Sick As A Dog

According to Michael Quinion, who writes about the English language, the phrase 'sick as a dog' has been in circulation since at least 1705, when it was first recorded. Although nowadays, dogs are cute and cuddly compagnions, that has not always been the case:

"There are several expressions of the form sick as a ..., that date from the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. Sick as a dog is actually the oldest of them, recorded from 1705; it is probably no more than an attempt to give force to a strongly worded statement of physical unhappiness. It was attached to a dog, I would guess, because dogs often seem to have been linked to things considered unpleasant or undesirable."

Regardless of the phrases origins, right now as I sit in fleece clothes covered in two fleece blankets the concept is hitting home... hard. I am currently 'sick as a dog' and not finding it very appealing. Antibiotics, Chloroseptic spray, Mucus releif tablets, Advil Cold and Sinus, Flonase, Saline spray, and a random mix of caugh drops are currently keeping me partionally functioning. Granted, now that I actually see my laundry list of medications sprawled out in typeface, I feel like an insane pill-popper. Hopefully this cocktail will continue to provide some relief, howevere, since 8:30am will come soon, and Monday morning tend not to be forgiving.

I will likely survive, and until then the Hubs is working overtime keeping me alive and warm as Georgia gets its first flurry of the season. Thankfully he is very helpful in such times, and always comes up with new and creative medicinal assistance - tonight in the form of Seaseme Chicken, Veggie Fried Rice, and Hot & Sour Soup. Something tells me Hubs has hit the nail on the head with that one!

Now, if only I had the energy to re-read this post and see how many lame cliches I used...

The Kindle Has Arrived

Since my last post, life has been insanely busy. In an attempt to carve out time for my favorite hobby (writing, in case you were guessing) I am going to expand on my last entry. Last month, my fabulous husband and I had our one year wedding anniversary (yay!) and took a trip to Disney World. I, obviously being an inconsiderate wife, thought the trip was our anniversary gift. However, my husband trumped me and surprised me with a Kindle (pre-downloaded with a couple books, as he thinks of everything).

Over this past month I have downloaded 10 books and finished three of them. I LOVE having the Kindle - the accessibility of basically any book I can think of is fabulous. Since I have been an avid reader for many years, I am actually finding it difficult to come across novels that I have not already read. I have basically been harassing my friends through social media posts for recommendations - some I have taken, some I am still pondering. Now that I have the Kindle, I am definitely going to have to expand my genres.

No more are the days of relaxing Chick-Lits (Shopaholic searies - I do love Kinsella) and dreamy classics (Hester Prynne and Jane Eyre - sigh). They have already been consumed and digested - now is the time for expansion. In the past, I have always been a fiction-addict. So, I need to expand my horizons to include non-fiction... who and what will be the new ventures is still unknown, however.

Any non-fiction suggestions are greatly appreciated....

Kindle it Is!

Well, I have been debating the Kindle for a while. It's a little bit of an investment, but since the price has recently reduced to $189, I figured this is a good time to seriously consider Amazon's gadget. I typically finish a novel a week, and the space thousands of paperbacks take up in my house, not to mention their pricetags, can be extreme. The Kindle has seemed like a perfect solution for some time.

My primary reservation in regards to the device is reading via screen. I am easily cursed with headaches, and tend to watch LCDs and use computer screens on the dimmest setting available. I have been concerned that I would spend all that money for a product that gives me nothing but headaches!

After asking around and receiving tons of positive feedback, I have decided to order it! According to friends, the screen is dimmed and the contrast not too harsh, so it shouldn't be an issue... we'll see. I am hopeful and will continue to update regarding usage!

Blue Canyon Dinner.

When Hubs and I were driving around today, we spotted Blue Canyon, a steakhouse that is known around the Cleveland area as "awesome." We have not been there during our two years in Ohio, so we decided to Open Table them that afternoon, and went for dinner.

Overall, it was a great dinner. Hubs ordered a flank steak, medium, with blue cheese crumbles baked on top and a side of green beans and mashed potatoes. I got the sirloin, medium-rare (as all steaks should be cooked as far as I am concerned!), with roasted red potatoes and green beans. After the entrees, I finished with a coffee and blueberry lemon tart and Hubs had a mini-s'more.

Typically, when I order a steak, it is not cooked to a "real" medium-rare. I will say, however, both of our steaks at Blue Canyon were cooked perfectly. All the food was delicious, and the service was nice, however, it was nothing I found to be special. The only complaint I have is the prices do not seem to fairly represent the restaurant. We knew it was a little more than other restaurants, and in general are fine paying more money for dinner when appropriate, but did not feel the prices were appropriate.

For some reason, as a salad lover, I get annoyed when restaurants charge nearly $30 for a steak (even when it's perfectly cooked) and then do not include a salad with the dinner. I just feel like steaks should come with a side salad, if not only for digestive purposes! Instead, Blue Canyon charges $4.99 for a small salad, bringing the steak and salad total (if we had ordered it) to about $35. Plus, the small tart for dessert was $8, and the mini s'more was $3 (it was literally a square inch). Hubs LOVED the s'more, and since it was so original, I can see the one-bite being $3. However, as good as my tart was, it was not unique. The crust was too cold and the creme in the center a little hard - you could tell it had been sitting in a refrigerator for a while. Yummie, but only about $5 worth of yummie. Now, the item that got us talking when we paid was the coffee. A cup of coffee was the same as the s'more!

It seemed that all the menu items were a few dollars too high, especially considering the location of the restaurant - a small suburb 30 minutes outside of downtown Cleveland where there is a quickly depleting economy. If this was Manhattan or even Atlanta I would consider it a little more reasonable.

Overall, though, the restaurant was nice, professional, and served very good, though not spectacular, food. If we had walked out the door with a final tally of $60 instead of $80 (for two dinners, one coffee, and 1.5 desserts), I would have felt a little better about it.

Final say? 3.5 stars.

Melting Stress

Well... at last. Things are starting to get settled for us!

The information regaring the previously botched home repairs was evaluated, turned in to the proper contractors and finished. That being said, we were able to CLOSE on the new house in Georgia! So exciring! That's one hurdle down in the game of relocation. Now we have to concentrate on selling the house we still have in Ohio.

Another great thing that happened this week: We finalized the paperwork and drove home the new Murano. It really is a great car, and I am extrememly excited to have it as my new baby. I have already played around with programing names and numbers into the voice actiivated phone system - it's so much easier (not to mention safer) to talked through the speakers instead of fussing with your phone!

The only issue I am having on the car front is my old car. She is also a great car, and since we traded in Hubs' car toward the Murano, he has now inherited my old car. . . however, I just cannot seem to let her go! I still think of her as mine, and still feel a little ping of saddness when Hubs drives her away. I guess it is all still new, so hopefully I will handle it better soon!

Always, Always, ALWAYS... RE-inspect.

Well, here we are:

It's officially (since it's after midnight) 2 days before we sign the closing documents on our new home in GA. We have braced ourselves to take on a second home (aka, second mortgage) for a couple months, and were excited for this one leg of the relocation process to be OVER.

Now, let us take into consideration the fact that nothing thus far has been smooth or simple... why would we have expected the final leg of this to be nice and easy?

I blame myself. Seriously.

I looked at paint samples.

Every time I make the slightest effort to mentally redecorate the new home, something happens to prolong the process. I think it is one of the universe's amusements. I really should have learned better by now, but unfortunately I have not and subsequently picked paint colors for the master bedroom and bath.

Maybe, just maybe if I had left the paint choices to the master suite, we would have emerged unscathed. However, I unfortunately have to admit that I also picked samples for the hallway, office, dining room, living room, kitchen, and family room (in my defense, the kitchen, hallway, and family room are going to be the same color, so they should not count against me as three separate choices!).

As Hubs and I were enjoying a few drinks (a few too many? I can still type, so I say it was an acceptable amount) on the back patio, we should have been checking our email (yes, we have a joint email account for all the housing contact.... we are tools, what can I say?). Our lovely, and always on the ball, GA realtor forwarded us information from our re-inspection.

After having the house inspected during our due diligence period, we did not simply trust that all the necessary repairs were correctly handled. As with the house we currently have on the market in OH, we had the GA house inspected for a second time to assure that all agreed upon repairs were satisfactorily completed.

Out of our six or seven major items, ONE was properly addressed. . . ONE.

To be honest, I feel badly for the seller. She is a nice woman, and has sent us paid invoices for all the agreed upon repairs. She thought everything was in order, and has expressed extreme concern regarding the recent inspection discoveries. This woman paid for everything to be fixed, and basically made the mistake of hiring companies that were not reliable.

I feel badly for her, but we are not taking the house over until everything is up to par. We just cannot take on the possible financial burden of a leaking tub pipe and the subsequently moist dining room ceiling, a wobbly deck, and inoperable windows. The closing may need to be postponed, but hopefully the seller will be able to have everything rectified over the weekend...

Hopefully.

My advice to everyone... REINSPECT before you close. The process basically goes like this:

You have a home inspected.

Something will be discovered.

The seller will agree to fix the issues.

Then have your inspector back to reinspect the agreed upon problems.

Not everything will be correct... as we have learned with multiple houses, they are never all perfect.

THEN, after the sellers have it all fixed again... INSPECT again.. until it's all correct.

Suck it up buyers - pay the extra inspection costs and make sure you do not purchase long term issues. If you have recently bought a home and did not pay the inspector to come back... do it now. There is s likelihood that something is still wrong...

Muranolicious

Well, we need a new car. And, do to my soon-to-be-renewed career in sales and the associated tax breaks, it needs to be a lease. We have ever leased a vehicle before, and so this experience is certainly a novel one. In the past, my cars have always been purchased with a check and have been driven for 6-7 years. The idea of not "owning" my car is a little strange to me, but since it works as a tax deduction, I think I can start to live with it. On the flip side, I do hate adding another bill to our lives. However, as Hubs car is pushing 90,000 miles and we both will be dealing with large commutes and trips, the time has come to deal with it.

I am pretty sure the winner of "what car should I get?" will be the Murano. I like that it's an SUV, but not completely oversized. Atlanta has some serious traffic, so oversized SUVs and trucks are not very strategic. More than anything, however, I love that it is basically a mobile office. There are voice commands, five phones that can be blutoothed simultaneously, under-mounted bins for supplies, and tons of comfort for myself and clients.

Getting a new office on wheels will be strange, but the time has come for change my friends. Plus, the car costs a lot more on a monthly basis if purchased down in Atlanta, so putting off much longer does not make financial sense.