Splat!

One of the worst things about living in the south, I've discovered, is the bugs. Roaches to be specific. So far this year we've only had a couple in the apartment, but tonight there was a huge one- a good inch-and-a-half plus. But tonight, rather than try to catch the thing under a container, and then slide a cardboard underneath and transport it to the toilet, all the while worrying that it will manage to slip out, Jeff has this great idea to SHOOT it- with a rubber band gun that is:

The bug actually took 3 hits- the first one knocked it off the wall, and i think took off a couple legs, the second slowed him down as he ran frantically in circles, and the third one literally shredded him:

Pretty effective.

JOB!

Yay!! Jeff got the job with Union County he interviewed for on Wednesday! The best thing is that even though it was a long time coming, this is really the best job he applied for the entire time he's been searching. To read all about it, look at his post on the Blah Blah Blog.

On the Porch

The last firm I worked at, Crisp Architects, did high-end, very traditional, single-family houses, often with large, beautiful porches. After one of their projects was published in I don't even remember which magazine, Taunton Press approached the owner and the senior project architect about writing a book about porches. Well, while I worked there they were always jetting off to meetings with their editor to go over text, photos, marketing and goodness knows what-all else, and now, the fruits of their labor are finally available to all. On the Porch, by James Crisp and Sandra Mahoney is available at bookstores everywhere. If you want to see some really nice photos of porches, check it out next time you're at Barnes and Noble, and if you're thinking about building a porch, well, you might find the helpul advice inside more than worth the cost of your very own copy.

Newsletter

Jeff and I just got back from a nice dinner at Showmars with our Pastor and his wife, where we discussed the Newsletter we're going to be putting together. We edited the newsletter at one of the churches we used to go to before we moved down here, and when the pastor of our current church found out about that he didn't waste any time pegging us for our new ministry. They had started one a few years ago, but quickly realized that they didn't have the manpower in house to keep it going. He's very excited to have one again, and we're excited about starting this one fresh. We enjoyed doing it before, and this time it will be fun to really design it from scratch and not have it handed down to us with it's quirks already in place. We still have to choose a title... any ideas?

Grump on a Rope

Our lizard, recently dubbed "Grump," has been acting up lately. He'll run around his tank furiously trying to get out, literally THROWING himself at the glass, until we finally let him out, and then he'll run over to the sliding glass doors and do the same thing until he tires himself out and goes off to sulk behind the TV or the paper shredder (his 2 favorite spots.) So Monday I bought a leash so we could take him outside. I think he likes it :o)

House!

We FINALLY bought a house!!! Well, we're under contract anyway. Inspections are scheduled for May 1st and all that's left to do is set a closing date.... May or June? The house itself needs work (nothing that makes it un-livable, just some updating and layout issues) but it's on 2.3 acres! I'm very excited about the potential of the yard, and these great decks out back. I'll take some photos on the 1st when we go over for the inspections.