November 26, 2006

I'm An Innovative Pioneer

I read an article in today's Times Picayune about the CIA's latest marketing campaign, aimed at beefing up their numbers post-9/11. The article mentioned this quiz on the CIA's website, so I had to give it a try. Ever since one of my college sorority sisters went to work for the CIA, I've been interested in what it would be like to work there. Given that I can't even finish a John Le Carre novel, I'm thinking the life of a spy might not be for me.

Posted by Kitty at 01:22 PM | Comments (6018)

November 15, 2006

The One Where I Try To Paint

It's a really good thing I have a law degree because I'm not very good at anything else that's useful.

The day I gave birth to our baby, we (and by "we" I mean Archi-Sapper) closed on a house we bought. The house is 80 years old and we love it. However, with 80 year old houses come home improvement projects. The house is in really good shape overall, so this didn't dissuade us when we bought it, and actually, we were excited about having a new project.

We decided that our first such project would be to paint our downstairs bathroom. It is incredibly small, so it seemed lke the best place to start. We went to Lowe's a couple of weeks ago and bought all of the painting accoutrements (paint, trays, rollers, brushes, plastic drop cloths, tape, etc.) to paint the very small bathroom. And as an aside, has anyone ever been stalked by a hardware store? Because I think Lowe's is following us. I mean, there aren't that many Lowe's stores in this area and we've lived within a mile of two of them. I know I'm not picking out our houses based on their proximity to home improvement stores. And Archi-Sapper, well. . .hmmm, I may be onto something there. At any rate, they had everything we needed for this project except anti-psychotic medication, which, in retrospect, might've been helpful, but also might turn away most of their customers. Because if most people were in their right minds when they were in those stores, they'd be much more realistic about what they can actually do. Whenever I'm in Lowe's, I smell the fresh cut wood and I suddenly want to build something, or paint something or removate an entire house right away! Sadly, I know how to do exactly none of these things, but you can't convince me of that when I'm standing in aisle 103A trying to decide if the painters' tape I buy should be blue or purple.

The first indication that I wasn't up to this job should've been that my biggest concern about painting when I started was my attire. While Katrina washed away my business suits, dress shoes and all of the pretty things that help me look lawyer-y, it also washed away all of the stacks of t shirts I had from college that were perfect for painting. So, while Archi-Sapper taped up the plastic drop cloths in the miniscule bathroom, I found some sweat pants and a t shirt that I wouldn't mind getting paint on (read: destroying).

All I had to paint tonight was the ceiling and a six inch strip of wall under the ceiling. I used a brush for the wall and a paint roller on an extension pole for the ceiling. Considering how small the bathroom is, this shouldn't have taken long. But really, I blame HGTV. The crews they have on those shows could've painted this bathroom during their commercial break. They make it look so easy! All you see is a couple of people happily pouring paint into paint trays and spreading a little of it on the wall with one finger (just so they can ooh and aah over their color choice) and then *poof* the whole room is a beautiful new color.

So far, we have one poorly painted ceiling, a strip of painted wall, one sore neck, one sore back, painted hands and feet (I should've worn shoes, or at least socks) and two more coats to go.

I really need to just go back to the office.

Posted by Kitty at 10:06 PM | Comments (20)

November 09, 2006

What to do

I know I've been quiet, but I haven't been on the computer much lately (as opposed to when I'm working and am on it daily) and life has been pretty quiet. Archi-Sapper's mom visited last weekend and my mom visits this weekend, so we've got a lotta moms around here (especially now that you can count me in that category!)

My only excitement of the day today was going to the dentist's office (I'm not kidding folks. Bor-ing.) The excitement there? The dental hygienist told me: "Your gums seem to be bleeding a little." My response: "If you didn't poke them with sharp metal instruments, they might not do that."

Things I've been enjoying lately to avoid the boredom (during the times when baby is asleep):

  • Christmas shopping (I seriously cannot believe it is November)
  • Reading Game Theory: A Nontechnical Introduction. Good stuff.
  • Reading my back issues of The New Yorker
  • Trying not to download too much music off iTunes
  • Planning our kitchen remodel on the Ikea website (it isn't as easy as it sounds. It involves measurements and graph paper and a calculator. Yep, it does.)
  • Updating our Netflix queue with movies and t.v. shows we both like. Not as easy as it sounds.
  • Trying to find a winter coat I like. No, I don't own one. I did pre-K, but after that floated away I never replaced it. When it's January and I'm back at work and have to go to court without a coat to keep me warm, I will not be amused.

    Posted by Kitty at 08:52 PM | Comments (5962)

    November 02, 2006

    Random Notes

    1) I received a large, white envelope from the U.S. Postal Service which included the front cover of a recent issue of The New Yorker, to which I subscribe. The back of the envelope says, "We Care", and continues on to say, "Dear Valued Postal Customer: I want to extend my sincere apology as your Plant Manager for the enclosed document that was inadvertently damaged in handling by your Postal Service." The cover had apparently been ripped off the rest of my magazine, but it's good to know the postal service made sure I still got my important "document".

    2) Archi-Sapper and I bought a ton of Halloween candy and had one trick-or-treater. One. And the poor thing wasn't even in costume. To his credit, he was wearing a Halloween-related outfit (black jeans and a black shirt with Halloween stuff on it). Had I known he would be our only trick-or-treater, I would've given him half the candy. As it is now, we still have half our collective body weight in candy. This can't be good.

    3) Is it just me, or should the t.v. show The Amazing Race be renamed The Amazing Wait? Whenever I watch that show, it seems like all those kids ever do is sit in airports waiting for their flights. If I wanted to watch people sit in airports, I could watch Airline.

    Posted by Kitty at 02:05 PM | Comments (15)