Tennis Ladies

So back in the day I used to be quite good at tennis. I played in high school, mainly doubles, and we actually got second in state our junior year. Now I have a limpy forehand and a non-existent backhand. I still can serve and volley though!

My social network at that time consisted almost entirely of tennis girls. I have stayed in touch with a few of them and attended one of their weddings last week. It is crazy how much has changed with all of us and yet how we are still so much the same.



And here is Kirsten, my best friend since nursery school. Our favorite activity used to be to go over to her house, curl up on the couch, read books and eat popcorn. Seriously, we wouldn't talk, we'd just read for hours.

Good times.

The Feelin' of the Island

So the photos have arrived. Our home for the week was Man O' War Cay, part of the Abaco island chain in the Bahamas. The island was small, home to about 200 or so people. The island has no real roads, just paths for golf carts. There is a grocery store and a bank or two but not much else. The post office is open for six hours every week. The island is also dry but we brought over our own supply of gin and Kalik beer from Marsh Harbour.

Drew learned how to drive a motor boat and a sailboat. I went out once on the catamaran and worked the jib sheet. I got several gallons of salt water directly in the face and had my butt in Jamie's face the whole time. It was a lot of fun but much more adventurous than Jamie had ever intended.

One day we went to a shoal and we anchored the boat off shore and jumped off into the GORGEOUS water. We played frisbee and messed around while trying to figure the best way to flip someone up out of the water. Check out the height Jamie got! I think this day may have been my favorite day of the trip.
































Here is a view from the top of the lighthouse we visited at Hopetown on Elbow Cay. You can see a rainstorm coming across.We got drenched in the storm but found a bar to hide in and wait out the storm.











Check out this beautiful sunset.

And a final picture of us. Cute, huh?

And We're Back

So the Bahamas were fantastic. As Jamie proclaimed proudly in a confused game of "make your own Scruples", Bahamas vacations are awesome!

We were there for seven wonderful days and it was perfect week of relaxation. I read three whole books while lounging in the hammock, beach and porch. We swam everyday in the crystal clear aquamarine water. We snorkeled, sailed, boated (is that a word?), toured the island on a golf cart, visited Hope Town, played bocce ball, poker (Straight Flush, holla!), boggle, a super fun Peruvian card game and Apples to Apples. We dined on delicious food every night even though some improvisation was needed because the grocery selection was limited.

Drew and I both feel really lucky to have been able to take this vacation and I very appreciative to Jamie and Melissa for their wonderful hospitality. You guys are the best!

We got back late Friday night into Mpls, went to a wedding on Saturday and then rented a 15' Budget truck and drove it back to Chicago Sunday afternoon. I had never rode in a big truck very far before and found it to be loud, noisy, bumpy and loud. But we made it safe and sound and unloaded all the furniture and boxes of childhood stuff (including a t-shirt with a puffy paint diagram of a Euglena, high school yearbooks, tennis trophies and random art projects from elementary school).

My parents came into town yesterday to help out with household projects that range from planting lilies of the valley and rhubarb (my mom and I knocked that out this morning) to power-washing, staining and sealing the deck. They are the best and our house would never get put together without them!

Posts may still be sporadic this week and no pictures until we get the big computer up and running. But don't worry, the Bahamas pics will be up as soon as possible.

Bahamas

Check out Pass the Zaki Sauce for some beautiful pictures of where Drew and I are going on Saturday!

I can't wait!

I Ruined Christmas

So I just want everyone to know that I tried to be as nice as possible to the lady from Comcast (as well as the other 5 people from there that I have talked to). Because really it's not their fault. They didn't make the policy.

During the winter break of my freshman year at Carleton, I worked at Rivertown Traders, a catalog company that was a part of Target Corp. They hired seasonal workers and lucky for me I got a six week break from school and therefore time to make some money. So one day I get a call from a lady who is calling about her order. Everything is computerized, so I look up her stuff and see that one of her things is backordered. I explained to her (in a nice way) what the situation was and gave her an estimated date of arrival. She then proceeded to scream, yell and curse at me because I had personally "ruined her son's Christmas."

Now perhaps I was emotionally fragile at the tender age of 18, but the second I left the building that day I sobbed. My mom picked me up and I remember just crying and crying for what seemed like hours because there was a woman somewhere out in the world that hated me and blamed me for giving her son a horrible Christmas morning. I actually think I would still cry that hard today if it happened. But ever since then I try not to get angry at the people on the end of the phone because I have been in their shoes. But, wow, I now sure do understand that lady's frustration and anger.

So I hope the Comcast people I have spoken to have understood my frustration and reported it through what every channels they have to go through. And I hope they also have not felt at all upset or worried that I was mad at them. I have done my best to clearly express my feelings about their policy and only hope they have heard.

A Need to Vent

So someone explain this to me.

So we are in the new house and today we were supposed to have Comcast come and set up our phone, cable and internet. It had been four long days without these things and I was quite excited to be able to flop down on my couch and watch some crappy TV and be able to catch up the blog. So today I was hanging out all day waiting for them to come during their allotted slot of 1-5pm.

Now Drew flew to Virginia this afternoon for an insurance conference. When he landed, he called me to tell me that he was there and safe as well as to tell me that he had a voicemail from Comcast saying that they had been to the house at 1:20pm. Now I was there in the house ALL DAY. Caper was there. Caper goes nuts and starts barking if someone opens the front gate and that did not happen. There was even one point where I saw a Comcast truck go by and so I went to the front window to look out and no one was there. The doorbell never rang.

So I call Comcast and ask what the heck happened. They said that when they called the number they had (which was Drew's cell phone which was off because he was on a freakin' plane) no one answered and so they ASSUMED no one was home.

First of all, they are coming to the house to set up the frickin' phone service so clearly the number they were calling was not the number to the house.

Second, they came to the house but did not attempt to ring the doorbell even though they had an appointment set up so clearly someone should be home.

Third, they did not apologize or even seem to see the ridiculousness of their policy.

Finally, they don't have any openings until the 22nd of August.

RIDICULOUS.

I am paying them a whole bunch of money for these services and they don't even know how to ring a doorbell.

Now, I tried not to be too rude or upset on the phone to the lady from Comcast, because clearly she was not personally at fault but she had zero ability to emphathize. Her supervisor was "away from her desk" (is it wrong that I don't believe that) and is supposed to call me back. We'll see.

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Otherwise, the moving this past weekend went well. We are totally out of the condo. I'll let you now what happens but for now I am blogging from KWW's. Next week we are off to the Bahamas. So I may be a bit absent these next few weeks.

Blame Comcast.

Painters, Masons and Movers

Oh my!

So things have been very busy for us. The painters started today and are well on their way of transferring our ivory-blah house into a very green and blue colored house. Our fun colors include saybrook sage, buxton blue and cocoa sand! Check it out and paint a room with Ben's help. It's a great procrastination tool.

The painters should be done by Friday, so this weekend we will be busy busy packing up the house in preparation for the movers, who come on Monday. So, hopefully this means we can actually sleep at our own house that night.

I also had a mason guy stop by this morning because during the inspection of the house the guy found a step crack in our brick foundation. The guy was kind of weird on the phone so I wasn't quite sure what to expect. He showed up and immediately seemed perturbed when I showed him the spot. It was WAY too small a job for him he said and then couldn't even recommend other people or avenues to explore in order to get the job done. So that was annoying but I quickly got over it when I say the paint going up on the wall.

So things are moving really quickly and are getting exciting. Can't wait to show you all pictures of the work!

My Thumbs Are Not Green

Hopefully they will be soon because we have a big yard full of all kinds of plants that I don't know much about. But the previous owners did leave us with a sprinkler system all set up, so I don't have to worry too much about things dying in this incredibly miserable heat.

Yesterday I went to the nearby garden store and bought some flowers to plant in our front planters. There had been some weird, non-colorful and uninteresting green plant in them but since the previous owners moved out a month before the closing, they got a bit neglected and were a nice crisp yellow. So I planted the flowers you see below. Not hard work at all and in truth I have done my fair amount of planting at my parent's house while growing up. But I was only outside for ten minutes working on them and I was sweating like crazy. For my personal sanity and the sake of our electricity bill, I hope this heat wave ends soon.