Update: I PASSED! :)
oh, and happy birthday mom. :)
Wednesday, April 29, 2009
Monday, April 20, 2009
Where is the Health Department when you need them?
Ok friends, if you have a weak stomach, this is NOT the post for you to read.
**Disclaimer** There is not going to be anything too graphic. Instead, the graphic words will be written in terms of happiness and flowers, sunshine and rainbows. **End of Disclaimer**
Jeff and I set aside some time to go to different hotels/motels in Ottawa to block off rooms for guests for the wedding (word has reached us that people are already starting to make reservations... YIKES! Time to get out booties in gear!).
In order for you to understand out experience, it is important to understand the composition of the community. For those of you who have never been to Ottawa, it is divided into 3 areas:
1. "From the College" - These are students at OU or Neosho CC. The label "From the College" applies to students who remain in Ottawa year round and up to five years after graduation.
2. "Townies" - They are the people who live in Ottawa without going to the local colleges. Often associated drinking and partying with people "From the College" but are often the families who take in the "From the College" kids for dinners and holidays when they have no nearby family.
3. "Dirties" - Townies that never quite make it to elevated status. Their personal hygeine is questionable and they are often associated with giving STDs to people "From the College."
Ah, but I digress. We took these into consideration as we were looking at the various hotel/motels. We wanted something that emphasized the "From the College" or the family friendly "Townies." There are 7 hotel/motel options in Ottawa. We decided to enter the decision in a systematic manner. We were going to ask to see the rooms to get an idea of size and anemities and then discuss prices and discounts. Here is a running dialog of our day:
Place #1. I know this place because we used to sneak in and use the pool when under different management. Front lobby has STRONG incense burning, not good for people with allergies. Rooms fairly large and nice. Manager was willing to give discounts but became very pushy when we stated we were going to look at other places.
Place #2. Nicer place, has great continental breakfast (used to sneak in for the breakfast). Asked to see rooms. Was told it was inconvenient, but that there were rooms we could look at. Jeff turned a rare shade of green upon seeing the bathrooms, and there was dried *sunshine and rainbows* all over a recliner in one room, and *happiness and flowers* all over the bed covers in the other room we viewed. Jeff almost puked and we got creative with getting back to the lobby without touching anything directly.
Place #3. CLEAN. HOLY CLEAN. Rooms are cracker-jack sized, but HOLY CLEAN. The paint had almost been scrubbed off the walls. Oh, but the hallways smelled of cooking fish. This is what a hotel would look like if Jeff ran one. CLEAN.
Place #4. This is my parents' favorite and the one they always stay in. Excellent quality, great anemities, very clean. Cleaning staff has excellent personalities and serenaded us.
Place #5. Staff needs to pull manager out of bed at 1015. He comes out with attitude and tells us we cannot look at any room. Staff reminds him why we are there, and he gives us keys to rooms upstairs. Wait, what is that? Is that a used *sunshine and rainbow* laying on the ground? EW EW EW EW EW!!! Jeff carried me back downstairs for fear that I would step on something and get a disease. Back downstairs, the manager was dressed in gang-like clothing and essentially opened his mouth to say "I am the dirtiest of the dirties and this is a classy joint." Manager stated we should check out #6, but that he was "a little better" than that. Based on his distorted perception of "class," we thought we should at least check it out, and we were running out of options.
Place #6. Florescent sign on roof. Sign saying rooms were "Rent by the hour." Drove by without stopping.
Place #7. Big size, decent room. Manager offered to throw in "free crib" for anyone who needs one. Spent many hours in college there. Coffee was not the best, but pool was nice to use.
Then we came home and scrubbed ourselves with bleach (rightfully so in my opinion).
Overall, we decided we are NOT going to let our family members stay anywhere where *happiness and flowers* may find them. We hope to have rooms blocked off soon... and we refuse to let our friends and families stay somewhere questionable. It is important to remember that with the bad comes the good and even though there were scary parts of the day, we were also able to get THISMUCH closer to our special day and sharing it with all of you. :)
**Disclaimer** There is not going to be anything too graphic. Instead, the graphic words will be written in terms of happiness and flowers, sunshine and rainbows. **End of Disclaimer**
Jeff and I set aside some time to go to different hotels/motels in Ottawa to block off rooms for guests for the wedding (word has reached us that people are already starting to make reservations... YIKES! Time to get out booties in gear!).
In order for you to understand out experience, it is important to understand the composition of the community. For those of you who have never been to Ottawa, it is divided into 3 areas:
1. "From the College" - These are students at OU or Neosho CC. The label "From the College" applies to students who remain in Ottawa year round and up to five years after graduation.
2. "Townies" - They are the people who live in Ottawa without going to the local colleges. Often associated drinking and partying with people "From the College" but are often the families who take in the "From the College" kids for dinners and holidays when they have no nearby family.
3. "Dirties" - Townies that never quite make it to elevated status. Their personal hygeine is questionable and they are often associated with giving STDs to people "From the College."
Ah, but I digress. We took these into consideration as we were looking at the various hotel/motels. We wanted something that emphasized the "From the College" or the family friendly "Townies." There are 7 hotel/motel options in Ottawa. We decided to enter the decision in a systematic manner. We were going to ask to see the rooms to get an idea of size and anemities and then discuss prices and discounts. Here is a running dialog of our day:
Place #1. I know this place because we used to sneak in and use the pool when under different management. Front lobby has STRONG incense burning, not good for people with allergies. Rooms fairly large and nice. Manager was willing to give discounts but became very pushy when we stated we were going to look at other places.
Place #2. Nicer place, has great continental breakfast (used to sneak in for the breakfast). Asked to see rooms. Was told it was inconvenient, but that there were rooms we could look at. Jeff turned a rare shade of green upon seeing the bathrooms, and there was dried *sunshine and rainbows* all over a recliner in one room, and *happiness and flowers* all over the bed covers in the other room we viewed. Jeff almost puked and we got creative with getting back to the lobby without touching anything directly.
Place #3. CLEAN. HOLY CLEAN. Rooms are cracker-jack sized, but HOLY CLEAN. The paint had almost been scrubbed off the walls. Oh, but the hallways smelled of cooking fish. This is what a hotel would look like if Jeff ran one. CLEAN.
Place #4. This is my parents' favorite and the one they always stay in. Excellent quality, great anemities, very clean. Cleaning staff has excellent personalities and serenaded us.
Place #5. Staff needs to pull manager out of bed at 1015. He comes out with attitude and tells us we cannot look at any room. Staff reminds him why we are there, and he gives us keys to rooms upstairs. Wait, what is that? Is that a used *sunshine and rainbow* laying on the ground? EW EW EW EW EW!!! Jeff carried me back downstairs for fear that I would step on something and get a disease. Back downstairs, the manager was dressed in gang-like clothing and essentially opened his mouth to say "I am the dirtiest of the dirties and this is a classy joint." Manager stated we should check out #6, but that he was "a little better" than that. Based on his distorted perception of "class," we thought we should at least check it out, and we were running out of options.
Place #6. Florescent sign on roof. Sign saying rooms were "Rent by the hour." Drove by without stopping.
Place #7. Big size, decent room. Manager offered to throw in "free crib" for anyone who needs one. Spent many hours in college there. Coffee was not the best, but pool was nice to use.
Then we came home and scrubbed ourselves with bleach (rightfully so in my opinion).
Overall, we decided we are NOT going to let our family members stay anywhere where *happiness and flowers* may find them. We hope to have rooms blocked off soon... and we refuse to let our friends and families stay somewhere questionable. It is important to remember that with the bad comes the good and even though there were scary parts of the day, we were also able to get THISMUCH closer to our special day and sharing it with all of you. :)
Tuesday, April 14, 2009
Parties
What does a bridal shower, 30th birthday part, and 2nd birthday party all have in common? That's right, ME! Jeff was able to come to the 2 birthday parties, but the bridal shower was strictly ladies only... well, mostly, but we'll get to that.
To kick off our weekend o' Party, we went to various stores and prepared with cards and gifts. This opportunity reminded me of why Jeff and I are so compatible and why we "work" so well. In a store that will remain nameless, but it's logo looks like a bullseye, Jeff and I got into a "Star Wars" fight with wrapping paper tubes. It was complete with the theme song from Star Wars and the light saber sounds (we're both gotten better at making those noises since we started dating). Needless to say, the store personnel were NOT having as much fun as us. Our second stop let us loose in the land of toys, and we were there for a good hour just playing with stuff. I think Jeff has a heart for the noise-makers, but I think I enjoy the quiet but painted brightly with lights stuff. We settled for a LeapFrog Spell thingy for Caitlyn because she is SMART and we figure she'll need it eventually, and because Carrie does such a Rockstar job with teaching Caitlyn stuff at home, we figure it will be sooner rather than later when she needs it.
You MAY have heard, but in case you haven't, our dear, dear friends Allison and Michael are getting married. Not only are we super happy about that, we are finding reasons to celebrate at every turn! Saturday was her bridal shower at Brio on the Plaza. It was a great chance to see people I hadn't seen in awhile and catch up on all the latest news and happenings. It was also wonderful to see Allison so happy. Michael crashed the last 10 mins or so of the party with beautiful flowers. *sigh* It was awesome. :)
That night, we hopped over to the Roxy for a different Michael's 30th birthday. While we did not stay as long as either of us would have liked (hey, we're getting old!), it was wonderful while we were there. The Zeroes were playing, and I finally got to hear why I'd seen/heard so much about that.
Sunday brought a day of children with our friends Carrie and Joe's daughter's 2nd birthday party. (Whew! That was kind of long!) Baby Caitlyn... well, technically TODDLER Caitlyn now, seemed to enjoy her birthday and all the attention and company. She also seemed to enjoy our gift to her, and the chance to run around with all the other little munchkins. After the majority of people had left, it was us, Carrie and Joe and Caitlyn, and Chris, Ashley and baby Neale. I took the opportunity to take a bazillion pictures of the cute kiddos. It was a great day. :)
Overall it was a great weekend filled with friends, fun, and laughs. Can't wait to do it again.
To kick off our weekend o' Party, we went to various stores and prepared with cards and gifts. This opportunity reminded me of why Jeff and I are so compatible and why we "work" so well. In a store that will remain nameless, but it's logo looks like a bullseye, Jeff and I got into a "Star Wars" fight with wrapping paper tubes. It was complete with the theme song from Star Wars and the light saber sounds (we're both gotten better at making those noises since we started dating). Needless to say, the store personnel were NOT having as much fun as us. Our second stop let us loose in the land of toys, and we were there for a good hour just playing with stuff. I think Jeff has a heart for the noise-makers, but I think I enjoy the quiet but painted brightly with lights stuff. We settled for a LeapFrog Spell thingy for Caitlyn because she is SMART and we figure she'll need it eventually, and because Carrie does such a Rockstar job with teaching Caitlyn stuff at home, we figure it will be sooner rather than later when she needs it.
You MAY have heard, but in case you haven't, our dear, dear friends Allison and Michael are getting married. Not only are we super happy about that, we are finding reasons to celebrate at every turn! Saturday was her bridal shower at Brio on the Plaza. It was a great chance to see people I hadn't seen in awhile and catch up on all the latest news and happenings. It was also wonderful to see Allison so happy. Michael crashed the last 10 mins or so of the party with beautiful flowers. *sigh* It was awesome. :)
That night, we hopped over to the Roxy for a different Michael's 30th birthday. While we did not stay as long as either of us would have liked (hey, we're getting old!), it was wonderful while we were there. The Zeroes were playing, and I finally got to hear why I'd seen/heard so much about that.
Sunday brought a day of children with our friends Carrie and Joe's daughter's 2nd birthday party. (Whew! That was kind of long!) Baby Caitlyn... well, technically TODDLER Caitlyn now, seemed to enjoy her birthday and all the attention and company. She also seemed to enjoy our gift to her, and the chance to run around with all the other little munchkins. After the majority of people had left, it was us, Carrie and Joe and Caitlyn, and Chris, Ashley and baby Neale. I took the opportunity to take a bazillion pictures of the cute kiddos. It was a great day. :)
Overall it was a great weekend filled with friends, fun, and laughs. Can't wait to do it again.
Do we really need that? OR What it's like to register for gifts
Howdy, readers! It has been too long. We have been quite busy and have even been productive too. For Easter weekend, I decided to take a break from work and focus on some wedding things that Heather and I have been wanting to do for a while. I took Friday and Monday off of work to spend time getting those things done.
Friday was a BIG day. Big in the way that Godzilla is a big lizard. We went to make our wedding registry. As it was a day off from work though, I started the day off right (approx. 9:45 AM). Heather and I lounged around in our pajamas, thankful for the leisure time that we had. We soon got dressed (not too soon mind you) and went to grab some lunch. After lunch, it was time for the main event.
I should describe to you where our minds were focusing at the outset of our registry efforts. We were expecting to be given a scan gun, pointed off into the great unknown, and set loose on the unwitting establishment to unleash the scanning fury. What actually happened can be described as a comedy of errors.
The first stop: JCPenney. Scene: Heather and I arrive at JCPenney in the Oak Park Mall and enter the establishment where the customer service desk is located. We state our case. The "kind" lady at the counter informs us that we are in the wrong location and that we should try the JCPenney Home Store that is located at 119th and Metcalf Avenue.
The second stop: JCPenney Home Store. Scene: Heather and I, feeling our lunch (ie. we are tired and want a nap), stumble into the entrance and walk towards the counter. We state our case. They direct us to the registry machine. They explain briefly how to operate the system and that if we register for 15 items, we get a free wedding planner. They also tell us that one of the registry kiosk's printer is malfunctioning.
So we enter our information into the system and check out a gun. So far so good. I decide we need two guns. At this time, dark and sinister music should have begun playing in the background. I enter into the system our credentials (I still can't remember the password) and select the option to check out a gun. The kiosk makes a noise (normal), the light comes on underneath the gun (normal), we pull on the gun (duh) and the gun does not come out (NOT normal). Instead of moving on, we decide that is the only gun in the world that will possibly fill our needs. We spend ten minutes trying to get it out to no avail. We go to the "broken" kiosk, enter our credentials (several times as I didn't know the password then either) and finally get our other gun. Which we used. Once. Okay, twice.
We register for the usual suspects. Towels. Sheets. China. Picture frames. Pots and pans. The list goes on and I will not bore you any more than I already probably have.
Any who...About an hour and a half later, we have scaned every item that we think that we would possibly ever need to have from JCPenney or any other store for that matter (hint: we are wrong) and proceed to check the guns into the kiosks. For us to receive the wedding planner (mentioned above in paragraph 5, sentence 4), we have to provide a print out of the things we choose to register. Why they can't look this up, I don't know. It probably has something to do with the password I can't remember and Heather has a hard time typing. Regardless, we have to print the list out. So the kiosk that has the "non-broken" printer is occupied. Worse, that printer is broken too. Oh noes! Despair! Pandemonium! Not really because the "broken" printer works like a charm as soon as I plug my gun back into the little charger. Crisis avoided. All is well with the world. Planner achievement unlocked. Moral: Kiosks are confusing and broken...always.
After well fill up on caffeine, it is off to the next stop: Bed, Bath & Beyond.
I will say this for BB&B: they know what you need to register for an how to streamline the process. There were no kiosks for us to mess with. Instead, we got to deal with actual people! What's more they have packages of things like kitchen gadgets, pots & pans, knives and other things. The piece sets out to make gift buying less intimidating and also to make us feel more comfortable about registering for the things that we will need in our life together. This freed up a lot of time for us to explore the different styles of dishes, flatware and other things. Basically, it was a way better way for us to register. I say thank you to the poor guy that spent forty five minutes with us as we changed our mind about the china and flatware that we wanted.
In the end, BB&B was not very stressful and the place that we had the most fun. Caveat: when you get packages of things like gadgets, you end up with a lot of things in the list that you don't recognize and that have little or no value to you (shrimp cleaner?).
The next stop in our odyssey was Target. When we went there, the system for creating and managing registries was experiencing technical difficulties (par for the course for the day). So we tabled that for another day.
Walmart was next door. We gave it an honest try, but we really didn't find anything there that we already didn't have and we ended up canceling the registry.
That night, we had dinner with Heather's friend Brandy at Old Chicago. The dinner was so so, but the company was awesome. We rarely get to see Brandy and we had a great time catching up.
Without boring you too much more, I will say that on Saturday we did finally register at Target. The system was back up and we were able to register for all the things we found at Walmart and then some. We finished the day with dinner at Sakura and an Easter Vigil mass at St. Joeseph's Church in Shawnee (2hrs. 45min.).
Sunday, we had Easter dinner with my Mom, Bob and my uncle John. It was a pretty lazy day.
We hope your Easter weekend was restful and full of fun, family fair.
Friday was a BIG day. Big in the way that Godzilla is a big lizard. We went to make our wedding registry. As it was a day off from work though, I started the day off right (approx. 9:45 AM). Heather and I lounged around in our pajamas, thankful for the leisure time that we had. We soon got dressed (not too soon mind you) and went to grab some lunch. After lunch, it was time for the main event.
I should describe to you where our minds were focusing at the outset of our registry efforts. We were expecting to be given a scan gun, pointed off into the great unknown, and set loose on the unwitting establishment to unleash the scanning fury. What actually happened can be described as a comedy of errors.
The first stop: JCPenney. Scene: Heather and I arrive at JCPenney in the Oak Park Mall and enter the establishment where the customer service desk is located. We state our case. The "kind" lady at the counter informs us that we are in the wrong location and that we should try the JCPenney Home Store that is located at 119th and Metcalf Avenue.
The second stop: JCPenney Home Store. Scene: Heather and I, feeling our lunch (ie. we are tired and want a nap), stumble into the entrance and walk towards the counter. We state our case. They direct us to the registry machine. They explain briefly how to operate the system and that if we register for 15 items, we get a free wedding planner. They also tell us that one of the registry kiosk's printer is malfunctioning.
So we enter our information into the system and check out a gun. So far so good. I decide we need two guns. At this time, dark and sinister music should have begun playing in the background. I enter into the system our credentials (I still can't remember the password) and select the option to check out a gun. The kiosk makes a noise (normal), the light comes on underneath the gun (normal), we pull on the gun (duh) and the gun does not come out (NOT normal). Instead of moving on, we decide that is the only gun in the world that will possibly fill our needs. We spend ten minutes trying to get it out to no avail. We go to the "broken" kiosk, enter our credentials (several times as I didn't know the password then either) and finally get our other gun. Which we used. Once. Okay, twice.
We register for the usual suspects. Towels. Sheets. China. Picture frames. Pots and pans. The list goes on and I will not bore you any more than I already probably have.
Any who...About an hour and a half later, we have scaned every item that we think that we would possibly ever need to have from JCPenney or any other store for that matter (hint: we are wrong) and proceed to check the guns into the kiosks. For us to receive the wedding planner (mentioned above in paragraph 5, sentence 4), we have to provide a print out of the things we choose to register. Why they can't look this up, I don't know. It probably has something to do with the password I can't remember and Heather has a hard time typing. Regardless, we have to print the list out. So the kiosk that has the "non-broken" printer is occupied. Worse, that printer is broken too. Oh noes! Despair! Pandemonium! Not really because the "broken" printer works like a charm as soon as I plug my gun back into the little charger. Crisis avoided. All is well with the world. Planner achievement unlocked. Moral: Kiosks are confusing and broken...always.
After well fill up on caffeine, it is off to the next stop: Bed, Bath & Beyond.
I will say this for BB&B: they know what you need to register for an how to streamline the process. There were no kiosks for us to mess with. Instead, we got to deal with actual people! What's more they have packages of things like kitchen gadgets, pots & pans, knives and other things. The piece sets out to make gift buying less intimidating and also to make us feel more comfortable about registering for the things that we will need in our life together. This freed up a lot of time for us to explore the different styles of dishes, flatware and other things. Basically, it was a way better way for us to register. I say thank you to the poor guy that spent forty five minutes with us as we changed our mind about the china and flatware that we wanted.
In the end, BB&B was not very stressful and the place that we had the most fun. Caveat: when you get packages of things like gadgets, you end up with a lot of things in the list that you don't recognize and that have little or no value to you (shrimp cleaner?).
The next stop in our odyssey was Target. When we went there, the system for creating and managing registries was experiencing technical difficulties (par for the course for the day). So we tabled that for another day.
Walmart was next door. We gave it an honest try, but we really didn't find anything there that we already didn't have and we ended up canceling the registry.
That night, we had dinner with Heather's friend Brandy at Old Chicago. The dinner was so so, but the company was awesome. We rarely get to see Brandy and we had a great time catching up.
Without boring you too much more, I will say that on Saturday we did finally register at Target. The system was back up and we were able to register for all the things we found at Walmart and then some. We finished the day with dinner at Sakura and an Easter Vigil mass at St. Joeseph's Church in Shawnee (2hrs. 45min.).
Sunday, we had Easter dinner with my Mom, Bob and my uncle John. It was a pretty lazy day.
We hope your Easter weekend was restful and full of fun, family fair.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Posts
