Having moved on up...

Last weekend we moved into our new place - it's not the awesome 5 bedroom house we'd hoped to get (the insane man wanted $1850 a month for it!) - this is a $1000/month 3 bedroom place with a lovely front porch and back patio perfect for grilling. The house is great overall, but it's been a bit...roughly used. The landlord (because he's not charging a lot of money for the place) is reluctant to make any upgrades - he keeps chiming in with the phrase "rented as is." We've had to explain to him that "as is" does not mean that the light fixture and doorknob in the second bedroom are not supposed to work. Or that the locks don't need to be fixed (we didn't have keys the first 4 days we lived here). So, after he kept saying that he was "trying diligently" to get a locksmith to come out (which meant he wasn't doing a f*cking thing) - we called someone yesterday and got him out that afternoon to change out all the locks and enable us to secure ourselves and our belongings. We informed the landlord that we'd be deducting that price from the rent and he seemed very chipper.

So, this is the species of landlord we have here. I'm familiar with this species (the "you just arrange and pay for it up front and take it off next month's rent" type of guy), but this particular guy was masquerading as the "conscientious take care of everything" type of landlord, so we were fooled for a while. We've decided to paint a couple of the rooms ourselves (and the color we want) because he didn't repaint (and probably hasn't for years) because he rented the place "as is". We're not informing him and I doubt seriously that he'll care.

The thing is that the guys who lived here before were PIGS. I mean, dear god. The filth was insane. So, I've been a crazed lunatic with the contact paper and feel like I need to periodically dip things in Clorox. But, it's only for a year and the upsides of the house (much more room; price; lovely floors; dishwasher) more than make up for the small inconveniences (many of the windows are very bad; paint peeling off the exterior of the house; etc.). We'll definitely be able to save up for a hefty down payment by next year and can get our very own place...

So, that's about it - I need to finish the Egg and jettison it back to the press by the end of next week. TD's brother comes to visit (and help paint) on Monday and then in early June we go back to the previous Dutchmanlandia to pack up the rest of TD's things and move him completely down here. True co-habitation will ensue...

What's in a name?

S'okay - after going over all the fabulous names you guys suggested (Winner and Waster! Rosencrantz and Guildenstern!), I've narrowed it down to the two sets of actual twins: Guy and Miles (from Bevis of Hampton), the original Castor and Pollux, and also something that I came up with in my eternal quest to resolve the great enmity 'twixed the Houses: York and Lancaster. But, I put it to TD and asked him to decide. He thought that York and Lancaster sounded like they'd be fighting all the time; ultimately, he likes Guy and Miles because he thinks the names are funny and they're also easier to type (as opposed to, say, Romulus and Remus).

Although you can't expect me to be delivering these guys on my own in the wilderness like Josian did, I like the fact that these twins get along, don't kill one another in a dispute, and have the same father. You can't say that about all medieval/classical twinage.

When they come out, they might be given different handles, but this will do for the next few months!

Thanks guys and have fun at K'zoo!

Thing One and Thing Two Revealed!

Well, it seems we're following Rebel Lettriste even further into the rabbit hole because we're having two little boys!! It's very official and there can be no doubts - the proof is in the pudding, sonogram, whatever.

I'm SO overjoyed - they're 7 and 6 ounces respectively and are very active in there (top guy was lurking behind my belly button and dodging the camera...and then decided to sit on his brother's head) - I still haven't felt them that I know of, but they're certainly doing their thing. I've lost another half a pound, so I must keep eating more. But they're doing well and their hearts and heads look great.

So, I must now solicit bloggy pseudonyms for the two lads - of course, Castor and Pollux would be appropos - are there any other suggestions?

Keep thinking while I go drink some more milk and protein powder!

Grading Exams

Don't you love the part in Paradise Lost where "Satin" says it's better to reign in Hell than serve in Heav'n?

Considering that satin is indeed one of the 3 greatest sartorial scourges of all time, this makes sense to me.

I'm glad that at least 12 of my students agree with me on this.