Today's the Day

Today's the day our house really becomes ours. After work we're going to get the keys from the former owners, and claim it for ourselves by unloading the first of many boxes.

Our house. It feels strange and yet exciting to say that!

Joel and I are as giddy as kids on Christmas morning.

Ready for the Holiday Weekend

Fridays are every office worker's favorite day, no matter how much you like what you do. And the Friday of a holiday weekend is even better. Our office is like most; half of the people took the day off to enjoy an even longer weekend. The other half of us here in the office are a little more relaxed and unmotivated than usual. There's more chatter and laughter as people discuss their weekend plans.

Mid-afternoon I expect people will start slipping out, some headed for a cottage or camping, others home to clean or cook for BBQs and family get-togethers. We don't have any big weekend plans - just a housewarming BBQ at a friend's tomorrow night. Other than that, we're just going to relax and enjoy some time off.

Hope you all enjoy your holiday weekend as well!

Lost Sense of Security

This morning when I walked out to my car to go to work, I noticed that my door was unlocked. It struck me as odd, since I rarely forget to lock it. The next thing that struck me as odd was the fact my door wasn't shut. I knew I didn't leave it ajar. With a creepy feeling, I opened the door to find the travel screwdriver normally in the center console on my seat, and my glove compartment open. The CD cases normally organzied in my center console were askew, and one was laying on the passenger seat.

I started feeling ill. Part of me hoped Joel had gotten something from my car earlier that morning, and just forgotten to tell me. But I knew that wasn't the case. Someone else had been in my car and rifled through things. I started looking around - stereo? There. CDs? All there. Random things like shoes, cleats, softball glove, etc, that were left out in my car? Still there. Gas gauge? Still in the same spot it was yesterday. I even got out and looked at my tires - all there, and all inflated. The only noticable thing missing was most the change I usually had in the center console. All that remained were a few pennies and a dime.

Apparently money is what they were after, because anything else of value is thankfully still there. But it's very unsettling to know that hours earlier, some stranger was in my car while we slept. Especially since my car was parked in the driveway, a few feet away from the house and our bedroom window.

Maybe the person really needed the money. But they took my sense of security when they stole a little more than a dollar's worth of change.

Europe Overview

Here's an overview of all the places we visited in Europe the past two and a half weeks:

Prague, Czech Republic
Munich, Germany
Bavaria, Germany
Interlaken, Switzerland
Geneva, Switzerland
Paris/Versailles, France
Normandy, France
Bruges, Belgium
Goes, Netherlands
Amsterdam, Netherlands

Spring Fever

The sun is shining and with temperatures around 50 degrees, it feels like spring here in Michigan. Finally. It's giving me spring fever. I don't want to be cooped up inside in my office, I want to be outside. I want to be breathing in the fresh air and enjoying the return of green grass and colorful budding flowers. I thought I might be the only one, but a couple of my friends shared they too have spring fever.

Here's to spring fever!

Solar Power

I ate my bowl of cereal this morning standing in the middle of the kitchen, with my body towards the big picture window. The window faces east and the sunshine was gloriously bright as it came up over the horizon. I had to squint my eyes to eat, but the light and warmth on my face and body was worth it.

And once I was done with my cereal, I closed my eyes and just stood in the sunlight for a minute. Standing there in my polka-dot pajamas, eyes closed, soaking in the light, I couldn't help but smile.

I was picturing my neighbor looking out his window into our kitchen, and seeing what a strange, solar-powered person I am.

The Week of Green

Since green is my favorite color - and is one of the best colors on me - I own a lot of green clothing. I joked I could probably wear green for a whole month. After studying my closet for the number of green items, I determined I couldn't do a month of different green items. But I could easily do a week.

And this has been my week of green. On Monday when I showed up in a green blouse with my black suit, a couple people asked me what I would wear the next day, St. Patrick's Day. This is typically when most people intentionally wear green. Not me, I said. I'd be wearing green all week!