Call Me Crazy -

I was warned when I began working here that when it turns cold, creatures from the outdoors decide to move in. Even though the office building is pretty new, very big, and rather impressive looking, it can't escape this inevitable event. It's the only real downside to fall, in my opinion, as I've had to kill countless creatures that have invaded our own home. Well, I've had to kill a few things here and there while at work, but none in my own office, and none of which could've prepared me for the NASTIEST SPIDER EVER which came down from the ceiling, and landed on my monitor. He was so light brown that he was practically translucent, and BIG. My skin is still crawling.

My gosh, I hate bugs. Go figure. I'm not afraid of politics, but spiders have me running scared. Ah well, everyone has their own oddities.

I wanted to share all about our event-filled weekend, but yesterday was downright chaotic. I wanted to share some pictures, too, but again, yesterday was chaotic. (I will hopefully have some tomorrow!) On Friday, we were offered an aquarium with everything but a stand by a very generous Freecycler. I've had fish before, but not for several years. Recently I was watching an old home video, when I was 2 and my brother was 3, where we're sitting in front of our little aquarium, naming the fish. ("and this one's Aunt Norma...") If you remember seeing the pictures from our vacation, when we took Brooke to an aquarium for the first time, on her birthday, you'll remember that she LOVED the fish. So, I thought, what perfect pets! Well, more on that later.

On Saturday, I finished painting the built-in bookcase that Ryan had built around my parents' master bedroom fireplace. It looks amazing. He's so handy, and I love that. Painting, however, he DESPISES, but hey, no one's perfect. ;-) Thankfully I enjoy painting. Once that was done, it was time for some Penn State football. Boring game, but they won.

Sunday was pretty crazy. Remember the aquarium? Well, we planned on picking it up around 2:30. Here's the deal.. it's been a while since I've had an aquarium, and, call me crazy, but I didn't remember much about aquarium sizes. The aquarium we were offered is... 75 GALLONS. In my mind, I thought I remembered my brother's aquarium, which is relatively big, being 50 gallons or so, so I called him to check. "No, mine's 25 gallons," he told me. Uh oh. So... the one we were getting was going to be THREE TIMES that size?!

Well, we decided to get it anyway. After all, we had already said we wanted it. (Worst case scenario, we could sell it on Craigslist and use that money to pay for a smaller tank and stand.) So, we decided to swing by Petco to see just how big a 75 gallon tank would be, how much a stand would cost, and maybe get some advice. Well, it turned out that they didn't have a 75 gallon tank on display.. because a REDSKINS player had just a bought it 2 days before! (that may not mean much to the rest of you, but that spoke volumes to me.. that a pro football player would want one of that size in his home.) They did have a 55 gallon tank, though. It was hard to imagine a tank bigger than that. (as it turns out, a 75 gallon is essentially twice the depth, but the same width)

We found out, in talking with the fish guy, that 1) it would have to be kept on a main level, because of the weight. Strike 1. Our main level consists of our little office and the garage. We'd only want an aquarium that we could actually, you know, see and look at. 2) you can only put a 75 gallon tank on a wooden stand, which would cost roughly $400. Strike 2. Definitely defeats the purpose of our getting an aquarium if we can't even afford a stand to put it on. There really wasn't a strike 3, but the first two strikes were more than plenty. As it turned out, though, the fish guy was very interested in trading his 55 gallon aquarium with stand for our 75 gallon aquarium! Needless to say, we were interested in that, too.

Long story somewhat short, we're trading this evening. We most likely won't set it up until sometime next week, but all we'll need is some gravel and some cheapie freshwater fish. (We were already given the decorative accessories along with the aquarium.) Besides, Brooke won't know the difference between a $10 fish, or the 5 for $5 fish. :) Crazy world.. we would never be able to afford this stuff on our own--not in a million years!

Speaking of a crazy world... my Redskins beat Ryan's Eagles on Sunday. Yeah, we were both talking the talk during the game, but I was nice, and celebrated quietly after they won. (and sent some celebratory texts on my phone!) That's not to say that Ryan would've done me the same favor had it been reversed, but someone's gotta be the bigger person. :) He was moping enough as it was. It reminded me of the wedding gift I had given Ryan back in '05... the tickets to an Eagles vs. Redskins game, which I never in a million years would've imagined the Redskins would win. (pictures from that are here) Some gift, huh? I felt pretty terrible about their win! Any other day, I'd be ecstatic, but not that day. Though, it was our first pro game we had ever been to, and it was memorable, so...

That's all I've got time for today, but check back tomorrow, as I should have some pictures! Hope you all have a great day~

¶ 8:07 AM