Mel’s Life

After over a year of not posting a thing to this site and several months of not even looking at it I’m not sure what I’m even doing sitting here typing. All my video links are broken. My comments (I set them to not notify me months ago) are filled with spam. And I’m sure I haven’t a reader left. But what the heck, it’s my space. Might as well use it. I have every intention of making videos again. It’s just that the last year has been rather busy.

Clint and I moved from Seattle to Arkansas with 2 cats and a dog a little over a year ago. In February, Clint and I moved from Arkansas to Denver with 2 cats, a dog and a 1 year old baby. We’ve kind of had our hands full. At the end of last March our daughter Katie was born. She is the greatest kid in the entire world. Everyone kept telling me to enjoy her when she was little. I thought by “little” they meant “baby” which I defined as under 3 years old. I didn’t realize they meant “enjoy her while she’s 3 weeks old”. That sweet little phase where you can hold them in your arms and they will sleep passes in a matter of weeks and now I have this thing that runs around the house and eats real food and forcefully pushes me away when I try to hug her so she can go play. But sometimes she still likes to cuddle and comes to me for kisses. I can’t imagine the rejection when she’s 16. I also can’t imagine how much her clothes are going to cost considering how much I spend at Baby Gap and Macy’s already.

So here we are in Denver (actually a suburb of Denver called Parker). Our life now that we have a baby is completely different in some ways and in others it is exactly the same. It’s the same in that we seem to be the same people. Saturday night (after Katie’s bedtime) consists of opening a bottle of wine, reading the descriptions of the movies we have in from Netflix and then one of us shuffling them while the other one picks one at random. We do this because because we’re too indecisive to choose on our own. I still soak in the tub with a book, spend a good deal of time online and do a lot of laundry. Clint is still… well… Clint.

How is life different? Well, before Katie I never bought whole milk. I had never said to Clint “No, you don’t want to put *that* thermometer in your mouth.”, rarely made a grilled cheese sandwich and never watched the Teletubbies. I said “you’re okay” a lot less and I wish someone had told me to enjoy using the bathroom in private because 1 year olds are extremely interested in that particular process.

Shopping with a 1 year old is an experience unto itself. It’s kind of amusing when Clint is with us. People make a really big deal over her. We had to go the mall the past weekend. I say had to and I really mean it. I bought a shirt at Macy’s the weekend before and when I went to wash it I discovered that the sales lady had neglected to remove the anti-theft ink tag. So into Macy’s we went and after I got my tag removed we went over to the various make up and perfume counters because I wanted to buy some perfume. It was kind of a confusing scene because I made the mistake of asking a lady at one of the counters where a particular brand was sold. In my defense I’d only been into that Macy’s once before (we’ve only lived here 2 months) and I didn’t want to walk all over the place, I just wanted someone to tell me where I could find it. Well, she leads me over there but wants to tell me all about the Clinique specials and then about how I need a Macy’s card. I just bought a bunch of Clinique makeup, thank you very much, and I don’t need a freakin’ Macy’s card.

When she finally gets me over to the right counter she must have given the perfume sales ladies some secret sign because they started in on me about a damn Macy’s card. I handed them a ziplock bag from my purse with a little sample of perfume and said “I want to buy this perfume, do you have it?” What should have been a simple transaction somehow did not go that simply. But I did end up getting out of there with my perfume, a free bag and no Macy’s card.

But that wasn’t the story. The story is that while I was waiting to buy my perfume this woman who was shopping (or an employee acting as a shopper to butter people up to try and get them to apply for Macy’s cards) turns to me and says “Is that your husband and little girl out there? I look “out there” (which is just outside the store) and I see Clint doing this sort of gallop and his pants are starting to slide down and his glasses and askew on his face (those of you who know Clint know he’s geeky enough without anything extra). He has Katie up on his shoulders. She was having a bad hair day so I had put her hair into these sort of pigtails. But her hair isn’t long enough for real pigtails so it was really just the front of her hair pulled into pigtails and it was just a poof of hair.. and they were very lopsided. As he is galloping around the mall outside of Macy’s she is swaying wildly from side to side and laughing hysterically. They looked like a couple of fools. I wasn’t sure if I should laugh or run. But I said “yes, they are mine.” Luckily, the lady said “Oh, she is just the cutest little girl.” Which then turned into this horrible chain reaction of every sales lady and female customer in a 20 foot radius chiming in with “oooh.. she’s adorable” and “you’re so lucky to have a husband that’s so good with her.” I felt a strange mixture of pride and extreme embarrassment. I was just glad to get my perfume and get out of there. Macy’s is scary.

So now I’ve put something up on my blog. I’d like to put something spectacular up, and maybe I will. But now I feel like I’ve taken a step in reclaiming it. My next step will be to get the video links fixed. Unfortunately I am unable to fix that myself - it’s a problem with the server they’re on so I must rely on Clint for that and he mumbled when I mentioned it. I’m not sure what the use is in being married to a geek if they can’t fix things like that for you. Actually, that’s unfair. He fixed the comments in the gallery. Yes, I’m limited in what I can fix.

Filed by Mel at 12:54 am under Just a Thought
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As of now, we have moved to Arkansas. I am here, Clint is here, my dog is here, my cats are here, and our cars are here. All that’s left is for the truck to show up. But as for things we have to oversea, arrange, negotiate, etc…. we’re done. Yeah!

Filed by Mel at 12:13 am under Just a Thought
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I packed my bags last night, pre-flight. Zero hours, 9am. And I’m gonna be high…iiiiighhhhh as a kite by then.

Acutally, I packed my bags tonight while on the phone. Our flight leaves at 9:30am and I will not be high as a kite. But I love Elton John…. so why not.
All’s that left of this move is for me to blow dry my hair, sleep, and get on a plane. There’s freezing rain and ice predicted for tonight - hopefully this won’t interfere with our plans.
I am so ready for this move to be behind us. Our cars arrived in Arkansas today, our truck should be there around Thursday - this is only a prediction, and I should be there tomorrow.

Almost there.

Filed by Mel at 2:07 am under Just a Thought
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We’ve been in our apartment for 2 1/2 days now with no furniture, no tv, and no pots and pans. No cars either. We’ve entertained ourselves fairly well. On Friday we walked to my old job to pick up my paycheck and then to the bank. Today we went to see a movie - Good Night and Good Luck - which was pretty enjoyable. It was the fourth movie I’ve watched so far. I’m getting a little tired of watching movies. We’ve played two games of Scrabble and one game of chess. I’m ready to be in Arkansas. I’m going to go google strange things now to see if I can provide a couple of hours of entertainment that way.

I’m bored.

Filed by Mel at 3:27 am under Just a Thought
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I swear that when I get to Arkansas and settled down (and when the mac arrives safely) there will be a new video on this site documenting this move (or documenting something moderately interesting)

But good news here. We are 5 for 5. The truck is loaded and gone. I have to say that if you live in this area and you need to move, it would be well worth your money to hire the movers we got. Central Washington Transfer sent out two people and they were absolutely amazing. I won’t say what they charged us, but let me just say that it was way under what one would expect for almost 4 hours of hard work. Kara (I’m probably spelling her name wrong) and Dan (Clint and I think that was his name) are currently personal hero’s of mine. Clint and I have never been so pleased with a service. They packed 13 feet long, 8 feet wide, and 10 feet high of our crap, and I’ll weigh in with my final analysis once we unpack - but let me tell you - those boxes aren’t shifting during transit.
Seriously, I can’t praise them enough.

So here we are - we’re halfway through our first rum and cokes and halfway through a game of scrabble (which I currently have 3 A’s and little else to use in my next word) and an air mattress already inflated. We’re happy. Only one thing left to check off our list - as long as we can get ourselves to Arkansas this move will be a complete success.

5 for 5.

Filed by Mel at 12:07 am under Just a Thought
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Movers arrived at 11am as scheduled. They’ve been here an hour and a half and are more than halfway done. They’re awesome.

4 for 4.

Filed by Mel at 3:31 pm under Just a Thought
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In case you didn’t know, we’re moving. There are 6 things that have to happen in order for us to move successfully.
1. Dog has to get for Fort Smith via airplane.
2. Truck has to arrive.
3. Cars have to leave on their truck.
4. Movers have to show up and pack the truck.
5. Truck has to be picked up.
6. Me, Clint, and the two cats have to get on an airplane and make it to Fort Smith.

As you can imagine, a lot of things could go wrong here. The dog was the scariest one as they don’t fly dogs unless the temperature is between 45 and 80. We had to get a vet to say that she could withstand lower temps - and we did. So our dog left Seattle Monday night and she arrived in Fort Smith on Tuesday. She is safe and sound with my sister. Apparently she’s quite happy.
1 for 1.

Yesterday, we thought there might be a problem with number 2 on the list. We live in an apartment complex and there aren’t many places to park a 28 foot truck with no way of moving it once it’s parked. Luckily, the ABF guy who brought the truck was one hell of a parker and our truck is nicely parked outside our apartment and no one seems to be having trouble getting in and out of their spaces.
2 for 2.

Our cars have always been booked for Thursday, the 15th. Yesterday (Wednesday the 14th) the car movers called and said they’d be here in an hour. We basically said “No” and they basically dealt with it. Our cars left this morning on a very large truck. So large, they had to park the truck in the middle of the road and drive our cars onto it from there.
3 for 3.

Our movers are supposed to be here today at 11am. It is now 10:45 so we still have a bit of time. Hopefully, they’ll make it. Hopefully our truck will be picked up tonight. I’m sure it will. I would think ABF would want their truck back and is probably fairly committed to picking it up. By this time tomorrow we should only have one more thing on the list. Number 6 - getting to Fort Smith. We’re leaving on Monday and yesterday they were showing a chance of snow on Monday. Weather.com now claims it’s going to be partly cloudy with a high of 44 in Fort Smith so I think we should be ok.

I’ll keep ya posted.

Melanie
Fingers crossed.

Filed by Mel at 1:59 pm under Just a Thought
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It’s been over 2 months since I posted anything on this blog. Interesting things have happened, just not visual things. If I were a video artist, I would have been able to convey the excitement and fear of the last 60 days with pictures. But I am not a video artist. Due to this lack of talent, I must share these bits of life in text.

The beginning of August began pretty much the way every month starts - bills to pay, dinner to cook, video games to play…
Around the 20th, Clint and I drove a couple of hours to camp all weekend and enjoy a 3 day Dave Matthews Band concert. It was exceptional. During the day we sat under our dining canopy (which is really just a big tarp held up by plastic poles) and drank cheap beer. At night we sat on the lawn of the most beautiful ampitheatre in America, (According to me, who took this picture - which proves that I am also not a photo artist.) listening to some of our favorite music.

Two days later, I woke up at 3:00am to board a plane taking me to Fort Smith, Arkansas, to my family. I spent time with my parents, Rachael and Tiffany (my sister and her girlfriend), my best friend, and my in-laws. I got attached to a mess of five week-old kittens and watched several movies. The night before I left, I watched my dad play with his band at a bar. I can’t remember the last time I spent an evening with my family in a bar - probably never. My sister and I got up and danced in the special way us Dickens’ girls dance - which is all arms and legs and no rhythm. My mom and some of the other wives joined us. A few good natured strangers joined us too. I wished I could have snapped a picture or shot some video to capture the exuberance of the evening. But I was reminded of the only worthwhile thing my least favorite character on my favorite TV show ever said, “You can’t take a picture, the moment’s already passed.” (Nate Fisher, Six Feet Under)

Later that night, I talked to Clint. He had decided that he wanted to move back to Arkansas. He wanted to know what I thought. What I thought? To move back into my house? To be 20 minutes away from my parents? 15 minutes from my best friend? 10 minutes from my sister? To have a backyard again? I thought it was the best idea I’d ever heard. Of course, at the time of this decision, I’d been in Arkansas for 2 weeks. As excited as I was, I reminded myself that he probably wasn’t thinking rational. Two weeks of having to fix his own dinner, and most likely having run out of clean underwear a few days ago, had made him sentimental. I told him that we’d talk about when I got home and if he still wanted to move, we’d move back as soon as our house was available. At the time of this conversation, our house wouldn’t be available for 15 months. I knew we had time. I flew home the next day, excited to see my cats, my dog, and my husband who’d gotten some funny ideas in his head. That’s when things began to take a turn for the bizarre.

Upon my return, I found Clint to be out of clean underwear, but not out of his mind. When we sat down to talk again about this whole Arkansas thing, he was still adamant - we were moving back. He didn’t want to wait 15 months. He wanted to move in March. We decided we would stay with my parents (for 10 months) until the people living in our home, under a 2 year lease (which we signed in January of 2003), ran out of time. It sounds unthinkable that a financially stable couple would choose to live with parents for such an extended time, but I have only this to say in my defense - If you think it unfathomable, you clearly don’t know my parents. And you probably don’t know (because I haven’t told you) that since Clint was planning on going back into business for himself, the extra months of reduced living expenses translated to more months in the future we could live without making a dime.

Within a few days of my return home, I was sold on the Arkansas plan. But even if I hadn’t been completely enthusiastic, what happened next would have done the trick. I’m about to reveal something that is overwhelmingly delightful - it is also highly capricious, and quite personal. I only mention these forewarnings to assure you, the reader, that I have considered the reality of this announcement.
I recieved a phone call. A simple phone call that may change our lives forever. Nothing is certain - and I won’t go into details - but if things go as planned, Clint and I will be adopting a baby sometime in late March or early April of 2006. Some of you may know that Clint and I are unable to have children of our own. If you didn’t know this, it isn’t a secret. You may read my blog post explaining what happened by going here. If you do read it, be kind about the grammatical errors - I was on percocet when I wrote it.
April is a long time away from now considering what can happen in just a couple days. We’re trying our best not allowing ourselves to get too excited. But is difficult to not take a peak at lists of baby names, or not to consider which bedroom would be best for a nursery. We’ll keep you posted on the news - but feel free to keep your fingers crossed.

So where are we? Oh yeah - Arkansas and a baby (which means I have grandparents to use and abuse anytime I please). Well, here’s the latest bit of wackyness. Tuesday, the 20th of this month, I recieved another phone call. This one was from the people who are leasing our house. They’re moving out… at the end of *this* month. They’re moving out, which means we can have our house back whenever we want - Whoopie! They’re moving out, which means we have to pay our mortgage until at least the end of February without any additional income - Suck Ass! But, as it turns out (and with the way things are going, is anyone really surprised?), my sister has been looking for a new place to live and would love to rent my house - even if it’s only for a few months. So, we can have our house back almost as soon as we want it - Whoopie! And, we don’t have to pay our entire mortgage without any additional income - Whoopie!

All this has happened in the span of less than 30 days. I truly couldn’t be happier about the way things are going. Of course, upon hearing the news that our renters are leaving us, I went out and got my old job back and will stay there until we move. No biggie - I’m willing to cut fabric and attempt to explain complex processes like “on grain” and “finishing raw edges” to people who would really be better off just going to Linens ‘n Things and purchasing a nice, new duvet cover. At least I get to know when all the sales are coming. Actually, I’m willing to do it for a slight chance that in a year, I’ll be sitting on my back porch watching my dog chase piles of leaves… watching Clint grill some burgers… watching Rachael and Billie compare the smoothness of their legs (as Tiffany looks at them with half disgust, half amusement)… and watching four grandparents ooh and ahh as they pass around a baby.

Filed by Mel at 3:43 am under Just a Thought
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I like people - usually. Today has been a fairly frustrating day to be reading the videoblogging list. I had two choices - give up or make a video. I decided to make a video. I really may send this in

Click to watch



Or click here to download it.

Filed by Mel at 6:09 pm under Video
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• Josh Leo’s Vlog: Goodbye
  Have yourself a bawl - seriously
  (tags: watchthis)
• 12weeksofballet.wmv (video/x-ms-wmv Object)
  He’s pretty good - maybe this will inspire my husband to take me to ballroom dance lessons.
  (tags: watchthis)

Filed by Me at 5:17 am under Mel
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