Mike and Cindi: July 2006

7/31/2006

Cindi's survey responses.

What is the first thing you remember (the very first)?
Vaguely: Going to visit my Grandpa Parker in the long term care facility in the Henry County Memorial Hospital (as it was called then)

Clearly: Bringing my little brother home from the hospital and being mad because I couldn't hold him. (Also being disappointed that he wasn't a girl.)

What is the first thing you thought of today upon rising?
"Mike smells good." Followed immediately by, "Today is Furio's birthday, I have to buy kitty treats."

Name something you might be ashamed or embarrassed to admit to owning?
William Shatner's CD (Mike says that for Scott this should be that Spice Girls CD)

What exciting thing has happened to you in the last 6 mo's.?
Getting married.

Do you have a 401 (k)?
Uh...kinda.

What smell do you most enjoy?
Freshly mowed grass. It reminds me of home.

Do you know the definition of concupiscent? (Without looking it up)
Oh! I do, I do! Although I think it is concupiscence...

Do you have a résumé?
Oh yeah, a power resume.

What did you eat for dinner last night?
A frozen pizza.

What is you favorite city?
Chicago

If you could have all the money you could ever need, what would you do with it?
Spend 1/3, Save 1/3 and give 1/3 away.

What is your favorite curse word?
Peckerwood. I suppose it's not a real curse word in the traditional sense...but it's fun to say.

Have you seen the Grand Canyon?
Only from an airplane

What noise do you hate?
I have to agree with Kelly here and say people clearing their throat.

What noise do you love?
My cats purring.

What was the name of your first friend?
Denise Donaldson

Do you still know this person?
No.

Do you pray?
Yes.

Can you play chess?
Yes but I'm the anti-Bobby Fischer.

Tea or coffee?
Tea. Hot Vanilla Chai Tea Latte, to be precise.

Describe what you are most proud of that you have accomplished and why?
Graduating from college. I was the first person on my dad's side of the family to get a bachelor's degree.

7/27/2006

Give ME a break...

I still have not received my first check from unemployment yet. I called today and they told me that a check had been issued on July 18th and that if I hadn't received it by next Tuesday they can reissue it.

Then later on I received a letter from the unemployment office that they sent yesterday. Apparently, there has been a question raised about my availability for work the last couple of weeks...whatever that means. I still haven't been able to get ahold of the guy on the paper so he can explain what it means. What I know it DOES mean is that I now have to interview with Mr. Charles Johnson to settle this issue. They'll call me and ask me some questions and then tell me whether or not I'm still eligible. If I'm not eligible, I'll have to give them back the check they've supposedly sent to me. Great. Why can't anything be EASY?

I'll try and call again tomorrow to figure out what I'll have to have when they call or when I go into their office, since the time they scheduled my interview for is a time when I plan to be in Iowa visiting my parents. If EWU is trying to get out of paying me a puny little amount of unemployment over this two month period, I swear that I'm going to quit. I already work way too hard for the amount that they pay me. But I'm getting ahead of myself...maybe they had nothing to do with it. It's always possible I hit a wrong button when I certified via telephone last week and that this will be a quick thing to correct.

What really frosted my cookie was the fact that they supposedly sent a check on the 18th that I still haven't gotten. But when they question my eligibility, I got that m-fer the NEXT DAY. It makes me want to go out in the back yard and yell swear words at the top of my lungs.

I guess it's a good thing Mike and I like pasta. We may be eating a lot of it. Feh.

7/26/2006

And they call it kitty love

Merely snuggling? Or comforting each other in the aftermath of a disaster (aka Caleb)? You decide.

He is gone

Caleb is on a train.

Furio is relaxing for the first time in nine days.

The house is quiet...it looks like a hurricane has been through, but it's quiet.

No one is complaining about anything.

I don't hear video games or rap music.

No one is asking me to cook pasta.

What the heck do I DO now?

7/24/2006

Gimme a break...

The bad news this week is that my skeletal structure is no longer intact. I had an MRI on Wednesday that showed an inch-long hairline fracture on my right humerus near the shoulder.
The pain has gone down considerably since last week and I'm able to raise my arm up and to the side without too much trouble. I'm supposed to have it in a sling for a few weeks, but that is more uncomfortable and I hate the feeling of looking like a gimp.

There'll be no kickball for me for 3 weeks. The team keeps rolling on though. Caleb is in town and he and I cheered on our team to a 6-3 win.

This weekend we went to see Pirates 2 (I slept through much of it) and Hammond's Festival of the Lakes where I also had to inspect a bunch of food vendors.

7/13/2006

Kickball fe-vah!

For those who were not in the room when I told the story, what Mike is referencing in his last blog entry is the time that he went outside, upstairs and to a bar with our neighbor/Mike's kickball captain, Jason. He was gone from about 3 in the afternoon (when the kickball game ended) until roughly 11:30 pm or midnight. He didn't stay out really late or anything...but it was clear that he has spent that entire eight to nine hour period boozing it up. He was skunk drunk when he staggered in. This was rather amusing in and of itself. However, the greatest entertainment of the night was to be the fact that he got home, came in through the back door and went right into the bedroom. I went to stand in the doorway and Mike was sitting on the bed taking off his tennis shoes. He looked up and saw me and the only thing that he said was, "I don't feel too good." He then fell into bed. I don't mean that in the sense that he was so tired he went straight to bed that night. I mean, the man literally *fell* into bed. He turned, looked down at the pillow and did a total face plant. He didn't move again for seven hours when it was time for him to get up and go to work.

There is definitely kickball fever in the air on Dickens St. these days. There are five people living in our building and four of the five people are on the kickball team. I'm the odd (wo)man out. The team only requires one girl for the team and I'm glad to turn that responsibility over to Sara who lives upstairs. I have, however, gotten finagled into the position of "official scorekeeper." That is my small but valuable contribution to the team. After the games, some of us congregate in the backyard for grilling/beer drinking and the kickball captain makes a lot of comments like, "We're f-ing awesome! We're easily the best kickball team in the league. Mike, buddy, you're my f-ing ace in the hole. You're an f-ing all-star, dude." It's funny as hell.

Anyway, as you have all (probably) read, Mike is on the all-star team. There will be much beer drinking and partying (for which I am not eager to shell out money). Therefore, I am tentatively organizing the first annual Feline Bachelor Charity Auction benefiting the Save the Beers Foundation. Mr. Furio Giunta-Cat Kurczewski has agreed to be our first celebrity bachelor and I'm hoping to get Silvio Dante Potter and Louie Potter to agree to participate as well. If I'm unable to snag the Potter Felis domestica then I will switch to a raffle which I will call, "Win a Date with Mr. Giunta." Tickets will sell for $2 a piece or 6 for $10. If this also fails to garner the necessary funds (although I do not see how it possibly could...Mr. Giunta is undoubtably handsome and in demand) then Mr. Giunta has proposed selling "protection." Give us money and he (and MeMe) won't be forced to mess up you...or your house. Have you seen our chairs? Don't give them a reason! Plus...he's got canine muscle...Delilah, Talulah, Chloe and Scarlett...and these bitches (what? they're all female!) will mess....you....up.

Send money. We know where you live.

7/12/2006

Hey now, you're all all-star...

For those of you anxiously awaiting the results of our kickball game on Sunday, we whupped the Rhinestone Cowboys 24-3. This win puts us at 3-1 and into first place with the team we lost to at the beginning of the year. We have the tiebreaker because we've scored the most runs so far. Because we're the first place team in our division at this point, our team captain will be coaching one of the teams. 3 players from each team get to play in the all-star game and I'm one of those picked to play from our team. Yay!

The post-game BBQ was fun and I'd like to announce that I did not end up face down in bed mumbling, "I don't feel too good" to Cindi afterwards. Good times.

Over and out.