Marvel I say

Jake and I enjoyed the day together on Memorial Day. Jake didn't have to work which was a plus! This was the first Memorial Day I haven't had to work in years. We spent most of the day building an exposure unit for me to use in working with silk screens. After a few trips to Home Depot and a few calls to Jake's Dad we were able to get it finished in one day.

We had a grill out at Philip and Tracie's. Jennifer grilled some shiskabobs and hot dogs, I made sweet corn tamale cakes, and Tracie made a yummy jello cake. It was a good meal and pleasant enough weather. It wasn't raining but it was muggy. Hope everyone enjoyed their holiday. Below are some photos of the exposure unit we built. Marvel at our excellence!

I don't want to but I want to

So it is official....Jake and I are looking for another place to live. I was doing laundry and pulled out some of my shoes that are in my closet and they were covered in mold. I then pulled everything out and saw why my shoes were ruined...... We told the complex that there was a little water damage in the closet from the last flooding issue we had last summer. They were supposed to take care of it while we were in Chile....They didn't. They have YET to clean up the carpet or fix the molding and rotting wood. Jake had to take photos to the front office and speak to the manager who simply sighed and said it would be taken care of immediately....that was yesterday morning.....still nothing.....Well, they did come look at the damage, I know this how? Oh because they LEFT OUR DOOR UNLOCKED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I came home and it was unlocked and I almost had a heart attach right there. So, as sad as I am to move, I am DONE with these people and this place. We will be looking around hopefully on Saturday and be able to get everything set up so we can move out in August when our lease is up. Below are some photos of the damage.

I had to throw away 6 pairs of shoes, including my tennis shoes :( it hurt me to have to get rid of them. They had been molding for months, no wonder I have been sick for the past two weeks! I hate the idea of actually having to move all these BOOKS, but I hate the idea of having to stay here even more so I guess I will tell my self that as I am lugging boxes of books up and down stairs.

Who's the Colonel?

A lot has happened since my last post. Our furry friend hasn't been back! The maintenance guy for our apartments placed a trap outside where "the raccoon" has been getting in and out at. There has never been anything in the trap so our guess is that he wasn't in the walls when they placed the trap outside and he just couldn't get in. FINE BY ME! It has been great, my sleep hasn't been disturbed! Well, if you don't count when I sat straight up in bed the other night and mumbled something. Jake then claims that I said "I don't understand. I'll have to ask the Colonel." I don't remember this at all, but Jake laughed quit a bit at me. We still don't know who "The Colonel" is, but it has quickly made it's way into our everyday speech. If I don't know the answer to a question I simply say "I'll ask the Colonel".

We woke up a few mornings ago to a wet floor in our bedroom. This happened last Summer as well. Our bedroom is under the ground so when it rains a lot the ground water sometimes gets ahead of the sump pump that is supposed to prevent flooding........it didn't. The last time this happened it ruined our chest of drawers which we just replaced last month. This time it ruined Jake's night stand! The apartment complex of course doesn't cover any of that. It would be something we would have to claim with our renter's insurance. The problem is that the furniture isn't worth the price of our deductible so we are just out of luck! I am so close to wanting to move, but I doubt we will find a place as big as ours for the price of ours. I only worry about what if this happens while we are in Chile and our bed or shelves full of books get ruined? DAH!

Jake had to present his prospectus for his dissertation at Vandy. He passed of course! So now he can get his application for his permits turned in soon and we will be able to reimburse ourselves from the last trip! Hopefully.

One of Jake's friends is leaving the country for 8 months and was getting rid of some stuff and she gave me a bike! I was so excited, I haven't had a bike since I was 10. It is a nice bike too! She gave me a bike lock for it and it is outside next to Jake's. I took it for a spin the day we got it, I have never had a 10 speed bike, so when Jake yelled across the parking lot "down shift" I had no idea what he was talking about and almost hit the parked car next to me! Apparently there are really cool bikes that you can shift up or down to help you peddle. Who knew? It has rained everyday since then so we haven't been able to take them anywhere yet. We might get to this week, fingers crossed.

Happy Mother's Day to all the mother's we know! We are having a grilled lunch at Tracie and Philip's tomorrow after church. Some grilled chicken and fixens if it doesn't rain. We will also have a Publix cake, they are so good! It has been raining so much this past week that we will be lucky if we don't spend the afternoon swimming around in the yard. Hope everyone has a good Mother's Day and is appreciated by their families!