Toadfrogs and Elephants

I met Jamie my Sophomore year, her freshman year, at Tech (at least I think it was then). Anyway, somewhere along the way we moved in together. What a shock when we realized so many of the clothes in our closets were identical. We are close to the same size, and obviously had the same taste, so it was a lot of fun sharing clothes over the years. Then we went on Semester At Sea and shopped our way around the world.

Jamie recently bought a townhouse on the far side of Atlanta from me. Due to the distance, and our crazy schedules, I haven’t seen her new place since she got it filled with furniture. I went over tonight to see her house, hang out a little, and have dinner with Daniel. As I was going through her closet, I found a whole section of clothes she was giving away. I found a great red sweater and had to laugh when she said she bought it when she was in the 8th grade. Oh well, it’s new for me!

I thought all Waffle Houses were the same. Every single one I have been to has my cheese eggs, grits, and raisin toast. Not to mention the best orange juice. I know it is Minute Maid brand, but the stuff I make at home isn’t as good. I always order a large and take with me what I don’t finish.

Wade and I have eaten there quite a bit recently, especially when we are in Anderson and don’t have a kitchen. We met up for dinner tonight in Commerce, GA (halfway between Atlanta and Anderson). Being Valentine’s Day, most restaurants were booked for hours. We decided on Waffle House, which was nice and easy. I strayed from my normal meal and wanted to order the chocolate chip waffle, which I have had only twice before. I had my glass of milk before the waitress told me they don’t have chocolate chip waffles. Not all Waffle Houses serve the same stuff! What is up with that?

Isn’t it crazy how one person can affect your mood so much? I was having a good day at work. I’m actually enjoying wrapping things up – Friday is my last day. Then I asked a person a question. I never know what to expect when I talk to this person. Sometimes they are short, sometimes almost rude, other times very friendly. The last conversation had been a friendly one so I was expecting the same. Instead I got a very curt, sarcastic response. I then felt stupid for asking the question (the question was about an upcoming meeting, not my work). Anyway, as he walked away I was thinking how crazy it is that one person could ruin my good mood. I decided to be happy anyway, but it left me with a funny feeling about the person and my work here.

Our house didn’t come with a fridge so that was one of the first things we went hunting for. It took Wade and I awhile to agree (our tastes are very different), but we finally decided on one – a KitchenAid. Then we went to Home Depot and they had the brand new Maytag Ice2O. We quickly changed our minds again and now we have a new fridge. Our future plans include remodeling the kitchen so we decided to get what we really wanted and we’d make it work with our kitchen later.

I took a few days off work to do some serious remodeling on the house. Wade’s dad had a conference in Athens so his mom was going to come help Wade and I. I picked her up on my way out of work and we headed to Anderson.

We started prepping to paint and realized we had a little problem. The house uses plaster board, which over time starts to turn to powder. If there are a couple layers of paint, they become too heavy and start peeling off. The only way to fix the problem is to chip off all the paint and sand it down. As you can see, I definitely got into the sanding.

I hate the whole concept of tipping (and negotiating for that matter). I would much rather someone up the price by a couple dollars and that be that. Everyone gets the restaurant tipping – that one is easy. But what about all those iffy places and situations? Like when you get your hair cut? I go to the cheap places. I never have the same person twice. Why do I need to tip them? I can’t even tell if they have done a good job till I get home. Or how about delivery men? Not FedEx or UPS, but sofa deliveries and flower deliveries? Are you supposed to tip the AAA man? What about the people who put together your to-go order at a restaurant? Waffle House adds a tip into your order total and if Waffle House thinks you should….

Or how about when you get your car washed? I am rather particular so I normally wash my own car. However, in a few instances I have gone to a professional car wash. Today I was charged $28, which seems like a lot to me. Then when I go to get in my car, I swear the woman got mad that I didn’t tip her. Maybe I should, but I felt like I had already paid enough for my clean car. Especially when I looked in the backseat and still saw Madison paw prints on the leather seats.

So, suggestions anyone? When are you supposed to tip? And how do you know?!?!

I am going to be in my friend Johnna’s wedding this summer. She has picked out the bridesmaid dresses and asked us to call in our measurements so the dresses could be ordered. Determining dress size from measurements is always a tricky thing and rarely works out quite right. I had the grand idea of finding a store in Atlanta with the dress and simply trying it on to find the right size. I called around to a few places and found one or two with the dress.

One place I called didn’t answer and sent me straight to voicemail. I didn’t leave a message and didn’t call back. However, the woman evidently has caller ID and called me back at work. I was a little annoyed by this. If I had wanted to talk to her I would have left a message. Oh well, I told her I wasn’t looking to buy the dress, just try it on. She proceeded to lecture me and ask me all kinds of questions. I just wanted off the phone. I finally ended the conversation and thought that would be the end of it. Wrong! For the past week, this woman has been calling and leaving messages on my phone. I get two messages a day from this nut job. Geez! You’d think at some point she would get the hint.

Wade and I are homeowners. We had to make a last minute wire transfer, set up an escrow account for some unfinished repairs, and the house was ours. We got the keys and immediately started our projects. The first was ripping the carpet out of the downstairs bedroom. The rest of the weekend we sanded the front door, patched holes in the walls, chipped the tile from the fireplace, scraped the sunroom ceiling, and scarped the sunroom walls.

Wade and Madison before the demolition

Madison wasn’t too sure about all of the remodeling. She would run and hide and then sit peeping around the corner checking on us. She did love the backyard and the dog on the other side of the fence.

I had a first encounter with a neighbor. We had a full driveway of cars so I parked on the street. When I got back from the closing, there was a typed note telling me not to park in the street. Of course, the note begins with “Not to be a bad neighbor, but…” You’d think she would at least introduce herself to me first or wait to see if it ever happened again. Geez.