Wednesday, July 22, 2009

Actually, we win! Ha!

We went and had the dreaded talk with the landlord today, telling him we couldn't take living in this damn apartment anymore. It turns out, though, that someone else complained about the neighbors that are the biggest problem, and the landlord goes on a "three strikes and you're out" rule. They just sent them a letter about the last complaint two days ago, and are going to call the stupid neighbors today and warn them that if anyone else complains, they are EVICTED. If they're noisy this weekend, we're supposed to call on Monday and let him know. Hopefully they'll just be quiet, although I wouldn't feel very bad if they got evicted because they are jerks. The good news is, it looks like we will be able to stay! The woman downstairs is quiet, and the jerk directly next door have gotten a lot quieter since I got in a fight with him (with the exception of their music being loud late at night twice this week; however, we could drown the sound out enough with fans to sleep) and the landlord said that they favor the quietest neighbor, so if we have any more sound issues we should just call. I'm so happy. I didn't want to move at all because it's so much work, but I especially don't want to move out of this apartment because I LOVE IT.
We're still waiting to hear about this teaching job Dan had two interviews for. It's only been 48 hours or so, but we're both ready to explode. With all the competition that's out there right now (we figure a few hundred applicants for each job), I'm incredibly proud that he's in the finals for this job. It's just like America's Next Top Model! Even if he doesn't get this job, I think he has a really good shot at getting a teaching job this year.
I've had such a good day off today. I got tons of stuff done that I've been putting off: cleaning, tons of laundry, and I finally started painting Dan's dresser. I've also watched tons of TV on the interweb. AND I just found out I get tomorrow off too!

Sunday, July 19, 2009

You win, jerks!

The apartment hunt has resumed. This great apartment that I love and have put more work into in the past three months than I have ever put into any apartment is just too noisy. I give up! You win, Skiddies! Your incessant noise is unbeatable. The neighbors that we don't share a wall with are practicing their electric guitar right now. They are not good at it. They had noisy, everlasting parties Friday and Saturday, and the jerk next door has started with the music again. Clearly, this is not the apartment for us.
We found a nice looking place on Craigslist that promised to be quiet. We are waiting for the landlord to call us back. We are going to talk to our landlord on Wednesday to see if they will let us out of the lease, based on the fact that they told us it was a quiet apartment, and the fact that they have already talked to the neighbors to no avail. Rather than evicting the entire building in order to uphold their end of the lease, why not just let us get the fuck out. Plus, Tabatha might take over the lease, which would really make our lives a lot easier. If anyone knows of a quiet apartment within a few blocks of downtown, please let me know.

In other news, we found a reception site for our wedding! Lakeside Farms in Ballston Lake has a pavilion that we are going to rent out. Also, they cater, killing two birds with one stone. The plan is to have the ceremony in Dan's parents yard, which is about 10 minutes away, and then move to the pavilion for the reception. That way, if it rains, we can just do the ceremony in the pavilion. There is really no way to set up a tent big enough in Dan's parent's yard because there are a lot of trees and gardens, so this is a really nice compromise. I'm excited! Our wedding plans are starting to take shape. Hooray!

Tuesday, July 14, 2009

Take that, centipedes!

I'm transferring to ACC this fall because ESC was no good. I'm excited to go to class more, and to pay much less tuition for a seemingly better school. Also, I just found out that I am receiving a pell grant for most of my tuition, and may be receiving a TAP thingy for most of the rest, so basically my tuition is free this year. Being poor has finally paid off! There's still the cost of books, of course, and I'm using a little of my student loan to buy a new computer but I'm glad to be keeping my loans to a minimum. It's so tempting to take accept all of the loans I'm being offered, but I'm not so that I don't have thousands and thousands of dollars in debt when I'm finished with school (a la Dan).


My master plan is to work as much as possible while earning my associates degree so that I can squirrel away as much money as possible (which is not much now with the shotty tips we've been getting lately. This is a problem. What's up, customers?) so that when I transfer to a four-year, I can work as little as possible. Genius!


I'm trying to soak up the summer as much as possible, but it's slipping away. It feels like it's still May because of the weather. I'm not really complaining, I hate super hot weather, but it's hard to convince myself that it's the middle of July already when we haven't even brought a fan into the living room yet. Also, I have all of these projects I want to do this summer that I won't have time for once school is in session, but I can't seem to find the time now. At least I'm cooking a lot, which is fun. I'm trying all these new recipes with excellent results. Last night it was spinach, corn, and sun dried tomato enchiladas. Yum! Dan is a lucky fellow.


We now have centipedes. Eeeshk! I decided that they are only slightly less scary than mice. I mean, LOOK AT THIS:



These things come straight from hell. And if they're supposed to do "more good that harm" because they eat other bugs, then why do I have these big flies in my apartment, huh? Fuck you, centipedes!

Friday, July 10, 2009

Womanizer

Dan and I were in Target earlier today, and I left him to scavenge for food. I found a lunchable, and as I was walking towards him, a woman walked in front of him and said "Excuse me." Dan replied "Sure." This is when Dan noticed me, and I proudly held up my lunchable, to which Dan exclaimed "Niiiiiice!" The woman, however, having seen him browsing on his own, seemed to think that he was commenting on her assets. She turned and threw him the dirtiest look, but then saw me and my lunchable and, after realizing what had actually happened, hightailed it out of there. This situation prompted a quick fantasy involving Dan actually commenting on a woman in Target, and it was pretty funny.
We also witnessed a ridiculious hit and run at target. She smashed into this car right in front of us, causing a considerable amount of damage, looked at us, and then drove away. So we went ahead and put her licence plate number on the damaged car for her. Have a nice day, criminal!

Sunday, July 5, 2009

WHAT I DID ON SUMMER VACATION PART 2

We left D.C. on Friday afternoon for Western NY. The drive was quite eventful. There were a million signs saying things such as "Watch out for DUI drivers" and "High DUI area" which made us feel safe and secure. Then there was the witty "Buckle Up Next Million Miles" sign. We were driving mostly along windy, narrow roads, and at one point two deer almost ran out in front of our car. The drive took much longer than the 7 hours estimated by map quest, most likely because it took about 2 hours to get out of the D.C. area, despite the fact that we were parked 30 minutes north of the city to begin with.
Saturday we headed to Niagara Falls, which I had never been to before. It was incredible. We don't really have waterfalls in Iowa; the first time I saw one was Minnehaha Falls in Minneapolis, which is this tiny little thing:


so I was very impressed with the enormity of Niagara Falls. We went on the Maid of the Mist, which was really cool, if not a little scary. I mean, you get right up on that bitch. At that distance, the amount of water pouring over the edge was incomprehensible to my little brain. Also, I was worried the boat would capsize and we would all die in the churning water. At the top of the falls, you are able to go right up to the edge and watch the water go over, which was cool.
On Sunday we toured Geneso with a group of Dan's friends from college and saw Kirk Cameron at the Charcoal Corral. We didn't approach him, because he was with his kids and junk, but it was pretty random and funny. We went to see The Hangover, which Dan and I both hated, but as far as I can tell we're the only ones in the entire world who feel that way.

Um, I think thats it. It was a crazy, jam-packed trip, but it was a lot of fun. THE END.