In the last post I mentioned Jenny going up to full-time at work, and getting a better schedule. Well yesterday she also had her yearly Performance Evaluation, which went really well and garnered her a raise as well!
She's also got a lot of saved up vacation time she needs to use before the end of the year, so she'll be taking a week and half or so off, starting October 1st. No real plans, so it'll probably be a "stay-cation", but she's still looking forward to it.
Showing posts with label job. Show all posts
Showing posts with label job. Show all posts
Tuesday, September 27, 2011
Monday, September 26, 2011
Updating
We've been without phone or internet for the past week, and just got back on-line today. A really nice technician guy from CenturyLink dropped by this afternoon to check it out, even though we weren't expecting him 'till tomorrow. Something was apparently wrong at the outside box, but everything's all fixed up and seems fine now.
We weren't sure about the change-over from Qwest to CenturyLink, fearing that it would be like the WaMu-to-Chase switch (more fees, more headaches), but so far OK. Still thinking about maybe changing providers, especially if/when we move (whenever that is).
Our friend Jamie is currently renting an apartment in a 4-plex that's a big converted farmhouse. His upstairs neighbor may be leaving soon, and if so we're hoping to maybe get in there. It's a nice enough place, and the rent would be almost half what we're paying here.
But, we *have* to know for sure in the next week, to put in our notice, since our lease is up at the end of October. Otherwise, we'll probably sign another one for 6 months and plan on moving in the Spring. Fingers crossed...
Other good news - one of Jenny's co-workers is retiring, and her (full-time) position is opening up. And Jenny got the job! It's not a raise, per se, but it does mean a full 40 hours a week (so bigger paychecks), and should be a regular Monday-Friday schedule for a change.
She heard from other co-workers that going to full-time might lower her insurance costs as well, but she's got to look into that. The new position should take effect at the end of October sometime, but she's not sure exactly when.
We weren't sure about the change-over from Qwest to CenturyLink, fearing that it would be like the WaMu-to-Chase switch (more fees, more headaches), but so far OK. Still thinking about maybe changing providers, especially if/when we move (whenever that is).
Our friend Jamie is currently renting an apartment in a 4-plex that's a big converted farmhouse. His upstairs neighbor may be leaving soon, and if so we're hoping to maybe get in there. It's a nice enough place, and the rent would be almost half what we're paying here.
But, we *have* to know for sure in the next week, to put in our notice, since our lease is up at the end of October. Otherwise, we'll probably sign another one for 6 months and plan on moving in the Spring. Fingers crossed...
Other good news - one of Jenny's co-workers is retiring, and her (full-time) position is opening up. And Jenny got the job! It's not a raise, per se, but it does mean a full 40 hours a week (so bigger paychecks), and should be a regular Monday-Friday schedule for a change.
She heard from other co-workers that going to full-time might lower her insurance costs as well, but she's got to look into that. The new position should take effect at the end of October sometime, but she's not sure exactly when.
Thursday, January 06, 2011
What's Happening....
So, how are things going, now that we're a week into 2011...?
So far, so good, I suppose. Jenny got a couple extra hours added to her schedule, bringing her almost up to full time, and she's been selling a few more of her crocheting projects to her co-workers. She's also been trying to work a little more on her novel, when she has the time.
I've got a few art projects on my plate - some new and some way overdue that I'm concentrating on playing catch-up with first. Also, the first Comicsmiths' Guild anthology comic is printed and should be on it's way here. We'll have those available soon-ish, both on-line and at local shops & events.
We've got all the Christmas decorations down and out to the garage, and are in the beginning stages of completely re-arranging the apartment. So of course, at the moment it's a complete disaster. But when we're done, the plan is to have a real living room and dining room again, with the studio space moved to the smaller bedroom.
We're figuring this will also encourage us to do some much-needed un-cluttering, and get rid of some extra stuff we've been hanging on to for way too long. Or it may just end up in the garage. Guess we'll see....
So far, so good, I suppose. Jenny got a couple extra hours added to her schedule, bringing her almost up to full time, and she's been selling a few more of her crocheting projects to her co-workers. She's also been trying to work a little more on her novel, when she has the time.
I've got a few art projects on my plate - some new and some way overdue that I'm concentrating on playing catch-up with first. Also, the first Comicsmiths' Guild anthology comic is printed and should be on it's way here. We'll have those available soon-ish, both on-line and at local shops & events.
We've got all the Christmas decorations down and out to the garage, and are in the beginning stages of completely re-arranging the apartment. So of course, at the moment it's a complete disaster. But when we're done, the plan is to have a real living room and dining room again, with the studio space moved to the smaller bedroom.
We're figuring this will also encourage us to do some much-needed un-cluttering, and get rid of some extra stuff we've been hanging on to for way too long. Or it may just end up in the garage. Guess we'll see....
Tuesday, July 27, 2010
What's Happening....
Lately, I've been doing some lettering work for a couple of comic pitches, and also working on an original comic short for an anthology the Spokane Comicsmiths Guild is putting together. It'll be a collection of several stories, most around 4 pages long, showcasing the skills and diverse styles of our little group. We're hoping to have it printed up and ready to distribute by the end of September, in time for the Jet City Comic Show in Seattle (which a few Guild members will be attending) and the next 24 Hour Comic Book Challenge at the start of October.
Last month we had another fun event - members of the Guild taught a class on making comics at a week long day camp for kids. It was a superhero themed camp, and over the course of the week the kids created their own characters and made a comic featuring them. They also had classes in costuming, pop art, and even culinary arts. It wrapped up with them putting on a stage presentation, with the kids dressed up as their characters. It was an awesome experience, a lot of fun, and hopefully we'll get to do something similar in the future. You can see more about it on the Guild's website, including video of the presentation and pics of the comics the kids made.
Jenny's been crocheting a whole bunch - she's made a few larger tote bags and just made me a new hat. She also recently got back to work on her superhero novel she started writing some time ago. Otherwise she's mostly been working - while her job at the law firm ended a few weeks ago, she has been able to pick up a few extra hours here and there at the library. But she's still happy to have two actual days off per week again.
It's also been ridiculously hot here recently. It's still about 80 today, but there's a tiny bit of a breeze and it's overcast with a slight chance of rain, so it's relatively comfortable. We'll take what we can get, I guess.
Last month we had another fun event - members of the Guild taught a class on making comics at a week long day camp for kids. It was a superhero themed camp, and over the course of the week the kids created their own characters and made a comic featuring them. They also had classes in costuming, pop art, and even culinary arts. It wrapped up with them putting on a stage presentation, with the kids dressed up as their characters. It was an awesome experience, a lot of fun, and hopefully we'll get to do something similar in the future. You can see more about it on the Guild's website, including video of the presentation and pics of the comics the kids made.
Jenny's been crocheting a whole bunch - she's made a few larger tote bags and just made me a new hat. She also recently got back to work on her superhero novel she started writing some time ago. Otherwise she's mostly been working - while her job at the law firm ended a few weeks ago, she has been able to pick up a few extra hours here and there at the library. But she's still happy to have two actual days off per week again.
It's also been ridiculously hot here recently. It's still about 80 today, but there's a tiny bit of a breeze and it's overcast with a slight chance of rain, so it's relatively comfortable. We'll take what we can get, I guess.
Saturday, October 10, 2009
What's Happening...
Yesterday was Jenny's father's birthday, and we spent most of the day over in Coeur d'Alene with her parents. We went to see the Surrogates with him - which was a pretty awesome sci-fi flick (based on an equally cool indy comic). Glad we got to see it in the theatre, though I think it could've been a bit longer.
Then after the movie the four of us went out for Thai food at the local Thai Bamboo (which was, of course, delicious), and then caught up on a bunch of recorded TV from the past week. A very fun and relaxing day!
The library is doing sort of an "employee exchange" program, where they're moving some people to different branches so they can see how things might be run differently and meet other co-workers. So now Jenny is working up at the North Spokane branch once a month. Her first day was this last Thursday, and she really enjoyed it, although it does mean a much longer commute (like 45 minutes instead of 15).
Otherwise things are going OK. Jenny had her year review at the library, which went well and got her a raise (yay!). The temperature is dropping, and even dipping to freezing occasionally, but the apartment seems to be holding the heat pretty well. Maybe those new energy-efficient windows they installed actually work.
I've been working on some commissions and tinkering with one of my comic ideas. Doing the 24 Hour Comic Challenge has definitely been an inspiration to get back to work on it - hopefully I'll have more concrete news on that relatively soon...
Jenny's been working on a bunch of cool crocheting projects, which we really need to take some pictures of and post up. It would probably help if we had a decent digital camera, since right now we have 3 old ones that all only work about half the time.
Local Arts & Crafts People: The next Spokane Comicsmiths' Guild is on Sunday the 18th at Merlyns, from 3-6 pm. The next Crafty Club meeting is on Friday the 23rd at the Spokane Valley Library and starts at 7 pm. Feel free to leave a comment if you're interested in more information.
Friday, September 26, 2008
Good News
Jenny got the job!! :D
Her interview was on Monday, and we knew by that afternoon, but she couldn't really tell anyone until everything was finalized and her (current) boss knew about it. But everything's all good now, and she'll be starting next week. Her last day as a page is Tuesday, and then she'll spend the rest of the week doing training stuff for the new position.
This is great news, especially since they've been having less and less work for her at the law firm. And now she'll be at the library full time (30 hours), making more money, and still able to work a day or two at the law firm each week. Awesome!
We're still waiting for them to replace our windows. The workers made it to our building yesterday, but only got our neighbors' units done. We were expecting/ready for them to be in our apartment first thing this morning.... and apparently they decided to take the day off today.
We haven't seen them at all today, and I really doubt if they'd work on the weekends. We'll probably have to wait till Monday morning (at the earliest) for them to show up so we can put the apartment back to normal. I'm just sick of the waiting....
Wednesday, September 17, 2008
Road Construction and Job Updates
We just got a notice from the apartment office that starting tomorrow, the 18th, and running till next Tuesday, the 23rd, that no one can use the front entrance to the apt complex since they'll be repaving. Luckily, there's a super secret back entrance to the complex that's usually fenced and chained shut, and leads out onto an overgrown road that leads to... Mansfield. Oh wait, that road is being torn up right now, and is completely blocked off by Wilbur (traffic circle), so we'll all have to go the other direction which leads to... Pines! Which is also being torn up right now and 1/2 of it is blocked off as well! Aaagh!
I guess the real question is, how early will I have to leave the apt to get to either of my jobs on time? I HAVE NO IDEA. But I guess I'll be finding out tomorrow! >:(
Oh, and law firm job told me not to come in today, since they didn't have anything for me to do. I can come in Thursday though. Assuming I can GET there of course.
The apt office is also replacing all the windows and sliding doors of all the apts for better insulation. Our apt is coming up soonish. Hard to say when. The note said they were starting on the B buildings this week, of which there are 8 and we live in #4. I don't know how long it takes them per window, and if they're really doing every window. Anyways, they left notes on everyone's doors to move all our stuff away from the windows so the people can work, and of course Peter and I have something hard to move by every window. Luckily, Peter's been busy and has rearanged the office and studio areas again, so now the computer desk is away from the window, and just about everything has found a new home (or will find itself in the garage till we get a bigger place). My plant stand is on carpet slider things which are very helpful, so they can stay in the window till the guys actually get here. The futon is likewise moveable, but since we lined the walls with bookshelves, there isn't really anywhere to put it. Hmmm.
And the poor bed. We have a queen sized bed, under the window, with a huge stack of mostly full comic boxes between the foot of the bed and the closet. So there is really NO place to put the bed at the moment. Peter has a plan though to rearange the bedroom that should work, so we'll be able to move the bed down to the closet, freeing up the window. What a pain!
The office also said they'd be replacing old appliances too, and boy do I need a new stove/oven!!! But who knows if all appliances will be replaced, or only the worst... Sigh. I'm happy that they are sprucing up the place and making some things more modern (green), but it's still an apt complex, and we'd still be happier living in a house, with no one on the other side of the walls.
Oh, speaking of the other people on the other side of the wall... Some or all of the obnoxious neighbors next to us have moved out! No more skanky teenagers and their "thug" boyfriends! No more people smoking outside the door and leaving sunflower seed shells on the stairs attracting birds and who knows what! No more people stomping up and down the stairs and having conversations/yelling matches in the stairwell or just in front of the building!!! Whooo! Maybe. I don't know which ones left, and if it was all of them, who knows who/what could move in next...
I have a job interview on Monday for a circulation position that's split between 2 different libraries, both of which are closer then the one I currently work at. It's the same library system, County vs City, so if I got the job, it would be a transfer and promotion, not quiting one and starting new at another. I like being a page, and I was feeling bad about leaving the library I currently work at (again, assuming I GET the job), but with the law firm starting to run out of things for me to do, and finding out that the circ job comes with benefits, I don't feel bad at all now. And it's not like I'll never see the people I work with now ever again. Most of them also rotate between the different libraries. Because of working at the public library up in Fairbanks, even though it was a page position, there were more duties attached to that position that are considered circ duties down here, plus it was a larger library with lots of people using it. And, having worked in this library system for about 7 months now, I already know the policies, so if I were hired, I'd really only need to be trained on the computer system! I'm excited! I'm sure it will go well, and I'll leave extra early to be sure to make it through the construction so I can get to the interview on time. Peter or I will post if I got the job or not.
That's all the updates I can think of for now. Hope anyone reading this is having a great day!
I guess the real question is, how early will I have to leave the apt to get to either of my jobs on time? I HAVE NO IDEA. But I guess I'll be finding out tomorrow! >:(
Oh, and law firm job told me not to come in today, since they didn't have anything for me to do. I can come in Thursday though. Assuming I can GET there of course.
The apt office is also replacing all the windows and sliding doors of all the apts for better insulation. Our apt is coming up soonish. Hard to say when. The note said they were starting on the B buildings this week, of which there are 8 and we live in #4. I don't know how long it takes them per window, and if they're really doing every window. Anyways, they left notes on everyone's doors to move all our stuff away from the windows so the people can work, and of course Peter and I have something hard to move by every window. Luckily, Peter's been busy and has rearanged the office and studio areas again, so now the computer desk is away from the window, and just about everything has found a new home (or will find itself in the garage till we get a bigger place). My plant stand is on carpet slider things which are very helpful, so they can stay in the window till the guys actually get here. The futon is likewise moveable, but since we lined the walls with bookshelves, there isn't really anywhere to put it. Hmmm.
And the poor bed. We have a queen sized bed, under the window, with a huge stack of mostly full comic boxes between the foot of the bed and the closet. So there is really NO place to put the bed at the moment. Peter has a plan though to rearange the bedroom that should work, so we'll be able to move the bed down to the closet, freeing up the window. What a pain!
The office also said they'd be replacing old appliances too, and boy do I need a new stove/oven!!! But who knows if all appliances will be replaced, or only the worst... Sigh. I'm happy that they are sprucing up the place and making some things more modern (green), but it's still an apt complex, and we'd still be happier living in a house, with no one on the other side of the walls.
Oh, speaking of the other people on the other side of the wall... Some or all of the obnoxious neighbors next to us have moved out! No more skanky teenagers and their "thug" boyfriends! No more people smoking outside the door and leaving sunflower seed shells on the stairs attracting birds and who knows what! No more people stomping up and down the stairs and having conversations/yelling matches in the stairwell or just in front of the building!!! Whooo! Maybe. I don't know which ones left, and if it was all of them, who knows who/what could move in next...
I have a job interview on Monday for a circulation position that's split between 2 different libraries, both of which are closer then the one I currently work at. It's the same library system, County vs City, so if I got the job, it would be a transfer and promotion, not quiting one and starting new at another. I like being a page, and I was feeling bad about leaving the library I currently work at (again, assuming I GET the job), but with the law firm starting to run out of things for me to do, and finding out that the circ job comes with benefits, I don't feel bad at all now. And it's not like I'll never see the people I work with now ever again. Most of them also rotate between the different libraries. Because of working at the public library up in Fairbanks, even though it was a page position, there were more duties attached to that position that are considered circ duties down here, plus it was a larger library with lots of people using it. And, having worked in this library system for about 7 months now, I already know the policies, so if I were hired, I'd really only need to be trained on the computer system! I'm excited! I'm sure it will go well, and I'll leave extra early to be sure to make it through the construction so I can get to the interview on time. Peter or I will post if I got the job or not.
That's all the updates I can think of for now. Hope anyone reading this is having a great day!
Saturday, April 19, 2008
Quick-ish Update
I guess things are pretty much going allright, all things considered.
I'm still unemployed. I am looking for a job, but I really want to find something good, not just "a job". And I'm definitely enjoying my time off....
Jenny's enjoying her library job, and is going to start a second, temporary, part time job next week at Eric's (her best friend Jenni's husband) law firm. It's a temp data entry job, which may last a month, maybe two, basically however long it takes to get the job done. And she can pretty much make her own schedule, which is always nice.
So, with her job(s) we've got some decent income for the time being. And I've got some time to look for a job without the "I Have To Find A Job Now!" shadow hanging over my head.
We of course waited till the last minute (again) to file our taxes. We decided to file online to speed up our refund, and in the hopes of it being "easier". Yeah, right... I think it was about 6 hours, from start to finish, of hair-pulling-out frustration, and then I had to resubmit it the next day when the IRS rejected it due to one of the numbers being off. Hopefully they won't ding us with any late fees or service charges.
Oh, and on top of that, all of the cartridges on our monster of a printer decided to give out at once, right when we were trying to print out the tax forms we needed. Then the printer kept saying that one of the new cartidges was empty! So, had to figure out how to override it and make it accept the cartridge - now it works, but it still thinks the blue ink is dead and all the lights keep flashing....
The Emerald City Comic-Con in Seattle is coming up next month and we're planning on going to that, and hopefully taking a few extra days over there to wander around and see people in addition to spending time at the Con. Should be fun.
Oh, and winter refuses to give up the ghost around here. It keeps warming up to throw us off, and then it'll snow (like it did this morning, while the sun was still shining). Looks gorgeous outside right now, but you can't rely on it staying that way....
I'm still unemployed. I am looking for a job, but I really want to find something good, not just "a job". And I'm definitely enjoying my time off....
Jenny's enjoying her library job, and is going to start a second, temporary, part time job next week at Eric's (her best friend Jenni's husband) law firm. It's a temp data entry job, which may last a month, maybe two, basically however long it takes to get the job done. And she can pretty much make her own schedule, which is always nice.
So, with her job(s) we've got some decent income for the time being. And I've got some time to look for a job without the "I Have To Find A Job Now!" shadow hanging over my head.
We of course waited till the last minute (again) to file our taxes. We decided to file online to speed up our refund, and in the hopes of it being "easier". Yeah, right... I think it was about 6 hours, from start to finish, of hair-pulling-out frustration, and then I had to resubmit it the next day when the IRS rejected it due to one of the numbers being off. Hopefully they won't ding us with any late fees or service charges.
Oh, and on top of that, all of the cartridges on our monster of a printer decided to give out at once, right when we were trying to print out the tax forms we needed. Then the printer kept saying that one of the new cartidges was empty! So, had to figure out how to override it and make it accept the cartridge - now it works, but it still thinks the blue ink is dead and all the lights keep flashing....
The Emerald City Comic-Con in Seattle is coming up next month and we're planning on going to that, and hopefully taking a few extra days over there to wander around and see people in addition to spending time at the Con. Should be fun.
Oh, and winter refuses to give up the ghost around here. It keeps warming up to throw us off, and then it'll snow (like it did this morning, while the sun was still shining). Looks gorgeous outside right now, but you can't rely on it staying that way....
Saturday, March 29, 2008
Happily Unemployed....
Well, yesterday was my last day at work. I'm in the process of looking for something new, but it'll be nice to have a few days off before I start into whatever I end up getting. The new girl (my replacement) started on Monday, and was working out fine until yesterday, when she left for lunch and didn't come back. Once we realized she hadn't returned, we thought maybe she had just up and quit, and were trying to figure out what we might have done to make her walk out...
Then, an hour or two later, her boyfriend called and informed us she had been in a car accident and was in the hospital! Thankfully she was (relatively) OK. She called at the end of the day to let us know she had been released, but was really banged up and didn't know when she'd be able to return to work. Guess they'll have to start looking for a new-new person.
Jenny's loving her job - hopefully they'll promote her or give her a raise or something soon. :)
We've got new neighbors again. They were moving in this morning, although we haven't met anybody yet, just saw them out the window when they were unloading furniture. Well, so far we haven't heard any shouting or booming rap music through the walls, so that's a good sign, I suppose.
Other than job hunting, not a lot else going on - Just drawing a little, and trying to get back into miniature painting again. Jenny's been spending a lot of time playing a new computer game and reading (I guess being surrounded by books all day will do that). Still haven't filed our taxes, so I guess that and a new job are top priority right now....
Then, an hour or two later, her boyfriend called and informed us she had been in a car accident and was in the hospital! Thankfully she was (relatively) OK. She called at the end of the day to let us know she had been released, but was really banged up and didn't know when she'd be able to return to work. Guess they'll have to start looking for a new-new person.
Jenny's loving her job - hopefully they'll promote her or give her a raise or something soon. :)
We've got new neighbors again. They were moving in this morning, although we haven't met anybody yet, just saw them out the window when they were unloading furniture. Well, so far we haven't heard any shouting or booming rap music through the walls, so that's a good sign, I suppose.
Other than job hunting, not a lot else going on - Just drawing a little, and trying to get back into miniature painting again. Jenny's been spending a lot of time playing a new computer game and reading (I guess being surrounded by books all day will do that). Still haven't filed our taxes, so I guess that and a new job are top priority right now....
Sunday, March 09, 2008
A Couple of Things....
So, I put my notice in at work this last Monday. I'll probably be sticking around until the end of the month instead of just 2 weeks, to give them some extra time to find a replacement, and to make payroll easier on everyone involved. I don't have anything lined up yet, but it was definately way past time to move on, and I've got several applications out with more to follow this week. I'm hoping I can either find something part time that pays decent but will allow me some time to focus on working at art at home, or (more likely) a full time job that's more in my interests, preferably with benefits and more room for advancement. I'm mainly looking at office/administrative positions, but I'm also keeping an eye out for entry level graphic related jobs (copy shops, print houses, etc.).
In other news, our hot water heater decided to give up the ghost today. I'd noticed my shower yesterday wasn't nearly as hot as normal, but it hadn't gotten cold yet. Jenny took a shower this morning and kept having to turn up the temperature, and at one point it got really cold. Afterwards, we checked the heater and it was cold to the touch. Not only that, but there was a small amount of standing water on the floor of the closet it's in. We've got a call in to maintenance, and they're supposed to be here tomorrow, either to fix or replace it. Knowing how our management operates, I'm sure they'll try to fix it if possible, even if it probably should be replaced....
In other news, our hot water heater decided to give up the ghost today. I'd noticed my shower yesterday wasn't nearly as hot as normal, but it hadn't gotten cold yet. Jenny took a shower this morning and kept having to turn up the temperature, and at one point it got really cold. Afterwards, we checked the heater and it was cold to the touch. Not only that, but there was a small amount of standing water on the floor of the closet it's in. We've got a call in to maintenance, and they're supposed to be here tomorrow, either to fix or replace it. Knowing how our management operates, I'm sure they'll try to fix it if possible, even if it probably should be replaced....
Thursday, February 21, 2008
Update - Been a While...
Hmm.... apparently I haven't blogged yet this month. Time flies when, well, we haven't really been doing much actually. Just working for the most part. Jenny's job is great. even if it's only (very) part-time. I've started taking a different bus up to her job some nights, so I can meet her when she gets off work. It's a lot more convenient - I don't have to rush to catch the bus after work, and I don't have to switch lines three times. And the ride's shorter too. The library she works at is little, and really cute, and it seems like all the people she works with are really nice. I hope she can get some more hours there and maybe move up the ladder a bit. Seems like a keeper of a job.
We haven't got a good chance to really look around the area where the library is; but what we've seen of it and the surrounding neighborhoods seems really promising. If she sticks with this job, we might try to find a place up there (on the South Hill). We did do some looking through the classifieds this week to see what the range of prices are for the area. We haven't gone and looked at any places yet, but we really can't move until June anyway...
Our new-ish neighbors are definately gone now (hooray?). Seems they didn't even tell the management they were leaving either - they might have been here a month and then just up and left on the 1st. So no pounding bass (or anything else) on that side of the apartment, which is a nice change. Now if we could just get rid of the neighbors below us who are always slamming their door hard enough to make the building shake. Also, since we've rearranged the apartment, our "living room" is now above their master bedroom, so we try to be considerate and not be too noisy (no watching TV loud up late, that sort of thing). It'd sure be nice if they would return the favor.
I took Monday and Tuesday off from work - I just needed some down time to relax and also so Jenny and I could actually spend some time hanging out together. We went out to see the new monster movie Cloverfield on Monday. It was... good, however it was shot in a "real world" handi-cam style, from the perspective of the people trying to escape New York while a giant Godzilla type monster is destroying the city. So between the shaky camera, the heat in the theatre being turned up way too high and possibly being still a bit sick, both Jenny and I were actually nauseous by the time the film was over. I'm glad it was a short movie, because I don't think I could have taken much more. I think I'd like to see it again, but not until it's out on DVD and I can pause it whenever I want.
Started deep-cleaning the apartment on Tuesday night, and it's about half done right now. My hope/plan is to have the whole apartment thoroughly cleaned by the end of the week so I can have the weekend free to work on other stuff: art, catching up on TV, various work I need to do on the computer, maybe even break out my miniatures and do some painting.
Jenny's sister's birthday is tomorrow, and I think the plan is for Jenny to go over tomorrow for cake and presents. I'll probably stay home - I'm not really sure when she's even heading over. And then she's got another jewelry making class on Saturday and Sunday, although she'll have to skip out early on Saturday since she's got to work that afternoon. Should be fun!
So yeah, not a whole lot going on, but still more than enough to keep us busy. Hope everyone else out there is doing well, and maybe the next blog post won't be such a long time coming....
We haven't got a good chance to really look around the area where the library is; but what we've seen of it and the surrounding neighborhoods seems really promising. If she sticks with this job, we might try to find a place up there (on the South Hill). We did do some looking through the classifieds this week to see what the range of prices are for the area. We haven't gone and looked at any places yet, but we really can't move until June anyway...
Our new-ish neighbors are definately gone now (hooray?). Seems they didn't even tell the management they were leaving either - they might have been here a month and then just up and left on the 1st. So no pounding bass (or anything else) on that side of the apartment, which is a nice change. Now if we could just get rid of the neighbors below us who are always slamming their door hard enough to make the building shake. Also, since we've rearranged the apartment, our "living room" is now above their master bedroom, so we try to be considerate and not be too noisy (no watching TV loud up late, that sort of thing). It'd sure be nice if they would return the favor.
I took Monday and Tuesday off from work - I just needed some down time to relax and also so Jenny and I could actually spend some time hanging out together. We went out to see the new monster movie Cloverfield on Monday. It was... good, however it was shot in a "real world" handi-cam style, from the perspective of the people trying to escape New York while a giant Godzilla type monster is destroying the city. So between the shaky camera, the heat in the theatre being turned up way too high and possibly being still a bit sick, both Jenny and I were actually nauseous by the time the film was over. I'm glad it was a short movie, because I don't think I could have taken much more. I think I'd like to see it again, but not until it's out on DVD and I can pause it whenever I want.
Started deep-cleaning the apartment on Tuesday night, and it's about half done right now. My hope/plan is to have the whole apartment thoroughly cleaned by the end of the week so I can have the weekend free to work on other stuff: art, catching up on TV, various work I need to do on the computer, maybe even break out my miniatures and do some painting.
Jenny's sister's birthday is tomorrow, and I think the plan is for Jenny to go over tomorrow for cake and presents. I'll probably stay home - I'm not really sure when she's even heading over. And then she's got another jewelry making class on Saturday and Sunday, although she'll have to skip out early on Saturday since she's got to work that afternoon. Should be fun!
So yeah, not a whole lot going on, but still more than enough to keep us busy. Hope everyone else out there is doing well, and maybe the next blog post won't be such a long time coming....
Monday, February 04, 2008
Yay!
I started my new job Friday. It's only part time, but it's a job! I work at the Moran Prairie Library as a Page. It's not the same schedule I would have got if I got the job I interviewed for, but it's the same position. I'm glad they called me back. Now I just need to get more hours or a promotion. A little soon I know, but I know I can do it. Besides, the library is so small. But cute.
Hmm, on a side note, it looks like the brand spankin' new neighbors are moving out already. I don't blame them at all. Lucky devils. Well either it's a mover guy or some other dude driving a large moving truck is stealing all their worldly possessions. *Sigh* I wish we could move into a house right now. No more neighbors on the other side of the wall, or floor. That would be great!
Hmm, on a side note, it looks like the brand spankin' new neighbors are moving out already. I don't blame them at all. Lucky devils. Well either it's a mover guy or some other dude driving a large moving truck is stealing all their worldly possessions. *Sigh* I wish we could move into a house right now. No more neighbors on the other side of the wall, or floor. That would be great!
Monday, January 14, 2008
And Continuing the Fire Theme....
I got out of work about a half hour early today, since the fire alarms went off in our building around 4:30. It looks like it was a false alarm, although I didn't stick around to find out exactly what happened. My boss let us all go at 5, since we were just standing around in the cold across the street, and the firefighters who were there were talking amongst themselves (inside, where it's warm), and didn't seem in a hurry to let us in. I suppose I'll have to go back in tomorrow, since I haven't heard from her otherwise. :)
The word is that whatever the firefighters were looking for was on the 7th floor (the one above us). That's the allergy treatment center, and I can't imagine what might have set it off, although a couple of the ladies who work on that floor were wondering if someone might have just burnt their popcorn in the microwave.... Regardless, none of us saw any billowing smoke coming from the windows, so I don't think it was anything serious.
As far as Gamer's Haven is concerned, Russ (the owner) has been posting updates on the website's forum - he definately has insurance, and is now going through the oh-so-fun task of dealing with the insurance adjusters and fire department to see where he stands. He did post this evening that there were actually some miniatures in the big display case which somehow (amazingly) survived, and he's now matching up who has what.
Otherwise, not a whole lot else exciting today. We did some much needed grocery shopping after I left work and Jenny got her hair cut before that. Watched the second episode of the new Terminator show, which was awesome and taped the new Prisonbreak. Hopefully we'll be able to catch up on all those by the end of the week. And Jenny's watching Medium right now. So yeah, a whole lot of not a whole lot....
The word is that whatever the firefighters were looking for was on the 7th floor (the one above us). That's the allergy treatment center, and I can't imagine what might have set it off, although a couple of the ladies who work on that floor were wondering if someone might have just burnt their popcorn in the microwave.... Regardless, none of us saw any billowing smoke coming from the windows, so I don't think it was anything serious.
As far as Gamer's Haven is concerned, Russ (the owner) has been posting updates on the website's forum - he definately has insurance, and is now going through the oh-so-fun task of dealing with the insurance adjusters and fire department to see where he stands. He did post this evening that there were actually some miniatures in the big display case which somehow (amazingly) survived, and he's now matching up who has what.
Otherwise, not a whole lot else exciting today. We did some much needed grocery shopping after I left work and Jenny got her hair cut before that. Watched the second episode of the new Terminator show, which was awesome and taped the new Prisonbreak. Hopefully we'll be able to catch up on all those by the end of the week. And Jenny's watching Medium right now. So yeah, a whole lot of not a whole lot....
Thursday, November 29, 2007
All Good Things....
So, Jenny's super-awesome-uber dream job she just got? Yeah, she lost it today. Nothing she did or could do to fix - she works for a small family run business, and their finances weren't quite what they thought they were. So when their accountant did the math, she got laid off...
We are... disappointed, to say the least. They (her now ex-employers) are really cool people, though: they're going to go ahead and pay her for next week anyway, even though she won't be going in, and they're looking for possible jobs for her and are going to write a glowing letter of recomendation. They were really upset about having to let her go, and there's always the possibility of her being able to come back if their business picks up. They're good people.
But for now, it's back to the job search.
We are... disappointed, to say the least. They (her now ex-employers) are really cool people, though: they're going to go ahead and pay her for next week anyway, even though she won't be going in, and they're looking for possible jobs for her and are going to write a glowing letter of recomendation. They were really upset about having to let her go, and there's always the possibility of her being able to come back if their business picks up. They're good people.
But for now, it's back to the job search.
Friday, October 19, 2007
Woo Hoo!!!
So, I'm surprised Jenny hasn't posted anything yet, but I'll go ahead and chime in anyway....
She got the job!!! Specifically, the awesome gallery job she wanted! They were originally hiring for an administrative position, but when they saw her qualifications they basically made a new position just for her. The gallery/studio is for this amazing child prodigy, Akiane Kramarik, who lives with her family over in Post Falls. She's a best selling author and phenomenal painter who's been profiled on Oprah's show among other things.
Well, they're expanding and want to set up a new gallery, and Jenny's going to basically be building a frame shop from the ground up for them. She doesn't have a "first day at work" until Monday, but she's already working - they sent her home from the interview with catalogs and she's starting to figure out what things they're going to need to purchase for the shop.
Jenny's all kinds of excited - this is the perfect job for her, since she'll actually get to use her degree and gallery experience, but it's not retail of any sort and she'll be gaining valuable work experience in her field.
The pay's really good, they're going to offer health benefits and she'll be up for sales based bonuses as well. I'm going to stick it out at my job for a while now that we'll have basically double the income coming in so we can put some aside for savings. We're still looking at moving when our lease is up and looking for a house to rent, but we want to have a good size financial cushion before trying to up and move again. And since she's going to be working in Post falls again, we're not sure if we're going to stay here in the Valley or not. We'll see what happens, I guess....
She got the job!!! Specifically, the awesome gallery job she wanted! They were originally hiring for an administrative position, but when they saw her qualifications they basically made a new position just for her. The gallery/studio is for this amazing child prodigy, Akiane Kramarik, who lives with her family over in Post Falls. She's a best selling author and phenomenal painter who's been profiled on Oprah's show among other things.
Well, they're expanding and want to set up a new gallery, and Jenny's going to basically be building a frame shop from the ground up for them. She doesn't have a "first day at work" until Monday, but she's already working - they sent her home from the interview with catalogs and she's starting to figure out what things they're going to need to purchase for the shop.
Jenny's all kinds of excited - this is the perfect job for her, since she'll actually get to use her degree and gallery experience, but it's not retail of any sort and she'll be gaining valuable work experience in her field.
The pay's really good, they're going to offer health benefits and she'll be up for sales based bonuses as well. I'm going to stick it out at my job for a while now that we'll have basically double the income coming in so we can put some aside for savings. We're still looking at moving when our lease is up and looking for a house to rent, but we want to have a good size financial cushion before trying to up and move again. And since she's going to be working in Post falls again, we're not sure if we're going to stay here in the Valley or not. We'll see what happens, I guess....
Tuesday, October 16, 2007
Media-riffic
Meanwhile, In TV land:
Heroes continues to rock. We've been making a ritual of watching it with Shannan and Scott and this week they treated us to barbeque. otherwise we're still enjoying Prisonbreak, Bones, Supernatural, Ghost Whisperer, Numbers and all of the various comedies on NBC Thursday nights. Not a lot of new shows this season that we've warmed up to, but Reaper is hilarious and Beauty & the Geek and Moonlight are a couple of guilty pleasures we've been enjoying. Medium and Jericho are coming back eventually and I think there are a couple of new mid-season shows with potential that I'm forgetting.
We spent most of this weekend relaxing and catching up on the week's TV, as well getting the computer cleaned up a little. We finally got some more RAM for the ol' PC as well as a shiny new video card - Jenny's dad was nice enough to come over and install them for us. We were way overdue to back up everything on the hard drives, so I went ahead and did that as well as uninstalling/deleting a bunch of useless programs that were still on the machine and defragged both drives. Fun, fun, fun... but it needed to be done.
November's fast approaching, and with it National Novel Writing Month. We're going to attempt to participate again, hopefully with more success than last year. Actually Jenny got quite a lot done on her novel, but mine was a bust. This year we've both already got ideas, and this time I'll try not to change my mind at the last minute and come up with something completely different. :) Oh, and we're both going to write super-hero stories this year...
Jenny's had some promising interviews, and we're really hoping for one job at a local gallery that she's been going for. We've got a new guy at my job (3rd new employee in 3 months...), who I think is going to work out OK, or atleast better than the last two.
Edit: I (Jenny) had an interview with a local library yesterday, that went well. However, it's only 5 hours a day Tuesday through Saturday, so I'd need a 2nd job even if I got the position. But I know libraries, so that part would be fine. However, I just now got off the phone with the art gallery, and they want a 2nd interview (technically the 4th interview if I count the mini phone chats) today. So, of course I said yes, today is great! The interview is at their house. And when I talked to one of the owners of the gallery, she said she was trying to coordinate the interview with another woman that they "want to hire too." I don't think I'm competing with the other woman, I think she might be the hire for the position they actually put an ad in the paper for, and I'm the lucky framer who caught their attention and made my OWN position. So that's good. I got the feeling they might want us to meet each other, as well as have another interview. I REALLY REALLY hope they hire me. I want to work there. And I hope the hours and pay are good too. I'll keep you posted! -J
Heroes continues to rock. We've been making a ritual of watching it with Shannan and Scott and this week they treated us to barbeque. otherwise we're still enjoying Prisonbreak, Bones, Supernatural, Ghost Whisperer, Numbers and all of the various comedies on NBC Thursday nights. Not a lot of new shows this season that we've warmed up to, but Reaper is hilarious and Beauty & the Geek and Moonlight are a couple of guilty pleasures we've been enjoying. Medium and Jericho are coming back eventually and I think there are a couple of new mid-season shows with potential that I'm forgetting.
We spent most of this weekend relaxing and catching up on the week's TV, as well getting the computer cleaned up a little. We finally got some more RAM for the ol' PC as well as a shiny new video card - Jenny's dad was nice enough to come over and install them for us. We were way overdue to back up everything on the hard drives, so I went ahead and did that as well as uninstalling/deleting a bunch of useless programs that were still on the machine and defragged both drives. Fun, fun, fun... but it needed to be done.
November's fast approaching, and with it National Novel Writing Month. We're going to attempt to participate again, hopefully with more success than last year. Actually Jenny got quite a lot done on her novel, but mine was a bust. This year we've both already got ideas, and this time I'll try not to change my mind at the last minute and come up with something completely different. :) Oh, and we're both going to write super-hero stories this year...
Jenny's had some promising interviews, and we're really hoping for one job at a local gallery that she's been going for. We've got a new guy at my job (3rd new employee in 3 months...), who I think is going to work out OK, or atleast better than the last two.
Edit: I (Jenny) had an interview with a local library yesterday, that went well. However, it's only 5 hours a day Tuesday through Saturday, so I'd need a 2nd job even if I got the position. But I know libraries, so that part would be fine. However, I just now got off the phone with the art gallery, and they want a 2nd interview (technically the 4th interview if I count the mini phone chats) today. So, of course I said yes, today is great! The interview is at their house. And when I talked to one of the owners of the gallery, she said she was trying to coordinate the interview with another woman that they "want to hire too." I don't think I'm competing with the other woman, I think she might be the hire for the position they actually put an ad in the paper for, and I'm the lucky framer who caught their attention and made my OWN position. So that's good. I got the feeling they might want us to meet each other, as well as have another interview. I REALLY REALLY hope they hire me. I want to work there. And I hope the hours and pay are good too. I'll keep you posted! -J
Sunday, June 17, 2007
Quick Update
Not a whole lot going on, really - mainly just work-work-working with a little bit of wedding stuff on the side. We did go over to Tigger's place yesterday and hung out for a while and helped her with some of her landscaping projects. Also got to meet her new puppy, Geo, who's absolutely adorable. Held off on going into CdA this weekend, as Jenny's folks are out of town, visiting her Aunt's family in Portland. Jenny did finally get her dress in, and had her fitting today, so they can do the needed alterations.
Otherwise, just catching up on DVDs, and we got out to see Shrek 3 on Friday. I think it was actually funnier than the last one, which was kinda surprising. Fantastic Four 2 also came out this week, which we'll get around to seeing soon, even though all the reviewers seem to hate it (judging by the various article headlines I see online - but I haven't read the articles...). There's far too many summer blockbusters coming out this year to keep up with, so I fear we're going to be a couple of week's behind for quite a while.
In work news, the "new girl" has already left - Friday was her last day. And now Brian has 2 weeks remaining before he's gone as well, which will drop the main staff down to just Derek and myself. Originally, the boss had toyed with the idea of not hiring a new 3rd person, but luckily he changed his mind and put an ad in the paper. Hopefully we'll have a better pool of applicants this time around....
Oh yeah, and we finally got our garage. Only took them, what... 8 months? :)
Otherwise, just catching up on DVDs, and we got out to see Shrek 3 on Friday. I think it was actually funnier than the last one, which was kinda surprising. Fantastic Four 2 also came out this week, which we'll get around to seeing soon, even though all the reviewers seem to hate it (judging by the various article headlines I see online - but I haven't read the articles...). There's far too many summer blockbusters coming out this year to keep up with, so I fear we're going to be a couple of week's behind for quite a while.
In work news, the "new girl" has already left - Friday was her last day. And now Brian has 2 weeks remaining before he's gone as well, which will drop the main staff down to just Derek and myself. Originally, the boss had toyed with the idea of not hiring a new 3rd person, but luckily he changed his mind and put an ad in the paper. Hopefully we'll have a better pool of applicants this time around....
Oh yeah, and we finally got our garage. Only took them, what... 8 months? :)
Thursday, June 07, 2007
On the Road Again....
Well, it's been a week since our last post... So, what's been going on?
The big news, of course, is that we replaced the recently deceased truck with a brand new, shiny blue F-J Cruiser! Jenny's mom had offered to "help us out" with a new car as a wedding present, using money she'd received as part of the inheritance when her father (Jenny's Grandfather) passed away. What we didn't know was that meant she was going to buy it for us outright - completely paying it off! That's right - our wedding (and birthdays and next few Christmas) present was a Brand New Car! You can say that last bit in a game show announcer voice to make it sound right. :)
We'd told her parents that we really didn't need any sort of bells and whistles, that the basic package would be more than enough. However, the local Toyota dealer didn't have any basic Cruisers, so we ended up with a whole bunch of extras that we really don't need (but are all supercool and we really are happy to have). Right now it's still in Jenny's mom's name - we'll be able to switch it over to us in the next couple of months.
Sooo.... we've been deleriously happy with our new car. :D Such simple luxuries as air conditioning and a working radio were previously unknown to us, so this just about blew us away. Now we've just got to keep it upkept so it'll last another 20 years like the truck.
We had hoped to sign our new lease and get on the list for a garage (assuming such a list exists) on Friday, but the trainee was at the office instead of the normal secretary. She told us to come back on Saturday and the regular girl could take care of it no problem, but we showed up on Saturday only to find that we needed to set up an appointment first, which of course the trainee failed to mention.... So we've got an appointment this Saturday at noon to sign our new lease - hopefully we'll make some progress towards a garage as well. We're both even more paranoid at night now that we've got our beautiful new vehicle to protect (might as well just paint a target on it...).
On the wedding front, we finally got our invitations/announcements out in the mail, atleast to the people we have addresses for. There are still a few people we don't have mailing addresses for, for whatever reason, and if you're one of those people and are reading this you know who you are and you know how to get a hold of me. :)
Also picked up my ring this week. Went with a super simple white gold band - since Jenny's is such a unique heirloom, we didn't want to try to find a suitable match at this time, just something I would like to wear that wasn't flashy. Figure that a ways down the road we can always have something custom made to match Jenny's and replace mine.
Work is still work. We hired a new girl, who put in her 2 week notice less than a week after starting. So we can't really expend much energy training her, since she'll be leaving soon, but we still have to find busy work for her to do in the meantime. I'm really surprised they didn't just let her go when she put in her notice. Eh, atleast she can clean and make copies - there's always more copies to make. Brian's leaving at the end of this month, leaving myself and Derek (who is very competent, but has still only been there for 3 or 4 months at this point), and now the boss is thinking of just not hiring a new person for the time being and see how things go. I'm not loving my job in the first place, so this is certainly not going to help the situation....
Oh, and June 1st was my (31st) birthday, so Happy Birthday to me! :)
The big news, of course, is that we replaced the recently deceased truck with a brand new, shiny blue F-J Cruiser! Jenny's mom had offered to "help us out" with a new car as a wedding present, using money she'd received as part of the inheritance when her father (Jenny's Grandfather) passed away. What we didn't know was that meant she was going to buy it for us outright - completely paying it off! That's right - our wedding (and birthdays and next few Christmas) present was a Brand New Car! You can say that last bit in a game show announcer voice to make it sound right. :)
We'd told her parents that we really didn't need any sort of bells and whistles, that the basic package would be more than enough. However, the local Toyota dealer didn't have any basic Cruisers, so we ended up with a whole bunch of extras that we really don't need (but are all supercool and we really are happy to have). Right now it's still in Jenny's mom's name - we'll be able to switch it over to us in the next couple of months.
Sooo.... we've been deleriously happy with our new car. :D Such simple luxuries as air conditioning and a working radio were previously unknown to us, so this just about blew us away. Now we've just got to keep it upkept so it'll last another 20 years like the truck.
We had hoped to sign our new lease and get on the list for a garage (assuming such a list exists) on Friday, but the trainee was at the office instead of the normal secretary. She told us to come back on Saturday and the regular girl could take care of it no problem, but we showed up on Saturday only to find that we needed to set up an appointment first, which of course the trainee failed to mention.... So we've got an appointment this Saturday at noon to sign our new lease - hopefully we'll make some progress towards a garage as well. We're both even more paranoid at night now that we've got our beautiful new vehicle to protect (might as well just paint a target on it...).
On the wedding front, we finally got our invitations/announcements out in the mail, atleast to the people we have addresses for. There are still a few people we don't have mailing addresses for, for whatever reason, and if you're one of those people and are reading this you know who you are and you know how to get a hold of me. :)
Also picked up my ring this week. Went with a super simple white gold band - since Jenny's is such a unique heirloom, we didn't want to try to find a suitable match at this time, just something I would like to wear that wasn't flashy. Figure that a ways down the road we can always have something custom made to match Jenny's and replace mine.
Work is still work. We hired a new girl, who put in her 2 week notice less than a week after starting. So we can't really expend much energy training her, since she'll be leaving soon, but we still have to find busy work for her to do in the meantime. I'm really surprised they didn't just let her go when she put in her notice. Eh, atleast she can clean and make copies - there's always more copies to make. Brian's leaving at the end of this month, leaving myself and Derek (who is very competent, but has still only been there for 3 or 4 months at this point), and now the boss is thinking of just not hiring a new person for the time being and see how things go. I'm not loving my job in the first place, so this is certainly not going to help the situation....
Oh, and June 1st was my (31st) birthday, so Happy Birthday to me! :)
Monday, May 14, 2007
Happy Monday!
And another week commences....
Jenny got a call today from the framing shop she'd applied at back before she quit Michaels, and has an interview set up for this Thursday. This was the job she was the most interested in, really, as it was a non-corporate framing position and she wouldn't have to deal with all the other unrelated retail mess that she had to put up with at Michaels.
My work continues to be OK. I've come to terms with the fact that I need to stick with this job atleast for the forseeable future (the next couple of months or so), as I've atleast got to stick it out until after the wedding, our vacation, and Jenny's back to being gainfully employed. It will be easy to take any time off that I'll need, and I'm certainly liking the paychecks....
Sunday was Mother's Day, and Jenny headed over to CdA to spend time with her mom and give her the present she bought - a cute apple tea pot. When they first moved into their house, her mom was torn between decorating the kitchen with apples or in a rooster motif. She ended up going with the apple scheme, but it proved a lot harder to find apple themed things then roosters. We see kitchen accessories and decorations with roosters on them everywhere now and very few apples, so her mom was (not surprisingly) quite pleased with her gift.
On the wedding front, while we did get our invitations in last week, they weren't exacty what we'd expected them to be and after some deliberating decided to reorder them from a different supplier. So, on the con side, we'll have to wait another week to send them out. But on the pro side, they'll be a little more interesting, hopefully look like what we wanted, and it'll give us some time to finish up our gift registries and we can include that information with the announcements. Jenny's going to get together with Jenni on Wednesday to work on registry stuff, among other things.
We did some looking around for a ring for me this weekend. The original plan was to find something inexpensive at an online store, but when we realized the cost wouldn't be too much different, we decided it would be better to buy something locally so I could try it on and get exactly what I want. Jenny ordered her shoes for the wedding, and they should be here about the same time as the new invitations.
Since we're going to be sticking around this apartment for a while longer (probably atleast a year), the plan now is to do some serious rearranging of the furniture to make things more comfortable. The TV, couch, gaming stuff, and all the bookcases are going into what is now the office, to make a sort of den/cozy entertainment room. We'll end up with a much more open atmosphere to the living room (which will turn into our studio space), and we'll be able to expand our kitchen/dining room space a bit. A lot of this process will mean purchasing some more/new furniture, but that's something we've needed to do for a while - like a pantry for the kitchen, and some more shelves for all of our ever growing library.
I've been using a very cool room planner tool I found online that's part of a furniture store's website. It lets you customize the rooms and furniture, save and print your designs, and sure beats constantly redrawing the same room over and over on paper. You can find it here: Jordan's Furniture Room Planner
We did get out to see Spiderman 3 last week - I think the 2nd one was the better over all, but this one was definately a fun movie. I believe (as apparently many others do) that they tried to cram too much into it, and there was easily enough material to make two good movies from what they had. I'd say the bad guys, specifically Harry, were the real stars of this one. It's got a fair share of corny bits, and would probably be easier to watch on DVD (being excessively long), but is still well worth the price of admission just for the special effects and action sequences.
The TV season is winding down over the next week or two, so I suppose that'll free up some of our time when most of our shows go into reruns for a while. I'm thinking I'll do a finale wrap up post - maybe do a little mini-review of all the stuff we're currently watching.... as soon as I find the time. :)
I was planning on burning through all of the Harry Potter novels, so I'd be all caught up when the last one came out, but I kinda got slowed down and stalled out in the middle of the 4th book. I'm trying to get back into it and get finished so I can move on. From what Jenny says, of the series, it's the one to get stuck on - Rowling really tried to put too much in and it goes on forever. But once I get through it, the next two books are supposed to be back to being entertaining. Jenny just finished the 4th book, as well as the 4th book in the David Farland fantasy series ("The Runelords") she's simultaneously reading.
Jenny got a call today from the framing shop she'd applied at back before she quit Michaels, and has an interview set up for this Thursday. This was the job she was the most interested in, really, as it was a non-corporate framing position and she wouldn't have to deal with all the other unrelated retail mess that she had to put up with at Michaels.
My work continues to be OK. I've come to terms with the fact that I need to stick with this job atleast for the forseeable future (the next couple of months or so), as I've atleast got to stick it out until after the wedding, our vacation, and Jenny's back to being gainfully employed. It will be easy to take any time off that I'll need, and I'm certainly liking the paychecks....
Sunday was Mother's Day, and Jenny headed over to CdA to spend time with her mom and give her the present she bought - a cute apple tea pot. When they first moved into their house, her mom was torn between decorating the kitchen with apples or in a rooster motif. She ended up going with the apple scheme, but it proved a lot harder to find apple themed things then roosters. We see kitchen accessories and decorations with roosters on them everywhere now and very few apples, so her mom was (not surprisingly) quite pleased with her gift.
On the wedding front, while we did get our invitations in last week, they weren't exacty what we'd expected them to be and after some deliberating decided to reorder them from a different supplier. So, on the con side, we'll have to wait another week to send them out. But on the pro side, they'll be a little more interesting, hopefully look like what we wanted, and it'll give us some time to finish up our gift registries and we can include that information with the announcements. Jenny's going to get together with Jenni on Wednesday to work on registry stuff, among other things.
We did some looking around for a ring for me this weekend. The original plan was to find something inexpensive at an online store, but when we realized the cost wouldn't be too much different, we decided it would be better to buy something locally so I could try it on and get exactly what I want. Jenny ordered her shoes for the wedding, and they should be here about the same time as the new invitations.
Since we're going to be sticking around this apartment for a while longer (probably atleast a year), the plan now is to do some serious rearranging of the furniture to make things more comfortable. The TV, couch, gaming stuff, and all the bookcases are going into what is now the office, to make a sort of den/cozy entertainment room. We'll end up with a much more open atmosphere to the living room (which will turn into our studio space), and we'll be able to expand our kitchen/dining room space a bit. A lot of this process will mean purchasing some more/new furniture, but that's something we've needed to do for a while - like a pantry for the kitchen, and some more shelves for all of our ever growing library.
I've been using a very cool room planner tool I found online that's part of a furniture store's website. It lets you customize the rooms and furniture, save and print your designs, and sure beats constantly redrawing the same room over and over on paper. You can find it here: Jordan's Furniture Room Planner
We did get out to see Spiderman 3 last week - I think the 2nd one was the better over all, but this one was definately a fun movie. I believe (as apparently many others do) that they tried to cram too much into it, and there was easily enough material to make two good movies from what they had. I'd say the bad guys, specifically Harry, were the real stars of this one. It's got a fair share of corny bits, and would probably be easier to watch on DVD (being excessively long), but is still well worth the price of admission just for the special effects and action sequences.
The TV season is winding down over the next week or two, so I suppose that'll free up some of our time when most of our shows go into reruns for a while. I'm thinking I'll do a finale wrap up post - maybe do a little mini-review of all the stuff we're currently watching.... as soon as I find the time. :)
I was planning on burning through all of the Harry Potter novels, so I'd be all caught up when the last one came out, but I kinda got slowed down and stalled out in the middle of the 4th book. I'm trying to get back into it and get finished so I can move on. From what Jenny says, of the series, it's the one to get stuck on - Rowling really tried to put too much in and it goes on forever. But once I get through it, the next two books are supposed to be back to being entertaining. Jenny just finished the 4th book, as well as the 4th book in the David Farland fantasy series ("The Runelords") she's simultaneously reading.
Monday, April 30, 2007
The Clock is Ticking....
Wow, I can't believe it's almost May already - it seems like the year is just flying by. Things have been piling up quicker and quicker, keeping us plenty busy:
Jenny and Jenni have been getting to work on the wedding stuff, invitations are now on their way (to us), and soon will be on their way back out. We've also been weighing our photography options and we're thinking of going the potluck route for the food, although we haven't decided if the main course(s) are going to be catered at all.
I'd mentioned that we'd registered at Macy's; well, we were finally able to log on to our account tonight, only to find that they only have 6 items listed - none of them items we actually picked! So now we have to go back and repick everything, talk about a waste of time. We did sign up for Macy's cards in the process, which I guess we can theoretically use to build up our credit a little. Oh, and we're definately going to go up to Fairbanks later this year to visit, even if we're still not sure where we'll be staying....
And speaking of living arrangements, we're now figuring on staying in this apartment for a while longer. We were orginally excited about getting out of apartment living and into a house, but the more we thought about it, the more we realized that with the wedding plans, and everything that entails (both before and after), plus our vacation plans and Jenny not working for a while, we'd be better off not trying to do a big move this year. We don't really have a specific area that we want to move to, and aren't too crazy with the prospect of packing everything up and moving again. However, if we do stay here, we're going to be really getting after the apartment people about fixing stuff and making this place a better place to live. We've already put in a couple more work orders to fix stuff, and are still after them about the garage.
I did finally get the apartment completely cleaned this weekend, which always helps my outlook on things (it certainly needed it...). And I've been going back to basics with my drawing, trying to do some basic gesture drawings and sketches in my sketchbook and filling up atleast a page a day - it's a slow process, but I think I'm (very) gradually getting my skills back.
As much as I'd love to quit my job so I could work on getting my art back up to speed again, it's really not an option now that Jenny quit hers. But she really needed to, what with her wonky schedule and the wedding date rapidly approaching. She's got so much done in just the past week - I joked today that she should have quit her job months ago, we would have had this whole thing planned down to every detail already.
And on the job front, I was surprised today to get my paycheck and find I got another raise! I'm thinking it might be because Brian's leaving in a couple of months and I'll be moving up to top man on the totem pole. Or it may be them realizing they better give me an incentive to stick around.... Whatever the reason, I'll take it!
Jenny and Jenni have been getting to work on the wedding stuff, invitations are now on their way (to us), and soon will be on their way back out. We've also been weighing our photography options and we're thinking of going the potluck route for the food, although we haven't decided if the main course(s) are going to be catered at all.
I'd mentioned that we'd registered at Macy's; well, we were finally able to log on to our account tonight, only to find that they only have 6 items listed - none of them items we actually picked! So now we have to go back and repick everything, talk about a waste of time. We did sign up for Macy's cards in the process, which I guess we can theoretically use to build up our credit a little. Oh, and we're definately going to go up to Fairbanks later this year to visit, even if we're still not sure where we'll be staying....
And speaking of living arrangements, we're now figuring on staying in this apartment for a while longer. We were orginally excited about getting out of apartment living and into a house, but the more we thought about it, the more we realized that with the wedding plans, and everything that entails (both before and after), plus our vacation plans and Jenny not working for a while, we'd be better off not trying to do a big move this year. We don't really have a specific area that we want to move to, and aren't too crazy with the prospect of packing everything up and moving again. However, if we do stay here, we're going to be really getting after the apartment people about fixing stuff and making this place a better place to live. We've already put in a couple more work orders to fix stuff, and are still after them about the garage.
I did finally get the apartment completely cleaned this weekend, which always helps my outlook on things (it certainly needed it...). And I've been going back to basics with my drawing, trying to do some basic gesture drawings and sketches in my sketchbook and filling up atleast a page a day - it's a slow process, but I think I'm (very) gradually getting my skills back.
As much as I'd love to quit my job so I could work on getting my art back up to speed again, it's really not an option now that Jenny quit hers. But she really needed to, what with her wonky schedule and the wedding date rapidly approaching. She's got so much done in just the past week - I joked today that she should have quit her job months ago, we would have had this whole thing planned down to every detail already.
And on the job front, I was surprised today to get my paycheck and find I got another raise! I'm thinking it might be because Brian's leaving in a couple of months and I'll be moving up to top man on the totem pole. Or it may be them realizing they better give me an incentive to stick around.... Whatever the reason, I'll take it!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)