blabber

hi everyone, and happy tuesday.

things have been a little rough with all the remodeling business these past couple of days. not in regards to the actual remodel, thank god! that's been really smooth. it's just the stress of finding somewhere to be for an entire day and finding somewhere that lilly can be too. luckily, we have really great friends that have been able to accommodate us at a moment's notice. though it's still hard not being in your own place with your own things and all that.

here's what went down at our apartment:

-laminate installed in the entry way, kitchen, dining room, living room, hallway, 2 bedrooms, 2 closets

-tile installed in 2 bathrooms (floor only)

-new baseboards

-removal of the not-so-attractive chair rail and half blue walls in the living room

-new water heater

-new toilets in both bathrooms (the one in our bathroom leaked)

so much has changed that it hardly looks like the same place anymore! i'm so thankful we've been able to get everything done in such a short period of time. it was only 1 week ago that we had our big flood, and we're already on the brink of being able to start piecing our place back together. it's just so much work!!!

the whole thing has taught me some important lessons though -

when randy and i woke up to the flood, i freaked out. i felt like the world was spinning around me (maybe that's because i didn't have my contacts in..) and i couldn't even form complete thoughts. but then, a kind of focus came over me, and randy and i realized we need to get this taken care of like, now! i only got emotional a handful of times, which would have been really unlike me if this had happened a couple of years ago. granted, nothing major got ruined (my laptop is slowly nursing itself back to health), but it's all just stuff. even as it gets moved around by strangers in our apartment, which unsettles me at times, the whole situation has awakened in me a new sense of appreciation and thankfullness for randy and lilly. we have been able to stand strong through this together, and it's helped to bring us closer in a new way.

we're crossing our fingers that tonight we will finally get to spend the night at our own place (we've been at our friend's house since friday) and we will hopefully be able to get things organized enough to share pictures with everyone soon.
anyway. that's all for me. hope you all have a wonderful day!

until next time..

<3 alaina

an open letter to facebook

i found this during a random web-surfing session a couple of weeks ago. enjoy:

AN OPEN LETTER
TO FACEBOOK.

January 25, 2010

- - - -

Dear Facebook,

Thank you for your recent suggestion that I "reconnect" with Hamish Howard. Unfortunately, I will not be using Facebook to reconnect with him in the near future. Please allow me to outline the reasons for this below.

 

It may be useful for me to provide some background context to the situation.

 

Hamish Howard is my boyfriend. We have been together for a little over three years. Being 25 and notoriously single before meeting Hamish, this is a rather large deal for me. Some say that with such history, we should perhaps consider getting married. Others suggest that the term "boyfriend" is no longer appropriate, and that I should actually be referring to him as my "partner". Either way, he is the man I love, the one for me, my other half, etc. I would hate for you to think that because we haven't declared our love for each other on Facebook by updating our status to "In a Relationship" that we are not serious.

 

We are Facebook friends simply because it would seem strange if we weren't. We have 84 friends in common. We do not regularly communicate on Facebook, because up until approximately three months ago, we lived together. We slept together. We went for meals, we talked on the phone, we sent text messages and if I was really lucky, he would walk me to work holding my hand.

 

Hamish recently finished his Science degree majoring in marine biology. He decided after years of student poverty, and wanting to experience the fishing industry first hand, he would take a job on the deep sea fishing boats. He is currently in the South Pacific Ocean, just out of New Zealand. He is away at sea for six weeks at a time. Throughout this period, he works in shifts of six hours on, six hours off. He constantly smells of fish, and yes, he does get seasick.

 

Moreover, to be honest, deep down, I would love to reconnect with him. I long to reconnect with him. I miss him terribly. My boyfriend is a fisherman! I do try and keep these feelings under wraps for the majority of my existence without him, and you Facebook, are simply not helping.

 

Whilst I appreciate Facebook's concern that Hamish and I are no longer living in the same house, or even the same city, I have to be frank when I say that the constant encouragement to "reconnect" just comes across as a cruel joke.

 

I also appreciate that Facebook has picked up on the fact that he is away on a big adventure, but by reminding people like my smug soon-to-be-married sister that they too should reconnect with him, it just rubs salt in my wounds.

 

I would therefore suggest, moving forward, that you cease your incessant suggestions and leave me to wallow, lonely and in peace.

 

Kind regards,
Delaney Mes

brilliant! see the original post here.

until next time..

<3 alaina

may flowers

here's hoping that may flowers find you, wherever you are!

things i'm looking forward to this month:

gettin ma hurr did (may 3)

school being over for the semester!!! (my last final is on may 16)

lilly's 2nd birthday (may 17)

our northern-californian road trip (may 21-27)

having memorial day off of work (may 30)

what special things are happening for you this month?

until next time..

<3 alaina

ps. my other laptop is still recovering from the flood, and unfortunately that's the only one i have photoshop installed on, so here's a ghetto weigh in:

5.5 lbs down

6.5 lbs to go

20 days left

to stay on track, i need to lose 2.3 pounds per week.