Sectional Hunting

Ross & I were THIIIIS close to purchasing a sectional this weekend. I wasn't even looking for a couch this weekend, but once you go shopping with mom ....well, things change, she's a very convincing person, ha! And we DO need a new couch for the house, so it didn't hurt to look.

I showed it to Ross Saturday night, but we decided to go home and 'sleep on the decision' before spending any money. Sunday, we showed up at the store with the intention of buying it, but were still too hesitant, so we walked away. Here is the sectional (shown in black leather, we would've ordered it in a chocolate brown leather):

What do you think?? Do you like the look of it?

I am still up in the air about it, so I'm glad we didn't go through with it. Especially since this was our first chance to look at couches. I think we need to spend a little more time shopping around.

Here are our main reasons for NOT buying the couch:
1) Worried about the leather. How does it hold up? Doesn't it scratch and begin to crack after wear-and-tear? (even though they said it wouldn't scratch, I find that hard to believe)
2) Don't like the 'look' of it.
3) Price. A bit steep for us, we'll have to be on the lookout for another sale if we do decide to buy this after all.

Those are a LOT of reasons to not want the sectional, so why the heck did we pick it out in the first place? Well, as soon as mom & I sat down in it.... HEAVEN! It was the comfiest sofa I've ever been in. Oh, my, gawd. Pure bliss. I'm not usually a leather person, but this was exceptional.

But there are still those 3 reasons holding me & Ross back, so we need to keep shopping. On the other hand, I know our choices are VERY limited due to my ginormous list of WANTS/NEEDS for our future couch:

1) a sectional with the 'wedge' vs. just a corner cushion, that way someone can still easily sit in the corner and I can sneak a floor lamp behind it for extra lighting :)

2) fabric, but only as long as the cusions come OFF, and I can throw them in the washer (a lot of cushions seem to be attached to the back of the couch, Hello?!?! How do you clean that?? And don't tell me SPOT CLEANING! Ugh, I don't think so. Not after a dog throws up on it (more than once). Gross, spot cleaning will just NOT DO! Now aren't you excited to come to my house?! ha! Surely I can't be the only one who's dealt with this! Kids will be just as messy one day...oh the horror.)

3) possibly leather, but I'm still uncertain about how it holds up. At least it would clean easily!

4) Size is a HUGE obstacle, b/c most sectionals are too big for the corner of our room, believe it or not. The one above was still 3" too big, but I could make it work.

5) Last but not least, it needs to be comfy :)

6) Oh, and price, we're not rich ya know.

Thought, anyone?! Leather vs. fabric? How leather holds up? Should the 'comfy-ness' outweigh the look of it? Perhaps I'm just too picky. HA! Oh the headaches.....

An Apology

Don't you just love when your dear husband brings out his Human Resources knowledge and uses it against you? Oh, is that just mine?! I guess so!

He so kindly pointed out last night that the last thing I should be doing is venting about work on my blog, because I could easily be fired over it. Well, on my defense, I'm not 'friends' with any of my coworkers on Facebook, so other than that, I don't think they would have any way of even knowing I have a blog.

But secondly, I should state, for the record, that my job really isn't so bad. Yeah, I have my bad days, but who doesn't?! I really try not to take my job for granted, even on the worst days. I have good pay and great benefits, so what more could I really ask for?! Especially when this time, last year, I was on a job hunt that seemed hopeless. Period. And then add the crappy economy on top of that. So consider me extremely thankful for the job I hold today.

So thank you, Westinghouse, for all the good days, and even the bad. Here's to many more happy years together :)

It Never Even Started Off Well....

Of all days I decide to where a 3/4 length sleeve sweater, today was not a good day to do that. It looked nice outside! AND I decided that in the first time in the past month, to NOT warm up my car before work. I could handle some cold for a bit, that would allow me to get a head start into work. Besides, it didn't snow last night, so it must be nice outside. Oh yeah, did I mention my car read 0 degrees this morning?! Yup. Of all days to not warm up my car and wear the wrong outfit, way to go. But ok, if that's the worse that happens today, I can deal with my Monday!

But no, don't worry, that's not where it ends....

Surely that would be a boring post, so let's make my day suck more.

As soon as I get into work today, I need to reschedule a meeting (for the 3rd time!) because no one can agree on a time, yet I am the admin assistant and it is my job to find a time where everyone is available. There are only 4 people attending this meeting. By this point, wouldn't it be easier for the 4 of them to just talk to EACHOTHER and figure out a time, rather than me emailing so-and-so, and then replying to so-and-so, back and forth, back and forth to find a time. Yes, I schedule meetings, it's part of my job, but this is getting ridiculous, where in this case, it would be easier for THEM to talk, and agree on a time, and then tell me what time they've agreed on so that I can send out an updated meeting invite.

So after my 7th attempt of rescheduling, I finally found a time, done. YOU GUYS GET NO MORE CHANCES! I think there should be a max # of attempted reschedules. Like after the 5th try, you lose. Over. Done. I quit. Do it yourself!

But no, that's not where it ends either....

I'm then told I need to adjust 2 hotel reservations I made for 2 visitors we have coming this month. The first time they asked me to make reservations for them, they didn't bother to tell me the dates they were visiting, so I had to read through countless email threads to decipher when they were coming. TODAY they tell me, 'NO NO NO, we are coming THESE DAYS!!! You've got it all wrong!' Ok, I was only a few days off, but anyway, I went ahead and changed their reservations while thinking 'MAYBE IF you would've told me the dates the FIRST time, I would've gotten it right. Idiots.' Thanks.

BUT now!

NOW!!!!!

NOOOOOWWWW!!!!!



I have to find a RUSSIAN TRANSLATOR for when they come b/c they don't speak English well. O dear god!!!!!!!!

#*$^#*)*@)#*$*@*&^!@*#^%@#*&jadf

I don't even know where to begin.

Is this day over yet?!?

Looking Up

Yesterday was a good day...for the most part, until about 3:00 when the days seems to never want to end! But it got good again when I got home and Ross & I worked on the house for a bit :) We feel very accomplished today. After many days of deliberating how to best cut out some ceramic floor tiles in the kitchen to make way for a new wall that would fill-in an existing doorway, we finally did it! Thanks to the internet...our new best friend. It had suggested the right tool with the right blade, and even though we were still very skeptical that it would work and wouldn't shatter the entire tile, we forged ahead! Lucky for us, Ross' dad already owned the said tool (an angle grinder) so we only had to spend $10 to buy the suggested blade (a diamond blade). We agreed it was the best $10 we've ever spent! It worked like a charm, and cut out just enough of the tile so that we can put up the new wall without having to go ontop of the tile. Don't worry, I took a ton of pics, in case you're having trouble following what I'm talking about!! We were so excited about trying something new, and daring, if I must say so myself, that I kept snapping away! I'll share those pics on the blog as soon as I upload them.

Anyway, it's Thursday and I'm in a good mood once again. Although it always starts out this way until I get bored at work, and then grumpy, and then just plain exhausted. So let's hope today goes fast, and that winter goes even faster :)

It Never Ends

I know I'm not in the right mind to be blogging, but I don't care, welcome to my life.... I'm tired, stressed, anxious for nothing, and most of all, I just need a break from reality. I've been the most unpleasant person these past few weeks, and my poor husband has gotten the brunt of it. I snap at him more than I can count, even though he doesn't deserve it. I complain about the most mundane tasks b/c I feel like I can never catch up. I avoid talking to people at work b/c I'm too tired to pretend to be happy, or just pleasant to deal with. The apartment gets cluttered more quickly than I can keep up with and I feel it closing in on me. I'm hoping that its just the season keeping my spirits down. I've been sick of winter since the first snowfall and for the first time, I don't welcome the daylight savings time. I need a night out with girlfriends, if only they would care to ask. I need a night out on the town with the hubs without one word about the house and home renovations. I need a night away from my dog who constantly craves attention. I need a weekend of camping, with good friends and some laughs. I need some time to myself. Time to brush up on old hobbies. Playing the piano for hours to dissolve stress. Listening to loud music and attempting to paint. Time to do everything and nothing all at once. Time to be BORED and not think of all the errands I need to run, chores I need to finish, and everything else in between that feels like its dragging me down. I need some fresh air!

And even though I don't feel like the happiest person these past few weeks, I know it will pass, and that I have so much to be thankful for. It just feels good to vent at times when things seem to be too much to handle :)

Another Food Post?! Really?!

Cake is all around me this week. First, we got a cake for my boss at work yesterday, so I had a piece. It was ok. But today?! The exec's at work ordered a cake to celebrate Westinghouse's 125th anniversary, so I gave it thought, maybe, maybe not. But THEN ....somebody told me it was from Oakmont Bakery! Yup, I basically enhaled a piece in 2.9 seconds. No regrets. Only satisfaction. I might sneak back for a 2nd 0:) A day in the life of ME is never dull!

Smell My Lemons!

Ever since Ross & I closed on our house, home renovations have taken off. It's been great and certainly a learning experience, but it's also exhausting. I'm completely and utterly tired. And my wrist hurts, I think I did a bit too much cleaning and scrubbing at the house yesterday, but it was all worth it. Now our new kitchen smells like lemons! Lots of lemons! I scream "I want my house to smell like lemons, dang it!" all day long when I clean, b/c right now, our house has a funky smell that I hope will go away when we get some of the carpet taken out and the walls painted. Mom was brave and cleaned our bathrooms on saturday. With rubber gloves. What a huge stepping stone. I can't believe what a difference clean bathrooms make! It's like I can finally see the light at the end of the tunnel and that our house is not a complete disaster anymore, but finally becoming a home. And after another 8-hour home reno day yesterday, our kitchen is 90% clean. All of the cabinets have been removed, de-greased, cleaned, lysol-ed, scrubbed, washed, and hung back up. I will have the cleanest home in all of Pennsylvania when I am through with it :) And it shall SMELL LIKE LEMONS! Even if the fumes ARE toxic b/c of how strongly they disinfect. SMELL MY LEMONS!