I Have To Blame, The Wedding.

So whats my excuse this weekend? Wedding. ANOTHER wedding. Thankfully the last of the season but because MB was IN this one it took up the whole weekend. It's funny when I look back on my crazed nights of painting until late at night, the feeling that it HAD to be done. Now, well I'm just lazy. The house is livable, why do I need to kill myself? The honest truth is I don't. Our house projects are now aloud to take on the slower more realistic pace they should be at. The sense of urgency is gone.

Friday and Saturday were a wash so that left Sunday. Well Sunday was a bit of a wash too as we HAD (per my orders) to go out to my hometown and attend the fair with my two partners in crime and fellow hometowners, Jackie J and Mary K. After stuffing our faces at the fair, watching some gorgeous Belgian Draft Horses haul so cement blocks and stopping at my parents for a quick hello, we finally made it back to the house. MB was itching to work on the stone wall and I needed to clean our filthy house.

About 2 seconds before I started dishes I got the urge to call MB's mom and find out more about patio furniture sales. See she had been pressing us to take a trip to Lowes for about 2 weeks now. She had spotted chairs that match our patio set for a really cheap price. She had called earlier that day and said she was getting us chairs because they were $10 a piece and that could not be turned down (highly agree). MB told her to get two because the backs were a different shape from the ones we have. She THEN called back and said we now had 3 chairs because there was one sad and lonely chair left and the guy said he would give them all to her for $15. Five bucks a chair is not bad at all. This got my thinking, we really SHOULD go check out the end of season sales (I also had not slept very much the night before and the thought of cleaning the house, for once, did not appeal in the least). Most places don't want to carry this years models into next year and therefore they are willing to get rid of things at ridiculous prices (i.e. $5 chairs). When I called her she said there had been wicker sofas (which is what I REALLY wanted) the week before but they were gone at that particular store this week. She told me I should check out the one in Worcester.

OK now I had to go. I talked poor MB who had made some very nice but very small amount of progress on his wall (it is VERY hard finding the right sized stones to go in the right spot. It's like a giant puzzle really). He agreed and we tried Home Depot first. We drove all the way out there and I asked the kid where the patio stuff was. "It's all gone." Well that sucks.

We decided it was worth the drive to Worcester and headed to Lowes. It was now already around 5pm (and i was getting crankier by the moment) and when we got there the pickings were slim. Problem was, nothing was marked correctly or at all and it was hard to tell WHAT was on sale and what wasn't. MB quickly got distracted looking at chainsaws (for our new wood stove of course. Essential accessory) and I went and hunted down a sales person. As we were waiting we spotted some really nice stuff down an aisle as apposed to tossed in the middle of the floor as the other stuff was. Lo and behold, we found some very nice cushions. We really needed more seating but also another table. I was originally thinking of arranging a wicker couch on the edge of the patio and then a 'coffee table' in front of it. This would work perfectly, I reasoned, because we could then take said couch and put it in the backroom during the winter. But alas, we did not find such a thing. But the cushions were good.

The salesperson arrived and we got almost no clarification. He was with a girl who worked there who when asked what was on sale, confidently proclaimed "any patio stuff!". "Noo," clarified Wayne, the original rep for this particular area "only some stuff." I held up a small table and he said it was marked down to the appropriate price. "But I'll give it to you for $40". Ehh I was all set. We found out the cushions were in fact on sale. Thank god at least the trip wasn't a total waste. Then, as were were rummaging around in the aisle we find a 30in square table that matches our set. SWEET! He tells us the same thing, well its "marked down" to $50 but Ill give it to you for 40. OK whatever, we'll take it. This works out good. We get to the register and the kid looks at the scribbled and initialed "$40" on top and said "sooo, do you want is for $40 or for the $25 it rung up as?" Well sweet! So all told we walked out of there with a new table and 7 very nice patio seat cushions for quite a cheap price. This now marks two weekends in a row where we have totally made out on end of season stuff. Bargain shopping to the extreme.

You know I can't say I understand it. Personally, I believe the outdoor season is just beginning! The weather is gorgeous, it's cool, there are no bugs. The summer sucks but the fall in New England rules. But hey, if they want to give us a bunch of outdoor stuff to get rid of it because in their minds the outdoor season is over, well they can just go right ahead! :)

My Totally Bad-Ass New Outdoor Skill

As I have said many times before, or should I say given the excuse many times before, this year is the year of the house. That means our poor neglected lawn is well, poor and neglected as supposedly next year is the year of the lawn. Alas, this does not work out entirely well in the long run and therefore the time came to tackle the weed garden (weed as in big ugly things that invade my gardens, not drugs, we don't do drugs in this house, or ANY house for that matter. So get your mind out of the gutter and move along) and with MB working on the patio and the Fall weather I enjoy so much making it's first appearance, it seemed a good enough time as any to direct my energy to the outside.

It may have been a long weekend but it might as well have been a one day weekend. After spending our ENTIRE day on Saturday driving to West Springfield over an hour away and buying me a car finally, MB went off to obligatory Bachelor party while I hosted my two partners in crime, Jackie J and Mary K. As soon as they found out what car I ended up with (an '08 Scion) they tried to kick me out of the car (we were on our way to the store for champagne and the ever important junk food). I'm still not sure what Jackie's issue with this was but Mary was insulted because she expected me to get a Corolla like her. Ever after I explained that Toyota MAKES Scions and I NEED a hatchback, she was still upset but I made them get over by saying that if that was the way they felt they were banished from ever riding in it and they got over it quickly.

MB reappeared on Sunday, less than phoenix-like around 1:30pm and immediately declared he was taking a nap...he did not so much as stir until 3:30pm. Needless to say that day was shot.

This left Monday and we had a lot to do in this amount of time. I had at least spent a productive day Sunday cleaning the house and doing laundry but MB was now behind on his patio progress. He proposed ME mowing the lawn over breakfast. I have never mowed the lawn. He tells me it's easy. Now let me just defend myself here by saying it's not that I ever had anything against mowing the lawn at my parents house, but my dad only let me use the ride on mower for hauling logs and brush with the trailer. My parent's yard is much more vast then even ours and my dad for some reason felt that I would roll the tractor and therefore, did it himself.

MB started by mowing the front lawn and I began tackling the weed garden. My poor hill garden that we dug up months ago had now been completely taken over by giant things posing as grass but that are really weeds. I pulled and yanked until you could actually see the few bushes and plants I had planted and ALL the weeds were annihilated. About this time MB got a call from his brother and MB informed me that S&S (his brother and his brother's girlfriend), would be coming to deliver a patio umbrella to us. A generous hand me down from MB's parents. I continued my war against the weeds to our other gardens an MB took off to get some tool. After chatting with S&S for a few minutes I convinced MB to come to Bemis Farm with me. He had noted that they were having a huge "yard sale" and said we should check it out. With tress and bushes %75 off I agreed.

We ended up FILLING the back of my car (soon to be gone Mazda Tribute) for under $100. We got 2 arborvitaes for the edges of the patio, a gorgeous small leaf rhododendron (there was no price on it so they gave it it up for $10!!), a few smaller perennials, small mums for $2 a pop and 2 small strawberry pots for $4 a pop. As well as more than satisfactory replacement for all my indoor herbs that died (see right) and a new rosemary plant simply because, we are very found of rosemary.

All told it was very productive. After I deposited the new perennials in the newly cleared hill garden it was no longer avoidable, I needed to learn how to mow the lawn. I was so nervous I would do this wrong but MB gave me a crash course. Sure enough I was very hesitant to start but I quickly got the hang of it and began mowing in a large sort of circle, square working from the outside in as I had seen my father do a million times. When I was done I was obnoxiously proud of my totally new bad ass skill. Is there anything I can't do? Oh yes plenty but we won't go telling my ego that.

All told the yard isn't looking too shabby. I'm going to have to keep up with it more frequently but hopefully by the time the patio is ready for it's big reveal I'll have the rest of the yard in great shape. I tend to shy away from yard work in the summer because I hate the heat. However, when the air starts to change and get cool and crisp as it did this weekend, there aren't many other places I'd rather be!

The Stupid Car Issue

I would like to preface this blog by saying this: looking for a car is much like looking for a house. Do you want new or used? What features are you looking for? What is your price range? Can you afford the car/house you want? Very similar and VERY stressful and frustrating.

So here is the REAL reason the weekend was kind of a wash. I need a new car. Well, new USED car that is. I am now driving a car that is technically my parent's car, that was given to me to get me through college. I commuted so I had a very nice hand me down 2001 Mazda Tribute. This car and I have been through an awful lot but alas, I'm ready to drive it off an effing cliff! It has, since January of this year, been breaking once a month, sometimes TWICE a month. It is for this reason and this reason only that I will NOT be buying another Mazda.

Now I have never owned anything other than an SUV and it pains me severely to know that I wont be able to get what I REALLY want which is a Honda CR-V. You see, I have done my research, ohh have I done my research. The first and most important piece of research I did was reliability ratings because I need a car that is not going to break on me like this one is. This narrowed it down to a Honda or a Toyota. Next I needed to find out what I could afford and what I liked. I called my bank and took car of financing NOW I just needed to do some test driving to see what I liked.

I walked into a Honda dealership with my two partners in crime last week, Jackie J and Mary K. The poor sales guy. I told him I wanted to drive the following cars: a Honda Fit, a Honda Civic, and also, if he had them, a Toyota Matrix, Corolla and a Camry. He had the Hondas, no Toyotas. I then proceeded to test drive the fit and the civic with Jackie and Mary testing out the back and Jackie taking VERY helpful notes based on HER opinions (pros: "blue lights" cons:"big nobs!" and "Mary can't see out her window"). I found very quickly that I liked the fit, HATED the civic. It was like driving a go-cart especially after driving SUVs and trucks my whole life.

Next was a stop at the Herb Chambers Toyota in Auburn. The guy at the Herb Chamber Honda set this up for me. but the "rule" was I could buy a new car from them but if I bought a USED one, it had to be from salesman #1. "Why?" "Cause I said so". HAH! Yeah. ok buddy. I made an appointment to test drive some cars the next day, Friday. I was pretty far beyond annoyed when I showed up and said cars I had been expecting to drive were not waiting for me and I had a salesman who had been given NO information on what I was looking for. We walked around the lot aimlessly. No I had no intention of buying a car from them. This was research. I needed to know what I liked and what to cross off the list. MB showed up and the FIRST THING THE SALESMAN SAID was "are you willing to give this young lady some money to get her in the car she wants." :O I almost effing hauled off and hit him. I puffed like a frickin' blow fish at that. How DARE he have the audacity to ask him such a thing?! He officially lost me there. MB just smiled and said "we'll see what she likes and then we'll talk about it." :) Playin the game, I love him for that. I ended up HATING the Yaris before i even drove it which was sad cause I thought I was going to like the hatchback. It looks like a bubble.

The problem here was the salesman did not listen when I said I was just test driving and I made the mistake of telling him I was looking for a used car under a certain amount of money. If I had NOT shared this with him we could have test driven some new cars, found out what we liked, and been on our merry way. I test drove a '05 I think it was, corolla and instantly knew the Civic was now out for good because it drove so much better. There were no used Matrixs for me to drive which I should have insisted on driving a new one just because, and then came the Scion. Salesman #2 REALLY wanted me to buy this car. It did help me realize that I really wanted a hatchback. A separate trunk really doesn't do it for me. So I drove said Scion, really liked it, MB liked it (from the backseat anyways) and then they were closing and salesman #2 panicked. He told me he would get me good deal. I said I'll do some research and think about it. It was supposedly a 'smart price car' which I didn't know at the time. They were asking a new car price for an '08. I did some research, had nightmares about cars, and called them the next morning.

I asked to speak to THE sales manager, I got Omer instead. "I'm not coming down there and wasting my time if you cannot get this car under $13,000. It is NOT worth near what you priced it as and I'm not paying it." "you come down I take care of you." HAH!

So there we were, wasting all our damn precious time Saturday morning at a dealership with a bunch of sleazeballs. I swear they all go to sleazy idiot class together. Once again, here is where they make their mistake though. They take one look at me and think 'nice girl, easy sale'. Then I whip out research, and stats and THEIR OWN INVENTORY and throw it in their face and they turn white. I am probably the farthest thing from an easy sell. MB sat back and watched all this with mild curiosity. I made it through salesman #2, Omer and then I got manager #3. He was as laid back appearing as Omer was obnoxious. "I can't sell it to you for that much. BUT I have a car that meets most of your criteria." It was a 2 door black yaris. "Oh my god are they kidding, don't even drive it Linds" MB said. I amused them, then came back and laughed in their face and told them it doesn't meet ANY of my criteria expect the price. Come to find out, the issue was they had bought the damn Scion on trade in for more than it was worth! So I basically did more research then they did and they didn't like it. There were a lot of, over the head, behind the back deal attempts going on but in the end, I refused to pay and they refused to budge.

NOW salesman #2 was really panicking. He was trying, he really was, but I was becoming less and less interested. He then made the mistake of insulting me. I had to leave, I had WASTED my entire morning, a fact which made me very ready to effing strangle stupid Omer for (I'm blaming him for lying to me), and I need to be at my best friend's baby shower in 2 hours. I was turning things down left and right. I wasn't buying a car that day ANYWAY but this did not deter salesman #2. "Well you have champagne taste on a Budweiser budget so I think your going to have to reconsider your options." I turned and glared at him. I was done right there. I wanted to point out to him that I in fact, probably spend less money on my weekend bottle of cheap champagne then anyone does on a 6y of Budweiser but I kept my mouth shut and left.

This, right here, is what I have been wasting all of my precious time doing. Looking at fricking cars and talking to slimy, stupid salesmen. Monday I had had it and MB and I trotted over to Barnes Auto nearby who MB had been pushing me to all along. They have a good reputation and they aren't pushy. In all honesty I never intended to buy a car from a dealership but merely test drive them but I know I'm looking for very difficult things to find. The two cars I really want haven't been on the market long enough to find used ones. We spent MAYBE 30 minutes at Barnes. We told them what I was looking for. They only sell a few cars and they buy them at auction. So now, after all the time I've wasted, at least I know what I want and I have someone else on the hunt for me.

What have I learned? That I AM, in fact, as formidable as I delusion myself into thinking I am. ALL dealership car salesmen are COMPLETE idiots, cannot be trusted and are very slimy, but really this was just a confirmed fact, I did know this already. and finally, I am not wasting any more time LOOKING FOR STUPID EFFING CARS! It's wasting my time I could be spending my my lovely house and THAT just cannot stand.

NOW, lets see if I ever get a car.

What Long Weekend?

So this past weekend SHOULD have been a productive one. After all, MB and I both took Monday off. Saturday I had a baby shower but MB used the free time to move ALL of the gargantuan stones from the driveway, up into the patio circle. Nuts. He's just, plain, nuts.

He rigged up a plank over our stairs so he could use his wheelbarrow for the small stuff and then he just hugged the giant stones and carried them up the stairs. Someone needs to remind this kid that he is NOT in the Highland Games. He seems to have forgotten this.

Sunday, I can't even remember what I was up to Sunday to be honest. Something important I'm sure. OOO yes! I remember! MB and the ever helpful NA took a trip out to Shirley and picked up some MORE stones from some lady. These are smaller and of a different color but when they are mixed together they will look great. They trucked them back to the house and piled them next to the OTHER big 'ol pile 'O rocks to make and even BIGGER, big 'ol pile 'O rocks. Me? Well with copious amounts of caffeine floating through my system, I decided, hey I'll workout. Now my oldest sister is a freak of nature and I had originally THOUGHT she hated running as much as I do (i.e. rather pull my own pinkie fingernail out then go for a run). I love to workout, hate to run. I'm not built for it. MB, now HE is a runner, he's thin with long limbs. Me? Not to much. I'm built for strength cause I've got a long torso...stubby little limbs you get the idea. Well any who, I digress, my older nutcase sister had taken to adding short runs onto her workout...she's now up to running 6ish miles a day with her wacko friend and is so obsessed she now has a be-water bottled belt and new sneakers and his running a half marathon. This, cannot stand. I refuse to be outdone!

So, instead of doing something productive, I decided, OK do a half hr on my elliptical and THEN do some weights and THEN, go run for 5 minutes. Just 5. Next week, maybe 8. OK Easy Peasy. I do my home workout and then head outside, iPod in hand. I find a nice little side road that is relatively flat, and end up running flat out for at least 10 minutes, then walk back, then workout some more. This, this was not smart. I could barely walk for 2 days after. Note to self: no more consuming massive quantities of caffeine and then working out. Bad combo.

MB and NA came back with the stone some time during all of this and I decided I was finally going to hunt down the stupid rope and metal hooks I had bought MONTHS ago for a clothes line. I had an epiphany while I was working out (runners high perhaps?) and triumphantly located the missing items in a bag full of seeds I had planted, well, months ago. I then attempted to string up said line/hooks between two trees in the far end of our backyard. MB had to help within 2 minutes because I forgot how to do a pull knot/slip knot. Some girl scout I am. It worked and I now have a lovely little way to dry my clothes, save energy, blah blah and it unhooks so that MB doesn't 'clothesline' himself when he mows. Insert hysterical laughter here.

Monday, stupid Monday. I convinced MB that we should just go and get our cell phones over with. We have been sheltered under our parental phone plans for too long and it was time to end it. Plus we desperately needed new phones. Our parents had better phones than us. This, ended up taking ALL day. We got nearly nothing accomplished, except now we have phones that work and I have an extra bill each month but this was the right thing to do. We are now both OFF our parents' plans on the same together. How grown up are WE?!

There is a much greater reason that our weekend was highly unproductive but this will be revealed in my NEXT post as I do not have enough ranting room to fit it in it's own post. Oh no, it deserves it's own subject line.