments in life. After the game nine of us sat around my sister's and her friend's apartment eating white chicken chili and replaying every note worthy play from the game. Talking until two in the morning and then sleeping until it was actually light out was a treat as well, especially for a girl that gets up at 5:30 to work with 3 to 6 year old children. :-)

Moral of the story: take the time to enjoy life. Often I find myself saying "I don't have time", "I will never have time", "I shouldn't take the time". But guess what? You should take the time and reward yourself every once in a while. My friends find something rewarding this week to do for yourself-it'll make you a happier, more patient, and more loving person.

Curtains are in.

Yes, that is right, the curtains are almost done--actually officially 50% done. Don't worry once I am able to master my picture taking ability and figure out how to post to the blog, you will see their loveliness. So far the roomies have been pretty impressed with my spectacular sewing skills. So much so that I am rethinking that whole MRS degree idea.

I of course had to fight with the bobbin. For those followers who haven't had to fight with a bobbin on a sewing machine, its where the thread for the back side of the fabric comes from to complete the stitch. I've heard that my Grandma had issues with the sewing machine, and I am convinced that it must have been this whole bobbin thing. The bobbin is what broke my needle in the first place, and it hands down I think the most complicated mechanism on the whole machine. I know Elizabeth feels my pain. We also had our own issues with bobbins, during the historic sewing of aprons. (Perhaps this historic sewing was really the start of the future Mr. and Mrs. Ireland!--but then it was probably Appalachia--flooded with memories right now!!!!)  That was before the days of Facebook, so I  don't have a picture of those easily available.

So eventually the bobbin, after probably 10 attempts, was successful. None of this had to do with actually winding the bobbin. See there were no empty one's so I used the tan thread bobbin Grandma had made, who knows how long ago, and even that didn't even lead to easy success (Hence why I am convinced the bobbin was her issue all along!)

Anyway that's that for the blog today.