Halloween 2009

Well, it came and went. We Thrilled the World dancing to Michael Jackson's Thriller attemting to get ourselves into the Guiness Book of World Records for the most people dancing Thriller simultaneously around the world. From what I understand, last year only 4,000 people around the world participated. This year, it was 23,000. So who knows...you just might see my name in that book someday.


This year was the 10th year that Scott and Donna held their party. Each year there has been a theme, and this year the theme was to revisit the past themes. So we could pick our favorite theme from the past and do a new costume, or use a past costume and re-imagine it a little for this year. So, I sat and jotted down all of the past themes, then started writing down costume ideas based on those themes. Once I wrote down Big Trouble in Little China, I stopped. Brilliant! Perfect! A movie so bad it's awesome, and both Chris and I love this movie. Besides, I've already got the green eyes!


We only got a couple of votes in the costume contest, but it was awesome that pretty much everyone knew exactly who we were; Jack Burton and Grace Law. But, then again, all of our friends are a bunch of geeks just like us, so of course everyone is going to understand, LOL. So here are the results, pictures from the movie...followed by us. Tell me what you think??

Tribute to a fellow dancer.

I'm not sure if he'd ever remember, but I met him once. Very humble and kind to all these 13-16 year old girls hyperventilating in his presence. Right around the time the movie, Dirty Dancing came out, a few of us girls from Debbie's Dance Place were enrolled in a dance caravan. Well known choreographers from all over went all over the US, teaching us the newest dance moves for the better part of a week. It was a yearly event, held at the Drawbridge Inn in Florence, Ky. One of the choreographers? Bambi Swayze...his sister. He came to visit her...and we bumped into him at the restaurant inside the Inn. The name of the restaurant now escapes me, but I'll never forget the experience. He signed my napkin, which I've unfortunately lost over time, he laughed, thanked us for being fans, gave us all hugs, and almost seemed embarrassed over the attention he garnered, but he was gracious and kind through it all. A Hollywood star with a heart of gold.



To borrow a quote from The Outsiders, stay gold Patrick...stay gold.

Tai Chi

So, on the advice of a friend (ahem, Jen!!), I took my first Tai Chi class on Sunday.

Picked up my first 4 moves pretty quickly, sweated my ass off, and thoroughly loved every minute of it. Can't wait for class number 2!

My next new purchase!!!

I got a car! I finally, after 2 years of bemoaning the piece of shit I had to drive, I was finally able to get a new car! It's a 2005 Jeep Grand Cherokee Loredo, 4x4, black exterior, tan leather interior. And as an added bonus, there are heated seats and the gas & brake pedals adjust to the driver. Not even our selling point, we were impressed with the car without those things. I didn't even realize it had those until after we shook hands on the deal! It's so beautiful I just love standing in my garage just looking at it. It's gonna feel weird having to make car payments again though. I've had the Monte Carlo paid off for the last 5 years. But we still made a great deal with it. It was a deal that we were completely happy with, and the customer service we got at the dealership was unexpected. It was phenomenal customer service! While I'm no fan of Hyundai's in general, the salesman at Columbia Hyundai treated us really well, didn't pressure us into buying, worked out the deal so that I was paying a monthly rate I was comfortable with. So yesterday, I drove past my old car, saying Sayonara to that headache, and drove out onto the highway with my new piece of happiness! I smile just thinking about it.






Isn't she pretty??? I need to think of a name for her!







New home...new car...Hmmmm, I wonder what could be next! ;)

Ahem!! Chris and I would like to announce........

That we are officially home owners!

It's been a very long trip to get this house, but it finally happened. We closed a little later than we thought, and moved in just before our deadline to get out of our apartment, and we still had to wait for the seller's paperwork to show up, signed and notorized, so that our mortgage company could then send the payment and papers up to the bank that currently holds the mortgage, and as of 5:00 yesterday, that was all completed.

So, now on to the unpacking, rearranging, roof fixing, ant repelling, and general cleaning up of the house to make it look like home!

I'd like to send a thank you to all of you that helped us!

Carol and Joe, you've been there every step of the way. And Carol, I think you worked harder than I did, LOL. And I want to thank you guys for the home-coming present. And the tarp. And the help getting everything into the house. And the help you gave in hooking up stuff. And the help in finding all the information we needed for the house. And the use of the tools when I couldn't find my own. And the....well, and everything!!! Even for the shoulders to cry on! My mother has often said that she's comforted by the fact that you guys are just across the street from me, and that you guys (plus Chris) are the answer to her prayers. :)

Scott and Donna! Both of you have been so supportive! You came in helped us get stuff moved at the last minute when the movers were late. You let us borrow multiple things, and gave us the extra grass fertilizer and grub repellent. And you and Carol removed those rows of ragweed that was growing and planted lots of pretty flowers so that when we moved in, it already looked like a home! It's all meant so much.

Scott and Joan! You've come and cut our weeds, and took pictures of the house damage, gave us use of one of your tarps, called and offered whatever help I may need, called when you heard stuff was messed up at the bank and asked if there was anything you could do to help, and just in case the bank didn't get the paperwork done in time for the deadline, which would in turn leave us homeless for a while, you offered your extra bedroom to us so that we had a roof over our head in our time of need. I don't even have the words to tell you how much that meant.

Jen Johnson, you've offered an ear, a shoulder, you've been a cheerleader, and a great friend in all of this. All of your crossed fingers and prayers have helped us through this stress. Once we get everything unpacked and arranged in the house...it'll be time for painting! And you have offered your help in getting our house decorated and painted, and trust me, we'll definitely need that help!

And finally Pat Winchell, our realtor. Carol's mom! I know that you went above and beyond the call of duty, and I feel like there's no way I can thank you enough. You've been there to answer all of our questions, address any of our concerns, and you absolutely worked your ASS off to get this deal to work out, come hell or high water. And I know there was a lot of hell that we had to fight through, but you fought and fought and fought....and fought more. You've just been amazing...and amazing doesn't even come close to describing what you've done. Chris and I don't put our trust in people easily...trust is earned. But we completely trusted you...100%. We knew that we were in good hands with you. And we feel lucky that we had the best realtor on this planet! (Oh, and thank you for the oodles of wine! Definitely needed that!)

All of you have been the best of friends to both of us. All of you know that I've had a pretty hard path to walk down in my life...and for the last 5+ years, I've been working on getting everything back on track. And for the last 3.5 years, I've really been getting to that point in my life where I'm absolutely happy. Chris in my life was a blessing, and I've come to learn to love myself again. And with the help of all of you, I've gained my life back. But with the trials and troubles we had with getting this house, all of you stepped up when both Chris and I needed help the most...and you all did it without giving it a second thought. You just came in and did everything possible. And this really proves to me that my life is completely fulfilled. I have a wonderful man, I have only the best friends in the world, and I am now the happiest I've ever been in my life. It's hard to find the words to convey how important all of this is to me...and you all mean so very much to me, you mean so very much to the both of us. Thank you, thank you, and thank you again!!!

Housing News!

Well, it's finally been approved! The bank finally approved our offer! It only took 9 months and an email to the BBB and a tv interview with Howard Ain, but hey, who's counting?

So, as it stands right now...we close on June 18th, and we move in on June 24th. We figured it'd probably be a good idea to go into the house before then and make sure that there was no structural damage to the house since the roof blew off last September when Ike decided to pay us a visit. There was a small patch of wood exposed, and we feared the worst! So I called my Uncle Mike, who is a foreman for his own construction company, and asked if he'd be willing to stop by and take a quick look. Well, believe it or not, once he got up in the attic, there wasn't any damage!!! Color me shocked! The only damage we did sustain was in a small section of carpet below window in the front of the house. The water that did come in, rather than coming into the attic, went down the wall and onto the floor. So when we walked in, the carpet there was wet and a little discolored, and a couple of mold spores were growing since the house inside was quite humid (being that the A/C unit wasn't on). So we wanted to take a picture of the damage just so we could document it. I called Scott and Joan who brought over their camera, and took pictures for us (thank you!!!!) Then we vacuumed up the mold spores, and Carol brought over her steamer and started steaming the carpet (and thank you!!!). The discoloration started coming right out immediately. So we thought it'd be easier if we just tore up that part of the carpet and set it up on some wooden braces to let it air dry, we tore up the padding underneath and just went ahead and pitched it (easy and cheap enough to replace), and let the wood floor under all of that dry out. Thankfully enough the wood is not warped or soft. It kept its shape! So we caught this just in the nick of time. Carol and Joan brought over their extra tarps and Uncle Mike tarped the roof so that further water is prevented from getting in, and Scott brought over his weed whacker and started trimming our weeds (thanks Scott!!!). And in the next couple of weeks before we move, Carol and I will go in and continue steaming the carpet until it's all the right color again and it's clean and sanitized. I'm going to get something called Kill Mold Fast (something Pat recommended) and that way it will prevent any more mold from growing. That way it'll be ready to move into by the time we actually move.

I went ahead and called Duke Energy, and the Clermont County water company, and Time Warner, and I've got everything switched over and scheduled to be turned on. We have to test the pipes to make sure none of them are leaking, and we need to check each breaker circuit to make sure all the electricity is running through the wires properly and we have to check for gas leaks. The house has been vacant for 2 years now, and there's lots of work to be done to it, but it's work I don't mind doing. This time it's different...this time it's for our home. I've never, in my life, been so excited to pack and move, and this time I'm very excited about it!

Countdown to close: 17 days
Countdown to move: 23 days.

IMAX!!!!!!!

So we get to go early!! I ordered tickets to see Star Trek, at a special advanced screening on Thursday, May 7th, in the IMAX!!!! Picked them up yesterday!

And on Twitter, the old cast of TNG are already telling us that they LOVE this movie!

SOOOO EXCITED!!!!!