Gardening 2012 - Phase 1 - Cinder Blocks

I experience a strange mix of excitement and dread every time I look out my kitchen window into my back yard.  It is a substantial canvas with amazing potential, however, before I can bring out said potential, I have to whitewash what is a fairly fouled canvas currently.

In case you did not follow the metaphor, allow me to be more blunt.  The yard is an overgrown mess.  Not only that, it is filled with artifacts of prior gardening attempts which are old, rotten, and half buried.  So as to not completely overwhelm myself I have set a goal of simply cleaning the slate this year.  That includes getting rid of all the junk which I no longer want back there, pulling up nearly every flower bed, turning over the earth everywhere I want to plant next year, and reseeding large portions of the lawn.  This also includes ripping up a few fairly substantial bushes and trees, but someone will be hired with cash monies for that job.

This weekend I set to digging up the bricks and cinder blocks which lined the rear garden.  The bricks I should be able to get reuse out of.  The cinder blocks however are in terrible conditions and, frankly, were not aesthetically appealing to begin with.  The job was only complicated by the fact that buckthorn, a plant who's roots are relentless, seems to run rampant through the yard currently, and had actually grown INTO the cinder blocks.

The next task I have set for myself is uprooting everything which is in the rear garden, followed shortly by turning over the earth in the garden to prep it for next year.   I'm considering also lining it with stones this year if I get around to choosing what form of masonry I want to decorate the yard with, but that's fairly low on the priority list.

Officially Closed

As of 12:45 today, we are officially homeowners.  This short sale amazed all participants by proceeding as smoothly and quickly as it did, all in all taking only a couple months with no real complications.

Looking at the front of the house

We're (and I use the word "we" very loosely) painting much of the interior over the next few days, and will officially be moving in around two weeks from now.

-DnL8Tar

Big Shoulders 2011

This morning, Laura, very uncharacteristically, got up at 5:45am (and I, very characteristically, got up with her), to participate in this years Big Shoulders swim in Lake Michigan.  Leaving from ... well ... essentially from Navy Pier, she swam a 2.5k and made it out with all body parts in tact.  This is her 3rd (or maybe 4th, I can't recall) Big Shoulders swim, though not the longest open water swim she has done (trivia: the longest was a 6 mile swim).

For whatever reason, the first time she went to a Big Shoulders swim, we brought Skull along, and I think he's been to all the others as well.  He was certainly there today as can be seen from the pictures.  I don't think we've gotten her official time yet, but she was definitely well within the first 20 women in her division (she was a yellow cap - I'm not sure what that represents).

Congratulations wifee!

Curb Couch

This particular method of disposing of furniture is rather curious in it's general acceptability.  I am certainly not against it, especially since the couch in my first apartment, which served me well for five years, was acquired by Anthony from a curb similar in nature perhaps to this curb in so much as it was a curb.

This couch was left down the street from my current apartment and from the looks of it is in fine condition.  Not that I need another, I have amassed three at this point somehow.  Point being, for a college student or recent grad this would be a godsend.

The phrase "Curb Couch" seems an appropriate moniker for the practice of leaving couches roadside in the hope that someone in need will carry it off free of charge.  What happens if this does not occur before it rains however?  Is there a next step in the process here whereby the couch is properly disposed of?  Do garbage trucks actually pick these items up?  And what is the limit on the type of furniture which can be left on a curb?  Surely if I replace my toilet it would not be socially acceptable to leave it sitting outside my house in case someone wants to eclectically decorate their basement.

Petrie Loves His Beefheart

Beefheart - the fillet mignon of aquatic foods.

Petrie enjoying an afternoon feast.  I always enjoy how he just beats the heck out of his food after dragging it underwater.

Glenview House

The Glenview House, originally established in 1878, recently re-opened under new ownership and after undergoing major interior renovation.  We had not visited the site prior to its closure but being that it's within walking distance of our current place of residence, we decided to patronize it last evening.


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Laura being the rather boring and glutton free eater that she is got a wedge salad.  I on the other hand had what I would dare say was the best burger I have had in my life.  Consider the following:

Braised Short Ribs, prime rib, and chuck, ground and formed into a healthy half pound + burger, and topped with black truffle mayo, fontina cheese, and served with brioche.

That is the Three Beef Burger, too good to be called a sandwich, served locally at the aforementioned Glenview House.

Laura and some fava beans after this mornings Wrigley 5k. Running for Childrens Home And Aid, she came in with a 33:44 time, and was still breathing at the end.

Picked up a library card at our relatively new public library. Off hand I can not remember the last time I went to, let alone checked out a book at, a library.

Wii Substitute?

Maybe I was spoiled as a child, but I don't think I would have been a happy camper if I wanted a Wii for my 12th birthday and got a "Zone 60" instead.

It does have a Brave Heart game though, that's timely.

Trying out a text message post to blogger. Feel free to ignore as no poignant content will be provided.

Always Doin' it the Hard Way

About a month and a half ago I started working on putting my resume online at www.paulmichelotti.com.  Nuff said.

Online To Do List

To do lists have never been my forte.  Looking back on my various attempts to maintain one, the primary downfall has been my inability to remember to take the list with me.  At work I'd make up a fantastic to do list and then ... leave it at work.  Since I work from home at least two days a week, having the to do list at work does not help me much.  Once I realize I've left my to do list behind, if I'm feeling particularly organized, which is rare, I start up a new to do list, placing on it what I can remember from the work list, plus any new items.  Inevitably this new list meets the same fate as my work list.

And keeping a personal list has never worked, simply, because I'm never going to be carrying a pad of paper with me everywhere.

In episode 61 of webcomics weekly, the webcomic gurus were talking about productivity applications, one of which was an application called "Things" for Apple platforms.  Revisiting this episode I realized that while I could not use 'Things" directly due to my lack of an Apple computer and iPhone, I could benefit from a similar product if I could find one.

This morning I Googled "to do list" hoping to find some online to do list applications.  And to do list applications I found.

After looking at two applications for about 15 seconds each, I settled on an application called "Remember The Milk" largely, because the name made me chuckle.  Luckily, the application thus far seems to provide the majority of the functionality I'm looking for.

Paul's Functionality Wish List

• Online interface to manage tasks
• Categorization / tagging of tasks
• Due dates for tasks
• Time commitment estimates for tasks
• Quick add functionality
• Incorporation into iGoogle
• Incorporation into GMail
• Incorporation into Google Calendars
• Able to create new tasks via SMS from my phone (can not be done with the application directly, but you can hook your application to Twitter so that direct messages sent to Twitter in a certain format are made into tasks and you can hook Twitter to SMS)

I'll be playing with this for a few weeks before I'm completely sold on it (not that I have to pay for it), but initial impressions are favorable. 

Reorganizing

Laura and I are notoriously unorganized, and in an effort to reduce general stress and increase overall sanity, we went through an organizational effort today (an effort which largely involved a lot of work being dumped on me...).

One task of interest was trying to get our physical files in some semblance of order.  Shortly after moving to Springfield I had sent to us a four drawer high filing cabinet.  Said cabinet had a number of files haphazardly tossed into it, and was left in this state for a number of months.  After that, an effort was undertaken to categorize the files, however the categorization turned out to be less than optimal, most likely since we did not know at that point what categories we would need.  Today I recategorized some of the folders again to meet some of our immediate needs (taxes, house hunting, etc).  

In moving files around I realized a major problem was the fact that I wanted to categorize some of the files under multiple headings.  Since they were physical documents and since I did not want to waste my time copying documents simply to put them in two folders, I started looking into document scanners.  

The Fujitsu ScanSnap S1300, IE, the document scanner I will probably be buying tonight

Ideally I would be able to scan a document, move it to an application like Google Docs, tag it with whatever categories I think are pertinent to describe the document, and also associate with it some information concerning the current physical location of the file if the physical file were to persist.  Of course, I don't really know if the software that comes bundled with whatever scanner I get will actually let me do this, but I have to imagine it would let me do something similar.  

Re-purposing the Blog

In order to provide myself with a little web space to post general household updates for the Glenview contingent of the Michelotti's, I am re-purposing this wedding blog.

Last Day of Bachelor / Bachelorette - hood

This is it, my last day of bachelorhood (and of course Laura's last day of being a bachelorette). I am marking this momentous occasion with the wrapping of gifts, the writing of cards, and the figuring out of last minute wedding details ... very bacheloresque.

It's amazing that we've actually physically made it to this day. Miracles of existence aside, just getting through work at our various jobs, getting all of the planning wrapped up, and dealing with the absurd number of phone calls and e-mails we've been getting has been nothing short of astounding.

I wanted to take this brief opportunity to send a digital thank you to the people who worked to actually get us here. First off, to Laura's mom Lisa who worked, I would say, heroically, organizing basically this entire wedding from her home in Texas. And also to Laura's dad John who had to put up with her while this was all going on. To Laura's Aunt and Uncle Angela and Kevin who were there to plan the wedding shower, pull together photos, house 70% of the Lacci clan for the wedding, and really just do whatever else was needed. And of course to my parents for all of their help with planning, wrapping hundreds of apples, contacting people, and coaching me through the last few months.

Now with the sap out of the way we can talk reception. For those invited to the rehearsal we're looking forward to seeing you tonight. And for those invited to the wedding, we're definitely looking forward to seeing you tomorrow. The reception dinner details are in a prior post but herein I also wanted to note a few additional food related details. The cake will be a carrot cake with a cream cheese filling. Igor at the bakery guarantees that I am going to love this cake, because he uses only the freshest carrots. Along with the cake we are providing a candy bar which will consist of 10 varieties of candy, some of which you may recognize as a bit of a nostalgic throw back (wax bottles with juice? Always a good time). Finally, right around 11-11:30 we are having pizza and bread sticks delivered from Papa John's for those of you who have partaken a bit too heavily in the open bar (or those of you who just like pizza).

See everyone tomorrow

-DnL8Tar

Details Correction

Hello all,

For those of you closely following the site, I wanted to point out a correction to the event details which I've made. Initially it was noted that the reception would end at 11pm CST. The actual end time is in fact 12 midnight CST. The departure times for the shuttle bus runs remains the same.

-PCM-

The Wedding Party

The long awaited (and long since promised) Cast of Characters page is up on the site. A few people have yet to send in their information but we have a quorum which made it definitely worth getting it out there.

Sale Update

Not to be presumptuous about people purchasing wedding gifts, but for those graciously planning on doing so, I thought I would send an alert that the china at Bloomingdale's just went on a 50% off sale, so ... now would be the time to buy it if you're on the fence.

-DnL8Tar

Two Hour Tux - Done

According to Laura I apparently just spent more time picking out the tuxedos for the wedding then she spent picking out her wedding dress. That seems sad but I'm not sure on which side. The problem with the tux rentals vs the wedding dress is, with the wedding dress there is one decision to make ... with the tuxedos, there's 20 decisions to make. It was quite the 2 hour process but it's done.

Tuxedos are coming from Men's Wearhouse. The picture to the right is the groomsmen vest. The subtle gold perfectly complements the blue of the bridesmaids dresses. We're going with the long tie, I felt it was a less DB look that the bow tie.

Coat is straight black, 2 button, with flat front pants (pleats for some reason never sit particularly well on me). Shirt is white with the classic tux style pleats which we really don't get enough opportunities to wear (weddings and Dracula costumes).

-DnL8Tar

Mass Music

Met today with Maura (Laura's cousin and one of the vocalists for our wedding) and Mary (the organist at St. Mary's Parish) to hash through the music selections for the wedding Mass. Here's the final list we came up with after much less deliberation than anticipated:

• Prelude: Ave Verum Corpus (vamp)
  
• Parents: Ode to Joy
• Wedding Party: Cannon in D
• Bride & Father: Bridal Chorus
  
• Responsorial Psalm: 128
• Gospel Acclamation: Celtic Alleluia
• Mass Parts: Mass of Creation
• Unity Candle: Instrumental Jesu Joy of Man's Desiring
• Preparation of the Gifts: Taste & See
• Sign of Peace: Prayer of St. Francis
• Communion: Panis Angelicus
• Prayer before Mary: Schubert's Ave Maria
  
• Recessional: Wedding March
• Postlude: Allegro Maestro from Water Music