Procrastination Central

A Reminder of Why "I {HEART} Adam"

nobody@vox.com(Heike) — Wed, 29 Aug 2007 16:20:27 -0400

He's not interested in Fantasy Football!

I have to admit, it took some getting used to dating an avid sports fan. I like to joke that Adam tricked me into dating him... it was summertime, so the Eagles and Flyers were both off. September rolls around and football starts - one game a week, very manageable. Then, all of the sudden, the Flyers play what seems like every other day for about 6 months. I'm still not very into hockey, but I have become a good little Eagles-fan-wife.

My field is very male-dominated, and my office is no different. My office used to be at a "T" in the office close to the men's bathroom. Every Monday morning, my boss, and many of the men in my department would congregate in front of my office to talk football. I really didn't mind listening to the Eagles talk, but the Fantasy Talk would get ridiculous. So much time expended to track players on a variety of teams!

Not sure why, but Adam isn't into all of that. An Associate in my departmnet (the rude one I hate) just asked if Adam wanted to join their league. I dutifully asked Adam and was RELIEVED that (as I had thought) he had ZERO INTEREST in joining the fantasty league, especially one being run by that jerk.

LOVE MY HUBBY!

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QotD: If I Had Guaranteed Success...

nobody@vox.com(Heike) — Wed, 29 Aug 2007 08:35:41 -0400

What would you attempt to do if you knew you could never fail?
Submitted by BeckyPink.

Sounds dorky, but I was pondering this last night when I couldn't sleep. Does "Never Fail" translate into "Win"? I wonder, because the first two things I thought of in response to this QOTD was to be on The Amazing Race and Jeopardy. So, does "never fail" mean that I would just get on the show and be one of the contestants, OR does it mean that I would be the winner?

I LOVE the idea of taking a leave of absense from work with Adam and traveling around the world as part of Amazing Race - Definitely a once in a lifetime experience.... it would worry me a little how we and our relationship would be portrayed on camera... they never show how well a couple is getting along. Instead, they would show a montage of clips from the "bad day" when they are not communicating well and on each other's nerves. I'd love to claim that Adam and I would be good little teammates, but my stubbornish (hey, I'm German, we're made that way) and Adam's lack of navigational-prowess, have the making for regular conflict... I think we would portray American's better than other teams we have seen on the show that seem to lack an appreciation of where they are and are unpleasant to the locals that don't help them... Hey, you are a bunch of frantic foreigners with camera's following you around, I don't know how willing I would be to help if I got approached by that entourage!!! Anyway, that's my Amazing Race rant....

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QotD: Book Recommendations

nobody@vox.com(Heike) — Wed, 29 Aug 2007 07:39:26 -0400

Where do you get recommendations for new books to read?

I don't normally solicit recommendations for new books these days, since I can barely find time to study for this exam as it is. As I think about what I have read over the past two years, it has mainly been books I have read about (usually in the NYTimes) or have seen talked about on Oprah or John Stewart. Here and there a recommendation from a friend has had an impact and occasionally like my most recent bookclub suggestion, I found just by reading covers of books standing in the bookstore.

I look forward to leisure reading again in December!!!

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Decorating the Office

nobody@vox.com(Heike) — Wed, 29 Aug 2007 07:31:03 -0400

What are we going to do with those bare, newly painted walls in the office???

Well, now that we have taken down our ratty Kandinsky poster, we have room to hang my birthday present from Adam!!! We plan on picking out photos from all of the different places we have traveled to. Should be pretty cool once its completed. As we add travel notches to our belt, we will replace the photos with shots from our newest trips.

Potterybarn frame

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Painting Fun...

nobody@vox.com(Heike) — Mon, 27 Aug 2007 13:27:47 -0400

On a whim this weekend, I decided that I really wanted to paint. We had offered to paint our to-be niece's nursery, but never heard from my brother-in-law... Instead, we painted our guest bedroom/office. We had painted our family room and master bedroom when we moved in two years ago, but this room has always felt unfinished, and more of an after thought. Since I am spending more time here (like right now, working from home), I wanted to breath some life into it.

What a Great Color!

We had a good system for painting - What a team! I was in charge of prepping the room and doing all the cutting-in around the edges. Adam went to buy the paint while I was getting the room prepped and then he was Mr. Paint Roller. The project took longer than I was expecting, (over 4 hours compared to my expectation of 3hours), but that is mainly because the walls of our apartment are so crappy... they weren't very fond of absorbing paint. Our cheap apartment building didn't even have paint on the walls, just primer, and the walls very uneven.

Adam - the "Roller"

I spent a lot of time worried/stressed that Klutzy-Heike was going to spill paint on our very nice desk. Luckily, nothing happened. We still need to get the stuff back on the walls, but we are both loving the color!

Office - New Paint

Guest Bedroom - New Paint

Doesn't it look fabulous? I guess the color might be hard to see in these photos because of the sunlight.

It's a pretty interesting color that takes on completely different shades depending on the light coming in.

Look at how bland/boring it used to look!

Guest Bedroom/Office (Before)

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Done Bitchin'

nobody@vox.com(Heike) — Mon, 27 Aug 2007 09:15:09 -0400

Just got off the phone with Comcast. Can't believe how nice and friendly the Account Rep was that I spoke to -- He was freakishly helfpul and on the ball - Boy did I get lucky!.

Signed us up for the Triple Play Package, (cable, internet, & phone). We were thinking of doing this back in March, but then we were getting close on buying the house and figured it wasn't worth the hassle.... Finally, got around to making the call and I can't believe we didn't do it sooner.

Our monthly bill of $170/month sounds high, but it includes so much.... High speed internet and cable, which we were already pay about $130/month for, plus free long distance and toll calls. Our monthly Verizon bill has been $80-$100/month and we were barely using it - the fees, surchages, and taxes got ridiculous. As part of triple play, we get Showtime and HBO included... and you all know how much I have been clammoring for that. Another perk is that I can call Germany for 9cents/minute, without paying an additional international plan fee..... Gotta be able to call my OMA! While I was at it, I added a DVR box to our account, since our Tivo died. With Exam studying this is going to come in extremely handy. AND, the technician is bringing the box next week when he comes to handle the phone, so we don't have to go pick it up!

A nice way to start the week!

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Vox Hunt: Foreign Born

nobody@vox.com(Heike) — Fri, 24 Aug 2007 22:35:22 -0400

Show us something you own that is from a different country.
Submitted by Rev Stan.

Me and My Papa (NYE 2001).... Straight off the boat, baby!!!! My dad didn't actually even visit the US until my mom brought him over for their wedding (1976), Poor guy didn't know what he was in for. I was born there too! We moved to the States in the Spring of 1980 because my Mom got homesick.

New Years '01 - one of my favorite photos

Adam calls him "the Fuzy German".... always good for a chuckle... It sounds mean, but my sister and I like to mock his accent when we relay to one another a conversation we had with him. I must say, mine is pretty good. Nicole's, not so much... sometimes, she makes him sound Chinses.

Love you PAPA!

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Hair History Repeating Itself....

nobody@vox.com(Heike) — Fri, 24 Aug 2007 22:29:05 -0400

I think I have a pretty good attitude on {getting bad} haircuts, that I attribute to recovering from that delightful encounter I had in fifth grade when my mom convinced me to chop off all of my haif and I learned the important lesson that "it can always grow back". Boy have I had some doozies since then....

One of my all-time worst haircuts was shortly after I got my legit Philly job (where I am now, again). Everyone knows, that the only way to fix a bad haircut (I ended up with a scary mullet!) is to cut more off. So, I interviewed with long hair, but showed up to work with very short hair... In typical corporate-world protocol, one of the first things you do during your first week is get your photo taken for your work ID. So for years, I had this truely horrendous photo of my mangled pixy-do on my ID. I was so thankful when I came back to the company (after my NYC stint) and learned that my old photo wasn't {freakishly} on file anywhere and I would take a new photo.

I got a haircut today.

The color is darker, and looks great, and I decided to get bangs. I dabbled in bangs the last time, but they were still so sweepy (because I wasn't emotionally ready for full bangs) that it didn't really change my look that much. I was more brave today and got "real" bangs. It looked good when she was done, but it didn't really look like me. With the new color and the bangs across my face and the blown out straight hair, I swear, it looked like I was wearing a wig. I learned long ago, that you don't really know how much you like a haircut until you get home and do your hair yourself. Well, its not looking good.

Here's the funny part (for others, less so for me): My passport expires in September. I need to get passport photos taken soon so I can get it renewed. Yup, this haircut is going to be my passport photo FOR THE NEXT TEN YEARS.

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My "What Not to Wear" Epiphany"

nobody@vox.com(Heike) — Fri, 24 Aug 2007 22:15:32 -0400

My mom and I LOVE "What Not to Wear" Tonight, they had a "Where Are They Now" Episode looking back to 8 previous woman who had been on the show.... as I'm watching, I realize that I have a quite a few pieces of clothing that need the heave-ho. Honestly, college doesn't seem like all that long ago, but in reality, anything that I bought when I was a sophmore is now 10 years old. Yikes.... this has been on my mind a little this week - it dawned on my, as I was trying to stay awake in my exam class on tuesday night that the tee-shirt I had thrown on for class I had purchased in high school.... um, yeah, graduated in 1996.

So, I have decided that tomorrow I am going to put on a dippy chick-flick and PURGE. Called my mom during one of the commercial breaks and told her. She is thrilled to DEATH. She is coming down to Philly to visit (in honor of her birthday) the weekend after Labor Day. I promised to save my purge clothes for her so she can see. She wants me to put them on for her so she can poke fun at me (I may skip that part!). It bring my mother tremendous joy to help others purge. She is a fabulous organizer and would be fabulous on those house-make-over shows when you have to get rid of your crap and they redo your house all nice and organized... I wish I had taken photos of all the stuff we got rid of when she was here last Thanksgiving... Adam had less fun that day, but it was because more of his stuff got purged.

Best of all, she and I are going to go shopping to fill my closet back up with fun-hip modern clothes... a shopping exersion was already on my mind since there is an office rumor that we are going back to business-professional. While my initial reaction to that news was "Yeah, I get to do more shopping at Ann Taylor:" It dawned on me that I would have to actually WEAR those clothes, ALL THE TIME! Considerably less fun... may be time to start working from home more regularly. Anyway, I digress... my mom was thrilled at the thought of playing What Not to Wear with me and said to me three times "Will you call me Stacy while we are shopping" {She's one of the hosts} -- Pretty funny.

I actually really enjoy shopping with my mom now that I am older. I've accepted my weight (although I will probably always want to be slimmer), and have learned to just mock her when she complains that the Size 4 is to big on her, as I squeeze into an 8 or 10. She's very good at helping me find things that I feel good about myself in and compliment my (ample? curvy?) figure.

Should be a fun weekend when she visits

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QotD: Have, Need, Want

nobody@vox.com(Heike) — Fri, 24 Aug 2007 09:33:24 -0400

What do you have, what do you need and what do you want?
Submitted by Miss Scotch.

I have a good job and a loving husband.... I need my hubbie to decide what he wants to do career-wise. I want to have a happy, long-lasting marriage with kids (EVENTUALLY) that don't drive me too nuts. Wow, that all sounds pretty generic....

OK, here's a less serious version: I really have to pee! I need to stop drinking so much tea in the morning. I want it to be nice and SUNNY next Friday when we plan to go to the US Open....

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