party like it's 1999

Whew. What a Saturday. I need another Saturday just to recover from today. Yikes.

Despite the fact that I haven't been to any kind of shower/party in probably 8 months, today I had TWO!! What are the chances, right? So now I'm home, safe and sound, savoring the sweet silence (okay, so I'm half-watching Animal Planet, but it's relatively silent) and solitude. Let's review the day, shall we?

As a co-hostess for Mollyanne's shower, I got up bright and early to prepare a fruit pizza. Despite a few close calls, it turned out beautifully (note: never try a new recipe for the first time for a high-profile event!! Practice first!!) and I only had about twelve thousand pounds of fruit leftover to turn into a fruit salad. Apparently I have no concept of how much fruit can fit on a fruit pizza and I slightly over-bought...but no matter, everyone loves a fruit salad!

The shower was at Robin's sickeningly beautiful house and was, as expected, absolutely lovely. We opted to keep it simple and classy and stayed away from too much baby-ness...Mollyanne's had 4 showers in the past two weeks and probably doesn't need a sea of pastel blue and green to remind her that she's about to birth a baby boy!! With our yummy brunch food (the shower was at 10:30 am) and Robin's funky dishes, I thought it turned out really nicely.

We had a good turn out of people (and their gifts) and I had a really good time. Lots of ladies brought their babies, so there was plenty of good baby-holding to be had. That's always exciting for me! Here I am with the guest of honor.

I left Robin's around 1:30 and drove home (35 minutes). I had a little over an hour before I needed to leave to drive to another side of town for my next shower, so I spent my time curling my hair. I decided mid-first-shower that I was sick of my straight, flat hair that badly needs to be cut. I want crazy gypsy hair. So I found some curling irons and spent some quality time in my bathroom. It turned out pretty good, although most of the curl fell out rather quickly. Oh well.

My next shower was a lingerie shower/bachelorette party for my friend Sarah. It was a nice mix of church and college friends, and there were some surprisingly scandalous gifts! Sarah's sister hosted the party and there was plenty of delicious food and cosmopolitans to enjoy.

After presents and games at Sarah's house, we went downtown to the Speakeasy (love it) for some dinner and drinks. Most of us were stuffed (several of us had attended both showers...equaling WAY too much party food!) but we found room for some tapas and cocktails. I had a delicious Mocha Nut martini and spanakopita...yum! I had fun sitting with Mollie, who was reunited with the Sangria Martini of her dreams, and was slightly happy about the situation.

I love the Speakeasy, and especially love hanging out there with fun girls. And what's better reason to celebrate is there than for a friend's upcoming nuptials??

Here I am with Sarah...we chose to remove most of our...um...male-body-part-themed jewelry for the trip downtown. Most of it, anyway. ;)

The day and night were fun, but being constantly surrounded by people is draining! I was happy to come home, shower, and lounge on the couch. I haven't seen Matt all day, sadly. He has been hanging out with his brother and some friends and they're still going strong. I could have gone to hang out with them after I left downtown, but the thought of MORE people was a little much and I opted to just come on home and chill. Tomorrow we have a big day at Vineyard with the Children's Open House, but hopefully I'll get some time tomorrow afternoon to hang out with Mattie and rest a bit.

And the countdown is on: only ONE MORE WEEK until we leave on our cruise!! Yippeeee!! However, I'm already dreading the part where we leave Lola with friends for the week. A week without my baby???? I just don't know if I can do it.

rollin'

A few weekends ago I made one of my lifelong dreams come true. You know, sometimes you can wish and hope and beg and drop 'subtle' hints for only so long before you just go on and get something for your own self. This was one of those situations. I have been whining about wanting Rollerblades for years. I think Matt thought it was just another of my whiny fake-wants...ya know, like wanting a unicorn or pygmy elephant. You know...like, they're cute and everything, but what would you really do with one? [side note: I still want the pygmy elephant, it's just slightly harder to obtain] So despite "ROLLERBLADES" appearing on every single Christmas and birthday wish list since he's known me, he still hasn't thought I'm serious about wanting some. I can't blame him, really...I mean, I'm not really the most athletic girl you've ever met. Most of my attempts at athleticism last for approximately 30 seconds and end as soon as I start sweating (I hate sweating).

But I really did want Rollerblades. I've never had any. My brother got some when we were little and he would never let me use them and so I never got to try. And I just knew I would be so awesome at it, WAY better than Jake was.

So maybe I am twenty-six. Maybe I'm slightly out of shape and way past my athletic prime, if I ever even had one of those. But dangit, I really wanted Rollerblades.

Enter my current passion for yardsaling. (I'm really tempted to spell that 'yardsailing', because how cool would it be if you could sail from yard to yard?) A few weekends ago, lo and behold, at an impromptu stop at a yard sale while on our way to the park, I found ROLLERBLADES. Hello, mother lode. Come to your new mommy. They had a few different pairs (it was a church yard sale), none of which fit me, but I'm not about to let a tiny thing like size stand in the way of my dreams. I picked out the pretty red-and-black pair, handed over my $5, and skated on towards a happier and more fulfilled future. Or rather...shuffled as I held on to Matt for dear life. Have I mentioned I've never even tried Rollerblading before? And they didn't have a helmet or knee or elbow pads for sale, so there's precious little between me and the pavement.

Anyway, in the weeks since I've used them as much as I can, which amounts to about 4 big shindigs. I can't use them unless Matt is with me because a) it took me two week to figure out how to STOP, b) our driveway is a hill and I didn't have the skills to traverse it alone, c) I COULDN'T STOP, and d) the dang things KILL my feet...I'll estimate they're about two sizes too small. Ouch. A girl can only take so much. But since Sunday I've learned how to stop (thank you online video tutorials) and gotten a little more confident in my skills.

Tonight we went over to this little street about a quarter mile from our neighborhood. It's this area that has been cleared as though they're going to build a neighborhood, but nothing has actually been built. So there are just lots of deserted streets with dead ends and cul-de-sacs and no cars whizzing by or neighbors gawking. Basically, it's perfect. And here's what it looks like when you teach a 26 year old girl and her 1 year old dog a few new tricks...

This here is what we in the business call the "t-stop." It's called that because...your feet (blades) make a T when you do it. And it makes you stop. Brilliant, really.

And this is like a waterskiing/dogsledding hybrid and I really do think it should be a competitive sport. Anyone want to join me in starting a league?

Basically you can summarize this as: Erika + Rollerblades = LUV

You think if I keep it up until Christmas I can convince someone to get me some blades that actually FIT???

millionaire in the making

It's been a fabulous weekend. I had an inkling it would be, since late Wednesday I got a voicemail from Stine requesting lodging for she and the husband at the Bates Motel for the weekend. If there's anything better than house guests in general, it would have to be when James & Kristina are the house guests. Good times have been had more than once when it's the Boothes and Bateses. Side note: approximately three weeks after Matt and I got married, the Boothes moved in with us for a little over a week. It was the best thing ever. They were between apartments and needed a place to stay and that was one fun week. As I recall, we watched lots of Man Vs. Wild, several documentaries about pygmy elephants, and drank fruity beverages...but anyways.

They were in town for a wedding James was in so they had several wedding events to attend, but in between we had time for some hanging out and laughs. Stine and I spent Saturday morning/afternoon going to yard sales and the flea market. You see, I've been wanting to make a present for my sisters' birthday (which was...umm...a few weeks ago...). I had seen something for sale in a shop downtown a few weeks ago which I thought was FABULOUS and perfect, but one of those things I figured I could make myself for a fraction of the cost. All it would require was some poking around at yard sales and a little craftiness. Stine is much craftier than I, so together I knew we could make this thing fabulous. AND WE DID. I would put pics up, but on the off chance my sister or any of her friends see my blog, I want to wait until I actually give it to her. But if you're really curious, I'll be happy to email you some pics and details, just ask.

After we made The Gift, I decided that this could be my ticket to stay-at-home-momhood and becoming a millionaire. I mean, this is a super cute and customizable gift that works as home/office decor. I can so see myself getting rich off this. We shall see, though. :) But I've got lots of plans for when that does happen...

First off, we will buy a bocce ball set. Matt & I played this game last night over at his parents' house and it was FUN! Neither of us had ever played before, and in general I'm not much a fan of any backyard sports...mainly because I tend to suck at such things. And I don't really enjoy doing things I'm terrible at. But I decided to be a sport and try bocce ball, and it was so much fun!! I had a good run of beginner's luck, which didn't hurt my attitude any, but it really seemed to be the kind of game that didn't really depend on how athletic you were...so I liked that.

That's Matt and his brother Steve contemplating their next move (and scratching mosquito bites). We had a lot of fun hanging out with his family and some other friends for the evening. We also got about a million mosquito bites. I guess that's one of the hazards of playing bocce ball! We finished off the night back at our house with the Boothes and Catherine, enjoying pina coladas and discussing the finer points of blogging and Google Analytics. And looking at pictures of strange and bizarre weddings. Yikes.

Today has been a relaxing and productive Sunday-- church followed by lunching at Barberitos and picking up some gifts at Target. We spent the last hour or so working on our continuing efforts to erradicate the ants from our yard. It doesn't seem like a fair fight, since there are millions of them and only two of us. But then again, they don't have poison. Mwah ha ha. Anyway, I do have high hopes that one day I will be able to take two steps onto the lawn and not be swarmed by fire ants. It's a dream I'm clinging to.

Well now Matt's running around doing all sorts of athletic things, so I better join in. I think my Rollerblades might be calling my name. Then again, it could be the ants.

the new ride

You had to see this one coming. I mean, Matt and I are moving up in the world. We're going places. We bought the house, have our dog, workin on getting a kid...we've got jobs, going on a sweet vacay next month...we're livin the good life. All we need is white picket fence and we'll be set.

A white picket fence. For our YARD. Our beast of a yard. Our larger-than-life yard. Our yard that seems to need entirely too much mowing. It's like as soon as you finish mowing, it's time to start again. That's how long it takes to mow the whole thing. I am hardly even exaggerating.

And as fun as mowing is (I really do enjoy it...when I'm in the mood), it's just been too much. It takes HOURS. And it's HOT outside. And for some unknown reason it's been RAINING all the time, which makes the FRICKIN GRASS GROW. I hate to sound ungrateful for the rain, but seriously. One of us needs to quit our jobs and be a stay-at-home-mower. If I could get benefits with that, I'd do it.

Or.....

Or maybe it's time to take [yet another] family 'heirloom' off Matt's parents' hands. Us buying a house has been like winning the jackpot for basically Matt's whole extended family: Look!! People to take all our old stuff!! Now we can buy newer stuff!! And hey-- we take it, cause we need it!! That's how we got our mower in the first place-- hand me down!!

But look what rolled in to Statham today.

Oh yeah. If you're wondering is that a top-of-the-line Snapper Model X5somethingortheother?? then I would have to say no, probably not. Maybe it was in like year 245 B.C. or something, but not now. But if you, like me, are wondering is that a lawmower that someone put tricycle handles on? then I would have to say...that's where all the signs are pointing. Go figure.

Giggle as you may (or maybe you're turning green with envy! You should be!), that puppy is one sweet ride and it got the job done. We got off to a bit of a rough start (naturally I didn't even give Mattie a try...this was all me tonight) and my deepest apologies go out to about 15 feet of our front yard that are now completely barren of life (who knew that putting the blade on the lowest setting would actually not make it look like a golf course?)...I hope that some day grass will grow there again...but please no one come visit us anytime soon because you might laugh.

Maybe Matt had a point when he suggested I do my "learning" in the back yard. Whatever, I thrive under pressure. After that minor detail got adjusted, it was smooth sailing. And by "smooth", I actually mean incredibly bouncy. The seat, if you can call it that, is not exactly what I'd call cushy. Or stable. Or well-balanced. And our yard isn't exactly level. The combination of these things did, however, make for a very exciting thrill ride-- it was pretty much like being at Six Flags on one of the old wooden roller coasters. Pretty much.

So that's the new ride. And if there was ever any chance of Matt's car getting a spot in the garage, I'm pretty sure it's gone now. Although we did purchase a garage shelf today!! I can't wait to get it set up and organized. Here's Matt putting it together...ladies, please wipe the drool off your keyboards. I know...the sight of a man reading directions while putting something together is a bit overwhelming for me, too.

So in theory I should have a lot more time on my hands now, since mowing won't take up every waking hour of my weekends. But don't worry-- I have a way to fill that time. It's another blog for another day (mainly because we keep forgetting to take pictures), but I can whet your appetite with one word:

Rollerblades.

twins?

My sister Sarah and I have always looked very similar. I am older by 4 and a half years, so for much of our childhood we were too far apart in age to look too much alike, but by the time we "grew up" (around the time I graduated from high school) we (and the rest of the world) came to the realization that the Stone sisters did, in fact, look alike. Although we very rarely had similar hairstyles (Sarah's been dying hers since she was about 12...mine's always been much more natural), we had such similar facial features that getting a "hey, are you guys twins?" question from complete strangers wasn't out of the ordinary at all. Worse, strangers would frequently think that (upon finding out we weren't twins) Sarah must be the older sister. As disheartening as that was, it didn't really shock me-- she always goes all out with her makeup, hairstyle, and clothing...she always looks fabulous and ready to go to a party or something. I usually look like a college student on her way to class. Or bed. Whatev. I'm definitely the Plain Jane of the pair, though, so I understand how she ends up looking slightly more...ahem...pulled together. Anyway, before I go on with my story, some photo evidence, shall we?

This picture was taken on the Fourth of July 2003. That would have made me 20 and Sarah 15. And no, we do not normally dress alike. It was a national holiday and we were at my grandmother's house. Festive clothing was not optional.

Same summer, obviously before the haircut pictured in the above picture. This was during one of our many photo shoots that happened (in a car) for the sole purpose of determining if we looked alike or not.

At the beach in 2004.

Before her high school graduation in 2005 (clearly she has always opted for more eyeliner than me!)

Christmas 2005

In early 2007, though, Sarah did something that seemed to end the twin factor: she cut her hair very short (and very trendy) and (through a long, excruciating process that she has no plans to undo any time soon) went platinum. Funny how with completely dissimilar hair, the likenesses between us seems to go away!

At Kristina & James's wedding, March 2007

May 2007

Before my rehearsal dinner, June 2007

Easter 2008

And so on and so forth. As we get older, we see each other less and less and have fewer opportunities for fabulous photo shoots, but we pretty much look like the above picture now, maybe with a new hairstyle or two and different makeup. But this brings me to my next story, and the inspiration for this entire blog: yesterday.

I had just checked out at Kroger and was walking towards the doors to go outside. Across several aisles I hear someone hollering "Saaaaarah!! SAAAARRRAAAHHH!! Are you Sarah?? Sarah STONE???? SAAAARRRAAAAHHHHH?????" Well, you had me at "Sarah Stone." I turned to see what 50something woman would be making such a scene. I said "ummm...I'm Sarah Stone's older sister..." which trailed off into awkwardness because I mean...how well does she even know Sarah if she's unaware that Sarah a) has had short blonde/white hair for 3 years, b) does not live in or near Athens, Ga, and c) has a similar-looking older sister who DOES live in Athens, Ga? Clearly not that well...but apparently well enough to take a chance on hollering across the Kroger! So I walk over to her and set her straight: I'm Erika, Sarah's sister...and you are...??? Right, so she's a semi-family friend (really her husband and girls were more friends of my brother than anyone else) but she has met me before, maybe 10 years ago. She goes on to say that her daughter, who was with her in the store, told her (mom) that she didn't think I was Sarah, she was pretty sure I was Sarah's sister (couldn't remember my name), and she didn't think they should say anything because a) they weren't really sure about anything, b) they wouldn't know my name or me anyway, c) I mean, really. These are not close friends. Nothing is really to be gained by initiating conversation with the semi-stranger sister of a guy your dad knows. Luckily, the mom threw caution to the wind and aren't we glad she did? Otherwise I would have had nothing to blog about.

I called Sarah on my way home from the store to tell her the events that had just unfolded. After laughing hysterically, she said that she is going to choose to feel honored that people know of and love her enough to take a chance on screaming her name in a store 350 miles away from where she lives. She says she never knew she was so famous! And so that's just another reason I love my optimistic little sister...look at her choosing the bright side and hardly making fun of those people at all. :) It was also her 22nd birthday this past Wednesday...Happy Birthday, Twin!

SUYL: Wedding Reception & Honeymoon

This is my second time joining in on the "Show Us Your Life" series from Kelly's Korner and it's so much fun!! The theme this time is wedding receptions and honeymoons.

We had our wedding at the State Botanical Gardens in Athens, Ga. Because it was late June, an outdoor wedding was definitely out of the question, so the (indoor, air conditioned) Day Chapel at the Botanical Gardens was as close as I could get to being out in nature, surrounded by trees and flowers. We had our reception right there in the reception area of the Day Chapel-- it was cozy but perfect. The reception was indoor/outdoor, and God bless the people who chose outdoor. I think it was mostly college students and kids, and I hope they got themselves an extra slice of cake or something-- it was HOT!! I had to go out there for the bouquet toss and that was quite enough of Georgia in June at noon for me. Anyway, onto the pictures!



These were the prettiest tea/lemonade pitchers! Sadly, they belong to the caterers, so I don't have them or anything.

My fabulously delicious cake! The bottom and top layers were strawberry with fresh strawberry creme filling and the middle layer was white with lemon filling. DELISH!!!!

I promise there was more "real" food than this...but the fruit is a lot prettier. :)

The outdoor area, evidently before the wedding...I promise there were chairs eventually! ("Come to my wedding. But you'll need to sit outside in the 100 degree heat...and by sit, I mean stand, because there's no chairs! mwah ha ha....But please bring lots of presents!!")

You may notice lots of hydrangeas. That's because I'm obsessed with their beauty and their blueness.

After the wedding, we went on a cruise! But since the wedding was on a Saturday and the cruise left on Monday, we had a few days to meander down towards Tampa. So we drove about 1/4 of the way on Saturday and then spent two nights at a bed & breakfast in the huge metropolis of Moultrie, Georgia.

The Barber-Tucker House was beautiful and perfect for relaxing for the first two days of our marriage!


We took a Carnival cruise (the Inspiration) from Tampa Bay to Cozumel and Grand Cayman. It was SO much fun-- so much so that we're going on a pretty identical cruise in ONE MONTH FROM TODAY!!!! (that just hit me, by the way. ONE MONTH!) Please note our beautiful matching Sea-Bands in the above picture. Can't say they did anything but give me strange tan lines, but I wore them quite religiously!!

Note: If you ever go on a cruise to really touristy ports like Cozumel (although probably ALL ports have turned really touristy), you need only to walk like 3 blocks back from the water-side road (whatever is the main drag and the first thing you walk on when you get off the ship) and you can actually experience the city/country you're in. For every Senor Frog and Margaritaville on the main drag you can find 10 impoverished streets and shops/restaurants that are REAL Mexico, which is much more to my liking. You can actually buy authentic (and delicious and cheap) food there and support people who really need your money, rather than American chains parked on the main drag that do nothing to support the city they're in. Just a little advice...

And that's why we're extremely sweaty in the above picture. Because we hiked awhile to find this restaurant and then there was no A/C. But it was well worth it!

As much as I would love to spend a few more hours digging through pictures and telling tales, I need to move onto my first important task of the weekend: making a fruit salad and sausage/cheese dip for a cookout tonight! I am so excited that we have very few plans this weekend-- the cookout tonight and then dinner with our neighbors tomorrow night. Compared to every other weekend of the last 3 months, this is NOTHING!! We have big plans to sleep in and cut the grass tomorrow...and relax. A. Lot.

And maybe watch about 2000 more episodes of I Didn't Know I Was Pregnant, because seriously, that is the best show ever.

first day

The first day of school has come and gone and I seem to have survived. A new crop of barely-four year olds (some still 3, actually) crawled off the busses and cars and out of mama's arms (some were forcibly removed) and sent to us, and I'm once again faced with the daunting task of turning them into geniuses. Or at least slightly more knowledgeable. But I like to set the bar high, personally. Anyway, this year, due to district rezoning, I have mostly non-English speakers. In one class I have 14/20 speaking Spanish, and I think it's 12/20 or so in the other class. So although I can only claim to hablo espanol un poquito, my oral language today was probably 50/50 English-Spanish. Intense. But I guess I'm excited about the year, about new chances and opportunities, about working in a new school with new people, about moving from being the "new girl" in my department to being one of the most experienced "vets".

But I sure am tired.

After work I drove out to the DMV (far far away in Athens) to get the address changed on my driver's license. Since I'd already used up my one free address change I just had to do a renewal. Whatev. So they took a picture and my hair is sticking up. I mean, seriously. Could the girl who seemed to be really busy eating candy and reading a magazine not have let me re-take the picture? Really? Okay, whatev. I'll be happy with this one. Then I had a 10 minute argument with this other girl about what county I live in. "So what county do you live in?" "Barrow." {she types some things in the computer} "....hmmm....not seeing you listed in Barrow. [double checks that I told her the right address. I did.] Well, yeah, Statham isn't listed in Barrow County." "Umm...well, sorry, but that's where I live. I promise it's Barrow County." "Well...it's not listed. What counties are you near?" I mean, really? I can pick? Let's see...Orange County....and whatever county Chicago is in. "Umm...Oconee, Jackson, and Gwinnett?" {types some more} "Oh! Here you are. Oconee County." "Well, I don't live in Oconee County, sorry. I promise. I just bought the house and the land and I saw the words Barrow County printed five thousand times on every piece of paper. My tags say Barrow County. I pay property taxes to Barrow County. A Barrow County School District bus stops in front of my driveway every morning. I live in Barrow County." {she looks at me like I'm an idiot or possibly lying...as though there's millions of people out there trying to illegally sneak into Barrow} "Well...I guess I can override it in the system, if you really want me to." "I do, thanks."

Where do they find people like this to hire? Isn't there a recession? Don't qualified people need jobs? I'm just sayin'...

I followed up that great experience with a final trip to my landlord's office to drop off our keys. It was then that she told me we were going to have to pay for a bunch of crap we didn't do. Awesome, love ya, see ya. I am so over anything housing related. After this house, we are probably going to live in a tent.

In Oconee County.

august already?

Since when did life start flying by so fast? How is it possible that's it's August already? I did not give Time permission to zoom by so quickly. I mean, I can't even believe it's been a week since I last blogged! Oh wait, yes I can. :)

We had a wonderful long weekend (Sat through Tues) camping with my parents. My brother and his girlfriend were with us most of the time and we had a really fun time. Luckily, after Jake and Emily left (Sunday evening), my parents had pity on Matt and I and let us sleep in the (air conditioned) camper with them. As fun as it was sleeping in a tent through the 80-degree night...I was very happy for the AC and real bed! Other than that we did a lot of swimming, boating, skiing, and eating. The sad event of the weekend was Matt losing his wedding ring. Somewhere in Clark's Hill Lake, a fish is very happy now. We went straight to the jewelry store when we got back to Athens and ordered a new one, so his bachelor days are numbered once again.

We also spent some time trying to convince Lola that swimming is fun. We achieved moderate success. In the process, I acquired about 40 scratches/bruises on my arms and thighs from her freaking out and flailing as I attempted to hold her in the water. Therefore I've spent the last 4 days trying to explain my odd bruise/scratches away.

We really enjoyed just having a few days to relax. Those days have been few and far between for the past 6 months or so. Buying, renovating, and moving houses is not actually as relaxing as you may have been led to believe by HDTV. It's actually pretty darn stressful. Combined with all the regular stresses of life and add to it our 7 month trying-and-failing-to-get-pregnant endeavors...we're worn down. We need a real break. With that in mind, within hours of arriving back in Statham, we did what we've been talking about doing for months: booked a vacation! A real vacation...the kind where you don't have to do anything except show up and relax and be entertained. Where you don't have to do any dishes and people bring you food 24/7. Where there are tropical breezes anytime you care to step outdoors and no shortage of lounge chairs and sunshine. We booked a cruise! Yippee! We are going to be hitting up the Western Caribbean and a couple ports in Mexico September 7-12. We got a great rate (probably because it's the height of hurrican season, haha) and creatively rearranged a few funds to bankroll our very first we're-paying-for-it vacation. We've been on a cruise before, for our honeymoon, and despite constant seasickness, I still thought it was the best vacation ever. I enjoy not having to plan anything and yet being able to do and eat lots of things!

Now that we have something tangible to look forward to in the not-so-far-off-future, we have a little more pep in our step, so to speak. Our constant busy-ness doesn't seem so bad when we know that very soon we'll have 4 whole days of doing absolutely nothing we don't want to. All we have to do is arrange childcare for the Lola...and figure out how to emotionally deal with being away from her for 5 days!! And yes, we've already brainstormed ways to sneak her onto the cruise with us, but she's just not the kind of girl who can keep herself on the down-low. So it looks like she'll be sitting this one out.

Well, I'm off to clean/arrange for our soon-to-arrive weekend houseguests: the Boothes! I feel like I'm running a real tourist attraction here...we've had more people over for dinner/to hang out in the last 3 weeks of living here than in probably the whole first 2 years of our marriage! Then again, maybe it's me: people want to see the house, but then I feel bad making them drive alllll the way out here without at least putting a decent meal in their tummies...so it's at least partially my own fault. :) But I love having people over. I just get tired of sweeping and vacuuming up doghair tumbleweeds all the time. If Lola would just go bald, I think I'd be okay with that.