Let's make some noise!!!

Okay, now... I swear I was only outside for a little while, but I could not believe the noise going on around the new place. It's the middle of the country... What gives? What happened to the sweet chirping of birdies? The gentle snorting of horsies?

First off, there's a dog in the sub behind my new house. This dog sounds like he's got three paws in the grave. He gives this awful bark/howl every minute or so. It seriously is one of the most pathetic animal noises I've ever experienced. I think I would gladly buy that family a bark collar for this dog. It sounded pretty darn sad.

Then, there's someone practicing drums (outside??)--marching band-style. I was thinking maybe it was John watching the U of M game on surround sound, but it kept happening. Was I wrong? Was it REALLY someone watching the game really too loud? If someone was actually drumming outside, I think we should go beat up the parents for making the kids practice outside. Who does that?!

Yes, today is my day to be ticked off at noises.

It's finally happened.

I am sitting by the t.v., Hunter bouncing along in his Exersaucer, watching... THE WIGGLES. The horror! The agony! It's almost as mind-numbing as Baby Einstein. My beloved nephew Austin used to watch a Wiggles video to go to sleep. Can you believe his parents never made the connection between the Wiggles video and Austin waking up screaming bloody murder in the middle of the night for weeks on end?!

Hunter doesn't seem to be paying much attention to the t.v., but he is jumping ("baby dancing") when I clap to the music. It's kind of funny. He likes the little blob of yellow clay that introduces the show (appropriately named "Clay"). Clay also makes him baby dance. What a big bodderbooey. I usually just watch my shows, which he pretty much ignores. He does seem to like "Jerry Springer," though. All the shouting from the audience is pretty stimulating, I suppose. Heh. Yes, I am a horrible mother. I think the show is so over the top, it's pretty funny. Another subject, before half my family chews me out.

Watching The Wiggles with Hunter ALMOST surpasses watching Barney with Logan. I swore off Barney when I was forced to watch it during Jon-Jon's babyhood.... That was mind-numbing, and also made me drool. Then Logan decided it was a fun thing to watch. He was quiet (a first!), so Barney was no longer out of the question. I'm such a pushover. What next?

And now, back by popular demand...

IT'S ME!!!

Okay, okay, so I missed a day. I really had nothing new to say yesterday, and was pretty tired..... So I spared the wasted space on the Internet. Or something like that.

Today I went to "The Somerset Collection." I put that in quotations because it really sorta fits. It's as if most of those people believe they are some sort of royalty. It's a place where people take one look at your clothes (shorts and a tank top, in my case) and decide if they should ask you whether you need help--and half of those people who do ask are only doing so to make sure you didn't accidentally venture in from off the street thinking you were, well, at Scummit Place. These are the same people who took one look at my grandma, stuck up their noses, and suggested that maybe she was in the wrong store. Hooo... Yes, that place is like a voyage into a new dimension. Don't get me wrong, I'd love to walk in there and drop some serious cash (on the condition that I actually had some); but if I had the cash to spend there, I wouldn't act like it.

My whole reason for going to Somerset was to find drawer pulls. I visited Crate & Barrel, Restoration Hardware, and Pottery Barn. I only had success at Restoration Hardware, after walking the entire mall at least once (and by the entire mall, I do mean the second part of the mall on the other side of Big Beaver, too). Needless to say, I was not prepared, and was wearing pretty inappropriate foot gear. And after all this work, I'm looking at paying $10 per drawer pull, and that's not even for a very interesting one. I can think of a ton of better ideas on how to spend $300-400. I did go to the Expo (Home Depot) down the road from Somerset, and they had a lot of different things, too, but still more expensive. Oh well. I guess I just needed to see what in the world was out there. What can I say? Drawer pulls are very boring.

I went to visit my grandparents tonight, which has been long overdue. It was nice to spend some time with them, and let Hunter enterain them, too. As an added bonus, I got my cousin Donnie's new CD. It is pretty cool--even has a booklet with artwork, and artwork on the CD. I haven't listened to it yet, but every time I get a new CD from Donnie I listen to it for a few weeks straight. He's that good.

I met Billy's new co-worker today. His name is Richard, but he looked me in the eye and said, "I'm Dick." Billy had obviously told him about my inappropriate comment RE: Rich during youth group.

OH, FOR THE LOVE!

Let's try this again! I had my post all done and ready to submit, then the blogger just went crazy and then KAPUT!

I'm supposed to tell the world that Becki did not make a second "fashion faux pas" today on our bike ride. I am dying to elaborate, but, really.... I'll spare you all the gory details.

GAH! I just remembered that I forgot to call my grandparents to wish them a happy 64th wedding anniversary! I even had a mental note to call them, despite the fact they were out to lunch with their children, and leave a message on the machine. Why, oh, why??? Please, Grandma and Grandpa... Don't hate me because my brain is on siesta!

On a totally unrelated note (not that anything has been related, but anyway...), I finally finished watching Starsky & Hutch. It was worth the wait... So wonderful in its cheezy goodness. And, with that, I'll end with the quintessential Starsky & Hutch line: "DO IT."

Blah...

Today would not be what I consider as a banner day, mentally and emotionally. I am staring at the old house, not sure where to start to tackle packing/cleaning, etc. Billy has dropped the bomb that he is pretty much out of commission this week due to lots of night work.... So, thanks for nothing. I wanted the house ready for an open house this weekend now that we've decided it's up for sale again. Ahhhhh well. It seems like the more I pack, the worse things look.

The funk I am in is encompassing me like quicksand. The more I kick and struggle, the more I sink.

I keep meaning to say a big hello and get better to Mat & Marissa, both of whom now will be talking less like chipmunks sans tonsils. I have been feeling sympathetic for you two, so have been napping frequently and eating lots of ice cream. Do you feel better yet?

And Mitchell's birthday was yesterday. Happy Birthday to you, happy birthday to you, happy birthday dear Mitchell.... Happy birthday to you (mental note: Send Michael Jackson a royalty check). I keep thinking of him throwing up his fists in triumph when John told him they were going to Best Buy after lunch. Hahahaha.

Meagan and Emma, well.... Nothing too new there, not as of yesterday, at least.

I don't know how to make myself happy today, but I did buy some Hershey's chocolate syrup so I can make chocolate milk. Mooooohahaha.

Improving Home Improvement

Yes, the moment you have all been waiting for.... We have finally purchased ceiling fans for the new house! Please, try to control your excitement, folks.... They're just fans! But I am pleased to announce that we bought four $40 fans for the price of the one fan Billy really liked at the lighting store. We paid, and he actually said, "Look at how much we got!" I would've done a spit-take (had I been drinking anything). I figured he was going to complain about how much money we had spent. It just goes to show that I don't know a thing about what goes through my husband's mind.

I was blessed with Maya's booty-shake tonight at church--which, admittedly, is a very, very bad place to see a booty shake, in my opinion. But, being how she's only three years old, I guess she doesn't have the same sense of propriety that [most of] the rest of us do. This is, also, not a really significant thing to write about, except for the fact that the booty-shake was hilarious. I have a picture in the back of my mind of Wendy trying to teach Maya just how this is done. Need I say more?

And another thing... I have halogen lights over my sink. These lights have not worked for, oh, I'd say a few years. We just assumed the fixture had died. I finally convinced Billy to look at it this afternoon. Turns out, the one of the lightbulbs burned out, and this light automatically stops working if one bulb burns out. Billy changed the bulbs, and voila! You've got to be kidding me! I think this is a good reason as to why we're willing to pay our builder so much extra to get the things in our house we really, really want. I mean, THREE years for a lightbulb. If we were talking about, say, a toilet or a sink.... Well, I think the day would never come. I think I feel a joke coming: "How many men does it take to change a lightbulb? ANYONE BUT BILLY." Heh. So it didn't make sense--so sue me!

Totally unrelated: There's a version of the Beatles' "Paperback Writer" playing on a Buick commercial. It sounds like it's done by the B-52's. I'll have to find out if that's true. The B-52's make me happy.