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L and I had quite a busy weekend, but a fun and productive one nonetheless. Saturday there was a training fire for the volunteer department. So Friday L spent the entire day hauling tons of wooden pallets to the house in town that they were going to burn and setting everything up inside.
Several months ago a woman sold a TON of land to a developer who is going to build a mixed-use development. This house was on that land so it was donated to the FD for training purposes. The house itself ‘ok’ looking and the inside was pretty outdated. But if you wanted to redo your bathroom in powder blue, there was some lovely tile for you to pull up. But there was one decorating aspect that was most certainly not outdated. There were tons of beautiful plantation shutters in great condition on the inside. L told me about them so I went up there to look at them and convinced him to pull them off for me so we could take them. Even if they didn’t fit our windows, I would find something to do with them because they were too pretty and perfect to burn.
He ended up getting some for our back and side door and those will fit perfectly. I can’t wait to put them up! The others he grabbed were for three windows, but are actually attached to one frame. I can take the individual shutter off the frame and I think it will fit our living room window – I just have to remeasure the lenght. In anycase, what a great find.
Since I’m on the Support Team now, I got to go to the burn and actually do stuff (I’ve gone in years past, but just to watch for a little while). I went up to the station Friday night to help load up the truck that we use to haul the supplies we need.
Saturday morning came early as we had to be at the station by 7am. On a Saturday. Woo. We spent the morning gettig water, etc. and attending a meeting with the instructors about the burn. Then we headed to the house to get started.
The support team sets up tents for a rehab station where all of the firefighters are required to report to after they come out of the house. Here they can strip their gear, get water/gatorade and snacks to replenish and they have to have their blood pressure and pulse checked. They’re not allowed to leave rehab until those numbers get down (or up) to a certain level.
The firefighters go in in teams and on rotations. I believe L went in 3 different times. The first time he came out, he looked terrible. And he told me he felt terrible. We later determined that the reason he felt worse than he normally does is because he was basically completely dehydrated. He had worked really hard the day before and only had a few glasses of iced tea – so he wasn’t even caught up for that day. Then he didn’t have anything at all before he went into the fire. He bounced back though and was ready for more.
Things seemed to go very well and I even got to go into the house at one point when everything was out before they set another part on fire. I’ve never been inside of a burned up house before and it was definitely interesting. And humid! I carefully walked through all the sludge of burned and soaked insulation trying my best not to get my pretty white sneakers dirty!
After a 30 minute break, they asked for volunteers to make runs in the basement. Basement houses are kind of a new thing in this area (they weren’t very popular for a long time because of issues with the kind of soil we have here) so it’s not often that they get a house to burn with a basement and it gives them different kinds of training opportunities. L was the first to raise his hand – as well as some others. This was the last thing they were going to do before they “let the house go” and just burn down.
I watched L standing in the door of the house waiting for his team’s turn to go in. Finally they did and a few minutes later a firefighter comes running out and strips his gear just feet outside of the house. They normally walk away before they do that and they don’t normally run out. One of the support team members who is also an EMT ran over to him and started pouring water on his legs. She helped him over to rehab where I found out he had burns on his wrists and legs.
My heart started to beat really quickly. I realized that this guy was on L’s team, but L hadn’t come out of the house yet. I was really worried that something had gone wrong and that L and the rest of his team were hurt or stuck or something. Especially since they were in the basement and L has told me that that can be dangerous since the ceiling/stairs/etc. can collapse and trap them. Soon though, I saw him exit the house and casually make his way to rehab. He was totally fine. Thank God.
Turns out the other guy had gotten steam burns on his legs (apparently this can happen when their gear gets so wet) – he was the first of their team to go down the stairs and had told L to back out when he was burning. L and the rest of the guys couldn’t back out in time so this guy basically just climbed over them. He’s been checked out and has seen the doctor and will be fine.
After that they decided to let the house go. At this point, everyone comes out and they just let it burn. The only thing they really do is monitor the house and the area around it to make sure nothing else catches on fire and it doesn’t spread.
After that we packed up, headed back to the station and cleaned up some there. I think we finally got home at around 5:30. It was definately a long and exhausting day. But still fun.
Some pictures from the day:
The house before they got started
L and I before the fire
Just getting started
L in rehab after his first time in
The rehab station
“Me! Me! Pick me! I want to go in the basement!”
More beautiful plantation shutters that didn’t get saved
Suited up and ready to go in again
Waiting for his team to get the signal to go downstairs
The rest of his team following him in
After everyone was out and they let it go
What was left when they were done
Sunday L had to go to work, but didn’t have to leave till 5. We slept in for awhile and then began working on the fence some more. We’ve almost finished one side of the fence. We could have gotten farther along, but had to completely redig one of the holes by hand because it was some how off the line for some reason. We also ran out of posts and rails too. But I was happy with what we got done. I just can’t wait to get it done.
But the frogs. Oh the frogs. When I was using the post hole digger to fix one of the holes, I pulled out not one, but TWO little frogs from the hole. I somehow managed not hurt them and just scooped them up. I really don’t like all the creatures I’ve been encountering during this project. Last week I found a small turtle and a large slug (GROSS!). Yesterday, I found three more slugs. Ugh.
I’ve also been working on cleaning up the once wooded area in the back so we can put grass seed down soon before it gets too cold. We cleaned this up last summer but didn’t get the seed done. I absolutely refuse to do all this work again next year. So hopefully we can get the seed down this weekend or something.
I hardly ever use my check book. I couldn’t even tell you the last time I broke it out. I just have no need for it on a regular basis. I pay all my bills online and that’s about it. But there is that time every now and then when I need it. And now is one of them. And I just can’t freakin find it!
I looked for it a couple weeks ago when I needed to write a check to cover my health insurance premium to make sure my coverage remained intact since I was laid off. I was quite unsuccessful, but luckily I just transferred some money to my mom and she wrote the check for me (I feel like such a child saying that).
But now I need it to set up a direct deposit. No, I haven’t gotten a job, but fortunatley you can now have your unemployment benefits directly deposited into your checking account. So obviously, I need my own check.
I’m not at a complete loss though. If you don’t set up a direct deposit, they send you a special debit card that you can use. I was a little worried that this debit card was going to scream “Hi! I’m unemployed!” But luckily, it doesn’t. I guess if you know what the debit cards look like, you would know, but if you don’t, it’s pretty inconspicuous. Just a regular Master Card debit card that has a picture of a cardinal and says North Carolina across the top in pretty writing.
Ok. The debit card idea is fine and I got it today so for the first time I finally have access to my funds. It will just be so much easier to have it in my regualr account which is why I have to find that damn checkbook.
But I do have one issue with their little debit card program. You are charged the usual ATM surcharges unless you use a Wachovia ATM. No biggie, they’re all over the place since they are headquartered in Charlotte. However, you can only get TWO free ATM withdrawls PER MONTH. Even if it is at Wachovia. After that, it’s $1.50 per withdrawl. I know that’s an average ATM fee, but seriously, you only get TWO per month?! This is for people who are UNEMPLOYED. Every penny counts.
I don’t even get cash out of the ATM that often, but it still annoys me. Maybe it’s to deter people from spending the money on lottery tickets and such. But still. What about people with kids who might need money for school and all. Anyway. That’s just me. I find it annoying and greedy.
Moving on… off to turn the house upside down looking for my check book.
A couple weeks ago I was contacted by a woman who works for a company that sells beautiful mirrors and other home decor. She told me she was looking for bloggers to review a product from their website – and I happily obliged!
I perused through the site and their is tons of really great stuff. I finally decided to choose the Chatham Wall Mirror to review.
Image courtesy of CSNmirrors.com
So once I recieve the mirror, I’ll do a review and let you guys know what I think!
L and I had the most wonderful weekend at the beach. We got there a little after lunch time on Friday and left early Monday afternoon. The whole weekend? Absolute bliss. Friday was a little cloudy, but every other day was the aboslute perfect beach weather. Not too hot. Not too cold. Just. Perfect.
The most interesting part? It was the weekend after Labor Day, so one can say that the “beach season” is over, yet it was very, very crowded. Spring break crowded. But with one minor difference. L and I were probably the youngest ones there by AT LEAST 25 years. Yes, twenty-five years.
You see, L’s parent’s condo is in the heart of Shagging country – the kind of old school partner dance to beach music. About two years ago, one of my friends introduced me to beach music by way of a Chairmen of the Board concert and I’ve loved it ever since. And whenever we go to the beach, there’s always that hint of Shag, even if it’s just the pictures on the walls of the bars.
But this weekend was different. This weekend was the SOS Fall Migration. SOS stands for Society of Stranders. The Myrtle Beach-area, mostly North Myrtle Beach (I believe) is referred to as the Strand. I believe the short version of the SOS history began in 1989 when a guy who was an NMB lifeguard in the 50s started this one time festival for all those that loved beach music and shagging. Thousands decended upon NMB and shagged and partied for 10 days. Then it was repeated the next year, and soon after that SOS became a real organization and now they do this 3-4 times a year. People from shag clubs from all over (mostly the Carolinas and the southeast, but other places too) come together to keep the dance alive and enjoy being with friends. L put it best when he said it was the AARP spring break on steroids.
But you know what? We had the most fantastic time. A long time ago I asked L if we could take shagging lessons before some big party we might throw as a celebration next year and he agreed. But this weekend made me so much more excited about it. They all just have so much fun dancing. The condo balconies were strung with the banners from Shag clubs and the beaches were filled with people our parent’s age and older playing cornhole, drinking, swimming and tanning. But those taht weren’t on the beach were in the clubs. There were Shag workshops beginning at 10am and from our condo we could see people overflowing off the patio of the bar across the street as early as 11am.
The fall migration began on Friday, but was really in full swing by Saturday. We walked into the bar across the street on Saturday evening around 8pm. It was crowded, but we were determined to find a table because we wanted to eat there for dinner. As we walked up, there was a gentleman at the door. L starts to reach for his wallet, assuming that he was there to card, but instead the man asked for our SOS membership cards. L told him we didn’t have them and he said, ‘just go in anyway.’
Later, when we made friends with a well-known Shag DJ, the head of the SOS organization and another SOS member, we learned that you pretty much need to have a card to get into these places. Apparently we were just lucky.
We were able to listen to some outdoor concerts they had and a street festival on Monday too. Very unexpected, but fun events!
Besides that, we took the puppies for two 5 mile walks on the beach and they got to swim a lot too, we ate in our favorite seafood town twice, drove up to Sunset Beach and Ocean Isle just to see it since I had never been (and perhaps secretly wanted to see if there would be any potential places for that party we might have next year – shh, don’t tell L. I tired to convince him that that wasn’t on my mind – but I’m pretty sure he knew it was:).
I totally didn’t want to go home Monday, but alas, all things must come to an end. I guess there are some perks to being unemployed though since we were able to go for almost 4 days!
Here are some photos and videos from the weekend:
Burying L’s feet in the sand 
Sunrise walk on the beach
Shep layed down in the water while some other people stopped to talk to us on our walk
Early eveining is one of my favorite times on the beach. L and I headed out before dinner to share a bottle of wine. He’s just learning to appreciate wine, so we started off with my favorite “beginner’s wine” – white zin, or kool-aid wine I’m not gonna lie, I still love it!
At the bar we weren’t supposed to be able to get in to. Right before this picture, a lady sitting next to us leaned over and said, “excuse me, did you drink ALL of those beers?” L just laughed and said “Yes, and a bottle of wine before we came.” The lady laughed and made some comment about her days of being able to do that were over. It was funny and she was very nice. These Shaggers are just so personable and nice!
The water tower has Shaggers painted on it. Supposedly this was a historic moment and it was lit up for the very first time – although I swear it looked like this every other time we’ve been there.
Shep swimming in the ocean – he had a great time and was actually swimming until he got pummelled by a few waves. Also, I really didn’t want to put myself in a bathing suit on here, but our puppies are just too darn cute!
Dixie swimming. She didn’t like it quite as much as Shep – but it’s funny to watch her leap over the waves.
I’m watching the second half of the Today Show with Hoda and Kathie Lee Gifford where they do segments on gossip, fashion, etc. They just finished a story on choosing the correct bra to flatter your figure. They put this one lady in a very pretty purple bra that had a little rhinestone in the middle.
Then the woman says, “…and this comes in sizes up through G.”
Wait, say what? G? There is a size G?
I mean, I guess I’ve seen some woman who are probably that size. You know, the one’s whose bra could probably cover your head, even if you had some hugh 80s hairstyle. I guess I just never thought about it. Plus, I’ve never even been near that end of the size spectrum, as most of my bras are padded so I don’t look prepubecent.
What? I’m actually making progress on my running? No way! That 5k is starting to seem more realistic every day. Last week I ran a mile without stopping for the first time in my entire life. And then, I did it again. I was so impressed and proud of myself.
On Monday, I met L at the fire station where we worked out for 30 minutes and then finished up with a run outside. We did our own thing at the gym and I was finishing up just after him. I tried to increase the weight a little on a couple of the things I did, so I did the same on my last routine. I was doing those things where you hold a weight behind your head and lift it up – to work on the jiggly, underside of your arm (triceps, I believe is he correct term). When we first started doing this a couple weeks ago, I used a 5lb weight, but realized it was a little too easy, so I moved on to an 8lb weight. Monday I was going to go for the 12lb-er. That’s when L just looked at me and was like, “um, no. Use the 25lb one.” Was he crazy? I can’t lift 25lbs up and down behind my head. “You’re selling yourself short, I know you can do it. You’re a lot stronger than you think.” So I went for the 20lb one and you know what? I did it.
We headed over to wear we run and walked a half mile first. I was tired, but didn’t want to admit it. We started running and weren’t too far into when L mentioned how heavy his legs felt. Oh thank God, it wasn’t just me. I barely made it a half mile, but when I made the turn it felt better – for about 30 seconds. It was rough. We finished up the mile and didn’t stop and kept going. Our goal was to finish a mile and a half. And we did. But I will not deny that I almost didn’t make it. And possibly grunted like a cave man during the last two tenths of a mile.
BUT. Not only did I do a mile, but I did a mile and a half. During the grunting phase of the run, L kept telling me that he would give me a 30 minute back massage if I made it. After we finished, he confessed he didn’t think I was going to make it because I had already said I was going to quit. But I didn’t. Woo, go me!
Yesterday, I went out by myself and did it again. This time there was no grunting. And this time I also didn’t do a mile and a half. I did 1.8 miles! If I hadn’t have eaten dinner earlier, I think I could have made it the whole two miles. I couldn’t believe it. The two mile mark was in sight this time.
The 3.1 miles is getting closer and closer. And I still have about 51 days to practice! I don’t want to keel over as I’m crossing the finish line, and I know I’ll probably be one of the last runners, but as long as I finish, that’s all I care about. And I still have plenty of time to improve some.
Oh, and I can practice in a lovely environment this weekend. At the beach! I really thought that when L called his mom she was going to say the condo was already being used, but it’s not! I really can not describe just how excited I am to go this weekend. We’re definitely going Friday – Sunday. L is scheduled to work at his pt job on Monday, but he’s going to see if he can switch it for another day so we can stay through Monday. The beach makes me happy!
I still get all the gossip from my old workplace. And it just keeps getting better and better. A few weeks ago I found out they all got a 10% pay cut. Then one of my friends gave her notice and is taking on a full-time position at a part-time job she’s had. And today I saw an interesting facebook status message about lots of arguing going on in the office this morning. When I inquired, my friend told me about this huge argument that started between an account manager, the boss and a vp in the hallway where it lasted for almost an hour before they moved into the boss’ office for another hour and counting.
The interesting part about all of this is the account manager. He is not one to argue loudly. Or argue at all, really. He is an incredibly smart guy, but he’s pretty laid back. He makes it known when he doesn’t agree with something, but often times will just let it go if people are being stubborn.
While chatting back and forth with my friend about this, she sends me another message saying that she just found out that one of our other friends was laid off via a letter in the mail. Yes, in the mail. This week was her last week of maternity leave. I can’t believe he has done this. I didn’t even think that was legal, but the friend I was getting all this info from was one of the other women that just had a baby. She said that since our office has less than 50 people, it’s easier to get away with stuff like that. However, if this woman chose to sue because of this, she probably could. And I hope she does.
Maybe it’s better that I’m gone. Although I would definitely love the paycheck, I know that the morale there is terrible and life would be a living hell every day. At least I have my sanity.
