Paris in the Toilet

This cat story by Lance Arthur is the funniest thing I've read all week. Okay, so it's only Monday, but I laughed out loud.

Weekend update

On Friday, I spent the day with our friend Dan, who broke both arms in a bike accident last weekend. We even took his dogs to be groomed. Friday evening I worked on more unpacking and we watched some TV. I had brunch with friends on Saturday morning, and Steph and I went shopping. We got birthday present for Dan, some pants and shirts for Steph to wear to an upcoming wedding, and Crocs. I got red ones and Steph got olive green ones. We wore them to dinner for Dan's birthday (in the Pope Room at Buca di Beppo). Today I took the recycling to the recycling center and we got a load of stuff from my house.

Interesting gadget

This at-home soda maker looks interesting. I wonder if it's healthier than diet Coke.

Happy birthday, Spike

Spike is four years old today! Happy birthday, little man!

This is the photo I wanted to post in this spot, but it keeps timing out.

Weekend update

Steph wasn't feeling well Friday night after work, so we stayed home and watched TV. On Saturday, my dad came down and helped me and Joe refinish the dining room floor at my old house. It went better than the refinishing of the living room floor did three years ago, and it looks really nice. Then I went to a Turkish restaurant (The Bosphorus) with friends for a birthday dinner, and afterwards we went to Elizabeth's for games and cake. The restaurant was great -- I highly recommend it. Today I mowed the lawn while Steph worked on turning over the dirt in the flower beds on the side of the house. In the afternoon we went to see the movie An Inconvenient Truth, which was amazing. You really have to see it. I mean it. We went to Border's afterwards to buy the book. The movie recommends a Web site with ways to learn more and take action.

Birthday alligator

Yes, it's my birthday. I'm 34 today. So far, I'm enjoying being 34, but I might have to give it a day or two to see if I really like it. :-)

I share my birthday with--among others--Napoleon Bonaparte, Sir Walter Scott, Julia Child, and Ben Affleck. Ben and I were both born in 1972. I don't think I own any Ben Affleck movies, so I won't be watching any in his honor today.

I've been told that the birthday alligator will come to visit tonight and bring me presents!

Flickr photo badge

Steph helped me place a Flickr photo badge on my blog. I uploaded 17 photos tonight that I took with my new camera (Steph's old camera). (Actually, my cow-orker Alan took two of them.) Anyway, I'm planning to take more pictures than I used to now that I have a better camera and an easy way to upload them.

Here's a really frightening picture of the hot dogs my cow-orker Patrick grilled at work the other week:

Odd article

This came up in the rotating links at the top of the page in Gmail: Charity wants people to lend a hand... (Note: Not safe for work.)

Me?! Nope, not going.

Things to do to the house

I made a preliminary list of things to do to the house.

Have survey done
Get fence around back yard for Spike
New kitchen lights (and rewire switch so they work correctly)
New electrical outlets: porch, bedroom
Have electrical outlets grounded
Get new grill cover so we can move grill to deck
Get china cabinet for dining room (after fence so we can move bar out to deck)
Buy dehumidifier for basement
Paint rest of laundry room
Paint bedroom
Paint downstairs bath
Paint upstairs bath
Paint deck
Paint hallway/piano room
Paint kitchen
New drywall in kitchen ceiling
Foundation repair in NE corner
Get rid of carpenter bees
Have year-long radon test done
Replace upstairs bath floor covering
Replace laundry room floor covering
Replace shower with claw foot tub in downstairs bathroom
Get upstairs bathroom cabinet to hold towels and stuff
Replace upstairs bathroom lights
Replace downstairs bathroom lights
Add fan to upstairs bathroom
Build three-car garage with carriage house
Get shelf brackets for shelf in piano room closet
Paint exterior/fix siding
Replace brick sidewalk