Trapped Under Something Heavy OR Here’s Your Blog Entry, Jonathan!

Song Lyric of the Day:

Though I’ve longed to stand / In a bigger place but now I / Long to rest in your grace

Scarlet Thread / “Simplicity”

6:28PM.
I’m going to plagiarize myself by copying and pasting some of an email I sent to catch everyone up (in July!) on what’s been going on since I’ve been back home–that’s how long ago I started this blog entry. You know, the easy way. 🙂

Where to begin? I arrived back home in Knoxville, TN, for good in mid-May, after having raised $883 for the Chesapeake Relay for Life and walking 12.86 miles overnight. Thanks again to everyone who contributed, and to our kick-a$$ team captain, Sharon. Next year I’m aiming to raise over $1000.

It’s really great to be home. I love being able to see or ignore my family as I choose to see fit (ha ha). It’s wonderful catching up with old friends. I love that my parents have essentially adopted my friends here and taken them under their wing. It gives me peace of mind to know that they have all been taking care of each other. Now I can start mother-henning everyone myself.

It’s fantastic not having to drive 45 minutes to go to the pet store 15 miles away or getting stuck at an open bridge (there aren’t any to open here). Best of all, I don’t have to commute. Ever.

I started a job (tech writing, what else?) with a small government contractor right before I moved back home. It’s a virtual office, so I basically roll out of bed every morning, come upstairs, park myself on the couch with my laptop in hand, and work in my jammies all day. I may never iron clothes again. Work is fun and interesting, and it really makes the days go by quickly. The downside is I’m technically on call a lot of the time to make changes our customer wants/needs at any given time. Therefore, I’m putting in anywhere up to 11 hour days on occasion. And, oh, the conference calls. I’ve never been a fan of the phone, and this helps remind me why.

Rich has decided to pursue freelance design full time, hence he is now a kept man/househusband. The ball is really starting to roll, and it’s great to watch him pursuing what he loves to do, especially since he’s so talented. So while I’m working all day, he’s working to drum up business, going to meetings and what not, and becoming a really great handyman around the house. He’s managed to learn how to fix, modify, and repair things I didn’t think he’d ever be able to do. And I love him all the more for saving us money by doing all that stuff. You can see some of the house projects and his art projects on his blog. He’s been much better at updating lately than I have. But I’ll catch up soon enough.

Some highlights of our time living in East Tennessee thus far:

• Rich got poison ivy.
• I twisted my right ankle running down our very steep driveway after Caleb decided to make a break for it, the little wiener.
• Rich got poison ivy again. This time, his leg looked like he had leprosy.
• I twisted my left ankle. Don’t remember how.
• Rich got a little more poison ivy.
• We discovered the Tri-County Coon Club is up the street on John Sevier Highway. Seriously. Only in Tennessee.
  
• We got to watch free fireworks from our deck on July 4th since we’re so high up.
• We get to see movies for free again (so far we’ve seen “Unleashed,” “The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy,” and “Batman Begins.” We paid for “Land of the Dead” on Jonathan’s b-day). I’m counting down until “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory” opens on July 15.
• The mountains are everywhere. The scenery is just gorgeous.
  
• We discovered a man who takes his baby pet raccoon into the Wendy’s on Lovell Road every night. I’m very concerned the raccoon is maybe eating only fast food.
• Our dogs, Snoops and Caleb, have had playdates with their puppy cousins.
• I ate at Big Ed’s Pizza in Oak Ridge (totally worth moving home for).
• We have a chipmunk family, squirrels, all kinds of birds (even woodpeckers who knock on the house and a vulture), and lizards living right around the house.
• My friend Tamara graduated from her medical school residency, and I got to be there for this, her final graduation, after missing her previous one when I lived in VA.
• I will now finally get to see Jonathan and his band, Scarlet Thread, perform live.
• Rich and I brought home our new baby, a 56-inch Samsung rear-projection TV.
• I am in love with and reveling in the wonders of Tivo. I will never miss one of my TV shows again.
• There’s a Quizno’s five minutes from my house. Need I say more?
• McKay’s the used bookstore is now in a warehouse. A warehouse full of used books, CDs, DVDs, video games, computer games…..it’s my own personal holy land.
• We discovered the Book Eddy, a rare/collectible used book store less than 10 minutes from our house. Another personal holy land.
• I get morning tummy massages from my cat, Belle, when she flexes on me while I work.
• I have gotten back into B&W photography. There’s just so much to photograph around here.
• I’ve developed a hardcore addiction to a PlayStation 2 game, “The Bard’s Tale“.
• I am going to Las Vegas again the first weekend in August. Rich is staying put to take care of the animals. I am, however, going with my mom, and my friends Jonathan & Curry, and Brent. We’re going for a friend’s wedding. As Curry put it, it’ll be like the passing of Haley’s Comet—we can’t miss Dan getting married.

While I’m thrilled to be home, I really miss all of my friends in Virginia. Rich and I are hoping to take a weeklong or so vacation there at the end of the summer so we can spend time with as many friends as possible. And while I don’t miss commuting to work (at ALL), I really miss being in an office environment. I had a blast at my last job in VA due to being in a cube with Bob, Sam, and Lee. You don’t get that interaction or chance to build friendships like that working from home. At this point, Rich is for all intents and purposes my coworker. And administrative assistant. I’ve taken pantomime to a whole new level when communicating something to him while I’m on a conference call. The dogs may be learning some of the signs as well.

We have several home improvement projects in progress. The house is great, but apparently, no one had an idea of how to adequately light an A-frame house, so we will be installing new lighting throughout. We are working to finish our guest room and guest bathroom so we can move in and begin renovating our bedroom and bathroom. So if anyone is in the market for a smurf blue bathtub, toilet, or bidet, let me know. We can hook you up. For a fair price, of course. Smurf blue bidets don’t just grow on trees, you know.

Now Rich and I are looking forward to June 29, when the new IKEA opens in Atlanta, GA. Our primary concern is new bedroom furniture, but we’ll see what else they have. While we’ve been to the IKEA in Washington, D.C., we’re thinking an IKEA grand opening will be a whole different thing. We’ll see.