the.chronicles.of.decem... ef.[5.of.x]

christmas

moving

kitchen

new years

craigslist

electrical

roof

ack! ive told you guys so much, but theres still so much left! this is getting exhausting, but we are making progress... i guess...

 so we've now made it half-way through new years, lets just pick up there and keep this thing going, hm? im bound to catch up eventually. especially since theres nothing going on in the present worth mentioning that you arent already aware of, so that helps. i guess.

new years[2nd.half]

so new years day we slept in considering the festivities from the night before and the time we went to bed. i think we got up around 11am and after very short deliberation we agreed we were both in the mood for a diner breakfast. also on the agenda for the day was going to the depot to use more gift cards, but we'll get to that later. since we were alreay headed in the direction of the depot we tried to figure out what diner breakfast establishments were in the near vicinity. after a lot of thought we finally remembered day break. for those of you living in and around the cincinnati area, youre probably familiar with day break in the hyde park shopping center. its a small, quaint little restaurant that serves breakfast all day [for a decent price and from our experience a good quality meal] in a nice relaxing atmosphere - EXACTLY what we were in the mood for. 

well given that it was new years day and inching ever closer to noon, we werent even sure if they were going to be open [not much else was as we drove there] but to our surprise and elation, it was! so we parked and trotted up to the door only to find a line stretching to the door of people waiting to be seated. well... that was fine with us. we really werent in a hurry and karen really really wanted breakfast, so we figured it wouldnt be terrible to wait. especially after we overheard from the girl in front of us, that had just returned from asking, that the wait to be seated was only 20 minutes. pft, that aint bad at all. so at this point its roughly 11:45am and we're now in line to be seated in roughly 25-30 minutes [conservatively]. 

so we waited our turn in line discussing the projects we were intending to work on later that day, the materials we wanted to get [most of this pertaining to the fore-mentioned pegboard wall/kitchen project + a little more], listening to the conversations of those around us [i heard the most fascinating conversation from the people in front of us about the design and construction of a carbon fiber bike frame and i was practically entranced, lol! it was very interesting stuff!], and other general waiting type stuff. finally we arrived at the front of the line, requested our table and a few minutes later were shuffled to our seats. at this point it had been closer to a half our from my memory, but we were in high spirits and starving! 

eventually our waitress made her way to our table to bring us some water and take our order. the first question she asked was if wed like a pitcher of coffee [they bring a whole pitcher to your table and leave it, pretty sweet deal] and after inquiring about the wait - it might be a little while - we decided most definitely we needed coffee. so while she went to get the coffee we decided what delicious mouthwatering breakfast entrees we were in the mood for that morning [karen = the flying pig omlette, which has every kind of breakfast meat you can get from a pig piled in a 4 egg omlette with day break potatoes, & cheddar & jack cheese. me = the loaded skillet, which has eggs, cheese, daybreak potatoes, & two other options from a list - i chose steak and avacado! and to share between us, a couple of big fluffy pancakes with all the trimmings. we were hungry yall. period.] and when she finally [not exaggerating here] returned with our coffee we excitedly gaver her our order and started in on our coffee. 

this is where the story takes a turn... i dont remember exactly how long it took, karen and i got quite carried away in conversation about our respective college experiences, dorm life, city life, and the food options - dont ask me how we got on the topic because i cant remember that much. i was wearing my a&m hoodie, perhaps that sparked it, but eventually the woman sitting within about a foot and a half of me [definitely in my bubble] at the next table leaned over exasperated and asked "just exactly how long have you been here?" well we took a second, thought about it, looked at our watches... hmm... it had been a while, a long while, and my stomach was in knots. well we realized at that point we'd been there about an hour and a half since ordering and this woman and her child had arrived soon after us. well...she was starting to get livid. the waitress was no where to be found and as we surveyed the tables around us we realized that NO one had food at their table. well this woman wasnt exactly reserved with  her opinions whcih sparked conversation with a number of tables around us one of which revealed that shed talked to the hostess a few times, the waitress had been missing for a while and the manager had apparently locked himself in his office and no one had heard from him in quite some time... uh-oh... this wasnt good... soon the waitress did reappear and we discovered after a lot of effort that they were short staffed in the kitchen, they werent calling anyone else, it would be at LEAST 20 more minutes for our food but she couldnt say for sure, and there was nothing she could do about it. well at this point the woman behind us was irrate and she eventually left with her child in a storm of animosity while questioning the sanity of those of us still seated. haha! we had to laugh, because she was very very right. so karen and i discussed our options at length, i went to the restroom while she thought it over, and once i returned we [also quite exasperated at this point] decided to give up and get some freaking food already. there was really no end in sight to the waiting, no one could give us any time frame, and a number of people clapped and cheered as we left our coffee cups sitting on the table, lol! at that point we'd waited something like 2 hours, and i think thats pretty much my limit - especially when the manager isnt doing anything to correct the problem!! ive worked in a restaurant, ive pulled double duty, hell ive pulled triple duty. you try managing, cooking, waiting tables, and bartending with one other co-worker during a lunch rush for nearly an entire summer... its not fun, but you get pretty good at it, lol! this idiot should have called some cooks in, he should have been back there cooking himself, he should have been making the rounds apologizing and comping drinks, he should have done SOMETHING! but no. not a damn thing. i think its sufficient to say that i am now boycotting day break for a period yet to be determined, i doubt itll be anytime in the forseeable future.

i dont know how much longer the rest of those people waited before they regained their sanity, but i had plenty of clarity, haha! so karen and i circled to the other side of the parking lot and went to tgi-fridays, where there was no line, no wait, and they were mysitified by our story, lol! well we sat down ordered some really amazing food and indulged our appetites until we couldnt eat another bite... it was incredibly satisfying... you cant even imagine. i think my favorite part was the ultimate mudslide drink we shared, man this thing was amazing!

so after our lunch fiasco, we made our way to the depot for the productive portion of our day. at home depot we went straight to the paint department where we spent the next half hour to 45 minutes staring at paint swatches, coordinating, discussing, planning, and eventually selecting the color palattes for the kitchen, the parlor, and the dining room, and taking all of it to the mixer-man to mix-up for us. well at two cans per wall color and one can per ceiling and accent color for 3 rooms, it was going to take a little time, so we left the paint center to see about finding our peg board. well friends, this is the point in the story where the depot now disappoints us. their selection in peg board was all but non-existent. and as for hooks and hangers for peg board, there were none to be found - anywhere. so a little disheartened we returned to the paint center to pick up our paint, and the check out with the paint and a few other items [like a new ladder, a few small paint brushes, tape, etc.] and boy howdy was it expensive! who knew you could spend so much money on painting supplies! good thing we had gift cards, lol! ;]

so now what? we didnt find our peg board and accessories... the only other option we had was lowes, whcih just happened to be about a block away, lol! we hadnt yet been to a lowes in cincy, and i hadnt been to one at all in quite some years, so we didnt know what to expect, but decided to give it a shot. well i tell you what, we were impressed. not only did they have plenty of peg board options to choose from, they also had hooks and hangers, and there was never a moment when we couldnt find someone eager to help us! at the depot we're constantly searching the isles for someone to direct us to a product that we cant find, retrieve something we cant get our selves, or some other circumstance requiring a little assistance. granted we usually can find someone within a few minutes of searching, but at lowes they were everywhere! it was a nice change, ill tell you that. we got in and out in a flash with them directing us to all the things we wanted. so with that, i'll go ahead and say it - i might just have to switch! haha! granted, the depot has a comparable selection on most everything weve needed so far, and we do have a lot of gift card left to spend there, so we wont be leaving the depot any time soon, but i think we'll be considering our options from now on - especially since the two are so close to each other!

and thus, we conclude new years. im sure you thought we never would, heh. 

craigslist. 

well this topic should be considerably less long winded, but i guess we'll see how it goes - you know how i get. 

so the only reason i bring up craigslist is to again praise its awesome-nity [so great it deserves to have a word made up on its behalf!]. last weekend we really hit the craigslist jackpot and jackpots come in 3's!

first of all, we've been perplexed for a while now about the furniture to house ratio predicament we've found ourselves in. the house is more than 3 times the size of any apartment we've ever had, and while we do have 2 peoples worth of stuff + wedding presents, it still doesnt fill all the rooms or even come close really. at this point the most ostentatious problem we faced was the parlor. temporarily we had karens leather couch in the parlor, but it really didnt fit and we wanted it in the "media" space anyhow. we'd been thinking about it a while and had come to the conclusion that we wanted really big-fluffy-cushiony-comfy couches and chairs for the parlor because eventually we want it to be kind of a "slightlt less than formal living room + library" type space and large luxurious furniture works great for entertaining in a comforable atmosphere or kicking back with a book or your laptop. well anyway, we recently hit the jackpot [like i believe ive already mentioned] and found an entire set of furniture that closely matches what we were looking for, at only $200 for the entire set! we got a huge chair, a sofa, and a full size couch - complete with sueded micro-fiber slip covers - from a nice little indian couple who were having a baby soon and were ready to redecorate their entire place. the furniture was a little heavy and very difficult to move at first, but eventually we figured out how to hold it and moving it got significantly easier[although getting it through the front door certainly wasnt, lol!] 

second on the list was a true find - in that we werent even looking for it, we just happened upon it and it turned out to be an awesome buy [i promise ill try and put pictures of all these things up soon, i really didnt think to take any before now, sorry!]. its kind of a vintage wine rack/cage that holds up to 45 bottles [i think] and its just sooo cool! i dont think we'll ever get near that many bottles in it, but its a really fun little piece to have in the house and we just love it. not really too exciting of a story here, but we're really happy with the deal we got on it =]

lastly, wasnt a buy, but a sell. my old truck! thats right, the piece of crap truck that ive mentioned a few times on this blog, was actually sold. and for a damn good price too! certainly not anywhere near the money ive put into it [far far far from it...] but FOUR times what the salvage yards we called were offering! so yeah, im pretty ecstatic about that one. we put it up with some pictures at about 9pm and by the time we went to bed aroun 10:30 id already had about 11 e-mails from people interested in it. well, the guy we ended up selling to didnt flinch at the busted spindle and thought it would be a perfect addition to his farm as a work truck. its kind of poetic i guess... that thing started out as a work truck from some woman in houston [who took terrible care of it!], then came to me, and im sure it'll see the end of its days in a pasture somewhere now as well. and the circle of life comes round to completion, eh? well anyway, good ridance! =]

and now folks, its that time again. but hey! we made some serious progress! only two topics left for next time [most likely thursday's lunch, i have a l&l tomorrow, heh] and those should go pretty quick... well, haha, we'll see anyway. 

hope youre all enjoying the week so far, have a great evening!!